In this literature review, we address the use of cognitive tests, including intelligence tests, in the assessment and diagnosis of dyslexia, from both historic and present-day perspectives. We ...discuss the role of cognitive tests in the operationalization of the concepts of specificity and unexpectedness, two constructs considered essential to the characterization of dyslexia since the publication of early case reports in the late nineteenth century. We review the advantages and disadvantages of several approaches to specific learning disabilities' identification that are used in schools. We also discuss contemporary debates around the use of standardized cognitive testing in dyslexia evaluations, in particular, the arguments of those who favor an approach to diagnosis based on prior history and the results of a comprehensive evaluation and those who favor an approach based on an individual's response to intervention. We attempt to explain both perspectives by examining clinical observations and research findings. We then provide an argument for how cognitive tests can contribute to an accurate and informed diagnosis of dyslexia.
One-hundred-fourteen kindergarten through third-grade teachers from seven different schools were surveyed using
The Survey of Preparedness and Knowledge of Language Structure Related to Teaching ...Reading to Struggling Students
. The purpose was to compare their definitions and application knowledge of language structure, phonics, and other code-based concepts, as well as their perceptions of their own knowledge as operationalized in a scale designed to measure participants’ confidence in their responses. Participants were divided into groups based on their districts’ use or non-use of a scripted, code-based reading program. The code-based reading program group comprised 60 teacher participants, and the no code-based reading program group comprised 54 participants. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed no significant differences between groups in definitions or application knowledge, once demographic differences were accounted for. Analyses of covariance revealed no significant differences in perceptions of knowledge after accounting for relevant covariates. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated the variance contribution of condition and demographic variables to obtained knowledge to be non-significant, and partial correlation analyses showed only weak, often non-significant correlations between perceived knowledge and obtained knowledge. Overall poor survey performance indicated that the majority of teachers in both conditions did not possess the necessary code-based reading knowledge or application skills to effectively teach struggling readers. The results of this study suggest that the use of a scripted, code-based reading program does not guarantee mastery of language structure, phonics, and other code-based concepts.
Introduction and methods In this PRISMA-compliant systematic review, we identify and synthesize the findings of research in which neuroimaging and assessments of achievement have been used to examine ...the relationships among aspects of developmental programming, neurodevelopment, and achievement in reading and mathematics. Results Forty-seven studies met inclusion criteria. The majority examined the impact of prematurity ( n = 32) and prenatal alcohol exposure ( n = 13). Several prematurity studies reported a positive correlation between white-matter integrity of callosal fibers and executive functioning and/or achievement, and white matter properties were consistently associated with cognitive and academic performance in preterm and full-term children. Volumetric studies reported positive associations between academic and cognitive abilities and white and gray matter volume in regions such as the insula, putamen, and prefrontal lobes. Functional MRI studies demonstrated increased right-hemispheric language processing among preterm children. Altered activation of the frontoparietal network related to numerical abilities was also reported. Prenatal alcohol exposure studies reported alterations in white matter microstructure linked to deficits in cognitive functioning and academic achievement, including mathematics, reading, and vocabulary skills. Volumetric studies reported reductions in cerebral, cerebellar, and subcortical gray matter volumes associated with decreased scores on measures of executive functioning, attention, working memory, and academic performance. Functional MRI studies demonstrated broad, diffuse activation, reduced activation in canonical regions, and increased activation in non-canonical regions during numeric tasks. Discussion A preponderance of studies linked prematurity and prenatal alcohol exposure to altered neurodevelopmental processes and suboptimal academic achievement. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed. Systematic review registration Identifier: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/ZAN67 .
This scoping review provides an overview of previous empirical studies that used brain imaging techniques to investigate the neural correlates of emotional well-being (EWB). We compiled evidence on ...this topic into one accessible and usable document as a foundation for future research into the relationship between EWB and the brain. PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed. We located relevant articles by searching five electronic databases with 95 studies meeting our inclusion criteria. We explored EWB measures, brain imaging modalities, research designs, populations studied, and approaches that are currently in use to characterize and understand EWB across the literature. Of the key concepts related to EWB, the vast majority of studies investigated positive affect and life satisfaction, followed by sense of meaning, goal pursuit, and quality of life. The majority of studies used functional MRI, followed by EEG and event-related potential-based EEG to study the neural basis of EWB (predominantly experienced affect, affective perception, reward, and emotion regulation). It is notable that positive affect and life satisfaction have been studied significantly more often than the other three aspects of EWB (i.e., sense of meaning, goal pursuit, and quality of life). Our findings suggest that future studies should investigate EWB in more diverse samples, especially in children, individuals with clinical disorders, and individuals from various geographic locations. Future directions and theoretical implications are discussed, including the need for more longitudinal studies with ecologically valid measures that incorporate multi-level approaches allowing researchers to better investigate and evaluate the relationships among behavioral, environmental, and neural factors.
https://osf.io/t9cf6/.
Being Goral Schneider, Deborah Cahalen
2012, 2006, 20060101
eBook
The Góral ethnic identity has been at the center of political machinations in Poland for centuries. The late Pope John Paul II, for example, was a Góral. This is the first book-length study of the ...Góral identity and one of the few studies in English to discuss Górals. Through personal interviews, local manuscripts, and academic histories of the region, author Deborah Cahalen Schneider shows how important the Góral identity has been to Poland's history. The conflict over the Góral identity in the community of Zùywiec, Poland serves as a lens through which Schneider views national identity issues and class conflict in Poland at large. The Góral identity not only gave this community a sense of togetherness under the Habsburg Empire, but also was a symbol of Polish identity for Polish nationalists during that time. Schneider shows how the Góral identity has spanned the rise and, arguably, the fall of nationalism as the primary discourse of political identity in the post–Cold War, European Union–dominated Eastern Europe.
Abstract To determine the incidence of lower-extremity lymphedema after surgical therapy including lymphadenectomy in endometrial cancer patients using standardized leg measurements. Also, to ...determine additional risk factors for the development of lymphedema and to study the effect of lymphedema on one's quality of life. In this prospective cohort study, patients with the diagnosis of endometrial cancer who were to undergo definitive surgical management were evaluated pre-operatively and followed post-operatively over the course of two years. Standardized leg measurements were performed by the same individuals at six time-points. Subjects also completed a standardized quality-of-life survey at each time-point. The incidence of lymphedema in 39 women with endometrial cancer using a standardized leg measurement protocol was 12.8% with lymphedema defined as a 20% increase in post-operative leg measurements. There was no significant association between the development of lymphedema and the number of pelvic or para-aortic lymph nodes removed, medical comorbidities, or surgical approach (p > 0.05). Of the five patients who met criteria for lymphedema, only one had worsening quality-of-life concerns post-operatively on the FACT-En, version 4, survey. This is the first prospective study using standardized leg measurements to calculate the incidence of post-operative lymphedema in endometrial cancer. Medical comorbidities, surgical approach, number of lymph nodes removed, and location of lymph nodes removed did not appear to affect the development of lymphedema in this cohort. A prospective, multicenter trial is needed to confirm these findings and to further assess the impact of lymphedema on one's quality of life.
Antiretroviral treatment (ART) reduces the risk of developing active tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-1 co-infected persons. In order to understand host immune responses during ART in the context of
(Mtb) ...sensitization, we performed RNAseq analysis of whole blood-derived RNA from individuals with latent TB infection coinfected with HIV-1, during the first 6 months of ART. A significant fall in RNA sequence abundance of the Hallmark IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling, and inflammatory response pathway genes indicated reduced immune activation and inflammation at 6 months of ART compared to day 0. Further exploratory evaluation of 65 soluble analytes in plasma confirmed the significant decrease of inflammatory markers after 6 months of ART. Next, we evaluated 30 soluble analytes in QuantiFERON Gold in-tube (QFT) samples from the Ag stimulated and Nil tubes, during the first 6 months of ART in 30 patients. There was a significant decrease in IL-1alpha and IL-1beta (Ag-Nil) concentrations as well as MCP-1 (Nil), supporting decreased immune activation and inflammation. At the same time, IP-10 (Ag-nil) concentrations significantly increased, together with chemokine receptor-expressing CD4 T cell numbers. Our data indicate that ART-induced decrease in immune activation combined with improved antigen responsiveness may contribute to reduced susceptibility to tuberculosis in HIV-1/Mtb co-infected persons.
The infamous emperor Caligula ruled Rome from A.D. 37 to 41 as a tyrant who ultimately became a monster. An exceptionally smart and cruelly witty man, Caligula made his contemporaries worship him as ...a god. He drank pearls dissolved in vinegar and ate food covered in gold leaf. He forced men and women of high rank to have sex with him, turned part of his palace into a brothel, and committed incest with his sisters. He wanted to make his horse a consul. Torture and executions were the order of the day. Both modern and ancient interpretations have concluded from this alleged evidence that Caligula was insane. But was he? This biography tells a different story of the well-known emperor. In a deft account written for a general audience, Aloys Winterling opens a new perspective on the man and his times. Basing Caligula on a thorough new assessment of the ancient sources, he sets the emperor's story into the context of the political system and the changing relations between the senate and the emperor during Caligula's time and finds a new rationality explaining his notorious brutality.
Currently two competing models exist side-by-side to explain the “antinomian” or “free grace” controversy, in which Anne Hutchinson and her theology are said to have played a key role. The ...differences in these narratives appear to require a return to the sources and a careful examination of Hutchinson's own statements—as far as they can be reconstructed—in the context of her first interrogation by a group of clergymen in the autumn of 1636. Since one of the narratives casts doubt on John Winthrop's assertions of her manifest unorthodoxy at that time, a central question will be whether the views she expressed then deviated significantly from the mainstream of theology espoused by godly contemporaries in Britain and if so, in what particulars. Hutchinson's remarks at the outset of the controversy could then serve as a baseline in an investigation of how the dispute escalated and evolved over the following months.
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