This article investigates the effect of age of first exposure and the quantity and quality of input to which non-native acquirers (L2ers) are exposed in their acquisition of grammatical gender in Dutch. Data from 103 English-speaking children, preteens and adults were analysed for gender agreement on definite determiners. It was observed that although most learners regularly overgeneralized the common gender definite determiner de to neuter nouns, there also existed child and adult L2ers who consistently produced the target neuter determiner het with these nouns (contra Carroll, 1989;

Highly fluorescent multiblock conjugated polymer nanoparticles with folic acid surface ligands are highly effective for bioimaging and in vivo tumor targeting. The targeted nanoparticles were preferentially localized in tumor cells in vivo, thereby illustrating their potential for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

ABSTRACT Reconstructing the chronology of mammalian evolution is a debated issue between molecule-and fossil-based inferences. A methodological limitation of molecules is the evolutionary rate variation among lineages, precluding the application of the global molecular clock. We considered 2422 first and second codon positions of the combined ADRA2B, IRBP, and vWF nuclear genes for a well-documented set of placentals including an extensive sampling of rodents. Using seven independent calibration points and a maximum-likelihood framework, we evaluated whether molecular and paleontological estimates of mammalian divergence dates may be reconciled by the local molecular clocks approach allowing local constancy of substitution rates with variations at larger phylogenetic scales. To handle the difficulty of choosing among all possible rate assignments for various lineages, local molecular clocks were based on the results of branch-length and two-cluster tests. Extensive lineage-specific variation of evolutionary rates was detected, even among rodents. Cross-calibrations indicated some incompatibilities between divergence dates based on different paleontological references. To decrease the impact of a single calibration point, estimates derived from independent calibrations displaying only slight reciprocal incompatibility were averaged. The divergence dates inferred for the split between mice and rats (~13-19 Myr) was younger than previously published molecular estimates. The most recent common ancestors of rodents, primates and rodents, boreoeutherians, and placentals were estimated to be respectively ~60, 70, 75, and 78 Myr old. Global clocks, local clocks and quartet dating analyses suggested a Late Cretaceous origin of the crown placental clades followed by a Tertiary radiation of some placental orders like rodents.

Abstract Established and emerging cognitive models of social anxiety have provided researchers and clinicians with a solid foundation for understanding and treating this phenomenon. Much of the support for these models, however, has been derived from predominantly Caucasian samples. While the evidence supports the concept of socio-evaluative fears as being universal, ethnic/cultural influences can dramatically alter the cognitive profile of the fears. The purpose of this study was to examine the cross-ethnic equivalence of the bivalent fear of evaluation model of social anxiety among an ethnically diverse sample of 799 undergraduate students from the United States. A series of confirmatory factor analyses indicated good model fit for each of the ethnic groups examined, and that holding factor loadings and latent variances and covariances equivalent did not alter model fit significantly. To illustrate, fear of positive evaluation (FPE) correlates strongly and positively with fear of negative evaluation (FNE), with both of these constructs found to correlate strongly with social anxiety Fears of positive and negative evaluation have also been found to hold specific relationships with social anxiety, as opposed to general relationships with anxiety/negative affect overall. FNE relates more strongly to social anxiety than to worry or anxiety sensitivity, and demonstrates incremental validity with respect to depression (i.e., FNE relates significantly to social anxiety upon controlling for depression, whereas FNE does not relate significantly to depression upon controlling for social anxiety) in a large clinical sample of social anxiety disorder patients In addition, recent findings support both FPE and FNE as having a dimensional latent structure Specifically, taxometric analyses conducted in a large unselected undergraduate sample yielded 3 curves that supported a dimensional latent structure. The taxometric findings of Weeks and colleagues are consistent with previous findings that social anxiety disorder has a dimensional latent structure

Abstract Objective: To understand determinants of overweight, several studies addressed the association between neighbourhood characteristics and adult obesity. However, little is known about the association influence of such characteristics with on adolescents' overweight. This study aims at the influence of neighbourhood characteristics on adolescent BMI and lifestyle and to what extent BMI-and lifestyle variation between neighbourhoods can be explained by neighbourhood characteristics. unemployment rate, population density, traffic density, prevalence of energy-dense food supply, number of sports fields and parks, and crime rate. To test our main hypothesis, linear and logistic multilevel regression analyses were performed to predict BMI and lifestyle factors in individuals nested in neighbourhoods. Results: Findings of multilevel analysis show little between-neighbourhood variations in BMI and health-related behaviours. 2% of BMI variation, 4% of media time variation and 3% of variation in snacking behaviour could be attributed to differences in neighbourhoods. Conclusion: Environmental factors are significantly associated with adolescent BMI and health-related behaviour, however their total effect is small. Due to these results recommendations for structural policy measures as part of comprehensive measures of prevention of overweight in adolescents must be made cautiously.

Sex-dependent influences of obesity on cerebral white matter investigated by diffusion-tensor imaging

The use of capsules and cavitands in physical organic chemistry is briefly reviewed, and their application to the study of salt bridges is introduced. Carboxylate/ammonium ion pairs are generated within an environment that more or less surrounds the functional groups within a synthetic fixed

Pol III binding in six mammalian genomes shows high

Context—The association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and childhood obesity foreshadows life-long inequalities in health. Insight into the causal mechanisms linking childhood adversity to long-term health could be provided by discovering when the negative SES gradient in weight emerges, and what early life experiences are associated with it. Objective—To examine SES differences in infant weight gain in the first three months of life, and assess contributions of parental BMI, maternal smoking, and feeding method to this association. Design—Observational study using longitudinal weight data from 2402 families taking part in the Gemini study; a twin birth cohort recruited from all twin births between March and December 2007 in England and Wales. Outcome Measures—Infant weights at birth and three months converted to standard deviation scores (SDS), change in weight SDS, and rapid growth. SES was indexed by occupation and maternal education. Results—There were no SES differences in birth weight, but lower SES was associated with

A diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) strategy termed “Click, Click, Cyclize ” is reported. This approach relies on functional group (FG) pairing between a vinyl sulfonamide and an array of functional groups to synthesize skeletally diverse sultams. Several FG pairing pathways on central tertiary vinyl sulfonamide linchpins have been developed including intramolecular Heck, aza-Michael, ring-closing enyne metathesis, Pauson—Khand, and chemoselective oxidation/Baylis— Hillman reactions. The growing demand for quick access to small molecules with novel architechures for high throughput screening has provided challenging opportunities for synthetic chemists. Despite significant advances in this field, a lack of systematic library planning strategies has been cited as a limiting factor in the process.1 Diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS)1,2 has emerged to address this deficiency as an enabling platform for the facile production of multiple scaffolds1-3 displaying skeletal diversity.2,4 Among several features that define DOS, forward-synthetic analysis1,2 and functional group (FG) pairing5,6 have surfaced as significant tools.