Collaborative writing and text quality in Google Docs

Linking research on task-based collaborative L2 writing and computer-mediated writing, this study investigates the relationship between patterns of collaboration and the linguistic features of texts written during a computer-supported collaborative writing task using Google Docs. Qualitative analyses provide insights into the writing process of successful collaborative groups. Twenty-eight first-year learners of German at a U.S. university participated in the study. Working in small groups, they completed a creative writing task, developing a hypothesized ending to a German feature film. The results suggest that collaboratively-oriented groups produced texts with more propositional content and better coherence than less-collaborative groups. These findings confirm previous observations that learner-to-learner engagement encourages meaning-making. They also expand existing research by connecting collaborative patterns to the quality of L2 output. Other linguistic features typically used for evaluating writing quality in task-based language learning research (i.e., grammatical or lexical accuracy, syntactic complexity, or lexical diversity) did not seem to be related to collaborative patterns. The article concludes with pedagogical and research insights into computer-supported collaborative writing among lower-proficiency L2 learners and the possibilities and limitations of Google Docs for analyzing data in such environments

Ultrafast absorption kinetics of NADH in folded and unfolded conformations

The non-radiative energy transfer is shown to occur on a ~3ps time scale for NADH in the folded form in H2O. Addition of methanol thermodynamically favours the open form, for which energy transfer does not occur

Staurosporine induces necroptotic cell death under caspase-compromised conditions in U937 cells

For a long time necrosis was thought to be an uncontrolled process but evidences recently have revealed that necrosis can also occur in a regulated manner. Necroptosis, a type of programmed necrosis is defined as a death receptor-initiated process under caspase-compromised conditions. The process requires the kinase activity of receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 and 3 (RIPK1 and RIPK3) and mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL), as a substrate of RIPK3. The further downstream events remain elusive. We applied known inhibitors to characterize the contributing enzymes in necroptosis and their effect on cell viability and different cellular functions were detected mainly by flow cytometry. Here we report that staurosporine, the classical inducer of intrinsic apoptotic pathway can induce necroptosis under caspase-compromised conditions in U937 cell line. This process could be hampered at least partially by the RIPK1 inhibitor necrotstin-1 and by the heat shock protein 90 kDa inhibitor geldanamycin. Moreover both the staurosporine-triggered and the classical death ligand-induced necroptotic pathway can be effectively arrested by a lysosomal enzyme inhibitor CA-074-OMe and the recently discovered MLKL inhibitor necrosulfonamide. We also confirmed that the enzymatic role of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) is dispensable in necroptosis but it contributes to membrane disruption in secondary necrosis. In conclusion, we identified a novel way of necroptosis induction that can facilitate our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of necroptosis. Our results shed light on alternative application of staurosporine, as a possible anticancer therapeutic agent. Furthermore, we showed that the CA-074-OMe has a target in the signaling pathway leading to necroptosis. Finally, we could differentiate necroptotic and secondary necrotic processes based on participation of PARP enzyme

A magyarországi polgári korszakbeli tudáselitek prozopográfiája = The Prosopographia of Knowledge Elites of the Pre-War Hungary

A program a hosszabb ideje folyó történeti tudáselit kutatás folytatása volt. Egyrészt kiegészítettük a két világháború közötti pozícionális tudáselit mintáját. A 142 új elittagra vonatkozóan kiterjedt levéltári és könyvészeti adatgyűjtést végeztünk. Így rögzítve van a pontosított tudáselit egészének életrajzi adatbázisa. Másrészt intenzíven foglalkoztunk a tudáselit magját képező egyetemi tanárok adatbázisának elkészítésével. A tervek szerinti séma alapján kiegészítve és ellenőrizve rögzítettük az 1848 és 1944 között működött 1044 magyarországi professzor életrajzi adattárát. Az adattári anyag elemzését, publikálásra való előkészítését felekezeti - kulturális alakzatok, szocio- és etnokulturális csoportok szerint végezzük. Erről több tanulmányunk jelent meg. Megjelenés előtt áll önálló kiadványként a zsidó és zsidó származású egyetemi tanárok adattára s 2013 folyamán kiadható két kötetben a protestáns egyetemi tanárok adattára is, elemző tanulmány kíséretében. Az elkészült adatbázis alapján elemezhető az egyetemi tanárok területi, társadalmi, vallási, etno- és szociokulturális származása, a tudástőke felhalmozódása, az életpályák típusai, a kiválasztás mechanizmusai, a kapcsolati hálók és a közéleti szerepvállalás. A rekrutációs változók sokfélesége lehetőséget ad arra is, hogy mikrotörténeti aspektusból elemezzük a társadalmasodási folyamatokat. | The project was a part of a long research of the knowledge elite. On the hand, we have completed the sample of positional knowledge elite between the two world wars. In archives and in libraries we’ve done an extended search for data of 142 new persons integrated into this elite sample. Thus, the refined data base of the biographies of knowledge elite has been fixed. On the other hand, we have intensively dealt with the preparation of the data base of university professors as the core of knowledge elite. We have checked, amended and recorded the data base of 1044 university professors’ biographies in Hungary between 1848 and 1944. The analysis of data base, the preparation of its publication has done in terms of denomination, culture, social position and ethnicity. We have published several studies on these issues. The edited data base of Jewish (by religion or by origin) university professors is already in print and we plan the publication of the data base of Protestant professors in two volumes in 2013, with an analytical study, as well. On the basis of the ready data base the origin of university professors can be analyzed in terms of geography, religion, social position and ethnicity; the accumulation of knowledge capital, types of carriers, the mechanism of selection, the networks and the public roles can be researched. The plurality in recruitment variables may provide prospect for analysis of societal process from a micro-historical point of view

Disease course, frequency of relapses and survival of 73 patients with juvenile or adult dermatomyositis

Objective Our aim is to present the disease course, frequency of relapses and survival of juvenile and adult dermatomyositis (JDM/DM) patients. Methods Analysis was performed using data on 73 patients. The median follow-up for 38 JDM patients was 32 months and 78 months for 35 adult DM patients. Results 23/38 JDM patients (60%) had monophasic, 12/38 (31.6%) had polycyclic and 3138 (7.9%) had chronic disease. Among children treated only with glucocorticoids, 12/20 (60%) had monophasic and 8/20 (40%) had polycyclic disease. 10/17 (58.8%) children, who required second-line immunosuppressive agents, had monophasic and 4/17 (23.5%) had polycyclic disease. 18/35 DM (51.4%) patients had monophasic, 13/35 (37.1%) had polycyclic, 1/35 (2.9%) had chronic disease and 3135 (8.6%) had fulminant myositis. Among DM patients requiring only glucocorticoids, 12/20 (60%) were monophasic and 8/20 (40%) were polycyclic. In patients requiring second-line immunosuppressive agents, 6/15 patients (40%) had monophasic and 5/15 (33.3%) had polycyclic disease. Among patients with polycyclic disease, the risk of relapse was higher during first year than later in the disease course. None of the JDM patients have died, while 4 disease-specific deaths occurred in adult patients. There was no significant difference between the survival of JDM and DM patients. Discussion There was no correlation between relapse-free survival and the initial therapeutic regimen. Many of our patients had polycyclic or chronic disease. As relapses can occur after a prolonged disease-free interval, patients should be followed for at least 2 years. Although we found a favourable survival rate, further investigations are needed to assess functional outcome

Selected Examples of Potential Early Cartographic Data Sources for the Carpathian Basin

In our present study, we would like to draw attention to some early graphic data sources that could provide thematic information for GIS applications focusing on the Carpathian Basin. There is one map in particular that stands out from the works listen in this study. The map Tabula Hungariae by Script Lázár, listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Registry, is considered to mark the beginning of Hungarian geography. Other early maps were also undeservedly neglected in recent thematic applications. It is our hope that future geo-graphic studies will start with Lázár’s map and that historical maps will become a more signifi cant part of GIS applications

Analytic evaluation of non-adiabatic couplings within the complex absorbing potential equation-of-motion coupled-cluster method

We present the theory for the evaluation of non-adiabatic couplings (NACs) involving resonance states within the complex absorbing potential equation-of-motion coupled-cluster (CAP-EOM-CC) framework implemented within the singles and doubles approximation. Resonance states are embedded in the continuum and undergo rapid decay through autodetachment. In addition, nuclear motions can facilitate transitions between different resonances and between resonances and bound states. These non-adiabatic transitions affect the chemical fate of resonances and have distinct spectroscopic signatures. The NAC vector is a central quantity needed to model such effects. In the CAP-EOM-CC framework, resonance states are treated on the same footing as bound states. Using the example of fumaronitrile, which supports a bound radical anion and several anionic resonances, we analyze the non-adiabatic coupling between bound states and pseudocontinuum states, between bound states and resonances and between two resonances. We find that the NAC between a bound state and a resonance is nearly independent of the CAP strength and thus straightforward to evaluate whereas the NAC between two resonance states or between a bound state and a pseudocontinuum state is more difficult to evaluate