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The Göttingen conference Systematics 2008 is the first joint meeting of the Gesellschaft für Biologische Systematik (GfBS) and the German Botanical Society, section Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (DBG), being the 10th Annual Meeting of the GfBS and the 18th International Symposium Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology of the DBG. The conference programme covers biological systematics in the widest sense and provides ample opportunities for oral and poster presentations on new advances in plant, animal and microbial systematics. This volume brings together the abstracts of invited speaches from the plenary sessions on Progress in Deep Phylogeny, Speciation and Phylogeography, and New Trends in Biological Systematics as well as those of submitted talks and poster sessions.The Göttingen conference Systematics 2008 is the first joint meeting of the Gesellschaft für Biologische Systematik (GfBp. and the German Botanical Society, section Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (DBG), being the 10th Annual Meeting of the GfBS and the 18th International Symposium Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology of the DBG. The conference programme covers biological systematics in the widest sense and provides ample opportunities for oral and poster presentations on new advances in plant, animal and microbial systematics. This volume brings together the abstracts of invited speaches from the plenary sessions on Progress in Deep Phylogeny, Speciation and Phylogeography, and New Trends in Biological Systematics as well as those of submitted talks and poster sessions.
Chlamydia are obligate intracellular bacteria that cause variety of human diseases. Host cells infected with Chlamydia are protected against many different apoptotic stimuli. The induction of apoptosis resistance is thought to be an important immune escape mechanism allowing Chlamydia to replicate inside the host cell. Infection with C. trachomatis activates the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and the PI3K/AKT pathway. Here we show that inhibition of these two pathways by chemical inhibitors sensitized C. trachomatis infected cells to granzyme B-mediated cell death. Infection leads to the Raf/MEK/ERK-mediated up-regulation and PI3K-dependent stabilization of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1. Consistently, interfering with Mcl-1 up-regulation sensitized infected cells for apoptosis induced via the TNF receptor, DNA damage, granzyme B and stress. Our data suggest that Mcl-1 up-regulation is primarily required to maintain apoptosis resistance in C. trachomatis-infected cells.
Background: The BH3-only protein Bid is an important component of death receptor-mediated caspase activation. Bid is cleaved by caspase-8 or -10 into t-Bid, which translocates to mitochondria and triggers the release of caspase-activating factors. Bid has also been reported to be cleaved by other proteases. Methodology/Principal Findings: To test the hypothesis that Bid is a central mediator of stress-induced apoptosis, we investigated the effects of a small molecule Bid inhibitor on stress-induced apoptosis, and generated HeLa cells deficient for Bid. Stable knockdown of bid lead to a pronounced resistance to Fas/CD95- and TRAIL-induced caspase activation and apoptosis, and significantly increased clonogenic survival. While Bid-deficient cells were equally sensitive to ER stress-induced apoptosis, they showed moderate, but significantly reduced levels of apoptosis, as well as increased clonogenic survival in response to the genotoxic drugs Etoposide, Oxaliplatin, and Doxorubicin. Similar effects were observed using the Bid inhibitor BI6C9. Interestingly, Bid-deficient cells were dramatically protected from apoptosis when subtoxic concentrations of ER stressors, Etoposide or Oxaliplatin were combined with subtoxic TRAIL concentrations. Conclusions/Significance: Our data demonstrate that Bid is central for death receptor-induced cell death and participates in anti-cancer drug-induced apoptosis in human cervical cancer HeLa cells. They also show that the synergistic effects of TRAIL in combination with either ER stressors or genotoxic anti-cancer drugs are nearly exclusively mediated via an increased activation of Bid-induced apoptosis signalling.
Background: The hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein is the principal target of protective humoral immune responses to influenza virus infections but such antibody responses only provide efficient protection against a narrow spectrum of HA antigenic variants within a given virus subtype. Avian influenza viruses such as H5N1 are currently panzootic and pose a pandemic threat. These viruses are antigenically diverse and protective strategies need to cross protect against diverse viral clades. Furthermore, there are 16 different HA subtypes and no certainty the next pandemic will be caused by an H5 subtype, thus it is important to develop prophylactic and therapeutic interventions that provide heterosubtypic protection. Methods and Findings: Here we describe a panel of 13 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) recovered from combinatorial display libraries that were constructed from human IgM+ memory B cells of recent (seasonal) influenza vaccinees. The mAbs have broad heterosubtypic neutralizing activity against antigenically diverse H1, H2, H5, H6, H8 and H9 influenza subtypes. Restriction to variable heavy chain gene IGHV1-69 in the high affinity mAb panel was associated with binding to a conserved hydrophobic pocket in the stem domain of HA. The most potent antibody (CR6261) was protective in mice when given before and after lethal H5N1 or H1N1 challenge. Conclusions: The human monoclonal CR6261 described in this study could be developed for use as a broad spectrum agent for prophylaxis or treatment of human or avian influenza infections without prior strain characterization. Moreover, the CR6261 epitope could be applied in targeted vaccine strategies or in the design of novel antivirals. Finally our approach of screening the IgM+ memory repertoire could be applied to identify conserved and functionally relevant targets on other rapidly evolving pathogens.
The Kaiserchronik is generically puzzling. In essence it is a spiritual world chronicle, but it lacks the usual historiographical systematisations of its theological content. However it does have three disputations, an unusual feature in a chronicle which has to date not been adequately explained. This essay argues, on the basis of comparisons with works in other literary forms, that these passages function as key expressions of the controlling idea of the entire work, namely the progress of the Gospel from the heathen to the Christian Empire, and that they are strategically located within the chronicle at the turning points in the success of Christian mission.
The indications for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) represent a real challenge due to the clinical and genetic heterogeneity of the disorder. Therefore, an optimized indication for SCT in AML first requires the determination of the individual relapse risk based on diverse chromosomal and molecular prognosis-defining aberrations. A broad panel of diagnostic methods is needed to allow such subclassification and prognostic stratification: cytomorphology, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, and immunophenotyping by multiparameter flow cytometry. These methods should not be seen as isolated techniques but as parts of an integral network with hierarchies and interactions. Examples for a poor risk constellation as a clear indication for allogeneic SCT are provided by anomalies of chromosome 7, complex aberrations, or FLT3-length mutations. In contrast, the favorable reciprocal translocations such as the t(15;17)/PML-RARA or t(8;21)/AML1-ETO are not indications for SCT in first remission due to the rather good prognosis after standard therapy. Further, the indication for SCT should include the results of minimal residual disease (MRD) diagnostics by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or flow cytometry. New aspects for a safe and fast risk stratification as basis for an optimized indication for SCT in AML might be provided by novel technologies such as microarray-based gene expression profiling. Keywords: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation (SCT), Indication, Cytogenetics, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Communication in the Web 2.0 context mainly works through images. The online video platform YouTube uses this form of visual communication and makes art forms of Western societies visible through their online videos. YouTube, as cultural reservoir and visual archive of moving images, accommodates the whole range of visualising creative processes – from artistic finger exercises to fine arts. A general characteristic of YouTube is the publishing of small everyday gestures of the ‘big ones’ (politicians, stars), like small incidents and their clumsiness in everyday actions, e.g. Beyonce´s fall from the stage or Tom Cruise’s demonic pro-scientology interview. Through their viral distribution on different platforms, these incidents will never be covered up or disappear from the public view. At the same time big gestures and star images are replicated and sometimes reinterpreted by the ‘small people’ who present themselves in the poses and attitudes of the stars. Generally, a coexistence of different perspectives is possible. YouTube allows polysemic and polyvalent views on the everyday and media phenomena. This article relies on YouTube research 2 that started in 2006 at the New Media Department of the Goethe University of Frankfurt. The results of the research have already presented representative forms and basic patterns, that is to say, categories for the clips appearing here. These kinds of clips, recurring in the observation period, have an impact on the basic representation of art or artistic expression within moving images on this platform. Methodologically the focus leads to the investigation (which has to be adequate to the specifics of the medium, or ‘media adequate’) of new visual structures and forms which can create – consciously or unconsciously – an art form. After focusing on the media structures, it will be discussed whether any and, if so, which ‘authentic’ new forms were developed solely on YouTube and whether these forms are innovative and can be characterised as avant-garde. This article first takes a small step in evaluating how to get from a general communication through means of visuality in web 2.0, an often endless chatty cheesy visual noise 3 – to the special quality of a consciously created aesthetic. From where do innovative aesthetic forms emerge, related to their media structures? 4 Are they the products of ‘media amateurs’ 5 or do we have to find new specifications and descriptions for the producers? The definition of a ‘media amateur’ describes technically interested private individuals who acquire and develop technology before commercial use of the technology is even recognisable. Just as artists are developing their own techniques, according to Dieter Daniels, media amateurs are autodidacts who invent techniques, rather than just acquire knowledge about them (see for example the demo scene, the machinima, brickfilm producers as well as many areas of computer gaming in general 6). The media amateur directly intervenes in the production processes of the medium and does not just simply use the medium. What is fascinating is the media amateur’s process of self education – not the result – and the direct impact on the internal structure and the control of the medium. 7 Media amateurs open a previously culturally unformed space of experience. This only partially applies to most of the YouTube clips in the realms of the visual arts; it is here most important to look at the visual content. This article discusses all these concepts and introduces new descriptions for the different forms of production: the technically oriented media master, the do-it-yourselfer, the tinkerer, the amateur handicraftsman and the inventor. It outlines a basic research project on ‘visual media culture’ (a triangulation of research on media structure and iconography) of the presented online video platform. It is a product of the analysis of clips focusing on the media structure, analyzing the creative handling of images and the deviations and differences of pre-set media formats and stereotypes.
The Video Vortex Reader is the first collection of critical texts to deal with the rapidly emerging world of online video – from its explosive rise in 2005 with YouTube, to its future as a significant form of personal media. After years of talk about digital convergence and crossmedia platforms we now witness the merger of the Internet and television at a pace no-one predicted. These contributions from scholars, artists and curators evolved from the first two Video Vortex conferences in Brussels and Amsterdam in 2007 which focused on responses to YouTube, and address key issues around independent production and distribution of online video content. What does this new distribution platform mean for artists and activists? What are the alternatives?
In a charter issued on 5 May 1513, the mayor and city council of the city of Freiburg/Breisgau reported that several citizens wanted to be allowed to establish a bruderschaft der sengerye, a confraternity of singing. “God, the almighty, would be praised thereby, the souls would be consoled, and all men listening to the concerts would be kept from blasphemy, gaming and other secular vices” (“gott der allmechtig [würde] dardurch gelopt, die selen getröst und die menschen zu zyten, so sy dem gesang zuhorten, von gotslesterung, ouch vom spyl vnd anderer weltlicher uppigkeyt gezogen”). Considering not least the “positive effects on the pour souls” (“guettaeten, so den armen selen dardurch nachgeschechen mocht”), the request was allowed. But the petitioners had to establish their bruderschaft in exactly the form that is described in detail in the regulations (ordnung) added to the request and cited “word for word” (“von wort zu wort”) in 17 articles in the foundation charter of the confraternity.
This paper discusses the effect of capital regulation on the risk taking behavior of commercial banks. We first theoretically show that capital regulation works differently in different market structures of banking sectors. In lowly concentrated markets, capital regulation is effective in mitigating risk taking behavior because banks' franchise values are low and banks have incentives to pursue risky strategies in order to increase their franchise values. If franchise values are high, on the other hand, the effect of capital regulation on bank risk taking is ambiguous as banks lack those incentives. We then test the model predictions on a cross-country sample including 421 commercial banks from 61 countries. We find that capital regulation is effective in mitigating risk taking only in markets with a low degree of concentration. The results remain robust after accounting for financial sector development, legal system effciency, and for other country and bank-specific characteristics. Keywords: Banks, market structure, risk shifting, franchise value, capital regulation
TABLE OF CONTENTS (here without authors) Introduction 1. Em Busca dos Sítios do Poder na África Centro Ocidental. Homens e Caminhos, Exércitos e Estradas (1483-1915) 2. The Supply and Deployment of Horses in Angolan Warfare (17th and 18th Centuries) 3. Wagon Technology, Transport and Long-distance Communication in Angola 1885-1908 4. Trade, Slavery, and Migration in the Interior of Benguela: The Case of Caconda, 1830-1870 5. The Economics of the Kwango Rubber Trade, c. 1900 6. As Vias de Comunicação e Meios de Transporte como Factores de Globalização, de Estabilidade Política e de Transformação Económica e Social: Caso do Caminho-de-ferro de Bengela (Benguela) (1889-1950) 7. Nas Malhas da Rede: Aspectos do impacto económicoe social do transporte rodoviário na região do Huambo c. 1920-c. 1960 8. Communications between Angola and East Central Africa Before c. 1700 9. Long-distance Caravans and Communication beyond the Kwango (c. 1850-1890) 10. A Escrita em Angola: Comunicação e Ruído entre as Diferentes Sociedades em Presença 11. Escrever o Poder: Os Autos de Vassalagem e a Vulgarização da Escrita entre as Elites Africanas Ndembu 12. Do Passado ao Presente: Tráfego Comercial e Redes de Comunicação, Factores Privilegiados de “Modernidade” 13. Refugees on Routes. Congo / Zaire and the War in Northern Angola (1961-1974) 14. Crossing the River: Myth and Movement in Central Africa 15. From Group Mobility to Individual Movement: The Colonial Effort to Turn Back History Notes on Contributors
The increasing resistance of almost all pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics (multidrug resistance) causes a severe threat to public health. The mechanisms underlying multidrug resistance include the induced over expression of multidrug transporters which extrude a variety of lipophilic and toxic substrates in an energy dependent fashion through the membrane out of the cell. These proteins are found in all transporter families. The work described in this thesis is dedicated to drug-proton antiporters from the small multidrug resistance (SMR) family. These efflux pumps with just four transmembrane helices per monomer are so far the smallest transporters discovered. Their oligomeric state, topology, three dimensional structure, catalytic cycle and transport mechanism are still rather controversial. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to directly address these questions for the small multidrug resistance proteins Halobacterium salinarium Hsmr and Escherichia coli (E. coli) EmrE using a number of biophysical methods such as NMR, transport assays, mass spectrometry and analytical ultracentrifugation. Especially the work on Hsmr has been challenging due to the halophilic nature of this protein. In Chapter 1, key questions and the most important biophysical techniques are introduced followed by Material and Methods in Chapter 2. Depending on experimental requirements, cell free or ‘classical’ in vivo expression has been used for this thesis. Cell free expression as an option for the production of small multidrug transporters has been explored in Chapter 3. It has been possible to produce the SMR family members Hsmr, EmrE, TBsmr and YdgF in vitro. The expression of Hsmr was investigated in more detail under different experimental conditions. Hsmr was either refolded from precipitate or maintained in a soluble form during expression in the presence of detergents and liposomes. Furthermore, amino acids for which no auxotrophic strains were available could be labelled successfully. This expression system has been also used for preparing labelled samples of EmrE as described in Chapter 9. In vivo in E. coli expression of Hsmr, as described in Chapter 4, provided large amounts of proteins if fermenter production was used. Uniform labelling and selective unlabelling with stable isotopes (13C, 15N) for NMR spectroscopy was achieved in vivo in a more efficient and cost effective manner than using the cell free approach for this protein. Hsmr could be purified successfully from both in vitro and in vivo expression media. Hsmr is expressed in vivo and in vitro with N-terminal formylation. The Nterminal formylation is unstable and Hsmr in the presence of low salt concentrations was amenable to N-terminal degradation. It was found that Hsmr shows longest stability in Fos-ß-choline® 12 and sodium dodecyl sulphate, but best reconstitution conditions were found, when dodecyl maltoside is used and exchanged with Escherichia coli lipids. A molar protein lipid ratio of 1 to 100, amenable to solid state nuclear magnetic resonance, has been achieved. Sample homogeneity was shown by freeze fracture electron microscopy. The oligomeric state of Hsmr in detergent has been assessed by SDS PAGE, blue native PAGE, size exclusion chromatography, analytical ultracentrifugation and laser induced liquid bead ion desorption mass spectrometry (LILBID) as described in Chapter 5. A concentration and detergent dependent monomer-oligomer equilibrium has been found by all methods. The activity of Hsmr under the sample preparation conditions used here was shown using radioactive and fluorescence binding as well as fluorescence and electrochemical transport assays (Chapter 6). For transport studies, a stable pH gradient was generated by co-reconstitution of Hsmr with bacteriorhodopsin and subsequent sample illumination. Based on the observed long term stability of Hsmr in Fos-ß-choline® 12 and sodium dodecyl sulphate, liquid state NMR experiments were attempted in order to assess the correct folding of Hsmr in detergent micelles (Chapter 7). 1D proton and 2D HSQC spectra of U-15N Hsmr revealed a poor spectral dispersion, low resolution and only a small number of peaks. These are at least partly due to long rotational correlation times of the large protein detergent complex. This problem has been overcome by applying solid-state NMR to Hsmr reconstituted into E. coli lipids (Chapter 8). Uniform 13C labelled samples were prepared and two dimensional proton-driven spin diffusion and double quantum-single quantum correlation spectra were acquired successfully. Unfortunately, the spectral resolution was not yet sufficient for further structural studies. Reasons for the observed linebroadening could be structural heterogeneity or molecular motions which interfere with the NMR timescale. Therefore, the protein mobility has been probed using static 2H solid state NMR on Ala-d3-Hsmr. It could be shown, that parts of Hsmr are remarkably mobile in the membrane and that this mobility can be limited by the addition of the substrate ethidium bromide. Ethidium bromide as well as tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP+) is typical multidrug transporter substrates. The membrane interaction of TPP+ in DMPC membranes has been resolved by 1H MAS NMR. It was found that it penetrates into the interface region of the lipid bilayers and therefore behaves like many other transporter substrates adding to the hypothesis that the membrane could act as a pre-sorting filter. Finally, Chapter 9 is dedicated to the characterisation of the essential and highly conserved residue Glu-14 in EmrE by solid-state NMR. In order to avoid spectral overlap, the single Glu EmrE E25A mutant was chosen instead of the wildtype. The protein has been produced in vitro to take advantage of reduced isotope scrambling in the cell free expression system as verified by analytical NMR spectroscopy. Correct labelling of EmrE was tested by MALDI-TOF and solid-state NMR. The dimeric state of DDM solubilised EmrE has been probed by LILBID. The labelled protein was reconstituted into E. coli lipids to ensure a native membrane environment. Activity was determined by measuring ethidium bromide transport. Freeze fracture EM revealed very homogeneous protein incorporation even after many days of MAS NMR experiments. 2D 13C double quantum filtered experiments were used to obtain chemical shift and lineshape information of Glu-14 in EmrE. Two distinct populations were found with backbone chemical shift differences of 4 - 6 ppm which change upon substrate binding. These findings indicate a structural asymmetry at the assumed dimerisation interface and are discussed in the context of a model for shared substrate/proton binding. These studies represent the first successful use of cell free expression to prepare labelled membrane proteins for solid-state NMR and allow for the first time an NMR insight into the binding pocket of a multidrug efflux pump.
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO), also called Complex IV of the aerobic respiratory chain, is located in the plasma membrane of prokaryotes and in the inner mitochondrial membrane of eukaryotes. The redox energy of dioxygen reduction is used to translocate protons across the membrane resulting in an electrochemical proton gradient. The generated proton gradient is exploited by the adenosine-5’-triphosphate synthase. In this work, bacterial four-subunit aa3-Type CcO from Paracoccus denitrificans (ATCC 13543, 4 SU-wt ATCC CcO) was used for analyses. 1) The recombinant homologously produced 4 SU-wt CcO (4 SU-wt rec CcO) was functionally compared with the native 4 SU-wt ATCC CcO. The 4 SU-wt rec CcO showed functional deficiencies as determined by UV-vis spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies. Total X-ray Reflection Fluorescence measurements show in both wild type CcOs the same ratio of the redoxactive Fe and Cu (2 Fe : 3 Cu) indicating full complement of the functional metals. If CcO contains only subunit I and II, it loses its functional integrity during continuous turnover activity. The importance of subunit III for integrity of CcO was demonstrated using 2 SU-wt rec CcO. Crystallisation trials of suicide inactivated 2 SU-wt rec CcOs have been ineffective using standard crystallisation conditions. Crystals of active 2 SU-wt rec CcO (positive control) have been obtained under these conditions and this result indicates possible structural changes in suicide inactivated 2 SU-wt rec CcO. The structure of active 2 SU-wt rec CcO was determined to 2.25 Å resolution. 2) Terminal oxidases require four electrons for the cleavage of the dioxygen bond (O=O). In general, the catalytic cycle of CcO is described by the electron input and thus by the different redox states of the metal centres: the O, E, R, P and F state. The two-electron reduced R intermediate is able to donate four electrons for dioxygen reduction forming the P state. The P intermediate is an oxoferryl state implying the lack of an electron for the R -> P transition, because the metal centres can only provide three electrons (Fe+II forms Fe+IV and Cu+II forms Cu+I). The P state, where the dioxygen bond is already broken, shows an oxoferryl state (FeIV=O2-) and a nearby tyrosine is proposed to form a tyrosyl radical representing the donor of the missing electron. H2O2-induced artificial intermediates provide the opportunity to investigated different catalytic intermediates in detail. Mixing equimolar amounts of H2O2 to CcO in the O state induces the "two-electron" reduced PH state at high pH and the electronically equal "two-electron" reduced F• H state at low pH. The addition of an excess amount of H2O2 leads to the three-electron reduced FH state. Functional studies using the 4 SU-wt ATCC CcO have demonstrated a bound peroxide (O- - O-) intermediate during the catalytic cycle. Using EPR it was previously shown that Y167 hosts a radical species in PH/F• H state which suggests that Y167 could provide this "missing electron". While X-ray structural models of CcO and Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) measurements of oxygenated ("pulsed") 4 SU-wt ATCC CcO suggest a bound peroxide in the O state, UV-vis and EPR spectroscopic studies indicate that other intermediates may also contain such peroxide species. Equimolar and excess amounts of H2O2 induce the PH/F• H and FH states, respectively and catalase treatment of the FH state leads, contrary to the natural direction of the catalytic cycle, to the apparent transition of the FH -> PH/F• H states, which is accompanied by reappearance of an EPR signal from the Y167• radical. The novel PFH/F• FH states are presented here and we postulate that the FH state hosts a superoxide (or peroxide) adduct at CuB in the binuclear site. In addition, the novel P10 state is also introduced having a maximum at lambda = 612 nm in the difference absorption spectrum (minus the O state). The P10 state is induced by mixing CcO in the O state with a pH 10 buffer. This pH 10 induced state resembles standard P states such as PCO, PH and PR. However, the P10 state evolves out of the O state without addition of reduction equivalents. Using EPR spectroscopy it was shown that Y167 hosts a radical species in the P10 state such as in the PH state. In summary, all functional data presented here provide evidence for a peroxide bound during the O state. Finally, a new model for the natural catalytic cycle is proposed. If the O state contains a peroxide, it is also likely that the E and R state contain this species. Even the oxoferryl intermediates P and F states may complex a peroxide at CuB in the binuclear site. 3) The amino acid residue Y167, which hosts the radical in the PH/F•H states, is not directly part of the binuclear site of CcO. For identification of the primary electron donor, two tryptophan variants of CcO, W272F and W164F, which are located nearby the binuclear site, were produced. Evidence is provided that W272 is a kinetically fast electron donor for the O2 molecule. The electron is replenished by Y167, or probably by Y280 in the natural cycle. The Y167 radical is detectable by EPR spectroscopy after treatment with equimolar amounts of H2O2 in the active variant W164F, but is absent in the inactive variant W272F. 4) CcO contains two proton conducting pathways, the D- and the K-pathway. Proteoliposomes of the variants H28A and D30N, mutations located at the entrance of the D-pathway, both show the identical proton pumping activity as the 4 SU-wt rec CcO (pumped H+/e- = 1). The variant N113D shows abolished proton pumping (pumped H+/e- = 0), but a relative high cytochrome c oxidation activity (63 %). G196D displays no cytochrome c oxidation and proton pumping activity. Overall, the addition or removal of a negative charge within the D-pathway such as in D124N, N131D, N113D and G196D leads to a decoupled phenotype indicating the high degree of electrostatic coupling in CcO.
CONTENTS Preamble 1. Concept and Drivers of Globalization 1.0 A Brief Historical Perspective 1.1 Concept of Globalization 1.2 Economic Globalization 1.3 Drivers of Economic Globalization 2. Globalization and Markets 2.1 The Free Market System 2.2 Markets and the Solution of Economic Problems 2.3 African Markets and “Getting the Prices Right”. 2.4 Implications of the Imperfect Market System 2.5 Government’s Inevitable Role 2.6 The International Environment/Markets 3. Globalization and Trade Liberalisation 3.1 The Experience of the Developing Countries 3.2 Nigeria’s Experience with Trade Liberalisation 4. Global Economic Integration and Sub-Saharan Africa 4.1 Global Economic Integration 4.2 Africa’s Integration with the World Economy 4.3 The Benefits of Economic Globalization and Sub-Saharan Africa 4.4 Why has Africa Lagged? 5. Nigeria and the Global Economy 5.1 Openness of the Economy and Integration with the World Economy 5.2 Globalization and Nigeria’s Trade 5.3 Globalization and Foreign Capital Flows to Nigeria 5.4 Foreign Capital Flows and Debt Accumulation 5.5 Globalization, Growth and Development 6. Appropriate Policy Responses and Lessons 7. Concluding Remarks 8. Appreciation 9. Annex 10. References
Arthropods use fluid medium motion-sensing filiform hairs on their exoskeleton to detect aerodynamic or hydrodynamic stimuli in their surroundings that affect their behaviour. The hairs, often of different lengths and organized in groups or arrays, respond to particular fluid motion amplitudes and frequencies produced by prey, predators, or conspecifics, even in the presence of background noise peculiar to the environment. While long known to biologists and experimentally investigated by them, it is only relatively recently that comprehensive physical-mathematical models have emerged offering an alternative methodology for investigating the biomechanics of filiform hair motion. These models have been developed and applied to quantitatively predict the performance characteristics of filiform hairs in air and water as a function of the relevant parameters that affect their physical behaviour. They even allow the exploration of possible biological evolutionary paths for filiform hair changes resulting from physical selection pressures. In this chapter we review the state of knowledge of filiform hair biomechanics and discuss two physical-mathematical models to predict hair dynamical behaviour. One modelling approach is analytically exact, serving for quantitative purposes, while the other, derived from it, is approximate, serving for qualitative guidance concerning the parameter dependencies of hair motion. Using these models we look in turn at the influence of these parameters and the fluid media physical properties on hair motion, including the possibility of medium-facilitated viscous coupling between hairs. The models point to areas where data is currently lacking and future research could be focused. In addition, new results are presented pertaining to transient tlows. We qualitatively explore the possibility of an overlapping water-air niches adaptation potential that may explain how, over many generations, the filiform hairs of an arthropod living in water could have evolved to function in air. Because flow-sensing hairs have served to inspire corresponding artificial medium motion microsensors, we discuss recent advances in this area. Significant challenges remain to be overcome, especially with respect to the materials and fabrication techniques used. In spite of the impressive technological advances made, nature still remains unrivalled.
A glimpse of the tropics : spiders (Araneae) in the greenhouses of the Botanic Garden Berlin-Dahlem
(2008)
In a survey of the spider fauna in greenhouses of the Botanic Garden Berlin-Dahlem, 30 spider species were recorded. Two species are new to Europe: Theotima minutissima (Petrunkevitch, 1929) and Heteroonops spinimanus (Simon, 1891). T. minutissima is the first member of the family Ochyroceratidae reported from Europe. Oecobius navus Blackwall, 1859 is new to Central Europe. Triaeris stenaspis Simon, 1891, is recorded from Germany for the first time. Zodarion italicum (Canestrini, 1868) is new to eastern Germany. Despite the discovery of some species previously unknown to Germany, the spider fauna in the Botanic Garden consisted mainly of wellknown synanthropic species and common inhabitants of greenhouses. Several alien spiders recently found in greenhouses, garden centers and houses were not recorded in the Botanic Garden. The species composition of the exotic spider fauna in greenhouses seems to depend chiefly on the specific modes of acquisition of plants and plant substrate.
Spiders were collected at the massif 'Panský diel' near the city of Banská Bystrica (Central Slovakia). We recorded 252 spider species for the territory and one new species for Slovakia. Although the summit reaches an altitude of 1.100 m a.s.l., more or less thermophilous species apparently prevail here, especially at lower moderate sites. On the other hand, only several typical oreophilous species were documented. Many recorded species are scarce or even very rare. This indicates the very high value of this territory from both a genetic and an environmental perspective.
Spider fauna of semi-dry grasslands on a military training base in Northwest Germany (Münster)
(2008)
The spider fauna of semi-dry grasslands on the military training area of Dorbaum near Münster (North Rhine-Westphalia) was investigated. From 2002 to 2003 a total of 11,194 mature spiders from 141 species and 20 families was caught by pitfall trapping and hand sampling. Among them are 18 species listed in the Red Data Book of North Rhine-Westphalia, four species are rare or previously rarely recorded. Most of the spiders are habitat generalists that extend their occurrence into all types of habitats, while the number of species which are stenotopic to sand habitats is noticeably low (n = 13). The spider data were analysed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). It is possible to distinguish spider communities of neighbouring forested habitats from species groups of open habitats, but there is no uniform spider community which is characteristic for semi-dry grassland.
The spider species Hypsocephalus dahli (Lessert, 1909) is recorded for the first time in Switzerland from museum material collected in 1974. The information given in the literature and unpublished data on this rare species are summarised including an annotated distribution map. All published pictures of males are compared with the holotype. Figures of the male palp and the vulva of the Swiss specimens are provided.
This paper discusses the implications of transnational media production and diasporic networks for the cultural politics of migrant minorities. How are fields of cultural politics transformed if Hirschmann’s famous options ‘exit’ and ‘voice’ are no longer constituting mutually exclusive responses to dissent within a nation-state, but modes of action that can combine and build upon each other in the context of migration and diasporic media activism? Two case studies are discussed in more detail, relating to Alevi amateur television production in Germany and to a Kurdish satellite television station that reaches out to a diaspora across Europe and the Middle East. Keywords: migrant media, transnationalism, Alevis, Kurds, Turkey, Germany
Background: A number of the deeper divergences in the placental mammal tree are still inconclusively resolved despite extensive phylogenomic analyses. A recent analysis of 200 kbp of protein coding sequences yielded only limited support for the relationships among Laurasiatheria (cow, dog, bat and shrew), probably because the divergences occurred only within a few million years from each other. It is generally expected that increasing the amount of data and improving the taxon sampling enhance the resolution of narrow divergences. Therefore these and other difficult splits were examined by phylogenomic analysis of the hitherto largest sequence alignment. The increasingly complete genome data of placental mammals also allowed developing a novel and stringent data search method. Results: The rigorous data handling, recursive BLAST, successfully removed the sequences from gene families, including those from well-known families hemoglobin, olfactory, myosin and HOX genes, thus avoiding alignment of possibly paralogous sequences. The current phylogenomic analysis of 3,012 genes (2,844,615 nucleotides) from a total of 22 species yielded statistically significant support for most relationships. While some major clades were confirmed using genomic sequence data, the placement of the treeshrew, bat and the relationship between Boreoeutheria, Xenarthra and Afrotheria remained problematic to resolve despite the size of the alignment. Phylogenomic analysis of divergence times dated the basal placental mammal splits at 95–100 million years ago. Many of the following divergences occurred only a few (2–4) million years later. Relationships with narrow divergence time intervals received unexpectedly limited support even from the phylogenomic analyses. Conclusion: The narrow temporal window within which some placental divergences took place suggests that inconsistencies and limited resolution of the mammalian tree may have their natural explanation in speciation processes such as lineage sorting, introgression from species hybridization or hybrid speciation. These processes obscure phylogenetic analysis, making some parts of the tree difficult to resolve even with genome data.
In order to quantitatively analyse the chemical and dynamical evolution of the polar vortex it has proven extremely useful to work with coordinate systems that follow the vortex flow. We propose here a two-dimensional quasi-Lagrangian coordinate system {X i, delta X i}, based on the mixing ratio of a long-lived stratospheric trace gas i, and its systematic use with i = N2O, in order to describe the structure of a well-developed Antarctic polar vortex. In the coordinate system {X i, delta X i} the mixing ratio X i is the vertical coordinate and delta X i = X i(theta) - X i vort(theta) is the meridional coordinate (X i vort(theta) being a vertical reference profile in the vortex core). The quasi-Lagrangian coordinates {X i, delta X i} persist for much longer time than standard isentropic coordinates, potential temperature theta and equivalent latitude Phi e, do not require explicit reference to geographic space, and can be derived directly from high-resolution in situ measurements. They are therefore well-suited for studying the evolution of the Antarctic polar vortex throughout the polar winter with respect to the relevant chemical and microphysical processes. By using the introduced coordinate system {X N2O, delta X N2O} we analyze the well-developed Antarctic vortex investigated during the APE-GAIA (Airborne Polar Experiment – Geophysica Aircraft in Antarctica – 1999) campaign (Carli et al., 2000). A criterion, which uses the local in-situ measurements of X i=X i(theta) and attributes the inner vortex edge to a rapid change (delta-step) in the meridional profile of the mixing ratio X i, is developed to determine the (Antarctic) inner vortex edge. In turn, we suggest that the outer vortex edge of a well-developed Antarctic vortex can be attributed to the position of a local minimum of the X H2O gradient in the polar vortex area. For a well-developed Antarctic vortex, the delta X N2O-parametrization of tracer-tracer relationships allows to distinguish the tracer inter-relationships in the vortex core, vortex boundary region and surf zone and to examine their meridional variation throughout these regions. This is illustrated by analyzing the tracer-tracer relationships X i : X N2O obtained from the in-situ data of the APE-GAIA campaign for i = CFC-11, CFC-12, H-1211 and SF6. A number of solitary anomalous points in the CFC-11 : N2O correlation, observed in the Antarctic vortex core, are interpreted in terms of small-scale cross-isentropic dispersion.
This monograph describes the overall language situation in Luxembourg, a highly multilingual country in Western Europe, from a language policy and planning perspective. The first part discusses the social and historical contexts, including major societal changes and uncertainties about the future, which are bound up with Europeanisation and the accelerated processes of globalisation. It also deconstructs the notions of Luxembourgish as a 'minority language' and French as the 'language of prestige', and describes a two-pronged language ideology that allows for either monolingual identification with Luxembourgish or trilingual identification with the languages recognised by the language law of 1984 (Luxembourgish / German / French). The second part discusses the trilingual school-system, a system in which large numbers of romanophone students are forced to go through a German-language literacy programme. The third part provides an overview of language spread in the areas of the media and literary writing. The fourth part examines language purism and tensions concerning the standardisation of Luxembourgish, as well as the debates about language requirements for citizenship. The discussion shows how language policy scholarship needs to be approached from a multidimensional perspective, that is, by taking into account dynamics on the global, regional and local levels in addition to those at the state level.
In this proceeding the emergence of a composite, adjoint-scalar field as an average over (trivial holonomy) calorons and anti-calorons is reviewed. This composite field acts as a background field to the dynamics of perturbative gluons, to which it is coupled via an effective, gauge invariant Lagrangian valid for temperatures above the deconfinement phase transition. Moreover a Higgs mechanism is induced by the composite field: two gluons acquire a quasi-particle thermal mass. On the phenomenological side the composite field acts as a bag pressure which shows a linear dependence on the temperature. As a result the linear rise with temperature of the trace anomaly is obtained and is compared to recent lattice studies.
We propose a theory characterizing information systems (IS) as language communities which use and develop domain-specific languages for communication. Our theory is anchored in Language Critique, a branch of philosophy of language. In developing our theory, we draw on Systems Theory and Cybernetics as a theoretical framework. "Organization" of a system is directly related to communication of its sub-systems. "Big systems" are self-organizing and the control of this ability is disseminated throughout the system itself. Therefore, the influence on changes of the system from its outside is limited. Operations intended to change an organization are restricted to indirect approaches. The creation of domain-specific languages by the system itself leads to advantageous communication costs compared to colloquial communication at the price of set-up costs for language communities. Furthermore, we demonstrate how our theoretical constructs help to describe and predict the behavior of IS. Finally, we discuss implications of our theory for further research and IS in general. Keywords: Language Critique, language communities, communication, self-organization, IS research
"Ich mag so Wasserpfeifeladen" : the interaction of grammar and information structure in Kiezdeutsch
(2008)
This article presents linguistic features of and educational approaches to a new variety of German that has emerged in multi-ethnic urban areas in Germany: Kiezdeutsch (‘Hood German’). From a linguistic point of view, Kiezdeutsch is very interesting, as it is a multi-ethnolect that combines features of a youth language with those of a contact language. We will present examples that illustrate the grammatical productivity and innovative potential of this variety. From an educational perspective, Kiezdeutsch has also a high potential in many respects: school projects can help enrich intercultural communication and weaken derogatory attitudes. In grammar lessons, Kiezdeutsch can be a means to enhance linguistic competence by having the adolescents analyse their own language. Keywords: German, Kiezdeutsch, multi-ethnolect, migrants’ language, language change, educational proposals
German linking elements are sometimes classified as inflectional affixes, sometimes as derivational affixes, and in any case as morphological units with at least seven realisations (e.g. -s-, -es-, -(e)n-, -e-). This article seeks to show that linking elements are hybrid elements situated between morphology and phonology. On the one hand, they have a clear morphological status since they occur only within compounds (and before a very small set of suffixes) and support the listener in decoding them. On the other hand, they also have to be analysed on the phonological level, as will be shown in this article. Thus, they are marginal morphological units on the pathway to phonology (including prosodics). Although some alloforms can sometimes be considered former inflectional endings and in some cases even continue to demonstrate some inflectional behaviour (such as relatedness to gender and inflection class), they are on their way to becoming markers of ill-formed phonological words. In fact, linking elements, above all the linking -s-, which is extremely productive, help the listener decode compounds containing a bad phonological word as their first constituent, such as Geburt+s+tag ‘birthday’ or Religion+s+unterricht ‘religious education’. By marking the end of a first constituent that differs from an unmarked monopedal phonological word, the linking element aids the listener in correctly decoding and analysing the compound. German compounds are known for their length and complexity, both of which have increased over time—along with the occurrence of linking elements, especially -s-. Thus, a profound instance of language change can be observed in contemporary German, one indicating its typological shift from syllable language to word language.
Both, gas and particle scavenging contribute to the transport of organic compounds by ice crystals in the troposphere. To simulate these processes an experimental setup was developed to form airborne ice crystals under atmospheric conditions. Experiments were performed in a wall independent reactor (WIR) installed in a walk-in cold chamber maintained constantly at -20°C. Aerosol particles were added to the carrier gas of ambient air by an aerosol generator to allow heterogeneous ice formation. Temperature variations and hydrodynamic conditions of the WIR were investigated to determine the conditions for ice crystal formation and crystal growth by vapour deposition. In detail, the dependence of temperature variations from flow rate and temperature of the physical wall as well as temperature variations with an increasing reactor depth were studied. The conditions to provide a stable aerosol concentration in the carrier gas flow were also studied. The temperature distribution inside the reactor was strongly dependent on flow rate and physical wall temperature. At an inlet temperature of -20°C, a flow rate of 30 L•min exp -1 and a physical wall temperature of +5°C turned out to provide ideal conditions for ice formation. At these conditions a sharp and stable laminar down draft "jet stream" of cold air in the centre of the reactor was produced. Temperatures measured at the chamber outlet were kept well below the freezing point in the whole reactor depth of 1.0 m. Thus, melting did not affect ice formation and crystal growth. The maximum residence time for airborne ice crystals was calculated to at 40 s. Ice crystal growth rates increased also with increasing reactor depth. The maximum ice crystal growth rate was calculated at 2.82 mg• exp -1. Further, the removal efficiency of the cleaning device for aerosol particles was 99.8% after 10 min. A reliable particle supply was attained after a preliminary lead time of 15 min. Thus, the minimum lead time was determined at 25 min. Several test runs revealed that the WIR is suitable to perform experiments with airborne ice crystals.
Rezension von: Rainer Forst (2007) Das Recht auf Rechtfertigung. Elemente einer konstruktivistischer Theorie der Gerechtigkeit. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 413 pp.
Echocardiography is increasingly used in the management of the critically ill patient as a non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring tool. Whilst in few countries specialized national training schemes for intensive care unit (ICU) echocardiography have been developed, specific guidelines for ICU physicians wishing to incorporate echocardiography into their clinical practice are lacking. Further, existing echocardiography accreditation does not reflect the requirements of the ICU practitioner. The WINFOCUS (World Interactive Network Focused On Critical UltraSound) ECHO-ICU Group drew up a document aimed at providing guidance to individual physicians, trainers and the relevant societies of the requirements for the development of skills in echocardiography in the ICU setting. The document is based on recommendations published by the Royal College of Radiologists, British Society of Echocardiography, European Association of Echocardiography and American Society of Echocardiography, together with international input from established practitioners of ICU echocardiography. The recommendations contained in this document are concerned with theoretical basis of ultrasonography, the practical aspects of building an ICU-based echocardiography service as well as the key components of standard adult TTE and TEE studies to be performed on the ICU. Specific issues regarding echocardiography in different ICU clinical scenarios are then described. Obtaining competence in ICU echocardiography may be achieved in different ways – either through completion of an appropriate fellowship/training scheme, or, where not available, via a staged approach designed to train the practitioner to a level at which they can achieve accreditation. Here, peri-resuscitation focused echocardiography represents the entry level – obtainable through established courses followed by mentored practice. Next, a competence-based modular training programme is proposed: theoretical elements delivered through blended-learning and practical elements acquired in parallel through proctored practice. These all linked with existing national/international echocardiography courses. When completed, it is anticipated that the practitioner will have performed the prerequisite number of studies, and achieved the competency to undertake accreditation (leading to Level 2 competence) via a recognized National or European examination and provide the appropriate required evidence of competency (logbook). Thus, even where appropriate fellowships are not available, with support from the relevant echocardiography bodies, training and subsequently accreditation in ICU echocardiography becomes achievable within the existing framework of current critical care and cardiological practice, and is adaptable to each countrie's needs.
The dynamics of many systems are described by ordinary differential equations (ODE). Solving ODEs with standard methods (i.e. numerical integration) needs a high amount of computing time but only a small amount of storage memory. For some applications, e.g. short time weather forecast or real time robot control, long computation times are prohibitive. Is there a method which uses less computing time (but has drawbacks in other aspects, e.g. memory), so that the computation of ODEs gets faster? We will try to discuss this question for the assumption that the alternative computation method is a neural network which was trained on ODE dynamics and compare both methods using the same approximation error. This comparison is done with two different errors. First, we use the standard error that measures the difference between the approximation and the solution of the ODE which is hard to characterize. But in many cases, as for physics engines used in computer games, the shape of the approximation curve is important and not the exact values of the approximation. Therefore, we introduce a subjective error based on the Total Least Square Error (TLSE) which gives more consistent results. For the final performance comparison, we calculate the optimal resource usage for the neural network and evaluate it depending on the resolution of the interpolation points and the inter-point distance. Our conclusion gives a method to evaluate where neural nets are advantageous over numerical ODE integration and where this is not the case. Index Terms—ODE, neural nets, Euler method, approximation complexity, storage optimization.
We suggest a new method to compute the spectrum and wave functions of excited states. We construct a stochastic basis of Bargmann link states, drawn from a physical probability density distribution and compute transition amplitudes between stochastic basis states. From such transition matrix we extract wave functions and the energy spectrum. We apply this method toU(1)2+1 lattice gauge theory. As a test we compute the energy spectrum, wave functions and thermodynamical functions of the electric Hamiltonian and compare it with analytical results. We find excellent agreement. We observe scaling of energies and wave functions in the variable of time. We also present first results on a small lattice for the full Hamiltonian including the magnetic term.
Agglutinated foraminiferal assemblages from the Oligocene section of an exploration well drilled in the distal part of the Congo Fan are fully documented and interpreted for palaeoenvironment. A total of 65 ditch cutting samples were analysed at 10 m intervals, from 3630 to 4270 m below rotary table. An average of 170 specimens were extracted per sample, with over 100 species being documented and described using SEM and light photography. The results reveal the most taxonomically diverse deepsea Oligocene fauna yet described. Six assemblages have been defined and analysed with Correspondence and 'Morphogroup' Analysis. These are 1. Nothia robusta / Reticulophragmium Assemblage (4110-4270 m), 2. Nothia robusta / Scherochorella congoensis / Discammilloides sp. 1 Assemblage (4000-4100 m), 3. High diversity Reticulophragmium Assemblage (3870-3990 m), 4. Portatrochammina profunda Assemblage (3790-3860 m), 5. Nothia latissima Assemblage (3730-3780 m) and 6. Low abundance Assemblage (3630-3720 m). Palaeobathymetric estimates range from middle -lower bathyal based on comparison with living taxa and morphogroup distributions. These results extend the known stratigraphic range (last occurrences) of Reticulophragmium amp/eetens into the Oligocene in the Atlantic, and possibly also Paratrochamminoides gorayskii, Paratrochamminoides olszewskii, Trochamminoides aff. proteus, Trochamminoides subcoronatus, Haplophragmoides horridus and Haplophragmoides walteri, although reworking is documented with these species. Results also extend the known first occurrences of Recurvoides azuaensis, Spiropsammina primula, Cyclammina aff. orbicularis, Discamminoides sp. and Glaphyrammina americana into the Oligocene. Large scale variations within faunas are largely assigned to documente d variations in sand content, where higher proportions of sand generally coincide with reduced diversity and abundance along with a dominance of opportunistic species such as Nothia robusta, Nothia latissima and Ammodiscus latus. A major excursion in the infaunal morpho group, suspension-feeding morpho group and diversity and abundance within Assemblage 2 is termed the 'Scherochorella Event', and does not correlate with an increase in sand. This fauna is thought to be the result of lower oxygen conditions allowing the dominance of the low oxygen morphotype Scherochorella congoensis and the opportunistic species Nothia robusta. Deep-water circulation in the Atlantic at this time is generally thought to have been strong, and this event suggests that there may have been a temporary expansion of the oxygen minimum zone during the Late Oligocene, coinciding with increased benthic 8180 values, global cooling, and increased upwelling associated with a stronger polar front. The otherwise high diversity of the fauna in the well supports the interpretation of well-oxygenated conditions.
The distribution of linguistic structures in the world is the joint product of universal principles, inheritance from ancestor languages, language contact, social structures, and random fluctuation. This paper proposes a method for evaluating the relative significance of each factor — and in particular, of universal principles — via regression modeling: statistical evidence for universal principles is found if the odds for families to have skewed responses (e.g. all or most members have postnominal relative clauses) as opposed to having an opposite response skewing or no skewing at all, is significantly higher for some condition (e.g. VO order) than for another condition, independently of other factors.
In the late seventies, Bernard Comrie was one of the first linguists to explore the effects of the referential hierarchy (RH) on the distribution of grammatical relations (GRs). The referential hierarchy is also known in the literature as the animacy, empathy or indexibability hierarchy and ranks speech act participants (i.e. first and second person) above third persons, animates above inanimates, or more topical referents above less topical referents. Depending on the language, the hierarchy is sometimes extended by analogy to rankings of possessors above possessees, singulars above plurals, or other notions. In his 1981 textbook, Comrie analyzed RH effects as explaining (a) differential case (or adposition) marking of transitive subject ("A") noun phrases in low RH positions (e.g. inanimate or third person) and of object ("P") noun phrases in high RH positions (e.g. animate or first or second person), and (b) hierarchical verb agreement coupled with a direct vs. inverse distinction, as in Algonquian (Comrie 1981: Chapter 6).
Verb agreement and epistemic marking : a typological journey from the Himalayas to the Caucasus
(2008)
Studies of the epistemic categories expressed in Tibetan auxiliaries and copulas have mostly compared the phenomena with mirativity marking, and this is no doubt the correct comparandum in diachronic research. However, synchronic descriptions are also often tempted to compare the relevant categories with agreement systems or similar reference-related structures, at least for expository purposes when explaining how the system works (e. g. Denwood 1999, Tournadre 1996, Goldstein et al. 1991).
Rawang [...] is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by people who live in the far north of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), particularly along the Mae Hka ('Nmai Hka) and Maeli Hka (Mali Hka) river valleys; population unknown, although Ethnologue gives 100,000. In the past they had been called ‘Nung’, or (mistakenly) ‘Hkanung’, and are considered to be a sub-group of the Kachin by the Myanmar government. They are closely related to people on the other side of the Chinese border in Yunnan classified as either Dulong or Nu (see LaPolla 2001, 2003 on the Dulong language and Sun 1988, Sun & Liu 2005 on the Anong language). In this paper, I will be discussing a particular morphological phenomenon found in Rawang, using data of the Mvtwang (Mvt River) dialect of Rawang, which is considered the most central of those dialects in Myanmar and so has become something of a standard for writing and inter-group communication.
Questions on transitivity
(2008)
This handout (it isn’t a paper) presents phenomena and questions, rather than conclusions, related to the concept of transitivity. The idea is to return to these questions at the end of the Workshop to see if we can have a clearer consensus about the best general analysis of phenomena associated with transitivity. Section 2 presents alternative analyses of transitivity and questions about transitivity in three languages I have worked on. Section 3 discusses a few of the different conceptualisations of transitivity that might be relevant to our thinking about the questions related to these languages or that bring up further questions. Section 4 presents some general questions that might be asked of individual languages.
This paper is more about presenting phenomena and questions related to the concept of transitivity in Tibeto-Burman languages that I hope will stimulate discussion, rather than presenting strong conclusions. Sections 2 and 3 present alternative analyses of transitivity and questions about transitivity in two Tibeto-Burman languages I have worked on. In Section 4 I discuss some general issues about transitivity.
This paper is an inductive look at the constituents found in a randomly selected Tagalog text, Bob Ong’s Alamat ng Gubat (Makati City, MM: Visual Print Enterprises, 2004). The analysis is based on the full text, but we will only be able to go through the first few lines of the text here, which we will do one by one, and discuss the structures found in each line of the text in bullet format after the relevant line. At the end of the paper we will bring up some important questions about the structures found in Tagalog based on this text.
After the very well-organized Leiden conference for which we must be grateful to Tijmen Pronk, it seems appropriate for me to review some of the papers, as I did after the previous conferences in Zagreb and Copenhagen. The aim of this review is merely to point out some of the differences of opinion which require further debate.
In his early years, C. C. Uhlenbeck was particularly interested in the problem of the Indo-European homeland (1895, 1897). He rejected Herman Hirt’s theory (1892) that the words for ‘birch’, ‘willow’, ‘spruce’, ‘oak’, ‘beech’ and ‘eel’ point to Lithuania and its immediate surroundings and returned to Otto Schrader’s view (1883, 1890) that the original homeland must rather be sought in southern Russia and may have included some of the later Germanic and Iranian territories. It is clear that the Mediterranean region and the area around the North Sea can safely be excluded because the arrival of the Indo-Europeans was comparatively recent here, as it was in Iran and the Indian subcontinent. It is difficult to be more specific within the limits of central and eastern Europe and central Asia. Uhlenbeck was impressed by the lexical correspondences between Indo-European and Semitic which had been adduced in favor of an eastern homeland but pointed out that borrowings from Semitic may have reached the Indo-Europeans through an intermediary. He agrees that the Indo-European words for trees and animals point to a moderate climate but questions the possibility of a more specific localization as well as the concept of homeland itself.
In an earlier study (1983) I argued that unlike aorists and athematic presents, Indo-European perfects and thematic presents originally had a dative subject, as in German mir träumt ‘me dreams’ for ich träume ‘I dream’, e.g. Greek oida ‘I know’ < ‘it is known to me’, édomai ‘I will eat’ < ‘it is eatable to me’. On the basis of Oettinger’s epoch-making book (1979), I proposed that the Hittite hi-flexion originated from a merger of the perfect, where *-i was added to 3rd sg. *-e in order to supply a new present, with the thematic flexion of causatives and iteratives, where the final *-e of 3rd sg. *-eie was dropped before the loss of intervocalic *-i- (1983: 315).
Aramaic is not among the oldest Semitic languages in a strictly chronological sense, but among those languages which are still spoken today, it has the longest continuous written tradition. The existing written documents span a period of three millennia and thus enable us to study language history in a long-term perspective. It is very important, in this respect, that the latest stage of development of Aramaic, Neo-Aramaic, still exists in a multitude of spoken varieties which can be studied in vivo. We can thus describe the phonetics and phonology of the modern varieties with more precision than is possible for the older language stages, which in turn enables us to draw conclusions on diachronic sound change. Likewise, we can study morphology and syntax not only from recorded texts, but we also have recourse to native speakers in order to clarify doubtful points. Thus the latest stage of Aramaic casts a strong light back into the past. It is therefore most unfortunate that many Aramaicists and Syrologists show so little interest in this living heritage.
Friedrich Schlegel's lasting contribution to linguistics is usually seen in the impact that his book "Über die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier" from 1808 left on comparative linguistics and on the study of Sanskrit. Schlegel was one of the first European scholars to have studied Sanskrit extensively and he made a number of translations of Sanskrit literature into German which make up one third of "Über die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier". Schlegel's book is widely regarded as a founding document both of comparative linguistics and of indology, a fact which is quite remarkable in light of the development of Schlegel's thought after this text. His interest in Indian studies ceased more or less directly with the publication of this work, while his thoughts on language became more and more suffused by transcendental philosophy.
One of the current trends in international law scholarship is the question of which influences specific legal cultures have on the understanding of international law. This contribution will trace the conditions of a German perspective and analyse the debate against the background of positive law. We will try to assess what the debate adds to the general theory of international law, how it fits into demands of legitimacy of international governance, and whether it contributes to a sensible reconstruction of current law. Furthermore, we try to develop our own perspective that matches the system of international law and is plausible in terms of international legal theory. For that purpose, we will first take It is probably in this context that the contention has to be understood that the ongoing debate on the constitutionalisation of public international law is particularly European, if not German. Whether or not this is the case is difficult to investigate with a lawyer’s tools. However, the idea that international law is the constitution of mankind has found many adherents in German legal writings. This contribution will trace the conditions of a German perspective and analyse the debate against the background of positive law. We will try to assess what the debate adds to the general theory of international law, how it fits into demands of legitimacy of international governance, and whether it contributes to a sensible reconstruction of current law. Furthermore, we try to develop our own perspective that matches the system of international law and is plausible in terms of international legal theory. For that purpose, we will first take up the debate and find its place in the landscape of international legal theory. In this context, we try to shed light on the central concepts used or presupposed when constitutionalisation is discussed by German-speaking scholars (see below, section B). Furthermore, we will discuss structures in positive law which are used as arguments in the debate (section C). Finally, we will try to give an account of constitutionalisation in terms of both sources doctrine and legal theory (section D), before drawing conclusions from the discussion (section E).
An interior delta in the lower course of the Ntem River near the sub-prefecture Ma’an was identified after interpretation of satellite images, topographical maps of SW Cameroon and geological as well as hydrological references and a reconnaissance fieldtrip to the study area. Here neotectonic processes have initiated the establishment of a ‘sediment trap’ (step fault), which in combination with environmental changes strongly generated the fluvial morphology. It transitionally led to temporary lacustrine and palustrine conditions in parts of this river section. Inside the interior delta an anastomosing multi-branched river system has developed, which contains ‘stillwater locations', periodically inundated sections, islands and rapids. Following geomorphological, physiogeographical and sedimentological research approaches, the alluvial plain has been prospected and studied extensively. 91 hand-corings, including three NE–SW transects, were carried out on river benches, levees, cut-off and periodical branches, islands as well as terraces throughout the entire alluvial plain and have unveiled multi-layered, sandy to clayey alluvia reaching up to 440 cm depth. At many locations, fossil organic horizons and palaeosurfaces were discovered, containing valuable palaeoenvironmental proxy data. At these sites, through additional detailed stratigraphical analysis (close-meshed hand-coring and exposure digging) a comprehensive insight into the stratification (lamination) of the alluvia could be gained, clarifying processes and conditions that prevailed in the catchment area during the period of their deposition. 32 Radiocarbon data of macro-rests (leafs, wood), charcoal and organic sediment sampled from these horizons provided ages between 48.230 ± 6.411 and 217 ± 46 years BP (not calibrated). This constitutes the importance of the alluvia as an additional, innovative palaeoarchive for proxy data contributing to the reconstruction of palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate in western Equatorial Africa. The further examination of the alluvia will not only provide additional information on the dynamics of vegetation, climate and hydrology (esp. fluvial morphology) in SW Cameroon since the ‘First Millennium BC Crisis’ (around 3.000 years BP), the main focus of the DFG-research project, but also on conditions prevailing since the Late Pleistocene, during the Last Glacial Maximum (~18.000 years BP), the Younger Dryas impact (~11.000 years BP) and the ‘Humid African Period’ (~9.000–6.000 years BP). Delta13C-values (–31,4 to –26,4‰) evidence that at the particular drilling sites rain forest has prevailed during the corresponding time period (rain forest refuge theory). The sampled macrorests all indicate rain forest dominated ecosystems, which were able to persist in fluvial habitats, even during arid periods.
In this paper it is argued that several typologically unrelated languages share the tendency to avoid voiced sibilant affricates. This tendency is explained by appealing to the phonetic properties of the sounds, and in particular to their aerodynamic characteristics. On the basis of experimental evidence it is shown that conflicting air pressure requirements for maintaining voicing and frication are responsible for the avoidance of voiced affricates. In particular, the air pressure released from the stop phase of the affricate is too high to maintain voicing which in consequence leads to a devoicing of the frication part.
Quantitative approaches to linguistic variation in IRC : implications for qualitative research
(2008)
Qualitative analysis of code choice, code switching, and language style in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) can shed light on functional-pragmatic aspects of the use of different linguistic varieties. However, in a qualitative analysis, the status of varieties within a channel or for a single chatter can only be guessed at. Moreover, qualitative research on linguistic variation in IRC often fails to generalize its findings due to a restricted database or a restricted view of a database. This article introduces an approach that allows for embedding of qualitative research within a quantitative research design. The quantitative method presented here enables general statements to be made about the use of varieties or the usage of certain chatters in a chat channel. The approach is exemplified with data from Swiss IRC channels, in which Swiss German dialects and standard German are used side by side. A large corpus is analyzed for static and dynamic aspects of dialect share. It is argued that this quantitative approach can provide a background for qualitative analysis and facilitate the selection process of relevant data required for qualitative analysis.
The study investigates the contribution of tactile and auditory feedback in the adaptation of /s/ towards a palatal prosthesis. Five speakers were recorded via electromagnetic articulography, at first without the prosthesis, then with the prosthesis and auditory feedback masked, and finally with the prosthesis and auditory feedback available. Tongue position, jaw position and acoustic centre of gravity of productions of the sound were measured. The results show that the initial adaptation attempts without auditory feedback are dependent on the prosthesis type and directed towards reaching the original tongue palate contact pattern. Speakers with a prosthesis which retracted the alveolar ridge retracted the tongue. Speakers with a prosthesis which did not change the place of the alveolar ridge did not retract the tongue. All speakers lowered the jaw. In a second adaptation step with auditory feedback available speakers reorganised tongue and jaw movements in order to produce more subtle acoustic characteristics of the sound such as the high amplitude noise which is typical for sibilants.
Several articulatory strategies are available during the production of /u/, all resulting in a similar acoustic output. /u/ has two main constrictions, at the velum and at the lips. A perturbation of either constriction can be compensated at the other one, e.g wider constriction at the velum by more lip protrusion, wider lip opening by more tongue retraction. This study investigates whether speakers use this relation under perturbation. Six speakers were provided with palatal prostheses which were worn for two weeks. Speakers were instructed to make a serious attempt to produce normal speech. Their speech was recorded via EMA and acoustics several times over the adaptation period. Formant values of /u/-productions were measured. Velar constriction width and lip protrusion were estimated. For four speakers a correlation between constriction width and lip protrusion was found. A negative correlation between lip protrusion and F1 or F2 could sometimes be observed, but no correlation occurred between constriction size and either of the formants. The results show that under perturbation speakers use motor equivalent strategies in order to adapt. The correlation between constriction size and lip protrusion is stronger than in studies investigating unperturbed speech. This could be because under perturbation speakers are inclined to try out several strategies in order to reach the acoustic target and the co-variability might thus be greater.
Two hypotheses have been proposed in order to account for velar softening, i.e., a process through which /k/ changes to an affricate. Whereas one hypothesis states that for the process to apply the velar stop has to be realized as an (alveolo) palatal stop (articulation-based hypothesis), the other claims that velar softening is triggered by acoustic similarity between the input and output segments (acoustic equivalence hypothesis). The present paper investigates the acoustic equivalence hypothesis by comparing several acoustic properties of /k/ in various vowel contexts with those of /ts , ts , tc / for three languages differing in stop burst aspiration, i.e., German, Polish and Catalan. Results suggest that the acoustic equivalence hypothesis could account for velar softening in aspirated velar stops but not in unaspirated velar stops. The results also provide an explanation as to why aspirated velar stops are prone to undergo softening more easily when followed by front vocalic segments than in other contexts and positions
This paper shows that several typologically unrelated languages share the tendency to avoid voiced sibilant affricates. This tendency is explained by appealing to the phonetic properties of the sounds, and in particular to their aerodynamic characteristics. On the basis of experimental evidence it is shown that conflicting air pressure requirements for maintaining voicing and frication are responsible for the avoidance of voiced affricates. In particular, the air pressure released from the stop phase of the affricate is too high to maintain voicing, which in consequence leads to a devoicing of the frication part.
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment), is the dedicated heavy-ion experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. It is optimised to reconstruct and identify the particles created in a lead-lead collision with a centre of mass energy of 5.5TeV. The main tracking detector is a large-volume time-projection chamber (TPC). With an active volume of about 88m^3 and a total readout area of 32.5m^2 it is the most challenging TPC ever build. A central electrode divides the 5m long detector into two drift regions. Each readout side is subdivided into 18 inner and 18 outer multi-wire proportional read-out chambers. The readout area is subdivide into 557568 pads, where each pad is read out by and electronics chanin. A complex calibration is needed in order to reach the design position-resolution of the reconstructed particle tracks of about 200um. One part of the calibration lies in understanding the electronic-response. The work at hand presents results of the pedestal and noise behaviour of the front-end electronics (FEE), measurements of the pulse-shaping properties of the FEE using results obtained with a calibration pulser and measurements performed with the laser-calibration system. The data concerned were taken during two phases of the TPC commissioning. First measurements were performed in the clean room where the TPC was built. After the TPC was moved underground and built into the experiment, a second round of commissioning took place. Noise measurements in the clean room revealed a very large fraction of pads with noise values larger than the design specifications. The unexpected high noise values could be explained by the 'ground bounce' effect. Two modifications helped to reduce this effect: A desynchronisation in the the start of the readout of groups of channels and a modification in the grounding scheme of the FEE. Further noise measurements were carried out after the TPC has been moved to the experimental area underground. Here even a larger fraction of channels showed too large noise values. This could be traced back to a common mode current injected by the electronics power supplies. To study the shaping properties of the FEE a calibration pulser was used. To generate signals in the FEE a pulse is injected to the cathode wires of the read-out chambers. Due to manufacturing tolerances slight channel-by-channel variations of the shaping properties are expected. This effects the determination of the arrival time as well as the measured integral signal of the induced charge and has to be corrected. The measured arrival time variations follow a Gaussian distribution with a width (sigma) of 6.2ns. This corresponds to an error of the cluster position of about 170um. The charge variations are on the level of 2.8%. In order to reach the intrinsic resolution on the measurement of the specific energy loss of the particles (6%) those variations have to be taken into account. The photons of the laser-calibration system are energetic enough to emit photo electrons off metallic surfaces. Most interesting for the detector calibration are photo electrons from the central electrode. The laser light is intense enough to get a signal in all readout channels of the TPC. Since the central electrode is a smooth surface, differences in the arrival time between sectors reveal mechanical displacements of the readout sectors and can be used to correct for this effect. In addition the measurements can be used to determine the electron drift velocity in the TPC gas. The drift velocity measurements have shown a vertical as well as a radial gradient. The first can be explained by the temperature gradient, which naturally builds up in the 5m high detector. The second gradient is most probably caused by a relative conical deformation of the readout plane and the central electrode.
The Late Tertiary to Quaternary evolution of the Ntem interior delta in SW Cameroon shall be modelled. A step fault was formed along neotectonically remobilized Precambrian structures. Uncalibrated 14C-datations in this ‘sediment trap’ show Pleistocene to Holocene ages. Both within and below the interior delta pebbles and clasts which are cemented in an iron and manganese matrix were found. These ‘fanglomerates’ are used to discuss different processes of the younger evolution also concerning climatic fluctuations in the study area.
Film festivals have been the blank spot of cinema scholarship throughout most of the twentieth century. Although individual festival histories and anniversary books have been published for many years and the topic of film festivals has occasionally been addressed in academic studies – focusing for example on art or national cinemas – the phenomenon of film festivals was, until recently, rarely the main focus of study. In the last few years, academics have turned to study the broad range of film festival constituencies. These works aim to explain, theorize, and historicize film festivals and, in doing so, point to the emergence of a new field of academic study, film festival research, in which knowledge of festivals is considered essential for our understanding of cinema cultures.
Background:The adapter proteins SLP-76 and LAT have been shown to play critical roles in the activation of PLCgamma2 in platelets downstream of GPVI/FcRgamma and the C-type lectin receptor CLEC-2. SLP-76 is constitutively associated with the adapter Gads in platelets, which also binds to tyrosine phosphorylated LAT, thereby providing a potential pathway of regulation of SLP-76. Objective:In the present study, we have compared the role of Gads alongside that of LAT following activation of the major platelet glycoprotein receptors using mice deficient in the two adapter proteins. Results:Gads was found to be required for the efficient onset of aggregation and secretion in response to submaximal stimulation of GPVI and CLEC-2, but to be dispensable for activation following stronger stimulation of the two receptors. Gads was also dispensable for spreading induced through integrin alphaIIbbeta3 or the GPIb–IX–V complex. Further, Gads plays a negligible role in aggregate formation on collagen at an arteriolar rate of shear. In stark contrast, platelets deficient in the adapter LAT exhibit a marked decrease in aggregation and secretion following activation of GPVI and CLEC-2, and are unable to form stable aggregates on collagen at arteriolar shear. Conclusions:The results demonstrate that Gads plays a key role in linking the adapter LAT to SLP-76 in response to weak activation of GPVI and CLEC-2 whereas LAT is required for full activation over a wider range of agonist concentrations. These results reveal the presence of a Gads-independent pathway of platelet activation downstream of LAT. Keywords: CLEC-2, Gads, GPVI, LAT, platelet, signalosome, SLP-76
Objective: To develop comprehensive recommendations for the treatment of the various clinical manifestations of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) based on evidence obtained from a systematic review of the literature and from consensus opinion. Methods: Formal literature reviews of treatment for the most significant discrete clinical manifestations of PsA (skin and nails, peripheral arthritis, axial disease, dactylitis and enthesitis) were performed and published by members of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA). Treatment recommendations were drafted for each of the clinical manifestations by rheumatologists, dermatologists and PsA patients based on the literature reviews and consensus opinion. The level of agreement for the individual treatment recommendations among GRAPPA members was assessed with an online questionnaire. Results: Treatment recommendations were developed for peripheral arthritis, axial disease, psoriasis, nail disease, dactylitis and enthesitis in the setting of PsA. In rotal, 19 recommendations were drafted, and over 80% agreement was obtained on 16 of them. In addition, a grid that factors disease severity into each of the different disease manifestations was developed to help the clinician with treatment decisions for the individual patient from an evidenced-based perspective. Conclusions: Treatment recommendations for the cardinal physical manifestations of PsA were developed based on a literature review and consensus between rheumatologists and dermatologists. In addition, a grid was established to assist in therapeutic reasoning and decision making for individual patients. It is anticipated that periodic updates will take place using this framework as new data become available.
It has been recognized that molecular classifications will form the basis for neuropathological diagnostic work in the future. Consequently, in order to reach a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the presence of hyperphosphorylated tau (HP-tau) and beta-amyloid protein in brain tissue must be unequivocal. In addition, the stepwise progression of pathology needs to be assessed. This paper deals exclusively with the regional assessment of AD-related HP-tau pathology. The objective was to provide straightforward instructions to aid in the assessment of AD-related immunohistochemically (IHC) detected HP-tau pathology and to test the concordance of assessments made by 25 independent evaluators. The assessment of progression in 7-µm-thick sections was based on assessment of IHC labeled HP-tau immunoreactive neuropil threads (NTs). Our results indicate that good agreement can be reached when the lesions are substantial, i.e., the lesions have reached isocortical structures (stage V–VI absolute agreement 91%), whereas when only mild subtle lesions were present the agreement was poorer (I–II absolute agreement 50%). Thus, in a research setting when the extent of lesions is mild, it is strongly recommended that the assessment of lesions should be carried out by at least two independent observers.
We provide the first non-trivial result on dynamic breadth-first search (BFS) in external-memory: For general sparse undirected graphs of initially $n$ nodes and O(n) edges and monotone update sequences of either $\Theta(n)$ edge insertions or $\Theta(n)$ edge deletions, we prove an amortized high-probability bound of $O(n/B^{2/3}+\sort(n)\cdot \log B)$ I/Os per update. In contrast, the currently best approach for static BFS on sparse undirected graphs requires $\Omega(n/B^{1/2}+\sort(n))$ I/Os. 1998 ACM Subject Classification: F.2.2. Key words and phrases: External Memory, Dynamic Graph Algorithms, BFS, Randomization.
A highly efficient method for chromosomal integration of cloned DNA into Methanosarcina spp. was developed utilizing the site-specific recombination system from the Streptomyces phage PhiC31. Host strains expressing the PhiC31 integrase gene and carrying an appropriate recombination site can be transformed with non-replicating plasmids carrying the complementary recombination site at efficiencies similar to those obtained with self-replicating vectors. We have also constructed a series of hybrid promoters that combine the highly expressed M. barkeri PmcrB promoter with binding sites for the tetracycline-responsive, bacterial TetR protein. These promoters are tightly regulated by the presence or absence of tetracycline in strains that express the tetRgene. The hybrid promoters can be used in genetic experiments to test gene essentiality by placing a gene of interest under their control. Thus, growth of strains with tetR-regulated essential genes becomes tetracycline-dependent. A series of plasmid vectors that utilize the site-specific recombination system for construction of reporter gene fusions and for tetracycline regulated expression of cloned genes are reported. These vectors were used to test the efficiency of translation at a variety of start codons. Fusions using an ATG start site were the most active, whereas those using GTG and TTG were approximately one half or one fourth as active, respectively. The CTG fusion was 95% less active than the ATG fusion.
Romantic comedies are not renowned for intricate storytelling and have rarely been deemed worthy of the sustained scholarly attention of analytic ‘close readings’. What applies to the genre as a whole applies no less to its music, which has yet to be discovered by film musicology as a field of enquiry. But genre films such as romcoms can be highly self-conscious and self-reflexive, and can show a playfulness in their use of cinematic techniques that may be as much fun for the analyst as for the audience.
Vertov defined the basic qualities of his Cine-Eye by means of a simple negation: it sees what remains inaccessible to the human eye. This means that in his films we see media-based and media-produced images that have nothing to do with the imitation of human perception. According to Vertov, such filmic, telescopic, or microscopic perception develops, educates, and expands the viewer’s analytical abilities. Thus, we have on the one hand a media-induced perception and on the other a new assemblage or montage of the fragments of this mediated perception. This new montage is based on a specific interaction and follows poetic rather than prosaic rules. It is freed from such constraints as time, space, causality, or speed. In other words it is based on properly media-specific qualities and, following the terminology of the Russian Futurists who influenced Vertov in his youth, it constitutes zaum or transrationality.
Plastids are complex plant organelles fulfilling essential physiological functions, such as photosynthesis and amino acid metabolism. The majority of proteins required for these functions are encoded in the nuclear genome and synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes as precursors, which are subsequently translocated across the outer and inner membrane of the organelle. Their targeting to the organelle is ensured by a so called transit peptide, which is specifically recognized by GTP-dependent receptors Toc159 and Toc34 at the cytosolic side of outer envelope. They cooperatively regulate the insertion of the precursor protein into the channel protein Toc75, thereby initiating the translocation process. Toc34 is regarded as the primary receptor, while Toc159 probably provides the driving force for the insertion. Precursor transfer is achieved by the physical interaction between both receptors in the GTP loaded state. One translocon unit, also called the Toc core complex, is formed by four molecules Toc34, four molecules Toc75 and one molecule Toc159. In the GDP-loaded state, Toc34 preferably forms homodimers, whose physiological function was investigated in the presented study. It could be shown that the dissociation of GDP and therefore the nucleotide exchange are inhibited by the homodimeric state of Toc34. Dissociation of the homodimer is induced by the recognition of a precursor protein, which renders the binding of GTP and subsequent interaction with Toc159 possible. Thus, the homodimeric conformation could reflect an inactive state of the translocon, preventing GTP consumption in the absence of a precursor protein. Both homodimerization as well as heterodimerization of the receptor are regulated by phosphorylation, which could be demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo approaches using atToc33 from Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system. Since the phosphorylated form of Toc34 cannot be assembled with the Toc core complex, it can be concluded that the interactions between GTPase domains not only regulate the transfer of precursor proteins, but also warrant the integrity of the translocon.
The Oryctini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) is a large tribe of worldwide distribution with approximately 26 genera and 230 species. Fourteen genera and 113 species are found in the Neotropical region. Knowledge of the tribe in the Neotropics is fragmentary, necessitating further studies that address taxonomy, biology, and geographical distribution patterns. This study surveyed the Oryctini of the Brazilian Amazon. The composition of the group in the study area consisted of 7 genera, 18 species and 2 subspecies found in 7 states, 91 municipal districts, and approximately 167 specific localities. States with larger number of species are Amazonas and Pará, with 17 and 13 species respectively. Heterogomphus eteocles Burmeister, Heterogomphus aidoneus (Perty), Heterogomphus telamon Burmeister, Megaceras crassum Prell, and Megaceras laevipenne Prell are reported for the first time from the study area. Megaceras laevipenne is reported for the first time from Brazil. The taxonomy, descriptions, distribution maps, and biological and ecological data are provided for all species. A character analysis is provided as well as an identification key for all oryctine species that occur in the Brazilian Amazon.
Classificatory changes are made for some taxa of New World Melolonthinae based on the examination of specimens (including type specimens) and a reevaluation of some of the characters used to justify previous classification decisions. Blepharotoma angustata (Blanchard) (new combination) is transferred from the genus Aplodema Blanchard. The Neotropical members of the genus Heteronyx Guérin-Méneville are transferred to the genus Blepharotoma resulting in the following new combinations: Blepharotoma boliviana (Moser), Blepharotoma corumbana (Moser), Blepharotoma cuyabana (Moser), Blepharotoma heynei (Moser), and Blepharotoma schencklingi (Moser). The genus Blepharotoma is transferred from the tribe Liparetrini to the tribe Sericoidini. The genus Aplodema and the junior synonym Haplodema Harold are transferred from the tribe Liparetrini to the tribe Sericoidini and synonymized with the genus Sericoides Guérin-Méneville. Sericoides magellanica (Blanchard) (new combination) is transferred from the genus Aplodema and placed as a senior synonym of Apterodema acuticollis Fairmaire (new synonymy). Ampliodactylus (new genus) is described for two southern South American species: Ampliodactylus marmoratus (Curtis) (new combination) and Ampliodactylus vestitus (Philippi) (new combination). The genus Chremastodus Solier is placed in synonymy with the genus Macrodactylus Dejean (Macrodactylini) and Chremastodus pubescens Solier is placed as a junior synonym of Macrodactylus chilensis Solier (new synonymy). Macrodactylus crassipes Philippi and Macrodactylus nigrinus Philippi are placed as junior synonyms of Macrodactylus farinosus Philippi (new synonymies). The genus Astaenosiagum Martínez is placed in synonymy with the genus Pristerophora Harold (Macrodactylini). Pristerophora longipes (Philippi) (new combination) is transferred from the genus Astaenosiagum and Schizochelus ursulus Philippi is placed as a junior synonym of this species (new synonymy). Pristerophora paulseni (new species) is described. Pristerophora picipennis (Solier) is placed as a senior synonym of Schizochelus breviventris Philippi (new synonymy) and Schizochelus serratus Philippi (new synonymy). Pusiodactylus (new genus) is described for two southern South American species: Pusiodactylus mondacai (new species) and Pusiodactylus flavipennis (Philippi) (new combination). The genus Paulosawaya Martínez and D'Andretta is placed in synonymy with the genus Clavipalpus Laporte (Macrodactylini) resulting in the new combination Clavipalpus ornatissima (Martínez and D'Andretta). The following replacement names are proposed for three junior secondary homonyms the genus Plectris LePeletier and Serville: Plectris evansi (new name) for Plectris cinerascens Moser (junior secondary homonym of Plectris cinerascens (Blanchard)), Plectris katovichi (new name) for Plectris bonariensis Frey (junior secondary homonym of Plectris bonariensis (Bruch)), and Plectris tacoma (new name) for Plectris comata (Blanchard) (junior secondary homonym of Plectris comata (Blanchard)).
New Phycitiplex Porter (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from Subandean Desert in northwest Argentina
(2008)
Six new species of Phycitiplex (P. obscurior, P. tricinctus, P. unicinctus, P. peralta, P. trichroma, and P. lepidus) are described from material taken by Malaise trap in a humid ravine at Santa Vera Cruz in the Subandean Desert (Monte) of La Rioja Province (Argentina). These are keyed along with several closely related described species. Except for P. eremnus from central Chile, this genus is known only from the semiarid Chaco and Subandean biogeographic provinces in the northern half of Argentina. The only available host record is of Phycitiplex doddi (Cushman) reared from larvae of Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg), a phycitid moth that attacks prickly pear cacti.
Three new species of the albomarginatus species group of the genus Trachysphyrus (T. fidalgoi, T. riojanus, and T. tmetus) are described from the Subandean Desert (Monte) of Northwest Argentina. A key is given to these and to the five described species also known from Neotropic Argentina in the semiarid Prepuna, Subandino, and Chaco Serrano as well as in such wetter habitats as the Chaco Húmedo and Selva Tucumano-Boliviana (Yungas). Four additional species occur in Neantarctic Chile from Santiago south to Magallanes with overlap into the Nothofagus forests of southwest Argentina (Neuquén, Río Negro). Several species have been reared from cocoons of Lepidoptera (Megalopygidae, Psychidae) and others from mud nests of eumenid wasps (Hypodynerus Saussure, Pachymenes Saussure).
The origins of the Cuban bee fauna are reviewed. This fauna began to form 40 million years ago during the Proto Antilles period, through ancestors that arrived in successive invasions from adjacent continental areas. The composition of the Antillean fauna has evolved continuously over millions of years until the present time. The native bee fauna of Cuba is represented by 89 species, contained in 29 genera and 4 families. The number of genera represented per family is as follows: Colletidae (3), Halictidae (8), Megachilidae (4), and Apidae (14). The Cuban apifauna contains four principal groups with distinct biogeographic histories: endemic species of Cuba (43.8%); endemic species of the Antilles shared among multiple islands (33.1%); continental species whose distribution includes the Antilles (16.8%); and species introduced through human activity (6.3%). An analysis of the distributions of Cuban bee species reveals that areas of highest species endemism coincide with the main mountainous nuclei of the East, Center and West. These were: the Sierra Maestra mountain range (with 25 species), Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa (15), the Mountain range of Guaniguanico (14) and the Massif of Guamuaya (14). The distribution of the bees in the Cuban Archipelago was not uniform, possibly due to the ecological conditions of the respective habitats, the diversity and presence of specific food plants, and interspecific competition. The endemism of bees in Greater Antilles is considered high keeping in mind the mobility of the group, as observed not only in Cuba (43.8%) but also Jamaica (50%), Hispaniola (45.6%), and in Puerto Rico and adjacent islands (26.5 %).
In the eastern United States, the genus Cotinis Burmeister previously contained only C. nitida (L.), the common economic pest known as the "Green June Beetle". A new species from the Florida Keys, Cotinis aliena, is here described and illustrated. A checklist is provided for the genus, which includes 27 valid New World species, and 44 synonyms.
The Tetragonoderus (Peronoscelis) quadriguttatus assemblage is a postulated monophyletic part of the intersectus complex. This assemblage is characterized against a background that includes review of a classification of the genus and comparison, in the form of a key, to other unrelated Western Hemisphere genera that share elongate tibial spurs with Tetragonoderus Dejean. The principal, easily observed feature that unites the three members (T. laevigatus Chaudoir, 1876; T. deuvei, new species (type locality: Cuijaba, Mato Grosso, Brazil), and T. quadriguttatus Dejean) of the quadriguttatus assemblage is the four-spotted elytra (two spots per elytron). These species are treated in detail, including key, synonymy (as required), comparisons, description (external and male genitalic features), habitat (if known), locality data, and geographical range map. Also, T. subfasciatus Putzeys, 1846, the elytral color pattern of whose members may be confused with the spotted pattern of the quadriguttatus assemblage, is treated similarly. The following new synonymies were established: T. quadriguttatus Dejean 1829 = T. columbicus Steinheil 1875 = T. lacordairei Chaudoir 1876 = T. tetragrammus Chaudoir 1876; and T. laevigatus Chaudoir 1876 = T. chaudoiri Liebke 1928 (replacement name for the junior homonym, T. unicolor Chaudoir, 1876). Lectotypes are designated for T. unicolor Chaudoir, T. lacordairei Chaudoir, and T. subfasciatus Putzeys. A neotype is designated for T. quadriguttatus Dejean. New distribution records in the West Indies for T. quadriguttatus are recorded for the islands of Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Hispaniola. These records may be the result of recent natural overseas dispersal from northern South America, or they may be the result of human-mediated accidental introduction, or a combination of both. The southern Floridian (Nearctic) records for T. laevigatus probably represent a recent accidental introduction through commerce, followed by dispersal through flights of adults.
The genus Efferia Coquillett from the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, and Jamaica is reviewed. The fauna now totals 16 species with 6 new species described (Ef. bellardii n. sp., Ef. bromleyi n. sp., Ef. hinei n. sp., Ef. insula n. sp., Ef. pina n. sp., and Ef. vinalensis n. sp.). Cuba has the greatest diversity with 10 species, Jamaica 3, the Bahamas 2, and the Cayman Islands 1. Efferia stylata (Fabricius) is removed from the species list of these West Indian islands. The wings of Ef. caymanensis Scarbrough and Ef. bromleyi, spermathecae of Ef. bromleyi, Ef. cubensis (Bromley), Ef. insula, Ef. nigritarsis (Hine), and terminalia of all species are illustrated. Keys for the identification of the species are provided. Specimens of two additional species from Cuba are in too poor a condition to be described but their terminalia are illustrated and the species are included in the key to the males.
Australophanus, new genus, is described and illustrated for Cryptamorpha redtenbacheri (Reitter). Platamus Erichson is synonymized under Telephanus Erichson, new synonymy. Euplatamus Sharp, new status, replaces Platamus Erichson as the genus name. Type species are designated for Aplatamus Grouvelle and Euplatamus Sharp. Telephanus velox (Haldeman) is synonymized under Telephanus atricapillus Erichson. A diagnosis of the tribe Telephanini, a key to the described telephanine genera of the world is presented, and a phylogeny of the family Silvanidae is proposed.
A preliminary checklist of Calpini is provided, incorporating corrections and changes to publication dates and nomenclature as presented in the checklists of Poole (1989), Fibiger and Lafontaine (2005), and Holloway (2005). Culasta Moore is removed from synonymy with Calyptra Ochsenheimer. Eudocima talboti (Prout) and Graphigona antica Walker are placed in synonymy with E. cajeta (Cramer) and G. regina (Guenée), respectively. Africalpe Krüger, Ferenta Walker, Gonodonta Hübner, Graphigona Walker, Oraesia Guenée, and Tetrisia Walker, are added to the tribe based on shared characters. The genera Cecharismena Möschler, Goniapteryx Perty, Pharga Walker, Phyprosopus Grote, Psammathodoxa Dyar, and Radara Walker are removed and considered incertae sedis. Hemiceratoides and Phyllodes are not considered to be members of Calpini.
Attempts to clarify the identity of obscure New Zealand spider taxa have lead to the conclusion that six species are best treated as nomina dubia [Philodromus rubrofrontus Urquhart 1891 (Philodromidae); Dictyna urquhartii Roewer 1951, (Dictynidae); Linyphia albiapiata Urquhart 1891, Linyphia cruenta Urquhart 1891, Linyphia multicolor Urquhart 1891, Linyphia pellos Urquhart 1891 (Linyphiidae)]. Four species currently listed in Araneus Clerck 1757 (Araneidae) are re-affirmed as synonyms [Araneus lineaacutus (Urquhart 1887) = Zealaranea crassa (Walckenaer 1842), Araneus powelli (Urquhart 1894) = Novaranea laevigata (Urquhart 1891), Araneus sublutius (Urquhart 1892b) = Zealaranea trinotata (Urquhart 1890), Araneus ventricosellus (Roewer 1942) = Eriophora heroine (L. Koch 1871)]. An old record of Araneus brisbanae (L. Koch 1867b) (Araneidae) from New Zealand is a misidentification of Eriophora decorosa Urquhart 1894. The family Philodromidae, the genera Dictyna Sundevall 1833 (Dictynidae) and Linyphia Latreille 1804 (Linyphiidae), as well as Tharpyna munda L. Koch 1875 (Thomisidae) and Araneus brisbanae (Araneidae) are absent from New Zealand.
The pyrgine genus Porphyrogenes Watson, 1893 (Hesperiidae) is discussed, especially as it occurs in central Rondônia, Brazil. Of eleven species of Porphyrogenes found in Rondônia, four (P. specularis, P. convexus, P. sparus, and P. spadix) are described as new species. Biological details of the genus are discussed. An additional five new species of Porphyrogenes (P. spina, P. sporta, P. splendidus, P. simulator, and P. speciosus) are described from elsewhere. Porphyrogenes cervinus (Plötz, 1883), new synonym of Porphyrogenes ferruginea (Plötz, 1883), reinstated status, is raised from a subspecies of Porphyrogenes despecta (Butler, 1870) to species-level. Porphyrogenes omphale (Butler, 1871), reinstated status, is not synonymous with Porphyrogenes passalus (Herrich-Schäffer, 1869) and becomes a species-level taxon for which no subspecies are recognized; P. passalus was described from a female with no known male. Porphyrogenes sula Williams and Bell, 1940, reinstated status, is raised from synonymy with Porphyrogenes zohra (Möschler, 1879) to species-level. Porphyrogenes stresa Evans, 1952, new status, is raised from a subspecies of P. zohra to species-level. Porphyrogenes immaculata (Skinner, 1920), new synonymy, was described from a male, which we believe is the male of Porphyrogenes sororcula (Mabille and Boullet, 1912). Porphyrogenes suva Evans, 1952, new synonymy, formerly considered a full species, was described from a male which we believe is the male of, and thus synonymous with, Porphyrogenes probus (Möschler, 1877). Porphyrogenes virgatus (Mabille, 1888) and Porphyrogenes eudemus (Mabille, 1888), considered synonyms of P. zohra and Porphyrogenes vulpecula (Plötz, 1882), respectively, without justification by Evans (1952), are removed from those synonymies and retained, along with P. passalus, as females without confirmed affinities. Lectotypes are here designated for Phareas ferruginea Plötz, 1883; Augiades despecta Butler, 1870; Telegonus omphale Butler, 1871; Eudamus pausias Hewitson, 1867; Telegonus probus Möschler, 1877; Telemiades vulpecula Plötz, 1882; Eudamus passalus Herrich-Schäffer, 1869; Thymele virgatus Mabille, 1888; and Thymele eudemus Mabille, 1888. A neotype is designated for Phareas cervinus Plötz, 1883, that being the lectotype of Phareas ferruginea. Types of all taxa in the genus are illustrated. Three named and five unnamed phenotypes of females, not reconciled with males, are identified and described. Twenty-six species are now recognized, making this one of the largest hesperiid genera in the neotropics.
The miscanthus mealybug, Miscanthicoccus miscanthi (Takahashi) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is newly reported as prey for the lady beetle Hyperaspis paludicola Schwarz (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) at the Regan National Airport, Washington, DC (northern range extension). A new armored scale prey, Diaspidiotus ancyclus (Putnam) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), for the lady beetle Microweisea misella (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is recorded. A range extension for Hyperaspis paludicola is reported.