Person-centered approach to examining emergent literacy risks in children with specific language impairment

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) are at increased risk for reading difficulties, and some studies suggest that these problems are evident even with pre-reading skills, such as alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness. To date, most studies asserting these emergent literacy difficulties have relied on mean score differences between children with SLI and children who are typically developing. However, work concerning children with SLI also reports considerable heterogeneity, such that some children perform as well as typically developing peers. The present study utilizes a person-centered approach to examine whether the actual proportion of preschool children with SLI (n = 62) who might be identified as “at risk” on measures of emergent literacy differs significantly from the proportion of age-matched typically developing peers (n = 40), and whether a subset of children with concomitant speech impairment would exhibit greatest risk. Results showed that a significantly greater percentage of children with SLI were classified as at risk on all three emergent literacy measures, and the percentage of children at risk for each measure was similar. Children with concomitant speech and language impairment performed more poorly on the alphabet knowledge measure, as compared to those with LI-only, but had similar scores on the other two measures (rhyme awareness and print knowledge). Implications of these findings with respect to assessing emergent literacy in children with language disorders are discussed

Subtle changes in chromatin loop contact propensity are associated with differential gene regulation and expression.

While genetic variation at chromatin loops is relevant for human disease, the relationships between contact propensity (the probability that loci at loops physically interact), genetics, and gene regulation are unclear. We quantitatively interrogate these relationships by comparing Hi-C and molecular phenotype data across cell types and haplotypes. While chromatin loops consistently form across different cell types, they have subtle quantitative differences in contact frequency that are associated with larger changes in gene expression and H3K27ac. For the vast majority of loci with quantitative differences in contact frequency across haplotypes, the changes in magnitude are smaller than those across cell types; however, the proportional relationships between contact propensity, gene expression, and H3K27ac are consistent. These findings suggest that subtle changes in contact propensity have a biologically meaningful role in gene regulation and could be a mechanism by which regulatory genetic variants in loop anchors mediate effects on expression

Disentangling AGN and Star Formation in Soft X-rays

We have explored the interplay of star formation and AGN activity in soft X-rays (0.5-2 keV) in two samples of Seyfert 2 galaxies (Sy2s). Using a combination of low resolution CCD spectra from Chandra and XMM-Newton, we modeled the soft emission of 34 Sy2s using power law and thermal models. For the 11 sources with high signal-to-noise Chandra imaging of the diffuse host galaxy emission, we estimate the luminosity due to star formation by removing the AGN, fitting the residual emission. The AGN and star formation contributions to the soft X-ray luminosity (i.e. L$_{x,AGN}$ and L$_{x,SF}$) for the remaining 24 Sy2s were estimated from the power law and thermal luminosities derived from spectral fitting. These luminosities were scaled based on a template derived from XSINGS analysis of normal star forming galaxies. To account for errors in the luminosities derived from spectral fitting and the spread in the scaling factor, we estimated L$_{x,AGN}$ and L$_{x,SF}$ from Monte Carlo simulations. These simulated luminosities agree with L$_{x,AGN}$ and L$_{x,SF}$ derived from Chandra imaging analysis within a 3\sigma\ confidence level. Using the infrared [NeII]12.8\mu m and [OIV]26\mu m lines as a proxy of star formation and AGN activity, respectively, we independently disentangle the contributions of these two processes to the total soft X-ray emission. This decomposition generally agrees with L$_{x,SF}$ and L$_{x,AGN}$ at the 3\sigma\ level. In the absence of resolvable nuclear emission, our decomposition method provides a reasonable estimate of emission due to star formation in galaxies hosting type 2 AGN.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ; 34 pages, 9 tables, 4 figure

COOPERAÇÃO UNIVERSIDADE-SEGMENTO EMPRESARIAL: DIFICULDADES E MECANISMOS FACILITADORES DO PROCESSO.

A inovação se apresenta, na atual sociedade, como uma alternativa para a consolidação do desenvolvimento econômico dos países. Nesse contexto, a cooperação Universidade-Segmento empresarial apresenta-se como um arranjo interinstitucional que congrega as ações de três agentes determinantes no processo de inovação: governo, universidade e setor produtivo. A UFSC de longa data mantém parcerias com empresas. Assim, este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as dificuldades e os mecanismos facilitadores presentes no processo de cooperação Universidade- Segmento empresarial na Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Quanto aos procedimentos metodológicos o estudo caracteriza-se como: estudo de caso, descritivo e documental com abordagem qualitativa. A coleta de dados foi realizada junto a dirigentes da instituição e a análise foi efetuada seguindo-se os pressupostos da análise de conteúdo. Observou-se que algumas dificuldades como: diferentes visões a respeito da cooperação Universidade-Segmento empresarial, não institucionalização da cooperação Universidade-Segmento empresarial, entre outras. Para superar essas dificuldades a UFSC conta com alguns mecanismos facilitadores: Departamento de Inovação Tecnológica, Fundações Universitárias, entre outros. Conclui-se que a UFSC tem um longo caminho a percorrer em relação ao processo de cooperação, no entanto, é fato consolidado que ela envida esforços na direção do aperfeiçoamento deste

LKB1 is essential for the proliferation of T-cell progenitors and mature peripheral T cells

The serine/threonine kinase LKB1 has a conserved role in Drosophila and nematodes to co-ordinate cell metabolism. During T lymphocyte development in the thymus, progenitors need to synchronize increased metabolism with the onset of proliferation and differentiation to ensure that they can meet the energy requirements for development. The present study explores the role of LKB1 in this process and shows that loss of LKB1 prevents thymocyte differentiation and the production of peripheral T lymphocytes. We find that LKB1 is required for several key metabolic processes in T-cell progenitors. For example, LKB1 controls expression of CD98, a key subunit of the l-system aa transporter and is also required for the pre-TCR to induce and sustain the regulated phosphorylation of the ribosomal S6 subunit, a key regulator of protein synthesis. In the absence of LKB1 TCR-β-selected thymocytes failed to proliferate and did not survive. LBK1 was also required for survival and proliferation of peripheral T cells. These data thus reveal a conserved and essential role for LKB1 in the proliferative responses of both thymocytes and mature T cells

CAIXA: a Catalogue of AGN In the XMM-Newton Archive II. Multiwavelength correlations

We presented CAIXA, a Catalogue of AGN in the XMM-Newton Archive, in a companion paper. Here, a systematic search for correlations between the X-ray spectral properties and the multiwavelength data was performed for the sources in CAIXA. All the significant (>99.9% confidence level) correlations are discussed along with their physical implications on current models of AGN. Two main correlations are discussed in this paper: a) a very strong anti-correlation between the FWHM of the H$\beta$ optical line and the ratio between the soft and the hard X-ray luminosity. Although similar anti-correlations between optical line width and X-ray spectral steepness have already been discussed in the literature (see e.g., Laor et al. 1994, Boller et al. 1996, Brandt et al. 1997), we consider the formulation we present in this paper is more fundamental, as it links model-independent quantities. Coupled with a strong anti-correlation between the V to hard X-ray flux ratio and the H$\beta$ FHWM, it supports scenarios for the origin of the soft excess in AGN, which require strong suppression of the hard X-ray emission; b) a strong (and expected) correlation between the X-ray luminosity and the black hole mass. Its slope, flatter than 1, is consistent with Eddington ratio-dependent bolometric corrections, such as that recently proposed by Vasudevan & Fabian (2009). Moreover, we critically review through various statistical tests the role that distance biases play in the strong radio to X-ray luminosity correlation found in CAIXA and elsewhere; we conclude that only complete, unbiased samples (such as that recently published by Behar & Laor, 2008) should be used to draw observational constraints on the origin of radio emission in radio-quiet AGN.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics; two figures erroneously attached by astroph to the paper were remove