Can L2 sentence processing strategies be native-like? Evidence from English speakers’ L2 processing of Chinese base-generated-topic sentences

This article reports on an empirical study examining English speakers’ L2 processing of Chinese base-generated-topic (BGT) sentences. Forty-four highly proficient English-speaking L2 learners of Chinese and 23 native Chinese speakers were involved in the study. Results of a self-paced reading task reveal that both native Chinese speakers’ and L2 Chinese learners’ processing of Chinese BGT sentences is syntactically induced in a top-down manner. English speakers are sensitive to and are able to make use of syntactic cues as well as semantic information in their processing of Chinese BGT sentences. The study provides disconfirming evidence against the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (Clahsen and Felser, 2006a,b), which predicts that unlike native speakers, L2 learners do not rely on structure-based processing strategies when solving ambiguities in L2 sentence processing

A literature review and survey of childhood pneumonia etiology studies: 2000-2010.

The Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) project is the largest multicountry etiology study of childhood pneumonia since the Board on Science and Technology in International Development studies of the 1980s. However, it is not the only recent or ongoing pneumonia etiology study, and even with seven sites, it cannot capture all epidemiologic settings in the developing world. Funding providers, researchers and policymakers rely on the best available evidence to strategically plan programs, new research directions and interventions. We aimed to describe the current landscape of recent pneumonia etiology studies in children under 5 years of age in the developed and developing world, as ascertained by a literature review of relevant studies with data since the year 2000 and a survey of researchers in the field of childhood pneumonia. We collected information on the study population, study design, case definitions, laboratory samples and methods and identified pathogens. A literature review identified 88 studies with child pneumonia etiology results. As of June 2010, our survey of researchers identified an additional 65 ongoing and recently completed child pneumonia etiology studies. This demonstrates the broad existing context into which the PERCH study must be placed. However, the landscape analysis also reveals a multiplicity of case definitions, levels of clinician involvement, facility types, specimen collection, and laboratory techniques. It reinforces the need for the standardization of methods and analyses for present and future pneumonia etiology studies in order to optimize their cumulative potential to accurately describe the microbial causes of childhood pneumonia

Pharmacodynamics of ATI-2307 in a rabbit model of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis.

Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis (CM) is a devastating fungal disease with high morbidity and mortality. The current regimen that is standard-of-care involves a combination of three different drugs administered for up to one year. There is a critical need for new therapies due to both toxicity and inadequate fungicidal activity of the currently available antifungal drugs. ATI-2307 is a novel aryl amidine that disrupts the mitochondrial membrane potential and inhibits the respiratory chain complexes of fungi-it thus represents a new mechanism for direct antifungal action. Furthermore, ATI-2307 selectively targets fungal mitochondria via a fungal-specific transporter that is not present in mammalian cells. It has very potent in vitro anticryptococcal activity. In this study, the efficacy of ATI-2307 was tested in a rabbit model of CM. ATI-2307 demonstrated significant fungicidal activity at dosages between 1 and 2 mg/kg/d, and these results were superior to fluconazole and similar to amphotericin B treatment. When ATI-2307 was combined with fluconazole, the antifungal effect was greater than either therapy alone. While ATI-2307 has potent anticryptococcal activity in the subarachnoid space, its ability to reduce yeasts in the brain parenchyma was relatively less over the same study period. This new drug, with its unique mechanism of fungicidal action and ability to positively interact with an azole, has demonstrated sufficient anticryptococcal potential in this experimental setting to be further evaluated in clinical studies

Impact of viral infections in children with community-acquired pneumonia : results of a study of 17 respiratory viruses

Background. Little is known about the prevalence of viral infections in children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Objectives. To describe the clinical and virological data collected from children with radiographically confirmed CAP in whom 17 respiratory viruses were sought in respiratory secretion samples during the acute phase of the disease. Patients and methods. The study involved 592 children with radiographically confirmed CAP whose respiratory secretion samples were tested using the Luminex xTAG Respiratory Virus Panel Fast assay, which simultaneously detects influenza A virus, influenza B virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-A and -B, parainfluenzavirus-1, -2, -3, and -4, adenovirus, human metapneumovirus, coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, enterovirus/rhinovirus, and bocavirus. A real-time PCR assay was used to identify the rhinovirus in the enterovirus/rhinovirus-positive samples. Results. A total of 435 children (73.5%) were positive for at least one virus: the most frequently detected was RSV, which was found in 188 (31.7%), followed by rhinovirus (n = 144, 24.3%), bocavirus (n = 60, 10.1%), influenza viruses (n = 57, 9.6), and hMPV (n = 49, 8.2%). Viral co-infections were found in 117 children (19.7% of the enrolled children; 26.9% of those with viral infections). Marginal differences were found between the infections owing to a single virus. Co-infections showed radiographic evidence of alveolar pneumonia significantly more frequently than single infections (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.052.81). Conclusions. The findings of this study highlight the importance of respiratory viruses (mainly RSV and rhinovirus) in children with CAP and show the characteristics of both the single infections and co-infections associated with the disease