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Aims and Objectives: Bilingual speakers that speak a null subject (Spanish) and a non-null subject language (English) may show some indeterminacy in referential choice in their nondominant language in comparison to monolingual speakers. The present study tests the production of referring expressions in the two languages of bilingual speakers (Spanish and English) to assess attainment at the discourse level and explore the role of language dominance on referential choice. Methodology: A group of 49 Spanish–English bilinguals participated in a picture description task in English and Spanish measuring referential choice in contexts of reference maintenance and topic-shift. Data and Analysis: The results of our study show that at a group level, bilingual speakers produced more underspecified references in maintenance contexts than English monolingual speakers and produced more overspecified references in topic-maintenance and topic-shift contexts than Spanish monolingual speakers. The results further show that language dominance in the target language is associated with more monolingual-like referential choice. Conclusions: We discuss the role of language dominance in the development of bilingual referential choice patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on study of researchers at University of Texas at El Paso on identification of institutions intervention for social mobility enhancement. Topics discussed include creation of incentives for institutions focused on graduation rates optimization, social mobility rankings introduced by the Washington Monthly magazine (WaMo), and measures for intergenerational mobility defined by economist Raj Chetty.

Both comprehension and production exposures to words facilitate spoken production of the same words in picture-naming tasks performed several minutes later. Three experiments examined the mechanisms by which different types of comprehension exposures to words facilitate spoken production. Both overt and silent reading and listening tasks elicited substantial priming in picture naming at 10-minute but not 1-week retention intervals. Relative to silent conditions, encoding conditions that involved speaking the target word overtly elicited stronger priming effects in both RT and accuracy and larger frequency effects in RT. Frequency effects were not reliable in accuracy priming or silent-encoding RT priming. Articulatory suppression did not diminish priming effects relative to silent reading/listening, and priming effects did not depend on whether presentations at encoding were visual or auditory. Together, the results indicate that a common modality-general lemma representation is accessed in comprehension and production, that both lemma and phonological retrieval contribute to repetition priming in production, and that phonological retrieval is sensitive to word frequency. These results are consistent with a theory based on transfer-appropriate processing if word comprehension elicits top-down processing or feedback from the concept to the lemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To elucidate the impact of phacoemulsification on aqueous monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) levels, and identify its cell origin., Methods: For clinical study, aqueous humor samples were collected before and after surgery (17.0 ± 4.0 months postoperatively) from 21 cataract cases that underwent phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Aqueous MCP-1 levels were determined using a multiplex immunoassay. For animal experiments, rabbits underwent phacoemulsification (± IOL). Aqueous humor samples were collected from nonoperated eyes and operated eyes, and immunoassays were performed. Eyes were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical studies., Results: In the clinical study, mean (± SD) aqueous MCP-1 levels were higher postoperatively (1773.5 ± 321.2 pg/mL) than preoperatively (796.9 ± 211.3 pg/mL; P < 0.0001). In animal experiments, mean aqueous MCP-1 levels (pg/mL) were higher in postoperative eyes on day 30 (207.1 ± 62.9) than in nonoperated eyes (31.2 ± 12.5; P = 0.018). IOL implantation did not affect the changes in MCP-1 levels. After phacoemulsification, MCP-1 mRNA expression was increased in the cornea, iris, ciliary body, and capsular bag. Expression of MCP-1 mRNA in the capsular bag, but not the other tissues, increased from day 30 to 90. Immunohistochemical studies showed positive immunoreactivity for MCP-1 in cells of the posterior capsule after phacoemulsification., Conclusions: aqueous MCP-1 levels were elevated in both human and animal eyes after phacoemulsification. Proliferated Lens epithelial cells on the capsule might be the major cell origin for prolonged MCP-1 production after phacoemulsification. (http://www.umin.ac.jp/ number, UMIN000005788.).