Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognition and bilingualism: a reanalysis of studies

Much of recent literature on bilingualism and cognitive development has claimed that bilingualism causes cognitive enhancement. This paper reviews the methodology of these studies and concludes that these, primarily associational', studies do not support this conclusion. A more parsimonious explanation of differences between bilinguals and unilinguals is to be found in differences in self-selection of children in non-compulsory second language learning environments and in difficulties of access to learning and social stress which affect minority language children who are forced to learn the majority language in ways that are very much like the difficulties of lower class children where language is not an issue. The 1962 Peal and Lambert study seems to have marked a watershed in research into the relation between bilingualism and various cognitive skills (Cummins, 1976b, 1978). Before that, the weight of research evidence tended to support a negative association. That is, comparisons of groups of unilingual and bilingual children on various verbal and nonverbal intelligence measures indicated some superiority for the unilinguals more often than not. Although some current research still supports the negative association, the trend of the evidence has swung to favour the bilingual children. Among research done in a Canadian setting, I have found no recent work which puts unilinguals ahead of or equal to their bilingual peers. This paper attempts to account for this shift in results and to examine the claim that there is a 'causal link between bilingualism and (cognitive) flexibility, the former apparently enhancing the latter' (Lambert, 1978: 539). The review of the literature will consider first the research designs and the results. Next, the dependent, cognitive measures will be discussed and then sample selection and the operationalization of Linguistics 17 (1979), 231-255. © Mouton Publishers.
Current control of piezoelectric actuators with power loss compensation

This paper introduces a feedforward charge control method, which controls the displacement by the amount of current fed to the actuator. The method includes estimation and compensation of the power losses occurring in the actuator. Power losses are estimated with an experimentally created dynamic model, that does not include the load and self heating effects. Even though the method is based on feedforward control, the amount of current is controlled in closed loop, using a precise current measurement and a PID controller. Experiments with a piezo bender show promising results; the hysteresis was nearly reduced to one part in twenty and drift to one part in ten, in comparison to open-loop voltage control. The proposed method can predict the power losses quite accurately and can therefore be utilized not only for the control but also for power estimation in applications where power consumption is critical.
Parents with learning disabilities: a study of gender and cultural perspectives in East London

Summary The rights of people with learning disabilities to marry and have a family is at the heart of the Government's new strategy (Valuing People), yet there are few integrated and co-ordinated services to meet their needs. All too often, learning disability is the sole reason why children are removed from their biological parents. Whilst there is a small but growing literature on the quality and extent of the social supports available, little attention has been paid to culture and gender. This study analyses data on parents who came into contact with the specialist community learning disability health team in East London over a 5-year period in respect of culture, gender and outcomes.
Bullets, Blades, and Being Afraid in Hispanic High Schools: An Exploratory Study of the Presence of Weapons and Fear of Weapon-Associated Victimization Among High School Students in a Border Town

This article presents data obtained from a survey of high school students in Brownsville, Texas. Almost half of the students reported having seen other students carry knives at school, roughly 1 in 10 reported having seen other students carry guns at school, and more than 1 in 5 reported being fearful of weapon-associated victimization at school. Logistic regression analyses indicate that age, gender, seeing other students carry weapons, and involvement with student clubs/organizations significantly affect fear of weapon-associated victimization. Using language spoken at home as a measure of acculturation, it was also determined that immigrant juveniles are more fearful of weaponassociated victimization than nonimmigrant juveniles. The theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Quantitative immunological determination of 12 plasma proteins excreted in human urine collected before and after exercise.

Urine was collected from 6 healthy male adults at rest and from 20 male adults after a marathon race (25 miles). The concentrated urines were quantitatively analyzed, by single radial immunodiffusion, for their content in 12 different plasma proteins: tryptophan-rich prealbumin, albumin, alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, alpha(1)-antitrypsin, ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin, Gc-globulin, transferrin, hemopexin, beta(2)-glycoprotein I, gammaA-globulin, and gammaG-globulin.Albumin, gammaA-globulin, and gammaG-globulin represent the major part of the plasma proteins detected in normal urine excreted by humans at rest (12, 0.5, and 2.5 mg respectively, out of a total excretion of 17.5 mg of plasma proteins per 24 hr). The other plasma proteins were excreted at a lower rate (< 0.4 mg/24 hr). The relative content of tryptophan-rich prealbumin, alpha(1)-antitrypsin, Gc-globulin, transferrin, and gammaG-globulin was lower in normal urine than in normal serum, whereas that of alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, beta(2)-glycoprotein I, and gammaA-globulin was higher. The ratio of gammaG-globulin to gammaA-globulin was 4.9:1. When plotted on a logarithmic scale, no direct relationship between the molecular weight of a protein and the value of its renal clearance could be observed.Strenuous exercise increased (up to 50-fold) the excretion of plasma proteins which represent 82% of the total proteins found in urine, instead of 57% in urine collected from humans at rest. There was particularly a significant rise of tryptophan-rich albumin, albumin, alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, transferrin, gammaA-globulin, and gammaG-globulin (0.26, 127, 11.8, 3.3, 1.2, and 2.0 mug respectively, out of a total excretion of 167 mug of plasma proteins per min). The ratio of gammaG-globulin to gammaA-globulin was 16:1. After exercise, the renal clearance of proteins increased from 2 to 40 times, but, as for the urine of normal subjects at rest, no direct relationship between molecular weight and renal clearance could be observed.
Intergenerational Perceptions, Similarities and Differences: A Comparative Analysis of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Millennial Youth with Generation X and Baby Boomers

This article shares the findings from a qualitative study of 49 lesbian, gay, and bisexual people from three generations: Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial. Baby Boomer and Generation X perceptions of Millennials are compared to the lived experiences as told by the youth themselves. While there were more intergenerational similarities than differences, one major difference emerged: Millennials were more apt to describe fluid or multiple identities than the older generations.
Precardiac mesoderm is specified during gastrulation in quail

The establishment of precardiac mesoderm and the role of anterolateral endoderm and ectoderm in regulating heart muscle cell development have been studied in quail using explant cultures. Mesoderm from precardiac regions of stage 4+–6 embryos was explanted alone or in combination with adjacent endoderm or ectoderm, cultured for 12 to 72 hr in several types of culture media, and then assayed by morphological and immunocytochemical criteria for the presence of differnetiated cardiac myocytes. Results show that mesoderm from heart forming regions is capable of differentiating into beating cardiac myocytes in a defined medium lacking potential signaling molecules by stage 4+, the earliest time at which we could isolate mesoderm from adjacent cell layers. Although an interaction with anterolateral endoderm from stage 4+ onward is therefore not required for the specification of precardiac mesoderm in quail, explants consisting of mesoderm plus endoderm show an enhanced rate of myocyte differentiation and a shortened delay between expression of myosin heavy chain and the onset of beating. Endoderm also plays a central role in early heart morphogenesis since beating heart tubes from only in explants that contain both mesoderm and endoderm. In contrast, ectoderm from stage 4+–5+ embryos does not support development of precardiac mesoderm. These results suggeest that early heart muscle cell development involves an initial specification step that occurs prior to or during gastrulation and which leads to the appearance of myocardial precursor cells, and a subsequent differentiation step during which endoderm plays a central role in enhancing the rate of myocyte differentiation and the degree of heart tube morphogenesis. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Structural brain correlates of sensorimotor gating in antipsychotic-naive men with first-episode schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex is modulated by a complex neural network. Prepulse inhibition impairments are found at all stages of schizophrenia. Previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies suggest that brain correlates of PPI differ between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls; however, these studies included only patients with chronic illness and medicated patients. Our aim was to examine the structural brain correlates of PPI in antipsychotic-naive patients with first-episode schizophrenia. METHODS We performed acoustic PPI assessment and structural MRI (1.5 and 3 T) in men with first-episode schizophrenia and age-matched controls. Voxel-based morphometry was used to investigate the association between PPI and grey matter volumes. RESULTS We included 27 patients and 38 controls in the study. Patients had lower PPI than controls. The brain areas in which PPI and grey matter volume correlated did not differ between the groups. Independent of group, PPI was significantly and positively associated with regional grey matter volume in the right superior parietal cortex. Prepulse inhibition and grey matter volume associations were also observed in the left rostral dorsal premotor cortex, the right presupplementary motor area and the anterior medial superior frontal gyrus bilaterally. Follow-up analyses suggested that the rostral dorsal premotor cortex and presupplementary motor area correlations were driven predominantly by the controls. LIMITATIONS We used 2 different MRI scanners, which might have limited our ability to find subcortical associations since interscanner consistency is low for subcortical regions. CONCLUSION The superior parietal cortex seems to be involved in the regulation of PPI in controls and antipsychotic-naive men with first-episode schizophrenia. Our observation that PPI deficits in schizophrenia may be related to the rostral dorsal premotor cortex and presupplementary motor area, brain areas involved in maintaining relevant sensory information and voluntary inhibition, warrants further study.
Attenuation of Hedgehog Acyltransferase-Catalyzed Sonic Hedgehog Palmitoylation Causes Reduced Signaling, Proliferation and Invasiveness of Human Carcinoma Cells

Overexpression of Hedgehog family proteins contributes to the aetiology of many cancers. To be highly active, Hedgehog proteins must be palmitoylated at their N-terminus by the MBOAT family multispanning membrane enzyme Hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat). In a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell line PANC-1 and transfected HEK293a cells Hhat localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. siRNA knockdown showed that Hhat is required for Sonic hedgehog (Shh) palmitoylation, for its assembly into high molecular weight extracellular complexes and for functional activity. Hhat knockdown inhibited Hh autocrine and juxtacrine signaling, and inhibited PDAC cell growth and invasiveness in vitro. In addition, Hhat knockdown in a HEK293a cell line constitutively expressing Shh and A549 human non-small cell lung cancer cells inhibited their ability to signal in a juxtacrine/paracrine fashion to the reporter cell lines C3H10T1/2 and Shh-Light2. Our data identify Hhat as a key player in Hh-dependent signaling and tumour cell transformed behaviour.
The Consequences of Love: Young People and Family Practices in Difficult Circumstances

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of sociological work exploring the importance and meaning of kinship. Much of this work has criticized the ‘individualization’ thesis according to which changes in family structures over time have been interpreted as reflecting a fundamental decline in family values. Highlighting continuities as well as change in family life, this work has also suggested ways to move beyond the individualization debate and to develop alternative frameworks for the study of contemporary families and personal life, notably through the analysis of related practices. For various reasons, this recent work has focused primarily on the experience and practices of adults in ‘ordinary’ rather than more difficult family circumstances. This article aims to complement this work by focusing on the difficult family experiences of young people affected by parental substance use. It is argued that it is important not to lose sight of such experiences in order that sociological thinking reflect the diversity of family practices and the resources available to support them, including at younger ages. In addition, the importance of developing concepts or a language facilitating the exploration and communication of the emotional and symbolic significance of these practices is emphasized.
Keeping the Spark Alive

How can couples keep the sexual spark alive in long-term relationships? The current study draws upon existing research and theory on both communal relationships and approach-avoidance models of social motivation to test the hypothesis that individual differences in the motivation to meet a partner’s sexual needs, termed sexual communal strength, predict heightened feelings of sexual desire in long-term partnerships. In a 21-day daily experience study of 44 long-term couples, individuals higher in sexual communal strength engaged in daily sexual interactions for approach goals, and in turn, reported high levels of daily sexual desire. Sexual communal strength also buffered against declines in sexual desire over a 4-month period of time. These associations held after controlling for general communal strength, relationship satisfaction, sexual frequency, age, and whether or not the couples had children. These findings demonstrate the utility of extending theories of communal motivation to the sexual domain of relationships.
Response to “A Critique of ‘Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Total Mortality Among Elderly Californians, 1973–2002” By Bert Brunekreef, PhD, and Gerard Hoek, PhD

I agree with Drs. Brunekreef and Hoek that new studies of the health effects of fine particulates are very important (Brunekreef & Hoek, 2006). They have raised a number of important issues regarding the findings in my article on the relationship between PM2.5 and mortality in elderly Californians (Enstrom, 2005). I have addressed their issues by clarifying my published findings and by providing additional results.
Optic Disc Detection From Normalized Digital Fundus Images by Means of a Vessels' Direction Matched Filter

Optic disc (OD) detection is a main step while developing automated screening systems for diabetic retinopathy. We present in this paper a method to automatically detect the position of the OD in digital retinal fundus images. The method starts by normalizing luminosity and contrast through out the image using illumination equalization and adaptive histogram equalization methods respectively. The OD detection algorithm is based on matching the expected directional pattern of the retinal blood vessels. Hence, a simple matched filter is proposed to roughly match the direction of the vessels at the OD vicinity. The retinal vessels are segmented using a simple and standard 2-D Gaussian matched filter. Consequently, a vessels direction map of the segmented retinal vessels is obtained using the same segmentation algorithm. The segmented vessels are then thinned, and filtered using local intensity, to represent finally the OD-center candidates. The difference between the proposed matched filter resized into four different sizes, and the vessels' directions at the surrounding area of each of the OD-center candidates is measured. The minimum difference provides an estimate of the OD-center coordinates. The proposed method was evaluated using a subset of the STARE project's dataset, containing 81 fundus images of both normal and diseased retinas, and initially used by literature OD detection methods. The OD-center was detected correctly in 80 out of the 81 images (98.77%). In addition, the OD-center was detected correctly in all of the 40 images (100%) using the publicly available DRIVE dataset.
The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen

This study of the extreme right in France, from one of the most well-informed and prolific authors on the topic, situates the emergence, rise, impact and nature of JeanMarie Le Pen’s Front National (FN) in the context of the country’s tradition of authoritarian nationalism. Appropriately, then, this is amonographof twohalves. Part 1 (‘Lost Opportunities and Lost Causes’) chronologically and scholarly assesses the story back to war-time Vichy politics and thereafter through a veritable panorama of key developments taking in Poujadism, Algérie Franc aise, the extremeright forcesof the 1960s (including Tixier-Vignancour, Europe-Action, Young Nation and Occident) and the New Right and Ordre Nouveau movements that preceded and fed into the FN party that surfaced in the early 1970s. Each chapter is an interesting case study in itself; collectively they add up to a holistic analysis of three decades of far right presence and performance in France. Part 2 (‘Political Legitimation and the Fruits of Electoralism’) focuses on the Front National from 1972 to 2006. The chapters in Part 2 take the reader step by step through the ‘ups and downs’ and impact of the party from its early decade in the politicalwilderness, close to extinction, to the giddy heights of 2002, when Le Pen drew global attention when he reached the decisive second ballot run-off of the French presidential election, spectacularly ahead of the mainstream Socialist Party candidate in the process. Various chapters of this section provide fulsome analyses of the party’s evolving programme and strategy, the populist appeal of the party, its electoral composition and profile, and the functioning of the party in its local and regional strongholds. All in all, this is anexcellentbook inwhich theparts reallydoaddup to thewhole as the author’s sure-footed grasp of the detail, the historical continuities and ideological nuances help to produce what is surely the key bookwritten in English on the pre-2007 Front National. Indeed, this reviewer was impressed inter alia by the extensive research (and impressive bibliography), judicious structuring of the material and the fluently written presentation of the book. Clearly, a second edition is called for, in which the author will surely want to update his readership on the recent transition from Jean-Marie (including an analysis of the 2007 French presidential election and aftermath) to his daughter Marine Le Pen’s leadership of the party (a ‘new’ FN? ) and her impact on and performance in the2012elections inFrance. Academics, students, researchers and followers of French, European and far right politics andmodernhistorywill learnmuch from Shields’s book and no doubt from a welcome and eagerly awaited new edition.
Evaluating Gang Resistance Education and Training (Great)

Gangs became a major concern of law enforcement and the public in the late 1980s and remain so in the first half of the 1990s. One response for addressing the problem has been the development and dissemination of a prevention program called Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT). This program is similar to the popular Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program of the 1980s. No published evaluations exist about GREAT although there have been numerous evaluations of DARE. The latter show that DARE has a very small effect on the drug behavior of children. This research reports an evaluation of GREAT in several sites in the United States that show that it also has a very small effect on children. However, as is the case with DARE, GREAT will continue because of the powerful symbolic political and public relations utility it has for various stakeholders.
Interference between face and non-face domains of perceptual expertise: a replication and extension

As car expertise increases, so does interference between the visual processing of faces and that of cars; this suggests performance trade-offs across domains of real-world expertise. Such interference between expert domains has been previously revealed in a relatively complex design, interleaving 2-back part-judgment task with faces and cars (Gauthier et al., 2003). However, the basis of this interference is unclear. Experiment 1A replicated the finding of interference between faces and cars, as a function of car expertise. Experiments 1B and 2 investigated the mechanisms underlying this effect by (1) providing baseline measures of performance and (2) assessing the specificity of this interference effect. Our findings support the presence of expertise-dependent interference between face and non-face domains of expertise. However, surprisingly, it is in the condition where faces are processed among cars with a disrupted configuration where expertise has a greater influence on faces. This finding highlights how expertise-related processing changes also occur for transformed objects of expertise and that such changes can also drive interference across domains of expertise.
HP: Hybrid Paxos for WANs

Implementing a fault-tolerant state machine boils down to reaching consensus on a sequence of commands. In wide area networks (WANs), where network delays are typically large and unpredictable, choosing the best consensus protocol is difficult. During normal operation, Classic Paxos (CP) requires three message delays, whereas Fast Paxos (FP) requires only two. However, when collisions occur, due to interfering commands issued concurrently, FP re- quires four extra message delays. In addition, FP uses larger quorums than CP. Therefore, CP can outperform FP in many situations. We present Hybrid Paxos (HP), a consensus protocol that combines the features of FP and CP. HP implements generalized consensus, where collisions are caused only by interfering commands. In the absence of collisions HP requires two message delays, and only one extra message delay otherwise. Our evaluation shows that when collisions are rare, the latency of HP reaches the theoretical minimum. When collisions are frequent, HP behaves like CP.