44 research outputs found
A new procedure to measure children's reading speed and accuracy in Italian
Impaired readers in primary school should be early
recognized, in order to asses a targeted intervention within the
school and to start a teaching that respects the difficulties in
learning to read, to write and to perform calculations. Screening
procedures inside the primary schools aimed at detecting children
with difficulties in reading, are of fundamental importance for
guaranteeing an early identification of dyslexic children and
reducing both the primary negative effects - on learning - and the
secondary negative effects - on the development of the personality
- of this disturbance. In this study we propose a new screening
procedure measuring reading speed and accuracy. This procedure is
very fast (it is exactly one minute long), simple, cheap and can
be provided by teachers without technical knowledge. On the
contrary, most of the currently used diagnostic tests, are about
10 minutes long and must be provided by experts. These two major
flaws prevent the widespread use of these tests. On the basis of
the results obtained in a survey on about 1500 students attending
primary school in Italy, we investigate the relationships between
variables used in the screening procedure and variables measuring
speed and accuracy in the currently used diagnostic tests in
Italy. Then, we analyze the validity of the screening procedure
from a statistical point of view and with an explorative factor
analysis we show that reading speed and accuracy seem to be two
separate symptoms of the dyslexia phenomenon
Behavioral changes in mice caused by Toxoplasma gondii invasion of brain
Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan parasite, is capable of infecting a broad range of intermediate warm-blooded hosts including humans. The parasite undergoes sexual reproduction resulting in genetic variability only in the intestine of the definitive host (a member of the cat family). The parasite seems to be capable of altering the natural behavior of the host to favor its transmission in the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the number of parasite cysts formed in the hippocampus and amygdala of experimentally infected mice as these regions are involved in defense behaviors control and emotion processing, and to assess the influence of the infection on mice behavior. The obtained results revealed the presence of parasite cysts both in the hippocampus and the amygdala of infected mice; however, no clear region-dependent distribution was observed. Furthermore, infected mice showed significantly diminished exploratory activity described by climbing and rearing, smaller preference for the central, more exposed part of the OF arena and engaged in less grooming behavior compared to uninfected controls
'Duck to water' or 'fish out of water'? Diversity in the experience of negotiating the transition to university
Winstone and Hulme present a critical discussion of the notion of transition to university. They argue that the common emphasis on the challenging nature of the transition fails to acknowledge the diversity in studentsâ experiences; for some students, the liminality and discomfort experienced during this critical period in their educational journey can be a transformational and empowering rite of passage. Rather than homogenising studentsâ experiences, Winstone and Hulme argue that it is beneficial to explore the transition experience through the lens of studentsâ expectations and subsequent experiences and to view the transition to university as part of a trajectory of transition experience within a studentâs educational journey. The chapter also presents practical suggestions for engaging multiple student voices in understanding and facilitating positive transition experiences
Quantitation of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in a competitive nested polymerase chain reaction
AIM: To quantify Toxoplasma gondii DNA using a specially constructed artificial template as competitor in a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). METHODS: The diagnostic assay was a nested PCR employing four primers that amplify part of the single copy gene for the P30 major surface antigen in T gondii. An artificial competitor containing the four primer binding sites was made first by creating a 216 bp deletion in the native 914 bp full length PCR product using restriction enzyme digestion, ligation of selected digestion fragments, and cloning the ligation product into an E coli plasmid vector for production. Competitive nested PCR using three different quantities of T gondii genomic DNA with four corresponding 10-fold dilutions of the artificial competitor was then performed, and the results visualised with agarose gel electrophoresis. A standard curve was drawn by plotting the T gondii to competitor ratio readings against log10 of the competitor readings. RESULTS: The band intensities on agarose gel showed quantitative amplification in competitive nested PCR. The amount of competitor required to achieve equal molar amounts of PCR products is calculated by reading off the value of the competitor where the T gondii to competitor ratio equals 1 on the standard curves. CONCLUSIONS: Competitive PCR is possible with a nested assay, and quantitative amplification is well preserved. The use of an artificial competitor containing the same primer binding sites as the target enables the absolute amount of T gondii DNA in unknown samples to be estimated. In addition, the competitor simultaneously serves as a control for detecting false negative results of failed reactions in individual assay runs