Lesen in Cl-uste-rn

Sublexikale Konsonantencluster sind Kombinationen aus zwei oder mehreren Konsonanten, die kleiner als ein Wort sind. In der Wissenschaft derzeit vorherrschende Theorien über den Leseerwerb und Modelle des kompetenten Lesens unterscheiden sich in Art und Ausmaß in welchen sie sublexikalen Buchstabenclustern funktionelle Bedeutung beim Lesen zuschreiben. Verschiedene Entwicklungstheorien der Lesefähigkeit (Frith, 1985; Ehri, 1998, 2005; Klicpera et al., 2010) sprechen zumindest ab einer gewissen Phase der Entwicklung für die Verarbeitung von größeren Buchstabengruppen zur Minimierung des mentalen Workloads beim Lesen, die eine Vereinfachung, das heißt Beschleunigung des Leseprozesses bewirkt. Die psycholinguistische Grain-Size Theorie (Ziegler & Goswami, 2005) geht in inkonsistenten Sprachen fest von einer solchen funktionellen Bedeutung sublexikaler Gruppen aus, hält diese aber auch in konsistenten Sprachen für sehr wahrscheinlich. Unter den Modellen des kompetenten Lesens sprechen konnektionistische Netzwerkmodelle (Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989; Harm & Seidenberg, 1999, 2004; Plaut et al., 1996) und das konnektionistische Dual Process Modell (CDP von Zorzi et al., 1998b, Zorzi, 2010; CDP+ von Perry et al., 2007; CDP++ von Perry et al., 2010) eindeutig für die Verwendung sublexikaler Cluster. Lediglich das Dual Route Cascaded Modell (DRC; Coltheart et al., 2001) lehnt die Verarbeitung größerer Einheiten beim Lesen ab. Buchstabengruppen werden laut DRC nur dann gemeinsam verarbeitet, wenn dies für die korrekte Aussprache vonnöten ist (z.B. ch, sch), doch auch dann werden sie nur temporär als Einheiten behandelt, nicht aber für spätere Prozesse abgespeichert. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war herauszufinden, welche Rolle Konsonantencluster für die Vereinfachung des Leseprozesses spielen. Bilden diese bedeutsame, funktionelle Einheiten, so sollte das Einfügen eines buchstabenähnlichen Trennzeichens das Lesen erschweren und sich in einer höheren Lesezeit niederschlagen. Anhand eines visuellen Segmentierungsparadigmas wurden Schüler der 2. und 4. Schulstufe untersucht, die zuvor aufgrund eines Lese-Screenings jeweils zusätzlich als schlechte bzw. gute Leser klassifiziert worden waren. Sie sollten einsilbige Wörter und Pseudowörter mit der Struktur KVKK (K für Konsonant, V für Vokal) oder KKVK, die ein Trennzeichen vor dem Wortanfang (#KKVK, #KVKK), vor bzw. nach dem Konsonantencluster (KV#KK, KK#VK) oder innerhalb des Konsonantenclusters enthielten (KVK#K, K#KVK), laut vorlesen. Hauptergebnis der Studie war, dass geteilte Wörter (Cluster ganz, Cluster zerstört), zwar wesentlich langsamer gelesen werden konnten als ganze Wörter, die genaue Position der Trennung jedoch keinen signifikant unterschiedlichen Einfluss auf die Lesezeit hatte. Ein Trennzeichen innerhalb des Konsonantenclusters wurde also nicht wesentlich störender empfunden, als eines vor oder nach dem Konsonantencluster. Dieses Ergebnis spricht nicht generell gegen die Verwendung sublexikaler Buchstabencluster zur Strukturierung und Beschleunigung des Leseprozesses, aber - zumindest bei Kindern - können Konsonantencluster als funktionelle Einheiten ausgeschlossen werden. Insgesamt deckt sich dies mit dem Großteil der Ergebnisse früherer Studien aus anderen Sprachen (Levitt et al., 1991; Marinus & de Jong, 2008; van den Bosch, 1991) und stützt am ehesten die Sicht des DRC-Modells. Bei den fortgeschrittenen Lesern der 4. Schulstufe ergab sich ein einfacher Positionseffekt: Je weiter hinten im Wort sich das Trennzeichen befand, umso störender wirkte es sich auf das Lesen aus. Dies könnte auf die im Deutschen große Anzahl von Wortnachbarn auf der Ebene des Rimes zurückzuführen sein (Ziegler & Goswami, 2005) und sollte eventuell in weiterführenden Studien untersucht werden.Sublexical consonant clusters are combinations of two or more consonants, which do not build a word. Current theories of reading acquisition and models of skilled reading differ in the way and extent in which they attribute functional meaning to consonant clusters during reading. Several developmental theories of reading (Frith, 1985; Ehri, 1998, 2005; Klicpera et al., 2010) assume processing of larger lexical units, at least from a certain phase of reading acquisition. This minimizes the mental workload while reading, which means a simplification of the reading process and might therefore result in an increase in reading speed. According to the psycholinguistic grain size theory (Ziegler & Goswami, 2005) sublexical units have functional meaning in inconsistent languages, and they might also be helpful in consistent languages. Also among models of skilled reading, the connectionist models (Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989; Harm & Seidenberg, 1999, 2004; Plaut et al., 1996) and the connectionist dual process model (CDP by Zorzi et al., 1998b, Zorzi, 2010; CDP+ by Perry et al., 2007; CDP++ by Perry et al., 2010) assume the use of consonant clusters during reading. Solely instead, the dual route cascaded model (DRC; Coltheart et al., 2001) denies the processing of larger sublexical units: a group of letters is only treated as a unit when more letters are needed to determine the correct pronunciation (e.g. ch, sch in German) – such cases are temporarily treated as a unit, but not stored for future processing. The aim of the current study was to examine the role of consonant clusters during reading. If these build significant functional units, then the insertion of a non-letter symbol (e.g. #) should disrupt reading fluency and result in a decrease of reading speed. Children in the second and fourth grade of primary school were first classified as poor or good readers by a readingscreening. Then, they had to read monosyllabic words and non-words with the basic structure CVCC (C stands for consonant, V for vowel) or CCVC containing a non-word symbol either in front of the word (#CVCC, #CCVC), in front of or after the consonant cluster (CV#CC, CC#VC) or within the consonant cluster (CVC#C, C#CVC). The time of reading a word fully (and correctly) was measured and used for analysis. The main result of this current study was that words containing a non-letter symbol were read significantly slower than those having the separating sign in front of them, but there was no significant difference determined by the exact position of separation within the word. A separator within the consonant cluster did not disturb the reading process more than a symbol right in front of or after the cluster. These results do not generally deny the use of sublexical clusters for structuring and speedup of the reading process but - at least in children - consonant clusters can be excluded as functional units. These results are in line with the majority of previous studies in various languages (Levitt et al., 1991; Marinus & de Jong, 2008; van den Bosch, 1991) and support the assumptions of the DRC-model. A simple position effect could be found in skilled readers in the fourth grade: the more the sign was located in the end of the word, the more disruptive it was during reading. The reason for this could be the higher number of rime-neighbors in the German language (Ziegler & Goswami, 2005), which should be examined in further research

Atomic layer deposition for efficient oxygen evolution reaction at Pt/Ir catalyst layers

We provide a direct comparison of two distinct methods of Ti felt surface treatment and Pt/Ir electrocatalyst deposition for the positive electrode of regenerative fuel cells and vanadium-air redox flow batteries. Each method is well documented in the literature, and this paper provides a direct comparison under identical experimental conditions of electrochemical measurements and in identical units. In the first method, based on classical engineering, the bimetallic catalyst is deposited by dip-coating in a precursor solution of the salts followed by their thermal decomposition. In the alternative method, more academic in nature, atomic layer deposition (ALD) is applied to the felts after anodization. ALD allows for a controlled coating with ultralow noble-metal loadings in narrow pores. In acidic electrolyte, the ALD approach yields improved mass activity (557 A·g-1 as compared to 80 A·g-1 at 0.39 V overpotential) on the basis of the noble-metal loading, as well as improved stability. © 2020 Schlicht et al

The effect of clinical education on optimizing self-care by dental students in Switzerland

Students, who may begin their dental education with sub-optimal oral self-care practices, are taught they should motivate patients to clean interdentally and reduce/stop smoking. To better understand their internalization of these concepts, students were surveyed at two distinct time points. Student cohorts from four Swiss universities were asked to complete an interdental cleaning/smoking habit questionnaire at the beginning of their pre-clinical education (n = 110) and again a year later, when beginning treatment of patients (n = 115). A local cohort (n = 28) was observed for comparison. All subjects participated voluntarily and anonymously. Interdental cleaning ≥ 3 times per week was performed by 48% first-year and 43% secondyear students in Basel, 60% and 76% in Bern, 60% and 70% in Geneva, 41% and 49% in Zurich, and 29% in the local cohort. Logistic regression using gender, class year and school as explanatory variables showed gender (p < 0.001) and school (p = 0.018) influenced cleaning frequency, with the odds being 3.16 [95% CI: 1.76, 5.67] times higher for females to perform interdental cleaning ≥ 3 times per week. Smoking was reported both years in numbers too low to analyze. Approximately 29% of the local cohort and 52% of the first-year students displayed an interdental cleaning frequency congruent with oral health recommendations. Adequate cleaning frequency increased for second-year students to 58%, which was not significant. Further study is needed to determine why more dental students do not themselves clean interdentally

Ecophysiological, morphological, and biochemical traits of free-living Diplosphaera chodatii (Trebouxiophyceae) reveal adaptation to harsh environmental conditions

Single-celled green algae within the Trebouxiophyceae (Chlorophyta) are typical components of terrestrial habitats, which often exhibit harsh environmental conditions for these microorganisms. This study provides a detailed overview of the ecophysiological, biochemical, and ultrastructural traits of an alga living on tree bark. The alga was isolated from a cypress tree in the Botanical Garden of Innsbruck (Austria) and identified by morphology and molecular phylogeny as Diplosphaera chodatii. Transmission electron microscopy after high-pressure freezing (HPF) showed an excellent preservation of the ultrastructure. The cell wall was bilayered with a smooth inner layer and an outer layer of polysaccharides with a fuzzy hair-like appearance that could possibly act as cell-cell adhesion mechanism and hence as a structural precursor supporting biofilm formation together with the mucilage observed occasionally. The photosynthetic-irradiance curves of D. chodatii indicated low light requirements without photoinhibition at high photon flux densities (1580 μmol photons m−2 s−1) supported by growth rate measurements. D. chodatii showed a high desiccation tolerance, as 85% of its initial value was recovered after controlled desiccation at a relative humidity of ~10%. The alga contained the low molecular weight carbohydrates sucrose and sorbitol, which probably act as protective compounds against desiccation. In addition, a new but chemically not elucidated mycosporine-like amino acid was detected with a molecular mass of 332 g mol−1 and an absorption maximum of 324 nm. The presented data provide various traits which contribute to a better understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of D. chodatii to terrestrial habitats

No role for epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)

Consumption of tea is inversely associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, the active compound(s) responsible for the protective effects of tea are unknown. Although many favorable cardiovascular effects in vitro are mediated by epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), its contribution to the beneficial effects of tea in vivo remains unresolved. In a randomised crossover study, a single dose of 200 mg EGCG was applied in three different formulas (as green tea beverage, green tea extract (GTE), and isolated EGCG) to 50 healthy men. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and endothelial-independent nitro-mediated dilation (NMD) was measured before and two hours after ingestion. Plasma levels of tea compounds were determined after each intervention and correlated with FMD. FMD significantly improved after consumption of green tea containing 200 mg EGCG (p < 0.01). However, GTE and EGCG had no significant effect on FMD. NMD did not significantly differ between interventions. EGCG plasma levels were highest after administration of EGCG and lowest after consumption of green tea. Plasma levels of caffeine increased after green tea consumption. The results show that EGCG is most likely not involved in improvement of flow-mediated dilation by green tea. Instead, other tea compounds, metabolites or combinations thereof may play a role

Thrombomodulin in patients with mild to moderate bleeding tendency.

INTRODUCTION: A massive increase of soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) due to variants in the thrombomodulin gene (THBD) has recently been identified as a novel bleeding disorder. AIM: To investigate sTM levels and underlying genetic variants as a cause for haemostatic impairment and bleeding in a large number of patients with a mild to moderate bleeding disorder (MBD), including patients with bleeding of unknown cause (BUC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 507 MBD patients, sTM levels, thrombin generation and plasma clot formation were measured and compared to 90 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. In patients, genetic analysis of the THBD gene was performed. RESULTS: No difference in sTM levels between patients and controls was found overall (median ([IQR] 5.0 [3.8-6.3] vs. 5.1 [3.7-6.4] ng/ml, p = .762), and according to specific diagnoses of MBD or BUC, and high sTM levels (≥95th percentile of healthy controls) were not overrepresented in patients. Soluble TM levels had no impact on bleeding severity or global tests of haemostasis, including thrombin generation or plasma clot formation. In the THBD gene, no known pathogenic or novel disease-causing variants affecting sTM plasma levels were identified in our patient cohort. CONCLUSION: TM-associated coagulopathy appears to be rare, as it was not identified in our large cohort of patients with MBD. Soluble TM did not arise as a risk factor for bleeding or altered haemostasis in these patients

Effects of Spermidine Supplementation on Cognition and Biomarkers in Older Adults With Subjective Cognitive Decline : Decline A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE Developing interventions against age-related memory decline and for older adults experiencing neurodegenerative disease is one of the greatest challenges of our generation. Spermidine supplementation has shown beneficial effects on brain and cognitive health in animal models, and there has been preliminary evidence of memory improvement in individuals with subjective cognitive decline. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of longer-term spermidine supplementation on memory performance and biomarkers in this at-risk group. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This 12-month randomized, double-masked, placebocontrolled phase 2b trial (the SmartAge trial) was conducted between January 2017 and May 2020. The study was a monocenter trial carried out at an academic clinical research center in Germany. Eligible individuals were aged 60 to 90 years with subjective cognitive decline who were recruited from health care facilities as well as through advertisements in the general population. Data analysis was conducted between January and March 2021. INTERVENTIONS One hundred participants were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to 12 months of dietary supplementation with either a spermidine-rich dietary supplement extracted from wheat germ (O.9 mg spermidine/d) or placebo (microcrystalline cellulose). Eighty-nine participants (89%) successfully completed the trial intervention. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Primary outcome was change in memory performance from baseline to 12-month postintervention assessment (intention-to-treat analysis), operationalized by mnemonic discrimination performance assessed by the Mnemonic Similarity Task. Secondary outcomes included additional neuropsychological, behavioral, and physiological parameters. Safety was assessed in all participants and exploratory per-protocol, as well as subgroup, analyses were performed. RESULTS A total of 100 participants (51 in the spermidine group and 49 in the placebo group) were included in the analysis (mean [SD] age, 69 [5] years; 49 female participants [49%]). Over 12 months, no significant changes were observed in mnemonic discrimination performance (between-group difference, -0.03; 95% CI, -0.11 to 0.05; P = .47) and secondary outcomes. Exploratory analyses indicated possible beneficial effects of the intervention on inflammation and verbal memory. Adverse events were balanced between groups. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this randomized clinical trial, longer-term spermidine supplementation in participants with subjective cognitive decline did not modify memory and biomarkers compared with placebo. Exploratory analyses indicated possible beneficial effects on verbal memory and inflammation that need to be validated in future studies at higher dosage.Peer reviewe

Bayesian and frequentist analysis of an Austrian genome-wide association study of colorectal cancer and advanced adenomas

Most genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were analyzed using single marker tests in combination with stringent correction procedures for multiple testing. Thus, a substantial proportion of associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) remained undetected and may account for missing heritability in complex traits. Model selection procedures present a powerful alternative to identify associated SNPs in high-dimensional settings. In this GWAS including 1060 colorectal cancer cases, 689 cases of advanced colorectal adenomas and 4367 controls we pursued a dual approach to investigate genome-wide associations with disease risk applying both, single marker analysis and model selection based on the modified Bayesian information criterion, mBIC2, implemented in the software package MOSGWA. For different case-control comparisons, we report models including between 1-14 candidate SNPs. A genome-wide significant association of rs17659990 (P=5.43x10(-9), DOCK3, chromosome 3p21.2) with colorectal cancer risk was observed. Furthermore, 56 SNPs known to influence susceptibility to colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma were tested in a hypothesis-driven approach and several of them were found to be relevant in our Austrian cohort. After correction for multiple testing (alpha=8.9x10(-4)), the most significant associations were observed for SNPs rs10505477 (P=6.08x10(-4)) and rs6983267 (P=7.35x10(-4)) of CASC8, rs3802842 (P=8.98x10(-5), COLCA1,2), and rs12953717 (P=4.64x10(-4), SMAD7). All previously unreported SNPs demand replication in additional samples. Reanalysis of existing GWAS datasets using model selection as tool to detect SNPs associated with a complex trait may present a promising resource to identify further genetic risk variants not only for colorectal cancer

DNA methylation-based classification of central nervous system tumours.

Accurate pathological diagnosis is crucial for optimal management of patients with cancer. For the approximately 100 known tumour types of the central nervous system, standardization of the diagnostic process has been shown to be particularly challenging-with substantial inter-observer variability in the histopathological diagnosis of many tumour types. Here we present a comprehensive approach for the DNA methylation-based classification of central nervous system tumours across all entities and age groups, and demonstrate its application in a routine diagnostic setting. We show that the availability of this method may have a substantial impact on diagnostic precision compared to standard methods, resulting in a change of diagnosis in up to 12% of prospective cases. For broader accessibility, we have designed a free online classifier tool, the use of which does not require any additional onsite data processing. Our results provide a blueprint for the generation of machine-learning-based tumour classifiers across other cancer entities, with the potential to fundamentally transform tumour pathology