Arabic metalinguistic knowledge predicts reading comprehension: a scoping review

Arabic is a language with unique characteristics, yet the role metalinguistic skills (i. e., phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and orthographical knowledge) play in the development of reading and reading comprehension in Arabic is not well understood. This review aims to: (1) synthesize studies that examine metalinguistic skills' contribution to reading comprehension in Arabic, (2) emphasize gaps and limitations within the current body of literature, and (3) offer recommendations for further research. This review followed a five-stage methodological framework to identify studies. Sixteen studies examined the relation between metalinguistic skills and reading comprehension in Arabic. These studies involved students in grades 1–12. Morphological awareness was found to be the strongest predictor of reading comprehension among Arabic children; in addition, phonological awareness and phonemic diacritics were found to be associated with reading comprehension in early grades. Lastly, this review identified a significant gap in the literature, as few studies have investigated orthographical knowledge in relation to Arabic reading development and outcomes. This literature review supports the claim that metalinguistic variables can predict reading comprehension among Arabic readers. Yet, the generalization of findings is cautioned due to the influences of dialect and the small number of studies involved in the review. These results are discussed in relation to the current teaching guidelines for instructing Arabic reading comprehension

Semi-vitrified porous kyanite mullite ceramics: Young modulus, microstructure and pore size evolution

Microporous porcelain formulations are successfully carried out through sintering processing. During the thermal treatment of ceramic products, it was found that the addition of kyanite together with ϕ- and γ-Al2O3 allowed to enhance interconnected pores network with micrometric size from 0.1 to 9 µm in a semi-vitrified composite. Between 1200 and 1350 °C, the mullitization of kyanite hindered the extension of vitrification and the growth of acicular mullite from the transformation of metakaolin. The main pores size decreased from 4.33 to 1.54 µm for the formulation containing 32 wt% of kyanite. In this interval the specific pore area increased from 0.64 to 8.75 m2 g−1 due to the total conversion of the kyanite to fibrous and acicular mullite that reduced the voids provided by the earlier mullitization. The improvement in the mullitization without extensive vitrification and grain growth and the reduction of the pores size with the increase in the specific pore area contributed to the formation of a microporous matrix with the Young's modulus increased from 7 to > 20 GPa. The microstructure of the microporous porcelain, their specific pore area and pores size as well as the interconnection of pores was found innovative for the applications in the field of engineering filtration where high mechanical strength, strain, stiffness and pressure resistance are required

Adaptation of the Basic Empathy Scale among a Portuguese sample of incarcerated juvenile offenders

The main aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) and of its adapted short version among a forensic sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders (N = 221). The Portuguese validations of the BES and its adapted short version demonstrated good psychometric properties, namely in terms of the two-factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and concurrent validity that generally justifies its use among this population. Statistically significant associations were found with callous– unemotional traits and social anxiety. Findings are discussed in terms of the use of the BES and its adapted short version with juvenile offenders.This research was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) with co-financing of the European Social Fund – POPH/FSE [grant number SFRH/BPD/86666/2012]

Direct determination of trace elements in powdered samples by in-cell isotope dilution femtosecond laser ablation ICPMS

A method has been developed for the direct and simultaneous multielement determination of Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb in soil and sediment samples using femtosecond laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (fs-LA-ICPMS) in combination with isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS). The in-cell isotope dilution fs-LA-ICPMS method proposed in this work was based on the quasi-simultaneous ablation of the natural abundance sample and the isotopically enriched solid spike, which was performed using a high repetition rate laser and a fast scanning beam device in a combined manner. Both the sample preparation procedure and the total analysis time have been drastically reduced, in comparison with previous approaches, since a unique multielement isotopically enriched solid spike was employed to analyze different powdered samples. Numerous experimental parameters were carefully selected (e.g., carrier gas flow rate, inlet diameter of the ablation cell, sample translation speed, scanner speed, etc.) in order to ensure the complete mixing between the sample and the solid spike aerosols. The proposed in-cell fs-LA-ICP-IDMS method was tested for the analysis of two soil (CRM 142R, GBW-07405) and two sediment (PACS-2, IAEA-405) reference materials, and the analysis of Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb yielded good agreement of usually not more than 10% deviation from the certified values and precisions of less than 15% relative standard deviation. Furthermore, the concentrations were in agreement not only with the certified values but also with those obtained by ICP-IDMS after the microwave-assisted digestion of the solid samples, demonstrating therefore that in-cell fs-LA-ICP-IDMS opens the possibility for accurate and precise determinations of trace elements in powdered samples reducing the total sample preparation time to less than 5 min. Additionally, scanning electron microscope measurements showed that the aerosol generated by in-cell fs-LA-ICP-IDMS predominantly consisted of linear agglomerates of small particles (in the order of few tens of nanometers) and a few large spherical particles with diameters below 225 nm

Are Socially Anxious Children Poor or Advanced Mindreaders?

Why are some children more socially anxious than others? One theory holds that socially anxious children are poor mindreaders, which hampers their social interactions; another that socially anxious children are advanced mindreaders leading to heightened self-consciousness in social situations. To test these theories simultaneously, this study (N = 105, ages 8–12) assessed children’s mindreading (accuracy in detecting mental states from the eye region), self-consciousness (indexed as physiological blushing during public performance), and social anxiety levels. Results support both theories, showing a quadratic relation between mindreading and social anxiety. Low mindreading was related to clinical levels of social anxiety. High mindreading was related to subclinical levels of social anxiety through blushing. Our findings suggest two social-cognitive pathways to heightened social anxiety

Limitations of rupture forecasting exposed by instantaneously triggered earthquake doublet

Earthquake hazard assessments and rupture forecasts are based on the potential length of seismic rupture and whether or not slip is arrested at fault segment boundaries. Such forecasts do not generally consider that one earthquake can trigger a second large event, near-instantaneously, at distances greater than a few kilometers. Here we present a geodetic and seismological analysis of a magnitude 7.1 intra-continental earthquake that occurred in Pakistan in 1997. We find that the earthquake, rather than a single event as hitherto assumed, was in fact an earthquake doublet: initial rupture on a shallow, blind 2 reverse fault was followed just 19 seconds later by a second rupture on a separate reverse fault 50 km away. Slip on the second fault increased the total seismic moment by half, and doubled both the combined event duration and the area of maximum ground shaking. We infer that static Coulomb stresses at the initiation location of the second earthquake were probably reduced as a result of the first. Instead, we suggest that a dynamic triggering mechanism is likely, although the responsible seismic wave phase is unclear. Our results expose a flaw in earthquake rupture forecasts that disregard cascading, multiple-fault ruptures of this type

OSCI: standardized stem cell ontology representation and use cases for stem cell investigation

Abstract Background Stem cells and stem cell lines are widely used in biomedical research. The Cell Ontology (CL) and Cell Line Ontology (CLO) are two community-based OBO Foundry ontologies in the domains of in vivo cells and in vitro cell line cells, respectively. Results To support standardized stem cell investigations, we have developed an Ontology for Stem Cell Investigations (OSCI). OSCI imports stem cell and cell line terms from CL and CLO, and investigation-related terms from existing ontologies. A novel focus of OSCI is its application in representing metadata types associated with various stem cell investigations. We also applied OSCI to systematically categorize experimental variables in an induced pluripotent stem cell line cell study related to bipolar disorder. In addition, we used a semi-automated literature mining approach to identify over 200 stem cell gene markers. The relations between these genes and stem cells are modeled and represented in OSCI. Conclusions OSCI standardizes stem cells found in vivo and in vitro and in various stem cell investigation processes and entities. The presented use cases demonstrate the utility of OSCI in iPSC studies and literature mining related to bipolar disorder.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148822/1/12859_2019_Article_2723.pd