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"Tempus"
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The Effect of Tropical Temperatures on the Quality of RNA Extracted from Stabilized Whole-Blood Samples
Whole-blood-derived transcriptional profiling is widely used in biomarker discovery, immunological research, and therapeutic development. Traditional molecular and high-throughput transcriptomic platforms, including molecular assays with quantitative PCR (qPCR) and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq), are dependent upon high-quality and intact RNA. However, collecting high-quality RNA from field studies in remote tropical locations can be challenging due to resource restrictions and logistics of post-collection processing. The current study tested the relative performance of the two most widely used whole-blood RNA collection systems, PAXgene® and Tempus™, in optimal laboratory conditions as well as suboptimal conditions in tropical field sites, including the effects of extended storage times and high storage temperatures. We found that Tempus™ tubes maintained a slightly higher RNA quantity and integrity relative to PAXgene® tubes at suboptimal tropical conditions. Both PAXgene® and Tempus™ tubes gave similar RNA purity (A260/A280). Additionally, Tempus™ tubes preferentially maintained the stability of mRNA transcripts for two reference genes tested, Succinate dehydrogenase complex, subunit A (SDHA) and TATA-box-binding protein (TBP), even when RNA quality decreased with storage length and temperature. Both tube types preserved the rRNA transcript 18S ribosomal RNA (18S) equally. Our results suggest that Tempus™ blood RNA collection tubes are preferable to PAXgene® for whole-blood collection in suboptimal tropical conditions for RNA-based studies in resource-limited settings.
Journal Article
The Triumvirate rei publicae constituendae, ἀντάρχοντες in an Inscription from Aphrodisias, and the Late Republican Promagistracy
This paper begins with an overview of some of the difficulties with modern conceptions – as formulated especially by Ugo Coli, Frederik Vervaet, and Carsten Lange – of the Triumvirate rei publicae constituendae as an instance of the so-called magistracies ad tempus incertum. According to these scholars, the Triumvirate could be legally retained past the term stipulated by statutory provisions. Drawing upon the notion that the contemporaries perceived the Triumvirate as a temporary formalization of personalized informal power, which would persist and effectively control both the sphere militiae and the sphere domi even after its holders ceased to be triumvirs and formally became promagistrates, this paper puts forth a hypothesis to elucidate the use of the term ἀντάρχοντες (typically denoting promagistrates) in an Aphrodisias inscription from ca. 39/38 BCE. In this text, ἀντάρχοντες refers to those who could convene the Roman Senate. The understanding of the Triumvirate holds pivotal significance as a prerequisite for any interpretation of this inscription, but the latter tells us more about the Realpolitik of the late republican promagistracy than the formalities of the Triumvirate. In unraveling the reasons for which the inscription attributes to the ἀντάρχοντες the authority that promagistrates never formally possessed, we must account for the possibility that the text collapses one’s legal rights and statuses from distinct temporal contexts and one’s capacity to take informal political initiative, into a single construction. However, this reading becomes plausible only when we take into consideration the previous experience of the Romans and provincials with some powerful promagistrates interfering with Roman city politics.
Journal Article
The decline of the French passé simple
This book discusses the features of the alleged disappearance and uses over time of the passé simple, while testing its vitality against contemporary corpora. Now evolving as a stylistic marker, that tense has not yet been superseded.
eBook
Structure and evolution of the embryonic cartilaginous skull of crocodilians
The evolution of skull diversity in Crocodylia is rather well documented, but the developmental foundation of their cranial architecture remains poorly understood. Here, we present the first three-dimensional reconstruction of the embryonic cartilaginous skull of Caiman crocodilus based on histological sections. We provide a comprehensive anatomical description and morphometric analysis of the chondrocranium of this species, integrating linear measurements and comparative anatomical data to assess interspecific variation and evaluate whether closely related taxa exhibit greater similarity in chondrocranial morphology. We identified both qualitative and quantitative differences between major crocodilian clades, which may reflect diverse ecological demands. Within Crocodylidae, orbitotemporal proportions strongly influence chondrocranial morphology, likely reflecting adaptations related to bite force and visual acuity, linked to prey type and diverse aquatic habits. Within Alligatoridae, by contrast, the emphasis on nasal capsule proportions suggests a reliance on olfactory and respiratory functions, consistent with their occupation of densely vegetated environments and more restricted geographic ranges. Additionally, we identified a set of embryonic diagnostic features located in the splanchnocranium of Caiman and in the neurocranium of Alligatoridae. These findings shed new light on the developmental basis of cranial diversity in Crocodylia and emphasize the evolutionary significance of chondrocranial traits in shaping macroevolutionary patterns.
Journal Article
STUDIES IN TENSE, ASPECT AND AUGMENT USE: AN UNRECOGNIZED (?) TIMELESS INJUNCTIVE IN EARLY EPIC GREEK. PART 1: STATUS QUAESTIONIS ON THE USE OF INJUNCTIVE, AUGMENT AND ASPECT
Since West’s seminal article, it has been assumed that there were (only) four instances in epic Greek (Homer, Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns) in which the in- junctive (often called an unaugmented indicative in the commentaries) could be in- terpreted as having a timeless (or omnitemporal) meaning. In an article, divided into two parts, I will argue and show that there could be more of these forms. I will also an- alyze several other instances in which an injunctive has been transmitted, instances in which it refers to a background action or an event in a remote past. In part 1, I address the interaction and difference in use between the injunctive and the (augmented) indicative in epic Greek, paying special attention to the gnomic aorist, the similia, the instances with τε-épique and the so-called “Hymnic aorist”, explaining why they mostly comprise the augment. Following West for Greek and Hoffmann for Vedic, I argue that the injunctives or unaugmented indicatives are not simply metrical variants of the indicative, but have their own distinct meanings and func- tions, as they are used to “mention” or describe background actions, preserve an old
“timeless” meaning or refer to a more remote (and often mythical) past. As some of the instances have an aorist and others a present injunctive, I also take into account the aspectual difference(s) between these forms, discussing scholarship on tense and aspect in general and Homer in particular. In part 2, I proceed to actual instances and will investigate them for both the use of the injunctive or indicative and for that of the aspectual stem.
Journal Article
Studies in tense, aspect and augment use: An unrecognized (?) timeless injunctive in Early Epic Greek. Part 2: Actual analysis
Since West’s seminal 1898 article, it has been assumed that there were (only) four instances in epic Greek (Homer, Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns) in which the injunctive (often called an unaugmented indicative in the commentaries) could be interpreted as having a timeless (or omnitemporal) meaning. In the second part of the article, I will argue and show that there could be more of these injunctive forms than West originally argued for. I will also analyze several other instances in which an injunctive has been transmitted, instances in which it refers to a background action or an event in a remote past, and argue that some injunctive forms indeed describe the timeless habits of the gods, while others are not timeless, but refer to actions in a remote or even mythical past, or describe background actions; moreover, even some indicative present forms could conceal older timeless injunctive forms (without arguing that the indicative forms should be altered, however). In all these instances I will also investigate and describe the aspectual stems, as well as show that their use can be explained by the distinction perfective – imperfective, which agrees with what we would find in Attic Greek and is not controlled by the metre.
Journal Article
EFFECTS OF FORM-FOCUSED PRACTICE AND FEEDBACK ON CHINESE EFL LEARNERS’ ACQUISITION OF REGULAR AND IRREGULAR PAST TENSE FORMS
Conducted in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms at the university level in China, this quasi-experimental study compared the effects of three different corrective feedback treatments on 72 Chinese learners’ use of regular and irregular English past tense. Three classes were randomly assigned to a prompt group, a recast group, or a control group and then participated in form-focused production activities that elicited the target forms. In the two feedback groups, teachers consistently provided one type of feedback (i.e., either recasts or prompts) in response to learners’ errors during the activities, whereas in the control group, the teacher provided feedback only on content. Pretests, immediate posttests, and delayed posttests administered 2 weeks after the treatment assessed participants’ acquisition of regular and irregular past tense forms in both oral and written production. Comparisons of group means across testing sessions using a repeated-measures ANOVA consistently revealed large effects for time. Post hoc within-group analyses of the eight immediate- and delayed-posttest measures revealed significant gains by the prompt group on all eight measures, the recast group on four, and the control group on three. The effects of prompts were larger than those of recasts for increasing accuracy in the use of regular past tense forms, whereas prompts and recasts had similar effects on improving accuracy in the use of irregular past tense forms.
Journal Article
Beyond the Present Indicative: Lexical Futures as Indicators of Development in L2 Spanish
The present study investigates to what extent first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) speakers use lexical futures, whether such forms provide evidence of development, and whether these forms are constrained differently from the present indicative (PI) according to linguistic predictors. It uses a combined approach through its concept-oriented consideration of an underreported form and analysis of the behavior of individual learners, along with applying variationist methods to determine whether independent linguistic predictors differentiate between lexical futures and a formally similar structure (i.e., the PI). The study includes 120 English-speaking learners of Spanish from 5 course levels and 20 native speakers (NSs) of Spanish. Participants completed an oral production task, in which they responded to 8 personal prompts. Results indicate that NSs used lexical futures robustly and that part of the development associated with the acquisition of future-time expression included increases in the overall rates of lexical future use and the inventory of lexical future periphrases. Mixed-effects models revealed that from the earliest level lexical futures could be differentiated from the PI as predicted by independent variables, and that independent variables patterned in a more target-like way as course level increased. (Verlag).
Journal Article
A Model for the Anomalous Velocity-Undercooling Behaviour of Levitated Al-Ni Alloys On-board the International Space Station
Al-Ni alloys (for Ni < 45 at.%) show a unique property in that, over at least part of the accessible undercooling range, the recalescence velocity measured in electromagnetically levitated samples is observed to decrease as the undercooling increases. This result has been subject to careful validation, including microgravity experiments utilising the TEMPUS levitation facility on-board the International Space Station (ISS). In these experiments, anomalous growth is observed to coincide with a recalescence morphology comprising multiple circular growth fronts [Herlach et al. Phys. Rev. Mat. 3, 073,402 (2019)], termed “scales”. In this paper we present an analysis of high speed video data from the ISS experiments in which we show that such scale-like growth is consistent with a recalescence front that is initially confined to a thin layer on the surface of the sample. This then nucleates a slower, radial inward growth, which is consistent with microstructures observed in Al-Ni droplets. We show that such surface recalescence would be favoured for samples which were surface enriched in Ni, wherein the recalescence velocity (at fixed nucleation temperature) increases rapidly with Ni-concentration. Moreover, it is shown that the anomalous velocity behaviour can be matched in all compositions studied if the surface enhancement in Ni is a linear function of the nucleation temperature with a gradient of 0.03 at.% K−1. Analysis of historical results from the literature indicates that such surface Ni-enhancement may have been present, but overlooked, in other experiments on Al-rich Al-Ni droplets.
Journal Article