Bilingual lexical selection as a dynamic process:evidence from Arabic-French bilinguals

The nature of the lexical selection process in bilingual spoken word production is one of the pending questions of research on bilingualism. According to one view this competitive process is language-specific, while another holds that it is language-nonspecific (i.e., lexical competition is cross-linguistic). In recent years, research on bilingual language production has seen the rise of a third view that postulates that lexical selection is in fact dynamic and may function as language-specific or nonspecific depending on a number of factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the lexical selection process among moderately proficient bilinguals whose two languages are typologically distant: Tunisian Arabic and French. The picture-word interference task was used in two experiments where moderately proficient Tunisian Arabic (L1)-French (L2) bilinguals were asked to name pictures in their L2 while ignoring auditory distractors (semantic, phono-translation, phonological, or unrelated) in their L2 (Experiment 1) or their L1 (Experiment 2). Thus, the language context was entirely monolingual in Experiment 1 and bilingual in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, only a phonological facilitation effect was observed. In Experiment 2, interference was found in the phono-translation, semantic, and phonological conditions. Taken together, these results indicate that cross-language competition occurs among moderately proficient Tunisian Arabic-French bilinguals only in a bilingual context (Experiment 2) as indexed by the phono-translation interference effect observed. Our findings are in line with the recent hypothesis that lexical selection is a dynamic process modulated by factors like language similarity, language proficiency, and the experimental language context

Observations on the distribution of Salmonella on primary pig breeding farms

Salmonella infection in pigs has emerged as an important potential public health issue in recent years and several countries have introduced monitoring and control programmes. However, the Salmonella status of most primary breeding herds remains unknown. This paper describes the results of intensive sampling carried out on four occupied primary pig breeding farms and one breeding farm which was purchased and cleaned and disinfected before being used for primary breeding. All premises were sampled intensively by taking large gauze swab samples from every pen of breeding sows, boars and rearing gilt and boar progeny. Samples of equipment and faeces plus carcases of wildlife vectors were also collected. On one farm (A) S. Derby, S. Kedougou and S. Newport were found in all locations whereas S. Typhimurium (DT1 04, DT20) was restricted to gilts retained for the herd and gilts and boars being reared for sale. There was considerable involvement of rodents and evidence of ineffective disinfection of farrowing crates. On a second farm (B), owned by the same company, there were similar findings, with S. Meleagridis also present. Improvements to rodent control but not disinfection produced no reduction in the overall prevalence of Salmonella. On two other farms, belonging to a separate company, S. Give predominated in adult breeding stock and rearing gilts and boars but some S. Typhimurium (OT1 04, DT193) was also present in the young stock on the larger unit (C). In the smaller unit (D), in which hygiene and rodent control was much better, only S. Give and S. Kedougou were found. In another farm (E) S. Stanley, S. Bredeney, S. Mbandaka and S. Typhimurium were found before total depopulation. Cleaning and disinfection was poor initially but successful after improvements, but no sampling was permitted in the new primary breeding herd by the new owners of the arm

Structural investigations of phosphorus-nitrogen compounds. 7. Relationships between physical properties, electron densities, reaction mechanisms and hydrogen-bonding motifs of N3P3Cl(6-n)(NHBut)(n) derivatives

A series of compounds of the N3P3Cl(6-n)(NHBut)n family (where n = 0, 1, 2, 4 and 6) are presented and their molecular parameters are related to trends in physical properties, which provides insight into a potential reaction mechanism for nucleophilic substitution. The crystal structures of N3P3Cl5(NHBut) and N3P3Cl2(NHBut)4 have been determined at 120K and those of N3P3Cl6 and N3P3Cl4(NHBut)2 have been re-determined at 120K. These are compared with the known structure of N3P3(NHBut)6 studied at 150K. Trends in molecular parameters (phosphazene ring, P-Cl & P-N(HBut) distances, PCl2 angles and endo- and exo-cyclic phosphazene ring parameters) across the series are observed. Hydrogen-bonding motifs are identified, characterised and compared. Both the molecular and hydrogen bonding parameters are related to the electron distribution in bonds and the derived basicities of the cyclophosphazene series of compounds. These findings provide evidence for a proposed mechanism for nucleophilic substitution at a phosphorus site bearing a PCl(NHBut) moiety

Geographical Distributions, Relative Abundance and Coexistence of Drosophila aldrichi and Drosophila buzzatii in Australia

Climatic data and collection records for the cactophilic Drosophila aldrichi and Drosophila buzzatii for 97 localities were used to examine the effects of geographical location, season, host plant species and climatic factors on their range and relative abundance. Temporal variation in relative abundance was assessed from monthly collections over 4 years at one locality. Effects of weather variables over the 28 days before each collection were examined. A generalized linear model of the spatial data showed significant geographical variation in relative abundance, and significant climatic effects, with the proportion of D. aldrichi higher in the warm season, and increasing as temperature variation decreased and moisture indices increased. The temporal data gave generally concordant results, as D. aldrichi proportion was higher in summer and autumn, and increased as maximum and minimum temperatures increased, and as variation in maximum temperature decreased. In a laboratory competition experiment, D. aldrichi eliminated D. buzzatii at 31°C, but was itself eliminated at 18°C and 25°C. The range of D. buzzatii is constrained only by availability of its host plant, Opuntia species, although its relative abundance is reduced in the northern part of its distribution. The range of D. aldrichi, from central Queensland to northern NSW, Australia, is entirely within that of D. buzzatii, and its relative abundance decreases from north to south. Both climate and weather, particularly temperature variability, have direct effects on the relative abundances of the two species, and both likely act indirectly by influencing the outcome of interspecific competition

Impurity Operators in RSOS Models

We give a construction of impurity operators in the `algebraic analysis' picture of RSOS models. Physically, these operators are half-infinite insertions of certain fusion-RSOS Boltzmann weights. They are the face analogue of insertions of higher spin lines in vertex models. Mathematically, they are given in terms of intertwiners of $U(\hat{sl}_2)_q$ modules. We present a detailed perturbation theory check of the conjectural correspondence between the physical and mathematical constructions in a particular simple example.Comment: Latex, 24 pages, uses amsmath, amsthm, amssymb, epic, eepic and texdraw style files (Minor typos corrected) (minor changes

Nondestructive SEM for surface and subsurface wafer imaging

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is considered as a tool for both failure analysis as well as device characterization. A survey is made of various operational SEM modes and their applicability to image processing methods on semiconductor devices

Analysis of clogging in constructed wetlands using magnetic resonance

In this work we demonstrate the potential of permanent magnet based magnetic resonance sensors to monitor and assess the extent of pore clogging in water filtration systems. The performance of the sensor was tested on artificially clogged gravel substrates and on gravel bed samples from constructed wetlands used to treat wastewater. Data indicate that the spin lattice relaxation time is linearly related to the hydraulic conductivity in such systems. In addition, within biologically active filters we demonstrate the ability to determine the relative ratio of biomass to abiotic solids, a measurement which is not possible using alternative techniques

Probing Spectral Line Gradients Beyond One Effective Radius in NGC 3610

The outer region (0.75--1.25 r_e in the B-band) of the merger-remnant elliptical NGC 3610 is studied using extremely high signal to noise Keck spectra, with a supplementary spectrum of the galaxy center. Stellar population parameters -- age, [Z/H], [$\alpha$/Fe] -- are measured in several apertures along the slit. Using the multi-index simultaneous fitting method of Proctor et al. (2004), no significant stellar population gradients are detected in the outer parts of the galaxy. The overall gradients relative to the galaxy center are consistent with those found in many other early-type galaxies, though the metallicity gradient is much steeper than would be expected if NGC 3610 formed in a major merger event. Standard analysis methods using the H$\beta$ index are found to produce spurious radially variable gradients.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted by A

An Australian longitudinal pilot study examining health determinants of cardiac outcomes 12 months post percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a very common revascularisation procedure for coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiac outcomes, health related quality of life (HRQoL), resilience and adherence behaviours in patients who have undergone a PCI at two time points (6 and 12 months) following their procedure. Methods A longitudinal pilot study was conducted to observe the cardiac outcomes across a cohort of patients who had undergone a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Participants who had undergone PCI 6 months prior were invited. Those participants who met the inclusion criteria and provided consent then completed a telephone survey (time point 1). These participants were then contacted 6 months later (i.e. 12 months post-intervention, time point 2) and the measures were repeated. Results All patients (n = 51) were recorded as being alive at time point 1. The multiple model indicated that controlling for other factors, gender was significantly associated with a linear combination of outcome measures (p = 0.004). The effect was moderate in magnitude (partial-η2 = 0.303), where males performed significantly better than females 6 months after the PCI procedure physically and with mood. Follow-up univariate ANOVAs indicated that gender differences were grounded in the scale measuring depression (PHQ9) (p = 0.005) and the physical component score of the short form measuring HRQoL (SF12-PCS) (p = 0.003). Thirteen patients were lost to follow-up between time points 1 and 2. One patient was confirmed to have passed away. The pattern of correlations between outcome measures at time point 2 revealed statistically significant negative correlation between the PHQ instrument and the resilience scale (CD-RISC) (r = -0.611; p < 0.001); and the physical component score of the SF-12 instrument (r = -0.437; p = 0.054). Conclusions Men were performing better than women in the 6 months post-PCI, particularly in the areas of mood (depression) and physical health. This pilot results indicate gender-sensitive practices are recommended particularly up to 6 months post-PCI. Any gender differences observed at 6 month appear to disappear at 12 months post-PCI. Further research into the management of mood particularly for women post-PCI is warranted. A more detailed inquiry related to access/attendance to secondary prevention is also warranted