Transactional Associations Between Supportive Family Climate and Young Children’s Heritage Language Proficiency in Immigrant Families

Heritage language (HL) proficiency confers developmental benefits; however, the onset of HL loss is observed among many young children from immigrant families. In this longitudinal study, transactional associations between children’s HL proficiency and supportive family climate were examined in Chinese immigrant families with pre-school-aged children. Parental warmth, cultural maintenance values, and use of HL support were investigated as aspects of family climate. Measures included observable parent–child interactions and performance-based language proficiency assessments. While parental cultural maintenance values appeared influential, parental behavioral support of HL showed more robust prospective associations with children’s HL development. Concurrently, children’s earlier HL proficiency predicted subsequent parental behavior; parents whose children had limited HL proficiency decreased their use of HL support 1 later. Implications of the findings are discussed for immigrant parents with young children

Transactional Associations Between Supportive Family Climate and Young Children’s Heritage Language Proficiency in Immigrant Families

Heritage language (HL) proficiency confers developmental benefits; however, the onset of HL loss is observed among many young children from immigrant families. In this longitudinal study, transactional associations between children’s HL proficiency and supportive family climate were examined in Chinese immigrant families with pre-school-aged children. Parental warmth, cultural maintenance values, and use of HL support were investigated as aspects of family climate. Measures included observable parent–child interactions and performance-based language proficiency assessments. While parental cultural maintenance values appeared influential, parental behavioral support of HL showed more robust prospective associations with children’s HL development. Concurrently, children’s earlier HL proficiency predicted subsequent parental behavior; parents whose children had limited HL proficiency decreased their use of HL support 1 later. Implications of the findings are discussed for immigrant parents with young children

Upconversion nanoparticles for sensing pH.

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) can provide a vehicle for chemical imaging by coupling chemically sensitive dyes and quenchers. The mechanism for coupling of two anthraquinone dyes, Calcium Red and Alizarin Red S, was investigated as a function of pH. The green emission band of the UCNPs was quenched by a pH-dependent inner filter effect (IFE) while the red emission band remained unchanged and acted as the reference signal for ratiometric pH measurements. Contrary to previous expectation, there was little evidence for a resonance energy transfer (RET) mechanism even when the anthraquinones were attached onto the UCNPs through electrostatic attraction. Since the UCNPs are point emitters, only emitters close to the surface of the UCNP are within the expected Förster distance and UC-RET is <10%. The theoretical and experimental analysis of the interaction between UCNPs and pH-sensitive quenchers will allow the design of UCNP pH sensors for determination of pH via IFE.This work was supported by the EPSRC Cambridge NanoDTC, EP/L015978/

Meeting the Emerging Public Health Needs of Persons With Blood Disorders

In its decades-long history, the Division of Blood Disorders (DBD) at CDC has evolved from a patient-focused, services-supporting entity at inception, to one of the world leaders in the practice of public health to improve the lives of people at risk for or affected by nonmalignant blood disorders. The DBD’s earliest public health activities consisted of working with care providers in a network of hemophilia treatment centers to provide AIDS risk reduction services to people with hemophilia. Because this infectious disease threat has been reduced over time as a result of the development of safer treatment products, the DBD—under the auspices of congressional appropriations guidance—has expanded its core activities to encompass blood disorders other than hemophilia, including hemoglobinopathies such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease, and Diamond Blackfan anemia. Simultaneously, in transitioning to a greater public health role, the DBD has expanded its network of partners to new consumer and professional organizations, as well as state and other federal health agencies. The DBD has also developed and maintains many surveillance and registry activities beyond the Universal Data Collection system aimed at providing a better understanding of the health status, health needs, and health-related quality of life of people with nonmalignant blood disorders. The DBD has integrated applicable components of the Essential Services of Public Health successfully to promote and advance the agenda of blood disorders in public health

Upconversion nanoparticles as intracellular pH messengers

Abstract: Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) should be particularly well suited for measurement inside cells because they can be imaged down to submicrometer dimensions in near real time using fluorescence microscopy, and they overcome problems, such as photobleaching, autofluorescence, and deep tissue penetration, that are commonly encountered in cellular imaging applications. In this study, the performance of an UCNP modified with a pH-sensitive dye (pHAb) is studied. The dye (emission wavelength 580 nm) was attached in a polyethylene imine (PEI) coating on the UCNP and excited via the 540-nm UCNP emission under 980-nm excitation. The UC resonance energy transfer efficiencies at different pHs ranged from 25 to 30% and a Förster distance of 2.56 nm was predicted from these results. Human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, equilibrated with nigericin H+/K+ ionophore to equalize the intra- and extracellular pH‚ showed uptake of the UCNP-pHAb conjugate particles and, taking the ratio of the intensity collected from the pHAb emission channel (565–630 nm) to that from the UCNP red emission channel (640–680 nm), produced a sigmoidal pH response curve with an apparent pKa for the UCNP-pHAb of ~ 5.1. The UCNP-pHAb were shown to colocalize with LysoBrite dye, a lysosome marker. Drug inhibitors such as chlorpromazine (CPZ) and nystatin (NYS) that interfere with clathrin-mediated endocytosis and caveolae-mediated endocytosis, respectively, were investigated to elucidate the mechanism of nanoparticle uptake into the cell. This preliminary study suggests that pH indicator–modified UCNPs such as UCNP-pHAb can report pH in SH-SY5Y cells and that the incorporation of the nanoparticles into the cell occurs via clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Graphical abstrac

Exoplanet phase curves: observations and theory

Phase curves are the best technique to probe the three dimensional structure of exoplanets' atmospheres. In this chapter we first review current exoplanets phase curve observations and the particular challenges they face. We then describe the different physical mechanisms shaping the atmospheric phase curves of highly irradiated tidally locked exoplanets. Finally, we discuss the potential for future missions to further advance our understanding of these new worlds.Comment: Fig.5 has been updated. Table 1 and corresponding figures have been updated with new values for WASP-103b and WASP-18b. Contains a table sumarizing phase curve observation

A Comparison of DSM-IV and DSM-5 Panel Members' Financial Associations with Industry: A Pernicious Problem Persists

Lisa Cosgrove and Sheldon Krimsky examine the new competing interest disclosure policy of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and report that DSM panel members still have considerable financial conflicts of interest

Identified baryon and meson distributions at large transverse momenta from Au+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}} = 200 GeV

Transverse momentum spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $p$ and $\bar{p}$ up to 12 GeV/c at mid-rapidity in centrality selected Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}} = 200$ GeV are presented. In central Au+Au collisions, both $\pi^{\pm}$ and $p(\bar{p})$ show significant suppression with respect to binary scaling at $p_T >$ 4 GeV/c. Protons and anti-protons are less suppressed than $\pi^{\pm}$, in the range 1.5 $< p_{T} <$6 GeV/c. The $\pi^-/\pi^+$ and $\bar{p}/p$ ratios show at most a weak $p_T$ dependence and no significant centrality dependence. The $p/\pi$ ratios in central Au+Au collisions approach the values in p+p and d+Au collisions at $p_T >$ 5 GeV/c. The results at high $p_T$ indicate that the partonic sources of $\pi^{\pm}$, $p$ and $\bar{p}$ have similar energy loss when traversing the nuclear medium.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive jet production in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and the differential cross section for inclusive midrapidity jet production in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV. The cross section data cover transverse momenta 5 < pT < 50 GeV/c and agree with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD evaluations. The A_LL data cover 5 < pT < 17 GeV/c and disfavor at 98% C.L. maximal positive gluon polarization in the polarized nucleon.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes from review process in Phys. Rev. Lett. Plain text tables of data in STAR publications may be found at http://www.star.bnl.gov/central/publications

Pion interferometry in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200GeV

We present a systematic analysis of two-pion interferometry in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200GeV using the STAR detector at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. We extract the Hanbury-Brown and Twiss radii and study their multiplicity, transverse momentum, and azimuthal angle dependence. The Gaussianness of the correlation function is studied. Estimates of the geometrical and dynamical structure of the freeze-out source are extracted by fits with blast-wave parametrizations. The expansion of the source and its relation with the initial energy density distribution is studied