How animacy and verbal information influence V2 sentence processing: Evidence from eye movements

There exists a clear association between animacy and the grammatical function of transitive subject. The grammar of some languages require the transitive subject to be high in animacy, or at least higher than the object. A similar animacy preference has been observed in processing studies in languages without such a categorical animacy effect. This animacy preference has been mainly established in structures in which either one or both arguments are provided before the verb. Our goal was to establish (i) whether this preference can already be observed before any argument is provided, and (ii) whether this preference is mediated by verbal information. To this end we exploited the V2 property of Dutch which allows the verb to precede its arguments. Using a visual-world eye-tracking paradigm we presented participants with V2 structures with either an auxiliary (e.g. Gisteren heeft X … ‘Yesterday, X has …’) or a lexical main verb (e.g. Gisteren motiveerde X … ‘Yesterday, X motivated …’) and we measured looks to the animate referent. The results indicate that the animacy preference can already be observed before arguments are presented and that the selectional restrictions of the verb mediate this bias, but do not override it completely

Morphology of the canine omentum, part 2: the omental bursa and its compartments materialized and explored by a novel technique

The canine omental bursa is a virtual cavity enclosed by the greater and lesser omentum. While previous representations of this bursa were always purely schematic, a novel casting technique was developed to depict the three-dimensional organization of the omental bursa more consistently. A self-expanding polyurethane-based foam was injected into the omental bursa through the omental foramen in six dogs. After curing and the subsequent maceration of the surrounded tissues, the obtained three-dimensional casts could clearly and in a reproducible way reveal the omental vestibule, its caudal recess and the three compartments of the splenic recess. The cast proved to be an invaluable study tool to identify the landmarks that define the enveloping omentum. In addition, the polyurethane material can easily be discerned on computed tomographic images. When the casting technique is preceded by vascular injections, the blood vessels that supply the omentum can be outlined as well

Cross-domain associations of key cognitive correlates of early reading and early arithmetic in 5-year-olds

Disabilities in reading and arithmetic often co-occur, but (dis)abilities in reading and arithmetic have mostly been studied in isolation from each other. This study explicitly focused on the co-development of early reading and early arithmetic before primary education. The Multiple Deficit Model was used as theoretical framework (Pennington, 2006). According to this model, the overlap between early reading and early arithmetic is due to a constellation of shared and unique cognitive correlates. Therefore, we investigated whether key cognitive correlates of one academic ability also correlate with the other. Participants were 188 five-year-old kindergartners who had not yet been formally instructed in reading and arithmetic. Phonological awareness was selected as reading-specific cognitive correlate and (non)symbolic numerical magnitude processing and numeral recognition were considered as arithmetic-specific cognitive correlates. We administered a productive letter knowledge task as a proxy of early reading. Early arithmetic was assessed with simple problems such as 2 + 3 =? . Regression analyses and Bayesian hypothesis testing revealed significant correlations between early reading and early arithmetic before children start primary education. Phonological awareness predicted not only early reading but also, early arithmetic, even when controlling for early reading and arithmetic-specific cognitive correlates. Likewise, numeral recognition predicted not only early arithmetic, but also early reading, even when controlling for early arithmetic and phonological awareness. Phonological awareness and numeral recognition can be considered shared cognitive correlates of both academic domains. In contrast, non-symbolic and symbolic numerical magnitude processing skills were specifically correlated to early arithmetic, and not to early reading, indicating that they are unique to only one academic domain. In line with the Multiple Deficit Model, our data suggest that early reading and early arithmetic have a shared as well as unique underlying cognitive basis. Further unravelling what these academic abilities have in common can be of high value for detecting children at risk already before their transition to formal primary education

Prospectives

Tiré de: Prospectives, vol. 24, no 2, avril 1988.Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 24 janv. 2013

Chlamydia control activities in Europe: cross-sectional survey

Background: Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection in Europe. The objective of the Screening for Chlamydia in Europe (SCREen) project was to describe current and planned chlamydia control activities in Europe. Methods: The authors sent a questionnaire asking about different aspects of chlamydia epidemiology and control to public health and clinical experts in each country in 2007. The principles of sexually transmitted infection control were used to develop a typology comprising five categories of chlamydia control activities. Each country was assigned to a category, based on responses to the questionnaire. Results: Experts in 29 of 33 (88%) invited countries responded. Thirteen of 29 countries (45%) had no current chlamydia control activities. Six countries in this group stated that there were plans to introduce chlamydia screening programmes. There were five countries (17%) with case management guidelines only. Three countries (10%) also recommended case finding amongst partners of diagnosed chlamydia cases or people with another sexually transmitted infection. Six countries (21%) further specified groups of asymptomatic people eligible for opportunistic chlamydia testing. Two countries (7%) reported a chlamydia screening programme. There was no consistent association between the per capita gross domestic product of a country and the intensity of chlamydia control activities (P = 0.816). Conclusion: A newly developed classification system allowed the breadth of ongoing national chlamydia control activities to be described and categorized. Chlamydia control strategies should ensure that clinical guidelines to optimize chlamydia diagnosis and case management have been implemented before considering the appropriateness of screening programmes

Learning on electrical circuits while playing 'E&E electrical endeavours' : design research on a serious game optimizing for conceptual understanding

In a two year design research project, a serious game was developed in a close collaboration of educational researchers, game-designers and secondary school teachers. In a first round, the game was used in classroom employing an open-inquiry format. It was found that the game had a strong impact on the student’s conceptual development but that it provoked the construction of misconceptions. The game was then adapted and partially redesigned on the basis of the evaluation outcomes and additional expert-review. Also the way of using the game in classroom was redesigned and written down in a teachers’ guide. In a second round this pedagogical approach to using the game in classroom alternating open inquiry type gaming-episodes with guided reflection and internalisation episodes, was used. Again a strong impact on students’ conceptual understanding of electrical circuits was found. Significantly less misconceptions occurred. The results indicate that the close collaboration of school teachers, educational experts and game designers was fruitful for improving the serious game and its use in school practice. Moreover it became clear that serious games have a potential to strongly contribute to students’ conceptual understanding, in particular by the mental model implicitly represented in the game´s layout and structure