Phonetic Ambiguity Perception in Reading Disabled and Non-disabled Children and Adolescents

There are speculations that disabled readers may fail to correctly decode written words because they are insensitive to language\u27s phonetic form. This insensitivity is presumed by some to be due to a speech perceptual deficit. The purpose of the current study was to assess differences between disabled and non-disabled adolescents and elementary school students in their perceptual accuracy in decoding phonetically ambiguous speech. The effects of two processing factors derived from previous research, priming and word form (e.g., Spencer & Carter, 1982), were also examined to assess how perceptual processes may differ between groups. Clinical evidence of some verbal problems persisting in adolescent disabled populations and evidence of compensatory differences between elementary and adolescent readers on earlier phonetic coding tasks prompted the inclusion of alI four age group by reading group combinations. Results reveal no reading group differences of either age grouping. The results are discussed in terms of design considerations, previous pertinent speech perception research, and similarity of responses to those of normal subjects in Spencer and Carter (1982) and Carter and Zoller (1983). With an examination of two dependent measures and a qualitative analysis of errors, no reading group differences were found. Therefore, it Is suggested that explanations involving speech perception may not appropriately address the problems of disabled readers with problems in word decoding

An Assessment of the Perception of Phonetic Ambiguities in 4 and 5 Year Olds

The question of how humans clearly perceive speech, which is anything but clear when analyzed acoustically, has prompted researchers to look at the phenomenon of phonetic ambiguity. In adults, phonetic ambiguity perception has been shown to be aided by the listener using expectations due to the saliency (i.e., familiarity of the ambiguous word or phrase) and to pre-exposure (i.e., priming) to the items prior to testing. Priming makes the subject aware of the alternative (i.e., unfamiliar or rare) member of a phonetic ambiguity pair. In the present study, thirty-two 4 and 5 year olds were exposed to a tape containing familiar and rare ambiguity members and control items. One-half of them were primed. Results indicated that there was a strong beneficial effect of priming and saliency. The results of the present study were also compared with a previous adult study; this revealed a great deal of similarity between the two groups, implying 4 and 5 year olds can and do employ the same linguistic cues as adults

Academic Libraries on Social Media: Finding the Students and the Information They Want

Librarians from Purdue University wanted to determine which social media platforms students use, which platforms they would like the library to use, and what content they would like to see from the library on each of these platforms. We conducted a survey at four of the nine campus libraries to determine student social media habits and preferences. Results show that students currently use Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat more than other social media types; however, students responded that they would like to see the library on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Students wanted nearly all types of content from the libraries on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but they did not want to receive business news or content related to library resources on Snapchat. YouTube was seen as a resource for library service information. We intend to use this information to develop improved communication channels, a clear libraries social media presence, and a cohesive message from all campus libraries

Trehalose Is A Chemical Attractant In The Establishment Of Coral Symbiosis

Coral reefs have evolved with a crucial symbiosis between photosynthetic dinoflagellates (genus Symbiodinium) and their cnidarian hosts (Scleractinians). Most coral larvae take up Symbiodinium from their environment; however, the earliest steps in this process have been elusive. Here we demonstrate that the disaccharide trehalose may be an important signal from the symbiont to potential larval hosts. Symbiodinium freshly isolated from Fungia scutaria corals constantly released trehalose (but not sucrose, maltose or glucose) into seawater, and released glycerol only in the presence of coral tissue. Spawning Fungia adults increased symbiont number in their immediate area by excreting pellets of Symbiodinium, and when these naturally discharged Symbiodinium were cultured, they also released trehalose. In Y-maze experiments, coral larvae demonstrated chemoattractant and feeding behaviors only towards a chamber with trehalose or glycerol. Concomitantly, coral larvae and adult tissue, but not symbionts, had significant trehalase enzymatic activities, suggesting the capacity to utilize trehalose. Trehalase activity was developmentally regulated in F. scutaria larvae, rising as the time for symbiont uptake occurs. Consistent with the enzymatic assays, gene finding demonstrated the presence of a trehalase enzyme in the genome of a related coral, Acropora digitifera, and a likely trehalase in the transcriptome of F. scutaria. Taken together, these data suggest that adult F. scutaria seed the reef with Symbiodinium during spawning and the exuded Symbiodinium release trehalose into the environment, which acts as a chemoattractant for F. scutaria larvae and as an initiator of feeding behavior- the first stages toward establishing the coral-Symbiodinium relationship. Because trehalose is a fixed carbon compound, this cue would accurately demonstrate to the cnidarian larvae the photosynthetic ability of the potential symbiont in the ambient environment. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a chemical cue attracting the motile coral larvae to the symbiont

C/EBPβ-1 promotes transformation and chemoresistance in Ewing sarcoma cells.

CEBPB copy number gain in Ewing sarcoma was previously shown to be associated with worse clinical outcome compared to tumors with normal CEBPB copy number, although the mechanism was not characterized. We employed gene knockdown and rescue assays to explore the consequences of altered CEBPB gene expression in Ewing sarcoma cell lines. Knockdown of EWS-FLI1 expression led to a decrease in expression of all three C/EBPβ isoforms while re-expression of EWS-FLI1 rescued C/EBPβ expression. Overexpression of C/EBPβ-1, the largest of the three C/EBPβ isoforms, led to a significant increase in colony formation when cells were grown in soft agar compared to empty vector transduced cells. In addition, depletion of C/EBPβ decreased colony formation, and re-expression of either C/EBPβ-1 or C/EBPβ-2 rescued the phenotype. We identified the cancer stem cell marker ALDH1A1 as a target of C/EBPβ in Ewing sarcoma. Furthermore, increased expression of C/EBPβ led to resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. In summary, we have identified CEBPB as an oncogene in Ewing sarcoma. Overexpression of C/EBPβ-1 increases transformation, upregulates expression of the cancer stem cell marker ALDH1A1, and leads to chemoresistance

Multiple carbon incorporation strategies support microbial survival in cold subseafloor crustal fluids

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Trembath-Reichert, E., Shah Walter, S. R., Ortiz, M. A. F., Carter, P. D., Girguis, P. R., & Huber, J. A. Multiple carbon incorporation strategies support microbial survival in cold subseafloor crustal fluids. Science Advances, 7(18), (2021): eabg0153, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg0153.Biogeochemical processes occurring in fluids that permeate oceanic crust make measurable contributions to the marine carbon cycle, but quantitative assessments of microbial impacts on this vast, subsurface carbon pool are lacking. We provide bulk and single-cell estimates of microbial biomass production from carbon and nitrogen substrates in cool, oxic basement fluids from the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The wide range in carbon and nitrogen incorporation rates indicates a microbial community well poised for dynamic conditions, potentially anabolizing carbon and nitrogen at rates ranging from those observed in subsurface sediments to those found in on-axis hydrothermal vent environments. Bicarbonate incorporation rates were highest where fluids are most isolated from recharging bottom seawater, suggesting that anabolism of inorganic carbon may be a potential strategy for supplementing the ancient and recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon that is prevalent in the globally distributed subseafloor crustal environment.The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation sponsored most of the observatory components at North Pond through grant GBMF1609. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through grants NSF OCE-1745589, OCE-1635208, and OCE-1062006 to J.A.H. and NSF OCE-1635365 to P.R.G. and S.R.S.W.; NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship with the NASA Astrobiology Institute to E.T.-R.; L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship to E.T.-R.; and Woods Hole Partnership Education Program, sponsored by the Woods Hole Diversity Initiative to M.A.F.O. The Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI OCE-0939564) also supported the participation of J.A.H. and P.D.C. This is C-DEBI contribution number 564

Catalogue and Systematics of Pliensbachian, Toarcian and Aalenian Radiolarian Genera and Species

This volume comprises a catalogue of 90 genera, 274 species and 13 subspecies of Pliensbachian, Toarcian and Aalenian Radiolaria. Two genera, 37 species and 3 subspecies are new formal descriptions, 24 species are described in open nomenclature. Each taxon is presented with a complete and up-to-date synonymy, original description and original remarks (translated into English where necessary), subsequent emendations, remarks by the authors of this catalogue, and etymology. Descriptions of species/subspecies further contain the original measurements, type locality, and data on geographic distribution. Plates illustrate the holotype and one or several specimens from our material, from different paleogeographic realms where possible. The material was collected from 30 measured sections in the Circum-Pacific belt (Baja California Peninsula, Oregon, British Columbia, Japan) and the Tethyan realm (Oman, Turkey, Slovenia, Austria). Abbreviated locality information and a list of all treated taxa are given in the last two chapters.A useful book for paleontologists interested in taxonomy of Jurassic radiolarians.Katalog obsega 90 rodov, 274 vrst in 13 podvrst radiolarijev iz treh stopenj v spodnji in srednji juri: pliensbachija, toarcija in aalenija. Dva rodova, 37 vrst in 3 podvrste so formalno opisani novi taksoni, 24 vrst je opisanih v odprti nomenklaturi. Vsak takson je predstavljen z vso dosedanjo sinonimiko, originalnim opisom in originalnimi opombami (v prevodu, če originalni jezik ni angleščina), poznejšimi revizijami, pripombami avtorjev tega kataloga in etimologijo. Opisi vrst in podvrst vsebujejo še originalne meritve, ime tipične lokalitete in podatke o geografski razširjenosti. Vsaka vrsta ali podvrsta je predstavljena s samostojno tablo, na kateri so slike holotipa in več primerkov iz naših vzorcev. Kjer je mogoče, so ilustrirani primerki z različnih paleogeografskih območij. Vzorci so bili pobrani na 30 profilih, posnetih v cirkumpacifiškem pasu (Kalifornijski polotok, Oregon, Britanska Kolumbija, Japonska) in v območju Tetide (Oman, Turčija, Slovenija, Avstrija). Dodatek na koncu knjige vsebuje kratek opis vzorčevanih profilov in seznam vseh obravnavanih taksonov

In vivo cell-autonomous transcriptional abnormalities revealed in mice expressing mutant huntingtin in striatal but not cortical neurons

Huntington's disease (HD), caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene, is characterized by abnormal protein aggregates and motor and cognitive dysfunction. Htt protein is ubiquitously expressed, but the striatal medium spiny neuron (MSN) is most susceptible to dysfunction and death. Abnormal gene expression represents a core pathogenic feature of HD, but the relative roles of cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous effects on transcription remain unclear. To determine the extent of cell-autonomous dysregulation in the striatum in vivo, we examined genome-wide RNA expression in symptomatic D9-N171-98Q (a.k.a. DE5) transgenic mice in which the forebrain expression of the first 171 amino acids of human Htt with a 98Q repeat expansion is limited to MSNs. Microarray data generated from these mice were compared with those generated on the identical array platform from a pan-neuronal HD mouse model, R6/2, carrying two different CAG repeat lengths, and a relatively high degree of overlap of changes in gene expression was revealed. We further focused on known canonical pathways associated with excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, dopamine signaling and trophic support. While genes related to excitotoxicity, dopamine signaling and trophic support were altered in both DE5 and R6/2 mice, which may be either cell autonomous or non-cell autonomous, genes related to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor are primarily affected in DE5 transgenic mice, indicating cell-autonomous mechanisms. Overall, HD-induced dysregulation of the striatal transcriptome can be largely attributed to intrinsic effects of mutant Htt, in the absence of expression in cortical neuron