329 research outputs found
Task-oriented reading efficiency: interplay of general cognitive ability, task demands, strategies and reading fluency
The associations among readers’ cognitive skills (general cognitive ability, reading skills, and attentional functioning), task demands (easy versus difficult questions), and process measures (total fixation time on relevant and irrelevant paragraphs) was investigated to explain task-oriented reading accuracy and efficiency (number of scores in a given time unit). Structural equation modeling was applied to a large dataset collected with sixth-grade students, which included samples of dysfluent readers and those with attention difficulties. The results are in line with previous findings regarding the dominant role of general cognitive ability in the accuracy of task-oriented reading. However, efficiency in task-oriented reading was mostly explained by the shorter viewing times of both paragraph types (i.e., relevant and irrelevant), which were modestly explained by general cognitive ability and reading fluency. These findings suggest that high efficiency in task orientation is obtained by relying on a selective reading strategy when reading both irrelevant and relevant paragraphs. The selective reading strategy seems to be specifically learned, and this potentially applies to most students, even those with low cognitive abilities
The milliarcsecond-scale jet of PKS 0735+178 during quiescence
We present polarimetric 5 GHz to 43 GHz VLBI observations of the BL Lacertae
object PKS 0735+178, spanning March 1996 to May 2000. Comparison with previous
and later observations suggests that the overall kinematic and structural
properties of the jet are greatly influenced by its activity. Time intervals of
enhanced activity, as reported before 1993 and after 2000 by other studies, are
followed by highly superluminal motion along a rectilinear jet. In contrast the
less active state in which we performed our observations, shows subluminal or
slow superluminal jet features propagating through a twisted jet with two sharp
bends of about 90 deg. within the innermost three-milliarcsecond jet structure.
Proper motion estimates from the data presented here allow us to constrain the
jet viewing angle to values < 9 deg., and the bulk Lorentz factor to be between
2 and 4.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
Performance of HPGe Detectors in High Magnetic Fields
A new generation of high-resolution hypernuclear gamma$-spectroscopy
experiments with high-purity germanium detectors (HPGe) are presently designed
at the FINUDA spectrometer at DAPhiNE, the Frascati phi-factory, and at PANDA,
the antiproton proton hadron spectrometer at the future FAIR facility. Both,
the FINUDA and PANDA spectrometers are built around the target region covering
a large solid angle. To maximise the detection efficiency the HPGe detectors
have to be located near the target, and therefore they have to be operated in
strong magnetic fields B ~ 1 T. The performance of HPGe detectors in such an
environment has not been well investigated so far. In the present work VEGA and
EUROBALL Cluster HPGe detectors were tested in the field provided by the ALADiN
magnet at GSI. No significant degradation of the energy resolution was found,
and a change in the rise time distribution of the pulses from preamplifiers was
observed. A correlation between rise time and pulse height was observed and is
used to correct the measured energy, recovering the energy resolution almost
completely. Moreover, no problems in the electronics due to the magnetic field
were observed.Comment: submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. A, LaTeX, 19 pages, 9
figure
Association of screen time with long-term stress and temperament in preschoolers: results from the DAGIS study
Screen time is increasing rapidly in young children. The aim of this
study was to examine associations of long-term stress and temperament
with screen time in Finnish preschool children and the moderating role
of socioeconomic status. Cross-sectional DAGIS data were utilized.
Long-term stress was assessed using hair cortisol concentration,
indicating values of the past 2Â months. Temperament was reported by the
parents using the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (the Very Short
Form), and three broad temperament dimensions were constructed:
surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control. Screen time was
reported by the parents over 7Â days. The highest education level in the
household was used as an indicator of socioeconomic status. In total,
779 children (mean age, 4.7 ± 0.9 years, 52% boys) were included in the
study. Of the temperament dimensions, a higher effortful control was
associated with less screen time (B = − 6.70, p = 0.002).
There was no evidence for an association between hair cortisol
concentration and screen time nor a moderating role of socioeconomic
status in the associations (p > 0.05).Conclusion:
Our findings indicate that preschool children with a higher score in
effortful control had less screen time. Because effortful control
reflects general self-regulatory abilities, promoting these skills may
be effective in reducing screen time in young children.</p
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Understanding developmental language disorder -The Helsinki longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI) : A study protocol
Background: Developmental language disorder (DLD, also called specific language impairment, SLI) is a common developmental disorder comprising the largest disability group in pre-school-aged children. Approximately 7% of the population is expected to have developmental language difficulties. However, the specific etiological factors leading to DLD are not yet known and even the typical linguistic features appear to vary by language. We present here a project that investigates DLD at multiple levels of analysis and aims to make the reliable prediction and early identification of the difficulties possible. Following the multiple deficit model of developmental disorders, we investigate the DLD phenomenon at the etiological, neural, cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial levels, in a longitudinal study of preschool children. Methods: In January 2013, we launched the Helsinki Longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI) at the Helsinki University Hospital ( http://tiny.cc/HelSLI ). We will study 227 children aged 3-6 years with suspected DLD and their 160 typically developing peers. Five subprojects will determine how the child's psychological characteristics and environment correlate with DLD and how the child's well-being relates to DLD, the characteristics of DLD in monolingual versus bilingual children, nonlinguistic cognitive correlates of DLD, electrophysiological underpinnings of DLD, and the role of genetic risk factors. Methods include saliva samples, EEG, computerized cognitive tasks, neuropsychological and speech and language assessments, video-observations, and questionnaires. Discussion: The project aims to increase our understanding of the multiple interactive risk and protective factors that affect the developing heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile of DLD, including factors affecting literacy development. This accumulated knowledge will form a heuristic basis for the development of new interventions targeting linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of DLD. © 2018 The Author(s).Non peer reviewe
Tyrosine Sulfation of Native Mouse Psgl-1 Is Required for Optimal Leukocyte Rolling on P-Selectin In Vivo
We recently demonstrated that tyrosine sulfation is an important contributor to monocyte recruitment and retention in a mouse model of atherosclerosis. P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (Psgl-1) is tyrosine-sulfated in mouse monocyte/macrophages and its interaction with P-selectin is important in monocyte recruitment in atherosclerosis. However, whether tyrosine sulfation is required for the P-selectin binding function of mouse Psgl-1 is unknown. Here we test the function of native Psgl-1 expressed in leukocytes lacking endogenous tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase (TPST) activity.Psgl-1 function was assessed by examining P-selectin dependent leukocyte rolling in post-capillary venules of C57BL6 mice transplanted with hematopoietic progenitors from wild type (WT → B6) or Tpst1;Tpst2 double knockout mice (Tpst DKO → B6) which lack TPST activity. We observed that rolling flux fractions were lower and leukocyte rolling velocities were higher in Tpst DKO → B6 venules compared to WT → B6 venules. Similar results were observed on immobilized P-selectin in vitro. Finally, Tpst DKO leukocytes bound less P-selectin than wild type leukocytes despite equivalent surface expression of Psgl-1.These findings provide direct and convincing evidence that tyrosine sulfation is required for optimal function of mouse Psgl-1 in vivo and suggests that tyrosine sulfation of Psgl-1 contributes to the development of atherosclerosis
Stimulus set size modulates the sex–emotion interaction in face categorization
Previous research has shown that invariant facial features—for example, sex—and variant facial features—for example, emotional expressions—interact during face categorization. The nature of this interaction is a matter of dispute, however, and has been reported as either asymmetrical, such that sex cues influence emotion perception but emotional expressions do not affect the perception of sex, or symmetrical, such that sex and emotion cues each reciprocally influence the categorization of the other. In the present research, we identified stimulus set size as the critical factor leading to this disparity. Using faces drawn from different databases, in two separate experiments we replicated the finding of a symmetrical interaction between face sex and emotional expression when larger sets of posers were used. Using a subset of four posers, in the same setups, however, did not provide evidence for a symmetrical interaction, which is also consistent with prior research. This pattern of results suggests that different strategies may be used to categorize aspects of faces that are encountered repeatedly
Rotten Egg Nebula: The magnetic field of a binary evolved star
Most of PNe are not spherical. The loss of spherical symmetry occurs
somewhere between the AGB and PN phase. The cause of this change of morphology
is not yet well known, but magnetic fields are one of the possible agents. Its
origin remains to be determined, and potentially requires the presence of a
massive companion to the AGB star. Therefore, further detections of the
magnetic field around evolved stars (in particular those thought to be part of
a binary system) are crucial to improve our understanding of the origin and
role of magnetism on evolved stars. One such binaries is the pre-PN OH231.8,
around which a magnetic field was detected in the OH maser region of the outer
circumstellar envelope. We aim to detect and infer the properties of the
magnetic field of this source in the water maser region.
We observed the 6_{1,6}-5_{2,3} water maser rotational transition to
determine its linear and circular polarization. These emissions are located
within the inner regions of OH231.8 (at few tens of AU). We detected 30 water
maser features, which occur in two distinct regions that are moving apart with
a velocity on the sky of 2.3 mas/year. Taking into account the inclination
angle of the source, this corresponds to an average separation velocity of 21
km/s. Based on the velocity gradient of the maser emission, the masers appear
to be dragged along the direction of the nebula jet. Linear polarization is
present in 3 of the features, and circular polarization was detected in the 2
brightest ones. We found that the strength of the magnetic field is |B_{||}|~45
mG which, when assuming a toroidal magnetic field, implies B~2.5 G on the
stellar surface. The morphology of the field is not yet determined, but the
high scatter found on the directions of the linear polarization vectors could
indicate that the masers occur near the tangent points of a toroidal field.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Return of the Great Spaghetti Monster : Learnings from a Twelve-Year Adventure in Web Software Development
The widespread adoption of the World Wide Web has fundamentally changed the landscape of software development. Only ten years ago, very few developers would write software for the Web, let alone consider using JavaScript or other web technologies for writing any serious software applications. In this paper, we reflect upon a twelve-year adventure in web development that began with the development of the Lively Kernel system at Sun Microsystems Labs in 2006. Back then, we also published some papers that identified important challenges in web-based software development based on established software engineering principles. We will revisit our earlier findings and compare the state of the art in web development today to our earlier learnings, followed by some reflections and suggestions for the road forward.Peer reviewe
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