In this study we assessed age-related differences in the perception and production of American English (AE) vowels by native Mandarin speakers as a function of the amount of exposure to the target language. Participants included three groups of native Mandarin speakers: 87 children, adolescents and young adults living in China, 77 recent arrivals who had lived in the U.S. for two years or less, and 54 past arrivals who had lived in the U.S. between three and five years. The latter two groups arrived in the U.S. between the ages of 7 and 44 years. Discrimination of six AE vowel pairs /i-i/, /i-e(I)/, /e-ae/, /ae-a/, /a-(symbol see text)/, and /u-a/ was assessed with a categorial AXB task. Production of the eight vowels /i, i, e(I), e, ae, (symbol see text), a, u/ was assessed with an immediate imitation task. Age-related differences in performance accuracy changed from an older-learner advantage among participants in China, to no age differences among recent arrivals, and to a younger-learner advantage among past arrivals. Performance on individual vowels and vowel contrasts indicated the influence of the Mandarin phonetic/phonological system. These findings support a combined environmental and L1 interference/transfer theory as an explanation of the long-term younger-learner advantage in mastering L2 phonology.

The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of n-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA, at an EPA:DHA ratio of 150:500) and phytosterol esters (PS) on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ninety-six NAFLD subjects were randomly assigned to the following groups: the PS group (receiving 3·3 g/d PS); the FO group (receiving 450 mg EPA + 1500 mg DHA/d); the PS + FO combination group (receiving 3·3 g/d PS and 450 mg EPA + 1500 mg DHA/d) and the PO group (a placebo group). The baseline clinical characteristics of the four groups were similar. The primary outcome was liver:spleen attenuation ratio (L:S ratio). The percentage increase in liver–spleen attenuation (≤1) in the PS + FO group was 36 % (P = 0·083), higher than those in the other three groups (PS group, 11 %, P = 0·519; FO group, 18 %, P = 0·071; PO group, 15 %, P = 0·436). Compared with baseline, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) was significantly decreased in the three study groups at the end of the trial (PS, P = 0·000; FO, P = 0·002; PS + FO, P = 0·001) and TNF-α was significantly decreased in the FO group (P = 0·036), PS + FO group (P = 0·005) and PO group (P = 0·032) at the end of the intervention. Notably, TGF-β was reduced significantly more in the PS + FO group than in the PO group (P = 0·032). The TAG and total cholesterol levels of the PS + FO group were reduced by 11·57 and 9·55 %, respectively. In conclusion, co-supplementation of PS and EPA + DHA could increase the effectiveness of treatment for hepatic steatosis.

We present the results of the first commissioning phase of the short-focal-length area of the Apollon laser facility (located in Saclay, France), which was performed with the first available laser beam (F2), scaled to a nominal power of 1 PW. Under the conditions that were tested, this beam delivered on-target pulses of 10 J average energy and 24 fs duration. Several diagnostics were fielded to assess the performance of the facility. The on-target focal spot and its spatial stability, the temporal intensity profile prior to the main pulse, and the resulting density gradient formed at the irradiated side of solid targets have been thoroughly characterized, with the goal of helping users design future experiments. Emissions of energetic electrons, ions, and electromagnetic radiation were recorded, showing good laser-to-target coupling efficiency and an overall performance comparable to that of similar international facilities. This will be followed in 2022 by a further commissioning stage at the multi-petawatt level.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can be aggravated by dysregulation of intestinal flora. Phytosterol ester could more effectively regulate the gut flora and related fecal metabolites which were correlated with hepatic steatosis in NAFLD rats.