Bilingual Counseling Competencies: A Call to the Counseling Profession

The Latine population in the United States is increasing, leading to a higher need for bilingual counseling services. Therefore, counselor educators and supervisors must ensure bilingual counselors receive proper ethnocultural and linguistic competence training. This article aims to highlight the significance of bilingual counseling competencies in counselor education, emphasize the importance of linguistic training in cultural competence training, and propose a set of linguistic and ethnocultural competencies to help establish a proficient bilingual counselor. Additionally, future recommendations are discussed

Frequency-dependent selection can forecast evolution in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Predicting how pathogen populations will change over time is challenging. Such has been the case withStreptococcus pneumoniae, an important human pathogen, and the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs), which target only a fraction of the strains in the population. Here, we use the frequencies of accessory genes to predict changes in the pneumococcal population after vaccination, hypothesizing that these frequencies reflect negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) on the gene products. We find that the standardized predicted fitness of a strain, estimated by an NFDS-based model at the time the vaccine is introduced, enables us to predict whether the strain increases or decreases in prevalence following vaccination. Further, we are able to forecast the equilibrium post-vaccine population composition and assess the invasion capacity of emerging lineages. Overall, we provide a method for predicting the impact of an intervention on pneumococcal populations with potential application to other bacterial pathogens in which NFDS is a driving force.Peer reviewe

Comparative immunogenicity of 7 and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines and the development of functional antibodies to cross-reactive serotypes

Protection against disease or colonization from serotypes related to those in pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (i.e. cross-protection) vary by serotype; the basis for this variation is not understood. The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) replaced 7-valent conjugate (PCV7) in the USA in 2010 allowing assessment of PCV7 and PCV13 immunogenicity and functional cross-protection in vitro

Pneumococcal protein antigen serology varies with age and may predict antigenic profile of colonizing isolates

BACKGROUND: Several Streptococcus pneumoniae proteins play a role in pathogenesis and are being investigated as vaccine targets. It is largely unknown whether naturallyacquired antibodies reduce the risk of colonization with strains expressing a particular antigenic variant. METHODS: Serum IgG titers to 28 pneumococcal protein antigens were measured among 242 individuals, aged < 6 months - 78 years in Native American communities between 2007-2009. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected at least 30 days after serum collection, and the protein antigen variant in each pneumococcal isolate was determined using genomic data. We assessed the association between preexisting variant-specific antibody titers and subsequent carriage of pneumococcus expressing a particular antigen variant. RESULTS: Antibody titers often increased across pediatric groups before decreasing among adults. PspA and StkP IgG titers decreased from <6 months to 6-12 months (p<0.01). Individuals with low titers against Group 3 PspC variants were more likely to be colonized with pneumococci expressing those variants. For other antigens, variantspecific IgG titers do not predict colonization with pneumococci expressing particular variants CONCLUSION: We observed an inverse association between variant-specific antibody concentration and homologous pneumococcal colonization for only one protein. Further assessment of antibody repertoires may elucidate the nature of anti-pneumococcal antibody-mediated mucosal immunity while informing future vaccine development

Atypical birdsong and artificial languages provide insights into how communication systems are shaped by learning, use and transmission

In this article, I argue that a comparative approach focusing on the cognitive capacities and behavioral mechanisms that underlie vocal learning in songbirds and humans can provide valuable insights into the evolutionary origins of language. The experimental approaches I discuss use abnormal song and atypical linguistic input to study the processes of individual learning, social interaction, and cultural transmission. Atypical input places increased learning and communicative pressure on learners, so exploring how they respond to this type of input provides a particularly clear picture of the biases and constraints at work during learning and use. Furthermore, simulating the cultural transmission of these unnatural communication systems in the laboratory informs us about how learning and social biases influence the structure of communication systems in the long run. Findings based on these methods suggest fundamental similarities in the basic social–cognitive mechanisms underlying vocal learning in birds and humans, and continuing research promises insights into the uniquely human mechanisms and into how human cognition and social behavior interact, and ultimately impact on the evolution of language

Structural priming in artificial languages and the regularisation of unpredictable variation

We present a novel experimental technique using artificial language learning to investigate the relationship between structural priming during communicative interaction, and linguistic regularity. We use unpredictable variation as a test-case, because it is a well-established paradigm to study learners’ biases during acquisition, transmission and interaction. We trained participants on artificial languages exhibiting unpredictable variation in word order, and subsequently had them communicate using these artificial languages. We found evidence for structural priming in two different grammatical constructions and across human-human and human-computer interaction. Priming occurred regardless of behavioral convergence: communication led to shared word order use only in human-human interaction, but priming was observed in all conditions. Furthermore, interaction resulted in the reduction of unpredictable variation in all conditions, suggesting a role for communicative interaction in eliminating unpredictable variation. Regularisation was strongest in human-human interaction and in a condition where participants believed they were interacting with a human but were in fact interacting with a computer. We suggest that participants recognize the counter-functional nature of unpredictable variation and thus act to eliminate this variability during communication. Furthermore, reciprocal priming occurring in human-human interaction drove some pairs of participants to converge on maximally regular, highly predictable linguistic systems. Our method offers potential benefits to both the artificial language learning and the structural priming fields, and provides a useful tool to investigate communicative processes that lead to language change and ultimately language design

Serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing invasive disease in children in the post-PCV era:A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND:Routine immunisation with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV7/10/13) has reduced invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) due to vaccine serotypes significantly. However, an increase in disease due to non-vaccine types, or serotype replacement, has been observed. Serotypes' individual contributions to IPD play a critical role in determining the overall effects of PCVs. This study examines the distribution of pneumococcal serotypes in children to identify leading serotypes associated with IPD post-PCV introduction. METHODS:A systematic search was performed to identify studies and surveillance reports (published between 2000 and December 2015) of pneumococcal serotypes causing childhood IPD post-PCV introduction. Serotype data were differentiated based on the PCV administered during the study period: PCV7 or higher valent PCVs (PCV10 or PCV13). Meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the proportional contributions of the most frequent serotypes in childhood IPD in each period. RESULTS:We identified 68 studies reporting serotype data among IPD cases in children. We analysed data from 38 studies (14 countries) where PCV7 was administered and 20 (24 countries) where PCV10 or PCV13 have been introduced. Studies reported early and late periods of PCV7 administration (range: 2001∓13). In these settings, serotype 19A was the most predominant cause of childhood IPD, accounting for 21.8% (95%CI 18.6∓25.6) of cases. In countries that have introduced higher valent PCVs, study periods were largely representative of the transition and early years of PCV10 or PCV13. In these studies, the overall serotype-specific contribution of 19A was lower (14.2% 95%CI 11.1∓18.3). Overall, non-PCV13 serotypes contributed to 42.2% (95%CI 36.1∓49.5%) of childhood IPD cases. However, regional differences were noted (57.8% in North America, 71.9% in Europe, 45.9% in Western Pacific, 28.5% in Latin America, 42.7% in one African country, and 9.2% in one Eastern Mediterranean country). Predominant non-PCV13 serotypes overall were 22F, 12F, 33F, 24F, 15C, 15B, 23B, 10A, and 38 (descending order), but their rank order varied by region. CONCLUSION:Childhood IPD is associated with a wide number of serotypes. In the early years after introduction of higher valent PCVs, non-PCV13 types caused a considerable proportion of childhood IPD. Serotype data, particularly from resource-limited countries with high burden of IPD, are needed to assess the importance of serotypes in different settings. The geographic diversity of pneumococcal serotypes highlights the importance of continued surveillance to guide vaccine design and recommendations

Separating Controversy and Climate Change: How the Unites States Could Lead Climate Change and Energy Reform with the Growth of Renewable Energy Sources Globally

Despite scientific consensus that climate change occurs and that the United States is a top emitter contributing to its effects, climate change remains a political debate in the United States. Because of the urgency in reducing the contribution to climate change and the continued interest in innovation for renewable energy sources by some states, this Comment proposes that those states should commit to an interstate agreement after analyzing the interstate organizations currently in place and each state\u27s capacity for renewable energy. The United States should then use the interstate agreement to determine the United States\u27 capacity to enter enforceable, binding treaties, allowing for less controversy around climate change domestically and better international relations from commitment to international climate change and renewable energy initiatives. Lastly, this Comment contains an analysis on potentially implicated laws and necessary consent under this proposal and describes remaining challenges