Linguistic Knowledge, Processing Speed, and Metacognitive Knowledge in First- and Second-Language Reading Comprehension: A Componential Analysis.

The authors report results of a study into the role of components of first-language (L1; Dutch) and second-language (L2; English) reading comprehension. Differences in the contributions of components of L1 and L2 reading comprehension are analyzed, in particular processing speed in L1 and L2. Findings indicate that regression weights of the L1 and L2 components are different. Although correlations between most processing speed components and reading comprehension are substantial, there are no unique contributions to the explanation of either L1 or L2 reading comprehension when linguistic and metacognitive knowledge are accounted for. In addition, L1 reading comprehension is shown to have a large contribution to L2 reading comprehension, supporting theories of L1-L2 transfer of reading skills. Results are discussed from a developmental perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The significance and trend of hypertension related deaths in urban Sierra Leonean Africans

This study tried to show the contributory role of ions (cations and anions) to great contrast in the goitre prevalence between Bassa and Jos Local Government Areas, both of Plateau State, Nigeria. In pursuance of this, the concentration of cations (Ca++, Fe++, K+, Mg++, Na+, & Zn++) and anions (C1-, F, I-, & NO-3) in soil and drinking water in the two LGAs were determined and their results compared and correlated with the goitre prevalence of these areas. It was observed that both Bassa and Jos LGAs have very low but similar amounts of iodide ions in their soils. Besides, Bassa LGA contained more ions in both soil and drinking water than Jos LGA. In conclusion, the results appear to suggest that the higher ion contents of both soil and drinking water in Bassa LGA exacerbated the coexisting low iodide condition of the LGA, thus resulting in the higher goitre prevalence found in the LGA.     

Low total serum cholesterol and intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke: is the association confined to elderly men? The Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Epidemiological studies indicate a higher incidence of intracerebral (but not subarachnoid) hemorrhagic stroke among persons with low total serum cholesterol levels. This report further examines the prospective relationship of total serum cholesterol with subsequent intracerebral hemorrhage in a large, well-defined population. METHODS: The cohort included 61756 enrollees in a health plan from the San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area (46% men, 63% white), aged 40 to 89 years and free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. Sixteen-year incidence of combined nonfatal and fatal intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke (International Classification of Diseases [ICD], 8th revision, code 431, or ICD, 9th revision, codes 431 and 432) was investigated in relation to serum cholesterol measured in multiphasic health checkups made in 1977 through 1985. Intracerebral hemorrhagic events were ascertained using hospital discharge records and as underlying cause of death by the California Mortality Linkage Information System. RESULTS: From 1978 through 1993 (average of 10.7 years), there were 386 events (201 in men, 29% fatal; 185 in women, 42% fatal). By multivariate proportional hazards life-table regression analysis, serum cholesterol level below the sex-specific 10th percentile (< 4.62 mmol/L [178 mg/dL] in men), compared with higher cholesterol level, was associated with a significantly increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage in men aged 65 years or older (relative risk, 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 5.0). An excess risk was also observed among elderly women at the lowest cholesterol range, but a chance finding could not be ruled out. No relationship was seen among men or women aged 40 to 64, and no statistical interaction of low serum cholesterol with hypertension was found in either sex. CONCLUSIONS: In these data, the association between low serum cholesterol level and intracerebral hemorrhage was confined to elderly men.     

Giardiasis. Issues in diagnosis and management

Giardia lamblia is a frequent cause of diarrhea throughout the United States and the world. Advances in basic biology indicate that different strains of Giardia exist, that mammals can be infected with G. lamblia-type organisms, and that secretory IgA is important to host protection. Although water remains the most common mode of transmission of Giardia, there has been an increase in the number of person-to-person cases, especially related to children in day care, as well as an increase in food-borne cases. New antigen detection assays have improved the ability to diagnose Giardia in the stool and make it unlikely that duodenal sampling will be necessary. Metronidazole has become the drug of choice for most cases of giardiasis because of its efficacy, favorable tolerance, and availability. For pregnant women who require treatment, a non-absorbable aminoglycoside, paromomycin, may be tried first and metronidazole used if initial treatment fails.     

Dual recognition of lipid A and DNA by human antibodies encoded by the VH4-21 gene: a possible link between infection and lupus

The VH4-21 (V4-34) gene segment, a member of the VH4 family, is expressed early in B-cell maturation and is utilized by approximately 6% of normal adult B lymphocytes. This prevalence indicates an importance of VH4-21 in the B-cell repertoire. The gene also encodes certain autoantibodies being mandatory for pathological IgM anti-red cell antibodies directed against the I/i antigen, and also capable of encoding anti-DNA antibodies. Recognition of I/i antigen or DNA appears to be via two distinct sites on VH, with I/i binding mediated by sequences in the framework region, and DNA binding correlating with the presence of positively charged amino acids in complementarity-determining region 3. However, these positively charged residues appear to suppress the ability of the framework region to interact with I/i, rendering a single sequence monospecific for I/i or DNA. The IgM anti-DNA antibodies also recognize bacterial lipid A, whereas the anti-I/i antibodies do not, indicating that CDR3 may be involved in binding the negatively charged lipid A. Structural similarities between the DNA backbone and lipid A provide a possible explanation for this cross-reactivity. This dual recognition of bacterial antigen and autoantigen provides a potential link between infection and autoimmunity.     

Nonlinear filtering structure for image smoothing in mixed-noise environments

This paper introduces a new nonlinear filtering structure for filtering image data that have been corrupted by both impulsive and nonimpulsive additive noise. Like other nonlinear filters, the proposed filtering structure uses order-statistic operations to remove the effects of the impulsive noise. Unlike other filters, however, nonimpulsive noise is smoothed by using a maximum a posteriori estimation criterion. The prior model for the image is a novel Markov random-field model that models image edges so that they are accurately estimated while additive Gaussian noise is smoothed. The Markov random-field-based prior is chosen such that the filter has desirable analytical and computational properties. The estimate of the signal value is obtained at the unique minimum of the a posteriori log likelihood function. This function is convex so that the output of the filter can be easily computed by using either digital or analog computational methods. The effects of the various parameters of the model will be discussed, and the choice of the predetection order statistic filter will also be examined. Example outputs under various noise conditions will be given.