Four inclusive practices for the phonology classroom

This article presents four classroom practices, intended to increase inclusion and equity, that phonology teachers may find useful. The first is going beyond the simple land acknowledgement to substantively incorporate recognition of local Indigenous people(s) and language(s) into the first day of class. The second is putting languages in richer cultural, historical, and political context. The third is including author photos in class materials both to combat stereotypes and as a self-accountability tool. And the fourth practice is integrating spoken and sign languages in our teaching rather than treating sign language phonology as a separate topic (or not at all)

Sniping down Ignorance Claims: The Third Circuit in United States v. Stadtmauer Upholds Willful Blindness Instructions in Criminal Tax Cases

The article presents information on the criminal tax cases and the claims of ignorance of relevant legal duties or misunderstanding. The complexities in the tax code of the U.S., interpretation of willful blindness by the U.S. courts and the standard for conviction are discussed. The non-tax fraud case law, strict interpretation of conscious avoidance in tax statutes and the duty implicitly imposed on taxpayers are also discussed with reference to the trial of Cheek v. United States

Population pharmacokinetics of subcutaneous C1-inhibitor for prevention of attacks in patients with hereditary angioedema

Background: Long-term prophylaxis with subcutaneous (SC) administration of a highly concentrated plasma-derived C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) formulation was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for hereditary angioedema (HAE) attack prevention. Objective: To characterize the population pharmacokinetics of C1-INH (SC) (HAEGARDA \uae ; CSL Behring) in healthy volunteers and HAE patients, and assess the variability and influence of covariates on pharmacokinetics. Methods: C1-INH functional activity data obtained after administration of various C1-INH (intravenous; IV) and C1-INH (SC) doses from 1 study in healthy volunteers (n = 16) and 2 studies in subjects with HAE (n = 108) were pooled to develop a population pharmacokinetic model (NONMEM v7.2). Pharmacokinetic parameters derived from steady-state simulations based on the final model were also evaluated. Results: C1-INH functional activity following C1-INH (SC) administration was described by a linear one-compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination, with inter-individual variability in all parameters tested. The mean population bioavailability of C1-INH (SC), and pharmacokinetic parameters for clearance (CL), volume of distribution, and absorption rate were estimated to be ~43%, 1.03 mL/hour/kg, 0.05 L/kg and 0.0146 hour 121 , respectively. The effect of bodyweight on CL of C1-INH functional activity was included in the final model, estimated to be 0.74. Steady-state simulations of C1-INH functional activity vs time profiles in 1000 virtual HAE patients revealed higher minimum functional activity (C trough ) levels after twice-weekly dosing with 40 IU/kg (~40%) and 60 IU/kg (~48%) compared with 1000 IU IV (~30%). Based on the population pharmacokinetic model, the median time to peak concentration was ~59 hours and the median apparent plasma half-life was ~69 hours. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Twice-weekly bodyweight-adjusted dosing of C1-INH (SC) exhibits linear pharmacokinetics and dose-dependent increases in C trough levels at each dosing interval. In this analysis, SC dosing led to maintenance of higher C trough levels than IV dosing

Teaching linguistics gotta catch ’em all: Skills grading in undergraduate linguistics

Dissatisfied with traditional grading, we developed a grading system to directly assess whether students have mastered course material. We identified the set of skills students need to master in a course and provided multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery of each skill. We describe in detail how we implemented the system for two undergraduate courses, Introductory Phonetics and Phonology I. Our goals were to decrease student stress, increase student learning and make students’ study efforts more effective, increase students’ metacognitive awareness, promote a growth mindset, encourage students to aim for mastery rather than partial credit, be fairer to students facing structural and institutional disadvantages, reduce our time spent on grading, and facilitate complying with new accreditation requirements. Our own reflections and student feedback indicate that many of these goals were met

Polarized Variation

In cases of exceptionality, there are usually many words that behave regularly, a smaller number that behave irregularly (the exceptions), and perhaps an even smaller number whose behavior varies. This paper presents several examples of exceptionality and variation that are polarized in this way: most items exhibit one behavior or the other consistently, with only a minority of items showing variation. The result is a U-shaped histogram of behavior rates. In some cases, this requires listing of surprisingly long units. There are, however, some cases of bell-shaped histograms, where most items show variation, and only a minority are consistent. Some simple simulations are presented to show how polarized variation can result when variation is between two categorical outcomes, and both types of variation can result when variation is along a phonetic continuum.Quan parlem d'excepcionalitat, generalment hi ha moltes paraules amb un comportament regular, un grup menor amb comportament irregular (les excepcions), i potser un grup encara menor que varien. Aquest article presenta diversos exemples d'excepcionalitat i de variació que son polaritzats així: la majoria dels ítems exhibeixen un comportament o l'altre quasi constantment, amb només una minoria d'ítems que varien. Resulta un histograma en forma d'U, si tracem proporcions de comportament. Hi ha alguns casos que exigeixen allistar elements de llargada sorprenent. Tanmateix, existeixen casos d'histogrames en forma de campana: la majoria dels ítems exhibeixen variació, amb només una minoria que siguin constants. Es presenten simulacions senzilles que mostren de quina manera la variació pot resultar polaritzada quan és entre categories, i de quina manera les dues menes de variació son possibles quan la variació es troba en un contínuum

Controlled membrane remodeling by Nanospheres and Nanorods: Experiments targeting the design principles for membrane-based materials

In this thesis we explore two experimental systems probing the interactions of nanoparticles with lipid bilayer membranes. Inspired by the ability of cell membranes to alter their shape in response to bound particles, we report two experimental studies: one of nanospheres the other of long, slender nano-rods binding to lipid bilayer vesicles and altering the membrane shape. Our work illuminates the role of particle geometry, particle concentration, adhesion strength and membrane tension in how membrane morphology is determined. We combine giant unilamellar vesicles with oppositely charged nanoparticles, carefully tuning adhesion strength, membrane tension and particle concentration. In the case of nanospheres we show that spherical nanoparticles binding to lipid-bilayer membrane vesicles results in a remarkably rich set of collective morphologies that are controllable via the particle binding energy. We separately study cationic and anionic particles, where the adhesion is tuned by addition of oppositely charged lipids to the vesicles. When the binding energy is weak relative to a characteristic membrane-bending energy, vesicles adhere to one another and form a soft solid gel, a novel and useful platform for controlled release. With larger binding energy, a transition from partial to complete wrapping of the nanoparticles causes a remarkable vesicle destruction process culminating in rupture, nanoparticle-membrane tubules, and an apparent inversion of the vesicles. In the case of nanorods when we increased adhesion strength, the primary behaviors observed are membrane deformation, vesicle-vesicle adhesion, and vesicle rupture. These behaviors are observed in well-defined regions in the parameter space with sharp transitions between them. We observed deformation of the membrane resulting in tubulation, texted surfaces, small dark aggregates, and large aggregates. These responses are robust and repeatable providing a physical understanding of the dependence on shape, binding affinity, and particle concentration in membrane remodeling. These findings help unify the diverse phenomena observed previously as well as present new particle induced morphologies. They open the door to a new class of vesicle-based, closed-cell gels that are more than 99% water and can encapsulate and release on demand, and show how to drive intentional membrane remodeling for shape-responsive systems

Oral once-daily berotralstat for the prevention of hereditary angioedema attacks: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial

BACKGROUND: Berotralstat (BCX7353) is an oral, once-daily inhibitor of plasma kallikrein in development for the prophylaxis of hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of berotralstat in patients with HAE over a 24-week treatment period (the phase 3 APeX-2 trial). METHODS: APeX-2 was a double-blind, parallel-group study that randomized patients at 40 sites in 11 countries 1:1:1 to receive once-daily berotralstat in a dose of 110 mg or 150 mg or placebo (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT03485911). Patients aged 12 years or older with HAE due to C1 inhibitor deficiency and at least 2 investigator-confirmed HAE attacks in the first 56 days of a prospective run-in period were eligible. The primary efficacy end point was the rate of investigator-confirmed HAE attacks during the 24-week treatment period. RESULTS: A total of 121 patients were randomized; 120 of them received at least 1 dose of the study drug (n = 41, 40, and 39 in the 110-mg dose of berotralstat, 150-mg of dose berotralstat, and placebo groups, respectively). Berotralstat demonstrated a significant reduction in attack rate at both 110 mg (1.65 attacks per month; P = .024) and 150 mg (1.31 attacks per month; P \u3c .001) relative to placebo (2.35 attacks per month). The most frequent treatment-emergent adverse events that occurred more with berotralstat than with placebo were abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and back pain. No drug-related serious treatment-emergent adverse events occurred. CONCLUSION: Both the 110-mg and 150-mg doses of berotralstat reduced HAE attack rates compared with placebo and were safe and generally well tolerated. The most favorable benefit-to-risk profile was observed at a dose of 150 mg per day

Inducing Empathy in Jurors in a Capital Penalty Phase Trial: An Examination of how to Reduce Jurors\u27 Death Sentence Decisions

The present research explores whether inducing empathy in death-qualified mock jurors leads to fewer death sentences in a penalty phase trial. Previous research has shown that inducing empathy in jurors leads to lesser sentences and perceived responsibility of the perpetrator for the crime. However, none of this research has examined death penalty cases, and most have focused on instances where the victim was also the perpetrator of a separate crime against the defendant (e.g., abuse). Extending this line of research, the present study examines whether these results extend to instances where the perpetrator and victim are strangers. Additionally, considering the influence certain impairments may have on the perpetrator\u27s competence, the study also explores instances where the perpetrator exhibits evidence of mental illness, brain damage, or experience of sexual abuse. To examine this, participants were presented with a trial transcript and half of these participants were shown an empathy-inducing prompt. After providing a sentence of life in prison without parole (LWOP) or death, mock jurors’ level of empathy and the responsibility they placed on the defendant for the crime were measured. Results indicated that empathy induction did not influence empathy level nor verdict. However, predictors of verdict included confidence of the mock juror as well as the total responsibility they placed on the defendant