Search results for "luna"
showing 10 items of 227 documents
What has been thought and taught on the lunar influence on plants in agriculture? Perspective from physics and biology
2020
This paper reviews the beliefs which drive some agricultural sectors to consider the lunar influence as either a stress or a beneficial factor when it comes to organizing their tasks. To address the link between lunar phases and agriculture from a scientific perspective, we conducted a review of textbooks and monographs used to teach agronomy, botany, horticulture and plant physiology; we also consider the physics that address the e ects of the Moon on our planet. Finally, we review the scientific literature on plant development, specifically searching for any direct or indirect reference to the influence of the Moon on plant physiology. We found that there is no reliable, science-based evi…
Pharmacological research on natural substances in Latvia: Focus on lunasin, betulin, polyprenol and phlorizin
2016
In this concise review the current research in plant bioactive compound studies in Latvia is described. The paper summarizes recent studies on substances from edible plants (e.g., cereals and apples) or their synthetic analogues, such as peptide lunasin, as well as substances isolated from inedible plants (e.g., birch and conifer), such as pentacyclic triterpenes (e.g., betulin, betulinic acid, and lupeol) and polyprenols. Latvian researchers have been first to demonstrate the presence of lunasin in triticale and oats. Additionally, the impact of genotype on the levels of lunasin in cereals was shown. Pharmacological studies have revealed effects of lunasin and synthetic triterpenes on the …
Lunasin is a redox sensitive intrinsically disordered peptide with two transiently populated α-helical regions.
2016
Lunasin is a 43 amino acid peptide with anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cholesterol-lowering properties. Although the mechanism of action of lunasin has been characterized to some extent, its exact three-dimensional structure as well as the function of the N-terminal sequence remains unknown. We established a novel method for the production of recombinant lunasin that allows efficient isotope labeling for NMR studies. Initial studies showed that lunasin can exist in a reduced or oxidized state with an intramolecular disulfide bond depending on solution conditions. The structure of both forms of the peptide at pH 3.5 and 6.5 was characterized by CD spectroscopy and multidimen…
Expectation or Sensorial Reality? An Empirical Investigation of the Biodynamic Calendar for Wine Drinkers.
2017
International audience; The study's aim was to investigate a central tenet of biodynamic philosophy as applied to wine tasting, namely that wines taste different in systematic ways on days determined by the lunar cycle. Nineteen New Zealand wine professionals tasted blind 12 Pinot noir wines at times determined within the biodynamic calendar for wine drinkers as being favourable (Fruit day) and unfavourable (Root day) for wine tasting. Tasters rated each wine four times, twice on a Fruit day and twice on a Root day, using 20 experimenter-provided descriptors. Wine descriptors spanned a range of varietal-relevant aroma, taste, and mouthfeel characteristics, and were selected with the aim of …
Arthroscopic Reinsertion of Acute Injuries of the Scapholunate Ligament Technique and Results
2020
Abstract Objective To describe a technique for treating acute injuries of the scapholunate ligament (SLL) by performing an arthroscopic reinsertion of the SLL and dorsal capsulodesis and to present the results obtained. Methods The study deals with an analytical, prospective clinical study that included 19 consecutive patients with acute injury of the SLL. The range of joint motion, grip strength, pain according to the visual analog scale, functional outcomes according to the Mayo Wrist Score (MWS), and the QuickDASH Score were studied preoperatively and 6 and 12 months postoperatively. The complications and necessary reinterventions were recorded. Results Nineteen patients with acute injur…
Transforming student contributions into subject-specific expression
2021
Drawing on a corpus of pre-service teacher training classroom interactions in an English-medium instruction university in Turkey, we examine teacher follow-up turns that introduce specialized terms, showing how a teacher transforms student’s responses into pedagogically relevant points using academic language. We argue that teacher third-turns following student contributions accomplish several interrelated actions, not only introducing new terminology to these teachers-in-training, but also familiarizing them with ways of thinking specific to their discipline, i.e., these turns model “doing being a teacher.” These teacher actions are used to bridge student contributions to more scientific t…
The integration of content and language in students’ task answer production in the bilingual classroom
2016
The notion of content and language integration has recently become a key topic of inquiry in research on content and language integrated learning and other kinds of bilingual educational programmes. Understanding what integration is and how it happens is of fundamental importance not only for researchers interested in gauging the possibilities and limitations of bilingual programmes, but also for practitioners seeking optimal ways to support student development. This study investigates integration as it takes place in the context of collaborative writing in the classroom. Drawing on conversation analytic methodology, text production is investigated as a social and sequentially evolving phen…
Figure–Ground Spatial Relationships in Finnish Sign Language Discourse
2020
AbstractThis study is about expressing spatial relationships between Figure and Ground in Finnish Sign Language discourse and shows that the variation in this expression is primarily discourse dependent. The main findings are, first, that Ground mainly precedes Figure whether the Figure is new or a known referent within the discourse; the reverse order is possible only when the Figure is known. Second, the lexical signolla(‘have’) appears more frequently in expressing spatial relationships with a new Figure and less frequently with a known Figure but never in a construction with Figure preceding Ground; the formoli(‘had’), referring to the past, appears only in Figure preceding Ground const…
On the participatory agency of texts: Using institutional forms in performance appraisal interviews
2020
Abstract Drawing on studies of the performative effects and agency of texts in organizations, the paper investigates how the agency of texts figures through their participatory status in interaction. The empirical data for the study consist of video-recorded performance appraisal interviews in a Finnish public organization in which the interaction relies heavily on an appraisal form. The data are analyzed through a sequential analysis that draws on multimodal conversation analysis and ethnographic knowledge. The analysis shows that the human participants orient to three different acts that are inscribed in the textual document: 1) presenting demands for the participants; 2) offering topics …
Drawing conclusions about what co-participants know: Knowledge-probing question–answer sequences in new employee orientation lectures
2019
This study aims to uncover the processes of interaction through which knowledge acquisition in new employee orientation is monitored and controlled. Using video-recordings of orientation lectures as data, the study focuses on question–answer sequences in which the lecturer’s question probes into the state of the employees’ knowledge; in particular, it looks at the third turn of the sequence, in which the lecturer comes to a conclusion concerning the participants’ knowledge. This is shown to be an unavoidably practical accomplishment, which is contingent on both the often ambivalent responses of the participants and the design of the knowledge-probing question. Also, the lecturer orients to…