Does early exposure to spoken and sign language affect reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult signers?

IntroductionEarly linguistic background, and in particular, access to language, lays the foundation of future reading skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing signers. The current study aims to estimate the impact of two factors – early access to sign and/or spoken language – on reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult Russian Sign Language speakers.MethodsIn the eye-tracking experiment, 26 deaf and 14 hard-of-hearing native Russian Sign Language speakers read 144 sentences from the Russian Sentence Corpus. Analysis of global eye-movement trajectories (scanpaths) was used to identify clusters of typical reading trajectories. The role of early access to sign and spoken language as well as vocabulary size as predictors of the more fluent reading pattern was tested.ResultsHard-of-hearing signers with early access to sign language read more fluently than those who were exposed to sign language later in life or deaf signers without access to speech sounds. No association between early access to spoken language and reading fluency was found.DiscussionOur results suggest a unique advantage for the hard-of-hearing individuals from having early access to both sign and spoken language and support the existing claims that early exposure to sign language is beneficial not only for deaf but also for hard-of-hearing children

Assessment of the influence of geophysical parameters on the value of maximum surface concentrations from emissions of asphalt concrete plants

The influence of geophysical parameters of the coefficient of temperature stratification of the atmosphere and terrain, as well as climatic characteristics on the maximum values of surface concentrations of emissions into the atmosphere is analysed. The results of the presented material make it possible to predict atmospheric pollution by emissions coming from asphalt concrete plants. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the inventory data of the ACP of six cities of the Russian Federation (Perm, Temryuk, Kursk, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and Novgorod); calculations of gross emissions made by specific indicators for all ingredients: dust, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, petroleum hydrocarbons, and sulfur dioxide. The dependence of the maximum surface concentration of a harmful substance on the coefficient of temperature stratification of the atmosphere and the dependence of the maximum surface concentration of a harmful substance on the terrain coefficient are established. There is a significant difference in annual emissions into the atmosphere in different regions with the same productivity and efficiency of treatment systems. The difference in the technogenic load on the environment from the geophysical characteristics of the region is revealed. The significant influence of the geographical location of Russian cities on the norms of maximum permissible emissions and the parameters of their dispersion, in particular, on the maximum surface concentration, is presented

Assessment of Four White Sea Brown Seaweed Extracts as Biostimulants of Plant Growth

The study was aimed on the assessment of extracts from four arctic brown seaweeds (Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus vesiculosus, Laminaria digitata and Saccharina latissimi) as stimulators of plant growth. Seaweeds were collected from the Rebalda Bay of the White Sea in August 2021. Extracts were obtained by isopropanol maceration method, then vacuum-dried at 40°C and stored at -4°C. Protein, polyphenols, chlorophyll, carotenoids, alginates, mannitol and polysaccharides contents of extracts were determined. Wheat and cucumber seedlings were used as test plants. Extracts from all four brown seaweeds enhanced growth, accelerated development of plants and increased chlorophyll content in leaves. Plant responses to seaweed extracts were concentration-dependent. Higher concentration of A. nodosum and F. vesiculosus extracts inhibited plant growth possibly due to higher phenolic content. The results show that investigated seaweed extracts obtained by isopropanol maceration method with subsequent drying and freezing have proven to be effective in plant growth stimulation

Soluble Cyanobacterial Carotenoprotein as a Robust Antioxidant Nanocarrier and Delivery Module

To counteract oxidative stress, antioxidants including carotenoids are highly promising, yet their exploitation is drastically limited by the poor bioavailability and fast photodestruction, whereas current delivery systems are far from being efficient. Here we demonstrate that the recently discovered nanometer-sized water-soluble carotenoprotein from Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 (termed AnaCTDH) transiently interacts with liposomes to efficiently extract carotenoids via carotenoid-mediated homodimerization, yielding violet–purple protein samples. We characterize the spectroscopic properties of the obtained pigment–protein complexes and the thermodynamics of liposome–protein carotenoid transfer and demonstrate the delivery of carotenoid echinenone from AnaCTDH into liposomes with an efficiency of up to 70 ± 3%. Most importantly, we show efficient carotenoid delivery to membranes of mammalian cells, which provides protection from reactive oxygen species (ROS). Incubation of neuroblastoma cell line Tet21N in the presence of 1 μM AnaCTDH binding echinenone decreased antimycin A ROS production by 25% (p < 0.05). The described carotenoprotein may be considered as part of modular systems for the targeted antioxidant delivery.BMBF, 01DJ15007, Carotenoidbindende photoschaltbare Proteine: Lichtinduzierte Dynamik und Anwendungen in modernen mikroskopischen Verfahre

Influence of Process and Billet Parameters on the Dimensional Accuracy of Hexagonal Pipes During Mandrel Drawing

The object of the article is hexagonal profile tubes with a round inner hole. Tubes of such configuration have wide enough application, however the way of their obtaining by drawing in profile tool is insufficiently investigated. The paper is devoted to description of creation of finite element model of plastic deformation process of pipes, the basic computational capabilities of the model are given, a number of conclusions made on the basis of modelling results are given

Assessment of the influence of geophysical parameters on the value of maximum surface concentrations from emissions of asphalt concrete plants

The influence of geophysical parameters of the coefficient of temperature stratification of the atmosphere and terrain, as well as climatic characteristics on the maximum values of surface concentrations of emissions into the atmosphere is analysed. The results of the presented material make it possible to predict atmospheric pollution by emissions coming from asphalt concrete plants. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the inventory data of the ACP of six cities of the Russian Federation (Perm, Temryuk, Kursk, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and Novgorod); calculations of gross emissions made by specific indicators for all ingredients: dust, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, petroleum hydrocarbons, and sulfur dioxide. The dependence of the maximum surface concentration of a harmful substance on the coefficient of temperature stratification of the atmosphere and the dependence of the maximum surface concentration of a harmful substance on the terrain coefficient are established. There is a significant difference in annual emissions into the atmosphere in different regions with the same productivity and efficiency of treatment systems. The difference in the technogenic load on the environment from the geophysical characteristics of the region is revealed. The significant influence of the geographical location of Russian cities on the norms of maximum permissible emissions and the parameters of their dispersion, in particular, on the maximum surface concentration, is presented

Table_1_Does early exposure to spoken and sign language affect reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult signers?.docx

IntroductionEarly linguistic background, and in particular, access to language, lays the foundation of future reading skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing signers. The current study aims to estimate the impact of two factors – early access to sign and/or spoken language – on reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult Russian Sign Language speakers.MethodsIn the eye-tracking experiment, 26 deaf and 14 hard-of-hearing native Russian Sign Language speakers read 144 sentences from the Russian Sentence Corpus. Analysis of global eye-movement trajectories (scanpaths) was used to identify clusters of typical reading trajectories. The role of early access to sign and spoken language as well as vocabulary size as predictors of the more fluent reading pattern was tested.ResultsHard-of-hearing signers with early access to sign language read more fluently than those who were exposed to sign language later in life or deaf signers without access to speech sounds. No association between early access to spoken language and reading fluency was found.DiscussionOur results suggest a unique advantage for the hard-of-hearing individuals from having early access to both sign and spoken language and support the existing claims that early exposure to sign language is beneficial not only for deaf but also for hard-of-hearing children.</p

Assessment of Four White Sea Brown Seaweed Extracts as Biostimulants of Plant Growth

The study was aimed on the assessment of extracts from four arctic brown seaweeds (Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus vesiculosus, Laminaria digitata and Saccharina latissimi) as stimulators of plant growth. Seaweeds were collected from the Rebalda Bay of the White Sea in August 2021. Extracts were obtained by isopropanol maceration method, then vacuum-dried at 40°C and stored at -4°C. Protein, polyphenols, chlorophyll, carotenoids, alginates, mannitol and polysaccharides contents of extracts were determined. Wheat and cucumber seedlings were used as test plants. Extracts from all four brown seaweeds enhanced growth, accelerated development of plants and increased chlorophyll content in leaves. Plant responses to seaweed extracts were concentration-dependent. Higher concentration of A. nodosum and F. vesiculosus extracts inhibited plant growth possibly due to higher phenolic content. The results show that investigated seaweed extracts obtained by isopropanol maceration method with subsequent drying and freezing have proven to be effective in plant growth stimulation

Potentiometric Sensor Arrays Based on Hybrid PFSA/CNTs Membranes for the Analysis of UV-Degraded Drugs

The degradation of drugs is a substantial problem since it affects the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceutical products, as well as their influence on the environment. A novel system of three potentiometric cross-sensitive sensors (using the Donnan potential (DP) as an analytical signal) and a reference electrode was developed for the analysis of UV-degraded sulfacetamide drugs. The membranes for DP-sensors were prepared by a casting procedure from a dispersion of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymer, containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs), whose surface was preliminarily modified with carboxyl, sulfonic acid, or (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilanol groups. A correlation between the sorption and transport properties of the hybrid membranes and cross-sensitivity of the DP-sensor to sulfacetamide, its degradation product, and inorganic ions was revealed. The analysis of the UV-degraded sulfacetamide drugs using the multisensory system based on hybrid membranes with optimized properties did not require a pre-separation of the components. The limits of detection of sulfacetamide, sulfanilamide, and sodium were 1.8 × 10−7, 5.8 × 10−7, and 1.8 × 10−7 M. The relative errors of the determination of the components of the UV-degraded sulfacetamide drugs were 2–3% (at 6–8% relative standard deviation). PFSA/CNT hybrid materials provided the stable work of the sensors for at least one year