Antibiofilm Effects of Modifying Polyvinylidene Fluoride Membranes with Polyethylenimine, Poly(acrylic acid) and Graphene Oxide.

Biofouling in membrane filtration systems poses significant operational challenges, leading to decreased permeate flux. The aim of this work was to study the anti-biofilm properties of new nanofiltration membranes produced via layer-by-layer, LBL, assembly by coating a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) support with a polyethylenimine (PEI) and poly(acrylic acid)/graphene oxide (PAA-GO) mixture. The membranes were characterized according to contact angle, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy and their Z-potential.

Device Use Among Spanish-English Bilingual and English Monolingual Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Purpose: This report compares device use in a cohort of Spanish-English bilingual and English monolingual children who are deaf and hard of hearing, including children fitted with traditional hearing aids, cochlear implants (CIs), and/or bone-conduction hearing devices.

Method: Participants were 84 Spanish-English bilingual children and 85 English monolingual children from clinical sites across the United States. The data represent a subset obtained in a larger clinical trial.

Predicting language dominance in Spanish/English bilingual adults based on relative speech-in-speech recognition scores.

Purpose: Multiple dimensions of language dominance, such as language proficiency and demand for language use, can be reflected in bilinguals' speech-in-speech recognition scores. This paper explores the feasibility of using a novel measure to estimate language dominance for bilinguals: relative speech-in-speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) or the within-person difference in SRTs between their two languages.

Method: Participants were 25 Spanish/English bilingual adults ( = 30 years).

Development of the Children's English and Spanish Speech Recognition Test: Psychometric Properties, Feasibility, Reliability, and Normative Data.

Objectives: The Children's English and Spanish Speech Recognition (ChEgSS) test is a computer-based tool for assessing closed-set word recognition in English and in Spanish, with a masker that is either speech-shaped noise or competing speech. The present study was conducted to (1) characterize the psychometric properties of the ChEgSS test, (2) evaluate feasibility and reliability for a large cohort of Spanish/English bilingual children with normal hearing, and (3) establish normative data.

Design: Three experiments were conducted to evaluate speech perception in children (4-17 years) and adults (19-40 years) with normal hearing using the ChEgSS test.

A State-of-the-Art of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Chromium Photoreduction vs. Photocatalytic Water Remediation.

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a highly mobile cancerogenic and teratogenic heavy metal ion. Among the varied technologies applied today to address chromium water pollution, photocatalysis offers a rapid reduction of Cr(VI) to the less toxic Cr(III). In contrast to classic photocatalysts, Metal-Organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous semiconductors that can couple the Cr(VI) to Cr(III) photoreduction to the chromium species immobilization.

Effects of condensed tannins on behavior and performance of a specialist aphid on aspen.

Genes involved in plant defences against herbivores and pathogens are often highly polymorphic. This is a putative sign that balancing selection may have operated reciprocally on the hosts and their herbivores. Spatial and temporal variations (for example, in soil nutrients and the plants' ontogenetic development) may also modulate resistance traits, and thus selection pressures, but have been largely overlooked in theories of plant defences.

Masked-Speech Recognition for Linguistically Diverse Populations: A Focused Review and Suggestions for the Future.

Purpose: Twenty years ago, von Hapsburg and Peña (2002) wrote a tutorial that reviewed the literature on speech audiometry and bilingualism and outlined valuable recommendations to increase the rigor of the evidence base. This review article returns to that seminal tutorial to reflect on how that advice was applied over the last 20 years and to provide updated recommendations for future inquiry.

Method: We conducted a focused review of the literature on masked-speech recognition for bilingual children and adults.

Influence of Dance Programmes on Gait Parameters and Physical Parameters of the Lower Body in Older People: A Systematic Review.

(1) Background: The regular practice of dancing benefits the physical condition, improving quality of life and minimising the adverse effects of ageing. Therefore, this review aims to evaluate the impact of dance programmes by quantifying different physical parameters of the lower body in older adults. (2) Methods: A systematic qualitative review in the English language (PubMed, Scopus, OvidSP, Cochrane and PEDro database) until mid-2020 considering the PRISMA guidelines and the PEDro quality criteria considering the following parameters of gait: stride length and width, speed.

Cohort profile: a migratory cohort study of US Marines who train in Australia.

Purpose: In 2012, US Marines and Sailors began annual deployments to Australia to participate in joint training exercises with the Australian Defence Force and other partners in the region. During their training, US service members are exposed to a variety of infectious disease threats not normally encountered by American citizens. This paper describes a cohort of US Marines and Sailors enrolled during five rotations to Australia between 2016 and 2020.

A Simplified Approach to Quantifying a Child's Bilingual Language Experience.

Purpose Bilingual children's linguistic experience can vary markedly from child to child. For appropriate audiological assessment and intervention, audiologists need accurate and efficient ways to describe and understand a bilingual child's dynamic linguistic experience. This report documents an approach for quantitatively capturing a child's language exposure and usage in a time-efficient manner.

Copper-Modified Polymeric Membranes for Water Treatment: A Comprehensive Review.

In the last decades, the incorporation of copper in polymeric membranes for water treatment has received greater attention, as an innovative potential solution against biofouling formation on membranes, as well as, by its ability to improve other relevant membrane properties. Copper has attractive characteristics: excellent antimicrobial activity, high natural abundance, low cost and the existence of multiple cost-effective synthesis routes for obtaining copper-based materials with tunable characteristics, which favor their incorporation into polymeric membranes. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the progress made in the area regarding modified membranes for water treatment when incorporating copper.

Influence of Multidimensional Graphene Oxide (GO) Sheets on Anti-Biofouling and Desalination Performance of Thin-Film Composite Membranes: Effects of GO Lateral Sizes and Oxidation Degree.

The influence of the lateral size and the content of graphene oxide (GO) flakes in specific oxygenate functional groups on the anti-biofouling properties and performance of thin-film composite membrane (TFC) was studied. Three different multidimensional GO samples were prepared with small (500-1200 nm), medium (1200-2300 nm), and large (2300-3600 nm) size distribution, and with different degrees of oxidation (GO3 > GO2 > GO1), varying the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide amount during GO synthesis. GO1 sheets' length have a heterogeneous size distribution containing all size groups, whilst GO2 is contained in a medium-size group, and GO3 is totally contained within a small-size group.

Working Memory and Linguistic Performance of Dual Language Learners With and Without Developmental Language Disorders.

Purpose This research note describes the use of working memory measures as potential indicators of developmental language disorders (DLD) in preschool-age dual language learners from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. This report is an extension of early work, completed by the same authors that described the diagnostic accuracy of a Spanish nonword repetition task. Method One hundred thirty Spanish-speaking families with preschool-age children participated; 37 children had DLD, and 93 were typically developing.

Vocabulary and Phonological Abilities Affect Dual Language Learners' Consonant Production Accuracy Within and Across Languages: A Large-Scale Study of 3- to 6-Year-Old Spanish-English Dual Language Learners.

Purpose This study examined factors of language ability that predict consonant production accuracy in young Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs). Method Participants were 695 Latino DLLs, ages 3;0-6;5 (years;months). Single-word productions were elicited using the Bilingual Phonological Assessment (Miccio & Hammer, 2006).

Dynamic Assessment Language Tasks and the Prediction of Performance on Year-End Language Skills in Preschool Dual Language Learners.

Purpose Early identification is a key element for accessing appropriate services for preschool children with language impairment. However, there is a high risk of misidentifying typically developing dual language learners as having language impairment if inappropriate tools designed for monolingual children are used. In this study of children with bilingual exposure, we explored performance on brief dynamic assessment (DA) language tasks using graduated prompting because this approach has potential applications for screening.

The Psychosocial Impact of COVID-19 on health care workers.

At the end of 2019, a disease was identified, COVID-19, caused by a new type of easy and fast spreading virus, which led to the beginning of a worldwide pandemic. One of the most exposed groups to the virus and its psychosocial consequences is the healthcare workers, due to their implication in caring for affected people. Health workers are exposed to a fast and unpredictable situation that requires more human resources and materials than usual, however, the lack of means on account to this situation entails an increased probability of suffering different consequences, including the burnout syndrome, to which, generally, this professionals are already vulnerable.

Masked English Speech Recognition Performance in Younger and Older Spanish-English Bilingual and English Monolingual Children.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare masked English speech recognition thresholds between Spanish-English bilingual and English monolingual children and to evaluate effects of age, maternal education, and English receptive language abilities on individual differences in masked speech recognition. Method Forty-three Spanish-English bilingual children and 42 English monolingual children completed an English sentence recognition task in 2 masker conditions: (a) speech-shaped noise and (b) 2-talker English speech. Two age groups of children, younger (5-6 years) and older (9-10 years), were tested.

The Relationship Between Culture, Quality of Life, and Stigma in Hispanic New Mexicans With Dysphagia: A Preliminary Investigation Using Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis.

Purpose The purpose of this investigation was to (a) identify the relationship between level of acculturation, and quality of life (QOL) and stigma and (b) explore the QOL experiences for Hispanic New Mexicans with dysphagia. Method This study includes 7 New Mexicans who self-identified as Hispanic. This prospective investigation was completed in 2 phases.

Effects of Home Language, Oral Language Skills, and Cross-Linguistic Phonological Abilities on Whole-Word Proximity in Spanish-English-Speaking Children.

Purpose This study examined language use and language ability factors that predict phonological whole-word proximity in young Spanish-English-speaking children. Method Participants were 199 Latino children aged 3;0-6;6 (years;months) and their mothers. Children's speech sound production in English and Spanish was assessed using the Bilingual Phonological Assessment ( Miccio & Hammer, 2006 ).

Code-Switching in Highly Proficient Spanish/English Bilingual Adults: Impact on Masked Word Recognition.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of code-switching on Spanish/English bilingual listeners' speech recognition of English and Spanish words in the presence of competing speech-shaped noise.

Method: Participants were Spanish/English bilingual adults (N = 27) who were highly proficient in both languages. Target stimuli were English and Spanish words presented in speech-shaped noise at a -14-dB signal-to-noise ratio.

L-Met Activates Arabidopsis GLR Ca Channels Upstream of ROS Production and Regulates Stomatal Movement.

Plant glutamate receptor homologs (GLRs) have long been proposed to function as ligand-gated Ca channels, but no in planta evidence has been provided. Here, we present genetic evidence that Arabidopsis GLR3.1 and GLR3.

Nonword Repetition in Spanish-Speaking Toddlers with and without Early Language Delays.

Background/aims: Nonword repetition (NWR) studies with English-speaking toddlers indicate favorable diagnostic accuracy for identifying early language delays and strong associations with early vocabulary. While scarce, studies of Spanish NWR have revealed strong diagnostic accuracy with preschool- and school-age children. This study aimed to (1) establish the association between Spanish NWR and early linguistic measures, (2) compare the Spanish NWR skills of typical Spanish-speaking toddlers and those of toddlers with early language delays (ELD), and (3) establish the diagnostic accuracy of a Spanish NWR task.

Analysis of Bilingual Children's Performance on the English and Spanish Versions of the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-R (WMLS-R).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the way in which items on the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey Revised (WMLS-R) Spanish and English versions function for bilingual children from different ethnic subgroups who speak different dialects of Spanish. Using data from a sample of 324 bilingual Hispanic families and their children living on the United States mainland, differential item functioning (DIF) was conducted to determine if test items in English and Spanish functioned differently for Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican bilingual children. Data on child and parent language characteristics and children's scores on Picture Vocabulary and Story Recall subtests in English and Spanish were collected.

Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Responses to Loaded Half Squat Exercise Executed at an Intensity Corresponding to the Lactate Threshold.

This study was designed to identify the blood lactate threshold (LT2) for the half squat (HS) and to examine cardiorespiratory and metabolic variables during a HS test performed at a work intensity corresponding to the LT2. Twenty-four healthy men completed 3 test sessions. In the first, their one-repetition maximum (1RM) was determined for the HS.

Finger Flexor Force Influences Performance in Senior Male Air Pistol Olympic Shooting.

The ability to stabilize the gun is crucial for performance in Olympic pistol shooting and is thought to be related to the shooters muscular strength. The present study examines the relation between performance and finger flexor force as well as shoulder abduction isometric force in senior male air pistol shooting. 46 Spanish national level shooters served as test subjects of the study.