Contemporary English in the USA

Indigenous and immigrant speakers from a variety of linguistic and sociocultural backgrounds have in different ways contributed to the development of present day American English, as have the geographical and social dimensions of the country. This paper provides a survey of contemporary usage of American English by describing and illustrating linguistic features documented for social and regional groups in the United States. The focus on variation in pronunciation, grammar, and meaning in American English highlights the diversity of dialects and styles in the U.S. as well as the centrality of sociocultural identities to language use. We group examples of variation according to the social and geographical factors that these features have been associated with in the literature: region, age, ethnicity, and gender. We note though that patterns of linguistic usage differ both within and across communities, with particular features used by different social groups for shifting purposes. The examples here provide a snapshot of the kinds of variation observed in contemporary American English as we move into the 21st century

Contemporary English in the USA

Indigenous and immigrant speakers from a variety of linguistic and sociocultural backgrounds have in diff erent ways contributed to the development of presentday American English, as have the geographical and social dimensions of thecountry. This paper provides a survey of contemporary usage of American English by describing and illustrating linguistic features documented for social and regional groups in the United States. The focus on variation in pronunciation, grammar, and meaning in American English highlights the diversity of dialects and styles in the U.S. as well as the centrality of sociocultural identities to language use. We group examples of variation according to the social and geographical factors that these features have been associated with in the literature: region, age, ethnicity, and gender. We note though that patterns of linguistic usage differ both within and across communities, with particular features used by diff erent social groups for shifting purposes. The examples here provide a snapshot of the kinds of variation observed in contemporary American English as we move into the 21st century

Contemporary English in the USA

Indigenous and immigrant speakers from a variety of linguistic and sociocultural backgrounds have in diff erent ways contributed to the development of presentday American English, as have the geographical and social dimensions of thecountry. This paper provides a survey of contemporary usage of American English by describing and illustrating linguistic features documented for social and regional groups in the United States. The focus on variation in pronunciation, grammar, and meaning in American English highlights the diversity of dialects and styles in the U.S. as well as the centrality of sociocultural identities to language use. We group examples of variation according to the social and geographical factors that these features have been associated with in the literature: region, age, ethnicity, and gender. We note though that patterns of linguistic usage differ both within and across communities, with particular features used by diff erent social groups for shifting purposes. The examples here provide a snapshot of the kinds of variation observed in contemporary American English as we move into the 21st century

SN 2009bb: a Peculiar Broad-Lined Type Ic Supernova

Ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared photometry and optical spectroscopy of the broad-lined Type Ic supernova (SN) 2009bb are presented, following the flux evolution from -10 to +285 days past B-band maximum. Thanks to the very early discovery, it is possible to place tight constraints on the SN explosion epoch. The expansion velocities measured from near maximum spectra are found to be only slightly smaller than those measured from spectra of the prototype broad-lined SN 1998bw associated with GRB 980425. Fitting an analytical model to the pseudo-bolometric light curve of SN 2009bb suggests that 4.1+-1.9 Msun of material was ejected with 0.22 +-0.06 Msun of it being 56Ni. The resulting kinetic energy is 1.8+-0.7x10^52 erg. This, together with an absolute peak magnitude of MB=-18.36+-0.44, places SN 2009bb on the energetic and luminous end of the broad-lined Type Ic (SN Ic) sequence. Detection of helium in the early time optical spectra accompanied with strong radio emission, and high metallicity of its environment makes SN 2009bb a peculiar object. Similar to the case for GRBs, we find that the bulk explosion parameters of SN 2009bb cannot account for the copious energy coupled to relativistic ejecta, and conclude that another energy reservoir (a central engine) is required to power the radio emission. Nevertheless, the analysis of the SN 2009bb nebular spectrum suggests that the failed GRB detection is not imputable to a large angle between the line-of-sight and the GRB beamed radiation. Therefore, if a GRB was produced during the SN 2009bb explosion, it was below the threshold of the current generation of gamma-ray instruments.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

The transcriptional co-activator LEDGF/p75 displays a dynamic scan-and-lock mechanism for chromatin tethering

Nearly all cellular and disease related functions of the transcriptional co-activator lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF/p75) involve tethering of interaction partners to chromatin via its conserved integrase binding domain (IBD), but little is known about the mechanism of in vivo chromatin binding and tethering. In this work we studied LEDGF/p75 in real-time in living HeLa cells combining different quantitative fluorescence techniques: spot fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (sFRAP) and half-nucleus fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (hnFRAP), continuous photobleaching, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and an improved FCS method to study diffusion dependence of chromatin binding, tunable focus FCS. LEDGF/p75 moves about in nuclei of living cells in a chromatin hopping/scanning mode typical for transcription factors. The PWWP domain of LEDGF/p75 is necessary, but not sufficient for in vivo chromatin binding. After interaction with HIV-1 integrase via its IBD, a general protein–protein interaction motif, kinetics of LEDGF/p75 shift to 75-fold larger affinity for chromatin. The PWWP is crucial for locking the complex on chromatin. We propose a scan-and-lock model for LEDGF/p75, unifying paradoxical notions of transcriptional co-activation and lentiviral integration targeting

Serrano (Sano) Functions with the Planar Cell Polarity Genes to Control Tracheal Tube Length

Epithelial tubes are the functional units of many organs, and proper tube geometry is crucial for organ function. Here, we characterize serrano (sano), a novel cytoplasmic protein that is apically enriched in several tube-forming epithelia in Drosophila, including the tracheal system. Loss of sano results in elongated tracheae, whereas Sano overexpression causes shortened tracheae with reduced apical boundaries. Sano overexpression during larval and pupal stages causes planar cell polarity (PCP) defects in several adult tissues. In Sano-overexpressing pupal wing cells, core PCP proteins are mislocalized and prehairs are misoriented; sano loss or overexpression in the eye disrupts ommatidial polarity and rotation. Importantly, Sano binds the PCP regulator Dishevelled (Dsh), and loss or ectopic expression of many known PCP proteins in the trachea gives rise to similar defects observed with loss or gain of sano, revealing a previously unrecognized role for PCP pathway components in tube size control

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

Using BEA to Select Skill and/or Performance Interventions for Oral Reading Fluency

Color poster with text, charts, and graphs.This project examined how Brief experimental analysis (BEA) procedures could be used to identify potentially effective skill and/or performance-based interventions targeting reading fluency for 10 students (grades 1-5) who demonstrated inadequate reading performance during the school year. In addition, an extended analysis was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the indicated intervention over time when used within the context of a comprehensive reading instructional package delivered during a summer reading program. Results indicated that a promising intervention was identified for each participant. In addition, the intervention led to large gains in words read correctly per minute during the reading program on intervention passages. Variable results were seen on generalization passages. These results extend the literature on BEA by demonstrating its use with interventions utilizing skill and/or performance-based interventions. The results also demonstrate how BEA-indicted interventions can be used within the context of a comprehensive instructional package for struggling readers during the summer.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program