Do students with and without lexical retrieval weaknesses respond differently to instruction?

Deficits in phonological processing are theorized to be responsible for at least some reading disabilities. A considerable amount of research demonstrates that many students can be taught one of these phonological processes-phonemic awareness. However, not all students have responded favorably to this instruction. Research has suggested that these nonresponders may be unable to retrieve phonological codes quickly from long-term memory. The purpose of this study was to examine whether such a deficiency, which we refer to as lexical retrieval weakness, blunts the effectiveness of combined phonemic awareness and decoding training. To this end, we compared the effectiveness of phonemic awareness and decoding training for students with and without severe lexical retrieval weaknesses. All students in both groups demonstrated poor phonemic awareness. The results suggested that students with relatively strong lexical retrieval skill responded more favorably to beginning reading instruction than did students with weak lexical retrieval skill. In other words, lexical retrieval weakness may influence reading development independently of the effects of phonemic awareness. Implications for instruction are discussed.     

Analysis of Parent, Teacher, and Consultant Speech Exchanges and Educational Outcomes of Students With Autism During COMPASS Consultation

The significant increase in the numbers of students with autism combined with the need for better trained teachers (National Research Council, 2001) call for research on the effectiveness of alternative methods, such as consultation, that have the potential to improve service delivery. Data from 2 randomized controlled single-blind trials indicate that an autism-specific consultation planning framework known as the collaborative model for promoting competence and success (COMPASS) is effective in increasing child Individual Education Programs (IEP) outcomes (Ruble, Dal-rymple, & McGrew, 2010; Ruble, McGrew, & Toland, 2011). In this study, we describe the verbal interactions, defined as speech acts and speech act exchanges that take place during COMPASS consultation, and examine the associations between speech exchanges and child outcomes. We applied the Psychosocial Processes Coding Scheme (Leaper, 1991) to code speech acts. Speech act exchanges were overwhelmingly affiliative, failed to show statistically significant relationships with child IEP outcomes and teacher adherence, but did correlate positively with IEP quality.     

Characteristics of children referred for evaluation of school difficulties who have adequate academic achievement scores

Forty children (7 to 11 years old) referred for evaluation of learning problems, who had scores within the normal range on standardized measures of academic achievement, were compared to 81 similarly referred children who had scored low (< 90) on at least one measure of academic achievement. We tested the hypothesis that children with normal achievement scores who are referred for evaluation of learning problems show neuropsychological profiles comparable to those of children with low achievement. Referral problems, school history, IQ, academic achievement, and neuropsychological function were evaluated. Referred children with normal achievement scores came from more advantaged backgrounds and had less intensive academic interventions, higher IQs, and better decoding skills. Nonetheless, the two groups showed similar neuropsychological profiles. Vulnerability to complexity and decreased automaticity were prominent. Normal-range achievement test scores among children referred for evaluation should not be regarded as indicating absence of neurodevelopmental vulnerability.     

Western influences on Chinese sexuality: insights from a comparison of the sexual behavior and attitudes of Shanghai and Hong Kong freshmen at universities

In this 1991 study the sex behavior and attitudes of first-year university students in Shanghai, China, were compared to attitudes and beliefs of first-year students in Hong Kong. Findings do not confirm a strong Western influence and increased promiscuity. The evidence suggests that the effect of Westernization or modernization is dependent on and varies with the nature of the imported Western culture and the form of and standards for sex education. Students from Hong Kong, which is more modernized than Shanghai, were less sexually active and more conscientious about using contraception. A high percentage of Shanghai students had experienced sexual intercourse and multiple sex partners. Christian males from the Hong Kong survey had less coital experience than non-Christian Hong Kong males. The surveys were conducted in 22 universities in Shanghai among 1919 first-year students, but only 25.1% responded with completed questionnaires (344 single Chinese males and 137 single Chinese females). The Hong Kong questionnaire was distributed to 7675 students. 2341 single Chinese males and 2247 single Chinese females who were unmarried and non-Chinese completed the survey (a 48.5% response rate). It is argued that restrained female unmarried sexuality is still limited by cultural and religious attitudes.     

Should you ask a fisherman or a biologist?: Developmental shifts in ways of clustering knowledge

Individuals can infer what others are likely to know by clustering knowledge according to common goals, common topics, or common underlying principles. Although young children are sensitive to underlying principles, that manner of clustering might not prevail when other viable means are presented. Two studies examined how a sample of 256 children at ages 5, 7, 9, and 11 decide how to generalize another person's knowledge when goals, topics, and principles are put in conflict. In both studies, younger children preferred generalizing according to goals and topics, whereas older children preferred clustering based on principles related to disciplines. The most naturalistic ways of envisioning how knowledge is clustered in the minds of others therefore seems to change significantly during the elementary school years.     

医学院校课程整合的经验教训:学生、课程负责人与改革领导者的观点

美国医学院校的课程整合改革方兴未艾.加州大学旧金山分校医学院从2001级新生开始对课程体系进行大幅调整,本研究调查了该校参与改革的不同群体,包括教育改革的领导者、受到直接影响的学生、新建课程的负责人等对课程改革的态度,了解其对课程整合实施一年内的成绩和挑战的看法.结果表明,他们对跨学科教学、跨学科系室协作、课程关联的建立、课程内容的排序及框架构建等四个主题有相同的看法,也有不小的分歧.     

Relationship between alanine aminotransferase levels and metabolic syndrome in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Objective:To investigate the relationship between alanine aminotransferase (ALT)levels and metabolic syndrome (MS)in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD).Methods:A total of 26527 subjects who received medical health checkup in our hospital from January 2005 to July 2007 were enrolled in the study.The diagnosis of fatty liver was based on ultrasound imaging.MS Was defined according to the criteria of the Adult Treatment Panel Ⅲ.ALT,triglyceride(TG),high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-c),fasting plasma glucose(FPG),height,weight,waist circumference(WC),systolic blood pressure (SBP)and diastolic blood pressure(DBP)were measured in each subject to analyze the relationship between MS and ALT activity.Results:(1)The prevalence of NAFLD in men(30.94%)was significantly higher than that in women(15.65%);(2)The incidence of MS in NAFLD(33.83%)was significantly greater than that in non-NAFLD(10.62%);(3)Of the 6470 subjects with NAFLD,in the age-adjusted partial correlation analysis,there were statistically significant correlations between the ALT levels and most metabolic risk factors in each sex(P＜0.01),except that ALT levels had no correlation with HDL-c in women.Moreover,in the multiple stepwise regression analysis,SBP lost its significance,and WC,body mass index(BMI),age,DBP,TG and FPG were independently associated with ALT levels in both sexes (P＜0.05).HDL-c remained significant and was independently related to ALT leveis in men;(4)ALT levels were significantly higher in subjects with MS compared to those without MS(P＜0.001).Mean ALT levels increased with the number of MS cornponents in each sex (P.＜0.05 for trend).Conelusion:We found a strong relationship between ALT leveIs and MS in NAFLD and revealed that the cluster of MS components might be the predictor for ALT elevations.