bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hypolipidemic activity and mechanisms of the total phenylpropanoid glycosides from Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume by AMPK‐SREBP‐1c pathway in hamsters fed a high‐fat diet
Authors: Yang Runmei , Chu Xinxin , Sun Le , Kang Zhuoying , Ji Min , Yu Ying , Liu Ying , He Zhendan , Gao Nannan
Published: February 2018

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypolipidemic effect and mechanisms of total phenylpropanoid glycosides extracted from Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume (LRTPG) in hamsters fed a high‐fat diet and to discover bioactive components in HepG2 cell model induced by oleic acid. LRTPG of high (1.2 g/kg), medium (0.6 g/kg), and low (0.3 g/kg) doses was administrated daily for 21 consecutive days in hamsters. We found that in hamsters fed a high‐fat diet, LRTPG effectively reduced the concentrations of plasma triglycerides (TG), free fatty acid, total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and hepatic TG and total cholesterol. And the compounds acteoside, ligupurpuroside A, ligupurpuroside C, and ligupurpuroside D significantly inhibited lipid accumulation in HepG2 cell at the concentration of 50 μmol/L. Mechanism research demonstrated that LRTPG increased the levels of phospho–AMP‐activated protein kinase and phospho‐sterol regulatory element binding protein‐1c in liver, further to suppress the downstream lipogenic genes as stearoyl‐CoA desaturase 1, glycerol‐3‐phosphate acyltransferase, 1‐acylglycerol‐3‐phosphate O‐acyltransferase 2, and diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2. In addition, LRTPG increased the hydrolysis of circulating TG by up‐regulating lipoprotein lipase activities. These results indicate that LRTPG prevents hyperlipidemia via activation of hepatic AMP‐activated protein kinase‐sterol regulatory element binding protein‐1c pathway.
Evidence for Shikonin acting as an active inhibitor of human carboxylesterases 2: Implications for herb–drug combination
Authors: Li Jia‐Nan , Cao Yun‐Feng , He Rong‐Rong , Ge Guang‐Bo , Guo Bin , Wu Jing‐Jing
Published: February 2018

Shikonin, a natural naphthoquinone compound derived from the herb Lithospermum erythrorhizon, is widely used for its various pharmacological activities. However, its potential interactions with other medications by inhibiting human carboxylesterases 2 (hCE2) remain unknown. In this study, the inhibitory effects of shikonin on the activity of hCE2 in human liver microsomes are investigated by using fluorescein diacetate (FD), N‐(2‐butyl‐1,3‐dioxo‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐phenalen‐6‐yl)‐2‐chloroacetamide (NCEN), and CPT‐11 as substrates of hCE2. The results demonstrate that shikonin significantly inhibits the activity of hCE2 when FD and NCEN are used as substrates, whereas the half inhibition concentration value of shikonin increased by 5–30 times when CPT‐11 was used as the substrate. The inhibition types of shikonin against hCE2 activity reflected by 3 substrates were all best fit to noncompetitive manners. In addition, shikonin was found to distinctly suppress endogenous hCE2 activity, characterized with attenuated fluorescence. Furthermore, for drugs metabolized by hCE2 with the similar binding sites with FD or NCEN, the estimated magnitudes of area under the curve variation were approximately 9–357% in the presence of shikonin. Also, the area under the curve of CPT‐11 could be increased by 1–14% following administration of shikonin. These findings have clear clinical implications for the combination of shikonin and hCE2‐metabolizing prodrugs.
A hybrid snowfall detection method from satellite passive microwave measurements and global forecast weather models
Authors: Kongoli Cezar , Meng Huan , Dong Jun , Ferraro Ralph
Published: February 2018

Despite significant progress made in snowfall estimation from space, methods utilizing passive microwave measurements continue to be plagued by low detectability compared to those that estimate rainfall. This article presents a hybrid snowfall detection algorithm that combines the output from a statistical algorithm utilizing satellite passive microwave measurements with the output from a statistical algorithm trained with in situ data that uses meteorological variables derived from a global forecast model as predictors. The satellite algorithm computes the probability of snowfall over land using logistic regression and the principal components of the high‐frequency brightness‐temperature measurements at AMSU/MHS and ATMS channel frequencies 89 GHz and above. In a separate investigation, analysis of modelled data derived from NOAA's Global Forecast System (GFS) showed that cloud thickness and relative humidity at 1 to 3 km height were the best predictors of snowfall occurrence. A statistical logistical regression model that combined cloud thickness, relative humidity and vertical velocity was selected among statistically significant variants as the one with the highest overall classification accuracy. Next, the weather‐based and satellite model outputs were combined in a weighting scheme to produce a final probability of snowfall output, which was then used to classify a weather event as “snowing” or “not snowing” based on an a priori threshold probability. Statistical analysis indicated that a scheme with equal weights applied to the weather‐based and satellite model significantly improved satellite snowfall detection. Example applications of the hybrid algorithm over continental USA demonstrated the improvement for a major snowfall event and for an event dominated by lighter snowfall.
A global scheme for controlling the mean and standard deviation of a process based on the optimal design of gauges
Authors: Mosquera Jaime , Aparisi Francisco , Epprecht Eugenio Kahn
Published: February 2018

Control charts for variables are a reference tool for the statistical monitoring of a quantitative variable. However, there are processes in which the exact measurement of the variable is highly complex or costly. In these cases, one option is to base the monitoring on the number of units that are classified by a gauge as being above, below, or between a pair of reference limits. With this approach, the process control achieves the economy and agility of control by attributes. In the literature, one can find different alternatives to such schemes. In this paper, a more general formulation is introduced that subsumes many of the previously proposed schemes into a new control scheme by means of an additional parameter. Through a specially designed optimization procedure, it is possible to obtain the parameters that maximize the scheme's performance against a specified process shift.
Variable selection with group structure in competing risks quantile regression
Authors: Ahn Kwang Woo , Kim Soyoung
Published: February 2018

We study the group bridge and the adaptive group bridge penalties for competing risks quantile regression with group variables. While the group bridge consistently identifies nonzero group variables, the adaptive group bridge consistently selects variables not only at group level but also at within‐group level. We allow the number of covariates to diverge as the sample size increases. The oracle property for both methods is also studied. The performance of the group bridge and the adaptive group bridge is compared in simulation and in a real data analysis. The simulation study shows that the adaptive group bridge selects nonzero within‐group variables more consistently than the group bridge. A bone marrow transplant study is provided as an example.
Impact of Glutathione Modulation on Stability and Pharmacokinetic Profile of Redox‐Sensitive Nanogels
Authors: Drude Natascha , Winz Oliver H. , Mottaghy Felix M. , Roller Marion , Königs Hiltrud , Möller Martin , Singh Smriti , Morgenroth Agnieszka
Published: February 2018

Nanoparticles degradable upon external stimuli combine pharmacokinetic features of both small molecules as well as large nanoparticles. However, despite promising preclinical results, several redox responsive disulphide‐linked nanoparticles failed in clinical translation, mainly due to their unexpected in vivo behavior. Glutathione (GSH) is one of the most evaluated antioxidants responsible for disulfide degradation. Herein, the impact of GSH on the in vivo behavior of redox‐sensitive nanogels under physiological and modulated conditions is investigated. Labelling of nanogels with a DNA‐intercalating dye and a radioisotope allows visualization of the redox responsiveness at the cellular and the systemic levels, respectively. In vitro, efficient cleavage of disulphide bonds of nanogels is achieved by manipulation of intracellular GSH concentration. While in vivo, the redox‐sensitive nanogels undergo, to a certain extent, premature degradation in circulation leading to rapid renal elimination. This instability is modulated by transient inhibition of GSH synthesis with buthioninsulfoximin. Altered GSH concentration significantly changes the in vivo pharmacokinetics. Lower GSH results in higher elimination half‐life and altered biodistribution of the nanogels with a different metabolite profile. These data provide strong evidence that decreased nanogel degradation in blood circulation can limit the risk of premature drug release and enhance circulation half‐life of the nanogel.
The Formation Mechanism of Mn–Al–O Inclusions in Fe–Cr–Mn Stainless Steel during Continuous Casting
Authors: Li Jingyu , Cheng Guoguang , Li Liuyi , Hu Bin , Xu Changsong , Wang Guimin
Published: February 2018

The formation mechanism of Mn–Al–O inclusions in Fe–Cr–Mn stainless steel during continuous casting is investigated by industrial trials and thermodynamic calculation. The morphology, composition, and size distribution of inclusions in steel specimens are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The main inclusions change from spherical Ca–Si–O and Ca–Si–Mn–O inclusions during LF refining to Mn–Al–O inclusions in continuous casting slab and hot‐rolled sheet. The size of most Mn–Al–O inclusions containing high MnO content is smaller than 4 µm. The formation of these inclusions is consistent with thermodynamic calculation, which indicates that MnO and Al2O3inclusions are formed during continuous casting process. The calculation results of MnO and Al2O3inclusions growth shown that the size of MnO inclusion (4 µm) is much larger than that of Al2O3inclusion (0.4 µm) at the end of solidification, which also accords with the characteristics of inclusions in continuous casting slab and hot‐rolled sheet.
Non‐convex penalized multitask regression using data depth‐based penalties
Authors: Majumdar Subhabrata , Chatterjee Snigdhansu
Published: February 2018

We propose a new class of non‐convex penalties based on data depth functions for multitask sparse penalized regression. These penalties quantify the relative position of rows of the coefficient matrix from a fixed distribution centred at the origin. We derive the theoretical properties of an approximate one‐step sparse estimator of the coefficient matrix using local linear approximation of the penalty function and provide an algorithm for its computation. For the orthogonal design and independent responses, the resulting thresholding rule enjoys near‐minimax optimal risk performance, similar to the adaptive lasso (Zou, H (2006), ‘The adaptive lasso and its oracle properties’, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 101, 1418–1429). A simulation study and real data analysis demonstrate its effectiveness compared with some of the present methods that provide sparse solutions in multitask regression. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Seven Elements of Effective Professional Development
Authors: Bates Celeste C. , Morgan Denise N.
Published: February 2018

Teaching is a profession that requires ongoing professional development and learning. This ongoing learning can take place in professional learning communities, structured professional development settings, and literacy coaching contexts. This department highlights the ongoing professional development of literacy teachers.
Cover Image, Volume 9, Issue 2
Authors: Ng Adolf K.Y. , Andrews Jonathan , Babb David , Lin Yufeng , Becker Austin
Published: February 2018

The cover image, by Adolf K.Y. Ng et al., is based on the Advanced Review Implications of climate change for shipping: Opening the Arctic seas, DOI: 10.1002/wcc.507. Photo Credit: Koi Yu Adolf Ng.

image
Embryonic neurogenesis in echinoderms
Authors: Hinman Veronica F. , Burke Robert D.
Published: February 2018

The phylogenetic position of echinoderms is well suited to revealing shared features of deuterostomes that distinguish them from other bilaterians. Although echinoderm neurobiology remains understudied, genomic resources, molecular methods, and systems approaches have enabled progress in understanding mechanisms of embryonic neurogenesis. Even though the morphology of echinoderm larvae is diverse, larval nervous systems, which arise during gastrulation, have numerous similarities in their organization. Diverse neural subtypes and specialized sensory neurons have been identified and details of neuroanatomy using neuron‐specific labels provide hypotheses for neural function. The early patterning of ectoderm and specification of axes has been well studied in several species and underlying gene regulatory networks have been established. The cells giving rise to central and peripheral neural components have been identified in urchins and sea stars. Neurogenesis includes typical metazoan features of asymmetric division of neural progenitors and in some cases limited proliferation of neural precursors. Delta/Notch signaling has been identified as having critical roles in regulating neural patterning and differentiation. Several transcription factors functioning in pro‐neural phases of specification, neural differentiation, and sub‐type specification have been identified and structural or functional components of neurons are used as differentiation markers. Several methods for altering expression in embryos have revealed aspects of a regulatory hierarchy of transcription factors in neurogenesis. Interfacing neurogenic gene regulatory networks to the networks regulating ectodermal domains and identifying the spatial and temporal inputs that pattern the larval nervous system is a major challenge that will contribute substantially to our understanding of the evolution of metazoan nervous systems.

This article is categorized under:

Comparative Development and Evolution > Model Systems

Comparative Development and Evolution > Body Plan Evolution

Early Embryonic Development > Gastrulation and Neurulation
Intermediate layer as measure against rolling bearing creep
Authors: Schiemann T. , Pörsch S. , Leidich E. , Sauer B.
Published: February 2018

Rolling bearings are a part of every wind‐turbine transmission. In terms of bearing design, the bearing rings are of particular interest. The current trend for increasing power and dynamic stress, together with the associated increases in specific loads, have brought creep―an irreversible relative motion between bearing rings and shafts or housings―to the forefront. Creep leads to wear and can cause shaft displacements with serious consequences for the meshing of teeth in gearboxes, for example. In fact, many insurance companies cite the creep of bearing rings as one of the main causes of wind‐turbine gearbox failures.

This article presents a complex kinematic 3D FE multi‐body simulation of a rolling bearing. This simulation makes a detailed analysis of the relative motion or creep of bearing rings possible for the first time.

It also presents options, based on materials technology and design, for reducing or eliminating creep in existing systems or at the product‐development phase. The 2 key solutions, both based on an additional layer between bearing and housing, that show best results are presented within this article. This gives the user specific information for optimizing the bearing structure with respect to the choice of bearing and bearing ring design to ensure that future damage is prevented.
Modelling damage equivalent loads in wind turbines from general operational signals: Exploration of relevant input selection methods using aeroelastic simulations
Authors: Pérez‐Campuzano Darío , Gómez de las Heras‐Carbonell Enrique , Gallego‐Castillo Cristóbal , Cuerva Alvaro
Published: February 2018

Fatigue represents a critical issue in many structural applications, and wind turbines are not an exception. Their dynamic response over the years determines the turbine's lifespan, meaning that fatigue loads have a clear impact on the Cost of Energy. Since the direct experimental determination of the loading state is complex or expensive, estimations arising from general operational signals can be explored as an indirect way to acquire knowledge of fatigue loading levels. A case study based on 10‐minute aeroelastic simulations of a wind turbine dynamics is used to develop a Damage Equivalent Load estimation model using operational signals (typically recorded by SCADA systems) as inputs. The focus is on both the input selection and the model configuration, seeking the combination which reaches the lowest error. Three filters and two innovative wrappers (exploration and optimization) were considered within the selection. Linear and Artificial Neural Network models were implemented and compared. Results showed performances in Damage Equivalent Load estimation below 4% in terms of Normalized Root Mean Squared Error, which is promising as compared with related work. Additional conclusions were obtained concerning appropriate Artificial Neural Network configurations (net type, architecture and training algorithm), likewise the potential contribution of a proposed genetic algorithm.
Effect of Rear Wheel Suspension on Tilt‐in‐Space Wheelchair Shock and Vibration Attenuation
Authors: Hischke Molly , Reiser Raoul F.
Published: February 2018

Background

Suspension systems are designed to reduce shock and vibration exposure. An aftermarket rear‐wheel suspension system is now available for manual tilt‐in‐space wheelchairs.

Objective

To compare quantifiable shock and vibration on a rigid manual tilt‐in‐space wheelchair to published data on manual wheelchairs and to determine whether aftermarket rear suspension system will significantly decrease shock exposure when traversing common obstacles.

Design

Cross‐sectional.

Setting

Research laboratory.

Participants

Ten healthy non‐wheelchair users.

Methods

Subjects seated in a manual tilt‐in‐space wheelchair were pushed over 4 different obstacles (an exterior door threshold, truncated domes, 2‐cm descent, and 2‐cm ascent) with the chair as manufactured and with the suspension system installed.

Main Outcome Measurements

Superior/inferior and anterior/posterior accelerations were assessed at the seat pan with and without the use of ISO 2631‐1 standards. Peak accelerations were analyzed from the door threshold, 2‐cm descent and 2‐cm ascent. Root mean square acceleration (RMSa) values were analyzed from the truncated domes, and vibration dose value (VDV) was analyzed for all surfaces.

Results

There were no differences in time spent over the 4 obstacles between rigid and suspended conditions (P.064). Suspension decreased the peak acceleration at the rear wheel when it initially impacted the door threshold, and when the rear wheel traversed the 2‐cm descent and ascent (P.043). ISO 2631‐1 frequency weighting, placing emphasis on frequencies most harmful to humans, also supports suspension reducing peak accelerations at the rear wheel both when it initially impacted and left the door threshold, and when the rear wheel descended 2 cm (P.049). Suspension also reduced the truncated dome RMSa as well as the door threshold, 2‐cm descent, and total VDV (P.041).

Conclusions

The results indicate that rigid manual tilt‐in‐space wheelchairs respond to rough surfaces in a similar fashion to previously studied rigid wheelchairs. Furthermore, the aftermarket suspension system reduces some aspects of shock and vibration exposure, also consistent with previously studied suspension systems.

Level of Evidence

NA
Osteomielite crônica pós-operatória nos ossos longos – O que sabemos e como conduzir esse problema
Authors: Heitzmann Lourenço Galizia , Battisti Raphael , Rodrigues Ayres Fernando , Lestingi Juliano Valente , Cavazzana Cinthya , Queiroz Roberto Dantas
Published: February 2018

A osteomielite crônica pós-operatória é um problema de saúde importante devido à sua morbidade significativa e baixa taxa de mortalidade. Essa patologia se apresenta como um desafio do ponto de vista de compreensão da patogenia e também de escolha da estratégia de tratamento. O objetivo deste artigo foi revisar o tema proposto quanto à sua definição, patogenia, aspectos clínicos, diagnóstico e tratamento, e reunir todas essas informações em uma única publicação brasileira de caráter de atualização.

Foram feitas buscas nas bases de dados PubMed, Lilacs e Cochrane Library com palavras-chave pertinentes ao tema, e foram escolhidos trabalhos atuais e de relevância.

Este trabalho permitiu reunir informações clássicas e inovações relacionadas à osteomielite crônica e seu tratamento, e oferecer material de atualização para auxiliar os profissionais envolvidos no tratamento dessa doença na tomada de decisão terapêutica.
On a unified breaking onset threshold for gravity waves in deep and intermediate depth water
Authors: Barthelemy X. , Banner M. L. , Peirson W. L. , Fedele F. , Allis M. , Dias F.
Published: February 2018

We revisit the classical but as yet unresolved problem of predicting the breaking onset of 2D and 3D irrotational gravity water waves. Based on a fully nonlinear 3D boundary element model, our numerical simulations investigate geometric, kinematic and energetic differences between maximally tall non-breaking waves and marginally breaking waves in focusing wave groups. Our study focuses initially on unidirectional domains with flat bottom topography and conditions ranging from deep to intermediate depth (depth to wavelength ratio from 1 to 0.2). Maximally tall non-breaking (maximally recurrent) waves are clearly separated from marginally breaking waves by their normalised energy fluxes localised near the crest tip region. The initial breaking instability occurs within a very compact region centred on the wave crest. On the surface, this reduces to the local ratio of the energy flux velocity (here the fluid velocity) to the crest point velocity for the tallest wave in the evolving group. This provides a robust threshold parameter for breaking onset for 2D wave packets propagating in uniform water depths from deep to intermediate. Further targeted study of representative cases of the most severe laterally focused 3D wave packets in deep and intermediate depth water shows that the threshold remains robust. These numerical findings for 2D and 3D cases are closely supported by our companion observational results. Warning of imminent breaking onset is detectable up to a fifth of a carrier wave period prior to a breaking event.
VERBA ALITER INSTRVCTA: SENECAN POETICS
Authors: Trinacty Christopher V. , Sampson C. Michael
Published: February 2018

Seneca recognizes the power of poetry. In his prose works, he discusses how poetry adds punch to moral sententiae, and he peppers his letters and dialogues with lines from Virgil, Ovid, and others. Seneca is there typically concerned with ethical matters and so seldom has much to say about poetics specifically. But, in a fragment preserved by Gellius (12.2.2-13), he faults Ennius as old-fashioned, and elsewhere writes that it is best to be alive and writing now (i.e. the first century CE) because of the many great works of literature one can draw upon: ‘one discovers words already prepared, which, when positioned differently, create a new form.’ The predilection for novelty is not blind to tradition, though poetry is a resource that requires careful handling: poets compose lines worthy of philosophers (Ep. 8.8, Nat. 4a.pr.19), but sometimes their words can be dangerous, arousing our passions (Ep. 115.12), our fears (Dial. 6.19.4), or even propagating misinformation (Dial. 7.26.6).
VT ET HOSTEM AMAREM: JOCASTA AND THE POETICS OF CIVIL WAR IN SENECA'S PHOENISSAE
Authors: Ginsberg Lauren Donovan
Published: February 2018

Over the past two decades, scholars have devoted increasing attention to Roman civil war literature and its poetics, from the vocabulary of nefas, paradox, and hyperbole to the pervasive imagery of the state as a body violated by its citizens. Thebes and especially the civil war between Oedipus’ sons became prominent lenses through which Romans explored their country's strife-ridden past. Seneca's Phoenissae, however, has received comparatively little attention in this regard, often overshadowed by Statius’ epic Thebaid of the next generation. This paper investigates Seneca's contribution to the wider poetics of civil war through his expansion of the theme of incest, which Seneca uses to articulate civil war's most invasive, penetrative, and disintegrative effects. In particular, Seneca capitalizes on both the metaphorical potential of maternal violation and the eroticized imagery of Roman conquest to create disturbing points of contact between two generations of Jocasta's sons: the one who invaded her bed in the past, and the other who will soon invade his mother city. Seneca writes his Phoenissae to be an escalated return to the original sins of Oedipus’ incesta domus as another of Thebes’ native sons prepares to conquer his motherland.
TABLEAUX AND SPECTACLES: APPRECIATION OF SENECAN TRAGEDY BY EUROPEAN DRAMATISTS OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
Authors: Braund Susanna
Published: February 2018

Did Sophocles or Seneca exercise a greater influence on Renaissance drama? While the twenty-first century public might assume the Greek dramatist, in recent decades literary scholars have come to appreciate that the model of tragedy for the Renaissance was the plays of the Roman Seneca rather than those of the Athenian tragedians. In his important essay on Seneca and Shakespeare written in 1932, T.S. Eliot wrote that Senecan sensibility was ‘the most completely absorbed and transmogrified, because it was already the most diffused’ in Shakespeare's world. Tony Boyle, one of the leading rehabilitators of Seneca in recent years, has rightly said, building on the work of Robert Miola and Gordon Braden in particular, that ‘Seneca encodes Renaissance theatre’ from the time that Albertino Mussato wrote his neo-Latin tragedy Ecerinis in 1315 on into the seventeenth century. The present essay offers a complement and supplement to previous scholarship arguing that Seneca enjoyed a status at least equal to that of the Athenian tragedians for European dramatists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. My method will be to examine two plays, one in French and one in English, where the authors have combined dramatic elements taken from Seneca with elements taken from Sophocles. My examples are Robert Garnier's play, staged and published in 1580, entitled Antigone ou La Piété (Antigone or Piety), and the highly popular play by John Dryden and Nathaniel Lee entitled Oedipus, A Tragedy, staged in 1678 and published the following year.
French Quadri-Phonematic Clusters
Authors: Bursill-Hall G. L.
Published: February 2018

The structural linguist has recently begun to pay more and more attention not only to the sequences of the phonemes of a language but also to their capacity for combination. Trubetzkoy said: “La neutralisation des oppositions phonologiques est sûrement le phénomène le plus important, mais nullement le seul important dans le domaine de la théorie des combinaisons”. Much has been done on the distribution of these phonemic combinations and their functional yield, but little to determine and systematise the frequency of such occurrences, and to deduce from them some general principle. This is particularly true with reference to the consonantal clusters of the French language, though more has been done with other languages especially English.
Bloody-Krvavo
Authors: Pletnëv Rotislav
Published: February 2018

Vers la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale, l’expression Krvavo connut une vogue extraordinaire sur tout le territoire de la Yougoslavie et particulièrement sur celui de l’ancien royaume de Serbie. Elle se répandit avec une rapidité stupéfiante au sein de la jeunesse des écoles moyennes, des formations militaires et, après 1944, chez la jeunesse estudiantine des universités. J’eus l’occasion d’observer personnellement la diffusion de cette expression durant les années 1945–50 et j’en fus fortement impressionné.
Désonorisation des voyelles en franco canadien
Authors: Gendron Jean-Denis
Published: February 2018

Il existe dans le français de Paris, par suite de certains groupements de sons, des désonorisations qui concernent uniquement les consonnes; mais jamais aucun phonéticien, à notre connaissance, n’a signalé le fait pour les voyelles. C’est que la prononciation parisienne normale accorde à tous les sons d’un mot une égale importance, quelle que soit sa position syllabique ou son entourage consonantique. La prononciation canadienne, moins attentive et moins ferme, désonorise les voyelles fermées ainsi que les semi-consonnes, menaçant, en quelque sorte, l’intégrité du mot.

L’abbé R. Charbonneau ainsi que W. N. Locke signalent le phénomène, sans en pousser l’étude plus avant. Cependant, ce dernier nous donne une indication succinte, mais très intéressante: “The high front vowels and q are sometimes whispered when they are unaccentuated and preceded by a sibilant”. Nous verrons par la suite qu’à ces sons, il faut ajouter le yod, et que les conditions phonétiques de la désonorisation ne se réduisent pas à celle qu’indique W. N. Locke.
Speech Differences along the Ontario United States Border
Authors: Avis Walter S. , Kingston R. M. C.
Published: February 2018

The most satisfactory method of collecting data concerning speech habits demands that a trained fieldworker conduct personal interviews with representative informants. Since, however, the time and money required for carrying out such interviews are seldom available, the investigator must often turn to less satisfactory but more practicable methods; one of these is the multiple-choice questionnaire of the type used to gather the information for this limited survey of Ontario speech habits. The fundamental weakness of the circulated questionnaire is self-evident: the informant must substitute for the trained field worker and observe his own usage. His success in making reliable observations will depend on his native intelligence and level of education, his understanding of the significance of the survey, and his conscientiousness with regard to answering the questions.
Cage et Cageux
Authors: Dulong Gaston
Published: February 2018

Cage et cageux sont deux termes forestiers ne figurant dans aucun dictionnaire français et qui ont déjà intrigué plusieurs dialectologues canadiens. Les uns les ont considered comme mots “du cru”, les autres comme mots à bannir de notre vocabulaire.

Le fichier de la Société du Parler français au Canada nous servira à faire l'histoire de ces mots. Ce fichier possède déjà une cinquantaine de fiches sur cage, cageux ainsi que sur leurs dérivés ou concurrents.

Ces deux mots remontent beaucoup plus loin qu'on ne le croit généralement. C'est au 17e siècle qu'ils apparaissent pour la premiére fois et l'emploi qu'on en fait laisse supposer qu'ils sont connus depuis longtemps. Dans les comptes du Séminaire de Québec le 20 avril 1693, on paye à Antoine Buisson 4 livres “pour la cage de son cajeu” et le même jour, on paye à la même personne 12 livres pour 16 cordes de bois rendues à la basse-ville.
The Canadian Summer Institute of Linguistics
Authors: Cowan George M.
Published: February 2018

The Canadian Summer Institute of Linguistics is a training school offering an introductory course in descriptive, structural linguistics. The curriculum includes phonetics, phonemics, morphology, syntax, and a series of lectures on related field problems. Each of the five divisions is given the equivalent of 55 classroom hours, an hour a day, five days a week, over an 11 week period.

The overall aim is to prepare the student for field work, especially in areas where no, or very little, linguistic work has been done. For this reason the emphasis in phonetics is on hearing, reproduction, and transcription. This is done in small drill groups with each student receiving as much individual help as possible. Sections are usually limited to eight students per instructor. The instructors take the students through the range of possibilities of speech sounds, explaining with diagrams and demonstrations the manner in which such sounds are made.
La Spirantisation Du /ž/
Authors: Charbonneau L'abbé René
Published: February 2018

Afin de clarifier les explications et pour poser le probléme dans son contexte, voici tout d'abord une reproduction du Questionnaire, dont les éléments ont été distingués en sous-groupes, et numérotés. La liste se subdivise en A, “mots séparés” et B, “mots dans une phrase”.
Neutralisation and Fusion of Vocalic Phonemes in Canadian English as Spoken in the Vancouver Area
Authors: Gregg R. J.
Published: February 2018

1.

In the last issue of the JCLA (March 1957) I made a tentative phonetic analysis of the English spoken by the younger generation in the Vancouver area. On the basis of that analysis I propose in this article to go on to the examination of one of the problems that face us in the phonemic classification of the Vancouver vowels.

2.

I should like to stress from the beginning that this problem is distributional, for whatever our views on the nature of the phoneme — whether we regard it as a concrete, practical unit, useful in the description of languages and dialects known or hitherto unknown, or whether we consider it as an abstract Platonic idea whose translation to the real world involves a series of Protean adaptations or adjustments to the phonological environment — in either case, the most important factor to be considered is distribution.
A Sampling of Materials for a Dictionary of Canadian English Based on Historical Principles
Authors: Lovell Charles J.
Published: February 2018

Discussions of the need for a Dictionary of Canadian English, during the past several years, have made it rather painfully obvious that most Canadians, lacking ready access to the Oxford English Dictionary and the Dictionary of American English, are unable to grasp the idea behind a dictionary based on historical principles. Others, while familiar with such works, have had little conception of the wealth of materials awaiting lexical exploitation in the field of Canadiana. It is understandable that Canadian scholars, inexperienced in the art of lexicography, should ifeel uncertain how to proceed about cultivation of ground that has for so long lain fallow. So that a beginning may be made, this selection of materials is offered as a suggestion of the lines that an historical Dictionary of Canadian English might follow.
A reconstruction of the system of verb aspects in proto-Berbero-Semitic
Authors: Kossmann Maarten , Suchard Benjamin D.
Published: February 2018

Several verbal forms reconstructed for proto-Semitic strongly resemble reconstructed forms in proto-Berber: compare Semitic yV-PaRRaS to Berber y-əFăRRăS, Semitic yV-PRaS to Berber y-əFRăS, and Semitic yV-PRuS and yV-PRiS to Berber y-ăFRəS. We suggest that these forms are historically related and sketch a line of development from the reconstructed meanings to their attested uses. yVPaRRaS, originally imperfective, retains that value in both Berber and Semitic. yVPRas, originally stative, gained a perfective meaning in Berber and Semitic; the stative meaning is retained in Berber, but was largely lost in Semitic. yVPRus/yVPRiS, originally perfective, retained that meaning in Semitic, merging with the newly perfective yVPRas forms; in Berber, yVPRaS completely replaced perfective yVPRuS/yVPRiS, relegating the latter to non-aspectual uses. We conclude by considering the quality of the first vowel; the alternation seen in Berber y-əFRăS and y-ăFRəS supports reconstructions as yiPRaS and yaPRuS/yaPRiS, conforming to the Barth–Ginsberg Law of Semitic.
Negotiating the culture order in New Zealand workplaces
Authors: Holmes Janet
Published: February 2018

In many societies the relative social status of different social and cultural groups results in hegemonic relationships or an ‘order’ which manifests itself as sets of taken-for-granted societal norms or ideologies which influence behavior, including linguistic behavior. I label this concept theculture order, and propose it as a potential sociolinguistic universal. Drawing on the research of the Language in the Workplace Project (LWP) team, I provide evidence of some of the complex components of the New Zealand culture order. Using a social realist theoretical framework, and an interactional sociolinguistics approach, I identify a number of areas of contrast in the discourses instantiating the Māori and Pākehā culture orders (e.g. meeting norms, ways of criticising others), as well as discourse norms apparently shared by both groups (e.g. the Modesty Maxim; see Leech 2014). The complexities of these similarities and differences are discussed as well as their implications for hegemonic relationships. (Culture order, workplace discourse, sociolinguistic universals, egalitarianism, meeting norms)*
A Pilot Study of Alberta Speech: Vocabulary
Authors: Scargill M. H.
Published: February 2018

The findings presented here are part of a pilot study of the vocabulary of English-speaking residents of Alberta. The study was carried out in 1953 and 1954 with the aid of a number of my students who took the responsibility of getting written answers to several hundred copies of a brief questionnaire. The items in the questionnaire were of a general nature; although, since Alberta is greatly concerned with agriculture, some emphasis was placed on terms connected with the farm and with life on the farm. All informants were notified of the purpose for which the answers would be used, and they were asked to give as their answers the names of buildings and so on which they would normally use in their everyday work and talk. Sample questions follow: What command do you give to make a horse turn to the left? What do you call the buildings where pigs are kept?
L'Atlas Linguistique De La Gaspesie
Authors: Dulong Gaston
Published: February 2018

L'Atlas linguistique de la Gaspésie est en chantier depuis l'été 1953. Au cours de ce premier été d'enquêtes, j'ai fait la côte nord de la péninsule, de Matane à Riviére-au-Renard, à raison d'une enquête à tous les vingt ou vingt-cinq milles. L'été dernier, j'ai enquête sur la Baie-des-Chaleurs accompagné d'un deuxième enquêteur, Monsieur Jean-Denis Gendron, professeur à l'université Laval.

Nous avons choisi la Gaspésie comme terrain d'enquête parce qu’ il s'agit d'une région formant une unité géographique relativement peu étendue bien que particulièrement intéressante pour des enquêteurs. Cet intérèt vient du fait que la population de la Gaspésie est loin d'être homogène et que la bigarrure, quant à l'origine, du stock ethnique se reflète dans la langue parlée.
Speech Differences along the Ontario-United States Border
Authors: Avis Walter S.
Published: February 2018

In the first article of this series I pointed out the great similarity between the speech habits of Ontarioans and those of their American neighbours across the line: both speak a variety of North American English. This state of affairs should not be surprising in view of the early settlement history of the borderlands and of subsequent cultural and social contact along the border.

There are, nevertheless, many linguistic features not shared by speakers of English on both sides of the border. In terms of vocabularly I have already illustrated a number of such differences, indicating that, in the main, they probably result from the generalization in Ontario of words current in British English—the speech of thousands of immigrants who have come to Canada during the past century or so.
Kant and the Harmony of the Faculties: A Non-Cognitive Interpretation
Authors: Kumar Apaar
Published: February 2018

Kant interpreters are divided on the question of whether determinate cognition plays a role in the harmony of the faculties in aesthetic judgement. I provide a ‘non-cognitive’ interpretation that allows Kant’s statements regarding judgements of natural beauty to cohere such that determinate cognition need not be taken to perform any role in such judgements. I argue that, in aesthetic harmony, judgement privileges the free activity of the imagination over the cognizing function of the understanding for the purpose of unifying the object, although the free imagination cannot violate the obscure concepts and principles of ordinary common sense.
Never Mind the Intuitive Intellect: Applying Kant’s Categories to Noumena
Authors: Marshall Colin
Published: February 2018

According to strong metaphysical readings of Kant, Kant accepts noumenal substances and causes. Against such readings, Markus Kohl has recently argued that, for Kant, (a) an intuitive intellect is a decisive measure for reality, but (b) an intuitive intellect would not represent noumena as substances or causes. Against Kohl, I argue that the intuitive intellect might indirectly represent noumenal substances and causes, which is enough to save the strong metaphysical reading. In addition, I show how Kant’s apparently anti-metaphysical statements about the content of the categories can be read in a metaphysically friendly way.
Comments on Dennis Schulting: Kant’s Radical Subjectivism
Authors: Newton Alexandra
Published: February 2018

In this paper I discuss four ways in which Schulting’s phenomenalist interpretation of Kant faces the challenge of accounting for the possibility of objective cognition. First, I ask whether objective cognition requires the understanding to be a faculty of absolute, not merely relative spontaneity. Second, is objectivity compatible with thinking of the transcendental ‘I’ as an indexical? Third, does objectivity require that the objects have being independently of the understanding? Finally, is it a threat to objectivity if objects can be given to me in sensibility without standing under the categories?
Clinical Profiles Among Greek Adolescent Suicide Attempters
Authors: Tairi Tatiana , Milojev Petar , Zilikis Nikos
Published: February 2018

Abstract. Background: Suicide attempts are a significant public health problem among youth, resulting in a major social and economic burden for communities and a devastating impact on families. Aims: To determine whether we can identify distinct clinical profiles using latent class analysis in a clinical sample of Greek adolescents who were admitted to hospital following a suicide attempt. Method: Data on 11 clinical parameters from 182 adolescents were analyzed, with a two-class solution selected as the best fitting among the one- through three-class solutions that were examined. Results: We observed two distinct classes, specifically in the probability of mood disorders, substance use disorders, abandonment/neglect, and displaying traits of personality disorders. While most of the adolescents who attempted suicide showed a low probability of these parameters (71.7%), about a third of the sample (28.3%) showed a much more severe clinical profile. Analyses of pertinent contextual and risk factors indicated that those with a more severe clinical profile tend to come from overall more dysfunctional family systems, have more problems in school, and have made a previous attempt. Conclusion: We conclude that the adolescent suicide attempt population is a heterogeneous group in need of focused differentiated care specifically targeted to particular subgroups.
Calm Waters off Hawaii Harbor a “Nursery” of Sea Life
Authors: Kornei Katherine
Published: February 2018

Ocean slicks—naturally occurring bands of smooth water—are home to an astounding diversity of fish larvae and other marine life, researchers show.
Phase-sensitive plasmonic biosensor using a portable and large field-of-view interferometric microarray imager
Authors: Yesilkoy Filiz , Terborg Roland A , Pello Josselin , Belushkin Alexander A , Jahani Yasaman , Pruneri Valerio , Altug Hatice
Published: February 2018

Nanophotonics, and more specifically plasmonics, provides a rich toolbox for biomolecular sensing, since the engineered metasurfaces can enhance light–matter interactions to unprecedented levels. So far, biosensing associated with high-quality factor plasmonic resonances has almost exclusively relied on detection of spectral shifts and their associated intensity changes. However, the phase response of the plasmonic resonances have rarely been exploited, mainly because this requires a more sophisticated optical arrangement. Here we present a new phase-sensitive platform for high-throughput and label-free biosensing enhanced by plasmonics. It employs specifically designed Au nanohole arrays and a large field-of-view interferometric lens-free imaging reader operating in a collinear optical path configuration. This unique combination allows the detection of atomically thin (angstrom-level) topographical features over large areas, enabling simultaneous reading of thousands of microarray elements. As the plasmonic chips are fabricated using scalable techniques and the imaging reader is built with low-cost off-the-shelf consumer electronic and optical components, the proposed platform is ideal for point-of-care ultrasensitive biomarker detection from small sample volumes. Our research opens new horizons for on-site disease diagnostics and remote health monitoring.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: LINC01410-miR-532-NCF2-NF-kB feedback loop promotes gastric cancer angiogenesis and metastasis
Authors: Zhang Jia-Xing , Chen Zhen-Hua , Chen Dong-Liang , Tian Xiao-Peng , Wang Chen-Yuan , Zhou Zhi-Wei , Gao Ying , Xu Yi , Chen Cui , Zheng Zhou-San , Weng Hui-Wen , Ye Sheng , Kuang Ming , Xie Dan , Peng Sui
Published: February 2018

Dysregulation of non-coding RNAs, including miRNAs and lncRNAs has been reported to play vital roles in gastric cancer (GC) carcinogenesis, but the mechanism involved is largely unknown. Using the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) data set and bioinformatics analyses, we identified miR-532-5p as a potential tumor suppressor in GC, and found that lncRNA LINC01410 might be a negative regulator of miR-532-5p. We then conducted a series of in vivo and in vitro assays to explore the effect of LINC01410 on miR-532-5p-mediated GC malignancy and the underlying mechanism involved. MiR-532-5p overexpression inhibited GC metastasis and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, whereas miR-532-5p silencing had the opposite effect. Further study showed that miR-532-5p attenuated NF-κB signaling by directly inhibiting NCF2 expression, while miR-532-5p silencing in GC enhanced NF-κB activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated miR-532-5p down-regulation was caused by aberrantly high expression of LINC01410 in GC. Mechanistically, overexpression of LINC01410 promoted GC angiogenesis and metastasis by binding to and suppressing miR-532-5p, which resulted in up-regulation of NCF2 and sustained NF-κB pathway activation. Interestingly, NCF2 could in turn increase the promoter activity and expression of LINC01410 via NF-κB, thus forming a positive feedback loop that drives the malignant behavior of GC. Finally, high expression of LINC01410, along with low expression of miR-532-5p, was associated with poor survival outcome in GC patients. Our studies uncover a mechanism for constitutive LINC1410-miR-532-5p-NCF2-NF-κB feedback loop activation in GC, and consequently, as a potential therapeutic target in GC treatment.