The acquisition of consonants in first language development

This thesis reports on the longitudinal study of consonant production in fifteen typically-developing monolingual children living in the south-east of England acquiring non-rhotic accents of British English. The data relate to the consonant patterns found in spontaneous speech production as recorded in individual diaries kept by caregivers. The study follows two lines of enquiry. Firstly, the speech data are analysed to chart the emergence of English consonants in relation to phonemic targets. Separate analysis of the production of initial and final singletons and cluster consonants is undertaken. This reveals word-position asymmetries in the production of consonants and consonant classes, and identifies the classes and the contexts in which consonants are most avoided. Secondly, the speech data are analysed further for evidence of word-position bias in the use of the simplification processes identified in O’Neal (1998) as features of two discrete phonological profiles. Children who demonstrate tendencies towards either of these profiles in their patterns of consonant deletion, fronting, stopping and reduplication are identified, and their profiles compared and contrasted with those of other monolingual English-learning children

Quantitative Genetic Studies of a Sorghum Cross

Crop Scienc

Mutations Resulting from Radiation of Sorglluh Seeds by Gamma Rays

Agronomy (Field Crops

The Effect of Hair Color on the Incorporation of Codeine into Human Hair

The influence of melanin on the binding of xenobiotics in hair will impact the interpretation of drug concentrations determined by hair testing. The purpose of this study was to determine if codeine, as a model compound of abused drugs, would be incorporated into black, brown, blond, or red hair as a function of melanin concentration. Such data would assist in the interpretation of codeine concentrations in hair and help elucidate the potential influence of hair color on incorporation of drugs. Male and female Caucasians with black (n = 6), brown (n = 12), blond (n = 8), or red hair (n = 6) and non-Caucasians with black hair (n = 12) aged 21-40 years were enrolled in the study. Each subject was administered oral codeine phosphate syrup in a dosage of 30 mg three times a day for five days. Twenty-four hours after the end of the treatment period, a 30-mg codeine dose was administered and the subject's plasma area under the concentration time curve (AUC) for codeine was determined. Codeine and melanin were measured in the first 3 cm of hair closest to the vertex region of the scalp prior to and 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 weeks after dosing. The quantitative and qualitative melanin profiles were determined for each subjects hair to provide an objective measure of hair color. The plasma concentrations of codeine were measured to eliminate differences in the bioavailability and clearance of codeine as factors that might account for the differences in codeine hair concentrations. The subjects were asked not to cut their hair in the vertex region of the scalp or to use any form of chemical treatment on their hair, but otherwise normal hygienic measures were permitted. The mean (± SE) hair codeine concentrations 5 weeks after dosing were 1429 (± 249) pg/mg in black hair; 208 (± 17) pg/mg in brown hair; 99 (± 10) pg/mg in blond hair; and 69 (± 11) in red hair pg/mg. In black hair, codeine concentrations were 2564 (± 170) pg/mg for Asians and 865 (± 162) pg/mg for Caucasians. Similar concentration relationships were observed at weeks 4, 6, and 7. A strong relationship between the hair concentrations of codeine and melanin (R2 = 0.73) was observed. Normalization of the codeine concentration with the melanin concentration reduced the hair color differences observed. These data demonstrate that the interpretation and reporting of hair test results for codeine are influenced by hair color. After this dosing protocol, the proposed federal guideline cutoff of 200 pg/mg of codeine would result in 100% of subjects with black hair and 50% of subjects with brown hair being reported as positive, and subjects with blond or red hair would be reported as negative. The incorporation of these drugs into hair should be studied carefully in humans to ensure the appropriate interpretation of drug concentration

CRUSER: Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research

Brochure promoting the CRUSER programs.Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Californi

Environmental impact assessments should include rigorous scientific peer review

Twenty USA states or jurisdictions and 125 nations have modeled national environmental policies after the National Environmental Policy Act. That act mandates that federal agencies initiate environmental impact statements (EISs) when substantive environmental or human health consequences are likely because of an agency action related to proposed development projects. The science used to inform the EIS process, however, does not require independent scientific peer review (ISPR) in the USA or most other nations. But ISPR is needed for governments to accurately inform the EIS decision-making and public reporting processes. Instead, science is routinely manipulated during EIS reviews to generate expedient project outcomes with substantially negative ecological, political, and long-term economic consequences. We provide four examples of EISs that lack ISPR, as well as four examples where reviews by independent scientists were helpful to improve agency decisions. We also recommend that independent scientists (no affiliation with the project proponents or agencies overseeing projects) be used to help assess potential environmental and socio-economic impacts, as well as offer appropriate risk assessments, study designs, and monitoring timeframes. We conclude that nations should convene formal reviews using independent scientists as a form of peer review in the EIS process