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

Improving temperature‐based predictions of the timing of flowering in cotton

Key management recommendations for cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) management require estimates of the timing of crop phenology. Most commonly growing day degree (DD) (thermal time) approaches are used. Currently, across many cotton production regions, there is no consistent approach to predicting first square and flower timing. Day degree approaches vary considerably, with base thresholds different (12.0–15.6 °C) with no consistency using an optimum temperature threshold (i.e., temperature where development ceases to increase). As cotton is grown in variable and changing climates, and cultivars change, there is a need to ensure the accuracy of this approach for predicting timing of flowering for assisting cotton management. In this study new functions to predict first square and first flower were developed and validated using data collected in multiple seasons and regions (Australia and the United States). Earlier controlled environment studies that monitored crop development were used to assess in more detail how temperatures were affecting early cotton development. New DD functions developed predicted first square and first flower better than the existing Australian and U.S. approaches. The best performing functions had base temperatures like those of existing U.S. functions (15.6 °C) and an optimum threshold temperature of 32.0 °C. New universal DD targets for first square (343 DD [°C]) and first flower (584 DD) were developed. Controlled environment studies supported this base temperature outcome; however, it was less clear that 32.0 °C was the optimum threshold temperature from these data. Precise predictions of cotton development will facilitate accurate growth stage assessments and hence better cotton management decisions

#Bieber + #Blast = #BieberBlast: Early Prediction of Popular Hashtag Compounds

Compounding of natural language units is a very common phenomena. In this paper, we show, for the first time, that Twitter hashtags which, could be considered as correlates of such linguistic units, undergo compounding. We identify reasons for this compounding and propose a prediction model that can identify with 77.07% accuracy if a pair of hashtags compounding in the near future (i.e., 2 months after compounding) shall become popular. At longer times T = 6, 10 months the accuracies are 77.52% and 79.13% respectively. This technique has strong implications to trending hashtag recommendation since newly formed hashtag compounds can be recommended early, even before the compounding has taken place. Further, humans can predict compounds with an overall accuracy of only 48.7% (treated as baseline). Notably, while humans can discriminate the relatively easier cases, the automatic framework is successful in classifying the relatively harder cases.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 9 tables, published in CSCW (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing) 2016. in Proceedings of 19th ACM conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2016

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. \ud 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)

Inhibition of Ice Recrystallization by Nanotube-Forming Cyclic Peptides

While most native ice-binding proteins are rigid, artificial (macro)molecular ice-binders are usually flexible. Realizing a regular array with precisely positioned ice-binding motifs on synthetic proteins, (macro)molecular ice-binders are thus challenging. Here, we exploit the predictable assembly of cyclic peptides into nanotubes as a starting point to prepare large, rigid ice-binders bearing an ice-binding site that is found in hyperactive ice-binding proteins in insects. First, we designed, synthesized, and purified cyclic octapeptide Lys2CP8 bearing a TaT motif to promote ice binding and investigated their solution assembly and activity using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, light scattering (LS), cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), and ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) assays. The cyclic peptide Lys2CP8 was synthesized in good yield using Fmoc chemistry and purified by reversed-phase HPLC. Upon dissolution in aqueous solutions, Lys2CP8 was observed to assemble in a pH- and concentration-dependent manner into objects with nanoscopic dimensions. LS revealed the presence of small and large aggregates at pH 3 and 11, held together through a network of intermolecular antiparallel β-sheets as determined by FTIR and CD spectroscopy. Cryo-TEM revealed the presence of one-dimensional objects at pH 3 and 11. These are mostly well-dispersed at pH 3 but appear to bundle at pH 11. Interestingly, the pH-dependent self-assembly behavior translates into a marked pH dependence of IRI activity. Lys2CP8 is IRI-active at pH 3 while inactive at pH 11 hypothetically because the ice-binding sites are inaccessible at pH 11 due to bundling

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

Tactical urbanism as a means of testing relational processes in space: A complex systems perspective

Too often, master planning strategies have failed to produce spaces responding to the social, cultural, and economic needs of their inhabitants. Accordingly, many planners have turned to relational strategies to redefine their practices. These tend toward methodologies that explore relational forces preceding design interventions rather than unfolding by means of design interventions. This article considers an alternative mode of understanding relational processes: one that considers tactical urban strategies theorized through the lens of complexity theory. This article argues that tactical approaches harness relational junctures in situ, effectively exploring relational configurations of cohesive urban environments. A design competition entry provides an illustrative example of this approach: one that channels and choreographs relational urban processes