Repping the streets, repping the hometown : a sociophonetic analysis of dialectal variation in the Moroccan hip hop community

The following study is a sociophonetic analysis of coronal stop affrication in the casual speech of four Moroccan rappers from two regions of the country: the cities of Salé and Casablanca, where the phoneme is /t/ is realized as the palato-alveolar affricate [tʃ], and the city of Meknès, where the phoneme /t/ is realized as the alveolar affricate [ts]. Casablanca and Salé host two of the most important rap scenes in the country, and Meknès hosts a significant, but less prominent, rap scene; this would suggest that the rappers from Meknès will attempt to access the Slaoui-Cassaoui variant [tʃ] in order to access the authenticity inherent in the more important rap scene’s street code. However, the varying attitudes between the two Meknassi rappers towards adopting the Slaoui-Cassaoui street code indicates a more complex construction of the notion of authenticity within the Moroccan Hip Hop community.Middle Eastern Studie

A Drosophila Model for Clostridium difficile Toxin CDT Reveals Interactions with Multiple Effector Pathways.

Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) cause severe and occasionally life-threatening diarrhea. Hyper-virulent strains produce CDT, a toxin that ADP-ribosylates actin monomers and inhibits actin polymerization. We created transgenic Drosophila lines expressing the catalytic subunit CDTa to investigate its interaction with host signaling pathways in vivo. When expressed in the midgut, CDTa reduces body weight and fecal output and compromises survival, suggesting severe impairment of digestive functions. At the cellular level, CDTa induces F-actin network collapse, elimination of the intestinal brush border, and disruption of intercellular junctions. We confirm toxin-dependent re-distribution of Rab11 to enterocytes' apical surface and observe suppression of CDTa phenotypes by a Dominant-Negative form of Rab11 or RNAi of the dedicated Rab11GEF Crag (DENND4). We also report that Calmodulin (Cam) is required to mediate CDTa activity. In parallel, chemical inhibition of the Cam/Calcineurin pathway by Cyclosporin A or FK506 also reduces CDTa phenotypes, potentially opening new avenues for treating CDIs

Negotiating Authenticity in Casual Speech: Moroccan Rappers and the /t/ Variable

This study undertakes an acoustic analysis of the casual speech of 4 Moroccan rappers in order to: 1) acoustically describe the variation in realizations of the phoneme /t/ in two different dialects of Moroccan Arabic, 2) evaluate the extent to which Moroccan Hip Hop artists do or do not shift to the variant used in the city of Casablanca, 3) understand the role that linguistic style-shifting plays in the performance of authenticity, or “keepin it real”, in the Moroccan Hip Hop community. The study definitively shows regional dialectal variation in realization of the phoneme, but the sociolinguistic implications of this variation were less definitive. While one Meknassi artist does claim that he tries to use Cassaoui speech, this was not borne out by acoustic measurements, suggesting that there may be other, more salient acoustic features that constitute linguistic capital within the Moroccan Hip Hop community. The results of the study also suggest an interesting divide in strategies for accessing power and artistic authenticity within the community – while the aforementioned speaker did affiliate the Cassaoui dialect with the code of the streets, and attempted to adjust his speech thusly, the other Meknassi speaker explicitly preferred to use his native pronunciation in order to remain authentically Meknassi. This reflects the inherent tensions in “keepin it real”, with the first speaker focusing on the authenticity inherent in repping the larger Hip Hop community in Morocco, and the second speaker focusing on the authenticity inherent in repping his hometown

Fragmentation Increases Impact of Wind Disturbance on Forest Structure and Carbon Stocks in a Western Amazonian Landscape

Tropical second-growth forests could help mitigate climate change, but the degree to which their carbon potential is achieved will depend on exposure to disturbance. Wind disturbance is common in tropical forests, shaping structure, composition, and function, and influencing successional trajectories. However, little is known about the impacts of extreme winds in fragmented landscapes, though second-growth forests are often located in mosaics of forest, pasture, cropland, and other land cover types. Though indirect evidence suggests that fragmentation increases risk of wind damage, few studies have found such impacts following severe storms. In this study, we ask whether fragmentation and forest type (old vs. second growth) were associated with variation in wind damage after a severe convective storm in a fragmented production landscape in western Amazonia. We applied linear spectral unmixing to Landsat 8 imagery from before and after the storm, and combined it with field observations of damage to map wind effects on forest structure and biomass (Figure 4, 5). We also used Landsat 8 imagery to map land cover with the goals of identifying old- and second-growth forest and characterizing fragmentation. We used these data to assess variation in wind disturbance across 95,596 hectares of forest, distributed over 6,110 patches. We find that fragmentation is significantly associated with wind damage, with damage severity higher at forest edges and in edgier, more isolated patches (Figure 7). Damage was more severe in old-growth than in second-growth forests, but this effect was weaker than that of fragmentation (Figure 8). These results illustrate the importance of considering spatial configuration and landscape context in planning tropical forest restoration and predicting carbon sequestration in second-growth forests. Future research should address the mechanisms behind these results, to minimize wind damage risk in second-growth forests so their carbon potential can be maximally achieved

Permutation notations for the exceptional Weyl group F\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e

This paper describes a permutation notation for the Weyl groups of type F4 and G2. The image in the permutation group is presented as well as an analysis of the structure of the group. This description enables faster computations in these Weyl groups which will prove useful for a variety of applications

Helping Vital Voices Impact More Women: Developing an Online Mentoring Platform

The goal of this project was to help Vital Voices Costa Rica impact more women. Using a human-centered design process, our project team designed client-centered web platforms that optimized the organization’s mentoring process to increase efficiency, communication, and organization. Based in-depth conversations with stakeholders, a participant observation study, a survey, and focus groups, our team designed an integrated web platform that included design definitions and detailed instructions for coding the site

Gonadotropin Stimulation Reduces the Implantation and Live Birth Rate but Not the Miscarriage Rate of Embryos Transferred When Compared to Unstimulated In Vitro Fertilization.

Research suggests that gonadotropin stimulation in in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment affects embryo quality and the endometrium that might influence embryo implantation, placentation and establishment of a viable pregnancy. We assessed the impact of gonadotropin stimulation on implantation, live birth and miscarriage rates per transferred embryo by comparing stimulated and unstimulated IVF treatment. In a cohort of 728 couples, 1310 IVF cycles with successful embryo transfer were analysed; 857 cycles were stimulated with gonadotropins > 75 IU/day (333 poor responder < 4 oocytes; 524 normal responders), and 453 were unstimulated. In total, 1913 fresh cleavage-stage embryos were transferred. Zygote but no embryo selection was performed, and supernumerous zygotes were vitrified. The implantation rate was defined as number of sonographically detected amniotic sacs; live birth rate as number of children born per transferred embryo. Modified mixed effect Poisson regression was used to account for the dependency of cycles and embryos within the same women and the same transfer cycle. Adjustments were made for maternal age, parity, primary or secondary infertility and indication for IVF. Per transferred embryo, implantation rates (rate ratio (RR) 1.37; 95% CI 1.04-1.81; p = 0.028; aRR 1.42; 95% CI 1.10-1.84; p = 0.008) and live birth rates (RR 1.33; 95% CI 0.95-1.86; p = 0.093; aRR 1.38; 95% CI 1.01-1.88; p = 0.044) were higher in NC-IVF compared to cIVF normal responders. Miscarriage did not differ (RR 0.99; 95% CI 0.59-1.65; p = 0.965; aRR 0.90; 95% CI 0.52-1.53 p = 0.698). Similar results were obtained in poor responders. The study suggests an impact of gonadotropin stimulation on the implantation potential of embryos

Embracing Archivists’ Toolkit to Implement EAD

Paper presented at the MARAC conference in Richmond, VA on October 27, 2012. S16 - Student Paper Session: Digital Reconstruction