bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multiculturalism and mother tongue maintenance – the case of the Hungarian diaspora in Queensland
Authors: Hatoss Anikó
Published: October 2016

Multicultural policies and language policies claim to provide a favourable environment for the maintenance of immigrant languages. However, the relationship between multiculturalism and multilingualism is complex and contested. Rates of language loss and shift in Australia show that the multilingual heritage is very vulnerable even within the context of a highly multicultural society. This paper examines the effect of multicultural policies on the linguistic and cultural adjustment of the Hungarian diaspora in Queensland. The research contrasts two vintages of Hungarian migrants in terms of their acculturation strategies, attitudes to the host and source cultures, ethnic identity and language maintenance and shift patterns. The conclusions drawn have implications for the theoretical framework of language maintenance and shift, as well as additive vs subtractive bilingualism. Period of arrival is singled out as a main factor in influencing patterns of social adjustment, as well as language maintenance and shift. The paper argues that the wider social and policy context plays a significant role in the language development of ethnolinguistic minority communities. It provides some evidence that the Anglo-Celtic host society in Australia is seen as favourable for minority language maintenance, and this potentially leads to increased societal bilingualism.
Semantic/pragmatic equivalence through formal and motivational shift
Authors: Moore Harumi
Published: October 2016

How would translators approach a process in which they have to make decisions on mapping the grammatically enforced regular number mechanism of a language such as English onto a system like Japanese, where there is no regular coding of number in a noun phrase? Utilising the concepts of motivation for representation of number, and of ‘formal-shift’ (Catford, 1965), this paper demonstrates that in spite of the lack of a grammatical category of number, there is a coherent mechanism that expresses number distinction in Japanese, either implicitly or explicitly, and that in order to achieve the full semantic and pragmatic intent expressed in English in terms of the number of referents, translators have quite a complex task in deciding ‘when’ and ‘how’ to mark number in Japanese. The paper shows that the ‘one’ and ‘more than one’ opposition regularly coded in English is interpreted into a more complex system of number conception in Japanese, namely ‘one’, ‘more than one’, ‘collective image’ and ‘unspecified’. It also draws attention to the various linguistic devices used in Japanese to express number distinction outside the scope of a noun phrase. The paper advocates the usefulness of the approach suggested here for examining instances of transfer of meaning between two typologically distinct languages.
Generic pronouns and gender-inclusive language reform in the English of Singapore and the Philippines
Authors: Pauwels Anne , Winter Joanne
Published: October 2016

The concurrent trends of globalisation and ‘indigenisation’ affecting the English language (varieties) around the world pose some interesting questions for language planning and reform issues (e.g. Phillipson, 1992; Pennycook, 1994; Crystal, 1997). With this project we examine the impact of these competing trends on corpus planning relating to gender-inclusive language use in the Englishes of Singapore and the Philippines, categorised as ‘outer-circle’ Englishes by Kachru (1992,1997). In this paper we present some findings on aspects of gender-inclusive language reform based on an analysis of the student and academic texts in the Singapore and Philippine components of the International Corpus of English [ICE]1. Education, particularly higher education, has been identified as a leading site of contact with and trajectories of change for gender-inclusive language reform. We focus in particular on one of the main features of gender-inclusive language reform: generic pronouns. The results of the ICE corpus analysis suggest that adoption of gender-inclusive and gender-neutral generic pronouns is not yet profiled in these ‘outer-circle’ Englishes. Generic he remains the pervasive generic pronoun in the student and published academic writing in the Singapore English corpus. The Philippines data reveal a similar trend although there is some emergence of s/he forms as the preferred gender-inclusive alternative.
Reversed what-clefts in English
Authors: Collins Peter
Published: October 2016

On the basis of 572 examples taken from seven million-word corpora of written English the present study—which complements the spoken data-based studies of Oberlander & Delin (1996) and Weinert & Miller (1996)— explores the relationship between information structure and discourse role with reversed what-dzfts. The study confirms the typically summative, internal-referencing, and stage-ending-roles of the informational type upon which previous studies have concentrated (the statistically dominant type, with minimally informative highlighted element and relative clause). A second type observed by Oberlander & Delin (1996), with an ‘informative presupposition’ or ‘comment clause’, is found to occur stage-medially rather than as an ending, and furthermore to have a ‘pivotal’ (both backward-and forward-looking) discourse role. Two further types of reversed what-cleft with an informationally new highlighted element are identified. Both can occur stage-initially, and share some similarities with basic what-clefts and it-clefts in their discourse behaviour.
Classroom discourse of an experienced teacher of Indigenous children
Authors: Thwaite Anne
Published: October 2016

This paper1 will examine the discourse of one experienced teacher of Indigenous children in lessons observed as part of the Conductive Hearing Loss (CHL) project conducted by Edith Cowan University in Perth2. In the classroom observed, all the children were Indigenous and the teacher was aware that some children were suffering from CHL. This analysis will identify some features of the discourse of this teacher, who was very experienced in this context and who was identified as successful by her peers and the school community, with the aim of describing some of the strategies which contribute to her success. These strategies include constructing an inclusive classroom environment, empowering the students, avoiding authoritarianism and being responsive to the students. How these techniques are expressed in the discourse will be discussed here.
“Tell me the goss ok”
Authors: Grote Ellen
Published: October 2016

Gossip has mainly been investigated as an oral discourse practice, one that serves as a mechanism to reaffirm relationships and to construct, monitor and maintain social norms and values within communities. This study investigates how a group of Aboriginal English speaking teenage girls constructed norms, values and identities in their email gossip. Adopting acommunities of practiceperspective and a social constructionist understanding of identity, the study draws on ethnographic data collected on the writing practices of a group of Indigenous girls in a high school program for educationally ‘at risk’ students. The findings indicate that the girls used email gossip todofriendship while constructing multifaceted identities and negotiating social norms and values relating to four themes: 1) the social practices of girls in friendship circles; 2) the physical attributes, characters and social practices of boys; 3) the relationships between girls and boys; and 4) risk-taking practices. By creating spaces in the curriculum for email writing (and gossip), teachers can make school a more personally meaningful place for ‘disaffected’ students. It can also enhance students’ writing, computer and analytical skills and raise their language awareness with respect to constructing identities needed to participate in the workplace and wider community.
Factors affecting second language achievement in primary school
Authors: Iwashita Noriko , Liem Irene
Published: October 2016

This study investigates achievement in second language learning (Chinese) in primary school in relation to learner variables such as amount and duration of instruction and home language background.1 Currently in the State of Victoria it is recommended that all students learn a second language from the beginning of primary school to the end of Year 10. As the majority of students in some LOTE (Languages Other Than English) classes such as Chinese are background speakers, some parents and teachers are concerned that non-background learners can be disadvantaged compared with classmates who have some exposure to the LOTE outside school. In order to examine whether home language use has any impact on achievement, we developed a test of four skills and administered it to Year 6 students in two primary schools in Melbourne. The results showed that Chinese background students scored much higher than non-Chinese background students in all four areas. However a close examination of the data revealed that other variables such as Chinese study outside school and the number of years of study at school also influenced the test scores. This research has strong implications for developing a LOTE curriculum for both background and non-background speakers.
Spelling correction strategies employed by learners of Japanese
Authors: Kubota Mariko
Published: October 2016

This article analyzes the self-correction of spelling by learners of intermediate Japanese. Participants in this study consisted of 20 students with kanji (Chinese characters) background and 43 without. This study investigates (1) types of spelling errors made; (2) the success rate of corrections made when codes for types of errors (error-codes) were given; (3) strategies used for correcting spelling errors; (4) reasons for a failure to correct errors; and (5) measures for further improvement in correction rates. Three methods, including ‘think-aloud’, observation notes, and the writing of an essay before and after corrections, were used as research tools. The findings show a high rate of success in the self-correction strategies. The errors made by the students may be attributed to a number of different causes. On the basis of the findings, this article puts forth the following suggestions, among others: the provision of increased time for corrections, of more detailed instruction in kanji, and of correct pronunciation instruction; increased practice in the use of dictionaries; and improved codes to indicate types of errors.
The pedagogic effectiveness of developmental readiness in ESL grammar instruction
Authors: Mansouri Fethi , Duffy Loretta
Published: October 2016

The project reported in this paper aims to test the concept of learner developmental readiness’ and its pedagogic effectiveness in the teaching of foreign language grammar. It focuses on the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) in a formal classroom context. The aim is to ascertain whether a specific teaching order based on the concept of developmental readiness, can enhance learning outcomes in foreign language classrooms. The main theoretical approach used is the Teachability Hypothesis articulated in Pienemann’s (1998) Processability Theory (PT), which “predicts that stages of acquisition cannot be skipped through formal instruction and that instruction will be beneficial if it focuses on structures from ‘the next stage’” (Pienemann, 1998, p. 13). Past teachability studies (e.g. Boss, 1996; Dyson, 1996; Ellis, 1989; Pienemann, 1984; Spada& Lightbown, 1999) have employed predicted order testing. However in this study subjects were exposed to English syntax structures either in the predicted or in the reversed orders outlined under PT. The findings of this study show that learners exposed to instruction in accordance with the developmental order predicted in PT produce the target language (TL) structures with a higher grammatical accuracy than those exposed to the reversed order. This suggests that instruction is more beneficial, in relation to grammatical accuracy, when it focuses on the TL structures in a developmentally implicational manner.
“I know the word, but ...”
Authors: Kim Sun Hee Ok
Published: October 2016

Bilinguals sometimes report on difficulties in finding words while speaking in the first language (L1) or the second language (L2), which is frequently attributed to the negative influence of one language onto the other. This paper addresses this issue by investigating the relationship between L1 and L2 vocabulary knowledge of Korean-English bilinguals who have been exposed to an L2 learning environment since the age of 12 years. Their vocabulary knowledge in L1 and L2 is measured by using a standardised vocabulary test in each language and their L1 vocabulary measures are compared with that of 12 year old Korean monolinguals. The findings show that there is a significant positive correlation between the scores from the L1 and L2 vocabulary tests among the participants. The findings suggest (1) that L1 vocabulary learning continues in the L2 learning environment, and (2) that the extent of the vocabulary knowledge in one language is the good predictor of the other, highlighting the positive role of L1 vocabulary knowledge in L2 learning. Implications for the support for L1 development of young immigrants are also discussed.
Culture for language learning in Australian language-in-education policy
Authors: Liddicoat Anthony J.
Published: October 2016

Australia’s language-in-education policy documents have consistently included references to the place of ‘culture’ in language teaching. This paper seeks to examine how the major national policies conceptualise culture and interculturality in relation to languages education. For each policy, this study will analyse the language focus, the conceptualisation of the relationship between language and culture, the contexts in which the policy envisages cultural knowledge will be relevant, and the overall educative vision for language and culture learning. From these analyses it can be seen that successive policy documents have shifted the domain and purpose of interculturality and have constructed views of interculturality that are increasingly instrumentaly focused. The policies show a transformation from a humanistically focused construction of education and a view of languages as relevant to diversity, to an economically focused construction of education and a view of languages as capital for economic deployment. At the same time, they have preserved a largely static, information-focused construction of culture which is not consistent with the user-oriented policy goals.
Teacher perceptions of student speech
Authors: Oliver Rhonda , Yvonne Haig
Published: October 2016

This study reports on teachers’ attitudes towards their students’ speech varieties of English. A sample of 172 primary, district high and secondary teachers in Western Australian schools was surveyed on their attitudes towards language variation and towards their students’ use of specific English variants. The teachers were found to have generally conservative attitudes, particularly with regard to their students’ use of non-standard features. These features were also associated with falling language standards. The impact of the teacher background factors of gender, age, level of teaching qualification, teaching experience and professional development on attitudes was also considered. However, only teacher qualifications and length of experience were found to be significant and this influence was restricted to attitudes towards language varieties. Such findings have important implications for speakers of non-standard sociolects who would tend to use these features more often. It is of particular concern where teachers associate the use of non-standard varieties with lower academic ability as has been found in other research. The findings suggest that teachers need to understand the relationships between standard and non-standard varieties, written and spoken forms, formal and informal registers, and developmental and non-standard features.
‘Checklist complete’. or is it? closing a task in the airline cockpit
Authors: Nevile Maurice
Published: October 2016

For airline pilots, the call of ‘checklist complete’ is officially prescribed talk to claim that the crew’s joint conduct of a checklist is over, and the task can be understood as closed. However, very often this call is not the final talk for the task. This paper1uses naturally occurring data, transcriptions of pilots interacting on actual passenger flights, to show that the recipient pilot commonly says something in response. That pilot might saythank youorokay.These two non-official responses do interactional work. They allow the other pilot to know that the call of ‘checklist complete’ was itself heard, and that there is now a shared crew understanding that the checklist is closed. Such an understanding is critical in the airline cockpit where it is crucial to perform tasks in strict sequential order.Thank youandokayare evidence of pilots’ orientation to their work as a progression through a series of tasks, and where there is value in making salient that one task is closed and it is legitimate to move to a next task. The paper examines how officially scripted talk for work is actually realised in situ.
Discourse studies and education
Authors: van Dijk Teun A.
Published: October 2016

The aim of this paper is a discussion of some applications of results from discourse studies in the field of education. The major structures of discourse are discussed, in particular the semantic, pragmatic, schematic and conversational structures. These structures are then taken as the abstract basis for a cognitive model of discourse comprehension. A brief sketch is given of the main results of current experimental work on discourse processing. Discourse comprehension appears not only to be determined by knowledge and other factors of the cognitive set of language users (beliefs, opinions, attitudes, etc.), but also changes this set, e.g. in processes of learning.

Applications in the study of education are discussed in the framework of the following issues, representing the ‘textual’ dimensions of education: (i) classroom dialogue and interaction, (ii) reading and comprehension, (iii) textbooks, (iv) teaching discourse and communication, and (v) discourse analysis. It is argued that learning in these various dimensions of education should respect the basic results obtained about comprehension. Language learning is urged to take place within a broad integrated framework for the acquisition of discourse and communication skill.
Semantic ‘drift’ in verbal art
Authors: Butt David
Published: October 2016

Poetic language is permanently characterized only by its function; however function is not a property but a mode of utilizing the properties of a given phenomenon.

(Mukarovský, 1977)
Hesitation phenomena
Authors: Bowman Steven N.
Published: October 2016

Hesitation phenomena are often omitted from language analyses, although there is evidence that these phenomena have definitive functions in communication. Analysis of these phenomena will provide information on the stability of particular linguistic features in a child’s language system, as well as evidence of learning of these features. Implications for intervention are discussed.
Mathematics problems or a language deficiency?
Authors: Boyd Rae , Hadjigeorgiou George
Published: October 2016

Pupils in junior primary school meet a large number of mathematical terms in their text books making the master of basic mathematics very difficult for pupils with less adequate language mastery. It was hypothesized that by Year 8, pupils attending a comprehensive high school would (1) show no sex differences in their comprehension of mathematical terms; but (2) pupils in the lowest Year 8 mathematics class would perform significantly worse on a mathematics comprehension test than pupils in the top class, revealing poor language rather than poor mathematical skills. Both hypotheses were supported. Further, the mean comprehension score for each graded mathematics class was significantly lower than the class just above the 1% level. Terms causing difficulty in the lower mathematics classes are discussed along with words generally not understood.
Curriculum renewal in school foreign language learning
Authors: Clark John L.
Published: October 2016

“But you, who are wise, must know that different Nations have different conceptions of things and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same as yours. We have had some experience of it. Several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but when they came back to us, they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods .... neither fit for hunters, warriors, nor councellors, they were totally good for nothing.

We are, however, not the less oblig’d by your kind offer, tho’ we decline accepting it: and, to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take care of their Education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them”.

(Response of the Indians of the six nations to a suggestion that they send boys to an American college, Pennsylvania, 1744).
The child as a communicative strategist
Authors: Lê Thao , McCausland Mike
Published: October 2016

It is argued that the concept of communicative competence includes ‘strategies’ or ‘tactics’ where language is used in interactions in order to achieve desired outcomes for participants. This study examines different types of communicative strategies employed by adults and children in negotiating what is ‘acceptable behaviour’ or ‘rules of conduct’ for children. The influence of social and cognitive development of children on the forms of communicative strategies available to them is treated as central.
Discourse function of intonation in Kuniyanti
Authors: McGregor William B.
Published: October 2016

The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of intonation in narrative texts in Kuniyanti (Kimberley, WA). It is suggested that intonation realizes the information structure of texts. Tone units correspond to information units. Each tone unit has one syllable that is more prominent than the others; this falls within the constituent which has the most important item of new information. The investigation is based principally on solicited texts.
Defining literacy
Authors: Grant Audrey N.
Published: October 2016

This paper is concerned with crucial issues which need to be addressed in attempting to define literacy. Several persistent myths or common misreadings of the nature of literacy are critiqued, namely the myths of literacy as: an absolute, word perfect standard; a collection of functional skills; an autonomous, context-free and unified competence; and a means of economic benefit. Alternative definitions, differing radically from the myths in their reading of reality, are proposed. These argue for a broad, inclusive definition which takes into account two broad perspectives – (i) the essentially creative meaning-centred and relative nature of language learning or use, and (ii) the patterns of social and cultural contexts in which literate behaviours are learnt, developed, constrained by or act to constrain the literacy of others. A dual focus is argued for. First, a focus on individual learning and experience serves to highlight the essentially constructive, selective, purposeful nature of the literacy process and the organic relation between literacy, experience, personal growth and autonomy. Thus, literacy is seen as transcending exclusively linguistic considerations and empowering its possessors to make sense of, to read and reread their experience, both to “take meanings” from the world and to act to transform that world. The second essential focus entails the recognition that socio-cultural contexts, including the nature, availability or distribution of information and printed materials in a society, are a vital part of the literacy process itself, shaping the meaning, values status and conceptions of literacy practices or competences. Hence discussion moves to the wider definitional framework for the analysis of literacies as social practices embedded in socio-cultural contexts of parent-child relationships, socialization patterns and ideologies.
Avoiding the tyranny of the written word
Authors: Spolsky Bernard
Published: October 2016

A study of literacy as a social rather than as a personal phenomenon reveals new aspects of its complexity. Looking in particular at Jewish literacy, a distinction is proposed between unmediated and mediated literacy, the latter referring to modes of literacy that continue to require extensive mediation by a teacher long after the initial skill of phonemic decoding of the orthography has been acquired. In the case of the Written Law (the Bible) this situation was maintained by the use of an orthography which did not record vowels or punctuation and by the maintenance of an oral tradition on correct reading in crucial points in the text. In the case of the Oral Law (the Talmud), when it was finally written down, it was recorded in an elliptical style that continued to make the mediation of a teacher necessary. The result in each case is a method of safeguarding transmission without fossilizing content. Even after unmediated literacy had become widespread for other purposes, the effect of the traditions has remained strong. The system of mediated literacy, combined as it is in the Jewish tradition with a strong value for universal education, assures continued interpretation of traditional knowledge.
Schools involving parents in their children’s reading development
Authors: Toomey Derek
Published: October 2016

Parents have considerable influence on their children’s learning in the processes of general socialization. Much of this learning is relevant to school learning and differences between families in these matters can cause substantial differences in children’s school achievements. This applies to children’s learning to read. Systematic studies have shown that schools can have considerable success in involving parents in assisting the reading development of low competence readers by using simple techniques of modelling and reinforcement which are part of parents’ general socialization skills. These studies are reviewed.

The implications of the “natural learning approach” for home-reading programs is analyzed – and relevant literature is examined to portray two further approaches:

a) schools involving parents in activities which are Generally supportive of their children’s reading development;

b) parents being trained to develop their children’s cognitive/reading skills during reading episodes.

These models have not yet been systematically evaluated.
Some issues in orthography design for Aboriginal languages
Authors: McGregor William B.
Published: October 2016

The appropriateness of the standard practical orthographies for Australian languages, recommended by e.g. Dixon (1980:xxi-xxii), and used in languages such as Warlpiri and Walmajarri, has recently been called to question by linguists and Aboriginal users. A non-phonemic English based orthography has been developed for at least one language (Gooniyandi). However, the issues surrounding orthography design have not been fully brought out and evaluated. My main aim in this paper is to remedy this situation, identify as many relevant issues as possible, and discuss them in the sociolinguistic context of the Kimberley Aboriginal speech communities. The paper is intended to provoke discussion and elicit feedback from others involved in orthography design, rather than make recommendations.
The effect of modelling reports and narratives on the writing of year two children from a non-English speaking background
Authors: Hammond Jennifer
Published: October 2016

This paper presents data gathered from the third year of a project examining the literacy development of NESB children in their first three years at school. It focusses on the effects of modelling narratives and reports for the childrens’ development of these written genres within a process writing classroom. It suggests hat some genres can be successfully modelled.
How do ESL writers compose?
Authors: Kelly Peter
Published: October 2016

This paper focusses upon an experiment in which 9 adult non-native speakers of English were required to ‘think aloud’ as they undertook a writing task of an expository kind. The experiment aimed to accumulate data about the sub-processes of writing (planning, rehearsing, revising, re-reading, commenting etc.) in order to understand better what actually happens in the writing process.
Nasr’s development as a writer in his second language
Authors: Elliott Marietta
Published: October 2016

During the first 6 months of the school year of 1985, at Brunswick Language Centre, I observed Nasr as he was learning to write in his second language.

The most significant change which occurred is that Nasr gained an appreciation of the way in which English written anguage is different from spoken language. That is, rather than merely recording his spoken language, Nasr became a writer in English.

The changes manifested themselves not only in the product, namely the texts themselves, but also in the processes by which they were produced. These processes can be both directly observed, as recorded on videotape or in the observational diary, which was kept once weekly, or inferred from the product.

The major ways in which the last piece is more “developed” is that Nasr has chosen a more “advanced” genre, and the piece conforms more strictly to one genre, rather than also containing elements of other genres.

Nevertheless, the earlier pieces mark important, transitional stages and I have therefore chosen to call these intermediate forms “intertext”.

Nasr gains mastery over linking mechanisms more characteristic of written than of spoken language he moves from co-ordination to subordination, and through the use of reference and ellipsis, he gradually eliminates the various forms of redundancy. Acquisition of form and function of the past tense Is regarded as essential for the production of sustained narrative and, as such, can also be viewed as a form of cohesion.

In Nasr’s case the changes in the writing behaviour include an increase in pause length and a reduction in the number of pauses, changes in the number and type of revisions made, and differences in the way in which input from the teacher is generated.
Frequency scaling of seismic attenuation in rocks saturated with two fluid phases
Authors: Chapman Samuel , Quintal Beatriz , Tisato Nicola , Holliger Klaus
Published: October 2016

Seismic wave attenuation is frequency dependent in rocks saturated by two fluid phases and the corresponding scaling behaviour is controlled primarily by the spatial fluid distribution. We experimentally investigate the frequency scaling of seismic attenuation in Berea sandstone saturated with two fluid phases: a liquid phase, water, and a gas phase, air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen. By changing from a heterogeneous distribution of mesoscopic gas patches to a homogeneous distribution of pore scale gas bubbles, we observe a significant steepening of the high-frequency asymptote of the attenuation. A transition from one dominant attenuation mechanism to another, from mesoscopic wave-induced fluid flow to wave-induced gas exsolution dissolution (WIGED), may explain this change in scaling. We observe that the high-frequency asymptote, for a homogenous pore scale gas bubble distribution, scales in accord with WIGED.
Against the Russellian Open Future
Authors: Schoubye Anders J , Rabern Brian
Published: October 2016

Todd (2016) proposes an analysis of future-directed sentences, in particular sentences of the form ‘will()’, that is based on the classic Russellian analysis of definite descriptions. Todd’s analysis is supposed to vindicate the claim that the future is metaphysically open while retaining a simple Ockhamist semantics of future contingents and the principles of classical logic, i.e. bivalence and the law of excluded middle. Consequently, an open futurist can straightforwardly retain classical logic without appeal to supervaluations, determinacy operators, or any further controversial semantical or metaphysical complication. In this paper, we will show that this quasi-Russellian analysis of ‘will’ both lacks linguistic motivation and faces a variety of significant problems. In particular, we show that the standard arguments for Russell's treatment of definite descriptions fail to apply to statements of the form ‘will()’.
Strong XUV irradiation of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1
Authors: Wheatley Peter J. , Louden Tom , Bourrier Vincent , Ehrenreich David , Gillon Michaël
Published: October 2016

We present an XMM–Newton X-ray observation of TRAPPIST-1, which is an ultracool dwarf star recently discovered to host three transiting and temperate Earth-sized planets. We find the star is a relatively strong and variable coronal X-ray source with an X-ray luminosity similar to that of the quiet Sun, despite its much lower bolometric luminosity. We find LX/Lbol = 2–4 × 10−4, with the total XUV emission in the range LXUV/Lbol = 6–9 × 10−4, and XUV irradiation of the planets that is many times stronger than experienced by the present-day Earth. Using a simple energy-limited model, we show that the relatively close-in Earth-sized planets, which span the classical habitable zone of the star, are subjected to sufficient X-ray and EUV irradiation to significantly alter their primary and any secondary atmospheres. Understanding whether this high-energy irradiation makes the planets more or less habitable is a complex question, but our measured fluxes will be an important input to the necessary models of atmospheric evolution.
Early Antiretroviral Therapy at High CD4 Counts Does Not Improve Arterial Elasticity: A Substudy of the Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) Trial
Authors: Baker Jason V. , Hullsiek Katherine Huppler , Engen Nicole Wyman , Nelson Ray , Chetchotisakd Ploenchan , Gerstoft Jan , Jessen Heiko , Losso Marcelo , Markowitz Norman , Munderi Paula , Papadopoulos Antonios , Shuter Jonathan , Rappoport Claire , Pearson Mary T. , Finley Elizabeth , Babiker Abdel , Emery Sean , Duprez Daniel ,   for the INSIGHT START Arterial Elasticity Substudy Team
Published: October 2016

Background

Both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART) may increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Vascular function assessments can be used to study CVD pathogenesis. We compared the effect of immediate versus deferred ART initiation at CD4 counts >500 cells/mm3 on small arterial elasticity (SAE) and large artery elasticity (LAE).

Methods

Radial artery blood pressure waveforms were recorded noninvasively. Small arterial elasticity and LAE were derived from analysis of the diastolic pulse waveform. Randomized treatment groups were compared with linear models at each visit and longitudinal mixed models.

Results

Study visits involved 332 participants in 8 countries: mean (standard deviation [SD]) age 35 (10), 70% male, 66% nonwhite, 30% smokers, and median CD4 count 625 cells/mm3 and 10-year Framingham risk score for CVD 1.7%. Mean (SD) SAE and LAE values at baseline were 7.3 (2.9) mL/mmHg × 100 and 16.6 (4.1) mL/mmHg × 10, respectively. Median time on ART was 47 and 12 months in the immediate and deferred ART groups, respectively. The treatment groups did not demonstrate significant within-person changes in SAE or LAE during the follow-up period, and there was no difference in mean change from baseline between treatment groups. The lack of significant differences persisted after adjustment, when restricted to early or late changes, after censoring participants in deferred group who started ART, and among subgroups defined by CVD and HIV risk factors.

Conclusions

Among a diverse global population of HIV-positive persons with high CD4 counts, these randomized data suggest that ART treatment does not have a substantial influence on vascular function among younger HIV-positive individuals with preserved immunity.
Pediatric Referrals to an Emergency Department From Urgent Care Centers
Authors: Olympia Robert P. , Wilkinson Robert , Dunnick Jennifer , Dougherty Brendan J. , Zauner Debra
Published: October 2016

Objective

The aims of this study were to describe pediatric emergency department (ED) referrals from urgent care centers and to determine the percentage of referrals considered essential and serious.

Methods

A prospective study was conducted between April 2013 and April 2015 on patients younger than 21 years referred directly to an ED in central Pennsylvania from surrounding urgent care centers. Referrals were considered essential or serious based on investigations/procedures performed or medications/consultations received in the ED.

Results

Analysis was performed on 455 patient encounters (mean age, 8.7 y), with 347 (76%) considered essential and 40 (9%) considered serious. The most common chief complaints were abdominal pain (83 encounters), extremity injury (76), fever (39), cough/cold (29), and head/neck injury (29). Thirty-three percent of the patients received laboratory diagnostic investigations (74% serum, 56% urine), and 52% received radiologic investigations (67% x-ray, 17% computed tomography scan, 13% ultrasound, 11% magnetic resonance imaging). Forty-four percent of the patients received a procedure, with the most common being intravenous (IV) placement (66%); reduction, casting, or splinting of extremity fracture/dislocation (18%); and laceration repair (14%). The most common medications administered were IV fluids (33%), oral analgesics (30%), and IV analgesics (26%). Eighty-three percent of the patients were discharged home, 12% were hospitalized, and 4% had emergent surgical intervention. The most common primary diagnoses were closed extremity fracture (60 encounters), gastroenteritis (42), brain concussion (28), upper respiratory infection (24), and nonsurgical, unspecified abdominal pain (24).

Conclusions

Many ED referrals directed from urgent care centers in our sample were considered essential, and few were considered serious. Urgent care centers should develop educational and preparedness strategies based on the epidemiology of emergencies that may occur.
Characterization of the Variation Potential in Sunflower
Authors: Stankovic B. , Zawadzki T. , Davies E.
Published: October 2016

A major candidate for intercellular signaling in higher plants is the stimulus-induced systemic change in membrane potential known as variation potential (VP). We investigated the mechanism of occurrence and long-distance propagation of VP in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants. Here we present evidence of the relationship among injury-induced changes in xylem tension, turgor pressure, and electrical potential. Although locally applied wounding did trigger a change in membrane potential, it evoked even faster changes in tissue deformation, apparently resulting from pressure surges rapidly transmitted through the xylem and experienced throughout the plant. Externally applied pressure mimicked flame wounding by triggering an electrical response resembling VP. Our findings suggest that VP in sunflower is not a propagating change in electrical potential and not the consequence of chemicals transmitted via the xylem, affecting ligand-modulated ion channels. Instead, VP appears to result from the surge in pressure in the xylem causing a change in activity of mechanosensitive, stretch-responsive ion channels or pumps in adjacent, living cells. The ensuing ion flux evokes local plasma membrane depolarization, which is monitored extracellularly as VP.
Apoplasmic and Protoplasmic Water Transport through the Parenchyma of the Potato Storage Organ
Authors: Michael W. , Schultz A. , Meshcheryakov A. B. , Ehwald R.
Published: October 2016

Stationary volume fluxes through living and denatured parenchyma slices of the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) storage organ were studied to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of the cell wall and to evaluate the significance of water transport through protoplasts, cell walls, and intercellular spaces. Slices were placed between liquid compartments, steady-state fluxes induced by pressure or concentration gradients of low- and high-molecular-mass osmotica were measured, and water transport pathways were distinguished on the basis of their difference in limiting pore size. The protoplasts were the dominating route for osmotically driven water transport through living slices, even in the case of a polymer osmoticum that is excluded from cell walls. The specific hydraulic conductivity of the cell wall matrix is too small to allow a significant contribution of the narrow cell wall bypass to water flow through the living tissue. This conclusion is based on (a) ultrafilter coefficients of denatured parenchyma slices, (b) the absence of a significant difference between ultrafilter coefficients of the living tissue slices for osmotica with low and high cell wall reflection coefficients, and (c) the absence of a significant interaction (solvent drag) between apoplasmic permeation of mannitol and the water flux caused by a concentration difference of excluded polyethylene glycol. Liquid-filled intercellular spaces were the dominating pathways for pressure-driven volume fluxes through the parenchyma tissue.
Root-Zone Salinity Alters Raffinose Oligosaccharide Metabolism and Transport in Coleus
Authors: Gilbert G. A. , Wilson C. , Madore M. A.
Published: October 2016

Exposure of variegated coleus (Coleus blumei Benth.) plants to a saline root-zone environment (60 mM NaCl:12 mM CaCl2) resulted in a significant decline in elongation growth rate over the 30-d experimental period. During the initial 5 to 10 d of exposure, mature source leaves showed strongly diminished rates of photosynthesis, which gradually recovered to close to the control rates by the end of the experiment. In green leaf tissues, starch levels showed the same transient decline and recovery pattern. Low starch levels were accompanied by the appearance of several novel carbohydrates, including high-molecular-weight raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) with a degree of polymerization (DP) of 5 to 8, and an O-methylated inositol (OMI). New enzyme activities, including galactan:galactan galactosyltransferase, for the synthesis of high-DP RFOs and myo-inositol 6-O-methyltransferase for O-methylation of myo-inositol, were induced by salinity stress. Phloem-sap analysis showed that in the stressed condition substantially more sucrose than RFO was exported, as was the OMI. In white sink tissues these phloem sugars were used to synthesize high-DP RFOs but not OMIs. In sink tissues galactan:galactan galactosyltransferase but not myo-inositol 6-O-methyltransferase was induced by salinity stress. Models reflecting the changes in carbohydrate metabolism in source and sink tissues in response to salinity stress are presented.
Bacteria induce pigment formation in the basidiomyceteSerpula lacrymans
Authors: Tauber James P. , Schroeckh Volker , Shelest Ekaterina , Brakhage Axel A. , Hoffmeister Dirk
Published: October 2016

Basidiomycete fungi are characterized ecologically for their vital functional role in ecosystem carbon recycling and chemically for their capacity to produce a diverse array of small molecules. Chromophoric natural products derived from the quinone precursor atromentin, such as variegatic acid and involutin, have been shown to function in redox cycling. Yet, in the context of an inter‐kingdom natural system these pigments are still elusive. Here, we co‐cultured the model saprotrophic basidiomyceteSerpula lacrymanswith an ubiquitous terrestrial bacterium, eitherBacillus subtilis,Pseudomonas putida, orStreptomyces iranensis. For each, there was induction of the gene cluster encoding a non‐ribosomal peptide synthetase‐like enzyme (atromentin synthetase) and an aminotransferase which together produce atromentin. Correspondingly, during co‐culturing there was an increase in secreted atromentin‐derived pigments,i.e., variegatic, xerocomic, isoxerocomic, and atromentic acid. Bioinformatic analyses from 14 quinone synthetase genes, twelve of which are encoded in a cluster, identified a common promoter motif indicating a general regulatory mechanism for numerous basidiomycetes.
Human‐affected disturbances in vegetation cover and peatland development in the late Holocene recorded in shallow mountain peatlands (Central Sudetes, SW Poland)
Authors: Glina Bartłomiej , Malkiewicz Małgorzata , Mendyk Łukasz , Bogacz Adam , Woźniczka Przemysław
Published: October 2016

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of biotic and abiotic factors on peatland formation in the Central Sudetes (central Europe) during the late Holocene. The research methodology adopted allowed us to determine whether vegetation development and shallow peatland formation were affected by human activity. Knowledge of past changes might be useful in evaluating recent and future changes, and to avoid pitfalls in the present management of peatland ecosystems. A palaeoecological research study of four peatlands was conducted in the Stołowe Mountains (Central Sudetes, SW Poland). The results showed that these shallow peatlands originated in the middle to late Holocene (from 3301 BC to AD 1137). Palaeoecological records reflect continuous human impact on vegetation development and peat accumulation from the Middle Ages to the present (late Holocene). The strongest agrarian settler activity is observed in the High Middle Ages (AD 1200–1500). The human‐induced or wildfires observed in the late Holocene were an integral component of peatland ecosystems in the Central Sudetes. Moreover, palaeoecological analysis (sphagnum spores decline) and radiocarbon dating (AD 1870) confirmed drainage of the study area in the 19th century, which greatly affected the vegetation communities.
Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of certain benzothiazole derivatives against human MCF‐7 cancer cell line
Authors: Mohamed Lamia W. , Taher Azza T. , Rady Ghada S. , Ali Mamdouh M. , Mahmoud Abeer E.
Published: October 2016

A new series of benzothiazole has been synthesized as cytotoxic agents. The new derivatives were tested for their cytotoxic activity toward the human breast cancer MCF‐7 cell line against cisplatin as the reference drug. Many derivatives revealed good cytotoxic effect, whereas four of them, 4, 5c, 5d, and 6b, were more potent than cisplatin, with IC50 values being 8.64, 7.39, 7.56, and 5.15 μm compared to 13.33 μm of cisplatin. The four derivatives’ cytotoxic activity was accompanied by regulating free radicals production, by increasing the activity of superoxide dismutase and depletion of intracellular reduced glutathione, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities, accordingly, the high production of hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, and other free radicals causing tumor cell death as monitored by reduction in the synthesis of protein and nucleic acids. Most of the tested compounds showed potent to moderate growth inhibitory activity; in particular, compound 6b exhibited the highest activity suggesting it is a lead compound in cytotoxic activity.
Thoughts on fatigue in Parkinson's disease (and other disorders)
Authors: Friedman J. H.
Published: October 2016

Click here to view the accompanying paper in this issue.