The unexplained nature of reading.

The effects of properties of words on their reading aloud response times (RTs) are 1 major source of evidence about the reading process. The precision with which such RTs could potentially be predicted by word properties is critical to evaluate our understanding of reading but is often underestimated due to contamination from individual differences. We estimated this precision without such contamination individually for 4 people who each read 2,820 words 50 times each. These estimates were compared to the precision achieved by a 31-variable regression model that outperforms current cognitive models on variance-explained criteria. Most (around 2/3) of the meaningful (non-first-phoneme, non-noise) word-level variance remained unexplained by this model. Considerable empirical and theoretical-computational effort has been expended on this area of psychology, but the high level of systematic variance remaining unexplained suggests doubts regarding contemporary accounts of the details of the mechanisms of reading at the level of the word. Future assessment of models can take advantage of the availability of our precise participant-level database

Letters in words are read simultaneously, not in left-to-right sequence

The identification of individual letters is necessary for reading words in alphabetic script (Pelli, Farell, & Moore, 2003). Sequential models of letter processing (Whitney, 2001) in reading words posit an initial left-to-right sequence of letter processing (in left-to-right languages, such as English), each letter taking 10–25 ms to process before the next is processed. In contrast, simultaneous models of letter processing (e.g., Tydgat & Grainger, 2009) in reading words posit that information about the identity of each letter starts to be extracted at the same time point, regardless of horizontal position. Here we show that people reading four-letter words do not extract identity information for any letter from an 18 ms display of the word, but some information about all four letters is available from 24 ms of display. Our results indicate that a left-to-right sequence of attention across letters is not used in establishing the cognitive representation of words. Instead, all letters are processed simultaneously

Availability analysis of post-combustion carbon capture systems: minimum work input

Published versio

Incorporating Ambipolar and Ohmic Diffusion in the AMR MHD code RAMSES

We have implemented non-ideal Magneto-Hydrodynamics (MHD) effects in the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) code RAMSES, namely ambipolar diffusion and Ohmic dissipation, as additional source terms in the ideal MHD equations. We describe in details how we have discretized these terms using the adaptive Cartesian mesh, and how the time step is diminished with respect to the ideal case, in order to perform a stable time integration. We have performed a large suite of test runs, featuring the Barenblatt diffusion test, the Ohmic diffusion test, the C-shock test and the Alfven wave test. For the latter, we have performed a careful truncation error analysis to estimate the magnitude of the numerical diffusion induced by our Godunov scheme, allowing us to estimate the spatial resolution that is required to address non-ideal MHD effects reliably. We show that our scheme is second-order accurate, and is therefore ideally suited to study non-ideal MHD effects in the context of star formation and molecular cloud dynamics

A qualitative study of Parent to Parent support for parents of children with special needs. Consortium to evaluate Parent to Parent.

OBJECTIVE: To examine qualitatively the experiences of parents participating in Parent to Parent programs. METHOD: Twenty-four parents of children with special needs, a subset of subjects in a larger quantitative study, participated in a semi-structured telephone interview to explore the impact and meaning of being matched with a trained supporting parent. RESULTS: Qualitative analysis reveals a successful match is contingent upon creation of a reliable ally in the supporting parent, comprised of four main components: (1) perceived sameness, (2) situational comparisons that enable learning and growth, (3) round-the-clock availability of support, and (4) mutuality of support. CONCLUSIONS: Parent to Parent support creates a community of similar others trained to listen and be supportive and provides an opportunity for matched parents to experience equality and mutuality in their relationship. Findings also identify the need for quality control in Parent to Parent programs and the importance of such programs as an adjunct to traditional professional services

Film support and the challenge of ‘sustainability’: on wing design, wax and feathers, and bolts from the blue

In recognition of the importance of film in generating both economic and cultural value, the UK Labour government set up a new agency – the United Kingdom Film Council (UKFC) – in 2000 with a remit to build a sustainable film industry. But, reflecting a plethora of differing expectations in relation to the purposes behind public support for film, the UKFC's agenda shifted and broadened over the organisation's lifetime (2000–11). Apparently unconvinced by the UKFC's achievements, the Coalition government which came to power in May 2010 announced the Council's abolition and reassigned its responsibilities as part of a general cost-cutting strategy. Based on original empirical research, this article examines how the UKFC's sense of strategic direction was determined, how and why the balance of objectives it pursued changed over time and what these shifts tell us about the nature of film policy and the challenges facing bodies that are charged with enacting it in the twenty-first century

Measuring the quality of family-professional partnerships in special education services

This is the published version, also found here: http://cec.metapress.com/content/jr8655lg61k1n440/?p=edbc223bb2fb4291b6b55663014711a2&pi=3One difficulty in monitoring the quality of family-professional partnerships has been the lack of a psychometrically acceptable and sufficiently general instrument with which to assess them. The current work describes the development of the Family-Professional Partnership Scale, which assesses parents' perceptions of the importance of and their satisfaction with family-professional partnerships. Indicators were constructed from qualitative research on families with children with and without disabilities, and the scale was refined across two field tests that included families with children with a wide range of ages and disability types and severity. Both the 18-item overall scale and the two 9-item subscales demonstrated excellent psychometric properties. The possible uses of this scale in future research and service delivery are discus

Objectively measured physical activity of USA adults by sex, age, and racial/ethnic groups: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Accelerometers were incorporated in the 2003–2004 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) study cycle for objective assessment of physical activity. This is the first time that objective physical activity data are available on a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents. The use of accelerometers allows researchers to measure total physical activity, including light intensity and unstructured activities, which may be a better predictor of health outcomes than structured activity alone. The aim of this study was to examine objectively determined physical activity levels by sex, age and racial/ethnic groups in a national sample of U.S. adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were obtained from the 2003–2004 NHANES, a cross-sectional study of a complex, multistage probability sample of the U.S. population. Physical activity was assessed with the Actigraph AM-7164 accelerometer for seven days following an examination. 2,688 U.S. adults with valid accelerometer data (i.e. at least four days with at least 10 hours of wear-time) were included in the analysis. Mean daily total physical activity counts, as well as counts accumulated in minutes of light, and moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity are presented by sex across age and racial/ethnic groups. Generalized linear modeling using the log link function was performed to compare physical activity in sex and racial/ethnic groups adjusting for age.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Physical activity decreases with age for both men and women across all racial/ethnic groups with men being more active than women, with the exception of Hispanic women. Hispanic women are more active at middle age (40–59 years) compared to younger or older age and not significantly less active than men in middle or older age groups (i.e. age 40–59 or age 60 and older). Hispanic men accumulate more total and light intensity physical activity counts than their white and black counterparts for all age groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Physical activity levels measured objectively by accelerometer demonstrated that Hispanic men are, in general, more active than their white and black counterparts. This appears to be in contrast to self-reported physical activity previously reported in the literature and identifies the need to use objective measures in situations where the contribution of light intensity and/or unstructured physical activity cannot be assumed homogenous across the populations of interest.</p

Propositional update operators based on formula/literal dependence

International audienceWe present and study a general family of belief update operators in a propositional setting. Its operators are based on formula/literal dependence, which is more fine-grained than the notion of formula/variable dependence that was proposed in the literature: formula/variable dependence is a particular case of formula/literal dependence. Our update operators are defined according to the "forget-then-conjoin" scheme: updating a belief base by an input formula consists in first forgetting in the base every literal on which the input formula has a negative influence, and then conjoining the resulting base with the input formula. The operators of our family differ by the underlying notion of formula/literal dependence, which may be defined syntactically or semantically, and which may or may not exploit further information like known persistent literals and pre-set dependencies. We argue that this allows to handle the frame problem and the ramification problem in a more appropriate way. We evaluate the update operators of our family w.r.t. two important dimensions: the logical dimension, by checking the status of the Katsuno-Mendelzon postulates for update, and the computational dimension, by identifying the complexity of a number of decision problems (including model checking, consistency and inference), both in the general case and in some restricted cases, as well as by studying compactability issues. It follows that several operators of our family are interesting alternatives to previous belief update operators