High or low? Comparing high and low-variability phonetic training in adult and child second language learners

Background High talker variability (i.e., multiple voices in the input) has been found effective in training nonnative phonetic contrasts in adults. A small number of studies suggest that children also benefit from high-variability phonetic training with some evidence that they show greater learning (more plasticity) than adults given matched input, although results are mixed. However, no study has directly compared the effectiveness of high versus low talker variability in children. Methods Native Greek-speaking eight-year-olds (N = 52), and adults (N = 41) were exposed to the English /i/-/ɪ/ contrast in 10 training sessions through a computerized word-learning game. Pre- and post-training tests examined discrimination of the contrast as well as lexical learning. Participants were randomly assigned to high (four talkers) or low (one talker) variability training conditions. Results Both age groups improved during training, and both improved more while trained with a single talker. Results of a three-interval oddity discrimination test did not show the predicted benefit of high-variability training in either age group. Instead, children showed an effect in the reverse direction—i.e., reliably greater improvements in discrimination following single talker training, even for untrained generalization items, although the result is qualified by (accidental) differences between participant groups at pre-test. Adults showed a numeric advantage for high-variability but were inconsistent with respect to voice and word novelty. In addition, no effect of variability was found for lexical learning. There was no evidence of greater plasticity for phonetic learning in child learners. Discussion This paper adds to the handful of studies demonstrating that, like adults, child learners can improve their discrimination of a phonetic contrast via computerized training. There was no evidence of a benefit of training with multiple talkers, either for discrimination or word learning. The results also do not support the findings of greater plasticity in child learners found in a previous paper (Giannakopoulou, Uther & Ylinen, 2013a). We discuss these results in terms of various differences between training and test tasks used in the current work compared with previous literature

Guest Editorial

This is an editorial which introduces original papers produced on the theme of the supervision of social work practiceThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Practice: Social Work in Action on September 2015, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09503153.2015.1048053This guest editorial introduces the special edition on the supervision of social work practic

Do acute elevations of serum creatinine in primary care engender an increased mortality risk?

Background: The significant impact Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) has on patient morbidity and mortality emphasizes the need for early recognition and effective treatment. AKI presenting to or occurring during hospitalisation has been widely studied but little is known about the incidence and outcomes of patients experiencing acute elevations in serum creatinine in the primary care setting where people are not subsequently admitted to hospital. The aim of this study was to define this incidence and explore its impact on mortality. Methods: The study cohort was identified by using hospital data bases over a six month period. Inclusion criteria: People with a serum creatinine request during the study period, 18 or over and not on renal replacement therapy. The patients were stratified by a rise in serum creatinine corresponding to the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria for comparison purposes. Descriptive and survival data were then analysed. Ethical approval was granted from National Research Ethics Service (NRES) Committee South East Coast and from the National Information Governance Board. Results: The total study population was 61,432. 57,300 subjects with ‘no AKI’, mean age 64.The number (mean age) of acute serum creatinine rises overall were, ‘AKI 1’ 3,798 (72), ‘AKI 2’ 232 (73), and ‘AKI 3’ 102 (68) which equates to an overall incidence of 14,192 pmp/year (adult). Unadjusted 30 day survival was 99.9% in subjects with ‘no AKI’, compared to 98.6%, 90.1% and 82.3% in those with ‘AKI 1’, ‘AKI 2’ and ‘AKI 3’ respectively. After multivariable analysis adjusting for age, gender, baseline kidney function and co-morbidity the odds ratio of 30 day mortality was 5.3 (95% CI 3.6, 7.7), 36.8 (95% CI 21.6, 62.7) and 123 (95% CI 64.8, 235) respectively, compared to those without acute serum creatinine rises as defined. Conclusions: People who develop acute elevations of serum creatinine in primary care without being admitted to hospital have significantly worse outcomes than those with stable kidney function

“It ain’t (just) what you do, it’s (also) the way that you do it”: The role of Procedural Justice in the Implementation of Anti-social Behaviour Interventions with Young People

This paper provides an analysis of the introduction and implementation of hybrid powers to regulate anti-social behaviour, during a period of regulatory ‘hyperactivity’ in the UK. It explores the role of procedural justice by drawing on findings from a study conducted in England which investigated the implementation practices and experiences of young people and parents. These are considered against seven characteristics of procedural justice: voice; voluntariness; respectful treatment; parsimony; accuracy of information; fairness; and neutrality. The paper analyses the manner in which principles of voluntary cooperation can be corrupted by threats of punitive sanctions. It questions the extent to which the use of such hybrid orders fosters perceptions of legitimacy and supports the capacity of young people to avoid criminalisation

Expression of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in human lung cells

BACKGROUND: We and others have shown that one of the mechanisms of growth regulation of small cell lung cancer cell lines and cultured pulmonary neuroendocrine cells is by the binding of agonists to the α7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. In addition, we have shown that the nicotine-derived carcinogenic nitrosamine, 4(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), is a high affinity agonist for the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. In the present study, our goal was to determine the extent of α7 mRNA and protein expression in the human lung. METHODS: Experiments were done using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), a nuclease protection assay and western blotting using membrane proteins. RESULTS: We detected mRNA for the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α7 receptor in seven small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines, in two pulmonary adenocarcinoma cell lines, in cultured normal human small airway epithelial cells (SAEC), one carcinoid cell line, three squamous cell lines and tissue samples from nine patients with various types of lung cancer. A nuclease protection assay showed prominent levels of α7 in the NCI-H82 SCLC cell line while α7 was not detected in SAEC, suggesting that α7 mRNA levels may be higher in SCLC compared to normal cells. Using a specific antibody to the α7 nicotinic receptor, protein expression of α7 was determined. All SCLC cell lines except NCI-H187 expressed protein for the α7 receptor. In the non-SCLC cells and normal cells that express the α7 nAChR mRNA, only in SAEC, A549 and NCI-H226 was expression of the α7 nicotinic receptor protein shown. When NCI-H69 SCLC cell line was exposed to 100 pm NNK, protein expression of the α7 receptor was increased at 60 and 150 min. CONCLUSION: Expression of mRNA for the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α7 seems to be ubiquitously expressed in all human lung cancer cell lines tested (except for NCI-H441) as well as normal lung cells. The α7 nicotinic receptor protein is expressed in fewer cell lines, and the tobacco carcinogen NNK increases α7 nicotinic receptor protein levels

The retreat from locative overgeneralisation errors : a novel verb grammaticality judgment study

Whilst some locative verbs alternate between the ground- and figure-locative constructions (e.g. Lisa sprayed the flowers with water/Lisa sprayed water onto the flowers), others are restricted to one construction or the other (e.g. *Lisa filled water into the cup/*Lisa poured the cup with water). The present study investigated two proposals for how learners (aged 5–6, 9–10 and adults) acquire this restriction, using a novel-verb-learning grammaticality-judgment paradigm. In support of the semantic verb class hypothesis, participants in all age groups used the semantic properties of novel verbs to determine the locative constructions (ground/figure/both) in which they could and could not appear. In support of the frequency hypothesis, participants’ tolerance of overgeneralisation errors decreased with each increasing level of verb frequency (novel/low/high). These results underline the need to develop an integrated account of the roles of semantics and frequency in the retreat from argument structure overgeneralisation

The ROSAT International X-ray/Optical Survey (RIXOS): source catalogue

We describe the ROSAT International X-ray/Optical Survey (RIXOS), a medium-sensitivity survey and optical identification of X-ray sources discovered in ROSAT high Galactic latitude fields (|b|>28°) and observed with the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) detector. The survey made use of the central 17 arcmin of each ROSAT field. A flux limit of 3×10−14 erg cm−2 s−1 (0.5–2 keV) was adopted for the survey, and a minimum exposure time of 8000 s was required for qualifying ROSAT observations. X-ray sources in the survey are therefore substantially above the detection threshold of each field used, and many contain enough counts to allow the X-ray spectral slope to be estimated. Spectroscopic observations of potential counterparts were obtained of all sources down to the survey limit in 64 fields, totalling a sky area of 15.77 deg2. Positive optical identifications are made for 94 per cent of the 296 sources thus examined. A further 18 fields (4.44 deg2), containing 105 sources above the 3×10−14 erg cm−2 s−1 survey limit, are completely optically identified to a higher flux of 8×10−14 erg cm−2 s−1 (0.5–2 keV). Optical spectroscopic data are supplemented by deep CCD imaging of many sources to reveal the morphology of the optical counterparts, and objects too faint to register on Sky Survey plates. The faintest optical counterparts have R∼22. This paper describes the survey method, and presents a catalogue of the RIXOS sources and their optical identifications. Finding charts based on Sky Survey data are given for each source, supplemented by CCD imaging where necessary