bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Supervernaculars and their dialects
Authors: Blommaert Jan
Published: January 2013

This paper introduces the term ‘supervernacular’ as a descriptor for new forms of semiotic codes emerging in the context of technology-driven globalization processes. Supervernaculars are widespread codes used in communities that do not correspond to ‘traditional’ sociolinguistic speech communities, but are deterritorialized and transidiomatic communities that, nonetheless, appear to create a solid and normative sociolinguistic system. Such systems — we illustrate them by referring to mobile texting codes — can be seen as the outcome of complex processes of englobalization-and-deglobalization, of globally circulating affordances that always and inevitably get taken up within the possibilities and constraints of local sociolinguistic economies. Consequently, they only occur as ‘dialects’ of the supervernacular: instances of locally constrained and ‘accented’ realization that display an orientation to the ideological ‘standard’ supervernacular. Investigating supervernaculars, seen from this angle, illustrates and clarifies fundamental sociolinguistic processes of ‘standardization’ and sheds light on the cultural dynamics of superdiversity.
Conventionalized ways of saying things (CWOSTs) and L2 development
Authors: Smiskova Hana , Verspoor Marjolijn , Lowie Wander
Published: January 2013

Taking a usage-based approach, this paper aims to define conventionalized ways of saying things (CWOSTs) as multi-word units so that they can be included in researching L2 development. We build on Langacker’s (2008) “normal ways of saying things”, here understood as conventionalized form-meaning-function mappings. We used task-elicited written texts from 40 Dutch L2 learners of English to obtain a range of possible ways of expressing the same notion. Each expression was judged for naturalness by native speakers of English and checked for token frequency in reference corpora. Based on these two measures of conventionalization, CWOSTs can be captured as the preferred formulations among a range of possible ways of expressing the same beyond-word-level notion. We conclude that in L2 development, conventionalized ways of saying things (CWOSTs) are best defined against awkward ways of saying things (AWSTs); compare when I grow up and when I am a grown up adult.
Measuring effectiveness in Focus on Form versus Focus on Meaning
Authors: Rousse-Malpat Audrey , Verspoor Marjolijn
Published: January 2013

So far empirical studies have shown that explicit Focus-on-Form (FonF) methods are more effective than implicit Focus-on-Meaning (FonM) methods (Norris & Ortega, 2000). However, many studies fail to address the notion of ‘effectiveness’ and the tests used usually favor the explicitly taught FonF groups in that some explicitly taught ‘rule’ is targeted. This paper argues that the effectiveness of FonF versus FonM methods will depend on how effectiveness is defined and operationalized and when it is measured. We compared the oral fluency of two groups of high school students after two years of instruction. One group was taught French with a FonF method, and the other with a FonM method called AIM (Maxwell, 2004). The free speech data of the two groups were scored for general proficiency (Study 1) and analyzed for grammatical accuracy (Study 2). The study shows that after two years of instruction the FonM scored higher than the FonF on oral proficiency and the same on grammatical accuracy.
Disclosures of depression
Authors: Harvey Kevin
Published: January 2013

This study details the use of corpus linguistics techniques to interrogate a corpus of adolescent health emails. The analysis focuses on the theme of depression, qualitatively examining how adolescents communicate psychological distress to health professionals. The study’s findings relate how the adolescents situate their accounts around two recurring constructs: “I am depressed” and “I have depression”. These formulations encode different perspectives and meaning making with regard to the conceptualisation of depression, the former describing depressive experiences as a reaction to negative life events, the latter portraying depression as a pathology originating within the individual. Thus the language choices employed by adolescents can be seen to reflect not only the personal and social contexts in which their depression is situated, but also reflect broader contemporary attitudes to mental health, specifically the sociocultural trend of psychiatrization, whereby sadness is constructed as a clinical problem rather than an unavoidable facet of everyday life.
The case of InterCorp, a multilingual parallel corpus
Authors: Čermák František , Rosen Alexandr
Published: January 2013

This paper introduces InterCorp, a parallel corpus including texts in Czech and 27 other languages, available for online searches via a web interface. After discussing some issues and merits of a multilingual resource we argue that it has an important role especially for languages with fewer native speakers, supporting both comparative research and studies of the language from the perspective of other languages. We proceed with an overview of the corpus — the strategy and criteria for including new texts, the representation of available languages and text types, linguistic annotation, and a sketch of pre-processing issues. Finally, we present the search interface and suggest some research opportunities.
The role of the judge in legal proceedings
Authors: Feteris Eveline T.
Published: January 2013

In this contribution I characterize the role of the judge in the context of the argumentative activity of legal proceeding. I describe the role of the judge from a pragma-dialectical perspective and explain in which way this role promotes a rational resolution of the dispute. I specify how a critical discussion in accordance with the ideal model is implemented in legal procedure to accomplish the institutional point, a resolution of the dispute in accordance with the Rule of Law.
Terrorism rhetoric under the Bush Administration
Authors: Bartolucci Valentina
Published: January 2013

In this paper I examine some of the properties of the speeches by former U.S. President George W. Bush framing the issue of terrorism as the most pressing menace humanity is facing and some of the consequences of the selective appropriation of the discourse on terrorism initially instantiated by Bush. The theoretical framework for the analysis is a multidisciplinary Critical Discourse Analysis approach relating discursive and socio-political aspects of U.S. presidential discourses on terrorism in the Bush era. Parallel to an analysis of common characteristics of political discourse, such as ‘us’ versus ‘other’ representations, the device of over/less characterisation, hyperboles and repetitions, attention is also directed towards the socio-political effects deriving from the ways in which ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorists’ have been represented by the presidential discourse on terrorism that condition the contemporary life of individuals and groups all around the world.
Loch Piny Owacho
Authors: Onyango Daniel
Published: January 2013

In this paper, I construct a linguistic framework for understanding contrasting conceptions of political contest. That framework is illustrated by applying it to the particular case of Luo of Kenya in the wider context of the country’s conflictual ethno-politics.The article, which rests on a conception of political contest as a structure of competition in which individuals and ethnic communities compete for political supremacy (over others, or at the expense of others), analyses selected instances of recent texts from online blogs, music and recorded public meetings. The article shows that, just like many other language communities, Luo key concepts and understandings emanate from its social and cultural institutions. Also, as those activities serve as source domains for other areas of social existence, including politics, the article argues that the conceptual metaphors deriving from frames such as POLITICAL CONTEST IS HUNTING/WAR/ WRESTLING/A FOOTBALL MATCH or POLITICAL CONTEST IS WOOING A WIFE are still common among the Luo today, even though some issues like hunting and war are no longer matters of everyday life. As the article argues, understanding the Luo Idealized Cognitive Models (ICMs) of political contest may be very useful in peace and conflict studies.
Perfect doubling
Authors: Koeneman Olaf , Lekakou Marika , Barbiers Sjef
Published: January 2013

The focus of this paper is the syntax of the so-called perfect doubling construction as it occurs in dialects of Dutch, namely cases of compound tenses featuring an additional, participial have (or be). We examine the properties of the construction on the basis of recent fieldwork research, and propose an analysis, whose starting point is the assumption that auxiliary doubling as such does not exist; what we have, rather, is the perfect tense of a lexical have (and be), which takes an adjectival (small clause) complement. Dialects vary with respect to the kinds of complement these lexical verbs can take. Our micro-comparative treatment takes into account related constructions, such as the geographically restricted so-called undative construction, as well as variants thereof that exist in the standard language.
Keywords: syntactic doubling; (adjectival) participles; auxiliaries; present perfect; target state; resultant state; undative construction; possession
(Non-)intervention in A-movement
Authors: Hartman Jeremy
Published: January 2013

This article explores ‘defective intervention’ effects in a range of A-movement constructions in English. Moving beyond an old observation that English lacks intervention in standard subject-to-subject raising constructions, I present new data showing that English does in fact display intervention in a variety of other NP-raising contexts. I explore the consequences of this expanded data set, and propose an account of intervention that aims to capture both the cross-linguistic variation between English and other languages, and the cross-constructional variation within English. Keywords: intervention; raising; tough-movement; raising-to-object; passivization; PP-reanalysis; parallel movement; reconstruction; A-movement
Strategies of wh-coordination
Authors: Lipták Anikó
Published: January 2013

This paper presents an overview of the cross-linguistically available strategies used in the formation of questions with coordinated wh-expressions. It offers a systematic characterization of the existing surface patterns of wh-coordination and the syntactic strategies underlying these, and presents typological generalizations on the distribution of these strategies, based on a cross-linguistic survey involving 12 languages. It will be pointed out that languages can be classified into four types according to the availability of coordinated wh-questions in them and that these four types can make use of at least six distinct syntactic strategies for the derivation of wh-coordination. The availability of these strategies will be shown to be limited by the syntactic typology of wh-questions. Keywords: wh-questions; coordination; ellipsis; sharing; (multiple) wh-movement
The syntax of manner quotative constructions in English and Dutch
Authors: Haddican William , Zweig Eytan
Published: January 2013

This paper proposes an account of some properties of the manner quotative constructions be like [Quote] in English and hebben (zo)iets van [Quote] in Dutch. We make two main claims about these constructions. First, in the spirit of Rothstein’s (1999) proposal for adjectival predicates of copula be, we propose that eventive direct speech interpretations of these quotatives are derived via a coercion mechanism akin to those that make count readings out of mass nouns in the nominal domain. Second, adapting a proposal for be like originally made by Kayne (2007), we propose that some exceptional syntactic properties of be like as a quote introducer in English are explained by the presence of a silent something quantifier, which takes a like-headed PP as its complement. We compare English be like quotatives with innovative (zo)iets van quotative constructions in Dutch, which contain an overt something quantifier and behave similarly. Keywords:﻿﻿ quotative; English; Dutch; copula; event; coercion; have/be alternations
Variation in element theory
Authors: Backley Philip
Published: January 2013

This paper introduces the Element Theory approach to segmental structure, and describes the variation that exists between different versions of the theory. Elements are unlike traditional features in several respects: they have only positive values, they represent categories motivated solely by phonological behavior, they map on to acoustic patterns in the speech signal, and they are segment-sized units that can be pronounced independently. The standard version of Element Theory recognizes six elements, giving the phonology a level of expressiveness that is capable of capturing most contrasts, natural classes and phonological processes without overgenerating significantly. Furthermore, standard Element Theory compares favorably with two other forms of the theory, conservative and progressive. These employ different element inventories, which distinguish them from the standard theory at a superficial level. Fundamentally, however, all versions of Element Theory are united by a shared conceptual approach and a common set of assumptions and structural principles. Keywords:﻿﻿ phonology; elements; features; segmental structure; head-dependency; generative restrictiveness; natural classes; consonant-vowel unity; markedness
L1 accessibility among Turkish-Dutch bilinguals
Authors: Yilmaz Gülsen , Schmid Monika S.
Published: January 2013

This study investigates whether lexical knowledge in the first language (L1) of late Turkish-Dutch bilinguals becomes less accessible for the production of fluent speech and in controlled experimental tasks as a result of extended stay in the Netherlands. It is also considered to what degree extra-linguistic factors can account for this phenomenon. Data are collected from the first generation Turkish migrants (n = 52) and from a monolingual reference group in Turkey (n = 52) via a lexical naming task, a free speech task and a sociolinguistic background questionnaire. The results show that the bilingual group is indistinguishable from the monolinguals on the experimental task. However, in the free speech task, they not only are significantly more disfluent than the monolinguals but also make significantly less use of diverse, in particular low-frequency, vocabulary. Overall, the results signal that bilinguals were outperformed by the monolinguals in spontaneous language production but not on a controlled task. We interpret this finding to indicate a decrease of automaticity in the access to linguistic knowledge which impedes the rapid integration of information from all linguistic levels. Further analyses with respect to the relations between the L1 change and nonlinguistic factors are discussed within the Activation Threshold Hypothesis (ATH).
De-linking text from fieldwork
Authors: Blaufuss Kathrin
Published: January 2013

In the construction of an academic thesis, the lived and multi-voiced experiences of fieldwork have to be condensed and distilled into a single, coherent narrative thread. This article discusses the problematic and delicate situation of attempting to select (and thereby exclude) materials and stories, and of representing faithfully but through analytical lenses, while juggling the intricacies of the author’s own positionalities and multiple levels of interpretation. In its discussion, this article makes explicit the complications of translating and transposing lived encounters and experiences into text and the written word, and unpacks the inexorable exercise of power involved in this process.
The language of power and the power of language
Authors: Lau Lisa
Published: January 2013

This article will discuss the complexity of positionality and the implications of writing in the English language in a South Asian context. Given the postcolonial heritage of South Asia, contemporary authors producing literature in English find themselves confronted with both tremendous opportunity as well as tremendous controversy. Literature has become a product in the circuit of culture, and the concluding sections will therefore discuss and explore how writers, and particularly diasporic writers, using English (as opposed to the other languages in India) are able to seize a disproportionate amount of world attention and consequently, through their choice of language, gain the power to make their presentations and representations dominant and prevalent in terms of distribution and influence.
Deforestation in Bangladesh
Authors: Islam Sheikh Tawhidul
Published: January 2013

This article considers the narratives of power acting upon the Madhapur forests of Bangladesh. Power is unequally distributed amongst the actors involved: the native people, the national government, international agencies. This article will first consider this issue in the context of political ecology, and then discuss the resources within the forest and the settlement of the local forest dwellers. It will demonstrate that the power within narratives have been effectively utilised as weapons by the more powerful groups against the vulnerable to seize their lands, livelihoods and homes, and to mobilise planning development and its subsequent deforestation, with relative ease and even impunity.
Political dissidents as translators, editors, and publishers
Authors: Ben-Ari Nitsa
Published: January 2013

Against the backdrop of the British mandatory rule of Palestine (1917–1948), Socialist and Revisionist factions struggled bitterly over the character of the new Israeli culture/nation in the making. Crucial ideological differences intermingled with violent fights over topical problems such as whether resistance to British rule should be violent or subdued and how to face growing Arab aggression. The struggle intensified during World War II when the Socialist Zionist camp, headed by Ben-Gurion, backed the British in the war against Nazi Germany. This camp eventually won, as we know, and dissidents found themselves not only jobless but unable to obtain employment in public office. As a result, many Revisionists turned to the private book industry, becoming translators, editors, and publishers. This essay will describe the conditions that led to this choice and will analyze the options left for Revisionist intellectuals rejected by the mainstream. It will then describe them as a far from homogenized sociopolitical group, analyze their various habituses, then present particular examples of participants in the alternative book industry. It will try to find a correlation between their sociopolitical ideology and their professional behavior. Cases of ex-dissidents that found a way into the mainstream will also be presented. Using a diachronic approach, this article will attempt to sum up their contribution, as well as the effects of the strife (schism, in fact) on Hebrew culture that this work represents. Finally, this article will attempt to incorporate these findings within the framework of the sociological turn, problematizing the application of Bourdieu’s habitus and field theories to the study of translation.
The Art of War in retranslating Sun Tzu
Authors: Song Zhongwei
Published: January 2013

The field of translation is a battleground on which, according to Bourdieu, cultural reproducers compete over cultural capital synonymous with higher social status and greater power to control texts and attribute meaning to them. On the surface, the struggles are about defending ideas and satisfying tastes, but they are also about how to control cultural capital and how to eventually convert it into economic capital. Against this background, this article explores the issue of retranslation of classic texts, using Bourdieu’s sociological concepts to analyze why The Art of War is frequently chosen for retranslation, how a challenging translator qualifies himself as someone more capable than his predecessors of doing full justice to the classic text, and, more importantly, what strategies are used to compete against the most respected translators in so doing. The article concludes that retranslating classic texts is a social practice whereby individual translators are inclined to use as their common strategy all kinds of cultural capital (embodied, objectified, and institutionalized) to outmatch the competition not merely within textual practice but also well beyond it.
Translators in international organizations
Authors: Dam Helle V. , Zethsen Karen Korning
Published: January 2013

This article focuses on the occupational status of translators in international organizations. It reports on an empirical study on the job status of Danish staff translators working in the European Union as compared to that of Danish staff translators working in the national market. The study is based on data from questionnaires completed by 63 EU translators and 113 national-market translators, i.e., a total of 176 respondents. The translators’ perceptions of their occupational status were studied and compared through their responses to questions revolving around four parameters of occupational prestige: (1) remuneration, (2) education and expertise, (3) power and influence, and (4) visibility. Based on the literature, we hypothesized that the EU translators would enjoy a higher status than the national-market translators — a hypothesis which the study failed to confirm. In the article, the analyses and findings of the study are discussed, along with the possible reasons for the lack of alignment between the hypothesis and the results.
Using concept mapping and the web as corpus to develop terminological competence among translators and interpreters
Authors: Austermühl Frank
Published: January 2013

“Übersetzen ist die Verwendung des Verstandenen,” wrote the late Hans Vermeer in 1986. Seen within the context of Vermeer’s Skopos theory, translation is at its core a dual process of understanding and applying this understanding in the production of a target text. I intend to discuss the essence of Vermeer’s quote against the background of specialized translation and interpreting. In particular, I will be focusing on the two main aspects of translation highlighted in the quote, the cognitive dimension of translation as information processing on the one hand and the pragmatic dimension of the purposeful application of that information in the transfer and production phases of the translation process on the other hand. At the heart of my paper lies a didactic model for the development of information processing and information application competence in the university training of future translators and interpreters. The main focus of the discussion will be on terminology in general and, following Teresa Cabré’s “theory of doors,” on the cognitive and pragmatic dimensions of terminological units in particular. The objective is to combine terminological (concept-oriented) approaches with textographical (corpus-driven) ones, so as to show, first, how terminological units can be organized in mono and multilingual knowledge structures and, second, how, based on a digital corpus search, these units can be implemented into the norm-guided production of the target text.
In search of lost time: Memory politics in Estonia, 1991-2011
Authors: Tamm Marek
Published: January 2013

This article analyzes memory politics during the first 20 years (1991-2011) of the newly independent Estonia. Memory politics is understood as a politics endeavoring to shape the society's collective memory and establish notions of what is and is not to be remembered of the past, employing to this end both legislative means and practical measures. The paper presents one possible scheme for analyzing Estonian memory politics and limits its treatment in two important ways. Firstly, the focus is on national memory politics, that is the decisions of the parliament, government, and president oriented toward shaping collective memory. And second, only internal memory politics is discussed; that is, bi- or multilateral memory-political relations with other states or political unions are not examined separately. The analysis is built on four interrelated dimensions of memory politics, which have played the most important roles in Estonia: the legal, institutional, commemorative, and monumental dimensions. Also, a general characterization and temporal articulation of memory politics in newly independent Estonia is proposed.
MDGAs help the brain lose its inhibitions
Authors: Short Ben
Published: January 2013

Protein family linked to autism suppresses the development of inhibitory synapses.
Glucose and SIRT2 reciprocally mediate the regulation of keratin 8 by lysine acetylation
Authors: Snider Natasha T. , Leonard Jessica M. , Kwan Raymond , Griggs Nicholas W. , Rui Liangyou , Omary M. Bishr
Published: January 2013

Lysine acetylation is an important posttranslational modification that regulates microtubules and microfilaments, but its effects on intermediate filament proteins (IFs) are unknown. We investigated the regulation of keratin 8 (K8), a type II simple epithelial IF, by lysine acetylation. K8 was basally acetylated and the highly conserved Lys-207 was a major acetylation site. K8 acetylation regulated filament organization and decreased keratin solubility. Acetylation of K8 was rapidly responsive to changes in glucose levels and was up-regulated in response to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) depletion and in diabetic mouse and human livers. The NAD-dependent deacetylase sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) associated with and deacetylated K8. Pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of SIRT2 decreased K8 solubility and affected filament organization. Inhibition of K8 Lys-207 acetylation resulted in site-specific phosphorylation changes of K8. Therefore, K8 acetylation at Lys-207, a highly conserved residue among type II keratins and other IFs, is up-regulated upon hyperglycemia and down-regulated by SIRT2. Keratin acetylation provides a new mechanism to regulate keratin filaments, possibly via modulating keratin phosphorylation.
Structural basis of tubulin tyrosination by tubulin tyrosine ligase
Authors: Prota Andrea E. , Magiera Maria M. , Kuijpers Marijn , Bargsten Katja , Frey Daniel , Wieser Mara , Jaussi Rolf , Hoogenraad Casper C. , Kammerer Richard A. , Janke Carsten , Steinmetz Michel O.
Published: January 2013

Tubulin tyrosine ligase (TTL) catalyzes the post-translational retyrosination of detyrosinated α-tubulin. Despite the indispensable role of TTL in cell and organism development, its molecular mechanism of action is poorly understood. By solving crystal structures of TTL in complex with tubulin, we here demonstrate that TTL binds to the α and β subunits of tubulin and recognizes the curved conformation of the dimer. Biochemical and cellular assays revealed that specific tubulin dimer recognition controls the activity of the enzyme, and as a consequence, neuronal development. The TTL–tubulin structure further illustrates how the enzyme binds the functionally crucial C-terminal tail sequence of α-tubulin and how this interaction catalyzes the tyrosination reaction. It also reveals how TTL discriminates between α- and β-tubulin, and between different post-translationally modified forms of α-tubulin. Together, our data suggest that TTL has specifically evolved to recognize and modify tubulin, thus highlighting a fundamental role of the evolutionary conserved tubulin tyrosination cycle in regulating the microtubule cytoskeleton.
Notch activation inhibits AML growth and survival: a potential therapeutic approach
Authors: Kannan Sankaranarayanan , Sutphin Robert M. , Hall Mandy G. , Golfman Leonard S. , Fang Wendy , Nolo Riitta M. , Akers Lauren J. , Hammitt Richard A. , McMurray John S. , Kornblau Steven M. , Melnick Ari M. , Figueroa Maria E. , Zweidler-McKay Patrick A.
Published: January 2013

Although aberrant Notch activation contributes to leukemogenesis in T cells, its role in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) remains unclear. Here, we report that human AML samples have robust expression of Notch receptors; however, Notch receptor activation and expression of downstream Notch targets are remarkably low, suggesting that Notch is present but not constitutively activated in human AML. The functional role of these Notch receptors in AML is not known. Induced activation through any of the Notch receptors (Notch1–4), or through the Notch target Hairy/Enhancer of Split 1 (HES1), consistently leads to AML growth arrest and caspase-dependent apoptosis, which are associated with B cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) loss and enhanced p53/p21 expression. These effects were dependent on the HES1 repressor domain and were rescued through reexpression of BCL2. Importantly, activated Notch1, Notch2, and HES1 all led to inhibited AML growth in vivo, and Notch inhibition via dnMAML enhanced proliferation in vivo, thus revealing the physiological inhibition of AML growth in vivo in response to Notch signaling. As a novel therapeutic approach, we used a Notch agonist peptide that led to significant apoptosis in AML patient samples. In conclusion, we report consistent Notch-mediated growth arrest and apoptosis in human AML, and propose the development of Notch agonists as a potential therapeutic approach in AML.
Identification of autoantigens recognized by the 2F5 and 4E10 broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies
Authors: Yang Guang , Holl T. Matt , Liu Yang , Li Yi , Lu Xiaozhi , Nicely Nathan I. , Kepler Thomas B. , Alam S. Munir , Liao Hua-Xin , Cain Derek W. , Spicer Leonard , VandeBerg John L. , Haynes Barton F. , Kelsoe Garnett
Published: January 2013

Many human monoclonal antibodies that neutralize multiple clades of HIV-1 are polyreactive and bind avidly to mammalian autoantigens. Indeed, the generation of neutralizing antibodies to the 2F5 and 4E10 epitopes of HIV-1 gp41 in man may be proscribed by immune tolerance because mice expressing the VH and VL regions of 2F5 have a block in B cell development that is characteristic of central tolerance. This developmental blockade implies the presence of tolerizing autoantigens that are mimicked by the membrane-proximal external region of HIV-1 gp41. We identify human kynureninase (KYNU) and splicing factor 3b subunit 3 (SF3B3) as the primary conserved, vertebrate self-antigens recognized by the 2F5 and 4E10 antibodies, respectively. 2F5 binds the H4 domain of KYNU which contains the complete 2F5 linear epitope (ELDKWA). 4E10 recognizes an epitope of SF3B3 that is strongly dependent on hydrophobic interactions. Opossums carry a rare KYNU H4 domain that abolishes 2F5 binding, but they retain the SF3B3 4E10 epitope. Immunization of opossums with HIV-1 gp140 induced extraordinary titers of serum antibody to the 2F5 ELDKWA epitope but little or nothing to the 4E10 determinant. Identification of structural motifs shared by vertebrates and HIV-1 provides direct evidence that immunological tolerance can impair humoral responses to HIV-1.
Localization and Intrinsic Function
Authors: Rathkopf Charles A.
Published: January 2013

This article describes one style of functional analysis commonly used in the neurosciences called “task-bound functional analysis.” The concept of function invoked by this style of analysis is distinctive in virtue of the dependence relations it bears to transient environmental properties. It is argued that task-bound functional analysis cannot explain the presence of structural properties in nervous systems. An alternative concept of neural function is introduced that draws on the theoretical neuroscience literature, and an argument is given to show that this alternative concept may help to overcome the explanatory limitations of task-bound functional analysis.
A simple proof of Stolarsky’s invariance principle
Authors: Brauchart Johann , Dick Josef
Published: January 2013

Stolarsky [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 41 (1973), 575–582] showed a beautiful relation that balances the sums of distances of points on the unit sphere and their spherical cap

L

2

\mathbb {L}_2

-discrepancy to give the distance integral of the uniform measure on the sphere which is a potential-theoretical quantity (Björck [Ark. Mat. 3 (1956), 255–269]). Read differently it expresses the worst-case numerical integration error for functions from the unit ball in a certain Hilbert space setting in terms of the

L

2

\mathbb {L}_2

-discrepancy and vice versa. In this note we give a simple proof of the invariance principle using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces.
Why does the Jeans Swindle work?
Authors: Falco M. , Hansen S. H. , Wojtak R. , Mamon G. A.
Published: January 2013

When measuring the mass profile of any given cosmological structure through internal kinematics, the distant background density is always ignored. This trick is often referred to as the ‘Jeans Swindle’. Without this trick a divergent term from the background density renders the mass profile undefined; however, this trick has no formal justification. We show that when one includes the expansion of the Universe in the Jeans equation, a term appears which exactly cancels the divergent term from the background. We thereby establish a formal justification for using the Jeans Swindle.
Biological Nitrogen Fixation in the Context of Global Change
Authors: Olivares José , Bedmar Eulogio J. , Sanjuán Juan
Published: January 2013

The intensive application of fertilizers during agricultural practices has led to an unprecedented perturbation of the nitrogen cycle, illustrated by the growing accumulation of nitrates in soils and waters and of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. Besides increasing use efficiency of current N fertilizers, priority should be given to value the process of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) through more sustainable technologies that reduce the undesired effects of chemical N fertilization of agricultural crops. Wider legume adoption, supported by coordinated legume breeding and inoculation programs are approaches at hand. Also available are biofertilizers based on microbes that help to reduce the needs of N fertilization in important crops like cereals. Engineering the capacity to fix nitrogen in cereals, either by themselves or in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing microbes, are attractive future options that, nevertheless, require more intensive and internationally coordinated research efforts. Although nitrogen-fixing plants may be less productive, at some point, agriculture must significantly reduce the use of warming (chemically synthesized) N and give priority to BNF if it is to sustain both food production and environmental health for a continuously growing human population.
Nonhost Resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana Against Alternaria alternata Involves both Pre- and Postinvasive Defenses but Is Collapsed by AAL-Toxin in the Absence of LOH2
Authors: Egusa Mayumi , Miwa Takuya , Kaminaka Hironori , Takano Yoshitaka , Kodama Motoichiro
Published: January 2013

The tomato pathotype of Alternaria alternata causes Alternaria stem canker on tomato depending upon the production of the host-specific AAL-toxin. Host defense mechanisms to A. alternata, however, are largely unknown. Here, we elucidate some of the mechanisms of nonhost resistance to A. alternata using Arabidopsis mutants. Wild-type Arabidopsis showed either no symptoms or a hypersensitive reaction (HR) when inoculated with both strains of AAL-toxin-producing and non-producing A. alternata. Yet, when these Arabidopsis penetration (pen) mutants, pen2 and pen3, were challenged with both strains of A. alternata, fungal penetration was possible. However, further fungal development and conidiation were limited on these pen mutants by postinvasion defense with HR-like cell death. Meanwhile, only AAL-toxin-producing A. alternata could invade lag one homologue (loh)2 mutants, which have a defect in the AAL-toxin resistance gene, subsequently allowing the fungus to complete its life cycle. Thus, the nonhost resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana to A. alternata consists of multilayered defense systems that include pre-invasion resistance via PEN2 and PEN3 and postinvasion resistance. However, our study also indicates that the pathogen is able to completely overcome the multilayered nonhost resistance if the plant is sensitive to the AAL-toxin, which is an effector of the toxin-dependent necrotrophic pathogen A. alternata.
Could energy-intensive industries be powered by carbon-free electricity?
Authors: MacKay David J. C.
Published: January 2013

While the main thrust of the Discussion Meeting Issue on ‘Material efficiency: providing material services with less material production’ was to explore ways in which society's net demand for materials could be reduced, this review examines the possibility of converting industrial energy demand to electricity, and switching to clean electricity sources. This review quantifies the scale of infrastructure required in the UK, focusing on wind and nuclear power as the clean electricity sources, and sets these requirements in the context of the decarbonization of the whole energy system using wind, biomass, solar power in deserts and nuclear options. The transition of industry to a clean low-carbon electricity supply, although technically possible with several different technologies, would have very significant infrastructure requirements.
Material efficiency: rare and critical metals
Authors: Ayres Robert U. , Peiró Laura Talens
Published: January 2013

In the last few decades, progress in electronics, especially, has resulted in important new uses for a number of geologically rare metals, some of which were mere curiosities in the past. Most of them are not mined for their own sake (gold, the platinum group metals and the rare Earth elements are exceptions) but are found mainly in the ores of the major industrial metals, such as aluminium, copper, zinc and nickel. We call these major metals ‘attractors’ and the rare accompanying metals ‘hitch-hikers’. The key implication is that rising prices do not necessarily call forth greater output because that would normally require greater output of the attractor metal. We trace the geological relationships and the functional uses of these metals. Some of these metals appear to be irreplaceable in the sense that there are no known substitutes for them in their current functional uses. Recycling is going to be increasingly important, notwithstanding a number of barriers.
Intermediate inputs and economic productivity
Authors: Baptist Simon , Hepburn Cameron
Published: January 2013

Many models of economic growth exclude materials, energy and other intermediate inputs from the production function. Growing environmental pressures and resource prices suggest that this may be increasingly inappropriate. This paper explores the relationship between intermediate input intensity, productivity and national accounts using a panel dataset of manufacturing subsectors in the USA over 47 years. The first contribution is to identify sectoral production functions that incorporate intermediate inputs, while allowing for heterogeneity in both technology and productivity. The second contribution is that the paper finds a negative correlation between intermediate input intensity and total factor productivity (TFP)—sectors that are less intensive in their use of intermediate inputs have higher productivity. This finding is replicated at the firm level. We propose tentative hypotheses to explain this association, but testing and further disaggregation of intermediate inputs is left for further work. Further work could also explore more directly the relationship between material inputs and economic growth—given the high proportion of materials in intermediate inputs, the results in this paper are suggestive of further work on material efficiency. Depending upon the nature of the mechanism linking a reduction in intermediate input intensity to an increase in TFP, the implications could be significant. A third contribution is to suggest that an empirical bias in productivity, as measured in national accounts, may arise due to the exclusion of intermediate inputs. Current conventions of measuring productivity in national accounts may overstate the productivity of resource-intensive sectors relative to other sectors.
A low carbon economy and society
Authors: Urry John
Published: January 2013

This paper examines various aspects of moving from high carbon economies and societies to a cluster of low carbon systems. First, some historical material is considered from the Second World War and the 1970s, periods with some lessons for the contemporary ‘powering down’ of whole societies. Second, analysis is provided of some green shoots of a powering down of existing systems identifiable in the contemporary developed world. Third, analysis is provided of the array of systems, social practices and innovations that would have to develop in order to effect powering down on a sufficient scale and within an appropriate time period. Most examples are drawn from transport and mobility. Finally, the paper demonstrates just why developing new systems is so hard, especially as this must involve a transformed cluster of systems. The forces that make a new cluster unlikely are exceptionally powerful and make this a very difficult but not impossible outcome.
Energy and the English Industrial Revolution
Authors: Wrigley E. A
Published: January 2013

Societies before the Industrial Revolution were dependent on the annual cycle of plant photosynthesis for both heat and mechanical energy. The quantity of energy available each year was therefore limited, and economic growth was necessarily constrained. In the Industrial Revolution, energy usage increased massively and output rose accordingly. The energy source continued to be plant photosynthesis, but accumulated over a geological age in the form of coal. This poses a problem for the future. Fossil fuels are a depleting stock, whereas in pre-industrial time the energy source, though limited, was renewed each year.
Two polymorphs of 1,8-dichloroanthracene
Authors: Müller Peter , Fronczek Frank R. , Smith Stacey J. , Mako Teresa , Levine Mindy
Published: January 2013

A second, monoclinic, polymorph of the title compound, C14H8Cl2, has been found. In addition to the structure of this monoclinic form, the structure of the previously described orthorhombic form [Desvergne, Chekpo & Bouas-Laurent (1978).J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. 2, pp. 84–87; Benites, Maverick & Fronczek (1996).Acta Cryst.C52, 647–648] has been redetermined at low temperature and using modern methods. The low-temperature structure of the orthorhombic form is of significantly higher quality than the previously published structure and additional details can be derived. A comparison of the crystal packing of the two forms with a focus on weak intermolecular C—H...Cl interactions shows the monoclinic structure to have one such interaction linking the molecules into infinite ribbons, while two crystallographically independent C—H...Cl interactions give rise to an interesting infinite three-dimensional network in the orthorhombic crystal form.
DEM Error Correction in InSAR Time Series
Authors: Fattahi Heresh , Amelung Falk
Published: January 2013

We present a mathematical formulation for the phase due to the errors in digital elevation models (DEMs) in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (InSAR) time series obtained by the small baseline (SB) or the small baseline subset method. We show that the effect of the DEM error in the estimated displacement is proportional to the perpendicular baseline history of the set of SAR acquisitions. This effect at a given epoch is proportional to the perpendicular baseline between the SAR acquisition at that epoch and the reference acquisition. Therefore, the DEM error can significantly affect the time-series results even if SB interferograms are used. We propose a new method for DEM error correction of InSAR time series, which operates in the time domain after inversion of the network of interferograms for the displacement time series. This is in contrast to the method of Berardino (2002) in which the DEM error is estimated in the interferogram domain. We show the effectiveness of this method using simulated InSAR data. We apply the new method to Fernandina volcano in the Galapagos Islands and show that the proposed DEM error correction improves the estimated displacement significantly.
Optimal temperature range of a plastic species,Drosophila simulans
Authors: Austin Christopher J. , Moehring Amanda J.
Published: January 2013

When a species experiences a new climate, it can adapt in two main ways: become genetically adapted to the new temperature, or adopt a plastic approach that allows it to survive at a range of temperatures.

The constraint on fitness for genetically adapted populations that are exposed to a new temperature has been well studied, but the range of optimal temperatures and their effect on fitness has never been examined across the worldwide distribution of a plastic species.

Here, we determined the optimum temperature range of 11 populations of the phenotypically plastic speciesDrosophila simulans. We measured the influence of temperature on eggs, larvae and adults at six temperatures that span the natural range the flies experience during their primary breeding season.

We found no correlation between optimum temperature and native temperature,an effect that is not likely due to laboratory maintenance, suggesting that the species has not locally adapted to temperature. We also found that this species had equal survival and reproductive success at most of the temperatures and life stages that we tested, regardless of the native temperature where the flies originated.

Thus, this genetically plastic species has an optimum fitness at a surprisingly wide range of temperatures, and is the first example of a cosmopolitan species exhibiting this large amount of plasticity across its sampling distribution.
The early toad gets the worm: cane toads at an invasion front benefit from higher prey availability
Authors: Brown Gregory P. , Kelehear Crystal , Shine Richard
Published: January 2013

In biological invasions, rates of range expansion tend to accelerate through time. What kind of benefits to more rapidly dispersing organisms might impose natural selection for faster rates of dispersal, and hence the evolution of range‐edge acceleration? We can answer that question by comparing fitness‐relevant ecological traits of individuals at the invasion front compared with conspecifics in the same area a few years post‐invasion.

In tropical Australia, the rate of invasion by cane toads (Rhinella marina) has increased substantially over recent decades, due to shifts in heritable traits. Our data on field‐collected cane toads at a recently invaded site in the Australian wet–dry tropics span a 5‐year period beginning with toad arrival.

Compared with conspecifics that we monitored in the same sites post‐invasion, toads in the invasion vanguard exhibited higher feeding rates, larger energy stores, better body condition and faster growth.

Three processes may have contributed to this pattern: (i) higher prey availability at the front (perhaps due to reduced competition from conspecifics); (ii) the lack of viability‐reducing parasites and pathogens in invasion‐front toads; and (iii) distinctive (active, fast‐growing) phenotypes of the invasion‐front toads.

Nutritional benefits to individuals in the invasion vanguard (whether because of higher prey availability, or lower pathogen levels) thus may have conferred a selective advantage to accelerated dispersal in this system.