Bilingual and monolingual children prefer native-accented speakers

Adults and young children prefer to affiliate with some individuals rather than others. Studies have shown that monolingual children show in-group biases for individuals who speak their native language without a foreign accent (Kinzler et al., 2007). Some studies have suggested that bilingual children are less influenced than monolinguals by language variety when attributing personality traits to different speakers (Anisfeld and Lambert, 1964), which could indicate that bilinguals have fewer in-group biases and perhaps greater social flexibility. However, no previous studies have compared monolingual and bilingual children's reactions to speakers with unfamiliar foreign accents. In the present study, we investigated the social preferences of 5-year-old English and French monolinguals and English-French bilinguals. Contrary to our predictions, both monolingual and bilingual preschoolers preferred to be friends with native-accented speakers over speakers who spoke their dominant language with an unfamiliar foreign accent. This result suggests that both monolingual and bilingual children have strong preferences for in-group members who use a familiar language variety, and that bilingualism does not lead to generalized social flexibility

Non-pharmacological interventions to reduce psychological distress in patients undergoing diagnostic cardiac catheterization: a rapid review

Abstract Background: Cardiac catheterization is the standard procedure for the diagnosis of coronary heart disease. The threat physically and emotionally from this procedure can effect the patient’s perception of their health. The heightened psychological distress associated with this diagnostic procedure can cause adverse patient outcomes. Non-pharmacologic interventions have been implemented to reduce psychological distress associated with cardiac catheterization. Aims: The objective of this rapid review is to assess the efficacy of non-pharmacologic interventions (procedural education, relaxation techniques, psychological preparation) on psychological distress experienced by patients as they undergo a cardiac catheterization. Methods: Published, peer-reviewed, English-language intervention studies from 1981 to 2014 were identified in a search of CINAHL, Medline, and Cochrane Library. Eligible studies included adults undergoing cardiac catheterization. Studies included in this review used experimental and quasi-experimental designs and assessed at least one primary outcome: anxiety, depression, and pain to test non-pharmacologic interventions pre and post-cardiac catheterization. Researchers independently extracted data from included studies and completed a quality assessment using a published tool. Data was synthesised as a narrative. Results: There were 29 eligible experimental and quasi-experimental studies that tested the 3 interventions (n=2504). Findings suggest that non-pharmacologic interventions were able to effectively reduce psychological distress in some patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Conclusion: Evidence is stronger in recent studies that non-pharmacologic interventions of procedural education and psychological preparation can reduce psychological distress in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Further research is needed to define the various relaxation techniques that can be effectively implemented for patients undergoing cardiac catheterization

End-Stage Renal Disease in African Americans With Lupus Nephritis Is Associated With APOL1

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that exhibits familial aggregation and may progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). LN is more prevalent among African Americans than among European Americans. This study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that the apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) nephropathy risk alleles G1/G2, common in African Americans and rare in European Americans, contribute to the ethnic disparity in risk

Tyrosine 394 is phosphorylated in Alzheimer's paired helical filament tau and in fetal tau with c-Abl as the candidate tyrosine kinase.

Tau is a major microtubule-associated protein of axons and is also the principal component of the paired helical filaments (PHFs) that comprise the neurofibrillary tangles found in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. Besides phosphorylation of tau on serine and threonine residues in both normal tau and tau from neurofibrillary tangles, Tyr-18 was reported to be a site of phosphorylation by the Src-family kinase Fyn. We examined whether tyrosine residues other than Tyr-18 are phosphorylated in tau and whether other tyrosine kinases might phosphorylate tau. Using mass spectrometry, we positively identified phosphorylated Tyr-394 in PHF-tau from an Alzheimer brain and in human fetal brain tau. When wild-type human tau was transfected into fibroblasts or neuroblastoma cells, treatment with pervanadate caused tau to become phosphorylated on tyrosine by endogenous kinases. By replacing each of the five tyrosines in tau with phenylalanine, we identified Tyr-394 as the major site of tyrosine phosphorylation in tau. Tyrosine phosphorylation of tau was inhibited by PP2 (4-amino-5-(4-chlorophenyl-7-(t-butyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine), which is known to inhibit Src-family kinases and c-Abl. Cotransfection of tau and kinases showed that Tyr-18 was the major site for Fyn phosphorylation, but Tyr-394 was the main residue for Abl. In vitro, Abl phosphorylated tau directly. Abl could be coprecipitated with tau and was present in pretangle neurons in brain sections from Alzheimer cases. These results show that phosphorylation of tau on Tyr-394 is a physiological event that is potentially part of a signal relay and suggest that Abl could have a pathogenic role in Alzheimer's disease.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

MATE AVAILABILITY IN SMALL POPULATIONS OF PLANT-SPECIES WITH HOMOMORPHIC SPOROPHYTIC SELF-INCOMPATIBILITY

Plants of a self-incompatible species, which occur in small populations, may have reduced fitness due to the limited availability of compatible mates. Self-incompatibility diseases inbreeding by allowing successful mating to occur only with individuals which differ by at least one-allele at the S-locus. A computer simulation model was developed to test the effect of small population size upon the diversity and the relative frequency of the S-alleles which determine the number of available mates. In a large population at equilibrium, the greater the number of S-alleles the greater the frequency of available mates for all individuals in the population. In small populations (less than 50 individuals), they are unable to maintain a high diversity of S-alleles and therefore there is a decrease in the frequency of available mates. In addition, in small populations there is an increase in the variance of available mates. The number of mates in these populations depends on the genotype of a particular individual. Two patterns would be expected in a small population of incompatible species: (1) a lower seed set per individual due to limited mates, and (2) an increase in variation of seed set among individuals due to the variance in available mates. Lower seed set would lead to a decrease in fitness of particular genotypes and could increase the possibility of local extinction of the species.</p