Ortho-semantic learning of novel words: An event-related potential study of grade 3 children

Introduction: As children become independent readers, they regularly encounter new words whose meanings they must infer from context, and whose spellings must be learned for future recognition. The self-teaching hypothesis proposes orthographic learning skills are critical in the transition to fluent reading, while the lexical quality hypothesis further emphasizes the importance of semantics. Event-related potential (ERP) studies of reading development have focused on effects related to the N170 component—print tuning (letters vs. symbols) and lexical tuning (real words vs. consonant strings)—as well as the N400 reflecting semantic processing, but have not investigated the relationship of these components to word learning during independent reading. Methods: In this study, children in grade 3 independently read short stories that introduced novel words, then completed a lexical decision task from which ERPs were derived. Results: Like real words, newly-learned novel words evoked a lexical tuning effect, indicating rapid establishment of orthographic representations. Both real and novel words elicited significantly smaller N400s than pseudowords, suggesting that semantic representations of the novel words were established. Further, N170 print tuning predicted accuracy on identifying the spellings of the novel words, while the N400 effect for novel words was associated with reading comprehension. Discussion: Exposure to novel words during self-directed reading rapidly establishes neural markers of orthographic and semantic processing. Furthermore, the ability to rapidly filter letter strings from symbols is predictive of orthographic learning, while rapid establishment of semantic representations of novel words is associated with stronger reading comprehension

The Birmingham Urban Climate Laboratory: an open meteorological test bed and challenges of the smart city

Existing urban meteorological networks have an important role to play as test beds for inexpensive and more sustainable measurement techniques that are now becoming possible in our increasingly smart cities. The Birmingham Urban Climate Laboratory (BUCL) is a near-real-time, high-resolution urban meteorological network (UMN) of automatic weather stations and inexpensive, nonstandard air temperature sensors. The network has recently been implemented with an initial focus on monitoring urban heat, infrastructure, and health applications. A number of UMNs exist worldwide; however, BUCL is novel in its density, the low-cost nature of the sensors, and the use of proprietary Wi-Fi networks. This paper provides an overview of the logistical aspects of implementing a UMN test bed at such a density, including selecting appropriate urban sites; testing and calibrating low-cost, nonstandard equipment; implementing strict quality-assurance/quality-control mechanisms (including metadata); and utilizing preexisting Wi-Fi networks to transmit data. Also included are visualizations of data collected by the network, including data from the July 2013 U.K. heatwave as well as highlighting potential applications. The paper is an open invitation to use the facility as a test bed for evaluating models and/or other nonstandard observation techniques such as those generated via crowdsourcing techniques

The POKEMON Speckle Survey of Nearby M dwarfs. I. New Discoveries

M dwarfs are favorable targets for exoplanet detection with current instrumentation, but stellar companions can induce false positives and inhibit planet characterization. Knowledge of stellar companions is also critical to our understanding of how binary stars form and evolve. We have therefore conducted a survey of stellar companions around nearby M dwarfs, and here we present our new discoveries. Using the DSSI speckle imager at the 4.3-meter Lowell Discovery Telescope, and the similar NESSI instrument at the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope, we carried out a volume-limited survey of M-dwarf multiplicity to 15 parsecs, with a special emphasis on including the later M dwarfs that were overlooked in previous surveys. Additional brighter targets at larger distances were included for a total sample size of 1070 M dwarfs. Observations of these 1070 targets revealed 26 new companions; 22 of these systems were previously thought to be single. If all new discoveries are confirmed, then the number of known multiples in the sample will increase by 7.6%. Using our observed properties, as well as the parallaxes and 2MASS K magnitudes for these objects, we calculate the projected separation, and estimate the mass ratio and component spectral types, for these systems. We report the discovery of a new M-dwarf companion to the white dwarf Wolf 672 A, which hosts a known M-dwarf companion as well, making the system trinary. We also examine the possibility that the new companion to 2MASS J13092185-2330350 is a brown dwarf. Finally, we discuss initial insights from the POKEMON survey.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, 5 table

Evaluation of an alternative spectroscopic approach for aflatoxin analysis: Comparative analysis of food and feed samples with UPLC-MS/MS

Increasing research has highlighted the effects of changing climates on the occurrence and prevalence of toxigenic Aspergillus species producing aflatoxins. There is concern of the toxicological effects to human health and animal productivity following acute and chronic exposure that may affect the future ability to provide safe and sufficient food globally. Considerable research has focused on the detection of these toxins, based on the physicochemical and biochemical properties of the aflatoxin compounds, in agricultural products for human and animal consumption. As improvements in food security continue more regulations for acceptable levels of aflatoxins have arisen globally; the most stringent in Europe. These regulations are important for developing countries as aflatoxin occurrence is high significantly effecting international trade and the economy. In developed countries analytical approaches have become highly sophisticated, capable of attaining results with high precision and accuracy, suitable for regulatory laboratories. Regrettably, many countries that are affected by aflatoxin contamination do not have resources for high tech HPLC and MS instrumentation and require more affordable, yet robust equally accurate alternatives that may be used by producers, processors and traders in emerging economies. It is especially important that those companies wishing to exploit the opportunities offered by lucrative but highly regulated markets in the developed world, have access to analytical methods that will ensure that their exports meet their customers quality and safety requirements. This work evaluates the ToxiMet system as an alternative approach to UPLC–MS/MS for the detection and determination of aflatoxins relative to current European regulatory standards. Four commodities: rice grain, maize cracked and flour, peanut paste and dried distillers grains were analysed for natural aflatoxin contamination. For B1 and total aflatoxins determination the qualitative correlation, above or below the regulatory limit, was good for all commodities with the exception of the dried distillers grain samples for B1 for which no calibration existed. For B1 the quantitative R2 correlations were 0.92, 0.92, 0.88 (<250 μg/kg) and 0.7 for rice, maize, peanuts and dried distillers grain samples respectively whereas for total aflatoxins the quantitative correlation was 0.92, 0.94, 0.88 and 0.91. The ToxiMet system could be used as an alternative for aflatoxin analysis for current legislation but some consideration should be given to aflatoxin M1 regulatory levels for these commodities considering the high levels detected in this study especially for maize and peanuts. (Résumé d'auteur

Development and validation of a rapid multiplex ELISA for pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides in honey and feed

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are a group of plant secondary metabolites with carcinogenic and hepatotoxic properties. When PA-producing plants contaminate crops, toxins can be transferred through the food chain and cause illness in humans and animals, most notably hepatic venoocclusive disease. Honey has been identified as a direct risk of human exposure. The European Food Safety Authority has recently identified four groups of PAs that are of particular importance for food and feed: senecionine-type, lycopsaminetype, heliotrine-type and monocrotaline-type. Liquid or gas chromatography methods are currently used to detect PAs but there are no rapid screening assays available commercially. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a rapid multiplex ELISA test for the representatives of three groups of alkaloids (senecionine, lycopsamine and heliotrine types) that would be used as a risk-management tool for the screening of these toxic compounds in food and feed. The method was validated for honey and feed matrices and was demonstrated to have a detection capability less than 25 μg/kg for jacobine, lycopsamine, heliotrine and senecionine. The zinc reduction step introduced to the extraction procedure allows for the additional detection of the presence of N-oxides of PAs. This first multiplex immunoassay for PA detection with N-oxide reduction can be used for the simultaneous screening of 21 samples for >12 PA analytes. Honey samples (n =146) from various origins were analysed for PA determination. Six samples were determined to contain measurable PAs >25 μg/kg by ELISAwhich correlated to >10 μg/kg by LC-MS/MS.JRC.D.5-Standards for Food Bioscienc

The Effects on Milk Yield and Composition, and Animal Nitrogen and Phosphorus Status, of Offering Early-Lactation Dairy Cows Concentrate Feeds of Differing Crude Protein and Phosphorus Concentrations

Milk composition is affected by the dietary concentration of crude protein (CP) (Kung Jr and Huber 1983) and minerals such as phosphorus (P) (Wu and Satter 2000). Milk composition has consequent effects on the processing properties of milk (Dillon et al. 1997). The objective of this study was to determine the effects of offering supplementary concentrate feeds differing in CP and P concentration to lactating dairy cows in the early lactation period (Feb-May) on milk yield and composition, and on animal nitrogen (N) and P status

TFAW survey II: six newly validated planets and 13 planet candidates from K2

Searching for Earth-sized planets in data from Kepler's extended mission (K2) is a niche that still remains to be fully exploited. The TFAW survey is an ongoing project that aims to re-analyse all light curves in K2 C1-C8 and C12-C18 campaigns with a wavelet-based detrending and denoising method, and the period search algorithm TLS to search for new transit candidates not detected in previous works. We have analysed a first subset of 24 candidate planetary systems around relatively faint host stars (10.9 < Kp < 15.4) to allow for follow-up speckle imaging observations. Using vespa and TRICERATOPS, we statistically validate six candidates orbiting four unique host stars by obtaining false-positive probabilities smaller than 1 per cent with both methods. We also present 13 vetted planet candidates that might benefit from other, more precise follow-up observations. All of these planets are sub-Neptune-sized with two validated planets and three candidates with sub-Earth sizes, and have orbital periods between 0.81 and 23.98 d. Some interesting systems include two ultra-short-period planets, three multiplanetary systems, three sub-Neptunes that appear to be within the small planet Radius Gap, and two validated and one candidate sub-Earths (EPIC 210706310.01, K2-411 b, and K2-413 b) orbiting metal-poor stars

Spectrum of cardiac disease in maternity in a low-resource cohort in South Africa

Background: Lack of evidence-based data on the spectrum of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in pregnancy or in the postpartum period, as well as on maternal and fetal outcome, provides challenges for treating physicians, particularly in areas of low resources. The objectives of this study were to investigate the spectrum of disease, mode of presentation and maternal and fetal outcome of patients referred to a dedicated Cardiac Disease and Maternity Clinic (CDM). Methods: The prospective cohort study was conducted at a single tertiary care centre in South Africa. Two hundred and twenty-five women presenting with CVD in pregnancy, or within 6 months postpartum, were studied over a period of 2 years. Clinical assessment, echocardiography and laboratory tests were performed at baseline and follow-up visits. Prepartum, peripartum and postpartum complications were grouped into cardiac, neonatal and obstetric events. Results: Ethnicity was black African (45%), mixed ethnicity (32%), white (15%), Indian/others (8%) and 12% were HIV positive. Of the 225 consecutive women (mean age 28.8±6.4), 196 (86.7%) presented prepartum and 73 in modified WHO class I. The 152 women presenting in a higher risk group (modified WHO class II-IV) were offered close follow-up at the CDM clinic and were diagnosed with congenital heart disease (32%, 15 operated previously), valvular heart disease (26%, 15 operated previously), cardiomyopathy (27%) and other (15%). Women presenting with symptoms of CVD or heart failure postpartum (n=30) presented in a higher New York Heart Association, had higher heart rates (p42 days postpartum. Perinatal death occurred in 1/152 (0.7%) - translating to a perinatal mortality rate of 7/1000 live births. Conclusions: Disease patterns were markedly different to that seen in the developed world. However, joint obstetric-cardiac care in the low-resource cohort was associated with excellent survival outcome rates of pregnant mothers (even with complex diseases) and their offspring and was similar to that seen in the western world. Mortality typically occurred in the postpartum period, beyond the standard date of recording maternal death

Observations with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument. X. Preliminary Orbits of K Dwarf Binaries and Other Stars

This paper details speckle observations of binary stars taken at the Lowell Discovery Telescope, the WIYN Telescope, and the Gemini telescopes between 2016 January and 2019 September. The observations taken at Gemini and Lowell were done with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI), and those done at WIYN were taken with the successor instrument to DSSI at that site, the NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Star and Speckle Imager (NESSI). In total, we present 378 observations of 178 systems and we show that the uncertainty in the measurement precision for the combined data set is ~2 mas in separation, ~1-2 degrees in position angle depending on the separation, and $\sim$0.1 magnitudes in magnitude difference. Together with data already in the literature, these new results permit 25 visual orbits and one spectroscopic-visual orbit to be calculated for the first time. In the case of the spectroscopic-visual analysis, which is done on the trinary star HD 173093, we calculate masses with precision of better than 1% for all three stars in that system. Twenty-one of the visual orbits calculated have a K dwarf as the primary star; we add these to the known orbits of K dwarf primary stars and discuss the basic orbital properties of these stars at this stage. Although incomplete, the data that exist so far indicate that binaries with K dwarf primaries tend not to have low-eccentricity orbits at separations of one to a few tens of AU, that is, on solar-system scales

Evaluating actions to improve air quality at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Air pollution is the single largest environmental risk to human health in the UK, exerting a major healthcare sector burden and exacerbating health and social inequalities. The NHS Long Term Plan commits the healthcare sector to reducing emissions from all sources, however, to date few Acute NHS Trusts have implemented air quality focused sustainability plans. In this case study, we assess potential air quality improvement actions at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK as a test case for NHS sustainability actions. We generate an evidenced based, prioritized shortlist of actions to mitigate emissions and protect patients, staff, and local communities from air pollution exposure. The project supports adoption of an evidence-based, contextually relevant, approach to air quality management within healthcare provision. The methodology used could be employed by organizations with similar goals to address environmental concerns. View Full-Tex