Defining Phonological Awareness and Its Relationship to Reading Skills in Low-Literacy Adults.

The main purpose of the study reported here was to investigate the relative importance of complexity of syllable structure and task differences in measuring phonological awareness in low-literacy adults. This study is a replication of a study with children conducted by S. A. Stahl and B. A. Murray (1994). Results indicated that the complexity of syllable structure did indeed better describe the construct of phonological awareness in low-literacy adults. At the same time, the authors also found some differences in the pattern of literacy acquisition for their Spanish adults in comparison with child literacy acquisition in English. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

具备移动数据和频谱效率的正交频分复用

随着对新一代电路交换移动网络的资金投入及其频谱成本的不断增加,移动通信运营商们正在谨慎地向前继续迈进,计划向企业和大众消费市场推出无线数据服务。如果移动通信运营商想成功地让大众消费市场接纳无线数据业务,就必须找到一种新的技术解决方案,克服电路交换式架构遗留下来的障碍,进而采用端到端的包交换网络系统,这种系统能够在不同投资规模下提供有利可图的无线数据服务。突发性是数据流量的特征,也就是说数据流到达的时间、到达的速率、以及信息的比特数,在不同的时间里会有很大的变化。并且,数据应用需要传输非常可靠,实际上不能允…     

Effects of age and schooling on the acquisition of elementary quantitative skills.

The influence of school- and age-related variables was examined separately on 2 tasks involving elementary quantitative skills: conservation of number and mental addition. Performance on these tasks was compared by using a cutoff design with 3 groups of kindergarten and Grade 1 children who differed in age but not amount of schooling (grade), in schooling but not age, or in both age and schooling. The effects of age and schooling were distinct. On conservation of number, performance improved as a function of age but not schooling. On mental arithmetic, accuracy improved with schooling rather than age but children's use of various solution procedures (e.g., retrieval, counting) was not influenced by schooling. Thus, in the domain of elementary mathematical skills, the influence of schooling can be very specific, and age-related variables other than schooling play an important role in the development of elementary mathematical skills. Results illustrate the utility of the cutoff design for investigating instructional and developmental influences on cognitive development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resistance to atracurium in rats with experimental inflammation: role of protein binding

The influence of altered protein binding on the neuromuscular effect of atracurium has been studied in rats with experimental inflammation induced by subcutaneous injection of turpentine oil. Doses of atracurium ranging from 0.45 to 1.5 mg.kg-1 were administered to control (n = 30) and to experimental inflammation induced rats (n = 30). Neuromuscular transmission was monitored by recording the twitch tension of the tibialis-anterior muscle elicited by stimulation of the sciatic nerve. Three effect parameters were recorded: (i) intensity of the effect, measured as percentage depression of baseline twitch tension, (ii) duration of drug action (min) and (iii) recovery time (min). The dose-intensity of the effect relationship was modelled using a sigmoid Emax model. The ED50 (effective dose eliciting 50% of the maximum effect) was significantly increased (P < 0.01) in the inflammation group as compared to the control group (0.94 vs. 0.68 mg.kg-1). This change was reflected in a shift of the dose-response curve to the right in the pretreated rats. For equipotent doses ED95 (defined as the effective dose eliciting 95% of maximum effect), no differences were found in recovery time and duration of action between the two groups of rats. Mucoproteins levels (index of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) and protein binding were significantly increased in rats with experimental inflammation as compared to control rats. Based on these results, altered serum protein binding of atracurium appears to be responsible, at least in part, for the resistance to atracurium.     

Survey of minor surgery in general practice in the west of Scotland

BACKGROUND: Noncutaneous psammomatous melanotic schwannoma has recently been reported as an unusual component of Carney's complex (myxomas, spotty pigmentation, and endocrinopathy). The most common locations for this lesion include peripheral nerve roots and the gastrointestinal tract. OBSERVATIONS: A cutaneous psammomatous melanotic schwannoma is reported in a patient with known Carney's complex. This neoplasm was pseudoencapsulated, with epithelioid to spindle-shaped cells and no nuclear atypia. Immunostaining was positive for S100 protein and vimentin, as well for HMB-45 antibody. Electron microscopy showed melanosomes in cytoplasmic processes of cells that were ensheathed by layers of reduplicated basal lamina. CONCLUSIONS: Location in the superficial soft tissues is extremely unusual for psammomatous melanotic schwannomas. Recognition of this new cutaneous marker as a part of this complex may aid in identification of individuals at risk for cardiac myxomas. It is also important that this lesion is not mistaken for melanoma, given the strong HMB-45 positivity.     

Broadband TDMA over the indoor radio channel

Prior work has focused on the negative aspects of time-dispersive channels and associated intersymbol interference. The authors show that the inherent diversity introduced by such dispersion is advantageous in reducing the performance-limiting effects of flat fading. This is demonstrated for an indoor QPSK radio link employing a decision-feedback equaliser     

The amylose and lipid contents,dimensions, and gelatinisation characteristics of some wheat starches and their A- and B-granule fractions

Starches isolated from 23 bread wheats (Triticum aestivum) and 26 durum wheats (T. durum) contained 26.3-30.6% (mean 29.1%) total amylose, 19.3–25.1% (mean 22.9%) apparent amylose and 783–1144mg 100g^?1 (mean 977 mg 100g^?1) lysophos-pholipids. Gelatinisation temperatures were 57.3–64.9°C (mean 61.8°C) and enthalpies 6.4–11.8 Jg^?1 (mean 9.7Jg^?1) in excess water, measured by differential scanning calorimetry. There were no correlations between any of these parameters. Starch granule size distributions were determined with a Coulter Counter and 100–channel analyser. A-granule mean volumes were 1235–2585μm³ (av. 1778), modal volumes 863–1804μm³ (av. 1264), mean diameters 13.9–16.0μm (av. 13.99), and specific surface areas 0.236–0.302m²g^?1. B-granule mean volumes were 35.4–100.4μm³ (av. 55.9), modal volumes 16.5–54.5μm³ (av. 27.7), mean diameters 3.66–5.07μm (av. 4.09), and specific surface areas 0.684–0.920m²g^?1. The B-granule contents of the starches were 12.8–34.6% (av. 27.3) by weight (sedimentation method) and 13.0–37.3% (av. 24.0) by volume (Coulter method), the latter being the more accurate method.     

TERNARY EXTRACTION MODELING USING THE REDLICH-KISTER EXPANSION

Mathematical models for liquid-liquid extraction processes are not widely available. The correlation of liquid-liquid equilibrium for such a model is often difficult. One correlation, based upon the Redlich-Kister expansion for the molar excess Gibb's free energy, has been shown to accurately represent ternary liquid-liquid equilibrium systems used in liquid-liquid extraction operations.

The use of this correlation in an extraction model was investigated and found to be suitable for a ternary liquid-liquid extraction model with only minor limitations. A successful ternary liquid-liquid extraction model was developed using this equilibrium correlation.     

Geographic constraints on passive solar domestic hot water systems due to pipe freezing

The supply and return piping of passive solar domestic hot water systems (SDHWS) is typically exposed to ambient weather conditions, and damaging pipe freeze is a major concern. This paper presents a pipe-freeze model that accounts for hot water draws and uses 30 years of actual weather data. The simulation results are cast in terms of pipe-freeze probabilities. Using contour maps of the continental United States, the pipe-freeze probabilities for residential, commercial, and seasonal passive SDHWS are presented for various pipe and insulation geometries.