bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Superresolution intrinsic fluorescence imaging of chromatin utilizing native, unmodified nucleic acids for contrast
Authors: Dong Biqin , Almassalha Luay M. , Stypula-Cyrus Yolanda , Urban Ben E. , Chandler John E. , Nguyen The-Quyen , Sun Cheng , Zhang Hao F. , Backman Vadim
Published: August 2016

Significance

Fluorescence photoswitching of native, unmodified deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) using visible light facilitates the label-free nanoscale imaging of chromatin structures based on the principle of single-molecule photon localization microscopy (PLM). With a demonstrated sub–20-nm resolution, DNA-PLM provides an ideal technique to visualize the spatial organization of single or groups of nucleosomes and quantitatively estimate the nucleosome occupancy level of DNA in unstained chromosomes and nuclei. This study paves a way for revealing nanoscopic features of chromatin without the need for exogenous labels and could substantially expand our understanding of the structure–function relationship of chromatin.
Comparative genomics of biotechnologically important yeasts
Authors: Riley Robert , Haridas Sajeet , Wolfe Kenneth H. , Lopes Mariana R. , Hittinger Chris Todd , Göker Markus , Salamov Asaf A. , Wisecaver Jennifer H. , Long Tanya M. , Calvey Christopher H. , Aerts Andrea L. , Barry Kerrie W. , Choi Cindy , Clum Alicia , Coughlan Aisling Y. , Deshpande Shweta , Douglass Alexander P. , Hanson Sara J. , Klenk Hans-Peter , LaButti Kurt M. , Lapidus Alla , Lindquist Erika A. , Lipzen Anna M. , Meier-Kolthoff Jan P. , Ohm Robin A. , Otillar Robert P. , Pangilinan Jasmyn L. , Peng Yi , Rokas Antonis , Rosa Carlos A. , Scheuner Carmen , Sibirny Andriy A. , Slot Jason C. , Stielow J. Benjamin , Sun Hui , Kurtzman Cletus P. , Blackwell Meredith , Grigoriev Igor V. , Jeffries Thomas W.
Published: August 2016

Significance

The highly diverse Ascomycete yeasts have enormous biotechnological potential. Collectively, these yeasts convert a broad range of substrates into useful compounds, such as ethanol, lipids, and vitamins, and can grow in extremes of temperature, salinity, and pH. We compared 29 yeast genomes with the goal of correlating genetics to useful traits. In one rare species, we discovered a genetic code that translates CUG codons to alanine rather than canonical leucine. Genome comparison enabled correlation of genes to useful metabolic properties and showed the synteny of the mating-type locus to be conserved over a billion years of evolution. Our study provides a roadmap for future biotechnological exploitations.
BeyondKelo
Authors: Strother Logan
Published: August 2016

The power of government to take private property for public use has been a frequent source of political disquiet because of the tension it creates with notions of individual rights ingrained in liberal society. The backlash against takings afterKelooffers a case in point. Existing research has focused on the public’s distaste for the taking of homes and has thus missed an important cause of the backlash: the purpose for which property is taken. I utilize a combination of experimental and observational methods to advance our understanding of this important issue, finding that purpose is crucial in shaping attitudes toward takings.
Supreme Facts
Authors: Marietta Morgan , Farley Tyler
Published: August 2016

One of the central roles of the Supreme Court is to settle controversies over social facts, but little is known about the prevalence of these rulings or the justifications for them offered by the Court. An analysis of the landmark decisions from 1900 to 2015 reveals that most include a ruling on a disputed social fact, though the Court rarely offers an explicit justification. Rulings from different ideological perspectives invoke social facts at the same rate but with distinct patterns of justification, illustrating a division in approach to this vital aspect of the Court’s work.
Fascin regulates nuclear actin duringDrosophilaoogenesis
Authors: Kelpsch Daniel J. , Groen Christopher M. , Fagan Tiffany N. , Sudhir Sweta , Tootle Tina L.
Published: August 2016

Drosophila oogenesis provides a developmental system with which to study nuclear actin. During Stages 5–9, nuclear actin levels are high in the oocyte and exhibit variation within the nurse cells. Cofilin and Profilin, which regulate the nuclear import and export of actin, also localize to the nuclei. Expression of GFP-tagged Actin results in nuclear actin rod formation. These findings indicate that nuclear actin must be tightly regulated during oogenesis. One factor mediating this regulation is Fascin. Overexpression of Fascin enhances nuclear GFP-Actin rod formation, and Fascin colocalizes with the rods. Loss of Fascin reduces, whereas overexpression of Fascin increases, the frequency of nurse cells with high levels of nuclear actin, but neither alters the overall nuclear level of actin within the ovary. These data suggest that Fascin regulates the ability of specific cells to accumulate nuclear actin. Evidence indicates that Fascin positively regulates nuclear actin through Cofilin. Loss of Fascin results in decreased nuclear Cofilin. In addition, Fascin and Cofilin genetically interact, as double heterozygotes exhibit a reduction in the number of nurse cells with high nuclear actin levels. These findings are likely applicable beyond Drosophila follicle development, as the localization and functions of Fascin and the mechanisms regulating nuclear actin are widely conserved.
The Arf GAP Asap promotes Arf1 function at the Golgi for cleavage furrow biosynthesis inDrosophila
Authors: Rodrigues Francisco F. , Shao Wei , Harris Tony J. C.
Published: August 2016

Biosynthetic traffic from the Golgi drives plasma membrane growth. For Drosophila embryo cleavage, this growth is rapid but regulated for cycles of furrow ingression and regression. The highly conserved small G protein Arf1 organizes Golgi trafficking. Arf1 is activated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors, but essential roles for Arf1 GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) are less clear. We report that the conserved Arf GAP Asap is required for cleavage furrow ingression in the early embryo. Because Asap can affect multiple subcellular processes, we used genetic approaches to dissect its primary effect. Our data argue against cytoskeletal or endocytic involvement and reveal a common role for Asap and Arf1 in Golgi organization. Although Asap lacked Golgi enrichment, it was necessary and sufficient for Arf1 accumulation at the Golgi, and a conserved Arf1-Asap binding site was required for Golgi organization and output. Of note, Asap relocalized to the nuclear region at metaphase, a shift that coincided with subtle Golgi reorganization preceding cleavage furrow regression. We conclude that Asap is essential for Arf1 to function at the Golgi for cleavage furrow biosynthesis. Asap may recycle Arf1 to the Golgi from post-Golgi membranes, providing optimal Golgi output for specific stages of the cell cycle.
The endoplasmic reticulum and casein-containing vesicles contribute to milk fat globule membrane
Authors: Honvo-Houéto Edith , Henry Céline , Chat Sophie , Layani Sarah , Truchet Sandrine
Published: August 2016

During lactation, mammary epithelial cells secrete huge amounts of milk from their apical side. The current view is that caseins are secreted by exocytosis, whereas milk fat globules are released by budding, enwrapped by the plasma membrane. Owing to the number and large size of milk fat globules, the membrane surface needed for their release might exceed that of the apical plasma membrane. A large-scale proteomics analysis of both cytoplasmic lipid droplets and secreted milk fat globule membranes was used to decipher the cellular origins of the milk fat globule membrane. Surprisingly, differential analysis of protein profiles of these two organelles strongly suggest that, in addition to the plasma membrane, the endoplasmic reticulum and the secretory vesicles contribute to the milk fat globule membrane. Analysis of membrane-associated and raft microdomain proteins reinforces this possibility and also points to a role for lipid rafts in milk product secretion. Our results provide evidence for a significant contribution of the endoplasmic reticulum to the milk fat globule membrane and a role for SNAREs in membrane dynamics during milk secretion. These novel aspects point to a more complex model for milk secretion than currently envisioned.
Sell the Solution—Communicate Effectively
Authors: Chevallier Arnaud
Published: August 2016

The seventh chapter, “Sell the solution—present effectively,” explains how to present effectively so as to persuade the key stakeholders that the analysis is sound. The chapter starts by introducing the three elements of Aristotelian persuasion—ethos (character), pathos (emotions), and logos (logic)—and illustrating how those can be used to produce a compelling message. The chapter then explains how to create an effective slide deck by identifying an appropriate purpose, adhering to the six critical principles of instructional slides, and using an assertion–evidence structure for slides, whereby the key message of a slide is presented in its tagline and the body of the slide shows evidence to support that assertion, preferably in a graphical way. The chapter also provides ideas to design the body of slides, including using proper colors, fonts, and templates.
Implement and Monitor the Solution
Authors: Chevallier Arnaud
Published: August 2016

The eighth chapter, “Implement and monitor the solution,” introduces basic ideas to help manage projects effectively, such as organizing the project, developing the charter and work plan, and defining success. The chapter also discusses how to manage the project, giving guidelines to lead a project team. Suggestions include agreeing on expectations, adapting one’s leadership style to the situation, delegating, using the right people in the right places, coaching, running successful meetings, and communicating effectively in all media forms. Readers also are provided with ideas for managing progress and networking effectively and with basic principles for negotiating. In addition, the chapter talks about managing the project’s clients, and managing risks, and it concludes with discussing how to select and monitor important metrics such as key performance indicators (KPIs).
Species concepts and conservation
Authors: Groves Colin
Published: August 2016

The Phylogenetic Species Concept (PSC) has come to be increasingly adopted in primatology, as in many other branches of vertebrate zoology. It has been objected that, with the increase in the number of recognised species entailed by the PSC, we do not have the financial resources required to conserve them all. This is an objection that is difficult to answer, given that it is a question of politics rather than of science. All that can be done is to point out that a precious scientific resource is in danger of disappearance; and that we are absolutely not at liberty to assume that even sister species are precisely ecologically equivalent, or that they play precisely the same role in providing ecosystem services. Some examples from primates as diverse as great apes, red colobus, and lemurs are given.
Infectious disease and primate conservation
Authors: Nunn Charles L. , Gillespie Thomas R.
Published: August 2016

Infectious disease is an important factor that may contribute to primate population declines. In addition, as primate species are lost, the parasitic organisms that coevolved with them are also lost. This chapter considers these and other links between infectious disease and primate conservation. It begins by considering the broader context of how parasites might influence conservation goals more generally, with some examples from non-primate taxa. These examples are used to better understand the links between infectious disease and primate conservation, focusing on case studies involving Ebola, yellow fever, respiratory infections, and environmentally transmitted infections. How biodiversity itself may influence disease risk for both wildlife and humans is also considered, and how parasites may contribute to the generation of biodiversity and to the resilience and vigour of ecological communities. The chapter ends with practical considerations, including ways to limit the spillover of disease from humans and domesticated animals to wild primates.
Are protected areas conserving primate habitat in Indonesia?
Authors: Gaveau D.L.A. , Wich Serge A. , Marshall Andrew J.
Published: August 2016

Most governments, international institutions, and conservation bodies consider that establishing protected areas represents the best strategy for reducing tropical deforestation and conserving the intrinsic biodiversity of tropical forests. This chapter considers to what extent this is true for the conservation of arboreal primates’ favoured habitats, that is natural old-growth forests, using Indonesia as a case study. The major threats to Indonesian terrestrial protected areas are reviewed and the challenges that must be overcome if these threats are to be effectively countered are described; it is proposed to combine protected areas with natural forest timber concessions to sustain larger forest landscapes than would be possible via protected areas alone.
The role of multifunctional landscapes in primate conservation
Authors: Meijaard Erik
Published: August 2016

This chapter discusses some of the underlying theoretical and practical issues of managing threatened species in multifunctional landscapes, including the as yet unanswered question over whether conservation resources should be concentrated in a few well-protected areas or spread more thinly across broader landscapes, that is, the ‘new conservation’ debate. The chapter clarifies that, if positive progress is sought in conservation practice, theoretical notions in conservation biology need to be carefully weighed against their practical feasibility. This feasibility is often determined by how different strategies benefit different stakeholders. Conservation in multifunctional landscapes therefore involves assessment of tradeoffs among multiple objectives (e.g. environmental, social, economic benefits), and finding optimal solutions requires a clear understanding of why certain strategies are implemented, for whom or what, and what outcomes are sought.
What are ‘True’DoxaiWorth to Parmenides? Essaying a Fresh Look at his Cosmology
Authors: Cosgrove Matthew R.
Published: August 2016

This chapter presents an explanation of the much-debated status of ‘Doxa’ in relation to ‘Truth’, and of cosmology generally — from Parmenides’ own standpoint — while assuming that he took seriously the goddess’s strictures imparted to the kouros. In recent years, the preserved portions of Parmenides’ poem traditionally labelled Doxa have received more nuanced attention, which has focused on their content and not just on their presumed role as some kind of foil or supplement to ‘Alētheia’, Truth. Moreover, some scholars have concentrated on assessing the sometimes startling scientific innovations introduced in the context of the Doxa. The chapter explores the various problems posed by these scholars’ perspectives and instead takes on a different focus. It considers what Parmenides himself might have made of these innovative scientific doctrines.
Desire, Memory, and the Authority of Soul: Plato,Philebus35 c–d
Authors: Harte Verity
Published: August 2016

This chapter examines the discussion between Plato and Socrates on desire (epithumia) in Plato’s Philebus. The chapter also focuses on Socrates’ insights on perceptual awareness (aisthēsis) and on memory (mnēmē). In the course of this dialogue’s detailed discussion of pleasure and as preparation for the controversial suggestion that pleasures can be false, Socrates is shown to provide us with skeleton accounts of perceptual awareness, memory, desire, imagination, and judgement. Of particular interest is Socrates’ Desire Argument, which Socrates first presented at Philebus 35 D 5–6 and subsequently reprised at 41 B II–C 8. When properly understood, the chapter argues that the conclusion of Socrates’ Desire Argument makes a first key move in the project of the Philebus as a whole — the defence of Socrates’ intellectual candidates in their contest against pleasure as having responsibility for the best human life.
Ho Pote on Esti and Coupled Entities: A form of Explanation in Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy
Authors: Lederman Harvey
Published: August 2016

This chapter proposes a new interpretation of the phrase, ő ποτε őν έστι (hereafter ‘OPO’), which occurs in key passages in Aristotle’s discussions of blood and of time. This passage has long vexed interpreters of Aristotle, so this chapter aims to resolve some textual and interpretative problems about Aristotle’s theories of blood and of time. The chapter’s interpretation also sheds light on more general issues in Aristotle’s metaphysics. This interpretation of OPO has two main components. The first characterizes the sort of entity to which OPO refers. The second main component of this interpretation characterizes the explanandum of the explanation contained in the phrase.
Feeling Fantastic again: Passions, Appearances, and Beliefs in Aristotle
Authors: Dow Jamie
Published: August 2016

This chapter is concerned with Aristotle’s view of human passions, and concentrates on anger, pity, fear, and shame, and specifically how he characterized the representational aspect of those passions. It considers a number of questions in thinking about this representational aspect. It asks a number of questions. Such as, through the exercise of what psychological faculty do passions have their representational contents? And, what type of attitude towards their representational contents do passions themselves involve? If passions involve phantasia, to what extent can Aristotle’s views on the correct regulation of the passions be explained by reference to the role of phantasia in the psychology of humans and other animals? Finally, what kinds of conflict between passions and beliefs does Aristotle recognize, and what resources does he have for explaining these? Addressing these questions involves engaging with a recent debate about whether for Aristotle the representational state involved in human passions is belief (doxa) or appearance (phantasia).
Apparent Goods
Authors: Vasiliou Iakovos
Published: August 2016

This chapter examines a number of claims made by Jessica Moss in her book, Aristotle on the Apparent Good. Aristotle’s ‘apparent good’ refers to what someone believes or takes to be good and also, sometimes simultaneously, to what merely seems to be good as opposed to what genuinely is. Of course, what appears good to the virtuous person is genuinely good. Hence, one of the primary aims of Jessica Moss’ wide-ranging book is to argue that apparent good not only has the meanings just canvassed, but also is frequently meant ‘literally’ to refer to the good as it appears to perception or to ‘quasi-perception’, i.e. phantasia. The chapter presents a critique of the weaknesses in the arguments of this book and looks at how Moss’ conclusions come together. It also highlights the advantages to be gained from engaging with this book.
Kenya’s Industrial Development
Authors: Ngui Dianah , Chege Jacob , Kimuyu Peter
Published: August 2016

This chapter reviews the history of manufacturing in Kenya, starting with the period immediately before independence in 1963, discussing industrial policies pursued by different regimes and their impact on Kenyan manufacturing. The chapter concludes with a reflection of factors that have shaped industrial development in Kenya. Like many developing countries, Kenya’s early years of independence pursued an import substitution strategy in which the government provided both direct support and tariff protection for the industrial sector. This strategy was a carryover from colonial policies, and its objectives were rapid growth of industry, reduced balance of payment pressure, more indigenous participation in the sector, and higher productivity and high-income employment. However, the import substitution policy failed to create much-needed employment and its high import content caused major balance of payment problems.
The Evolution of Industry in Uganda
Authors: Shinyekwa Isaac , Kiiza Julius , Hisali Eria , Obwona Marios
Published: August 2016

Uganda obtained independence from Britain in 1962, emerging as a poor agrarian economy dominated by agriculture. After a decade of economic and political stability, in 1971 Idi Amin led a military coup, initiating a period of political and economic chaos lasting until 1986. The National Resistance Movement led by Yoweri Museveni took power, and has remained the ruling political organization since. During the first two decades of rule, economic development was significantly hampered by civil war in the North. A period of relative peace has followed, even though improvements in peace and stability mask substantial governance concerns—rising inequality, youth unemployment, and corruption in public office. Against this background the recent performance of the Ugandan economy is impressive—GDP growth averaged 6.5 per cent per annum in the 1990s and 2000s. The growth experienced is simultaneously associated with impressive economic trends and depressing levels of industrial transformation.
Clifford, or Geometric, Algebra
Authors: Vaz Jayme , da Rocha Roldão
Published: August 2016

In this chapter, the so-called geometric algebras, or Clifford algebras, are introduced, with special attention to the universal Clifford algebras. As well as providing the standard definition of a Clifford algebra via the so-called Clifford mapping, this chapter presents an explicit construction of the universal Clifford algebra associated with a quadratic space as a quotient of the tensor algebra. Clifford algebras are also presented in the context of Grassmann algebras. In addition, the prominent features of Clifford algebras are presented and creation operators and annihilation operators are introduced. All the topics presented in this chapter are illustrated with a number of different, enlightening examples.
Spinors
Authors: Vaz Jayme , da Rocha Roldão
Published: August 2016

This chapter introduces and discusses the theory of spinors, as well as some of their prominent applications. Algebraic spinors, classical spinors, and spinor operators are presented and, based upon the periodicity theorem and the Clifford algebras representations, classified for arbitrary fine dimensions and metric signature. The properties of these three different types of spinors are also presented. In addition, pure spinors are introduced, and the triality principle, twistors, and Penrose flagpoles are discussed. The chapter ends with a detailed study of the so-called Weyl spinors, which form the basis of the Penrose and Rindler formalisms.
The Contract of Employment and the Remedial Dimension
Authors: Barmes Lizzie
Published: August 2016

This chapter explores the content and impact of the remedial rules of the law of the contract of employment in the institutional contexts, first, of the formation, conduct and ending of work relationships and, secondly, of claiming behaviour and adjudication. The law on contractual remedies relevant to employment disputes has the effect that, by and large, employment contract law gives greater support to working people with the least need of protection, while tending to reinforce employee subordination for the rest and to give employers substantial means to control competition. Significant doctrinal incoherence has in turn resulted from the contrast between judicial recognition of major common-law obligations during the course of employment relationships and the courts’ and Employment Tribunals’ minimalist approach to employers’ obligations connected to termination. The constitutional basis for these distinctions, however, means the onus is on politicians and the legislature to take action.
The Contract of Employment, Corporate Law, and Labour Income
Authors: Njoya Wanjiru
Published: August 2016

This chapter examines the role played by the contract of employment in wage distribution and income inequality, distinguishing between the ordinary entitlement to ‘labour income’ and the finance-derived entitlement to ‘capital income’ linked to share value. The chapter aims to expose the interplay between contract and status in the quantification of income, a differentiation that may be seen as a reinvention of the old divides associated with the master-servant regime. Senior corporate managers, as quasi-partners in the firm, are able to access the residual profit of the firm through bonuses and stock options while most employees are entitled only to a fixed-rate wage. The chapter draws upon insights from corporate law to theorize not only the inequalities between different kinds of employment status but also the way in which those inequalities have been masked by a habit of regarding the contract of employment as a basically homogenous contract-type.
The Contract of Employment as an Expression of Continuing Obligations
Authors: Countouris Nicola
Published: August 2016

This chapter analyses the three main ways in which the concept of ‘continuity’ is expressed in the construction of the contract of employment in English employment law. It breaks down the composite notion of ‘continuity’ into three distinct dimensions, that is to say continuity as ‘duration/length of service’, continuity as ‘regularity’, and continuity as an element used to identify contractual status. The chapter identifies the latter dimension of continuity as arguably the most contentious one, with English court decisions establishing, in effect, a strong nexus between contractual duration, mutuality of obligations, and employment status, to the effect that casual work normally justifies a strong inference that the relationship is one characterized by a series of short contracts for services, rather than a continuous contract of employment, or even a ‘worker’ contract.
Variation and Suspension of the Contract of Employment and its Terms
Authors: Countouris Nicola , Sanders Astrid
Published: August 2016

This chapter provides an analysis of the law on the variation and suspension of contracts of employment. The first part of the chapter, focusing on variation, notes the extent to which the relevant body of law is heavily influenced by contractual paradigms and concepts, and how these concepts are often adapted and shaped in an attempt to strike a balance between the employees’ interest in terms of security and stability, and the employers’ managerial prerogative and need for adaptability. The second half of the chapter, focusing on ‘suspension’, notes the heterogeneous and fragmented set of factual instances that can be classified as amounting to, or producing, a ‘suspension’ of the contract of employment. It also notes that different rules tend to apply to these different situations, with the few statutory provisions dealing with ‘suspension’ often being disconnected from the common law principles underpinning this area of English labour law.
The Wrongful Termination of the Contract of Employment
Authors: Bogg Alan , Freedland Mark
Published: August 2016

This chapter examines the historical development and contemporary landscape of wrongful dismissal (in which is included the idea of constructive dismissal) Wrongful dismissal in English law is based upon a nexus of ideas encompassing a limited contractual (rather than tortious) notion of wrongfulness, limited remedies and an ethos of ‘informal dispute resolution’. This involved the rejection of a broader, tort-based conception of wrongfulness. The origins of this narrowly contractual nexus are identified in the decision of the House of Lords in Addis v Gramophone Co in 1909. The chapter traces the persistence of this nexus in shaping and constraining the judicial development of wrongful dismissal throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This provides a corrective to accounts of recent developments in wrongful dismissal law that focus on the role of the unfair dismissal legislation in inhibiting common-law developments.
Intellectual Property and the Contract of Employment
Authors: Prassl Jeremias
Published: August 2016

The traditional approach to intellectual property rights (both patents and copyright) is to treat inventions and discoveries as fruits of the employee’s labour, thus belonging to the employer as the work-taking counterparty to the contract of employment. This chapter identifies several key limitations of this approach, beginning with those inherent in the use of the contractual model as the paradigm form of employment relationships: the unclear scope of the contract of employment and its inability to deal with complex employment scenarios are imported into the statutory regimes of the Patents Act 1977 and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A further set of limitations arises from the common law operating to control the impact of express terms in the contract of employment, and the side effects of non-derogation provisions in the 1977 Act. Implied terms, especially those of fidelity and confidentiality, are the third limitation to be explored.
Who Cares about Particle Physics?
Authors: Gagnon Pauline
Published: August 2016

Particle physics is too much fun to leave it only to physicists! CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics, regularly makes the news, but why are fundamental research and the discovery of the Higgs boson so important? What kind of research happens at this international laboratory and how does it impact people’s daily lives? Particle physics describes all matter found on Earth, in stars and in all galaxies and now it is attempting to explain dark matter, a form of matter five times more prevalent than but different from the already known regular matter. How do we know this mysterious dark matter exists, and is there a chance it will be discovered soon? About sixty countries contributed to the construction of the gigantic Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and its huge detectors. Dive in to discover how large international teams of thousands of researchers work together to push scientific knowledge forward and how including more women and addressing diversity issues is essential. Here is a book written for every person who wishes to learn a little more about particle physics, without requiring prior scientific knowledge. It starts from the basics to build a solid understanding of current research in particle physics. A good dose of curiosity is all one needs to discover a world that spans from the infinitesimally small to the infinitely large, and where imminent discoveries could mark the dawn of a huge revolution in the current conception of the material world.
Accelerators and Detectors: The Essential Tools
Authors: Gagnon Pauline
Published: August 2016

To produce Higgs bosons, one needs to concentrate a huge amount of energy into a tiny point in space. That is the role of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, which accelerates beams of protons circulating in opposite directions in a 27 km long circular vacuum pipe surrounded by superconducting magnets. They collide at nearly the speed of light, releasing energy that then materializes in the form of particles, since mass and energy are equivalent, as expressed by E = mc2, where c2 is a conversion factor. The particles produced are unstable and break apart moments later. Four gigantic detectors, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb and ALICE, located around the collision points, act as cameras, taking snapshots of these ephemeral particles as the fragments fly apart like microscopic fireworks. Physicists then determine which particles were produced and study their properties to better understand the fundamental particles and the laws that govern their behavior.
The Dark Side of the Universe
Authors: Gagnon Pauline
Published: August 2016

The Standard Model works incredibly well but applies to a mere 5% of the content of the Universe; 27% of the Universe is made of a strange type of matter, something absolutely mysterious called dark matter. The remaining 68% of the Universe comes in the form of an enigmatic type of energy called dark energy. Evidence of the existence of dark matter abounds. We detect its presence through its gravitational effects and by means of gravitational lenses. It also plays an essential role in cosmology, acting as a catalyst for the formation of galaxies. Without it, the Universe would not appear as it does today. But dark matter remains elusive. Several experiments are currently in progress deep underground, aboard the International Space Station and at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN hoping to catch or produce dark matter particles for the first time.
Calling SUSY to the Rescue
Authors: Gagnon Pauline
Published: August 2016

The Standard Model, in spite of its amazing success, has several flaws, such as failing to include dark matter. Physicists are looking for an alternative, a more encompassing theory going beyond the Standard Model to describe the so-called “new physics.” One of the hypotheses under study is called supersymmetry, or SUSY. It has much appeal: SUSY builds on the Standard Model; unifies the two types of fundamental particles, the grains of matter and the force carriers; and predicts several new particles, one of which would be ideal for solving the dark matter enigma. Its biggest problem? It remains undiscovered, despite all the efforts made to find it at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. But there still a chance that this hypothesis could be right. With the restart of the LHC at higher energy in 2015, supersymmetry, if it exists, could be discovered soon.
A Unique Management Model
Authors: Gagnon Pauline
Published: August 2016

The experimental collaborations at CERN, such as ATLAS and CMS, each include nearly 5000 physicists, students, engineers and technical staff, from all continents. Nobody manages the group centrally in a command–control fashion. This works thanks to the existence of a common objective, the commitment of each individual and the tolerance of everyone involved. The collaborations function like a huge picnic, where each group contributes a dish according to its taste, resources and talents. Seeing the experiment succeed is what motivates everybody. All decisions are taken by consensus within a collaboration, using commonly agreed coordination mechanisms. This gives power to the base and draws on the talents of all members. Project coordinators ensure that all aspects are covered. This is sometimes a little chaotic, but is necessary to let creativity flow freely and set the stage for revolutionary discoveries. This may be the only possible way to complete such large-scale projects.
Ecological tolerance and the distribution of species
Authors: Pásztor Liz , Botta-Dukát Zoltán , Magyar Gabriella , Czárán Tamás , Meszéna Géza
Published: August 2016

Descriptions and consequences of the environmental dependence of long-term population growth rates, i.e., of fitness, are in the focus of this chapter. The ecological tolerances of species (or other reproductive units) are represented by multivariate response functions. These describe the dependence of the long-term growth rate of unregulated populations on the regulating and modifying environmental variables affecting them. Some particular environmental variables, like climatic ones, are routinely used in ecology and population genetics for predicting the geographic distribution of species or ecotypes, while crucial regulating variables are often overlooked. In a reversed logic, response functions can be deduced from the actual geographic distributions of the reproductive units, but this area of research is heavily burdened by several practical problems. Comparative studies of adaptations represent another approach to determining tolerance functions through studying the joint effects of environmental and genetic variation on fitness.
Growth regulation, feedbacks, and their dynamical consequences
Authors: Pásztor Liz , Botta-Dukát Zoltán , Magyar Gabriella , Czárán Tamás , Meszéna Géza
Published: August 2016

This chapter starts with proving the inevitability of population growth regulation, and concludes with an explanation of the exclusive resource limitation principle that, through determining community structure, shapes the landscape surrounding us. Population regulation may be mediated by resource-limitation (Tilman model) or site-limitation (Levins model), or natural enemies like predators, parasites, or parasitoids. Food chain length sometimes determines the main quantitative features of complete communities through top-down regulation. All regulatory mechanisms share one feature: they feed back population abundance on population growth, ultimately setting strict limits on population growth and fluctuations, even if facilitation-induced positive ecological feedbacks (e.g. Allee effects) may act at low population sizes. The way of modelling interactions between individuals (e.g., functional responses) is explained and illustrated by examples. The relations of explicit (logistic) and implicit (process-based) models of population dynamics and some model-based interpretations of case studies and experimental results are shown.
Stochasticity due to finiteness
Authors: Pásztor Liz , Botta-Dukát Zoltán , Magyar Gabriella , Czárán Tamás , Meszéna Géza
Published: August 2016

The inherent stochastic nature of individual life histories implies that finite populations always carry a risk of going extinct, even if their long-term growth potential is positive. The consequences of demographic stochasticity are explored in this chapter, using individual-based computer simulations and simple discrete- and continuous-state stochastic models (branching processes and diffusion models). Simple examples of population viability analysis (PVA) are presented. Demographic stochasticity on the allele level is genetic drift—which leads to reduced viability and evolutionary potential of small populations via inbreeding depression. The ecological pendant of genetic drift is in the focus of the ‘ecological neutral theory’ of Hubbell. Some conceptual and methodological problems of the neutral theory in the context of species abundance distributions are discussed at the end of the chapter.
Diversity patterns and population regulation
Authors: Pásztor Liz , Botta-Dukát Zoltán , Magyar Gabriella , Czárán Tamás , Meszéna Géza
Published: August 2016

Mechanisms of abiotic environmental factors influencing basic community properties like standing biomass, productivity, species diversity, structure, fluctuations, persistence, and resilience are discussed on the global, regional, and local spatial scales, encompassing timescales from the ecological to the evolutionary. The geographic distribution of species diversity and of plant strategies is related to environmental conditions, mainly to light and water availability. Effects of diversity on ecosystem functioning are addressed through comparative and experimental studies. The effects of species pool size and composition—which have evolved on an evolutionary timescale—are also considered in relation to their influence on the composition and the dynamics of communities at the ecological timescale. Finally, possible causes of the changes in community composition (β-diversity) are discussed, exemplifying the role of self-organizing patterns and alternative stable states.
Romance
Authors: Ramat Paolo , Ricca Davide
Published: August 2016

This chapter undertakes a critical typological review of the position of Romance in relation to other language families, highlighting the extent to which the Romance family can be considered to represent a coherent linguistic ‘type’, what typological similarities and differences it presents with respect to other branches of Indo-European, the shared features which serve to bind the group together and which, at the same time, may serve to distinguish Romance from other linguistic families, and the position of Romance within the so-called Standard Average European Sprachbund. Specific topics dealt with include: typologically significant category losses and innovations; determiners; auxiliaries; word order change; sentence negation; the clitic pronoun system; gender and number categories.
Classifications
Authors: Bossong Georg
Published: August 2016

This chapter undertakes a critical review of the various traditional and more recent classifications of the Romance languages which have been proposed within the literature, examining both external and internal cohesion within the family. In relation to the former, the chapter examines whether Romance forms a typologically coherent linguistic grouping, highlighting to what extent the Romance languages form a continuum of mutually intelligible speech varieties, and the shared features, if any, which serve to bind the group together. In terms of internal cohesion, the chapter examines the linguistic nature of the major divisions and classifications among the Romance languages (whether proposed on historical-comparative grounds, in relation to socio-geographical criteria, historico-geographical criteria, typological criteria, or theory-internal criteria). Specific topics dealt with include: cultural dialects; problems of internal classification; subdivisions of Romance; phonetic reduction and stress type; the partitive; aoristic drift; historical and typological criteria; eastern and western Romània;types of vowel system.
Romansh (Rumantsch)
Authors: Anderson Stephen R.
Published: August 2016

After a brief outline of the principal episodes in the external history, the chapter surveys the principal aspects of a Romance language which (in a standardized form) is one of the official languages of Switzerland, surveying the phonology, morphology and syntax and of its dialects (notably Surselvan, Surmiran, and Engadinish). It covers: vowels; consonants; syllable structure and stress; the unsuually rich system of morphophonological alternations and the issue of whether their conditioning is phonological or morphological; inflectional morphology of nouns, adjectives and verbs; derivational morphology; syntax of nominal and verb phrases; clitics; clause structure; inversion constructions in main and other clauses; impersonal subjects and the syntax of ins; verb-second in Surmiran.
The dialects of southern Italy
Authors: Ledgeway Adam
Published: August 2016

After a brief outline of the principal episodes in the external history, the chapter surveys the principal aspects of phonology, morphology and syntax of the dialects of southern Italy, including both dialects of the upper south (southern Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata) and the extreme south (Calabria, Salento, Sicily). Topics dealt with include: tonic vowels; metaphony and spontaneous diphthongization; atonic vowels; consonants; morphology of nominal group (nouns, adjectives; determiners and quantifiers; pronouns: tonic and clitic forms; possessives) and of verbal group (verb roots; inflection); syntax of nominal group (determiners, possessives, adjectives, pronominals), of verbal group (tense, aspect and mood; voice), and of clause (sentence organization, auxiliary selection and past participle agreement, argument marking, inflectional core, left periphery).
Catalan
Authors: Alsina Alex
Published: August 2016

After a brief outline of the principal episodes in the external history, the chapter surveys the principal aspects of phonology, orthography, morphology and syntax of Catalan and its principal dialects (spoken in Catalonia, France, Andorra, and Sardinia). Topics dealt with include: territory, geographical dialects, and demography; salient diachronic features; stressed and unstressed vowels; consonants (dialectal and allohponic variation, deletion, assimilation, voicing and devoicing), syllable structure and stress; writing systems and orthography; nominal morphology; verb inflection; articles; word formation; syntax of verbal clitics; subjects; objects.
Information and discourse structure
Authors: Cruschina Silvio
Published: August 2016

The main goal of this chapter is to provide a comparative overview of some of the principal aspects of information and discourse structure in Romance, covering such areas as the packaging of information structure according to the encoding of oppositions such as Topic-Comment, Topic-Focus, Given-New; the role and effects of illocutionary force (e.g., declarative, interrogative, exclamative), different clause types (thetic vs non-thetic predications), and the root vs embedded distinction in discourse organization; the encoding of the subject of predication; thematic progression in the realization of arguments; modal subordination and anaphora. Specific topics dealt with include: topic, focus, and sentence types; sentence-focus structures (unmarked word order; verb-subject inversion); predicate-focus structures and topicalization constructions (clitic left dislocation, hanging topic, clitic right dislocation); argument-focus structures and focalization constructions (postverbal focalization and cleft sentences, contrastive focus fronting, information focus fronting, mirative fronting, verum focus fronting, QP-fronting).
Clitic pronominal systems: morphophonology
Authors: Pescarini Diego
Published: August 2016

This chapter surveys some of the most important issues regarding the morphophonological properties of Romance clitic pronouns. It covers person, number, gender, case, and animacy distinctions and markedness restrictions; clitic clusters; allomorphic variations and pro- vs enclitic alternation; interaction with verb movement and negation; cumulative exponence and syncretisms; overabundance; suppletion; clitic versus weak distinctions. Specific topics dealt with include: object clitics; subject clitics; possessives; auxiliary clitics; stress; vowel drop (elision, apocope, syncope) ; vowel insertion (prosthesis/epenthesis); aphaeresis, vocalization, and palatalization of laterals; cluster-internal phenomena; order of object clitics; mutual exclusion patterns; synthetic clusters; vowel alternations.
Deixis
Authors: Ledgeway Adam , Smith John Charles
Published: August 2016

The main goal of this chapter is critically to address from a comparative perspective some of the most important issues in Romance deixis, covering the restructuring of Latin demonstrative and personal-spatial systems into the various Romance varieties; the diachronic and synchronic distributions, formal developments and internal organizations of the numerous Romance demonstratives and personal-spatial deictic systems; comparisons and detailed examinations of the structure and distribution of single, binary, and ternary deictic systems across Romance.
Mood
Authors: Quer Josep
Published: August 2016

The main goal of this chapter is to provide a descriptive and critical overview of the some of the most striking and interesting problems and questions related to mood in Romance, cover such areas as diachronic, diatopic, diastratic and diamesic differences in the stability of the indicative vs subjunctive distinction; key syntactic, semantic, and stylistic differences in the licensing conditions of the subjunctive across Romance; the role of the subjunctive in licensing particular linguistic phenomena; interplay between mood and other categories such as the root vs embedded distinction, and negation. Specific topics dealt with include: exponence of mood; indicative vs subjunctive contexts; independent uses of the subjunctive; mood distribution in embedded domains; subjunctive types; argument clauses; relative clauses; adverbial clauses; purpose clauses; temporal clauses; conditional clauses; concessive and concessive conditional clauses; subjunctive-triggered phenomena; long-distance anaphora; complementizer deletion.