Revising strategies for different text types

Forty-eight children and forty-eight adults of contrasting degrees of expertise made a series of corrections in order to improve a text (narrative or description) in which three within-statement errors and three between-statement errors had been inserted. Subjects used a simplified word processor (SCRIPREV) which recorded all movements of linguistic units. The purpose of this research was to study revising strategies by examining the correction-sequencing procedures implemented by these subjects. The procedures, which were coded in the form of time series, were compared to the time series of model revising procedures (i.e. effective ones) representing three strategies based on certain predefined functional principles (linguistic level, execution order). The adults used two of these strategies: the Simultaneous Strategy for the narrative, and the Local-then-Global Strategy for the description. The children used the Local-then-Global Strategy for the narrative, but did not use any identifiable procedure to revise the description, which they did not manage to totally improve in the expected manner

Systemic sclerosis is associated with specific alterations in gastrointestinal microbiota in two independent cohorts.

ObjectiveTo compare faecal microbial composition in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) from 2 independent cohorts with controls and to determine whether certain genera are associated with SSc-gastrointestinal tract (GIT) symptoms.DesignAdult patients with SSc from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Oslo University Hospital (OUH) and healthy controls participated in this study (1:1:1). All participants provided stool specimens for 16S rRNA sequencing. Linear discriminant analysis effect size demonstrated genera with differential expression in SSc. Differential expression analysis for sequence count data identified specific genera associated with GIT symptoms as assessed by the GIT 2.0 questionnaire.ResultsThe UCLA-SSc and OUH-SSc cohorts were similar in age (52.1 and 60.5 years, respectively), disease duration (median (IQR): 6.6 (2.5-16.4) and 7.0 (1.0-19.2) years, respectively), gender distribution (88% and 71%, respectively), and GIT symptoms (mean (SD) total GIT 2.0 scores of 0.7 (0.6) and 0.6 (0.5), respectively). Principal coordinate analysis illustrated significant microbial community differences between SSc and controls (UCLA: p=0.001; OUH: p=0.002). Patients with SSc had significantly lower levels of commensal genera deemed to protect against inflammation, such as Bacteroides (UCLA and OUH), Faecalibacterium (UCLA), Clostridium (OUH); and significantly higher levels of pathobiont genera, such as Fusobacterium (UCLA), compared with controls. Increased abundance of Clostridium was associated with less severe GIT symptoms in both cohorts.ConclusionsThe present analysis detected specific aberrations in the lower GIT microbiota of patients with SSc from 2 geographically and ethnically distinct cohorts. These findings suggest that GIT dysbiosis may be a pathological feature of the SSc disease state

Effect of screen presentation on text reading and revising. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

Two studies using the methods of experimental psychology assessed the effects of two types of text presentation (page-by-page vs. scrolling) on participants' performance while reading and revising texts. Greater facilitative effects of the page-by-page presentation were observed in both tasks. The participants' reading task performance indicated that they built a better mental representation of the text as a whole and were better at locating relevant information and remembering the main ideas. Their revising task performance indicated a larger number of global corrections (which are the most difficult to make)

Gut microbiota markers in obese adolescent and adult patients: Age-dependent differential patterns

Obesity levels, especially in children, have dramatically increased over the last few decades. Recently, several studies highlighted the involvement of gut microbiota in the pathophysiology of obesity. We investigated the composition of gut microbiota in obese adolescents and adults compared to age-matched normal weight (NW) volunteers in order to assemble age- and obesity-related microbiota profiles. The composition of gut microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA-based metagenomics. Ecological representations of microbial communities were computed, and univariate, multivariate, and correlation analyses performed on bacterial profiles. The prediction of metagenome functional content from 16S rRNA gene surveys was carried out. Ecological analyses revealed a dissimilarity among the subgroups, and resultant microbiota profiles differed between obese adolescents and adults. Using statistical analyses, we assigned, as microbial markers, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Actinomyces to the microbiota of obese adolescents, and Parabacteroides, Rikenellaceae, Bacteroides caccae, Barnesiellaceae, and Oscillospira to the microbiota of NW adolescents. The predicted metabolic profiles resulted different in adolescent groups. Particularly, biosynthesis of primary bile acid and steroid acids, metabolism of fructose, mannose, galactose, butanoate, and pentose phosphate and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis were for the majority associated to obese, while biosynthesis and metabolism of glycan, biosynthesis of secondary bile acid, metabolism of steroid hormone and lipoic acid were associated to NW adolescents. Our study revealed unique features of gut microbiota in terms of ecological patterns, microbial composition and metabolism in obese patients. The assignment of novel obesity bacterial markers may open avenues for the development of patient-tailored treatments dependent on age-related microbiota profiles

Library Instruction and Themed Composition Courses: An Investigation of Factors that Impact Student Learning

Many academic libraries partner with English composition in order to teach first year students skills related to academic research and writing. Due to the partnership between information literacy and first-year writing programs, it is important to evaluate how these programs can best support one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two factors on student information literacy skill development: library instruction and section theme—defined here as class sections of the English 102 (ENG 102) program developed around a central topic selected by the instructor. A random sample of annotated bibliographies from 95 sections of ENG 102 were scored with two information literacy rubrics in order to find out if scores differed between sections based on the variables of library instruction and theme. The results of this study indicate that sections of the ENG 102 program that attended an information literacy instruction session scored significantly higher on the annotated bibliography assignment than sections that did not attend. We also found that themed sections of ENG 102 scored marginally higher on the annotated bibliography than non-themed sections of ENG 102. Implications for further research are discussed, including the potential impact of theme-based writing on information literacy learning

Transient rapamycin treatment can increase lifespan and healthspan in middle-aged mice

The FDA approved drug rapamycin increases lifespan in rodents and delays age-related dysfunction in rodents and humans. Nevertheless, important questions remain regarding the optimal dose, duration, and mechanisms of action in the context of healthy aging. Here we show that 3 months of rapamycin treatment is sufficient to increase life expectancy by up to 60% and improve measures of healthspan in middle-aged mice. This transient treatment is also associated with a remodeling of the microbiome, including dramatically increased prevalence of segmented filamentous bacteria in the small intestine. We also define a dose in female mice that does not extend lifespan, but is associated with a striking shift in cancer prevalence toward aggressive hematopoietic cancers and away from non-hematopoietic malignancies. These data suggest that a short-term rapamycin treatment late in life has persistent effects that can robustly delay aging, influence cancer prevalence, and modulate the microbiome.P30 AG013280 - NIA NIH HHS; T32 AG000057 - NIA NIH HH

Breastfeeding shows a protective trend toward adolescents with higher abdominal adiposity

Objective: The question of whether breastfeeding has a protective effect against the development of overweight or obesity later in life remains controversial, especially during adolescence. The objective was to assess the relationship between breastfeeding and adolescents' body composition. Methods: The HELENA study is a cross-sectional study involving 3,528 adolescents from 10 European cities. The outcome measures were body weight and height, subscapular skinfolds as well as waist circumferences. Breastfeeding, smoking status, and parental socioeconomic status were assessed by self-administered questionnaires. Dietary intake was recorded using two 24 hour recall surveys. Two adjustment approaches were used: i) covariance analysis adjusted for confounding factors (propensity score adjustment) observed between breastfeeding and body composition parameters (BMI Z-score; sum of skinfolds, waist-to-height ratio). An adjusted quantile regression analysis showed a non-significant trend for a protective effect of breastfeeding toward the highest percentiles of adiposity in boys but not in girls. This is of particular interest with respect to the superiority of the waist-to-height ratio over waist circumference and BMI for detecting cardiometabolic risk factors. Conclusion: This first European study, including a large set of factors influencing adolescents body composition, showed a non significant trend toward a protective effect of breastfeeding on highest percentiles of adolescent's abdominal adiposity

The relationship between first and second language composition writing

This paper explores the ways in which the transfer of assumptions from L1 writing can sometimes help the process of writing in L2. In learning a second language writing skill,learners have two primary sources to construct a second language system: knowledge and skills from the first language and input from the second language. The present study was conducted to investigate the relative impact of first language literacy skills on second language writing ability. To carry out the research, sixty EFL students from Tabriz Islamic Azad University were chosen and divided into two groups. After being sure about the groups’ homogeneity, they were given two topics to write about: the first group wrote in English about the topics, the second group was asked to write in Persian about the same topics and then translate their writing into English. The data were analyzed by using a t-test and other subsequent analysis. The results may help the teachers to reevaluate their views about the role of first language in second language teaching and they must consider both inter-lingual transfer and intra-lingual input in their analysis of second language literacy development

An Agent-based approach to modelling integrated product teams undertaking a design activity.

The interactions between individual designers, within integrated product teams, and the nature of design tasks, all have a significant impact upon how well a design task can be performed, and hence the quality of the resultant product and the time in which it can be delivered. In this paper we describe an ongoing research project which aims to model integrated product teams through the use of multi-agent systems. We first describe the background and rationale for our work, and then present our initial computational model and results from the simulation of an integrated product team. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the model will evolve to improve the accuracy of the simulation