134 research outputs found

    Make mine burakku

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    If a language has contact with another language, there is a distinct possibility that language will make use of loan words from the language with which it has contact. All ·languages appear to do this, although not all do this to the same extent. There are a number of reasons why a language would use a loan word. There are also a number of reasons why a language would not. In general, it is the case that when a foreign item or concept is introduced into a culture, there is the possibility that that item will retain its original name, with a significant change in phonological (and possibly morphological) features. If we consider the case of English, we see numerous examples of this in recent years. Many Americans eat kimchi, sukiyaki (pronouneced/ suwkiyreki/) , goulash, borst, pulgogi, halupkis, pie a la mode, and eclairs. Not all at the same meal, of course. Many Americans can talk semi-intelligently about karate (pronounced/klnihtiy I), judo, sumo, or even tekwando. Many also know about haiku, kabuki, and noh. Even if the foreign concept is not entirely alien, the original name may be kept if there is something significant about it: thus, American~ freely talk about sputniks, even though we have the word satellite at our disposal

    On the Status of the VP Node in Japanese

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    This paper will be concerned with determining the existence or non-existence of a VP node in Japanese. Following Schwartz (1972): 220, "the notion VP means, in the transitive case, a constituent whose head is a predicate and whose complement is a nominal in the patient relation to it." This concern may, of course, be explored on two different levels; a level of surface structure and a level of semantic representation.1 Both of these levels will be examined, and it will be shown that a VP node is an unnecessary feature of either level. As far as I can determine, there are five possible-and I must here emphasize the word possible-arguments for establishing a constituent VP2 in any language. In section I, each of these arguments will be discussed, and it will be shown that each argument is either not a valid argument, or if it is a valid argument, that it does not hold for Japanese. In section II, the implications of this fact will be discussed

    Coherent radiation from neutral molecules moving above a grating

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    We predict and study the quantum-electrodynamical effect of parametric self-induced excitation of a molecule moving above the dielectric or conducting medium with periodic grating. In this case the radiation reaction force modulates the molecular transition frequency which results in a parametric instability of dipole oscillations even from the level of quantum or thermal fluctuations. The present mechanism of instability of electrically neutral molecules is different from that of the well-known Smith-Purcell and transition radiation in which a moving charge and its oscillating image create an oscillating dipole. We show that parametrically excited molecular bunches can produce an easily detectable coherent radiation flux of up to a microwatt.Comment: 4 page

    Spontaneous decay in the presence of dispersing and absorbing bodies: general theory and application to a spherical cavity

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    A formalism for studying spontaneous decay of an excited two-level atom in the presence of dispersing and absorbing dielectric bodies is developed. An integral equation, which is suitable for numerical solution, is derived for the atomic upper-state-probability amplitude. The emission pattern and the power spectrum of the emitted light are expressed in terms of the Green tensor of the dielectric-matter formation including absorption and dispersion. The theory is applied to the spontaneous decay of an excited atom at the center of a three-layered spherical cavity, with the cavity wall being modeled by a band-gap dielectric of Lorentz type. Both weak coupling and strong coupling are studied, the latter with special emphasis on the cases where the atomic transition is (i) in the normal-dispersion zone near the medium resonance and (ii) in the anomalous-dispersion zone associated with the band gap. In a single-resonance approximation, conditions of the appearance of Rabi oscillations and closed solutions to the evolution of the atomic state population are derived, which are in good agreement with the exact numerical results.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, typos fixed, 1 figure adde

    Genome-wide association and HLA fine-mapping studies identify risk loci and genetic pathways underlying allergic rhinitis

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    Allergic rhinitis is the most common clinical presentation of allergy, affecting 400 million people worldwide, with increasing incidence in westernized countries1,2. To elucidate the genetic architecture and understand the underlying disease mechanisms, we carried out a meta-analysis of allergic rhinitis in 59,762 cases and 152,358 controls of European ancestry and identified a total of 41 risk loci for allergic rhinitis, including 20 loci not previously associated with allergic rhinitis, which were confirmed in a replication phase of 60,720 cases and 618,527 controls. Functional annotation implicated genes involved in various immune pathways, and fine mapping of the HLA region suggested amino acid variants important for antigen binding. We further performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses of allergic sensitization against inhalant allergens and nonallergic rhinitis, which suggested shared genetic mechanisms across rhinitis-related traits. Future studies of the identified loci and genes might identify novel targets for treatment and prevention of allergic rhinitis

    Causal mechanisms and balancing selection inferred from genetic associations with polycystic ovary syndrome.

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    Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common reproductive disorder in women, yet there is little consensus regarding its aetiology. Here we perform a genome-wide association study of PCOS in up to 5,184 self-reported cases of White European ancestry and 82,759 controls, with follow-up in a further ∼2,000 clinically validated cases and ∼100,000 controls. We identify six signals for PCOS at genome-wide statistical significance (P<5 × 10(-8)), in/near genes ERBB4/HER4, YAP1, THADA, FSHB, RAD50 and KRR1. Variants in/near three of the four epidermal growth factor receptor genes (ERBB2/HER2, ERBB3/HER3 and ERBB4/HER4) are associated with PCOS at or near genome-wide significance. Mendelian randomization analyses indicate causal roles in PCOS aetiology for higher BMI (P=2.5 × 10(-9)), higher insulin resistance (P=6 × 10(-4)) and lower serum sex hormone binding globulin concentrations (P=5 × 10(-4)). Furthermore, genetic susceptibility to later menopause is associated with higher PCOS risk (P=1.6 × 10(-8)) and PCOS-susceptibility alleles are associated with higher serum anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations in girls (P=8.9 × 10(-5)). This large-scale study implicates an aetiological role of the epidermal growth factor receptors, infers causal mechanisms relevant to clinical management and prevention, and suggests balancing selection mechanisms involved in PCOS risk.This work was supported by the Medical Research Council [U106179472; MC_U106179472; U106179471; MC_U106179471] and the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health (grant number R44HG006981 to 23andMe). The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust (092731), together with the University of Bristol, provide core support for the ALSPAC study. AMH assays in ALSPAC were funded with a grant from the US National Institute of Health (R01 DK077659). DAL works in a unit that receives funding from the University of Bristol and the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12013/5).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms946

    The Buffer Gas Beam: An Intense, Cold, and Slow Source for Atoms and Molecules

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    Beams of atoms and molecules are stalwart tools for spectroscopy and studies of collisional processes. The supersonic expansion technique can create cold beams of many species of atoms and molecules. However, the resulting beam is typically moving at a speed of 300-600 m/s in the lab frame, and for a large class of species has insufficient flux (i.e. brightness) for important applications. In contrast, buffer gas beams can be a superior method in many cases, producing cold and relatively slow molecules in the lab frame with high brightness and great versatility. There are basic differences between supersonic and buffer gas cooled beams regarding particular technological advantages and constraints. At present, it is clear that not all of the possible variations on the buffer gas method have been studied. In this review, we will present a survey of the current state of the art in buffer gas beams, and explore some of the possible future directions that these new methods might take

    Additive genetic variation in schizophrenia risk is shared by populations of African and European descent

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    Previous studies have emphasized ethnically heterogeneous human leukocyte antigen (HLA) classical allele associations to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk. We fine-mapped RA risk alleles within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in 2782 seropositive RA cases and 4315 controls of Asian descent. We applied imputation to determine genotypes for eight class I and II HLA genes to Asian populations for the first time using a newly constructed pan-Asian reference panel. First, we empirically measured high imputation accuracy in Asian samples. Then we observed the most significant association in HLA-DRβ1 at amino acid position 13, located outside the classical shared epitope (Pomnibus = 6.9 × 10(-135)). The individual residues at position 13 have relative effects that are consistent with published effects in European populations (His > Phe > Arg > Tyr ≅ Gly > Ser)--but the observed effects in Asians are generally smaller. Applying stepwise conditional analysis, we identified additional independent associations at positions 57 (conditional Pomnibus = 2.2 × 10(-33)) and 74 (conditional Pomnibus = 1.1 × 10(-8)). Outside of HLA-DRβ1, we observed independent effects for amino acid polymorphisms within HLA-B (Asp9, conditional P = 3.8 × 10(-6)) and HLA-DPβ1 (Phe9, conditional P = 3.0 × 10(-5)) concordant with European populations. Our trans-ethnic HLA fine-mapping study reveals that (i) a common set of amino acid residues confer shared effects in European and Asian populations and (ii) these same effects can explain ethnically heterogeneous classical allelic associations (e.g. HLA-DRB1*09:01) due to allele frequency differences between populations. Our study illustrates the value of high-resolution imputation for fine-mapping causal variants in the MHC
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