Fifty years of language maintenance and language dominance in bilingual Hispanic immigrants.

Spanish language tests of 801 Cuban and Mexican immigrants showed no evidence of language loss during 50 yrs of US residence; a few years after immigration, their English vocabulary approximated that of English monolinguals. The critical-age hypothesis was not supported for the acquisition of English vocabulary when English schooling and language usage were controlled by multiple regression. Most Ss continued to speak about as much Spanish as English, but read, wrote, and heard (on TV and radio) far more English than Spanish. Under these conditions, Ss maintained Spanish dominance on tests of vocabulary recognition, lexical decision, and oral comprehension. Dominance was task specific and shifted to English on a category generation task about 12 yrs after immigration. No evidence of bilingual language interference was found; this is attributed to the strong Spanish foundation of the participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Capturing the complexity of water uses and water users within a multi-agent framework

Due to the hydrological and socio-economic complexity of water use within river basins and even sub-basins, it is a considerable challenge to manage water resources in an efficient, equitable and sustainable way. This paper shows that multi-agent simulation (MAS) is a promising approach to better understand the complexity of water uses and water users within sub-basins. This approach is especially suitable to take the collective action into account when simulating the outcome of technical innovation and policy change. A case study from Chile is used as an example to demonstrate the potential of the MAS framework. Chile has played a pioneering role in water policy reform by privatizing water rights and promoting trade in such rights, devolving irrigation management authority to user groups, and privatizing the provision of irrigation infrastructure. The paper describes the different components of a MAS model developed for four micro-watersheds in the Maule river basin. Preliminary results of simulation experiments are presented, which show the impacts of technical change and of informal rental markets on household income and water use efficiency. The paper also discusses how the collective action problems in water markets and in small-scale and large-scale infrastructure provision can be captured by the MAS model. To promote the use of the MAS approach for planning purposes, a collaborative research and learning framework has been established, with a recently created multi-stakeholder platform at the regional level (Comisión Regional de Recursos Hidricos) as the major partner. Finally, the paper discusses the potentials of using MAS models for water resources management, such as increasing transparency as an aspect of good governance. The challenges, for example the need to build trust in the model, are discussed as well.     

Therapeutic use of botulinum A toxin in neurology

The highly potent neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum lead to botulism when ingested in appreciable amounts. However, botulinum toxin injections delivered intramuscularly in very small quantities can produce a therapeutically intended focal paresis while producing only negligible local or systemic side effects. Over the past several years, various neurological disorders, especially those involving increased muscle tone and/or abnormal movements, have been successfully treated with local botulinum A toxin injections. The success of this method has led to a general change in the management of blepharospasm, torticollis spasmodicus, hemifacial spasm, and other disorders. Treatment is usually effective for 4 to 12 weeks; if symptoms recur, the injections can be repeated over a period of several years, usually with the same success. Side effects depend on the site of the injections, and are rare at the optimal dosage and always reversible. For optimum therapeutic results, this treatment must be restricted to specialized centers.     

Memory and learning strategies in patients with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease patients (PD) do not differ from control subjects (CS) when they have to execute a problem solving task in which external cues for solving the problem are given. However, when PD have to solve a problem by means of an internally generated strategy, they show a serious decrease in performance. We hypothesised that this distinction may also apply to the way PD and CS organize recall. In order to test our hypothesis the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was administered to 59 PD and 30 CS. The test consists of five learning trials using a 16-word target list, composed of four items from each of four semantic categories. The fact that the word list was built on this implicit organization was not divulged in advance. The sequence in which the words were read is fixed; each subsequent word belongs to a category being different from the category to which the preceding word belongs. The organization in recall according to the semantic categories is considered to be the result of an unprompted, internally generated strategy. Recall according to the sequence in which the words are read by the experimenter, is viewed as an externally offered strategy. The results prove to be in line with our hypothesis: unlike CS who appeared to rely mainly and increasingly on an internally generated semantic organization, PD showed evidence of gradually adhering more to the externally imposed serial sequence.     

A novel gene, AF-1p, fused to HRX in t(1;11)(p32;q23), is not related to AF-4, AF-9 nor ENL

Most of the translocations affecting the chromosome band 11q23, frequently seen in human acute leukemias, involve a restricted area of the HRX gene. We have characterized two t(1;11)(p32;q11) translocations which fuse the HRX gene to a novel gene, AF-1p on chromosome 1p32, in two myeloid leukemias. The der (11) chromosome expresses the 1368 N-terminal amino acids of HRX, including the AT-hook, snRNP and methyltransferase similarities, fused to almost all the AF-1p product. The predicted wild type AF-1p product is a 98 kDa acidic protein which does not exhibit similarity to the AF-4, AF-9 and ENL gene products. It is highly similar to the murine eps 15 gene product, which encodes a cytoplasmic phosphoprotein. Our data indicate that AF-1p defines another class of genes fused to HRX in 11q23 abnormalities.     

Architecture and Design of 1-D Enhanced Cellular Neural Network Processors for Signal Detection

One-dimensional cellular array processor architecture and design for neural-based partial response (PR) signal detection are presented. Analog parallel computing approaches have many attractive advantages in achieving low power, low cost, and faster processing speed by its uniquely coupled parallel and distributed processing nature. In this paper, we describe the maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) algorithm for PR signals, the enhanced Cellular Neural Network (CNN) processor array architecture to realize the detection algorithm, and system performance evaluation. Analytical models and simulations on a design example of the detector have been employed to demonstrate the advantages of this scalable VLSI architecture. A processing rate of 265 Mbps was achieved for a prototype detector on a silicon area of 5.14 mm by 5.81 mm is a 1.2 µm CMOS technology. The processing rate can be beyond 1Gbps if it is implemented in the same amount of silicon area by using 0.5 µm CMOS technology. Such promising results clearly demonstrate the ability to meet the needs in future high speed data communication by VLSI realization of maximum likelihood sequence detectors based on the enhanced cellular neural network paradigm.     

Hypersensitivity to DNA cross-linking agents associated with up-regulation of glucose-regulated stress protein GRP78

We have shown previously that NAD/poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-deficient cells that overexpress Mr 78,000 glucose-regulated stress protein (GRP78) are resistant to topoisomerase II inhibitors, such as etoposide, m-amsacrine, and doxorubicin. However, these cells have been found to be hypersensitive to DNA cross-linking agents, including melphalan, cisplatin, and 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU). These observations prompted us to examine whether overexpression of GRP78 is associated with modulation of cytotoxicity of clinically useful DNA-cross-linking agents such as melphalan, BCNU, and cisplatin. We up-regulated GRP78 in V79 Chinese hamster cells by 2-5-fold using two independent approaches that include exposure to 6-aminonicotinamide, or 2-deoxyglucose. Subsequently, these GRP78-overexpressing cells were trypsinized, plated in regular medium without GRP78-inducing agents, and allowed a 5-h attachment time before being treated with melphalan, BCNU, or cisplatin for 1 h to determine clonogenic survivals. In addition, repair of DNA cross-links induced by those agents were determined by alkaline elution assay. Our results show that the GRP78-overexpressing V79 cells are hypersensitive to DNA cross-linking agents compared to the control V79 cells. Furthermore, repair of drug-induced DNA cross-links appears to be considerably slower in these cells relative to that found in control V79 cells. Thus, our results suggest that (a) up-regulation of GRP78 is associated with an impairment of DNA cross-link repair, (b) up-regulation of GRP78 is associated with potentiation of cytotoxicity induced by alkylating and platinating agents, and (c) up-regulation of GRP78 can be considered as a potentially useful tool to modulate the cytotoxicity of clinically useful alkylating and platinating agents.     

Bacillary angiomatosis associated with myositis in a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus

PURPOSE: To report a patient with optic nerve avulsion caused by forceful rotation of the globe that occurred when his thumb penetrated the orbit while he was diving. METHODS: A 17-year-old boy was initially examined for sudden loss of vision after jumping feet first from a bridge 50 feet above a river. Upon hitting the water, he felt his right thumb push into his right globe. The patient underwent ophthalmologic and imaging examination. RESULT: Examination disclosed a tear of the optic nerve head from the sclera temporally in the right eye. CONCLUSION: Optic nerve avulsion occurs secondary to forceful rotation of the eye with tearing of the optic nerve as it exits the globe.