bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Specimens of the Urnes Style in English Art of the Late Eleventh Century
Authors: Shetelig Haakon
Published: January 2012

The photographs and drawings here illustrated have been placed at my disposal by Mr. Kendrick of the British Museum, and enable me to publish with the Curator's permission a short note on these very attractive trinkets. They are three fragments of silver found in the City of London and preserved in the Guildhall Museum. Each is part of a small cylinder provided with holes for rivets, to be fastened as a decoration on some kind of staff. The original destination of the object is not clear: in any case the cylinders seem too slender for a crozier shaft, but belonged to something worthy of this costly and aristocratic decoration.
An Early Romano-British Kiln at Corfe Mullen, Dorset
Authors: Calkin J. Bernard
Published: January 2012

In SE. Dorset a section of Roman road runs from Hamworthy on Poole Harbour to Badbury Rings, passing near the present village of Corfe Mullen just before it dips into the Stour valley. It has been known for several years, from discoveries in the Southern Railway's ballast pit, that a Romano-British settlement existed at this spot. The finds comprise pottery ranging from bead-rim to New Forest wares, as well as a storage-pit containing grain, on which Sir R. H. Biffen reported to the writer in 1929 as follows: ‘The bulk is wheat similar to that from the Iron Age sites at Fovant and Meare. But grains of oat are also present.’
Anniversary Address
Authors: Fox Cyril
Published: January 2012

The fruits of that Victory to which we referred with pride and hopefulness at the last Anniversary Meeting and of the one which so quickly followed it have been slow to manifest themselves in our homes or in our wayfaring; but the wheels of peace-time industry are turning and as a chronicler of the year's work of the Society I have a pleasant task. Great difficulties have been met, but these difficulties, thanks in large measure to the efforts of the Assistant Secretary and his staff, have been surmounted.
On Some Italian Renaissance Caskets with Pastiglia Decoration
Authors: Hildburgh W. L.
Published: January 2012

The minor arts of the Renaissance in Italy included the ornamentation of small wooden boxes with reliefs moulded in a plastic material which was applied while yielding and hardened subsequently to the firmness of a soft stone. Although persons of a romantic turn of mind like to call such boxes ‘jewel-caskets’, it would seem more probable that they were made for the use of persons of moderate means, as substitutes for the caskets of precious materials such as were used by the rich, to contain trinkets and small oddments rather than gems or jewellery. In the fourteenth century and during a great part of the fifteenth the pastiglia covered the whole, or almost the whole, of the outer surface of its wooden foundation, was in most cases modelled smoothly in gentle gradations of relief, and was painted with colours which accentuated the forms of its comparatively large figures and supplied details of the decoration. In the second half of the fifteenth century, and continuing into the sixteenth, the decoration, in both its figures and its conventionalized ornament, was on a much smaller scale and in much sharper relief, and was applied to a level surface which might itself be a kind of pastiglia, either plain or marked all over with a regular repeated pattern.
‘Bastard Feudalism’ and the Later Castles
Authors: Simpson W. Douglas
Published: January 2012

In fig. 1 we have a ground plan of Kildrummy Castle in Mar. The ‘noblest of northern castles’, as Cosmo Innes called this splendid ruin, is of special importance because it appears to be the most northerly example extant in Europe of the thirteenth-century castle of enceinte which on the lay or feudal side was the culminating expression of what has been styled the greatest age of Latin Christendom. Conformably to its type, the castle consists of a high and massive curtain wall, enclosing a courtyard, and defended by round towers, large and boldly salient, at four of the angles, while at the fifth, midway in the south front, is the gatehouse. Along the north front are the principal domestic buildings—hall, kitchen, and camera—while on the east side is a large chapel, projected beyond the curtain, and set askew so as to aim at a correct orientation.
Excavations at Alchester, 1927
Authors: Iliffe J. H.
Published: January 2012

The excavation of Roman Alchester, begun in 1925—6 under the auspices of the Oxford branch of the Classical Association, was continued for nearly four weeks during August and September, 1927. The object of this year's work being to discover something of the plan and lay-out of the town in its successive periods, the region selected for this purpose was the vicinity of the east gateway of the town, and several points along the line of the rampart between that and the north-east corner mound.
A Hoard from West Norway
Authors: Bøe Johs.
Published: January 2012

In the farm of Hatteberg, formerly belonging to the barony of Rosendal to the south of Bergen, there was found in December 1932 a Viking period hoard (pl.xix) consisting of a gold armlet of twisted wire (weight 164·62 grammes), a large silver torc of the same workmanship (weight 403·5 grammes), and a silver brooch of penannular type. The objects lay together about 2 ft. deep in the ground without any protection, the armlet being threaded on the torc. Evidently this was no burial but a treasure, of a kind well known all over northern Europe in the Viking period, from Russia to the British Isles. The torc and armlet are of well-known form and technique, but among the best and most valuable of their class. Of greater interest is the brooch. It is a casting scarcely if at all finished by the chisel. The hoop is flat on the back, which is unornamented. On the front of either terminal a thin gold plate is fitted into a frame, and held in place by a silver rivet with large round head. The plates are ornamented with filigree of notched gold wire, and the rivet-heads also carried some silver filigree. This, however, now shows traces of wear, as does the hoop. As for the rest, the form and decoration may be seen from the illustration.
A bronze hammer, two helmet ornaments and harness fittings found in Belgium
Authors: Hasse G.
Published: January 2012

Between 1926 and 1928, in the course of work carried out to improve the course of the Scheldt between Termonde and Ghent, dredging at a point called the Konkel, 1,000 m. below the bridge of Schoonaerde, brought to light finds of various dates. The most interesting discoveries were made in a small area, 100 m. long and 7 m. deep, which produced remains of the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages.
Excavations in the ruined choir of the Church of St. Bartholomew, Orford, Suffolk
Authors: Fairweather F. H.
Published: January 2012

The decayed town of Orford is one of those interesting examples on the east coast of England of a twelfth-century port, like Dunwich and Ravenspur, which, by the action of the sea, has been rendered derelict. Unlike Dunwich and Ravenspur, however, which were invaded and washed away by coast erosion, Orford's importance was lost by the throwing up by the sea of a long bar running south from Orford Ness, to the east side of the Alde river. After the Conquest Orford was an integral part of the Honour of Eye and was administered along with it, being part of the possessions of the Malet family. Domesday makes no mention of either town or church, and its first appearance ecclesiastically is as a chapel to Sudbourne, evidently elevated into an independent rectory on the growth of Orford as a port. This growth must have taken place at an early date as Robert, the second of the Malet family, in 1101 granted ‘mercatum et thelonium de Oreford’ to his Priory of Eye. Probably then a church of some kind appeared about this time, first as a chapel, but later always referred to as ‘the church of St. Bartholomew in the parish of Orford’, and also termed ‘libera capella aut cantaria de Orford’.
War and Archaeology in Britain
Authors: O'Neil B. H. St. J.
Published: January 2012

With the outbreak of war in September 1939 many of the staff of the Ministry (then H.M. Office) of Works concerned with ancient monuments were drafted to other work, military or civil. Yet the tasks falling to the lot of their fellows, who were left at their normal desks, so far from decreasing, as their colleagues of other divisions often blandly suggested, were soon increased very far beyond their normal peace-time scope. It is true that work on the preservation of the structures of guardianship monuments dwindled slowly until it became insignificant in amount, but it never entirely ceased, because of a firm determination not to destroy the cadre of skilled foremen and masons which it would be extremely difficult to replace. The supervision of this work, therefore, remained as one task even in war-time.
Anniversary Address
Authors: The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres
Published: January 2012

So much anxiety has been aroused by recent cases where historic buildings and collections of archives have been transported across the Atlantic, or where through apathy and neglect we have allowed their destruction at home, that I think it may be serviceable to the Society if I summarize the general situation, directing attention to the organization of effort to preserve our heritage, to the obstacles encountered in the process, and in a more general fashion to the strengthening and improvement of our methods. And let me say at the outset that our Society is closely concerned in the problem. We have taken our full share during the past twelve months in striving to influence public opinion in the right direction. Our duty is not only to investigate the past, but to hand forward to our successors the fullest measure of our historic assets, confident that as time goes on their value will ever be the more appreciated.
The Excavations at Ur, 1925–6
Authors: Woolley C. Leonard
Published: January 2012

The Joint Expedition of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania began its fourth campaign at Ur on 1st November 1925, and closed down in the field on 13th March 1926. The season was the longest we have yet had, and at its height as many as three hundred men were employed.
The Excavations at Ur, 1926–7
Authors: Woolley C. Leonard
Published: January 2012

The Joint Expedition of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania started its fifth season at Ur on 28 October 1926, and closed down field work on 19 February 1927. Of the staff, three had been with me in the previous season : Mr. M. E. L. Mallowan again acted as general archaeological assistant, Mrs. Keeling was responsible for the drawings, and Mr. A. S. Whitburn was architect ; this year the inscribed material was dealt with by the Rev. E. Buroes, S.J.
A Late Palaeolithic Settlement in the Colne Valley, Essex
Authors: Layard Nina Frances
Published: January 2012

The small flake implements belonging to a late palaeolithic industry, some of which are shown in the illustrations of this paper, were collected during about three years' work in some gravel pits which have been opened in a river terrace in the Colne Valley, Essex. That this site represents a settlement, and that the flints are not merely an aggregation of odd implements brought down by flood, there appears to be sufficient proof, first because of the distinctive nature of the industry itself, and secondly by the finding of hearths and depressions, which appear to be either the floors of pit dwellings or for use as wind-screens. The numerous cores and flakes also found suggest that the working places of implement makers have come to light.
The Roman Kilns of Farnham, Surrey
Authors: Wade A. G.
Published: January 2012

A Roman kiln was discovered in 1906 by Mr. Harold Falkner, a member of the Surrey Archaeological Society, and described by him in the county Archaeological Collections, vol. xx, pp. 228–32, with diagrams of the kiln and representative pottery ; but Mr. Falkner states that this kiln was empty when he discovered it, and that he never properly understood this site.
Some unusual Medieval English Alabaster Carvings
Authors: Hildburgh W. L.
Published: January 2012

The present notes, with their accompanying photographs, have for their purpose the placing on record of some English alabaster carvings which either differ in style, in noteworthy details, or in iconography from pieces previously illustrated or described, or supply fresh examples of some uncommon technique or unusual subject. The objects have not hitherto, so far as I know, been published.
The Excavation of Kindrochit Castle, Aberdeenshire
Authors: Simpson W. Douglas
Published: January 2012

The ruins of Kindrochit Castle stand in the heart of the much-frequented village of Braemar, near the head of the river Dee, amid the wild mountains of western Aberdeenshire. The castle occupies a very strong position on the east brink of a rocky gorge formed by the Clunie Water, and on the other side was defended by an ancient mill-lade, taken off the Clunie above the castle, and rejoining it below, so as to complete the insulation of the site. In the name of the castle (Kindrochit = ‘bridge-head’) is enshrined its early importance as a fortified post guarding the passage of the great north road across the Clunie Water. The map (fig. 1) clearly indicates how the significance of the castle is to be found not in the east-and-west or blind-alley strategy of the Dee valley, but rather in the north and south or transversal strategy of the ancient trunk roads converging northwards across the ‘Mounth’ or mountain barrier between Strathmore and Mar.
The Church of Worcester from the Eighth to the Twelfth Century
Authors: Atkins Ivor
Published: January 2012

Very divergent views have been held about the constitution of the Church of Worcester in the centuries before Oswald established the Benedictine Rule. The ideas of eighteenth-century historians are perhaps of little importance to-day in the light of our further knowledge, for in the last fifty years the attention of an increasing number of scholars has been turned upon the investigation and elucidation of the history of that church, and much light has already been thrown upon its dark spots. But for a time there was considerable confusion, and it was a little hard to see where the truth lay, so various were the views put forward by investigators.
A Pair of Fourth-century Romano-British Pottery Kilns near Crambeck
Authors: Corder Philip , Birley Margaret
Published: January 2012

Ten years ago two pairs of Romano-British kilns for the manufacture of pottery were discovered by some boys from Bootham School, York, on the slope of the hill from Whitwell to the Crambeck, about thirteen miles north-east of York and five miles from the fortress of Malton. These were excavated by boys from Bootham School under the writer's supervision, and details of their structure and of the pottery made in them have been published. Earlier finds of kilns in the same neighbourhood were then recorded, and these, together with the amount of pottery recovered, made it clear that pottery manufacture had been very extensive in the district. Since that report was published, the importance of Crambeck wares and their wide distribution in the northern military area in the fourth century have been widely recognized. The discovery of another pair of kilns in 1936, which throw more light on kiln-structure than did those of the earlier find, provides, in the light of subsequent investigations, an opportunity for a fuller discussion of the date of their activity than was at that time possible.
The Palaeolithic Sequence at Iver, Bucks. With an Appendix on the Geology
Authors: Lacaille A. D. , Oakley K. P.
Published: January 2012

References to palaeolithic implements from the Pleistocene deposits in the Buckinghamshire parish of Iver have appeared from time to time in the Proceedings of learned societies. The British Museum Guide to Antiquities of the Stone Age, 1926, p. 46, mentions artifacts from this district, where palaeoliths have been collected for nearly half a century, but a general summary has not been made showing the sequence of cultures and the significance of the relics from the local deposits. The author has had the commercial workings in the Iver gravels under observation for a number of years, and thinks that the archaeological evidence, now made available as a result of continuous supervision, may perhaps assist in the revision of published material.

The area under review measures almost two miles from east to west and a mile and a half from north to south (map, fig. 1). It may be taken as bounded on the east by the Colne Brook, one of the branches of the River Colne, and on the west by a line passing through Parsonage Farm south-west of Shreding Green, which stands, like the eastern end of Iver village in the north-east corner of the rectangle, at an altitude of 120 ft.
The Iron Age Horseshoe
Authors: Perkins J. Ward
Published: January 2012

In the last number of this journal (pp. 9–27) there appeared an article by Dr. Gordon Ward on ‘The Iron Age Horseshoe and its Derivatives’. Dr. Ward has a wide practical knowledge of his subject and a stimulating method of approach, but on some important aspects of his subject there is scope for considerable difference of interpretation. In suggesting certain modifications to the position which he has stated, I should like at the outset to make it clear that I am able to do so largely as the result of the work of publication and analysis undertaken by Dr. Gordon Ward himself, and by his predecessor in this field, Dr. R. W. Murray. I have also to thank Mr. C. F. C. Hawkes for much useful criticism and information.
DANCEHALL POLITICS: MOBILITY, SEXUALITY, AND SPECTACLES OF RACIAL RESPECTABILITY IN LATE COLONIAL TANGANYIKA, 1930s–1961
Authors: CALLACI EMILY
Published: January 2012

This article explores the relationship between understandings of youth sexuality and mobility, and racial nationalism in late colonial Tanganyika through a history of dansi: a dance mode first popularized by Tanganyikan youth in the 1930s. Dansi's heterosocial choreography and cosmopolitan connotations provoked widespread anxieties among rural elders and urban elites over the mobility, economic autonomy, and sexual agency of youth. In urban commercial dancehalls in the 1950s, dansi staged emerging cultural solidarities among migrant youth, while also making visible social divisions based on class and gender. At the same time, nationalist intellectuals attempted to reform dansi according to an emerging political rhetoric of racial respectability.
Gastroenteritis in older people living in the community: results of two Australian surveys
Authors: KIRK M. D. , HALL G. V. , BECKER N.
Published: January 2012

We analysed two large national surveys conducted in 2001 and 2008 to examine incidence and outcomes of gastroenteritis in older Australians. A case was someone reporting ⩾3 loose stools or ⩾1 episode of vomiting in 24 h, excluding non-infectious causes. We compared cases arising in the elderly (⩾65 years) and in other adults (20–64 years). Elderly people experienced 0·33 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0·24–0·42] episodes of gastroenteritis/person per year, compared to 0·95 (95% CI 0·74–1·15) in other adults. Elderly cases reported less stomach cramps, fever and myalgia than younger cases, and were more likely to be hospitalized, although this was not statistically significant. In multivariable analysis, gastroenteritis in elderly people was associated with travelling within the state (odds ratio 1·35, 95% CI 1·07–1·71). Elderly people were less concerned about food safety than other adults. Older Australians were less likely to report gastroenteritis and experienced different symptoms and outcomes from other adults.
Business leaders and town gentry in early industrial Britain: specialist occupations and shared urbanism
Authors: CORFIELD PENELOPE J.
Published: January 2012

Three major conclusions are derived from close study of Britain's pioneering directories in the 1770s and 1780s. First, they show that over 30,000 leading townsmen and women were enmeshed into the burgeoning knowledge grid through the public listings of their addresses, status and occupations. Secondly, a close examination of that information reveals a notable extent of occupational specialization – among both men and women, and among individuals and the nascent firms – thus confirming one of Adam Smith's key observations about the nature of Britain's increasingly commercialized, if still largely pre-mechanized, economy. Thirdly, aggregative analysis highlights systematic differences in the socio-economic characteristics of different towns: from manufacturing, commercial and professional centres to the great capital cities to the specialist leisure towns and resorts – all interlocking in an inter-dependent urban network. Hence this evidence suggests that a generic re-interpretation of all large towns as ‘residential leisure towns’ on the strength of their flourishing cultural life (as recently proposed by Stobart and Schwarz) is misleading, as it obscures significant systemic differences between different types of towns. At the same time, however, the interlinked urban network was generating a confidently shared urbanism, bridging between aristocratic and middle-class society. That link was exemplified by the listing of numerous titled and gentlemanly ‘town gentry’ alongside the business leaders – as the directories in effect flourished their collective calling cards.
Use of Astronomy Filters in Fluorescence Microscopy
Authors: Piper Jörg
Published: January 2012

Monochrome astronomy filters are well suited for use as excitation or suppression filters in fluorescence microscopy. Because of their particular optical design, such filters can be combined with standard halogen light sources for excitation in many fluorescent probes. In this “low energy excitation,” photobleaching (fading) or other irritations of native specimens are avoided. Photomicrographs can be taken from living motile fluorescent specimens also with a flash so that fluorescence images can be created free from indistinctness caused by movement. Special filter cubes or dichroic mirrors are not needed for our method. By use of suitable astronomy filters, fluorescence microscopy can be carried out with standard laboratory microscopes equipped with condensers for bright-field (BF) and dark-field (DF) illumination in transmitted light. In BF excitation, the background brightness can be modulated in tiny steps up to dark or black. Moreover, standard industry microscopes fitted with a vertical illuminator for examinations of opaque probes in DF or BF illumination based on incident light (wafer inspections, for instance) can also be used for excitation in epi-illumination when adequate astronomy filters are inserted as excitatory and suppression filters in the illuminating and imaging light path. In all variants, transmission bands can be modulated by transmission shift.
Climate and trade policies: from mutual destruction to mutual support
Authors: MESSERLIN PATRICK A.
Published: January 2012

There is no doubt that trade and climate policies can be mutually destructive. But there are three strong reasons to suggest that they can also be mutually supportive: they have a common problem, common foes, and common friends. Mutual support would be much stronger if the world regimes for these two policies shared a few common principles. The climate community should feel at ease with the broad WTO principles of ‘national treatment’ and ‘most-favoured nation’, and rely on them in building its own treaty and institutions. The trade community should grasp the opportunity to benefit from the better disciplines on adjustment policies that it is hoped the climate community will design.

These conclusions should put the many pending problems into a more positive perspective, and persuade negotiators to find pragmatic compromises, as was the case with the GATT. Using this perspective, the paper focuses on a few key issues, such as the definition of carbon border taxes and the reasons to ban carbon tariffs. Other cases of mutual support are examined. For instance, the climate community should not repeat the mistakes of the world trade regime in dealing with the developing and least developed countries.
Atmospheric forcing of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient by midlatitude cyclones
Authors: Romanski Joy , Romanou Anastasia , Bauer Michael , Tselioudis George
Published: January 2012

Hydrographic observations indicated a shift of the main deep water formation in the Mediterranean Sea from its usual location in the Adriatic Sea to the Aegean Sea during the late 1980s and early 1990s, during winters 1991/1992 and 1992/1993. This event is known as the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT). We report here a connection between EMT and specific atmospheric conditions which created anomalously large buoyancy fluxes from the Aegean Sea during winters 1991/1992 and 1992/1993 (the “enhanced EMT winters”). We use newly available, state of the art datasets with high space and time resolution and show that atypical cyclonic activity in the central Mediterranean versus the eastern basin produced the enhanced atmospheric forcing which intensified the EMT. An abatement of the frequency of cyclones in the central Mediterranean during 1992/1993 drastically reduced the northward advection of warm air over the Aegean Sea compared to more typical years, while an increase in the frequency of cyclones in the eastern Mediterranean enhanced the southward advection of cold air over the Aegean Sea, especially during 1991/1992. These changes significantly increased buoyancy flux losses from the Aegean Sea during the enhanced EMT winters, intensifying deep water production.
Climate model simulations of the mid‐Pliocene: Earth's last great interval of global warmth
Authors: Dolan Aisling M. , Haywood Alan M. , Dowsett Harry J.
Published: January 2012

Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Workshop; Reston, Virginia, 2–4 August 2011 The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP), supported by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) project and Powell Center, is an integral part of a third iteration of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP3). PlioMIP's aim is to systematically compare structurally different climate models. This is done in the context of the mid‐Pliocene (∼3.3–3.0 million years ago), a geological interval when the global annual mean temperature was similar to predictions for the next century.
Bosak, Dauphas, Fiore, Maloof, and Schoof receive 2011 James B. Macelwane medals: Response from Nicolas Dauphas
Authors: Dauphas Nicolas
Published: January 2012

Tanja Bosak, Nicolas Dauphas, Arlene M. Fiore, Adam C. Maloof, and Christian Schoof were awarded the 2011 James B. Macelwane Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 7 December 2011 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal is for “significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by an outstanding young scientist.”
Continued volcanic inflation at the Three Sisters
Authors: Schultz Colin
Published: January 2012

As early as the summer of 1996, a 20‐ × 30‐kilometer patch of earth lying just west of the South Sister volcano in central Oregon began to rise. The Three Sisters volcanoes, which comprise North Sister, Middle Sister, and South Sister, are the most prominent peaks in that stretch of the Cascade Mountains, a landscape littered with the remnants of volcanic activity. Although there has not been an eruption in the region in at least 1200 years, the detected deformations caused concern, and the region was put under continuous monitoring. Riddick and Schmidt, continuing the work initiated by other researchers, report on 14 years of satellite‐based monitoring, describing the variable rate of the ground's movements and the likely cause of the activity—a sizeable magma intrusion lying 5–7 kilometers underground.
The Efficiency of Attentional Networks in Children Who Stutter
Authors: Eggers Kurt , De Nil Luc F. , Van den Bergh Bea R. H.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether previously reported questionnaire-based differences in self-regulatory behaviors (Eggers, De Nil, & Van den Bergh, 2009, 2010) between children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) would also be reflected in their underlying attentional networks.

Method

Participants consisted of 41 CWS (mean age = 6;09; years;months) and 41 CWNS (mean age = 6;09) ranging in age from 4;00 to 9;00. Participants were matched on age and gender. The efficiency of the attentional networks was assessed by using the computerized Attention Network Test (Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002).

Results

Primary results indicated that CWS had a significantly lower efficiency of the orienting network compared with CWNS, whereas no differences were found on the alerting or executive control network.

Conclusion

Current findings corroborate previously found differences in self-regulatory behavior and were taken to suggest a possible role for attentional processes in developmental stuttering.
Asymmetries in the Processing of Vowel Height
Authors: Scharinger Mathias , Monahan Philip J. , Idsardi William J.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Speech perception can be described as the transformation of continuous acoustic information into discrete memory representations. Therefore, research on neural representations of speech sounds is particularly important for a better understanding of this transformation. Speech perception models make specific assumptions regarding the representation of mid vowels (e.g., [ɛ]) that are articulated with a neutral position in regard to height. One hypothesis is that their representation is less specific than the representation of vowels with a more specific position (e.g., [æ]).

Method

In a magnetoencephalography study, we tested the underspecification of mid vowel in American English. Using a mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm, mid and low lax vowels ([ɛ]/[æ]), and high and low lax vowels ([i]/[æ]), were opposed, and M100/N1 dipole source parameters as well as MMN latency and amplitude were examined.

Results

Larger MMNs occurred when the mid vowel [ɛ] was a deviant to the standard [æ], a result consistent with less specific representations for mid vowels. MMNs of equal magnitude were elicited in the high–low comparison, consistent with more specific representations for both high and low vowels. M100 dipole locations support early vowel categorization on the basis of linguistically relevant acoustic–phonetic features.

Conclusion

We take our results to reflect an abstract long-term representation of vowels that do not include redundant specifications at very early stages of processing the speech signal. Moreover, the dipole locations indicate extraction of distinctive features and their mapping onto representationally faithful cortical locations (i.e., a feature map).
200 A Day the Easy Way: Putting It Into Practice
Authors: Baker Kim , Carrillo Debbie , Stanton Freda
Published: January 2012

Recent research indicates that individuals who are nonverbal need to be presented a minimum of 200 opportunities a day to interact. In this project, we created 200 communication opportunities every day for students through training, modeling, and offering a data tracking system, resulting in more competent communicators. In this paper, we describe methods to offer students using augmentative communication more than 200 opportunities a day to express a wide range of communicative functions, such as answering, commenting, asking questions, stating opinions, and asserting independence.
New approach for the determination of the characteristics of signals containing fluctuating harmonics
Authors: Poletaeff A. , Espel P.
Published: January 2012

This paper describes a new approach for the analysis of signals containing fluctuating harmonics. It is based on the Fourier transform, using windowing to reduce the error arising from analysing the signal over a non integer number of signal periods and an iterative process intended to estimate and correct the errors. Some simulations have been performed to prove the efficiency of the method and showed that the final error arising from the computation generally ranges between a few parts in 1010 and a few parts in 1015.
Electron spectrometer in adjustable triode configuration for photo-induced field emission measurements
Authors: Bornmann B. , Mingels S. , Dams F. , Prommesberger C. , Schreiner R. , Lützenkirchen-Hecht D. , Müller G.
Published: January 2012

We have constructed a new ultrahigh vacuum apparatus with a triode configuration for the systematic investigation of photo-induced field emission (PFE) from metallic or semiconducting cathodes. These are exposed to electric fields up to 400 MV/m and laser irradiation by means of hole or mesh gates. Cathodes and gates are in situ exchangeable and adjustable with high precision to ensure a homogeneous extraction of electrons which are partially transmitted to the fixed electron spectrometer. Its hemispherical sector analyzer provides an energy resolution limit of 8 meV. The commissioning of the measurement system has been performed with a tungsten needle. Its temperature showed up in the high-energy tail of the electron spectrum, while its work function was derived from the spectral low-energy part combined with the integral current-voltage curve. First PFE measurements on B-doped Si-tip arrays yielded a small field emission current increase under green laser illumination. A shift and splitting of the energy spectra was observed which revealed different emission regimes as well as the photosensitivity of the cathode due to carrier excitation into the conduction band. For the full exploitation of the PFE system, a tunable laser over a wide eV-range is required.
Weak-to-strong confinement transition of semi-flexible macromolecules in slit and in channel
Authors: Cifra Peter
Published: January 2012

We compare confinement of stiff macromolecule in channel and in slit. Whereas in the channel a distinct and established transition exists, we elucidate here an ongoing controversy reported from previous experiment and simulation on existence of such transition in the slit. Our extensive molecular simulations in both geometries show only a very weak conformational crossover between moderate and strong confinements in slit in the same range of confinements where the distinct transition in channel is observed. In contrast to situation in channels relatively stable hairpin-like structures are not indicated around this weak transition in the slit. Observed difference from the prediction on behavior in blob regime under moderate confinement is explained by a crossover between dimensionalities in the slit and the extent of ideal conformation statistics to which the stiffer chains are prone. The strong confinement regime of stiff chain in slit characterized here has not been interpreted yet and it differs from the respective saturation-like Odijk regime in the channel.
(Si)5−2y(AlP)y alloys assembled on Si(100) from Al-P-Si3 building units
Authors: Watkins T. , Jiang L. , Xu C. , Chizmeshya A. V. G. , Smith D. J. , Menéndez J. , Kouvetakis J.
Published: January 2012

An original class of IV/III-V hybrid (Si)5−2y(AlP)y/Si(100) semiconductors have been produced via tailored interactions of molecular P(SiH3)3 and atomic Al yielding tetrahedral “Al-P-Si3” building blocks. Extensive structural, optical, and vibrational characterization corroborates that these units condense to assemble single-phase, monocrystalline alloys containing 60%-90% Si (y = 0.3-1.0) as nearly defect-free layers lattice-matched to Si. Spectroscopic ellipsometry and density functional theory band structure calculations indicate mild compositional bowing of the band gaps, suggesting that the tuning needed for optoelectronic applications should be feasible.
How do InAs quantum dots relax when the InAs growth thickness exceeds the dislocation-induced critical thickness?
Authors: Chen J. F. , Lin Y. C. , Chiang C. H. , Chen Ross C. C. , Chen Y. F. , Wu Y. H. , Chang L.
Published: January 2012

A simple critical thickness for generating lattice misfits is insufficient to describe the onset strain relaxation in InAs quantum dots (QDs). A predominant dot family is shown to relieve its strain by In/Ga interdiffusion, rather than by lattice misfits, at the onset of strain relaxation. This argument is based on photoluminescence spectra, which show the emergence of a fine blueshifted transition at the onset of strain relaxation, along with a low-energy transition from a dot family degraded by lattice misfits. From the analysis of the temperature-dependent blueshift and energy separation between the ground and excited-state transitions, the blueshift is attributed to In/Ga interdiffusion. Transmission electron microscopy suggests a relaxation-induced indium migration from the interdiffused dot family to the dislocated dot family. Post-growth thermal annealing can further relieve strain by inducing more In/Ga interdiffusion in the interdiffused dot family and more dislocations in the dislocated dot family. This study explains the co-existence of strong carrier confinement in the QDs and enormous misfit-related traps in the capacitance-voltage spectra, and an elongated QD electron-emission time.
Falling liquid films on longitudinal grooved geometries: Integral boundary layer approach
Authors: Mohammed Rizwan Sadiq I. , Gambaryan-Roisman Tatiana , Stephan Peter
Published: January 2012

Falling thin liquid film on a substrate with complex topography is modeled using a three equation integral boundary layer system. Linear stability and nonlinear dynamics of the film in the framework of this model are studied on a topography with sinusoidal longitudinal grooves aligned parallel in the direction of the main flow. The linear stability theory reveals the stabilizing nature of the surface tension force and the groove measure on the film, and the pronounced destabilizing effects of inertia. The evolution of the film thickness is tracked numerically for a vertically falling film on a grooved geometry by choosing wavenumbers corresponding to the unstable mode where the growth rate of instability is maximum. The effect of surface geometry on the temporal evolution of the film dynamics is analyzed on a periodic domain. Numerical investigations agree with the linear stability predictions and show that the longitudinal grooves exert a stabilizing effect on the film and the waviness is suppressed when the steepness of the longitudinal groove measure increases.
Translational inhibition by deadenylation-independent mechanisms is central to microRNA-mediated silencing in zebrafish
Authors: Mishima Yuichiro , Fukao Akira , Kishimoto Tomoyoshi , Sakamoto Hiroshi , Fujiwara Toshinobu , Inoue Kunio
Published: January 2012

MicroRNA (miRNA) is a class of small noncoding RNA approximately 22 nt in length. Animal miRNA silences complementary mRNAs via translational inhibition, deadenylation, and mRNA degradation. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. A key question is whether these three outputs are independently induced by miRNA through distinct mechanisms or sequentially induced within a single molecular pathway. Here, we successfully dissected these intricate outputs of miRNA-mediated repression using zebrafish embryos as a model system. Our results indicate that translational inhibition and deadenylation are independent outputs mediated by distinct domains of TNRC6A, which is an effector protein in the miRNA pathway. Translational inhibition by TNRC6A is divided into two mechanisms: PAM2 motif-mediated interference of poly(A)-binding protein (PABP), and inhibition of 5′ cap- and poly(A) tail-independent step(s) by a previously undescribed P-GL motif. Consistent with these observations, we show that, in zebrafish embryos, miRNA inhibits translation of the target mRNA in a deadenylation- and PABP-independent manner at early time points. These results indicate that miRNA exerts multiple posttranscriptional outputs via physically and functionally independent mechanisms and that direct translational inhibition is central to miRNA-mediated repression.
T helper cell- and CD40-dependent germline IgM prevents chronic virus-induced demyelinating disease
Authors: Gil-Cruz Cristina , Perez-Shibayama Christian , Firner Sonja , Waisman Ari , Bechmann Ingo , Thiel Volker , Cervantes-Barragan Luisa , Ludewig Burkhard
Published: January 2012

Generation of antiviral IgM is usually considered as a marker of a short-lived initial antibody response that is replaced by hypermutated and more-efficient IgG. However, once viruses have established a particular niche for their persistence (e.g., within the CNS), the immune system has to specifically mobilize a broad range of antimicrobial effectors to contain the pathogen in the long term. Infection of the CNS with the mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) provides a unique model situation in which the extent of inflammatory CNS disease is determined by the balance between antiviral immune control, viral replication, and immune-mediated damage. We show here that whereas antibody- or B cell-deficient mice failed to contain MHV CNS infection and developed progressive demyelinating disease, germline IgM produced in activation-induced cytidine deaminase-deficient mice (aicda−/−) provided long-term protection against the chronic multiple sclerosis-like disease. Furthermore, we found that appropriate B-cell activation within the CNS-draining lymph node and subsequent CXCR3-mediated migration of antiviral IgM-secreting cells to the infected CNS was dependent on CD40-mediated interaction of B cells with T helper cells. These data indicate that the CD40-mediated collaboration of T and B cells is critical to secure neuroprotective IgM responses during viral CNS infection.
Metabolic click-labeling with a fucose analog reveals pectin delivery, architecture, and dynamics in
Arabidopsis
cell walls
Authors: Anderson Charles T. , Wallace Ian S. , Somerville Chris R.
Published: January 2012

Polysaccharide-rich cell walls are a defining feature of plants that influence cell division and growth, but many details of cell-wall organization and dynamics are unknown because of a lack of suitable chemical probes. Metabolic labeling using sugar analogs compatible with click chemistry has the potential to provide new insights into cell-wall structure and dynamics. Using this approach, we found that an alkynylated fucose analog (FucAl) is metabolically incorporated into the cell walls of
Arabidopsis thaliana
roots and that a significant fraction of the incorporated FucAl is present in pectic rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I). Time-course experiments revealed that FucAl-containing RG-I first localizes in cell walls as uniformly distributed punctae that likely mark the sites of vesicle-mediated delivery of new polysaccharides to growing cell walls. In addition, we found that the pattern of incorporated FucAl differs markedly along the developmental gradient of the root. Using pulse-chase experiments, we also discovered that the pectin network is reoriented in elongating root epidermal cells. These results reveal previously undescribed details of polysaccharide delivery, organization, and dynamics in cell walls.
Lexicalization of intensifiers
Authors: Wu Aaron Yao-Ren , Biq Yung-O
Published: January 2012

The present study investigates the lexicalization of zhenshi and shizaishi in Taiwan Mandarin, showing how they originate as a fusion of an adverb and the copula/focus marker shi and further develop a non-compositional meaning through talk-in-interaction and function as right peripheral stance markers in speech. Many instances of the copula/focus marker shi in Modern Mandarin have become a word-internal element and merged with an adverb/conjunction to form an X-shi construction semantically similar to the original X. Our targets, zhenshi and shizaishi, are instantiations of this morphological trend. However, through sequence truncation and metonymic inference, the two morphological fusion cases further demonstrate lexicalization as they respectively acquire an evaluative meaning. Our study thus illustrates the emergent nature of grammar/lexicon arising from the interaction among language (syntagmatic co-occurrence), culture (communicative politeness), and cognition (pragmatic inference).
The bei passive and its discourse motivations
Authors: Liu Feng-hsi
Published: January 2012

This study examines the variation between the active and the bei passive in Mandarin Chinese from a probabilistic perspective. The variables considered include discourse continuity factors and adversity. Two different models were built for the active-agentless passive variation and the active-agentive passive variation. Four factors were found to have significant effect: agent thematicity, patient thematicity, adversity, and referential distance. In contrast, the effect of topic persistence and local environment is not significant. The accuracy of prediction for the active-agentless passive variation is significantly higher than the accuracy for the active-agentive passive variation. Overall, the bei passive, either agentless or agentive, is more likely to be chosen over its active counterpart, if it is adversative, has a non-thematic agent, a thematic patient, and a shorter referential distance for the patient.
Textual determinants of a component of literary identification
Authors: Kotovych Maria , Dixon Peter , Bortolussi Marisa , Holden Mark
Published: January 2012

Three experiments were conducted on how properties of the text control one aspect of the process of identifying with the central character in a story. In particular, we were concerned with textual determinants of character transparency, that is, the extent to which the character’s actions and attitudes are clear and understandable. In Experiment 1, we hypothesized that the narrator in first-person narratives is transparent because narratorial implicatures (analogous to Grice’s (1975) notion of conversational implicatures) lead readers to attribute their own knowledge and experience to the narrator. Consistent with our predictions, the results indicated that stating the inferred information explicitly leads readers to rate the narrator’s thoughts and actions as more difficult to understand. In Experiment 2, we assessed whether this effect could be explained by differences in style between the original and modified versions of the text. The results demonstrated that there was no effect of adding text when the material was unrelated to narratorial implicatures. In Experiment 3, we hypothesized that transparency of the central character in a third-person narrative can be produced when the consistent use of free-indirect speech produces a close association between the narrator and the character; in this case, readers may attribute knowledge and experience to the character as well as the narrator. As predicted, the central character’s thoughts and actions were rated as more difficult to understand when the markers for free-indirect speech were removed. We argue that transparency may be produced through the use of what are essential conversational processes invoked in service of understanding the narrator as a conversational participant.