838 research outputs found
Auditory brainstem measures and genotyping boost the prediction of literacy: A longitudinal study on early markers of dyslexia
Literacy acquisition is impaired in children with developmental dyslexia resulting in lifelong struggle to read and spell. Proper diagnosis is usually late and commonly achieved after structured schooling started, which causes delayed interventions. Legascreen set out to develop a preclinical screening to identify children at risk of developmental dyslexia. To this end we examined 93 preliterate German children, half of them with a family history of dyslexia and half of them without a family history. We assessed standard demographic and behavioral precursors of literacy, acquired saliva samples for genotyping, and recorded speech-evoked brainstem responses to add an objective physiological measure. Reading and spelling was assessed after two years of structured literacy instruction. Multifactorial regression analyses considering demographic information, genotypes, and auditory brainstem encoding, predicted children’s literacy skills to varying degrees. These predictions were improved by adding the standard psychometrics with a slightly higher impact on spelling compared to reading comprehension. Our findings suggest that gene-brain-behavior profiling has the potential to determine the risk of developmental dyslexia. At the same time our results imply the need for a more sophisticated assessment to fully account for the disparate cognitive profiles and the multifactorial basis of developmental dyslexia
Specific heat and high-temperature series of lattice models: interpolation scheme and examples on quantum spin systems in one and two dimensions
We have developed a new method for evaluating the specific heat of lattice
spin systems. It is based on the knowledge of high-temperature series
expansions, the total entropy of the system and the low-temperature expected
behavior of the specific heat as well as the ground-state energy. By the choice
of an appropriate variable (entropy as a function of energy), a stable
interpolation scheme between low and high temperature is performed. Contrary to
previous methods, the constraint that the total entropy is log(2S+1) for a spin
S on each site is automatically satisfied. We present some applications to
quantum spin models on one- and two- dimensional lattices. Remarkably, in most
cases, a good accuracy is obtained down to zero temperature.Comment: 10 pages (RevTeX 4) including 11 eps figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Low temperature expansion for the 3-d Ising Model
We compute the weak coupling expansion for the energy of the three
dimensional Ising model through 48 excited bonds. We also compute the
magnetization through 40 excited bonds. This was achieved via a recursive
enumeration of states of fixed energy on a set of finite lattices. We use a
linear combination of lattices with a generalization of helical boundary
conditions to eliminate finite volume effects.Comment: 10 pages, IASSNS-HEP-92/42, BNL-4767
The synaptic ribbon is critical for sound encoding at high rates and with temporal precision.
We studied the role of the synaptic ribbon for sound encoding at the synapses between inner hair cells (IHCs) and spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) in mice lacking RIBEYE (RBEKO/KO). Electron and immunofluorescence microscopy revealed a lack of synaptic ribbons and an assembly of several small active zones (AZs) at each synaptic contact. Spontaneous and sound-evoked firing rates of SGNs and their compound action potential were reduced, indicating impaired transmission at ribbonless IHC-SGN synapses. The temporal precision of sound encoding was impaired and the recovery of SGN-firing from adaptation indicated slowed synaptic vesicle (SV) replenishment. Activation of Ca2+-channels was shifted to more depolarized potentials and exocytosis was reduced for weak depolarizations. Presynaptic Ca2+-signals showed a broader spread, compatible with the altered Ca2+-channel clustering observed by super-resolution immunofluorescence microscopy. We postulate that RIBEYE disruption is partially compensated by multi-AZ organization. The remaining synaptic deficit indicates ribbon function in SV-replenishment and Ca2+-channel regulation
New Algorithm of the Finite Lattice Method for the High-temperature Expansion of the Ising Model in Three Dimensions
We propose a new algorithm of the finite lattice method to generate the
high-temperature series for the Ising model in three dimensions. It enables us
to extend the series for the free energy of the simple cubic lattice from the
previous series of 26th order to 46th order in the inverse temperature. The
obtained series give the estimate of the critical exponent for the specific
heat in high precision.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
Kondo Effect in a Metal with Correlated Conduction Electrons: Diagrammatic Approach
We study the low-temperature behavior of a magnetic impurity which is weakly
coupled to correlated conduction electrons. To account for conduction electron
interactions a diagrammatic approach in the frame of the 1/N expansion is
developed. The method allows us to study various consequences of the conduction
electron correlations for the ground state and the low-energy excitations. We
analyse the characteristic energy scale in the limit of weak conduction
electron interactions. Results are reported for static properties (impurity
valence, charge susceptibility, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat) in
the low-temperature limit.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure
Landscape science: a Russian geographical tradition
The Russian geographical tradition of landscape science (landshaftovedenie) is analyzed with particular reference to its initiator, Lev Semenovich Berg (1876-1950). The differences between prevailing Russian and Western concepts of landscape in geography are discussed, and their common origins in German geographical thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are delineated. It is argued that the principal differences are accounted for by a number of factors, of which Russia's own distinctive tradition in environmental science deriving from the work of V. V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903), the activities of certain key individuals (such as Berg and C. O. Sauer), and the very different social and political circumstances in different parts of the world appear to be the most significant. At the same time it is noted that neither in Russia nor in the West have geographers succeeded in specifying an agreed and unproblematic understanding of landscape, or more broadly in promoting a common geographical conception of human-environment relationships. In light of such uncertainties, the latter part of the article argues for closer international links between the variant landscape traditions in geography as an important contribution to the quest for sustainability
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