Respect Existence or Expect Resistance: Fundraising for Trans Law Center

Lara Martz and Sage Kramer-Urner discuss student engagement at Linfield College with regard to a fundraising campaign to benefit the Trans Law Center.https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/inauguration2019_students/1013/thumbnail.jp

Star formation in clusters: a survey of compact mm-wave sources in the Serpens core

We report the results of a millimeter interferometric survey of compact 3 mm continuum sources in the inner 5.5'x5.5' region of the Serpens core. We detect 32 discrete sources above 4.0 mJy/beam, 21 of which are new detections at millimeter wavelengths. By comparing our data with published infrared surveys, we estimate that 26 sources are probably protostellar condensations and derive their mass assuming optically thin thermal emission from dust grains. The mass spectrum of the clumps, dN/dM~M^(-2.1), is consistent with the stellar initial mass function, supporting the idea that the stellar masses in young clusters are determined by the fragmentation of turbulent cloud cores.Comment: To be published on The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 11 pages, 4 figures, aastex macros neede

Interactive Handling of Multilingual Content within Digital Media

Linguistic information plays an essential role in the management of multimedia information as it bears most of the descriptive content associated with more visual information. Depending on the context, it may be seen as the primary content, as documentary content for multimedia information, or as one among several possible information components in specific contexts such as interactive multimedia applications. In this paper we describe a generic framework that could be integrated into multimedia content. Our main objectives are both, to propose a high-level abstract model to represent multilingual content, and to offer a high degree of interactivity allowing final users to handle multilingual content within digital medi

Interoperability between translation memories and localization tools by using the MultiLingual Information Framework

The scope of research and development in the localization and translation memory process development is huge. Several formats have been developed of specific interest for localization and translation such as XLIFF and TMX. The associated software industry has thus developed several well-known tools committed to these formats: TRADOS, SDLX, DEJAVU, etc. When we closely examine these formats, we find that they have many overlapping features. They work well in the specific field they are designed for, but they lack the synergy that would make them interoperable when using one type of information in a slightly different context. The Multi Lingual Information Framework (MLIF) is being designed with the objective of providing a common conceptual model and a platform allowing interoperability among several translation and localization formats, and by extension, their committed tools. MLIF does not have the role to substitute or compete with existing standards: MLIF should be considered as a common abstract high-level framework in which the overlapping features of several existing formats may be handled independently and separately. MLIF would save time and energy for different translation and localization groups and would provide synergy to work in collaboration. MLIF is a way of opening the field of localization and translation at other communities (the multimedia community, for example) and, a way of finding there, new outlets or actors, sources of innovation

Standardizing the management and the representation of multilingual data: the MultiLingual Information Framework

The extremely fast evolution of the technological development in the sector of Communication and Information Technologies, and in particular, in the field of natural language processing, makes particularly acute the question of standardization. The issues related to this standardization are of industrial, economic and cultural nature. This article presents a methodology of standardization, in order to harmonize the management and the representation of multilingual data. Indeed, the control of the interoperability between the industrial standards currently used for localization (XLIFF)[1], translation memory (TMX)[2], or with some recent initiatives such as the internationalization tag set (ITS)[3], constitutes a major objective for a coherent and global management of these data. MLIF (Multi Lingual Information Framework)[4] is based on a methodology of standardization resulting from the ISO (sub-committees TC37/SC3 "Computer Applications for Terminology" and SC4 "Language Resources Management"). MLIF should be considered as a unified conceptual representation of multilingual content. MLIF does not have the role to substitute or to compete with any existing standard. MLIF is being designed with the objective of providing a common conceptual model and a platform allowing interoperability among several translation and localization standards, and by extension, their committed tools. The asset of MLIF is the interoperability which allows experts to gather, under the same conceptual unit, various tools and representations related to multilingual data. In addition, MLIF will also make it possible to evaluate and to compare these multilingual resources and tools

Sgt1, but not Rar1, is essential for the RB-mediated broad-spectrum resistance to potato late blight

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Late blight is the most serious potato disease world-wide. The most effective and environmentally sound way for controlling late blight is to incorporate natural resistance into potato cultivars. Several late blight resistance genes have been cloned recently. However, there is almost no information available about the resistance pathways mediated by any of those genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We previously cloned a late blight resistance gene, <it>RB</it>, from a diploid wild potato species <it>Solanum bulbocastanum</it>. Transgenic potato lines containing a single <it>RB </it>gene showed a rate-limiting resistance against all known races of <it>Phytophthora infestans</it>, the late blight pathogen. To better understand the <it>RB</it>-mediated resistance we silenced the potato <it>Rar1 </it>and <it>Sgt1 </it>genes that have been implicated in mediating disease resistance responses against various plant pathogens and pests. The <it>Rar1 </it>and <it>Sgt1 </it>genes of a <it>RB</it>-containing potato clone were silenced using a RNA interference (RNAi)-based approach. All of the silenced potato plants displayed phenotypically normal growth. The late blight resistance of the <it>Rar1 </it>and <it>Sgt1 </it>silenced lines were evaluated by a traditional greenhouse inoculation method and quantified using a GFP-tagged <it>P. infestans </it>strain. The resistance of the <it>Rar1</it>-silenced plants was not affected. However, silencing of the <it>Sgt1 </it>gene abolished the <it>RB</it>-mediated resistance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study shows that silencing of the <it>Sgt1 </it>gene in potato does not result in lethality. However, the <it>Sgt1 </it>gene is essential for the <it>RB</it>-mediated late blight resistance. In contrast, the <it>Rar1 </it>gene is not required for <it>RB</it>-mediated resistance. These results provide additional evidence for the universal role of the <it>Sgt1 </it>gene in various <it>R </it>gene-mediated plant defense responses.</p

Position statement: Pre-hospital rapid sequence intubation

The Professional Board for Emergency Care at the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has approved pre-hospital rapid sequence intubation (RSI) as part of the scope of practice for registered emergency care practitioners (ECPs). RSI is an advanced airway management process that facilitates endotracheal intubation in adults and children. Features of this technique include pre-oxygenation, rapid pharmacological induction of unconsciousness, and neuromuscular blockade to enable the placement of an endotracheal tube. RSI has become widespread as the procedure of choice for definitive airway management by pre- and in-hospital emergency care personnel worldwide. In the emergency department setting, RSI is superior to intubation with deep sedation, a technique not incorporating pharmacological paralysis as part of the intubation sequence. For this reason, the implementation of RSI in the pre-hospital environment is supported, provided that it is practised within an appropriate framework of clinical governance

Mechanisms of Alcohol Addiction: Bridging Human and Animal Studies

Aim: The purpose of this brief narrative review is to address the complexities and benefits of extending animal alcohol addiction research to the human domain, emphasizing Allostasis and Incentive Sensitization, two models that inform many pre-clinical and clinical studies. Methods: The work reviewed includes a range of approaches, including: a) animal and human studies that target the biology of craving and compulsive consumption; b) human investigations that utilize alcohol self-administration and alcohol challenge paradigms, in some cases across 10 years; c) questionnaires that document changes in the positive and negative reinforcing effects of alcohol with increasing severity of addiction; and d) genomic structural equation modeling based on data from animal and human studies. Results: Several general themes emerge from specific study findings. First, positive reinforcement is characteristic of early stage addiction and sometimes diminishes with increasing severity, consistent with both Allostasis and Incentive Sensitization. Second, evidence is less consistent for the predominance of negative reinforcement in later stages of addiction, a key tenant of Allostasis. Finally, there are important individual differences in motivation to drink at a given point in time as well as person-specific change patterns across time. Conclusions: Key constructs of addiction, like stage and reinforcement, are by necessity operationalized differently in animal and human studies. Similarly, testing the validity of addiction models requires different strategies by the two research domains. Although such differences are challenging, they are not insurmountable, and there is much to be gained in understanding and treating addiction by combining pre-clinical and clinical approaches.Fil: Kramer, John. University of Iowa; Estados UnidosFil: Dick, Danielle M.. University of Virginia; Estados UnidosFil: King, Andrea. University of Chicago; Estados UnidosFil: Ray, Lara A.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Sher, Kenneth J.. University of Missouri; Estados UnidosFil: Vena, Ashley. University of Chicago; Estados UnidosFil: Vendruscolo, Leandro F.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Acion, Laura. University of Iowa; Estados Unidos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Calculo. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Calculo; Argentin

Higher copy numbers of the potato RB transgene correspond to enhanced transcript and late blight resistance levels.

Late blight of potato ranks among the costliest of crop diseases worldwide. Host resistance offers the best means for controlling late blight, but previously deployed single resistance genes have been short-lived in their effectiveness. The foliar blight resistance gene RB, previously cloned from the wild potato Solanum bulbocastanum, has proven effective in greenhouse tests of transgenic cultivated potato. In this study, we examined the effects of the RB transgene on foliar late blight resistance in transgenic cultivated potato under field production conditions. In a two-year replicated trial, the RB transgene, under the control of its endogenous promoter, provided effective disease resistance in various genetic backgrounds, including commercially prominent potato cultivars, without fungicides. RB copy numbers and transcript levels were estimated with transgene-specific assays. Disease resistance was enhanced as copy numbers and transcript levels increased. The RB gene, like many other disease resistance genes, is constitutively transcribed at low levels. Transgenic potato lines with an estimated 15 copies of the RB transgene maintain high RB transcript levels and were ranked among the most resistant of 57 lines tested. We conclude that even in these ultra–high copy number lines, innate RNA silencing mechanisms have not been fully activated. Our findings suggest resistance-gene transcript levels may have to surpass a threshold before triggering RNA silencing. Strategies for the deployment of RB are discussed in light of the current research

Variations in phonological working memory: linking early language experiences and language learning outcomes

In order to build complex language from perceptual input, children must have access to a powerful information processing system that can analyze, store, and use regularities in the signal to which the child is exposed. In this article, we propose that one of the most important parts of this underlying machinery is the linked set of cognitive and language processing components that comprise the child's developing working memory (WM). To examine this hypothesis, we explore how variations in the timing, quality, and quantity of language input during the earliest stages of development are related to variations in WM, especially phonological WM (PWM), and in turn language learning outcomes. In order to tease apart the relationships between early language experience, WM, and language development, we review research findings from studies of groups of language learners who clearly differ with respect to these aspects of input. Specifically, we consider the development of PWM in children with delayed exposure to language, that is, children born profoundly deaf and exposed to oral language following cochlear implantation and internationally adopted children who have delayed exposed to the adoption language; children who experience impoverished language input, that is, children who experience early bouts of otitis media and signing deaf children born to nonsigning hearing parents; and children with enriched early language input, that is, simultaneous bilinguals and second language learners