פרסומים

Semitic templates systematically encode two dimensions of verb meaning: (a) agency, the thematic role of the verb's external argument, and (b) voice. The assumption that this form-meaning correspondence is mediated by syntax allows the parallel compositional construction of the form and the meaning of a verb from the forms and the meanings of its root and template. The root and its arguments are optionally embedded under a light verb v which introduces the agent (Hale and Keyser 1993; Kratzer 1994). But this is only the unmarked case, which, in Semitic, is encoded by the simple templates. Two dimensions of markedness are introduced by two additional types of syntactic heads: (a) agency heads, which modify agency and are morphologically realized as the intensive and causative templates, and (b) voice heads, which modify voice and are morphologically realized as the passive and middle templates. Causative and middle morphemes are thus accounted for within a unified system, which, first, explains their affinity in language in general (both are found crosslinguistically as markers of transitivity alternations), and which, moreover, sheds new light on problems in the interface of semantics and morphology. One problem is the impossibility, mostly ignored in linguistic theory, of deriving the semantics of middle verbs from that of the corresponding transitive verbs. The second is explaining the identity found crosslinguistically between middle and reflexive morphology. The third is determining the grammatical function of the causee in causative constructions.

Gennaro Chierchia's (1998) neo-Carlsonian account of reference to kinds via nominalization type-shift from properties to kinds, which applies to mass & plural properties exclusively, is upheld despite evidence of bare singular reference to kinds in Hebrew & Brazilian Portuguese, both of which have definite articles & plural inflection of nouns. Languages that admit bare singular nouns in addition to nouns with definite determiners are shown to use incorporation to obtain existential interpretations of bare nouns; reference to kinds requires a noun to be either plural or the subject of a categorical judgment, in which case it is interpreted as definite. Whereas definiteness requires morphological marking in Hungarian & Arabic, which allow bare singulars as indefinites, morphological definiteness marking is not required for subjects of categorical judgments in Hebrew & Brazilian Portuguese; bare singulars referring to kinds are also held to have definite interpretations in Hindi & Russian, which lack morphological definiteness marking. References. J. Hitchcock

Cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for social phobia is an effective treatment for many patients, but some patients do not benefit from the treatments and many remain symptomatic. Therefore, researchers have been examining techniques that may improve treatment outcome. In this paper, recent psychopathology and treatment outcome research, much of which supports the expectation that a second-generation CBT treatment may further improve outcome, are discussed. Finally, the authors present a number of CBT techniques that are tailored for the individual treatment of patients with social phobia. These methods, based on comprehensive CBT developed by Foa et al. and on cognitive therapy for social phobia developed by Clark et al. include developing an idiographic model for the patient, conducting safety behaviors experiments, providing video feedback after cognitive preparation, developing a hierarchy, conducting in vivo exposures and other behavioral experiments, imaginal exposure, social

The artificial sweetener, aspartame, is a dipeptide, consisting of a hydrophobic phenylalanine methyl ester entity and a hydrophilic aspartyl residue. In this work, its solubilization in five different types of water in oil (w/o) microemulsions (MEs) was investigated. The stabilizing surfactants and cosurfactants of the MEs were ME1, sodium di-2-ethylhexyl sulfosuccinate (ACT) and no cosurfactant; ME2, maleic anhydride alpha-olefin copolymer and dimethyl amino ethanol; ME 3, sucrose ester monostearate and n-butanol; ME 4, L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine and n-butanol; and ME 5, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids and L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine. The maximum amount that could be dissolved (boundary concentration) was determined by adding powdered aspartame to a heated ME and cooling to a specified temperature under controlled conditions. The solutions that remained clear for at least 4 days were regarded as stable, and those of the stable solutions with the highest aspartame concentrations were taken as having the boundary concentrations. From the solubility data, the distribution of the aspartame molecules between the w/o interface and the water pools was calculated, and the results were correlated with the molecular structure and ionic state of the surfactant. The results show that aspartame can be solubilized in all the investigated MEs to an extent, exceeding by far its solubility in pure water, and that overall solubilization is most efficient in water/isooctane MEs stabilized with ACT (ME1). While the aspartame solubility in the water pools was comparable in all the investigated MEs, the aspartame/surfactant molar ratio at the w/o interface was found to decrease with decreasing polarity of the stabilizing surfactant at the interface. In addition to the solubilization studies, the effect of aspartame on some properties of ME1 was investigated. It was found that aspartame lowers the interfacial tension at the water/isooctane/AOT interface and, under certain conditions, stabilizes unstable mixtures of water, isooctane, and ACT. The results of small-angle X-ray scattering measurements show that the ME droplet sizes increase in the presence of aspartame molecules and their shapes change from near spherical to ellipsoidal. It was concluded that aspartame acts as a cosurfactant in water/isooctane MEs stabilized with ACT.

To model the possible formation of coupled spatial corrugations and charge density modulations in lamellar DNA-lipid complexes, we use a free energy functional which includes the electrostatic, lipid mixing, and elastic degrees of freedom in a self-consistent manner. We find that the balance of forces favors membrane corrugations that are expected to be stable with respect to thermal membrane undulations for a certain range of lipid (charged and uncharged) composition. This may lead to locking between DNA strands in adjacent galleries of the complex. Furthermore, the possibility of membrane corrugations renders the lamellar complex more stable with respect to another, hexagonal, DNA-lipid phase.

The papers published in this volume were presented at the Fifth Orion International Symposium (Jerusalem, 2000), which focused on prayer and poetry in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The volume examines the recently published poetical and liturgical texts from Qumran against the background of Second Temple Judaism, its biblical antecedents, and later rabbinic developments.

The essays treat a variety of prayers and religious practices, as well as major issues in the history of Jewish liturgy. Topics range from magic, mysticism and thanksgiving to lamentation, fast day rituals, communal worship, and the relationship between the prayers from Qumran and the traditional Jewish prayers. The application of new Scrolls material to this breadth of topics constitutes an important contribution to the study of religious poetry, religious practice, and liturgy.

We present a theoretical study of the energetics, equilibrium size, and size distribution of membrane pores composed of electrically charged amphipathic peptides. The peptides are modeled as cylinders (mimicking alpha-helices) carrying different amounts of charge, with the charge being uniformly distributed over a hydrophilic face, defined by the angle subtended by polar amino acid residues. The free energy of a pore of a given radius, R, and a given number of peptides, s, is expressed as a sum of the peptides’ electrostatic charging energy (calculated using Poisson-Boltzmann theory), and the lipid-perturbation energy associated with the formation of a membrane rim (which we model as being semitoroidal) in the gap between neighboring peptides. A simple phenomenological model is used to calculate the membrane perturbation energy. The balance between the opposing forces (namely, the radial free energy derivatives) associated with the electrostatic free energy that favors large R, and the membrane perturbation term that favors small R, dictates the equilibrium properties of the pore. Systematic calculations are reported for circular pores composed of various numbers of peptides, carrying different amounts of charge (1-6 elementary, positive charges) and characterized by different polar angles. We find that the optimal R’s, for all (except, possibly, very weakly) charged peptides conform to the ‘‘toroidal’’ pore model, whereby a membrane rim larger than similar to1 nm intervenes between neighboring peptides. Only weakly charged peptides are likely to form ‘‘barrel-stave’’ pores where the peptides essentially touch one another. Treating pore formation as a two-dimensional self-assembly phenomenon, a simple statistical thermodynamic model is formulated and used to calculate pore size distributions. We find that the average pore size and size polydispersity increase with peptide charge and with the amphipathic polar angle. We also argue that the transition of peptides from the adsorbed to the inserted (membrane pore) state is cooperative and thus occurs rather abruptly upon a change in ambient conditions.

Meteorological radar is a remote sensing system that provides rainfall estimations at high spatial and temporal resolutions. The radar-based rainfall intensities (R) are calculated from the observed radar reflectivities (Z). Often, rain gauge rainfall observations are used in combination with the radar data to find the optimal parameters in the Z–R transformation equation. The scale dependency of the power-law Z–R parameters when estimated from radar reflectivity and rain gauge intensity data is explored herein. The multiplicative (a) and exponent (b) parameters are said to be “scale dependent” if applying the observed and calculated rainfall intensities to objective function at different scale results in different “optimal” parameters. Radar and gauge data were analyzed from convective storms over a midsize, semiarid, and well-equipped watershed. Using the root-mean-square difference (rmsd) objective function, a significant scale dependency was observed. Increased time- and space scales resulted in a considerable increase of the a parameter and decrease of the b parameter. Two sources of uncertainties related to scale dependency were examined: 1) observational uncertainties, which were studied both experimentally and with simplified models that allow representation of observation errors; and 2) model uncertainties. It was found that observational errors are mainly (but not only) associated with positive bias of the b parameter that is reduced with integration, at least for small scales. Model errors also result in scale dependency, but the trend is less systematic, as in the case of observational errors. It is concluded that identification of optimal scale for Z–R relationship determination requires further knowledge of reflectivity and rain-intensity error structure.

An interfacial Maillard reaction between furfural and cysteine in two different food-grade nano-sized self-assembled solutions with two oppositely curved interfaces (W/O and O/W microemulsions) have been studied and compared. These microemulsions are selective microreactors strongly enhancing the generation of sulfur-containing flavors. The Maillard reactions occur at lower temperatures than in water and are much faster. The interfaces of both W/O and O/W microemulsions are capable of enhancing the Maillard reactions in which the selectivity and reactivity are controlled by the composition of the interface and its curvature. In the W/O microemulsions the Maillard reaction was controlled and enhanced by the interfacial concentration of a co-emulsifier such as butanol and are restricted by the concentration of the core water reservoir. On the other hand,, in the O/W microemulsions, where water is the continuous phase, the reaction rates are enhanced by increase in the water content and the microemulsion curvature. The Maillard product internal composition (regioselectivity and type of products) is dictated by temperature, time, pH and mainly by the nature of the interface, and by the surfactant nature and its interfacial composition.

An interfacial Maillard reaction between furfural and cysteine in two different food-grade nano-sized self-assembled solns. with two oppositely curved interfaces (W/O and O/W microemulsions) have been studied and compared. These microemulsions are selective microreactors strongly enhancing the generation of sulfur-contg. flavors. The Maillard reactions occur at lower temps. than in water and are much faster. The interfaces of both W/O and O/W microemulsions are capable of enhancing the Maillard reactions in which the selectivity and reactivity are controlled by the compn. of the interface and its curvature. In the W/O microemulsions the Maillard reaction was controlled and enhanced by the interfacial concn. of a co-emulsifier such as butanol and are restricted by the concn. of the core water reservoir. On the other hand, in the O/W microemulsions, where water is the continuous phase, the reaction rates are enhanced by increase in the water content and the microemulsion curvature. The Maillard product internal compn. (regioselectivity and type of products) is dictated by temp., time, pH and mainly by the nature of the interface, and by the surfactant nature and its interfacial compn. [on SciFinder(R)]