Prosody in the reading of children with specific language impairment / La prosodia en la lectura de niños con trastorno específico del lenguaje

Expressive reading is considered one of the subprocesses involved in reading fluency, and good readers show greater changes in tone and fewer unnecessary pauses than bad ones. Given the high frequency of reading difficulties in specific language impairment (SLI), there may be certain differences in the use of prosody among children with SLI. The purpose of this study was to research whether prosody in the reading of children with Spanish SLI differs from that in the reading of typical readers. To do so, 44 children (SLI and control) read aloud a text which contained declarative, interrogative and exclamatory sentences. Different prosodic parameters referring to length, tone and intensity were measured. The results showed that the children with SLI read slower, commit more errors and make more inappropriate pauses. Furthermore, fewer pitch variations were found in the interrogative sentence and in the final features of the sentence. These results confirm the relationship between decoding and prosody; therefore, interventions with these children should bear in mind the practice of expressive reading while learning reading fluency.     

Understanding Students’ Perceptions of the Nature of Science in the Context of Their Gender and Their Parents’ Occupation

Science & Education - A thorough understanding of the concept of the nature of science (NOS) is essential to the development of scientific literacy among students, as it provides the students...     

Creatine supplementation does not decrease oxidative stress and inflammation in skeletal muscle after eccentric exercise

Abstract

Thirty-six male rats were used; divided into 6 groups (n = 6): saline; creatine (Cr); eccentric exercise (EE) plus saline 24 h (saline + 24 h); eccentric exercise plus Cr 24 h (Cr + 24 h); eccentric exercise plus saline 48 h (saline + 48 h); and eccentric exercise plus Cr 48 h (Cr + 48h). Cr supplementation was administered as a solution of 300 mg · kg body weight^?1 · day^?1 in 1 mL water, for two weeks, before the eccentric exercise. The animals were submitted to one downhill run session at 1.0 km · h^?1 until exhaustion. Twenty-four and forty-eight hours after the exercise, the animals were killed, and the quadriceps were removed. Creatine kinase levels, superoxide production, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level, carbonyl content, total thiol content, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, interleukin-1b (IL-1β), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kb), and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) were analysed. Cr supplementation neither decreases Cr kinase, superoxide production, lipoperoxidation, carbonylation, total thiol, IL-1β, NF-kb, or TNF nor alters the enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxides in relation to the saline group, respectively (P < 0.05). There are positive correlations between Cr kinase and TBARS and TNF-α 48 hours after eccentric exercise. The present study suggests that Cr supplementation does not decrease oxidative stress and inflammation after eccentric contraction.     

Training Planning and Working Memory in Third Graders

Working memory and planning are fundamental cognitive skills supporting fluid reasoning. We show that 2 games that train working memory and planning skills in school‐aged children promote transfer to 2 different tasks: an attentional test and a fluid reasoning test. We also show long‐term improvement of planning and memory capacities in 8‐year‐old children after playing adaptive computer games specifically tailored to entrain these cognitive functions. Working memory capacity expanded from 5 to 7 items by using our games. Furthermore, steady progression in the task indicates that this capacity can be trained rapidly. Planning abilities persisted in a nonmarkovian form of play, where a move is highly influenced by previous moves, avoiding back‐ups. Here, we introduce a public and growing platform ( http://www.matemarote.com.ar/ ) developed for this research which has the potential for wide use in educational research.     

Topological metrics in academic genealogy graphs

Academic genealogy aims to structure and analyze the mentoring relationships between advisor and advisee. The representation of this structure results in academic genealogy graphs. For the analysis and characterization of these graphs, we present a set of metrics and their corresponding mirror metrics that capture the characteristics of its topological structure and represent them as quantitative attributes. The metrics of fecundity, fertility, descendants, cousins, generations, and relationships consider the descendants of the academics represented in the graph. The mirror metric of these topological metrics considers the ascendancy of academics. Individually, the metrics have strong semantic intuition and define characteristics regarding the performance in the mentoring of an academic. Together, the metrics are useful for the identification, characterization, and classification of communities and their members. The genealogical data available through the platforms of the Mathematics Genealogy Project and the Academic Family Tree were used as case studies. Two hundred thirteen thousand and 675,000 academic records were obtained for each project. We analyze the capacity of characterization of the metrics using the structuring of a similarity graph and through the distribution of the nodes in principal components. We observed that the set of metrics is capable of capturing the configuration pattern existing in genealogy graphs independently of its scale.     

Cultural intermediaries in the making of branded music events: digital cultural capital in tension

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have overlooked how intermediaries and their digital cultural capital enhance the relationship between brand values and consumer identities; their specific uses of digital technologies; and how those uses are displayed in activities where intermediaries create consumer experiences. This paper thus explores the role that cultural intermediaries (music bloggers and an advertising agency) and their digital cultural capital play in making and communicating a branded music event. Briefly, intermediaries used a set of digital technologies (social media, guest lists, blogs, and websites) to create and orchestrate an authentic and exclusive experience between brands and consumers. We draw on empirical material from interviews and ethnographic work conducted in Santiago, Chile. Our study identifies digital technologies used by cultural intermediaries in communicating branded music events, including as: promotional tools; advertising campaign efficacy evaluation mechanisms; and relational objects that connect advertising agencies, music bloggers, brands, and consumers. By exploring the tensions and conflicts that arise among bloggers and advertising executives, we shed light on the uses and exchanges of digital cultural capital for commercial purposes, resulting from the connections between intermediaries that come from different fields of cultural production.