bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Parameter sensitivity of plasma wakefields driven by self-modulating proton beams
Authors: Lotov K. V. , Minakov V. A. , Sosedkin A. P.
Published: August 2014

The dependence of wakefield amplitude and phase on beam and plasma parameters is studied in the parameter area of interest for self-modulating proton beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. The wakefield phase is shown to be extremely sensitive to small variations of the plasma density, while sensitivity to small variations of other parameters is reasonably low. The study of large parameter variations clarifies the effects that limit the achievable accelerating field in different parts of the parameter space: nonlinear elongation of the wakefield period, insufficient charge of the drive beam, emittance-driven beam divergence, and motion of plasma ions.
Structural change upon annealing of amorphous GeSbTe grown on Si(111)
Authors: Bragaglia V. , Jenichen B. , Giussani A. , Perumal K. , Riechert H. , Calarco R.
Published: August 2014

The structural change upon annealing of an amorphous GeSbTe (GST) film deposited by molecular beam epitaxy on a Si(111) substrate is studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD profiles reveal that both metastable cubic and stable hexagonal phases are obtained with a single out-of-plane orientation. XRR study shows a density increase and consequent thickness decrease upon annealing, in accordance with literature. From both, the XRD and the AFM study, it emerges that the crystalline substrate acts as a template for the film, favoring the crystallization of the amorphous GST into the [111] oriented metastable cubic phase, and the latter turns into the [0001] stable hexagonal phase for higher annealing temperature.
Experimental observation of spin-dependent electron many-body effects in CdTe
Authors: Horodyská P. , Němec P. , Novotný T. , Trojánek F. , Malý P.
Published: August 2014

In semiconductors, the spin degree of freedom is usually disregarded in the theoretical treatment of electron many-body effects such as band-gap renormalization and screening of the Coulomb enhancement factor. Nevertheless, as was observed experimentally in GaAs, not only the single-particle phase-space filling but also many-body effects are spin sensitive. In this paper, we report on time- and polarization-resolved differential transmission pump-probe measurements in CdTe, which has the same zincblende crystal structure but different material parameters compared to that of GaAs. We show experimentally that at room temperature in CdTe—unlike in GaAs—the pump-induced decrease of transmission due to the band-gap renormalization can even exceed the transmission increase due to the phase-space filling, which enables to measure directly the spin-sensitivity of the band-gap renormalization. We also observed that the influence of the band-gap renormalization is more prominent at low temperatures.
Fabrication and characterization of junctionless carbon nanotube field effect transistor for cholesterol detection
Authors: Barik Md. Abdul , Dutta Jiten Ch.
Published: August 2014

We have reported fabrication and characterization of polyaniline (PANI)/zinc oxide (ZnO) membrane-based junctionless carbon nanotube field effect transistor deposited on indium tin oxide glass plate for the detection of cholesterol (0.5–22.2 mM). Cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) has been immobilized on the PANI/ZnO membrane by physical adsorption technique. Electrical response has been recorded using digital multimeter (Agilent 3458A) in the presence of phosphate buffer saline of 50 mM, pH 7.0, and 0.9% NaCl contained in a glass pot. The results of response studies for cholesterol reveal linearity as 0.5–16.6 mM and improved sensitivity of 60 mV/decade in good agreement with Nernstian limit ∼59.2 mV/decade. The life time of this sensor has been found up to 5 months and response time of 1 s. The limit of detection with regression coefficient (r) ∼ 0.998 and Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) were found to be ∼0.25 and 1.4 mM, respectively, indicating high affinity of ChOx to cholesterol. The results obtained in this work show negligible interference with glucose and urea.
Low-frequency noise in AlN/AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor devices: A comparison with Schottky devices
Authors: Le Son Phuong , Nguyen Tuan Quy , Shih Hong-An , Kudo Masahiro , Suzuki Toshi-kazu
Published: August 2014

We have systematically investigated low-frequency noise (LFN) in AlN/AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) devices, where the AlN gate insulator layer was sputtering-deposited on the AlGaN surface, in comparison with LFN in AlGaN/GaN Schottky devices. By measuring LFN in ungated two-terminal devices and heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs), we extracted LFN characteristics in the intrinsic gated region of the HFETs. Although there is a bias regime of the Schottky-HFETs in which LFN is dominated by the gate leakage current, LFN in the MIS-HFETs is always dominated by only the channel current. Analyzing the channel-current-dominated LFN, we obtained Hooge parameters α for the gated region as a function of the sheet electron concentration ns under the gate. In a regime of small ns, both the MIS- and Schottky-HFETs exhibit α∝ns−1. On the other hand, in a middle ns regime of the MIS-HFETs, α decreases rapidly like ns−ξ with ξ ∼ 2-3, which is not observed for the Schottky-HFETs. In addition, we observe strong increase in α∝ns3 in a large ns regime for both the MIS- and Schottky-HFETs.
Exciton complexes in low dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides
Authors: Thilagam A.
Published: August 2014

We examine the excitonic properties of layered configurations of low dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (LTMDCs) using the fractional dimensional space approach. The binding energies of the exciton, trion, and biexciton in LTMDCs of varying layers are analyzed, and linked to the dimensionality parameter α, which provides insight into critical electro-optical properties (relative oscillator strength, absorption spectrum, exciton-exciton interaction) of the material systems. The usefulness of α is highlighted by its independence of the physical mechanisms underlying the confinement effects of geometrical structures. Our estimates of the binding energies of exciton complexes for the monolayer configuration of transition metal dichalcogenides suggest a non-collinear structure for the trion and a positronium-molecule-like square structure for the biexciton.
On the dispersion relation of the transit time instability in inverted fireballs
Authors: Gruenwald J.
Published: August 2014

Recently discovered inverted fireballs are non-linear plasma phenomena, which are formed in hollow grid anodes with high transparency in an existing background plasma. If a sufficiently large potential is applied, accelerated electrons from the bulk start to oscillate through the grid. Experimental investigations have shown that they produce different types of plasma instabilities. One of those oscillations is a transit time instability which originates from strong electron beams that travel through the inverted fireball. This type of instability is similar to vircator reflex oscillations and produces radio frequency waves. Hence, it is suitable to convert DC signals into signals oscillating in the MHz range. This paper analyses the dispersion relation of the transit time instability for three different plasma regimes. The regimes can be divided into a collision less regime, a regime with high collisionality and one in between those former two. It is demonstrated that the plasma properties of the surrounding background plasma have a strong influence on the behavior of the instability itself.
Large-amplitude solitons in gravitationally balanced quantum plasmas
Authors: Akbari-Moghanjoughi M.
Published: August 2014

Using the quantum fluid model for self-gravitating quantum plasmas with the Bernoulli pseudopotential method and taking into account the relativistic degeneracy effect, it is shown that gravity-induced large-amplitude density rarefaction solitons can exist in gravitationally balanced quantum plasmas. These nonlinear solitons are generated due to the force imbalance between the gravity and the quantum fluid pressure via local density perturbations, similar to that on shallow waters. It is found that both the fluid mass-density and the atomic-number of the constituent ions have significant effect on the amplitude and width of these solitonic profiles. Existence of a large-scale gravity-induced solitonic activities on neutron-star surface, for instance, can be a possible explanation for the recently proposed resonant shattering mechanism [D. Tsang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 011102 (2012)] causing the intense short gamma ray burst phenomenon, in which release of ≃1046–1047 ergs would be possible from the surface. The resonant shattering of the crust in a neutron star has been previously attributed to the crust-core interface mode and the tidal surface tensions. We believe that current model can be a more natural explanation for the energy liberation by solitonic activities on the neutron star surfaces, without a requirement for external mergers like other neutron stars or black holes for the crustal shatter.
Magnetization dynamics of coupled Ni80Fe20 dots: Effects of configurational anisotropy and dipolar coupling
Authors: Liu X. M. , Ding J. , Singh N. , Shimon G. , Adeyeye A. O.
Published: August 2014

The effects of dipolar coupling on the static and dynamic behavior of coupled Ni80Fe20 dots in two lattice geometries have been systematically investigated as a function of film thickness t. For coupled two dots, a significant decrease in vortex nucleation and annihilation fields and a marked increase in ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) frequency were observed when compared with isolated dots of identical geometrical parameters. Interestingly, for t ≥ 50 nm, when three dots are coupled along two orthogonal directions, two distinct FMR absorption peaks and a two-step switching of vortex annihilation were observed due to configurational anisotropy. Our experimental results are in good agreement with both the analytical and micromagnetic simulations.
Anomalous laser deflection phenomenon based on the interaction of electro-optic and graded refractivity effects in Cu-doped KTa1−xNbxO3 crystal
Authors: Wang Xuping , Liu Bing , Yang Yuguo , Zhang Yuanyuan , Lv Xianshun , Hong Guanglie , Shu Rong , Yu Haohai , Wang Jiyang
Published: August 2014

An abnormal laser deflection phenomenon in a copper-doped KTa1−xNbxO3 (Cu:KTN) crystal is demonstrated in this Letter. A near-50 mrad beam deflection angle was observed when a voltage of 1.2 kV was applied to a Cu:KTN block with size of 2.8 mm × 1.2 mm × 7.5 mm at room temperature. The special features of this deflection phenomenon are that the laser beam deflection direction is perpendicular to the electric field direction, and the beam deflection angle remains unchanged when the electric field direction is reversed. The operating principle of the phenomenon is investigated and the origin of the deflection phenomenon is attributed to an interaction between the graded refractivity effect and the quadratic electro-optic effect of the crystal.
Aerobic microbial activity in four tropical earthworm-soil systems. A mesocosm experiment
Authors: Sierra J. , Loranger-Merciris G. , Desfontaines L. , Boval M.
Published: August 2014

Soil organic matter (SOM) quality and carbon (C) availability may be major features influencing the effect of earthworms on the aerobic processes in clayey tropical soils. In this study, we assessed the effect of an anecic (Polypheretima elongata), an endogeic (Pontoscolex corethrurus) and an epigeic (Eudrilus eugeniae) earthworm on the aerobic microbial activity of two tropical soils, a calcic Vertisol and an acid Ferralsol, with clay content >70% and very different organic C content and SOM stability. The soil–earthworm interaction was studied in a 6-month mesocosm experiment in a greenhouse using soils with and without (control soil) earthworm addition. Potential C mineralisation, actual net nitrogen (N) mineralisation and dehydrogenase activity (DHA), as indicators of the aerobic activity of the soils, and phosphorus (P) availability were determined during the trial. DHA was used as an indicator of the global aerobic activity. Earthworms had little effect on potential C mineralisation but significantly increased actual net N mineralisation. The increase in N mineralisation in the Vertisol was twice as great as, and longer (6 v. 3 months) than for the Ferralsol. Differences between soils for N mineralisation were associated with a less recalcitrant SOM in the Vertisol. Available P increased 10% in the earthworm treatments. Earthworm activity improved N and P availability. DHA was 15 times higher for the Vertisol than for the Ferralsol, but the positive effect of earthworms on DHA was greater for the Ferralsol. This effect was greater for E. eugeniae, probably because of surface burrows generated by this epigeic earthworm, which favoured oxygen entry into the soil. Differences between the two soils were greater for DHA than for C and N mineralisation, and this was observed for the control soils as well as for the earthworm treatments. This indicates that earthworm activity modified the rate of the aerobic processes but it did not affect the intrinsic biological properties of these tropical soils, which were controlled mainly by SOM quality and C availability.
Is wedge-tailed eagle, Aquila audax, survival and breeding success closely linked to the abundance of European rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus?
Authors: Olsen Jerry , Cooke Brian , Trost Susan , Judge David
Published: August 2014

Context Some ecologists argue that nesting success and abundance of wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) are strongly linked to the abundance of introduced wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Consequently, concerns were expressed about eagle population viability when the biological control agent rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) heavily reduced rabbit numbers. However, observations following the spread of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in Australia and Spain (where Aquila adalberti is an equivalent of A. audax) question this assertion. Eagle numbers did not fall even though rabbits declined regionally by up to 90% in both countries. Aims To reconsider the assumption of a strong link between rabbit abundance and wedge-tailed eagle breeding and population maintenance. Dispelling misconceptions, if any, about the eagles’ dependence on rabbits would benefit the future management of both eagles and rabbits. Methods We reviewed the literature associated with claims that eagles were heavily dependent on rabbits and asked whether these views could be substantiated given the lack of changes in eagle abundance following the spread of RHD. Data on eagle egg-clutch size and nesting success were also reviewed. Conclusions There is little evidence that eagles depend heavily on rabbits as prey. Instead, as rabbits decline, more kangaroos, reptiles and birds are eaten, partly because more native prey becomes available. Eagles have a high proportion of rabbits in their diets mainly where degradation of natural ecosystems, including that caused by rabbits, results in native prey being rare or unavailable. There has been minimal variation in average clutch size following major perturbations in rabbit population size. Implications Rather than perpetuating the idea that high populations of rabbits are needed for wedge-tailed eagle conservation, resources would be better re-directed into understanding continental-scale eagle population dynamics. This would provide a more rational framework to assist decisions on future biological control agents for rabbits.
“Dolls or teddies?”
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2014

The concept of ‘community’ often presents a problem for queer linguists. ‘The gay community’ is often viewed as an impossible site for research due to its imagined status, whilst local communities of gay people have been considered too heterogeneous and idiosyncratic to draw conclusions from. In this article, however, it is argued that both of these aspects of community can, and should, be a central focus of an investigation into language and sexual identity. Through the analysis of a conversation emerging from a lesbian group, using a sociocultural linguistics framework, it is argued here that the community of practice approach can play a crucial role in understanding how ideologies from ‘the gay community’ are used to construct a coherent sexual identity on a local level. The analysis reveals how the group engages in practices that enable them to construct micro-level personas in direct response to broader, ideological structures of heteronormativity.
Identity and performance
Authors: Barbé i Serra Alba
Published: August 2014

The vital political processes of those who perform drag king acquire consciousness from historicity but they are also oriented towards the margins of the (hetero) normative construction of feminine subjectivity, independently from any self-definition in relation to gender identities and erotic-sexual desires. Drag king performance is not a linear process, whose practices are simply justified by feminisms and transfeminisms. Drag king performance becomes a site of movement where feminisms and transfeminisms support familiar and unfamiliar practices of resistance. This article draws from conversations with a person who performs drag king in Barcelona and aims to give an overview about how this resistance is not only discursive, but also somatic and corporal.
Early, late or very late?
Authors: Tsimpli Ianthi Maria
Published: August 2014

Research on child bilingualism accounts for differences in the course and the outcomes of monolingual and different types of bilingual language acquisition primarily from two perspectives: age of onset of exposure to the language(s) and the role of the input (Genesee, Paradis, & Crago, 2004;Meisel, 2009;Unsworth et al., 2014). Some findings suggest that early successive bilingual children may pattern similarly to simultaneous bilingual children, passing through different trajectories from child L2 learners due to a later age of onset in the latter group. Studies on bilingual development have also shown that input quantity in bilingual acquisition is considerably reduced, i.e., in each of their two languages, bilingual children are likely exposed to much less input than their monolingual peers (Paradis & Genesee, 1996;Unsworth, 2013b). At the same time, simultaneous bilingual children develop and attain competence in the two languages, sometimes without even an attested age delay compared to monolingual children (Paradis, Genesee & Crago, 2011). The implication is that even half of the input suffices for early language development, at least with respect to ‘core’ aspects of language, in whatever way ‘core’ is defined.

My aim in this article is to consider how an additional, linguistic variable interacts with age of onset and input in bilingual development, namely, the timing in L1 development of the phenomena examined in bilingual children’s performance. Specifically, I will consider timing differences attested in the monolingual development of features and structures, distinguishing between early, late or ‘very late’ acquired phenomena. I will then argue that this three-way distinction reflects differences in the role of narrow syntax: early phenomena are core, parametric and narrowly syntactic, in contrast to late and very late phenomena, which involve syntax-external or even language-external resources too. I explore the consequences of these timing differences in monolingual development for bilingual development. I will review some findings from early (V2 in Germanic, grammatical gender in Greek), late (passives) and very late (grammatical gender in Dutch) phenomena in the bilingual literature and argue that early phenomena can differentiate between simultaneous and (early) successive bilingualism with anadvantage for the former group, while the other two reveal similarly (high or low) performance across bilingual groups, differentiating them from monolinguals. The paper proposes that questions about the role of age of onset and language input in early bilingual development can only be meaningfully addressed when the properties and timing of the phenomena under investigation are taken into account.
Aspectual features in Role and Reference Grammar
Authors: Cortés Rodriguez Francisco J.
Published: August 2014

The kernel of the semantic representation of a predicate in Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) is based on its characterization in terms of an Aktionsart typology based on Vendler’s (1957) classes plus some additional elements from Smith (1997) and Dowty (1979). This means that event structures are mainly considered a lexical phenomenon pertaining to predicates, and only occasionally higher predicational structures are considered in event construction. Even though this approach is adequate to a great extent, there are still some problems in the approach taken in RRG. The most significant drawback is that non-lexical aspects appear intermingled with predicate-only features, which leads to misinterpretations and misclassifications of predicates. Consequently, it sees more sensible to bring a functional model of grammar like RRG to a compromise position and, thus, consider in what ways different units identified as belonging to the different layers in RRG’s syntactic projections ‘conspire’ in the final aspectual characterization of events. In this line, this paper will propose a classification of aspectual features in terms of the levels found in the functional projection of the clause as devised in RRG, namely the Predicate Level (the domain of Aktionsart typology), the Nucleus (where morphological aspect has scope) and the Core (the locus for what will be described as ‘aspectuality’ features).
Processingserandestarto locate objects and events
Authors: Dussias Paola E. , Contemori Carla , Román Patricia
Published: August 2014

In Spanish locative constructions, a different form of the copula is selected in relation to the semantic properties of the grammatical subject: sentences that locate objects requireestarwhile those that locate events requireser(both translated in English as ‘to be’). In an ERP study, we examined whether second language (L2) speakers of Spanish are sensitive to the selectional restrictions that the different types of subjects impose on the choice of the two copulas. Twenty-four native speakers of Spanish and two groups of L2 Spanish speakers (24 beginners and 18 advanced speakers) were recruited to investigate the processing of ‘object/event +estar/ser’ permutations. Participants provided grammaticality judgments on correct (object +estar; event +ser) and incorrect (object +ser; event +estar) sentences while their brain activity was recorded. In line with previous studies (Leone-Fernández, Molinaro, Carreiras, & Barber, 2012; Sera, Gathje, & Pintado, 1999), the results of the grammaticality judgment for the native speakers showed that participants correctly accepted object +estarand event +serconstructions. In addition, while ‘object +ser’ constructions were considered grossly ungrammatical, ‘event +estar’ combinations were perceived as unacceptable to a lesser degree. For these same participants, ERP recording time-locked to the onset of the critical word ‘en’ showed a larger P600 for theserpredicates when the subject was an object than when it was an event (*La silla es en la cocina vs. La fiesta es en la cocina). This P600 effect is consistent with syntactic repair of the defining predicate when it does not fit with the adequate semantic properties of the subject. Forestarpredicates (La silla está en la cocina vs. *La fiesta está en la cocina), the findings showed a central-frontal negativity between 500–700 ms. Grammaticality judgment data for the L2 speakers of Spanish showed that beginners were significantly less accurate than native speakers in all conditions, while the advanced speakers only differed from the natives in the event+serand event+estarconditions. For the ERPs, the beginning learners did not show any effects in the time-windows under analysis. The advanced speakers showed a pattern similar to that of native speakers: (1) a P600 response to ‘object +ser’ violation more central and frontally distributed, and (2) a central-frontal negativity between 500–700 ms for ‘event +estar’ violation. Findings for the advanced speakers suggest that behavioral methods commonly used to assess grammatical knowledge in the L2 may be underestimating what L2 speakers have actually learned.
Discourse-organizational patterns in English and Spanish
Authors: Gómez González María de los Ángeles , García Varela Ana Patricia
Published: August 2014

Cast within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper sheds new light on the ‘thematic management’ of discourse and its interaction with ‘rhetorical management’ in particular, by exploring how the interplay between thematic structure and thematic progression is instantiated in a specific genre, news reports, in English and Spanish. The study shows that, even though there exist a number of differences that are language-determined, genre constraints seem to exert a greater influence because, generally speaking, English and Spanish news reports show greater similarities than differences.
Mapping concepts
Authors: Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez Francisco José
Published: August 2014

The notion of “conceptual mapping”, as a set of correspondences between conceptual domains, was popularized in Cognitive Semantics, following seminal work by Lakoff & Johnson (1980), as a way of accounting for the basic cognitive activity underlying metaphor and metonymy. Strangely enough, Cognitive Semantics has paid little, if any, attention to other cases of so-called figurative language such as hyperbole, irony, paradox, and oxymoron. This paper contends that it is possible to account for these and other figures of thought in terms of the notion of conceptual mapping. It argues that the differences between these and other figurative uses of language are a matter of the nature of the domains involved in mappings and how they are made to correspond. Additionally, this paper examines constraints on mappings and concludes that the same factors that constrain metaphor and metonymy are operational in the case of mappings for the other figures of thought under discussion.
Lexico-grammatical stance in Spanish news reportage
Authors: Gates Tapia Anna M. , Biber Douglas
Published: August 2014

The small South American country of Ecuador has recently come to international attention for perceived threats to journalistic freedom: first a major defamation lawsuit againstEl Universo(filed in March 2011) for unfounded criticisms of President Correa, and more recently passage of a highly controversial law of communications in June, 2013. Due to these developments, there is reason to believe that media reportage in Ecuador will currently be highly circumspect in the expression of opinions and evaluations, discourse functions that have been investigated under the umbrella of ‘stance’ in previous linguistic investigations. However, the situation of media language use in Ecuador is further interesting in that there are both government newspapers as well as privately owned newspapers competing on the open market. Presumably these different newspapers will not be affected in the same ways by the legal actions of the last few years.

To investigate that possibility, the present study documents the lexico-grammatical expression of stance in a large corpus of Ecuadorian newspaper reportage, comparing and contrasting the expression of stance in two major newspapers:El Telégrafo, controlled by the government, andEl Comercio, a privately owned outlet. The study focuses on two major types of lexico-grammatical features used to express stance:que-complement clauses and adverbials. Although the two newspapers are quite similar in the devices preferred for the expression of stance, the analysis also identifies systematic patterns of difference. Surprisingly, the results show that it is the government-controlled newspaper that consistently expresses stance to a greater extent than the privately-owned paper. These results are interpreted relative to the recent legal events in Ecuador, perhaps indicating increased scrutiny of media reportage in the private sector than in the public sector.
Structural change in Catalan discourse
Authors: Forcadell Montserrat , Llopis Jaume
Published: August 2014

For the function of theme-rheme mapping onto sentence structure, Catalan right-dislocation, a syntactically-based operation, is being replaced byin situaccent-shift, a prosodic strategy. This structural innovation found in the data analysed is probably triggered by a calque from English and Spanish, which uses a prosodic variant. The occurrences found in the corpus (oral television production from non-spontaneous, supervised genres) indicate that the phenomenon is occurring unnoticed by language advisors. By showing that a non-standard prosodic strategy alien to the Catalan inventory has increased over the two periods studied, it is proved that the (structural) calque is making progress. The frequency of the occurrence of this calque may pave the way for its acceptance as a valid Catalan resource among Catalan speakers, as the intimate link between prosody and syntax in Catalan is blurred.
The auditory demonstrative in Khaling
Authors: Jacques Guillaume , Lahaussois Aimée
Published: August 2014

This paper shows the existence of an auditory demonstrative in Khaling. The use of the demonstrative is illustrated via examples taken from narrative discourse. It is described here within the context of the spatial demonstrative system, in order to demonstrate how it is specifically used to highlight that perception of the referent is attained using the sense of audition, regardless of the visibility of the object in question. Khaling appears to be unique in having a true auditory demonstrative and it is hoped that this description will prompt field linguists to refine the description of the contrasts found within the demonstrative systems of languages around the world.
Identity, ethnicity and fine phonetic detail
Authors: Alam Farhana , Stuart-Smith Jane
Published: August 2014

English in the Indian diaspora in Britain is of much interest, both in the emergence of regional ethnic Englishes (Heselwood & McChrystal 2000) and in the potential links with language change in mainstream English (Kerswill et al. 2008). Also intriguing are the processes by which features percolate through generations of speakers (Sharma & Sankaran 2011). At the phonological level, subtle differences in phonetic characteristics may index locally-situated social/ethnic identities in second and further generations (Stuart-Smith et al. 2011). Lawson et al. (2011) show that the auditory-articulatory relationship is complex, with very fine-grained phonetic characteristics potentially having salience for a community (Docherty & Foulkes 1999). We present results of an acoustic phonetic analysis of syllable-initial /t/ in adolescent girls of Pakistani heritage in Glasgow. Speech data were drawn from a long-term ethnography in an inner-city secondary school. Several Communities of Practice were identified (cf. Eckert 2000), spanning a continuum from British/western to traditionally Pakistani and/or Muslim practices. Spectral analysis of the stop bursts of /t/ revealed not only clear patterning according to social practices but also gradience for individuals within Communities of Practice. This suggests the emergence of a local ethnic accent with subtle adaptation of heritage features reflecting new emerging identities (cf. Harris 2006).
Unacademic academics: Holocaust deniers and trivializers in post-Communist Romania
Authors: Shafir Michael
Published: August 2014

The Romanian Academy (and much of the country's historical establishment) is packed with Holocaust deniers and trivializers, many of whom indulge in Holocaust obfuscation against the background of the post-Communist “competitive martyrdom” between the victims of the Holocaust and the Gulag. Quite a few of these deniers and trivializers are also former secret police informers. On closer examination, however, it turns out that explaining the reluctance to face the country's “dark past” as being the independent variable resultant of the post “Romanianization” of the Communist Party and its Securitate is a partial explanation at best. A substantially more convincing one might be provided by scrutinizing the phenomenon as the product of post-mnemonic cultural traumas.
Multilingualism in urban Hungary, 1880–1910
Authors: Varga Bálint
Published: August 2014

Based on statistical sources, this paper examines to what extent citizens of the most advanced provincial cities in fin-de-siècle Hungary were multilingual. I argue that multilingualism was a far less present phenomenon than scholarship suggests. The exact features of multilingualism were closely connected to the local social relations (religion, gender, etc.) and market of languages. The growing nationalism promoted by the Hungarian government and the expansion of Magyar public space had an ambiguous impact on multilingualism, depending on the local society.
Overexpression of RhoA promotes the proliferation and migration of cervical cancer cells
Authors: Liu Xiaojun , Chen Dong , Liu Guifeng
Published: August 2014

The pro-oncogenic role of RhoA has been well identified in other cancers, but rarely in cervical cancer (CC), one of the main causes of cancer-related death in women. In the present study, we identified the overexpression of RhoA and its downstream effectors, ROCK-1 and ROCK-II, in CC specimens using western blotting. Then, we determined the effect of RhoA on the proliferation and migration of Hela cells, one of CC cell lines, by upregulating or downregulating the RhoA expression in Hela cells. We found that there was an overexpression of RhoA, ROCK-I/II in CC, which was associated with the progression of CC. And we confirmed that RhoA promoted the proliferation and migration of CC cells. In conclusion, we found a positive correlation among RhoA with the progression of CC by in vivo and in vitro evidences. A high RhoA expression in CC may predict a high metastatic potential of CC.
3-deoxysilybin exerts anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing NF-κB activation in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages
Authors: Cho Byoung Ok , So Yangkang , Jin Chang Hyun , Nam Bo Mi , Yee Sung-Tae , Jeong Il Yun
Published: August 2014

3-deoxysilybin (3-DS), also known as (–)-isosilandrin A, is a natural flavonoid of Silybum marianum. This study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect and the underlying molecular mechanisms of 3-DS in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. 3-DS dose-dependently inhibited the production of NO and the expression of iNOS in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. 3-DS also inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (MCP-1, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Moreover, 3-DS decreased the NF-κB DNA binding activity in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Furthermore, 3-DS suppressed NF-κB activation by inhibiting the degradation of IκBα and nuclear translocation of p65 subunit of NF-κB in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Taken together, the present study suggests for the first time that 3-DS may exhibit an anti-inflammatory effect through the suppression of NF-κB transcriptional activation in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages.
‘Questo cor che tuo si rese’: the private and the public in Italian women's love letters in the long nineteenth century
Authors: Lyons Martyn
Published: August 2014

Love letters are attracting increasing scholarly attention, especially from historians of scribal culture and historians of emotions. This article brings these two strands together to explore the unpublished love letters of four Italian women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Their letters, spanning a period from the 1840s up to the First World War, provide insights into the genre, and into women's lives and emotions in this period. Three of them were from the bourgeoisie orpiccola borghesiaand one, in slightly contrasting mode, was a peasant. Women of the middle class lived a secluded life, and writing was essential to express themselves, to construct an identity and to become visible. Their love letters were anything but private: they were continually supervised and scrutinised by their families, so that their letters inevitably had a public quality and were sometimes multi-authored. Single young women needed to subvert social rules in order to establish their independence and claim private space for their love correspondence.
Condensin suppresses recombination and regulates double-strand break processing at the repetitive ribosomal DNA array to ensure proper chromosome segregation during meiosis in budding yeast
Authors: Li Ping , Jin Hui , Yu Hong-Guo
Published: August 2014

During meiosis, homologues are linked by crossover, which is required for bipolar chromosome orientation before chromosome segregation at anaphase I. The repetitive ribosomal DNA (rDNA) array, however, undergoes little or no meiotic recombination. Hyperrecombination can cause chromosome missegregation and rDNA copy number instability. We report here that condensin, a conserved protein complex required for chromosome organization, regulates double-strand break (DSB) formation and repair at the rDNA gene cluster during meiosis in budding yeast. Condensin is highly enriched at the rDNA region during prophase I, released at the prophase I/metaphase I transition, and reassociates with rDNA before anaphase I onset. We show that condensin plays a dual role in maintaining rDNA stability: it suppresses the formation of Spo11-mediated rDNA breaks, and it promotes DSB processing to ensure proper chromosome segregation. Condensin is unnecessary for the export of rDNA breaks outside the nucleolus but required for timely repair of meiotic DSBs. Our work reveals that condensin coordinates meiotic recombination with chromosome segregation at the repetitive rDNA sequence, thereby maintaining genome integrity.
A Rab10:RalA G protein cascade regulates insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in adipocytes
Authors: Karunanithi Sheelarani , Xiong Tingting , Uhm Maeran , Leto Dara , Sun Jingxia , Chen Xiao-Wei , Saltiel Alan R.
Published: August 2014

Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in fat and muscle is mediated by the major facilitative glucose transporter Glut4. Insulin controls the trafficking of Glut4 to the plasma membrane via regulation of a series of small G proteins, including RalA and Rab10. We demonstrate here that Rab10 is a bona fide target of the GTPase-activating protein AS160, which is inhibited after phosphorylation by the protein kinase Akt. Once activated, Rab10 can increase the GTP binding of RalA by recruiting the Ral guanyl nucleotide exchange factor, Rlf/Rgl2. Rab10 and RalA reside in the same pool of Glut4-storage vesicles in untreated cells, and, together with Rlf, they ensure maximal glucose transport. Overexpression of membrane-tethered Rlf compensates for the loss of Rab10 in Glut4 translocation, suggesting that Rab10 recruits Rlf to membrane compartments for RalA activation and that RalA is downstream of Rab10. Together these studies identify a new G protein cascade in the regulation of insulin-stimulated Glut4 trafficking and glucose uptake.
HIV-1 Nef and KSHV oncogene K1 synergistically promote angiogenesis by inducing cellular miR-718 to regulate the PTEN/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway
Authors: Xue Min , Yao Shuihong , Hu Minmin , Li Wan , Hao Tingting , Zhou Feng , Zhu Xiaofei , Lu Hongmei , Qin Di , Yan Qin , Zhu Jianzhong , Gao Shou-Jiang , Lu Chun
Published: August 2014

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an AIDS-defining cancer with aberrant neovascularization caused by KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). Although the interaction between HIV-1 and KSHV plays a pivotal role in promoting the aggressive manifestations of KS, the pathogenesis underlying AIDS-KS remains largely unknown. Here we examined HIV-1 Nef protein promotion of KSHV oncoprotein K1-induced angiogenesis. We showed that both internalized and ectopic expression of Nef in endothelial cells synergized with K1 to facilitate vascular tube formation and cell proliferation, and enhance angiogenesis in a chicken CAM model. In vivo experiments further indicated that Nef accelerated K1-induced angiogenesis and tumorigenesis in athymic nu/nu mice. Mechanistic studies revealed that Nef and K1 synergistically activated PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling by downregulating PTEN. Furthermore, Nef and K1 induced cellular miR-718, which inhibited PTEN expression by directly targeting a seed sequence in the 3′ UTR of its mRNA. Inhibition of miR-718 expression increased PTEN synthesis and suppressed the synergistic effect of Nef- and K1-induced angiogenesis and tumorigenesis. These results indicate that, by targeting PTEN, miR-718 mediates Nef- and K1-induced angiogenesis via activation of AKT/mTOR signaling. Our results demonstrate an essential role of miR-718/AKT/mTOR axis in AIDS-KS and thus may represent an attractive therapeutic target.
Extensive remodeling of DC function by rapid maturation-induced transcriptional silencing
Authors: Seguín-Estévez Queralt , Dunand-Sauthier Isabelle , Lemeille Sylvain , Iseli Christian , Ibberson Mark , Ioannidis Vassilios , Schmid Christoph D. , Rousseau Philippe , Barras Emmanuèle , Geinoz Antoine , Xenarios Ioannis , Acha-Orbea Hans , Reith Walter
Published: August 2014

The activation, or maturation, of dendritic cells (DCs) is crucial for the initiation of adaptive T-cell mediated immune responses. Research on the molecular mechanisms implicated in DC maturation has focused primarily on inducible gene-expression events promoting the acquisition of new functions, such as cytokine production and enhanced T-cell-stimulatory capacity. In contrast, mechanisms that modulate DC function by inducing widespread gene-silencing remain poorly understood. Yet the termination of key functions is known to be critical for the function of activated DCs. Genome-wide analysis of activation-induced histone deacetylation, combined with genome-wide quantification of activation-induced silencing of nascent transcription, led us to identify a novel inducible transcriptional-repression pathway that makes major contributions to the DC-maturation process. This silencing response is a rapid primary event distinct from repression mechanisms known to operate at later stages of DC maturation. The repressed genes function in pivotal processes—including antigen-presentation, extracellular signal detection, intracellular signal transduction and lipid-mediator biosynthesis—underscoring the central contribution of the silencing mechanism to rapid reshaping of DC function. Interestingly, promoters of the repressed genes exhibit a surprisingly high frequency of PU.1-occupied sites, suggesting a novel role for this lineage-specific transcription factor in marking genes poised for inducible repression.
Shaping Bacterial Symbiosis With Legumes by Experimental Evolution
Authors: Marchetti Marta , Jauneau Alain , Capela Delphine , Remigi Philippe , Gris Carine , Batut Jacques , Masson-Boivin Catherine
Published: August 2014

Nitrogen-fixing symbionts of legumes have appeared after the emergence of legumes on earth, approximately 70 to 130 million years ago. Since then, symbiotic proficiency has spread to distant genera of α- and β-proteobacteria, via horizontal transfer of essential symbiotic genes and subsequent recipient genome remodeling under plant selection pressure. To tentatively replay rhizobium evolution in laboratory conditions, we previously transferred the symbiotic plasmid of the Mimosa symbiont Cupriavidus taiwanensis in the plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, and selected spontaneous nodulating variants of the chimeric Ralstonia sp. using Mimosa pudica as a trap. Here, we pursued the evolution experiment by submitting two of the rhizobial drafts to serial ex planta–in planta (M. pudica) passages that may mimic alternating of saprophytic and symbiotic lives of rhizobia. Phenotyping 16 cycle-evolved clones showed strong and parallel evolution of several symbiotic traits (i.e., nodulation competitiveness, intracellular infection, and bacteroid persistence). Simultaneously, plant defense reactions decreased within nodules, suggesting that the expression of symbiotic competence requires the capacity to limit plant immunity. Nitrogen fixation was not acquired in the frame of this evolutionarily short experiment, likely due to the still poor persistence of final clones within nodules compared with the reference rhizobium C. taiwanensis. Our results highlight the potential of experimental evolution in improving symbiotic proficiency and for the elucidation of relationship between symbiotic capacities and elicitation of immune responses.
Key Mutations in the Cylindrical Inclusion Involved in Lettuce mosaic virus Adaptation to eIF4E-Mediated Resistance in Lettuce
Authors: Sorel M. , Svanella-Dumas L. , Candresse T. , Acelin G. , Pitarch A. , Houvenaghel M. C. , German-Retana S.
Published: August 2014

We previously showed that allelic genes mo11 and mo12 used to protect lettuce crops against Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) correspond to mutant alleles of the gene encoding the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E. LMV resistance-breaking determinants map not only to the main potyvirus virulence determinant, a genome-linked viral protein, but also to the C-terminal region of the cylindrical inclusion (CI), with a key role of amino acid at position 621. Here, we show that the propagation of several non-lettuce isolates of LMV in mo11 plants is accompanied by a gain of virulence correlated with the presence in the CI C terminus of a serine at position 617 and the accumulation of mutations at positions 602 or 627. Whole-genome sequencing of native and evolved isolates showed that no other mutation could be associated with adaptation to mo1 resistance. Site-directed mutagenesis pinpointed the key role in the virulence of the combination of mutations at positions 602 and 617, in addition to position 621. The impact of these mutations on the fitness of the virus was evaluated, suggesting that the durability of mo1 resistance in the field relies on the fitness cost associated with the resistance-breaking mutations, the nature of the mutations, and their potential antagonistic effects.
Proptosis Caused by Rhabdomyomatous Mesenchymal Hamartomata Occurring in the Orbit
Authors: Phan Isabella T. , Courtney R. Jackson , Marx Douglas P. , Wilson David J. , Mansoor Atiya , Ng John D.
Published: August 2014

Two infants were referred for progressive orbital proptosis. MRI in both cases demonstrated a homogenous mass in the orbit adherent to and isointense with a rectus muscle. Histopathology in both cases demonstrated a bland proliferation of spindle cells with entrapped skeletal muscle. Immunochemistry demonstrated that the abnormal tissue was of skeletal muscle origin, consistent with rhabdomyomatous mesenchymal hamartoma (RMH). Observation was elected due to the reported benign nature of RMH. In contrast to RMH of the cutaneous tissues that typically follows a benign course, RMH of the orbit may present with rapid growth.
Stenotrophomonas
maltophilia: an emerging pathogen in dialysis units
Authors: De Mauri Andreana , Torreggiani Massimo , Chiarinotti Doriana , Andreoni Stefano , Molinari Gianlorenzo , De Leo Martino
Published: August 2014

Infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with end stage renal disease. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an unusual yet emerging pathogen in dialysis units. We performed a systematic PubMed/Medline and Scopus review of peer-reviewed English papers on S. maltophilia infections among patients undergoing chronic dialysis, with regard to vascular accesses, systemic infections and environment contaminations. Moreover, we suggest a treatment algorithm to preserve the patient and the permanent dialysis catheters.