Regional brain activity change predicts responsiveness to treatment for stuttering in adults

Developmental stuttering is known to be associated with aberrant brain activity, but there is no evidence that this knowledge has benefited stuttering treatment. This study investigated whether brain activity could predict progress during stuttering treatment for 21 dextral adults who stutter (AWS). They received one of two treatment programs that included periodic H₂¹⁵O PET scanning (during oral reading, monologue, and eyes-closed rest conditions). All participants successfully completed an initial treatment phase and then entered a phase designed to transfer treatment gains; 9/21 failed to complete this latter phase. The 12 pass and 9 fail participants were similar on speech and neural system variables before treatment, and similar in speech performance after the initial phase of their treatment. At the end of the initial treatment phase, however, decreased activation within a single region, L. putamen, in all 3 scanning conditions was highly predictive of successful treatment progress.     

对信息源的正向跟随倾向对决策效果的影响*

采用实验研究的方法,检验了二元选择情形下高准确率信息源(准确率x >50%)和低准确率信息源(准确率为1?x)对决策者预测效果的影响。尽管从逻辑上二者从准确率层面具有完全相等的信息价值,然而研究结果显示,决策者更倾向于采用正向跟随而非逆向跟随的方式处理来自信息源的信息。这导致低准确信息源的价值未能得以充分利用。学习和信息源的规范性对该信息处理倾向起到调节作用。     

Predictors of reading fluency in Italian orthography: Evidence from a cross-sectional study of primary school students

This study investigates the role of linguistic and visuospatial attentional processes in predicting reading fluency in typical Italian readers attending primary school. Tasks were administered to 651 children with reading fluency z scores > ?1.5 standard deviation to evaluate their phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term memory, vocabulary, visual search skills, verbal-visual recall, and visual-spatial attention. Hybrid models combining confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were used to evaluate the data obtained from younger (first and second grade) and older (third–fifth grade) children, respectively. The results showed that phonological awareness and RAN played a significant role among younger children, while also vocabulary, verbal short-term memory, and visuospatial attention were significant factors among older children.     

Effect of cooling rate on size-dependent atomic ordering of CoPt nanoparticles

We report on the effect of cooling rate on the size-dependent atomic ordering of CoPt nanoparticles using aberration corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It was found that cooling rate plays a crucial role in promoting atomic ordering during the cooling process after annealing. Nanoparticles of ≈3?nm in diameter show the A1-disordered phase after annealing at 873?K for 1?h followed by rapid cooling (110?K/min), while the L1₀-ordered phase is obtained when the cooling rate is slow (1.5?K/min). The disordered phase is also obtained by rapid cooling after annealing at 973?K for 1?h. These results unambiguously indicate that the order–disorder transformation temperature is reduced to a temperature at least lower than 873?K for CoPt nanoparticles smaller than 3?nm in diameter. The slow cooling process promotes the atomic ordering, which resulted in an enhancement of magnetic coercivity as high as 2200?Oe. This study demonstrates that hard magnetic properties of the CoPt nanoparticles can be improved by controlling the cooling rate after heat treatments.     

Contextual analysis of home environment factors influencing the acquisition of early reading skills in Zambian families

This study examined the effect of home environment factors in the acquisition of early reading skills (orthographic awareness and decoding competence). To assess these factors, a sample of seventy-two (72) first grade learners (females?=?55%; age range?=?7–8 years) and their maternal parents (age range 26–61 years old) from low SES in Zambia's capital city, Lusaka were recruited. Parents, in response to a home literacy questionnaire, reported on their attitudes towards reading, literacy teaching in the home, the home literacy environment, presence of reading materials for adults and children, parental education, occupation, family size and family possessions. Two measures of reading skill were administered at school. Correlations revealed that parental education, occupation and the size of the family were not significantly associated with the reading measures. Family possessions, parental reading attitudes, literacy activities, and reading materials significantly predicted orthographic awareness. In predicting decoding competence, only family possessions, parental reading attitudes and literacy activities were predictive. Regardless of the context, children experience literacy in varied forms and quantities.     

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ABSTRACT

It is estimated that there have been over 4,000 articles in the literature on the subject of attentional problems, addressing its etiology, epidemiology, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. This article reviews recent and relevant literature with an eye toward functional conclusions and linkages between assessment and intervention. The article concludes by providing a problem-solving model that integrates parent or teachers' referral concerns, reasons for these concerns, assessment methods, and intervention strategies. In the end, four definitive conclusions are drawn, and the importance of multimodal strategies that collaboratively involve home, school, and community settings is emphasized.     

Duke University's Program on Religion,Aging, and Health

ABSTRACT

Assisted living facilities (ALFs) offer a level of care between independent living and nursing homes. Recently researchers have begun to explore quality-of-life issues concerning residents of ALFs. Considerable research suggests that religion is positively associated with both emotional and physical health. This study examines how residents use religious practices to cope with the challenges of life in ALFs. Qualitative analysis of in-person interview data from 55 residents of ALFs revealed a variety of religious practices, such as prayer, church attendance, and Bible reading. Most residents deemed religion important and reported that religious practices provided a framework for coping with problems. Coping ranged from the mundane (e.g., attending a gospel concert to offset the otherwise dull routine of the home) to the transcendent (e.g., enlisting the support of an omnipotent ally in the face of adversity). Six ways residents utilized religion as a coping mechanism emerged. Residents used religion to maintain continuity with their previous lives; to obtain relief from physical or emotional pain; to provide a framework for socialization; to develop courage; to maintain a purpose for their lives; and to prepare for death. Suggestions for enhancing the quality and variety of religious activities within ALFs are offered.     

Test anxiety and comprehension efficiency: The role of prior knowledge and working memory deficits

The hypotheses that test anxiety is associated with a deficit in prior knowledge and/or working memory capacity, that anxiety impairs comprehension efficiency, and that deficits in knowledge and capacity underlie the efficiency impairment, were tested. In Study 1, high-anxiety students were characterized by lower scores in several vocabulary measures, compared with low-anxiety students. In Study 2, high-anxiety individuals showed inferior working memory capacity to low-anxiety individuals under evaluative stress conditions, but not under non-stress conditions. In Study 3 high-anxiety subjects exhibited lower efficiency scores than low-anxiety subjects in expository texts without a summary: The former employed a greater amount of reading time than the latter to acquire an equivalent amount of information. In addition, the disadvantage in efficiency associated with anxiety was removed when differences in vocabulary knowledge were partialled out statistically. Instead, that disadvantage was only reduced, but not eliminated, when differences in transitory working memory capacity were partialled out. Therefore, the prior knowledge deficit hypothesis accounts for the impairment in reading efficiency associated with high anxiety better than the transitory working memory reduction hypothesis.     

Characteristics of Male Batterers in Treatment

Abstract

This article presents information on the characteristics of a clinical population of male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) court-ordered for batterers' treatment, and how these characteristics co-varied with treatment attrition. The average demographic profile of male batterers in a midwestern treatment program that met present-day treatment guidelines was similar to that found in other studies. In addition, relationship length and status, alcohol/drug use, self-reports of past treatment and mental health issues, and self-report of witnessing or experiencing violence within the home during childhood was also similar. Batterers' self-reports of their own violent behavior were found to vary by data collection technique, with face-to-face interviews eliciting greater admission of violent behavior than paper-and-pencil questionnaires. However, the only predictors of successful treatment outcome were living arrangement at the time of treatment and racial category. Implications of these findings are discussed, and “local effects” program evaluation approaches are suggested.