Defining Spanglish: A Linguistic Categorization of Spanish-English Code-Switching in the United States

This paper will linguistically explore the forms of Spanish spoken by Spanish-English bilinguals in the United States in order to argue that Spanglish is a complex linguistic system governed by a set of specific linguistic rules and patterns. I will do this by drawing on previous research in this field that examines the phonological patterns, morphological trends, and syntactic constraints that govern acceptable code switches between English and Spanish (Otheguy, 1993; Rodriguez-Gonzalez and Parafita-Couto, 2012; Rothman and Rell, 2005; Lipski, 2008; et al.). This evaluation of Spanglish will also include description and assessment of different arguments regarding how it can best be described linguistically, ultimately claiming that the most compelling argument poses Spanglish as a well-developed system of Spanish-English code-switching

Three-Dimensional Ultrastructure Determination of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus Pin Wheel Inclusion Bodies Through the Use of Analytic Geometry, and High Resolution Electron Microscopy and Signal Analysis and Dissemination Equipment Studies of Ultrastructure

This study was undertaken for several reasons. The primary reason for the study was to determine the three-dimensional shape of the viral pin wheel inclusion in order to confirm or deny the three-dimensional structures put forth by Edwardson (15), Andrews and Shalla (1); or to establish another different pin wheel inclusion three-dimensional shape yet undescribed in previous literature. A secondary reason for the study lies in the fact that if this technique described in this paper was deemed acceptable, it could be employed to determine quickly, from two-dimensional electron micrographs, the three-dimensional ultrastructural shapes of many features seen in electron micrographs. Subsequent work was also done in the field of optical studies using various photographic interpretation methods in order to possibly elucidate the fine structural patterns or connections that seem to occur in the various ultrastructural inclusion components of the cell

Characterization of a Small Iron Protein, Pyrococcus Furiosus Rubredoxin, as a Potential Cancer Drug Delivery System

Background: Cancer is an elusive neoplastic disease that claims the lives of many people around the world every year. Though treatments have become more specific to the different types of cancer, the need for antineoplastic drugs that target cancer cells and leave normal cells unharmed, with little to no systemic toxicity remains, and rubredoxin might be such a tool. Rubredoxin is a small (53 amino acids), water soluble, non-heme iron electron transfer protein that contains an iron atom cofactor, which can be substituted with various cytotoxic transition metals such as nickel and cobalt with little or no effect on the protein. Rubredoxin from the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus is thermostable and appears to have low immunogenicity. The focus of this project is to incorporate tumor-specific binding sequences at several modifiable sites on the protein as well as substitute the iron-center with cytotoxic metals. Once a stable rubredoxin containing these characteristics is created, its effects and efficacy will be studied on specific cancer cells in vitro

Deformation factor: an extracellular protein synthesized by Bartonella bacilliformis that deforms erythrocyte membranes.

Bartonella bacilliformis, a hemotropic bacterium and the causative agent of the human disease bartonellosis, when incubated in a tryptone-based medium produces an extracellular factor, termed deformation factor (DF), which induces extensive indentations and trenches in trypsinized erythrocyte membranes. The factor is stable during storage at 4 degrees C. It can be inactivated by proteases or brief heating to 70 to 80 degrees C, can be precipitated by ammonium sulfate, is nondialyzable, and is retained by membranes with a 30,000-molecular-weight cutoff. These properties suggest that DF is probably a protein. Incubation of erythrocytes with phospholipase D renders them resistant to deformation by DF

A Rapid Subtractive Immunization Method to Prepare Discriminatory Monoclonal Antibodies for Food E. coli O157:H7 Contamination

To detect food E. coli O157:H7 contamination rapidly and accurately, it is essential to prepare high specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the pathogen. Cyclophosphamide (Cy)-mediated subtractive immunization strategy was performed in mice to generate mAbs that react with E. coli O157:H7, but not with other affiliated bacteria. Specificity of 19 mAbs was evaluated by ELISA and/or dot-immunogold filtration assay (DIGFA). Immunogloubin typing, affinity and binding antigens of 5 selected mAbs were also analysed. MAbs 1D8, 4A7, 5A2 were found to have high reactivity with E. coli O157:H7 and no cross-reactivity with 80 other strains of bacteria including Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., Proteus sp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Citrobacter freundii and other non-E. coli O157:H7 enteric bacteria. Their ascetic titers reached 1∶106 with E. coli O157:H7 and affinity constants ranged from 1.57×1010 to 2.79×1010 L/mol. The antigens recognized by them were different localized proteins. Furthermore, immune-colloidal gold probe coated with mAb 5A2 could specifically distinguish minced beef contaminated by E. coli O157:H7 from 84 other bacterial contaminations. The Cy-mediated subtractive immunization procedure coupled with hybridoma technology is a rapid and efficient approach to prepare discriminatory mAbs for detection of E. coli O157:H7 contamination in food

P110 and P140 Cytadherence-Related Proteins Are Negative Effectors of Terminal Organelle Duplication in Mycoplasma genitalium

BACKGROUND:The terminal organelle is a complex structure involved in many aspects of the biology of mycoplasmas such as cell adherence, motility or cell division. Mycoplasma genitalium cells display a single terminal organelle and duplicate this structure prior to cytokinesis in a coordinated manner with the cell division process. Despite the significance of the terminal organelle in mycoplasma virulence, little is known about the mechanisms governing its duplication. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In this study we describe the isolation of a mutant, named T192, with a transposon insertion close to the 3' end of the mg192 gene encoding for P110 adhesin. This mutant shows a truncated P110, low levels of P140 and P110 adhesins, a large number of non-motile cells and a high frequency of new terminal organelle formation. Further analyses revealed that the high rates of new terminal organelle formation in T192 cells are a direct consequence of the reduced levels of P110 and P140 rather than to the expression of a truncated P110. Consistently, the phenotype of the T192 mutant was successfully complemented by the reintroduction of the mg192 WT allele which restored the levels of P110 and P140 to those of the WT strain. Quantification of DAPI-stained DNA also showed that the increase in the number of terminal organelles in T192 cells is not accompanied by a higher DNA content, indicating that terminal organelle duplication does not trigger DNA replication in mycoplasmas. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Our results demonstrate the existence of a mechanism regulating terminal organelle duplication in M. genitalium and strongly suggest the implication of P110 and P140 adhesins in this mechanism

The production and characterization of anti-idiotypic antibodies to syngeneic monoclonal and xenogeneic polyclonal antibodies to soybean mosaic virus

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV)-mimicking anti-idiotypic antibodies (Abs) were developed for use as positive controls in enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and as probes for identification of putative SMV receptors in plants;Anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) were generated against either the anti-SMV McAb S1 or against rabbit anti-SMV polyclonal antibodies (SMV Abs);A syngeneic IgM anti-S1 idiotope hybridoma designated 1a produced McAbs which recognized intraspecies, cross-reactive idiotopes (CRIs) on the IgG2a kappa light chain McAbs S1 and NDV4F11, an anti-Newcastle's disease virus McAb. It also recognized an interspecies CRI on SMV Abs. The 1a McAb did not react with all IgG2a kappa light chain McAbs nor did it react with rabbit polyclonal Abs to two other plant viruses;S1 or SMV competed with SMV Abs for bound 1a in ELISAs. This indicated that S1 and SMV Abs have nearly identical CRIs and that 1a recognized an idiotope near the paratope of SMV Abs. Since 1a recognized both SMV and S1, it exhibited features characteristic of an epibody;Since 1a, like bound SMV, captured SMV Abs in ELISAs, it was possible to use an anti-idiotope Ab such as 1a as a positive control in such assays;Four anti-SMV Ab hybridomas produced Abs which in ELISAs, reacted to a greater extent with SMV Abs than with control Abs or SMV Abs in the presence of SMV. In preliminary experiments, these hybridoma Abs appeared to mimic SMV and to inhibit SMV local lesion formation on detached Phaseolus vulgaris L. C.V. Top crop leaves. Whether this inhibition is specific due to hybridoma Abs mimicking SMV or is a non-specific phenomenon has yet to be determined.</p