Cross-domain priming from mathematics to relative-clause attachment: a visual-world study in French

Human language processing must rely on a certain degree of abstraction, as we can produce and understand sentences that we have never produced or heard before. One way to establish syntactic abstraction is by investigating structural priming. Structural priming has been shown to be effective within a cognitive domain, in the present case, the linguistic domain. But does priming also work across different domains? In line with previous experiments, we investigated cross-domain structural priming from mathematical expressions to linguistic structures with respect to relative clause attachment in French (e.g., la fille du professeur qui habitait à Paris/the daughter of the teacher who lived in Paris). Testing priming in French is particularly interesting because it will extend earlier results established for English to a language where the baseline for relative clause attachment preferences is different form English: in English, relative clauses (RCs) tend to be attached to the local noun phrase (low attachment) while in French there is a preference for high attachment of relative clauses to the first noun phrase (NP). Moreover, in contrast to earlier studies, we applied an online-technique (visual world eye-tracking). Our results confirm cross-domain priming from mathematics to linguistic structures in French. Most interestingly, different from less mathematically adept participants, we found that in mathematically skilled participants, the effect emerged very early on (at the beginning of the relative clause in the speech stream) and is also present later (at the end of the relative clause). In line with previous findings, our experiment suggests that mathematics and language share aspects of syntactic structure at a very high-level of abstraction

Implementing a tenofovir-based first-line regimen in rural Lesotho: clinical outcomes and toxicities after two years.

The latest World Health Organization guidelines recommend replacing stavudine with tenofovir or zidovudine in first-line antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings. We report on outcomes and toxicities among patients on these different regimens in a routine treatment cohort in Lesotho

Immune compromise in HIV-1/HTLV-1 coinfection with paradoxical resolution of CD4 lymphocytosis during antiretroviral therapy: a case report

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) and human T lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) infections have complex effects on adaptive immunity, with specific tropism for, but contrasting effects on, CD4 T lymphocytes: depletion with HIV-1, proliferation with HTLV-1. Impaired T lymphocyte function occurs early in HIV-1 infection but opportunistic infections (OIs) rarely occur in the absence of CD4 lymphopenia. In the unusual case where a HIV-1 infected individual with a high CD4 count presents with recurrent OIs, a clinician is faced with the possibility of a second underlying comorbidity. We present a case of pseudo-adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) in HIV-1/HTLV-1 coinfection where the individual fulfilled Shimoyama criteria for chronic ATLL and had pulmonary Mycobacterium kansasii, despite a high CD4 lymphocyte count. However, there was no evidence of clonal T-cell proliferation by T-cell receptor gene rearrangement studies nor of monoclonal HTLV-1 integration by high-throughput sequencing. Mutually beneficial interplay between HIV-1 and HTLV-1, maintaining high level HIV-1 and HTLV-1 viremia and proliferation of poorly functional CD4 cells despite chronicity of infection is a postulated mechanism. Despite good microbiological response to antimycobacterial therapy, the patient remained systemically unwell with refractory anemia. Subsequent initiation of combined antiretroviral therapy led to paradoxical resolution of CD4 T lymphocytosis as well as HIV-1 viral suppression and decreased HTLV-1 proviral load. This is proposed to be the result of attenuation of immune activation post-HIV virological control. This case illustrates the importance of screening for HTLV-1 in HIV-1 patients with appropriate clinical presentation and epidemiological risk factors and explores mechanisms for the complex interactions on HIV-1/HTLV-1 adaptive immunity

Инновационность как фактор повышения конкурентоспособности предприятий

В умовах глобалізації та постійного загострення конкуренції основою конкурентоспроможності виступають інновації, які дозволяють країнам, що володіють інноваційними конкурентними перевагами, займати гідне місце в світовому співтоваристві.In the context of globalization and the increasing severity of competition, the core competitiveness are the innovations that allow countries that have innovative competitive advantages, to occupy a worthy place in the world community.В условиях глобализации и постоянного обострения конкуренции основой конкурентоспособности выступают инновации, которые позволяют странам, обладающих инновационными конкурентными преимуществами, занимать достойное место в мировом сообществе

Can the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target be achieved? A systematic analysis of national HIV treatment cascades

Background In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and partners set the ‘90-90-90 targets’; aiming to diagnose 90% of all HIV positive people, provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 90% of those diagnosed and achieve viral suppression for 90% of those treated, by 2020. This results in 81% of all HIV positive people on treatment and 73% of all HIV positive people achieving viral suppression. We aimed to analyse how effective national HIV treatment programmes are at meeting these targets, using HIV care continuums or cascades. Methods We searched for HIV treatment cascades for 196 countries in published papers, conference presentations, UNAIDS databases and national reports. Cascades were constructed using reliable, generalisable, recent data from national, cross-sectional and longitudinal study cohorts. Data were collected for four stages; total HIV positive people, diagnosed, on treatment and virally suppressed. The cascades were categorised as complete (four stages) or partial (3 stages), and analysed for ‘break points’ defined as a drop >10% in coverage between consecutive 90-90-90 targets. Results 69 country cascades were analysed (32 complete, 37 partial). Diagnosis (target one—90%) ranged from 87% (the Netherlands) to 11% (Yemen). Treatment coverage (target two—81% on ART) ranged from 71% (Switzerland) to 3% (Afghanistan). Viral suppression (target three—73% virally suppressed) was between 68% (Switzerland) and 7% (China). Conclusions No country analysed met the 90-90-90 targets. Diagnosis was the greatest break point globally, but the most frequent key break point for individual countries was providing ART to those diagnosed. Large disparities were identified between countries. Without commitment to standardised reporting methodologies, international comparisons are complex

Вплив зовнішньої політики Індії на безпекове середовище Південноазійського регіону. (THE INFLUENCE OF INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY ON SECURITY ENVIROMENT OF SOUTHER ASIAN REGION.)

У статті досліджуються відносини Індії з провідними країнами світу та країнами південноазійського регіону. Зосереджується увага на впливі цих відносин на безпекову ситуацію у Південній Азії. (This article investigates the relationship of India with leading countries and countries Southern Asian region. It focuses on the impact of course of of these relations on the security situation in South Asia.

The use of basalts and tuffs as ceramic materials for interior wall facing tiles

The results of study of chemical and mineralogical composition and technological properties of basalts and tuffs, explored on the territory of the Republic of Belarus are presented, and the possibility of their use as components of ceramic materials for interior wall facing tiles is established. The criterion of intensification of the sintering process of raw compositions, expressed by ratio of oxides (SiO[2]+ Al[2]O[3]) / (Fe[2]O[3]+ FeO + Na[2]O + K[2]O), is defined and the limits of its values is set, at which open porosity of the tiles reduce to 16.0–21.5%, mechanical flexural strength up to 35.0–36.5 MPa, water absorption value is 13.2–9.8%, shrinkage – 1.2–1.3%, thermal coefficient of linearexpansion (TCLE) – (6.87–7.05) · 10{–6} K{ –1}

Testing a new surfactant in a widely-used blood mimic for ultrasound flow imaging

Background: A blood-mimicking fluid developed by Ramnarine et al. has been widely used in flow phantoms for ultrasound flow imaging research, and it has also been cited by IEC 61685 as a reference for making blood-mimicking fluid.However, the surfactant material Synperonic N in this blood-mimicking fluid recipe is phased out from the European market due to environmental issues. The aim of this study is to test whether Synperonic N can be substituted by biodegradable Synperonic A7 in making blood-mimicking fluid for ultrasound flow imaging research.Methods and materials: A flow phantom was fabricated to test the blood-mimicking fluid with Synperonic N and Synperonic A7 as surfactants separately. Doppler images and velocity data were collected using a clinical ultrasound scanner under constant and pulsatile flows; and images and measured velocities were compared.Results: It was found that both blood mimics can provide exactly the same images under spectral Doppler ultrasound and colour Doppler ultrasound in terms of their image qualities. The maximum velocities under constant flow were measured by the spectral Doppler ultrasound as 0.4714 ± 0.001 m.s−1 and 0.4644 ± 0.001 m.s−1 for blood-mimicking fluid with Synperonic N and blood-mimicking fluid with Synperonic A7, respectively. Measured velocities using the two different blood-mimicking fluids were statistically different (p &lt; 0.001), but this difference was less than 2%. The Synperonic A7 can be used as a substitute for Synperonic N as a surfactant material in making the blood-mimicking fluid for ultrasound flow imaging research.</p