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Speaker change after the Shi- form: Implication for the status of the shi- form in Japanese syntax for conversation
No full textAccording to the conversation analytic model of turn taking, the essential element
for turn organisation is the recognition of a turn at talk as being possibly complete
– at possible completions speaker change becomes a relevant next action. In the
case of the shi–form, it seems to indicate that the turn so far has not reached a
possible completion because the function of -shi is to indicate that there is more to
come. However, speaker change commonly occurs after shi–forms with minimal
gap or overlap, and speaker change in this position is routinely not treated as
problematic (e.g. the speaker change is not repaired as mistimed or wrongly
positioned). At the same time, turns at talk which continue beyond a shi–form to
produce an additional clause are also treated as unproblematic in terms of speaker
change. This raises the question, does a sentence ending in the shi–form constitute
a turn–constructional unit (TCU) – that is, is it a unit of talk which is possibly
complete in context? This paper will examine a corpus of naturally occurring
Japanese language conversations collected in Tokyo in order to analyse the ways
in which shi–forms are deployed interactionally. It will argue that the shi–form is
an incomplete TCU, but that it is designed to be incomplete and that there are
action motivations for such a design. The incompleteness of shi–forms is therefore
not a problem of turn construction but an interactionally relevant example of what
Schegloff (1996) calls TCU’s without endings.
The use of night-time lights satellite imagery as a measure of Australia's regional electricity consumption and population distribution
No full text
Systems biology approaches to understanding mycobacterial survival mechanisms
No full textThe advent of high-throughput platforms for the interrogation of biological systems at the cellular and molecular levels has allowed living cells to be observed and understood at a hitherto unprecedented level of detail and has enabled the construction of comprehensive, predictive in silico models. Here, we review the application of such high-throughput, systems-biological techniques to mycobacteria – specifically to the pernicious human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) and its ability to survive in human hosts. We discuss the development and application of transcriptomic, proteomic, regulomic, and metabolomic techniques for MTb as well as the development and application of genome-scale in silico models. Thus far, systems-biological approaches have largely focused on in vitro models of MTb growth; reliably extending these approaches to in vivo conditions relevant to infection is a significant challenge for the future that holds the ultimate promise of novel chemotherapeutic interventions. of biological systems at the cellular and molecular levels has allowed living cells to be observed and understood at a hitherto unprecedented level of detail and has enabled the construction of comprehensive, predictive in silico models. Here, we review the application of such high-throughput, systems-biological techniques to mycobacteria – specifically to the pernicious human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) and its ability to survive in human hosts. We discuss the development and application of transcriptomic, proteomic, regulomic, and metabolomic techniques for MTb as well as the development and application of genome-scale in silico models. Thus far, systems-biological approaches have largely focused on in vitro models of MTb growth; reliably extending these approaches to in vivo conditions relevant to infection is a significant challenge for the future that holds the ultimate promise of novel chemotherapeutic interventions.
Psychosocial and mental health issues surrounding chronic hepatitis C: patient, hepatologist and counsellor perspectives
No full textWhole-genome sequencing and gene mapping of a newly isolated lytic enterococcal bacteriophage EFRM31
No full textBacteriophages contribute greatly to bacterial evolution. There has been limited investigation of enterococcal bacteriophages, and only two enterococcal bacteriophages have been sequenced completely. In this study, a novel enterococcal bacteriophage, EFRM31, was isolated from a piggery effluent sample and then characterized. The complete bacteriophage genome was determined by shotgun sequencing. EFRM31 belongs to the family Siphoviridae (order Caudovirales) and has a circular double-stranded DNA genome. The putative EFRM31 genome consists of 16945 nucleotides with a low GC content (34.5%) and does not contain CpG islands. The EFRM31 genome contains 82 putative open reading frames, including 17 with identities to genes required for the assembly of a head–tail bacteriophage and 6 hypothetical proteins of unknown function. In general, the sequencing results from EFRM31 revealed considerable similarity to another enterococcal bacteriophage, EFAP-1. This identity and the order of shared genes suggest a close relationship or a common ancestor for these two bacteriophages.
Desert networks : a conceptual model for the impact of scarce, variable and patchy resources
No full textSocial actors in arid regions must develop strategies to respond to available resources, which are scarce, variable, patchy and unpredictable relative to other regions. We explore our observations of relationships amongst people and organisations in Australian deserts using a stylised network model of the structure of social networks in arid systems. Results suggest that temporal resource variability drives increased network density, but with fewer strong ties; sparse populations drive a relatively higher proportion of strong ties, and that networks develop a hub configuration as resource endowments become more patchy spatially. These ideas highlight some issues that warrant improved understanding by actors seeking to enhance livelihoods and local resilience in these extreme environments.
A study of the convergence of steady state probabilities in a closed fork-join network
No full textFork-join structures are important for modelling parallel and distributed systems where coordination and synchronisation occur, but their performance analysis is difficult. The study presented in this paper is motivated by the need to calculate performance measures for computer controlled (agile) manufacturing systems. We consider the manufacture of a class of products made from two components that are created by two parallel production lines. The components are then assembled, requiring synchronisation of the two lines. The products are only created on request from the client. The production lines need to be controlled so that one line does not get ahead of the other by more than a certain amount, N, a parameter of the system. We model this system with a Generalised Stochastic Petri Net, where N is the initial marking of a control place. The customer requests and the two production line rates are modelled by exponential distributions associated with three timed transitions in the model. We use TimeNET to calculate the stationary token distribution of the GSPN for a wide range of the rates as N increases. This reveals that the steady state probabilities converge. We characterise the range of transition rates for which useful convergence occurs and provide a method for obtaining the steady state probabilities to the desired accuracy for arbitrary N.