Non-Native Speaker Perception of Native Speaker Dialect Authenticity and Implications for Pedagogy

Extensive research has been conducted on second language acquisition and its perceived limits. Many will argue that these limitations, such as age of acquisition, can be counterbalanced by certain factors of motivation. If an individual has an internal desire for native-like use of the language, then hypothetically they should be better equipped to reach such a level. But how do these motivational factors develop, and what factors from the learning environment could be responsible for fostering them? This study was designed to explore the influence of non-native speaker perception of native speaker dialect authenticity and its implications for pedagogy. If an individual perceives a dialect to be more authentic than another, could this influence their desire to obtain a manner of pronunciation similar to the favored dialect, as directed by their perceived future L2 self? It was hypothesized that the dialects that differ more from neutral Spanish—in other words, those that exhibit more distinct phonemes—would be deemed more authentic and would be used as a personal basis for measuring and directing acquisition. Statistical analysis showed significant correlations between dialectal preference and those who have Spanish-speaking family and friends, as well as those who intend to study abroad. These results suggest that students who are not exposed to specific dialects prior to formal education may not be fully aware of dialectal variance and as such they may not be able to make an educated decision in their own pronunciation acquisition

The Effects of Social Proof Through Social Media on Perceptions of Responsibility

Situational crisis communication theory, also referred to as SCCT, is a central and very well-developed theory in the field of crisis communication. The goal of SCCT is to create a response strategy based on stakeholders’ levels of attributions of responsibility. SCCT states there are two main factors stakeholders take into consideration when attributing responsibility to an organization in crisis: crisis type and performance history. While the previously stated factors are very important, the progressive development of social media is not taken into consideration in this theory, specifically the use of social proof through social media channels. According to the principle of social proof, individuals look to the responses of others to determine what constitutes an appropriate action, behavior, opinion, or decision. The following study set out to prove the use of social proof through social media channels is potentially a third factor to take into consideration when determining stakeholders’ levels of attribution of responsibility. This study employed the use of an independent samples t-test to compare the means of the two conditions, high social proof and low social proof to measure individuals’ levels of attribution of responsibility. The hypothesis predicted participants in the high social proof condition would attribute greater responsibility to an organization in crisis than participants in the low social proof condition. The hypothesis was not supported but two main factors potentially contributed to the insignificant results

An artificial neural network system to identify alleles in reference electropherograms

© 2017 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (July 2017) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyElectropherograms are produced in great numbers in forensic DNA laboratories as part of everyday criminal casework. Before the results of these electropherograms can be used they must be scrutinised by analysts to determine what the identified data tells them about the underlying DNA sequences and what is purely an artefact of the DNA profiling process. This process of interpreting the electropherograms can be time consuming and is prone to subjective differences between analysts. Recently it was demonstrated that artificial neural networks could be used to classify information within an electropherogram as allelic (i.e. representative of a DNA fragment present in the DNA extract) or as one of several different categories of artefactual fluorescence that arise as a result of generating an electropherogram. We extend that work here to demonstrate a series of algorithms and artificial neural networks that can be used to identify peaks on an electropherogram and classify them. We demonstrate the functioning of the system on several profiles and compare the results to a leading commercial DNA profile reading system

Effect of Early Intervention with Combination Ledipasvir/Sofosbuvir (Harvoni®) in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection

In the United States, hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common bloodborne infection with an estimated prevalence of 3.2 million people. Although new cases of HCV are declining since the 1980s there are still approximately 17,000 new cases diagnosed each year. There are multiple risk factors, however, in the United States the most common mode of transmission is intravenous drug use. Among infected individuals, approximately 55-85% will develop a chronic HCV infection. In this population, the risk of cirrhosis of the liver is 15-30% within 20 years and morbidity can be significant. HCV infection has become the most frequent reason for hepatologic consultation and the single leading indication for hepatic transplantation, accounting for 30% of such procedures in the United States. Until late 2013, the treatment of choice for chronic HCV was pegylated interferon-α plus ribavirin, which achieved a cure rate of 54%-63%. Recently, novel antiviral drugs that specifically target HCV have provided better options in HCV treatment. Use of ledipasvir, an HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitor in combination with sofosbuvir, a nucleotide analog HCV NS5B polymerase inhibitor, in patients with chronic HCV, achieves high rates of sustained viral response (SVR) with just 12-weeks of treatment. A fixed-dose combination of ledipasvir-sofosbuvir (90mg/400mg), or Harvoni® was approved for treatment of chronic HCV genotypes 1,4,5, and 6. Although extremely successful, the use of this medication is inhibited by high costs, upwards of $90,000 for each 12-week treatment

Children\u27s Identity Construction in a Multicultural Setting.

The study of cultural identity has thus far been rather unidimensional, portraying a child as a member of a single cultural group that has a homogeneous culture. Over the past twenty-five years, much of the research on the relationship between culture and education has looked at children\u27s educational processes through the lens of group membership. This study examined six children from different cultures as they constructed their own identities within the multicultural classroom environment over the period of a year. It was designed to examine how individual children take on cultural ways that are associated with other cultural groups and thereby expand their concepts of self. This multiple-case, qualitative research addressed the following questions: (a) How do students perceive their own identities in a multicultural setting? (b) To what extent do children identify with cultural roots distinct from their own? and (c) How do social identifications change over time as students become immersed in the classroom culture? Results indicated that cultural identity is an additive process, and the role of the teacher is central in helping a diverse group find personal voice and positive interrelationships

33778 The impact and implications of COVID-19 on using scalp cooling therapy for prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia

Background: Scalp cooling therapy (SCT) is currently the most effective method to reduce chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Manual SCT requires a “capper” to change the caps throughout the infusion day whereas machine SCT only requires a 1-time cap fitting prior to infusion, usually performed by the health care staff. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brought restrictions on permitted infusion center visitors, which we hypothesized would include “cappers,” creating an additional barrier to SCT use. Methods: A scripted call was placed during May 2021 by a study author to infusion centers of Commission on Cancer (CoC) accredited hospitals in Michigan, New York City (NYC) and major cities in Texas in order to investigate how COVID-19 impacted SCT at their institution. The University of Michigan’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) deemed this study exempt from IRB approval. Results: Forty-one infusion centers were successfully contacted (40/62, 64.5%). Of the 33 that allow SCT, 41% (14) did not allow “cappers” under COVID-19 restrictions. Of the 13 institutions offering machine SCT, 92% (12/13) allowed patients to continue using the machines during the pandemic as it does not require an outside “capper.” Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the negative impact of COVID-19 on manual SCT use. As COVID-19 is likely here for the foreseeable future, it is critical to find ways to safely use SCT during these times. Hence, hospital adoption of SCT machines is even more critical given the pandemic, particularly for those of lower socioeconomic status and without strong social support

Blue-Throated Hummingbird Song: A Pinnacle of Nonoscine Vocalizations

Little is known about the structure and function of hummingbird vocalizations. We studied the vocalizations of Blue-throated Hummingbirds (Lampornis clemenciae) at two sites in southeastern Arizona. Songs were produced by males and females. Male songs consisted of arrays of notes organized in clusters of ‘‘song units.’’ Within sites, all males shared the same song units. Individual differences occurred in some temporal aspects of song, and slight but consistent differences in note structure occurred between the two sites. The organization of units within songs was marked by rigid syntax, and long songs were produced by agglutination of units. Male songs may function in territorial advertisement and mate attraction. Female songs were very different acoustically from those of males and typically were given when females were within a few centimeters of a male. In these situations, the female’s song often overlapped temporally with the male’s song. Of the hummingbird species studied so far, the Blue-throated Hummingbird has the most complex songs and is the only known species with complex female songs. Blue-throated Hummingbirds show convergence with oscines in vocal complexity, song organization, song function, and possible learning of some song elements

Encapsulation system for the immunoisolation of living cells

The present invention is drawn to a composition of matter comprising high viscosity sodium alginate, cellulose sulfate and a multi-component polycation. Additionally, the present invention provides methods for making capsules, measuring capsule permeability to immunologically-relevant proteins and treating disease in an animal using encapsulated cells. Over one thousand combinations of polyanions and polycations were examined as polymer candidates suitable for encapsulation of living cells and thirty-three pairs were effective. The combination of sodium alginate, cellulose sulfate, poly(methylene-co-guanidine) hydrochloride, calcium chloride, and sodium chloride produced the most desirable results. Pancreatic islets encapsulated in this multicomponent capsule demonstrated glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vitro and reversed diabetes without stimulating immune reaction in mice. The capsule formulation and system of the present invention allows independent adjustments of capsule size, wall thickness, mechanical strength and permeability, and offers distinct advantages for immunoisolating cells