Effects of preschool phoneme identity training after six years: Outcome level distinguished from rate of response.

Grade 5 children who had been trained in phoneme identity 6 years earlier in preschool were superior to untrained controls on irregular word reading; on a composite list of nonwords, regular words, and irregular words; and on a separate nonword test. Some of the trained children had become poor readers by Grade 5. These poor readers had made slow progress in achieving phonemic awareness in preschool even though they were eventually successful. In general, the rate at which trained children achieved phonemic awareness in preschool accounted for variance in school literacy progress in addition to that accounted for by the actual level of phonemic awareness achieved. Preschool instruction in phonemic structure had modest but detectable effects on later reading skill, but children who were slow to achieve phonemic awareness tended to be hampered in later reading growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Solitonic lattice and Yukawa forces in the rare-earth orthoferrite TbFeO3

The random fluctuations of spins give rise to many interesting physical phenomena, such as the 'order-from-disorder' arising in frustrated magnets and unconventional Cooper pairing in magnetic superconductors. Here we show that the exchange of spin waves between extended topological defects, such as domain walls, can result in novel magnetic states. We report the discovery of an unusual incommensurate phase in the orthoferrite TbFeO(3) using neutron diffraction under an applied magnetic field. The magnetic modulation has a very long period of 340?? at 3?K and exhibits an anomalously large number of higher-order harmonics. These domain walls are formed by Ising-like Tb spins. They interact by exchanging magnons propagating through the Fe magnetic sublattice. The resulting force between the domain walls has a rather long range that determines the period of the incommensurate state and is analogous to the pion-mediated Yukawa interaction between protons and neutrons in nuclei.     

Ella versus Simoa Serum Neurofilament Assessment to Monitor Treatment Response in Highly Active Multiple Sclerosis Patients

The measurement of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) is of growing importance in the field of neurology. In the management of multiple sclerosis, it can serve as a useful marker to assess disease activity and treatment response. This paper compares two available methods, namely the Single Molecule Array (Simoa) and the Ella microfluid platform, to measure longitudinal sNfL levels of 42 highly active multiple sclerosis patients treated with alemtuzumab over a period of 36 months. In order to assess the methods agreement, Bland–Altman plots and Passing–Bablok regression were analyzed. Here, we show that despite the fact that Ella measures around 24% higher values than Simoa, both are equally suitable for longitudinal sNfL monitoring.     

Field evaluation of a prototype laser safety decision support system

A field evaluation of a decision support system prototype is described. The system is designed to aid the decision making of laser safety hazard assessors and laser manufacturers. The aims of the evaluation were to establish the usefulness and usability of the system, and to indicate where design changes might be needed. Three complementary methods namely observation evaluation, expert evaluation, and survey evaluation were used. Fifteen laser safety hazard assessors took part in the evaluation as subjects. Objective and subjective data were analysed and areas of user difficulty with the system were identified. The system was well-received although some pointers to modification for the eventual delivery system were identified. It is concluded that the aims of the evaluation were successfully met.     

Fetal Zone Steroids and Estrogen Show Sex Specific Effects on Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells in Response to Oxidative Damage

Oxygen causes white matter damage in preterm infants and male sex is a major risk factor for poor neurological outcome, which speculates the role of steroid hormones in sex-based differences. Preterm birth is accompanied by a drop in 17β-estradiol (E2) and progesterone along with increased levels of fetal zone steroids (FZS). We performed a sex-based analysis on the FZS concentration differences in urine samples collected from preterm and term infants. We show that, in preterm urine samples, the total concentration of FZS, and in particular the 16α-OH-DHEA concentration, is significantly higher in ill female infants as compared to males. Since we previously identified Nup133 as a novel target protein affected by hyperoxia, here we studied the effect of FZS, allopregnanolone (Allo) and E2 on differentiation and Nup133 signaling using mouse-derived primary oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). We show that the steroids could reverse the effect of hyperoxia-mediated downregulation of Nup133 in cultured male OPCs. The addition of FZS and E2 protected cells from oxidative stress. However, E2, in presence of 16α-OH-DHEA, showed a negative effect on male cells. These results assert the importance of sex-based differences and their potential implications in preterm stress response.     

Structure-Based Design,Docking and Binding Free Energy Calculations of A366 Derivatives as Spindlin1 Inhibitors

The chromatin reader protein Spindlin1 plays an important role in epigenetic regulation, through which it has been linked to several types of malignant tumors. In the current work, we report on the development of novel analogs of the previously published lead inhibitor A366. In an effort to improve the activity and explore the structure–activity relationship (SAR), a series of 21 derivatives was synthesized, tested in vitro, and investigated by means of molecular modeling tools. Docking studies and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to analyze and rationalize the structural differences responsible for the Spindlin1 activity. The analysis of MD simulations shed light on the important interactions. Our study highlighted the main structural features that are required for Spindlin1 inhibitory activity, which include a positively charged pyrrolidine moiety embedded into the aromatic cage connected via a propyloxy linker to the 2-aminoindole core. Of the latter, the amidine group anchor the compounds into the pocket through salt bridge interactions with Asp184. Different protocols were tested to identify a fast in silico method that could help to discriminate between active and inactive compounds within the A366 series. Rescoring the docking poses with MM-GBSA calculations was successful in this regard. Because A366 is known to be a G9a inhibitor, the most active developed Spindlin1 inhibitors were also tested over G9a and GLP to verify the selectivity profile of the A366 analogs. This resulted in the discovery of diverse selective compounds, among which 1s and 1t showed Spindlin1 activity in the nanomolar range and selectivity over G9a and GLP. Finally, future design hypotheses were suggested based on our findings.     

Blind equalization/detection for OFDM signals overfrequency-selective channels

A novel equalization/detection algorithm for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals transmitted over frequency-selective channels is introduced and investigated. The algorithm stems from the recognition that the Fourier transform processing inherent in OFDM turns a single wideband frequency-selective channel into a set of correlated narrowband frequency-flat fading channels. This suggests that sequence detection techniques, such as those discussed by Vitetta et al. (see IEEE Trans. Commun., vol.43, p.2750-8, 1995, IEEE Trans. Commun., vol.43, pt.II, p.1256-9, 1995, and Proc. IEEE Commun. Theory Mini-Conf (Globecom '96), London, UK, p.153-7, 1996), for time-selective flat-fading channels, can be also profitably utilized for joint equalization and decoding of OFDM signals in the frequency domain. Simulation results show that the proposed detection strategy, implemented via a standard Viterbi algorithm, provides improved performance over differential detection, with a moderate increase in receiver complexity and without requiring the periodic transmission of training blocks     

Potentials and limits of high-speed PM motors

This paper illustrates potentials and limits of high-speed permanent-magnet (PM) motors. The influence of materials chosen for PM, stator core, and retaining sleeve is highlighted. Slotted and slotless topologies are considered and compared, computing magnetic, electrical, mechanical, and thermal quantities by means of both analytical and finite-element approach. Thermal and PM demagnetization limits as well as rotor losses are evaluated. A criteria of optimization of the motor structure is described, with the diameter ratio and the iron flux density as main design variables.