An fMRI study of multimodal semantic and phonological processing in reading disabled adolescents

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated multimodal (visual and auditory) semantic and unimodal (visual only) phonological processing in reading disabled (RD) adolescents and non-impaired (NI) control participants. We found reduced activation for RD relative to NI in a number of left-hemisphere reading-related areas across all processing tasks regardless of task type (semantic vs. phonological) or modality (auditory vs. visual modality). Moreover, activation differences in these regions, which included the inferior frontal gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus, and the occipitotemporal region, were largely independent of in-scanner performance in our auditory semantic task. That is, although RD participants and NI participants differed in performance in visually presented conditions, they did not differ significantly in the auditory condition, yet similar patterns of reduced activation were observed in these regions across conditions. These findings indicate a neurobiological marker in RD that is independent of task, modality, or performance. These findings are discussed in the context of current neurobiological models of RD.     

The influence of university departments on the evolution of entrepreneurial competencies in spin-off ventures

The influence of the university department upon spin-off venture evolution is complex and dynamic. We examine how the university department context influences the spin-off process from the perspectives of both the spin-off venture and the department. By comparing the development of entrepreneurial competencies within spin-offs based in different departments at the same universities we observed significant differences in early venture performance. Small differences in initial departmental support from management and senior academics for gaining commercial experience and spending time exploring the commercial opportunity were seen to have a major impact upon the subsequent spin-off development path. Supported ventures gained momentum as the department helped develop entrepreneurial competencies and influenced how these competencies were developed from external actors outside the department. By contrast, a lack of departmental support for entrepreneurship severely constrained the evolution of spin-offs regardless of university level policies and practices. This emphasizes the need for a shift in focus from the well-studied university level to the relatively neglected department level to help explain institutional differences in university spin-off activity.     

The relationship between the uniqueness of computer ethics and its independence as a discipline in applied ethics

A number of different uniquenessclaims have been made about computer ethics inorder to justify characterizing it as adistinct subdiscipline of applied ethics. Iconsider several different interpretations ofthese claims and argue, first, that none areplausible and, second, that none provideadequate justification for characterizingcomputer ethics as a distinct subdiscipline ofapplied ethics. Even so, I argue that computerethics shares certain important characteristicswith medical ethics that justifies treatingboth as separate subdisciplines of appliedethics.     

Phonological awareness predicts activation patterns for print and speech

Using fMRI, we explored the relationship between phonological awareness (PA), a measure of metaphonological knowledge of the segmental structure of speech, and brain activation patterns during processing of print and speech in young readers from 6 to 10 years of age. Behavioral measures of PA were positively correlated with activation levels for print relative to speech tokens in superior temporal and occipito-temporal regions. Differences between print-elicited activation levels in superior temporal and inferior frontal sites were also correlated with PA measures with the direction of the correlation depending on stimulus type: positive for pronounceable pseudowords and negative for consonant strings. These results support and extend the many indications in the behavioral and neurocognitive literature that PA is a major component of skill in beginning readers and point to a developmental trajectory by which written language engages areas originally shaped by speech for learners on the path toward successful literacy acquisition.

Does school context matter? Relations with teacher burnout and job satisfaction

This study examined relations between teachers' perception of the school context, teacher burnout, and teacher job satisfaction. Participants were 563 Norwegian teachers in elementary school and middle school. Four aspects of teachers' perception of the school context (supervisory support, time pressure, relations to parents, and autonomy) and three dimensions of teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) were measured. The data were analyzed by means of structural equation modelling using the AMOS 5 program. Teachers' job satisfaction was directly related to two of the dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment) and indirectly related to all aspects of the school context, through emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment. The three dimensions of burnout were differently related to the school context variables. Emotional exhaustion was most strongly related to time pressure whereas depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment were most strongly related to teachers' relations with parents. Implications for both research and educational practices are discussed.     

Time's up. Or is it? Journalists’ Perceptions of Sexual Violence and Newsroom Changes after #MeTooIndia

ABSTRACT

The #MeToo movement, which engulfed much of India's news and entertainment industry in October 2018, was projected by many as a watershed moment for Indian journalism. Driven largely through social media activism, it created significant public discourse and outcry, leading to the “outing” and resignation of many journalists. This paper explores the perception of #MeTooIndia in regional and national newsrooms. Drawing on Manuel Castells's ideas of networked social movement, we consider the origins of #MeTooIndia, including its mediation on private and social networks. We then draw on 257 semi-structured interviews with journalists working in 14 languages across India to explore the “cause” of the campaign—the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual violence in workspaces—before turning our attention to the impact, or potential for impact, that journalists saw in it. We find most journalists felt the movement was “good”, but did not think it influenced their environment or newswork in any meaningful manner. Regional journalists expressed more pessimism about the #MeTooIndia, men more so than women.     

Speaking up for vocabulary: reading skill differences in young adults

This study is part of a broader project aimed at developing cognitive and neurocognitive profiles of adolescent and young adult readers whose educational and occupational prospects are constrained by their limited literacy skills. We explore the relationships among reading-related abilities in participants ages 16 to 24 years spanning a wide range of reading ability. Two specific questions are addressed: (a) Does the simple view of reading capture all nonrandom variation in reading comprehension? (b) Does orally assessed vocabulary knowledge account for variance in reading comprehension, as predicted by the lexical quality hypothesis? A comprehensive battery of cognitive and educational tests was employed to assess phonological awareness, decoding, verbal working memory, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, word knowledge, and experience with print. In this heterogeneous sample, decoding ability clearly played an important role in reading comprehension. The simple view of reading gave a reasonable fit to the data, although it did not capture all of the reliable variance in reading comprehension as predicted. Orally assessed vocabulary knowledge captured unique variance in reading comprehension even after listening comprehension and decoding skill were accounted for. We explore how a specific connectionist model of lexical representation and lexical access can account for these findings.     

Task Involvement and Ego Involvement: relations with academic achievement,academic self‐concept and self‐esteem

Relations between academic achievement, self‐perceptions, task involvement and defensive ego involvement (self‐presentation concerns) were explored among 349 sixth grade and 350 ninth grade Norwegian students. Task involvement was defined as general interest in working with school subjects, whereas defensive ego involvement was defined as students’ preoccupation with the impression they make on their classmates emphasizing the concern of not looking stupid. The results showed that task involvement and defensive ego involvement are independent but correlated motivational states. The concepts are negatively, but weakly correlated and are affected by different processes. Task involvement was affected directly by academic self‐concept, whereas defensive ego involvement was strongly associated with self‐esteem and was affected indirectly by academic self‐concept through self‐esteem.     

Running speed increases plantar load more than per cent body weight on an AlterG® treadmill

AlterG® treadmills allow for running at different speeds as well as at reduced bodyweight (BW), and are used during rehabilitation to reduce the impact load. The aim of this study was to quantify plantar loads borne by the athlete during rehabilitation. Twenty trained male participants ran on the AlterG® treadmill in 36 conditions: all combinations of indicated BW (50–100%) paired with different walking and running speeds (range 6–16 km · hr^–1) in a random order. In-shoe maximum plantar force (Fmax) was recorded using the Pedar-X system. Fmax was lowest at the 6 km · hr^–1 at 50% indicated BW condition at 1.02 ± 0.21BW and peaked at 2.31 ± 0.22BW for the 16 km · hr^–1 at 100% BW condition. Greater increases in Fmax were seen when increasing running speed while holding per cent BW constant than the reverse (0.74BW–0.91BW increase compared to 0.19–0.31BW). A table is presented with each of the 36 combinations of BW and running speed to allow a more objective progression of plantar loading during rehabilitation. Increasing running speed rather than increasing indicated per cent BW was shown to have the strongest effect on the magnitude of Fmax across the ranges of speeds and indicated per cent BWs examined.