Objective To estimate the prevalence, types and sociodemographic and biobehavioral correlates of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in the United States (U.S.). Methods Cross-sectional analysis of 4,754 individuals from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2004. ANA by indirect immunofluorescence, including cellular staining patterns and specific autoantibody reactivities by immunoprecipitation in those with ANA. Results ANA prevalence in the U.S. population ages 12 years and older was 13.8% (95% CI, 12.2% to 15.5%). ANA increased with age (P = 0.01) and were more prevalent among females than males (17.8% vs. 9.6%, P < 0.001), with the female to male ratio peaking at 40–49 years of age. ANA prevalence was modestly higher in African Americans than whites (adjusted prevalence odds ratio [POR], 1.30; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.70). Remarkably, ANA were less common in overweight and obese (adjusted POR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.59 to 0.94) individuals than persons of normal weight. No significant associations were seen with education, family income, alcohol use, smoking history, serum levels of cotinine or C-reactive protein. In ANA-positive individuals, nuclear patterns were seen in 84.6%, cytoplasmic patterns in 21.8%, and nucleolar patterns in 6.1%, and the most common specific autoantibodies were anti-Ro (3.9%) and anti-Su (2.4%). Conclusion These findings suggest that over 32 million persons in the U.S. have ANA and the prevalence is higher among females, older individuals, African Americans and those with normal weight. These data will serve as a useful baseline for future investigations of predictors and changes in ANA prevalence over time.

To date, few empirical studies have been designed to evaluate the effects of different types of feedback on error in the written work of second language writers. The study reported in this article contrasted four methods of providing feedback on written error. These methods differed in the degree of salience provided to the writer in the revision process. In the study, a factor analysis was used to reduce an initial set of 19 measures of writing skill to a subset of 7. Each of the 7 measures in the subset was then used as a dependent variable in an analysis of covariance design which contrasted the effects of the feedback methods on subsequent narrative compositions. Evidence against direct correction of error in written work is discussed.

No abstract

Linguistic simplification of written texts can increase their comprehensibility for nonnative speakers but reduce their utility for language learning in other ways, for example, through the removal of linguistic items that learners do not know but need to learn. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that elaborative modification observed in oral foreigner talk discourse, where redundancy and explicitness compensate for unknown linguistic items, offers a potential alternative approach to written text modification. We randomly presented 13 reading passages to 483 Japanese college students in one of three forms: (a) native baseline, (b) simplified, or (c) elaborated. Comprehension, assessed by 30 multiple‐choice test items, was highest among learners reading the simplified version, but not significantly different from those reading the elaborated version. The type of modifications to the texts interacted significantly with the kind of test item used to, assess comprehension—replication, synthesis or inference—suggesting that different kinds of text modification facilitate different levels of comprehension.

Factors affecting second language listening comprehension gies-that is, those who are aware of and use effective strategies, such as avoiding mental translation-demonstrate better L2 listening comprehension. 2 In addition to these general cognitive abilities, a number of factors pertaining to experience with the L2 influence listening skill. These factors include the amount of prior exposure to the language; familiarity with and an ability to understand the non-native language's phonology; vocabulary size; and background knowledge about the topic, text, structure, schema, and culture.Familiarity with the L2 changes the extent to which the L2 listener uses top-down or bottom-up strategies in listening. For example, expert listeners use both types of strategies: They are able to accurately make sense of the speech signal (bottom-up information) 3 and integrate this information with PurPose-To establish what is currently known about factors that affect foreign language listening comprehension, with a focus on characteristics of the listener, passage, and testing conditions.ConClusions-Research on second language (L2) listening comprehension strongly supports the importance of a number of factors, for example, a listener's working memory capacity and the number of ideas in a passage. Much of the research, however, reports weak or inconclusive results, leaving many factors and complex interactions among factors unresolved and in need of further investigation.relevanCe-Identifying the factors that affect L2 listening comprehension will help Defense Language Institute Proficiency Test (DLPT) designers anticipate how qualities of selected authentic materials will impact listening comprehension. Executive Summary PurPoseThe U.S. Government administers the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) to military linguists and other government personnel to assess their listening and reading comprehension in a number of foreign languages, including critical languages such as Mandarin, Modern Standard Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, and Persian Farsi. The DLPT is updated every 10 to 15 years, and the most recent transition-from DLPT IV to DLPT5-included a greater emphasis on testing listening comprehension with authentic materials. In turn, this has led to a growing interest in the factors that make second language (L2) listening difficult.To examine these factors, CASL reviewed the current scientific literature and summarized the characteristics of listeners, passages, and testing conditions. The review targeted features of particular interest to stakeholders at the Defense Language Institute (DLI). The long-term goal of the project is to support the selection of authentic listening materials that accurately reflect different proficiency levels. ConClusionsAlthough the available research on L2 listening comprehension is limited, CASL's literature review identified several factors that affect listening comprehension. These factors are summarized below and in Tables 1, 2, and 3. 1 Characteristics of the listenerUnderstanding a fo...