Punctuation and Implicit Prosody in Silent Reading: An ERP Study Investigating English Garden-Path Sentences.

Science.gov (United States)

Drury, John E; Baum, Shari R; Valeriote, Hope; Steinhauer, Karsten

2016-01-01

This study presents the first two ERP reading studies of comma-induced effects of covert (implicit) prosody on syntactic parsing decisions in English. The first experiment used a balanced 2 × 2 design in which the presence/absence of commas determined plausibility (e.g., John, said Mary, was the nicest boy at the party vs. John said Mary was the nicest boy at the party ). The second reading experiment replicated a previous auditory study investigating the role of overt prosodic boundaries in closure ambiguities (Pauker et al., 2011). In both experiments, commas reliably elicited CPS components and generally played a dominant role in determining parsing decisions in the face of input ambiguity. The combined set of findings provides further evidence supporting the claim that mechanisms subserving speech processing play an active role during silent reading.

Punctuation and Implicit Prosody in Silent Reading: An ERP Study Investigating English Garden-Path Sentences

Science.gov (United States)

Drury, John E.; Baum, Shari R.; Valeriote, Hope; Steinhauer, Karsten

2016-01-01

This study presents the first two ERP reading studies of comma-induced effects of covert (implicit) prosody on syntactic parsing decisions in English. The first experiment used a balanced 2 × 2 design in which the presence/absence of commas determined plausibility (e.g., John, said Mary, was the nicest boy at the party vs. John said Mary was the nicest boy at the party). The second reading experiment replicated a previous auditory study investigating the role of overt prosodic boundaries in closure ambiguities (Pauker et al., 2011). In both experiments, commas reliably elicited CPS components and generally played a dominant role in determining parsing decisions in the face of input ambiguity. The combined set of findings provides further evidence supporting the claim that mechanisms subserving speech processing play an active role during silent reading. PMID:27695428

Punctuation and implicit prosody in silent reading: An ERP study investigating English garden-path sentences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John E. Drury

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study presents the first two ERP reading studies of comma-induced effects of covert (implicit prosody on syntactic parsing decisions in English. The first experiment used a balanced 2 x 2 design in which the presence/absence of commas determined plausibility (e.g., John, said Mary, was the nicest boy at the party versus John said Mary was the nicest boy at the party. The second reading experiment replicated a previous auditory study investigating the role of overt prosodic boundaries in closure ambiguities (Pauker et al., 2011. In both experiments, commas reliably elicited CPS components and generally played a dominant role in determining parsing decisions in the face of input ambiguity. The combined set of findings provides further evidence supporting the claim that mechanisms subserving speech processing play an active role during silent reading.

Silent music reading: auditory imagery and visuotonal modality transfer in singers and non-singers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoppe, Christian; Splittstößer, Christoph; Fliessbach, Klaus; Trautner, Peter; Elger, Christian E; Weber, Bernd

2014-11-01

In daily life, responses are often facilitated by anticipatory imagery of expected targets which are announced by associated stimuli from different sensory modalities. Silent music reading represents an intriguing case of visuotonal modality transfer in working memory as it induces highly defined auditory imagery on the basis of presented visuospatial information (i.e. musical notes). Using functional MRI and a delayed sequence matching-to-sample paradigm, we compared brain activations during retention intervals (10s) of visual (VV) or tonal (TT) unimodal maintenance versus visuospatial-to-tonal modality transfer (VT) tasks. Visual or tonal sequences were comprised of six elements, white squares or tones, which were low, middle, or high regarding vertical screen position or pitch, respectively (presentation duration: 1.5s). For the cross-modal condition (VT, session 3), the visuospatial elements from condition VV (session 1) were re-defined as low, middle or high "notes" indicating low, middle or high tones from condition TT (session 2), respectively, and subjects had to match tonal sequences (probe) to previously presented note sequences. Tasks alternately had low or high cognitive load. To evaluate possible effects of music reading expertise, 15 singers and 15 non-musicians were included. Scanner task performance was excellent in both groups. Despite identity of applied visuospatial stimuli, visuotonal modality transfer versus visual maintenance (VT>VV) induced "inhibition" of visual brain areas and activation of primary and higher auditory brain areas which exceeded auditory activation elicited by tonal stimulation (VT>TT). This transfer-related visual-to-auditory activation shift occurred in both groups but was more pronounced in experts. Frontoparietal areas were activated by higher cognitive load but not by modality transfer. The auditory brain showed a potential to anticipate expected auditory target stimuli on the basis of non-auditory information and

Leitura contextual e processamento metalingüístico no português do Brasil: um estudo longitudinal Contextual reading and metalinguistic processing in Brazilian portuguese: a longitudinal study

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Márcia Maria Peruzzi Elia da Mota

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Habilidade metalingüística é a habilidade de refletir sobre a linguagem como objeto do pensamento. Dentre as habilidades metalingüísticas duas parecem estar associadas à leitura e a escrita: a consciência morfológica e consciência fonológica. Consciência fonológica é a habilidade de refletir sobre os fonemas que compõem a fala e a consciência morfológica é a habilidade de refletir sobre os morfemas que compõem as palavras. Esta última parece ser particularmente importante para compreensão de texto e leitura contextual, visto que além das informações fonológicas, informações sintático-semânticas devem ser utilizadas. Este estudo se propôs a investigar a relação entre essas habilidades e a compreensão de texto medida pelo Cloze em um estudo longitudinal. Na primeira parte foi explorada a relação entre as tarefas de consciência morfológica e os escores no Cloze através de correlações simples e, na segunda, averiguou-se a especificidade desta relação utilizando-se regressões múltiplas. Os resultados dão certo apoio à hipótese de que a consciência morfológica contribui independentemente da fonológica para leitura contextual no português.Metalinguistic skill is the ability to reflect upon language as an object of thought. Amongst metalinguistic skills, two seem to be associated with reading and spelling: morphological awareness and phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability of reflecting upon the phonemes that compose words, and morphological awareness is the ability of reflecting upon the morphemes that compose the words. The latter seems to be particularly important for reading comprehension and contextual reading, as beyond phonological information, syntactic and semantic information are required. This study is set to investigate - with a longitudinal design - the relation between those abilities and contextual reading measured by the Cloze test. The first part of the study

Silent store detection and recording in memory storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bose, Pradip; Cher, Chen-Yong; Nair, Ravi

2017-03-14

An aspect includes receiving a write request that includes a memory address and write data. Stored data is read from a memory location at the memory address. Based on determining that the memory location was not previously modified, the stored data is compared to the write data. Based on the stored data matching the write data, the write request is completed without writing the write data to the memory and a corresponding silent store bit, in a silent store bitmap is set. Based on the stored data not matching the write data, the write data is written to the memory location, the silent store bit is reset and a corresponding modified bit is set. At least one of an application and an operating system is provided access to the silent store bitmap.

Silent store detection and recording in memory storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bose, Pradip; Cher, Chen-Yong; Nair, Ravi

2017-03-07

An aspect includes receiving a write request that includes a memory address and write data. Stored data is read from a memory location at the memory address. Based on determining that the memory location was not previously modified, the stored data is compared to the write data. Based on the stored data matching the write data, the write request is completed without writing the write data to the memory and a corresponding silent store bit, in a silent store bitmap is set. Based on the stored data not matching the write data, the write data is written to the memory location, the silent store bit is reset and a corresponding modified bit is set. At least one of an application and an operating system is provided access to the silent store bitmap.

Individual and Contextual Factors Related to Secondary Special Education Teachers' Reading Instructional Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Leko, Melinda M.; Chiu, Ming Ming; Roberts, Carly A.

2018-01-01

This article reports findings from an initial investigation of the impact multiple individual and contextual factors have on secondary special educators' reading instructional practices. Data from 577 special educators from 221 school districts in a large Midwestern state were collected via an online and paper survey and analyzed using…

Relationship between oculomotor scanning determined by the DEM test and a contextual reading test in schoolchildren with reading difficulties.

Science.gov (United States)

Palomo-Alvarez, Catalina; Puell, María C

2009-09-01

The relationship between oculomotor scanning and reading in poor readers of primary school age is not well known. This study was designed to assess this relationship by determining mean Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test times and reading speeds in a Spanish non-clinical population of children with poor reading skills but without dyslexia. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 81 poor readers (8-11 years of age) in the third to fifth grades recruited from 11 elementary schools in Madrid, Spain. In each subject with best spectacle correction, oculomotor scanning was measured using the DEM test, and reading speed (words per minute) was assessed by a standardized Spanish contextual reading test. Mean horizontal DEM times were higher than normative values for children in the third, fourth and fifth grades, by 20 seconds, 12 seconds, and 3 seconds respectively. Mean reading speeds were 18 words per minute lower than the norm for the third and fourth grades respectively, and 30 words per minute lower than the norm for the fifth grade. Reading speeds were significantly related to horizontal DEM times (r = -0.53, p school children at an early stage.

The Habit of Reading: A Neglected Dimension of Adult Reading Instruction.

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Fink, Katherine T.; Devine, Thomas G.

1993-01-01

Less competent adult readers have not developed the habit of reading. Ways to cultivate adult reading habits include relevant material, environment saturated with reading material, reading aloud to adults, having them read to children, sustained silent reading, modeling, book sharing, author conferences, and recognition. (SK)

Reading comprehension and reading related abilities in adolescents with reading disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghelani, Karen; Sidhu, Robindra; Jain, Umesh; Tannock, Rosemary

2004-11-01

Reading comprehension is a very complex task that requires different cognitive processes and reading abilities over the life span. There are fewer studies of reading comprehension relative to investigations of word reading abilities. Reading comprehension difficulties, however, have been identified in two common and frequently overlapping childhood disorders: reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The nature of reading comprehension difficulties in these groups remains unclear. The performance of four groups of adolescents (RD, ADHD, comorbid ADHD and RD, and normal controls) was compared on reading comprehension tasks as well as on reading rate and accuracy tasks. Adolescents with RD showed difficulties across most reading tasks, although their comprehension scores were average. Adolescents with ADHD exhibited adequate single word reading abilities. Subtle difficulties were observed, however, on measures of text reading rate and accuracy as well as on silent reading comprehension, but scores remained in the average range. The comorbid group demonstrated similar difficulties to the RD group on word reading accuracy and on reading rate but experienced problems on only silent reading comprehension. Implications for reading interventions are outlined, as well as the clinical relevance for diagnosis.

The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson.

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Kerstetter, Ned

1996-01-01

Presents a lesson plan examining Rachel Carson's call to arms concerning the harmful consequences of pesticides. Students view a video documentary on Carson's work and read a synopsis of her book, "Silent Spring." Assessment is provided by various activities including writing assignments, creating posters, and editorial cartoons. (MJP)

Relação entre consciência morfológica e leitura contextual medida pelo teste de Cloze The relationship between morphological awareness and contextual reading measured by the Cloze test

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Márcia Maria Peruzzi Elia da Mota

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Consciência morfológica é a habilidade de refletir sobre os morfemas que compõem as palavras. Esta habilidade está associada à leitura e escrita e parece ser particularmente importante para compreensão de texto e leitura contextual, visto que além das informações fonológicas, informações sintático-semânticas devem ser utilizadas. Este estudo se propôs a investigar a relação entre a consciência morfológica e a compreensão de texto medida pelo Cloze. Na primeira parte foi explorada a relação entre as tarefas de consciência morfológica e os escores no Cloze através de correlações simples e, na segunda parte, averiguou-se a especificidade desta relação. Os resultados mostram que a consciência morfológica está associada à leitura contextual no português e que, até certo ponto, essa contribuição é independente do processamento fonológico.Morphological awareness is the awareness of the morphemes of the words. This ability is related to spelling, reading and it seems to be particularly important for reading comprehension and contextual reading. In this kind of reading besides phonological information, syntactic-semantic information is required as well. This study intends to investigate the relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension measured by the Cloze Test. In the first part of the study the relationship between the Cloze test scores and morphological awareness are explored by simple correlations. In the second part, the specificity of this relationship is further explored. The results showed that to some extent this relationship is independent of phonological awareness.

Clinical evidence of the role of the cerebellum in the suppression of overt articulatory movements during reading. A study of reading in children and adolescents treated for cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Ait Khelifa-Gallois, N; Puget, S; Longaud, A; Laroussinie, F; Soria, C; Sainte-Rose, C; Dellatolas, G

2015-04-01

It has been suggested that the cerebellum is involved in reading acquisition and in particular in the progression from automatic grapheme-phoneme conversion to the internalization of speech required for silent reading. This idea is in line with clinical and neuroimaging data showing a cerebellar role in subvocal rehearsal for printed verbalizable material and with computational "internal models" of the cerebellum suggesting its role in inner speech (i.e. covert speech without mouthing the words). However, studies examining a possible cerebellar role in the suppression of articulatory movements during silent reading acquisition in children are lacking. Here, we report clinical evidence that the cerebellum plays a part in this transition. Reading performances were compared between a group of 17 paediatric patients treated for benign cerebellar tumours and a group of controls matched for age, gender, and parental socio-educational level. The patients scored significantly lower on all reading, but the most striking difference concerned silent reading, perfectly acquired by almost all controls, contrasting with 41 % of the patients who were unable to read any item silently. Silent reading was correlated with the Working Memory Index. The present findings converge with previous reports on an implication of the cerebellum in inner speech and in the automatization of reading. This cerebellar implication is probably not specific to reading, as it also seems to affect non-reading tasks such as counting.

Enhancing the Reading Fluency and Comprehension of Children with Reading Disabilities in an Orthographically Transparent Language

Science.gov (United States)

Snellings, Patrick; van der Leij, Aryan; de Jong, Peter F.; Blok, Henk

2009-01-01

Breznitz (2006) demonstrated that Hebrew-speaking adults with reading disabilities benefited from a training in which reading rate was experimentally manipulated. In the present study, the authors examine whether silent reading training enhances the sentence reading rate and comprehension of children with reading disabilities and whether results…

Reimagining Reading: Creating a Classroom Culture That Embraces Independent Choice Reading

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Dickerson, Katie

2015-01-01

Many of us are plagued by negative memories of sustained silent reading. In some of these memories, we are the students, attempting to read a book that didn't hold our interest or trying to read over the din of our disengaged classmates. In other memories, we are the teachers, suffering through a ten-minute classroom management nightmare, deciding…

Measuring College Students' Reading Comprehension Ability Using Cloze Tests

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Williams, Rihana Shiri; Ari, Omer; Santamaria, Carmen Nicole

2011-01-01

Recent investigations challenge the construct validity of sustained silent reading tests. Performance of two groups of post-secondary students (e.g. struggling and non-struggling) on a sustained silent reading test and two types of cloze test (i.e. maze and open-ended) was compared in order to identify the test format that contributes greater…

The Interplay of Silent Reading, Reading-While-Listening and Listening-Only

Science.gov (United States)

Nakashima, Kohji; Stephens, Meredith; Kamata, Suzanne

2018-01-01

Leading scholars (Gilbert, 2009; Walter, 2008) have highlighted the importance of phonological processing in learning to read. Nevertheless, reading in Japan has traditionally been taught without adequate attention to the role of phonological processing. Accordingly, it was speculated that Japanese university students would demonstrate superior…

A functional near-infrared spectroscopic investigation of speech production during reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Nick; Hancock, Allison S; Moon, Todd K; Gillam, Ronald B

2018-03-01

This study was designed to test the extent to which speaking processes related to articulation and voicing influence Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) measures of cortical hemodynamics and functional connectivity. Participants read passages in three conditions (oral reading, silent mouthing, and silent reading) while undergoing fNIRS imaging. Area under the curve (AUC) analyses of the oxygenated and deoxygenated hemodynamic response function concentration values were compared for each task across five regions of interest. There were significant region main effects for both oxy and deoxy AUC analyses, and a significant region × task interaction for deoxy AUC favoring the oral reading condition over the silent reading condition for two nonmotor regions. Assessment of functional connectivity using Granger Causality revealed stronger networks between motor areas during oral reading and stronger networks between language areas during silent reading. There was no evidence that the hemodynamic flow from motor areas during oral reading compromised measures of language-related neural activity in nonmotor areas. However, speech movements had small, but measurable effects on fNIRS measures of neural connections between motor and nonmotor brain areas across the perisylvian region, even after wavelet filtering. Therefore, researchers studying speech processes with fNIRS should use wavelet filtering during preprocessing to reduce speech motion artifacts, incorporate a nonspeech communication or language control task into the research design, and conduct a connectivity analysis to adequately assess the impact of functional speech on the hemodynamic response across the perisylvian region. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Habakkuk 2:5a: Denouncing ‘wine’ or ‘wealth’? Contextual readings of the Masoretic text and 1QpHab

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Gert Prinsloo

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Habakkuk 2:5 is a problematic text. The ‘correctness’ of the Masoretic text’s passage ‘moreover, the wine is treacherous, an arrogant person – he will not come to rest’ has often been questioned. The discovery of the Pesher Habakkuk (1QpHab in Cave 1 at Qumran gave impetus to this tendency. It contains a reading quite different from the Masoretic text. It reads ‘moreover, wealth deceives an arrogant man, and he will not come to rest’. Many modern commentaries and translations assume that 1QpHab contains the ‘correct’ reading. This study argues that this assumption is based upon questionable text critical practice and pleads for a contextual interpretation of variant readings before rash decisions about the status of the Masoretic text can be made.

Assessing roles of vocabulary knowledge predominating in contextual clues

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Patcharawadee Promduang

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and the use of contextual clues and whether EFL learners who are well-equipped with reading skills are able to comprehend the text despite a low level of vocabulary knowledge. Therefore, the study focused on which vocabulary dimensions help students guess unfamiliar words. The study was carried out at Hatyai University in Thailand. The population of this study consisted of 34 undergraduates who were studying International Business English and had taken a course in reading techniques. The present study was conducted to conceptually validate the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge to improve skills by contextual clue. Vocabulary Depth was specially employed to evaluate two dimensions namely Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic. The Schmitt and Clapham Vocabulary Level Test was used to test vocabulary breadth, while the vocabulary depth was implemented by Read’s Vocabulary Depth Test. Reading parts of the TOEFL were adopted for contextual clue items. There were two statistical analysis tools also implemented in this study: paired-sample t-test and bivariate correlation. First, in an attempt to find which vocabulary dimension predominates in guessing word meaning from the text, a paired-sample t-test was utilized to compare the difference of two vocabulary dimensions in reading part: vocabulary depth and contextual clues, and vocabulary breadth and contextual clues. Second, a bivariate correlation was used to find the degree of relationship between vocabulary knowledge and contextual clues. The consequences of this study identified empirical results that 1 there was a positive relationship between contextual clues and vocabulary depth, the reverse is true in vocabulary breadth. Moreover, vocabulary depth is more significantly crucial than breadth to enhance student’s ability to guess words’ meaning from the context.

The influence of contextual diversity on eye movements in reading

OpenAIRE

Plummer, Patrick; Perea, Manuel; Rayner, Keith

2013-01-01

Recent research has shown contextual diversity (i.e., the number of passages in which a given word appears) to be a reliable predictor of word processing difficulty. It has also been demonstrated that word-frequency has little or no effect on word recognition speed when accounting for contextual diversity in isolated word processing tasks. An eye-movement experiment was conducted wherein the effects of word-frequency and contextual diversity were directly contrasted in a normal sentence readi...

The prevalence and quality of silent, socially silent, and disclosed autobiographical memories across adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Alea, Nicole

2010-02-01

Two separate studies examined the prevalence and quality of silent (infrequently recalled), socially silent (i.e., recalled but not shared), and disclosed autobiographical memories. In Study 1 young and older men and women remembered positive events. Positive memories were more likely to be disclosed than to be kept socially silent or completely silent. However, socially silent and disclosed memories did not differ in memory quality: the memories were equally vivid, significant, and emotional. Silent memories were less qualitatively rich. This pattern of results was generally replicated in Study 2 with a lifespan sample for both positive and negative memories, and with additional qualitative variables. The exception was that negative memories were kept silent more often. Age differences were minimal. Women disclosed their autobiographical memories more, but men told a greater variety of people. Results are discussed in terms of the functions that memory telling and silences might serve for individuals.

Harmony hurts: participation and silent conflict at an Indonesian fish pond.

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Tam, Chui-Ling

2006-07-01

Participatory environmental and resource management is premised on open communication to reach consensus. However, deliberate and open communication cannot adequately address silent conflict. This begs two questions. First, how is the existence of covert communication and silent conflict to be recognized and addressed? Second, how are the wider social relations and traditions that encompass communication and conflict to be described and explained? These questions revolve around communicative power. Communication of environmental knowledge is deeply embedded in social power structures, with direct implications for participatory resource planning and implementation. Ethnographic research conducted at a failed community-managed fish farming project in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia shows that a culture of harmony and respect for authority can silence environmental conflict in the hierarchical "community." Three propositions are offered. First, communication amnesia and exclusion jeopardize participation. Second, cultures of harmony and silent conflict shape planning processes and outcomes. Third, the weak use manipulation and communication strategy to acquire a "voice" while preserving harmony. These propositions address five unresolved issues in participatory resource management: analysis of groups, contextuality, social relationships, nonparticipants, and informal communication. Power, tradition, and social networks affect the valuing of knowledge relative to the power of different individuals and institutions to communicate priorities, values, and needs. These factors are critical to the inclusion of both participants and nonparticipants.

Teacher Modeling: Its Impact on an Extensive Reading Program

Science.gov (United States)

Loh, Jason Kok Khiang

2009-01-01

This case study investigates whether teachers model reading in 1 Singapore primary school during an exercise called "uninterrupted sustained silent reading" (USSR) carried out in the classroom. Even though reading is an important determinant of a student's growth in language skills and ability, and modeling the act of reading is…

Contextual diversity facilitates learning new words in the classroom.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Rosa

Full Text Available In the field of word recognition and reading, it is commonly assumed that frequently repeated words create more accessible memory traces than infrequently repeated words, thus capturing the word-frequency effect. Nevertheless, recent research has shown that a seemingly related factor, contextual diversity (defined as the number of different contexts [e.g., films] in which a word appears, is a better predictor than word-frequency in word recognition and sentence reading experiments. Recent research has shown that contextual diversity plays an important role when learning new words in a laboratory setting with adult readers. In the current experiment, we directly manipulated contextual diversity in a very ecological scenario: at school, when Grade 3 children were learning words in the classroom. The new words appeared in different contexts/topics (high-contextual diversity or only in one of them (low-contextual diversity. Results showed that words encountered in different contexts were learned and remembered more effectively than those presented in redundant contexts. We discuss the practical (educational [e.g., curriculum design] and theoretical (models of word recognition implications of these findings.

The Influence of Contextual Diversity on Eye Movements in Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Plummer, Patrick; Perea, Manuel; Rayner, Keith

2014-01-01

Recent research has shown contextual diversity (i.e., the number of passages in which a given word appears) to be a reliable predictor of word processing difficulty. It has also been demonstrated that word-frequency has little or no effect on word recognition speed when accounting for contextual diversity in isolated word processing tasks. An…

Reading and company

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuzmičová, Anežka; Dias, Patrícia; Vogrinčič Čepič, Ana

2017-01-01

in the environment where one engages in individual silent reading. The primary goal of the study was to explore the role and possible associations of a number of variables (text type, purpose, device) in selecting generic (e.g. indoors vs outdoors) as well as specific (e.g. home vs library) reading environments....... Across all six samples included in the study, participants spontaneously attested to varied, and partly surprising, forms of sensitivity to company and social space in their daily efforts to align body with mind for reading. The article reports these emergent trends and discusses their potential...

Reading Speed of Contracted French Braille

Science.gov (United States)

Laroche, Louise; Boule, Jacinthe; Wittich, Walter

2012-01-01

This study was designed to address three hypotheses: (1) The reading speed of both readers of French braille and readers of French print will be faster in the silent condition; however, this gain in speed will be larger for print readers; (2) Individuals who acquired braille before age 10 will display faster reading speeds at lower error rates…

Brazilian readers and contextual reference Brazilian readers and contextual reference

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Lilia M. O. Carioni

2008-04-01

Full Text Available This article describes an experiment carried out using Brazilian university students at UFSC, the purpose being to check comprehension relationships between two types of contextual reference and two languages, Portuguese and English. A major stimulus for the research was the question: are Brazilian students' difficulties in reading English related more to English language difficulties or to difficulties in processing text in general?

Imitated prosodic fluency predicts reading comprehension ability in good and poor high school readers

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Mara Breen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Researchers have established a relationship between beginning readers’ silent comprehension ability and their prosodic fluency, such that readers who read aloud with appropriate prosody tend to have higher scores on silent reading comprehension assessments. The current study was designed to investigate this relationship in two groups of high school readers: Specifically Poor Comprehenders (SPCs, who have adequate word level and phonological skills but poor reading comprehension ability, and a group of age- and decoding skill-matched controls. We compared the prosodic fluency of the two groups by determining how effectively they produced prosodic cues to syntactic and semantic structure in imitations of a model speaker’s production of syntactically and semantically varied sentences. Analyses of pitch and duration patterns revealed that speakers in both groups produced the expected prosodic patterns; however, controls provided stronger durational cues to syntactic structure. These results demonstrate that the relationship between prosodic fluency and reading comprehension continues past the stage of early reading instruction. Moreover, they suggest that prosodically fluent speakers may also generate more fluent implicit prosodic representations during silent reading, leading to more effective comprehension.

'Silent mentors'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Douglas-Jones, Rachel

2017-01-01

Unlike cadaver donation in the West, which has to a large degree maintained the anonymity of the body used to teach medical students, the Taiwanese Tzu Chi Buddhist Silent Mentor programme at the centre of this article foregrounds the identity of the training cadaver as an essential element in me...... for medical pedagogy, body donation, and Buddhist practices prompted by this programme, putting the ‘Silent Mentors’ into conversation with the ‘new immortalities’ of this special issue....

The threat of silent earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Cervelli, Peter

2004-01-01

Not all earthquakes shake the ground. The so-called silent types are forcing scientists to rethink their understanding of the way quake-prone faults behave. In rare instances, silent earthquakes that occur along the flakes of seaside volcanoes may cascade into monstrous landslides that crash into the sea and trigger towering tsunamis. Silent earthquakes that take place within fault zones created by one tectonic plate diving under another may increase the chance of ground-shaking shocks. In other locations, however, silent slip may decrease the likelihood of destructive quakes, because they release stress along faults that might otherwise seem ready to snap.

Contextual Modulation of Reading Rate for Direct versus Indirect Speech Quotations

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Bo; Scheepers, Christoph

2011-01-01

In human communication, direct speech (e.g., "Mary said: "I'm hungry"") is perceived to be more vivid than indirect speech (e.g., "Mary said [that] she was hungry"). However, the processing consequences of this distinction are largely unclear. In two experiments, participants were asked to either orally (Experiment 1) or silently (Experiment 2,…

Silent ischaemia and hypertension

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boon, D.; Piek, J. J.; van Montfrans, G. A.

2000-01-01

For many years now, silent ischaemia has been recognized as a distinct clinical entity, and its relevance in different patient groups has been established. However, a number of basic questions have not been answered. In explaining the pathophysiology of silent ischaemia, factors affecting both the

Progress Monitoring Instrument Development: Silent Reading Fluency, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension. Technical Report #1110

Science.gov (United States)

Nese, Joseph F. T.; Anderson, Daniel; Hoelscher, Kyle; Tindal, Gerald; Alonzo, Julie

2011-01-01

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is designed to measure students' academic status and growth so the effectiveness of instruction may be evaluated. In the most popular forms of reading CBM, the student's oral reading fluency is assessed. This behavior is difficult to sample in a computer-based format, a limitation that may be a function of the…

SSR: Its Effects on Students' Reading Habits after They Complete the Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiesendanger, Katherine D.; Bader, Lois

1989-01-01

Studies the effect of sustained silent reading (SSR) on recreational reading habits after termination of instruction. Finds that SSR students read more than those not in the program, and that SSR has no impact on above average readers, great impact on average readers, and little impact on below average readers. (RS)

The way we encounter reading material influences how frequently we mind wander

OpenAIRE

Trish L Varao Sousa; Jonathan S A Carriere; Dan eSmilek

2013-01-01

We examined whether different encounters of reading material influence the likelihood of mind wandering, memory for the material, and the ratings of interest in the material. In a within-subjects design participants experienced three different reading encounters: (1) reading a passage aloud, (2) listening to a passage being read to them, and (3) reading a passage silently. Throughout each reading encounter probes were given in order to identify mind wandering. After finishing the passage part...

I read, you read, we read: the history of reading in Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Dular

2013-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTPurpose: The aim of the article is to research reading habits in Slovenia in the period between 16th and 19th century and to find similarities with Austria and other European countries of that time.Methodology/approach: For the purpose of the analysis different resources were used – study books, catechisms, prayer books and manuals. We were focused on introductions in which readers are advised how to read, explaining to whom the work is intended and emphasizing the importance of meditation on the texts.Results: Historically the laud reading was prefered, as to continue the folk tradition. However, the 16th century texts were transmitted by women while the folk tradition was narrated by males. In the 18th century the higher level of literacy and greater book production and availability caused that the books were not a privilege of a few. At that time more texts were intended for silent, individual reading. Interestingly, the authors emphasized the importance of meditation on the texts, too. It was also advised when to read – it wasrecommedend to read in leisure time on Sundays, and on holidays. The role of books was also to breakaway with the reality and to forget everyday problems. Due to the overproduction of books in the 17th centrury it was concerned that books are misleading the crowds. The church considered the reading of books as inappropriate, and criticized fiction, novels and adventure stories mostly read by women.Research limitation: The study is based on Slovenian texts only, although the foreign literature, especially in German, was generally available, too.Originality/practical implications: The study is fullfiling the gap in the history of reading in Slovenia.

Memory Retention after Reading Alould and its Effects on the Internalization of New Items

OpenAIRE

佐藤, あずさ; Azusa, SATO; 安田女子大学大学院

2014-01-01

This paper reports the results of two studies focusing on internalization of newly learned items. In study 1, internalization was not confirmed, but reading and memory retention abilities of the reading-aloud subgroup (i.e., students with lower reading proficiency) improved significantly more than the reading-silently subgroup. In study 2 the same effects were confirmed in the reading-aloud subgroup, and internalization of newly learned items was finally confirmed in the reading-aloud group.

The Relation between Elementary Students' Recreational and Academic Reading Motivation, Reading Frequency, Engagement, and Comprehension: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

De Naeghel, Jessie; Van Keer, Hilde; Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Rosseel, Yves

2012-01-01

Research indicates the need to further examine the dimensions of reading motivation. A clear theoretical basis is necessary for conceptualizing reading motivation and considering contextual differences therein. The present study develops and validates the SRQ-Reading Motivation, a questionnaire measuring recreational and academic reading…

Ocoee Junior High School's Total School Reading Program on a Shoestring.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinson, Bess; Williams, Robert W.

The total school reading program described in this booklet includes a program for remedial, developmental, and special education students. Faculty members and students not participating in this program spend one half hour a day in a silent reading program. The booklet outlines each facet of the program, lists the equipment and materials used,…

Effect of phonological and morphological awareness on reading comprehension in Hebrew-speaking adolescents with reading disabilities.

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Schiff, Rachel; Schwartz-Nahshon, Sarit; Nagar, Revital

2011-06-01

This research explored phonological and morphological awareness among Hebrew-speaking adolescents with reading disabilities (RD) and its effect on reading comprehension beyond phonological and word-reading abilities. Participants included 39 seventh graders with RD and two matched control groups of normal readers: 40 seventh graders matched for chronological age (CA) and 38 third graders matched for reading age (RA). We assessed phonological awareness, word reading, morphological awareness, and reading comprehension. Findings indicated that the RD group performed similarly to the RA group on phonological awareness but lower on phonological decoding. On the decontextualized morphological task, RD functioned on par with RA, whereas in a contextualized task RD performed above RA but lower than CA. In reading comprehension, RD performed as well as RA. Finally, results indicated that for normal readers contextual morphological awareness uniquely contributed to reading comprehension beyond phonological and word-reading abilities, whereas no such unique contribution emerged for the RD group. The absence of an effect of morphological awareness in predicting reading comprehension was suggested to be related to a different recognition process employed by RD readers which hinder the ability of these readers to use morphosemantic structures. The lexical quality hypothesis was proposed as further support to the findings, suggesting that a low quality of lexical representation in RD students leads to ineffective reading skills and comprehension. Lexical representation is thus critical for both lexical as well as comprehension abilities.

Scaffolded Silent Reading (ScSR): Advocating a Policy for Adolescents' Independent Reading

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Walker, Karen P.

2013-01-01

Structured independent reading among students is often a vital missing component in many school districts' literacy curriculum. The nationwide implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) requires districts to re-think their literacy curriculum and what instruction might entail in order for students to demonstrate proficiency in…

Using Authentic Materials for Extensive Reading to Promote English Proficiency

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Guo, Siao-cing

2012-01-01

Current literature points to the importance and benefits of extensive reading. Extensive reading provides contextualized clues for better reading comprehension (Krashen, 1982), and substantial linguistic input (Bell, 1998) needed for language development. Several studies have found a correlation between extensive reading and specific linguistic…

The Impact of Contextual Clue Selection on Inference

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Leila Barati

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Linguistic information can be conveyed in the form of speech and written text, but it is the content of the message that is ultimately essential for higher-level processes in language comprehension, such as making inferences and associations between text information and knowledge about the world. Linguistically, inference is the shovel that allows receivers to dig meaning out from the text with selecting different embedded contextual clues. Naturally, people with different world experiences infer similar contextual situations differently. Lack of contextual knowledge of the target language can present an obstacle to comprehension (Anderson & Lynch, 2003. This paper tries to investigate how true contextual clue selection from the text can influence listener’s inference. In the present study 60 male and female teenagers (13-19 and 60 male and female young adults (20-26 were selected randomly based on Oxford Placement Test (OPT. During the study two fiction and two non-fiction passages were read to the participants in the experimental and control groups respectively and they were given scores according to Lexile’s Score (LS[1] based on their correct inference and logical thinking ability. In general the results show that participants’ clue selection based on their personal schematic references and background knowledge differ between teenagers and young adults and influence inference and listening comprehension. [1]- This is a framework for reading and listening which matches the appropriate score to each text based on degree of difficulty of text and each text was given a Lexile score from zero to four.

Characteristics of silent countingin synchronized swimmers

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Sergey V. Leonov

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article describes the temporal characteristics of silent counting as used duringa competition by the Russian youth team of synchronized swimmers. Theathletes listened to the music that accompanied their performance at the competition.Diff erent indices of silent counting were defi ned, such as the beginningand cessation of diff erent periods of counting, counting frequency, the stabilityof the temporal structure of silent counting, the degree of synchronization of silentcounting at diff erent moments during the sports program. We studied therelationship of these characteristics of counting with expert estimates of the athletes’sense of tempo, coordination of movements, and choreographic abilities.

Myocardial perfusion in silent myocardial ischemia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narita, Michihiro; Kurihara, Tadashi; Murano, Kenichi; Usami, Masahisa

1989-01-01

To investigate myocardial perfusion in silent myocardial ischemia, we performed exercise stress myocardial tomography with thallium-201 (Tl) in 85 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Exercise stress myocardial tomography was obtained both immediately after exercise and three hours later. Patients were classified into two groups according to the presence (Symptomatic Group, n=36) or absence (Silent Group, n=49) of chest pain during exercise stress. Clinical features (age, gender and history of myocardial infarction) and arteriographically determined severity of CAD were the same in both groups. The extent of myocardial ischemia (% Ischemia) estimated by exercise stress myocardial tomography was the same in each group (30±10 % in Silent Group, 28±12 % in Symptomatic Group, NS). The severity of exercise-induced myocardial ischemia was expressed as a minimal value of myocardial Tl washout rate (minimal WOR) of each patient. Although exercise heart rate was identical in both groups, minimal WOR in Silent Group was significantly higher than that of Symptomatic Group (4±10% vs -16±14%, p<0.001). The study in patients who exhibited both silent and symptomatic ischemia showed the same results. These findings suggest that the severity of ischemia is a fundamental factor in determining the presence or absence of pain during exercise induced ischemia. (author)

Unusual ocular manifestations of silent sinus syndrome

OpenAIRE

Fonseca, Fabricio Lopes da; Mazoti, Luciana; Polati, Mariza

2014-01-01

Silent sinus syndrome is an acquired condition in which there is a gradual collapse of the orbital floor and inward retraction of the maxillary sinus (atelectasis of the maxillary sinus). This in turn may cause associated ocular occurrences of enophthalmos and hypotropia. This is a report of an 8 year-old boy with silent sinus syndrome and associated ocular motility disorders. The association between silent sinus syndrome and ocular motility disturbance has been recently described in the lite...

Silent communication: toward using brain signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Xiaomei; Hill, Jeremy; Schalk, Gerwin

2012-01-01

From the 1980s movie Firefox to the more recent Avatar, popular science fiction has speculated about the possibility of a persons thoughts being read directly from his or her brain. Such braincomputer interfaces (BCIs) might allow people who are paralyzed to communicate with and control their environment, and there might also be applications in military situations wherever silent user-to-user communication is desirable. Previous studies have shown that BCI systems can use brain signals related to movements and movement imagery or attention-based character selection. Although these systems have successfully demonstrated the possibility to control devices using brain function, directly inferring which word a person intends to communicate has been elusive. A BCI using imagined speech might provide such a practical, intuitive device. Toward this goal, our studies to date addressed two scientific questions: (1) Can brain signals accurately characterize different aspects of speech? (2) Is it possible to predict spoken or imagined words or their components using brain signals?

The Compensatory Effectiveness of Optical Character Recognition/Speech Synthesis on Reading Comprehension of Postsecondary Students with Learning Disabilities.

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Higgins, Eleanor L.; Raskind, Marshall H.

1997-01-01

Thirty-seven college students with learning disabilities were given a reading comprehension task under the following conditions: (1) using an optical character recognition/speech synthesis system; (2) having the text read aloud by a human reader; or (3) reading silently without assistance. Findings indicated that the greater the disability, the…

Unusual ocular manifestations of silent sinus syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabricio Lopes da Fonseca

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Silent sinus syndrome is an acquired condition in which there is a gradual collapse of the orbital floor and inward retraction of the maxillary sinus (atelectasis of the maxillary sinus. This in turn may cause associated ocular occurrences of enophthalmos and hypotropia. This is a report of an 8 year-old boy with silent sinus syndrome and associated ocular motility disorders. The association between silent sinus syndrome and ocular motility disturbance has been recently described in the literature. However, this is an infrequent association, mainly in childhood.

Effects of Forward and Backward Contextual Elaboration on Lexical Inferences: Evidence from a Semantic Relatedness Judgment Task

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Hamada, Akira

2015-01-01

Three experiments examined whether the process of lexical inferences differs according to the direction of contextual elaboration using a semantic relatedness judgment task. In Experiment 1, Japanese university students read English sentences where target unknown words were semantically elaborated by prior contextual information (forward lexical…

Silent Synapse-Based Circuitry Remodeling in Drug Addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Yan

2016-05-01

Exposure to cocaine, and likely other drugs of abuse, generates α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor-silent glutamatergic synapses in the nucleus accumbens. These immature synaptic contacts evolve after drug withdrawal to redefine the neurocircuital properties. These results raise at least three critical questions: (1) what are the molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate drug-induced generation of silent synapses; (2) how are neurocircuits remodeled upon generation and evolution of drug-generated silent synapses; and (3) what behavioral consequences are produced by silent synapse-based circuitry remodeling? This short review analyzes related experimental results, and extends them to some speculations. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

Generation and memory for contextual detail.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulligan, Neil W

2004-07-01

Generation enhances item memory but may not enhance other aspects of memory. In 12 experiments, the author investigated the effect of generation on context memory, motivated in part by the hypothesis that generation produces a trade-off in encoding item and contextual information. Participants generated some study words (e.g., hot-c__) and read others (e.g., hot-cold). Generation consistently enhanced item memory but did not enhance context memory. More specifically, generation disrupted context memory for the color of the target word but did not affect context memory for location, background color, and cue-word color. The specificity of the negative generation effect in context memory argues against a general item-context trade-off. A processing account of generation meets greater success. In addition, the results provide no evidence that generation enhances recollection of contextual details. Copyright 2004 APA, all rights reserved

Modification of hormonal secretion in clinically silent pituitary adenomas.

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Daems, Tania; Verhelst, Johan; Michotte, Alex; Abrams, Pascale; De Ridder, Dirk; Abs, Roger

2009-01-01

Silent pituitary adenomas are a subtype of adenomas characterized by positive immunoreactivity for one or more hormones classically secreted by normal pituitary cells but without clinical expression, although in some occasions enhanced or changed secretory activity can develop over time. Silent corticotroph adenomas are the classical example of this phenomenon. A series of about 500 pituitary adenomas seen over a period of 20 years were screened for modification in hormonal secretion. Biochemical and immunohistochemical data were reviewed. Two cases were retrieved, one silent somatotroph adenoma and one thyrotroph adenoma, both without specific clinical features or biochemical abnormalities, which presented 20 years after initial surgery with evidence of acromegaly and hyperthyroidism, respectively. While the acromegaly was controlled by a combination of somatostatin analogs and growth hormone (GH) receptor antagonist therapy, neurosurgery was necessary to manage the thyrotroph adenoma. Immunohistochemical examination demonstrated an increase in the number of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)-immunoreactive cells compared to the first tissue. Apparently, the mechanisms responsible for the secretory modifications are different, being a change in secretory capacity in the silent somatotroph adenoma and a quantitative change in the silent thyrotroph adenoma. These two cases, one somatotroph and one thyrotroph adenoma, are an illustration that clinically silent pituitary adenomas may in rare circumstances evolve over time and become active, as previously demonstrated in silent corticotroph adenomas.

Reading-Related Causal Attributions for Success and Failure: Dynamic Links With Reading Skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Frijters, Jan C; Tsujimoto, Kimberley C; Boada, Richard; Gottwald, Stephanie; Hill, Dina; Jacobson, Lisa A; Lovett, Maureen W; Mahone, E Mark; Willcutt, Erik G; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the relation among reading skills and attributions, naming speed, and phonological awareness across a wide range of reading skill. Participants were 1,105 school-age children and youths from two understudied populations: African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Individual assessments of children ranging in age from 8 to 15 years were conducted for reading outcomes, cognitive and linguistic predictors of reading, and attributions for success and failure in reading situations. Quantile regressions were formulated to estimate these relations across the full skill span of each outcome. Reading-related attributions predicted contextual word recognition, sight word and decoding fluency, and comprehension skills. Attributions to ability in success situations were positively related to each outcome across the full span. On three reading outcomes, this relation strengthened at higher skill levels. Attributions to effort in success situations were consistently and negatively related to all reading outcomes. The results provide evidence that the strength of the relation between reading and attributions varies according to reading skill levels, with the strongest evidence for ability-based attributions in situations of reading success.

Eye Movements Reveal Readers' Lexical Quality and Reading Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Jessica Nelson; Perfetti, Charles A.

2016-01-01

Two experiments demonstrate that individual differences among normal adult readers, including lexical quality, are expressed in silent reading at the word level. In the first of two studies we identified major dimensions of variability among college readers and among words using factor analysis. We then examined the effects of these dimensions of…

Recurrent Silent Thyroiditis as a Sequela of Postpartum Thyroiditis

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Kim, Paul

2014-01-01

Thyroiditis encompasses a group of disorders characterized by thyroid inflammation. Though clinically indistinguishable from silent thyroiditis, postpartum thyroiditis occurs in women within 12 months after delivery. Recurrent postpartum thyroiditis in subsequent pregnancies is common, but recurrent silent thyroiditis is rare. We reported a case of patient with recurrent episodes of thyroiditis, unrelated to pregnancy, after an episode of postpartum thyroiditis. It is of interest that postpartum thyroiditis and silent thyroiditis could occur closely to each other; however, the link between these disorders is not well established. This report is to remind physicians of the possibility of recurrent silent thyroiditis in women with a history of postpartum thyroiditis. PMID:24987536

Assessment of Silent T1-weighted head imaging at 7 T

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costagli, Mauro; Tiberi, Gianluigi; Tosetti, Michela [Imago7 Foundation, Pisa (Italy); IRCCS Stella Maris, Laboratory of Medical Physics and Biotechnologies for Magnetic Resonance, Pisa (Italy); Symms, Mark R. [GE Applied Science Laboratory, Pisa (Italy); Angeli, Lorenzo [University of Pisa, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Pisa (Italy); Kelley, Douglas A.C. [GE Healthcare Technologies, San Francisco, CA (United States); Biagi, Laura [IRCCS Stella Maris, Laboratory of Medical Physics and Biotechnologies for Magnetic Resonance, Pisa (Italy); Farnetani, Andrea [University of Ferrara, Engineering Department, Ferrara (Italy); Materiacustica s.r.l., Ferrara (Italy); Rua, Catarina [University of Pisa, Department of Physics, Pisa (Italy); Donatelli, Graziella [Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Neuroradiology Unit, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Pisa (Italy); Cosottini, Mirco [Imago7 Foundation, Pisa (Italy); University of Pisa, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Pisa (Italy)

2016-06-15

This study aimed to assess the performance of a ''Silent'' zero time of echo (ZTE) sequence for T1-weighted brain imaging using a 7 T MRI system. The Silent sequence was evaluated qualitatively by two neuroradiologists, as well as quantitatively in terms of tissue contrast, homogeneity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and acoustic noise. It was compared to conventional T1-weighted imaging (FSPGR). Adequacy for automated segmentation was evaluated in comparison with FSPGR acquired at 7 T and 1.5 T. Specific absorption rate (SAR) was also measured. Tissue contrast and homogeneity in Silent were remarkable in deep brain structures and in the occipital and temporal lobes. Mean tissue contrast was significantly (p < 0.002) higher in Silent (0.25) than in FSPGR (0.11), which favoured automated tissue segmentation. On the other hand, Silent images had lower SNR with respect to conventional imaging: average SNR of FSPGR was 2.66 times that of Silent. Silent images were affected by artefacts related to projection reconstruction, which nevertheless did not compromise the depiction of brain tissues. Silent acquisition was 35 dB(A) quieter than FSPGR and less than 2.5 dB(A) louder than ambient noise. Six-minute average SAR was <2 W/kg. The ZTE Silent sequence provides high-contrast T1-weighted imaging with low acoustic noise at 7 T. (orig.)

Identifying Children in Middle Childhood Who Are at Risk for Reading Problems.

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Speece, Deborah L; Ritchey, Kristen D; Silverman, Rebecca; Schatschneider, Christopher; Walker, Caroline Y; Andrusik, Katryna N

2010-06-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate a universal screening battery for reading that is appropriate for older elementary students in a response to intervention model. Multiple measures of reading and reading correlates were administered to 230 fourth-grade children. Teachers rated children's reading skills, academic competence, and attention. Children were classified as not-at-risk or at-risk readers based on a three-factor model reflecting reading comprehension, word recognition/decoding, and word fluency. Predictors of reading status included group-administered tests of reading comprehension, silent word reading fluency, and teacher ratings of reading problems. Inclusion of individually administered tests and growth estimates did not add substantial variance. The receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis yielded an area under the curve index of 0.90, suggesting this model may both accurately and efficiently screen older elementary students with reading problems.

Evidence for presynaptically silent synapses in the immature hippocampus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Jae Young; Choi, Sukwoo

2017-01-01

Silent synapses show NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated synaptic responses, but not AMPAR-mediated synaptic responses. A prevailing hypothesis states that silent synapses contain NMDARs, but not AMPARs. However, alternative presynaptic hypotheses, according to which AMPARs are present at silent synapses, have been proposed; silent synapses show slow glutamate release via a fusion pore, and glutamate spillover from the neighboring synaptic terminals. Consistent with these presynaptic hypotheses, the peak glutamate concentrations at silent synapses have been estimated to be ≪170 μM, much lower than those seen at functional synapses. Glutamate transients predicted based on the two presynaptic mechanisms have been shown to activate only high-affinity NMDARs, but not low-affinity AMPARs. Interestingly, a previous study has developed a new approach to distinguish between the two presynaptic mechanisms using dextran, an inert macromolecule that reduces the diffusivity of released glutamate: postsynaptic responses through the fusion pore mechanism, but not through the spillover mechanism, are potentiated by reduced glutamate diffusivity. Therefore, we reasoned that if the fusion pore mechanism underlies silent synapses, dextran application would reveal AMPAR-mediated synaptic responses at silent synapses. In the present study, we recorded AMPAR-mediated synaptic responses at the CA3-CA1 synapses in neonatal rats in the presence of blockers for NMDARs and GABAARs. Bath application of dextran revealed synaptic responses at silent synapses. GYKI53655, a selective AMPAR-antagonist, completely inhibited the unsilenced synaptic responses, indicating that the unsilenced synaptic responses are mediated by AMPARs. The dextran-mediated reduction in glutamate diffusivity would also lead to the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), which might induce unsilencing via the activation of unknown intracellular signaling. Hence, we determined whether mGluR-blockers alter

Emotions in Reading: Disgust, Empathy and the Contextual Learning Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Catarina; Montant, Marie; Ponz, Aurelie; Ziegler, Johannes C.

2012-01-01

Emotion effects in reading have typically been investigated by manipulating words' emotional valence and arousal in lexical decision. The standard finding is that valence and arousal can have both facilitatory and inhibitory effects, which is hard to reconcile with current theories of emotion processing in reading. Here, we contrasted these…

Contextual Semantic Parsing using Crowdsourced Spatial Descriptions

OpenAIRE

Dukes, Kais

2014-01-01

We describe a contextual parser for the Robot Commands Treebank, a new crowdsourced resource. In contrast to previous semantic parsers that select the most-probable parse, we consider the different problem of parsing using additional situational context to disambiguate between different readings of a sentence. We show that multiple semantic analyses can be searched using dynamic programming via interaction with a spatial planner, to guide the parsing process. We are able to parse sentences in...

Usefulness of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in silent myocardial ischemia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou, Mami

1996-01-01

The usefulness of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was assessed in patients with exercise-induced asymptomatic myocardial ischemia (silent ischemia) and compared with exercise-induced symptomatic myocardial ischemia (symptomatic ischemia). Patients with single vessel coronary artery disease (51 with angina pectoris, 40 with old myocardial infarction) and evidence of stress-induced ischemia on thallium-201 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) underwent successful PTCA. Thirty-seven percent of angina patients and 60% of infarction patients showed asymptomatic exercise-induced ischemia. There was no significant difference in population characteristics between silent and symptomatic patients. Patients with silent angina had significantly higher percentage thallium uptake and washout rate than symptomatic patients. After PTCA, both percentage diameter stenosis and percentage thallium uptake were improved in all patients with angina irrespective of the presence or absence of symptoms. There were no significant differences in percentage thallium uptake and washout rate between patients with silent and symptomatic infarction. After PTCA, percentage diameter stenosis, percentage thallium uptake, and washout rate improved in all infarction patients irrespective of the symptoms. Zero percent of silent angina patients, 12% of symptomatic angina patients, 12% of silent infarction patients, 19% of symptomatic infarction patients had cardiac events during about 4.5 years after PTCA. The incidence of cardiac events did not significantly differ in any patient group. PTCA improved myocardial perfusion in all patients, and the incidence of cardiac events did not differ between the silent and symptomatic groups. Revascularization with PTCA is suitable for patients with silent as well as symptomatic ischemia. (author)

A Study to Determine the Existence and Characteristics of Distinctively Different Subpopulations Subsumed within the Reading Disabled Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinberg, Laurie S.

Forty-five third-grade and fourth-grade boys identified by their schools as being both normal in intelligence and severely disabled in reading were given a battery of tests of language, visual perception, silent reading comprehension, and finger agnosia. Three consistent groups of subjects emerged from cluster analyses of the results. One group…

Basic Concepts of Reading Instruction

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Gökhan ARI

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Reading act is performed by connected physiological, psychological and cognitive processes. The operations taking place in these processes are expected to continue for life by being developed with certain strategies. A lot of information is gained with reading skill in education life. Therefore, basic concepts that constitute reading education in teaching and improving reading are important for teachers. The aim of this study is to submit information compiled from the literature about reading education process and which basic concepts are used in reading education. While teaching reading from part to whole, from whole to part and interactional approaches are used. From part to whole approach is at the forefront. Then with interactional approach strategies, both code solving and making sense is improved. Teachers should know the characteristics of bouncing, stopping, turning back, and scanning movements of the eye both in code solving and making sense. The teacher should configure the teaching for the students to gain fluid reading elements by making use of reading out and reading silently. After reading act is acquired; good reader characteristics should be gained by improving asking questions, guessing, summarizing, interpretation skills in integrated readings. Reading skill is improved by studies on the text. Therefore, the students should come across texts that are suitable to their levels, textuality and readability criteria. The vocabulary of children should be improved in a planned way with text-based word and meaning studies. Fluid reading, making sense and interpretation skills of children should be pursued with different evaluation types. In the long term, work should be done to make reading a habit for them.

Relativistic numerical cosmology with silent universes

Science.gov (United States)

Bolejko, Krzysztof

2018-01-01

Relativistic numerical cosmology is most often based either on the exact solutions of the Einstein equations, or perturbation theory, or weak-field limit, or the BSSN formalism. The silent universe provides an alternative approach to investigate relativistic evolution of cosmological systems. The silent universe is based on the solution of the Einstein equations in 1  +  3 comoving coordinates with additional constraints imposed. These constraints include: the gravitational field is sourced by dust and cosmological constant only, both rotation and magnetic part of the Weyl tensor vanish, and the shear is diagnosable. This paper describes the code simsilun (free software distributed under the terms of the reposi General Public License), which implements the equations of the silent universe. The paper also discusses applications of the silent universe and it uses the Millennium simulation to set up the initial conditions for the code simsilun. The simulation obtained this way consists of 16 777 216 worldlines, which are evolved from z  =  80 to z  =  0. Initially, the mean evolution (averaged over the whole domain) follows the evolution of the background ΛCDM model. However, once the evolution of cosmic structures becomes nonlinear, the spatial curvature evolves from ΩK =0 to ΩK ≈ 0.1 at the present day. The emergence of the spatial curvature is associated with ΩM and Ω_Λ being smaller by approximately 0.05 compared to the ΛCDM.

Silent Flange Coupling Design Used for the Schenck Eddy Current Dynamometer

Science.gov (United States)

Schinteie, D.; Croitorescu, V.

2016-11-01

The silent flange used for coupling different machines/systems to an eddy current dynamometer represents one of the modular components each test-bench should use. By introducing a silent flange into a dynamometer, the coupling steps are easier and faster. For an appropriate design, the silent flange was analyzed using dedicated software during different operation procedures and scenarios, for materials that allow easy manufacturing. This study shows that the design for this silent flange model has no danger of failure due to the small deformation and the values for the equivalent stresses. The silent flange coupling is suitable for the dynamometer for his high positioning accuracy, the zero backlash and the fact that there is no motion between the shafts.

Multiple Silent Lacunes Are Associated with Recurrent Ischemic Stroke

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Søren Due; Skjøth, Flemming; Yavarian, Yousef

2016-01-01

ackground: Silent lacunes are a common finding on brain imaging in ischemic stroke patients, but the prognostic significance of these lesions is uncertain. We aimed at investigating the association of silent lacunes and the risk of ischemic stroke recurrence, death, and cardiovascular events...... in a cohort of patients with incident ischemic stroke and no atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We included 786 patients (mean age 59.5 (SD 14.0); 42.9% females) in a registry-based, observational cohort study on patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. On brain MRI we assessed the number of silent lacunes...... as none, single, or multiple and we calculated stratified incidence rates of the outcomes. Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for age, gender, congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and vascular disease were calculated with no silent lacunes as reference. In additional analyses, we...

Contextual Fraction as a Measure of Contextuality

Science.gov (United States)

Abramsky, Samson; Barbosa, Rui Soares; Mansfield, Shane

2017-08-01

We consider the contextual fraction as a quantitative measure of contextuality of empirical models, i.e., tables of probabilities of measurement outcomes in an experimental scenario. It provides a general way to compare the degree of contextuality across measurement scenarios; it bears a precise relationship to violations of Bell inequalities; its value, and a witnessing inequality, can be computed using linear programing; it is monotonic with respect to the "free" operations of a resource theory for contextuality; and it measures quantifiable advantages in informatic tasks, such as games and a form of measurement-based quantum computing.

Differences in autonomic nerve function in patients with silent and symptomatic myocardial ischaemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakespeare, C. F.; Katritsis, D.; Crowther, A.; Cooper, I. C.; Coltart, J. D.; Webb-Peploe, M. W.

1994-01-01

BACKGROUND--Autonomic neuropathy provides a mechanism for the absence of symptoms in silent myocardial ischaemia, but characterisation of the type of neuropathy is lacking. AIM--To characterise and compare autonomic nerve function in patients with silent and symptomatic myocardial ischaemia. METHODS AND RESULTS--The Valsalva manoeuvre, heart rate variation (HRV) in response to deep breathing and standing, lower body negative pressure, isometric handgrip, and the cold pressor test were performed by patients with silent (n = 25) and symptomatic (n = 25) ambulatory ischaemia and by controls (n = 21). No difference in parasympathetic efferent function between patients with silent and symptomatic ischaemia was recorded, but both had significantly less HRV in response to standing than the controls (p < 0.005 for silent and p < 0.01 for symptomatic). Patients with silent ischaemia showed an increased propensity for peripheral vasodilatation compared with symptomatic patients (p < 0.02) and controls (p < 0.04). Impaired sympathetic function was found in patients with pure silent ischaemia (n = 4) compared with the remaining patients with silent ischaemia whose pain pathways were presumed to be intact. CONCLUSIONS--Patients with silent ischaemia and pain pathways presumed to be intact have an enhanced peripheral vasodilator response, and if this applied to the coronary vasculature it could provide a mechanism for limiting ischaemia to below the pain threshold. Patients with pure silent ischaemia have evidence of sympathetic autonomic dysfunction. Images PMID:8297687

Music Reading in Digital Environments; Apps for Tablets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Félix MERCHÁN SÁNCHEZ-JARA

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Reading music allows, through different processes, learnt abilities and previous experiences, for the recreation or interpretation of the musical message which had been previously coded using one of the many notation systems available. In the same way, reading music enables the experienced musician to generate musical images internally, which silently represent the coded message. The most generic processes and characteristics amongst musical reading will be analysed, along with the most common forms and applications of these reading models and the most widely used codes and notation systems. In the second part, the development and use of new tecnologies for reading music in electronic devices are described and the penetration of these tools in the musical community analysed and classified, bearing in mind the most common types and functions and the characteristics and basic functionalities of the most representative applications. Some solutions, developed in order to deal with historical problems within the reading of music, such as the turning over of the page, are also considered.

Factors that affect South African Reading Literacy Achievement ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

for reading among learners from an early age, specifically through parental involvement in ... Keywords: Carroll's model of School Learning, contextual factors, prePIRLS 2011, .... children's literacy and the difference between parents of good.

Middle School Students' Perceptions of Their Interests in Reading as Defined by Engagement and Social Interaction When Using Sustained Silent Reading, SSR, and Peer Interests Reading Strategies, PIRS

Science.gov (United States)

Ware, Regina J.

2012-01-01

Alarming statistics report that middle school students are not reading as much as they should be reading. This study is an examination of two interventions that were incorporated into the regular curriculum to determine if these two reading interventions would encourage this researcher's students to read more. The "Nation's Report Card"…

Using Early Silent Film to Teach French: The Language of "Cinema Muet."

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, Michelle E.

1995-01-01

Discusses the use of early silent films in second-language classrooms, focusing on the experiences of one instructor in using early French silents in elementary and intermediate French courses. Sample lesson plans and information on the availability of French silents are also provided. (Contains 17 references.) (MDM)

The Interaction of Contextual and Syntactic Information in the Processing of Turkish Anaphors.

Science.gov (United States)

Gračanin-Yuksek, Martina; Lago, Sol; Şafak, Duygu Fatma; Demir, Orhan; Kırkıcı, Bilal

2017-12-01

In contrast with languages where anaphors can be classified into pronouns and reflexives, Turkish has a tripartite system that consists of the anaphors o, kendi, and kendisi. The syntactic literature on these anaphors has proposed that whereas o behaves like a pronoun and kendi behaves like a reflexive, kendisi has a more flexible behavior and it can function as both a pronoun and a reflexive. Using acceptability judgments and a self-paced reading task, we examined how Turkish anaphors are processed in isolated sentences and within larger discourse contexts. We manipulated contextual information by creating passages where the context favored a local, long-distance or extra-sentential referent prior to the appearance of the anaphor. We measured the effect of the context on participants' reading times and their end-of-trial coreference assignments. Our results suggest that contextual information affects the interpretive possibilities associated with an anaphor, but that the influence of context depends on the degree to which the anaphor is syntactically constrained.

Current practice for diagnosis and management of silent atrial fibrillation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dobreanu, Dan; Svendsen, Jesper Hastrup; Lewalter, Thorsten

2013-01-01

for the diagnosis and management of silent AF. This survey is based on an electronic questionnaire sent to the European Heart Rhythm Association Research Network partners. Responses were received from 33 centres in 16 countries. The preferred screening methods for silent AF in patients with rhythm control...... for such patients. Most responders preferred rate control over rhythm control in patients with silent AF, although some favoured pulmonary vein isolation in young patients. However, oral anticoagulant therapy in patients at high thromboembolic risk was considered mandatory by most, provided that at least one......Although it is well known that silent atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with morbidity and mortality rates similar to those of symptomatic AF, no specific strategy for screening and management of this form of AF has been advocated. The purpose of this survey was to identify current practices...

Visual supports for shared reading with young children: the effect of static overlay design.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood Jackson, Carla; Wahlquist, Jordan; Marquis, Cassandra

2011-06-01

This study examined the effects of two types of static overlay design (visual scene display and grid display) on 39 children's use of a speech-generating device during shared storybook reading with an adult. This pilot project included two groups: preschool children with typical communication skills (n = 26) and with complex communication needs (n = 13). All participants engaged in shared reading with two books using each visual layout on a speech-generating device (SGD). The children averaged a greater number of activations when presented with a grid display during introductory exploration and free play. There was a large effect of the static overlay design on the number of silent hits, evidencing more silent hits with visual scene displays. On average, the children demonstrated relatively few spontaneous activations of the speech-generating device while the adult was reading, regardless of overlay design. When responding to questions, children with communication needs appeared to perform better when using visual scene displays, but the effect of display condition on the accuracy of responses to wh-questions was not statistically significant. In response to an open ended question, children with communication disorders demonstrated more frequent activations of the SGD using a grid display than a visual scene. Suggestions for future research as well as potential implications for designing AAC systems for shared reading with young children are discussed.

Language differences in the brain network for reading in naturalistic story reading and lexical decision.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaojuan; Yang, Jianfeng; Yang, Jie; Mencl, W Einar; Shu, Hua; Zevin, Jason David

2015-01-01

Differences in how writing systems represent language raise important questions about whether there could be a universal functional architecture for reading across languages. In order to study potential language differences in the neural networks that support reading skill, we collected fMRI data from readers of alphabetic (English) and morpho-syllabic (Chinese) writing systems during two reading tasks. In one, participants read short stories under conditions that approximate natural reading, and in the other, participants decided whether individual stimuli were real words or not. Prior work comparing these two writing systems has overwhelmingly used meta-linguistic tasks, generally supporting the conclusion that the reading system is organized differently for skilled readers of Chinese and English. We observed that language differences in the reading network were greatly dependent on task. In lexical decision, a pattern consistent with prior research was observed in which the Middle Frontal Gyrus (MFG) and right Fusiform Gyrus (rFFG) were more active for Chinese than for English, whereas the posterior temporal sulcus was more active for English than for Chinese. We found a very different pattern of language effects in a naturalistic reading paradigm, during which significant differences were only observed in visual regions not typically considered specific to the reading network, and the middle temporal gyrus, which is thought to be important for direct mapping of orthography to semantics. Indeed, in areas that are often discussed as supporting distinct cognitive or linguistic functions between the two languages, we observed interaction. Specifically, language differences were most pronounced in MFG and rFFG during the lexical decision task, whereas no language differences were observed in these areas during silent reading of text for comprehension.

Silent pituitary macroadenoma co-secreting growth hormone and thyroid stimulating hormone.

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Orhan; Ertorer, M Eda; Aydin, M Volkan; Erdogan, Bulent; Altinors, Nur; Zorludemir, Suzan; Guvener, Nilgun

2005-04-01

Silent pituitary adenomas are a group of tumors showing heterogenous morphological features with no hormonal function observed clinically. To date no explanation has been provided as to why these tumors remain "silent". We report a case of a silent macroadenoma with both growth hormone (GH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) staining and secretion but with no clinical manifestations, in particular, the absence of features of acromegaly or hyperthyroidism. The relevant literature is reviewed.

Some Semi-Deep Thoughts about Deep Reading: Rejoinder to "Digital Technology and Student Cognitive Development: The Neuroscience of the University Classroom"

Science.gov (United States)

Mannheimer, Steve

2016-01-01

The author of this thought-provoking article joins an impressive cohort of current commentators and scholars united in their concern over the state of the art of reading. Mostly, they are concerned with the sustained, silent, generally solitary process of reading in which the reader is deeply focused on and immersed in the text. Their fear is that…

Silent stroke and advance in neuroimaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okada, Yasushi; Sadoshima, Seizo; Hasuo, Kanehiro; Saku, Yoshisuke; Fujishima, Masatoshi (Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Faculty of Medicine)

1990-10-01

Recently, silent strokes are more frequently demonstrated by CT and MRI with the advance of neuroimaging. The infarcted lesions unrelated to the neurological symptoms were detected in 8, 30, 28, 34, 60, 63% of the patients with cerebral infarction in 1977-78, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, respectively, by CT and/or MRI, and the asymptomatic patients with incidentally diagnosed cerebral infarction were amounted to 16% (8 of 51 cases) in 1988. Of the recent 50 patients with cerebral infarction examined by CT and MRI, asymptomatic cerebrovascular lesions were detected in 25 (50%) by CT and in 35 (70%) by MRI. MRI also revealed asymptomatic old hemorrhage in 7 (14%). The clinical significance of silent stroke was discussed. (author).

Community Response to Multiple Sound Sources: Integrating Acoustic and Contextual Approaches in the Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Lercher

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Sufficient data refer to the relevant prevalence of sound exposure by mixed traffic sources in many nations. Furthermore, consideration of the potential effects of combined sound exposure is required in legal procedures such as environmental health impact assessments. Nevertheless, current practice still uses single exposure response functions. It is silently assumed that those standard exposure-response curves accommodate also for mixed exposures—although some evidence from experimental and field studies casts doubt on this practice. The ALPNAP-study population (N = 1641 shows sufficient subgroups with combinations of rail-highway, highway-main road and rail-highway-main road sound exposure. In this paper we apply a few suggested approaches of the literature to investigate exposure-response curves and its major determinants in the case of exposure to multiple traffic sources. Highly/moderate annoyance and full scale mean annoyance served as outcome. The results show several limitations of the current approaches. Even facing the inherent methodological limitations (energy equivalent summation of sound, rating of overall annoyance the consideration of main contextual factors jointly occurring with the sources (such as vibration, air pollution or coping activities and judgments of the wider area soundscape increases the variance explanation from up to 8% (bivariate, up to 15% (base adjustments up to 55% (full contextual model. The added predictors vary significantly, depending on the source combination. (e.g., significant vibration effects with main road/railway, not highway. Although no significant interactions were found, the observed additive effects are of public health importance. Especially in the case of a three source exposure situation the overall annoyance is already high at lower levels and the contribution of the acoustic indicators is small compared with the non-acoustic and contextual predictors. Noise mapping needs to go down to

Symbol-String Sensitivity and Children's Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Pammer, Kristen; Lavis, Ruth; Hansen, Peter; Cornelissen, Piers L.

2004-01-01

In this study of primary school children, a novel "symbol-string" task is used to assess sensitivity to the position of briefly presented non-alphabetic but letter-like symbols. The results demonstrate that sensitivity in the symbol-string task explains a unique proportion of the variability in children's contextual reading accuracy. Moreover,…

Left ventricular function abnormalities as a manifestation of silent myocardial ischemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, C R; Conti, C R; Pepine, C J

1986-11-01

A large body of evidence exists indicating that left ventricular dysfunction is a common occurrence in patients with severe coronary artery disease and represents silent or asymptomatic myocardial ischemia. Such dysfunction probably occurs early in the time course of every ischemic episode in patients with coronary artery disease whether symptoms are eventually manifested or not. The pathophysiology of silent versus symptomatic left ventricular dysfunction due to ischemia appears to be identical. Silent ischemia-related left ventricular dysfunction can be documented during spontaneous or stress-induced perturbations in the myocardial oxygen supply/demand ratio. It also may be detected by nitroglycerin-induced improvement in ventricular function or by salutary changes in wall motion following revascularization. Silent left ventricular dysfunction is a very early occurrence during ischemia and precedes electrocardiographic abnormalities. In this light, its existence should always be kept in mind when dealing with patients with ischemic heart disease. It can be hypothesized that because silent ischemia appears to be identical to ischemia with symptoms in a pathophysiologic sense, prognosis and treatment in both cases should be the same.

EFFICACY OF METOPROLOL AND DILTIAZEM IN TREATING SILENT-MYOCARDIAL-ISCHEMIA

NARCIS (Netherlands)

PORTEGIES, MCM; SIJBRING, P; GOBEL, JAM; VIERSMA, JW; LIE, KI

1994-01-01

Recent studies strongly support the prognostic importance of transient silent ischemia. Because patients with silent ischemia are at higher risk of a cardiac event, they are likely to benefit not only from control of symptoms, but also from treatment directed at prevention of ischemia. The efficacy

(In-)Secure messaging with the Silent Circle instant messaging protocol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verschoor, S.R.; Lange, T.

2016-01-01

Silent Text, the instant messaging application by the company Silent Circle, provides its users with end-to-end encrypted communication on the Blackphone and other smartphones. The underlying protocol, SCimp, has received many extensions during the update to version 2, but has not been subjected to

Recurrent Silent Thyroiditis as a Sequela of Postpartum Thyroiditis

OpenAIRE

Hanseree, Preaw; Salvador, Vincent Bryan; Sachmechi, Issac; Kim, Paul

2014-01-01

Thyroiditis encompasses a group of disorders characterized by thyroid inflammation. Though clinically indistinguishable from silent thyroiditis, postpartum thyroiditis occurs in women within 12 months after delivery. Recurrent postpartum thyroiditis in subsequent pregnancies is common, but recurrent silent thyroiditis is rare. We reported a case of patient with recurrent episodes of thyroiditis, unrelated to pregnancy, after an episode of postpartum thyroiditis. It is of interest that postpar...

Language differences in the brain network for reading in naturalistic story reading and lexical decision.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojuan Wang

Full Text Available Differences in how writing systems represent language raise important questions about whether there could be a universal functional architecture for reading across languages. In order to study potential language differences in the neural networks that support reading skill, we collected fMRI data from readers of alphabetic (English and morpho-syllabic (Chinese writing systems during two reading tasks. In one, participants read short stories under conditions that approximate natural reading, and in the other, participants decided whether individual stimuli were real words or not. Prior work comparing these two writing systems has overwhelmingly used meta-linguistic tasks, generally supporting the conclusion that the reading system is organized differently for skilled readers of Chinese and English. We observed that language differences in the reading network were greatly dependent on task. In lexical decision, a pattern consistent with prior research was observed in which the Middle Frontal Gyrus (MFG and right Fusiform Gyrus (rFFG were more active for Chinese than for English, whereas the posterior temporal sulcus was more active for English than for Chinese. We found a very different pattern of language effects in a naturalistic reading paradigm, during which significant differences were only observed in visual regions not typically considered specific to the reading network, and the middle temporal gyrus, which is thought to be important for direct mapping of orthography to semantics. Indeed, in areas that are often discussed as supporting distinct cognitive or linguistic functions between the two languages, we observed interaction. Specifically, language differences were most pronounced in MFG and rFFG during the lexical decision task, whereas no language differences were observed in these areas during silent reading of text for comprehension.

Silent Conversations in the Labyrinth of Artistic Research and Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Eis, Andrea

2013-01-01

This essay explores silent conversations with the past, but also navigates through the labyrinth of artistic process, with its manifold passages of research, chance occurrence and aesthetic experimentation. The double metaphors of silent conversations and labyrinths apply to the essay and the artwork within it, to the research and to the practice.…

Not all reading is alike: Task modulation of magnetic evoked response to visual word

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlova A. A.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background. Previous studies have shown that brain response to a written word depends on the task: whether the word is a target in a version of lexical decision task or should be read silently. Although this effect has been interpreted as an evidence for an interaction between word recognition processes and task demands, it also may be caused by greater attention allocation to the target word. Objective. We aimed to examine the task effect on brain response evoked by non- target written words. Design. Using MEG and magnetic source imaging, we compared spatial-temporal pattern of brain response elicited by a noun cue when it was read silently either without additional task (SR or with a requirement to produce an associated verb (VG. Results.The task demands penetrated into early (200-300 ms and late (500-800 ms stages of a word processing by enhancing brain response under VG versus SR condition. The cortical sources of the early response were localized to bilateral inferior occipitotemporal and anterior temporal cortex suggesting that more demanding VG task required elaborated lexical-semantic analysis. The late effect was observed in the associative auditory areas in middle and superior temporal gyri and in motor representation of articulators. Our results suggest that a remote goal plays a pivotal role in enhanced recruitment of cortical structures underlying orthographic, semantic and sensorimotor dimensions of written word perception from the early processing stages. Surprisingly, we found that to fulfil a more challenging goal the brain progressively engaged resources of the right hemisphere throughout all stages of silent reading. Conclusion. Our study demonstrates that a deeper processing of linguistic input amplifies activation of brain areas involved in integration of speech perception and production. This is consistent with theories that emphasize the role of sensorimotor integration in speech understanding.

Phrasing in the speech and reading of the hearing impaired.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, J F

1986-08-01

The study reported here explored a partial explanation for the fourth-grade "bottleneck" in literacy advancement by hearing-impaired students. Speech samples from 21 deaf subjects were rated for degree of evident phrasal quality. Likewise, reading comprehension scores for each student were obtained under four reading conditions: reading in whole sentences, in phrases, in fragmented word groups, and in single words. Degree of rated speech phrasality was found to relate significantly and positively to correct recall answers to questions based upon silent reading of passages typed in meaningful word groups (but not when the passages were typed in whole sentences, fragmented word groups, or in single words). The results were taken to suggest that--whereas staccato-speaking deaf students may lack a sense of the phrase altogether--phrasal-speaking deaf youngsters fail to independently apply their phrase sense in the normal reading situation. Thus, both types of deaf youngsters have difficulty affecting the transition to phrase reading that is common for hearing students at or about the fourth-grade level. Finally, I argue that this phrase sense can be instilled in hearing-impaired students and that they can be trained to use it in reading.

Correlation between increased platelet ADP aggregability and silent brain infarcts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Kenichiro; Arimoto, Hirohiko; Shirotani, Toshiki

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between platelet aggregability and silent brain infarcts. The study subjects were 445 people (264 men, 181 women; mean age, 53±14 years) with no neurologic signs, history of brain tumor, trauma, cerebrovascular disease, or antiplatelet medications. Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation was measured by the aggregation-size analytic method. Platelet aggregability was classified into 9 classes. The presence of headache/vertigo, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, or smoking was elicited by questioning or blood sampling. A head MRI scan was performed, and if marked atherosclerosis or obvious stenosis in the intracranial vessels was detected, it was defined as a positive MR angiography (MRA) finding. Silent brain infarcts were detected in 26.3% of subjects. Hyperaggregability defined as that above class 6, 7, and 8 was present in 43.8%, 30.8%, and 15.7% of subjects, respectively. The risk factors for silent brain infarcts by multiple logistic regression analysis were aging, hypertension, positive MRA findings, and hyperaggregability. Platelet ADP hyperaggregability might be a risk factor for silent brain infarcts. (author)

Silent (painless) thyroiditis. Evidence of a geographic variation in frequency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vitug, A.C.; Goldman, J.M.

1985-03-01

Recent reports suggest that 14% to 23% of thyrotoxic patients have silent (painless) thyroiditis, a newly described syndrome characterized by transient thyrotoxicosis with a low radioactive iodine uptake. A three-year review at a Brooklyn (NY) hospital showed only one definite and three possible cases of silent thyroiditis among 86 thyrotoxic patients. At most, 4% to 5% of thyrotoxic patients had silent thyroiditis. The authors suggest a geographic variation in this syndrome. Most cases and the largest series are from Japan and the Great Lakes area of North America. The latter may be related to increased iodine intake over many years in a previously endemic area of hypoiodidism and goiter, although other local factors may also be involved.

Silent (painless) thyroiditis. Evidence of a geographic variation in frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vitug, A.C.; Goldman, J.M.

1985-01-01

Recent reports suggest that 14% to 23% of thyrotoxic patients have silent (painless) thyroiditis, a newly described syndrome characterized by transient thyrotoxicosis with a low radioactive iodine uptake. A three-year review at a Brooklyn (NY) hospital showed only one definite and three possible cases of silent thyroiditis among 86 thyrotoxic patients. At most, 4% to 5% of thyrotoxic patients had silent thyroiditis. The authors suggest a geographic variation in this syndrome. Most cases and the largest series are from Japan and the Great Lakes area of North America. The latter may be related to increased iodine intake over many years in a previously endemic area of hypoiodidism and goiter, although other local factors may also be involved

Different Influence of Contextual Educational Factors on Boys' and Girls' Reading Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Geske, Andrejs; Ozola, Antra

2009-01-01

The results of IEA (The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) PIRLS 2006 (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) has showed that Latvia has the 6th largest gender gap in reading literacy scores and that is an indication of a serious problem of education in this country. The purpose of the paper is to…

Adult EFL Reading Selection: Influence on Literacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Sebastián Basallo Gómez

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is about the impact of systematic reading selection used to promote English as foreign language learning in adult students. A qualitative action research methodology was used to carry out this project. Ten class sessions were designed to provide students an opportunity to select texts according to criteria based upon their language levels and personal/professional interests. The findings align with three categories of influence: motivation, engagement, and contextualization/interpretation of readings. The main objective of this project was to see how the students’ text selection processes, guided by systematically designed criteria and elaborated strategies, influenced learning and acquisition in terms of motivation, perceptions, and opinions towards reading in English.

Learning to Read a Semitic Abjad: The Triplex Model of Hebrew Reading Development.

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Share, David L; Bar-On, Amalia

2017-07-01

We introduce a model of Hebrew reading development that emphasizes both the universal and script-specific aspects of learning to read a Semitic abjad. At the universal level, the study of Hebrew reading acquisition offers valuable insights into the fundamental dilemmas of all writing systems-balancing the competing needs of the novice versus the expert reader (Share, 2008). At the script-specific level, pointed Hebrew initially employs supplementary vowel signs, providing the beginning reader a consistent, phonologically well-specified script while helping the expert-to-be unitize words and morphemes via (consonantal) spelling constancy. A major challenge for the developing Hebrew reader is negotiating the transition from pointed to unpointed Hebrew, with its abundance of homographs. Our triplex model emphasizes three phases of early Hebrew reading development: a progression from lower-order, phonological (sublexical) sequential spelling-to-sound translation (Phase 1, Grade 1) to higher-order, string-level (lexical) lexico-morpho-orthographic processing (Phase 2, Grade 2) followed, in the upper elementary grades, by a supralexical contextual level (Phase 3) essential for dealing with the pervasive homography of unpointed Hebrew.

Migraine with aura and silent brain infarcts lack of mediation of patent foramen ovale.

Science.gov (United States)

Calviere, L; Tall, P; Massabuau, P; Bonneville, F; Larrue, V

2013-12-01

Population-based studies have shown a heightened prevalence of clinically silent brain infarcts in subjects who have migraine with aura (MA). We sought to determine whether this association could be confirmed in young patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke, and explored the role of patent foramen ovale (PFO) as a potential underlying mechanism. Patients were selected from a registry of young patients consecutively treated for ischemic stroke in a tertiary university hospital among those without definite cause of stroke. Patients with PFO were matched for age and gender with patients with normal atrial septum. Migraine and MA were evaluated after patient selection and matching. Silent brain infarcts were independently evaluated on MRI. We included 100 patients [60 men; mean age (SD), 44.8 years (8.3)], 50 patients with PFO. We found silent brain infarcts in 36 patients and MA in 13 patients. MA was more frequent in patients with silent brain infarcts than in patients without silent brain infarcts (25.0% vs. 6.3%; OR, 5; 95% CI, 1.4-17.6; P = 0.01). Traditional cardiovascular risk factors were not associated with silent brain infarcts. PFO was neither associated with MA (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 0.5-5.3) nor silent brain infarcts (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.3-1.5). The association of MA with silent brain infarcts was not altered after adjustment for PFO. Findings suggest that silent brain infarcts in young patients with cryptogenic stroke is associated with MA. We found no evidence for a mediating effect of PFO on this association. © 2013 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2013 EFNS.

Rapid Word Recognition as a Measure of Word-Level Automaticity and Its Relation to Other Measures of Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Frye, Elizabeth M.; Gosky, Ross

2012-01-01

The present study investigated the relationship between rapid recognition of individual words (Word Recognition Test) and two measures of contextual reading: (1) grade-level Passage Reading Test (IRI passage) and (2) performance on standardized STAR Reading Test. To establish if time of presentation on the word recognition test was a factor in…

Distinct transmitter release properties determine differences in short-term plasticity at functional and silent synapses.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabezas, Carolina; Buño, Washington

2006-05-01

Recent evidence suggests that functional and silent synapses are not only postsynaptically different but also presynaptically distinct. The presynaptic differences may be of functional importance in memory formation because a proposed mechanism for long-term potentiation is the conversion of silent synapses into functional ones. However, there is little direct experimentally evidence of these differences. We have investigated the transmitter release properties of functional and silent Schaffer collateral synapses and show that on the average functional synapses displayed a lower percentage of failures and higher excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) amplitudes than silent synapses at +60 mV. Moreover, functional but not silent synapses show paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) at +60 mV and thus presynaptic short-term plasticity will be distinct in the two types of synapse. We examined whether intraterminal endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ stores influenced the release properties of these synapses. Ryanodine (100 microM) and thapsigargin (1 microM) increased the percentage of failures and decreased both the EPSC amplitude and PPF in functional synapses. Caffeine (10 mM) had the opposite effects. In contrast, silent synapses were insensitive to both ryanodine and caffeine. Hence we have identified differences in the release properties of functional and silent synapses, suggesting that synaptic terminals of functional synapses express regulatory molecular mechanisms that are absent in silent synapses.

Multiculturalism and contextualism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2015-01-01

Many political theorists of multiculturalism (e.g. Joseph Carens, Bhikhu Parekh, James Tully) describe their theories as “contextualist.” But it is unclear what “contextualism” means and what difference it makes for political theory. I use a specific prominent example of a multiculturalist...... discussion, namely Tariq Modood’s argument about “moderate secularism,” as a test case and distinguish between different senses of contextualism. I discuss whether the claim that political theory is contextual in each sense is novel and interesting, and whether contextualism is a distinct feature...... of political theory of multiculturalism. I argue that the forms of contextualism which concern the scope and methodology of political theory are sensible, but not novel or distinctive of multiculturalism. I then discuss the more controversial forms of contextualism, which I call political and theoretical...

Affective theory of mind inferences contextually influence the recognition of emotional facial expressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Suzanne L K; Schepman, Astrid; Haigh, Matthew; McHugh, Rhian; Stewart, Andrew J

2018-03-14

The recognition of emotional facial expressions is often subject to contextual influence, particularly when the face and the context convey similar emotions. We investigated whether spontaneous, incidental affective theory of mind inferences made while reading vignettes describing social situations would produce context effects on the identification of same-valenced emotions (Experiment 1) as well as differently-valenced emotions (Experiment 2) conveyed by subsequently presented faces. Crucially, we found an effect of context on reaction times in both experiments while, in line with previous work, we found evidence for a context effect on accuracy only in Experiment 1. This demonstrates that affective theory of mind inferences made at the pragmatic level of a text can automatically, contextually influence the perceptual processing of emotional facial expressions in a separate task even when those emotions are of a distinctive valence. Thus, our novel findings suggest that language acts as a contextual influence to the recognition of emotional facial expressions for both same and different valences.

Patterns of cerebral activation during lexical and phonological reading in Portuguese

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Senaha M.L.H.

2005-01-01

Full Text Available According to the concepts of cognitive neuropsychology, there are two principal routes of reading processing: a lexical route, in which global reading of words occurs and a phonological route, responsible for the conversion of the graphemes into their respective phonemes. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI was used to investigate the patterns of cerebral activation in lexical and phonological reading by 13 healthy women with a formal educational level greater than 11 years. Participants were submitted to a silent reading task containing three types of stimuli: real words (irregular and foreign words, nonwords and illegitimate graphic stimuli. An increased number of activated voxels were identified by fMRI in the word reading (lexical processing than in the nonword reading (phonological processing task. In word reading, activation was greater than for nonwords in the following areas: superior, middle and inferior frontal gyri, and bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right cerebellum and the left precentral gyrus, as indicated by fMRI. In the reading of nonwords, the activation was predominant in the right cerebellum and in the left superior temporal gyrus. The results of the present study suggest the existence of differences in the patterns of cerebral activation during lexical and phonological reading, with greater involvement of the right hemisphere in reading words than nonwords.

Enhancing L2 Reading Comprehension with Hypermedia Texts: Student Perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett-Rucks, Paula; Howles, Les; Lake, William M.

2015-01-01

This study extends current research about L2 hypermedia texts by investigating the combined use of audiovisual features including: (a) Contextualized images, (b) rollover translations, (c) cultural information, (d) audio explanations and (e) comprehension check exercises. Specifically, student perceptions of hypermedia readings compared to…

The clinical dilemma of "silent desensitization" in aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Andrew A; Bosso, John V; Stevenson, Donald D

2013-01-01

Aspirin desensitization is a treatment option for patients with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD). Some patients with an excellent history of aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) reactions have negative aspirin challenges/desensitization. This study discusses the clinical entity of silent desensitization in AERD and the dilemma that this presents to the practicing allergist/immunologist. We discuss a series of patients with a strong history of NSAID reactions who initially underwent a negative challenge/silent desensitization. These patients were subsequently proven to have AERD after a second positive aspirin challenge. Silent desensitization is an uncommon but important outcome to recognize in AERD. Clinicians performing aspirin desensitization should understand that this can occur and consider a second confirmatory aspirin challenge in some patients.

Processing rhythmic pattern during Chinese sentence reading: An eye movement study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingyi eLuo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Prosodic constraints play a fundamental role during both spoken sentence comprehension and silent reading. In Chinese, the rhythmic pattern of the verb-object (V-O combination has been found to rapidly affect the semantic access/integration process during sentence reading (Luo and Zhou, 2010. Rhythmic pattern refers to the combination of words with different syllabic lengths, with certain combinations disallowed (e.g., [2+1]; numbers standing for the number of syllables of the verb and the noun respectively and certain combinations preferred (e.g., [1+1] or [2+2]. This constraint extends to the situation in which the combination is used to modify other words. A V-O phrase could modify a noun by simply preceding it, forming a V-O-N compound; when the verb is disyllabic, however, the word order has to be O-V-N and the object is preferred to be disyllabic. In this study, we investigated how the reader processes the rhythmic pattern and word order information by recording the reader’s eye-movements. We created four types of sentences by crossing rhythmic pattern and word order in compounding. The compound, embedding a disyllabic verb, could be in the correct O-V-N or the incorrect V-O-N order; the object could be disyllabic or monosyllabic. We found that the reader spent more time and made more regressions on and after the compounds when either type of anomaly was detected during the first pass reading. However, during re-reading (after all the words in the sentence have been viewed, less regressive eye movements were found for the anomalous rhythmic pattern, relative to the correct pattern; moreover, only the abnormal rhythmic pattern, not the violated word order, influenced the regressive eye movements. These results suggest that while the processing of rhythmic pattern and word order information occurs rapidly during the initial reading of the sentence, the process of recovering from the rhythmic pattern anomaly may ease the reanalysis

Processing Rhythmic Pattern during Chinese Sentence Reading: An Eye Movement Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Yingyi; Duan, Yunyan; Zhou, Xiaolin

2015-01-01

Prosodic constraints play a fundamental role during both spoken sentence comprehension and silent reading. In Chinese, the rhythmic pattern of the verb-object (V-O) combination has been found to rapidly affect the semantic access/integration process during sentence reading (Luo and Zhou, 2010). Rhythmic pattern refers to the combination of words with different syllabic lengths, with certain combinations disallowed (e.g., [2 + 1]; numbers standing for the number of syllables of the verb and the noun respectively) and certain combinations preferred (e.g., [1 + 1] or [2 + 2]). This constraint extends to the situation in which the combination is used to modify other words. A V-O phrase could modify a noun by simply preceding it, forming a V-O-N compound; when the verb is disyllabic, however, the word order has to be O-V-N and the object is preferred to be disyllabic. In this study, we investigated how the reader processes the rhythmic pattern and word order information by recording the reader's eye-movements. We created four types of sentences by crossing rhythmic pattern and word order in compounding. The compound, embedding a disyllabic verb, could be in the correct O-V-N or the incorrect V-O-N order; the object could be disyllabic or monosyllabic. We found that the reader spent more time and made more regressions on and after the compounds when either type of anomaly was detected during the first pass reading. However, during re-reading (after all the words in the sentence have been viewed), less regressive eye movements were found for the anomalous rhythmic pattern, relative to the correct pattern; moreover, only the abnormal rhythmic pattern, not the violated word order, influenced the regressive eye movements. These results suggest that while the processing of rhythmic pattern and word order information occurs rapidly during the initial reading of the sentence, the process of recovering from the rhythmic pattern anomaly may ease the reanalysis processing at the

Effect of Kanji and Kana reading on cerebral blood flow patterns measured by PET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiyosawa, Motohiro; Itoh, Masatoshi; Nakagawa, Youichi; Kobayashi, Naoki; Tamai, Makoto.

1995-01-01

To investigate the respective functions of pathways in processing visual information from different types of symbols, by positron emission tomography (PET) we examined the effect on cerebral blood flow (CBF) of reading the Japanese morphogram (kanji) versus the syllabogram (kana). Nine Japanese men were presented with three visual conditions in random order 2 minutes before the scan: eyes open controls, kanji morphogram reading, and kana syllabogram reading. Three words written in kanji or kana were shown, and subjects were instructed to read them silently and to identify the word unrelated logically to the other two. The reading and analyzing tasks activated wide areas of vision-related cortices. The comparison of the kanji and kana readings showed higher metabolism, with the former only in the posterior part of the primary visual cortex. Most of the CBF increases were common for both stimuli, although the patterns of these increases differed slightly. The correlation matrix of CBF change in the left hemisphere showed a ventral connection in kanji reading and a dorsal connection in kana reading. Our results suggest there is a functional differentiation in the brain between patterned and sequential perception when reading Japanese morphograms and syllabograms. (author)

Silent method for mathematics instruction: An overview of teaching subsets

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Sugiman, Apino, Ezi

2017-05-01

Generally, teachers use oral communication for teaching mathematics. Taking an opposite perspective, this paper describes how instructional practices for mathematics can be carried out namely a silent method. Silent method uses body language, written, and oral communication for classroom interaction. This research uses a design research approach consisting of four phases: preliminary, prototyping and developing the instruction, and assessment. There are four stages of silent method. The first stage is conditioning stage in which the teacher introduces the method and makes agreement about the `rule of the game'. It is followed by the second one, elaborating stage, where students guess and explore alternative answers. The third stage is developing mathematical thinking by structuring and symbolizing. Finally, the method is ended by reinforcing stage which aims at strengthening and reflecting student's understanding. In this paper, every stage is described on the basis of practical experiences in a real mathematics classroom setting.

Screening for silent myocardial ischemia caseof diabetics : interest of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bahri, Haifa

2007-01-01

Silent myocardial ischemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Its diagnosis by noninvasive means such as myocardial SPECT would improve the management of these patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the frequency of silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic diabetics and their evolution. As a result, the myocardial SPECT is a reliable tool for screening for silent myocardial ischemia in diabetic patients. Its prognostic value allows to stratify the cardiac risk and guide therapeutic management. Its integration into a screening strategy in Tunisia seems limited by its low availability and cost. The latter could be reduced by better patient selection.

Eye movement analysis of reading from computer displays, eReaders and printed books.

Science.gov (United States)

Zambarbieri, Daniela; Carniglia, Elena

2012-09-01

To compare eye movements during silent reading of three eBooks and a printed book. The three different eReading tools were a desktop PC, iPad tablet and Kindle eReader. Video-oculographic technology was used for recording eye movements. In the case of reading from the computer display the recordings were made by a video camera placed below the computer screen, whereas for reading from the iPad tablet, eReader and printed book the recording system was worn by the subject and had two cameras: one for recording the movement of the eyes and the other for recording the scene in front of the subject. Data analysis provided quantitative information in terms of number of fixations, their duration, and the direction of the movement, the latter to distinguish between fixations and regressions. Mean fixation duration was different only in reading from the computer display, and was similar for the Tablet, eReader and printed book. The percentage of regressions with respect to the total amount of fixations was comparable for eReading tools and the printed book. The analysis of eye movements during reading an eBook from different eReading tools suggests that subjects' reading behaviour is similar to reading from a printed book. © 2012 The College of Optometrists.

Teaching children with dyslexia to spell in a reading-writers' workshop.

Science.gov (United States)

Berninger, Virginia W; Lee, Yen-Ling; Abbott, Robert D; Breznitz, Zvia

2013-04-01

To identify effective treatment for both the spelling and word decoding problems in dyslexia, 24 students with dyslexia in grades 4 to 9 were randomly assigned to treatments A (n=12) or B (n=12) in an after-school reading-writers' workshop at the university (thirty 1-h sessions twice a week over 5 months). First, both groups received step 1 treatment of grapheme-phoneme correspondences (gpc) for oral reading. At step 2, treatment A received gpc training for both oral reading and spelling, and treatment B received gpc training for oral reading and phonological awareness. At step 3, treatment A received orthographic spelling strategy and rapid accelerated reading program (RAP) training, and treatment B continued step 2 training. At step 4, treatment A received morphological strategies and RAP training, and treatment B received orthographic spelling strategy training. Each treatment also had the same integrated reading-writing activities, which many school assignments require. Both groups improved significantly in automatic letter writing, spelling real words, compositional fluency, and oral reading (decoding) rate. Treatment A significantly outperformed treatment B in decoding rate after step 3 orthographic training, which in turn uniquely predicted spelling real words. Letter processing rate increased during step 3 RAP training and correlated significantly with two silent reading fluency measures. Adding orthographic strategies with "working memory in mind" to phonics helps students with dyslexia spell and read English words.

Silent ischemic brain lesions after transcatheter aortic valve replacement : lesion distribution and predictors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Samim, Mariam; Hendrikse, Jeroen; van der Worp, H. Bart; Agostoni, Pierfrancesco; Nijhoff, Freek; Doevendans, Pieter A.; Stella, Pieter R.

Silent ischemic brain lesions and ischemic stroke are known complications of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We aimed to investigate the occurrence and distribution of TAVR-related silent ischemic brain lesions using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI). Consecutive

Contextualism in Normative Political Theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægaard, Sune

2016-01-01

Contextualism denotes a set of ideas about the importance of attention to context. The topic of the article is contextualism in normative political theory/philosophy, in relation to the part of political theory concerned with systematic political argument for normative claims—evaluative claims...... that can be invoked to contextualize a specific object of political discussion such as a law, an institution, or the like. Contextualism denotes any view that political theory should take context into account, but there are many different views about what this means. Contextualism can be characterized...... by way of different contrasts, which imply that the resulting conceptions of contextualism are views about different things, such as justification, the nature of political theory, or methodology. Here the focus is on characterizations of contextualism in terms of methodology and justification...

Production improves memory equivalently following elaborative vs non-elaborative processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Forrin, Noah D; Jonker, Tanya R; MacLeod, Colin M

2014-01-01

Words that are read aloud are better remembered than those read silently. Recent research has suggested that, rather than reflecting a benefit for produced items, this production effect may reflect a cost to reading silently in a list containing both aloud and silent items (Bodner, Taikh, & Fawcett, 2013). This cost is argued to occur because silent items are lazily read, receiving less attention than aloud items which require an overt response. We examined the possible role of lazy reading in the production effect by testing whether the effect would be reduced under elaborative encoding, which precludes lazy reading of silent items. Contrary to a lazy reading account, we found that production benefited generated words as much as read words (Experiment 1) and deeply imagined words as much as shallowly imagined words (Experiment 2). We conclude that production stands out as equally distinct-and consequently as equally memorable-regardless of whether it accompanies deep or shallow processing, evidence that is inconsistent with a lazy reading account.

Barriers to acquiring English reading and writing skills by Zulu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article reflects on an investigation into the barriers that hinder Zulu-speaking. English second language (L2) learners in the Foundation Phase from acquiring reading and writing skills. These barriers are categorised as contextual, language, school and intrinsic learner factors. A questionnaire based on these categories ...

Purely Magnetic Silent Universes do not Exist

Science.gov (United States)

Vu, K. T.; Carminati, J.

2008-09-01

We present a new Maple package called STeM (Symbolic Tetrad Manipulation). Using STeM, we outline, using a formalism which is a hybrid of the NP and Orthonormal ones, the proof of the nonexistence of purely magnetic silent universes.

Silent Thyroiditis

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Peter

1984-01-01

Silent or painless thyroiditis is a frequent cause of transient hyperthyroidism, which is characterized by recent onset of symptoms in a patient with a normal to modestly enlarged and firm thyroid gland. The hallmarks of the disease are the absence of thyroidal pain or tenderness and a markedly reduced radioiodine uptake. Histologically, the gland is characterized by an important lymphocytic infiltration, occasionally to the point of lymphoid follicle formation. However, other indices of an autoimmune cause are usually absent. The disease appears to have a predilection for the postpartum period. Relapses may occur with subsequent pregnancies. Otherwise, the course is usually benign and transient, requiring moderate doses of β-adrenergic blocking agents for symptomatic relief. No pathogenetic factors are known, but the disease may conceivably have an autoimmune basis, particularly in the postpartum patient. PMID:21278944

The reading teacher as a trainer of citizens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennie Brand Barajas

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The present is a qualitative study by theorizing, from the approach of the problem of reading as a basic resource for the formation of citizens through education. It starts from the definition of the reading capacity, followed by the revision of the general characteristics of the reading brain proposed by Stalisnas Dehaene (2014, as well as the revolutions in the materials and devices used for the writing, besides the changes in the form of reading, from Sumerian tablets to digital technologies. The process of Education for Development and the distinctive features of digital citizenship are presented, which are: immediacy in the production, transmission and reception of messages; interactivity between receiver and producer; the multi-authoritarian, which gives birth to “the prosumers”; the accessibility of the environment; freedom of expression; the democratization of access and the appropriation of a public space. All this allows contextualizing new forms of reading and new profiles of readers, as well as the generation of virtual reading spaces where communities of dialogue and exchange are formed. The study reaches the teachers and their reading biographies, which largely define their competence to encourage reading among their students and their ability to mobilize them towards citizen responsibility through reading.

Transluminal coronary angioplasty in the treatment of silent ischemia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergin, P.; Myler, R.K.; Shaw, R.E.; Stertzer, S.H.; Clark, D.A.; Ryan, C.; Murphy, M.C.

1988-01-01

Fifty-four asymptomatic patients with positive thallium exercise tests underwent coronary angiography followed by coronary angioplasty (PTCA), as the primary therapy for silent ischemia. The procedure was technically successful in 89% of these patients. Emergency bypass graft surgery was necessary in 2 (3.6%) and q-wave myocardial infarction occurred in 1 (1.8%) of these. All fifty-four patients have been followed for a mean of 35 months since angioplasty. Of the 48 patients with initially successful PTCA, 12 had either clinical restenosis (9/14 or 19%) or a new lesion (3/48 or 6%) during follow-up, which required a repeat PTCA. At the longest follow-up, 46 (85%) had been successfully treated with on or more PTCA procedures. Two patients (3.6%) had sustained late q-wave myocardial infarction and two additional patients reported angina pectoris. There were no deaths. Angioplasty as a primary therapy for silent ischemia appears efficacious, with success and restenosis rates comparable to those in the symptomatic population. Event-free survival is improved, compared with natural history data for patients with silent ischemia from other studies. Prudent risk/benefit analysis may help to define subgroups most likely to benefit from this intervention

Silent Film in the German Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, David

In addition to using films in the German classroom to introduce students to German culture and history, it is important to show and study the film as film. This procedure emphasizes the importance of the film as a part of creative arts in Germany and demands student participation in observation and discussion. Many German silent films are…

Understanding Contextual and Social Meaning in Typically Developing Finnish-Speaking Four- To Eight-Year-Old Children

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Loukusa Soile

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study examined the development of social-pragmatic comprehension in 170 Finnish four- to eight-year-old children. The children were asked to respond to socially and contextually demanding questions targeting their social-pragmatic language processing, and to explain their correct answers in order to elicit their awareness of how they had derived the answers from the context. The results showed that the number of correct answers increased especially between the ages of four and seven years. We found that questions demanding contextual processing without mind-reading were the easiest to understand, followed by questions demanding processing of feelings of others and false beliefs. The questions demanding understanding of relevant language use and processing of contextual factors including mental states and intentions were the most challenging for the children. Between four and five years of age there was a remarkable developmental phase in children’s ability to give proper explanations.

Executive Functions Contribute Uniquely to Reading Competence in Minority Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Lisa A.; Koriakin, Taylor; Lipkin, Paul; Boada, Richard; Frijters, Jan; Lovett, Maureen; Hill, Dina; Willcutt, Erik; Gottwald, Stephanie; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R.; Mahone, E. Mark

2018-01-01

Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing “higher-level” or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching). Research in this area has relied on largely Caucasian samples, with limited representation of children from racial or ethnic minority groups. This study examined contributions of executive skills to reading competence in 761 children of minority backgrounds. Hierarchical linear regressions examined unique contributions of executive functions (EF) to word reading, fluency, and comprehension. EF contributed uniquely to reading performance, over and above reading-related language skills; working memory contributed uniquely to all components of reading; while attentional switching, but not problem solving, contributed to isolated and contextual word reading and reading fluency. Problem solving uniquely predicted comprehension, suggesting that this skill may be especially important for reading comprehension in minority youth. Attentional switching may play a unique role in development of reading fluency in minority youth, perhaps as a result of the increased demand for switching between spoken versus written dialects. Findings have implications for educational and clinical practice with regard to reading instruction, remedial reading intervention, and assessment of individuals with reading difficulty. PMID:26755569

STUDY OF IMMUNITY TO POLIOVIRUSES ON CERTAIN "SILENT" TERRITORIES OF RUSSIA

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N. I. Romanenkova

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract. The degree of immunity to polioviruses of three serotypes among children of different ages was analysed on certain "controlled" and "silent" territories of Russia in different periods of Polio Eradication Initiative. It was shown that the levels of immunity of children’s population to polioviruses on "controlled" and "silent" territories had no significant difference. It was stated that on the phase which preceded the certification for the absence of circulation of wild polioviruses, when the National Immunisation Days were conducted in the country, the percentage of eronegative children to polioviruses of different serotypes was low on all the territories of Russia. After Russia as a part of the WHO European region was certified as a polio free country and mass immunisation was stopped thepercentage of seronegative children increased, especially to poliovirus of serotype 3, both on the "controlled" and on the "silent" territories.

Incidence and implications of silent hydronephrosis following percutaneous nephrolithotomy
.

Science.gov (United States)

Dagrosa, Lawrence; Moses, Rachel; Pais, Vernon M

2017-01-01

While routine renal imaging following ureteroscopy for urinary calculi has been recommended to screen for asymptomatic "silent" obstruction, the rate of silent obstruction following percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) remains poorly defined, and no consensus recommendations exist on routine postoperative imaging. At our institution, we sought to assess the incidence of silent hydronephrosis (SH), as a screen for obstruction, following PCNL. The records of all 162 patients who met study inclusion criteria were reviewed. Of this group, 112 patients presented for their scheduled renal ultrasonography 4 - 6 weeks following stent removal to screen for SH. Asymptomatic patients found to have ultrasonographic evidence of hydronephrosis were further analyzed. SH was noted in 16% (18/112) of patients. Two required subsequent ureteroscopic stone extraction (1.8%), one of which also underwent endoureterotomy for a ureteral stricture. Four patients (22%) had stable hydronephrosis and declined functional imaging, 2 patients (11%) had a known partial ureteropelvic junction obstruction and declined intervention. SH resolved spontaneously in 50% (9/18) with a mean time to resolution of 6.3 months. There was no difference in stone complexity based on Guy's stone score between groups, 2.8 (± 0.92) vs. 2.4 (± 1.03), p = 0.34. Although not statistically significant, patients with SH were more likely to have had residual stone fragments postoperatively, 39% (7/18) vs. 19% (18/94), p = 0.067. SH following, PCNL was identified in 16% of this screened population, with the majority requiring no intervention. However, SH may be attributed to residual stone or stricture, which may have been otherwise unrecognized in up to 2% of patients undergoing PCNL. Consideration should be given for routine postoperative ultrasound to screen for silent obstruction following PCNL.
.

Improvement of ozone yield by a multi-discharge type ozonizer using superposition of silent discharge plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Hyun-Jig; Chun, Byung-Joon; Lee, Kwang-Sik

2004-01-01

In order to improve ozone generation, we experimentally investigated the silent discharge plasma and ozone generation characteristics of a multi-discharge type ozonizer. Ozone in a multi-discharge type ozonizer is generated by superposition of a silent discharge plasma, which is simultaneously generated in separated discharge spaces. A multi-discharge type ozonizer is composed of three different kinds of superposed silent discharge type ozonizers, depending on the method of applying power to each electrode. We observed that the discharge period of the current pulse for a multi discharge type ozonizer can be longer than that of silent discharge type ozonizer with two electrodes and one gap. Hence, ozone generation is improved up to 17185 ppm and 783 g/kwh in the case of the superposed silent discharge type ozonizer for which an AC high voltages with a 180 .deg. phase difference were applied to the internal electrode and the external electrode, respectively, with the central electrode being grounded.

Nicotine Withdrawal Disrupts Contextual Learning but Not Recall of Prior Contextual Associations: Implications for Nicotine Addiction

OpenAIRE

Portugal, George S.; Gould, Thomas J.

2008-01-01

Interactions between nicotine and learning could contribute to nicotine addiction. Although previous research indicates that nicotine withdrawal disrupts contextual learning, the effects of nicotine withdrawal on contextual memories acquired before withdrawal are unknown. The present study investigated whether nicotine withdrawal disrupted recall of prior contextual memories by examining the effects of nicotine withdrawal on recall of nicotine conditioned place preference (CPP) and contextual...

Extending E-Book with Contextual Knowledge Recommender for Reading Support on a Web-Based Learning System

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Gwo-Dong; Wei, Fu-Hsiang; Wang, Chin-Yeh; Lee, Jih-Hsien

2007-01-01

Reading content of the Web is increasingly popular. When students read the same material, each student has a unique comprehension of the text and requires individual support from appropriate references. Most references in typical web learning systems are unorganized. Students are often required to disrupt their reading to locate references. This…

Silent Atrial Fibrillation in Elderly Pacemaker Users: A Randomized Trial Using Home Monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Ceb; Martinelli, M; Peixoto, G L; Siqueira, S F; Wajngarten, Maurício; Silva, Rodrigo Tavares; Costa, Roberto; Filho, Roberto; Ramires, José Antônio Franchini

2016-05-01

Pacemaker with remote monitoring (PRM) may be useful for silent atrial fibrillation (AF) detection. The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence of silent AF, the role of PRM, and to determine predictors of silent AF occurrence. Three hundred elderly patients with permanent pacemaker (PPM) were randomly assigned to the remote group (RG) or control group (CG). All patients received PPM with remote monitoring capabilities. Primary end point was AF occurrence rate and the secondary end points were time to AF detection and number of days with AF. During the average follow-up of 15.7±7.7 months, AF episodes were detected in 21.6% (RG = 24% vs CG = 19.3%, P = 0.36]. There was no difference in the time to detect the first AF episode. However, the median time to detect AF recurrence in the RG was lower than that in the CG (54 days vs 100 days, P = 0.004). The average number of days with AF was 16.0 and 51.2 in the RG and CG, respectively (P = 0.028). Predictors of silent AF were left atrial diameter (odds ratio [OR] 1.2; 95% CI = 1.1-1.3; P pacemaker; left atrial diameter and diastolic dysfunction were predictors of its occurrence. AF monitoring by means of pacemaker is a valuable tool for silent AF detection and continuous remote monitoring allows early AF recurrence detection and reduces the number of days with AF. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Contextual Variability in Free Recall

Science.gov (United States)

Lohnas, Lynn J.; Polyn, Sean M.; Kahana, Michael J.

2011-01-01

According to contextual-variability theory, experiences encoded at different times tend to be associated with different contextual states. The gradual evolution of context implies that spaced items will be associated with more distinct contextual states, and thus have more unique retrieval cues, than items presented in proximity. Ross and Landauer…

Neocortical inhibitory activities and long-range afferents contribute to the synchronous onset of silent states of the neocortical slow oscillation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemieux, Maxime; Chauvette, Sylvain; Timofeev, Igor

2015-02-01

During slow-wave sleep, neurons of the thalamocortical network are engaged in a slow oscillation (<1 Hz), which consists of an alternation between the active and the silent states. Several studies have provided insights on the transition from the silent, which are essentially periods of disfacilitation, to the active states. However, the conditions leading to the synchronous onset of the silent state remain elusive. We hypothesized that a synchronous input to local inhibitory neurons could contribute to the transition to the silent state in the cat suprasylvian gyrus during natural sleep and under ketamine-xylazine anesthesia. After partial and complete deafferentation of the cortex, we found that the silent state onset was more variable among remote sites. We found that the transition to the silent state was preceded by a reduction in excitatory postsynaptic potentials and firing probability in cortical neurons. We tested the impact of chloride-mediated inhibition in the silent-state onset. We uncovered a long-duration (100-300 ms) inhibitory barrage occurring about 250 ms before the silent state onset in 3-6% of neurons during anesthesia and in 12-15% of cases during natural sleep. These inhibitory activities caused a decrease in cortical firing that reduced the excitatory drive in the neocortical network. That chain reaction of disfacilitation ends up on the silent state. Electrical stimuli could trigger a network silent state with a maximal efficacy in deep cortical layers. We conclude that long-range afferents to the neocortex and chloride-mediated inhibition play a role in the initiation of the silent state. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Global Repetition Influences Contextual Cueing

Science.gov (United States)

Zang, Xuelian; Zinchenko, Artyom; Jia, Lina; Li, Hong

2018-01-01

Our visual system has a striking ability to improve visual search based on the learning of repeated ambient regularities, an effect named contextual cueing. Whereas most of the previous studies investigated contextual cueing effect with the same number of repeated and non-repeated search displays per block, the current study focused on whether a global repetition frequency formed by different presentation ratios between the repeated and non-repeated configurations influence contextual cueing effect. Specifically, the number of repeated and non-repeated displays presented in each block was manipulated: 12:12, 20:4, 4:20, and 4:4 in Experiments 1–4, respectively. The results revealed a significant contextual cueing effect when the global repetition frequency is high (≥1:1 ratio) in Experiments 1, 2, and 4, given that processing of repeated displays was expedited relative to non-repeated displays. Nevertheless, the contextual cueing effect reduced to a non-significant level when the repetition frequency reduced to 4:20 in Experiment 3. These results suggested that the presentation frequency of repeated relative to the non-repeated displays could influence the strength of contextual cueing. In other words, global repetition statistics could be a crucial factor to mediate contextual cueing effect. PMID:29636716

Get the story straight: contextual repetition promotes word learning from storybooks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica S Horst

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Although reading storybooks to preschool children is a common activity believed to improve language skills, how children learn new vocabulary from being to has been largely neglected in the shared storybook reading literature. The current study systematically explores the effects of repeatedly reading the same storybooks on both young children's fast and slow mapping ability. Specially created storybooks were read to 3-year-old children three times during the course of one week. Each of the nine storybooks contained two novel word-object pairs. At each session, children either heard three different stories with the same two novel name-object pairs or the same story three times. All children heard each novel name the same number of times. A four-alternative forced-choice task with pictures of the objects was used to test both immediate recall and retention. Children who heard the same stories repeatedly were very accurate on both the immediate recall and retention tasks. In contrast, children who heard different stories were only accurate on immediate recall during the last two sessions and failed to learn any of the new words. Overall, then, we found a dramatic increase in children’s ability to both recall and retain novel word-object associations encountered during shared storybook reading when they heard the same stories multiple times in succession. Results are discussed in terms of contextual cueing effects observed in other cognitive domains.

Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance with Emotional Literacy-Based Strategy Intervention

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Yusfarina Mohd Yussof

2013-07-01

Full Text Available An effective reading comprehension process demands a strategy to enhance the cognitive ability to digest text information in the effort to elicit meaning contextually. In addition, the role of emotions also influences the efficacy of this process, especially in narrative text comprehension. This quasi-experimental study aims to observe students’ performance in the Reading Comprehension Test resulting from Emotional Literacy-Based Reading Comprehension Strategy (ELBRCS, which is a combination of cognitive and affective strategies. This study involved 90 students, whereby 45 students were clustered in the Experimental Group and received the ELBRCS intervension. The remaining 45 students were placed in the Control Group and underwent the conventional strategy (prevalent classroom method.The students’ reading comprehension performance was measured using the Reading Comprehension Test (RCT. The findings show that the experimental group received a higher score than the control group for RCT. The intervention has successfully increased student’s Reading Comprehension from literal comprehension to higher levels of comprehension i.e. inferential, evaluative and appreciative levels, as indicated by Barret’s Taxonomy.

Malaria - Africa's silent tsunami | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2011-01-12

Jan 12, 2011 ... Less well known is the continuous “silent tsunami” of malaria in Africa ... This means almost 3 lives per minute lost from an easily preventable and treatable disease. It was gratifying to see the beginnings of similar passion to deal with ... often in shapes, sizes, and colours unpopular in African households.

Morphology and Spelling in French Students with Dyslexia: The Case of Silent Final Letters

Science.gov (United States)

Quémart, Pauline; Casalis, Séverine

2017-01-01

Spelling is a challenge for individuals with dyslexia. Phoneme-to-grapheme correspondence rules are highly inconsistent in French, which make them very difficult to master, in particular for dyslexics. One recurrent manifestation of this inconsistency is the presence of silent letters at the end of words. Many of these silent letters perform a…

The eye-voice span during reading aloud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jochen eLaubrock

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Although eye movements during reading are modulated by cognitive processing demands, they also reflect visual sampling of the input, and possibly preparation of output for speech or the inner voice. By simultaneously recording eye movements and the voice during reading aloud, we obtained an output measure that constrains the length of time spent on cognitive processing. Here we investigate the dynamics of the eye-voice span (EVS, the distance between eye and voice. We show that the EVS is regulated immediately during fixation of a word by either increasing fixation duration or programming a regressive eye movement against the reading direction. EVS size at the beginning of a fixation was positively correlated with the likelihood of regressions and refixations. Regression probability was further increased if the EVS was still large at the end of a fixation: if adjustment of fixation duration did not sufficiently reduce the EVS during a fixation, then a regression rather than a refixation followed with high probability. We further show that the EVS can help understand cognitive influences on fixation duration during reading: in mixed model analyses, the EVS was a stronger predictor of fixation durations than either word frequency or word length. The EVS modulated the influence of several other predictors on single fixation durations. For example, word-N frequency effects were larger with a large EVS, especially when word N-1 frequency was low. Finally, a comparison of single fixation durations during oral and silent reading showed that reading is governed by similar principles in both reading modes, although EVS maintenance and articulatory processing also cause some differences. In summary, the eye-voice span is regulated by adjusting fixation duration and/or by programming a regressive eye movement when the eye-voice span gets too large. Overall, the EVS appears to be directly related to updating of the working memory buffer during reading.

Taiwanese EFL Learners’ Perceived Use of Online Reading Strategies

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Lisa Wen Chun Chen

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Reading strategies are beneficial to learners’ reading comprehension. The strategies can be divided into different categories, such as global reading strategies, problem solving strategies and support strategies. Most previous studies investigated the importance of reading strategies in the paper-based reading. However, relatively few studies examined online reading strategies and their effects on reading comprehension. Online reading materials are important sources for EFL students since an increasing number of learners read texts and learn through the Internet. EFL learners in Taiwan, unfortunately, are reported to be overwhelmed with English online materials on the Internet. Therefore, this study intends to examine EFL learners’ perceived use of online reading strategies and whether their perceived strategy uses are different in terms of proficiency levels and gender. There are 94 Taiwanese EFL learners (43% of them are males, n=40 and 57 % of them are females, n=54, who received the Online Survey of Reading Strategies (OSORS adapted from Anderson (2003 in the study. The result showed that EFL online readers tend to use more global strategies, such as using contextual clues and observing tables, figures, and pictures in the on-line text to increase understanding. High level learners used more global and problem solving strategies than low level learners, which corresponds to previous studies. Additionally, there is no difference of strategy use between males and females. Several pedagogical implications, such as the need to raise students’ awareness of strategy use, are addressed in the present study.

Text-fading based training leads to transfer effects on children’s sentence reading fluency

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Telse eNagler

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Previous studies used a text-fading procedure as a training tool with the goal to increase silent reading fluency (i.e., proficient reading rate and comprehension. In recently published studies, this procedure resulted in lasting reading enhancements for adult and adolescent research samples. However, studies working with children reported mixed results. While reading rate improvements were observable for Dutch reading children in a text-fading training study, reading fluency improvements in standardized reading tests post-training attributable to the fading manipulation were not detectable. These results raise the question of whether text-fading training is not effective for children or whether research design issues have concealed possible transfer effects. Hence, the present study sought to investigate possible transfer effects resulting from a text-fading based reading training program, using a modified research design. Over a period of three weeks, two groups of German third-graders read sentences either with an adaptive text-fading procedure or at their self-paced reading rate. A standardized test measuring reading fluency at the word, sentence, and text level was conducted pre- and post-training. Text level reading fluency improved for both groups equally. Post-training gains at the word level were found for the text-fading group, however, no significant interaction between groups was revealed for word reading fluency. Sentence level reading fluency gains were found for the text-fading group, which significantly differed from the group of children reading at their self-paced reading routine. These findings provide evidence for the efficacy of text-fading as a training method for sentence reading fluency improvement also for children.

Working memory influences processing speed and reading fluency in ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Lisa A; Ryan, Matthew; Martin, Rebecca B; Ewen, Joshua; Mostofsky, Stewart H; Denckla, Martha B; Mahone, E Mark

2011-01-01

Processing-speed deficits affect reading efficiency, even among individuals who recognize and decode words accurately. Children with ADHD who decode words accurately can still have inefficient reading fluency, leading to a bottleneck in other cognitive processes. This "slowing" in ADHD is associated with deficits in fundamental components of executive function underlying processing speed, including response selection. The purpose of the present study was to deconstruct processing speed in order to determine which components of executive control best explain the "processing" speed deficits related to reading fluency in ADHD. Participants (41 ADHD, 21 controls), ages 9-14 years, screened for language disorders, word reading deficits, and psychiatric disorders, were administered measures of copying speed, processing speed, reading fluency, working memory, reaction time, inhibition, and auditory attention span. Compared to controls, children with ADHD showed reduced oral and silent reading fluency and reduced processing speed-driven primarily by deficits on WISC-IV Coding. In contrast, groups did not differ on copying speed. After controlling for copying speed, sex, severity of ADHD-related symptomatology, and GAI, slowed "processing" speed (i.e., Coding) was significantly associated with verbal span and measures of working memory but not with measures of response control/inhibition, lexical retrieval speed, reaction time, or intrasubject variability. Further, "processing" speed (i.e., Coding, residualized for copying speed) and working memory were significant predictors of oral reading fluency. Abnormalities in working memory and response selection (which are frontally mediated and enter into the output side of processing speed) may play an important role in deficits in reading fluency in ADHD, potentially more than posteriorally mediated problems with orienting of attention or perceiving the stimulus.

Prevalence of silent gastrointestinal complications in maintenance renal transplant population

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Teplitsky Susan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This study aims to determine the prevalence of silent GI complications within a stable renal transplant population and to investigate whether the conversion to enteric-coated myco-phenolate sodium (EC-MPS, Myfortic; would improve symptom scores. This was a single-center, open-label, non-randomized, prospective study. Patients without any history of GI com-plaints were evaluated by means of the gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS, with subse-quent switch to EC-MPS in a group of patients. Silent complications were defined as patients who voiced no GI complaints at clinic visits despite a score of ≥ 2 on GSRS scale. A total of 236 stable patients participated in the trial. The prevalence of baseline scores ≥ 2 was relatively high with abdominal pain 29.66%, reflux 37.28%, indigestion 50%, constipation 58.47% and diarrhea 33.4%. Of 236 patients, 80 were converted to EC-MPS. There was statistically significant improvement on all scales in the subgroup of patients with GSRS score ≥ 2 (P< 0.05. In conclusion, the GSRS scale identified a high percentage of silent gastrointestinal complications in this renal transplant population. The converted patients with higher GSRS scores reported a sustained improvement.

A More Efficient Contextuality Distillation Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Hui-xian; Cao, Huai-xin; Wang, Wen-hua; Fan, Ya-jing; Chen, Liang

2018-03-01

Based on the fact that both nonlocality and contextuality are resource theories, it is natural to ask how to amplify them more efficiently. In this paper, we present a contextuality distillation protocol which produces an n-cycle box B ∗ B ' from two given n-cycle boxes B and B '. It works efficiently for a class of contextual n-cycle ( n ≥ 4) boxes which we termed as "the generalized correlated contextual n-cycle boxes". For any two generalized correlated contextual n-cycle boxes B and B ', B ∗ B ' is more contextual than both B and B '. Moreover, they can be distilled toward to the maximally contextual box C H n as the times of iteration goes to infinity. Among the known protocols, our protocol has the strongest approximate ability and is optimal in terms of its distillation rate. What is worth noting is that our protocol can witness a larger set of nonlocal boxes that make communication complexity trivial than the protocol in Brunner and Skrzypczyk (Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 160403 2009), this might be helpful for exploring the problem that why quantum nonlocality is limited.

Templates and Queries in Contextual Hypermedia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anderson, Kenneth Mark; Hansen, Frank Allan; Bouvin, Niels Olof

2006-01-01

discuss a framework, HyConSC, that implements this model and describe how it can be used to build new contextual hypermedia systems. Our framework aids the developer in the iterative development of contextual queries (via a dynamic query browser) and offers support for con-text matching, a key feature...... of contextual hypermedia. We have tested the framework with data and sensors taken from the HyCon contextual hypermedia system and are now migrating HyCon to this new framework....

Is Reading Instruction Evidence-Based? Analyzing Teaching Practices Using T-Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Suárez, Natalia; Sánchez, Carmen R; Jiménez, Juan E; Anguera, M Teresa

2018-01-01

The main goal of this study was to analyze whether primary teachers use evidence-based reading instruction for primary-grade readers. The study sample consisted of six teachers whose teaching was recorded. The observation instrument used was developed ad hoc for this study. The recording instrument used was Match Vision Studio. The data analysis was performed using SAS, GT version 2.0 E, and THEME. The results indicated that the teaching practices used most frequently and for the longest duration were: feedback (i.e., correcting the student when reading); fluency (i.e., individual and group reading, both out loud and silently, with and without intonation); literal or inference comprehension exercises (i.e., summarizing, asking questions); and use of educational resources (i.e., stories, songs, poems). Later, we conducted analyses of T-Patterns that showed the sequence of instruction in detail. We can conclude that practices used by the majority of teachers were based on the recommendations of the National Reading Panel (NRP). Only one teacher followed best practices. The same was the case for instructional time spent on the five essential components of reading, with the exception of teacher E., who dedicated 70.31% of class time implementing best practices. Teaching practices (i.e., learners' activities) designed and implemented to exercise and master alphabetic knowledge and phonological awareness skills were used less frequently in the classroom.

Contextual sensitivity in scientific reproducibility

Science.gov (United States)

Van Bavel, Jay J.; Mende-Siedlecki, Peter; Brady, William J.; Reinero, Diego A.

2016-01-01

In recent years, scientists have paid increasing attention to reproducibility. For example, the Reproducibility Project, a large-scale replication attempt of 100 studies published in top psychology journals found that only 39% could be unambiguously reproduced. There is a growing consensus among scientists that the lack of reproducibility in psychology and other fields stems from various methodological factors, including low statistical power, researcher’s degrees of freedom, and an emphasis on publishing surprising positive results. However, there is a contentious debate about the extent to which failures to reproduce certain results might also reflect contextual differences (often termed “hidden moderators”) between the original research and the replication attempt. Although psychologists have found extensive evidence that contextual factors alter behavior, some have argued that context is unlikely to influence the results of direct replications precisely because these studies use the same methods as those used in the original research. To help resolve this debate, we recoded the 100 original studies from the Reproducibility Project on the extent to which the research topic of each study was contextually sensitive. Results suggested that the contextual sensitivity of the research topic was associated with replication success, even after statistically adjusting for several methodological characteristics (e.g., statistical power, effect size). The association between contextual sensitivity and replication success did not differ across psychological subdisciplines. These results suggest that researchers, replicators, and consumers should be mindful of contextual factors that might influence a psychological process. We offer several guidelines for dealing with contextual sensitivity in reproducibility. PMID:27217556

Contextual sensitivity in scientific reproducibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Bavel, Jay J; Mende-Siedlecki, Peter; Brady, William J; Reinero, Diego A

2016-06-07

In recent years, scientists have paid increasing attention to reproducibility. For example, the Reproducibility Project, a large-scale replication attempt of 100 studies published in top psychology journals found that only 39% could be unambiguously reproduced. There is a growing consensus among scientists that the lack of reproducibility in psychology and other fields stems from various methodological factors, including low statistical power, researcher's degrees of freedom, and an emphasis on publishing surprising positive results. However, there is a contentious debate about the extent to which failures to reproduce certain results might also reflect contextual differences (often termed "hidden moderators") between the original research and the replication attempt. Although psychologists have found extensive evidence that contextual factors alter behavior, some have argued that context is unlikely to influence the results of direct replications precisely because these studies use the same methods as those used in the original research. To help resolve this debate, we recoded the 100 original studies from the Reproducibility Project on the extent to which the research topic of each study was contextually sensitive. Results suggested that the contextual sensitivity of the research topic was associated with replication success, even after statistically adjusting for several methodological characteristics (e.g., statistical power, effect size). The association between contextual sensitivity and replication success did not differ across psychological subdisciplines. These results suggest that researchers, replicators, and consumers should be mindful of contextual factors that might influence a psychological process. We offer several guidelines for dealing with contextual sensitivity in reproducibility.

Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual factors: what are the relationships?

Science.gov (United States)

Rubie-Davies, Christine M; Flint, Annaline; McDonald, Lyn G

2012-06-01

There is a plethora of research around student beliefs and their contribution to student outcomes. However, there is less research in relation to teacher beliefs. Teacher factors are important to consider since beliefs mould thoughts and resultant instructional behaviours that, in turn, can contribute to student outcomes. The purpose of this research was to explore relationships between the teacher characteristics of gender and teaching experience, school contextual variables (socio-economic level of school and class level), and three teacher socio-psychological variables: class level teacher expectations, teacher efficacy, and teacher goal orientation. The participants were 68 male and female teachers with varying experience, from schools in a variety of socio-economic areas and from rural and urban locations within New Zealand. Teachers completed a questionnaire containing items related to teacher efficacy and goal orientation in reading. They also completed a teacher expectation survey. Reading achievement data were collected on students. Interrelationships were explored between teacher socio-psychological beliefs and the teacher and school factors included in the study. Mastery-oriented beliefs predicted teacher efficacy for student engagement and classroom management. The socio-economic level of the school and teacher gender predicted teacher efficacy for engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies, and a mastery goal orientation. Being male predicted a performance goal orientation. Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual variables can result in differences in teacher instructional practices and differing classroom climates. Further investigation of these variables is important since differences in teachers contribute to differences in student outcomes. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Silent Circulation of Ross River Virus in French Polynesia

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Maite Aubry

2015-08-01

Discussion: Our results support the existence of autochthonous RRV transmission and suggest that this pathogen has silently circulated in French Polynesia. These findings raise the question of possible undetected circulation of RRV in other Pacific Island Countries and Territories.

Silent Bodies: Japanese taciturnity and image thinking

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Ana Došen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A nonverbal transmission and an implicit way of communication are highly encouraged in Japanese society. The reason for this “silence prerogative” is often found in historical facts of lengthy feudal era or in ancient philosophies and religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism and their various concepts which privilege taciturn way of communication. Moreover, the unspoken comprehension is often complemented by the attitude which equates truthfulness with silence. This paper explores the silence as a communicative act in the domain of Japanese art, where the body takes over the place of the language. In traditional Japanese theatrical performance, such as noh, words are often inadequate to convey emotion and therefore the aesthetics of emptiness, understatement and abstraction is transcended by the masks with "nonmoving lips". Drawing on theoretical perspectives from both East and West, I argue that the silent bodies operate as deliberate and integral determinants of Japanese non-silent art forms – especially in cinema and theatre. In the Eastern thought, visual perception is fundamental in cognition of the world, whereas auditory discernment is secondary to "image-thinking" (Yuasa. Accustomed to taciturnity, Japanese audience effectively corresponds to the performance and "completes" it in silence.

The design process of a reading comprehension manual

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Sergio Alonso Lopera Medina

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Material design is an important part in the teaching practices. This article describes the process of material design of a foreign language (FL reading manual for undergraduate students at Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín – Colombia. A case study was used as a research method. Four in-service English teachers based their inquiry following the reflective approach of professional development. They also took into account the guidelines to design teaching materials proposed by Howard and Major (2004.  Some of the results of their inquiry for the design of the manual involve contextualization, personalization, and students’ needs. A sample of a reading strategy is given in order to illustrate how teachers worked and designed the manual as a product of their inquiry. Conclusions suggest that this professional development practice helped teachers become more aware of their own teaching realities and also helped them to understand their beliefs and practice in teaching reading as a foreign language.

Isquemia miocárdica silente en diabéticos tipo 2 Silent myocardial ischemia in type 2 diabetes patients

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Yordanka Piña Rivera

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Objetivos: determinar la frecuencia de isquemia miocárdica silente en diabéticos tipo 2 y su relación con el control metabólico. Métodos: se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal en 79 pacientes asintomáticos con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 sin antecedentes de cardiopatía isquémica, hipertensión arterial o de ser fumador, que acudieron a la Consulta de Endocrinología del Hospital Militar Central "Dr. Carlos J. Finlay", entre febrero de 2009 y febrero de 2011. Se les realizó ecocardiografía con doppler tisular y se determinaron los niveles de glucemia en ayunas, posprandial, hemoglobina glucosilada, colesterol y triglicéridos. Las variables clínicas analizadas en relación con la isquemia miocárdica silente fueron: edad, sexo, tiempo de evolución de la diabetes e índice de masa corporal. Para las variables cualitativas se utilizaron distribuciones de frecuencia con el cálculo del porcentaje y para establecer relación entre variables la prueba de chi cuadrado. Resultados: la edad media del total de pacientes fue de 54 años, de ellos el 69,1 % correspondió al sexo masculino y el 31,9 % al femenino. En el 20,2 % de los pacientes se observaron signos de isquemia miocárdica por doppler tisular, y de ellos, un 75 % tuvo niveles patológicos de colesterol total, con relación estadísticamente significativa (p= 0,01, sujetos que tuvieron 4,4 veces más riesgo relativo de presentar isquemia miocárdica, que los pacientes con colesterol normal. Las cifras de glucemia en ayunas, posprandial y hemoglobina glucosilada fueron significativamente mayor en el grupo con isquemia. Los pacientes con niveles elevados de glucemia en ayunas tuvieron 10,5 veces más riesgo de isquemia miocárdica que los que tenían cifras adecuadas. Igualmente, los casos con cifras elevadas de glucemia posprandial presentaron 12 veces más riesgo de enfermar. Conclusiones: la isquemia miocárdica silente es frecuente en los diabéticos tipo 2 y se relaciona

Silent ischemia and beta-blockade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Egstrup, K

1991-01-01

and should also be directed at the other coronary artery risk factors of the patients. The effects of beta-blockers, which reduce the duration and frequency of silent ischemic episodes, is well described. The effect is most pronounced in the morning, when the frequency of ischemia is highest......, and the mechanism of action seems mainly mediated through a reduction in myocardial oxygen demand. beta-Blockers have shown effectiveness in both effort-induced angina and mixed angina, and increased anti-ischemic potency may be achieved by combination therapy with a calcium antagonist. Abrupt withdrawal of beta-blockers...

Contextual inquiry for medical device design

CERN Document Server

Privitera, Mary Beth

2015-01-01

Contextual Inquiry for Medical Device Design helps users understand the everyday use of medical devices and the way their usage supports the development of better products and increased market acceptance. The text explains the concept of contextual inquiry using real-life examples to illustrate its application. Case studies provide a frame of reference on how contextual inquiry is successfully used during product design, ultimately producing safer, improved medical devices. Presents the ways contextual inquiry can be used to inform the evaluation and business case of technologyHelps users

Structuring mobile and contextual learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Glahn, Christian; Specht, Marcus

2011-01-01

Glahn, C., & Specht, M. (2011). Structuring mobile and contextual learning. In Proceedings of the 10th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (pp. 188-195). October, 18-21, 2011, Beijing, China.

Scoring an Abstract Contemporary Silent Film

OpenAIRE

Frost, Crystal

2014-01-01

I composed an original digital audio film score with full sound design for a contemporary silent film called Apple Tree. The film is highly conceptual and interpretive and required a very involved, intricate score to successfully tell the story. In the process of scoring this film, I learned new ways to convey an array of contrasting emotions through music and sound. After analyzing the film's emotional journey, I determined that six defining emotions were the foundation on which to build an ...

Low fetal hemoglobin percentage is associated with silent brain lesions in adults with homozygous sickle cell disease

OpenAIRE

Calvet, David; Tuilier, Titien; Mélé, Nicolas; Turc, Guillaume; Habibi, Anoosha; Abdallah, Nassim Ait; Majhadi, Loubna; Hemery, François; Edjlali, Myriam; Galacteros, Frédéric; Bartolucci, Pablo

2017-01-01

Low %HbF is independently associated with silent WMCs on brain imaging in adults with SCD.Our results highlight the potential use of therapeutic strategies inducing HbF expression in SCD patients with silent white matter changes.

Processing implicit control: evidence from reading times

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Michael eMcCourt

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Sentences such as The ship was sunk to collect the insurance exhibit an unusual form of anaphora, implicit control, where neither anaphor nor antecedent is audible. The nonfinite reason clause has an understood subject, PRO, that is anaphoric; here it may be understood as naming the agent of the event of the host clause. Yet since the host is a short passive, this agent is realized by no audible dependent. The putative antecedent to PRO is therefore implicit, which it normally cannot be. What sorts of representations subserve the comprehension of this dependency? Here we present four self-paced reading time studies directed at this question. Previous work showed no processing cost for implicit versus explicit control, and took this to support the view that PRO is linked syntactically to a silent argument in the passive. We challenge this conclusion by reporting that we also find no processing cost for remote implicit control, as in: The ship was sunk. The reason was to collect the insurance. Here the dependency crosses two independent sentences, and so cannot, we argue, be mediated by syntax. Our Experiments 1-4 examined the processing of both implicit (short passive and explicit (active or long passive control in both local and remote configurations. Experiments 3 and 4 added either three days ago or just in order to the local conditions, to control for the distance between the passive and infinitival verbs, and for the predictability of the reason clause, respectively. We replicate the finding that implicit control does not impose an additional processing cost. But critically we show that remote control does not impose a processing cost either. Reading times at the reason clause were never slower when control was remote. In fact they were always faster. Thus efficient processing of local implicit control cannot show that implicit control is mediated by syntax; nor, in turn, that there is a silent but grammatically active argument in passives.

Anamnesis and the Silent Narrator in Plato and John

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George L. Parsenios

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Gospel of John is often compared to the dialogues of Plato by those who connect Johannine theology and Platonic philosophy. The comparison operates on the level of ideas. The present paper does not ignore issues of theology and philosophy but grounds a comparison of John and Plato first and foremost on the literary level. In several key places in John 1, 3, and 14, the Johannine narrator recedes from view and is unexpectedly silent where one would expect a narrator’s comment to organize the conversations and interactions between characters in John. Plato also renders the voice of the narrator silent in a dialogue like the Theaetetus. This paper argues that John and Plato both suppress the narrator’s voice in order to further their anamnetic efforts and to make later generations not only readers but participants in their original conversations.

Tools of Contextualization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bouvin, Niels Olof; Brodersen, Ann Christina; Hansen, Frank Allan

2005-01-01

Project based education is growing in importance in elementary schools though it is still quite poorly technologically supported, particularly with respect to actively taking advantage of contextual information. Based on an empirical study of teaching and in particular project based education...... in Danish elementary schools, we present the HyConExplorer, a geospatial hypermedia system supporting project based education and learning outside of the classroom through contextualization of information. More specifically, the HyCon-Explorer provides means for: browsing with your feet, annotating...

Clinical study of correlation of pre-senile and senile depressive stage with silent cerebral infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujikawa, Tokumi; Yamawaki, Shigeto; Fujita, Yasunobu; Shibata, Youko; Touhouda, Yoshikuni.

1992-01-01

The relationship between the pre-senile/senile depressive state and silent cerebral infarction was examined by MRI. Consecutive 56 depressive patients aged 50 years or older underwnt MRI. MRI revealed silent cerebral infarction in 60.3% of patients in whom depression occurred at the age of less than 65 years. The complication rate was significantly higher in these patients than the younger patients (60.9% vs 20%). Complications of silent cerebral infarction were found in 53.6% for patients in whom depression occurred at the age of less than 65 years and symptoms were deteriorated at the age of 65 years or older and in 100% for patients in whom it occurred at the age of 65 years or older and hospitalization was simultaneously required. These figures were remarkably higher than the age-related complication rate of silent cerebral infarction in non-depressive normal persons. This suggested that approximately half of depressive patients of pre-senile onset and majority of depressive patients of senile onset might have parenchymal involvement due to silent cerebral infarction. Both perforating-type and cortical-type infarcts were found. This has a implication for the involvement of multiple infarct-related foci in depressive state. For cortical-type infarcts, partial lesions were predominant, followed by frontal and temporal lesions. The incidence of left frontal infarcts was significanly higher than that of right frontal infarcts. Infarcts in both the parietal and left frontal lobes may be responsible for depressive state. (N.K.)

Effects of Intradistrict School Mobility and High Student Turnover Rates on Early Reading Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

LeBoeuf, Whitney A.; Fantuzzo, John W.

2018-01-01

The primary aim of this study was to assess the relations between concurrent, cumulative, and contextual intradistrict school mobility and early reading achievement. Longitudinal administrative school records were used for an entire cohort of students in a large urban district from first through third grade. Findings indicated that students with a…

Imaging seizure activity: a combined EEG/EMG-fMRI study in reading epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Salek-Haddadi, Afraim; Mayer, Thomas; Hamandi, Khalid; Symms, Mark; Josephs, Oliver; Fluegel, Dominique; Woermann, Friedrich; Richardson, Mark P; Noppeney, Uta; Wolf, Peter; Koepp, Matthias J

2009-02-01

To characterize the spatial relationship between activations related to language-induced seizure activity, language processing, and motor control in patients with reading epilepsy. We recorded and simultaneously monitored several physiological parameters [voice-recording, electromyography (EMG), electrocardiography (ECG), electroencephalography (EEG)] during blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in nine patients with reading epilepsy. Individually tailored language paradigms were used to induce and record habitual seizures inside the MRI scanner. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used for structural brain analysis. Reading-induced seizures occurred in six out of nine patients. One patient experienced abundant orofacial reflex myocloni during silent reading in association with bilateral frontal or generalized epileptiform discharges. In a further five patients, symptoms were only elicited while reading aloud with self-indicated events. Consistent activation patterns in response to reading-induced myoclonic seizures were observed within left motor and premotor areas in five of these six patients, in the left striatum (n = 4), in mesiotemporal/limbic areas (n = 4), in Brodmann area 47 (n = 3), and thalamus (n = 2). These BOLD activations were overlapping or adjacent to areas physiologically activated during language and facial motor tasks. No subtle structural abnormalities common to all patients were identified using VBM, but one patient had a left temporal ischemic lesion. Based on the findings, we hypothesize that reflex seizures occur in reading epilepsy when a critical mass of neurons are activated through a provoking stimulus within corticoreticular and corticocortical circuitry subserving normal functions.

Post-operaist readings of Marxian ‘Fragment on Machines” in the light of their critiques.

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Krystian Szadkowski

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Text undertakes a much needed contextual and critical reading of Marxian„Fragment on Machines” from the Grundrisse. The crucial thesis states that despitethe seeming crisis of the post-operaist Marxism, theoretical intuitions formulatedby thinkers like Negri, Virno, Vercellone are still valid. Three various but interrelatedtypes of post-operaist reading are presented here in detail to support theargument: the political, the philosophical and the historico-economical. In thelast part of the paper they are confronted with three main lines of critique of thepost-operaist readings: the philological, the political-economic and the „political”.Through such a confrontation some of the arguments are refuted and reevaluated.

Brogaard's Moral Contextualism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Binderup, Lars Grassme

2008-01-01

Brogaard's non-indexical version of moral contextualism has two related problems. It is unable to account for the function of truth-governed assertoric moral discourse, since it leaves two (semantically clearheaded) disputants without any incentive to resolve seemingly contradictory moral claims....... The moral contextualist could explain why people do feel such an incentive by ascribing false beliefs about the semantic workings of their own language. But, secondly, this leaves Brogaard's moral contextualism looking weaker than a Mackie-style invariantist error theory about morals. The latter is equally...

Development and Evaluation of a Remedial Reading Workbook for Navy Training.

Science.gov (United States)

1979-12-01

effective. Currently the Navy is considering establishing remedial programs for class "A" schools and apprentice training schools and also expanding the...add silent e) 6. stem (add silent a) 3. rip (add silent e) 7. strip (add silent e) 4. per (add silent i) 8. for (add silent e) Exercise 3 WHAT TO DO...lungs. Quickly I slid my chair behind his, and placed my arms around his body from behind, with my right hand, curled in a fist, positioned slightly

Detecting Silent Data Corruption for Extreme-Scale Applications through Data Mining

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bautista-Gomez, Leonardo [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Cappello, Franck [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2014-01-16

Supercomputers allow scientists to study natural phenomena by means of computer simulations. Next-generation machines are expected to have more components and, at the same time, consume several times less energy per operation. These trends are pushing supercomputer construction to the limits of miniaturization and energy-saving strategies. Consequently, the number of soft errors is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years. While mechanisms are in place to correct or at least detect some soft errors, a significant percentage of those errors pass unnoticed by the hardware. Such silent errors are extremely damaging because they can make applications silently produce wrong results. In this work we propose a technique that leverages certain properties of high-performance computing applications in order to detect silent errors at the application level. Our technique detects corruption solely based on the behavior of the application datasets and is completely application-agnostic. We propose multiple corruption detectors, and we couple them to work together in a fashion transparent to the user. We demonstrate that this strategy can detect the majority of the corruptions, while incurring negligible overhead. We show that with the help of these detectors, applications can have up to 80% of coverage against data corruption.

The Analogy as a Cognitive Strategy that Encourages Reading Comprehension in Expository Texts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Viveros-Márquez

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This research arises from the current state of reading in Mexico, because the contextual situation to local and national level has become critical on this issue. Results on standardized tests such as ENLACE (National Assessment of Academic Achievement in Schools and PISA (Program for International Student Assessment have shown that Mexican basic level students have text comprehension problems. Given this reality, this is a qualitative descriptive study on the use of analogies in reading as a strategy for reading comprehension, through application of an ethnographic survey, a questionnaire and the application of a pedagogical model for the use of analogies in reading. The study incorporates the theoretical tenets of Constructivism, referring to Piaget (1969, Vygotsky (1997 and Ausubel (2002. The results show that the use of analogies promotes reading comprehension in 4th grade students, from an expository text that compares the evolution of man and the metamorphosis of a butterfly.

Using contextual advertising in Internet marketing

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Тетяна Олександрівна Левицька

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to the substantiation of the use of contextual advertising in Internet marketing as one of the most universal and expedient tools of modern advertising, applied for the first time in 1994, describing the principles of its implementation and the prospects for using it. The shortcomings and advantages of Internet marketing and contextual advertising in particular, its types and technologies, on which it is implemented, the possibilities, as well as the purposes of application, are considered. The main characteristics of contextual advertising, namely its characteristic properties as compared to the other types of Internet marketing, were highlighted. The use of contextual advertising in the search, on partner sites of the advertising network and an example of the report that was received by means of the Yandex.Metrika service have been shown. On the basis of the analysis the use of contextual advertising has been proved and its basic types and methods of measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns using deep analytics services have been demonstrated. The factor of the complexity of the configuration process has been singled out, and in this connection, a variant of professional intervention in setting up contextual advertising by specialized agencies has been offered. In the long term, the tools of contextual advertising are to expand. Every year, more and more services are being created for a deeper analysis of statistics, end-to-end analytics, and the improvement of the campaign management interface

Functionally distinct contributions of the anterior and posterior putamen during sublexical and lexical reading

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Marion eOberhuber

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have investigated orthographic-to-phonological mapping during reading by comparing brain activation for (1 reading words to object naming, or (2 reading pseudowords (e.g. phume to words (e.g. plume. Here we combined both approaches to provide new insights into the underlying neural mechanisms. In fMRI data from 25 healthy adult readers, we first identified activation that was greater for reading words and pseudowords relative to picture and color naming. The most significant effect was observed in the left putamen, extending to both anterior and posterior borders. Second, consistent with previous studies, we show that both the anterior and posterior putamen are involved in articulating speech with greater activation during our overt speech production tasks (reading, repetition, object naming and color naming than silent one-back-matching on the same stimuli. Third, we compared putamen activation for words versus pseudowords during overt reading and auditory repetition. This revealed that the anterior putamen was most activated by reading pseudowords, whereas the posterior putamen was most activated by words irrespective of whether the task was reading words or auditory word repetition. The pseudoword effect in the anterior putamen is consistent with prior studies that associated this region with the initiation of novel sequences of movements. In contrast, the heightened word response in the posterior putamen is consistent with other studies that associated this region with memory guided movement. Our results illustrate how the functional dissociation between the anterior and posterior putamen supports sublexical and lexical processing during reading.

Is Reading Instruction Evidence-Based? Analyzing Teaching Practices Using T-Patterns

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Natalia Suárez

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this study was to analyze whether primary teachers use evidence-based reading instruction for primary-grade readers. The study sample consisted of six teachers whose teaching was recorded. The observation instrument used was developed ad hoc for this study. The recording instrument used was Match Vision Studio. The data analysis was performed using SAS, GT version 2.0 E, and THEME. The results indicated that the teaching practices used most frequently and for the longest duration were: feedback (i.e., correcting the student when reading; fluency (i.e., individual and group reading, both out loud and silently, with and without intonation; literal or inference comprehension exercises (i.e., summarizing, asking questions; and use of educational resources (i.e., stories, songs, poems. Later, we conducted analyses of T-Patterns that showed the sequence of instruction in detail. We can conclude that <50% of the teaching practices used by the majority of teachers were based on the recommendations of the National Reading Panel (NRP. Only one teacher followed best practices. The same was the case for instructional time spent on the five essential components of reading, with the exception of teacher E., who dedicated 70.31% of class time implementing best practices. Teaching practices (i.e., learners' activities designed and implemented to exercise and master alphabetic knowledge and phonological awareness skills were used less frequently in the classroom.

Cybertext Redux: Using Digital Game-Based Learning to Teach L2 Vocabulary, Reading, and Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Neville, David O.; Shelton, Brett E.; McInnis, Brian

2009-01-01

The essay reports on a mixed-methods study using an interactive fiction (IF) game to teach German vocabulary, reading, and culture to university students. The study measured knowledge retention and transfer, and evaluated the attitudes of students toward the game. The results tentatively indicate that contextualized, immersive role play may have…

Attentional and Contextual Priors in Sound Perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolmetz, Michael; Elhilali, Mounya

2016-01-01

Behavioral and neural studies of selective attention have consistently demonstrated that explicit attentional cues to particular perceptual features profoundly alter perception and performance. The statistics of the sensory environment can also provide cues about what perceptual features to expect, but the extent to which these more implicit contextual cues impact perception and performance, as well as their relationship to explicit attentional cues, is not well understood. In this study, the explicit cues, or attentional prior probabilities, and the implicit cues, or contextual prior probabilities, associated with different acoustic frequencies in a detection task were simultaneously manipulated. Both attentional and contextual priors had similarly large but independent impacts on sound detectability, with evidence that listeners tracked and used contextual priors for a variety of sound classes (pure tones, harmonic complexes, and vowels). Further analyses showed that listeners updated their contextual priors rapidly and optimally, given the changing acoustic frequency statistics inherent in the paradigm. A Bayesian Observer model accounted for both attentional and contextual adaptations found with listeners. These results bolster the interpretation of perception as Bayesian inference, and suggest that some effects attributed to selective attention may be a special case of contextual prior integration along a feature axis.

Agreement of the silent partnership – tax and legal consequences of its conclusion and execution

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Monika Zieniewicz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The institution of the silent partnership is not currently regulated by any legal act in the Polish legal system, although its importance in practice is not in doubt. As every action made in the economic sphere and economic execution of the contract is associated with specific effects on the basis of the tax laws. However, due to the lack of statutory regulation of the institution of silent partnership problematic is the question of determining the effects of tax legislation. Therefore, special attention is needed to determine the issue of these effects on the basis of income tax, tax on goods and services, transfer tax and the tax on inheritance and donations, as well as the question of liability for the tax liabilities of the silent partnership.

The Relation between Reading Skills and Eye Movement Patterns in Adolescent Readers: Evidence from a Regular Orthography.

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Magdalena Krieber

Full Text Available Over the past decades, the relation between reading skills and eye movement behavior has been well documented in English-speaking cohorts. As English and German differ substantially with regard to orthographic complexity (i.e. grapheme-phoneme correspondence, we aimed to delineate specific characteristics of how reading speed and reading comprehension interact with eye movements in typically developing German-speaking (Austrian adolescents. Eye movements of 22 participants (14 females; mean age = 13;6 years;months were tracked while they were performing three tasks, namely silently reading words, texts, and pseudowords. Their reading skills were determined by means of a standardized German reading speed and reading comprehension assessment (Lesegeschwindigkeits- und -verständnistest für Klassen 6-12. We found that (a reading skills were associated with various eye movement parameters in each of the three reading tasks; (b better reading skills were associated with an increased efficiency of eye movements, but were primarily linked to spatial reading parameters, such as the number of fixations per word, the total number of saccades and saccadic amplitudes; (c reading speed was a more reliable predictor for eye movement parameters than reading comprehension; (d eye movements were highly correlated across reading tasks, which indicates consistent reading performances. Contrary to findings in English-speaking cohorts, the reading skills neither consistently correlated with temporal eye movement parameters nor with the number or percentage of regressions made while performing any of the three reading tasks. These results indicate that, although reading skills are associated with eye movement patterns irrespective of language, the temporal and spatial characteristics of this association may vary with orthographic consistency.

PROVIDING ENGLISH LANGUAGE INPUT: DECREASING STUDENTS’ ANXIETY IN READING COMPREHENSION PERFORMANCE

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Elva Yohana

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The primary condition for successful in second or foreign language learning is providing an adequate environment. It is as a medium of increasing the students’ language exposure in order to be able to success in acquiring second or foreign language profciency. This study was designed to propose the adequate English language input that can decrease the students’ anxiety in reading comprehension performance. Of the four skills, somehow reading can be regarded as especially important because reading is assumed to be the central means for learning new information. Some students, however, still encounter many problems in reading. It is because of their anxiety when they are reading. Providing and creating an interesting-contextual reading material and gratifed teachers can make out this problem which occurs mostly in Indonesian’s classrooms. It revealed that the younger learners of English there do not received adequate amount of the target language input in their learning of English. Hence, it suggested the adoption of extensive reading programs as the most effective means in the creation of an input-rich environment in EFL learning contexts. Besides they also give suggestion to book writers and publisher to provide myriad books that appropriate and readable for their students.

silent no more: sexual violence in conflict as a challenge

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rights (FIDH), Violence Against Women in Syria: Breaking the Silence, Briefing. Paper Based on an .... not perceived as the church's concern”, Silent No More, p. 8. .... travel all night to retrieve the bodies and bury them with dignity.23 In the.

Compositionality for Markov reward chains with fast and silent transitions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Markovski, J.; Sokolova, A.; Trcka, N.; Vink, de E.P.

2009-01-01

A parallel composition is defined for Markov reward chains with stochastic discontinuity, and with fast and silent transitions. In this setting, compositionality with respect to the relevant aggregation preorders is established. For Markov reward chains with fast transitions the preorders are

Measuring the prevalence of regional mutation rates: an analysis of silent substitutions in mammals, fungi, and insects

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Tuch Brian B

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The patterns of mutation vary both within and across genomes. It has been shown for a few mammals that mutation rates vary within the genome, while for unknown reasons, the sensu stricto yeasts have uniform rates instead. The generality of these observations has been unknown. Here we examine silent site substitutions in a more expansive set (20 mammals, 27 fungi, 4 insects to determine why some genomes demonstrate this mosaic distribution and why others are uniform. Results We applied several intragene and intergene correlation tests to measure regional substitution patterns. Assuming that silent sites are a reasonable approximation to neutrally mutating sequence, our results show that all multicellular eukaryotes exhibit mutational heterogeneity. In striking contrast, all fungi are mutationally uniform – with the exception of three Candida species: C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, and C. tropicalis. We speculate that aspects of replication timing may be responsible for distinguishing these species. Our analysis also reveals classes of genes whose silent sites behave anomalously with respect to the mutational background in many species, indicating prevalent selective pressures. Genes associated with nucleotide binding or gene regulation have consistently low silent substitution rates in every mammalian species, as well as multiple fungi. On the other hand, receptor genes repeatedly exhibit high silent substitution rates, suggesting they have been influenced by diversifying selection. Conclusion Our findings provide a framework for understanding the regional mutational properties of eukaryotes, revealing a sharp difference between fungi and multicellular species. They also elucidate common selective pressures acting on eukaryotic silent sites, with frequent evidence for both purifying and diversifying selection.

Teen Depression and Suicide, A SILENT CRISIS.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroning, Maureen; Kroning, Kayla

2016-01-01

Adolescent depression is a serious problem affecting 10.7% of all teens and 29.9% of high school students; 17% of high school students have contemplated suicide. Yet, depression in teens is often unrecognized. This article relays the tragic death of a 17-year-old, along with symptoms of depression and suicide in adolescents; DSM-5 criteria for depression; treatments including protective factors, psychotherapy, and medications; and imparts interventions for addressing this huge but silent crisis.

Risk factors associated with the occurrence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis of the lower limb.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fenghe; Wang, Xuehu; Huang, Wen; Ren, Wei; Cheng, Jun; Zhang, Mao; Zhao, Yu

2014-08-01

The aim of our study is to investigate the prevalence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis in the lower limbs and to evaluate the associated risk factors. A total of 322 patients with acute deep venous thrombosis confirmed by CT venography or Doppler ultrasonography were studied. The diagnosis of silent pulmonary embolism was established by computed tomography pulmonary arteriography (CTPA). The association between covariates and the prevalence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs were assessed using chi-square test and multivariable regression. The incidence of silent pulmonary embolism was 33.5% (108 in 322 patients) in all patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs. Chi-square test showed male gender, the right lower limb, proximal location of the thrombus, unprovoked venous thrombosis and coexisting heart diseases were related to a higher incidence of silent pulmonary embolism in patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs. The multivariate regression analysis confirmed that the risk factors associated with silent pulmonary embolism in deep venous thrombosis patients included the right side and proximal location of the thrombus (odds ratio: 2.023, 95% CI: 1.215-3.368; odds ratio: 3.610, 95% CI: 1.772-7.354), unprovoked venous thrombosis (odds ratio: 2.037, 95% CI: 1.188-3.493), coexisting heart diseases (odds ratio: 4.507, 95% CI: 2.667-7.618). Silent pulmonary embolism occurred frequently in patients with deep venous thrombosis in lower limbs. The right side, the proximal location of the thrombus, unprovoked venous thrombosis and coexisting heart diseases increased the risk for the occurrence of silent pulmonary embolism. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

An Order-Theoretic Quantification of Contextuality

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Ian T. Durham

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In this essay, I develop order-theoretic notions of determinism and contextuality on domains and topoi. In the process, I develop a method for quantifying contextuality and show that the order-theoretic sense of contextuality is analogous to the sense embodied in the topos-theoretic statement of the Kochen–Specker theorem. Additionally, I argue that this leads to a relation between the entropy associated with measurements on quantum systems and the second law of thermodynamics. The idea that the second law has its origin in the ordering of quantum states and processes dates to at least 1958 and possibly earlier. The suggestion that the mechanism behind this relation is contextuality, is made here for the first time.

Neural correlates reveal sub-lexical orthography and phonology during reading aloud: A review

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Kalinka eTimmer

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The sub-lexical conversion of graphemes-to-phonemes (GPC during reading has been investigated extensively with behavioral measures, as well as event-related potentials (ERPs. Most research utilizes silent reading (e.g., lexical decision task for which phonological activation is not a necessity. However, recent research employed reading aloud to capture sub-lexical GPC. The masked priming paradigm avoids strategic processing and is therefore well suitable for capturing sub-lexical processing instead of lexical effects. By employing ERPs, the on-line time course of sub-lexical GPC can be observed before the overt response. ERPs have revealed that besides phonological activation, as revealed by behavioral studies, there is also early orthographic activation. This review describes studies in one’s native language, in one’s second language, and in a cross-language situation. We discuss the implications the ERP results have on different (computational models. First, the ERP results show that computational models should assume an early locus of the grapheme-to-phoneme-conversion (GPC. Second, cross-language studies reveal that the phonological representations from both languages of a bilingual become activated automatically and the phonology belonging to the context is selected rapidly. Therefore, it is important to extend the scope of computational models of reading (aloud to multiple lexicons.

Silent Warning: Understanding the National Terrorism Advisory System

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited SILENT WARNING...PERFORMING OR GANIZATION NA:i\\ti E (S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 9. SP ONSORING /MONIT ORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND...Homeland Sectu’ity Advisory System, Boston Marathon bombing, Christmas Day bomber, tmderwear bomber, hum cane , cotmteiteiTO!’ism, CT AB

Empathy and contextual social cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Melloni, Margherita; Lopez, Vladimir; Ibanez, Agustin

2014-03-01

Empathy is a highly flexible and adaptive process that allows for the interplay of prosocial behavior in many different social contexts. Empathy appears to be a very situated cognitive process, embedded with specific contextual cues that trigger different automatic and controlled responses. In this review, we summarize relevant evidence regarding social context modulation of empathy for pain. Several contextual factors, such as stimulus reality and personal experience, affectively link with other factors, emotional cues, threat information, group membership, and attitudes toward others to influence the affective, sensorimotor, and cognitive processing of empathy. Thus, we propose that the frontoinsular-temporal network, the so-called social context network model (SCNM), is recruited during the contextual processing of empathy. This network would (1) update the contextual cues and use them to construct fast predictions (frontal regions), (2) coordinate the internal (body) and external milieus (insula), and (3) consolidate the context-target associative learning of empathic processes (temporal sites). Furthermore, we propose these context-dependent effects of empathy in the framework of the frontoinsular-temporal network and examine the behavioral and neural evidence of three neuropsychiatric conditions (Asperger syndrome, schizophrenia, and the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia), which simultaneously present with empathy and contextual integration impairments. We suggest potential advantages of a situated approach to empathy in the assessment of these neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as their relationship with the SCNM.

Intact memory for implicit contextual information in Korsakoff's amnesia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oudman, Erik; Van der Stigchel, Stefan; Wester, Arie J.; Kessels, Roy P. C.; Postma, Albert

Implicit contextual learning is the ability to acquire contextual information from our surroundings without conscious awareness. Such contextual information facilitates the localization of objects in space. In a typical implicit contextual learning paradigm, subjects need to find a target among a

Intact memory for implicit contextual information in Korsakoff's amnesia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oudman, E.; Stigchel, S. van der; Wester, A.J.; Kessels, R.P.C.; Postma, A.

2011-01-01

Implicit contextual learning is the ability to acquire contextual information from our surroundings without conscious awareness. Such contextual information facilitates the localization of objects in space. In a typical implicit contextual learning paradigm, subjects need to find a target among a

The Contextual Antecedents of Organizational Trust

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Peter Ping; Bai, Yuntao; Xi, Youmin

2012-01-01

In this article we seek to explore the contextual antecedents of organizational trust. In light of the complex links between organizational contexts and organizational behaviours, we focus on the effects of the three most critical contextual antecedents, i.e., leadership role, structural rule...... in China, lent support for our multidimensional cross-level model of context–trust–behaviour link. We extend the research on organizational trust by treating it as a cross-level phenomenon and by specifying its core contextual antecedents and behavioural consequences....

Electrocardiographically and symptomatically silent myocardial ischemia during exercise testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurata, Chinori; Tawarahara, Kei; Sakata, Kazuyuki; Taguchi, Takahisa; Fukumoto, Yoshihiro; Kobayashi, Akira; Yamazaki, Noboru; Tanaka, Hiroshi

1991-01-01

Certain patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) may have neither ST depression nor chest pain during exercise despite the presence of myocardial ischemia. The frequency and characteristics of such electrocardiographically and symptomatically silent ischemia were studied in 171 patients with both angiographically documented CAD and scintigraphically documented ischemia. Fifty-six (33%) of 171 patients had neither ST depression nor chest pain (Group N), and 115 (67%) had ST depression and/or chest pain (Group P). The two groups were similar with respect to age, gender, the prevalence of prior infarction, and peak systolic blood pressure. Group N patients, however, had a higher mean peak heart rate and rate-pressure product, less severe scintigraphic ischemia, a lower lung thallium-201 uptake, and a smaller number of diseased vessels. Stepwise discriminant analysis showed a history of effort angina, lung thallium-201 uptake, and scintigraphic severity of ischemia to be significant discriminators between Groups N and P. In conclusion, electrocardiographically and symptomatically silent ischemia may be common during exercise in patients with CAD, and less severe ischemia may be one of important determinants. (author)

Mabel Hannah’s Justice: a contextual re-reading of Donoghue v Stevenson

OpenAIRE

van Rijswijk, Honni

2010-01-01

In Donoghue v Stevenson,1 the House of Lords established negligence as an independent tort and reformulated the responsibility owed by one person to another in civil society. The accident of Mabel Hannah finding a snail in her ginger beer became the occasion for the law to disrupt the (then) normal practices of manufacture specifically, and socioeconomic conditions more generally, by introducing attentiveness to vulnerability as a civil ethic. This essay looks back at the case and reads it in...

Characterisation of silent and active genes for a variable large protein of Borrelia recurrentis

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Scragg Ian G

2002-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We report the characterisation of the variable large protein (vlp gene expressed by clinical isolate A1 of Borrelia recurrentis; the agent of the life-threatening disease louse-borne relapsing fever. Methods The major vlp protein of this isolate was characterised and a DNA probe created. Use of this together with standard molecular methods was used to determine the location of the vlp1B. recurrentis A1 gene in both this and other isolates. Results This isolate was found to carry silent and expressed copies of the vlp1B. recurrentis A1 gene on plasmids of 54 kbp and 24 kbp respectively, whereas a different isolate, A17, had only the silent vlp1B. recurrentis A17 on a 54 kbp plasmid. Silent and expressed vlp1 have identical mature protein coding regions but have different 5' regions, both containing different potential lipoprotein leader sequences. Only one form of vlp1 is transcribed in the A1 isolate of B. recurrentis, yet both 5' upstream sequences of this vlp1 gene possess features of bacterial promoters. Conclusion Taken together these results suggest that antigenic variation in B. recurrentis may result from recombination of variable large and small protein genes at the junction between lipoprotein leader sequence and mature protein coding region. However, this hypothetical model needs to be validated by further identification of expressed and silent variant protein genes in other B. recurrentis isolates.

Contextual Validity in Hybrid Logic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blackburn, Patrick Rowan; Jørgensen, Klaus Frovin

2013-01-01

interpretations. Moreover, such indexicals give rise to a special kind of validity—contextual validity—that interacts with ordinary logi- cal validity in interesting and often unexpected ways. In this paper we model these interactions by combining standard techniques from hybrid logic with insights from the work...... of Hans Kamp and David Kaplan. We introduce a simple proof rule, which we call the Kamp Rule, and first we show that it is all we need to take us from logical validities involving now to contextual validities involving now too. We then go on to show that this deductive bridge is strong enough to carry us...... to contextual validities involving yesterday, today and tomorrow as well....

Accuracy of Ultrasonography and Rectal Palpation in the Diagnosis of Silent Heat in Cows Compared to Plasma Progesterone Concentration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zdunczyk, S.; Janowski, T.; Ras, A.; Baranski, W.

2009-01-01

The study was carried out on five dairy herds in the North-East Poland. The cows, which showed no visible oestrus signs until day 60 postpartum, were examined by ultrasonography and rectal palpation twice, at a 10-d interval. A real-time, B-mode scanner with a 5 MHz probe was used. The plasma progesterone concentration was determined using RIA. A high progesterone level on the first examination, but low on the second, or low on the first and high on the second examination were interpreted as a silent heat. Based on the progesterone values, silent heat was diagnosed in 145 anoestrous cows, whereas ultrasonographically, 106 cows were found to have silent heat. The accuracy of the ultrasonography and rectal palpation in the diagnosis of silent heat in cows was 89.0 % and 69.7 %, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). For the diagnosis of the corpus luteum, the sensitivity and specificity of the ultrasonography was 94.7 % and 84.0 %, and for rectal palpation 86.2 % and 70.3 %, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). Our results showed that ultrasonography is a useful tool in the diagnosis of silent heat in cows. (authors)

Linguistic and perceptual-motor contributions to the kinematic properties of the braille reading finger.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Barry; Van Gemmert, Arend W A; Stelmach, George E

2011-08-01

Recordings of the dominant finger during the reading of braille sentences by experienced readers reveal that the velocity of the finger changes frequently during the traverse of a line of text. These changes, not previously reported, involve a multitude of accelerations and decelerations, as well as reversals of direction. We investigated the origin of these velocity intermittencies (as well as movement reversals) by asking readers to twice read out-loud or silently sentences comprising high- or low-frequency words which combined to make grammatical sentences that were either meaningful or nonmeaningful. In a control condition we asked braille readers to smoothly scan lines of braille comprised of meaningless cell combinations. Word frequency and re-reading each contribute to the kinematics of finger movements, but neither sentence meaning nor the mode of reading do so. The velocity intermittencies were so pervasive that they are not easily attributable either to linguistic processing, text familiarity, mode of reading, or to sensory-motor interactions with the textured patterns of braille, but seem integral to all braille finger movements except reversals. While language-related processing can affect the finger movements, the effects are superimposed on a highly intermittent velocity profile whose origin appears to lie in the motor control of slow movements. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scintigraphic diagnosis of silent aspiration following double-sided lung transplantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toenshoff, G.; Stock, U.; Bohuslavizki, K.H.; Brenner, W.; Costard-Jaeckle, A.; Cremer, J.; Clausen, M.

1996-01-01

We present a case of a 25 year old patient who underwent double-sided lung transplantation and suffered from recurrent pneumonia. Silent aspiration was suspected clinically. Aspiration was proved by scintigraphy enabling to discriminate between direct oro-pulmonal aspiration and aspiration after gastro-esophageal reflux. (orig.) [de

Gated single photon emission computer tomography for the detection of silent myocardial ischemia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pena Q, Yamile; Coca P, Marco Antonio; Batista C, Juan Felipe; Fernandez-Britto, Jose; Quesada P, Rodobaldo; Pena C; Andria

2009-01-01

Background: Asymptomatic patients with severe coronary atherosclerosis may have a normal resting electrocardiogram and stress test. Aim: To assess the yield of Gated Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography (SPECT) for the screening of silent myocardial ischemia in type 2 diabetic patients. Material and methods: Electrocardiogram, stress test and gated-SPECT were performed on 102 type 2 diabetic patients aged 60 ± 8 years without cardiovascular symptoms. All subjects were also subjected to a coronary angiography, whose results were used as gold standard. Results: Gated-SPECT showed myocardial ischemia on 26.5% of studied patients. The sensibility, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 92.3%, 96%, 95%, 88.8%, 97.3%, respectively. In four and six patients ischemia was detected on resting electrocardiogram and stress test, respectively. Eighty percent of patients with doubtful resting electrocardiogram results and 70% with a doubtful stress test had a silent myocardial ischemia detected by gated-SPECT. There was a good agreement between the results of gated-SPECT and coronary angiography (k =0.873). Conclusions: Gated-SPECT was an useful tool for the screening of silent myocardial ischemia

“Silent” Diabetes and Clinical Outcome After Treatment With Contemporary Drug-Eluting Stents : The BIO-RESORT Silent Diabetes Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

von Birgelen, Clemens; Kok, Marlies M.; Sattar, Naveed; Zocca, Paolo; Doelman, Cees; Kant, Gert D.; Löwik, Marije M.; van der Heijden, Liefke C.; Sen, Hanim; van Houwelingen, Gert K.; Stoel, Martin G.; Louwerenburg, J. (Hans) W.; Hartmann, Marc; de Man, Frits H.A.F.; Linssen, Gerard C.M.; Doggen, Carine J.M.; Tandjung, Kenneth

2018-01-01

Objectives: This study sought to assess the prevalence and clinical impact of silent diabetes and pre-diabetes in “nondiabetic” percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) all-comers. Background: Patients with undetected and thus untreated (silent) diabetes may have higher event risks after PCI with

Is there contextuality in behavioural and social systems?

Science.gov (United States)

Dzhafarov, E N; Zhang, Ru; Kujala, Janne

2016-01-13

Most behavioural and social experiments aimed at revealing contextuality are confined to cyclic systems with binary outcomes. In quantum physics, this broad class of systems includes as special cases Klyachko-Can-Binicioglu-Shumovsky-type, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bell-type and Suppes-Zanotti-Leggett-Garg-type systems. The theory of contextuality known as contextuality-by-default allows one to define and measure contextuality in all such systems, even if there are context-dependent errors in measurements, or if something in the contexts directly interacts with the measurements. This makes the theory especially suitable for behavioural and social systems, where direct interactions of 'everything with everything' are ubiquitous. For cyclic systems with binary outcomes, the theory provides necessary and sufficient conditions for non-contextuality, and these conditions are known to be breached in certain quantum systems. We review several behavioural and social datasets (from polls of public opinion to visual illusions to conjoint choices to word combinations to psychophysical matching), and none of these data provides any evidence for contextuality. Our working hypothesis is that this may be a broadly applicable rule: behavioural and social systems are non-contextual, i.e. all 'contextual effects' in them result from the ubiquitous dependence of response distributions on the elements of contexts other than the ones to which the response is presumably or normatively directed. © 2015 The Author(s).

Agreement of the silent partnership – tax and legal consequences of its conclusion and execution

OpenAIRE

Monika Zieniewicz

2016-01-01

The institution of the silent partnership is not currently regulated by any legal act in the Polish legal system, although its importance in practice is not in doubt. As every action made in the economic sphere and economic execution of the contract is associated with specific effects on the basis of the tax laws. However, due to the lack of statutory regulation of the institution of silent partnership problematic is the question of determining the effects of tax legislation. Therefore, speci...

Silent, indirect strategic processes in small and medium sized enterprises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Mette Vinther; Madsen, Charlotte Øland; Rasmussen, Jørgen Gulddahl

Based on empirical data we in this paper explore day-to-day strategising with an emphasis on phronesis. This way we shed some light on the nearly silent, quiet, indirect strategic change processes as they are practiced and reflected upon by leaders in small companies in their daily practice...

Perspectives on the "Silent Period" for Emergent Bilinguals in England

Science.gov (United States)

Bligh, Caroline; Drury, Rose

2015-01-01

This article draws together the research findings from two ethnographic studies as a means to problematize the "silent period" as experienced by young bilingual learners in two English speaking early-years settings in England. Most teachers and senior early-years practitioners in England are monolingual English speakers. The children…

The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Paull

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Environment, conservation, green, and kindred movements look back to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring as a milestone. The impact of the book, including on government, industry, and civil society, was immediate and substantial, and has been extensively described; however, the provenance of the book has been less thoroughly examined. Using Carson’s personal correspondence, this paper reveals that the primary source for Carson’s book was the extensive evidence and contacts compiled by two biodynamic farmers, Marjorie Spock and Mary T. Richards, of Long Island, New York. Their evidence was compiled for a suite of legal actions (1957-1960 against the U.S. Government and that contested the aerial spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT. During Rudolf Steiner’s lifetime, Spock and Richards both studied at Steiner’s Goetheanum, the headquarters of Anthroposophy, located in Dornach, Switzerland. Spock and Richards were prominent U.S. anthroposophists, and established a biodynamic farm under the tutelage of the leading biodynamics exponent of the time, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. When their property was under threat from a government program of DDT spraying, they brought their case, eventually lost it, in the process spent US$100,000, and compiled the evidence that they then shared with Carson, who used it, and their extensive contacts and the trial transcripts, as the primary input for Silent Spring. Carson attributed to Spock, Richards, and Pfeiffer, no credit whatsoever in her book. As a consequence, the organics movement has not received the recognition, that is its due, as the primary impulse for Silent Spring, and it is, itself, unaware of this provenance.

Estimation of cortical silent period following transcranial magnetic stimulation using a computerised cumulative sum method.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Nicolas K K; Kuppuswamy, Annapoorna; Strutton, Paul H; Davey, Nick J

2006-01-15

The cortical silent period (CSP) following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex can be used to measure intra-cortical inhibition and changes in a number of important pathologies affecting the central nervous system. The main drawback of this technique has been the difficulty in accurately identifying the onset and offset of the cortical silent period leading to inter-observer variability. We developed an automated method based on the cumulative sum (Cusum) technique to improve the determination of the duration and area of the cortical silent period. This was compared with experienced raters and two other automated methods. We showed that the automated Cusum method reliably correlated with the experienced raters for both duration and area of CSP. Compared with the automated methods, the Cusum also showed the strongest correlation with the experienced raters. Our results show the Cusum method to be a simple, graphical and powerful method of detecting low-intensity CSP that can be easily automated using standard software.

Diagnosis of silent myocardial ischemia in type 2 diabetic patients by electrocardiogram, ergometry and Gated-SPECT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penna Quian, Yamile; Fernandez-Britto Rodriguez, Jose; Bacallao Gallestey, Jorge; Batista Cuellar, Juan Felipe; Coca Perez, Marco Antonio; Toirac Garcia, Noresma; Penna Coego, Andria

2008-01-01

31 asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients were studied by lab tests, electrocardiogram, ergometry, Gated-SPECT and coronariography to determine the relation between the atherosclerotic risk factors and the silent myocardial ischemia. Patients were classified into two groups: positive SPECT and negative SPECT. Association tests were made for each variable and ROC curves were constructed to identify risk markers. In 35.5% of the patients silent myocardial ischemia was detected with a good angiographic correlation. A significant association was evidenced between positive SPECT and the atherosclerotic risk factors, namely, low values of HDLc, family pathological history of ischemic heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. The logistic regression models showed that low values of HDLc together with family pathological history of ischemic heart disease may be strong predictors of silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients

Contextual factors and effective school improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sun, Hechuan; Creemers, Bert P. M.; de Jong, Rob

This research provides policy-makers, researchers, and educators at all levels with a glimpse of the contextual influence on effective school improvement (ESI) in 8 European countries. What are the factors at the contextual level, particularly at the national level, which influence ESI? Are there

An introduction to silent speech interfaces

CERN Document Server

Freitas, João; Dias, Miguel Sales; Silva, Samuel

2017-01-01

This book provides a broad and comprehensive overview of the existing technical approaches in the area of silent speech interfaces (SSI), both in theory and in application. Each technique is described in the context of the human speech production process, allowing the reader to clearly understand the principles behind SSI in general and across different methods. Additionally, the book explores the combined use of different data sources, collected from various sensors, in order to tackle the limitations of simpler SSI approaches, addressing current challenges of this field. The book also provides information about existing SSI applications, resources and a simple tutorial on how to build an SSI.

A Computational Model of the Self-Teaching Hypothesis Based on the Dual-Route Cascaded Model of Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Pritchard, Stephen C.; Coltheart, Max; Marinus, Eva; Castles, Anne

2018-01-01

The self-teaching hypothesis describes how children progress toward skilled sight-word reading. It proposes that children do this via phonological recoding with assistance from contextual cues, to identify the target pronunciation for a novel letter string, and in so doing create an opportunity to self-teach new orthographic knowledge. We present…

Silent infarction on a second CT scan in 91 patients without manifest stroke in the Dutch TIA trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Herderscheê, D.; Hijdra, A.; Algra, A.; Kappelle, L. J.; Koudstaal, P. J.; van Gijn, J.

1994-01-01

The frequency of silent infarction is an important issue because it is a marker of vascular disease. We studied the occurrence of silent infarction in a sample of patients from the Dutch TIA trial, in which patients were randomized between 30 and 283 mg of aspirin. A total of 91 patients with TIA or

Facets of contextual realism in quantum mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, Alok Kumar; Home, Dipankar

2011-01-01

In recent times, there is an upsurge of interest in demonstrating the quantum contextuality. In this proceedings, we explore the two different forms of arguments that have been used for showing the contextual character of quantum mechanics. First line of study concerns the violations of the noncontextual realist models by quantum mechanics, where second line of study that is qualitatively distinct from the earlier one, demonstrates the contextuality within the formalism of quantum mechanics.

Communication Games Reveal Preparation Contextuality

Science.gov (United States)

Hameedi, Alley; Tavakoli, Armin; Marques, Breno; Bourennane, Mohamed

2017-12-01

A communication game consists of distributed parties attempting to jointly complete a task with restricted communication. Such games are useful tools for studying limitations of physical theories. A theory exhibits preparation contextuality whenever its predictions cannot be explained by a preparation noncontextual model. Here, we show that communication games performed in operational theories reveal the preparation contextuality of that theory. For statistics obtained in a particular family of communication games, we show a direct correspondence with correlations in spacelike separated events obeying the no-signaling principle. Using this, we prove that all mixed quantum states of any finite dimension are preparation contextual. We report on an experimental realization of a communication game involving three-level quantum systems from which we observe a strong violation of the constraints of preparation noncontextuality.

Altered Modulation of Silent Period in Tongue Motor Cortex of Persistent Developmental Stuttering in Relation to Stuttering Severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Busan, Pierpaolo; Del Ben, Giovanni; Bernardini, Simona; Natarelli, Giulia; Bencich, Marco; Monti, Fabrizio; Manganotti, Paolo; Battaglini, Piero Paolo

2016-01-01

Motor balance in developmental stuttering (DS) was investigated with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), with the aim to define novel neural markers of persistent DS in adulthood. Eleven DS adult males were evaluated with TMS on tongue primary motor cortex, compared to 15 matched fluent speakers, in a "state" condition (i.e. stutterers vs. fluent speakers, no overt stuttering). Motor and silent period thresholds (SPT), recruitment curves, and silent period durations were acquired by recording tongue motor evoked potentials. Tongue silent period duration was increased in DS, especially in the left hemisphere (Pstuttering severity. Pre-TMS electromyography data gave overlapping evidence. Findings suggest the existence of a complex intracortical balance in DS tongue primary motor cortex, with a particular interplay between excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms, also in neural substrates related to silent periods. Findings are discussed with respect to functional and structural impairments in stuttering, and are also proposed as novel neural markers of a stuttering "state" in persistent DS, helping to define more focused treatments (e.g. neuro-modulation).

Contextual Hub Analysis Tool (CHAT): A Cytoscape app for identifying contextually relevant hubs in biological networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Muetze, Tanja; Goenawan, Ivan H; Wiencko, Heather L; Bernal-Llinares, Manuel; Bryan, Kenneth; Lynn, David J

2016-01-01

Highly connected nodes (hubs) in biological networks are topologically important to the structure of the network and have also been shown to be preferentially associated with a range of phenotypes of interest. The relative importance of a hub node, however, can change depending on the biological context. Here, we report a Cytoscape app, the Contextual Hub Analysis Tool (CHAT), which enables users to easily construct and visualize a network of interactions from a gene or protein list of interest, integrate contextual information, such as gene expression or mass spectrometry data, and identify hub nodes that are more highly connected to contextual nodes (e.g. genes or proteins that are differentially expressed) than expected by chance. In a case study, we use CHAT to construct a network of genes that are differentially expressed in Dengue fever, a viral infection. CHAT was used to identify and compare contextual and degree-based hubs in this network. The top 20 degree-based hubs were enriched in pathways related to the cell cycle and cancer, which is likely due to the fact that proteins involved in these processes tend to be highly connected in general. In comparison, the top 20 contextual hubs were enriched in pathways commonly observed in a viral infection including pathways related to the immune response to viral infection. This analysis shows that such contextual hubs are considerably more biologically relevant than degree-based hubs and that analyses which rely on the identification of hubs solely based on their connectivity may be biased towards nodes that are highly connected in general rather than in the specific context of interest. CHAT is available for Cytoscape 3.0+ and can be installed via the Cytoscape App Store ( http://apps.cytoscape.org/apps/chat).

The transfer of Cfunc contextual control through equivalence relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, William F; Fidalgo, Adriana P; Kovac, Roberta; Nico, Yara C

2015-05-01

Derived relational responding is affected by contextual stimuli (Cfunc) that select specific stimulus functions. The present study investigated the transfer of Cfunc contextual control through equivalence relations by evaluating both (a) the maintenance of Cfunc contextual control after the expansion of a relational network, and (b) the establishment of novel contextual stimuli by the transfer of Cfunc contextual control through equivalence relations. Initially, equivalence relations were established and contingencies were arranged so that colors functioned as Cfunc stimuli controlling participants' key-pressing responses in the presence of any stimulus from a three-member equivalence network. To investigate the first research question, the three-member equivalence relations were expanded to five members and the novel members were presented with the Cfunc stimuli in the key-pressing task. To address the second goal of this study, the colors (Cfunc) were established as equivalent to certain line patterns. The transfer of contextual cue function (Cfunc) was tested replacing the colored backgrounds with line patterns in the key-pressing task. Results suggest that the Cfunc contextual control was transferred to novel stimuli that were added to the relational network. In addition, the line patterns indirectly acquired the contextual cue function (Cfunc) initially established for the colored backgrounds. The conceptual and applied implications of Cfunc contextual control are discussed. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Contextual Sensing: Integrating Contextual Information with Human and Technical Geo-Sensor Information for Smart Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Sagl, Günther; Resch, Bernd; Blaschke, Thomas

2015-07-14

In this article we critically discuss the challenge of integrating contextual information, in particular spatiotemporal contextual information, with human and technical sensor information, which we approach from a geospatial perspective. We start by highlighting the significance of context in general and spatiotemporal context in particular and introduce a smart city model of interactions between humans, the environment, and technology, with context at the common interface. We then focus on both the intentional and the unintentional sensing capabilities of today's technologies and discuss current technological trends that we consider have the ability to enrich human and technical geo-sensor information with contextual detail. The different types of sensors used to collect contextual information are analyzed and sorted into three groups on the basis of names considering frequently used related terms, and characteristic contextual parameters. These three groups, namely technical in situ sensors, technical remote sensors, and human sensors are analyzed and linked to three dimensions involved in sensing (data generation, geographic phenomena, and type of sensing). In contrast to other scientific publications, we found a large number of technologies and applications using in situ and mobile technical sensors within the context of smart cities, and surprisingly limited use of remote sensing approaches. In this article we further provide a critical discussion of possible impacts and influences of both technical and human sensing approaches on society, pointing out that a larger number of sensors, increased fusion of information, and the use of standardized data formats and interfaces will not necessarily result in any improvement in the quality of life of the citizens of a smart city. This article seeks to improve our understanding of technical and human geo-sensing capabilities, and to demonstrate that the use of such sensors can facilitate the integration of different

Contextual Sensing: Integrating Contextual Information with Human and Technical Geo-Sensor Information for Smart Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Sagl, Günther; Resch, Bernd; Blaschke, Thomas

2015-01-01

In this article we critically discuss the challenge of integrating contextual information, in particular spatiotemporal contextual information, with human and technical sensor information, which we approach from a geospatial perspective. We start by highlighting the significance of context in general and spatiotemporal context in particular and introduce a smart city model of interactions between humans, the environment, and technology, with context at the common interface. We then focus on both the intentional and the unintentional sensing capabilities of today’s technologies and discuss current technological trends that we consider have the ability to enrich human and technical geo-sensor information with contextual detail. The different types of sensors used to collect contextual information are analyzed and sorted into three groups on the basis of names considering frequently used related terms, and characteristic contextual parameters. These three groups, namely technical in situ sensors, technical remote sensors, and human sensors are analyzed and linked to three dimensions involved in sensing (data generation, geographic phenomena, and type of sensing). In contrast to other scientific publications, we found a large number of technologies and applications using in situ and mobile technical sensors within the context of smart cities, and surprisingly limited use of remote sensing approaches. In this article we further provide a critical discussion of possible impacts and influences of both technical and human sensing approaches on society, pointing out that a larger number of sensors, increased fusion of information, and the use of standardized data formats and interfaces will not necessarily result in any improvement in the quality of life of the citizens of a smart city. This article seeks to improve our understanding of technical and human geo-sensing capabilities, and to demonstrate that the use of such sensors can facilitate the integration of different

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anca Daniela; Iov, F.; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. Different control strategies have been developed and implemented for these wind turbine concepts, their performance in normal or fault operation being assessed and discussed by means of simulations. The described control......This report presents a collection of models and control strategies developed and implemented in the power system simulation tool PowerFactory DIgSILENT for different wind turbine concepts. It is the second edition of Risø-R-1400(EN) and it gathers and describes a whole wind turbine model database...... of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides thus a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built...

Human Schedule Performance, Protocol Analysis, and the "Silent Dog" Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Cabello, Francisco; Luciano, Carmen; Gomez, Inmaculada; Barnes-Holmes, Dermot

2004-01-01

The purpose of the current experiment was to investigate the role of private verbal behavior on the operant performances of human adults, using a protocol analysis procedure with additional methodological controls (the "silent dog" method). Twelve subjects were exposed to fixed ratio 8 and differential reinforcement of low rate 3-s schedules. For…

Contextual Factors in Adolescent Substance Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Hochhauser, Mark; And Others

Research on adolescent substance use has focused on prevalence and incidence; however, contextual factors have been largely ignored. A survey of 155 adolescents from a Minneapolis suburb was conducted to assess contextual factors affecting adolescent substance use. Subjects reported their use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marihuana with respect to…

Contextual Cueing Effects across the Lifespan

Science.gov (United States)

Merrill, Edward C.; Conners, Frances A.; Roskos, Beverly; Klinger, Mark R.; Klinger, Laura Grofer

2013-01-01

The authors evaluated age-related variations in contextual cueing, which reflects the extent to which visuospatial regularities can facilitate search for a target. Previous research produced inconsistent results regarding contextual cueing effects in young children and in older adults, and no study has investigated the phenomenon across the life…

Using the Contextual Hub Analysis Tool (CHAT) in Cytoscape to Identify Contextually Relevant Network Hubs.

Science.gov (United States)

Muetze, Tanja; Lynn, David J

2017-09-13

Highly connected nodes in biological networks are called network hubs. Hubs are topologically important to the structure of the network and have been shown to be preferentially associated with a range of phenotypes of interest. The relative importance of a hub node, however, can change depending on the biological context. Here, we provide a step-by-step protocol for using the Contextual Hub Analysis Tool (CHAT), an application within Cytoscape 3, which enables users to easily construct and visualize a network of interactions from a gene or protein list of interest, integrate contextual information, such as gene or protein expression data, and identify hub nodes that are more highly connected to contextual nodes than expected by chance. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Contextual modulation and stimulus selectivity in extrastriate cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, Matthew R; Pack, Christopher C

2014-11-01

Contextual modulation is observed throughout the visual system, using techniques ranging from single-neuron recordings to behavioral experiments. Its role in generating feature selectivity within the retina and primary visual cortex has been extensively described in the literature. Here, we describe how similar computations can also elaborate feature selectivity in the extrastriate areas of both the dorsal and ventral streams of the primate visual system. We discuss recent work that makes use of normalization models to test specific roles for contextual modulation in visual cortex function. We suggest that contextual modulation renders neuronal populations more selective for naturalistic stimuli. Specifically, we discuss contextual modulation's role in processing optic flow in areas MT and MST and for representing naturally occurring curvature and contours in areas V4 and IT. We also describe how the circuitry that supports contextual modulation is robust to variations in overall input levels. Finally, we describe how this theory relates to other hypothesized roles for contextual modulation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Guidance in Reading Strategies: A First Step Towards Autonomous Learning in a Semi-Distance Education Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jahir Aguirre Morales

2009-04-01

Full Text Available This article aims at sharing the results of a research project focused on guiding students in the use of different reading strategies: reading non- text information, skimming and scanning, using contextual reference, predicting, and using true/false cognates as a first step towards autonomous learning. The project was conducted at a Colombian university with two groups of business administration students who belonged to a semi-distance education program. Informal talks with students, questionnaires, interviews and a teacher’s diary were used to collect the information in this action research study. Findings revealed that by knowing several reading strategies the students could reflect upon their learning; meta-cognition processes were enhanced and confidence for students to work by themselves was built up.

Contextual Autism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raahauge, Kirsten Marie

2009-01-01

This project deals with the notion of ghost anthropologically and artistic. The contextual autism of ghosting reveals itself as a sensation of in-betweeness in art as well as in everyday life. The ghost is not easily defined; as Jacques Derrida states in Spectres of Marx (1993/1994) about...

Stopping the Silent Killer: Hepatitis B Among Asian Americans

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

This podcast discusses an underappreciated health threat to many Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States: chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus. Dr. John Ward, director of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis, and Dr. Sam So, founder of the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, address the importance of testing, vaccination, and care to prevent serious health consequences from this "silent" disease.

Lenses on metacognition: Teachers’ perceptions toward strategies in reading in a Pakistani context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Channa, Mansoor A.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The research in the field of metacognition for developing reading is not new; metacognition has been used for many years to identify ways to develop students’ reading comprehension. Most previous research has addressed either primary or secondary level students. However, notably few studies have been conducted at the undergraduate level. This study has attempted to initiate strategies to assist first-year engineering students in developing their reading abilities within a Pakistani context. The primary objective of this research was to identify what strategies first-year engineering students use in developing their reading at Quaid-e-Awam University of engineering science and technology in Pakistan. This study used qualitative instruments that included semi-structured interviews with teachers and classroom observations during read-aloud sessions. The data were organized through NVivo version 8 for obtaining nodes, codes, and main themes for interpreting the results. The results of this study demonstrated that teachers should use metacognitive strategies for developing students’ reading abilities. Findings also revealed that reading strategies, such as text scanning, guesses from contextual clues, drawing on prior knowledge, and using a dictionary, are the most important strategies to use for developing the reading skills and comprehension of engineering students. This study has suggested metacognitive strategies be used for promoting students’ reading abilities and that teachers should design and develop more courses using these strategies to enhance the reading and listening skills of engineering students.

Hydrocoele: A Silent Disability Affecting Quality of Life in Katakwi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Katakwi district is one of the rural districts in eastern Uganda in Teso Sub Region. The district is heavily infested with filarial worms a major cause for hydrocoele and elephantiasis if the infection is left untreated. Hydrocoele in Katakwi district are still a big cause of silent morbidity though it's an operable ...

Increased resting-state functional connectivity of visual- and cognitive-control brain networks after training in children with reading difficulties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Reading Acceleration Program, a computerized reading-training program, increases activation in neural circuits related to reading. We examined the effect of the training on the functional connectivity between independent components related to visual processing, executive functions, attention, memory, and language during rest after the training. Children 8–12 years old with reading difficulties and typical readers participated in the study. Behavioral testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed before and after the training. Imaging data were analyzed using an independent component analysis approach. After training, both reading groups showed increased single-word contextual reading and reading comprehension scores. Greater positive correlations between the visual-processing component and the executive functions, attention, memory, or language components were found after training in children with reading difficulties. Training-related increases in connectivity between the visual and attention components and between the visual and executive function components were positively correlated with increased word reading and reading comprehension, respectively. Our findings suggest that the effect of the Reading Acceleration Program on basic cognitive domains can be detected even in the absence of an ongoing reading task.

Teaching Generalized Reading of Product Warning Labels to Young Adults with Autism Using the Constant Time Delay Procedure

Science.gov (United States)

Dogoe, Maud S.; Banda, Devender R.; Lock, Robin H.; Feinstein, Rita

2011-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of the constant timed delay procedure for teaching two young adults with autism to read, define, and state the contextual meaning of keywords on product warning labels of common household products. Training sessions were conducted in the dyad format using flash cards. Results indicated that both participants…

O papel da Consciência Fonológica na leitura contextual medida pelo teste de Cloze The role of phonological awareness in contextual reading measured by the Cloze task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márcia Maria Peruzzi Elia da Mota

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Estudos que investigam o papel das habilidades metalingüísticas na leitura demonstram que a habilidade de refletir sobre os sons da fala, a consciência fonológica, contribui para leitura de palavras isoladas e compreensão de texto. Considerando a importância do tema, esta pesquisa foi realizada com o objetivo de explorar as relações entre a consciência fonológica e a compreensão em leitura. Participaram 19 crianças da 1ª série e 23 da 2ª série, cujas médias de idade foram respectivamente, 87,5 meses (DP = 3,93 e 98,3 meses (DP = 4,58. Os resultados mostraram que os escores nas tarefas de consciência fonológica se associaram aos escores do teste de Cloze, utilizado como medida da compreensão em leitura. Os resultados são discutidos à luz das teorias sobre aquisição da leitura e sugere-se a realização de novas pesquisas.Studies that investigate the role of metalinguistic abilities in reading show that the ability to reflect upon word's sound, phonological awareness, contributes to reading single words and reading comprehension. Considering the importance of this theme, this research was carried out with the objective of exploring the crelationship between phonological awareness and reading comprehension. Nineteen children from 1st grade and 23 from 2nd grade, whose mean ages were 87,5 months (SD = 3,93 and 98,3 months (SD = 4,58 participated in the study. The results show that the scores on the phonological awareness tasks were associated to the Cloze's score, used as a reading comprehension measure. The results are discussed on the light of the theories of reading acquisition.

Reading Comprehension and Tolerance against Comprehension Ambiguities: An Empirical Study of Iranian GFL-Learners in Communicative Education

Science.gov (United States)

Haghani, Nader; Bahmannejad, Fereshteh

2018-01-01

The present study examines the influence of ambiguity tolerance on the performance of Iranian GFL-learners (Note 1) at level B1 in the processing of gap-filling-text tests. It is assumed that learners with more tolerance of ambiguity achieve better results in the reading comprehension or in the contextual guessing of the omitted words. 34 GFL…

Veratridine activates a silent sodium-channel in rat isolated aorta

NARCIS (Netherlands)

WERMELSKIRCHEN, D; WILFFERT, B; NEBEL, U; LEIDIG, A; WIRTH, A; Peters, Thies

1992-01-01

To investigate the existence of silent Na+ channels, isolated rat aorta was treated with veratridine (0.1 mM) and the resulting Ca2+ uptake was determined. After 30-min incubation the total tissue uptake of Ca2+ and Ca2+ uptake increased from 2.325 +/- 0.017 to 2.614 +/- 0.080 nmol/mg wet weight

Health Education Films of the Silent Era: A Historical Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sofalvi, Alan

2011-01-01

Films have been used to present health messages throughout the history of the medium. The purpose of this article is to describe pictures from the silent film era that were designed to educate people about health issues. Films still available in at least one format were reviewed. Published reviews were also used to obtain information about these…

Do Mathematics and Reading Competencies Integrated into Career and Technical Education Courses Improve High School Student State Assessment Scores?

Science.gov (United States)

Pierce, Kristin B.; Hernandez, Victor M.

2015-01-01

A quasi experimental study tested a contextual teaching and learning model for integrating reading and mathematics competencies through 13 introductory career and technical education (CTE) courses. The treatment group consisted of students in the 13 introductory courses taught by the CTE teachers who designed the units and the control group…

On Contextuality.

Science.gov (United States)

Thayer-Bacon, Barbara J.

This exploration of what feminism has to contribute to pragmatism, and vice versa, considers the idea of contextuality through an examination of the role of current pragmatists, such as Cornel West and Richard Rorty, and current feminists, including Charlene Haddock Siegfried, Maxine Greene, and Seyla Benhabib. To set the stage historically for…

Competing definitions of contextual environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerrett Michael

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The growing interest in the effects of contextual environments on health outcomes has focused attention on the strengths and weaknesses of alternate contextual unit definitions for use in multilevel analysis. The present research examined three methods to define contextual units for a sample of children already enrolled in a respiratory health study. The Inclusive Equal Weights Method (M1 and Inclusive Sample Weighted Method (M2 defined communities using the boundaries of the census blocks that incorporated the residences of the CHS participants, except that the former estimated socio-demographic variables by averaging the census block data within each community, while the latter used weighted proportion of CHS participants per block. The Minimum Bounding Rectangle Method (M3 generated minimum bounding rectangles that included 95% of the CHS participants and produced estimates of census variables using the weighted proportion of each block within these rectangles. GIS was used to map the locations of study participants, define the boundaries of the communities where study participants reside, and compute estimates of socio-demographic variables. The sensitivity of census variable estimates to the choice of community boundaries and weights was assessed using standard tests of significance. Results The estimates of contextual variables vary significantly depending on the choice of neighborhood boundaries and weights. The choice of boundaries therefore shapes the community profile and the relationships between its components (variables. Conclusion Multilevel analysis concerned with the effects of contextual environments on health requires careful consideration of what constitutes a contextual unit for a given study sample, because the alternate definitions may have differential impact on the results. The three alternative methods used in this research all carry some subjectivity, which is embedded in the decision as to what

THE EFFECT OF USING SHORT SILENT ANIMATIONS ON EFL LEARNERS WRITING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Marashi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of short silent animations on pre-intermediate EFL learners writing. A homogenized group of 60 participants was non-randomly chosen and assigned as the control and experimental groups. Those in the control group watched five short animations with dialogue, while those in the experimental group had five short animations which were silent. The procedure lasted 10 sessions. In both groups, the participants were asked to write five writings regarding the subjects of the animations during the term and each of the writings should have contained a minimum of 90 and maximum of 140 words. The participants were provided both oral and written feedback. At the end of the instruction, a sample PET writing posttest was administered to both groups, an independent samples t-test was run on the mean scores of the two groups, and the results (t = -2.02, p = 0.037˂0.05 revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group.

Typical and atypical (silent) subacute thyroiditis in a wife and husband

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrison, J.; Caplan, R.H.

1978-01-01

Typical subacute thyroiditis was diagnosed in a woman. Three weeks later, signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism developed in her husband. Although the right lobe of his thyroid gland was slightly enlarged, pain and tenderness were absent throughout the course of his illness. The free thyroxine equivalent (FTE) value and the sedimentation rate were elevated; the low uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland was consistent with ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. We postulate that a common etiology, probably viral, was operative in both cases. Nine additional cases of hyperthyroidism with low levels of thyroidal uptake of radioactive iodine are described. The thyroid glands of these patients were normal or slightly enlarged. Antithyroglobulin antibody levels determined in seven patients were not substantially elevated. The clinical course of these patients was characteristic of ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. Although the origin of the syndrome remains unclear, the disease is self-limited and therapy, if any, is supportive

Typical and atypical (silent) subacute thyroiditis in a wife and husband

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrison, J.; Caplan, R.H.

1978-01-01

Typical subacute thyroiditis was diagnosed in a woman. Three weeks later, signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism developed in her husband. Although the right lobe of his thyroid gland was slightly enlarged, pain and tenderness were absent throughout the course of his illness. The free thyroxine equivalent (FTE) value and the sedimentation rate were elevated; the low uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland was consistent with ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. We postulate that a common etiology, probably viral, was operative in both cases. Nine additional cases of hyperthyroidism with low levels of thyroidal uptake of radioactive iodine are described. The thyroid glands of these patients were normal or slightly enlarged. Antithyroglobulin antibody levels determined in seven patients were not substantially elevated. The clinical course of these patients was characteristic of ''silent'' subacute thyroiditis. Although the origin of the syndrome remains unclear, the disease is self-limited and therapy, if any, is supportive.

Does Contextual Cueing Guide the Deployment of Attention?

Science.gov (United States)

Kunar, Melina A.; Flusberg, Stephen; Horowitz, Todd S.; Wolfe, Jeremy M.

2008-01-01

Contextual cueing experiments show that when displays are repeated, reaction times (RTs) to find a target decrease over time even when observers are not aware of the repetition. It has been thought that the context of the display guides attention to the target. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the effects of guidance in a standard search task to the effects of contextual cueing. Firstly, in standard search, an improvement in guidance causes search slopes (derived from RT × Set Size functions) to decrease. In contrast, we found that search slopes in contextual cueing did not become more efficient over time (Experiment 1). Secondly, when guidance is optimal (e.g. in easy feature search) we still found a small, but reliable contextual cueing effect (Experiments 2a and 2b), suggesting that other factors, such as response selection, contribute to the effect. Experiment 3 supported this hypothesis by showing that the contextual cueing effect disappeared when we added interference to the response selection process. Overall, our data suggest that the relationship between guidance and contextual cueing is weak and that response selection can account for part of the effect. PMID:17683230

Detection of silent cells, synchronization and modulatory activity in developing cellular networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Hjorth, Johannes J J; Dawitz, Julia; Kroon, Tim; Pires, Johny; Dassen, Valerie J; Berkhout, Janna A; Emperador Melero, Javier; Nadadhur, Aish G; Alevra, Mihai; Toonen, Ruud F; Heine, Vivi M; Mansvelder, Huibert D; Meredith, Rhiannon M

2016-04-01

Developing networks in the immature nervous system and in cellular cultures are characterized by waves of synchronous activity in restricted clusters of cells. Synchronized activity in immature networks is proposed to regulate many different developmental processes, from neuron growth and cell migration, to the refinement of synapses, topographic maps, and the mature composition of ion channels. These emergent activity patterns are not present in all cells simultaneously within the network and more immature "silent" cells, potentially correlated with the presence of silent synapses, are prominent in different networks during early developmental periods. Many current network analyses for detection of synchronous cellular activity utilize activity-based pixel correlations to identify cellular-based regions of interest (ROIs) and coincident cell activity. However, using activity-based correlations, these methods first underestimate or ignore the inactive silent cells within the developing network and second, are difficult to apply within cell-dense regions commonly found in developing brain networks. In addition, previous methods may ignore ROIs within a network that shows transient activity patterns comprising both inactive and active periods. We developed analysis software to semi-automatically detect cells within developing neuronal networks that were imaged using calcium-sensitive reporter dyes. Using an iterative threshold, modulation of activity was tracked within individual cells across the network. The distribution pattern of both inactive and active, including synchronous cells, could be determined based on distance measures to neighboring cells and according to different anatomical layers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Enhancing the production effect in memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinlan, Chelsea K; Taylor, Tracy L

2013-01-01

The production effect is the finding that subsequent memory is better for words that are produced than for words that are not produced. Whereas the current literature demonstrates that reading aloud is the most effective form of production, the distinctiveness account used to explain the production effect predicts that there is nothing special about reading aloud per se: Other forms of vocal production that include an additional distinct element should produce even greater subsequent memory benefits than reading aloud. To test this, we presented participants with study words that they were instructed to read aloud loudly, read aloud, or read silently (Experiment 1); sing, read aloud, or read silently (Experiment 2); and sing, read aloud loudly, read aloud, or read silently (Experiment 3). We observed that both reading items aloud loudly (Experiments 1 and 3) and singing items (Experiments 2 and 3) at study resulted in greater subsequent recognition than reading items aloud in a normal voice; singing had a larger memory benefit than reading aloud loudly (Experiment 3). Our findings support the distinctiveness hypothesis by demonstrating that there are other forms of production, such as singing and reading aloud loudly that have a more pronounced effect on memory than reading aloud.

Silent Patent Ductus Arteriosus Aneurysm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aline Medeiros Botta

2002-09-01

Full Text Available Ductus arteriosus aneurysm, a rare and potentially fatal condition, has been reported as a complication after surgical ductus arteriosus closure. Its spontaneous appearance as a septic complication, which was common in the presurgical and preantibiotic era, has been rarely reported in the contemporary literature. Persistence of silent ductus arteriosus in healthy children and adults is a frequent condition that currently has an increasing diagnostic possibility due to the availability of more accurate investigative methods, especially echocardiography. We report the case of a 1-year-old child, in whom no previous heart disease was known, who developed a giant aneurysm of the ductus arteriosus during a staphylococcal infection. This complication appeared after craniotomy for emptying an accidental subdural hematoma. This report associates the persistence of ductus arteriosus with a complication considered rare, which has a rapidly fatal evolution.

Interaction between scene-based and array-based contextual cueing.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbaum, Gail M; Jiang, Yuhong V

2013-07-01

Contextual cueing refers to the cueing of spatial attention by repeated spatial context. Previous studies have demonstrated distinctive properties of contextual cueing by background scenes and by an array of search items. Whereas scene-based contextual cueing reflects explicit learning of the scene-target association, array-based contextual cueing is supported primarily by implicit learning. In this study, we investigated the interaction between scene-based and array-based contextual cueing. Participants searched for a target that was predicted by both the background scene and the locations of distractor items. We tested three possible patterns of interaction: (1) The scene and the array could be learned independently, in which case cueing should be expressed even when only one cue was preserved; (2) the scene and array could be learned jointly, in which case cueing should occur only when both cues were preserved; (3) overshadowing might occur, in which case learning of the stronger cue should preclude learning of the weaker cue. In several experiments, we manipulated the nature of the contextual cues present during training and testing. We also tested explicit awareness of scenes, scene-target associations, and arrays. The results supported the overshadowing account: Specifically, scene-based contextual cueing precluded array-based contextual cueing when both were predictive of the location of a search target. We suggest that explicit, endogenous cues dominate over implicit cues in guiding spatial attention.

Phonological coding during reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Leinenger, Mallorie

2014-11-01

The exact role that phonological coding (the recoding of written, orthographic information into a sound based code) plays during silent reading has been extensively studied for more than a century. Despite the large body of research surrounding the topic, varying theories as to the time course and function of this recoding still exist. The present review synthesizes this body of research, addressing the topics of time course and function in tandem. The varying theories surrounding the function of phonological coding (e.g., that phonological codes aid lexical access, that phonological codes aid comprehension and bolster short-term memory, or that phonological codes are largely epiphenomenal in skilled readers) are first outlined, and the time courses that each maps onto (e.g., that phonological codes come online early [prelexical] or that phonological codes come online late [postlexical]) are discussed. Next the research relevant to each of these proposed functions is reviewed, discussing the varying methodologies that have been used to investigate phonological coding (e.g., response time methods, reading while eye-tracking or recording EEG and MEG, concurrent articulation) and highlighting the advantages and limitations of each with respect to the study of phonological coding. In response to the view that phonological coding is largely epiphenomenal in skilled readers, research on the use of phonological codes in prelingually, profoundly deaf readers is reviewed. Finally, implications for current models of word identification (activation-verification model, Van Orden, 1987; dual-route model, e.g., M. Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, & Ziegler, 2001; parallel distributed processing model, Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, A.C.; Jauch, C.; Soerensen, P.; Iov, F.; Blaabjerg, F.

2003-12-01

The present report describes the dynamic wind turbine models implemented in the power system simulation tool DIgSILENT (Version 12.0). The developed models are a part of the results of a national research project, whose overall objective is to create a model database in different simulation tools. This model database should be able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built-in models for the electrical components of a grid connected wind turbine (e.g. induction generators, power converters, transformers) and the models developed by the user, in the dynamic simulation language DSL of DIgSILENT, for the non-electrical components of the wind turbine (wind model, aerodynamic model, mechanical model). The initialisation issues on the wind turbine models into the power system simulation are also presented. However, the main attention in this report is drawn to the modelling at the system level of two wind turbine concepts: 1. Active stall wind turbine with induction generator 2. Variable speed, variable pitch wind turbine with doubly fed induction generator. These wind turbine concept models can be used and even extended for the study of different aspects, e.g. the assessment of power quality, control strategies, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. For both these two concepts, control strategies are developed and implemented, their performance assessed and discussed by means of simulations. (au)

Neural responses to silent lipreading in normal hearing male and female subjects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruytjens, Liesbet; Albers, Frans; van Dijk, Pim; Wit, Hero; Willemsen, Antoon

In the past, researchers investigated silent lipreading in normal hearing subjects with functional neuroimaging tools and showed how the brain processes visual stimuli that are normally accompanied by an auditory counterpart. Previously, we showed activation differences between males and females in

Assigning poetry reading as a way of introducing students to qualitative data analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Raingruber, Bonnie

2009-08-01

The aim of the paper is to explain how poetry reading can be used to teach interpretive analysis of qualitative data. A number of studies were located in the nursing literature that focused on using poetry to help students develop empathy for patients, to teach students to reflect on their own practice, and to assist them in developing self-understanding. No studies were found that described the use of poetry reading as a way of teaching the skill of interpretive analysis. There are, however, a number of parallels between the principles of poetry reading and qualitative analysis that suggest that this method of teaching would be successful. International papers published on PubMed, Medline, and CINAHL were reviewed to identify challenges facing educators and ways of teaching the process of qualitative data analysis using poetry reading. Using poetry reading to teach skills of qualitative data analysis helps motivate students, cultivates a reflective mindset, and develops the skill of working as a member of an interpretive group. Framing interpretive work as being like reading poetry helps students pick up more quickly on the art that is a major component of the work. This approach also helps students learn the importance of cultural and contextual particulars as they begin analyzing qualitative data. Using poetry reading to introduce students to the complex skill of qualitative data analysis is an effective pedagogical strategy.

Chronic fluoxetine dissociates contextual from auditory fear memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Jeff; Mayford, Mark

2016-10-06

Fluoxetine is a medication used to treat Major Depressive Disorder and other psychiatric conditions. These experiments studied the effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment on the contextual versus auditory fear memory of mice. We found that chronic fluoxetine treatment of adult mice impaired their contextual fear memory, but spared auditory fear memory. Hippocampal perineuronal nets, which are involved in contextual fear memory plasticity, were unaltered by fluoxetine treatment. These data point to a selective inability to form contextual fear memory as a result of fluoxetine treatment, and they suggest that a blunting of hippocampal-mediated aversive memory may be a therapeutic action for this medication. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving Acquisition Outcomes with Contextual Ambidexterity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meglio, Olimpia; King, David R.; Risberg, Annette

2015-01-01

The results of research on mergers and acquisitions often point to a need to improve acquisition outcomes and lessen the organizational turmoil that can often follow integration efforts. We assert that viewing acquisition integration through the lens of contextual ambidexterity may improve...... acquisition outcomes in two ways: by providing an integrated solution to the economic and social tensions in acquisitions, and by enabling managers to effectively confront the competing needs of task and human integration. We also posit that by building on contextual ambidexterity, we can extend...... the possibilities for both research and practice regarding task and human integration in acquisitions. We also emphasize the role of an integration manager and integration mechanisms in enabling contextual ambidexterity for successful acquisition integration. Finally, we identify implications for research...

Testing quantum contextuality. The problem of compatibility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szangolies, Jochen

2015-01-01

Jochen Szangolies contributes a novel way of dealing with the problem of the experimental testability of the Kochen-Specker theorem posed by realistic, that is, noisy, measurements. Such noise spoils perfect compatibility between successive measurements, which however is a necessary requirement to test the notion of contextuality in usual approaches. To overcome this difficulty, a new, extended notion of contextuality that reduces to Kochen-Specker contextuality in the limit of perfect measurement implementations is proposed by the author, together with a scheme to test this notion experimentally. Furthermore, the behaviour of these tests under realistic noise conditions is investigated.

Towards Contactless Silent Speech Recognition Based on Detection of Active and Visible Articulators Using IR-UWB Radar.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Young Hoon; Seo, Jiwon

2016-10-29

People with hearing or speaking disabilities are deprived of the benefits of conventional speech recognition technology because it is based on acoustic signals. Recent research has focused on silent speech recognition systems that are based on the motions of a speaker's vocal tract and articulators. Because most silent speech recognition systems use contact sensors that are very inconvenient to users or optical systems that are susceptible to environmental interference, a contactless and robust solution is hence required. Toward this objective, this paper presents a series of signal processing algorithms for a contactless silent speech recognition system using an impulse radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB) radar. The IR-UWB radar is used to remotely and wirelessly detect motions of the lips and jaw. In order to extract the necessary features of lip and jaw motions from the received radar signals, we propose a feature extraction algorithm. The proposed algorithm noticeably improved speech recognition performance compared to the existing algorithm during our word recognition test with five speakers. We also propose a speech activity detection algorithm to automatically select speech segments from continuous input signals. Thus, speech recognition processing is performed only when speech segments are detected. Our testbed consists of commercial off-the-shelf radar products, and the proposed algorithms are readily applicable without designing specialized radar hardware for silent speech processing.

Linear contextual modal type theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schack-Nielsen, Anders; Schürmann, Carsten

Abstract. When one implements a logical framework based on linear type theory, for example the Celf system [?], one is immediately con- fronted with questions about their equational theory and how to deal with logic variables. In this paper, we propose linear contextual modal type theory that gives...... a mathematical account of the nature of logic variables. Our type theory is conservative over intuitionistic contextual modal type theory proposed by Nanevski, Pfenning, and Pientka. Our main contributions include a mechanically checked proof of soundness and a working implementation....

Hierarchical acquisition of visual specificity in spatial contextual cueing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lie, Kin-Pou

2015-01-01

Spatial contextual cueing refers to visual search performance's being improved when invariant associations between target locations and distractor spatial configurations are learned incidentally. Using the instance theory of automatization and the reverse hierarchy theory of visual perceptual learning, this study explores the acquisition of visual specificity in spatial contextual cueing. Two experiments in which detailed visual features were irrelevant for distinguishing between spatial contexts found that spatial contextual cueing was visually generic in difficult trials when the trials were not preceded by easy trials (Experiment 1) but that spatial contextual cueing progressed to visual specificity when difficult trials were preceded by easy trials (Experiment 2). These findings support reverse hierarchy theory, which predicts that even when detailed visual features are irrelevant for distinguishing between spatial contexts, spatial contextual cueing can progress to visual specificity if the stimuli remain constant, the task is difficult, and difficult trials are preceded by easy trials. However, these findings are inconsistent with instance theory, which predicts that when detailed visual features are irrelevant for distinguishing between spatial contexts, spatial contextual cueing will not progress to visual specificity. This study concludes that the acquisition of visual specificity in spatial contextual cueing is more plausibly hierarchical, rather than instance-based.

Silent and a audible stereotypes: The constitution of "ethnic character" in Serbian epic poetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đerić Gordana

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the explanatory relevance of the concept of stereotype in one of its original meanings - as a "mental image". This meaning of the term is the starting point for further differentiations, such as: between linguistic and behavioral stereotypes (in the sense of nonverbal, expected responses; universal and particular stereotypes; self representative and introspective stereotypes; permanent and contemporary stereotypes; and finally, what is most important for our purposes, the difference between silent and audible stereotypes. These distinctions, along with the functions of stereotype, are discussed in the first part of the paper. In the second part, the relations of silent and audible stereotypes are tested against the introduction of "innovative vocabularies" in popular lore. In other words, the explanatory power of this differentiation is checked through an analysis of unconventional motives in Serbian epic poems. The goal of the argument is to clarify the procedure of self creation of masculinity as a relevant feature of the "national character" through "tactic games" of silent and audible stereotypes. The examination of these "poetic strategies" serves a twofold purpose: to illustrate the process of constructing particular features of the "ethno type", on one hand, and to check hypotheses and models which are taken as frameworks in analyzing stereotypes, on the other.

When Spiders Bite: The Use, Misuse, and Unintended Consequences of ``Silent Information''

Science.gov (United States)

Keenan, Thomas P.

Spiders are the workhorses of the Internet, silently (and almost invisibly) traversing the online world, 24 hours a day, looking for information that may be of interest to someone. It is being archived, organized, and sold, usually without the knowledge or consent of the subject of the information. Serious consequences are starting to appear, such as the withdrawal of three candidates from the October 2008 Canadian Federal election because of previous online indiscretions. While these were intentional if mis-guided postings, information made available without our consent can have equally devastating effects. Advances in artificial intelligence, as well as the increasing tendency to post more and more information, such as videos, will make the gathering, aggregation, and republishing of this “silent information” an increasingly important issue that must be addressed from the technical, social, ethical and legal perspectives, and sooner rather than later.

Object based implicit contextual learning: a study of eye movements.

Science.gov (United States)

van Asselen, Marieke; Sampaio, Joana; Pina, Ana; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2011-02-01

Implicit contextual cueing refers to a top-down mechanism in which visual search is facilitated by learned contextual features. In the current study we aimed to investigate the mechanism underlying implicit contextual learning using object information as a contextual cue. Therefore, we measured eye movements during an object-based contextual cueing task. We demonstrated that visual search is facilitated by repeated object information and that this reduction in response times is associated with shorter fixation durations. This indicates that by memorizing associations between objects in our environment we can recognize objects faster, thereby facilitating visual search.

Social Salience Discriminates Learnability of Contextual Cues in an Artificial Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Rácz, Péter; Hay, Jennifer B; Pierrehumbert, Janet B

2017-01-01

We investigate the learning of contextual meaning by adults in an artificial language. Contextual meaning here refers to the non-denotative contextual information that speakers attach to a linguistic construction. Through a series of short games, played online, we test how well adults can learn different contextual meanings for a word-formation pattern in an artificial language. We look at whether learning contextual meanings depends on the social salience of the context, whether our players interpret these contexts generally, and whether the learned meaning is generalized to new words. Our results show that adults are capable of learning contextual meaning if the context is socially salient, coherent, and interpretable. Once a contextual meaning is recognized, it is readily generalized to related forms and contexts.

Contextuality under weak assumptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simmons, Andrew W; Rudolph, Terry; Wallman, Joel J; Pashayan, Hakop; Bartlett, Stephen D

2017-01-01

The presence of contextuality in quantum theory was first highlighted by Bell, Kochen and Specker, who discovered that for quantum systems of three or more dimensions, measurements could not be viewed as deterministically revealing pre-existing properties of the system. More precisely, no model can assign deterministic outcomes to the projectors of a quantum measurement in a way that depends only on the projector and not the context (the full set of projectors) in which it appeared, despite the fact that the Born rule probabilities associated with projectors are independent of the context. A more general, operational definition of contextuality introduced by Spekkens, which we will term ‘probabilistic contextuality’, drops the assumption of determinism and allows for operations other than measurements to be considered contextual. Even two-dimensional quantum mechanics can be shown to be contextual under this generalised notion. Probabilistic noncontextuality represents the postulate that elements of an operational theory that cannot be distinguished from each other based on the statistics of arbitrarily many repeated experiments (they give rise to the same operational probabilities) are ontologically identical. In this paper, we introduce a framework that enables us to distinguish between different noncontextuality assumptions in terms of the relationships between the ontological representations of objects in the theory given a certain relation between their operational representations. This framework can be used to motivate and define a ‘possibilistic’ analogue, encapsulating the idea that elements of an operational theory that cannot be unambiguously distinguished operationally can also not be unambiguously distinguished ontologically. We then prove that possibilistic noncontextuality is equivalent to an alternative notion of noncontextuality proposed by Hardy. Finally, we demonstrate that these weaker noncontextuality assumptions are sufficient to prove

The prevalence and the clinical characteristics of silent myocardial ischemia detected by stress thallium scintigraphy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuo, Hitoshi; Watanabe, Sachiro; Nishida, Yoshio

1992-01-01

The prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia was retrospectively assessed in a group of 100 consecutive patients with angiographically proved coronary artery disease, and diagnostic ECG, by symptom-limited exercise thallium-201 scintigraphy. Twenty-four patients had no evidence of ischemia despite adequate exercise level. So among 76 patients with exercise induced ischemia, only 33 patients (43%) stopped exercise due to anginal pain (symptomatic ischemia: Group 3). And 43 patients with asymptomatic ischemia composed of 23 patients (30%) with ECG change (Group 2B) and 20 patients (26%) without ECG change (Group 2A). Patients background including the history of old myocardial infarction and diabetes mellitus, were similar among Group 2A, 2B, and Group 3. Our Major observation was that the extent and severity of quantified SPECT perfusion defects was nearly identified between 3 groups. Thus in this study group, there was a rather high prevalence rate of silent ischemia (57%) by exercise thallium-201 criteria. Patients with silent ischemia, associated with positive and negative exercise ECG findings, and those with exercise angina had similar background and comparable amount of jeopardized myocardium. (author)

Silent Speech Recognition as an Alternative Communication Device for Persons with Laryngectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Meltzner, Geoffrey S; Heaton, James T; Deng, Yunbin; De Luca, Gianluca; Roy, Serge H; Kline, Joshua C

2017-12-01

Each year thousands of individuals require surgical removal of their larynx (voice box) due to trauma or disease, and thereby require an alternative voice source or assistive device to verbally communicate. Although natural voice is lost after laryngectomy, most muscles controlling speech articulation remain intact. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) activity of speech musculature can be recorded from the neck and face, and used for automatic speech recognition to provide speech-to-text or synthesized speech as an alternative means of communication. This is true even when speech is mouthed or spoken in a silent (subvocal) manner, making it an appropriate communication platform after laryngectomy. In this study, 8 individuals at least 6 months after total laryngectomy were recorded using 8 sEMG sensors on their face (4) and neck (4) while reading phrases constructed from a 2,500-word vocabulary. A unique set of phrases were used for training phoneme-based recognition models for each of the 39 commonly used phonemes in English, and the remaining phrases were used for testing word recognition of the models based on phoneme identification from running speech. Word error rates were on average 10.3% for the full 8-sensor set (averaging 9.5% for the top 4 participants), and 13.6% when reducing the sensor set to 4 locations per individual (n=7). This study provides a compelling proof-of-concept for sEMG-based alaryngeal speech recognition, with the strong potential to further improve recognition performance.

Ventricular Fibrillation Associated With Dynamic Changes in J-Point Elevation in a Patient With Silent Thyroiditis.

Science.gov (United States)

Karashima, Shigehiro; Tsuda, Toyonobu; Wakabayashi, Yusuke; Kometani, Mitsuhiro; Demura, Masashi; Ichise, Taro; Kawashiri, Masa-Aki; Takeda, Yoshiyu; Hayashi, Kenshi; Yoneda, Takashi

2018-02-01

A J wave is a common electrocardiographic finding in the general population. Individuals with prominent J waves in multiple electrocardiogram (ECG) leads have a higher risk of lethal arrhythmias than those with low-amplitude J waves. There are few reports about the relationship between thyroid function and J-wave amplitude. We report the case of a 45-year-old man who had unexpected ventricular fibrillation (VF). He had dynamic J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Possible early repolarization syndrome was diagnosed. He also had thyrotoxicosis caused by silent thyroiditis, and his J-wave amplitude decreased according to changes in thyroid function because of spontaneous remission of silent thyroiditis. There was a positive correlation between serum triiodothyronine levels and J-wave amplitudes. The findings in case suggested silent thyroiditis may contribute to the occurrence of VF in a patient with dynamic changes in J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Thyrotoxicosis is a relatively common endocrine disease; therefore, clinicians should pay attention to J-wave amplitude in the ECG of patients with thyrotoxicosis.

Ventricular Fibrillation Associated With Dynamic Changes in J-Point Elevation in a Patient With Silent Thyroiditis

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuda, Toyonobu; Wakabayashi, Yusuke; Kometani, Mitsuhiro; Demura, Masashi; Ichise, Taro; Kawashiri, Masa-aki; Takeda, Yoshiyu; Hayashi, Kenshi; Yoneda, Takashi

2018-01-01

A J wave is a common electrocardiographic finding in the general population. Individuals with prominent J waves in multiple electrocardiogram (ECG) leads have a higher risk of lethal arrhythmias than those with low-amplitude J waves. There are few reports about the relationship between thyroid function and J-wave amplitude. We report the case of a 45-year-old man who had unexpected ventricular fibrillation (VF). He had dynamic J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Possible early repolarization syndrome was diagnosed. He also had thyrotoxicosis caused by silent thyroiditis, and his J-wave amplitude decreased according to changes in thyroid function because of spontaneous remission of silent thyroiditis. There was a positive correlation between serum triiodothyronine levels and J-wave amplitudes. The findings in case suggested silent thyroiditis may contribute to the occurrence of VF in a patient with dynamic changes in J-point elevation in multiple ECG leads. Thyrotoxicosis is a relatively common endocrine disease; therefore, clinicians should pay attention to J-wave amplitude in the ECG of patients with thyrotoxicosis. PMID:29383332

3D Bayesian contextual classifiers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Rasmus

2000-01-01

We extend a series of multivariate Bayesian 2-D contextual classifiers to 3-D by specifying a simultaneous Gaussian distribution for the feature vectors as well as a prior distribution of the class variables of a pixel and its 6 nearest 3-D neighbours.......We extend a series of multivariate Bayesian 2-D contextual classifiers to 3-D by specifying a simultaneous Gaussian distribution for the feature vectors as well as a prior distribution of the class variables of a pixel and its 6 nearest 3-D neighbours....

Contextualizing symbol, symbolizing context

Science.gov (United States)

Maudy, Septiani Yugni; Suryadi, Didi; Mulyana, Endang

2017-08-01

When students learn algebra for the first time, inevitably they are experiencing transition from arithmetic to algebraic thinking. Once students could apprehend this essential mathematical knowledge, they are cultivating their ability in solving daily life problems by applying algebra. However, as we dig into this transitional stage, we identified possible students' learning obstacles to be dealt with seriously in order to forestall subsequent hindrance in studying more advance algebra. We come to realize this recurring problem as we undertook the processes of re-personalization and re-contextualization in which we scrutinize the very basic questions: 1) what is variable, linear equation with one variable and their relationship with the arithmetic-algebraic thinking? 2) Why student should learn such concepts? 3) How to teach those concepts to students? By positioning ourselves as a seventh grade student, we address the possibility of children to think arithmetically when confronted with the problems of linear equation with one variable. To help them thinking algebraically, Bruner's modes of representation developed contextually from concrete to abstract were delivered to enhance their interpretation toward the idea of variables. Hence, from the outset we designed the context for student to think symbolically initiated by exploring various symbols that could be contextualized in order to bridge student traversing the arithmetic-algebraic fruitfully.

Silent Corticotroph Adenomas After Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Case–Control Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Zhiyuan; Ellis, Scott; Lee, Cheng-Chia; Starke, Robert M.; Schlesinger, David; Lee Vance, Mary; Lopes, M. Beatriz; Sheehan, Jason

2014-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in patients with a silent corticotroph adenoma (SCA) compared with patients with other subtypes of non–adrenocorticotropic hormone staining nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFA). Methods and Materials: The clinical features and outcomes of 104 NFA patients treated with SRS in our center between September 1994 and August 2012 were evaluated. Among them, 34 consecutive patients with a confirmatory SCA were identified. A control group of 70 patients with other subtypes of NFA were selected for review based on comparable baseline features, including sex, age at the time of SRS, tumor size, margin radiation dose to the tumor, and duration of follow-up. Results: The median follow-up after SRS was 56 months (range, 6-200 months). No patients with an SCA developed Cushing disease during the follow-up. Tumor control was achieved in 21 of 34 patients (62%) in the SCA group, compared with 65 of 70 patients (93%) in the NFA group. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 58 months in the SCA group. The actuarial PFS was 73%, 46%, and 31% in the SCA group and was 94%, 87%, and 87% in the NFA group at 3, 5, and 8 years, respectively. Silent corticotroph adenomas treated with a dose of ≥17 Gy exhibited improved PFS. New-onset loss of pituitary function developed in 10 patients (29%) in the SCA group, whereas it occurred in 18 patients (26%) in the NFA group. Eight patients (24%) in the SCA group experienced worsening of a visual field deficit or visual acuity attributed to the tumor progression, as did 6 patients (9%) in the NFA group. Conclusion: Silent corticotroph adenomas exhibited a more aggressive course with a higher progression rate than other subtypes of NFAs. Stereotactic radiosurgery is an important adjuvant treatment for control of tumor growth. Increased radiation dose may lead to improved tumor control in SCA patients

Silent Corticotroph Adenomas After Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Case–Control Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Zhiyuan; Ellis, Scott; Lee, Cheng-Chia; Starke, Robert M. [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Schlesinger, David [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Lee Vance, Mary [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Lopes, M. Beatriz [Division of Neuropathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Sheehan, Jason, E-mail: jsheehan@virginia.edu [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (United States)

2014-11-15

Purpose: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in patients with a silent corticotroph adenoma (SCA) compared with patients with other subtypes of non–adrenocorticotropic hormone staining nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFA). Methods and Materials: The clinical features and outcomes of 104 NFA patients treated with SRS in our center between September 1994 and August 2012 were evaluated. Among them, 34 consecutive patients with a confirmatory SCA were identified. A control group of 70 patients with other subtypes of NFA were selected for review based on comparable baseline features, including sex, age at the time of SRS, tumor size, margin radiation dose to the tumor, and duration of follow-up. Results: The median follow-up after SRS was 56 months (range, 6-200 months). No patients with an SCA developed Cushing disease during the follow-up. Tumor control was achieved in 21 of 34 patients (62%) in the SCA group, compared with 65 of 70 patients (93%) in the NFA group. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 58 months in the SCA group. The actuarial PFS was 73%, 46%, and 31% in the SCA group and was 94%, 87%, and 87% in the NFA group at 3, 5, and 8 years, respectively. Silent corticotroph adenomas treated with a dose of ≥17 Gy exhibited improved PFS. New-onset loss of pituitary function developed in 10 patients (29%) in the SCA group, whereas it occurred in 18 patients (26%) in the NFA group. Eight patients (24%) in the SCA group experienced worsening of a visual field deficit or visual acuity attributed to the tumor progression, as did 6 patients (9%) in the NFA group. Conclusion: Silent corticotroph adenomas exhibited a more aggressive course with a higher progression rate than other subtypes of NFAs. Stereotactic radiosurgery is an important adjuvant treatment for control of tumor growth. Increased radiation dose may lead to improved tumor control in SCA patients.

Probing contextuality with pre- and post-selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tollaksen, Jeff

2007-01-01

By analyzing the concept of contextuality (Bell-Kochen-Specker) in terms of pre-and-post-selection (PPS), it is possible to assign definite values to observables in a new way. Physical reasons are presented for restrictions on these assignments. When measurements are performed which do not disturb the pre- and post-selection (i.e. weak measurements), then novel experimental aspects of contextuality can be demonstrated including a proof that every PPS-paradox with definite predictions implies contextuality. Certain results of these measurements (eccentric weak values with e.g. negative values outside the spectrum), however, cannot be explained by a 'classical-like' hidden variable theory. Surprising theoretical implications are discussed

Moral contextualism and the problem of triviality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, Daan

Moral contextualism is the view that claims like ‘A ought to X’ are implicitly relative to some (contextually variable) standard. This leads to a problem: what are fundamental moral claims like ‘You ought to maximize happiness’ relative to? If this claim is relative to a utilitarian standard, then

Moral contextualism and the problem of triviality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, H.W.A.

2013-01-01

Moral contextualism is the view that claims like ‘A ought to X’ are implicitly relative to some (contextually variable) standard. This leads to a problem: what are fundamental moral claims like ‘You ought to maximize happiness’ relative to? If the claim is relative to a utilitarian standard, then

Information Needs in a Community of Reading Specialists: What Information Needs Say about Contextual Frameworks

Science.gov (United States)

Normore, Lorraine

2011-01-01

Introduction: The perceived information needs of teachers who specialize in reading instruction for at-risk first graders were studied and related to frameworks for the role of social context in information needs, seeking and use. The frameworks considered were: disciplinarity, role theory in work settings, small worlds and information grounds and…

History of Reading Struggles Linked to Enhanced Learning in Low Spatial Frequency Scenes

Science.gov (United States)

Schneps, Matthew H.; Brockmole, James R.; Sonnert, Gerhard; Pomplun, Marc

2012-01-01

People with dyslexia, who face lifelong struggles with reading, exhibit numerous associated low-level sensory deficits including deficits in focal attention. Countering this, studies have shown that struggling readers outperform typical readers in some visual tasks that integrate distributed information across an expanse. Though such abilities would be expected to facilitate scene memory, prior investigations using the contextual cueing paradigm failed to find corresponding advantages in dyslexia. We suggest that these studies were confounded by task-dependent effects exaggerating known focal attention deficits in dyslexia, and that, if natural scenes were used as the context, advantages would emerge. Here, we investigate this hypothesis by comparing college students with histories of severe lifelong reading difficulties (SR) and typical readers (TR) in contexts that vary attention load. We find no differences in contextual-cueing when spatial contexts are letter-like objects, or when contexts are natural scenes. However, the SR group significantly outperforms the TR group when contexts are low-pass filtered natural scenes [F(3, 39) = 3.15, p<.05]. These findings suggest that perception or memory for low spatial frequency components in scenes is enhanced in dyslexia. These findings are important because they suggest strengths for spatial learning in a population otherwise impaired, carrying implications for the education and support of students who face challenges in school. PMID:22558210

History of reading struggles linked to enhanced learning in low spatial frequency scenes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew H Schneps

Full Text Available People with dyslexia, who face lifelong struggles with reading, exhibit numerous associated low-level sensory deficits including deficits in focal attention. Countering this, studies have shown that struggling readers outperform typical readers in some visual tasks that integrate distributed information across an expanse. Though such abilities would be expected to facilitate scene memory, prior investigations using the contextual cueing paradigm failed to find corresponding advantages in dyslexia. We suggest that these studies were confounded by task-dependent effects exaggerating known focal attention deficits in dyslexia, and that, if natural scenes were used as the context, advantages would emerge. Here, we investigate this hypothesis by comparing college students with histories of severe lifelong reading difficulties (SR and typical readers (TR in contexts that vary attention load. We find no differences in contextual-cueing when spatial contexts are letter-like objects, or when contexts are natural scenes. However, the SR group significantly outperforms the TR group when contexts are low-pass filtered natural scenes [F(3, 39 = 3.15, p<.05]. These findings suggest that perception or memory for low spatial frequency components in scenes is enhanced in dyslexia. These findings are important because they suggest strengths for spatial learning in a population otherwise impaired, carrying implications for the education and support of students who face challenges in school.

Pre- and post-selection, weak values and contextuality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tollaksen, Jeff

2007-01-01

By analysing the concept of contextuality (Bell-Kochen-Specker) in terms of pre- and post-selection, it is possible to assign definite values to observables in a new and surprising way. Physical reasons are presented for restrictions on these assignments. When measurements are performed which do not disturb the pre- and post-selection (i.e. weak measurements), then novel experimental aspects of contextuality can be demonstrated. We also prove that every PPS-paradox with definite predictions directly implies 'quantum contextuality' which is introduced as the analogue of contextuality at the level of quantum mechanics rather than at the level of hidden variable theories. Finally, we argue that certain results of these measurements (e.g. eccentric weak values outside the eigenvalue spectrum) cannot be explained by a 'classical-like' hidden variable theory

Silent cerebral infarction, income, and grade retention among students with sickle cell anemia

Science.gov (United States)

King, Allison A.; Rodeghier, Mark J.; Panepinto, Julie Ann; Strouse, John J.; Casella, James F.; Quinn, Charles T.; Dowling, Michael M.; Sarnaik, Sharada A.; Thompson, Alexis A.; Woods, Gerald M.; Minniti, Caterina P.; Redding-Lallinger, Rupa C.; Kirby-Allen, Melanie; Kirkham, Fenella J.; McKinstry, Robert; Noetzel, Michael J.; White, Desiree A.; Kwiatkowski, Janet K.; Howard, Thomas H.; Kalinyak, Karen A.; Inusa, Baba; Rhodes, Melissa M.; Heiny, Mark E.; Fuh, Ben; Fixler, Jason M.; Gordon, Mae O.; DeBaun, Michael R.

2014-01-01

Children with sickle cell anemia have a higher-than-expected prevalence of poor educational attainment. We test two key hypotheses about educational attainment among students with sickle cell anemia, as measured by grade retention and use of special education services: (1) lower household per capita income is associated with lower educational attainment; (2) the presence of a silent cerebral infarct is associated with lower educational attainment. We conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional study of cases from 22 U.S. sites included in the Silent Infarct Transfusion Trial. During screening, parents completed a questionnaire that included sociodemographic information and details of their child’s academic status. Of 835 students, 670 were evaluable; 536 had data on all covariates and were used for analysis. The students’ mean age was 9.4 years (range: 5–15) with 52.2% male; 17.5% of students were retained one grade level and 18.3% received special education services. A multiple variable logistic regression model identified that lower household per capita income (odds ratio [OR] of quartile 1 = 6.36, OR of quartile 2 = 4.7, OR of quartile 3 = 3.87; P = 0.001 for linear trend), age (OR = 1.3; P sickle cell anemia, household per capita income is associated with grade retention, whereas the presence of a silent cerebral infarct is not. Future educational interventions will need to address both the medical and socioeconomic issues that affect students with sickle cell anemia. PMID:25042018

Viewpoint-independent contextual cueing effect

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taiga etsuchiai

2012-06-01

Full Text Available We usually perceive things in our surroundings as unchanged despite viewpoint changes caused by self-motion. The visual system therefore must have a function to process objects independently of viewpoint. In this study, we examined whether viewpoint-independent spatial layout can be obtained implicitly. For this purpose, we used a contextual cueing effect, a learning effect of spatial layout in visual search displays known to be an implicit effect. We compared the transfer of the contextual cueing effect between cases with and without self-motion by using visual search displays for 3D objects, which changed according to the participant’s assumed location for viewing the stimuli. The contextual cueing effect was obtained with self-motion but disappeared when the display changed without self-motion. This indicates that there is an implicit learning effect in spatial coordinates and suggests that the spatial representation of object layouts or scenes can be obtained and updated implicitly. We also showed that binocular disparity play an important role in the layout representations.

Scene-Based Contextual Cueing in Pigeons

Science.gov (United States)

Wasserman, Edward A.; Teng, Yuejia; Brooks, Daniel I.

2014-01-01

Repeated pairings of a particular visual context with a specific location of a target stimulus facilitate target search in humans. We explored an animal model of such contextual cueing. Pigeons had to peck a target which could appear in one of four locations on color photographs of real-world scenes. On half of the trials, each of four scenes was consistently paired with one of four possible target locations; on the other half of the trials, each of four different scenes was randomly paired with the same four possible target locations. In Experiments 1 and 2, pigeons exhibited robust contextual cueing when the context preceded the target by 1 s to 8 s, with reaction times to the target being shorter on predictive-scene trials than on random-scene trials. Pigeons also responded more frequently during the delay on predictive-scene trials than on random-scene trials; indeed, during the delay on predictive-scene trials, pigeons predominately pecked toward the location of the upcoming target, suggesting that attentional guidance contributes to contextual cueing. In Experiment 3, involving left-right and top-bottom scene reversals, pigeons exhibited stronger control by global than by local scene cues. These results attest to the robustness and associative basis of contextual cueing in pigeons. PMID:25546098

Contextual Factors for Finding Similar Experts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hofmann, Katja; Balog, Krisztian; Bogers, Toine

2010-01-01

-seeking models, are rarely taken into account. In this article, we extend content-based expert-finding approaches with contextual factors that have been found to influence human expert finding. We focus on a task of science communicators in a knowledge-intensive environment, the task of finding similar experts......, given an example expert. Our approach combines expertise-seeking and retrieval research. First, we conduct a user study to identify contextual factors that may play a role in the studied task and environment. Then, we design expert retrieval models to capture these factors. We combine these with content......-based retrieval models and evaluate them in a retrieval experiment. Our main finding is that while content-based features are the most important, human participants also take contextual factors into account, such as media experience and organizational structure. We develop two principled ways of modeling...

Experimental demonstration of quantum contextuality on an NMR qutrit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dogra, Shruti; Dorai, Kavita, E-mail: kavita@iisermohali.ac.in; Arvind

2016-05-20

We experimentally test quantum contextuality of a single qutrit using NMR. The contextuality inequalities based on nine observables developed by Kurzynski et al. are first reformulated in terms of traceless observables which can be measured in an NMR experiment. These inequalities reveal the contextuality of almost all single-qutrit states. We demonstrate the violation of the inequality on four different initial states of a spin-1 deuterium nucleus oriented in a liquid crystal matrix, and follow the violation as the states evolve in time. We also describe and experimentally perform a single-shot test of contextuality for a subclass of qutrit states whose density matrix is diagonal in the energy basis. - Highlights: • A contextuality inequality for a single qutrit was designed using traceless observables. • The violation of the inequality was experimentally demonstrated using NMR. • A single-shot test was experimentally performed for a subclass of diagonal qutrit states.

Experimental demonstration of quantum contextuality on an NMR qutrit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dogra, Shruti; Dorai, Kavita; Arvind

2016-01-01

We experimentally test quantum contextuality of a single qutrit using NMR. The contextuality inequalities based on nine observables developed by Kurzynski et al. are first reformulated in terms of traceless observables which can be measured in an NMR experiment. These inequalities reveal the contextuality of almost all single-qutrit states. We demonstrate the violation of the inequality on four different initial states of a spin-1 deuterium nucleus oriented in a liquid crystal matrix, and follow the violation as the states evolve in time. We also describe and experimentally perform a single-shot test of contextuality for a subclass of qutrit states whose density matrix is diagonal in the energy basis. - Highlights: • A contextuality inequality for a single qutrit was designed using traceless observables. • The violation of the inequality was experimentally demonstrated using NMR. • A single-shot test was experimentally performed for a subclass of diagonal qutrit states.

Stillelesing i norskfaget – pustepause for læreren eller veiledningsøkt i lesing?

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Ingvill Krogstad Svanes

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Denne studien undersøker hva fire lærere på barnetrinnet gjør når elevene leser stille. Stillelesing er en vanlig aktivitet i norske klasserom, men kunnskapen om hva læreren gjør i denne tiden og hvordan hun veileder faglig, er begrenset. Studien ønsker å bidra til økt viten om dette. For å belyse lærerens rolle under stillelesing, kombinerer studien forskning på stillelesing fra amerikanske klasserom med forskning på læreres tilbakemeldinger når elevene leser. De fire lærerne arbeider på 3. trinn. De er observert i en uke hver, og materialet består av videoopptak fra stillelesingsstundene i den uka lærerne er observert. Videoopptakene analyseres i lys av de fem grunnpilarene for leseopplæring (National reading panel, 2000: fonologisk bevissthet, avkoding, ordforråd, flyt og leseforståelse. Studien viser at lærerne bruker tiden under stillelesing svært forskjellig. To av lærerne bruker det aller meste av tiden på å høre på elevene lese og veilede dem faglig. De to andre lærerne bruker den største delen av tiden på organisering eller annet forefallende arbeid der de ikke kommuniserer med elever, for eksempel å rydde i klasserommet. Gjennom næranalyser av lærernes faglige veiledning finner studien at lærerne veileder i alle de relevante grunnpilarene for leseopplæring, men i ulik grad. Lærerne varierer også i hva slags type tilbakemeldinger de gir, og de bruker både ‘endelige’ tilbakemeldinger og ‘støttende’ tilbakemeldinger. Lærerne varierer veiledningen i større grad enn tidligere klasseromsstudier tilsier. Det kan imidlertid se ut som at lærere ville tjene på en bevisstgjøring rundt stillelesing som undervisningstid, og om ulike typer tilbakemeldinger.Nøkkelord: stillelesing, muntlige tilbakemeldinger, leseopplæring, barnetrinnet, norskfagetAbstractThis study explores what four teachers in primary school do when the pupils read silently. Silent reading (independent reading is a common

Validating Domains of Patient Contextual Factors Essential to Preventing Contextual Errors: A Qualitative Study Conducted at Chicago Area Veterans Health Administration Sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Binns-Calvey, Amy E; Malhiot, Alex; Kostovich, Carol T; LaVela, Sherri L; Stroupe, Kevin; Gerber, Ben S; Burkhart, Lisa; Weiner, Saul J; Weaver, Frances M

2017-09-01

"Patient context" indicates patient circumstances and characteristics or states that are essential to address when planning patient care. Specific patient "contextual factors," if overlooked, result in an inappropriate plan of care, a medical error termed a "contextual error." The myriad contextual factors that constitute patient context have been grouped into broad domains to create a taxonomy of challenges to consider when planning care. This study sought to validate a previously identified list of contextual domains. This qualitative study used directed content analysis. In 2014, 19 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) providers (84% female) and 49 patients (86% male) from two VA medical centers and four outpatient clinics in the Chicago area participated in semistructured interviews and focus groups. Topics included patient-specific, community, and resource-related factors that affect patients' abilities to manage their care. Transcripts were analyzed with a previously identified list of contextual domains as a framework. Analysis of responses revealed that patients and providers identified the same 10 domains previously published, plus 3 additional ones. Based on comments made by patients and providers, the authors created a revised list of 12 domains from themes that emerged. Six pertain to patient circumstances such as access to care and financial situation, and 6 to patient characteristics/states including skills, abilities, and knowledge. Contextual factors in patients' lives may be essential to address for effective care planning. The rubric developed can serve as a "contextual differential" for clinicians to consider when addressing challenges patients face when planning their care.

Contextuality in canonical systems of random variables

Science.gov (United States)

Dzhafarov, Ehtibar N.; Cervantes, Víctor H.; Kujala, Janne V.

2017-10-01

Random variables representing measurements, broadly understood to include any responses to any inputs, form a system in which each of them is uniquely identified by its content (that which it measures) and its context (the conditions under which it is recorded). Two random variables are jointly distributed if and only if they share a context. In a canonical representation of a system, all random variables are binary, and every content-sharing pair of random variables has a unique maximal coupling (the joint distribution imposed on them so that they coincide with maximal possible probability). The system is contextual if these maximal couplings are incompatible with the joint distributions of the context-sharing random variables. We propose to represent any system of measurements in a canonical form and to consider the system contextual if and only if its canonical representation is contextual. As an illustration, we establish a criterion for contextuality of the canonical system consisting of all dichotomizations of a single pair of content-sharing categorical random variables. This article is part of the themed issue `Second quantum revolution: foundational questions'.

Mobile Contextualized learning games for decision support training

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klemke, Roland; Börner, Dirk; Suarez, Angel; Schneider, Jan; Antonaci, Alessandra

2015-01-01

This interactive workshop session introduces mobile serious games as situated, contextualized learning games. Example cases for mobile serious games for decision support training are introduced and discussed. Participants will get to know contextualization techniques used in modern mobile

Contextual remapping in visual search after predictable target-location changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Conci, Markus; Sun, Luning; Müller, Hermann J

2011-07-01

Invariant spatial context can facilitate visual search. For instance, detection of a target is faster if it is presented within a repeatedly encountered, as compared to a novel, layout of nontargets, demonstrating a role of contextual learning for attentional guidance ('contextual cueing'). Here, we investigated how context-based learning adapts to target location (and identity) changes. Three experiments were performed in which, in an initial learning phase, observers learned to associate a given context with a given target location. A subsequent test phase then introduced identity and/or location changes to the target. The results showed that contextual cueing could not compensate for target changes that were not 'predictable' (i.e. learnable). However, for predictable changes, contextual cueing remained effective even immediately after the change. These findings demonstrate that contextual cueing is adaptive to predictable target location changes. Under these conditions, learned contextual associations can be effectively 'remapped' to accommodate new task requirements.

Contextualized personality: traditional and new assessment procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, Daniel; Watson, David; Komar, Jennifer; Min, Ji-A; Perunovic, Wei Qi Elaine

2007-12-01

We describe our ongoing program of research related to the assessment of contextualized personality, focusing on social roles and cultural cues as contextual factors. First, we present our research employing the traditional assessment approach, wherein participants are asked to rate explicitly their personality across several different roles. We argue that this hypothetical approach is potentially susceptible to the influence of stereotypes, social desirability, and demand characteristics. We therefore describe the development of three novel and subtle assessment procedures that are based on obtaining online self-representations that are activated while occupying a specific context. Finally, the strengths and limitations of all four approaches, as well as directions for future research in the study of contextualized personality, are discussed.

Stimulus homogeneity enhances implicit learning: evidence from contextual cueing.

Science.gov (United States)

Feldmann-Wüstefeld, Tobias; Schubö, Anna

2014-04-01

Visual search for a target object is faster if the target is embedded in a repeatedly presented invariant configuration of distractors ('contextual cueing'). It has also been shown that the homogeneity of a context affects the efficiency of visual search: targets receive prioritized processing when presented in a homogeneous context compared to a heterogeneous context, presumably due to grouping processes at early stages of visual processing. The present study investigated in three Experiments whether context homogeneity also affects contextual cueing. In Experiment 1, context homogeneity varied on three levels of the task-relevant dimension (orientation) and contextual cueing was most pronounced for context configurations with high orientation homogeneity. When context homogeneity varied on three levels of the task-irrelevant dimension (color) and orientation homogeneity was fixed, no modulation of contextual cueing was observed: high orientation homogeneity led to large contextual cueing effects (Experiment 2) and low orientation homogeneity led to low contextual cueing effects (Experiment 3), irrespective of color homogeneity. Enhanced contextual cueing for homogeneous context configurations suggest that grouping processes do not only affect visual search but also implicit learning. We conclude that memory representation of context configurations are more easily acquired when context configurations can be processed as larger, grouped perceptual units. However, this form of implicit perceptual learning is only improved by stimulus homogeneity when stimulus homogeneity facilitates grouping processes on a dimension that is currently relevant in the task. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mobile Contextualized learning games for decision support training

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klemke, Roland

2014-01-01

This interactive workshop session introduces mobile serious games as situated, contextualized learning games. Example cases for mobile serious games for decision support training are introduced and discussed. Participants will get to know contextualization techniques used in modern mobile devices

Silent Localization of Underwater Sensors Using Magnetometers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonas Callmer

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Sensor localization is a central problem for sensor networks. If the sensor positions are uncertain, the target tracking ability of the sensor network is reduced. Sensor localization in underwater environments is traditionally addressed using acoustic range measurements involving known anchor or surface nodes. We explore the usage of triaxial magnetometers and a friendly vessel with known magnetic dipole to silently localize the sensors. The ferromagnetic field created by the dipole is measured by the magnetometers and is used to localize the sensors. The trajectory of the vessel and the sensor positions are estimated simultaneously using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF. Simulations show that the sensors can be accurately positioned using magnetometers.

Task-relevant information is prioritized in spatiotemporal contextual cueing.

Science.gov (United States)

Higuchi, Yoko; Ueda, Yoshiyuki; Ogawa, Hirokazu; Saiki, Jun

2016-11-01

Implicit learning of visual contexts facilitates search performance-a phenomenon known as contextual cueing; however, little is known about contextual cueing under situations in which multidimensional regularities exist simultaneously. In everyday vision, different information, such as object identity and location, appears simultaneously and interacts with each other. We tested the hypothesis that, in contextual cueing, when multiple regularities are present, the regularities that are most relevant to our behavioral goals would be prioritized. Previous studies of contextual cueing have commonly used the visual search paradigm. However, this paradigm is not suitable for directing participants' attention to a particular regularity. Therefore, we developed a new paradigm, the "spatiotemporal contextual cueing paradigm," and manipulated task-relevant and task-irrelevant regularities. In four experiments, we demonstrated that task-relevant regularities were more responsible for search facilitation than task-irrelevant regularities. This finding suggests our visual behavior is focused on regularities that are relevant to our current goal.

The problem of contextuality and the impossibility of experimental metaphysics thereof

Science.gov (United States)

Hermens, Ronnie

Recently a new impulse has been given to the experimental investigation of contextuality. In this paper we show that for a widely used definition of contextuality there can be no decisive experiment on the existence of contextuality. To this end, we give a clear presentation of the hidden variable models due to Meyer, Kent and Clifton (MKC), which would supposedly nullify the Kochen-Specker theorem. Although we disagree with this last statement, the models do play a significant role in the discussion on the meaning of contextuality. In fact, we introduce a specific MKC-model of which we show that it is non-contextual and completely in agreement with quantum mechanical predictions. We also investigate the possibility of other definitions of non-contextuality-with an emphasis on operational definitions-and argue that any useful definition relies on the specification of a theoretical framework. It is therefore concluded that no experimental test can yield any conclusions about contextuality on a metaphysical level.

Soundless Speech/ Wordless Writing: Language and German Silent Cinema

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Marc Silberman

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Speech / Wordless Writing: Language and German Silent Cinema Marc Silberman If language loses its communicative and interpretative functions in direct proportion to the loss of its referential grounding, then the modernist crisis is simultaneously a crisis of its signifying practices. This means that the evolution of the silent cinema is a particularly rich site to examine the problematic relationship of language and image. This essay presents several expressionist films as a specific response to this crisis in order to describe the diverse cinematic forms of resistance to the word, to articulated speech. While some film makers developed the silence of the silent film into a “gestural language” that dramatized light and movement, others reproduced the film figures’ silent speech by means of graphically stylized intertitles. My thesis is that the expressionist cinema maintained an idealistic notion of the film as a pure work of art that aimed at a unified composition of all elements and missed the opportunity to explore the rich semiotic possibilities of the new technological medium with its hybrid, synergetic forms and provocative force. Hence, the expressionist cinema marks a transition or even the endpoint of a long process of reflection about the communicative possibilities of language that shifted to a fundamentally new level with the invention of sound cinema at the end of the 1920s. Parole muette / écriture sans mot: Le langage et le cinéma allemand muet Marc Silberman Le langage, dit-on, perd de ses functions communicatrices et interpretatives en proportion directe à la perte de sa force référentielle. On dira que la crise moderniste est également une crise des pratiques signifiantes. Ce qui revient à dire aussi que l’évolution du cinéma muet serait une site particulièrement riche pour examiner les problématiques du langage vs. l’image. Cet essai présente quelques films expressionnistes comme réactions à la crise

The Tzu Chi Silent Mentor Program: Application of Buddhist Ethics to Teach Student Physicians Empathy, Compassion, and Self-Sacrifice.

Science.gov (United States)

Santibañez, Scott; Boudreaux, Debra; Tseng, Guo-Fang; Konkel, Kimberly

2016-10-01

The Buddhist Tzu Chi Silent Mentor Program promotes the donation of one's body to science as a selfless act by appealing to the Buddhist ethics of compassion and self-sacrifice. Together, faculty, families, and donors help medical students to learn the technical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological aspects of medicine. Students assigned to each "Silent Mentor" visit the family to learn about the donor's life. They see photos and hear family members' stories. Afterwards, students write a brief biography of the donor which is posted on the program website, in the medical school, and on the dissection table. In this paper, we: (1) summarize the Silent Mentor Program; (2) describe findings from an assessment of medical students who recently completed a new version of the program in Malaysia; and (3) explore how healthcare settings could benefit from this innovative program.

Contextually in a Peres—Mermin square using arbitrary operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laversanne-Finot, A; Ketterer, A; Coudreau, T; Milman, P; Barros, M R; Walborn, S P; Keller, A

2016-01-01

The contextuality of quantum mechanics can be shown by the violation of inequalities based on measurements of well chosen observables. These inequalities have been designed separately for both discrete and continuous variables. Here we unify both strategies by introducing general conditions to demonstrate the contextuality of quantum mechanics from measurements of observables of arbitrary dimensions. Among the consequences of our results is the impossibility of having a maximal violation of contextuality in the Peres-Mermin scenario with discrete observables of odd dimensions. In addition, we show how to construct a large class of observables with a continuous spectrum enabling the realization of contextuality tests both in the Gaussian and non-Gaussian regimes. (paper)

Silent hepatitis E virus infection in Dutch blood donors, 2011 to 2012

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slot, E.; Hogema, B. M.; Riezebos-Brilman, A.; Kok, T. M.; Molier, M.; Zaaijer, H. L.

2013-01-01

In Europe, the dynamics of endemic hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection remain enigmatic. We studied the presence of silent HEV infection among Dutch blood donors. Using donations collected throughout the Netherlands in 2011 and 2012, 40,176 donations were tested for HEV RNA in 459 pools of 48 or 480

Contextual control over expression of fear is affected by cortisol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanessa Anna Van Ast

2012-10-01

Full Text Available At the core of anxiety disorders is the inability to use contextual information to modulate behavioral responses to potentially threatening events. Models of the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders incorporate stress and concomitant stress hormones as important vulnerability factors, while others emphasize sex as an important factor. However, translational basic research has not yet investigated the effects of stress hormones and sex on the ability to use contextual information to modulate responses to threat. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was threefold: first, we aimed at developing an experimental paradigm specifically capable of capturing contextual modulation of the expression of fear. Second, we tested whether cortisol would alter the contextualization of fear expression. Third, we aimed at assessing whether alterations in contextualization due to cortisol were different for men and women. Healthy participants (n = 42 received placebo or hydrocortisone (20 mg prior to undergoing a newly developed differential contextual fear conditioning paradigm. The results indicated that people rapidly acquire differential contextual modulation of the expression of fear, as measured by fear potentiated startle and skin conductance responses. In addition, cortisol impaired the contextualization of fear expression leading to increased fear generalization on fear potentiated startle data in women. The opposite pattern was found in men. Finally, as assessed by skin conductance responses, cortisol impaired differential conditioning in men. The results are in line with models suggesting heightened vulnerability in women for developing anxiety disorders after stressful events.

Understanding contextual influences of community reintegration among injured servicemembers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Brent L; McGuire, Francis A; Linder, Sandra M; Britt, Thomas W

2015-01-01

As part of a larger mixed-methods research project investigating the influence of contextual factors on community reintegration (CR), this qualitative study sought to understand the subjective experiences of injured servicemembers and their perception of how contextual factors influenced their CR. More specifically, this article addresses how the influences of contextual factors differ between injured servicemembers with different levels of CR. Using a phenomenological framework, semistructured interviews were conducted with nine injured, community-dwelling servicemembers with low, moderate, and high levels of CR (three per category). Participants provided in-depth descriptions of the contextual barriers and facilitators of CR. Thematic analysis indicated the importance of social support and personal factors (e.g., self-efficacy, personal motivation) as the primary means for being reintegrated into their homes and communities. Other themes indicated factors that had an indirect but important influence on CR, including adapted sports, recreation, and other social programs; rehabilitation programs and therapists; school, work, and volunteering; and organizations and policies in developing social supports and personal factors. Comparisons between servicemembers indicated participants with low CR described many more contextual barriers and far fewer contextual facilitators to reintegration than those with high CR. Those with moderate CR were unique in that they described many facilitators and barriers to reintegration.

Object-based implicit learning in visual search: perceptual segmentation constrains contextual cueing.

Science.gov (United States)

Conci, Markus; Müller, Hermann J; von Mühlenen, Adrian

2013-07-09

In visual search, detection of a target is faster when it is presented within a spatial layout of repeatedly encountered nontarget items, indicating that contextual invariances can guide selective attention (contextual cueing; Chun & Jiang, 1998). However, perceptual regularities may interfere with contextual learning; for instance, no contextual facilitation occurs when four nontargets form a square-shaped grouping, even though the square location predicts the target location (Conci & von Mühlenen, 2009). Here, we further investigated potential causes for this interference-effect: We show that contextual cueing can reliably occur for targets located within the region of a segmented object, but not for targets presented outside of the object's boundaries. Four experiments demonstrate an object-based facilitation in contextual cueing, with a modulation of context-based learning by relatively subtle grouping cues including closure, symmetry, and spatial regularity. Moreover, the lack of contextual cueing for targets located outside the segmented region was due to an absence of (latent) learning of contextual layouts, rather than due to an attentional bias towards the grouped region. Taken together, these results indicate that perceptual segmentation provides a basic structure within which contextual scene regularities are acquired. This in turn argues that contextual learning is constrained by object-based selection.

An investigation of the reduction of carbon dioxide in a silent electric discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Luce, R. S.; Greenough, B. (Editor)

1978-01-01

The reduction of CO2 to O2 and CO in a silent electric discharge was studied. It was found that current alone (in the ionized plasma induced by the silent electric discharge) was reponsible for the CO2 reduction process. Voltage and frequency were important only in so far as they induced current in the plasma. Pressure and temperature were of minimum influence in the process. The large power consumption in the process was recognized as resulting from the low power factor of the reactor vessel which electrically behaved like a capacitor. The power factor was subsequently improved by adding an inductive element to make the reactor vessel capacitance part of a resonant circuit. It was found that the CO2 reduction process was most efficient in terms of power vs reduction rate when a voltage was employed that was only slightly higher than that needed to induce the plasma.

Exhibition of Monogamy Relations between Entropic Non-contextuality Inequalities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Feng; Zhang Wei; Huang Yi-Dong

2017-01-01

We exhibit the monogamy relation between two entropic non-contextuality inequalities in the scenario where compatible projectors are orthogonal. We show the monogamy relation can be exhibited by decomposing the orthogonality graph into perfect induced subgraphs. Then we find two entropic non-contextuality inequalities are monogamous while the KCBS-type non-contextuality inequalities are not if the orthogonality graphs of the observable sets are two odd cycles with two shared vertices. (paper)

Generational differences in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in the context of chronic diseases and pain: baby boomers versus the silent generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Tiffany F; Rowland-Seymour, Anastasia; Frankel, Eitan S; Li, Susan Q; Mao, Jun J

2014-01-01

More people are supplementing conventional medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), but studies have not compared CAM use between baby boomers (adults born from 1946 to 1964) and the so-called silent generation (born from 1925 to 1945). This study compares CAM usage between baby boomers (n = 7734) and the silent generation (n = 4682) through secondary analyses of the 2007 National Health Interview Survey data. The analysis also compares chronic disease and pain status. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to identify generational differences. Although the silent generation reported twice as many chronic disease (51.3% vs 26.1%; P painful conditions (56.1% vs 52.2%; P CAM within the past year (43.1% vs 35.4%; P CAM than adults from the silent generation. Chronic pain status was independently associated with greater CAM use (adjusted odds ratio, 2.26; 95% confidence interval, 2.03-2.52). Baby boomers reported significantly higher rates of CAM use than the silent generation for both chronic diseases and painful conditions. Family physicians caring for the aging population must use patient-centered communication about the risks/benefits of CAM, which is necessary to promote effective coping with chronic illnesses and pain. © Copyright 2014 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

BOOK REVIEW: ARE YOU AN ADVOCATE, TACIT SUPPORTER, CRITICAL SKEPTIC, OR SILENT SKEPTIC?

Science.gov (United States)

"Silent Sperm," "You're not half the man your grandfather was," "Assault on the Male," "Gender Benders,"-perhaps no other public health concern has given rise to the number of memorable sound bites than has the issue of whether environmental contaminants are causing adverse healt...

Contextual control over task-set retrieval.

Science.gov (United States)

Crump, Matthew J C; Logan, Gordon D

2010-11-01

Contextual cues signaling task likelihood or the likelihood of task repetition are known to modulate the size of switch costs. We follow up on the finding by Leboe, Wong, Crump, and Stobbe (2008) that location cues predictive of the proportion of switch or repeat trials modulate switch costs. Their design employed one cue per task, whereas our experiment employed two cues per task, which allowed separate assessment of modulations to the cue-repetition benefit, a measure of lower level cue-encoding processes, and to the task-alternation cost, a measure of higher level processes representing task-set information. We demonstrate that location information predictive of switch proportion modulates performance at the level of task-set representations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that contextual control occurs even when subjects are unaware of the associations between context and switch likelihood. We discuss the notion that contextual information provides rapid, unconscious control over the extent to which prior task-set representations are retrieved in the service of guiding online performance.

Current smoking among young adolescents: assessing school based contextual norms

OpenAIRE

Pokorny, S; Jason, L; Schoeny, M

2004-01-01

Objective: To extend research on the relation of school based contextual norms to current smoking among adolescents by using three analytic techniques to test for contextual effects. It was hypothesised that significant contextual effects would be found in all three models, but that the strength of these effects would vary by the statistical rigor of the model.

Consequences of contextual factors on clinical reasoning in resident physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

McBee, Elexis; Ratcliffe, Temple; Picho, Katherine; Artino, Anthony R; Schuwirth, Lambert; Kelly, William; Masel, Jennifer; van der Vleuten, Cees; Durning, Steven J

2015-12-01

Context specificity and the impact that contextual factors have on the complex process of clinical reasoning is poorly understood. Using situated cognition as the theoretical framework, our aim was to evaluate the verbalized clinical reasoning processes of resident physicians in order to describe what impact the presence of contextual factors have on their clinical reasoning. Participants viewed three video recorded clinical encounters portraying straightforward diagnoses in internal medicine with select patient contextual factors modified. After watching each video recording, participants completed a think-aloud protocol. Transcripts from the think-aloud protocols were analyzed using a constant comparative approach. After iterative coding, utterances were analyzed for emergent themes with utterances grouped into categories, themes and subthemes. Ten residents participated in the study with saturation reached during analysis. Participants universally acknowledged the presence of contextual factors in the video recordings. Four categories emerged as a consequence of the contextual factors: (1) emotional reactions (2) behavioral inferences (3) optimizing the doctor patient relationship and (4) difficulty with closure of the clinical encounter. The presence of contextual factors may impact clinical reasoning performance in resident physicians. When confronted with the presence of contextual factors in a clinical scenario, residents experienced difficulty with closure of the encounter, exhibited as diagnostic uncertainty. This finding raises important questions about the relationship between contextual factors and clinical reasoning activities and how this relationship might influence the cost effectiveness of care. This study also provides insight into how the phenomena of context specificity may be explained using situated cognition theory.

Narrative mediation of conventional and new "mental health" paradigms: reading the stories of immigrant Iranian women.

Science.gov (United States)

Dossa, Parin

2002-09-01

The potential of storytelling to effect change and produce new knowledge is being recognized across disciplines. Two conditions are necessary to realize these goals: first, reading of stories must be contextualized to include larger social and political landscapes; and second, how stories are read and toward what end must be closely examined. This article explores these issues with reference to the subject of the "mental health" or emotional well-being of a cohort of postrevolution Iranian women from metropolitan Vancouver, British Columbia. Reading their stories at a particular moment in time shows that well-being is essentially grounded in spaces and places where we live, work, and engage in social interactions. This commonplace knowledge, which is subdued in medical discourse, is retrieved through Iranian women's stories of life and living told at a time when their experiences, histories, and viewpoints on health are subject to erasure.

Contextual Aspects of Smart City Energy Systems Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck

The thesis defines the concept of smart city energy systems. The thesis emphasises the need to investigate the smart city energy system and two contextual aspects. The system integration context and the geographical context. The system integration context emphasises that increased interrelation...... of the different contextual aspects....

How Reading Volume Affects both Reading Fluency and Reading Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard L. ALLINGTON

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Long overlooked, reading volume is actually central to the development of reading proficiencies, especially in the development of fluent reading proficiency. Generally no one in schools monitors the actual volume of reading that children engage in. We know that the commonly used commercial core reading programs provide only material that requires about 15 minutes of reading activity daily. The remaining 75 minute of reading lessons is filled with many other activities such as completing workbook pages or responding to low-level literal questions about what has been read. Studies designed to enhance the volume of reading that children do during their reading lessons demonstrate one way to enhance reading development. Repeated readings have been widely used in fostering reading fluency but wide reading options seem to work faster and more broadly in developing reading proficiencies, including oral reading fluency.

Anterior prefrontal involvement in implicit contextual change detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Pollmann

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Anterior prefrontal cortex is usually associated with high level executive functions. Here, we show that the frontal pole, specifically left lateral frontopolar cortex, is involved in signaling change in implicitly learned spatial contexts, in the absence of conscious change detection. In a variant of the contextual cueing paradigm, participants first learned implicitly contingencies between distractor contexts and target locations. After learning, repeated distractor contexts were paired with new target locations. Left lateral frontopolar (BA10 and superior frontal (BA9 cortices showed selective signal increase for this target location change in repeated displays in an event-related fMRI experiment, which was most pronounced in participants with high contextual facilitation before the change. The data support the view that left lateral frontopolar cortex is involved in signaling contextual change to posterior brain areas as a precondition for adaptive changes of attentional resource allocation. This signaling occurs in the absence of awareness of learned contingencies or contextual change.

Experimental Detection of Information Deficit in a Photonic Contextuality Scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Xiang; Kurzyński, Paweł; Kaszlikowski, Dagomir; Wang, Kunkun; Bian, Zhihao; Zhang, Yongsheng; Xue, Peng

2017-12-01

Contextuality is an essential characteristic of quantum theory, and supplies the power for many quantum information processes. Previous tests of contextuality focus mainly on the probability distribution of measurement results. However, a test of contextuality can be formulated in terms of entropic inequalities whose violations imply information deficit in the studied system. This information deficit has not been observed on a single local system. Here we report the first experimental detection of information deficit in an entropic test of quantum contextuality based on photonic setup. The corresponding inequality is violated with more than 13 standard deviations.

The time course of attentional deployment in contextual cueing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yuhong V; Sigstad, Heather M; Swallow, Khena M

2013-04-01

The time course of attention is a major characteristic on which different types of attention diverge. In addition to explicit goals and salient stimuli, spatial attention is influenced by past experience. In contextual cueing, behaviorally relevant stimuli are more quickly found when they appear in a spatial context that has previously been encountered than when they appear in a new context. In this study, we investigated the time that it takes for contextual cueing to develop following the onset of search layout cues. In three experiments, participants searched for a T target in an array of Ls. Each array was consistently associated with a single target location. In a testing phase, we manipulated the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the repeated spatial layout and the search display. Contextual cueing was equivalent for a wide range of SOAs between 0 and 1,000 ms. The lack of an increase in contextual cueing with increasing cue durations suggests that as an implicit learning mechanism, contextual cueing cannot be effectively used until search begins.

Contextual influences on reverse knowledge transfer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søberg, Peder Veng

2010-01-01

Further development of theories about how contextual factors influence the beneficial reverse knowledge transfer from subsidiary to head quarters in disparate national country contexts, is the aim of our study. Earlier studies do not fully capture the different effects national country cultures can....... A proposition model is developed where the dependent variable is beneficial reverse knowledge transfer. The independent variables are: higher relative knowledge level in subsidiaty than in HQ, authority respect, activity fit with contextual learning preference. The conclusion suggest that different contexts...

Contextual Text Mining

Science.gov (United States)

Mei, Qiaozhu

2009-01-01

With the dramatic growth of text information, there is an increasing need for powerful text mining systems that can automatically discover useful knowledge from text. Text is generally associated with all kinds of contextual information. Those contexts can be explicit, such as the time and the location where a blog article is written, and the…

Dual silent communication system development based on subvocal speech and Raspberry Pi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Daniel Ramírez-Corzo

2016-09-01

Additionally, in this article we show the speech subvocal signals’ recording system realization. The average accuracy percentage was 72.5 %, and includes a total of 50 words by class, this is 200 signals. Finally, it demonstrated that using the Raspberry Pi it is possible to set a silent communication system, using subvocal. speech signals.

Contextual cueing based on the semantic-category membership of the environment

OpenAIRE

GOUJON, A

2005-01-01

During the analysis of a visual scene, top-down processing is constantly directing the subject's attention to the zones of interest in the scene. The contextual cueing paradigm developed by Chun and Jiang (1998) shows how contextual regularities can facilitate the search for a particular element via implicit learning mechanisms. In the proposed study, contextual cueing task with lexical displays was used. The semantic-category membership of the contextual words predicted the location of the t...

Brain based learning with contextual approach to mathematics achievement

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V Kartikaningtyas

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to know the effect of Brain Based Learning (BBL with a contextual approach to mathematics achievement. BBL-contextual is the learning model that designed to develop and optimize the brain ability for getting a new concept and solving the real life problem. This study method was a quasi-experiment. The population was the junior high school students. The sample chosen by using stratified cluster random sampling. The sample was 109 students. The data collected through a mathematics achievement test that was given after the treatment. The data analyzed by using one way ANOVA. The results of the study showed that BBL-contextual is better than direct learning on mathematics achievement. It means BBL-contextual could be an effective and innovative model.

Human cortical activity evoked by contextual processing in attentional orienting.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Shuo; Li, Chunlin; Uono, Shota; Yoshimura, Sayaka; Toichi, Motomi

2017-06-07

The ability to assess another person's direction of attention is paramount in social communication, many studies have reported a similar pattern between gaze and arrow cues in attention orienting. Neuroimaging research has also demonstrated no qualitative differences in attention to gaze and arrow cues. However, these studies were implemented under simple experiment conditions. Researchers have highlighted the importance of contextual processing (i.e., the semantic congruence between cue and target) in attentional orienting, showing that attentional orienting by social gaze or arrow cues could be modulated through contextual processing. Here, we examine the neural activity of attentional orienting by gaze and arrow cues in response to contextual processing using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results demonstrated that the influence of neural activity through contextual processing to attentional orienting occurred under invalid conditions (when the cue and target were incongruent versus congruent) in the ventral frontoparietal network, although we did not identify any differences in the neural substrates of attentional orienting in contextual processing between gaze and arrow cues. These results support behavioural data of attentional orienting modulated by contextual processing based on the neurocognitive architecture.

Contextual cueing impairment in patients with age-related macular degeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Geringswald, Franziska; Herbik, Anne; Hoffmann, Michael B; Pollmann, Stefan

2013-09-12

Visual attention can be guided by past experience of regularities in our visual environment. In the contextual cueing paradigm, incidental learning of repeated distractor configurations speeds up search times compared to random search arrays. Concomitantly, fewer fixations and more direct scan paths indicate more efficient visual exploration in repeated search arrays. In previous work, we found that simulating a central scotoma in healthy observers eliminated this search facilitation. Here, we investigated contextual cueing in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who suffer from impaired foveal vision. AMD patients performed visual search using only their more severely impaired eye (n = 13) as well as under binocular viewing (n = 16). Normal-sighted controls developed a significant contextual cueing effect. In comparison, patients showed only a small nonsignificant advantage for repeated displays when searching with their worse eye. When searching binocularly, they profited from contextual cues, but still less than controls. Number of fixations and scan pattern ratios showed a comparable pattern as search times. Moreover, contextual cueing was significantly correlated with acuity in monocular search. Thus, foveal vision loss may lead to impaired guidance of attention by contextual memory cues.

Involving Customer Relations in Contextual Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonsen, Jesper

1996-01-01

This paper presents a case study in the form of a contextual design project, the aim of which was to design a system for a particular organization. The starting point in the case was a need in the organization for a specific system. The case involved an analysis of the organizations customer...... point of the design project, how the project was conducted, and which results it ended up with. This is followed by a discussion of the effects of, and lessons learned by, involving customer relations in contextual design....

Contextual mediation of perceptions in hauntings and poltergeist-like experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, R; Houran, J; Harte, T M; Havens, R A

1996-06-01

The content of perceived apparitions, e.g., bereavement hallucinations, cannot be explained entirely in terms of electromagnetically induced neurochemical processes. It was shown that contextual variables influential in hallucinatory and hypnotic states also structured reported haunting experiences. As predicted, high congruency was found between the experiential content and the nature of the contextual variables. Further, the number of contextual variables involved in an experience was related to the type of experience and the state or arousal preceding the experience. Based on these findings we argue that a more complete explanation of haunting experiences should take into account both electromagnetically induced neurochemical processes and factors related to contextual mediation.

Measuring the cortical silent period can increase diagnostic confidence for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schelhaas, H.J.; Arts, I.M.P.; Overeem, S.; Houtman, C.J.; Janssen, H.; Kleine, B.U.; Munneke, M.; Zwarts, M.J.

2007-01-01

We evaluated a modified measurement of the cortical silent period (CSP) as a simple procedure to add further confidence in the diagnostic work-up for ALS. Thirty-seven consecutive patients with a suspicion of having ALS were included together with 25 healthy volunteers, and followed until a final

Contextualizing the self: the emergence of a biographical understanding in adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Habermas, Tilmann; Hatiboğlu, Neşe

2014-01-01

In adolescence, remembering the personal past and understanding what kind of person one is intertwine to form a story of one's life as the most extant, informative, and flexible form of self-representation. In adolescence, the striving for self-coherence translates into a quest for global coherence of the life story. We suggest that contextualizing is a fifth means for creating global coherence in life narratives besides the cultural concept of biography, temporal, causal-motivational, and thematic coherence. We present three kinds of contextualizing in life narratives, the temporal macrostructure, sociohistorical contextualizing of one's life, and hierarchical and linear segmenting of the text and life. These three forms of contextualizing in life narratives by their authors are complemented by three forms of contextual influences on life narratives analyzed by researchers, namely the historical, personal, and communicative situation in which they are recounted. Contextualizing is exemplified by the life narrative of a young migrant. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hypoxia-Induced neonatal seizures diminish silent synapses and long-term potentiation in hippocampal CA1 neurons

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Chengwen; Bell, Jocelyn J. Lippman; Sun, Hongyu; Jensen, Frances E.

2012-01-01

Neonatal seizures can lead to epilepsy and long-term cognitive deficits in adulthood. Using a rodent model of the most common form of human neonatal seizures, hypoxia-induced seizures (HS), we aimed to determine whether these seizures modify long-term potentiation (LTP) and “silent” N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-only synapses in hippocampal CA1. At 48-72 hours (hrs) post-HS, electrophysiology and immunofluorescent confocal microscopy revealed a significant decrease in the incidence of silent synapses, and an increase in amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) at the synapses. Coincident with this decrease in silent synapses, there was an attenuation of LTP elicited by either tetanic stimulation of Schaffer collaterals or a pairing protocol, and persistent attenuation of LTP in slices removed in later adulthood after P10 HS. Furthermore, post-seizure treatment in vivo with the AMPAR antagonist 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfonyl-benzo[f]quinoxaline (NBQX) protected against the HS-induced depletion of silent synapses and preserved LTP. Thus, this study demonstrates a novel mechanism by which early-life seizures could impair synaptic plasticity, suggesting a potential target for therapeutic strategies to prevent long-term cognitive deficits. PMID:22171027

RADAR: A novel fast-screening method for reading difficulties with special focus on dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Smyrnakis, Ioannis; Andreadakis, Vassilios; Selimis, Vassilios; Kalaitzakis, Michail; Bachourou, Theodora; Kaloutsakis, Georgios; Kymionis, George D.; Smirnakis, Stelios; Aslanides, Ioannis M.

2017-01-01

Dyslexia is a developmental learning disorder of single word reading accuracy and/or fluency, with compelling research directed towards understanding the contributions of the visual system. While dyslexia is not an oculomotor disease, readers with dyslexia have shown different eye movements than typically developing students during text reading. Readers with dyslexia exhibit longer and more frequent fixations, shorter saccade lengths, more backward refixations than typical readers. Furthermore, readers with dyslexia are known to have difficulty in reading long words, lower skipping rate of short words, and high gaze duration on many words. It is an open question whether it is possible to harness these distinctive oculomotor scanning patterns observed during reading in order to develop a screening tool that can reliably identify struggling readers, who may be candidates for dyslexia. Here, we introduce a novel, fast, objective, non-invasive method, named Rapid Assessment of Difficulties and Abnormalities in Reading (RADAR) that screens for features associated with the aberrant visual scanning of reading text seen in dyslexia. Eye tracking parameter measurements that are stable under retest and have high discriminative power, as indicated by their ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves, were obtained during silent text reading. These parameters were combined to derive a total reading score (TRS) that can reliably separate readers with dyslexia from typical readers. We tested TRS in a group of school-age children ranging from 8.5 to 12.5 years of age. TRS achieved 94.2% correct classification of children tested. Specifically, 35 out of 37 control (specificity 94.6%) and 30 out of 32 readers with dyslexia (sensitivity 93.8%) were classified correctly using RADAR, under a circular validation condition (see section Results/Total Reading Score) where the individual evaluated was not included in the test construction group. In conclusion, RADAR is a novel

RADAR: A novel fast-screening method for reading difficulties with special focus on dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Smyrnakis, Ioannis; Andreadakis, Vassilios; Selimis, Vassilios; Kalaitzakis, Michail; Bachourou, Theodora; Kaloutsakis, Georgios; Kymionis, George D; Smirnakis, Stelios; Aslanides, Ioannis M

2017-01-01

Dyslexia is a developmental learning disorder of single word reading accuracy and/or fluency, with compelling research directed towards understanding the contributions of the visual system. While dyslexia is not an oculomotor disease, readers with dyslexia have shown different eye movements than typically developing students during text reading. Readers with dyslexia exhibit longer and more frequent fixations, shorter saccade lengths, more backward refixations than typical readers. Furthermore, readers with dyslexia are known to have difficulty in reading long words, lower skipping rate of short words, and high gaze duration on many words. It is an open question whether it is possible to harness these distinctive oculomotor scanning patterns observed during reading in order to develop a screening tool that can reliably identify struggling readers, who may be candidates for dyslexia. Here, we introduce a novel, fast, objective, non-invasive method, named Rapid Assessment of Difficulties and Abnormalities in Reading (RADAR) that screens for features associated with the aberrant visual scanning of reading text seen in dyslexia. Eye tracking parameter measurements that are stable under retest and have high discriminative power, as indicated by their ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves, were obtained during silent text reading. These parameters were combined to derive a total reading score (TRS) that can reliably separate readers with dyslexia from typical readers. We tested TRS in a group of school-age children ranging from 8.5 to 12.5 years of age. TRS achieved 94.2% correct classification of children tested. Specifically, 35 out of 37 control (specificity 94.6%) and 30 out of 32 readers with dyslexia (sensitivity 93.8%) were classified correctly using RADAR, under a circular validation condition (see section Results/Total Reading Score) where the individual evaluated was not included in the test construction group. In conclusion, RADAR is a novel

RADAR: A novel fast-screening method for reading difficulties with special focus on dyslexia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioannis Smyrnakis

Full Text Available Dyslexia is a developmental learning disorder of single word reading accuracy and/or fluency, with compelling research directed towards understanding the contributions of the visual system. While dyslexia is not an oculomotor disease, readers with dyslexia have shown different eye movements than typically developing students during text reading. Readers with dyslexia exhibit longer and more frequent fixations, shorter saccade lengths, more backward refixations than typical readers. Furthermore, readers with dyslexia are known to have difficulty in reading long words, lower skipping rate of short words, and high gaze duration on many words. It is an open question whether it is possible to harness these distinctive oculomotor scanning patterns observed during reading in order to develop a screening tool that can reliably identify struggling readers, who may be candidates for dyslexia. Here, we introduce a novel, fast, objective, non-invasive method, named Rapid Assessment of Difficulties and Abnormalities in Reading (RADAR that screens for features associated with the aberrant visual scanning of reading text seen in dyslexia. Eye tracking parameter measurements that are stable under retest and have high discriminative power, as indicated by their ROC (receiver operating characteristic curves, were obtained during silent text reading. These parameters were combined to derive a total reading score (TRS that can reliably separate readers with dyslexia from typical readers. We tested TRS in a group of school-age children ranging from 8.5 to 12.5 years of age. TRS achieved 94.2% correct classification of children tested. Specifically, 35 out of 37 control (specificity 94.6% and 30 out of 32 readers with dyslexia (sensitivity 93.8% were classified correctly using RADAR, under a circular validation condition (see section Results/Total Reading Score where the individual evaluated was not included in the test construction group. In conclusion, RADAR is a

Personal health records: retrieving contextual information with Google Custom Search.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahsan, Mahmud; Seldon, H Lee; Sayeed, Shohel

2012-01-01

Ubiquitous personal health records, which can accompany a person everywhere, are a necessary requirement for ubiquitous healthcare. Contextual information related to health events is important for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and for the maintenance of good health, yet it is seldom recorded in a health record. We describe a dual cellphone-and-Web-based personal health record system which can include 'external' contextual information. Much contextual information is available on the Internet and we can use ontologies to help identify relevant sites and information. But a search engine is required to retrieve information from the Web and developing a customized search engine is beyond our scope, so we can use Google Custom Search API Web service to get contextual data. In this paper we describe a framework which combines a health-and-environment 'knowledge base' or ontology with the Google Custom Search API to retrieve relevant contextual information related to entries in a ubiquitous personal health record.

Contextual Cueing Effect in Spatial Layout Defined by Binocular Disparity

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Guang; Zhuang, Qian; Ma, Jie; Tu, Shen; Liu, Qiang; Sun, Hong-jin

2017-01-01

Repeated visual context induces higher search efficiency, revealing a contextual cueing effect, which depends on the association between the target and its visual context. In this study, participants performed a visual search task where search items were presented with depth information defined by binocular disparity. When the 3-dimensional (3D) configurations were repeated over blocks, the contextual cueing effect was obtained (Experiment 1). When depth information was in chaos over repeated configurations, visual search was not facilitated and the contextual cueing effect largely crippled (Experiment 2). However, when we made the search items within a tiny random displacement in the 2-dimentional (2D) plane but maintained the depth information constant, the contextual cueing was preserved (Experiment 3). We concluded that the contextual cueing effect was robust in the context provided by 3D space with stereoscopic information, and more importantly, the visual system prioritized stereoscopic information in learning of spatial information when depth information was available. PMID:28912739

Testing a pedagogy for promoting historical contextualization in classrooms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huijgen, Tim; Holthuis, Paul; van Boxtel, Carla; van de Grift, Wim

2016-01-01

This study describes the development and testing of a pedagogy aimed at promoting students’ ability to perform historical contextualization. Promoting historical contextualization was conceptualized as three different pedagogical principles: 1) the awareness of the consequences of a present-oriented

Contextual Hub Analysis Tool (CHAT: A Cytoscape app for identifying contextually relevant hubs in biological networks [version 2; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanja Muetze

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Highly connected nodes (hubs in biological networks are topologically important to the structure of the network and have also been shown to be preferentially associated with a range of phenotypes of interest. The relative importance of a hub node, however, can change depending on the biological context. Here, we report a Cytoscape app, the Contextual Hub Analysis Tool (CHAT, which enables users to easily construct and visualize a network of interactions from a gene or protein list of interest, integrate contextual information, such as gene expression or mass spectrometry data, and identify hub nodes that are more highly connected to contextual nodes (e.g. genes or proteins that are differentially expressed than expected by chance. In a case study, we use CHAT to construct a network of genes that are differentially expressed in Dengue fever, a viral infection. CHAT was used to identify and compare contextual and degree-based hubs in this network. The top 20 degree-based hubs were enriched in pathways related to the cell cycle and cancer, which is likely due to the fact that proteins involved in these processes tend to be highly connected in general. In comparison, the top 20 contextual hubs were enriched in pathways commonly observed in a viral infection including pathways related to the immune response to viral infection. This analysis shows that such contextual hubs are considerably more biologically relevant than degree-based hubs and that analyses which rely on the identification of hubs solely based on their connectivity may be biased towards nodes that are highly connected in general rather than in the specific context of interest.   Availability: CHAT is available for Cytoscape 3.0+ and can be installed via the Cytoscape App Store (http://apps.cytoscape.org/apps/chat.

Unfinished Student Answer in PISA Mathematics Contextual Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Lutfianto, Moch.; Zulkardi; Hartono, Yusuf

2013-01-01

Solving mathematics contextual problems is one way that can be used to enable students to have the skills needed to live in the 21st century. Completion contextual problem requires a series of steps in order to properly answer the questions that are asked. The purpose of this study was to determine the steps performed students in solving…

Experimental demonstration of quantum contextuality with nonentangled photons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, B. H.; Huang, Y. F.; Gong, Y. X.; Sun, F. W.; Zhang, Y. S.; Li, C. F.; Guo, G. C.

2009-01-01

We present an experimental test of quantum contextuality by using two-photon product states. The experimental results show that the noncontextual hidden-variable theories are violated by nonentangled states in spite of the local hidden-variable theories can be violated or not. We find that the Hong-Ou-Mandel-type quantum interference effect causes the quantum contextuality.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of hippocampal activation during silent mantra meditation.

Science.gov (United States)

Engström, Maria; Pihlsgård, Johan; Lundberg, Peter; Söderfeldt, Birgitta

2010-12-01

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether moderately experienced meditators activate hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex during silent mantra meditation, as has been observed in earlier studies on subjects with several years of practice. Subjects with less than 2 years of meditation practice according to the Kundalini yoga or Acem tradition were examined by functional magnetic resonance imaging during silent mantra meditation, using an on-off block design. Whole-brain as well as region-of-interest analyses were performed. The most significant activation was found in the bilateral hippocampus/parahippocampal formations. Other areas with significant activation were the bilateral middle cingulate cortex and the bilateral precentral cortex. No activation in the anterior cingulate cortex was found, and only small activation clusters were observed in the prefrontal cortex. In conclusion, the main finding in this study was the significant activation in the hippocampi, which also has been correlated with meditation in several previous studies on very experienced meditators. We propose that the hippocampus is activated already after moderate meditation practice and also during different modes of meditation, including relaxation. The role of hippocampal activity during meditation should be further clarified in future studies, especially by investigating whether the meditation-correlated hippocampal activity is related to memory consolidation.

Origin of the low-level EMG during the silent period following transcranial magnetic stimulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Butler, Jane E; Petersen, Nicolas C; Herbert, Robert D

2012-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The cortical silent period refers to a period of near silence in the electromyogram (EMG) after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex during contraction. However, low-level EMG of unknown origin is often present. We hypothesised that it arises through spinal...

Silent synapses in neuromuscular junction development.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomàs, Josep; Santafé, Manel M; Lanuza, Maria A; García, Neus; Besalduch, Nuria; Tomàs, Marta

2011-01-01

In the last few years, evidence has been found to suggest that some synaptic contacts become silent but can be functionally recruited before they completely retract during postnatal synapse elimination in muscle. The physiological mechanism of developmental synapse elimination may be better understood by studying this synapse recruitment. This Mini-Review collects previously published data and new results to propose a molecular mechanism for axonal disconnection. The mechanism is based on protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent inhibition of acetylcholine (ACh) release. PKC activity may be stimulated by a methoctramine-sensitive M2-type muscarinic receptor and by calcium inflow though P/Q- and L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels. In addition, tropomyosin-related tyrosine kinase B (trkB) receptor-mediated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) activity may oppose the PKC-mediated ACh release depression. Thus, a balance between trkB and muscarinic pathways may contribute to the final functional suppression of some neuromuscular synapses during development. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Contextual cueing improves attentional guidance, even when guidance is supposedly optimal.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Anthony M; Remington, Roger W

2017-05-01

Visual search through previously encountered contexts typically produces reduced reaction times compared with search through novel contexts. This contextual cueing benefit is well established, but there is debate regarding its underlying mechanisms. Eye-tracking studies have consistently shown reduced number of fixations with repetition, supporting improvements in attentional guidance as the source of contextual cueing. However, contextual cueing benefits have been shown in conditions in which attentional guidance should already be optimal-namely, when attention is captured to the target location by an abrupt onset, or under pop-out conditions. These results have been used to argue for a response-related account of contextual cueing. Here, we combine eye tracking with response time to examine the mechanisms behind contextual cueing in spatially cued and pop-out conditions. Three experiments find consistent response time benefits with repetition, which appear to be driven almost entirely by a reduction in number of fixations, supporting improved attentional guidance as the mechanism behind contextual cueing. No differences were observed in the time between fixating the target and responding-our proxy for response related processes. Furthermore, the correlation between contextual cueing magnitude and the reduction in number of fixations on repeated contexts approaches 1. These results argue strongly that attentional guidance is facilitated by familiar search contexts, even when guidance is near-optimal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of peripheral vision in implicit contextual cuing.

Science.gov (United States)

van Asselen, Marieke; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2009-01-01

Implicit contextual cuing refers to the ability to learn the association between contextual information of our environment and a specific target, which can be used to guide attention during visual search. It was recently suggested that the storage of a snapshot image of the local context of a target underlies implicit contextual cuing. To make such a snapshot, it is necessary to use peripheral vision. In order to test whether peripheral vision can underlie implicit contextual cuing, we used a covert visual search task, in which participants were required to indicate the orientation of a target stimulus while foveating a fixation cross. The response times were shorter when the configuration of the stimuli was repeated than when the configuration was new. Importantly, this effect was still found after 10 days, indicating that peripherally perceived spatial context information can be stored in memory for long periods of time. These results indicate that peripheral vision can be used to make a snapshot of the local context of a target.

Contextualized teaching on the problem solving performance of students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rolando V. Obiedo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of contextualized teaching on students’ problem solving skills in physics through a quasi-experimental approach. Problem solving performance of students was described quantitatively through their mean problem solving scores and problem solving skills level. A unit plan patterned from the cognitive apprenticeship approach and contextualized using maritime context of ship stability was implemented on the experimental group while the control group had the conventional lecture method. Pre and post assessment, which is a researcher-developed word problem assessment, was administered to both groups. Results indicated increased problem solving mean scores (p < 0.001, problem solving skill level (p < 0.001 of the experimental group while the control group increased only their problem solving skill level (p = 0.008. Thus, contextualized teaching can improve the problem solving performance of students. This study recommends using contextualization using other physics topics where other contexts can be applied.

Radio jets and gamma-ray emission in radio-silent narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Lähteenmäki, A.; Järvelä, E.; Ramakrishnan, V.; Tornikoski, M.; Tammi, J.; Vera, R. J. C.; Chamani, W.

2018-06-01

We have detected six narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies at 37 GHz that were previously classified as radio silent and two that were classified as radio quiet. These detections reveal the presumption that NLS1 galaxies labelled radio quiet or radio silent and hosted by spiral galaxies are unable to launch jets to be incorrect. The detections are a plausible indicator of the presence of a powerful, most likely relativistic jet because this intensity of emission at 37 GHz cannot be explained by, for example, radiation from supernova remnants. Additionally, one of the detected NLS1 galaxies is a newly discovered source of gamma rays and three others are candidates for future detections. 37 GHz data are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/614/L1

An Interaction Between the Effects of Bilingualism and Cross-linguistic Similarity in Balanced and Unbalanced Bilingual Adults' L2 Mandarin Word-Reading Production.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Hsiu-Ling

2017-08-01

We conducted three experiments investigating in more detail the interaction between the two effects of bilingualism and L1-L2 similarity in the speech performance of balanced and unbalanced bilinguals. In Experiment 1, L1 Mandarin monolinguals and two groups of Hakka and Minnan balanced bilinguals (Hakka: more similar to Mandarin) performed a non-contextual single-character reading task in Mandarin, which required more inhibitory control. The two bilingual groups outperformed the monolinguals, regardless of their L1 background. However, the bilingual advantage was not found in a contextual multi-word task (Experiment 2), but instead the effect of cross-linguistic similarity emerged. Furthermore, in Experiment 3, the Hakka unbalanced bilinguals showed an advantage in the non-contextual task, while their Minnan counterparts did not, and the impact of L1-L2 similarity emerged in both tasks. These results unveiled the way the two effects dynamically interplayed depending on the task contexts and the relative degrees of using L1 and L2.

Contextuality for preparations, transformations, and unsharp measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spekkens, R.W.

2005-01-01

The Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem establishes the impossibility of a noncontextual hidden variable model of quantum theory, or equivalently, that quantum theory is contextual. In this paper, an operational definition of contextuality is introduced which generalizes the standard notion in three ways: (i) it applies to arbitrary operational theories rather than just quantum theory (ii) it applies to arbitrary experimental procedures rather than just sharp measurements, and (iii) it applies to a broad class of ontological models of quantum theory rather than just deterministic hidden variable models. We derive three no-go theorems for ontological models, each based on an assumption of noncontextuality for a different sort of experimental procedure; one for preparation procedures, another for unsharp measurement procedures (that is, measurement procedures associated with positive-operator valued measures), and a third for transformation procedures. All three proofs apply to two-dimensional Hilbert spaces, and are therefore stronger than traditional proofs of contextuality

Using mobile phone contextual information to facilitate managing image collections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jakob Eg; Luniewski, Maciej

2009-01-01

In this paper, we describe a prototype application that utilizes the embedded sensors in advanced mobile phones to infer meaningful contextual information, with the potential to support the users in managing their personal information. Contextual information such as time, location, movement...... in personal information management. We hypothesize that information inferred from embedded mobile phone sensors can offer useful contextual information for managing personal information, including the domain of interest here, namely image collections. This has potential for individuals as well as groups...

The roles of Eph receptors in contextual fear conditioning memory formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dines, Monica; Grinberg, Svetlana; Vassiliev, Maria; Ram, Alon; Tamir, Tal; Lamprecht, Raphael

2015-10-01

Eph receptors regulate glutamate receptors functions, neuronal morphology and synaptic plasticity, cellular events believed to be involved in memory formation. In this study we aim to explore the roles of Eph receptors in learning and memory. Toward that end, we examined the roles of EphB2 and EphA4 receptors, key regulators of synaptic functions, in fear conditioning memory formation. We show that mice lacking EphB2 (EphB2(-/-)) are impaired in short- and long-term contextual fear conditioning memory. Mice that express a carboxy-terminally truncated form of EphB2 that lacks forward signaling, instead of the full EphB2, are impaired in long-term, but not short-term, contextual fear conditioning memory. Long-term contextual fear conditioning memory is attenuated in CaMKII-cre;EphA4(lx/-) mice where EphA4 is removed from all pyramidal neurons of the forebrain. Mutant mice with targeted kinase-dead EphA4 (EphA4(KD)) exhibit intact long-term contextual fear conditioning memory showing that EphA4 kinase-mediated forward signaling is not needed for contextual fear memory formation. The ability to form long-term conditioned taste aversion (CTA) memory is not impaired in the EphB2(-/-) and CaMKII-cre;EphA4(lx/-) mice. We conclude that EphB2 forward signaling is required for long-term contextual fear conditioning memory formation. In contrast, EphB2 mediates short-term contextual fear conditioning memory formation in a forward signaling-independent manner. EphA4 mediates long-term contextual fear conditioning memory formation in a kinase-independent manner. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Blue hypertext is a good design decision: no perceptual disadvantage in reading and successful highlighting of relevant information.

Science.gov (United States)

Gagl, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Highlighted text in the Internet (i.e., hypertext) is predominantly blue and underlined. The perceptibility of these hypertext characteristics was heavily questioned by applied research and empirical tests resulted in inconclusive results. The ability to recognize blue text in foveal and parafoveal vision was identified as potentially constrained by the low number of foveally centered blue light sensitive retinal cells. The present study investigates if foveal and parafoveal perceptibility of blue hypertext is reduced in comparison to normal black text during reading. A silent-sentence reading study with simultaneous eye movement recordings and the invisible boundary paradigm, which allows the investigation of foveal and parafoveal perceptibility, separately, was realized (comparing fixation times after degraded vs. un-degraded parafoveal previews). Target words in sentences were presented in either black or blue and either underlined or normal. No effect of color and underlining, but a preview benefit could be detected for first pass reading measures. Fixation time measures that included re-reading, e.g., total viewing times, showed, in addition to a preview effect, a reduced fixation time for not highlighted (black not underlined) in contrast to highlighted target words (either blue or underlined or both). The present pattern reflects no detectable perceptual disadvantage of hyperlink stimuli but increased attraction of attention resources, after first pass reading, through highlighting. Blue or underlined text allows readers to easily perceive hypertext and at the same time readers re-visited highlighted words longer. On the basis of the present evidence, blue hypertext can be safely recommended to web designers for future use.

The sheaf-theoretic structure of non-locality and contextuality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abramsky, Samson; Brandenburger, Adam

2011-01-01

We use the mathematical language of sheaf theory to give a unified treatment of non-locality and contextuality, in a setting that generalizes the familiar probability tables used in non-locality theory to arbitrary measurement covers; this includes Kochen-Specker configurations and more. We show that contextuality, and non-locality as a special case, correspond exactly to obstructions to the existence of global sections. We describe a linear algebraic approach to computing these obstructions, which allows a systematic treatment of arguments for non-locality and contextuality. We distinguish a proper hierarchy of strengths of no-go theorems, and show that three leading examples—due to Bell, Hardy and Greenberger, Horne and Zeilinger, respectively—occupy successively higher levels of this hierarchy. A general correspondence is shown between the existence of local hidden-variable realizations using negative probabilities, and no-signalling; this is based on a result showing that the linear subspaces generated by the non-contextual and no-signalling models, over an arbitrary measurement cover, coincide. Maximal non-locality is generalized to maximal contextuality, and characterized in purely qualitative terms, as the non-existence of global sections in the support. A general setting is developed for the Kochen-Specker-type results, as generic, model-independent proofs of maximal contextuality, and a new combinatorial condition is given, which generalizes the ‘parity proofs’ commonly found in the literature. We also show how our abstract setting can be represented in quantum mechanics. This leads to a strengthening of the usual no-signalling theorem, which shows that quantum mechanics obeys no-signalling for arbitrary families of commuting observables, not just those represented on different factors of a tensor product. (paper)

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

OpenAIRE

Hansen, A.D.; Jauch, C.; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar; Iov, F.; Blaabjerg, F.

2004-01-01

The present report describes the dynamic wind turbine models implemented in the power system simulation tool DIgSILENT (Version 12.0). The developed models are a part of the results of a national research project, whose overall objective is to create amodel database in different simulation tools. This model database should be able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The repo...

A taxonomy for contextual information in electronic health records.

Science.gov (United States)

Weir, Charlene R; Staggers, Nancy; Doing-Harris, Kristina; Dunlea, Robert; McCormick, Teresa; Barrus, Robyn

2012-01-01

Contextual information is functional, social and financial information about patients and is central to many health-care decisions, including end-of-life care, living arrangements, and the aggressiveness of treatment. It is the language of patients when talking about their health and frequently the focus of nursing interventions. In this study, we report the results of a qualitative analysis of interviews of 17 clinicians focusing on their use of contextual information during the process of care, decision-making and documentation. We identified seven characteristics of contextual information relevant to its use in a clinical setting. Implications for Natural Language Processing and Ontology construction are discussed.

Contextual Cueing Improves Attentional Guidance, Even When Guidance Is Supposedly Optimal

OpenAIRE

Harris, A. M.; Remington, R. W.

2017-01-01

Visual search through previously encountered contexts typically produces reduced reaction times compared with search through novel contexts. This contextual cueing benefit is well established, but there is debate regarding its underlying mechanisms. Eye-tracking studies have consistently shown reduced number of fixations with repetition, supporting improvements in attentional guidance as the source of contextual cueing. However, contextual cueing benefits have been shown in conditions in whic...

Treatment of hazardous organic wastes using silent discharge plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosocha, L.A.; Anderson, G.K.; Bechtold, L.A.; Coogan, J.J.; Heck, H.G.; Kang, M.; McCulla, W.H.; Tennant, R.A.; Wantuck, P.J.

1992-01-01

During the past two decades, interest in applying non-equilibrium plasmas to the removal of hazardous chemicals from gaseous media has been growing, in particular from heightened concerns over the pollution of our environment and a growing body of environmental regulations. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, we are currently engaged in a project to develop non-equilibrium plasma technology for hazardous waste treatment. Our present focus is on dielectric-barrier discharges, which are historically called silent electrical discharges. This type of plasma is also named a silent discharge plasma (SDP). We have chosen this method due to its potential for high energy efficiency, its scientific and technological maturity, and its scalability. The SDP process has been demonstrated to be reliable and economical for the industrial-scale synthesis of ozone, where municipal water treatment plants frequently require the on-site generation of thousands of kilograins per day (Eliasson ampersand Kogelschatz). The related methods of corona processing are presently the focus of work at other institutions, particularly for flue gas processing. Both SDP and corona processes are characterized by the production of large quantities of highly reactive free radicals, especially atomic oxygen O(3P) and the hydroxyl OH, in the gaseous medium and their subsequent reaction with contaminants. Our primary objective is to convert hazardous or toxic chemicals into non-hazardous compounds or into materials which are more amenable to treatment. In the ideal case, the hazardous wastes are destructively oxidized to simpler, non-hazardous compounds plus CO2 and H2O. Sometimes the reaction products are still potentially hazardous, but are easily treated by conventional methods to yield non-hazardous products

Neuroimaging of language processes: fMRI of silent and overt lexical processing and the promise of multiple process imaging in single brain studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borowsky, R.; Owen, W.J.; Wile, T.L.; Friesen, C.K.; Martin, J.L.; Sarty, G.E.

2005-01-01

To implement and evaluate a multiple-process functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm designed to effectively and efficiently activate several language-related regions for use with neurosurgical patients. Both overt and covert response conditions were examined. The fMRI experiments compared the traditional silent word-generation condition versus an overt one as they engage frontal language regions (Experiment 1) and silent versus overt semantic association conditions as they engage multiple language processing regions (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1 the overt condition yielded greater magnitude of activation, but not volume of activation, in the left inferior frontal and insular cortices than did the silent condition for most, but not all, participants. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the activation of multiple established language processing regions (ie, orthographic, phonological and semantic) can be achieved in a significant number of participants, particularly under overt semantic association conditions and that such activation varies in predictable ways. The traditional silent response condition cannot be considered as equivalent to the overt response condition during word generation or semantic association. The multiple-process imaging method introduced here was sensitive to processing robust orthographic, phonological, and semantic regions, particularly under the overt response condition. (author)

Definition dependent properties of the cortical silent period in upper-extremity muscles, a methodological study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijk, A.A. van; Bakker, C.D.; Hendriks, J.C.M.; Geurts, A.C.; Stegeman, D.F.; Pasman, J.W.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: To explore if stimulus-response (S-R) characteristics of the silent period (SP) after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are affected by changing the SP definition and by changing data presentation in healthy individuals. This information would be clinically relevant to predict

Definition dependent properties of the cortical silent period in upper-extremity muscles, a methodological study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kuijk, A.A.; Bakker, C,; Hendriks, J.J.A.; Geurts, A.H.; Stegeman, D.F.; Pasman, J.W.

2014-01-01

Background: To explore if stimulus-response (S-R) characteristics of the silent period (SP) after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are affected by changing the SP definition and by changing data presentation in healthy individuals. This information would be clinically relevant to predict

Reducing the silent burden of impaired mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Jané-Llopis, Eva; Anderson, Peter; Stewart-Brown, Sarah; Weare, Katherine; Wahlbeck, Kristian; McDaid, David; Cooper, Cary; Litchfield, Paul

2011-08-01

Mental and behavioral disorders account for about one third of the world's disability caused by all ill health among adults, with unipolar depressive disorders set to be the world's number one cause of illhealth and premature death in 2030, affecting high- and low-income countries. There is a range of evidence-based cost-effective interventions that can be implemented in parenting, at schools, at the workplace, and in older age that can promote health and well-being, reduce mental disorders, lead to improved productivity, and increase resilience to cope with many of the stressors in the world. These facts need to be better communicated to policymakers to ensure that the silent burden of impaired mental health is adequately heard and reduced.

Stopping the Silent Killer: Hepatitis B Among Asian Americans

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2008-04-18

This podcast discusses an underappreciated health threat to many Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States: chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus. Dr. John Ward, director of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis, and Dr. Sam So, founder of the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, address the importance of testing, vaccination, and care to prevent serious health consequences from this "silent" disease.  Created: 4/18/2008 by National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP), Division of Viral Hepatitis (DVH) and Office of Dispute Resolution and Equal Employment Opportunity, Office of the Director (OD).   Date Released: 5/1/2008.

Whatever Happened to the Silent Scientific Revolution?--Research, Theory and Practice in Distance Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Alistair

The point of departure for this article is the title of a book edited by David Fetterman, "Qualitative Approaches to Educational Evaluation--The Silent Scientific Revolution." This article addresses the question of how the shift to a qualitative, phenomenological approach has impinged on research and evaluation in distance education.…

Clinical aspects of silent cerebral infarction; MRI findings and its distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ohnishi, Jiro (Kobe Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine); Kudo, Yutaka

1991-06-01

High-field MR scans have often showed patchy incidental findings especially in the elderly. We examined 91 patients, without episodes of cerebrovascular disorders previously, who had silent cerebral lesions noted by the 1.5 tesla superconductive system T2 weighted magnetic resonance imaging. They were divided into three subtypes by the localization of foci. The 23 subjects (25%) showed confined lesions to thalamus and/or internal capsule and/or basal ganglia (the basal ganglia type). The 39 subjects (43%) had lesions predominantly in cerebral cortex and/or subcortical white matter and/or cerebellum (the diffuse subcortical type). Finally, the 29 subjects (32%) had both features of abovementioned two groups (the mixed type). These subtypes were correlated with age, sex and some of the other risk factors, such as systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, serum total cholesterol and uric acid, for stroke. From the age extent and the correlation of subtypes to risk factors, the basal ganglia type was suspected to be based on the different origin from other two types. The authors proposed that the arteriosclerotic factor might play an important role in the incidence of the diffuse subcortical type and the mixed type silent cerebral infarctions and that the hemodynamic factor might play an important role in the incidence of the basal ganglia type. (J.P.N.).

Predicting Performance with Contextualized Inventories, No Frame-of-reference Effect?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holtrop, D.J.; Born, M.P.; de Vries, R.E.

2014-01-01

A recent meta-analysis showed that contextualized personality inventories have incremental predictive validity over generic personality inventories when predicting job performance. This study aimed to investigate the differences between two types of contextualization of items: Adding an 'at work'

Contextualization processes and the initial education of physics teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Cândida de Macedo

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Contextualization of school contents has been seen as a possibility of facilitating students’ learning, since it makes the educative process more significant to them. However, there is no agreement as to the meaning and the forms of applying such processes. Particularly in the area of Science teaching, the creation of thematic projects has been seen as a way of contextualizing school contents. It is noteworthy that the experience with the education of Physics teachers shows that the creation and execution of such projects brings many difficulties to teachers, the main obstacle being the understanding of what contextualized educative processes are. Having this in mind, a project has been elaborated with the objective of analyzing the comprehension Physics teachers that are going through teacher education courses have of the processes of contextualization. The data for this investigation has been obtained from students who attended a course of the Physics Teacher Education module at the Federal University of Itajubá. It is significant to mention that in this course students are asked to create three versions of a thematic project. In order to analyze the data, the procedure of Thematic Content and Category Analysis was adopted. This research shows that Physics teachers to be incorporate the discourses of the educative ideas throughout the course. However, there is a series of obstacles they face as they attempt to understand and carry out contextualized educative processes. Those difficulties are connected to their experience with this kind of educative process throughout the years they spend at school and in the teacher education course. We conclude thus that it is essential that contextualized educative activities be part of the reality of teacher education programs.

Female’s Silent Resistance against Hegemony in The Scarlet Letter, Bekisar Merah, and Belantik: A Comparative Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RB. Edi Pramono

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Social patriarchy is a gender-biased hegemonic value that is structured for the benefits of men but unfortunately disadvantages women. Lasiyah, the protagonist of Bekisar Merah and Belantik, and Hester Prynne, the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, experienced those hegemonic values that were oppressive, from their patriarchal societies i.e. Java and Puritans. By using the theories of both Hegemony and Comparative Literature, this discussion reveals the two protagonists’ similar silent resistance against the hegemonic values in that this brought them to become new persons with new personality and identity. They were similarly reborn. Both women had comparable factors driving them to conduct silent resistance: pride, dignity, and love. Woman, who is in general considered weak and powerless, is in fact strong and powerful.

Contextual Compression of Large-Scale Wind Turbine Array Simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gruchalla, Kenny M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Brunhart-Lupo, Nicholas J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Potter, Kristin C [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Clyne, John [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

2017-12-04

Data sizes are becoming a critical issue particularly for HPC applications. We have developed a user-driven lossy wavelet-based storage model to facilitate the analysis and visualization of large-scale wind turbine array simulations. The model stores data as heterogeneous blocks of wavelet coefficients, providing high-fidelity access to user-defined data regions believed the most salient, while providing lower-fidelity access to less salient regions on a block-by-block basis. In practice, by retaining the wavelet coefficients as a function of feature saliency, we have seen data reductions in excess of 94 percent, while retaining lossless information in the turbine-wake regions most critical to analysis and providing enough (low-fidelity) contextual information in the upper atmosphere to track incoming coherent turbulent structures. Our contextual wavelet compression approach has allowed us to deliver interative visual analysis while providing the user control over where data loss, and thus reduction in accuracy, in the analysis occurs. We argue this reduced but contextualized representation is a valid approach and encourages contextual data management.

Analysis of Some Recent Tests of Quantum Contextuality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

La Cour, Brian R.

2010-01-01

Contextuality plays a central role in many key proofs for the impossibility of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. The most famous among these is the Kochen-Specker theorem, which originally applied to a Hilbert space of three dimensions, but much simpler proofs in higher dimensions have since been found. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in contextuality, and a number of experiments have been performed to test it in the four-dimensional context. Recently, it has been shown that contextuality may be interpreted as the result of simple measurement disturbance if the set of measurements chosen are time-like separated [B. La Cour, Phys. Rev. A, 79, 012102 (2009)]. In this work, several such experiments will be reviewed, and it will be shown that none are capable of ruling out a realistic, local hidden variable interpretation.

Contextual Approach with Guided Discovery Learning and Brain Based Learning in Geometry Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Kartikaningtyas, V.; Kusmayadi, T. A.; Riyadi

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to combine the contextual approach with Guided Discovery Learning (GDL) and Brain Based Learning (BBL) in geometry learning of junior high school. Furthermore, this study analysed the effect of contextual approach with GDL and BBL in geometry learning. GDL-contextual and BBL-contextual was built from the steps of GDL and BBL that combined with the principles of contextual approach. To validate the models, it uses quasi experiment which used two experiment groups. The sample had been chosen by stratified cluster random sampling. The sample was 150 students of grade 8th in junior high school. The data were collected through the student’s mathematics achievement test that given after the treatment of each group. The data analysed by using one way ANOVA with different cell. The result shows that GDL-contextual has not different effect than BBL-contextual on mathematics achievement in geometry learning. It means both the two models could be used in mathematics learning as the innovative way in geometry learning.

Quantum contextuality in neutron interferometer experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Yuji; Loidl, Rudolf; Baron, Matthias; Badurek, Gerald; Rauch, Helmut

2006-01-01

Non-local correlations between sufficiently separated subsystems have been extensively discussed. Such a non-locality can be interpreted as a consequence of the correlation between commuting observables. A more general concept, i.e., contextuality, compared to non-locality can be introduced to describe striking phenomena predicted by quantum theory. As the first example, we report a neutron interferometer experiment, where the spin and the path degrees of freedom are used to exhibit the clear violation of a Bell-like inequality. Other aspects of the quantum contextuality is presented, e.g., a flavor of Kochen-Specker-like contradiction in neutron optical experiments, in addition to the quantum state tomography of the Bell-states which are used in the experiments

Cervical Cancer as a silent killer: A rare case report with review of literature

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Deeksha Pandey

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Advanced-stage cervical cancer almost always presents either with abnormal vaginal bleeding or with foul-smelling vaginal discharge. We present here a rare case, where a postmenopausal lady presented almost silently with stage IVA cervical cancer. Fortunately, timely referral, correct diagnosis, and multispecialty team work could save her life.

["Prisms of Perception": multiple readings of mass media health messages in Northeast Brazil].

Science.gov (United States)

Diógenes, Kátia Castelo Branco Machado; Nations, Marilyn

2011-12-01

This anthropological study from February 2009 to November 2010 revealed the comprehension and cultural critique of three mass media health campaigns in Northeast Brazil. Twenty-four ethnographic interviews were conducted, exploring the iconographic and semantic content of the campaigns in the Dendê community in Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil. The authors used Content Analysis; Systems of Signs, Significance, and Actions; and Contextualized Semantic Interpretation. There is a gap between the elaboration and reception of messages. Multiple interpretations occur (proximal reading, kaleidoscope of comprehension, and distant reading), depending on the reader's cognitive proximity to (or detachment from) the message. This "perceptual plasticity" arises from the creativity of popular imagination. Health professionals who hear rather than dismiss the "recipient's" subjective voice, which re-signifies authoritative messages, can penetrate the perception of the recipient's "visual world". In the context of poverty, this re-framing is essential for people to comprehend and proactively defend their own health.

Monstruos de la Universal: la etapa silente y los mitos del sonoro

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David Fuentefría-Rodríguez

2013-04-01

Full Text Available En coincidencia con el centenario en 2012 de los legendarios Estudios Universal, este trabajo propone un exhaustivo análisis crítico sobre la construcción de sus principales símbolos terroríficos, la mayoría inspirados en la literatura, que entre los años 1923 y 1941 conformaron la estructura mitogénica del denominado “monstruo clásico”. Tanto en la etapa silente, como con la irrupción del sonoro, las películas de terror de la Universal marcaron un paso imprescindible en la evolución de este género canónico, y a ellas se debe buena parte del ingente desarrollo posterior del mismo.In coincidence with 2012 legendary Universal Studio´s centenary, this paper proposes an exhaustive critical analysis on the construction of its principal terrifying symbols, the majority inspired by literature, which between 1923 and 1941 shaped the myth structure of the so-called "classic monster". In both stages, silent and sonorous movies, the terror of Universal Studios marked an indispensable step in the evolution of this canonical genre, and to them it is owed a good deal of its enormous later development.

Against Contextualism: Belief, Evidence, & the Bank Cases

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Logan Paul Gage

2013-04-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1808-1711.2013v17n1p57 Contextualism (the view that ‘knowledge’ and its variants are context-sensitive has been supported in large part through appeal to intuitions about Keith DeRose’s Bank Cases. Recently, however, the contextualist construal of these cases has come under fire from Kent Bach and Jennifer Nagel who question whether the Bank Case subject’s confidence can remain constant in both low- and high-stakes cases. Having explained the Bank Cases and this challenge to them, I argue that DeRose has given a reasonable reply to this initial challenge. However, I proceed to argue that the current stalemate can be broken. Seeking to extend the Bach–Nagel critique, I offer a novel interpretation of the Bank Cases according to which the subject’s evidence changes between low- and high-stakes cases. If I am correct, then, given the amount of support the Bank Cases have been thought to lend contextualism, the case for contextualism is seriously weakened.

Contextuality supplies the 'magic' for quantum computation.

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Howard, Mark; Wallman, Joel; Veitch, Victor; Emerson, Joseph

2014-06-19

Quantum computers promise dramatic advantages over their classical counterparts, but the source of the power in quantum computing has remained elusive. Here we prove a remarkable equivalence between the onset of contextuality and the possibility of universal quantum computation via 'magic state' distillation, which is the leading model for experimentally realizing a fault-tolerant quantum computer. This is a conceptually satisfying link, because contextuality, which precludes a simple 'hidden variable' model of quantum mechanics, provides one of the fundamental characterizations of uniquely quantum phenomena. Furthermore, this connection suggests a unifying paradigm for the resources of quantum information: the non-locality of quantum theory is a particular kind of contextuality, and non-locality is already known to be a critical resource for achieving advantages with quantum communication. In addition to clarifying these fundamental issues, this work advances the resource framework for quantum computation, which has a number of practical applications, such as characterizing the efficiency and trade-offs between distinct theoretical and experimental schemes for achieving robust quantum computation, and putting bounds on the overhead cost for the classical simulation of quantum algorithms.

Perpendicularity misjudgments caused by contextual stimulus elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulatov, Aleksandr; Bulatova, Natalija; Surkys, Tadas

2012-10-15

It has been demonstrated in previous studies that the illusions of extent of the Brentano type can be explained by the perceptual positional shifts of the stimulus terminators in direction of the centers-of-masses (centroids) of adjacent contextual flanks [Bulatov, A. et al. (2011). Contextual flanks' tilting and magnitude of illusion of extent. Vision Research, 51(1), 58-64]. In the present study, the applicability of the centroid approach to explain the right-angle misjudgments was tested psychophysically using stimuli composed of three small disks (dots) forming an imaginary rectangular triangle. Stimuli comprised the Müller-Lyer wings or line segments (bars) as the contextual distracters rotated around the vertices of the triangle, and changes in the magnitude of the illusion of perpendicularity were measured in a set of experiments. A good resemblance between the experimental data and theoretical predictions obtained strongly supports the suggestion regarding the common "centroid" origin of the illusions of extent of the Brentano type and misperception of the perpendicularity investigated. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Contextual memory, psychosis-proneness, and the experience of intrusive imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Glazer, Daniel A; Mason, Oliver; King, John A; Brewin, Chris R

2013-01-01

This study tested the hypothesis that the presence and characteristics of naturally occurring involuntary imagery would be related to poorer context-dependent spatial memory and higher levels of proneness to psychotic experiences. Poorer contextual memory was also predicted to be associated with a greater sense of "nowness". Participants completed a virtual environment task that assessed contextual memory through responses that required allocentric and egocentric processing of virtual stimuli. Two questionnaires assessing predisposition to psychotic experiences were employed. Finally, participants completed an interview that required details of recent, naturally occurring involuntary images. Reports of involuntary imagery were associated with greater proneness to psychotic experiences but not with memory. In those participants who reported imagery, however, poorer memory performance was associated with more vivid and detailed intrusive imagery. Poorer contextual memory was specifically associated with a greater sense of "nowness". Possible links between contextual memory and proneness to psychosis are discussed.

Developing reading literacy by reading badge

OpenAIRE

Rejc, Blanka

2017-01-01

Reading is a fundamental activity of our society and is present in all areas of a person’s life. Authors who deal with reading define reading with different definitions, some of them I also presented in my master’s degree thesis. The ways of reading, typology of readers and knowledge of different reading models are only some of the important theoretical facts that serve as a basis for the research and defining reading. Reading motivation is an important motivational factor, which encourages a...

Exploring the Relationship between Adolescent's Reading Skills, Reading Motivation and Reading Habits

Science.gov (United States)

McGeown, Sarah P.; Duncan, Lynne G.; Griffiths, Yvonne M.; Stothard, Sue E.

2015-01-01

The present study examines the extent to which adolescents' reading affect (reading motivation) and behaviour (reading habits) predict different components of reading (word reading, comprehension, summarisation and text reading speed) and also adds to the limited research examining group differences (gender, age, ability) in adolescents' reading…

Focal Event, Contextualization, and Effective Communication in the Mathematics Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Per; Ryve, Andreas

2010-01-01

The aim of this article is to develop analytical tools for studying mathematical communication in collaborative activities. The theoretical construct of contextualization is elaborated methodologically in order to study diversity in individual thinking in relation to effective communication. The construct of contextualization highlights issues of…

Reading and spelling skills in German third graders: Examining the role of student and context characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

von Suchodoletz, Antje; Larsen, Ross A A; Gunzenhauser, Catherine; Fäsche, Anika

2015-12-01

Educational processes and outcomes are influenced by a multitude of factors, including individual and contextual characteristics. Recently, studies have demonstrated that student and context characteristics may produce unique and cumulative effects on educational outcomes. The study aimed to investigate (1) the relative contribution of student, classroom, and school characteristics to reading fluency and orthographic spelling, (2) the relative contribution of specific predictors to reading fluency and orthographic spelling within the sets of student, classroom, and school characteristics, and (3) whether the contribution of student, classroom, and school characteristics differs for reading fluency and orthographic spelling. Participants were 789 German third-grade students from 56 classrooms in 34 schools. Students completed an intelligence test and a questionnaire assessing self-control. Reading fluency and orthographic spelling performance were assessed using standardized achievement tests. Multilevel structural equation modelling was used to control for the hierarchical structure of educational data. Variances in students' reading and spelling skills were in large part explained by student characteristics (>90%). Classroom and school characteristics yielded little variance. Student-level intelligence and self-control were significantly related to reading fluency. For orthographic spelling, student-level intelligence and self-control, class-average intelligence, and, at the school level, the socio-economic status of the school's neighbourhood were significant predictors. Future research needs to investigate relevant classroom and school factors that may directly and indirectly relate to academic outcomes. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Microbial communication leading to the activation of silent fungal secondary metabolite gene clusters

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Tina eNetzker

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Microorganisms form diverse multispecies communities in various ecosystems. The high abundance of fungal and bacterial species in these consortia results in specific communication between the microorganisms. A key role in this communication is played by secondary metabolites (SMs, which are also called natural products. Recently, it was shown that interspecies ‘talk’ between microorganisms represents a physiological trigger to activate silent gene clusters leading to the formation of novel SMs by the involved species. This review focuses on mixed microbial cultivation, mainly between bacteria and fungi, with a special emphasis on the induced formation of fungal SMs in co-cultures. In addition, the role of chromatin remodeling in the induction is examined, and methodical perspectives for the analysis of natural products are presented. As an example for an intermicrobial interaction elucidated at the molecular level, we discuss the specific interaction between the filamentous fungi Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus fumigatus with the soil bacterium Streptomyces rapamycinicus, which provides an excellent model system to enlighten molecular concepts behind regulatory mechanisms and will pave the way to a novel avenue of drug discovery through targeted activation of silent SM gene clusters through co-cultivations of microorganisms.

Pigeons Exhibit Contextual Cueing to Both Simple and Complex Backgrounds

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Wasserman, Edward A.; Teng, Yuejia; Castro, Leyre

2014-01-01

Repeated pairings of a particular visual context with a specific location of a target stimulus facilitate target search in humans. We explored an animal model of this contextual cueing effect using a novel Cueing-Miscueing design. Pigeons had to peck a target which could appear in one of four possible locations on four possible color backgrounds or four possible color photographs of real-world scenes. On 80% of the trials, each of the contexts was uniquely paired with one of the target locations; on the other 20% of the trials, each of the contexts was randomly paired with the remaining target locations. Pigeons came to exhibit robust contextual cueing when the context preceded the target by 2 s, with reaction times to the target being shorter on correctly-cued trials than on incorrectly-cued trials. Contextual cueing proved to be more robust with photographic backgrounds than with uniformly colored backgrounds. In addition, during the context-target delay, pigeons predominately pecked toward the location of the upcoming target, suggesting that attentional guidance contributes to contextual cueing. These findings confirm the effectiveness of animal models of contextual cueing and underscore the important part played by associative learning in producing the effect. PMID:24491468

Independence of long-term contextual memory and short-term perceptual hypotheses: Evidence from contextual cueing of interrupted search.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlagbauer, Bernhard; Mink, Maurice; Müller, Hermann J; Geyer, Thomas

2017-02-01

Observers are able to resume an interrupted search trial faster relative to responding to a new, unseen display. This finding of rapid resumption is attributed to short-term perceptual hypotheses generated on the current look and confirmed upon subsequent looks at the same display. It has been suggested that the contents of perceptual hypotheses are similar to those of other forms of memory acquired long-term through repeated exposure to the same search displays over the course of several trials, that is, the memory supporting "contextual cueing." In three experiments, we investigated the relationship between short-term perceptual hypotheses and long-term contextual memory. The results indicated that long-term, contextual memory of repeated displays neither affected the generation nor the confirmation of short-term perceptual hypotheses for these displays. Furthermore, the analysis of eye movements suggests that long-term memory provides an initial benefit in guiding attention to the target, whereas in subsequent looks guidance is entirely based on short-term perceptual hypotheses. Overall, the results reveal a picture of both long- and short-term memory contributing to reliable performance gains in interrupted search, while exerting their effects in an independent manner.

Contextual approach to quantum formalism

CERN Document Server

Khrennikov, Andrei

2009-01-01

The aim of this book is to show that the probabilistic formalisms of classical statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics can be unified on the basis of a general contextual probabilistic model. By taking into account the dependence of (classical) probabilities on contexts (i.e. complexes of physical conditions), one can reproduce all distinct features of quantum probabilities such as the interference of probabilities and the violation of Bell’s inequality. Moreover, by starting with a formula for the interference of probabilities (which generalizes the well known classical formula of total probability), one can construct the representation of contextual probabilities by complex probability amplitudes or, in the abstract formalism, by normalized vectors of the complex Hilbert space or its hyperbolic generalization. Thus the Hilbert space representation of probabilities can be naturally derived from classical probabilistic assumptions. An important chapter of the book critically reviews known no-go theorems...

Cultural and Contextual Influences on Parenting in Mexican American Families

Science.gov (United States)

White, Rebecca M. B.; Roosa, Mark W.; Weaver, Scott R.; Nair, Rajni L.

2009-01-01

Family stress theory can explain associations between contextual stressors and parenting. The theory, however, has not been tested among Mexican Americans or expanded to include cultural-contextual risks. This study examined associations between neighborhood, economic, and acculturative stressors and parenting behaviors in a sample of 570…

Plasma remediation of trichloroethylene in silent discharge plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, D.; Rosocha, L.A.; Anderson, G.K.; Coogan, J.J.; Kushner, M.J.

1993-01-01

Plasma destruction of toxins, and volatile organic compounds in particular, from gas streams is receiving increased attention as an energy efficient means to remediate those compounds. In this regard, remediation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in silent discharge plasmas has been experimentally and theoretically investigated. We found that TCE can be removed from Ar/O 2 gas streams at atmospheric pressure with an energy efficiency of 15--20 ppm/(mJ/cm 3 ), or 2--3 kW h kg -1 . The majority of the Cl from TCE is converted to HCl, Cl 2 , and COCl 2 , which can be removed from the gas stream by a water bubbler. The destruction efficiency of TCE is smaller in humid mixtures compared to dry mixtures due to interception of reactive intermediates by OH radicals

Robust Actor-Critic Contextual Bandit for Mobile Health (mHealth) Interventions

OpenAIRE

Zhu, Feiyun; Guo, Jun; Li, Ruoyu; Huang, Junzhou

2018-01-01

We consider the actor-critic contextual bandit for the mobile health (mHealth) intervention. State-of-the-art decision-making algorithms generally ignore the outliers in the dataset. In this paper, we propose a novel robust contextual bandit method for the mHealth. It can achieve the conflicting goal of reducing the influence of outliers while seeking for a similar solution compared with the state-of-the-art contextual bandit methods on the datasets without outliers. Such performance relies o...

3-D contextual Bayesian classifiers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Rasmus

In this paper we will consider extensions of a series of Bayesian 2-D contextual classification pocedures proposed by Owen (1984) Hjort & Mohn (1984) and Welch & Salter (1971) and Haslett (1985) to 3 spatial dimensions. It is evident that compared to classical pixelwise classification further...

Unilateral hippocampal inactivation or lesion selectively impairs remote contextual fear memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Heng; Zhou, Qixin; Xu, Lin

2016-10-01

Contextual fear memory depends on the hippocampus, but the role of unilateral hippocampus in this type of memory remains unclear. Herein, pharmacological inactivation or excitotoxic lesions were used to study the role of unilateral hippocampus in the stages of contextual fear memory. The pharmacological experiments revealed that compared with the control groups, unilateral hippocampal blockade did not impair 1-day recent memory following learning, whereas bilateral hippocampal blockade significantly impaired this memory. The lesion experiments showed that compared with the control groups, the formed contextual fear memory was retained for 7 days and that 30-day remote memory was markedly reduced in unilateral hippocampal lesion groups. These results indicate that an intact bilateral hippocampus is required for the formation of remote memory and that unilateral hippocampus is sufficient for recent contextual fear memory.

Blue hypertext is a good design decision: no perceptual disadvantage in reading and successful highlighting of relevant information

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Benjamin Gagl

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background Highlighted text in the Internet (i.e., hypertext is predominantly blue and underlined. The perceptibility of these hypertext characteristics was heavily questioned by applied research and empirical tests resulted in inconclusive results. The ability to recognize blue text in foveal and parafoveal vision was identified as potentially constrained by the low number of foveally centered blue light sensitive retinal cells. The present study investigates if foveal and parafoveal perceptibility of blue hypertext is reduced in comparison to normal black text during reading. Methods A silent-sentence reading study with simultaneous eye movement recordings and the invisible boundary paradigm, which allows the investigation of foveal and parafoveal perceptibility, separately, was realized (comparing fixation times after degraded vs. un-degraded parafoveal previews. Target words in sentences were presented in either black or blue and either underlined or normal. Results No effect of color and underlining, but a preview benefit could be detected for first pass reading measures. Fixation time measures that included re-reading, e.g., total viewing times, showed, in addition to a preview effect, a reduced fixation time for not highlighted (black not underlined in contrast to highlighted target words (either blue or underlined or both. Discussion The present pattern reflects no detectable perceptual disadvantage of hyperlink stimuli but increased attraction of attention resources, after first pass reading, through highlighting. Blue or underlined text allows readers to easily perceive hypertext and at the same time readers re-visited highlighted words longer. On the basis of the present evidence, blue hypertext can be safely recommended to web designers for future use.

Contextual Stress and Health Risk Behaviors among African American Adolescents

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Copeland-Linder, Nikeea; Lambert, Sharon F.; Chen, Yi-Fu; Ialongo, Nicholas S.

2011-01-01

This study examined the longitudinal association between contextual stress and health risk behaviors and the role of protective factors in a community epidemiologically-defined sample of urban African American adolescents (N = 500; 46.4% female). Structural equation modeling was used to create a latent variable measuring contextual stress…

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)-how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children ( N = 143). Results showed that listening comprehension was related to text reading fluency at time 2, but not at time 1. At both times text reading fluency was related to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension was related to text reading fluency over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. Orthographic awareness was related to text reading fluency over and above other emergent literacy skills and word reading fluency. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were independently related to text reading fluency and reading comprehension whereas theory of mind was related to reading comprehension, but not text reading fluency. These results reveal developmental nature of relations and mechanism of text reading fluency in reading development.

Does Contextual Cueing Guide the Deployment of Attention?

OpenAIRE

Kunar, Melina A.; Flusberg, Stephen; Horowitz, Todd S.; Wolfe, Jeremy M.

2007-01-01

Contextual cueing experiments show that when displays are repeated, reaction times (RTs) to find a target decrease over time even when observers are not aware of the repetition. It has been thought that the context of the display guides attention to the target. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the effects of guidance in a standard search task to the effects of contextual cueing. Firstly, in standard search, an improvement in guidance causes search slopes (derived from RT × Set Size func...

Dynamic wind turbine models in power system simulation tool DIgSILENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, A.D.; Iov, F.; Soerensen, Poul.; Cutululis, N.; Jauch, C.; Blaabjerg, F.

2007-08-15

This report presents a collection of models and control strategies developed and implemented in the power system simulation tool PowerFactory DIgSILENT for different wind turbine concepts. It is the second edition of Risoe-R-1400(EN) and it gathers and describes a whole wind turbine model database built-op and developed during several national research projects, carried out at Risoe DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy and Aalborg University, in the period 2001-2007. The overall objective of these projects was to create a wind turbine model database able to support the analysis of the interaction between the mechanical structure of the wind turbine and the electrical grid during different operational modes. The report provides thus a description of the wind turbines modelling, both at a component level and at a system level. The report contains both the description of DIgSILENT built-in models for the electrical components of a grid connected wind turbine (e.g. induction generators, power converters, transformers) and the models developed by the user, in the dynamic simulation language DSL of DIgSILENT, for the non-electrical components of the wind turbine (wind model, aerodynamic model, mechanical model). The initialisation issues on the wind turbine models into the power system simulation are also presented. The main attention in the report is drawn to the modelling at the system level of the following wind turbine concepts: (1) Fixed speed active stall wind turbine concept (2) Variable speed doubly-fed induction generator wind turbine concept (3) Variable speed multi-pole permanent magnet synchronous generator wind turbine concept These wind turbine concept models can be used and even extended for the study of different aspects, e.g. the assessment of power quality, control strategies, connection of the wind turbine at different types of grid and storage systems. Different control strategies have been developed and implemented for these wind turbine

Does Extensive Reading Promote Reading Speed?

Science.gov (United States)

He, Mu

2014-01-01

Research has shown a wide range of learning benefits accruing from extensive reading. Not only is there improvement in reading, but also in a wide range of language uses and areas of language knowledge. However, few research studies have examined reading speed. The existing literature on reading speed focused on students' reading speed without…

Contextualizing Data Warehouses with Documents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Perez, Juan Manuel; Berlanga, Rafael; Aramburu, Maria Jose

2008-01-01

warehouse with a document warehouse, resulting in a contextualized warehouse. Thus, the user first selects an analysis context by supplying some keywords. Then, the analysis is performed on a novel type of OLAP cube, called an R-cube, which is materialized by retrieving and ranking the documents...

A 3-D Contextual Classifier

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Rasmus

1997-01-01

In this paper we will consider an extension of the Bayesian 2-D contextual class ification routine developed by Owen, Hjort \\$\\backslash\\$& Mohn to 3 spatial dimensions. It is evident that compared to classical pixelwise classification further information can be obtained by tak ing into account...

Comparing the performance and preference of students experiencing a Reading Aloud Accommodation to those who do not on a virtual science assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Shelton, Angela

Many United States secondary students perform poorly on standardized summative science assessments. Situated Assessments using Virtual Environments (SAVE) Science is an innovative assessment project that seeks to capture students' science knowledge and understanding by contextualizing problems in a game-based virtual environment called Scientopolis. Within Scientopolis, students use an "avatar" to interact with non-player characters (NPCs), artifacts, embedded clues and "sci-tools" in order to help solve the problems of the townspeople. In an attempt to increase students' success on assessments, SAVE science places students in an environment where they can use their inquiry skills to solve problems instead of reading long passages which attempt to contextualize questions but ultimately cause construct-irrelevant variance. However, within these assessments reading is still required to access the test questions and character interactions. This dissertation explores how students' in-world performances differ when exposed to a Reading Aloud Accommodation (RAA) treatment in comparison to a control group. Student perceptions of the treatment are also evaluated. While a RAA is typically available for students with learning disabilities or English language learners, within this study, all students were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control, regardless of any demographic factors or learning barriers. The theories of Universal design for learning and brain-based learning advocate for multiple ways for students to engage, comprehend, and illustrate their content knowledge. Further, through providing more ways for students to interact with content, all students should benefit, not just those with learning disabilities. Students in the experimental group listened to the NPCs speak the dialogue that provides them with the problem, clues, and assessment questions, instead of relying on reading skills to gather the information. Overall, students in the treatment

Action Centered Contextual Bandits.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenewald, Kristjan; Tewari, Ambuj; Klasnja, Predrag; Murphy, Susan

2017-12-01

Contextual bandits have become popular as they offer a middle ground between very simple approaches based on multi-armed bandits and very complex approaches using the full power of reinforcement learning. They have demonstrated success in web applications and have a rich body of associated theoretical guarantees. Linear models are well understood theoretically and preferred by practitioners because they are not only easily interpretable but also simple to implement and debug. Furthermore, if the linear model is true, we get very strong performance guarantees. Unfortunately, in emerging applications in mobile health, the time-invariant linear model assumption is untenable. We provide an extension of the linear model for contextual bandits that has two parts: baseline reward and treatment effect. We allow the former to be complex but keep the latter simple. We argue that this model is plausible for mobile health applications. At the same time, it leads to algorithms with strong performance guarantees as in the linear model setting, while still allowing for complex nonlinear baseline modeling. Our theory is supported by experiments on data gathered in a recently concluded mobile health study.

Extent of silent cerebral infarcts in adult sickle-cell disease patients on magnetic resonance imaging: is there a correlation with the clinical severity of disease?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterini Solomou

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to correlate the extent of silent cerebral infarcts (SCIs on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI with the clinical severity of sickle cell disease (SCD in adult patients. Twenty-four consecutive adult asymptomatic SCD patients (11 male and 13 female with a mean age of 38.4 years (range 20-59 were submitted to brain MRI on a 1 Tesla Gyroscan Intera, Philips MR scanner with a dedicated head coil. The protocol consisted of TSE T2-weighted and FLAIR images on the axial and coronal planes. MRI readings were undertaken by two radiologists and consensus readings. Patients were compound heterozygotes (HbS/β-thal. The extent of SCIs was classified from 0-2 with 0 designating no lesions. Clinical severity was graded as 0-2 by the hematologist, according to the frequency and severity of vaso-occlusive crises. There was no statistically significant correlation between the severity of clinical disease and the extent of SCIs on MR imaging. The extent of SCI lesions did not differ statistically between younger and older patients. Patients receiving hydroxyurea had no statistically significant difference in the extent of SCI lesions. The extent of SCIs in heterozygous (HbS/β-thal SCD patients is not age related and may be quite severe even in younger (<38.4 years patients. However the extent of SCIs is not correlated with the severity of clinical disease.

Activation of the Silent Secondary Metabolite Production by Introducing Neomycin-Resistance in a Marine-Derived Penicillium purpurogenum G59

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang-Jing Wu

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction of neomycin-resistance into a marine-derived, wild-type Penicillium purpurogenum G59 resulted in activation of silent biosynthetic pathways for the secondary metabolite production. Upon treatment of G59 spores with neomycin and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, a total of 56 mutants were obtained by single colony isolation. The acquired resistance of mutants to neomycin was testified by the resistance test. In contrast to the G59 strain, the EtOAc extracts of 28 mutants inhibited the human cancer K562 cells, indicating that the 28 mutants have acquired the capability to produce bioactive metabolites. HPLC-photodiode array detector (PDAD-UV and HPLC-electron spray ionization (ESI-MS analyses further indicated that diverse secondary metabolites have been newly produced in the bioactive mutant extracts. Followed isolation and characterization demonstrated that five bioactive secondary metabolites, curvularin (1, citrinin (2, penicitrinone A (3, erythro-23-O-methylneocyclocitrinol (4 and 22E-7α-methoxy-5α, 6α-epoxyergosta-8(14,22-dien-3β-ol (5, were newly produced by a mutant, 4-30, compared to the G59 strain. All 1–5 were also not yet found in the secondary metabolites of other wild type P. purpurogenum strains. Compounds 1–5 inhibited human cancer K562, HL-60, HeLa and BGC-823 cells to varying extents. Both present bioassays and chemical investigations demonstrated that the introduction of neomycin-resistance into the marine-derived fungal G59 strain could activate silent secondary metabolite production. The present work not only extended the previous DMSO-mediated method for introducing drug-resistance in fungi both in DMSO concentrations and antibiotics, but also additionally exemplified effectiveness of this method for activating silent fungal secondary metabolites. This method could be applied to other fungal isolates to elicit their metabolic potentials to investigate secondary metabolites from silent biosynthetic pathways.

Contextuality is about identity of random variables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dzhafarov, Ehtibar N; Kujala, Janne V

2014-01-01

Contextual situations are those in which seemingly ‘the same’ random variable changes its identity depending on the conditions under which it is recorded. Such a change of identity is observed whenever the assumption that the variable is one and the same under different conditions leads to contradictions when one considers its joint distribution with other random variables (this is the essence of all Bell-type theorems). In our Contextuality-by-Default approach, instead of asking why or how the conditions force ‘one and the same’ random variable to change ‘its’ identity, any two random variables recorded under different conditions are considered different ‘automatically.’ They are never the same, nor are they jointly distributed, but one can always impose on them a joint distribution (probabilistic coupling). The special situations when there is a coupling in which these random variables are equal with probability 1 are considered noncontextual. Contextuality means that such couplings do not exist. We argue that the determination of the identity of random variables by conditions under which they are recorded is not a causal relationship and cannot violate laws of physics. (paper)

The association between saliva control, silent saliva penetration, aspiration, and videofluoroscopic findings in Parkinson's disease patients

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaei, Ali; Ashtari, Fereshteh; Azargoon, Seyed Abolfazl; Chitsaz, Ahmad; Nilforoush, Mohammad Hussein; Taheri, Masoud; Sadeghi, Saba

2015-01-01

Background: Dysphagia is a common disorder among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). It occurs in up to 80% of all (PD) patients during the early stages of the disease and up to 95% in the advanced stages; but professionals may not hear from the patients about dysphagia symptoms until these symptoms reach an advanced stage and lead to medical complications. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three PD patients (mean age 66.09 ± 9.4 years; 24 men, nine women) participated in this study at our Neurology Institute, between April 20, 2013, and October 26, 2013. They were asked two questions; one about saliva control and the other about silent saliva penetration and aspiration. Next, they underwent the videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). Results: The Pearson Correlation coefficient between the Penetration–Aspiration Scale (PAS) scores and question 1 scores was 0.48 (P < 0.05, =0.25), and there was a significant correlation between the PAS scores and question 2 scores, and also question 1 scores + question 2 scores (r = 0.589, P < 0.05, =0 and r = 0589, P < 0.05, =0). Conclusions: This study showed a significant correlation between the questions about saliva control, silent saliva penetration, and aspiration, and laryngeal penetration and aspiration during VFSS. Therefore, by using these two questions, the potential silent laryngeal penetration and aspiration during meals could be detected before it led to aspiration pneumonia. Taking the benefit of these questions, as a part of the swallowing assessment of PD patients, is recommended. PMID:26261810

The interplay of contextual elements in implementation: an ethnographic case study.

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McCullough, Megan B; Chou, Ann F; Solomon, Jeffrey L; Petrakis, Beth Ann; Kim, Bo; Park, Angela M; Benedict, Ashley J; Hamilton, Alison B; Rose, Adam J

2015-02-14

Contextual elements have significant impact on uptake of health care innovations. While existing conceptual frameworks in implementation science suggest contextual elements interact with each other, little research has described how this might look in practice. To bridge this gap, this study identifies the interconnected patterns among contextual elements that influence uptake of an anticoagulation clinic improvement initiative. We completed 51 semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations across five case study sites involved in an evidence-based practice (EBP) quality improvement initiative. We analyzed data in NVivo 10 using an a priori approach based on the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) model and an emergent thematic analysis. Key contextual elements, such as leadership, teamwork, and communication, interacted with each other in contributing to site-level uptake of the EBP, often yielding results that could not be predicted by looking at just one of these elements alone. Sites with context conducive to change in these areas predictably had high uptake, while sites with uniformly weak contextual elements had low uptake. Most sites presented a mixed picture, with contextual elements being strongly supportive of change in some areas and weak or moderate in others. In some cases, we found that sites with strong context in at least one area only needed to have adequate context in other areas to yield high uptake. At other sites, weak context in just one area had the potential to contribute to low uptake, despite countervailing strengths. Even a site with positive views of EBPs could not succeed when context was weak. Interrelationships among different contextual elements can act as barriers to uptake at some sites and as facilitators at others. Accounting for interconnections among elements enables PARIHS to more fully describe the determinants of successful implementation as they operate in real-world settings.

Effects of Normal Aging on Memory for Multiple Contextual Features

Science.gov (United States)

Gagnon, Sylvain; Soulard, Kathleen; Brasgold, Melissa; Kreller, Joshua

2007-01-01

Twenty-four younger (18-35 years) and 24 older adult participants (65 or older) were exposed to three experimental conditions involving the memorization words and their associated contextual features, with contextual feature complexity increasing from Conditions 1 to 3. In Condition 1, words presented varied only on one binary feature (color,…

Psychosis and Silent Celiac Disease in a Down Syndrome Adolescent: A Case Report

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Amparo Morant

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Celiac disease is an autoimmune systemic disorder. It presents gastrointestinal and nongastrointestinal manifestations as well as associated conditions. We report a 16-year-old Down syndrome girl who presented psychosis symptomatology, and she was diagnosed as having silent celiac disease. Olanzapine treatment and gluten-free diet were satisfactory. It is necessary to consider celiac disease in Down syndrome patients with psychiatric symptoms, mainly psychotic symptomatology.

Inhibition of Rac1 activity in the hippocampus impaired extinction of contextual fear.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Lizhu; Mao, Rongrong; Tong, Jianbin; Li, Jinnan; Chai, Anping; Zhou, Qixin; Yang, Yuexiong; Wang, Liping; Li, Lingjiang; Xu, Lin

2016-10-01

Promoting extinction of fear memory is the main treatment of fear disorders, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, fear extinction is often incomplete in these patients. Our previous study had shown that Rac1 activity in hippocampus plays a crucial role in the learning of contextual fear memory in rats. Here, we further investigated whether Rac1 activity also modulated the extinction of contextual fear memory. We found that massed extinction obviously upregulated hippocampal Rac1 activity and induced long-term extinction of contextual fear in rats. Intrahippocampal injection of the Rac1 inhibitor NSC23766 prevents extinction of contextual fear in massed extinction training rats. In contrast, long-spaced extinction downregulated Rac1 activity and caused less extinction. And Rac1 activator CN04-A promotes extinction of contextual fear in long-spaced extinction rats. Our study demonstrates that inhibition of Rac1 activity in the hippocampus impaired extinction of contextual fear, suggesting that modulating Rac1 activity of the hippocampus may be promising therapy of fear disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Silent Reading and Vocal Reading upon Memory for Prose

OpenAIRE

Mori, Toshiaki

1980-01-01

文章を黙読した場合と音読した場合とでは,文章の記憶及び読解の成績にどのような違いが生じるかという問題を,大学生を被験者として検討した。その結果,音読することは,文章を逐語的に記憶する場合には有効であるが,その効果は一時的であることがわかった。これに対し,黙読することは,文章を逐語的に記憶するというよりも,文章の内容を体制化して記憶する場合に有効であり,その効果は音読の場合よりも永続的であることがわかった。 一方,黙読するか音読するかということによって,読解の成績には顕著な差はみられなかった。このことは,黙読するか音読するかという事が読解と無関係であるというより,読解テストのやり方自体に方法上の改善をほどこす必要があるということを示唆するものと考えられる。...

Contextual Bandits for Information Retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofmann, K.; Whiteson, S.; de Rijke, M.

2011-01-01

In this paper we give an overview of and outlook on research at the intersection of information retrieval (IR) and contextual bandit problems. A critical problem in information retrieval is online learning to rank, where a search engine strives to improve the quality of the ranked result lists it

Transformation of a Silent Adrencorticotrophic Pituitary Tumor Into Central Nervous System Melanoma

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Brandon A. Miller MD, PhD

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Silent adrenocorticotrophic pituitary adenomas are nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas that express adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH but do not cause the clinical or laboratory features of hypercortisolemia. Primary central nervous system (CNS melanoma is well documented, but rarely originates in the sellar region or pituitary gland. Here we report transformation of an aggressive silent adrenocorticotrophic pituitary adenoma that transformed into CNS melanoma and review other presentations of pituitary melanoma. A 37-year-old woman initially presented with apoplexy and an invasive nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenoma for which she underwent transphenoidal surgery. The patient underwent 3 subsequent surgeries as the tumor continued to progress. Pathology from the first 3 operations showed pituitary adenoma or carcinoma. Pathology from the final surgery showed melanoma and the magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of the tumor had changed to become consistent with CNS melanoma. Dermatologic and ophthalmologic examinations did not identify cutaneous or ocular melanoma. The patient’s disease progressed despite aggressive surgical, medical and radiologic treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating transformation of a primary pituitary tumor into melanoma. The mechanism of tumor transformation is unclear, but it is possible that a mutation in the original ACTH-producing tumor lead to increased cleavage of pro-opiomelanocortin or ACTH into α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, which in turn stimulated the expression of microopthalmia transcription factor, leading to melanocytic phenotype transformation.

Study on Uncertainty and Contextual Modelling

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Klimešová, Dana; Ocelíková, E.

2007-01-01

Roč. 1, č. 1 (2007), s. 12-15 ISSN 1998-0140 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : Knowledge * contextual modelling * temporal modelling * uncertainty * knowledge management Subject RIV: BD - Theory of Information

Ecological theories of systems and contextual change in medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellaway, Rachel H; Bates, Joanna; Teunissen, Pim W

2017-12-01

Contemporary medical practice is subject to many kinds of change, to which both individuals and systems have to respond and adapt. Many medical education programmes have their learners rotating through different training contexts, which means that they too must learn to adapt to contextual change. Contextual change presents many challenges to medical education scholars and practitioners, not least because of a somewhat fractured and contested theoretical basis for responding to these challenges. There is a need for robust concepts to articulate and connect the various debates on contextual change in medical education. Ecological theories of systems encompass a range of concepts of how and why systems change and how and why they respond to change. The use of these concepts has the potential to help medical education scholars explore the nature of change and understand the role it plays in affording as well as limiting teaching and learning. This paper, aimed at health professional education scholars and policy makers, explores a number of key concepts from ecological theories of systems to present a comprehensive model of contextual change in medical education to inform theory and practice in all areas of medical education. The paper considers a range of concepts drawn from ecological theories of systems, including biotic and abiotic factors, panarchy, attractors and repellers, basins of attraction, homeostasis, resilience, adaptability, transformability and hysteresis. Each concept is grounded in practical examples from medical education. Ecological theories of systems consider change and response in terms of adaptive cycles functioning at different scales and speeds. This can afford opportunities for systematic consideration of responses to contextual change in medical education, which in turn can inform the design of education programmes, activities, evaluations, assessments and research that accommodates the dynamics and consequences of contextual change. �

Major-element geochemistry of the Silent Canyon--Black Mountain peralkaline volcanic centers, northwestern Nevada Test Site: applications to an assessment of renewed volcanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowe, B.M.; Sargent, K.A.

1979-01-01

The Silent Canyon and Black Mountain volcanic centers are located in the northern part of the Nevada Test Site. The Silent Canyon volcanic center is a buried cauldron complex of Miocene age (13 to 15 m.y.). Black Mountain volcanic center is an elliptical-shaped cauldron complex of late Miocene age. The lavas and tuffs of the two centers comprise a subalkaline-peralkaline association. Rock types range from quartz normative subalkaline trachyte and rhyolite to peralkaline commendite. The Gold Flat Member of the Thirsty Canyon Tuff (Black Mountain) is a pantellerite. The major-element geochemistry of the Black Mountain--Silent Canyon volcanic centers differ in the total range and distribution of SiO 2 , contents, the degree of peralkalinity (molecular Na 2 O + K 2 O > Al 2 O 3 ) and in the values of total iron and alumina through the range of rock types. These differences indicate that the suites were unrelated and evolved from differing magma bodies. The Black Mountain volcanic cycle represents a renewed phase of volcanism following cessation of the Timber Mountain--Silent Canyon volcanic cycles. Consequently, there is a small but numerically incalculable probability of recurrence of Black Mountain-type volcanism within the Nevada Test Site region. This represents a potential risk with respect to deep geologic storage of high-level radioactive waste at the Nevada Test Site

Post-Training Unilateral Amygdala Lesions Selectively Impair Contextual Fear Memories

Science.gov (United States)

Flavell, Charlotte R.; Lee, Jonathan L. C.

2012-01-01

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) are both structures with key roles in contextual fear conditioning. During fear conditioning, it is postulated that contextual representations of the environment are formed in the hippocampus, which are then associated with foot shock in the amygdala. However, it is not known to what…

The effects of acute nicotine on contextual safety discrimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutlu, Munir G; Oliver, Chicora; Gould, Thomas J

2014-11-01

Anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), may be related to an inability to distinguish safe versus threatening environments and to extinguish fear memories. Given the high rate of cigarette smoking in patients with PTSD, as well as the recent finding that an acute dose of nicotine impairs extinction of contextual fear memory, we conducted a series of experiments to investigate the effect of acute nicotine in an animal model of contextual safety discrimination. Following saline or nicotine (at 0.0275, 0.045, 0.09 and 0.18 mg/kg) administration, C57BL/6J mice were trained in a contextual discrimination paradigm, in which the subjects received presentations of conditioned stimuli (CS) that co-terminated with a foot-shock in one context (context A (CXA)) and only CS presentations without foot-shock in a different context (context B (CXB)). Therefore, CXA was designated as the 'dangerous context', whereas CXB was designated as the 'safe context'. Our results suggested that saline-treated animals showed a strong discrimination between dangerous and safe contexts, while acute nicotine dose-dependently impaired contextual safety discrimination (Experiment 1). Furthermore, our results demonstrate that nicotine-induced impairment of contextual safety discrimination learning was not a result of increased generalized freezing (Experiment 2) or contingent on the common CS presentations in both contexts (Experiment 3). Finally, our results show that increasing the temporal gap between CXA and CXB during training abolished the impairing effects of nicotine (Experiment 4). The findings of this study may help link nicotine exposure to the safety learning deficits seen in anxiety disorder and PTSD patients. © The Author(s) 2014.

Implementation of IEC Generic Model of Type 1 Wind Turbine Generator in DIgSILENT PowerFactory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhao, Haoran; Wu, Qiuwei; Margaris, Ioannis

2013-01-01

The implementation method for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) generic models of Type 1 wind turbine generator (WTG) in DIgSILENT PowerFactory is presented. The following items are described, i.e. model structure, model blocks and how to implement these blocks in the PowerFactory...

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension

OpenAIRE

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)—how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text readi...

Chlamydia pneumoniae hides inside apoptotic neutrophils to silently infect and propagate in macrophages.

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Jan Rupp

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Intracellular pathogens have developed elaborate strategies for silent infection of preferred host cells. Chlamydia pneumoniae is a common pathogen in acute infections of the respiratory tract (e.g. pneumonia and associated with chronic lung sequelae in adults and children. Within the lung, alveolar macrophages and polymorph nuclear neutrophils (PMN are the first line of defense against bacteria, but also preferred host phagocytes of chlamydiae. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We could show that C. pneumoniae easily infect and hide inside neutrophil granulocytes until these cells become apoptotic and are subsequently taken up by macrophages. C. pneumoniae infection of macrophages via apoptotic PMN results in enhanced replicative activity of chlamydiae when compared to direct infection of macrophages, which results in persistence of the pathogen. Inhibition of the apoptotic recognition of C. pneumoniae infected PMN using PS- masking Annexin A5 significantly lowered the transmission of chlamydial infection to macrophages. Transfer of apoptotic C. pneumoniae infected PMN to macrophages resulted in an increased TGF-ss production, whereas direct infection of macrophages with chlamydiae was characterized by an enhanced TNF-alpha response. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Taken together, our data suggest that C. pneumoniae uses neutrophil granulocytes to be silently taken up by long-lived macrophages, which allows for efficient propagation and immune protection within the human host.

Time-dependent effects of cortisol on the contextualization of emotional memories.

Science.gov (United States)

van Ast, Vanessa A; Cornelisse, Sandra; Meeter, Martijn; Joëls, Marian; Kindt, Merel

2013-12-01

The inability to store fearful memories into their original encoding context is considered to be an important vulnerability factor for the development of anxiety disorders like posttraumatic stress disorder. Altered memory contextualization most likely involves effects of the stress hormone cortisol, acting via receptors located in the memory neurocircuitry. Cortisol via these receptors induces rapid nongenomic effects followed by slower genomic effects, which are thought to modulate cognitive function in opposite, complementary ways. Here, we targeted these time-dependent effects of cortisol during memory encoding and tested subsequent contextualization of emotional and neutral memories. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 64 men were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) received 10 mg hydrocortisone 30 minutes (rapid cortisol effects) before a memory encoding task; 2) received 10 mg hydrocortisone 210 minutes (slow cortisol) before a memory encoding task; or 3) received placebo at both times. During encoding, participants were presented with neutral and emotional words in unique background pictures. Approximately 24 hours later, context dependency of their memories was assessed. Recognition data revealed that cortisol's rapid effects impair emotional memory contextualization, while cortisol's slow effects enhance it. Neutral memory contextualization remained unaltered by cortisol, irrespective of the timing of the drug. This study shows distinct time-dependent effects of cortisol on the contextualization of specifically emotional memories. The results suggest that rapid effects of cortisol may lead to impaired emotional memory contextualization, while slow effects of cortisol may confer protection against emotional memory generalization. © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Rtt107/Esc4 binds silent chromatin and DNA repair proteins using different BRCT motifs

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Jockusch Rebecca A

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background By screening a plasmid library for proteins that could cause silencing when targeted to the HMR locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we previously reported the identification of Rtt107/Esc4 based on its ability to establish silent chromatin. In this study we aimed to determine the mechanism of Rtt107/Esc4 targeted silencing and also learn more about its biological functions. Results Targeted silencing by Rtt107/Esc4 was dependent on the SIR genes, which encode obligatory structural and enzymatic components of yeast silent chromatin. Based on its sequence, Rtt107/Esc4 was predicted to contain six BRCT motifs. This motif, originally identified in the human breast tumor suppressor gene BRCA1, is a protein interaction domain. The targeted silencing activity of Rtt107/Esc4 resided within the C-terminal two BRCT motifs, and this region of the protein bound to Sir3 in two-hybrid tests. Deletion of RTT107/ESC4 caused sensitivity to the DNA damaging agent MMS as well as to hydroxyurea. A two-hybrid screen showed that the N-terminal BRCT motifs of Rtt107/Esc4 bound to Slx4, a protein previously shown to be involved in DNA repair and required for viability in a strain lacking the DNA helicase Sgs1. Like SLX genes, RTT107ESC4 interacted genetically with SGS1; esc4Δ sgs1Δ mutants were viable, but exhibited a slow-growth phenotype and also a synergistic DNA repair defect. Conclusion Rtt107/Esc4 binds to the silencing protein Sir3 and the DNA repair protein Slx4 via different BRCT motifs, thus providing a bridge linking silent chromatin to DNA repair enzymes.

The production effect in long-list recall: In no particular order?

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Angela M; Bodner, Glen E; Taikh, Alexander

2016-06-01

The production effect reflects a memory advantage for words read aloud versus silently. We investigated how production influences free recall of a single long list of words. In each of 4 experiments, a production effect occurred in a mixed-list group but not across pure-list groups. When compared to the pure-list groups, the mixed-list effects typically reflected a cost to silent words rather than a benefit to aloud words. This cost persisted when participants had to perform a generation or imagery task for the silent items, ruling out a lazy reading explanation. This recall pattern challenges both distinctiveness and strength accounts, but is consistent with an item-order account. By this account, the aloud words in a mixed list disrupt the encoding of item-order information for the silent words, thus impairing silent word recall. However, item-order measures and a forced-choice order test did not provide much evidence that recall was guided by retrieval of item-order information. We discuss our pattern of results in light of another recent study of the effects of production on long-list recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Hypobaric hypoxia impairs cued and contextual fear memory in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumari, Punita; Kauser, Hina; Wadhwa, Meetu; Roy, Koustav; Alam, Shahnawaz; Sahu, Surajit; Kishore, Krishna; Ray, Koushik; Panjwani, Usha

2018-04-26

Fear memory is essential for survival, and its dysregulation leads to disorders. High altitude hypobaric hypoxia (HH) is known to induce cognitive decline. However, its effect on fear memory is still an enigma. We aimed to investigate the temporal effect of HH on fear conditioning and the underlying mechanism. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained for fear conditioning and exposed to simulated HH equivalent to 25,000 ft for different durations (1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days). Subsequently, rats were tested for cued and contextual fear conditioning. Neuronal morphology, apoptosis and DNA fragmentation were studied in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), hippocampus and basolateral amygdala (BLA). We observed significant deficit in cued and contextual fear acquisition (at 1, 3 and 7 days) and consolidation (cued at 1 and 3 days and contextual fear at 1, 3 and 7 days) under HH. HH exposure with retraining showed the earlier restoration of contextual fear memory. Further, we found a gradual increase in the number of pyknotic and apoptotic neurons together with the increase in DNA fragmentation in mPFC, hippocampus, and BLA up to 7 days of HH exposure. The present study concludes that HH exposure equivalent to 25000 ft induced cued and contextual fear memory deficit (acquisition and consolidation) which is found to be correlated with the neurodegenerative changes in the limbic brain regions. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Developmental relations between reading comprehension and reading strategies

OpenAIRE

Muijselaar, M.M.L.; Swart, N.M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E.G.; Droop, W.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.; Jong, P.F. de

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary, and working memory were administered. A structural equation model was constructed to estimate the unique relations between reading strategies and reading comprehension, while controlling for reading...

Alkaline electrolyzer and V2G system DIgSILENT models for demand response analysis in future distribution networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diaz de Cerio Mendaza, Iker; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte; Chen, Zhe

2013-01-01

Grid instabilities originated by unsteady generation, characteristic consequence of some renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power, claims for new power balance solutions in largely penetrated systems. Denmark's solid investment in these energy sources has awaked a need of rethinking...... about the future control and operation of the power system. A widespread idea to face these challenges is to have a flexible demand easily adjustable to the system variations. Electrothermal loads, electric vehicles and hydrogen generation are among the most mentioned technologies capable to respond......, under certain strategies, to these variations. This paper presents two DIgSILENT PowerFactory models: an alkaline electrolyzer and a vehicle to the grid system. The models were performed using DIgSILENT Simulation Language, aiming to be used for long-term distribution systems simulations. Two voltage...

Public health response to the silent reintroduction of wild poliovirus to Israel, 2013-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran-Gilad, J; Kaliner, E; Gdalevich, M; Grotto, I

2016-12-01

During 2013/14, Israel witnessed the silent reintroduction and sustained transmission of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) detected through routine environmental surveillance performed on sewage samples. The public health response to silent poliovirus transmission in a population with high inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) coverage poses an emerging challenge towards the 'End Game' of global poliovirus eradication. This paper reviews the risk assessment, risk management and risk communication aspects of this poliovirus incident. Special emphasis is placed on the use of scientific data generated in the risk assessment phase to inform the public health response. Reintroducing a live vaccine in supplemental immunization activities in response to transmission of WPV or vaccine-derived poliovirus should be considered close to the 'End Game' of polio eradication, especially if targeting the population at risk is feasible. Such circumstances require a comprehensive contingency plan that will support the generation of important public health evidence at the risk assessment stage, thereby allowing to tailor the risk management approaches and underpin appropriate risk communication. Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differential patterns of contextual organization of memory in first-episode psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Murty, Vishnu P; McKinney, Rachel A; DuBrow, Sarah; Jalbrzikowski, Maria; Haas, Gretchen L; Luna, Beatriz

2018-02-15

Contextual information is used to support and organize episodic memory. Prior research has reliably shown memory deficits in psychosis; however, little research has characterized how this population uses contextual information during memory recall. We employed an approach founded in a computational framework of free recall to quantify how individuals with first episode of psychosis (FEP, N = 97) and controls (CON, N = 55) use temporal and semantic context to organize memory recall. Free recall was characterized using the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R). We compared FEP and CON on three measures of free recall: proportion recalled, temporal clustering, and semantic clustering. Measures of temporal/semantic clustering quantified how individuals use contextual information to organize memory recall. We also assessed to what extent these measures relate to antipsychotic use and differentiated between different types of psychosis. We also explored the relationship between these measures and intelligence. In comparison to CON, FEP had reduced recall and less temporal clustering during free recall (p contextual organization of memory. IQ was related to free recall accuracy, but not the use of contextual information during recall in either group (p < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected). These results show that in addition to deficits in memory recall, FEP differed in how they organize memories compared to CON.

Contextualizing Smoking Behaviour over Time: A Smoking Journey from Pleasuring to Suffering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaldoun Aldiabat

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reports a qualitative study describing the basic psychosocial process of contextualizing smoking behaviour in the life fabric of Jordanian psychiatric nurses (JPNs. A classical grounded theory method was used to collect and analyze the data derived from a theoretical (purposeful sample of eight Jordanian psychiatric nurses in 2009-2010. The constant comparative method of data analysis was used; thus, data collection, coding and analysis occurred simultaneously. Strategies were used throughout the study to ensure trustworthiness; that is, fulfill the requirements for credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. “Contextualizing smoking behaviour over time” was the core concept that explained how JPNs integrate smoking behaviour into their life fabric. For these nurses, smoking is contextualized in four phases: becoming a novice smoker, becoming a formal smoker as a nursing student, becoming a heavy smoking psychiatric nurse, and becoming an exhausted smoker. Contextualizing smoking among JPNs demonstrates that those nurses frequently normalize smoking as part of the fabric of everyday life. Participants described their smoking as a journey in a manner that reflected how it started with pleasuring and ended with suffering. Although this study presents a deep understanding of smoking behaviour, further studies are required to develop the theory of contextualized smoking. A developed contextualized theory of smoking is required to guide culturally sensitive smoking cessation and prevention programmes capable of influencing smoking behaviours.

Contextualizing Smoking Behaviour over Time: A Smoking Journey from Pleasuring to Suffering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaldoun Aldiabat

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reports a qualitative study describing the basic psychosocial process of contextualizing smoking behaviour in the life fabric of Jordanian psychiatric nurses (JPNs. A classical grounded theory method was used to collect and analyze the data derived from a theoretical (purposeful sample of eight Jordanian psychiatric nurses in 2009-2010. The constant comparative method of data analysis was used; thus, data collection, coding and analysis occurred simultaneously. Strategies were used throughout the study to ensure trustworthiness; that is, fulfill the requirements for credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. “Contextualizing smoking behaviour over time” was the core concept that explained how JPNs integrate smoking behaviour into their life fabric. For these nurses, smoking is contextualized in four phases: becoming a novice smoker, becoming a formal smoker as a nursing student, becoming a heavy smoking psychiatric nurse, and becoming an exhausted smoker. Contextualizing smoking among JPNs demonstrates that those nurses frequently normalize smoking as part of the fabric of everyday life. Participants described their smoking as a journey in a manner that reflected how it started with pleasuring and ended with suffering. Although this study presents a deep understanding of smoking behaviour, further studies are required to develop the theory of contextualized smoking. A developed contextualized theory of smoking is required to guide culturally sensitive smoking cessation and prevention programmes capable of influencing smoking behaviours

Silent Majority, Violent Majority: The Counter-Revolution in 70s Cinema

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Peter Andrew Novick

2012-12-01

Full Text Available «There is one question, Inspector Callahan: Why do they call you ‘Dirty Harry’?» Harry, it is explained, «…Hates everybody: Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Degos, Niggers, Honkies, Chinks…especially Spics». Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry (1971, famously labeled «fascist» by prominent film critic Pauline Kael, nonetheless represented something new and unique—the “Silent Majority’s” entry into liberal New Hollywood, a veritable counter-reformation to the new social movements having sprung up in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Far from the traditional American Right, however, and distinctly un-Fascist (in as much as the term means more than a simple epithet, these films acted to unite traditional European philosophy and revolutionary thought with organic conservative American tendencies, resulting in hybrid films which challenged the new social movements, while working within the medium of liberal New American Cinema. The article will address three themes from the era: violence and race in the city, revenge against “liberated women”, and fear and loathing of homosexuality. In each instance, using primary evidence from films and critical reviews from the Seventies and the present era, in addition to American and European theorists, the article will show how the counter-revolution in Seventies cinema failed to expunge the “revolutionary spirit” of the era. Rather, the Silent Majority’s visions of visual violence and reactionary values became part and parcel of the new liberated culture of the “Me Decade,” forever bounding the conservative celluloid revolt to the new cinematic culture.

Teaching Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Richard R.

2013-01-01

"Teaching Reading" uncovers the interactive processes that happen when people learn to read and translates them into a comprehensive easy-to-follow guide on how to teach reading. Richard Day's revelations on the nature of reading, reading strategies, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and reading objectives make fascinating…

Slow Reading: Reading along "Lectio" Lines

Science.gov (United States)

Badley, K. Jo-Ann; Badley, Ken

2011-01-01

The medieval monastic movement preserved and developed reading practices--lectio--from ancient Greek pedagogy as a slow, mindful approach to reading for formation. This ancient way of reading, now better known as lectio divina, challenges the fast, pragmatic reading so characteristic of our time. We propose that the present moment may be ripe for…

The Coming Challenge: Are Community Colleges Ready for the New Wave of Contextual Learners?

Science.gov (United States)

Hull, Dan; Souders, John C., Jr.

1996-01-01

Defines contextual learning, or presenting new information to students in familiar contexts. Argues that community colleges must be ready for an anticipated increase in contextual learners due to its use in tech prep programs. Describes elements of contextual learning, its application in the classroom, and ways that colleges can prepare for…

Silent ischemia in patients after uncomplicated myocardial infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samarzija, M.; Tezak, S.

1994-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and importance of silent ischemia in patients (pts) after the acute myocardial infarction (A MI) as well as to establish diagnostic and prognostic value of exercise stress test (EST), Holter (H) monitoring and thallium-201 (Tl) scintigraphy. All the three tests were performed 2-4 months following the AMI. The criterion for diagnosing myocardial ischemia on EST and H is 1 mm or more of horizontal or down-sloping ST depression. Additional criteria for Holter imply the ischemic episode should last one minute and be separated from other episodes by at least one minute. Planar thallium images were performed 5-10 minute after the stress test; the delayed images were obtained after 3-6 hours. Visual and quantitative methods were employed in the analysis of TI-scintigraphy. Scintigraphy was considered positive if exercise- induced perfusion defects showed redistribution. The study included 74 asymptomatic patients after the AMI. The patients were divided into two groups by results of quantitative Tl-scintigraphy: Group I - 44 pts with silent ischemia, Group II - 30 pts without ischemia. In Group I, out of 44 pts, 9 had a positive exercise stress, 4 showed a painless ST depression on Holter and 7 had both tests positive, whereas 24 pts had only scintigraphy positive. In Group II one patient had positive EST and H. Sensitivity and specificity were determined by results of coronary arteriography performed on 33 pts: EST (Se=40%, Sp=80%), H (Se=219, Sp=100%) and scintigraphy (Se=93%, Sp =80%). During the follow-up period lasting at least 12 months, in Group I 3 pts died, 1 developed a new myocardial infarction and 15 pts had painful ischemic occurrences. In Group II only 3 pts developed symptoms of angina pectoris. Tl-scintigraphy was the only non-invasive test showing significant correlation with the follow-up outcomes. The diagnostic and prognostic superiority of Tl-scintigraphy justifies its value as the initial

‘I gave them laws that were not good’ (Ezk 20:25: A biblical model of complex subjectivity and the prospects of multi-ethnic contextual reading

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Dexter E. Callender

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to address the problem of multi-cultural multi-ethnic contextual Bible reading by giving attention to identity and subjectivity and how it is modeled both in our analyses of contemporary life and in our reconstructions of antiquity and ancient contexts. The aim here is to suggest a position that engages the question of shared values; that creates a space for dialogue between contrasting discourses; and that gives attention to the question of authenticity. I suggest that resources for such a project may be found partly in a re-engaging of biblical prophecy in light of contemporary reflection on subjectivity that embraces recent developments in the debate over modern and postmodern approaches to language and experience tied to the rise of cognitive science. Through an examination of the subject in Žižek, particularly as he engages cognitive science, and in the prophetic rhetoric of Ezekiel, this article argues for grounding multi-group reading strategies or projects on a conception of complex subjectivity that seeks to bridge contemporary discourse with the language of the biblical text. ‘Ek het vir hulle voorskrifte gegee wat nie goed was nie’ (Eseg 20:25: ’n bybelse model van komplekse subjektiwiteit en die moontlikhede van multi-etniese kontekstuele interpretasie. Die oogmerk van hierdie artikel is om die probleem van ’n multi-kulturele,multi-etniese kontekstuele lees van die Bybel te ondersoek. Met dit ten doel, gee die ondersoekaandag aan identiteit en subjektiwiteit en hoe dit gedemonstreer word in die analise van die hedendaagse sowel as in die rekonstruksie van antikwiteite en antieke kontekste. Dieuiteindelike doelwit is om ’n posisie voor te stel wat omgaan met die vraag van gedeelde waardes; wat ruimte skep vir ’n dialoog tussen teenstrydige diskoerse; en wat aandag gee aan die vraag van geloofwaardigheid. Die voorstel word gemaak dat ’n nuwe betrokkenheid by bybelse profesie in die lig van

Reflections on clinical expertise and silent know-how in voice therapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iwarsson, Jenny

2014-01-01

The concept of ‘clinical expertise’ is described as a part of evidence-based practice (EBP) together with ‘external scientific evidence’ and ‘patient values and perspectives’. However, clinical expertise in the management of voice disorders has not been described or discussed in much detail....... The expertise seems to consist partly of silent know-how that, from the outside, may seem improperly related to the personality of the speech-language pathologist or exclusively dependent on the number of years in the field. In this paper, it is suggested that clinical expertise in voice therapy consists...

Rapid contextual conditioning in autoshaping.

Science.gov (United States)

Balsam, P D; Schwartz, A L

1981-10-01

Two experiments are reported which investigate the speed of contextual conditioning in autoshaping. In both experiments, a procedure was employed in which ring doves were magazine trained in one context prior to the manipulation of background values in a second context. In Experiment 1, subjects were exposed to 4, 8, 64, 128, or 256 US-only presentations prior to autoshaping. Acquisition speed and maintained response measures were monotonically related to the number of pretraining trials. Subjects in Group 4 acquired the key-peck response fastest, and retardation was maximal within 64 pretraining trials. In Experiment 2, subjects given 20 pretraining trials were significantly more retarded than subjects given 2 pretraining trials, but only when pretraining and testing were conducted in the same context. Overall, the results of these experiments show that in autoshaping, contextual conditioning is very rapid; this demonstrates the plausibility of theoretical accounts of Pavlovian conditioning which assert that the development of the conditioned response depends on the associative values of both the CS and background stimuli.

The association between saliva control, silent saliva penetration, aspiration, and videofluoroscopic findings in Parkinson′s disease patients

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Ali Rajaei

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Dysphagia is a common disorder among patients with Parkinson′s disease (PD. It occurs in up to 80% of all (PD patients during the early stages of the disease and up to 95% in the advanced stages; but professionals may not hear from the patients about dysphagia symptoms until these symptoms reach an advanced stage and lead to medical complications. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three PD patients (mean age 66.09 ± 9.4 years; 24 men, nine women participated in this study at our Neurology Institute, between April 20, 2013, and October 26, 2013. They were asked two questions; one about saliva control and the other about silent saliva penetration and aspiration. Next, they underwent the videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS. Results: The Pearson Correlation coefficient between the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS scores and question 1 scores was 0.48 (P < 0.05, =0.25, and there was a significant correlation between the PAS scores and question 2 scores, and also question 1 scores + question 2 scores (r = 0.589, P < 0.05, =0 and r = 0589, P < 0.05, =0. Conclusions: This study showed a significant correlation between the questions about saliva control, silent saliva penetration, and aspiration, and laryngeal penetration and aspiration during VFSS. Therefore, by using these two questions, the potential silent laryngeal penetration and aspiration during meals could be detected before it led to aspiration pneumonia. Taking the benefit of these questions, as a part of the swallowing assessment of PD patients, is recommended.

Context-specific attentional sampling: Intentional control as a pre-requisite for contextual control.

Science.gov (United States)

Brosowsky, Nicholaus P; Crump, Matthew J C

2016-08-01

Recent work suggests that environmental cues associated with previous attentional control settings can rapidly and involuntarily adjust attentional priorities. The current study tests predictions from adaptive-learning and memory-based theories of contextual control about the role of intentions for setting attentional priorities. To extend the empirical boundaries of contextual control phenomena, and to determine whether theoretical principles of contextual control are generalizable we used a novel bi-dimensional stimulus sampling task. Subjects viewed briefly presented arrays of letters and colors presented above or below fixation, and identified specific stimuli according to a dimensional (letter or color) and positional cue. Location was predictive of the cued dimension, but not the position or identity. In contrast to previous findings, contextual control failed to develop through automatic, adaptive-learning processes. Instead, previous experience with intentionally changing attentional sampling priorities between different contexts was required for contextual control to develop. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Preference of Keeping the Intermediary /y/(ی in Prepositional Construction and Its Attachment to the Silent» h«.

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Mohammad Irani

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract   One of the problems of Persian writing is the question of writing and including the noun or adjective "Prepositional" construction sign in words the written form of which end in a silent » h « which is in fact a short vowel equivalent to /e/ (kasra ـِـ .The difference between the two ways of writing the intermediary consonant /y/( ی at the end of the word with a last silent » h « , completely as « ی » or with the sign « ء» on the silent » h « is rooted in the controversy between the traditional and modern approaches of writing.   The present study is about to study into the following subjects: an analysis and criticism of both the above approaches, a survey of the history of the intermediary /y/( ی , recognizing its phonetic significance and its role in making and adding new syllables, and finally a conclusion about the more convenient way to write it. It is possible that the outcome of the present study will provide us with a unique form of writing of the case in different texts like books, articles, newspapers, journals and electronic texts.

A Pilot Study of a Functional Contextual Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Drew A.; Simmons, Angela M.

2008-01-01

This paper describes the initial development of a treatment for bulimia nervosa using a functional contextual treatment approach. Seven women (6 with a diagnosis of bulimia nervosa and 1 with a diagnosis of eating disorder not otherwise specified) completed 12 sessions of functional contextual treatment. Participants were assessed with the Eating…

Robust Contextual Bandit via the Capped-$\\ell_{2}$ norm

OpenAIRE

Zhu, Feiyun; Zhu, Xinliang; Wang, Sheng; Yao, Jiawen; Huang, Junzhou

2017-01-01

This paper considers the actor-critic contextual bandit for the mobile health (mHealth) intervention. The state-of-the-art decision-making methods in mHealth generally assume that the noise in the dynamic system follows the Gaussian distribution. Those methods use the least-square-based algorithm to estimate the expected reward, which is prone to the existence of outliers. To deal with the issue of outliers, we propose a novel robust actor-critic contextual bandit method for the mHealth inter...

Social enterprises in Denmark: Historical, contextual and conceptual aspects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Linda Lundgaard; Hulgård, Lars; Jacobsen, Gurli

Social enterprises in Denmark: Historical, contextual and conceptual aspectsLinda Lundgaard Andersen & Lars Hulgård, Center for Social Enterprise, Roskilde UniversityGurli Jakobsen, Copenhagen Business SchoolCOST Action (EMPOWER‐SE)Working Group 1, Lisbon 28. february & 1. march 2018......Social enterprises in Denmark: Historical, contextual and conceptual aspectsLinda Lundgaard Andersen & Lars Hulgård, Center for Social Enterprise, Roskilde UniversityGurli Jakobsen, Copenhagen Business SchoolCOST Action (EMPOWER‐SE)Working Group 1, Lisbon 28. february & 1. march 2018...

Sleep modulates the neural substrates of both spatial and contextual memory consolidation.

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Géraldine Rauchs

Full Text Available It is known that sleep reshapes the neural representations that subtend the memories acquired while navigating in a virtual environment. However, navigation is not process-pure, as manifold learning components contribute to performance, notably the spatial and contextual memory constituents. In this context, it remains unclear whether post-training sleep globally promotes consolidation of all of the memory components embedded in virtual navigation, or rather favors the development of specific representations. Here, we investigated the effect of post-training sleep on the neural substrates of the consolidation of spatial and contextual memories acquired while navigating in a complex 3D, naturalistic virtual town. Using fMRI, we mapped regional cerebral activity during various tasks designed to tap either the spatial or the contextual memory component, or both, 72 h after encoding with or without sleep deprivation during the first post-training night. Behavioral performance was not dependent upon post-training sleep deprivation, neither in a natural setting that engages both spatial and contextual memory processes nor when looking more specifically at each of these memory representations. At the neuronal level however, analyses that focused on contextual memory revealed distinct correlations between performance and neuronal activity in frontal areas associated with recollection processes after post-training sleep, and in the parahippocampal gyrus associated with familiarity processes in sleep-deprived participants. Likewise, efficient spatial memory was associated with posterior cortical activity after sleep whereas it correlated with parahippocampal/medial temporal activity after sleep deprivation. Finally, variations in place-finding efficiency in a natural setting encompassing spatial and contextual elements were associated with caudate activity after post-training sleep, suggesting the automation of navigation. These data indicate that post

Scaling of silent electrical discharge reactors for hazardous organics destruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coogan, J.J.; Rosocha, L.A.; Brower, M.J.; Kang, M.; Schmidt, C.A.

1993-01-01

Silent electrical discharges are used to produce highly reactive free radicals that destroy hazardous compounds entrained in gaseous effluents at ambient gas temperatures and pressures. We have carried out destruction experiments at Los Alamos on a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethylene (TCE), carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene (PCE), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). We have measured a ''nine-factor'', the amount of energy required to reduce the VOC concentration by a factor of ten. For practical reactor power densities, the ''nine-factor'' can be used to predict the destruction an removal efficiency (DRE) in terms of gas flow rate and the number of reactor modules. This report proposes a modular, stackable architecture for scaling up the reactor throughput

[Silent myocardial ischemia in patients with transient ischemic attacks].

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez Valiente, S; Mostacero, E; del Río, A; Morales, F

1994-10-01

Given evidence that ischemic heart disease is the most frequent cause of death in patients with cerebrovascular disease, we used ergometrics to screen 80 patients with TIA for silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) at the neurological unit of Hospital Clínico Universitario in Zaragoza, Spain. The patients were compared with a control group of 80 with no signs of heart disease. Neither the patients nor the controls had ever shown clinical signs of coronary ischemia and their baseline electrocardiograms were normal. Stress test results were positive in 25 (31%) of the TIA patients, and in 4 (5%) (p Hiperlipidemia (75% testing positive versus 43% negative, p < 0.01) and diabetes (31% testing positive versus 13% negative, p < 0.01) were the risk factors statistically related with a positive stress test.

Dense Iterative Contextual Pixel Classification using Kriging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ganz, Melanie; Loog, Marco; Brandt, Sami

2009-01-01

have been proposed to this end, e.g., iterative contextual pixel classification, iterated conditional modes, and other approaches related to Markov random fields. A problem of these methods, however, is their computational complexity, especially when dealing with high-resolution images in which......In medical applications, segmentation has become an ever more important task. One of the competitive schemes to perform such segmentation is by means of pixel classification. Simple pixel-based classification schemes can be improved by incorporating contextual label information. Various methods...... relatively long range interactions may play a role. We propose a new method based on Kriging that makes it possible to include such long range interactions, while keeping the computations manageable when dealing with large medical images....

Guessing Patterns of Palestinian College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Dwaik, Raghad A.; Shehadeh, Adnan M.

2013-01-01

Top-down models of reading emphasize methods and techniques that promote active reading which involves utilizing contextual clues to guess vocabulary meaning. This study aims at analyzing the correlation between EFL students' general reading proficiency and guessing patterns, and identifying the types of contextual clues actually used by EFL…

Quantum contextual phenomena observed in single-neutron interferometer experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Yuji; Rauch, Helmut

2006-01-01

Neutron optical experiments are presented, which exhibit quantum contextual phenomena. Entanglement is achieved not between particles, but between degrees of freedom, in this case, for a single-particle. Appropriate combinations of the direction of spin analysis and the position of the phase shifter allow an experimental verification of the violation of a Bell-like inequality. Our experiments manifest the fact that manipulation of the wavefunction in one Hilbert space influences the result of the measurement in the other Hilbert space: manipulation without touch! Next, we report another experiment which exhibits other peculiarity of quantum contextuality, e.g., originally intended to show a Kochen-Specker-like phenomenon. We have introduced inequalities for quantitative analysis of the experiments. The value obtained in the experiments clearly showed violations of prediction by non-contextual theory. Finally, we have accomplished a tomographic determination of entangled quantum state in single-neutrons. There, characteristics of the Bell-sate are confirmed: four poles for the real part of the density matrix are clearly seen

Contextual advertisement placement in printed media

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Sam; Joshi, Parag

2010-02-01

Advertisements today provide the necessary revenue model supporting the WWW ecosystem. Targeted or contextual ad insertion plays an important role in optimizing the financial return of this model. Nearly all the current ads that appear on web sites are geared for display purposes such as banner and "pay-per-click". Little attention, however, is focused on deriving additional ad revenues when the content is repurposed for alternative mean of presentation, e.g. being printed. Although more and more content is moving to the Web, there are still many occasions where printed output of web content is desirable, such as maps and articles; thus printed ad insertion can potentially be lucrative. In this paper, we describe a contextual ad insertion network aimed to realize new revenue for print service providers for web printing. We introduce a cloud print service that enables contextual ads insertion, with respect to the main web page content, when a printout of the page is requested. To encourage service utilization, it would provide higher quality printouts than what is possible from current browser print drivers, which generally produce poor outputs, e.g. ill formatted pages. At this juncture we will limit the scope to only article-related web pages although the concept can be extended to arbitrary web pages. The key components of this system include (1) the extraction of article from web pages, (2) the extraction of semantics from article, (3) querying the ad database for matching advertisement or coupon, and (4) joint content and ad layout for print outputs.

The Explicit Instruction of Reading Strategies: Directed Reading Thinking Activity vs. Guided Reading Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Mehdi Yazdani

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Investigating the efficiencies and deficiencies of reading strategies is one of the noticeable issues in the related theory and research in reading comprehension instruction. This study was to examine the impact of Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA and Guided Reading (GR on reading comprehension. Sixty three Iranian students of grade one in Shahed high school in the city of Bojnourd took part in the study. They were assigned in three groups, one control and two experimental groups. The instruction lasted for ten weeks. This study utilized a pretest posttest control group in quantitative quasi- experimental design. The same reading comprehension test was administered as pre-test and post-test. The results were twofold: First, the instruction of learning strategies could foster reading comprehension skill. Second, while the explicit instruction of both strategies could improve the students' reading comprehension skill, Directed Reading Thinking Activity had a more significant positive effect than Guided Reading.

Incidence of postangiographic silent brain infarction detected by diffusion-weighted MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Harushi; Hayashi, Naoto; Aoki, Shigeki

2002-01-01

We surveyed to assess for the incidence of clinically silent brain infarction after cerebral catheter angiography. Diffusion-weighted images were performed shortly after 33 cerebral catheter angiographies. We found totally 11 abnormally high intensity spots in 5 of 33 patients on diffusion-weighted images and, therefore, the incidence was calculated as 15.2%. This incidence is higher than has been estimated based on the incidence of neurological deficits (about 0.5%) after cerebral angiography. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging is suitable to monitor the safety of angiographic procedures and material. (author)

Developmental Relations Between Reading Comprehension and Reading Strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muijselaar, M.; Swart, N.M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E.G,.; Droop, M.; Verhoeven, L.; de Jong, P.F.

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary,

Silent Films and Strange Stories: Theory of Mind, Gender, and Social Experiences in Middle Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Devine, Rory T.; Hughes, Claire

2013-01-01

In this study of two hundred and thirty 8- to 13-year-olds, a new "Silent Films" task is introduced, designed to address the dearth of research on theory of mind in older children by providing a film-based analogue of F. G. E. Happe's (1994) Strange Stories task. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all items from both tasks loaded…

Forecasting Reading Anxiety for Promoting English-Language Reading Performance Based on Reading Annotation Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chih-Ming; Wang, Jung-Ying; Chen, Yong-Ting; Wu, Jhih-Hao

2016-01-01

To reduce effectively the reading anxiety of learners while reading English articles, a C4.5 decision tree, a widely used data mining technique, was used to develop a personalized reading anxiety prediction model (PRAPM) based on individual learners' reading annotation behavior in a collaborative digital reading annotation system (CDRAS). In…

The silent information regulator 1 (Sirt1) is a positive regulator of the Notch pathway in Drosophila

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Horváth, Matěj; Mihajlović, Zorana; Slaninová, Věra; Perez-Gomez, Raquel; Moshkin, Y.; Krejčí, Alena

2016-01-01

Roč. 473, č. 22 (2016), s. 4129-4143 ISSN 0264-6021 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-08583S Institutional support: RVO:60077344 Keywords : Drosophila * silent information regulator 1 * Notch pathway Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 3.797, year: 2016

Direct effects of smoking on the heart: silent ischemic disturbances of coronary flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deanfield, J.E.; Shea, M.J.; Wilson, R.A.; Horlock, P.; de Landsheere, C.M.; Selwyn, A.P.

1986-01-01

Cigarette smoking is strongly associated with ischemic heart disease and acute coronary events. The effect of smoking a single cigarette on regional myocardial perfusion was studied in 13 chronic smokers with typical stable angina pectoris using positron emission tomography and rubidium-82 ( 82 Rb). Findings were compared with the effects of physical exercise. After exercise, 8 patients (61%) had angina, ST depression and abnormal regional myocardial perfusion. Uptake of 82 Rb increased from 49 +/- 8 to 60 +/- 7 in remote myocardium, but decreased from 46 +/- 3 to 37 +/- 5 in an ischemic area. The remaining 5 patients (39%) had homogeneous increases in 82 Rb uptake without angina or ST depression. After smoking, 6 of the 8 patients with positive exercise test responses had a decrease in 82 Rb uptake, from 47 +/- 3 to 35 +/- 6 in the same segment of myocardium affected during exercise. However, in contrast to exercise, the events during smoking were largely silent. The absolute decreases in regional 82 Rb uptake after smoking occurred at significantly lower levels of myocardial oxygen demand than after exercise. This suggests that an impairment of coronary blood supply is responsible. Thus, in smokers with coronary artery disease, each cigarette can cause profound silent disturbances of regional myocardial perfusion that are likely to occur frequently during daily life. Such repeated insults may represent an important mechanism linking smoking with coronary events

Contextual determinants of induced abortion: a panel analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mar Llorente-Marrón

2016-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE Analyze the contextual and individual characteristics that explain the differences in the induced abortion rate, temporally and territorially. METHODS We conducted an econometric analysis with panel data of the influence of public investment in health and per capita income on induced abortion as well as a measurement of the effect of social and economic factors related to the labor market and reproduction: female employment, immigration, adolescent fertility and marriage rate. The empirical exercise was conducted with a sample of 22 countries in Europe for the 2001-2009 period. RESULTS The great territorial variability of induced abortion was the result of contextual and individual socioeconomic factors. Higher levels of national income and investments in public health reduce its incidence. The following sociodemographic characteristics were also significant regressors of induced abortion: female employment, civil status, migration, and adolescent fertility. CONCLUSIONS Induced abortion responds to sociodemographic patterns, in which the characteristics of each country are essential. The individual and contextual socioeconomic inequalities impact significantly on its incidence. Further research on the relationship between economic growth, labor market, institutions and social norms is required to better understand its transnational variability and to reduce its incidence.

Contextual determinants of induced abortion: a panel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Llorente-Marrón, Mar; Díaz-Fernández, Montserrat; Méndez-Rodríguez, Paz

2016-01-01

Analyze the contextual and individual characteristics that explain the differences in the induced abortion rate, temporally and territorially. We conducted an econometric analysis with panel data of the influence of public investment in health and per capita income on induced abortion as well as a measurement of the effect of social and economic factors related to the labor market and reproduction: female employment, immigration, adolescent fertility and marriage rate. The empirical exercise was conducted with a sample of 22 countries in Europe for the 2001-2009 period. The great territorial variability of induced abortion was the result of contextual and individual socioeconomic factors. Higher levels of national income and investments in public health reduce its incidence. The following sociodemographic characteristics were also significant regressors of induced abortion: female employment, civil status, migration, and adolescent fertility. Induced abortion responds to sociodemographic patterns, in which the characteristics of each country are essential. The individual and contextual socioeconomic inequalities impact significantly on its incidence. Further research on the relationship between economic growth, labor market, institutions and social norms is required to better understand its transnational variability and to reduce its incidence.

What does an experimental test of quantum contextuality prove or disprove?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winter, Andreas

2014-01-01

The possibility of experimentally testing the Bell–Kochen–Specker theorem is investigated critically, following the demonstrations by Meyer, Kent, and Clifton–Kent that the predictions of quantum mechanics are indistinguishable (up to arbitrary precision) from those of a non-contextual model, and the subsequent debate about the extent to which these models are actually classical or non-contextual. The present analysis starts from a careful consideration of these ‘finite-precision’ approximations. A stronger condition for non-contextual models, dubbed ontological faithfulness, is exhibited. It is shown that this allows us to approximately formulate the constraints in Bell–Kochen–Specker theorems, such as to render the usual proofs robust. Consequently, one can experimentally test to finite precision ontologically faithful non-contextuality, and thus experimentally refute explanations from this smaller class. We include a discussion of the relation of ontological faithfulness to other proposals to overcome the finite precision objection. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to ‘50 years of Bell’s theorem’. (paper)

Contextual learning and context effects during infancy: 30 years of controversial research revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Revillo, D A; Cotella, E; Paglini, M G; Arias, C

2015-09-01

Over the last 30years a considerable number of reports have explored learning about context during infancy in both humans and rats. This research was stimulated by two different theoretical frameworks. The first, known as the neuromaturational model, postulates that learning and behavior are context-independent during early ontogeny, a hypothesis based on the idea that contextual learning is dependent on the hippocampal function, and that this brain structure does not reach full maturity until late in infancy. The second theoretical framework views infants not as immature organisms, but rather as perfectly matured ones, given that their behavioral and cognitive capacities allow them to adapt appropriately to the demands of their specific environment in accordance with their maturational level. This model predicts significant ontogenetic variations in learning and memory due to developmental differences in what is perceived and attended to during learning episodes, which can result in ontogenetic differences in contextual learning depending on the specific demands of the task. The present manuscript reviews those studies that have examined potential developmental differences in contextual learning and context effects in rats. The reviewed results show that, during infancy, context can exert a similar influence over learning and memory as that described for the adult rat. Moreover, in some cases, contextual learning and context effects were greater in infants than in adults. In contrast, under other experimental conditions, no evidence of contextual learning or context effects was observed. We analyzed the procedural factors of these studies with the aim of detecting those that favor or impede contextual learning during infancy, and we discussed whether existing empirical evidence supports the claim that the functionality of the hippocampus is a limiting factor for this type of learning during infancy. Finally, conclusions from human research into contextual learning

DISCOURSE STYLISTICS AS CONTEXTUALIZED STYLISTICS

OpenAIRE

Marina Katnić-Bakaršić

2003-01-01

The focus of the paper is on discourse stylistics, viewed as contextualized discipline. Context includes various factors (sociohistorical, cognitive, cultural and intertextual). The paper investigates the most important approaches to discourse stylistics: pragmatic stylistics, discourse and/ or conversational analysis, cognitive stylistics, critical stylistics, feminists stylistics. In discourse stylistics analysis is always combined with interpretation, and description is followed by explana...

Contextualizing Asian American College Student Psychological Health

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Christopher T. H.; Liu, Jessica; Nguyen, David; Song, Ge

2017-01-01

With attention to race, culture, and gender, this chapter contextualizes the help-seeking behaviors and psychological aspects of health facing Asian American college students. Recommendations are provided to student affairs professionals and counselors.

Implicit Motives, Explicit Traits, and Task and Contextual Performance at Work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lang, J.W.B.; Zettler, Ingo; Ewen, C.

2012-01-01

for implicit achievement). As a test of these theoretical ideas, we report a study in which employees (N = 241) filled out a questionnaire booklet and worked on an improved modern implicit motive measure, the operant motive test. Their supervisors rated their task and contextual performance. Results support 4...... apply these ideas in the context of industrial and organizational psychology and propose that 2 explicit traits work as channels for the expression of 3 core implicit motives in task and contextual job performance (extraversion for implicit affiliation and implicit power; explicit achievement...... of the 6 theoretical predictions and show that interactions between implicit motives and explicit traits increase the explained criterion variance in both task and contextual performance....

Inhibition of Rac1 Activity in the Hippocampus Impairs the Forgetting of Contextual Fear Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Lizhu; Mao, Rongrong; Zhou, Qixin; Yang, Yuexiong; Cao, Jun; Ding, Yuqiang; Yang, Yuan; Zhang, Xia; Li, Lingjiang; Xu, Lin

2016-03-01

Fear is crucial for survival, whereas hypermnesia of fear can be detrimental. Inhibition of the Rac GTPase is recently reported to impair the forgetting of initially acquired memory in Drosophila. Here, we investigated whether inhibition of Rac1 activity in rat hippocampus could contribute to the hypermnesia of contextual fear. We found that spaced but not massed training of contextual fear conditioning caused inhibition of Rac1 activity in the hippocampus and heightened contextual fear. Furthermore, intrahippocampal injection of the Rac1 inhibitor NSC23766 heightened contextual fear in massed training, while Rac1 activator CN04-A weakened contextual fear in spaced training rats. Our study firstly demonstrates that contextual fear memory in rats is actively regulated by Rac1 activity in the hippocampus, which suggests that the forgetting impairment of traumatic events in posttraumatic stress disorder may be contributed to the pathological inhibition of Rac1 activity in the hippocampus.

The Role of Search Speed in the Contextual Cueing of Children's Attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Darby, Kevin; Burling, Joseph; Yoshida, Hanako

2014-01-01

The contextual cueing effect is a robust phenomenon in which repeated exposure to the same arrangement of random elements guides attention to relevant information by constraining search. The effect is measured using an object search task in which a target (e.g., the letter T) is located within repeated or nonrepeated visual contexts (e.g., configurations of the letter L). Decreasing response times for the repeated configurations indicates that contextual information has facilitated search. Although the effect is robust among adult participants, recent attempts to document the effect in children have yielded mixed results. We examined the effect of search speed on contextual cueing with school-aged children, comparing three types of stimuli that promote different search times in order to observe how speed modulates this effect. Reliable effects of search time were found, suggesting that visual search speed uniquely constrains the role of attention toward contextually cued information.

Silent myocardial ischemia in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis: associated factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Arenillas, Juan F; Candell-Riera, Jaume; Romero-Farina, Guillermo; Molina, Carlos A; Chacón, Pilar; Aguadé-Bruix, Santiago; Montaner, Joan; de León, Gustavo; Castell-Conesa, Joan; Alvarez-Sabín, José

2005-06-01

Optimization of coronary risk evaluation in stroke patients has been encouraged. The relationship between symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis and occult coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been evaluated sufficiently. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis and to identify factors associated with its presence. From 186 first-ever transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke patients with intracranial stenoses, 65 fulfilled selection criteria, including angiographic confirmation of a symptomatic atherosclerotic stenosis and absence of known CAD. All patients underwent a maximal-stress myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], C-reactive protein, and homocysteine (Hcy) levels were determined before SPECT. Stress-rest SPECT detected reversible myocardial perfusion defects in 34 (52%) patients. Vascular risk factors associated with a pathologic SPECT were hypercholesterolemia (P=0.045), presence of >2 risk factors (P=0.004) and high Lp(a) (P=0.023) and Hcy levels (P=0.018). Ninety percent of patients with high Lp(a) and Hcy levels had a positive SPECT. Existence of a stenosed intracranial internal carotid artery (ICA; odds ratio [OR], 7.22, 2.07 to 25.23; P=0.002) and location of the symptomatic stenosis in vertebrobasilar arteries (OR, 4.89, 1.19 to 20.12; P=0.027) were independently associated with silent myocardial ischemia after adjustment by age, sex, and risk factors. More than 50% of the patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis and not overt CAD show myocardial perfusion defects on stress-rest SPECT. Stenosed intracranial ICA, symptomatic vertebrobasilar stenosis and presence of high Lp(a) and Hcy levels may characterize the patients at a higher risk for occult CAD.

Prognostic significance of silent myocardial ischemia on a thallium stress test