Reduplication and accent in Southeastern Tepehuan

From the introduction: In the early stages of analysis, Southeastern Tepehuan (SET) vowel length appeared to be conditioned by accent. Although accent fell in a majority of words on closed syllables, there were so many exceptions that no general statement could be made. Thus accent was relegated to being a feature of the underlying character of roots. Reduplicated forms, however, were a confusing body of unpredictable accent; if accent were phonemic, why did it occur on the root syllable of some forms, and on the reduplicated syllable in others? Some plurals were judged irregular because they seemed to lose or gain whole syllables; vowels appeared or disappeared in various places. Native speakers insisted that there was a difference between cos (nest) and coos (he\u27s sleeping), although the linguists tried to explain the two words as being semantically related (one rests in his nest). Historical evidence in this case was the deciding clue to discovery. Related languages and their proto-language reconstructed by Bascom (1965) showed that accent in SET reduplicated stems coincided with length on historical forms, although accent in either the sense of tone or stress did not necessarily occur on the same syllable. What we had considered to be bában (coyotes) was seen to be baabánai in Northern Tepehuan, báabani in Upper Piman, báaban in Lower Piman, and reconstructed as *baabánai in Proto-Tepiman. In this paper it is argued that length rather than accent is underlying, and that accent and vowel alternation in reduplicated forms can be predicted by phonological rules. In section 1 I will describe morpheme structure, in section 2 the rules for reduplication, in section 3 the accent rule, and in section 4 the phonological rules that coordinate with accent to produce phonetic forms

Noun phrase components in Southeastern Tepehuan

From the introduction: My purpose in this study is to explore ways in which speakers of Southeastern Tepehuan talk about persons, places and things, the semantic notions generally associated with nouns. Although in English we are accustomed to expressing such ideas as quantity, quality, orientation, or possession of an item with a noun phrase, we cannot assume that in other languages semantic categories will always correspond to the expected syntactic categories as we know them in English. For instance, in Southeastern Tepehuan adjectival ideas are always expressed as predicates. On the other hand, some surface dependent clauses which at first appraisal seemed to be descriptive relative clauses embedded in a noun phrase, might not be part of the noun phrase at all, but independent predicates, subordinate only in discourse perspective. Not only is the correspondence between semantic an syntactic categories skewed (from an English speaker\u27s point of view), but so also are the classes within one type of semantic category. We discover that within the set of adjectival ideas some seem to be viewed as being somehow noun-ish and occur syntactically as predicate nouns. In the Tepehuan mind, moreover, the complete set of nouns is separated into subsets of countable and non-countable nouns in a very different way from English. For instance, in Tepehuan one cannot pluralize or de-pluralize the word for flower; it is inherently a group in Tepehuan perception. Additionally, things or relations fall into two sets as to how they are marked for possession, depending upon whether or not they are held in a status relation. Some items may never occur in the language without possession; others may never show direct possession because of semantic class constraints

ASSESSING THE PERCEPTIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS, HEALTH AND NUTRITION BEHAVIOR TO IMPROVE RISK COMMUNICATIONS IN KENTUCKY

Nutrition interventions are an effective way to improve the dietary habits and lifestyle choices and reduce the risk of chronic disease. The Researchers in the UK-SRP Community Engagement Core develop nutrition programs for communities affected by environmental pollutants. Risk communication is a discipline that can be used to develop targeted nutrition interventions that will yield positive behavior change. The purpose of this study was to examine knowledge, risk perception, and actions concerning environmental pollutants and nutrition behavior. Data was collected using a modified survey instrument based on the validated Environmental Health Engagement Profile (EHEP). Survey participants from diverse regions of the state included 1) health educators; 2) residents from a nonmetropolitan-non-Appalachian area; 3) a nonmetropolitan-Appalachian area; and 4) a metropolitan area. Results indicated a significant, positive correlation in all four groups between perception of environmental pollutants in a person’s surroundings and the extent of concern that pollutants cause adverse health effects (p \u3c 0.01). Recognizing that participants see a link between environmental pollutants and their health allows nutrition researchers to develop targeted, effective nutrition interventions. This information will be useful in the development of future nutrition programs to improve the health of Superfund communities

A single site for N-linked glycosylation in the envelope glycoprotein of feline immunodeficiency virus modulates the virus-receptor interaction

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) targets helper T cells by attachment of the envelope glycoprotein (Env) to CD134, a subsequent interaction with CXCR4 then facilitating the process of viral entry. As the CXCR4 binding site is not exposed until CD134-binding has occurred then the virus is protected from neutralising antibodies targeting the CXCR4-binding site on Env. Prototypic FIV vaccines based on the FL4 strain of FIV contain a cell culture-adapted strain of FIV Petaluma, a CD134-independent strain of FIV that interacts directly with CXCR4. In addition to a characteristic increase in charge in the V3 loop homologue of FIV<sub>FL4</sub>, we identified two mutations in potential sites for N-linked glycosylation in the region of FIV Env analogous to the V1-V2 region of HIV and SIV Env, T271I and N342Y. When these mutations were introduced into the primary GL8 and CPG41 strains of FIV, the T271I mutation was found to alter the nature of the virus-CD134 interaction; primary viruses carrying the T271I mutation no longer required determinants in cysteine-rich domain (CRD) 2 of CD134 for viral entry. The T271I mutation did not confer CD134-independent infection upon GL8 or CPG41, nor did it increase the affinity of the CXCR4 interaction, suggesting that the principal effect was targeted at reducing the complexity of the Env-CD134 interaction

An investigation of the breadth of neutralising antibody response in cats naturally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus

Neutralising antibodies (NAbs) are believed to comprise an essential component of the protective immune response induced by vaccines against FIV and HIV infections. However, relatively little is known about the role of NAbs in controlling FIV infection and subsequent disease progression. Here we present studies examining the neutralisation of HIV-luciferase pseudotypes bearing homologous and heterologous FIV Envs (n=278) by sequential plasma samples collected at 6 month intervals from naturally infected cats (n=38) over a period of 18 months. We evaluated the breadth of the NAb response against non-recombinant homologous and heterologous clade A and clade B viral variants as well as recombinants and assessed the results, testing for evidence of an association between the potency of the NAb response and the duration of infection, CD4 T lymphocyte numbers, health status and survival times of the infected cats. Neutralisation profiles varied significantly between FIV infected cats and strong autologous neutralisation, assessed using luciferase based in vitro assays, did not correlate with the clinical outcome. No association was observed between strong NAb responses and either improved health status or increased survival time of infected animals, implying that other protective mechanisms are likely to be involved. Similarly, no correlation was observed between the development of autologous NAbs and the duration of infection. Furthermore, cross-neutralising antibodies were evident in only a small proportion (13%) of cats

Neutralization of feline immunodeficiency virus by antibodies targeting the V5 loop of Env

Neutralising antibodies (NAbs) play a vital role in vaccine-induced protection against infection with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). However, little is known about the appropriate presentation of neutralisation epitopes in order to induce NAbs effectively; the majority of the antibodies that are induced are directed against non-neutralising epitopes. Here, we demonstrate that a subtype B strain of FIV, designated NG4, escapes autologous NAbs but may be rendered neutralisation-sensitive following the insertion of two amino acids, Lysine and Threonine, at positions 556-557 in the fifth hypervariable (V5) loop of the envelope glycoprotein (Env). Consistent with the contribution of this motif to virus neutralisation, an additional three subtype B strains retaining both residues at the same position were also neutralised by the NG4 serum and serum from an unrelated cat (TOT1) targeted the same sequence in V5. Moreover, when the V5-loop of subtype B isolate KNG2, an isolate that was moderately resistant to neutralisation by NG4 serum, was mutated to incorporate the K-T motif, the virus was rendered sensitive to neutralisation. These data suggest that even in a polyclonal sera derived from FIV infected cats following natural infection, the primary determinant of virus neutralising activity may be represented by a single, dominant epitope in V5

Emergence of CD134 cysteine-rich domain 2 (CRD2)-independent strains of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is associated with disease progression in naturally infected cats

<b>Background</b> Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection is mediated by sequential interactions with CD134 and CXCR4. Field strains of virus vary in their dependence on cysteine-rich domain 2 (CRD2) of CD134 for infection.<p></p> <b>Findings</b> Here, we analyse the receptor usage of viral variants in the blood of 39 naturally infected cats, revealing that CRD2-dependent viral variants dominate in early infection, evolving towards CRD2-independence with disease progression.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b> These findings are consistent with a shift in CRD2 of CD134 usage with disease progression.<p></p&gt

Understanding patient and relative/carer experience of hip fracture in acute care : a qualitative study protocol

Background: This paper presents a qualitative study protocol focusing on older peoples' experience of recovery in acute care following hip fracture and also the experiences of their family or informal carers. There is limited evidence regarding older people and their relatives/carers experience of recovery in acute care. Aim: The study had two research questions. First what is the experience of older people who have suffered a fractured hip and secondly what is the relative's/carer's experience of being alongside a person who has suffered a fractured hip? Methods: The methodology chosen is phenomenology using the methods of interviewing and participant observation. It is planned to recruit a purposive sample of: up to 40 patients including those with memory loss who have suffered a fractured hip; and up to 30 of their relative/carers; and up to 20 staff may choose to take part in the observation sessions. Analysis will be through drawing out units of meaning, bringing them together to form categories and themes of experience. Conclusion: This study will extend knowledge by exploring what is important to patients and their relatives/carers in the early phase of recovery. Practice based principles that can be integrated into the hip fracture pathway and enhance future care will be developed from the study findings