619 research outputs found
The SLS-Berlin: Validation of a German Computer-Based Screening Test to Measure Reading Proficiency in Early and Late Adulthood
Reading proficiency, i.e., successfully integrating early word-based information and utilizing this information in later processes of sentence and text comprehension, and its assessment is subject to extensive research. However, screening tests for German adults across the life span are basically non-existent. Therefore, the present article introduces a standardized computerized sentence-based screening measure for German adult readers to assess reading proficiency including norm data from 2,148 participants covering an age range from 16 to 88 years. The test was developed in accordance with the childrenâs version of the Salzburger LeseScreening (SLS, Wimmer and Mayringer, 2014). The SLS-Berlin has a high reliability and can easily be implemented in any research setting using German language. We present a detailed description of the test and report the distribution of SLS-Berlin scores for the norm sample as well as for two subsamples of younger (below 60 years) and older adults (60 and older). For all three samples, we conducted regression analyses to investigate the relationship between sentence characteristics and SLS-Berlin scores. In a second validation study, SLS-Berlin scores were compared with two (pseudo)word reading tests, a test measuring attention and processing speed and eye-movements recorded during expository text reading. Our results confirm the SLS-Berlinâs sensitivity to capture early word decoding and later text related comprehension processes. The test distinguished very well between skilled and less skilled readers and also within less skilled readers and is therefore a powerful and efficient screening test for German adults to assess interindividual levels of reading proficiency
Evaluation of the CARE Program at Goodall Hospital\u27s Center for Women\u27s Health
Sanford was designated by Maine\u27s Governor in 2009 as a medically underserved community. Communities with this designation have limited primary care providers, and high infant mortality and poverty rates. Goodall Hospital developed the CARE Program in response to this issue, which serves pregnant women by connecting them with a social worker designated as the CARE Coordinator (CC). This study examines the effectiveness of the program\u27s interventions which assess and treat depression and encourage engagement in prenatal care. Primary data was collected from health records of women enrolled in the CARE Program at Goodall Hospital\u27s Center for Women\u27s Health. This descriptive study extracts data including demographics, compliance with prenatal care, use of the emergency department for non-emergent care, and number of meetings with the CC. The data extracted is then analyzed as it relates to depression scores collected in the first and second trimester. This proposal was approved by University of Southern Maine\u27s IRB. Researchers anticipate that women\u27s involvement in the CARE Program will lead to a decrease in depression scores measured in the first and second trimester, as well as a better understanding of the characteristics that may affect depression and overall compliance in prenatal care. We expect this study will be valuable to Goodall Hospital as they evaluate and modify the CARE Program in the future
Plasmodium yoelii infection of BALB/c mice results in expansion rather than induction of CD4+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells
Recently, we demonstrated elevated numbers of CD4(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells in Plasmodium yoeliiâinfected mice contributing to the regulation of antiâmalarial immune response. However, it remains unclear whether this increase in Treg cells is due to thymusâderived Treg cell expansion or induction of Treg cells in the periphery. Here, we show that the frequency of Foxp3(+) Treg cells expressing neuropilinâ1 (Nrpâ1) decreased at early timeâpoints during P. yoelii infection, whereas percentages of Helios(+) Foxp3(+) Treg cells remained unchanged. Both Foxp3(+) Nrpâ1(+) and Foxp3(+) Nrpâ1(â) Treg cells from P. yoeliiâinfected mice exhibited a similar Tâcell receptor VÎČ chain usage and methylation pattern in the Tregâspecific demethylation region within the foxp3 locus. Strikingly, we did not observe induction of Foxp3 expression in Foxp3(â) T cells adoptively transferred to P. yoeliiâinfected mice. Hence, our results suggest that P. yoelii infection triggered expansion of naturally occurring Treg cells rather than de novo induction of Foxp3(+) Treg cells
A social-historical perspective on the development of sports for persons with physical disability in Israel
Pion and Kaon Distribution Amplitudes from lattice QCD: towards the continuum limit
We present the current status of a non-perturbative lattice calculation of
the moments of the pion and kaon distribution amplitudes by the RQCD
collaboration. Our investigation is carried out using dynamical,
non-perturbatively O(a)-improved Wilson fermions on the CLS ensembles with 5
different lattice spacings and pion masses down to the physical pion mass. A
combined continuum and chiral extrapolation to the physical point is performed
along two independent quark mass trajectories simultaneously. We employ
momentum smearing in order to decrease the contamination by excited states and
increase statistical precision.Comment: Proceedings of the 36th Annual International Symposium on Lattice
Field Theory - LATTICE201
Congenital anomalies from a physics perspective. The key role of "manufacturing" volatility
Genetic and environmental factors are traditionally seen as the sole causes
of congenital anomalies. In this paper we introduce a third possible cause,
namely random "manufacturing" discrepancies with respect to ``design'' values.
A clear way to demonstrate the existence of this component is to ``shut'' the
two others and to see whether or not there is remaining variability. Perfect
clones raised under well controlled laboratory conditions fulfill the
conditions for such a test. Carried out for four different species, the test
reveals a variability remainder of the order of 10%-20% in terms of coefficient
of variation. As an example, the CV of the volume of E.coli bacteria
immediately after binary fission is of the order of 10%. In short,
``manufacturing'' discrepancies occur randomly, even when no harmful mutation
or environmental factors are involved. Not surprisingly, there is a strong
connection between congenital defects and infant mortality. In the wake of
birth there is a gradual elimination of defective units and this screening
accounts for the post-natal fall of infant mortality. Apart from this trend,
post-natal death rates also have humps and peaks associated with various
inabilities and defects.\qL In short, infant mortality rates convert the
case-by-case and mostly qualitative problem of congenital malformations into a
global quantitative effect which, so to say, summarizes and registers what goes
wrong in the embryonic phase. Based on the natural assumption that for simple
organisms (e.g. rotifers) the manufacturing processes are shorter than for more
complex organisms (e.g. mammals), fewer congenital anomalies are expected.
Somehow, this feature should be visible on the infant mortality rate. How this
conjecture can be tested is outlined in our conclusion.Comment: 43 pages, 9 figure
Ideal wet two-dimensional foams and emulsions with finite contact angle
We present simulations that show that an ideal two-dimensional foam with a
finite contact angle develops an inhomogeneity for high liquid fraction .
In liquid-liquid emulsions this inhomogeneity is known as flocculation. In the
case of an ordered foam this requires a perturbation, but in a disordered foam
inhomogeneity grows steadily and spontaneously with , as demonstrated in
our simulations performed with the Surface Evolver
Shaped nozzles for cryogenic buffer gas beam sources
Cryogenic buffer gas beams are important sources of cold molecules. In this
work we explore the use of a converging-diverging nozzle with a buffer-gas
beam. We find that, under appropriate circumstances, the use of a nozzle can
produce a beam with improved collimation, lower transverse temperatures, and
higher fluxes per solid angle
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