The development of initial consonant clusters in German-speaking 2-year olds

Purpose: The aim was to explore cluster acquisition in typically developing Germanspeaking 2-year olds. Method: Data from four cross-sectional studies (n=145, aged 2;00-2;11) and one eightmonth longitudinal study were analysed (n=6, aged 2;01-2;04). Two different percentages of consonant clusters correct were calculated to allow a more detailed analysis. Results: Findings showed that the majority of children produced clusters although they could not be considered to be fully acquired. Correct production significantly correlated with age. Only /gl/ and /kl/ were shown to be phonetically and phonemically acquired (75% criterion) in the older age-group. 3-element clusters were acquired at the same time as 2-element clusters and /∫/- clusters were acquired to the same or larger extent as non-/∫/ clusters when fronting/backing of /∫/ was accepted. Younger children produced more reductions than simplifications but this effect was less strong for the /∫/-clusters. Developmental realisation patterns varied depending on cluster type. Interand intra-individual developmental patterns could be observed which changed depending on the time of testing. Conclusion: Findings on cluster acquisition in 2-year old German-speaking children revealed language specific differences but also similarities in comparison to results from other languages. All but two children produced clusters. However, individual variation between children was high

Energy and Economy: Recognizing High-Energy Modernity as a Historical Period

This introduction to Economic Anthropology’s special issue on “Energy and Economy” argues that we might find inspiration for a much more engaged and public anthropology in an unlikely place—19th century evolutionist thought. In addition to studying the particularities of energy transitions, which anthropology does so well, a more engaged anthropology might also broaden its temporal horizons to consider the nature of the future “stage” into which humanity is hurtling in an era of resource depletion and climate change. Net energy (EROEI), or the energy “surplus” on which we build and maintain our complex societal arrangements, is a key tool for anthropologists as we bring our trademark cross-cultural, ethnographically grounded knowledge and perspectives to bear in examining the complex interplay of material infrastructures, energy flows, social organization, and culture. We are now mindful of the always already cultural nature of such circuitry and interactions—in ways obviously unavailable to our nineteenth-century forebears. And yet even as our energy futures are neither predetermined nor inevitable, neither are they as unfettered by material constraints as many have come to think. A robust anthropology of energy informed by awareness of the energetic basis of the historically specific moment in which we find ourselves seems poised to help us get beyond the developmentalist ideas of Morgan and Tylor and to overcome a seeming inability to think comprehensively about the human predicament in simultaneously general and particular terms. We have a chance in the space now opening to get beyond the antinomies—materialist—mentalist, infrastructure—superstructure, agency—structure, objective—subjective, and so on—that dominated much of twentieth-century anthropology

The Mid-IR Contribution Of Dust Enshrouded Stars In Six Nearby Galaxies

We measure the integrated contributions of dusty AGB stars and other luminous red mid-IR sources to the mid-IR luminosities of 6 galaxies (M81, NGC 2403, NGC 300, M33 and the Magellanic Clouds). We find the dusty AGB stars whose mid-IR fluxes are dominated by dust rather than photospheric emission contribute from 0.6% (M81) to 5.6% (SMC) of the 3.6 micron flux and 1.0% (M81) to 10.1% (SMC) of the 4.5 micron flux. We find a trend of decreasing AGB contribution with increasing galaxy metallicity, luminosity and mass and decreasing SSFR. However, these galaxy properties are strongly correlated in our sample and the simplest explanation of the trend is galaxy metallicity. Bright, red sources other than dusty AGB stars represent a smaller fraction of the luminosity, ~1.2% at 3.6 microns, however their dust is likely cooler and their contributions are likely larger at longer wavelengths. Excluding the SMC, the contribution from these red sources correlates with the specific star formation rate as we would expect for massive stars. In total, after correcting for dust emission at other wavelengths, the dust around AGB stars radiates 0.1-0.8% of the bolometric luminosities of the galaxies. Thus, hot dust emission from AGB and other luminous dusty stars represent a small fraction of the total luminosities of the galaxies but a significant fraction of their mid-IR emissions.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, published in ApJ. For a brief video explaining the key results of this paper, see http://www.youtube.com/user/OSUAstronom

Phonologische Prozesse in der deutschen Sprache türkisch-deutsch bilingualer Kinder [Phonological patterns in German in Turkish-German bilingual children]

Hintergrund Kenntnisse über den typischen Ausspracheerwerb sind notwendig, um Aussprachestörungen identifizieren zu können. Hierbei spielt die phonologische Prozessanalyse eine wichtige Rolle. Informationen zum Ausspracheerwerb bilingualer Kinder sind bislang rar, sodass eine Diagnosestellung erschwert ist. Methode Mit Hilfe eines Bilderbenenntests wurden die phonologischen Prozesse im Deutschen von 84 türkisch-deutsch bilingualen Kindern im Alter von 3;0-5;5 Jahren untersucht. Ergebnis Bis auf wenige Ausnahmen (z.B. Vokalfehler) wurden nur phonologische Prozesse im Deutschen beobachtet, die denen monolingualer Kinder entsprechen. Diese wurden meist später als von monolingualen Kindern überwunden. Simultan und sukzessiv bilingual aufwachsende Kinder unterschieden sich hier kaum. Diskussion Die Ergebnisse bestätigen bisherige Pilotstudien zum türkisch-deutschen Phonologieerwerb und können zur Orientierung in der sprachtherapeutischen Aussprachediagnostik herangezogen werden. Background A reliable identification of speech sound disorders (SSD) requires detailed knowledge about the typical speech acquisition process, specifically about phonological patterns. To date, data on speech acquisition in bilingual populations are rare, which hinders the diagnostic process with regard to SSDs in bilingual children. Methods Eighty-four typically developing children growing up bilingual Turkish-German (aged 3;0-5;5) were assessed on a picture naming test for German in order to investigate the occurring phonological patterns. Results Excluding very few exceptions (e.g. vowel errors), the Turkish-German-speaking participants mainly showed error patterns in German that are typical for monolingual children acquiring German but with a later age of suppression. Differences between children growing up simultaneous bilingual or successive bilingual were minimal. Discussion The present findings concerning phonological acquisition in Turkish-German bilinguals confirm previous pilot studies and could be used as preliminary clinical guidance when diagnosing SSDs in Turkish-German bilingual children

Methamphetamine administration targets multiple immune subsets and induces phenotypic alterations suggestive of immunosuppression.

Methamphetamine (Meth) is a widely abused stimulant and its users are at increased risk for multiple infectious diseases. To determine the impact of meth on the immune system, we utilized a murine model that simulates the process of meth consumption in a typical addict. Our phenotypic analysis of leukocytes from this dose escalation model revealed that meth affected key immune subsets. Meth administration led to a decrease in abundance of natural killer (NK) cells and the remaining NK cells possessed a phenotype suggesting reduced responsiveness. Dendritic cells (DCs) and Gr-1(high) monocytes/macrophages were also decreased in abundance while Gr-1(low) monocytes/macrophages appear to show signs of perturbation. CD4 and CD8 T cell subsets were affected by methamphetamine, both showing a reduction in antigen-experienced subsets. CD4 T cells also exhibited signs of activation, with increased expression of CD150 on CD226-expressing cells and an expansion of KLRG1(+), FoxP3(-) cells. These results exhibit that meth has the ability to disrupt immune homeostasis and impact key subsets of leukocytes which may leave users more vulnerable to pathogens

Benefits and concerns associated with Aerobic Treatment Systems (ATS)

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Motion verbs in Greek and German: Evidence from typically developing and SLI children

In this paper we report on the findings from a Greek and German production task which investigated the expression of constructions involving manner-of-motion verbs with Greek and German adults as well as typically developing and SLI children at the age of 5-6 years. The results showed that the typically developing children, when describing motion events, differed from the adults in the integration of grammatical information into motion predicates. The SLI children on the other hand displayed problems with the use of grammatical aspect (Greek) and case marking (German) as well as with ambiguous constructions (Greek)

Quasi Harmonic Lattice Dynamics and Molecular Dynamics calculations for the Lennard-Jones solids

We present Molecular Dynamics (MD), Quasi Harmonic Lattice Dynamics (QHLD) and Energy Minimization (EM) calculations for the crystal structure of Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe as a function of pressure and temperature. New Lennard-Jones (LJ) parameters are obtained for Ne, Kr and Xe to reproduce the experimental pressure dependence of the density. We employ a simple method which combines results of QHLD and MD calculations to achieve densities in good agreement with experiment from 0 K to melting. Melting is discussed in connection with intrinsic instability of the solid as given by the QHLD approximation. (See http://www.fci.unibo.it/~valle for related papers)Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, REVte

Ferroelectricity in Perovskitelike NaCaF3 Predicted Ab Initio

The ability of zero-stress simulations, using Gordon-Kim pair potentials, to describe the structures and transformations of known fluoride-based perovskites is demonstrated for the case of KCaF3. When K+ is replaced by Na+ a new ferroelectric crystal isomorphous with LiNbO3 is predicted. The equivalent relationships of the ferroelectric lithium niobate structure with the perovskite and antiperovskite structures are examined. A polarization of 21 jµC/cm2 at room temperature and a transition temperature of 550 K are predicted for NaCaF3. Surface effects are examined in simulations of a 1080-ion cluster

Patterns in German /ʃC/-cluster acquisition

This study reports on the developmental patterns of /ʃC/ clusters in 145 normally developing monolingual German-speaking children between 2;00 and 2;11. All children completed a picture naming task to allow a systematic qualitative analysis of the production patterns. Children’s reductions of target /ʃC/clusters are examined and are evaluated with respect to two models, ‘factorial typology’ and ‘headedness’, to account for them. The results reveal expected patterns of C2 retention for ‘/ʃ/+[−continuant]’ (e.g. ‘/ʃ/+stop’ and ‘/ʃ/+nasal’) targets, and a rather indeterminate pattern for /ʃl/ and /ʃʁ/. The results for /ʃv/, a clear-cut preference of C2 retention, were rather unexpected, as the C2 is a [+continuant]. The explanation offered for the retention of /v/ is related to a place constraint. The study also examines the data from children who reached an advanced stage of cluster formation with differential targets. More specifically, in several children, one target, /ʃv/, is found to have stayed behind in the reduction phase while all others have advanced to the ‘cluster stage’. Neither the type nor the token frequencies seem satisfactory in accounting for the specific behaviour of /ʃv/. The explanation offered for the uniqueness of this target may be its non-abidence to the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) because of its flat sonority and the Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP) [continuant], because of the unchanging ‘continuance’ which is demanded by the OCP. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed