417 research outputs found
Waterlogging and its effect on cotton growth and yield
Watterlogging is an important cause of yield loss on the cracking grey clays. We conducted a field experiment to quantify its impact on growth and yield. In terms of management, the results demonstrates the importance of ensuring adequate bed height and allowing excess water to leave the field quickly, definitely not later than 48 hours after irrigation
Aboriginal life pathways through multiple human service domains; administrative data linkage for policy
Aboriginal children and families face the highest levels of disadvantage of any population group in Australia across health, education, child protection, justice and other human service domains, but longitudinal data to inform policy is scant. The Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS) is a population representative cross-sectional child development study of over 5,000 randomly selected children aged 0-17 years, plus their families and schools, conducted between 2000 and 2002. This project seeks to leverage the WAACHS by linking the survey data for all participants with State administrative human services data registers from the previous 30+ years, to develop a major program of work in Aboriginal Human Development that would be unique in the world. This presentation describes the project history, novel survey linkage methodology, and project aims in the policy domain
Can majority support save an endangered language? A case study of language attitudes in Guernsey
Many studies of minority language revitalisation focus on the attitudes and perceptions of minorities, but not on those of majority group members. This paper discusses the implications of these issues, and presents research into majority andf minority attitudes towards the endangered indigenous vernacular of Guernsey, Channel Islands. The research used a multi-method approach (questionnaire and interview) to obtain attitudinal data from a representative sample of the population that included politicians and civil servants (209 participants). The findings suggested a shift in language ideology away from the post-second world war ‘culture of modernisation’ and monolingual ideal, towards recognition of the value of a bi/trilingual linguistic heritage. Public opinion in Guernsey now seems to support the maintenance of the indigenous language variety, which has led to a degree of official support. The paper then discusses to what extent this ‘attitude shift’ is reflected in linguistic behaviour and in concrete language planning measures
Stabilization of protein-protein interactions in drug discovery
Introduction: PPIs are involved in every disease and specific modulation of these PPIs with small molecules would significantly improve our prospects of developing therapeutic agents. Both industry and academia have engaged in the identification and use of PPI inhibitors. However in comparison, the opposite strategy of employing small-molecule stabilizers of PPIs is underrepresented in drug discovery. Areas covered: PPI stabilization has not been exploited in a systematic manner. Rather, this concept validated by a number of therapeutically used natural products like rapamycin and paclitaxel has been shown retrospectively to be the basis of the activity of synthetic molecules originating from drug discovery projects among them lenalidomide and tafamidis. Here, the authors cover the growing number of synthetic small-molecule PPI stabilizers to advocate for a stronger consideration of this as a drug discovery approach. Expert opinion: Both the natural products and the growing number of synthetic molecules show that PPI stabilization is a viable strategy for drug discovery. There is certainly a significant challenge to adapt compound libraries, screening techniques and downstream methodologies to identify, characterize and optimize PPI stabilizers, but the examples of molecules reviewed here in our opinion justify these efforts.</p
Stabilization of protein-protein interactions in drug discovery
Introduction: PPIs are involved in every disease and specific modulation of these PPIs with small molecules would significantly improve our prospects of developing therapeutic agents. Both industry and academia have engaged in the identification and use of PPI inhibitors. However in comparison, the opposite strategy of employing small-molecule stabilizers of PPIs is underrepresented in drug discovery. Areas covered: PPI stabilization has not been exploited in a systematic manner. Rather, this concept validated by a number of therapeutically used natural products like rapamycin and paclitaxel has been shown retrospectively to be the basis of the activity of synthetic molecules originating from drug discovery projects among them lenalidomide and tafamidis. Here, the authors cover the growing number of synthetic small-molecule PPI stabilizers to advocate for a stronger consideration of this as a drug discovery approach. Expert opinion: Both the natural products and the growing number of synthetic molecules show that PPI stabilization is a viable strategy for drug discovery. There is certainly a significant challenge to adapt compound libraries, screening techniques and downstream methodologies to identify, characterize and optimize PPI stabilizers, but the examples of molecules reviewed here in our opinion justify these efforts.</p
Utterance Selection Model of Language Change
We present a mathematical formulation of a theory of language change. The
theory is evolutionary in nature and has close analogies with theories of
population genetics. The mathematical structure we construct similarly has
correspondences with the Fisher-Wright model of population genetics, but there
are significant differences. The continuous time formulation of the model is
expressed in terms of a Fokker-Planck equation. This equation is exactly
soluble in the case of a single speaker and can be investigated analytically in
the case of multiple speakers who communicate equally with all other speakers
and give their utterances equal weight. Whilst the stationary properties of
this system have much in common with the single-speaker case, time-dependent
properties are richer. In the particular case where linguistic forms can become
extinct, we find that the presence of many speakers causes a two-stage
relaxation, the first being a common marginal distribution that persists for a
long time as a consequence of ultimate extinction being due to rare
fluctuations.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figure
Language attitudes and use in a transplanted setting: Greek Cypriots in London
In this paper we explore language attitudes and use in the Greek Cypriot community in London, England. Our study is based on an earlier survey carried out in Nicosia, Cyprus and we compare attitudes to language and reported language use in the two communities. We thereby highlight the significance of sociolinguistic variables on similar groups of speakers. We further extend our investigation to include codeswitching practices in the London community.
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Analysis of language attitudes and use within the Greek-Cypriot population of London, and comparisons with findings in Nicosia, reflect symbolic forces operating in the two contexts. Despite obvious differences between the two communities, (most obviously the official languages and distinct cultural backgrounds of the two nations), the Greek Cypriot Dialect continues to play an active role in both. English is however the ‘default choice‘ for young Cypriots in the UK and Standard Modern Greek occupies a much more limited role than in Cyprus. It is argued that differences in language attitudes and use can be interpreted in light of different market forces operating in the nation (i.e. Cyprus) and the Diaspora (i.e. UK)
Niche as a determinant of word fate in online groups
Patterns of word use both reflect and influence a myriad of human activities
and interactions. Like other entities that are reproduced and evolve, words
rise or decline depending upon a complex interplay between {their intrinsic
properties and the environments in which they function}. Using Internet
discussion communities as model systems, we define the concept of a word niche
as the relationship between the word and the characteristic features of the
environments in which it is used. We develop a method to quantify two important
aspects of the size of the word niche: the range of individuals using the word
and the range of topics it is used to discuss. Controlling for word frequency,
we show that these aspects of the word niche are strong determinants of changes
in word frequency. Previous studies have already indicated that word frequency
itself is a correlate of word success at historical time scales. Our analysis
of changes in word frequencies over time reveals that the relative sizes of
word niches are far more important than word frequencies in the dynamics of the
entire vocabulary at shorter time scales, as the language adapts to new
concepts and social groupings. We also distinguish endogenous versus exogenous
factors as additional contributors to the fates of words, and demonstrate the
force of this distinction in the rise of novel words. Our results indicate that
short-term nonstationarity in word statistics is strongly driven by individual
proclivities, including inclinations to provide novel information and to
project a distinctive social identity.Comment: Supporting Information is available here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchSingleRepresentation.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019009.s00
Standardisation: bolstering positive attitudes towards endangered language varieties? Evidence from implicit attitudes
You Know What It Is: Learning Words through Listening to Hip-Hop
Music listeners have difficulty correctly understanding and remembering song lyrics. However, results from the present study support the hypothesis that young adults can learn African-American English (AAE) vocabulary from listening to hip-hop music. Non-African-American participants first gave free-response definitions to AAE vocabulary items, after which they answered demographic questions as well as questions addressing their social networks, their musical preferences, and their knowledge of popular culture. Results from the survey show a positive association between the number of hip-hop artists listened to and AAE comprehension vocabulary scores. Additionally, participants were more likely to know an AAE vocabulary item if the hip-hop artists they listen to use the word in their song lyrics. Together, these results suggest that young adults can acquire vocabulary through exposure to hip-hop music, a finding relevant for research on vocabulary acquisition, the construction of adolescent and adult identities, and the adoption of lexical innovations
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