In this study we investigate the effect of age of acquisition (AoA) on grammatical processing in second language learners as measured by event-related brain potentials (ERPs). We compare a traditional analysis involving the calculation of averages across a certain time window of the ERP waveform, analyzed with categorical groups (early vs. late), with a generalized additive modeling analysis, w...

In picture-naming tasks, participants name a picture as quickly as possible. In several studies, when the participant did not provide the picture name in the first seconds after object presentation, the examiner provided phonemic or semantic cues. Under these conditions, word retrieval should be easier, thus lowering the age of acquisition (AoA). The goal of the present study was to collect obj...

Two key factors govern how bilingual speakers neurally maintain two languages: the speakers' second language age of acquisition (AoA) and their subsequent proficiency. However, the relative roles of these two factors have been difficult to disentangle given that the two can be closely correlated, and most prior studies have examined the two factors in isolation. Here, we combine functional magn...

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are now implicated in exerting significant control over the form and availability of reactive nitrogen species in marine environments. Detailed studies of specific metabolic traits and physicochemical factors controlling their activities and distribution have not been well constrained in part due to the scarcity of isolated AOA strains. Here, we report the isolat...

This study determined nitrification activity and nitrifier community composition in soils under stands of red alder (Alnus rubra) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) at two sites in Oregon. The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, located in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, has low net N mineralization and gross nitrification rates. Cascade Head Experimental Forest, in the Coast Range, has hig...

Macroecological patterns are found in animals and plants, but also in micro-organisms. Macroecological and biogeographic distribution patterns in marine Archaea, however, have not been studied yet. Ammonia-oxidizing Archaea (AOA) show a bipolar distribution (i.e. similar communities in the northernmost and the southernmost locations, separated by distinct communities in the tropical and gyral r...

Seasonal change in the vertical distribution of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in temperate forest soil was examined from March 2008 to January 2009 by quantitative PCR of the amoA genes. Abundances of AOA amoA genes (ranging from 2.0×10(8) to 1.2×10(9) copies per gram dry soil) were significantly higher than those of AOB amoA genes (1.9×10(5) to 1.7×10(7) ...

The purpose of this experiment was to assess the effect of imidacloprid on the community structure of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in soil using the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) approach. Analysis showed that AOA and AOB community members were affected by the insecticide treatment. However, the calculation of the richness (S) and the Sha...

The discovery of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) of the phylum Thaumarchaeota and the high abundance of archaeal ammonia monooxygenase subunit A encoding gene sequences in many environments have extended our perception of nitrifying microbial communities. Moreover, AOA are the only aerobic ammonia oxidizers known to be active in geothermal environments. Molecular data indicate that in many glob...

AIM Oxidative stress, which is widely recognised as an important feature of many diseases, can be defined as an increased formation of reactive oxygen species or decreased antioxidant defense. In this study we measured plasma vitamin E levels and total antioxidant activity (AOA) in patients with slow coronary flow (SCF). METHODS The plasma vitamin E levels and AOA were measured in 40 patients...