11 research outputs found
Towards a distributed connectionist account of cognates and interlingual homographs: evidence from semantic relatedness tasks
BACKGROUND: Current models of how bilinguals process cognates (e.g., âwolfâ, which has the same meaning in Dutch and English) and interlingual homographs (e.g., âangelâ, meaning âinsectâs stingâ in Dutch) are based primarily on data from lexical decision tasks. A major drawback of such tasks is that it is difficultâif not impossibleâto separate processes that occur during decision making (e.g., response competition) from processes that take place in the lexicon (e.g., lateral inhibition). Instead, we conducted two English semantic relatedness judgement experiments. METHODS: In Experiment 1, highly proficient DutchâEnglish bilinguals (N = 29) and English monolinguals (N = 30) judged the semantic relatedness of word pairs that included a cognate (e.g., âwolfâââhowlâ; n = 50), an interlingual homograph (e.g., âangelâââheavenâ; n = 50) or an English control word (e.g., âcarrotâââvegetableâ; n = 50). In Experiment 2, another group of highly proficient DutchâEnglish bilinguals (N = 101) read sentences in Dutch that contained one of those cognates, interlingual homographs or the Dutch translation of one of the English control words (e.g., âwortelâ for âcarrotâ) approximately 15 minutes prior to completing the English semantic relatedness task. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, there was an interlingual homograph inhibition effect of 39 ms only for the bilinguals, but no evidence for a cognate facilitation effect. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and also revealed that cross-lingual long-term priming had an opposite effect on the cognates and interlingual homographs: recent experience with a cognate in Dutch speeded processing of those items 15 minutes later in English but slowed processing of interlingual homographs. However, these priming effects were smaller than previously observed using a lexical decision task. CONCLUSION: After comparing our results to studies in both the bilingual and monolingual domain, we argue that bilinguals appear to process cognates and interlingual homographs as monolinguals process polysemes and homonyms, respectively. In the monolingual domain, processing of such words is best modelled using distributed connectionist frameworks. We conclude that it is necessary to explore the viability of such a model for the bilingual case
Recent experience with cognates and interlingual homographs in one language affects subsequent processing in another language
This experiment shows that recent experience in one language influences subsequent processing of the same word-forms in a different language. DutchâEnglish bilinguals read Dutch sentences containing DutchâEnglish cognates and interlingual homographs, which were presented again 16 minutes later in isolation in an English lexical decision task. Priming produced faster responses for the cognates but slower responses for the interlingual homographs. These results show that language switching can influence bilingual speakers at the level of individual words, and require models of bilingual word recognition (e.g. BIA+) to allow access to word meanings to be modulated by recent experience
Personalized medicine: new genomics, old lessons
Personalized medicine uses traditional, as well as emerging concepts of the genetic and environmental basis of disease to individualize prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Personalized genomics plays a vital, but not exclusive role in this evolving model of personalized medicine. The distinctions between genetic and genomic medicine are more quantitative than qualitative. Personalized genomics builds on principles established by the integration of genetics into medical practice. Principles shared by genetic and genomic aspects of medicine, include the use of variants as markers for diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, as well as targets for treatment, the use of clinically validated variants that may not be functionally characterized, the segregation of these variants in non-Mendelian as well as Mendelian patterns, the role of geneâenvironment interactions, the dependence on evidence for clinical utility, the critical translational role of behavioral science, and common ethical considerations. During the current period of transition from investigation to practice, consumers should be protected from harms of premature translation of research findings, while encouraging the innovative and cost-effective application of those genomic discoveries that improve personalized medical care
Hydrogel-based scaffolds to support intrathecal stem cell transplantation as a gateway to the spinal cord: clinical needs, biomaterials, and imaging technologies
The prospects for cell replacement in spinal cord diseases are impeded by inefficient stem
cell delivery. The deep location of the spinal cord and complex surgical access, as well as
densely packed vital structures, question the feasibility of the widespread use of multiple
spinal cord punctures to inject stem cells. Disorders characterized by disseminated
pathology are particularly appealing for the distribution of cells globally throughout the
spinal cord in a minimally invasive fashion. The intrathecal space, with access to a
relatively large surface area along the spinal cord, is an attractive route for global stem cell
delivery, and, indeed, is highly promising, but the success of this approach relies on the
ability of cells 1) to survive in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), 2) to adhere to the spinal cord
surface, and 3) to migrate, ultimately, into the parenchyma. Intrathecal infusion of cell
suspension, however, has been insufficient and we postulate that embedding
transplanted cells within hydrogel scaffolds will facilitate reaching these goals. In this
review, we focus on practical considerations that render the intrathecal approach clinically
viable, and then discuss the characteristics of various biomaterials that are suitable to
serve as scaffolds. We also propose strategies to modulate the local microenvironment
with nanoparticle carriers to improve the functionality of cellular grafts. Finally, we
provide an overview of imaging modalities for in vivo monitoring and characterization of
biomaterials and stem cells. This comprehensive review should serve as a guide for those
planning pre-clinical and clinical studies on intrathecal stem cell transplantation.Funds provided under the project NanoTech4ALS (ref. ENMed/0008/2015, 13/EuroNanoMed/2016), funded under the EU FP7 M-ERA.NET program, Strategmed 1/233209/12/NCBIR/2015, and NIH R01 NS091100. The FCT distinction attributed to J.M.O. under the Investigator FCT program (IF/01285/2015) is also gratefully acknowledgedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio