Emergent bilinguals (EBs) who are exposed to societal language at school but use another language at home may experience difficulties in mastering the societal language, especially those at risk for language and reading disabilities. Learning phonologically specific new words that discriminate between phonemes may foster phonological awareness and word reading. This study examined the effectiveness of a lexical specificity intervention program that targeted phoneme discrimination in EBs at risk for reading disabilities. EBs who scored below the 25th percentile on the screening measures were selected and randomly assigned to one of two conditions: at-risk intervention or at-risk control. Of the 76 EBs in the at-risk group, 40 were randomly assigned to receive the intervention. A group of 51 typically developing EBs who did not meet the risk criteria were selected as typical controls. The pre- and post-tests include phoneme discrimination, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, fluency, and decoding. The at-risk intervention group showed improvement on the phoneme discrimination task after the intervention and outperformed the at-risk control group but not the typical control group. In addition, growth was observed during both the training and testing sessions of the intervention. The lexical specificity intervention could be a good resource to enhance a key precursor to literacy development for at-risk EBs.

A novel data-driven modal analysis method, reduced-order variational mode decomposition (RVMD), is proposed, inspired by the Hilbert–Huang transform and variational mode decomposition (VMD), to resolve transient or statistically non-stationary flow dynamics. First, the form of RVMD modes (referred to as an ‘elementary low-order dynamic process’, ELD) is constructed by combining low-order representation and the idea of intrinsic mode function, which enables the computed modes to characterize the non-stationary properties of space–time fluid flows. Then, the RVMD algorithm is designed based on VMD to achieve a low-redundant adaptive extraction of ELDs in flow data, with the modes computed by solving an elaborate optimization problem. Further, a combination of RVMD and Hilbert spectral analysis leads to a modal-based time-frequency analysis framework in the Hilbert view, providing a potentially powerful tool to discover, quantify and analyse the transient and non-stationary dynamics in complex flow problems. To provide a comprehensive evaluation, the computational cost and parameter dependence of RVMD are discussed, as well as the relations between RVMD and some classic modal decomposition methods. Finally, the virtues and utility of RVMD and the modal-based time-frequency analysis framework are well demonstrated via two canonical problems: the transient cylinder wake and the planar supersonic screeching jet.

The western Mongolian Lake Zone was a Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic volcanic arc where tuffs, lavas, fossiliferous siliciclastics, and carbonates accumulated during the early Cambrian. An uppermost Cambrian Series 2 (upper Stage 4) trilobite assemblage is described here from the Burgasutay Formation representing a continuous lower Cambrian succession at the Seer Ridge of the Great Lake Depression. The new assemblage is dominated by dorypygids and consists of 13 trilobite genera belonging to nine families including Catinouyia heyunensis new species. These fossils comprise the youngest and richest lower Cambrian trilobite assemblage in Mongolia. The composition of the Lake Zone fauna suggests its biogeographic affinity with the Siberian Platform and Altay-Sayan Foldbelt, but the presence of inouyiids also implies a connection of this region with East Gondwana.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/fb0ebe23-144f-46ed-9543-7df9eea85fbc

Long-term exposure to extreme temperatures could threaten individuals' mental health and psychological wellbeing. This study aims to investigate the long-term impact of cumulative exposure to extreme temperature. Differently from existing literature, we define extreme temperature exposure in relative terms based on local temperature patterns. Combining the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and environmental data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 2011 to 2015, this study demonstrates that heat and cold exposure days in the past year significantly increase the measured depression level of adults over age 45 by 1.75 and 3.00 per cent, respectively, controlling for the city, year, and individual fixed effects. The effect is heterogeneous across three components of depression symptoms as well as age, gender, and areas of residency, and air conditioning and heating equipment are effective in alleviating the adverse impact of heat and cold exposure. The estimation is robust and consistent across a variety of temperature measurements and model modifications. Our findings provide evidence on the long-term and accumulative cost of extreme temperature to middle-aged and elderly human capital, contributing to the understanding of the social cost of climate change and the consequent health inequality.

The application scopes of two different reductive perturbation methods to derive the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation and coupled KdV (CKdV) equation in two-temperature-ion dusty plasma are given by using the particle-in-cell (PIC) numerical method in the present paper. It suggests that the reductive perturbation method (RPM) is valid if the amplitude of the CKdV solitary wave is small enough. However, for the KdV solitary wave, RPM is valid not only if the amplitude of the KdV solitary wave is small enough, but also if the nonlinear coefficient of the KdV equation is not tending to zero.

Well-resolved direct numerical simulations of turbulent open channel flows (OCFs) are performed for friction Reynolds numbers up to $Re_\tau =2000$. Various turbulent statistics are documented and compared with the closed channel flows (CCFs). As expected, the mean velocity profiles of the OCFs match well with the CCFs in the near-wall region but diverge notably in the outer region. Interestingly, a logarithmic layer with Kárman constant $\kappa =0.363$ occurs for OCF at $Re_\tau =2000$, distinctly different from CCF. Except for a very thin layer near the free surface, most of the velocity and vorticity variances match between OCFs and CCFs. The one-dimensional energy spectra reveal that the very-large-scale motions (VLSMs) with streamwise wavelength $\lambda _x>3 h$ or spanwise wavelength $\lambda _z>0.5 h$ contribute the most to turbulence intensity and Reynolds shear stress in the overlap and outer layers (where h is the water depth). Furthermore, the VLSMs in OCFs are stronger than those in CCFs, resulting in a slightly higher streamwise velocity variance in the former. Due to the footprint effect, these structures also have significant contributions to the mean wall shear stress, and the difference between OCF and CCF enlarges with increasing $Re_\tau$. In summary, the free surface in OCFs plays an essential role in various flow phenomena, including the formation of stronger VLSMs and turbulent kinetic energy redistribution.

We examined whether and how the degree of meaning overlap between morphologically related words influences sentence plausibility judgment in children. In two separate studies with kindergarten and second-graders, English-speaking and French-speaking children judged the plausibility of sentences that included two paired target words. Some of these word pairs were morphologically related, across three conditions with differing levels of meaning overlap: low (wait-waiter), moderate (fold-folder) and high (farm-farmer). In another two conditions, word pairs were related only by phonology (rock-rocket) or semantics (car-automobile). Children in both ages and languages demonstrated higher plausibility scores as meaning overlap increased between morphologically related words. Further, kindergarten children rated sentences that included word pairs with phonological overlap as more plausible than second-grade children, while second-grade children rated those with high meaning overlap as more plausible than kindergarten children. We interpret these findings in light of current models of morphological development.

In this study, we report the first complete mitochondrial genome of the tapeworm Nippotaenia mogurndae in the order Nippotaeniidea Yamaguti, 1939. This mitogenome, which is 14,307 base pairs (bp) long with an A + T content of 72.2%, consists of 12 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two rRNA genes, and two non-coding regions. Most tRNAs have a conventional cloverleaf structure, but trnS1 and trnR lack dihydrouridine arms of tRNA. The two largest non-coding regions, NCR1 (220 bp) and NCR2 (817 bp), are located between trnY and trnS2 and between nad5 and trnG, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses of mitogenomic data indicate that N. mogurndae is closely related to tapeworms in the order Cyclophyllidea.

Compared to the streamwise instability, the cross-flow instability in high-enthalpy flows has received relatively less attention, but the latter is of vital importance in the flow transition for practical configurations. This work aims to investigate the cross-flow primary and secondary instabilities in hypersonic and high-enthalpy boundary layers, considering thermochemical non-equilibrium (TCNE) effects. The numerical tools adopted include a high-order shock-fitting solver, nonlinear parabolized stability equations and secondary instability theory (SIT). The flow over a swept parabola is calculated at a free-stream Mach number of 16. It is found that TCNE has a destabilizing effect on the cross-flow mode with a non-catalytic wall. Two important non-dimensional parameters are summarized to explain this effect. One is the ratio between the wall and boundary-layer edge temperatures, and the other is the cross-flow Mach number. Due to nonlinear effects, the stationary cross-flow vortices evolve and exhibit the classic rollover structures as in lower-speed flows. Two different disturbance energy norms are used in the energy budget analysis to classify the secondary cross-flow instability modes. The results from SIT highlight the importance of type-IV modes in TCNE flows at the downwash region of the vortex. The type-IV modes arise with the combined contribution from the wall-normal (on top and trough of the vortex) and spanwise (in the downwash region) production terms. The type-I mode is dominant in the calorically perfect gas case with an adiabatic wall, whereas the type-IV mode has the largest growth rate in the TCNE cases irrespective of wall temperature variation.

We aimed to examine the association between the quantity and quality of dietary fat in early pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk. In total, 1477 singleton pregnant women were included from Sichuan Provincial Hospital for Women and Children, Southwest China. Dietary information was collected by a 3-d 24-h dietary recall. GDM was diagnosed based on the results of a 75-g, 2-h oral glucose tolerance test at 24–28 gestational weeks. Log-binomial models were used to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% CI. The results showed that total fat intake was positively associated with GDM risk (Q4 v. Q1: RR = 1·40; 95 % CI 1·11, 1·76; P trend = 0·001). This association was also observed for the intakes of animal fat and vegetable fat. After stratified by total fat intake (< 30 %E v. ≥ 30 %E), the higher animal fat intake was associated with higher GDM risk in the high-fat group, but the moderate animal fat intake was associated with reduced risk of GDM (T2 v. T1: RR = 0·65; 95 % CI 0·45, 0·96) in the normal-fat group. Vegetable fat intake was positively associated with GDM risk in the high-fat group but not in the normal-fat group. No association between fatty acids intakes and GDM risk was found. In conclusion, total fat, animal and vegetable fat intakes were positively associated with GDM risk, respectively. Whereas when total fat intake was not excessive, higher intakes of animal and vegetable fat were likely irrelevant with increased GDM risk, even the moderate animal fat intake could be linked to lower GDM risk.

Maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) is an important determinant of infant birth weight, and having adequate total GWG has been widely recommended. However, the association of timing of GWG with birth weight remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate this association, especially among women with adequate total GWG. In a prospective cohort study, pregnant women’s weight was routinely measured during pregnancy, and their GWG was calculated for the ten intervals: the first 13, 14–18, 19–23, 24–28, 29–30, 31–32, 33–34, 35–36, 37–38 and 39–40 weeks. Birth weight was measured, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and large-for-gestational-age were assessed. Generalized linear and Poisson models were used to evaluate the associations of GWG with birth weight and its outcomes after multivariate adjustment, respectively. Of the 5049 women, increased GWG in the first 30 weeks was associated with increased birth weight for male infants, and increased GWG in the first 28 weeks was associated with increased birth weight for females. Among 1713 women with adequate total GWG, increased GWG percent between 14 and 23 weeks was associated with increased birth weight. Moreover, inadequate GWG between 14 and 23 weeks, compared with the adequate GWG, was associated with an increased risk of SGA (43 (13·7 %) v. 42 (7·2 %); relative risk 1·83, 95 % CI 1·21, 2·76). Timing of GWG may influence infant birth weight differentially, and women with inadequate GWG between 14 and 23 weeks may be at higher risk of delivering SGA infants, despite having adequate total GWG.

Hyperhomocysteinaemia (HHcy) is associated with all-cause mortality in some disease states. However, the correlation between HHcy and the risk of mortality in the general population has rarely been researched. We aimed to evaluate the association between HHcy and all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adults in the USA. This study analysed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database (1999–2002 survey cycle). A multivariable Cox regression model was built to evaluate the correlation between HHcy and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Smooth curve fitting was used to analyse their dose-dependent relationship. A total of 8442 adults aged 18–70 years were included in this study. After a median follow-up period of 14·7 years, 1007 (11·9 %) deaths occurred including 197 CVD-related deaths, 255 cancer-related deaths and fifty-eight respiratory disease deaths. The participants with HHcy had a 93 % increased risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 1·93; 95 % CI (1·48, 2·51)), 160 % increased risk of CVD mortality (HR 2·60; 95 % CI (1·52, 4·45)) and 82 % increased risk of cancer mortality (HR 1·82; 95 % CI (1·03, 3·21)) compared with those without HHcy. For unmeasured confounding, E-value analysis proved to be robust. In conclusion, HHcy was associated with high risk of all-cause and cause-specific (CVD, cancer) mortality among adults aged below 70 years.

We prove that if X is a complex projective K3 surface and $g>0$ , then there exist infinitely many families of curves of geometric genus g on X with maximal, i.e., g-dimensional, variation in moduli. In particular, every K3 surface contains a curve of geometric genus 1 which moves in a nonisotrivial family. This implies a conjecture of Huybrechts on constant cycle curves and gives an algebro-geometric proof of a theorem of Kobayashi that a K3 surface has no global symmetric differential forms.

Widely distributed Mid-Neoproterozoic mafic rocks of the Qilian – Qaidam – East Kunlun region record the tectonic evolution of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. This study presents whole-rock geochemistry, zircon U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotopes for the Xialanuoer gabbros of the central South Qilian Belt (SQB). Zircon laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U–Pb dating indicates that the gabbros were emplaced at ca. 738 Ma, indicating they are contemporaneous with mafic magmatism elsewhere in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The gabbros have low SiO2, Cr and Ni contents and Mg# values, are relatively enriched in light rare-earth elements (LREEs) and depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs; e.g. Nb and Ta), have no positive Zr or Hf anomalies and have relatively high Nb/Ta but low Nb/La ratios. These data indicate that the Xialanuoer gabbros formed from calc-alkaline basaltic magmas that were originally generated by the partial melting of an enriched mantle of type-I (EMI-type) enriched region of the lithospheric mantle, underwent little to no crustal contamination prior to their emplacement, and have within-plate basalt geochemical affinities. Combining these data with the presence of widespread contemporaneous continental rift-related magmatism and sedimentation in the North Qilian, Central Qilian, South Qilian, Quanji, North Qaidam and East Kunlun regions suggests that the northeastern Tibetan Plateau underwent Mid-Neoproterozoic continental rifting, which also affected other Rodinian blocks (e.g. Tarim, South China, Australia, North America and Southern Africa).

Two new eurypterids, a pterygotid Erettopterus qujingensis n. sp., and a slimoniid, Slimonia sp., are described from the upper Silurian (Pridolian) Yulongsi Formation of Yunnan Province, China. Erettopterus qujingensis n. sp. is characterized by several inversely curved ramus denticles and a metastoma with a deep notch in the center. The discovery not only extends the geographic extent of the genus Erettopterus and Slimonia from Euramerica to southwest China, but also gives insight into the similarity of ecosystem structures across the Silurian world.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/939e82cd-58fc-415b-9209-514aecef2267

This study is performed to figure out how the presence of diabetes affects the infection, progression and prognosis of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the effective therapy that can treat the diabetes-complicated patients with COVID-19. A multicentre study was performed in four hospitals. COVID-19 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) or hyperglycaemia were compared with those without these conditions and matched by propensity score matching for their clinical progress and outcome. Totally, 2444 confirmed COVID-19 patients were recruited, from whom 336 had DM. Compared to 1344 non-DM patients with age and sex matched, DM-COVID-19 patients had significantly higher rates of intensive care unit entrance (12.43% vs. 6.58%, P = 0.014), kidney failure (9.20% vs. 4.05%, P = 0.027) and mortality (25.00% vs. 18.15%, P < 0.001). Age and sex-stratified comparison revealed increased susceptibility to COVID-19 only from females with DM. For either non-DM or DM group, hyperglycaemia was associated with adverse outcomes, featured by higher rates of severe pneumonia and mortality, in comparison with non-hyperglycaemia. This was accompanied by significantly altered laboratory indicators including lymphocyte and neutrophil percentage, C-reactive protein and urea nitrogen level, all with correlation coefficients >0.35. Both diabetes and hyperglycaemia were independently associated with adverse prognosis of COVID-19, with hazard ratios of 10.41 and 3.58, respectively.