The evolution of trilingual code-switching from infancy to school age: the shaping of trilingual competence through dynamic language dominance

This article reports on a study of the code-switches produced by two children who acquired their three languages in early childhood. We compared formal and functional aspects of their switches recorded at two different stages of their development. Of particular interest was the consideration of sociolinguistic variables that have intervened in the children’s environment. We undertook a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the children’s code-switches to ascertain the frequency of switching, the use of each of the three languages employed for switching and the linguistic complexity of the switches. We assumed that the sociolinguistic conditions that changed the linguistic landscape in which these children operated would be reflected not only in the development of each of their languages, but also in the kind of switches that they produced. We tried to establish whether it is the case that certain forms and functions of code-switches constitute a "core" of trilingual language behaviour while others are prone to change. Ultimately, our aim was to gain an insight into the specific trilingual language production processes over a given period of time that can shed light on the development and nature of trilingual competence

Knowing Which Foods Are Making Us Sick

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D18, I18,

Facilitating Wolbachia introductions into mosquito populations through insecticide-resistance selection.

Wolbachia infections are being introduced into mosquito vectors of human diseases following the discovery that they can block transmission of disease agents. This requires mosquitoes infected with the disease-blocking Wolbachia to successfully invade populations lacking the infection. While this process is facilitated by features of Wolbachia, particularly their ability to cause cytoplasmic incompatibility, blocking Wolbachia may produce deleterious effects, such as reduced host viability or fecundity, that inhibit successful local introductions and subsequent spatial spread. Here, we outline an approach to facilitate the introduction and spread of Wolbachia infections by coupling Wolbachia introduction to resistance to specific classes of insecticides. The approach takes advantage of very high maternal transmission fidelity of Wolbachia infections in mosquitoes, complete incompatibility between infected males and uninfected females, the widespread occurrence of insecticide resistance, and the widespread use of chemical control in disease-endemic countries. This approach is easily integrated into many existing control strategies, provides population suppression during release and might be used to introduce Wolbachia infections even with high and seasonally dependent deleterious effects, such as the wMelPop infection introduced into Aedes aegypti for dengue control. However, possible benefits will need to be weighed against concerns associated with the introduction of resistance alleles

Numerical Models for the Diffuse Ionized Gas in Galaxies. II. Three-dimensional radiative transfer in inhomogeneous interstellar structures as a tool for analyzing the diffuse ionized gas

Aims: We systematically explore a plausible subset of the parameter space involving effective temperatures and metallicities of the ionizing stellar sources, the effects of the hardening of their radiation by surrounding leaky HII regions with different escape fractions, as well as different scenarios for the clumpiness of the DIG, and compute the resulting line strength ratios for a number of diagnostic optical emission lines. Methods: For the ionizing fluxes we compute a grid of stellar spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from detailed, fully non-LTE model atmospheres that include the effects of stellar winds and line blocking and blanketing. To calculate the ionization and temperature structure in the HII regions and the diffuse ionized gas we use spherically symmetric photoionization models as well as state-of-the-art three-dimensional (3D) non-LTE radiative transfer simulations, considering hydrogen, helium, and the most abundant metals. Results: We provide quantitative predictions of how the line ratios from HII regions and the DIG vary as a function of metallicity, stellar effective temperature, and escape fraction from the HII region. The range of predicted line ratios reinforces the hypothesis that the DIG is ionized by (filtered) radiation from hot stars; however, comparison of observed and predicted line ratios indicates that the DIG is typically ionized with a softer SED than predicted by the chosen stellar population synthesis model. Even small changes in simulation parameters like the clumping factor can lead to considerable variation in the ionized volume. Both for a more homogeneous gas and a very inhomogeneous gas containing both dense clumps and channels with low gas density, the ionized region in the dilute gas above the galactic plane can cease to be radiation-bounded, allowing the ionizing radiation to leak into the intergalactic medium.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, accepted by A&

Cloudphysical Parameters in Dependence on Height above Cloud Base in Different Clouds.

On flights with the DLR icing research aircraft the dependence of aircraft icing on cloudphysical parameters was determined; both for aircraft-referred icing and for normalized icing, as well as for various clouds and locations in clouds. This is done with an improvement of icing predicitons in mind. The species of the cloud and the distance from cloud base are called here cloud parameters; while under cloudphysical parameters are understood liquid water content, temperature, particle size distribution and particle phase. Results from four icing flights are discussed, selected from a total of forty vertical soundings. —The results are arranged in four classes: Stratus/cumulus mixed, stratus; with and without precipitation at the ground

Many Particle Hardy-Inequalities

In this paper we prove three differenttypes of the so-called many-particle Hardy inequalities. One of them is a "classical type" which is valid in any dimesnion $d\neq 2$. The second type deals with two-dimensional magnetic Dirichlet forms where every particle is supplied with a soplenoid. Finally we show that Hardy inequalities for Fermions hold true in all dimensions.Comment: 20 page

Radiation-driven winds of hot luminous stars. XVI. Expanding atmospheres of massive and very massive stars and the evolution of dense stellar clusters

Context: Starbursts, and particularly their high-mass stars, play an essential role in the evolution of galaxies. The winds of massive stars not only significantly influence their surroundings, but the mass loss also profoundly affects the evolution of the stars themselves. In addition to the evolution of each star, the evolution of the dense cores of massive starburst clusters is affected by N-body interactions, and the formation of very massive stars via mergers may be decisive for the evolution of the cluster. Aims: To introduce an advanced diagnostic method of O-type stellar atmospheres with winds, including an assessment of the accuracy of the determinations of abundances, stellar and wind parameters. Methods: We combine consistent models of expanding atmospheres with detailed stellar evolutionary calculations of massive and very massive single stars with regard to the evolution of dense stellar clusters. Accurate predictions of the mass loss rates of very massive stars requires a highly consistent treatment of the statistical equilibrium and the hydrodynamic and radiative processes in the expanding atmospheres. Results: We present computed mass loss rates, terminal wind velocities, and spectral energy distributions of massive and very massive stars of different metallicities, calculated from atmospheric models with an improved level of consistency. Conclusions: Stellar evolutionary calculations using our computed mass loss rates show that low-metallicity very massive stars lose only a very small amount of their mass, making it unlikely that very massive population III stars cause a significant helium enrichment of the interstellar medium. Solar-metallicity stars have higher mass-loss rates, but these are not so high to exclude very massive stars formed by mergers in dense clusters from ending their life massive enough to form intermediate-mass black holes.Comment: Accepted by A&