Compensatory strategies in child first language attrition within an Atlantic Creole

This study investigates compensatory strategies in lexical attrition that are applicable to Creole contact. There is evidence of lexical borrowing from a second language (L2), which is paired with discourse strategies such as exemplification and paraphrasing. Word coinage, metonymy, conversion and semantic contiguity are also all strategies implemented in an aim to compensate for lexical retrieval difficulties brought on by language attrition. It is found that an L2 User whose first language (L1) has become susceptible to language change may not solely employ a single strategy in an act of discourse, but may rather incorporate varying strategies, some of which serve the purpose of complementing other types of strategies in enabling successful communication. In the implementation of these strategies, though there may be influence from an L2, this L2 may not be dominant in the L2 users’ repertoire and L2 features borrowed into the L1 may be imperfectly acquired.

Bartonella henselae and Domestic Cats, Jamaica

Bartonella henselae has been isolated from domestic cats in most countries where it has been investigated, with the exception of some countries at northern latitudes, such as Norway. The prevalence of both bacteremia and seropositivity in cats is usually highest in warm and humid tropical countries. The worldwide distribution of cat scratch disease (CSD), a zoonotic disease caused mainly by the scratch of a B. henselae–infected cat, follows a similar pattern. Limited information is available about CSD in either humans or the feline reservoir in the Caribbean region

DNA-binding transcription factor NF-1A negatively regulates JC virus multiplication

JC virus (JCV) DNA replication occurs in the nuclei of infected cells. The level of JCV genome expression depends on nucleotide sequences in the viral regulatory region and their interaction with host-cell nuclear transcription factors. Our previous studies showed a higher level of NF-1X in JCV-permissive cells compared with the other members of the NF-1 family, NF-1A, B and C, which suggests that NF-1X plays a positive role in JCV multiplication. It remained unclear whether a reduction in the level of NF-1A, which is expressed abundantly in JCV-non-permissive cell types, leads to an increase in JCV multiplication. In this study, we show that downregulation of NF-1A expression in JCV-non-susceptible progenitor and HeLa cells results in a reversion to susceptibility for JCV multiplication. These data demonstrate that a higher level of NF-1A protein in JCV-non-permissive cell types, compared with the level of NF-1X, may be acting as a negative regulator at the JCV promoter to control JCV multiplication

godsbridgeX

In 2014 Hicks was selected along with nine other artists to participate in a project (‘godsbridgeX’) to work with the artist Tania Kovats to explore what outcomes might result from a collective encounter with a particular landscape feature. The artistic response(s) would later be displayed within the context of the Bowes Museum collection. The project involved three distinct meeting points over a period of a year: a collective walk and an encounter with the landscape of ‘God’s Bridge’, a follow up meeting to discuss ideas and progress and, after the completion and installation of the work, a public events day open to invited VIP guests at the Bowes Museum with talks from the artists including Tania Kovats. Hicks’s response to this project reflected upon the collective encounter and the ‘embodied experience’ of the landscape site, but was also developed in relation to the architecture and collection of the Bowes Museum itself. The resultant large-scale drawing combined elements of eastern and western drawing traditions in the form of a 6m long scroll which referenced the group’s journey. This was sited in the precious metals room, which contains many and various precious objects that reflect eastern and western craftsmanship. The drawing takes as its starting point a playful narrative constructed from a bringing together of specific and particular factors – shapes derived from actual flotsam observed during a walk, the geographical formation and construction of limestone and the location and particularities of the precious metals room selected to display the work. This drawing continues her exploration of drawing as an investigative tool for redefining the traditions of recording and ‘picturing’ landscape. Subsequently, the drawing was selected to be displayed as part of an exhibition to accompany the first international ‘Drawing Conversations’ symposium held at Coventry University December 2015.<br/

Thrombopoietin Receptor Levels in Tumor Cell Lines and Primary Tumors

Thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonists represent a new approach for the treatment of thrombocytopenia, which may develop as a consequence of immune thrombocytopenia, chemotherapy treatment, chronic hepatitis C infection, or myelodysplastic syndromes. There are concerns that use of certain growth factors can hasten disease progression in some types of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. In this study, expression of MPL (TPO-R) mRNA was examined in tumor cell lines, patient tumor samples (renal cell carcinoma, prostatic carcinoma, soft tissue and bony/cartilage sarcoma, colon cancer, and lymphoma), and normal tissues using microarray analysis and qRT-PCR. MPL mRNA is expressed at very low or undetectable levels compared with erythropoietin receptor (EPOR), human epidermal growth factor (ERBB2; HER2), and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF1R) in these patient samples. These data suggest TPO-R agonists will likely preferentially stimulate proliferation and differentiation of cells of megakaryocytic lineage, potentially demonstrating their utility for correcting thrombocytopenia in clinical settings