Fine motor skills predict maths ability better than they predict reading ability in the early primary school years

Fine motor skills have long been recognised as an important foundation for development in other domains. However, more precise insights into the role of fine motor skills, and their relationships to other skills in mediating early educational achievements, are needed to support the development of optimal educational interventions. We explored concurrent relationships between two components of fine motor skills, Fine Motor Precision and Fine Motor Integration, and early reading and maths development in two studies with primary school children of low-to-mid socio-economic status in the U.K. Two key findings were revealed. First, despite being in the first two years of primary school education, significantly better performance was found in reading compared to maths across both studies. This may reflect the protective effects of recent national-level interventions to promote early literacy skills in young children in the U.K. that have not been similarly promoted for maths. Second, fine motor skills were a better predictor of early maths ability than they were of early reading ability. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that fine motor skills did not significantly predict reading ability when verbal short-term memory was taken into account. In contrast, Fine Motor Integration remained a significant predictor of maths ability, even after the influence of nonverbal IQ had been accounted for. These results suggest that fine motor skills should have a pivotal role in educational interventions designed to support the development of early mathematical skills

Identification of the CRE-1 Cellulolytic Regulon in Neurospora crassa

Background: In filamentous ascomycete fungi, the utilization of alternate carbon sources is influenced by the zinc finger transcription factor CreA/CRE-1, which encodes a carbon catabolite repressor protein homologous to Mig1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In Neurospora crassa, deletion of cre-1 results in increased secretion of amylase and b-galactosidase. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we show that a strain carrying a deletion of cre-1 has increased cellulolytic activity and increased expression of cellulolytic genes during growth on crystalline cellulose (Avicel). Constitutive expression of cre-1 complements the phenotype of a N. crassa Dcre-1 strain grown on Avicel, and also results in stronger repression of cellulolytic protein secretion and enzyme activity. We determined the CRE-1 regulon by investigating the secretome and transcriptome of a Dcre-1 strain as compared to wild type when grown on Avicel versus minimal medium. Chromatin immunoprecipitation-PCR of putative target genes showed that CRE-1 binds to only some adjacent 59-SYGGRG-39 motifs, consistent with previous findings in other fungi, and suggests that unidentified additional regulatory factors affect CRE-1 binding to promoter regions. Characterization of 30 mutants containing deletions in genes whose expression level increased in a Dcre-1 strain under cellulolytic conditions identified novel genes that affect cellulase activity and protein secretion

A global analysis of Y-chromosomal haplotype diversity for 23 STR loci

In a worldwide collaborative effort, 19,630 Y-chromosomes were sampled from 129 different populations in 51 countries. These chromosomes were typed for 23 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, GATAH4, DYS481, DYS533, DYS549, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS643) and using the PowerPlex Y23 System (PPY23, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI). Locus-specific allelic spectra of these markers were determined and a consistently high level of allelic diversity was observed. A considerable number of null, duplicate and off-ladder alleles were revealed. Standard single-locus and haplotype-based parameters were calculated and compared between subsets of Y-STR markers established for forensic casework. The PPY23 marker set provides substantially stronger discriminatory power than other available kits but at the same time reveals the same general patterns of population structure as other marker sets. A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study. Interestingly a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.Peer reviewe

Risks and benefits of lethal male fighting in the colonial, polygynous thrips Hoplothrips karnyi (Insecta: Thysanoptera)

Males of Hoplothrips karnyi (Hood) (Insecta: Thysanoptera), a colonial fungus-feeding thrips, fight each other in defense of communal egg mass sites, where they mate with females that come to oviposit. Fighting males stab each other with their enlarged, armed forelegs and hit each other with their abdomens. Escalated fights occur between large males of similar size. Fights are often lethal; males that died during observations fought more frequently than other males, were stabbed more often and more severely than other males, and were relatively large, but somewhat smaller than their opponents. Large males tend to win fights and guard egg masses, and they secure about 80% of last matings before ovipositions. Guarding males apparently assess female reproductive condition by putting their forelegs partially around females' abdomens; guarding males, but not nonguarding males, mate preferentially with females that have yet to oviposit. Non-guarding males mate with females away from egg masses, sneak matings at egg masses, and occasionally challenge guarding males. Challenges tend to follow matings by non-guarding males at egg masses. Each of four observed or inferred takeovers was followed by the death of the guarding male that lost. Male fighting strategies are discussed in terms of the consistency of lethal fighting with game theory models. Guardin males appear to pursue a classical “hawk” strategy of “escalate until injured or victorious”. This strategy may be advantageous because only large males become guarders, the mating success of guarders greatly exceeds that of non-guarders, and high population viscosity ensures that benefits from killing an opponent accrue directly to gaurders. The occurrence of challenges by large non-guarders implies that fighting ability and resource value asymmetries between males change over time; such changes may result from the energetic costs of guarding, injury to guarding males, or depletion of guarding males' supply of sperm.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46885/1/265_2004_Article_BF00299845.pd

Role of nutritional status and intervention in oesophageal cancer treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy:outcomes from SCOPE1

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is common in oesophageal cancer. We aimed to identify nutritional prognostic factors and survival outcomes associated with nutritional intervention in the SCOPE1 (Study of Chemoradiotherapy in OesoPhageal Cancer with or without Erbitux) trial. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty eight patients were randomly allocated to definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) +/− cetuximab. Nutritional Risk Index (NRI) scores were calculated; NRI<100 identified patients at risk of malnutrition. Nutritional intervention included dietary advice, oral supplementation or major intervention (enteral feeding/tube placement). Univariable and multivariable analyses using Cox proportional hazard modelling were conducted. RESULTS: At baseline NRI<100 strongly predicted for reduced overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) 12.45, 95% CI 5.24–29.57; P<0.001). Nutritional intervention improved survival if provided at baseline (dietary advice (HR 0.12, P=0.004), oral supplementation (HR 0.13, P<0.001) or major intervention (HR 0.13, P=0.003)), but not if provided later in the treatment course. Cetuximab patients receiving major nutritional intervention had worse outcomes compared with controls (13 vs 28 months, P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-treatment assessment and correction of malnutrition may improve survival outcomes in oesophageal cancer patients treated with dCRT. Nutritional Risk Index is a simple and objective screening tool to identify patients at risk of malnutrition