Language mixing in bilingual speakers with Alzheimer's dementia: a conversation analysis approach

Bilingual speakers with Alzheimer s disease (AD) may use the wrong language for the setting interlocutor or produce what appears to be an inappropriate mixture of their two languages. The few published studies to date examining this phenomenon have investigated it within a discourse analysis framework, interpreting the behaviour either as a problem of language choice (choosing the appropriate language in which to converse) or language separation (keeping two languages separate in production). These authors contend that while such a distinction is theoretically feasible, it is extremely problematic to apply these labels to actual conversational data. Using examples from free conversations of four bilingual women with AD, some of the difficulties inherent in a discourse analytic approach to this question are illustrated. Applying principles from conversation analysis (CA) it is argued that a methodology that is data driven and context relevant offers more valuable insights into individuals language use and interaction. It avoids the inconclusiveness of the choice-separation dichotomy and offersmore constructive accounts of whether and how language behaviour is appropriate or not.     

TEENAGE DRINKING: A 4-YEAR COMPARATIVE STUDY

Two adolescent drinking surveys carried out within 4 years inthe same region of the UK were compared on three aspects ofdrinking behaviour. The results showed that there was a higherproportion of non-drinkers in 1992 as compared with 1988 formales aged 11–15 and females aged 11–13; more 11–13year-old females in 1992 reported their home as the locationof their first alcoholic drink without their parents; and youngerboys were less likely, in 1992, to report ever being drunk.The relative increase in the proportion of non-drinking adolescentsis in line with similar recent trends in national sample surveysof young adults.     

Factor analysis of ICD-10 symptom items in the 1988 National Health Interview Survey on Alcohol Dependence

The present paper analyzes data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS88) of US adults. This general population survey is important in that it is the largest survey to date that collects detailed information on alcohol consumption and alcohol problems. The NHIS88 is a multi-stage complex sample household study with a sample size of about 44 000 adults of which about 20 000 reported that they were current drinkers. Symptom items were used for classification of individuals into categories of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence based on the DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and ICD-10 classification. The present analyses are based on 20 items corresponding to the ICD-10 classification, the elements of which are closely related to the Edwards–Gross alcohol dependence syndrome concepts. A single dimension corresponding to alcohol problems in general accounted for much of the correlations among these items, but additional dimensions of interest were also identified. Of the ICD-10 elements only Impaired Control, Tolerance, and Withdrawal could be identified as separate dimensions.     

Variability of the intestinal immunoglobulin E response of rats to infection with Trichinella spiralis, Heligmosomoides polygyrus or Nippostrongylus brasiliensis

Total intestinal IgE level increased in rats infected with Trichinella spiralis or Heligmosomoides polygyrus (peak levels of 2.6 microg and 3.7 microg, respectively), but not in rats infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Intestinal implantation of young adult N. brasiliensis did not stimulate an intestinal immunoglobulin (Ig)E response, suggesting that mucosal penetration may be required for local intestinal IgE responses in rats. During a T. spiralis infection, total IgE levels in the intestinal lumen were consistently higher in LEWIS and LOU rats (rat strains that eliminate T. spiralis worms earlier in the infection) than in PVG, AO and WKA/H strain rats. There was no correlation in either the total level of serum IgE and IgA, or of intestinal IgA with differences between strains in the rate of worm elimination from the gut. Furthermore, the intestinal IgE immunoprecipitated from LEWIS rats 12 days after infection reacted with T. spiralis adult worm metabolic antigens, while intestinal IgE from PVG rats only became reactive with adult worm metabolic antigens from 14 days after infection. These data emphasize the significance of the intestinal IgE response and its unique features by comparison with serum IgE and IgA or intestinal IgA.     

Application of an in Vitro Keratinization Assay to Extracts of Soot from a Fire in a Polychlorinated Biphenyl-Containing Transformer

Application of an in Vitro Keratinization Assay to Extractsof Soot from a Fire in a Polychlorinated Biphenyl-ContainingTransformer. Gierthy, J. F., CRANE, D., AND FRENKEL, G. D. (1984).Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 4, 1036–1041. A fire in the StateOffice Building in Binghamton, New York, involving a polychlorinatedbiphenyl-containing electrical transformer, resulted in contaminationof the structure with soot containing 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-P-dioxinand 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran. Benzene extracts of sootcollected from various areas of the building were tested forin vitro keratinization-inducing activity by the method of J.C. Knutson and A. Poland (Cell 22, 27–36, 1980). The results,in terms of relative keratinization-inducing activity, are comparedto a high-resolution gas chromatographic/mass spectrometricanalysis for total polychlorinated dibenzofurans in the samesamples. This comparison showed a good correlation and suggeststhat the in vitro keratinization model has potential for useas a semiquantitative assay for dioxinlike activity.     

Fetal Monitoring of Twins

Perinatal mortality for twins is five to seven times that for singletons. This disparity is related to a variety of risk factors that may alter the health of the woman and her fetuses. With twin pregnancies, antepartum surveillance frequently begins earlier in gestation. Although extensive antepartum and intrapartum nursing care is required for women with twins, little has been published in the nursing literature to provide direction for caregivers. Factors such as zygosity and gestational age influence monitoring in twin pregnancies. Current clinical and technical nursing issues are reviewed and related to the antepartum and intrapartum electronic fetal monitoring of twins.     

Fatal heroin 'overdose': a review

The current paper examines critically the literature on deaths attributed to heroin overdose, and examines the characteristics and circumstances of such deaths. In particular, the dominance of the widely held belief that heroin-related fatalities are a consequence of overdose is challenged. Deaths attributed to overdose represented in the literature are typically older, heroin-dependent males not in drug treatment at the time of death. Fatalities involving only heroin appear to form a minority of overdose occasions, the presence of other drugs (primarily central nervous system depressants such as alcohol and benzodiazepines) being commonly detected at autopsy. Furthermore, deaths attributed to overdose are likely to have morphine levels no higher than those who survive, or heroin users who die from other causes. It is concluded that the term overdose is, in many cases, a misleading term, since it implies the same mechanism of death in all cases, an implication that is neither clinically useful nor consistent with published data. Implications for the prevention of heroin-related deaths are discussed.     

Eimeria tenella: quantitative in vitro and in vivo studies on the effects of mouse polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies on sporozoites

Murine, polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, raised against sporozoites of Eimeria tenella, were tested for their ability to neutralize sporozoite infectivity in vitro and in vivo. Neutralization was effected via three mechanisms. Firstly, sporozoites fixed complement, at low titres, and lysis occurred by the alternative pathway of complement activation. Secondly, in the absence of complement activity, the murine heat-inactivated, hyperimmune antiserum neutralized sporozoites at relatively low titres. At high titres, even though sporozoites were agglutinated, neither the heat-inactivated hyperimmune antiserum nor the monoclonal antibody neutralized sporozoites. Finally, in the presence of complement and specific antibodies, at titres which by themselves would not neutralize sporozoites, neutralization was effected due to lysis via the classical pathway of complement activation.