Grapheme-phoneme learning in an unknown orthography: a study in typical reading and dyslexic children

In this study, we examined the learning of new grapheme-phoneme correspondences in individuals with and without dyslexia. Additionally, we investigated the relation between grapheme-phoneme learning and measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge and rapid automatized naming, with a focus on the unique joint variance of grapheme-phoneme learning to word and non-word reading achievement. Training of grapheme-phoneme associations consisted of a 20-min training program in which eight novel letters (Hebrew) needed to be paired with speech sounds taken from the participant's native language (Dutch). Eighty-four third grade students, of whom 20 were diagnosed with dyslexia, participated in the training and testing. Our results indicate a reduced ability of dyslexic readers in applying newly learned grapheme-phoneme correspondences while reading words which consist of these novel letters. However, we did not observe a significant independent contribution of grapheme-phoneme learning to reading outcomes. Alternatively, results from the regression analysis indicate that failure to read may be due to differences in phonological and/or orthographic knowledge but not to differences in the grapheme-phoneme-conversion process itself

SALÓN DE S.A.R. LA COMTE. DE FLANDRE [Material gráfico]

BRUSELASCopia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 201

Transcriptomic footprints disclose specificity of reactive oxygen species signaling in Arabidopsis

Reactive oxygen species ( ROS) are key players in the regulation of plant development, stress responses, and programmed cell death. Previous studies indicated that depending on the type of ROS ( hydrogen peroxide, superoxide, or singlet oxygen) or its subcellular production site ( plastidic, cytosolic, peroxisomal, or apoplastic), a different physiological, biochemical, and molecular response is provoked. We used transcriptome data generated from ROS-related microarray experiments to assess the specificity of ROS-driven transcript expression. Data sets obtained by exogenous application of oxidative stress-causing agents ( methyl viologen, Alternaria alternata toxin, 3-aminotriazole, and ozone) and from a mutant ( fluorescent) and transgenic plants, in which the activity of an individual antioxidant enzyme was perturbed ( catalase, cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase, and copper/zinc superoxide dismutase), were compared. In total, the abundance of nearly 26,000 transcripts of Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana) was monitored in response to different ROS. Overall, 8,056, 5,312, and 3,925 transcripts showed at least a 3-, 4-, or 5- fold change in expression, respectively. In addition to marker transcripts that were specifically regulated by hydrogen peroxide, superoxide, or singlet oxygen, several transcripts were identified as general oxidative stress response markers because their steady-state levels were at least 5- fold elevated in most experiments. We also assessed the expression characteristics of all annotated transcription factors and inferred new candidate regulatory transcripts that could be responsible for orchestrating the specific transcriptomic signatures triggered by different ROS. Our analysis provides a framework that will assist future efforts to address the impact of ROS signals within environmental stress conditions and elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the oxidative stress response in plants

Grapheme-Phoneme Learning in an Unknown Orthography: A Study in Typical Reading and Dyslexic Children

In this study, we examined the learning of new grapheme-phoneme correspondences in individuals with and without dyslexia. Additionally, we investigated the relation between grapheme-phoneme learning and measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge and rapid automatized naming, with a focus on the unique joint variance of grapheme-phoneme learning to word and non-word reading achievement. Training of grapheme-phoneme associations consisted of a 20-min training program in which eight novel letters (Hebrew) needed to be paired with speech sounds taken from the participant's native language (Dutch). Eighty-four third grade students, of whom 20 were diagnosed with dyslexia, participated in the training and testing. Our results indicate a reduced ability of dyslexic readers in applying newly learned grapheme-phoneme correspondences while reading words which consist of these novel letters. However, we did not observe a significant independent contribution of grapheme-phoneme learning to reading outcomes. Alternatively, results from the regression analysis indicate that failure to read may be due to differences in phonological and/or orthographic knowledge but not to differences in the grapheme-phoneme-conversion process itself

M & L Jaargang 25/6

Anna Bergmans De Sint-Jan-Baptistkerk in Averbode. Een toekomst voor haar verleden. [The church of Saint John the Baptist in Averbode. A future for its past.]Op het grondgebied van de gemeente Scherpenheuvel staat niet enkel een vermaarde basiliek maar tevens de abdij met kerk van Averbode. Bij dit M&L themanummer, gewijd aan een voor de Vlaamse Monumentenprijs 2002 genomineerde topmonument, schreef Anna Bergmans een ten geleide.Guido Jan Bral De Norbertijnerabdij in Averbode.Merkbaar onder de indruk van de premonstratenzerarchitectuur, neemt Guido-Jan Bral de recente restauratie van de abdijkerk in Averbode te baat om deze laatste in haar tijd en de architectuurgeschiedenis een plaats te geven.Het bouwrelaas leest als een roman, met actoren en tenoren: de afgewimpelde Faydherbe, de ruziënde Jan II Van den Eynde en Jan van der Steen, een merkwaardig maar anoniem, onuitgevoerd gebleven voorontwerp Bovenal blijkt nochtans hoezeer experimenten in het interieur de gotische tradities voortaan inruilden voor de nieuwste, geïmporteerde barokke modellen.Marc Vanderauwera Averbode: De restauratie van het barokke kerkinterieur en de herwaardering van de contemplatieve ruimte - een synthese. [Synthesis of the Baroque interiors restoration Revaluation of a contemplatieve space.]Vanzelfsprekend bleef de norbertijnenkerk doorheen de tijden niet onaangeroerd, noch ongerept. Met de vereiste terughoudendheid leidde Marc Vanderauwera de restauratie van het interieur waarin vervuiling, schade maar ook waardevolle toevoegingen -de 18de-eeuwse marmeren vloer en unieke scagliola-pleisterwerken- elk hun geëigende aanpak kregen.Beveiligingsingrepen en de inpassing van een geschikt verwarmingssysteem waarborgen voor dit religieuze erfgoed bij de aanvang van de 21ste eeuw meteen ook de bestendiging van de oorspronkelijke bestemming: de katholieke eredienst.Linda Van Dijck De restauratie van het hoofdaltaar en de houten gepolychromeerde barokaltaren in de Sint-Jan-Baptistkerk in Averbode. [The restoration of the main altar and the wooden polychrome baroque altars in the church of Saint John the Baptist in Averbode.]Samen met het Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium leidde Linda Van Dijck een experiment: de restauratie van de hoofdzakelijk houten barokaltaren van de abdijkerk. De verslaggeving in M&L werd geen vanzelfsprekende brok lectuur, maar belooft de aanhouder een fascinerende onderdompeling in het universum van 17de-eeuwse befaamde altaarbouwers en dit van, meer dan drie eeuwen later, door de wol gedrenkte restaurateurs.Het werkstuk besluit met aanbevelingen voor een dagdagelijkse verdere conservatie: woorden in de wind?Linda Van Dijck De restauratie van de stucwerkaltaren in de Sint-Jan-Baptistkerk in Averbode. [The restoration of the stucco altars in the church of Saint John the Baptist in Averbode.]Zij zijn voor het publiek zo goed als onzichtbaar en in de zuidelijke Nederlanden vrijwel uniek, maar met deze altaren in verguld hout, blauwig grijs stucmarmer en monochroom verguld gips verwierf Franz Xaver Bader in 1773 in Averbode onsterfelijke roem.Linda Van Dijck weet niet alleen de totstandkoming van deze altaren te situeren en de conserverende behandelingen te omschrijven: ze schenkt tevens aandacht aan de heel bijzondere techniek en de mogelijke afwerkingswijzen.Summar

SPEKTRALANALYTISCHE AUSWERTUNG SPANNUNGSOPTISCHER BILDER

Two hypotheses have been proposed about the etiology of neurodevelopmental learning disorders, such as dyslexia and dyscalculia: representation impairments and disrupted access to representations. We implemented a multi-method brain imaging approach to directly investigate these representation and access hypotheses in dyscalculia, a highly prevalent but understudied neurodevelopmental disorder in learning to calculate. We combined several magnetic resonance imaging methods and analyses, including univariate and multivariate analyses, functional and structural connectivity. Our sample comprised 24 adults with dyscalculia and 24 carefully matched controls. Results showed a clear deficit in the non-symbolic magnitude representations in parietal, temporal and frontal regions, as well as hyper-connectivity in visual brain regions in adults with dyscalculia. Dyscalculia in adults was thereby related to both impaired number representations and altered connectivity in the brain. We conclude that dyscalculia is related to impaired number representations as well as altered access to these representations.ISSN:1053-8119ISSN:1095-957

Oxidative stress and antioxidative systems: recipes for successful data collection and interpretation

Oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are common to many fundamental responses of plants. Enormous and ever-growing interest has focused on this research area, leading to an extensive literature that documents the tremendous progress made in recent years. As in other areas of plant biology, advances have been greatly facilitated by developments in genomics-dependent technologies and the application of interdisciplinary techniques that generate information at multiple levels. At the same time, advances in understanding ROS are fundamentally reliant on the use of biochemical and cell biology techniques that are specific to the study of oxidative stress. It is therefore timely to revisit these approaches with the aim of providing a guide to convenient methods and assisting interested researchers in avoiding potential pitfalls. Our critical overview of currently popular methodologies includes a detailed discussion of approaches used to generate oxidative stress, measurements of ROS themselves, determination of major antioxidant metabolites, assays of antioxidative enzymes, and marker transcripts for oxidative stress. We consider the applicability of metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics approaches, and discuss markers such as damage to DNA and RNA. Our discussion of current methodologies is firmly anchored to future technological developments within this popular research field