Baseline Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis and Parasympathetic Nervous System Activity Interact to Predict Executive Functions in Low‐Income Children

We examined interactions between baseline hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity in relation to executive functions (EF) in a sample (n = 1,005) of children in low wealth, nonurban communities at age 48 months. Salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) represented baseline HPA axis and PNS activity, respectively. The interaction between RSA and cortisol predicted EF such that children with either lower RSA and lower cortisol, or higher RSA and higher cortisol had higher EF scores. These findings suggest a potential compensatory relation in which the PNS and HPA axis counterbalance each other to support cognition.     

Adapting the Knuth–Morris–Pratt algorithm for pattern matching in Huffman encoded texts

In the present work we perform compressed pattern matching in binary Huffman encoded texts [Huffman, D. (1952). A method for the construction of minimum redundancy codes, Proc. of the IRE, 40, 1098–1101]. A modified Knuth–Morris–Pratt algorithm is used in order to overcome the problem of false matches, i.e., an occurrence of the encoded pattern in the encoded text that does not correspond to an occurrence of the pattern itself in the original text. We propose a bitwise KMP algorithm that can move one extra bit in the case of a mismatch since the alphabet is binary. To avoid processing any bit of the encoded text more than once, a preprocessed table is used to determine how far to back up when a mismatch is detected, and is defined so that we are always able to align the start of the encoded pattern with the start of a codeword in the encoded text. We combine our KMP algorithm with two practical Huffman decoding schemes which handle more than a single bit per machine operation; skeleton trees defined by Klein [Klein, S. T. (2000). Skeleton trees for efficient decoding of huffman encoded texts. Information Retrieval, 3, 7–23], and numerical comparisons between special canonical values and portions of a sliding window presented in Moffat and Turpin [Moffat, A., & Turpin, A. (1997). On the implementation of minimum redundancy prefix codes. IEEE Transactions on Communications, 45, 1200–1207]. Experiments show rapid search times of our algorithms compared to the “decompress then search” method, therefore, files can be kept in their compressed form, saving memory space. When compression gain is important, these algorithms are better than cgrep [Ferragina, P., Tommasi, A., & Manzini, G. (2004). C Library to search over compressed texts, http://roquefort.di.unipi.it/~ferrax/CompressedSearch], which is only slightly faster than ours.     

Knowledge economy measurement: Methods, results and insights from the Malaysian Knowledge Content Study

Building on a conceptual model of knowledge content, we discuss the methodology and results of a project to develop sectoral knowledge content measures in Malaysia. Through a survey of over 1800 Malaysian firms in 18 manufacturing and services industries, levels of knowledge content are assessed by sector. Industries vary in their emphasis on specific knowledge content components. Positive associations between technological innovation and at least one knowledge content variable are evident across all but four industries, although generally the results suggest that knowledge-based innovation is modest in Malaysia. Further insights and opportunities for policy from tracking knowledge content are considered.     

The effect of multimedia instruction for Chinese learning

In Taiwan, lectures are commonly used for younger students to learn their own language, which is traditional Chinese. Passively listening to lectures has led to this group of students making such mistakes as forgetting strokes and word meanings, combining phrases to create incomprehensible blurs of information, and switching radicals with phonetic characters. Thus, the rationale of this study is that better and longer lasting Chinese learning results will occur when a combination of well‐designed texts, audio, graphics, animation, and hands‐on practice are employed. A multimedia system with computer‐based courseware in combination with added, assistive technologies including sound equipment, digital boards, and pens was developed based on this rationale. This study used a treatment group who used the system and a comparison group who received lectures. The subjects were 41 second graders in a southern city in Taiwan and all of them received the same pretest, immediate posttest, and the delayed posttest. Even though some of the differences between the two groups did not reach statistical significance, the results revealed that the treatment group consistently performed better than the comparison group in almost all the areas of competencies in both posttests.     

Early adolescents' and their parents' mental imagery in relation to perceived reading competence

This cross‐sectional survey study examined the relation between mental imagery (i.e., seeing images of a story ‘in the mind's eye’) and perceived self‐competence in reading. The study was conducted with a group of seventh‐grade to ninth‐grade students in the prevocational educational track of secondary schools in the Netherlands and their parents. Results showed a moderate relation between mental imagery and self‐competence beliefs, also after controlling for the quality of students' home literacy environment. Examination of gender differences revealed that girls outperformed boys in self‐competence beliefs. Furthermore, boys perceived themselves as better readers when their parents had higher mental imagery skills. No direct relation was found between parents' and adolescents' mental imagery skills. These findings imply that parents and teachers may need to be made aware of the importance of mental imagery strategies as it may enhance the reading experiences of boys as well as girls.     

LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS OF CONDUCT PROBLEMS OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES

Students with conduct problems (CPs) may present heterogeneity in terms of behavioral manifestations and service needs. Previous studies using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to capture this heterogeneity have been conducted mostly with community samples and have often applied a narrow definition of CP. Considering this context, this study investigated CP subgroups among elementary students with CP receiving special education services. LCA was conducted on 10 CP indices for 297 6–9 year old children. Latent CP subgroups were compared with 201 controls without CP. LCA suggests a three‐class solution based on severity of CP and context/informant reports (home/parent, school/teacher). Multinomial logistic regressions indicated that all CP subgroups differed from the control group on social competence and surgency/extraversion temperament scale in the expected direction but varied on specific personal, family, or school correlates. Interventions aimed at reducing CP should consider differences in CP subtype and in correlated risk factors.     

College Admissions,International Competition,and the Cold War in Asia: The Case of Overseas Chinese Students in Taiwan in the 1950s

Focusing only on education exchanges between the United States and other countries, existing scholarship fails to illuminate how American‐sponsored student migrations between other countries helped expand U.S. hegemony. This article attempts to rectify this limitation by looking at Taiwan's policies on overseas Chinese students (qiaosheng) in the 1950s. After the debacle of the Chinese Civil War and its retreat to Taiwan, the Kuomintang (KMT) sought to solicit overseas Chinese support and to counter Communist China's drive for “returning students.” The KMT‐developed qiaosheng program faced difficulties until 1954, when the United States, seeing that Taiwan's project could serve its anti‐Communist plan, started bankrolling the qiaosheng program, thereby enabling the KMT to lure more students away from Communist China. These findings suggest that overlooking U.S.‐sponsored student migrations between nations outside the United States renders our analysis of international education exchanges and American imperialism incomplete.     

Internalized Racism,Perceived Racism,and Ethnic Identity: Exploring Their Relationship in Latina/o Undergraduates

For Latina/o undergraduates, ethnic identity is an important construct linked to self‐esteem and educational attainment. Internalized and perceived racism have been hypothesized to hinder ethnic identity development in Latina/o undergraduates. To assess if internalized and perceived racism were inversely related to ethnic identity, the author conducted a hierarchical linear regression with 373 Latina/o undergraduates. There was a significant relationship between internalized racism and ethnic identity. Findings indicate a need to challenge internalized racism in Latina/o undergraduates.     

Reading‐Specific Flexibility Moderates the Relation Between Reading Strategy Use and Reading Comprehension During the Elementary Years

The goal was to test whether cognitive flexibility moderates the relation between reading strategy use and reading comprehension during the elementary years. Seventy‐five second‐ through fifth‐grade students completed a think aloud task and a metacognitive questionnaire to measure reading strategies, two card‐sorting tasks to measure general and reading‐specific cognitive flexibility, and one standardized measure of reading comprehension, as well as measures of oral reading fluency and vocabulary. As expected, oral reading fluency and vocabulary predicted reading comprehension, as did reading‐specific flexibility. Importantly, reading‐specific flexibility had a significant moderating effect, over and above the other effects. Specifically, weak reading‐specific flexibility skills were associated with a negative relation between reading strategy use during think aloud and reading comprehension, suggesting that children with weak flexibility skills are less adept at using reading strategies effectively.