Testing a global city hypothesis : an assessment of polarization across US cities

Social polarization is perhaps most evident within the world's large cities where we can easily observe stark contrasts between wealth and poverty. A world city theoretical perspective has emerged that associates large cities importance in a global network of cities to the degree of internal polarization within these cities. The research reported here locates 57 large US cities within this world city hierarchy and then empirically examines the hypothesized positive association between global centrality and social polarization using a multivariate, cross-city analysis. The findings are mixed, with some evidence that global centrality increases income polarization, but only in the context of higher levels of immigration. There is no evidence that a city's centrality affects occupational polarization. We conclude by suggesting implications for the world city literature and future research

Phonemic Awareness: Do You Hear What I Hear?

This poster, created by undergraduate students, was designed to illustrate the importance of employing research based strategies when providing phonemic awareness instruction. This research explored why phonemic awareness is important for beginning readers or students who are at risk and the resources that support instruction. The authors reviewed research based articles, textbooks, and websites in order to obtain strategies, and activities proven to be beneficial in the classroom. The research suggested that phonemic awareness skills are essential for word decoding, word identification, and reading fluency. Additionally, the research indicates that the use of small groups, technology, and interactive activities enhance phonemic awareness skills. Finally, phonemic awareness instruction is essential for students’ development of phonological awareness skills

Haploinsufficiency of SF3B2 causes craniofacial microsomia

Craniofacial microsomia (CFM) is the second most common congenital facial anomaly, yet its genetic etiology remains unknown. We perform whole-exome or genome sequencing of 146 kindreds with sporadic (n = 138) or familial (n = 8) CFM, identifying a highly significant burden of loss of function variants in SF3B2 (P = 3.8 × 10−10), a component of the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex, in probands. We describe twenty individuals from seven kindreds harboring de novo or transmitted haploinsufficient variants in SF3B2. Probands display mandibular hypoplasia, microtia, facial and preauricular tags, epibulbar dermoids, lateral oral clefts in addition to skeletal and cardiac abnormalities. Targeted morpholino knockdown of SF3B2 in Xenopus results in disruption of cranial neural crest precursor formation and subsequent craniofacial cartilage defects, supporting a link between spliceosome mutations and impaired neural crest development in congenital craniofacial disease. The results establish haploinsufficient variants in SF3B2 as the most prevalent genetic cause of CFM, explaining ~3% of sporadic and ~25% of familial cases

Illusory Stimuli Can Be Used to Identify Retinal Blind Spots

Background. Identification of visual field loss in people with retinal disease is not straightforward as people with eye disease are frequently unaware of substantial deficits in their visual field, as a consequence of perceptual completion ("filling-in'') of affected areas. Methodology. We attempted to induce a compelling visual illusion known as the induced twinkle after-effect (TwAE) in eight patients with retinal scotomas. Half of these patients experience filling-in of their scotomas such that they are unaware of the presence of their scotoma, and conventional campimetric techniques can not be used to identify their vision loss. The region of the TwAE was compared to microperimetry maps of the retinal lesion. Principal Findings. Six of our eight participants experienced the TwAE. This effect occurred in three of the four people who filled-in their scotoma. The boundary of the TwAE showed good agreement with the boundary of lesion, as determined by microperimetry. Conclusion. For the first time, we have determined vision loss by asking patients to report the presence of an illusory percept in blind areas, rather than the absence of a real stimulus. This illusory technique is quick, accurate and not subject to the effects of filling-in

Damaging variants in FOXI3 cause microtia and craniofacial microsomia

Q1Q1Pacientes con Microtia y Microsomía craneofacialPurpose: Craniofacial microsomia (CFM) represents a spectrum of craniofacial malformations, ranging from isolated microtia with or without aural atresia to underdevelopment of the mandible, maxilla, orbit, facial soft tissue, and/or facial nerve. The genetic causes of CFM remain largely unknown. Methods: We performed genome sequencing and linkage analysis in patients and families with microtia and CFM of unknown genetic etiology. The functional consequences of damaging missense variants were evaluated through expression of wild-type and mutant proteins in vitro. Results: We studied a 5-generation kindred with microtia, identifying a missense variant in FOXI3 (p.Arg236Trp) as the cause of disease (logarithm of the odds = 3.33). We subsequently identified 6 individuals from 3 additional kindreds with microtia-CFM spectrum phenotypes harboring damaging variants in FOXI3, a regulator of ectodermal and neural crest development. Missense variants in the nuclear localization sequence were identified in cases with isolated microtia with aural atresia and found to affect subcellular localization of FOXI3. Loss of function variants were found in patients with microtia and mandibular hypoplasia (CFM), suggesting dosage sensitivity of FOXI3. Conclusion: Damaging variants in FOXI3 are the second most frequent genetic cause of CFM, causing 1% of all cases, including 13% of familial cases in our cohort.https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3822-7780https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0729-6866Revista Internacional - IndexadaA1N

On looking into words (and beyond): Structures, Relations, Analyses

On Looking into Words is a wide-ranging volume spanning current research into word structure and morphology, with a focus on historical linguistics and linguistic theory. The papers are offered as a tribute to Stephen R. Anderson, the Dorothy R. Diebold Professor of Linguistics at Yale, who is retiring at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. The contributors are friends, colleagues, and former students of Professor Anderson, all important contributors to linguistics in their own right. As is typical for such volumes, the contributions span a variety of topics relating to the interests of the honorand. In this case, the central contributions that Anderson has made to so many areas of linguistics and cognitive science, drawing on synchronic and diachronic phenomena in diverse linguistic systems, are represented through the papers in the volume. The 26 papers that constitute this volume are unified by their discussion of the interplay between synchrony and diachrony, theory and empirical results, and the role of diachronic evidence in understanding the nature of language. Central concerns of the volume include morphological gaps, learnability, increases and declines in productivity, and the interaction of different components of the grammar. The papers deal with a range of linked synchronic and diachronic topics in phonology, morphology, and syntax (in particular, cliticization), and their implications for linguistic theory

On looking into words (and beyond): Structures, Relations, Analyses

On Looking into Words is a wide-ranging volume spanning current research into word structure and morphology, with a focus on historical linguistics and linguistic theory. The papers are offered as a tribute to Stephen R. Anderson, the Dorothy R. Diebold Professor of Linguistics at Yale, who is retiring at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. The contributors are friends, colleagues, and former students of Professor Anderson, all important contributors to linguistics in their own right. As is typical for such volumes, the contributions span a variety of topics relating to the interests of the honorand. In this case, the central contributions that Anderson has made to so many areas of linguistics and cognitive science, drawing on synchronic and diachronic phenomena in diverse linguistic systems, are represented through the papers in the volume. The 26 papers that constitute this volume are unified by their discussion of the interplay between synchrony and diachrony, theory and empirical results, and the role of diachronic evidence in understanding the nature of language. Central concerns of the volume include morphological gaps, learnability, increases and declines in productivity, and the interaction of different components of the grammar. The papers deal with a range of linked synchronic and diachronic topics in phonology, morphology, and syntax (in particular, cliticization), and their implications for linguistic theory