bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lessons of variability in clause coordination
Authors: Kibrik Aleksandr E.
Published: March 2014

This paper analyzes syntactic constructions of semantically coordinated clauses in 23 Daghestanian languages. The abundance of surface coding techniques calls for a principled explanation of basic grammatical and cognitive mechanisms underlying this variability and restricting it to attested patterns. The analysis is based on the hypothesis that there exists a multifactorial mechanism of mapping cognitively adjacent events that occur either sequentially or simultaneously and usually share participants in syntactically subordinating clause chaining exploiting anaphoric dependencies. Two types of factors are claimed to constitute the basis of this multifactorial mechanism: (1) strategies that are local factors determining the formation of a given type of construction, and (2) principles that relate to the basic syntactic options in a language. These determine a wide range of components of linguistic structure, especially the choice of specific strategies for forming various constructions. Instead of traditional taxonomic methods for classifying attested constructions, I propose a multifactorial second-order calculus, which operates on cognitive objects or factors that are responsible for the formation of specific constructions.
The satem shift, Armenian siseṙn, and the early Indo-European of the Balkans
Authors: Darden Bill J.
Published: March 2014

The satem languages should have been contiguous and in a limited area at the time of the changes they share. The most likely area is the Russian steppe and immediately adjacent areas of the upper Balkans and Ukraine, between 3500 and 2500 BC. The location of Armenian at this time is somewhat controversial. Innovations/loan words like *īwōn ‘pillar’, shared with Greek, indicate at least geographic proximity before the satem change. The word *ier- is found, meaning ‘chickpea’ or ‘grass pea’. The grass pea, not the chickpea, is found in the satem area (the upper Balkans) in the proper time frame and may provide the original meaning. Since Armenian has this word with the satem reflex, siseṙn, we can argue that pre-Armenians were in the upper Balkans at the time of the satem change.
The morphology of imperatives in Lak
Authors: Friedman Victor A.
Published: March 2014

The choice of stem vowel in the Lak second singular affirmative transitive imperative (2sgafftriv) is highly unpredictable and is the least normalized area of Lak grammar. None of the codifying works of Lak supply this form, and the proposed rules have approximately a 50 percent degree of accuracy. Based on available written sources as well as field work in Lakkia, this article presents the first comprehensive treatment of 2sgafftriv in Lak and proposes that the differences go back to the same sort or animacy and transitivity criteria suggested by the system that survives in Dargi. The two appendices serve as (1) a dictionary of 2sgafftriv Lak imperative formation and (2) a classification by stem vowel and attestation for use by Caucasologists and typologists.
Real data, contrived data, and the Yokuts Canon
Authors: Weigel William F.
Published: March 2014

For nearly half a century, Yokuts languages, especially Yowlumni (Yawelmani), have served as a “testing ground” in theoretical phonology. However, the data cited in this literature are, more often than not, forms contrived using rules adduced in the principle descriptive work (Newman 1944) rather than actually attested forms. This paper examines the scope of this practice and its implications from the perspective of scientific methodology. It also suggests reasons why Yokuts languages in particular have attracted so much attention from phonologists.
Nominative-absolutive
Authors: Gildea Spike , Alves Flávia Castro
Published: March 2014

Nominative-absolutive alignment is a form of split-ergativity in two ways. The first split is internal to the clause type, which presents both nominative and absolutive morphological patterns with no corresponding accusative or ergative patterns: most present no nominal case-marking (although in two of the languages described here, free pronouns can be used only for nominative arguments); where there is auxiliary agreement, it is always with the nominative; absolutive pronominal enclitics mark the main verb. The label nominative-absolutive follows from the absence of a distinct marked accusative or ergative pattern. The second split is based on tense-aspect-mood-polarity, in which the nominative-absolutive clauses code future, imperfective, irrealis, and negative. These patterns are both counter to the expected universal patterns identified in the typological literature: no other cases have been identified in which case-marking is nominative while verbal cross-referencing is absolutive, and the universally expected semantic values of the ergative clause type are, respectively, past, perfective, realis and positive. We conclude by asking if the number of counter-examples to putative universals of split ergativity should lead us to question the validity of the definition for the typological category “ergative construction”.
The intransitive basis of Movima clause structure
Authors: Haude Katharina
Published: March 2014

In Movima (unclassified, lowland Bolivia), the arguments of a transitive clause are basically encoded according to the position of their referents in a salience hierarchy, which includes deictic, semantic, and pragmatic levels. The participant roles of the arguments (actor or undergoer) are indicated by direct and inverse marking on the predicate. The argument whose referent is lower in the hierarchy is encoded in the same way as the single argument of intransitive clauses, and it also has a privileged syntactic status. This results in an unusual split-ergative alignment pattern: the direct construction, which is pragmatically unmarked, patterns ergatively, and the inverse construction patterns accusatively. I propose that the system can be accounted for by the syntactic similarity of nouns and verbs and the identical encoding of the possessor and the salient argument of a transitive clause. Both transitive and intransitive clauses may, therefore, have arisen from an intransitive equational construction with either a monovalent/nonpossessed or a bivalent/possessed predicate nominal.
How synchronic gradience makes sense in the light of language change
(and vice versa)
Authors: Rosenbach Anette
Published: March 2014

The present paper argues for a diachronic approach to synchronic gradience which is based on a mismatch between the syntax and the semantics of constructions. Another central claim made in this paper is that syntactic gradience is not confined to morphosyntactic overlap but may be constituted by semantic overlap (pace Aarts 2007). More precisely, it is argued that there is gradience between constructions with genitives (John’s father, a spare visitor’s chair) and noun+noun constructions (theatre ticket, Bush administration), which stems from their sharing certain semantic features, while their morphosyntax remains distinct. Based on a quantitative corpus analysis it is shown that the constructions gradually come to adopt semantic features of the other construction over time. This process is facilitated by the presence of various ‘bridging constructions’ in the history of English.
What can synchronic gradience tell us about reanalysis?
Authors: Hilpert Martin
Published: March 2014

This paper discusses verb-first conditionals (Had I known this, I would have stayed at home) with regard to the hypothesis that the construction developed from a dialogual sequence into a hypotactic structure. While plausible, independent evidence for this scenario has been scarce. An alternative account posits that questions could have been analogized with existing conditional clause types, making it possible for speakers to use questions as conditional protases. The present study assesses these two hypotheses on the basis of present-day corpus data from German and Swedish. Crucial to this approach is the notion that a reanalyzed structure retains aspects of its original source. Put simply, if the protasis of a verb-first conditional developed out of a question, it should retain some question-like characteristics, even after reanalysis. Further, if verb-first conditionals have become grammaticalized more strongly in one language than in another, the less-grammaticalized construction should display more question-like characteristics.
The interactional profile of a placeholder
Authors: Keevallik Leelo
Published: March 2014

Fillers are used to delay the next due unit in talk. The study argues that there may be interpersonal advantages in the delay of key items in turns, such as easing the processing for the recipient, announcing structural boundaries in conversation, and displaying orientation to the sensitiveness of the action. The subject matter of the paper is the Estonian pronoun and demonstrative see, which is also used as a placeholder. See projects a noun as the next due item and locally organizes the actions of the participants so that either the speaker or the recipient will produce it. Its particular interactional affordance is one of enabling the ordering of elements of noun phrases in ways that breach the rules of grammatical well-formedness. Keywords: demonstrative; grammar in interaction; projection; Estonian; filler
On problem areas in grammaticalization
Authors: Fischer Olga
Published: March 2014

In a number of recent studies on grammaticalization, it has been argued that the Lehmannian parameter of scope decrease does not work, and that instead scope increase is involved. In this paper I will look at a classic case of grammaticalization, that of the English modals, and suggest that the scope increase observed here can be seen as a case of scope stability provided one takes other constructions involving modals into account. Generally, it will be argued that grammaticalization should not be seen as an independent unidirectional mechanism driving change. Rather, each case of change is the result of the synchronic variable system in which it functions, in which analogy and frequency, as well as economy provide the main mechanisms for change.
A Wolof trace in the verbal system of the Portuguese Creole of Santiago Island (Cape Verde)
Authors: Lang Jürgen
Published: March 2014

A few cases of simple relexification of elements from Wolof in Santiago Creole suggest that the Wolofs were the dominant linguistic group amongst the “creolisers” in Santiago. Two arguments taken from the history of the slave trade will be proposed to confirm this hypothesis. In a final section, we present a case of the survival, in a simplified form, of a verbal category of Wolof in Santiago Creole: The imperfective variety of the Wolof ‘situative’ survives in a semantically simplified form in the progressive of Santiago Creole. Both categories are marked by a series of two verbal particles, the second of which is the marker of imperfectivity. However, the Santiago Creole progressive has retained only the progressive meaning of the imperfective variety of the Wolof ‘situative’, abandoning its ‘situative’ meaning. Such cases suggest that, in the creolisation process, the language structures of the group dominant amongst the creolisers more often survive in a modified form (generally, simplified) than as simple calques. Arguably, these modifications/simplifications are intended to ease the joining of other groups.
Substrate influences in Kriyol
Authors: Kihm Alain
Published: March 2014

Kriyol is a Portuguese-related creole language spoken in Guinea-Bissau (former Portuguese Guinea) and Senegalese Casamance. Besides being the primary language of an important community, it also serves as a lingua franca in a multilingual country where Portuguese, although being the official language, actually has little currency. Kriyol counts among the oldest Creoles in the world, having emerged probably during the sixteenth century from a pidginised variety of Portuguese used by the local intermediaries (grumetes) between the few Portuguese settlers and the local populations. Given this situation, one would expect a high degree of substrate influence. In fact, substrate influence, although readily visible, turns out to be limited as can be shown by comparing core grammatical phenomena between Kriyol and a selection of local languages (Balanta, Diola, Manjaku, Mankanya). It is proposed that the main reasons for such a limitation are (1) that the creole-creating grumetes soon formed a tightly united group with its own culture; and (2) that they were perfectly bilingual in Kriyol and one or several local languages, therefore able to keep their grammars separate.
Dravidian features in the Sri Lankan Malay verb
Authors: Slomanson Peter
Published: March 2014

The variety of Malay brought to Sri Lanka from Indonesia beginning in the mid-seventeenth century was a largely isolating SVO language, whose grammar has changed radically over time. Modern Sri Lankan Malay (SLM) remains a language of predominantly Austronesian lexical inventory, but its grammar is now highly Dravidianised. This development is plausibly accounted for by postulating the convergence of L1 and L2 varieties in the many Muslim communities in which the interaction of Malay speakers and speakers of the Dravidian language Sonam (Sri Lankan Muslim Tamil) was intensive and the communal and cultural role of Sonam in the life of the Malay communities significant. This influence is noticeable from the diffusion of a number of Dravidian morphosyntactic features into SLM, including inter alia the accretion of a three-way morphological tense contrast where none was previously present, its suppression in negated clauses, and a robust finiteness contrast that marks the divergent status of matrix and non-matrix clauses. The SLM verb phrase, conservative in linear order, nevertheless strongly reflects a Sonam morphosyntactic model. A plausible catalyst for this development is accommodation of the discourse culture associated with the Sri Lankan sprachbund, in which the most recent event must appear last and must be realised as a matrix clause dominating one or more non-finite clauses. Those [non-matrix] clauses represent preceding events.
Limits of the substrate
Authors: Terrill Angela
Published: March 2014

What grammatical elements of a substrate language find their way into a creole? Grammatical features of the Oceanic substrate languages have been shown to be crucial in the development of Solomon Islands Pijin and of Melanesian Pidgin as a whole (Keesing 1988), so one might expect constructions which are very stable in the Oceanic family of languages to show up as substrate influence in the creole. This paper investigates three constructions in Oceanic languages which have been stable over thousands of years and persist throughout a majority of the Oceanic languages spoken in the Solomon Islands. The paper asks whether these are the sorts of constructions which could be expected to be reflected in Solomon Islands Pijin and shows that none of these persistent constructions appears in Solomon Islands Pijin at all. The absence of these constructions in Solomon Islands Pijin could be due to simplification: Creole genesis involves simplification of the substrate grammars. However, while simplification could be the explanation, it is not necessarily the case that all complex structures become simplified. For instance Solomon Islands Pijin pronoun paradigms are more complex than those in English, but the complexity is similar to that of the substrate languages. Thus it is not the case that all areas of a creole language are necessarily simplified. One must therefore look further than just simplification for an explanation of the presence or absence of stable grammatical features deriving from the substrate in creole languages. An account based on constraints in specific domains (Siegel 1999) is a better predictor of the behaviour of substrate constructions in Solomon Islands Pijin.
On the polyfunctionality and grammaticalization of the morpheme kai in the Chaozhou dialect
Authors: Xu Hui Ling , Matthews Stephen
Published: March 2014

The morpheme kai is among the most frequent and polyfunctional in Chaozhou, a Min dialect of Chinese. The present paper aims to present a descriptive and analytical account of the various functions of kai from Chaozhou in order to shed more light on nominalization and the diachronic development of nominalizers. We discuss the use of the morpheme kai in classifier, genitive, possessive, pronominal, relative clause marker, nominalizer and sentence-final stance-marking functions. Our data provide further support for some pathways of grammaticalization conjectured or attested in various languages, including the links between adnominal markers and nominalization and between nominalization and stance marking.
Versatility of nominalizations
Authors: Horie Kaoru
Published: March 2014

This paper presents a contrastive analysis of Japanese and Korean nominalized constructions, i.e. (I) Head Internal Relatives (HIRs) and (II) Sentence-final nominalized constructions. Japanese HIRs are shown to manifest a greater degree of cross-constructional extension than their Korean counterparts. Sentence-final nominalized constructions, which take on various pragmatic-semantic functions, also display a parallel cross-linguistic contrast in terms of interpretive versatility. This paper argues that these cross-linguistic contrasts are correlated with the differential degrees of functional extension of non-conclusive verb forms as nominal, and finally with the differential preferences toward noun-oriented structures between Japanese and Korean.
The functions of -an and =ay in Kavalan
Authors: Hsieh Fuhui
Published: March 2014

This paper reassesses the functions of -an and =ay constructions in Kavalan, a highly endangered Formosan language spoken in eastern Taiwan. The two types of constructions have previously been identified as nominalization and relativization constructions. In the present analysis, Croft’s theory of conceptual space for parts of speech is used to show that both -an and =ay in Kavalan have a wider range of distribution and functions than has been identified in earlier studies. In spite of differences in morphology, -an and =ay share something in common with regard to their functions and syntactic behavior. In other words, they are not two distinct operations at the syntactic level, nor do they display single, clear-cut categorical differences in terms of semantics and pragmatics.
Discourse-structuring functions of Abui demonstratives
Authors: Kratochvíl František
Published: March 2014

In a number of East and South-East Asian languages, certain grammatical elements such as pronouns, generic nouns, or demonstratives (e.g. one, thing, this) have acquired additional pragmatic functions. Well-documented examples of this grammaticalization process are the Mandarin de, the Malay punya/nya/mia and the Japanese no (cf. Yap, Matthews et al. 2004); the grammaticalized element occurs in the sentence-final position encoding speaker’s certainty about the proposition. A similar development has taken place in Abui (a Papuan language of Eastern Indonesia); markers describing speaker’s attitude towards a proposition (evidentiality and assertion) are recruited from two sources: (i) demonstratives and (ii) the utterance verb ba ‘say’.
Subordination in Cholón
Authors: Alexander-Bakkerus Astrid
Published: March 2014

In Cholón, an indigenous language from northern Peru, subordinate clauses are formed by means of nominalizers or subordinators. Most of these markers attach to reduced verb forms, but some nominalizers are attached to a fully inflected form. Nominalizers can be followed by a case marker or by a combination of case markers. This paper deals with the different subordinate clauses found in the data gathered by Fray Pedro de la Mata in the 18th century, and it discusses how they are formed, in particular with respect to the employment of subordinating and nominalizing suffixes and of case markers.
Cofán subordinate clauses in a typology of subordination
Authors: Fischer Rafael , van Lier Eva
Published: March 2014

This paper presents various types of subordinate clauses in Cofán, an isolate language spoken on both sides of the Ecuadorian-Colombian border. These constructions are evaluated in light of parameters used in typological studies on subordination. We show that Cofán has two types of subordinate clauses: (i) Those that are marked with special forms of the dependent verb, and (ii) those that are marked with cliticized conjunctions, which appear attached to the dependent verb for reasons of word order, but do not affect the internal structure of the subordinate clause. In addition, our case study illustrates some more general problems involved in the application of cross-linguistic formal criteria to an individual language, with specific reference to finiteness and argument coding.
7. Description of reciprocal situations in Lao
Authors: Enfield N.J.
Published: March 2014

This article describes the grammatical resources available to speakers of Lao for describing situations that can be described broadly as ‘reciprocal’. The analysis is based on complementary methods: elicitation by means of non-linguistic stimuli, exploratory consultation with native speakers, and investigation of corpora of spontaneous language use. Typically, reciprocal situations are described using a semantically general ‘collaborative’ marker on an action verb. The resultant meaning is that some set of people participate in a situation ‘together’, broadly construed. The collaborative marker is found in two distinct syntactic constructions, which differ in terms of their information structural contexts of use. The paper first explores in detail the semantic range of the collaborative marker as it occurs in the more common ‘Type 1’ construction, and then discusses a special pragmatic context for the ‘Type 2’ construction. There is some methodological discussion concerning the results of elicitation via video stimuli. The chapter also discusses two specialised constructions dedicated to the expression of strict reciprocity.
12. Expression of reciprocity in Savosavo
Authors: Wegener Claudia
Published: March 2014

This paper describes how reciprocity is expressed in the Papuan (i.e. non-Austronesian­) language Savosavo, spoken in the Solomon Islands. The main strategy is to use the reciprocal nominal mapamapa, which can occur in different NP positions and always triggers default third person singular masculine agreement, regardless of the number and gender of the referents. After a description of this as well as another strategy that is occasionally used (the ‘joint activity construction’), the paper will provide a detailed analysis of data elicited with set of video stimuli and show that the main strategy is used to describe even clearly asymmetric situations, as long as more than one person acts on more than one person in a joint activity.
13. To have and have not
Authors: Senft Gunter
Published: March 2014

Kilivila is one of the languages of the world that lacks dedicated reciprocal forms. After a short introduction the paper briefly shows how reciprocity is either not expressed at all, is only implicated in an utterance, or expressed periphrastically.
14. Strategies for encoding reciprocity in Mawng
Authors: Singer Ruth
Published: March 2014

This chapter provides the first detailed description of the form and use of the three strategies for expressing reciprocity in Mawng, a non-Pama Nyungan language of the Iwaidjan language family (Australia). The only productive strategy is the reciprocal complex construction which has transparently developed from a biclausal reciprocal construction. Other strategies for encoding reciprocity include the use of a highly restricted verbal suffix ‑njili and the use of naturally reciprocal predicates in the unmarked “bare reciprocal construction”. Since there is only one productive way to form reciprocals in Mawng, choice of strategy is not determined by the semantics of an event but is structurally constrained by the constructional combinatorics of the predicate most appropriate to the event.
16. Reciprocal constructions in Olutec
Authors: Maldonado Roberto Zavala
Published: March 2014

Olutec exhibits three reciprocal strategies each of which convey different levels of prominence of the second reciprocant. In the conjoined subject strategy/, both reciprocants share the same topical status. In the /subject cum adjunct strategy/ the second reciprocant is treated as background information; while in the /subject and object strategy/, the second reciprocant shares the same degree of prominence with the regular primary object. The existence of these three strategies within a language indicates that the pragmatic status of the reciprocants is a key factor to be considered in the cross-linguistic study of reciprocal constructions.
There’s more than “more animate”
Authors: Song Jae Jung
Published: March 2014

This article provides a semantic/cognitive account of the Organization/Document Construction (ODC) in Korean, with a locative nominal expressing an agent, and behaving like a subject. The article argues that metonymy provides little insight into the conceptualization involved in the ODC. Moreover, animacy, involved in the metonymy analysis, is too broad a concept to be of much use for an understanding of the ODC. The article invokes inferred animacy, including sentience, intentionality and responsibility, in order to account for the metonymic construal. This analysis also makes sense of the use of the locative, as opposed to nominative, particle in the ODC. The function of the locative particle in the ODC is to mark the agent’s responsibility as limited to where the action takes place.
A survey of the origins of directional case suffixes in European Uralic
Authors: Ylikoski Jussi
Published: March 2014

This paper surveys the origins of the total of twenty-seven directional case markers in the European branches of the Uralic language family. In an attempt to resolve a number of mismatches between the traditional tenets of historical Uralistics and the contemporary typological knowledge of the development of cases, the study also addresses the relevance of diachronic perspectives in mapping the synchronic interrelations of the various semantic roles marked by directional cases across languages. The data obtained from a continuum of etymologically transparent and opaque cases within inflectional paradigms of various sizes not only corroborates but also adds to our understanding of grammaticalization of postpositions to suffixes, also leaving space for alternative paths of development of case markers.
Case on the margins
Authors: Næss Åshild
Published: March 2014

This paper examines the argument-marking system in the Polynesian language Vaeakau-Taumako, which has pragmatically related functions similar to those found e.g. in so-called Differential Object Marking systems, but which does not refer to syntactic relations or semantic roles, the functions normally attributed to case-marking systems. It asks exactly which functions should be taken to define a case-marking system as opposed to a system marking pragmatic functions such as topic-focus-structure, and suggests a distinction between two grammatically relevant types of pragmatic salience: referent-determined salience, which is often relevant to case marking, and speaker-determined salience, which is typically encoded in purely pragmatic marking systems. On this account, referent-determined salience emerges as the property that links case-marking and pragmatic marking systems.
Why should beneficiaries be subjects (or objects)?
Authors: Zúñiga Fernando
Published: March 2014

The present paper proposes a semantico-pragmatic representation of benefactive situations according to which beneficiaries are affected participants that are peripheral with respect to an overtly expressed causing subevent but core participants with respect to a covert resulting subevent. Such a view can be used to capture and further explore intralinguistic and crosslinguistic generalizations related to the fact that beneficiaries can be adjuncts, objects and even subjects in natural languages. Rather than postulating a particular theory of argument realization, this paper illustrates different syntactic realizations of beneficiaries and shows how they relate to the meaning of the construction.
Effect of the Consonant–Vowel Structure of Written Words in Italian
Authors: Chetail Fabienne , Scaltritti Michele , Content Alain
Published: March 2014

Surprisingly little is known about the nature of intermediary sublexical units in visual word recognition in Italian, a language with a highly consistent print-to-sound mapping, which should enhance reliance on grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences. In the present study, we examined whether Italian readers are sensitive to large orthographic units defined by the consonant–vowel (CV) pattern of words and that do not directly map onto linguistic constituents. Participants had to judge the number of syllables in written words matched for the number of spoken syllables but comprising either one orthographic vowel cluster less than the number of syllables (hiatus words, e.g., teatro) or as many vowel clusters as syllables (e.g., agosto). Relative to control words, readers were slower and less accurate for hiatus words, for which they underestimated the number of syllables. This underestimation bias demonstrates that Italian readers are sensitive to large orthographic units stemming from a parsing process based on the CV pattern—that is, the arrangement of consonant and vowel letters.
p53-mediated activation of the mitochondrial protease HtrA2/Omi prevents cell invasion
Authors: Yamauchi Shota , Hou Yan Yan , Guo Alvin Kunyao , Hirata Hiroaki , Nakajima Wataru , Yip Ai Kia , Yu Cheng-han , Harada Ichiro , Chiam Keng-Hwee , Sawada Yasuhiro , Tanaka Nobuyuki , Kawauchi Keiko
Published: March 2014

Oncogenic Ras induces cell transformation and promotes an invasive phenotype. The tumor suppressor p53 has a suppressive role in Ras-driven invasion. However, its mechanism remains poorly understood. Here we show that p53 induces activation of the mitochondrial protease high-temperature requirement A2 (HtrA2; also known as Omi) and prevents Ras-driven invasion by modulating the actin cytoskeleton. Oncogenic Ras increases accumulation of p53 in the cytoplasm, which promotes the translocation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) into mitochondria and induces phosphorylation of HtrA2/Omi. Concurrently, oncogenic Ras also induces mitochondrial fragmentation, irrespective of p53 expression, causing the release of HtrA2/Omi from mitochondria into the cytosol. Phosphorylated HtrA2/Omi therefore cleaves β-actin and decreases the amount of filamentous actin (F-actin) in the cytosol. This ultimately down-regulates p130 Crk-associated substrate (p130Cas)-mediated lamellipodia formation, countering the invasive phenotype initiated by oncogenic Ras. Our novel findings provide insights into the mechanism by which p53 prevents the malignant progression of transformed cells.
p53 cuts off invading cells
Authors: Short Ben
Published: March 2014

The tumor suppressor limits cell invasion by inducing a mitochondrial protease to cleave the actin cytoskeleton.
GOssTo: a stand-alone application and a web tool for calculating semantic similarities on the Gene Ontology
Authors: Caniza Horacio , Romero Alfonso E. , Heron Samuel , Yang Haixuan , Devoto Alessandra , Frasca Marco , Mesiti Marco , Valentini Giorgio , Paccanaro Alberto
Published: March 2014

Summary: We present GOssTo, the Gene Ontology semantic similarity Tool, a user-friendly software system for calculating semantic similarities between gene products according to the Gene Ontology. GOssTo is bundled with six semantic similarity measures, including both term- and graph-based measures, and has extension capabilities to allow the user to add new similarities. Importantly, for any measure, GOssTo can also calculate the Random Walk Contribution that has been shown to greatly improve the accuracy of similarity measures. GOssTo is very fast, easy to use, and it allows the calculation of similarities on a genomic scale in a few minutes on a regular desktop machine.

Contact : alberto@cs.rhul.ac.uk

Availability: GOssTo is available both as a stand-alone application running on GNU/Linux, Windows and MacOS from www.paccanarolab.org/gossto and as a web application from www.paccanarolab.org/gosstoweb . The stand-alone application features a simple and concise command line interface for easy integration into high-throughput data processing pipelines.
Economic Trends from 2003 to 2010 for Perioperative Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Udeh Belinda L. , Dalton Jarrod E. , Hata J. Steven , Udeh Chiedozie I. , Sessler Daniel I.
Published: March 2014

Background:

Perioperative myocardial infarction (PMI) is a major surgical complication that is costly and causes much morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis and treatment of PMIs have evolved over time. Many treatments are expensive but may reduce ancillary expenses including the duration of hospital stay. The time-dependent economic impact of novel treatments for PMI remains unexplored. The authors thus evaluated absolute and incremental costs of PMI over time and discharge patterns.

Methods:

Approximately 31 million inpatient discharges were analyzed between 2003 and 2010 from the California State Inpatient Database. PMI was defined using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Propensity matching generated 21,637 pairs of comparable patients. Quantile regression modeled incremental charges as the response variable and year of discharge as the main predictor. Time trends of incremental charges adjusted to 2012 dollars, mortality, and discharge destination was evaluated.

Results:

Median incremental charges decreased annually by $1,940 (95% CI, $620 to $3,250); P < 0.001. Compared with non-PMI patients, the median length of stay of patients who experienced PMI decreased significantly over time: yearly decrease was 0.16 (0.10 to 0.23) days; P < 0.001. No mortality differences were seen; but over time, PMI patients were increasingly likely to be transferred to another facility.

Conclusions:

Reduced incremental cost and unchanged mortality may reflect improving efficiency in the standard management of PMI. An increasing fraction of discharges to skilled nursing facilities seems likely a result from hospitals striving to reduce readmissions. It remains unclear whether this trend represents a transfer of cost and risk or improves patient care.
Emulsified Isoflurane Enhances Thermal Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid-1 Channel Activation–mediated Sensory/Nociceptive Blockade by QX-314
Authors: Zhou Cheng , Liang Peng , Liu Jin , Zhang Wensheng , Liao Daqing , Chen Yanfang , Chen Xiangdong , Li Tao
Published: March 2014

Background:

QX-314 produces nociceptive blockade, facilitated by permeation through transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1) channels. TRPV1 channel can be activated by noxious heat and sensitized by volatile anesthetics. The authors hypothesized that emulsified isoflurane (EI) could enhance thermal TRPV1 channel activation–mediated sensory/nociceptive blockade by QX-314.

Methods:

Rats were perineurally injected with QX-314 (Sigma-Aldrich Co. Ltd. Shanghai, China) alone or QX-314 combined with EI, followed by heat exposure on the injection site. The tail-flick and tail-clamping tests were used to assess sensory and nociceptive blockade, respectively; a sciatic nerve block model was used to assess motor and sensory blockade. Effects of EI on thermal activation of TRPV1 channels were evaluated on rat dorsal root ganglia neurons by whole-cell patch-clamp recordings.

Results:

Heat exposure enhanced sensory/nociceptive blockade by QX-314 in rat tails, but not motor blockade in sciatic nerve block model. QX-314 alone or QX-314 + 42°C produced no nociceptive blockade. QX-314 + 48°C produced 100% nociceptive blockade with duration of 12.5 ± 2.0 h (mean ± SEM). By adding 2% EI, QX-314 + 42°C produced 80% nociceptive blockade with duration of 8.1 ± 1.9 h, which was similar to the effect of QX-314 + 46°C (7.7 ± 1.1 h; P = 0.781). The enhancement of heat on sensory/nociceptive blockade of QX-314 was prevented by TRPV1 channel antagonist. The temperature thresholds of TRPV1 channel activation on dorsal root ganglia neurons were significantly reduced by EI.

Conclusions:

Thermal activation of TRPV1 channels enhanced long-lasting sensory/nociceptive blockade by QX-314 without affecting motor blockade. The addition of EI reduced temperature thresholds for inducing long-lasting sensory/nociceptive blockade due to QX-314.
Direct imaging of exoplanets
Authors: Lagrange Anne-Marie
Published: March 2014

Most of the exoplanets known today have been discovered by indirect techniques, based on the study of the host star radial velocity or photometric temporal variations. These detections allowed the study of the planet populations in the first 5–8 AU from the central stars and have provided precious information on the way planets form and evolve at such separations. Direct imaging on 8–10 m class telescopes allows the detection of giant planets at larger separations (currently typically more than 5–10 AU) complementing the indirect techniques. So far, only a few planets have been imaged around young stars, but each of them provides an opportunity for unique dedicated studies of their orbital, physical and atmospheric properties and sometimes also on the interaction with the ‘second-generation’, debris discs. These few detections already challenge formation theories. In this paper, I present the results of direct imaging surveys obtained so far, and what they already tell us about giant planet (GP) formation and evolution. Individual and emblematic cases are detailed; they illustrate what future instruments will routinely deliver for a much larger number of stars. I also point out the limitations of this approach, as well as the needs for further work in terms of planet formation modelling. I finally present the progress expected in direct imaging in the near future, thanks in particular to forthcoming planet imagers on 8–10 m class telescopes.
Monoubiquitination of Histone 2B at the Disease Resistance Gene Locus Regulates Its Expression and Impacts Immune Responses in Arabidopsis
Authors: Zou Baohong , Yang Dong-Lei , Shi Zhenying , Dong Hansong , Hua Jian
Published: March 2014

Disease resistance (R) genes are key components in plant immunity. Here, we show that Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) E3 ubiquitin ligase genes HISTONE MONOUBIQUITINATION1 (HUB1) and HUB2 regulate the expression of R genes SUPPRESSOR OF npr1-1, CONSTITUTIVE1 (SNC1) and RESISTANCE TO PERONOSPORA PARASITICA4. An increase of SNC1 expression induces constitutive immune responses in the bonzai1 (bon1) mutant, and the loss of HUB1 or HUB2 function reduces SNC1 up-regulation and suppresses the bon1 autoimmune phenotypes. HUB1 and HUB2 mediate histone 2B (H2B) monoubiquitination directly at the SNC1 R gene locus to regulate its expression. In addition, SNC1 and HUB1 transcripts are moderately up-regulated by pathogen infection, and H2B monoubiquitination at SNC1 is enhanced by pathogen infection. Together, this study indicates that H2B monoubiquitination at the R gene locus regulates its expression and that this histone modification at the R gene locus has an impact on immune responses in plants.
Accumulation ofN-Acetylglucosamine Oligomers in the Plant Cell Wall Affects Plant Architecture in a Dose-Dependent and Conditional Manner
Authors: Vanholme Bartel , Vanholme Ruben , Turumtay Halbay , Goeminne Geert , Cesarino Igor , Goubet Florence , Morreel Kris , Rencoret Jorge , Bulone Vincent , Hooijmaijers Cortwa , De Rycke Riet , Gheysen Godelieve , Ralph John , De Block Marc , Meulewaeter Frank , Boerjan Wout
Published: March 2014

To study the effect of short N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) oligosaccharides on the physiology of plants, N-ACETYLGLUCOSAMINYLTRANSFERASE (NodC) of Azorhizobium caulinodans was expressed in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The corresponding enzyme catalyzes the polymerization of GlcNAc and, accordingly, β-1,4-GlcNAc oligomers accumulated in the plant. A phenotype characterized by difficulties in developing an inflorescence stem was visible when plants were grown for several weeks under short-day conditions before transfer to long-day conditions. In addition, a positive correlation between the oligomer concentration and the penetrance of the phenotype was demonstrated. Although NodC overexpression lines produced less cell wall compared with wild-type plants under nonpermissive conditions, no indications were found for changes in the amount of the major cell wall polymers. The effect on the cell wall was reflected at the transcriptome level. In addition to genes encoding cell wall-modifying enzymes, a whole set of genes encoding membrane-coupled receptor-like kinases were differentially expressed upon GlcNAc accumulation, many of which encoded proteins with an extracellular Domain of Unknown Function26. Although stress-related genes were also differentially expressed, the observed response differed from that of a classical chitin response. This is in line with the fact that the produced chitin oligomers were too small to activate the chitin receptor-mediated signal cascade. Based on our observations, we propose a model in which the oligosaccharides modify the architecture of the cell wall by acting as competitors in carbohydrate-carbohydrate or carbohydrate-protein interactions, thereby affecting noncovalent interactions in the cell wall or at the interface between the cell wall and the plasma membrane.
{2-[(2-Hydroxybenzylidene)amino]-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-benzothiophen-3-yl}(phenyl)methanone
Authors: Kaur Manpreet , Jasinski Jerry P. , Kavitha Channappa N. , Yathirajan H.S. , Byrappa K.
Published: March 2014

In the title compound, C22H19NO2S, the cyclohexene ring adopts a slightly distorted half-chair conformation. The dihedral angles between the mean planes of the thiophene ring and the phenyl and 2-hydroxyphenyl rings are 70.4 (5) and 12.1 (9)°, respectively. The phenyl and 2-hydroxyphenyl rings are twisted with respect to one another by 81.0 (6)°. A short intramolecular O—H...N hydrogen bond is observed. In the crystal, weak C—H...O interactions link the molecules into zigzag chains diagonally along [100] .
(1S,3S,8R,9S,10R)-9,10-Epoxy-3,7,7,10-tetramethyltricyclo[6.4.0.01,3]dodecane
Authors: Bimoussa Abdoullah , Auhmani Aziz , Ait Itto My Youssef , Daran Jean-Claude , Auhmani Abdelwahed
Published: March 2014

The title compound, C16H26O, was synthesized by treating (1S,3S,8R)-3,7,7,10-tetramethyltricyclo[6.4.0.01,3]dodec-9-ene with metachloroperbenzoic acid. The molecule is built up from two fused six- and seven-membered rings. The six-membered ring has a half-chair conformation, whereas the seven-membered ring displays a boat conformation. In the crystal, there are no significant intermolecular interactions present.
MgAuGa and MgAu2Ga: first representatives of the Mg–Au–Ga system
Authors: Smetana Volodymyr , Corbett John D. , Miller Gordon J.
Published: March 2014

MgAuGa (magnesium gold gallium), the first ternary representative of the Mg–Au–Ga system, crystallizes in the space groupP\overline{6}2mand adopts the Fe2P structure type (Pearson symbolhP9). Various phases with the general compositionAB2have been reported in the surrounding binary systems,viz.Mg2Ga (hP18), MgGa2(hP6; CaIn2type), AuGa2(cF12; CaF2type), Au2Ga (oS24; Pd2As type) and Mg2Au (oP12; Co2Si type). In principle, MgAuGa can be obtained from each of them by partial replacement of the major element with the missing element. In fact, the structure of MgAuGa closely resembles hexagonal Mg2Ga through a direct group–subgroup relationship. MgAu2Ga (magnesium digold gallium) also crystallizes hexagonally in the space groupP63/mmcand is isotypic with Na3As. It adopts the structure of another binary compound,viz.Mg3Au (hP8), but shows an unexpected distribution of Mg, Au, and Ga among the atomic positions of the asymmetric unit. Both MgAuGa and MgAu2Ga can be described as formally anionic Au/Ga frameworks, with pseudo-hexagonal tunnels around Mg in MgAuGa or cages in MgAu2Ga.
Advanced sciences convergence based methods for surveillance of emerging trends in science, technology, and intelligence
Authors: Vaseashta Ashok
Published: March 2014

Purpose

–Strategic decision-making is a complex process and encompasses an exhaustive knowledge base, collective guidance, contemporary foresight, analytical capabilities, paradigmatic congruence, and risk assessment and optimization within mission space. Employing advanced sciences convergence and analytical methodologies, the aim of this report is to provide a set of plausible solution trajectories to complex scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach

–Three methodologies are reported here which provide policymakers with plausible solution pathways and alternatives. The methodologies, namely: TechFARM, ADAMS, and NESTTS, involve convergence of scientific disciplines, cutting edge technologies, social dynamics, astute extraction, and principles of foresight to support the process of informed decision-making, as comprehensive tools to develop a plausible solution space and future trends.

Findings

–The methodologies provided in this report provide scientific basis to trends analysis and foresight. Few selected examples are reported here indicating its practical implications. The methodologies are currently applied to and likely to be used for many applications in trends analysis for government, industry, and even academics. These applications are particularly relevant to policy-making due to their capacity for identification of emerging trends.

Originality/value

–Being highly adaptable, these methodologies were initially generated for defense applications, but have since been applied to clean water, cyber-security, the medical sector, and environmental health and safety (EHS) and evaluating eco-toxicity of nanomaterials, to strategically address a variety of global challenges. Additionally, these methodologies support investment recommendations and implementation of policies that promise significant benefit to the public at large.
Reinventing marketing strategy by recasting supplier/customer roles
Authors: Gummesson Evert , Kuusela Hannu , Närvänen Elina
Published: March 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose that the recasting of supplier and customer roles reconfigures the role of marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

– A conceptual paper that suggests the need to rethink the role of marketing in the strategic decision making of companies. The study accesses recent theories of marketing, service and value and provides illustrative case examples.

Findings

– Consumers are progressively more active and the traditional supplier role of controlling consumers is less viable. The case examples show the variety of ways in which companies may adopt a new role in relation to customers and the market. The paper argues that adapting to this role change needs to take place at the highest level in the company and is the way to reinvent marketing strategy. This also necessitates marketing employing unconventional methodologies and relevant theory to address the complexity and ambiguity of current markets.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper is a conceptual paper restricted to supplier and customer roles, albeit set in a broader context of stakeholders.

Practical implications

– The marketing-oriented supplier of the future can design service systems and exert a certain control at the same time adapting to and supporting consumer initiatives through interaction in networks of stakeholder relationships.

Originality/value

– Stressing the new roles of consumers and suppliers; reinventing the role of marketing, breaking with conventional marketing research methodology.