Referential features of narrative genres in the process of language acquisition

The paper regards the process of the development of several features of the narrative speech genre in the discourse field of Russian culture while learning Russian as a second language. Referentiality in general linguistic sense is an area concerning naming of objects and characters by language means. In this paper we analyse the problems of the referential choice (what factors influence the speaker’s choice of a referential expression) and anaphora resolution (how the listener/reader binds an anaphoric pronoun to a coreferential noun phrase). The main goal of our paper is to study referential features of narratives produced by foreign students acquiring Russian as a second language (RSL), compared with adult Russian speakers and children acquiring Russian as a first language (RFL). Also, we describe referential mistakes made by RSL learners. The analysis of the data demonstrates that the main referential features (abilities to make the right referential choices, form anaphoric chains, etc.) are related to the age-specific cognitive development and do not depend on the native language. Both groups of adults show similar patterns in using nouns and pronouns for the introduction or reintroduction of a referent and for the topic maintenance, and build continuous anaphoric chains. Particular anaphoric mistakes of RSL learners are related to the level of their grammar skills and differ from the mistakes made by RFL children: while children’s mistakes base on the cognitive factor, RSL students’ mistakes are mostly grammatical

In vitro Effects of Biologically Active Vitamin D on Myogenesis: A Systematic Review

Vitamin D (VD) deficiency is associated with muscle weakness. A reduction in the incidence of falls in the elderly following VD supplementation and identification of the VD receptor within muscle cells suggests a direct effect of VD on muscle, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Here we systematically searched the literature to identify effects of active VD [1,25(OH)2D3] on skeletal muscle myogenesis in vitro, with no restriction on year of publication. Eligibility was assessed by strict inclusion/exclusion criteria and agreed by two independent investigators. Twelve relevant pa-pers were identified using four different cell types (C2C12, primary mouse satellite cells, primary chick myoblasts, and primary human myoblasts) and a range of myogenic markers (myoD, myogenin, creatine kinase, myosin heavy chain, and myotube size). A clear inhibitory effect of 1,25(OH)2D3 on proliferation was reported, while the effects on the different stages of differentiation were less consistent probably due to variation in cell type, time points and doses of 1,25(OH)2D3 used. However, myotube size was consistently increased by 1,25(OH)2D3. Overall, the evidence suggests that 1,25(OH)2D3 inhibits proliferation and promotes differentiation of myoblasts, but future studies should use time courses to gain a clearer understanding