Lexically-specific syntactic restrictions in second-language speakers

In two structural priming experiments, we investigated the representations of lexically-specific syntactic restrictions of English verbs for highly proficient and immersed second language (L2) speakers of English. We considered the interplay of two possible mechanisms: generalization from the first language (L1) and statistical learning within the L2 (both of abstract structure and of lexically-specific information). In both experiments, L2 speakers with either Germanic or Romance languages as L1 were primed to produce dispreferred double-object structures involving non-alternating dative verbs. Priming occurred from ungrammatical double-object primes involving different non-alternating verbs (Experiment 1) and from grammatical primes involving alternating verbs (Experiment 2), supporting abstract statistical learning within the L2. However, we found no differences between L1-Germanic speakers (who have the double object structure in their L1) and L1-Romance speakers (who do not), inconsistent with the prediction for between-group differences of the L1-generalization account. Additionally, L2 speakers in Experiment 2 showed a lexical boost: There was stronger priming after (dispreferred) non-alternating same-verb double object primes than after (grammatical) alternating different-verb primes. Such lexically-driven persistence was also shown by L1 English speakers (Ivanova et al., 2012a) and may underlie statistical learning of lexically-dependent structural regularities. We conclude that lexically-specific syntactic restrictions in highly proficient and immersed L2 speakers are shaped by statistical learning (both abstract and lexically-specific) within the L2, but not by generalization from the L1

Biodegradation of bioplastics under aerobic and anaerobic aqueous conditions: Kinetics, carbon fate and particle size effect

Producción CientíficaThe biodegradation of PHB, PHBV, PBS, PBAT, PCL, PLA, and a PLA-PCL blend was systematically compared under aerobic and anaerobic aqueous conditions assessing biodegradation kinetics, extent, carbon fate and particle size influence (in the range of 100–1000 µm). Under standard test conditions, PHB and PBHV were biodegraded anaerobically (83.9±1.3% and 81.2±1.7%, respectively) in 77 days or aerobically (83.0±1.6% and 87.4±7.5%) in 117 days, while PCL was only biodegraded (77.6±2.4%) aerobically in 177 days. Apparent biomass growth accounted for up to 30.5% of the total initial carbon depending on the bioplastic and environment. Maximum aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation rates were improved up to 331 and 405%, respectively, at the lowest particle size tested (100–250 µm). This study highlights the usefulness of a more detailed analysis of biodegradation kinetics and carbon fate to improve both the development and testing of biodegradable materials/products in the context of a circular bioeconomy.Junta de Castilla y León - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (projects CLU 2017-09 and UIC 315

Del contexto cultural al funcionamiento familiar. Conocimientos compartidos y relaciones familiares en adolescentes con intento de suicidio

El objetivo de este texto es identificar y comparar la estructura semántica del dominio cultural, el conocimiento promedio y el grado de consenso cultural sobre las causas del intento de suicidio, los síntomas previos y las estrategias de prevención del intento de suicidio, además evaluar el funcionamiento familiar entre adolescentes mexicanos con y sin intento de suicidio. Se presenta un estudio mixto metodológicamente que usa la técnica de listas libres y el inventario de recursos familiares en una muestra propositiva de 65 adolescentes (13 a 18 años) divididos en dos grupos: el grupo de adolescentes con tentativa suicida y un grupo control con adolescentes estudiantes sin antecedentes de conductas suicidas. Los problemas familiares fueron la principal causa del intento suicida, mientras que la depresión y la tristeza fueron síntomas previos a una tentativa suicida en ambos grupos. La ayuda psicológica y el desarrollo de habilidades de escucha en los padres fueron señaladas como las estrategias para la prevención del suicidio. Respecto del funcionamiento familiar, los adolescentes con tentativa suicida percibieron más conflictos familiares y menor comunicación y apoyo en sus familias en comparación con el grupo control. Los resultados sugieren un conocimiento compartido culturalmente sobre las causas, los síntomas y las estrategias de prevención del intento de suicidio en los adolescentes, el cual se confirma en la percepción del funcionamiento familiar. La familia, elemento central en la cultura mexicana, debe ser considerada en las estrategias de prevención del intento de suicidio en los adolescentes en México. AIM: The aim of the study was to identify and to compare the semantic structure of the cultural domain, the average knowledge and the degree of cultural consensus regarding knowledge of suicide attempts cause, symptoms and prevention strategies to suicide attempt and the family functioning among Mexican adolescents with and without previous suicide attempt. Method: It was a mixed study, using the free-listing technique and an inventory of family resources, with a non-random sample of 65 adolescents (13-18 years) divided in two groups. The suicide attempters group and the control group were high school students, without a history of suicide behaviors. Results: Family problems were identified as the most important cause of suicide attempts in both groups, while depression and sadness were identified as symptoms prior to the suicide attempt in both groups. Psychological aid and development of listening skills in the parents were the most frequent responses regarding prevention strategies to suicide attempt. Regarding family functioning teenage suicide attempters showed more family conflict, less family communication and support than teenage non suicide attempters. Conclusions: The results suggest a same cultural knowledge background regarding causes, symptoms prior and prevention strategies to suicide attempt in Mexican adolescents. Mexican culture centered in family relationships is important to be considered in design of prevention strategies to suicide attempt in adolescence in Mexico.ITESO, A.C

Synthesis of fractal light pulses by quasi-direct space-to-time pulse shaping

This paper was published in OPTICS LETTERS and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.37.001145. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law[EN] We demonstrated a simple diffractive method to map the self-similar structure shown in squared radial coordinate of any set of circularly symmetric fractal plates into self-similar light pulses in the corresponding temporal domain. The space-to-time mapping of the plates was carried out by means of a kinoform diffractive lens under femtosecond illumination. The spatio-temporal characteristics of the fractal pulses obtained in this way were measured by means of a spectral interferometry technique assisted by a fiber optics coupler (STARFISH). Our proposal allows synthesizing suited sequences of focused fractal femtosecond pulses potentially useful for several current applications, such as femtosecond material processing, atomic, and molecular control of chemical processes or generation of nonlinear effects. © 2012 Optical Society of America.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) and FEDER, through the projects FIS2010-15746, DPI2008-02953, and SAUUL (CSD2007-00013) and the Fundació Caixa Castelló (P1-1B2010-26).Monsoriu Serra, JA.; Mendoza-Yero, O.; Alonso, B.; Minguez-Vega, G.; Sola, I.; Lancis, J. (2012). Synthesis of fractal light pulses by quasi-direct space-to-time pulse shaping. Optics Letters. 37(7):1145-1147. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.37.001145S11451147377Berry, M. V. (1979). Diffractals. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General, 12(6), 781-797. doi:10.1088/0305-4470/12/6/008Allain, C., & Cloitre, M. (1987). Spatial spectrum of a general family of self-similar arrays. Physical Review A, 36(12), 5751-5757. doi:10.1103/physreva.36.5751Hamburger-Lidar, D. A. (1996). Elastic scattering by deterministic and random fractals: Self-affinity of the diffraction spectrum. Physical Review E, 54(1), 354-370. doi:10.1103/physreve.54.354Jaggard, A. D., & Jaggard, D. L. (1998). Scattering from fractal superlattices with variable lacunarity. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 15(6), 1626. doi:10.1364/josaa.15.001626Fermann, M. E., Kruglov, V. I., Thomsen, B. C., Dudley, J. M., & Harvey, J. D. (2000). Self-Similar Propagation and Amplification of Parabolic Pulses in Optical Fibers. Physical Review Letters, 84(26), 6010-6013. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.84.6010Kruglov, V. I., Peacock, A. C., Harvey, J. D., & Dudley, J. M. (2002). Self-similar propagation of parabolic pulses in normal-dispersion fiber amplifiers. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 19(3), 461. doi:10.1364/josab.19.000461Ilday, F. Ö., Buckley, J. R., Clark, W. G., & Wise, F. W. (2004). Self-Similar Evolution of Parabolic Pulses in a Laser. Physical Review Letters, 92(21). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.92.213902Dudley, J. M., Finot, C., Richardson, D. J., & Millot, G. (2007). Self-similarity in ultrafast nonlinear optics. Nature Physics, 3(9), 597-603. doi:10.1038/nphys705Vinoy, K. J., Jose, K. A., Varadan, V. K., & Varadan, V. V. (2001). Hilbert curve fractal antenna: A small resonant antenna for VHF/UHF applications. Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 29(4), 215-219. doi:10.1002/mop.1136Matteo, J. A., & Hesselink, L. (2005). Fractal extensions of near-field aperture shapes for enhanced transmission and resolution. Optics Express, 13(2), 636. doi:10.1364/opex.13.000636Wang, S.-W., Chen, X., Lu, W., Li, M., & Wang, H. (2007). Fractal independently tunable multichannel filters. Applied Physics Letters, 90(21), 211113. doi:10.1063/1.2743380Saavedra, G., Furlan, W. D., & Monsoriu, J. A. (2003). Fractal zone plates. Optics Letters, 28(12), 971. doi:10.1364/ol.28.000971Tao, S. H., Yuan, X.-C., Lin, J., & Burge, R. E. (2006). Sequence of focused optical vortices generated by a spiral fractal zone plate. Applied Physics Letters, 89(3), 031105. doi:10.1063/1.2226995Furlan, W. D., Giménez, F., Calatayud, A., & Monsoriu, J. A. (2009). Devil’s vortex-lenses. Optics Express, 17(24), 21891. doi:10.1364/oe.17.021891Furlan, W. D., Saavedra, G., & Monsoriu, J. A. (2007). White-light imaging with fractal zone plates. Optics Letters, 32(15), 2109. doi:10.1364/ol.32.002109Mendoza-Yero, O., Fernández-Alonso, M., Mínguez-Vega, G., Lancis, J., Climent, V., & Monsoriu, J. A. (2009). Fractal generalized zone plates. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 26(5), 1161. doi:10.1364/josaa.26.001161Mendoza-Yero, O., Mínguez-Vega, G., Fernández-Alonso, M., Lancis, J., Tajahuerce, E., Climent, V., & Monsoriu, J. A. (2009). Optical filters with fractal transmission spectra based on diffractive optics. Optics Letters, 34(5), 560. doi:10.1364/ol.34.000560Lavrinenko, A. V., Zhukovsky, S. V., Sandomirski, K. S., & Gaponenko, S. V. (2002). Propagation of classical waves in nonperiodic media: Scaling properties of an optical Cantor filter. Physical Review E, 65(3). doi:10.1103/physreve.65.036621Mínguez-Vega, G., Mendoza-Yero, O., Lancis, J., Gisbert, R., & Andrés, P. (2008). Diffractive optics for quasi-direct space-to-time pulse shaping. Optics Express, 16(21), 16993. doi:10.1364/oe.16.016993Alonso, B., Sola, Í. J., Varela, Ó., Hernández-Toro, J., Méndez, C., San Román, J., … Roso, L. (2010). Spatiotemporal amplitude-and-phase reconstruction by Fourier-transform of interference spectra of high-complex-beams. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 27(5), 933. doi:10.1364/josab.27.000933Lepetit, L., Chériaux, G., & Joffre, M. (1995). Linear techniques of phase measurement by femtosecond spectral interferometry for applications in spectroscopy. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 12(12), 2467. doi:10.1364/josab.12.002467Kavehrad, M., & Hamzeh, B. Y. (2004). Ultrashort-pulsed FSO communication system with wavelet fractal modulation. Performance, Quality of Service, and Control of Next-Generation Communication Networks II. doi:10.1117/12.57067

Hábitos de estudio en la Universidad la Paz (Paraguay)

El propósito de la siguiente investigación ha sido analizar los hábitos de estudio en los universitarios paraguayos. Han participado 521 sujetos, 187 hombres y 334 mujeres. Se ha empleado el cuestionario Perfil General del Universitario: el oficio del estudiante. Los resultados presentan que los estudiantes tienen malos hábitos de estudio, le dedican poco tiempo y, en su mayoría, compagina trabajo y estudio. La presente investigación confirmó que sí hay malos hábitos de estudio, el estudiante trabaja y además considera que entre 1 y 5 horas de estudio semanales son suficientes, esto se convierte en un factor de riesgo de bajo rendimiento

Novelty, challenge, and practice:The impact of intensive language learning on attentional functions

We investigated the impact of a short intensive language course on attentional functions. We examined 33 participants of a one-week Scottish Gaelic course and compared them to 34 controls: 16 active controls who participated in courses of comparable duration and intensity but not involving foreign language learning and 18 passive controls who followed their usual routines. Participants completed auditory tests of attentional inhibition and switching. There was no difference between the groups in any measures at the beginning of the course. At the end of the course, a significant improvement in attention switching was observed in the language group (p < .001) but not the control group (p = .127), independent of the age of participants (18-78 years). Half of the language participants (n = 17) were retested nine months after their course. All those who practiced Gaelic 5 hours or more per week improved from their baseline performance. In contrast, those who practiced 4 hours or fewer showed an inconsistent pattern: some improved while others stayed the same or deteriorated. Our results suggest that even a short period of intensive language learning can modulate attentional functions and that all age groups can benefit from this effect. Moreover, these short-term effects can be maintained through continuous practice

Amyloid-b peptide on sialyl-LewisX-selectin-mediated membrane tether mechanics at the cerebral endothelial cell surface

Increased deposition of amyloid-b peptide (Ab) at the cerebral endothelial cell (CEC) surface has been implicated in enhancement of transmigration of monocytes across the brain blood barrier (BBB) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study, quantitative immunofluorescence microscopy (QIM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) with cantilevers biofunctionalized by sialyl-Lewisx (sLex) were employed to investigate Ab-altered mechanics of membrane tethers formed by bonding between sLex and p-selectin at the CEC surface, the initial mechanical step governing the transmigration of monocytes. QIM results indicated the ability for Ab to increase p-selectin expression at the cell surface and promote actin polymerization in both bEND3 cells (immortalized mouse CECs) and human primary CECs. AFM data also showed the ability for Ab to increase cell stiffness and adhesion probability in bEND3 cells. On the contrary, Ab lowered the overall force of membrane tether formation (Fmtf), and produced a bimodal population of Fmtf, suggesting subcellular mechanical alterations in membrane tethering. The lower Fmtf population was similar to the results obtained from cells treated with an F-actin-disrupting drug, latrunculin A. Indeed, AFM results also showed that both Ab and latrunculin A decreased membrane stiffness, suggesting a lower membrane-cytoskeleton adhesion, a factor resulting in lower Fmtf. In addition, these cerebral endothelial alterations induced by Ab were abrogated by lovastatin, consistent with its anti-inflammatory effects. In sum, these results demonstrated the ability for Ab to enhance p-selectin expression at the CEC surface and induce cytoskeleton reorganization, which in turn, resulted in changes in membrane-cytoskeleton adhesion and membrane tethering, mechanical factors important in transmigration of monocytes through the BBB.This work was supported by Alzheimer Association Grant NIRG-06-24448; NIH Grant 1P01 AG18357, R21NS052385, 5R21AG032579 and in part by 1P01HL095486 and AHA 0835676N; ‘‘Bolashak’’ scholarship and Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan 1029/GF2. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Understanding different dominance patterns in western Amazonian forests

Dominance of neotropical tree communities by a few species is widely documented, but dominant trees show a variety of distributional patterns still poorly understood. Here, we used 503 forest inventory plots (93,719 individuals ≥2.5 cm diameter, 2609 species) to explore the relationships between local abundance, regional frequency and spatial aggregation of dominant species in four main habitat types in western Amazonia. Although the abundance-occupancy relationship is positive for the full dataset, we found that among dominant Amazonian tree species, there is a strong negative relationship between local abundance and regional frequency and/or spatial aggregation across habitat types. Our findings suggest an ecological trade-off whereby dominant species can be locally abundant (local dominants) or regionally widespread (widespread dominants), but rarely both (oligarchs). Given the importance of dominant species as drivers of diversity and ecosystem functioning, unravelling different dominance patterns is a research priority to direct conservation efforts in Amazonian forests.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe