Lexical vs. structural case: a false dichotomy

This article takes issue with the two dichotomies of structural vs. lexical case and thematic vs. idiosyncratic case, on the basis of their predictions on: (a) synchronic productivity, (b) language change, and (c) language acquisition. It is shown here that these predictions are not borne out in Icelandic. In fact, productivity data from Icelandic suggest that accusative objects to new verbs are assigned lexically and not structurally. Another problem is presented by different changes in case marking in the history of the Germanic languages, changes that can only be captured by two complementary approaches to structural case, which in turn severely undermines the general explanatory power of this concept. It turns out, moreover, that the case preservation property of lexical case, as opposed to structural case, in passives and raising-to-object constructions, is a construction-specific property, not generalizable to the language as a whole. An alternative approach is sketched in terms of a usage-based Construction Grammar where all case marking of core arguments in Icelandic is regarded as lexical, i.e. word-bound, and modeled in terms of lexicality?Cschematicity hierarchies which capture verb-specific idiosyncrasies, higher-level generalizations, as well as the default status effect found for the Nom-Acc Construction.     

An approximation method for the determination of diffusion and permeability coefficients in nerve trunks

A recently introduced approximation method is applied in order to obtain an expression for the amount of a substance remaining within a nerve at any time, the nerve having been soaked for a long time in a solution containing the substance until the time zero when it is bathed in the same solution but without the substance. The case of a uniform nerve without a sheath leads to substantially the same results as previously obtained by A. V. Hill (1928) for this case. A solution is given for the case of a nerve without sheath but having fibers which are permeable. In this case it is shown how an effective diffusion coefficient for the interstitial fluid can be obtained, as well as the effective inward and outward fiber permeabilities. A solution is given for the case of a nerve with a sheath in which the substance considered does not penetrate the fibers, and it is shown how the effective diffusion coefficients of the sheath and the interstitial fluid can be obtained.     

Binocular fusion in Panum''''s limiting case of stereopsis obeys the uniqueness constraint

In the information processing procedure of stereo vision, the uniqueness constraint has been used as one of the constraints to solve the "correspondence problem". While the uniqueness constraint is valid in most cases, whether it is still valid in some particular stimulus configuration (such as Panum's limiting case) has been a problem of widespread debate for a long time. To investigate the problem, we adopted the Panum's limiting case as its basic stimulus configuration, and delved into the phenomenon of binocular fusion from two distinct aspects: visual direction and orientation disparity. The results show that in Panum's limiting case binocular fusion does not comply with the rules governing regular binocular fusion as far as visual direction and orientation disparity are concerned. This indicates that double fusion does not happen in Panum's limiting case and that the uniqueness constraint is still valid.     

Borrowing contextual inflection: evidence from northern Australia

Gurindji Kriol is a north Australian mixed language which combines lexical and structural elements from Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Kriol (English-lexifier). One of the more striking features of the grammar of Gurindji Kriol is the presence of the Gurindji case paradigm including ergative and dative case-markers within a Kriol verbal frame. Given the fragility of inflectional morphology in other language contact situations, particularly contextual inflections such as structural case markers, this situation bears closer scrunity. This paper argues that the presence of Gurindji case morphology is the result of pervasive code-switching practices which immediately preceded the genesis of the mixed language. As the code-switching stabilised into a mixed language, case-marking was integrated into predicate argument structure of Gurindji Kriol via nominal adjunct structures. Yet, these case markers were not absorbed unscathed. Although the Gurindji Kriol case paradigm bears a close resemblance to its Gurindji source in form, these case markers have not been perfectly replicated in function and distribution. Contact with Kriol functional equivalents such as prepositions and word order have altered the function and distribution of these case markers. The last part of this paper examines the shift that has occurred in Gurindji-derived case morphology in Gurindji Kriol.     

Patentable subject matter: morally neutral and context free

AMP v. USPTO otherwise known as the ACLU/Myriad "gene patenting" case has famously pitted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against Myriad Genetics. DNA patent litigation is not novel, but this case is distinct from typical cases involving commercial rivals; heretofore neither side has an interest in the commercially suicidal attacking of the underlying concept of DNA patents. The ACLU, representing the plaintiffs, has no such qualms. And the ACLU is fighting dirty: the United States patent system is effectively moral and social-context neutral, but the ACLU has succeeded in making social and political concerns the highlight of their legal case, even reframing DNA as per our human understanding, as information, and as distinct from a simple double helical macromolecule. The relevance of the case exceeds the bounds of DNA patents, as reflected in the number of amicus briefs filed, and threatens many other industries, particularly those that rely on extracted biomaterials.     

Semantics of case

This paper presents a framework which connects case assignment with the semantics of argument realization. Broad notions of agency and affectedness are decomposed into more fine-grained semantic properties, loosely based on Dowty??s Proto-Role theory, but conceived in terms of privative opposition and organized into a lattice. This lattice provides a semantic space of participant properties and supports defining hierarchical relations among participant types, interpreted as semantic prominence, as well as topological relations such as ??closeness??, interpreted as semantic similarity between participant types. Cases are defined as connected regions of this space, relating a given case to a structured set of semantic properties. A case system is represented as a semantic system, which embodies oppositions and contrasts, and operates against the backdrop of the general semantics of argument realization, where one can define notions such as maximal agents and maximal patients and represent generalizations from the research on transitivity. Core case markers (e.g. ergative, accusative) are represented as subspaces of the lattice spreading outwards from the maximal agent and maximal patient nodes of the lattice. Case alternations arise when the subspace of the lattice delimited by a predicate??s entailments for an argument is partitioned by different cases, exemplified with the genitive/accusative alternation in Russian occurring with direct objects of certain intensional predicates. This method also provides a treatment of case polysemy, viz. a single case subsuming multiple uses, by relating the diverse uses at the more abstract semantic level of the case??s region on the lattice, demonstrated with non-canonical uses of the dative.     

Mathematical biophysics of cell division

The new fundamental equation, based on the principle of maximum energy exchange, is applied to the case of elongation and constriction of a cell. A simple case is treated as an illustration, and it is shown that the elongation curves thus obtained are of the same character as in the old theory.     

Design and Analysis of Multiple Events Case–Control Studies

Summary In case–control research where there are multiple case groups, standard analyses fail to make use of all available information. Multiple events case–control (MECC) studies provide a new approach to sampling from a cohort and are useful when it is desired to study multiple types of events in the cohort. In this design, subjects in the cohort who develop any event of interest are sampled, as well as a fraction of the remaining subjects. We show that a simple case–control analysis of data arising from MECC studies is biased and develop three general estimating‐equation‐based approaches to analyzing data from these studies. We conduct simulation studies to compare the efficiency of the various MECC analyses with each other and with the corresponding conventional analyses. It is shown that the gain in efficiency by using the new design is substantial in many situations. We demonstrate the application of our approach to a nested case–control study of the effect of oral sodium phosphate use on chronic kidney injury with multiple case definitions.     

Binocular fusion in Panum’s limiting case of stereopsis obeys the uniqueness constraint

In the information processing procedure of stereo vision, the uniqueness constraint has been used as one of the constraints to solve the “correspondence problem”. While the uniqueness constraint is valid in most cases, whether it is still valid in some particular stimulus configuration (such as Panum’s limiting case) has been a problem of widespread debate for a long time. To investigate the problem, we adopted the Panum’s limiting case as its basic stimulus configuration, and delved into the phenomenon of binocular fusion from two distinct aspects: visual direction and orientation disparity. The results show that in Panum’s limiting case binocular fusion does not comply with the rules governing regular binocular fusion as far as visual direction and orientation disparity are concerned. This indicates that double fusion does not happen in Panum’s limiting case and that the uniqueness constraint is still valid.     

Binocular fusion in Panum’s limiting case of stereopsis obeys the uniqueness constraint

In the information processing procedure of stereo vision, the uniqueness constraint has been used as one of the constraints to solve the “correspondence problem”. While the uniqueness constraint is valid in most cases, whether it is still valid in some particular stimulus configuration (such as Panum’s limiting case) has been a problem of widespread debate for a long time. To investigate the problem, we adopted the Panum’s limiting case as its basic stimulus configuration, and delved into the phenomenon of binocular fusion from two distinct aspects: visual direction and orientation disparity. The results show that in Panum’s limiting case binocular fusion does not comply with the rules governing regular binocular fusion as far as visual direction and orientation disparity are concerned. This indicates that double fusion does not happen in Panum’s limiting case and that the uniqueness constraint is still valid.     

The Curious Case of “Case Report” of Infections Caused by Human and Animal Fungal Pathogens: An Educational Tool,an Online Archive,or a Format in Need of Retooling

Case reports describe the unusual occurrence and complications of diseases, diagnostic challenges, and notable therapeutic successes. Some journals have discontinued the case reports, while new case report journals have appeared in recent years. During the eightieth anniversary of Mycopathologia, it is fitting to examine the relevance of the case report since the journal continues to traverse the boundaries of basic and clinical sciences. A random sample of recent case reports and other articles were selected from Mycopathologia. Springer Nature individual article download statistics, and Google Scholar and Scopus citations numbers were compared to assess the reader access and bibliometric impact of case reports. Our analysis indicated that the case report format continues to be a vital element of publication in a cross-disciplinary journal such as Mycopathologia. Medical and veterinary case reports covering fungal pathogens are widely read as evident from their download numbers. The download numbers have a positive correlation with the completeness of the report, the topics and geographic origin of reports have a neutral influence, and the recency leads to lower downloads. There is no discernible trend between the download numbers and the citations of case reports as measured by Google Scholar and Scopus. A specially designed checklist for Mycopathologia case reports and new format MycopathologiaIMAGES are being introduced to improve the quality and relevance of case reports further.     

Wildervanck syndrome with hypoplastic frontal sinus: A rare case presentation

We report a case of Wildervanck syndrome exhibiting Klippel–Feil anomaly, Duane''s retraction syndrome and congenital deafness. Since the first case was reported in 1952, there have been more reports describing this triad either complete or incomplete. Our case has a complete triad of the syndrome along with frontal sinus hypoplasia. Our case is unique as the triad was associated with frontal sinus hypoplasia, which is very rare association.     

Computer-assisted analysis of mixtures (C.A.MAM): statistical algorithms.

This paper presents various algorithmic approaches for computing the maximum likelihood estimator of the mixing distribution of a one-parameter family of densities and provides a unifying computer-oriented concept for the statistical analysis of unobserved heterogeneity (i.e., observations stemming from different subpopulations) in a univariate sample. The case with unknown number of population subgroups as well as the case with known number of population subgroups, with emphasis on the first, is considered in the computer package C.A.MAN (Computer Assisted Mixture Analysis). It includes an algorithmic menu with choices of the EM algorithm, the vertex exchange algorithm, a combination of both, as well as the vertex direction method. To ensure reliable convergence, a step-length menu is provided for the three latter methods, each achieving monotonicity for the direction of choice. C.A.MAN has the option to work with restricted support size-that is, the case when the number of components is known a priori. In the latter case, the EM algorithm is used. Applications of mixture modelling in medical problems are discussed.     

Der frühlarvale Köcherbau von Micrasema longulum McL. (Trichoptera,Brachycentridae)

Case Construction of Young Larvae of Micrasema longulum McL. (Trichoptera, Brachycentridae) The method of case building used by the first three larval instars of Micrasema longulum is described. The initial case is constructed above the hatching aperture in the jelly of the egg mass, in the same way as it is done by other species of Brachycentridae. The material of the initial case is caught from drifting particles in running water. From the end of the first larval instar only silk is used for the extension of the case. Two silken layers of a very regular pattern are to be distinguished. The construction of the cloverleaf-shaped posterior aperture is described. Some of the methods used for the case building show a maturing process during ontogenesis.     

Hard selection in haploid species

The formulation of hard selection is reviwed in the context of haploid viabilities and the criteria for stability of the fixation states are given. In contrast to soft selection, both fixation states can be simultaneously stable. However, this is not possible if the migration matrix is positive definite. In the case of only two demes there is at most one polymorphic equilibrium as occurs under soft selection, but the internal equilibrium may be unstable in contrast to the soft selection case. The question of hard versus soft protection is posed in the context of haploid viabilities and the principle hard protection implies soft protection holds with a similar degree of generality as in the diploid case.     

Industrial Melanism in the Peppered Moth, Biston betularia: An Excellent Teaching Example of Darwinian Evolution in Action

The case of industrial melanism in the peppered moth has been used as a teaching example of Darwinian natural selection in action for half a century. However, over the last decade, this case has come under attack from those who oppose Darwinian evolution. Here, the main elements of the case are outlined and the reasons that the peppered moth case became the most cited example of Darwinian evolution in action are described. Four categories of criticism of the case are then evaluated. Criticisms of experimental work in the 1950s that centered on lack of knowledge of the behavior and ecology of the moth, poor experimental procedure, or artificiality in experiments have been addressed in subsequent work. Some criticisms of the work are shown to be the result of lack of understanding of evolutionary genetics and ecological entomology on the part of the critics. Accusations of data fudging and scientific fraud in the case are found to be vacuous. The conclusion from this analysis of criticisms of the case is that industrial melanism in the peppered moth is still one of the clearest and most easily understood examples of Darwinian evolution in action and that it should be taught as such in biology classes.     

Subset Selection of an Almost Best Treatment

A generalized goal using subset selection is discussed for the location parameter case. This goal is to select a non-empty subset from a set of k (k ≥ 2) treatments that contains at least one ε-best treatment with confidence level P*. For a set of treatments an ε-best treatment is defined as a treatment with location parameter on a distance less than or equal to ε(ε ≥o) from the best treatment, where best is defined as largest value of the location parameter. The efficiency of subset selection of an ε-best treatment relative to subset selection of the best treatment is investigated and is computed for some values of k and the confidence level for the Normal case as well as for the Logistic case.     

A dynamical interpretation of strong observability and detectability concepts for nonlinear systems with unknown inputs: application to biochemical processes

Determination of the observability/detectability properties of a nonlinear system is fundamental to assess the possibility of constructing observers and the properties that can be assigned to them, as e.g., the assignability of the convergence rate. For linear systems this task can be solved by well-known techniques, for the case without perturbations as much as for the perturbed case. However, for nonlinear systems this study is usually a very hard task, in particular, when unknown inputs and/or perturbations are present. In this paper a general method to study these properties will be described, and its capabilities and feasibility will be assessed by means of a few case studies related to the culture of phytoplankton in the chemostat.     

Mitochondrial N-acetylglucosaminyl transferase connected with viral infection

A higher level of N-acetylglucosamine incorporation by proteinic and polyprenic endogenous acceptors is observed after infection by Myxovirus. This phenomenon occurs in whole mitochondria as in outer mitochondrial membranes, where it is particularly obvious with proteinic endogenous acceptors. Under viral infection, no new N-acetylglucosaminylated polyprenol is detected. In the case of infected animals as in the case of control animals, compounds P1 (extracted by chloroform/methanol 2:1) are identified by thin layer chromatography as a N-acetylglucosamyl-pyrophosphoryl-dolichol and a N, N'-diacetylchitobiosyl-pyrophosphoryl-dolichol. In the case of infected animals, biosynthesis of proteinic acceptors and dolichol is not modified; therefore the increase of N-acetylglucosamine incorporation is not due to a modification of the endogenous acceptors level. By the use of exogenous dolichol-monophosphate we demonstrate that the increased transfer of [14C] N-acetylglucosamine into polyprenic acceptors is the result of a higher activity of the mitochondrial N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase after viral infection.     

The history of the genusHomo

The genusHomo was established by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. During the course of the past 150 years, the addition of fossil species to the genusHomo has resulted in a genus that, according to the taxonomic interpretation, could span as much time as 2.5 Myr, and include as many as ten species. This paper reviews the fossil evidence for each of the species involved, and sets out the case for their inclusion inHomo. It suggests that while the case for the inclusion of some species in the genus (e.g.Homo erectus) is well-supported, in the case of two of the species,Homo habilis andHomo rudolfensis, the case for their inclusion is much weaker. Neither the cladistic evidence, nor evidence about adaptation suggest a particularly close relationship with laterHomo.