Parallel and serial reading processes in children's word and nonword reading

Fluent reading is characterized by rapid and accurate identification of words. It is commonly accepted that such identification relies on the availability of orthographic knowledge. However, whether this orthographic knowledge should be seen as an accumulation of word-specific knowledge in a lexicon acquired through decoding or as a well-developed associative network of sublexical units is still under debate. We studied this key issue in reading research by looking at the serial and/or parallel reading processes underlying word and nonword reading. Participants were 314 Dutch 2nd, 3rd, and 5th graders. The children were administered digit, word, and nonword naming tasks. We used latent class analyses to distinguish between readers who processed the letter strings serially or in parallel, based on the correlation patterns of word and nonword reading with serial and discrete digit naming. The 2 classes of readers were distinguished for both word and nonword reading. The validity of these classes was supported by differences in sensitivity to word and nonword length. Interestingly, the different classes seemed to reflect a developmental shift from reading all letter strings serially toward parallel processing of words, and later of nonwords. The results are not fully in line with current theories on the representation of orthographic knowledge. Implications in terms of models of the reading process are discussed

Silicon micromachined hollow microneedles for transdermal liquid transfer

This paper presents an improved design and fabrication process [ 13 for hollow micro needles with the proper mechanical strength and sharpness to be applied for painless transdermal transfer of liquids. Tests have shown that liquids like blood are drawn into the needle by capillary forces, reducing the need for active pumping. The fabrication method allows different needle shapes like blades and pencils, is robust enough to be applied for largerscale production, and enables the development of a complete micro-TAS for e.g. blood analysis

Naming of short words is (almost) the same as naming of alphanumeric symbols:Evidence from two orthographies

Throughout reading development, a gradual shift is seen in the processes underlying word identification from serial decoding toward parallel processing or sight word reading. It has been argued that this shift can be detected in the correlations between serial and discrete naming of alphanumeric symbols (digits and letters) and words. In the current study, we examined the relations between alphanumeric symbol naming and reading of monosyllabic and multisyllabic words and nonwords in two languages that differ in orthographic consistency: English and Dutch. A sample of 92 English-speaking Canadian children and 101 Dutch children, all in Grade 5, were assessed on discrete and serial naming of digits and letters and on serial and discrete naming of monosyllabic and multisyllabic words and nonwords. Results showed that discrete naming of alphanumeric symbols closely resembled discrete reading of monosyllabic words, suggesting that these words are processed in parallel in both languages. Both serial and parallel reading processes were found to underlie identification of multisyllabic words as well as monosyllabic nonwords. However, differences between the two languages emerged when processing multisyllabic nonwords. Whereas English-speaking children relied more on parallel reading processes to read multisyllabic nonwords, Dutch-speaking children processed these items serially. Theoretical implications of these findings are discusse

Trajectory Deflection of Spinning Magnetic Microparticles, the Magnus Effect at the Microscale

The deflection due to the Magnus force of magnetic particles with a diameter of 80 micrometer dropping through fluids and rotating in a magnetic field was measured. With Reynolds number for this experiment around 1, we found trajectory deflections of the order of 1 degree, in agreement within measurement error with theory. This method holds promise for the sorting and analysis of the distribution in magnetic moment and particle diameter of suspensions of microparticles, such as applied in catalysis, or objects loaded with magnetic particles.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. Appendix with 6 figure