scholarly journals (a-)Topics and animacy

Author(s):  
Adriana Belletti ◽  
Claudia Manetti

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, we intend to contribute to the debate on the identification of the features to which syntactic locality expressed in terms of the featural Relativized Minimality/fRM principle appears to be sensitive (Rizzi 2004; Friedmann, Belletti & Rizzi 2009); second, we aim at providing a better characterization of the distributional and interpretive properties of the process of a-marking in the Topic position of the Italian left periphery identified by syntactic cartography, in relation to (in)animacy (Belletti & Manetti 2018). To these aims, we examined the role of animacy in a production experiment eliciting left dislocated topics with 5-year-old children. To the extent that a-marking is related to a kind of affectedness of object topics (Belletti 2018a), we examined whether an inanimate left dislocated object could constitute a felicitous a-Topic. Furthermore, the question whether complexity effects are modulated in the computation of fRM in an animacy mismatch condition (between an inanimate left dislocated object and an intervening (animate) lexical subject) is also addressed within the context of ClLDs. Our results show that, in the tested animacy mismatch condition, children seldom a-marked the pre-posed object. Instead, they appeared to creatively explore other solutions to overcome the production of the hard intervention structure, mainly using null subjects. As children are not ready to compute the intervention configuration with a lexical preverbal subject, but could not naturally adjust it through a-marking of the inanimate topic, they ended up opting for different types of productions in which intervention was eliminated. If the animacy feature seems to be implicated in the process of a-marking to some extent, it is not a feature to which the fRM principle is sensitive in building the object A’-dependency in ClLD: we conclude, in line with previous work, that animacy is not among the features implicated in triggering syntactic movement (in Italian).

Author(s):  
E. Lee Murray ◽  
Karl E. Misulis

Pain can be classified into different types that have anatomic, physiologic, and symptomatic distinctions. Localization and characterization of the pain are essential to diagnosis. The role of the hospital neurologist in pain management is usually twofold: identify the source of the pain and advise on effective treatment.


2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 324-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Ringer ◽  
K.R. Ratinac

This work reviews recent research on the design and control of interfaces in engineering nanomaterials. Four case studies are presented that demonstrate the power of a multimodal approach to the characterization of different types of interfaces. We have used a combination of conventional, high resolution, and analytical transmission electron microscopy, microbeam electron diffraction, and three-dimensional atom probe to study polymer–clay nanocomposites, turbine rotor steels used for power generation, multicomponent aluminum alloys, and nanocrystalline magnetic materials.


Coatings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Lux ◽  
Matthias Edling ◽  
Massimiliano Lucci ◽  
Julia Kitzmann ◽  
Claus Villringer ◽  
...  

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited using two different types of high current arc evaporation. The first process used a magnetic particle filter to remove droplets from the plasma. For the second process, the samples were put into a metallic cage which was placed directly above the plasma source. For both processes, we varied the substrate temperature from 21 to 350 °C in order to investigate the temperature effect. The samples were characterized using SEM, AFM, XPS, Raman Spectroscopy, Ellipsometry, Photometry, and Nano Indentation in order to compare both methods of deposition and provide a careful characterization of such DLC films. We found that the sp3 content and the hardness can be precisely adjusted by changing the substrate temperature. Furthermore, in the case of unfiltered deposition, the optical constants can be shifted in the direction of higher absorbance in order to produce black and hard carbon coatings.


2005 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abi Santhosh Aprem ◽  
Kuruvilla Joseph ◽  
Sabu Thomas

Abstract The recent developments in the vulcanization of elastomers, major types of crosslinking, and mechanism of crosslinking have been reviewed. Attention has been made to sum up the accelerated vulcanization. Possible mechanisms by which the reaction is taking place are discussed. The role of accelerators, activators, and fillers has been described. The different types of crosslinks and importance of each type on the specific properties of the resulting vulcanizates, etc., are discussed. Various aspects of vulcanization like model compound vulcanization, nitrosamine generation, etc., are discussed. The importance of binary accelerators and possible mechanism of their action have been mentioned. The method of double network formation, which is useful for the improvement in properties, is also described. The different methods for characterization of networks and different methods for estimating crosslink densities are also explained.


1998 ◽  
Vol 332 (2) ◽  
pp. 557-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirokazu SETO ◽  
Masami HATANAKA ◽  
Seisuke KIMURA ◽  
Masahiko OSHIGE ◽  
Yuri TSUYA ◽  
...  

A DNA polymerase from cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) inflorescence has been purified to near homogeneity through five successive column chromatographies, and temporally designated cauliflower polymerase 1. Cauliflower polymerase 1 is a monopolypeptide with a molecular mass of 100 kDa. The enzyme efficiently uses synthetic DNA homopolymers and moderately activated DNA and a synthetic RNA homopolymer as template-primers. The enzyme is strongly sensitive to dideoxythymidine triphosphate and N-ethylmaleimide, but it is insensitive to aphidicolin. It was stimulated with 250 mM KCl. Its mode of DNA synthesis is high-processive with or without proliferating-cell nuclear antigen. A 3´ → 5´ exonuclease activity is associated with cauliflower polymerase 1. The enzyme is clearly different from cauliflower mitochondrial polymerase and does not resemble the four different types of wheat DNA polymerase, designated wheat DNA polymerases A, B, CI and CII. In the present paper the role of the enzyme in plant DNA synthesis is discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-63
Author(s):  
N A Volkova ◽  
I A Tuzankina ◽  
V N Shershnev

The aim of study. To determine the structure of atopic diseases and characterization of different allergens in their progression in infants and preschool children in Lesnoy town. Material and methods. We studied a spectrum of allergen-specific IgE antibodies in children’s blood with different allergic diseases. Comparative analysis of the results was conducted with methods of mathematical statistics. Results. Our data demonstrate the different stages of formation of atopic diseases in children. We revealed that clinical symptoms of atopic diseases and relevance of allergens were changing gradually as children were getting older. Our results showed that the role of nutrition allergens is reduced while airborne allergens came to the fore. Conclusion. Formation and progression of atopic diseases are determined by various allergens. The temporary relevance of different types of allergens indicates a diversity of multivalent sensibilization during affection of the «shock» organ; the result of this phenomenon appears as atopic march. Detection the relevant causative allergens is important for prevention of progression of allergic diseases.


Proteomes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Abramowicz ◽  
Piotr Widłak ◽  
Monika Pietrowska

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are well-known mediators of the cellular response to different stress factors, yet the exact mechanism of their action remains unclear. Hence, the characterization of their cargo, consisting of proteins, nucleic acids, and different classes of metabolites, helps to elucidate an understanding of their function in stress-related communication. The unexpected diversity and complexity of these vesicles requires the incorporation of multiple technologically advanced approaches in EV-oriented studies. This mini review focuses on the invaluable role of proteomics, especially mass spectrometry-based tools, in the investigation of the role of small EVs in their response to stress. Though relatively few experimental works address this issue to date, the available data indicate that stress conditions would affect the composition of protein cargo of vesicles released by stressed cells, as evidenced by the functional importance of such changes in the context of the response of recipient cells.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas McFadden ◽  
Sandhya Sundaresan

Abstract The goal of this paper is to provide novel theoretical and empirical evidence that the null subjects traditionally labelled as pro and pro, rather than being inherently distinct, are manifestations, differentiated in the course of the derivation, of what is underlyingly a single underspecified nominal pro-form, which we will call UPro. Included under this UPro are pro, oc pro and also the various types of ‘non-obligatory control’ (noc) pro, including arbitrary pro (proarb). The interpretive and distributional distinctions lurking behind these labels result from how UPro interacts with its structural environment and language-specific rules of morpho-phonological realization. Specifically, oc pro labels a rather specific interpretation that arises in embedding contexts where a syntactic oc relationship with an antecedent can be established. Different types of pro and noc pro, on the other hand, involve ‘control’ by (typically) silent representations of discourse-contextual elements in the clausal left periphery. Finally, pro$_{arb}$ arguably involves the failure to establish a referential dependence, which we will formalize in terms of a failure to Agree in the sense of Preminger (2014). Crucial evidence motivating the approach proposed here will be adduced from Sundaresan’s (2014) “Finiteness pro-drop Generalisation”, which reveals an otherwise unexpected complementarity of oc pro and pro.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Rey ◽  
Cecilia Pandini ◽  
Bianca Barzaghini ◽  
Letizia Messa ◽  
Toniella Giallongo ◽  
...  

3D cell cultures are becoming more and more important in the field of regenerative medicine due to their ability to mimic the cellular physiological microenvironment. Among the different types of 3D scaffolds, we focus on the Nichoid, a miniaturized scaffold with a structure inspired by the natural staminal niche. The Nichoid can activate cellular responses simply by subjecting the cells to mechanical stimuli. This kind of influence results in different cellular morphology and organization, but the molecular bases of these changes remain largely unknown. Through RNA-Seq approach on murine neural precursors stem cells expanded inside the Nichoid, we investigated the deregulated genes and pathways showing that the Nichoid causes alteration in genes strongly connected to mechanobiological functions. Moreover, we fully dissected this mechanism highlighting how the changes start at a membrane level, with subsequent alterations in the cytoskeleton, signaling pathways, and metabolism, all leading to a final alteration in gene expression. The results shown here demonstrate that the Nichoid influences the biological and genetic response of stem cells thorough specific alterations of cellular signaling. The characterization of these pathways elucidates the role of mechanical manipulation on stem cells, with possible implications in regenerative medicine applications.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Jagielski ◽  
Zofia Bakuła ◽  
Anna Brzostek ◽  
Alina Minias ◽  
Radosław Stachowiak ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTResistance ofMycobacterium tuberculosisto rifampin (RMP), mediated by mutations in therpoBgene coding for the beta-subunit of RNA polymerase, poses a serious threat to the efficacy of clinical management and, thus, control programs for tuberculosis (TB). The contribution of many individualrpoBmutations to the development and level of RMP resistance remains elusive. In this study, the incidence of mutations throughout therpoBgene among 115Mycobacterium tuberculosisclinical isolates, both resistant and susceptible to RMP, was determined. Of the newly discoveredrpoBmutations, the role of three substitutions in the causation of RMP resistance was empirically tested. The results fromin vitromutagenesis experiments were combined with the assessment of the prevalence ofrpoBmutations, and their reciprocal co-occurrences, across globalM. tuberculosispopulations. Twenty-two different types of mutations in therpoBgene were identified and distributed among 58 (89.2%) RMP-resistant strains. The MICs of RMP were within the range of 40 to 800 mg/liter, with MIC50and MIC90values of 400 and 800 mg/liter, respectively. None of the mutations (Gln429His, Met434Ile, and Arg827Cys) inspected for their role in the development of RMP resistance produced an RMP-resistant phenotype in isogenicM. tuberculosisH37Rv strain-derived mutants. These mutations are supposed to compensate for fitness impairment incurred by other mutations directly associated with drug resistance.


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