Some notes on the nesting habits of the Yellow-breasted Sunbird, Eucinnyris Venustus Falkenstini (Fisch. & Reisch)

Volume: XV

Listening comprehension and strategy use: a longitudinal exploration

This paper examines the development of strategy use over 6 months in two lower-intermediate learners of L2 French in secondary schools in England. These learners were selected from a larger sample on the basis of their scores on a recall protocol completed after listening to short passages at two time points: one was consistently a high scorer; the other one, a low scorer. Qualitative data on these two learners’ strategic behaviour were gathered at the two time points from verbal reports made by learners while they were completing a multiple-choice listening task. Our results show a high degree of stability of strategy use over the time period, with pre-existing differences between the high and low scorer persisting. The theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed

Plants of the Colonet Region, Baja California, Mexico, and a Vegetation Map of Colonet Mesa

The Colonet region is located at the southern end of the California Floristic Province, in an area known to have the highest plant diversity in Baja California. A preliminary list of vouchered specimens is developed for the area, and a vegetation map for Colonet Mesa is presented. The Colonet region has at least 435 vascular plant taxa, of which 383 are native to Baja California, and 52 are endemic or nearly endemic. This list includes five local endemic taxa known only from the Colonet region, 18 taxa on the California Native Plant Society List 1B of taxa that are rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere, and three on the Mexican NOM 059 list of protected taxa. The Mexican federal government has proposed to build a major port and a new city at Colonet. To understand the potential impact of the port on the regional biodiversity, we examine three areas---a Footprint area which will presumably be highly affected by the port, the Mesa area which contains all the known vernal pools, and a Buffer area surrounding the other two areas. The large Buffer shows the greatest number of native and endemic taxa, followed by the Mesa. The Footprint has two species of high conservation concern that are not represented elsewhere in the study area. The vegetation map of Colonet Mesa confirms the presence of large vernal pools and shows extensive maritime chaparral, neither of which has been reported from elsewhere in northwest Baja California. This report documents the high plant biodiversity of the region and highlights the rare and unique species and vegetation types of Colonet Mesa

Удосконалення технології варених ковбас з використанням горохової пасти

Використання білкових препаратів рослинногота тваринного походження при виготовленні м’ясопродуктів в теперішній час є дуже актуальним. Оскільки не один білок рослинного чи тваринного походження не відповідає повністю формулі збалансованого харчування, створити більш повноцінні продукти харчування можна завдяки комбінації білків, лімітованим по різним амінокислота

Research into practice: listening strategies in an instructed classroom setting

This paper considers research and practice relating to listening in instructed classroom settings, limiting itself to what might be called unidirectional listening (Macaro, Graham & Vanderplank 2007) – in other words, where learners listen to a recording, a TV or radio clip or lecture, but where there is no communication back to the speaker(s). A review of the literature relating to such listening reveals a tendency for papers to highlight two features in their introductory lines: first, the acknowledged importance of listening as a skill underpinning second language (L2) acquisition more broadly, and second, the relative paucity of research into listening compared with the skills of speaking, reading or writing. In the last ten years or so, however, there has been a growth in the number of studies conducted in the field, as evidenced in Vandergrift's review in 2007 and Vanderplank's more recent overview (2013). Consequently, my view is that it is possible to identify from that research certain key principles in relation to listening within instructed settings, particularly regarding listening strategies

Targeted disruption of the orphan receptor Gpr151 does not alter pain-related behaviour despite a strong induction in dorsal root ganglion expression in a model of neuropathic pain

BACKGROUND: Gpr151 is an orphan GPCR whose function is unknown. The restricted pattern of neuronal expression in the habenula, dorsal horn of the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion plus homology with the galanin family of receptors imply a role in nociception. RESULTS: Real-time quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated a 49.9 ± 2.9 fold highly significant (P < 0.001) increase in Gpr151 mRNA expression in the dorsal root ganglion 7 days after the spared nerve injury model of neuropathic pain. Measures of acute, inflammatory and neuropathic pain behaviours were not significantly different using separate groups of Gpr151 loss-of-function mutant mice and wild-type controls. Galanin at concentrations between 100 nM and 10 μM did not induce calcium signalling responses in ND7/23 cells transfected with Gpr151. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that despite the very large upregulation in the DRG after a nerve injury model of neuropathic pain, the Gpr151 orphan receptor does not appear to be involved in the modulation of pain-related behaviours. Further, galanin is unlikely to be an endogenous ligand for Gpr151

Using the language laboratory to develop the listening ability of adult learners of English by means of practice in the perception of stress

This thesis is concerned with specific aspects of two general problems : firstly, the inability of teachers and students to utilize the potential of the language laboratory to maximum effect, and secondly, the inability of many learners of English to acquire a confident understanding of spoken English. The language laboratory was designed as a class teaching aid according to certain principles of language learning and its use is limited and defined by the facilities it provides and the conditions upon its use. Since supplementary use of the language laboratory may lead to under-exploitation of facilities, there needs to be investigation into areas of language training, suggested by current research in related fields, in which the language laboratory can play a fully integrated training role. Recent work on speech perception and child language development suggests that stress and rhythm, as prosodic features, are important perceptual factors in the rapid and efficient understanding of connected English speech, and, consequently, that an absence of accurate stress perception may reduce the listener's decoding ability. An attempt is made in this thesis to develop materials for training in stress perception, and to test techniques for their exploitation which are especially suited to use in the language laboratory. The thesis begins with a consideration of problems and aims, and than continues in Chapter Two with a review of the main issues regarding language laboratory use found in the literature. There then follows a discussion on the exploitation of specific facilities offered by the language laboratory, and the conditions upon their successful use. In Chapter Three, teacher and student use of the language laboratory is observed and assessed in live sessions in four language schools in Britain. The following two chapters, Chapter Four and Chapter Five, are concerned with the perception of stress and rhythm, and its role in understanding connected English speech. After a brief review of the literature and research on models of speech perception and understanding, and on child language development, in which their relevance to second language learning is discussed, recent research is presented, which indicates the importance of stress and rhythm in the accurate decoding of connected speech. Its bearing on second language training is considered, together with the problems of testing listening comprehension. There follow the reports of a series of experiments in which the ability of native speakers and learners of English to perceive and produce different spacing and pacing patterns of stress was tested, as well as the effect of varying the spacing and pacing of stress on the understanding of connected speech. The next two chapters, Chapter Six and Chapter Seven, link language laboratory use and stress perception in the design of a battery of materials, the purpose of which is to train learners in the perception of stress at word and utterance levels. The battery, in the form of a complete course, is then tested in order to assess its value in improving listening comprehension ability in learners of English, and the degree to which it exploits language laboratory facilities. The final chapter, Chapter Eight, attempts to relate the conclusions formed to the larger process of receptive and productive language development within the language laboratory context, and to the place of the stress perception materials in a complete language course

The generation of knock-in mice expressing fluorescently tagged galanin receptors 1 and 2

The neuropeptide galanin has diverse roles in the central and peripheral nervous systems, by activating the G protein-coupled receptors Gal(1), Gal(2) and the less studied Gal(3) (GalR1–3 gene products). There is a wealth of data on expression of Gal(1–3) at the mRNA level, but not at the protein level due to the lack of specificity of currently available antibodies. Here we report the generation of knock-in mice expressing Gal(1) or Gal(2) receptor fluorescently tagged at the C-terminus with, respectively, mCherry or hrGFP (humanized Renilla green fluorescent protein). In dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons expressing the highest levels of Gal(1)-mCherry, localization to the somatic cell membrane was detected by live-cell fluorescence and immunohistochemistry, and that fluorescence decreased upon addition of galanin. In spinal cord, abundant Gal(1)-mCherry immunoreactive processes were detected in the superficial layers of the dorsal horn, and highly expressing intrinsic neurons of the lamina III/IV border showed both somatic cell membrane localization and outward transport of receptor from the cell body, detected as puncta within cell processes. In brain, high levels of Gal(1)-mCherry immunofluorescence were detected within thalamus, hypothalamus and amygdala, with a high density of nerve endings in the external zone of the median eminence, and regions with lesser immunoreactivity included the dorsal raphe nucleus. Gal(2)-hrGFP mRNA was detected in DRG, but live-cell fluorescence was at the limits of detection, drawing attention to both the much lower mRNA expression than to Gal(1) in mice and the previously unrecognized potential for translational control by upstream open reading frames (uORFs)

Plant communities affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community composition in grassland microcosms

The diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi was investigated in an unfertilized limestone grassland soil supporting different synthesized vascular plant assemblages that had developed for 3 yr. The experimental treatments comprised: bare soil; monocultures of the nonmycotrophic sedge Carex flacca; monocultures of the mycotrophic grass Festuca ovina; and a species-rich mixture of four forbs, four grasses and four sedges. The diversity of AM fungi was analysed in roots of Plantago lanceolata bioassay seedlings using terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The extent of AM colonization, shoot biomass and nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were also measured. The AM diversity was affected significantly by the floristic composition of the microcosms and shoot phosphorus concentration was positively correlated with AM diversity. The diversity of AM fungi in P. lanceolata decreased in the order: bare soil > C. flacca > 12 species > F. ovina. The unexpectedly high diversity in the bare soil and sedge monoculture likely reflects differences in the modes of colonization and sources of inoculum in these treatments compared with the assemblages containing established AM-compatible plants

The sociology, taxonomy and ecology of the passifloras and factors influencing the long-term storage and germination of their seed

The longevity and long-term storage of Passiflora seed are investigated. Dehydrated seed were stored at temperatures from 30°C to -196°C for periods of up to five and a half years. It was determined that seed from most species should be treated as semiorthodox for seed storage purposes, but seed from species in the section Quadrangularis should be treated as semi-recalcitrant. High temperatures during fruit maturation of P. subpeltata were shown to induce seed coat-imposed dormancy. The presence of seed coat-imposed dormancy was confirmed in seed of two other Passiflora species. Prolonged periods of seed washing in tepid water were shown to be successful in breaking seed coat-imposed dormancy. Factors influencing the successful germination of quiescent Passiflora seed were investigated. The seed coat morphology of Passiflora species produced by interspecific hybridisation was found to be in keeping with the variations found in seed produced by intra-specific hybridisation. The seed coat morphology of Passiflora cultivars was found to be an intermediary of the seed coat morphology of their parents. A new classification of the genus Passiflora using only the morphological features of their seed is presented using seed from 360 accessions. The results of this study support the karyotypic evidence of x = 6 and x = 9 and otherwise shadow the conventional taxonomic classification of Passiflora, with the exception of species in the subgenus Astrophea and sections Quadrangularis, Serratifolia, Passiflora, and Tiliifolia in the subgenus Passiflora. The seed coat morphology of Passiflora species is compared with that of Adenia species and the probability of parallel evolution of Passiflora from several ancient archetypal Adenia species is proposed. Aspects of the sociology and ecology of Passiflora species are presented. Evidence of insect and plant mimicry is demonstrated. Detailed descriptions of new Passiflora species and subspecies are presented