Hunsrik-xraywe. A new way in lexicography of the german language island in southern Brazil

Verschriftlichung des Dialekts wird immer als problematisch angesehen. Man könnte durchaus sagen, dass so viele dialektale Schreibweisen vorhanden sind, wie viele DialektsprecherInnen es überhaupt gibt. Das gilt gleichermaßen für die Dialekte des geschlossenen deutschsprachigen Raums in Europa und die Dialekt`Sprachinseln in Übersee wie Riograndenser Hunsrückisch in Brasilien. Allerdings um eine Sprachvarietät zu standardisieren, sollen auch feste, allgemeingültige Normen im Bereich der Orthographie und Graphematik aufgestellt werden. Standardisierung, Weitverbreitung und Popularisierung der dialektalen Varietät ist das Anliegen der Equipe Hunsrik, die sich dafür einsetzt, die in Rio Grande do Sul (Südbrasilien) gesprochene Varietät des Deutschen, Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, als offizielle regionale Amtssprache bzw. Bildungssprache zu beschließen. In diesem Betreff entwickelte das Projektteam aus Santa Maria do Herval eine an das Brasilianische Portugiesische angelehnte Schreibweise, die im dialektalen Bildwörterbuch Meine! ëyerste 100 Hunsrik wërter (2010) dargelegt wird. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird einerseits das Wörterbuch präsentiert und andererseits die entwickelte Norm des Hunsrik!xraywe ‘Hunsrik`Schreibens’ näher gebracht bzw. diese mit anderen in Südbrasilien verwendeten Schriftsystemen verglichen.Written approaches for orally traded dialects can always be seen controversial. One could say that there are as many forms of writing a dialect as there are speakers of that dialect. This is not only true for the different dialectal varieties of German that exist in Europe, but also in dialect language islands on other continents such as the Riograndese Hunsrik in Brazil. For the standardization of a language variety there must be some determined, general norms regarding orthography and graphemics. Equipe Hunsrik works on the standardization, expansion, and dissemination of the German dialect variety spoken in Rio Grande do Sul (South Brazil). The main concerns of the project are the insertion of Riograndese Hunsrik as official community language of Rio Grande do Sul that is also taught at school. Therefore, the project team from Santa Maria do Herval developed a writing approach that is based on the Portuguese grapheme inventory. It is used in the picture dictionary Meine ëyerste 100 Hunsrik wërter (2010). This article discusses the picture dictionary in detail and presents the newly developed norm of! Hunsrik! xraywe ‘writing in Hunsrik’. Also a short comparison to other writing approaches used in Southern Brazil is given

Maternal Depression, Parenting Behaviors and Child Development: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial

We evaluate the impacts of maternal depression on children's skill accumulation, exploiting randomized variation in depression created by a cluster-randomized control trial that provided cognitive behavioral therapy to women in rural Pakistan who were diagnosed as depressed in pregnancy. We conducted a followup study when the children were age 7 and assessed their cognitive, socio-emotional and physical development, parental investments in children, indicators of the quality of parenting, and of the home environment. The intervention was successful in reducing maternal depression and this effect was sustained. We also find that treated mothers exhibit better parenting behaviors, provide a better home environment and invest more in their children's education. We nevertheless find, on average, no detectible effects on children's cognitive, socio-emotional or physical development at age 7. We show that this is not because of differential attrition, differential shocks to treated vs control clusters or low power. With the odd exception, we find no evidence that the average results conceal large effects in relevant sub-samples, or in a segment of the distribution of outcomes. Since we find reinforcing parental investments in many domains in the treated group, it is also unlikely that the results are explained by unobserved compensating investments in the control group. We conclude that there are possibly positive but latent effects of the intervention that may be detectible in later life

Molecular characterization of an HIV-1 drug target and antiviral compound development

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus -1 (HIV-1) has been the source of substantial human misery since it was first discovered in the early 1980s. Despite remarkable progress that has been made towards understanding HIV- 1, there is no cure, no vaccine and life-prolonging therapies are beyond the reach of millions in need. Our research sought to both gain insight into potential therapeutic targets as well as the preclinical testing of drug candidates. We demonstrate that a RhoA derived peptide is an effective inhibitor of HIV-1 entry. Although this peptide inhibits HIV-1 due to its poly-anionic nature, it nevertheless demonstrates that endogenous host proteins may be repurposed for novel therapeutic uses. We also characterized the mechanism and effectiveness of Basant, a polyherbal topical microbicide candidate for the prevention of HIV-1 transmission. Our data demonstrate that it inhibits the entry of both CCR5 and CXCR4 tropic HIV-1 at non-toxic concentrations. Finally, data is presented on the characterization of a novel HIV-1 protein expressed from an alternative reading frame of the HIV-1 polymerase gene. We demonstrate that this protein is localized to the nucleolus and is likely expressed from a novel HIV-1 transcript. This work lays the foundation for further studies to target this protein for drug development.Keywords: Antiviral, Microbicide, HIV-

Syntactic change from Early New High German to New High German on the example analysis of the play “The noble Charcoal Burner”

Das 17. Jh. bedeutet in der Sprachgeschichte des Deutschen den Bruch zwischen dem Frühneuhochdeutschen und dem Neuhochdeutschen. Aus linguistischer Sicht sind also schriftliche Quellen, die zu dieser Zeit entstanden sind, von besonderem Interesse, weil sie zumindest theoretisch die Merkmale beider Sprachstufen vereinigen und somit auf einen sprachlichen Wandel hindeuten. Dies betrifft auf jeden Fall den nicht vor allzu langer Zeit aufgefundenen Text „Der durchlauchtige Kohlenbrenner“, der laut Angaben des Autors Adam Christoph Schüler im Jahre 1670 verfasst wurde. Im Fokus dieses Beitrags stehen vielfältige syntaktische Phänomene, wie etwa Genitiv, Kongruenz, periphrastische Konstruktionen, Verbstellung, Ersatzinfinitiv, Sprachreduktion, expletives es bzw. Genuswechsel. Das Ziel ist, anhand konkreter Belege aus dem Theaterstück aufzuzeigen, in welchem Bereich der syntaktische Wandel bereits stattfand bzw. inwieweit fortgeschritten er zur Entstehungszeit des Werks war.       The 17th century marks a break in the history of the German language between the Early New High German and the New High German. From a linguistic point of view written sources from this time are from special interest because theoretically they should combine characteristics of both periods and therefore indicate the linguistic change. A manuscript that was found recently is called “Der durchlauchtige Kohlenbrenner” (“The noble Charcoal Burner”) and which is dated by its author Adam Christoph Schüler into the year 1670. The focus of this work are syntactic phenomena such as genitive, concord, periphrastic constructs, position of the verb, infinitivus pro participio, reduction, expletive es, or genus alteration. The aim is to show syntactic change on explicit samples of the plays text. Which fields are already affected by a syntactic change and how far advanced in change are each syntactic sectors at the time of the plays first release

Interaction of the human respiratory Syncytial virus matrix protein with cellular adaptor protein complex 3 plays a critical role in trafficking

Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (HRSV) is a leading cause of bronchopneumonia in infants and the elderly. To date, knowledge of viral and host protein interactions within HRSV is limited and are critical areas of research. Here, we show that HRSV Matrix (M) protein interacts with the cellular adaptor protein complex 3 specifically via its medium subunit (AP-3Mu3A). This novel protein-protein interaction was first detected via yeast-two hybrid screen and was further confirmed in a mammalian system by immunofluorescence colocalization and co-immunoprecipitation. This novel interaction is further substantiated by the presence of a known tyrosine-based adaptor protein MU subunit sorting signal sequence, YXXФ: where Ф is a bulky hydrophobic residue, which is conserved across the related RSV M proteins. Analysis of point-mutated HRSV M derivatives indicated that AP-3Mu3A- mediated trafficking is contingent on the presence of the tyrosine residue within the YXXL sorting sequence at amino acids 197-200 of the M protein. AP-3Mu3A is up regulated at 24 hours post-infection in infected cells versus mock-infected HEp2 cells. Together, our data suggests that the AP-3 complex plays a critical role in the trafficking of HRSV proteins specifically matrix in epithelial cells. The results of this study add new insights and targets that may lead to the development of potential antivirals and attenuating mutations suitable for candidate vaccines in the future

Neighborhood language isolation and depressive symptoms among elderly U.S. Latinos

Purpose: Neighborhood segregation related to cultural factors, such as language use, may influence elderly Latino depression. We examined the association between neighborhood-level Spanish language segregation and individual depressive symptoms among elderly Latinos. Methods: We linked U.S. Census language use data with geocoded population-based data from 1789 elderly Latinos (mean age = 70.6 years) participating in the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (1998–2008). Neighborhood language segregation was measured with the Index of Concentration at the Extremes, which demonstrates the extent to which residents are concentrated at extremes of deprivation and privilege. We fit two-level generalized linear-mixed models with random intercepts for census tracts to quantify the association between neighborhood-level language segregation and depressive symptoms, adjusting for identified confounders. Results: After adjusting for age, sex, and nativity, residents of highly segregated Spanish-speaking neighborhoods had more depressive symptoms than those in highly segregated English-only-speaking neighborhoods (β = −4.410; 95% confidence interval [CI] = −6.851 to −1.970). This association was largely attenuated upon adjustment for individual-level education (β = −2.119; 95% CI = −4.650 to 0.413). Conclusions: Linguistically segregated communities may benefit from targeted outreach given the high depression prevalence in these neighborhoods. Furthermore, our findings suggest that limited access to fundamental social protections, such as education, may drive the segregation-depression association among U.S. Latinos. © 2018 Elsevier Inc

Increased Survivorship and Altered Cytokine Profile from Treatment of Influenza A H1N1-Infected Mice with Ekybion: A Drug Complex of Natural Extracts and Inorganic Compounds

Ekybion is a drug complex of 16 natural extracts and inorganic compounds designed to treat a variety of respiratory pathogens of bacterial and viral origin. It is licensed throughout Europe for the treatment of respiratory tract infections from equine parainfluenza type 3 and equine herpes virus type 1 in equine stables. The purpose of this paper was to test the efficacy of Ekybion on a well-developed animal model of influenza A infection and determine a mode of action. Experiments were performed with Balb/c mice infected with a lethal dose of influenza A/PR/8/34 H1N1 virus and treated with nebulized Ekybion every 8 h in a time-dependant or dose-dependant fashion. These experiments showed that mice treated prior to infection with Ekybion had a higher survival rates (~46%) compared with untreated animals (~0%). Paradoxically, these mice showed no significant difference in lung virus titer or weight loss. There was, however, a decrease in the level of GM-CSF, IL-6, and G-CSF cytokines in the lungs of Ekybion-treated, infected mice. It is possible that decreases in proinflammatory cytokines may have contributed to increased survivorship in Ekybion-treated influenza-infected mice

Recollections of Childhood Religious Identity and Behavior as a Function of Adult Religiousness

People have a strong motivation to maintain a self-concept that is coherent and consistent over time. Religion is a central source of social identity for many people, but its importance is prone to dramatic change across the life course. To maintain a consistent perception of self, recollections of one's own past religiousness may shift to better fit with the present. This study examined changes between early and middle adulthood in retrospective perceptions of religious behavior and identity in childhood. Data from a population-based birth cohort sample were matched with data from individuals who participated in at least 2 of 3 adult follow-up studies, at intervals of approximately 10 years. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association of final recollections of childhood behavior and identity with previous recollections and current religious characteristics. Consistent with the predictions of temporal self-appraisal theory, participants' perception of their religious identity as children tended to change over time to match their adult religious identity. Recollections of childhood religious behavior were more stable than recollections of religious identity, and change was unrelated to adult behavior. These results have implications for studying religious characteristics using retrospective measures, regarding their accuracy and their independence from contemporary measures

Religious service attendance and spiritual well-being are differentially associated with risk of major depression

Background: The complex relationships between religiosity, spirituality and the risk of DSM-IV depression are not well understood. Method: We investigated the independent influence of religious service attendance and two dimensions of spiritual well-being (religious and existential) on the lifetime risk of major depression. Data came from the New England Family Study (NEFS) cohort (n=918, mean age=39 years). Depression according to DSM-IV criteria was ascertained using structured diagnostic interviews. Odds ratios (ORs) for the associations between high, medium and low tertiles of spiritual well-being and for religious service attendance and the lifetime risk of depression were estimated using multiple logistic regression. Results: Religious service attendance was associated with 30% lower odds of depression. In addition, individuals in the top tertile of existential well-being had a 70% lower odds of depression compared to individuals in the bottom tertile. Contrary to our original hypotheses, however, higher levels of religious well-being were associated with 1.5 times higher odds of depression. Conclusions: Religious and existential well-being may be differentially associated with likelihood of depression. Given the complex interactions between religiosity and spirituality dimensions in relation to risk of major depression, the reliance on a single domain measure of religiosity or spirituality (e.g. religious service attendance) in research or clinical settings is discouraged

Socio-economic and racial/ethnic disparities in the nutritional quality of packaged food purchases in the USA, 2008-2018

Objective: To determine whether disparities exist in the nutritional quality of packaged foods and beverage purchases by household income, education and race/ethnicity and if they changed over time. Design: We used Nielsen Homescan, a nationally representative household panel, from 2008 to 2018 (n = 672 821 household-year observations). Multivariate, multilevel regressions were used to model the association between sociodemographic groups and a set of nutritional outcomes of public health interest, including nutrients of concern (sugar, saturated fat and Na) and calories from specific food groups (fruits, non-starchy vegetables, processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages and junk foods). Setting: Household panel survey. Participants: Approximately 60 000 households each year from the USA. Results: Disparities were found by income and education for most outcomes and widened for purchases of fruits, vegetables and the percentage of calories from sugar between 2008 and 2018. The magnitude of disparities was largest by education. Disparities between Black and White households include the consumption of processed meats and the percentage of calories from sugar, while no disparities were found between White and Hispanic households. Disparities have been largely persistent, as any significant changes over time have been substantively small. Conclusions: Policies to improve the healthfulness of packaged foods must be expanded beyond SSB taxes, and future research should focus on what mediates the relationship between education and diet so as not to exacerbate disparities