Longitudinal course of rapid naming in disabled and nondisabled readers

The Rapid Automatized Naming Test (Denckla and Rudel 1974) was studied cross-sectionally in an sample of kindergartners (n=342) at-risk for reading disability (Study 1), and longitudinally in an n=160 epidemiological normal sample of children tested in first, third, fifth, and eighth grades (Study 2). Study 1 showed faster absolute naming speeds for those with near perfect untimed alphabet recitation, but the stronger and more orderly relation (at r=.31, p<.0001) was between three levels of alphabet recitation accuracy and the relative number/letter naming speed advantage (ratio of mean number/letter naming speed minus mean color/object naming speed over mean color/object naming speed). In Study 2, the number/letter advantage was already strongly present by first grade, and did not increase significantly thereafter, but absolute naming times improved steadily across grades in an exponential decay function. In this sample, the relative number/letter advantage was not related to reading level. However, the absolute color/object naming speed was strongly related to reading level and vocabulary across grades. Norms for the Rapid Automatized Naming Test based on the epidemiological normal sample tested in Grades 1, 3, 5, and 8 are presented in the appendix.     

Dielectrophoresis of DNA: Quantification by impedance measurements

Dielectrophoretic properties of DNA have been determined by measuring capacitance changes between planar microelectrodes. DNA sizes ranged from 100 bp to 48 kbp, DNA concentrations from below 0.1 to 70 μg∕ml. Dielectrophoretic spectra exhibited maximum response around 3 kHz and 3 MHz. The strongest response was found for very long DNA (above 10 kbp) and for short 100 bp fragments, which corresponds to the persistence length of DNA. The method allows for an uncomplicated, automatic acquisition of the dielectrophoretic properties of submicroscopical objects without the need for labeling protocols or optical accessibility.     

Popular Culture

Edited by Ray B. Browne, Rituals and Ceremonies in Popular Culture (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1980, 21.95 cloth, 10.95 paper)

The Buyer's Guide (Dynapubs Enterprises, 15800 Rt. 84 North, East Moline, IL 61244, 10.00/26 issues)

Mort Walker, Lexicon of Comicana (Port Chester, NY: Museum of Cartoon Art, Comly Ave., 1980, 95p, pb,) 4.95 plus 50* postage)

Geoffrey O'Brien, Hardboiled America: the Lurid Years of Paperbacks (New York: Van Nostrand, 1981, 144 pp., 16.95, cloth )

The Armchair Detective (Mysterious Press, 129 W. 56th St., NYC 10019, $16 USA, $20 elsewhere)

Bruce Pollock's When Rock Was Young: A Nostalgic Review of the Top 40 Era (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981, 214pp., 6.95 pb)

Jack Ziegler's Hamburger Madness (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1978, 5.95 pb)

Vincent Lynch and Bill Henkin's Jukebox, the Golden Age (Berkeley: Lancaster-Miller, 1981, llOpp., 12.95 cloth)

Blamin Technology: The Irrational Search for Scapegoats (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1981, -207 pp., 12.95 cloth)

Terry Hounsome and Tim Chambre's Rock Record (NY: Facts on File, Inc., 1981, 9.95 pb)

David Dary's Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984, 17.95, cloth)     

General Motion Pictures

Dana H. Hodgdon and Stuart M. Kaminsky BASIC FILMMAKING (New York: Arco Publishing, 1982—$12.95/$7.95)

Stewart Bronfeld WRITING FOR FILM AND TELEVISION (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981—$11.95)

Leonard Maltin TV MOVIES (New York: New American Library, 1982— $4.95)

Alan Frank THE HORROR FILM HANDBOOK (Totowa, NJ: Barnes E. Noble Books, 1982—$24.95)

Richard Dyer MacCann and Jack C. Ellis CINEMA EXAMINED: SELECTIONS FROM CINEMA JOURNAL (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1982—$9.95 paper)     

Brown and the politics of equality

Forty years afterBrown v. Topeka Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision declaring de jure segregated schools unconstitutional, we are still seeking the full implementation of that decree. Most Americans accepted limited implementation ofBrown, and the degree of acceptance is split along racial lines. Racial dialogue has changed. White Americans, who control the desegregation process, develop integration plans to their advantage. School integration was not implemented until after passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and peaked in 1972. Today, school integration is declining due to a backlash, changing demographics, and declining resources. However,Brown was a success because it rid the country of legalized state segregation by race in education and in other areas of public policy. The Court could merge the equality standards ofPlessy v. Ferguson and the integration standards ofBrown to give us quality integrated education.     

Hyperlab: A universal provider system and an interactive test bench for distance learning

This project describes the development of a universal student friendly distance learning (DL) provider system via the Internet and in particular the development of a lab environment for engineering students in ICT. Application of most DL courses is still hampered by the need for high-speed links, unrealistic computer and software resources at the student site and the impossibility to run Windows or Unix applications over the Internet. The described solution solves practically all of these problems. Moreover, since courses, (simulation) programs, databases, etc. can be added or changed, the system is not only teacher friendly but also costeffective. The major part of the work concerns the design of an electronic lab environment at the university that can be remotely used via the Internet. The main aim is to provide the student with meta-cognitive knowledge as can be provided only by real lab exercises. In this case the student must work him/herself through a course on passive filters. After choosing the right topology for the particular filter-lab task, he/she must design the correct circuit diagram and verify it with a standard circuit simulation program. Next, with a matrix shown on screen, he/she interconnects the circuit components and measuring equipment. The results of the measurements performed at the lab in the university are sent back to the student (via the Internet). The lab report is automatically generated. Simultaneously, the set up and the different instruments can be visualized via a web camera. Thus, the design of the electronic lab environment is user, student and teacher friendly.