Bare Form Research Articles

Dual-functional MnS nanomaterials: Efficient adsorbent for phosphate removal and sonocatalyst for textile dye degradation

Naturally abundant, environmentally friendly alternatives for replacing the expensive lanthanum-based phosphate removal technique are sought after. Solocatalysis is an emerging area for water remediation. This study introduces a dual-functional MnS nanomaterial for removing phosphate ions and Congo Red textile dye. MnS nanomaterials were synthesized via a hydrothermal route. Batch adsorption experiments revealed a phosphate adsorption capacity of 160.73 mg P/g, commendable for adsorbent in its bare form. Thermodynamic parameters of the process indicated a spontaneous, exothermic process, confirming favourable adsorption. FTIR analysis confirmed the adsorption mechanism, which includes electrostatic attraction, surface complexation, and ion exchange. MnS maintained its adsorption capacity despite competing ions, demonstrating a selective affinity for phosphate ions. MnS showed high sonocatalytic efficiency, degrading Congo Red dye within 10 min of ultrasonic irradiation. The degradation mechanism of Congo Red dye in the sonocatalytic process is proposed. This novel metal chalcogenide material exhibits exceptional affinity for phosphate ions and Congo Red dye molecules, surpassing La-based adsorbents in efficacy. The results suggest that MnS nanomaterials are promising for practical applications in phosphate removal and textile dye degradation from wastewater.

To-pack or Not-to-pack: Towards Improved Graphite Electrochemical Oxidation Through Electrode Design.

Fabrication of batch-wise efficient, user- and environmentally-friendly, and well-defined yield methods for the synthesis of graphite oxide, the main precursor to graphene oxide and its reduced derivative, is an essential and robust research field, yet is sparingly investigated or innovated in recent years. This Concept review showcases recent advances in the fabrication of electrochemical set ups that meet aforementioned design parameters, wherein working electrode construction is seen to play a key role in shaping the yield characteristics and aiding the mechanistic understanding of efficiency of adopted methods. Particularly, these advances pave the way for new and various tunable design parameters by fabricating different methods of encapsulating graphite powder instead of using conventional bare monolith forms of graphite as working electrode. Encapsulation geometry, pressure, and matrix material, as well as powder size are examples of such tunable design parameters, absent in the monolith methods. The encapsulation validates authenticity of real-time monitoring of electrochemical intercalation, exfoliation, and oxidation of graphite powder, thereby offering excellent and well-defined control on yield.

Characterization of agrammatism in Tagalog: Evidence from narrative spontaneous speech

ABSTRACT Background Agrammatism in agglutinative languages exhibits preservation of verb morphology due to their rich morphological paradigms. Tagalog, an agglutinative language mainly spoken in the Philippines, remains uncharacterized in agrammatism yet holds potential for future research that can challenge existing theories and help advance novel ones. Aims The purpose of this study is to quantify and describe the characteristics of agrammatism in Tagalog in narrative spontaneous speech, to examine whether these patterns resemble those reported in other agglutinative languages, and to compare the results obtained to those emerging in literature for non-agglutinative languages. Methods & Procedures Narrative spontaneous speech was elicited from 10 individuals with non-fluent Broca’s aphasia and 12 matched controls. A series of parameters, both conventional and language-specific measures, were selected for analyses. Outcomes & Results Tagalog-speaking individuals with agrammatism exhibited slow and fragmented speech, with a strong preference for minor and simple constructions resulting to decrease in overall grammaticality and sentence complexity. Verb deficits were also found specifically in verbal predication, lexical diversity, and finiteness. There is a prevalent use of bare verb forms, consequently resulting to the decline of verb finiteness and inflections. Code-mixing is found to be extremely variable and statistically non-prominent between groups but patterns may be attributed to personal and sociolinguistic factors. Conclusion Patterns of agrammatism in Tagalog majorly mirror the trends reported in other agglutinative and non-agglutinative languages. Where Tagalog agrammatism departs from other agglutinative languages is the increased use of bare verbs as opposed to the obligatory inflected forms. Although still many questions are unresolved, Tagalog offers an interesting testing ground for variety of topics and issues in agrammatic aphasia.

MXenes and MXene-Based Metal Hydrides for Solid-State Hydrogen Storage: A Review.

Hydrogen-driven energy is fascinating among the everlasting energy sources, particularly for stationary and onboard transportation applications. Efficient hydrogen storage presents a key challenge to accomplishing the sustainability goals of hydrogen economy. In this regard, solid-state hydrogen storage in nanomaterials, either physically or chemically adsorbed, has been considered a safe path to establishing sustainability goals. Though metal hydrides have been extensively explored, they fail to comply with the set targets for practical utilization. Recently, MXenes, both in bare form and hybrid state with metal hydrides, have proven their flair in ascertaining the hydrides' theoretical and experimental hydrogen storage capabilities far beyond the fancy materials and current state-of-the-art technologies. This review encompasses the significant accomplishments achieved by MXenes (primarily in 2019-2024) for enhancing the hydrogen storage performance of various metal hydride materials such as MgH2, AlH3, Mg(BH4)2, LiBH4, alanates, and composite hydrides. It also discusses the bottlenecks of metal hydrides for hydrogen storage, the potential use of MXenes hybrids, and their challenges, such as reversibility, H2 losses, slow kinetics, and thermodynamic barriers. Finally, it concludes with a detailed roadmap and recommendations for mechanistic-driven future studies propelling toward a breakthrough in solid material-driven hydrogen storage using cost-effective, efficient, and long-lasting solutions.

Emergence of differential object marking in Asia Minor Greek

Abstract This paper investigates the emergence of differential object marking (DOM) in the Asia Minor Greek dialect of Pharasa (PhG) under contact with Turkish. We show that DOM in Turkish and PhG are both instances of structural accusative case and DOM can be formally modeled as context sensitive dependent case. We propose that two factors caused the emergence of DOM in PhG, namely (i) case neutralization in indefinite contexts, and (ii) an increase in the number of V-NP idioms borrowed from Turkish where the NP is in bare form. These perturbations led to a significant change in the overall data created by the community resulting in mixed input for the younger generations. Once the amount of bare NPs passed a certain threshold, a divergent grammar became inevitable. We test our proposal using an abductive generalization learning algorithm based on the Tolerance Principle and running a number of simulations. Our simulation results confirm our hypothesis.

Structural, Semantic, and Pragmatic of Code-Switching in the Speech of Secondary School and University Students – A Secondary Publication

Code-switching is a complex phenomenon that varies in structure, semantics, and pragmatics in different communicative situations. The study aims to identify structural, semantic, and pragmatic characteristics of code-switching in the speech of Russian schoolchildren and University students learning English and German as foreign languages. The data are 157 utterances containing 165 code switches extracted from the oral spontaneous speech of 16 schoolchildren and 16 University students. Their bilingual speech samples were collected by means of non-participant observation and fixed with the help of a voice recorder for 32 hours (16 for schoolchildren and 16 for University students) from October to December 2021. Comparative analysis was used as the main method to interpret the features of schoolchildren’ and University students’ code-switching. The results of the research demonstrated that the most productive for schoolchildren were insertions proper and bare forms performing message-oriented pragmatic functions and intended to denote school objects associated with English classes. For University students most frequent structures were classical switches in the form of insertions properly performing message-oriented pragmatic functions. Semantically, code-switches among University students were more complicated since they were intended not only to denote specific University objects but also to express stylistically relevant shades of meaning. Though code-switching has already been studied within various frameworks, the correlation between structural, pragmatic, and semantic characteristics of code-switching in the speech of Russian-speaking school and University students has been under-researched, which provides originality of the present work.

Impact of synthesizing surfactant-modified catalytic ceria nanoparticles on the performance and environmental behaviors of coconut oil/diesel-fueled CI engine: An optimization attempt

The present study deals with the characterization as well as synthesis of surfactant-modified catalytic ceria nanoparticles and their application as fuel additives in a 4-stroke diesel engine fueled by biodiesel obtained from coconut oil. The synthesis of coconut oil biodiesel is made possible by the transesterification process and its chemical tests such as Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and their physiochemical properties are carried out to verify and confirm its suitability as fuel. Cerium oxide (CeO2) is selected as a catalytic nanoparticle and is synthesized by the precipitation method. The characterization technique which includes Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolutions transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), FTIR, and zeta potential (ZP) analyses were used to examine the chemical and physical states of distinct nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are modified by a surfactant of oleic acid for the evaluation of dispersion stabilities as compared to their bare forms. It is found to be economical and has shown superior characteristics in stability and morphology. The engine emission characteristics and performance are performed in a DI-CI engine using different concentrations of CeO2 nanoparticles. The emissions are mitigated with the addition of nanoparticles and 35 ppm is the optimum level of dosing of the nanoparticles in terms of engine performance, and emission behaviors. A blend of 20% biodiesel with diesel is found to be optimal for the preparation of nano-fuel. For the load test the efficiency increased up to 5% and at higher loads, the hydrocarbon (HC) emissions decreased by 45%, and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions were reduced by 30%. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) models correctly fit the experimental data, producing R2 values that ranged from 91 to 94.5%, respectively.

Morpho-syntactic structure of code-switched sentences produced by Albanian bilingual speakers

This paper aims to analyze the structure of code-switched sentences uttered by Albanian bilingual students. It examines the predictions made by two theoretical viewpoints, namely Myers-Scotton’s Matrix Language Frame (MLF) and MacSwan’s approach within the Minimalist Program (MP). The students were observed in informal environments within Prishtina international school settings, such as during recess time, on the playground, etc. Tape recordings of the conversations were used to record this naturalistic data, which was then transcribed. In particular, examples from the Albanian/English pair were analyzed, and the MLF and MP predictions regarding combinatorial possibilities were tested. The findings show that our data can only partially be accounted for by the MLF and MP approaches. Switching is mainly unidirectional, with insertions from English into an Albanian syntactic frame. Determiners, such as demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, adverbs of quantity, as well as copular verbs, auxiliary verbs, and clitics, come from the Matrix Language (ML), complying with the MLF model. However, violations of the MLF model are encountered as well, such as the non-occurrence of stem/affix switching, the occurrence of bare forms, and Embedded Language (EL) islands not always constituting the maximal projection of the phrase, which are further described and predicted in MP model. The paper provides evidence that neither MLF nor MP are able to adequately account for the possible combinations in the mixed clause. According to what the literature to date indicates, integrating the approaches rather than using each one individually results in a better understanding of the grammar of code-switching.

An observation on Feynman diagrams with axial anomalous subgraphs in dimensional regularization with an anticommuting γ5

Through the calculation of the matrix element of the singlet axial-current operator between the vacuum and a pair of gluons in dimensional regularization with an anti-commuting γ5 defined in a Kreimer-scheme variant, we find that additional renormalization counter-terms proportional to the Chern-Simons current operator are needed starting from O\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{O} $$\\end{document}(αs2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\alpha}_s^2 $$\\end{document}) in QCD. This is in contrast to the well-known purely multiplicative renormalization of the singlet axial-current operator defined with a non-anticommuting γ5. Consequently, without introducing compensation terms in the form of additional renormalization, the Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly equation does not hold automatically in the bare form in this kind of schemes. We determine the corresponding (gauge-dependent) coefficient to O\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{O} $$\\end{document}(αs3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\alpha}_s^3 $$\\end{document}) in QCD, using a variant of the original Kreimer prescription which is implemented in our computation in terms of the standard cyclic trace together with a constructively-defined γ5. Owing to the factorized form of these divergences, intimately related to the axial anomaly, we further performed a check, using concrete examples, that with γ5 treated in this way, the axial-current operator needs no more additional renormalization in dimensional regularization but only for non-anomalous amplitudes in a perturbatively renormalizable theory. To be complete, we provide a few additional ingredients needed for a proposed extension of the algorithmic procedure formulated in the above analysis to potential applications to a renormalizable anomaly-free chiral gauge theory, i.e. the electroweak theory.

Linguistic Illusions Guide Eye Movement: Evidence From Doubling

Across languages, certain phonological patterns are preferred to others (e.g., blog > lbog). But whether such preferences arise from abstract linguistic constraints or sensorimotor pressures is controversial. We address this debate by examining the constraints on doubling (e.g., slaflaf, generally, XX). Doubling demonstrably elicits conflicting responses (aversion or preference), depending on the linguistic level of analysis (phonology vs. morphology). Since the stimulus remains unchanged, the shifting responses imply abstract constraints. Here, we ask whether these constraints apply online, in eye movements. Experiment 1 shows that, in bare phonological forms, doubling is dispreferred, and correspondingly it elicits shorter fixations. Remarkably, when doubling signals morphological plurality, the aversion shifts into preference, in Experiment 2. Our results demonstrate for the first time that the constraints on doubling apply online. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that phonological knowledge arises, in part, from an abstract linguistic source.

When Children's Production Deviates From Observed Input: Modeling the Variable Production of the English Past Tense.

As children gradually master grammatical rules, they often go through a period of producing form-meaning associations that were not observed in the input. For example, 2- to 3-year-old English-learning children use the bare form of verbs in settings that require obligatory past tense meaning while already starting to produce the grammatical -ed inflection. While many studies have focused on overgeneralization errors, fewer studies have attempted to explain the root of this earlier stage of rule acquisition. In this work, we use computational modeling to replicate children's production behavior prior to the generalization of past tense production in English. We illustrate how seemingly erroneous productions emerge in a model, without being licensed in the grammar and despite the model aiming at conforming to grammatical forms. Our results show that bare form productions stem from a tension between two factors: (1) trying to produce a less frequent meaning (the past tense) and (2) being unable to restrict the production of frequent forms (the bare form) as learning progresses. Like children, our model goes through a stage of bare form production and then converges on adult-like production of the regular past tense, showing that these different stages can be accounted for through a single learningmechanism.

The beneficial effects of bare and CMC-supported α-FeOOH, Fe3O4, and α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles on growth, nutrient content, and essential oil of summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) under Cd, Pb and Zn stresses.

This research studies the impacts of iron oxide nanoparticles (FeONPs) on alleviating the toxic effects of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) on summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.). Different types of soil additives, including bare and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)-supported hematite (α-Fe2O3), goethite (α-FeOOH), and magnetite (Fe3O4), were applied at three rates (0, 0.25, and 0.5% w/w) to a Cd, Pb, and Zn-contaminated soil sample. The experimental results showed that the application of FeONPs increased plant height, dry weights of shoot and root, and yield and content of essential oil. Bare and CMC-supported FeONPs increased the content of K, P, and Fe in the aerial parts of summer savory. However, these soil additives reduced the contents of Cd, Pb, and Zn in plant tissues. CMC-supported FeONPs proved to be more efficient additives in diminishing the toxic effects of Cd, Pb, and Zn in summer savory compared to their bare forms. Bare and CMC-supported goethite NPs were able to restrict the uptake of Cd, Pb, and Zn by summer savory roots in the metal-contaminated soil. The application of CMC-supported goethite at an application dose of 0.5% (w/w) increased shoot dry weight, shoot concentrations of K, P, and Fe, and yield of essential oil by about 62.6, 76.6, 77.1, 210, and 230%, respectively. Conversely, they reduced shoot concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn by about 64.6, 68.7, and 40.6%, respectively, compared to the control. These are significant results and indicate that CMC-supported goethite is likely to be the most effective soil additive in diminishing the toxicity of Cd, Pb, and Zn to metal-stressed summer savory.

SCALE EFFECT ON THE LINEAR HYDRODYNAMIC COEFFICIENTS OF DARPA SUBOFF

As well known, forces and moments acting on a ship are functions of Froude and Reynolds numbers. As a ship gets larger in size, these two numbers grow, which leads to different flow regimes around the hull. However, the state-of-the-art in maneuvering calculations is to consider the hydrodynamic coefficients as constants for model and full ship scales. For submerged bodies, the Froude number is insignificant due to the distant free water surface; therefore, these forces only depend on the Reynolds number. In this study, we consider the benchmark ‘DARPA’ Suboff form, which is extensively studied in the literature, and investigated the scale effects on the hydrodynamic coefficients with respect to the Reynolds number. Numerical studies are carried out on the bare hull form of the submarine. Captive motions of static drift and pure yaw motions are conducted utilizing the oblique towing and rotating arm tests via RANS-based CFD. Linear hydrodynamic coefficients are expressed with logarithmic equations as functions of the Reynolds number, explicitly showing the dependency on the ship’s model scale.

The competition-compensation account of developmental language disorder.

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) regularly use the bare form of verbs (e.g., dance) instead of inflected forms (e.g., danced). We propose an account of this behavior in which processing difficulties of children with DLD disproportionally affect processing novel inflected verbs in their input. Limited experience with inflection in novel contexts leads the inflection to face stronger competition from alternatives. Competition is resolved through a compensatory behavior that involves producing a more accessible alternative: in English, the bare form. We formalize this hypothesis within a probabilistic model that trades off context-dependent versus independent processing. Results show an over-reliance on preceding stem contexts when retrieving the inflection in a model that has difficulty with processing novel inflected forms. We further show that following the introduction of a bias to store and retrieve forms with preceding contexts, generalization in the typically developing (TD) models remains more or less stable, while the same bias in the DLD models exaggerates difficulties with generalization. Together, the results suggest that inconsistent use of inflectional morphemes by children with DLD could stem from inferences they make on the basis of data containing fewer novel inflected forms. Our account extends these findings to suggest that problems with detecting a form in novel contexts combined with a bias to rely on familiar contexts when retrieving a form could explain sequential planning difficulties in children withDLD. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Generalization difficulties with inflectional morphemes in children with Developmental Language Disorder arise from these children's limited experience with novel inflected forms. Limited experience with a form in novel contexts could lead to a storage bias where retrieving a form often requires relying on familiar preceding stems. While generalization in typically developing models remains stable across a range of model parameters, certain parameter values in the impaired models exaggerate difficulties with generalization. Children with DLD compensate for these retrieval difficulties through accessibility-driven language production: they produce the most accessible form among the alternatives.

STRUCTURE, SEMANTICS AND PRAGMATICS OF CODE-SWITCHING IN THE SPEECH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Code-switching is a complex phenomenon that varies in structure, semantics and pragmatics in different communicative situations. The aim of the study is to identify structural, semantic and pragmatic characteristics of code-switching in the speech of Russian schoolchildren and University students learning English and German as foreign languages. The data are 157 utterances containing 165 code switches extracted from oral spontaneous speech of 16 schoolchildren and 16 University students. Their bilingual speech samples were collected by means of non-participant observation and fixed with the help of voice-recorder for 32 hours (16 for schoolchildren and 16 for University students) from October till December, 2021. Comparative analysis was used as the main method to interpret the features of schoolchildren’ and University students’ code-switching. The results of the research demonstrated that the most productive for schoolchildren were insertions proper and bare forms performing message-oriented pragmatic function and intended to denote school objects associated with English classes. For University students most frequent structures were classical switches in the form of insertions proper performing message-oriented pragmatic function. Semantically, code-switches among University students were more complicated since they were intended not only to denote specific University objects, but also to express stylistically relevant shades of meaning. Though code-switching has already been studied within various frameworks, the correlation between structural, pragmatic and semantic characteristics of code-switching in the speech of Russian-speaking school and University students has been under-researched, which provides originality of the present work.

Study on the synergism of cellulose nanocrystals and janus graphene oxide for enhanced oil recovery

The usage of nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has been numerous due to their captivating ultra-small size and eccentric thermal, electrical, and interfacial modification properties. However, nanoparticles in their bare form could suffer from several drawbacks due to possible stability issues. The incorporation of a synergist into the preparation of nanofluid has been a promising approach to alleviate stability issues. In the present study, a novel fusion nanofluid (FN) composed of a cellulose nanocrystal (CNC), and an amphiphilic graphene oxide-based Janus nanosheet (AMGO) is presented. We synthesized the CNC using enzymatic hydrolysis and ultrasonic processing from the cellulosic waste extracted from Eucheuma cottonii, a marine-based crop. Moreover, we synthesized the AMGO from a green immobilization method. Subsequently, the CNC and AMGO were combined via sonication to form FN. The CNC, AMGO, and FN were characterized appropriately using spectroscopy and microscopy techniques. As controls, CNC and AMGO were tested alongside FN in terms of rheological properties measurements, contact angle measurements, and the core flooding experiment on Berea and Edwards White core samples. Based on the rheology measurements, FN exhibited a more elastic behavior than CNC, demonstrating better dispersibility that could be attributable to the formation of a more resilient 3D network structure via hydrogen bonding synergisms between CNC and AMGO. Furthermore, FN reduced contact angles from ∼166° to ∼35° in the Berea, and ∼172° to ∼25° in the Edwards White, signifying excellent favorable wettability alteration in both rock types. Through core flooding experiments, FN attained additional oil recoveries of 22.96% and 12.24% from Berea and Edwards White, respectively, which were up to 16.04% and 3.37% more than the control runs. As opposed to CNC, the injection of FN did not result in excessive pressure drop readings, attributing to the better dispersibility and better wettability alteration abilities. Nonetheless, the developed FN comprising CNC and AMGO could be referenced for the future design of greener nanofluid with optimistic EOR efficacies.

BARE ENGLISH-ORIGIN NOUN-PHRASES IN ROMANIAN

English words borrowed in Romanian are most often adapted so as to conform to the morphosyntactic rules of the recipient language. However, sometimes borrowings remain uninflected for Romanian grammatical categories, by not receiving the relevant suffixes for gender, number, case, and definiteness. These unintegrated forms are known in the literature as bare forms. The present paper analyses such cases of English-origin bare nouns and noun phrases in Romanian, and tries to explain the structural, social and functional mechanisms that trigger their appearance.

Ziarno owsa (Avena sativa l) i możliwości jego wykorzystania jako alternatywnego źródła energii

The use of renewable energy sources brings great benefits. Interest in biomass is growing -, because conventional energy significantly burdens the natural environment, and resources of fossil fuels are rapidly decreasing. Surplus cereal grains or grains that do not meet quality requirements can be used for energy production. For this reason, the aim of the work was to conduct research and evaluate the use of hulled and naked oat grains for energy purposes. The calorific value of grain and its ash content were analyzed. On the basis of the conducted research, it was shown that bare forms of oat, compared to hulled forms, are characterized by more favorable calorific properties. They have more fat and fewer ashes in the grain. Among the analyzed cultivars, Polar and Bingo (naked forms of oats) and Krezus (hulled forms) are suitable for energy purposes.

Use of Aspect Markers by Mandarin-speaking Children with High-Functioning Autism Plus Language Impairment and Children with Developmental Language Disorder

IntroductionThis study investigates the comprehension and production of four typical Mandarin aspect markers zai-, -le, -zhe, and -guo by preschool children with high functioning autism plus language impairment (HFA-LI) and those with developmental language disorder (DLD), by comparing them with typically developing age-matched (TDA) children. MethodsTwenty children with HFA-LI (M/F: 18/2; mean age: 5.20), 20 with DLD (M/F: 11/9; mean age: 5.25), and 20 TDA children (M/F:14/6; mean age:5.27) completed a picture-choice task and priming picture-description task. The results were analyzed using non-parametric methods. ResultsIn the comprehension task, the HFA-LI and DLD groups achieved lower accuracy than the TDA group on zai-, -le, and -guo. The comprehension of aspect markers in the HFA-LI and DLD groups was affected by lexical aspect. In the production task, the HFA-LI and DLD groups produced fewer sentences with the target aspect marker for all four aspect markers than the TDA group. However, they produced more sentences with bare verb forms for zai- and -guo than the TDA group. Furthermore, all three groups tended to combine aspect markers with their semantically inherent types of verbs (e.g, zai-+Activity verbs). The HFA-LI group produced more sentences irrelevant to the task than the other two groups for -zhe and -guo, and some children in the HFA-LI group produced ungrammatical sentences in which both the progressive zai- and perfective -le were used. ConclusionsChildren with HFA-LI and DLD demonstrate similarities in the comprehension and production of Mandarin aspect markers, given their poor comprehension of the aspect markers zai-, -le and -guo, and poor production of all four aspect markers compared to their TDA peers. Their performance was also impacted by lexical aspect.

IRMPD Spectroscopy of Bare Monodeprotonated Genistein, an Antioxidant Flavonoid.

Genistein is a naturally occurring polyphenol belonging to the family of flavonoids with estrogenic properties and proven antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hormonal effects. Genistein and its derivatives are involved in radical scavenging activity by way of mechanisms based on sequential proton-loss electron transfer. In view of this role, a detailed structural characterization of its bare deprotonated form, [geni-H]−, generated by electrospray ionization, has been performed by tandem mass spectrometry and infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy in the 800–1800 cm–1 spectral range. Quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory were carried out to determine geometries, thermochemical data, and anharmonic vibrational properties of low-lying isomers, enabling to interpret the experimental spectrum. Evidence is gathered that the conjugate base of genistein exists as a single isomeric form, which is deprotonated at the most acidic site (7-OH) and benefits from a strong intramolecular H-bond interaction between 5-OH and the adjacent carbonyl oxygen in the most stable arrangement.