116 research outputs found
Defamation, A Camouflage of Psychic Interests: The Beginning of a Behavioral Analysis
No full textDoes the law of defamation need to be reformed? The author thinks so. Professor Probert rejects the doctrine of libel per se and questions the courts\u27 understanding and use of the term reputation. It is his belief that plaintiffs on an individual basis should have increased benefit of the knowledge accumulated by the various social sciences in proving the harm done by the alleged defamation, with more liberalization in the requirements of pleading and proof than is now generally countenanced by the courts
Abundance of small individuals influences the effectiveness of processing techniques for deep-sea nematodes
No full textNematodes are the most abundant metazoans of deep-sea benthic communities, but knowledge of their distribution is limited relative to larger organisms. Whilst some aspects of nematode processing techniques, such as extraction, have been extensively studied, other key elements have attracted little attention. We compared the effect of (1) mesh size (63, 45, and 32 μm) on estimates of nematode abundance, biomass, and body size, and (2) microscope magnification (50 and 100×) on estimates of nematode abundance at bathyal sites (250-3100 m water depth) on the Challenger Plateau and Chatham Rise, south-west Pacific Ocean. Variation in the effectiveness of these techniques was assessed in relation to nematode body size and environmental parameters (water depth, sediment organic matter content, %silt/clay, and chloroplastic pigments). The 63-μm mesh retained a relatively low proportion of total nematode abundance (mean ±SD = 55 ±9%), but most of nematode biomass (90 ± 4%). The proportion of nematode abundance retained on the 45-μm mesh in surface (0-1 cm) and subsurface (1-5 cm) sediment was significantly correlated (P < 0.01) with %silt/clay (R² = 0.39) and chloroplastic pigments (R² = 0.29), respectively. Variation in median nematode body weight showed similar trends, but relationships between mean nematode body weight and environmental parameters were either relatively weak (subsurface sediment) or not significant (surface sediment). Using a low magnification led to significantly lower (on average by 43%) nematode abundance estimates relative to high magnification (P < 0.001), and the magnitude of this difference was significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with total nematode abundance (R²p = 0.53) and the number of small (≤ 250 μm length) individuals (R²p = 0.05). Our results suggest that organic matter input and sediment characteristics influence the abundance of small nematodes in bathyal communities. The abundance of small individuals can, in turn, influence abundance estimates obtained using different mesh sizes and microscope magnifications
Environmentally induced transgenerational changes in seed longevity: Maternal and genetic influence
No full textBackground and Aims: Seed longevity, a fundamental plant trait for ex situ conservation and persistence in the soil of many species, varies across populations and generations that experience different climates. This study investigates the extent to which differences in seed longevity are due to genetic differences and/or modified by adaptive responses to environmental changes. Methods: Seeds of two wild populations of Silene vulgaris from alpine (wA) and lowland (wL) locations and seeds originating from their cultivation in a lowland common garden for two generations (cA1, cL1, cA2 and cL2) were exposed to controlled ageing at 45 °C, 60 % relative humidity and regularly sampled for germination and relative mRNA quantification (SvHSP17.4 and SvNRPD12). Key Results: The parental plant growth environment affected the longevity of seeds with high plasticity. Seeds of wL were significantly longer lived than those of wA. However, when alpine plants were grown in the common garden, longevity doubled for the first generation of seeds produced (cA1). Conversely, longevity was similar in all lowland seed lots and did not increase in the second generation of seeds produced from alpine plants grown in the common garden (cA2). Analysis of parental effects on mRNA seed provisioning indicated that the accumulation of gene transcripts involved in tolerance to heat stress was highest in wL, cL1 and cL2, followed by cA1, cA2 and wA. Conclusions: Seed longevity has a genetic basis, but may show strong adaptive responses, which are associated with differential accumulation of mRNA via parental effects. Adaptive adjustments of seed longevity due to transgenerational plasticity may play a fundamental role in the survival and persistence of the species in the face of future environmental challenges. The results suggest that regeneration location may have important implications for the conservation of alpine plants held in seed banks. © 2014 The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected]
State and Law
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available in print format only from Bloombsbury
TNF and its receptors in the CNS: The essential, the desirable and the deleterious effects
No full textAbstractTumor necrosis factor (TNF) is the prototypic pro-inflammatory cytokine. It is central to host defense and inflammatory responses but under certain circumstances also triggers cell death and tissue degeneration. Its pleiotropic effects often lead to opposing outcomes during the development of immune-mediated diseases, particularly those affecting the central nervous system (CNS). The reported contradictions may result from lack of precision in discussing TNF. TNF signaling comprises at minimum a two-ligand (soluble and transmembrane TNF) and two-receptor (TNFR1 and TNFR2) system, with ligands and receptors both differentially expressed and regulated on different cell types. The “functional multiplicity” this engenders is the focus of much research, but there is still no general consensus on functional outcomes of TNF signaling in general, let alone in the CNS. In this review, evidence showing the effects of TNF in the CNS under physiological and pathophysiological conditions is placed in the context of major advances in understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern TNF function in general. Thus the roles of TNF signaling in the CNS shift from the conventional dichotomy of beneficial and deleterious, that mainly explain effects under pathological conditions, to incorporate a growing number of “essential” and “desirable” roles for TNF and its main cellular source in the CNS, microglia, under physiological conditions including regulation of neuronal activity and maintenance of myelin. An improved holistic view of TNF function in the CNS might better reconcile the expansive experimental data with stark clinical evidence that reduced functioning of TNF and its dominant pro-inflammatory receptor, TNFR1, are risk factors for the development of multiple sclerosis. It will also facilitate the safe translation of basic research findings from animal models to humans and propel the development of more selective anti-TNF therapies aimed at selectively inhibiting deleterious effects of this cytokine while maintaining its essential and desirable ones, in the periphery and the CNS
The ‘pure’ relationship, sham marriages and immigration control
No full textThis is the author pre-print version. The final version is available from Hart Publishing via the link in this record.This chapter investigates the circumstances in which a marriage involving a non- EEA migrant spouse is designated a sham marriage so that residence rights are refused. It analyses the problems of understanding and defining a sham marriage and argues that controls over sham marriages often regulate a much wider range of marriages than those entered for the sole purpose of obtaining residence rights
Influence of mesh size and core penetration on estimates of deep-sea nematode abundance, biomass, and diversity
No full textR v Hall and the changing perceptions of the crime of bigamy
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this record.In 1845, the conviction of Thomas Hall for bigamy was reported as an example of the unequal way in which the law operated, with great play being made of the steps that Hall could have taken to free himself from his first wife by a divorce, were it not for the cost involved. Since then, virtually every account of nineteenth-century bigamy or divorce has included some version of the judge's apparently ‘brilliantly sarcastic’ speech. But what the judge was reported as saying at the time differs in a number of crucial particulars from what later commentators have reported him as saying. Later accounts have played up the misconduct of the first wife, inflated the cost of obtaining a divorce, and exaggerated the poverty and lowly status of Hall, while playing down the sentence he received and ignoring his deception of his second wife. This paper traces the evolution of the account over time, and identifies the timing of the various changes that were made. It illustrates how history is used – by politicians, reformers, and scholars – to support both a particular view of the past and to bolster claims as to how the law should change for the future
Ancient Greek accentuation in generative phonology and optimality theory
No full textAncient Greek had a complex accentuation system in which phonological factors interacted with the morphology and lexicon. This system has become important in the debate over whether a phonological theory should operate with derivations or constraints, or a combination of the two. This study surveys recent analyses of the Ancient Greek accentuation system in Generative Phonology and Optimality Theory, and challenges these analyses with some additional data. © 2009 The Author. Journal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
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