The role of the executive functions in school readiness among preschool-age children

The aim of this study was to identify the specific contribution of executive functions to pre-academic skills (emergent literacy, phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge, and emergent mathematic knowledge) over and above cognitive and linguistic underpinning abilities such as naming, short-term memory and vocabulary. The study was designed to examine the following questions: (1) Are executive functions related to pre-academics skills in general or are they related to specific pre-academic skills? (2) Does the magnitude of the relationship between executive functions and pre-academics skills change with the progress in pre-school age? 54 children between the ages of 5 and 6 years old from 4 different kindergartens participated in the project. A wide range of pre-academic skills, cognitive, linguistic and executive functions tasks were administered. The results demonstrated that executive functions contributed significantly to both emergent literacy and emergent mathematic knowledge. In addition, the current study also suggests that the role of executive functions increases with the growth of child’s pre-academic development. Finally, the strongest contribution of executive functions was found to orthographic knowledge.     

Is an integrative laboratory algorithm more effective in detecting alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency in patients with premature chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than AAT concentration based screening approach?

Introduction:

Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), genetic risk factor for premature chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), often remains undetected. The aim of our study was to analyse the effectiveness of an integrative laboratory algorithm for AATD detection in patients diagnosed with COPD by the age of 45 years, in comparison with the screening approach based on AAT concentration measurement alone.

Subjects and methods:

50 unrelated patients (28 males/22 females, age 52 (24–75 years) diagnosed with COPD before the age of 45 years were enrolled. Immunonephelometric assay for alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) and PCR-reverse hybridization for Z and S allele were first-line, and isoelectric focusing and DNA sequencing (ABI Prism BigDye) were reflex tests.

Results:

AATD associated genotypes were detected in 7 patients (5 ZZ, 1 ZM_malton, 1 ZQ0_amersfoort), 10 were heterozygous carriers (8 MZ and 2 MS genotypes) and 33 were without AATD (MM genotype). Carriers and patients without AATD had comparable AAT concentrations (P = 0.125). In majority of participants (48) first line tests were sufficient to analyze AATD presence. In two remaining cases reflex tests identified rare alleles, M_malton and Q0_amersfoort, the later one being reported for the first time in Serbian population. Detection rate did not differ between algorithm and screening both for AATD (P = 0.500) and carriers (P = 0.063).

Conclusion:

There is a high prevalence of AATD affected subjects and carriers in a group of patients with premature COPD. The use of integrative laboratory algorithm does not improve the effectiveness of AATD detection in comparison with the screening based on AAT concentration alone.     

A Characterisation Study on Modern Bronze Sculpture: The Artistic Patinas of Nado Canuti

Artistic patination is a traditional colouring technique for metal sculpture, employed by artists in ancient and modern times for aesthetic purposes. Today, knowledge of the artistic value and the chemistry of this superficial chromatic layer, called ‘artistic patina’, can be successfully acquired through a close collaboration between living artists, foundry artisans, and scientists. Starting from several interviews with the Italian artist Nado Canuti and foundry artisans, specific information was gathered about patination methods and the artist’s attitude towards materials restoration. Afterwards, the patinas most used by Canuti were reproduced to study their nature before any ageing or degradation. Their chromatic values, morphologies, and compositions were studied employing a range of techniques such as colour measurements, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The collected data revealed the formation of main compounds (cuprite, cassiterite, rouaite, chalcocite, isocubanite, and ferroxyhite) and additional compounds (atacamite and CN-containing compound). The scientific results, as well as the artist’s statements concerning the patinas’ significance, maintenance, and conservation, will contribute towards the future care and preservation of Canuti’s sculptures.     

Understanding literacy development of language minority students: an integrative approach

This special issue of Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal contains nine papers by researchers who presented at the Language and Reading Comprehension for Immigrant Children (LARCIC) conference, which took place at OISE/University of Toronto in 2009. The first set of five papers focuses on the contribution of cognitive factors to reading comprehension in language minority children, and the second set of four papers focuses on the joint effects of cognitive and socio-cultural factors on literacy development in these children. Three common themes emerge in the first set of papers. The first theme compares the cognitive processes that contribute to reading comprehension between language minority children and their peers who speak the societal language as the first language. In particular, the application of the Simple View of Reading model in language minority children is discussed. The second theme compares the reading performance of language minority children to their peers. The third theme explores the nature of reading constructs in language minority children. Two common themes underlie the second set of papers. The first theme addresses the mediating role of socio-cultural factors in vocabulary development in language minority children. The second theme explores the joint effects of cognitive and socio-cultural factors on cross-language transfer of literacy skills. Taken together, the papers presented in this special issue point to the importance of considering both cognitive and socio-cultural factors in literacy research involving language minority children.     

Participation and cognitive quality profiles in an online discussion forum

A case study was used to analyse the relationships between participation in an online discussion forum and the cognitive quality of the contributions made. Participation was calculated using two dimensions: presence (who accesses the environment, how often and for how long) and connectivity (who interacts with whom and the degree of intensity of the interaction). The discussion forum considered forms part of a course on Educational Psychology included in the curriculum of initial teacher training at the University of Barcelona and was accessed by 17 students over a period of 25 days. The analysis was carried out using a multi‐method approach, which combines quantitative indicators of presence and connectivity with a content analysis of the contributions made by each participant. The results suggest that a high level of participation (high level of presence/high level of connectivity) is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for maintaining high‐quality contributions throughout the discussion.     

Teaching the teacher: exploring STEM graduate students’ nature of science conceptions in a teaching methods course

ABSTRACT

Graduate students regularly teach undergraduate STEM courses and can positively impact students’ understanding of science. Yet little research examines graduate students’ knowledge about nature of science (NOS) or instructional strategies for teaching graduate students about NOS. This exploratory study sought to understand how a 1-credit Teaching in Higher Education course that utilised an explicit, reflective, and mixed-context approach to NOS instruction impacted STEM graduate students’ NOS conceptions and teaching intentions. Participants included 13 graduate students. Data sources included the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS-Form C) questionnaire administered pre- and post-instruction, semi-structured interviews with a subset of participants, and a NOS-related course project. Prior to instruction participants held many alternative NOS conceptions. Post-instruction, participants’ NOS conceptions improved substantially, particularly in their understandings of theories and laws and the tentative nature of scientific knowledge. All 12 participants planning to teach NOS intended to use explicit instructional approaches. A majority of participants also integrated novel ideas to their intended NOS instruction. These results suggest that a teaching methods course for graduate students with embedded NOS instruction can address alternative NOS conceptions and facilitate intended use of effective NOS instruction. Future research understanding graduate students' NOS understandings and actual NOS instruction is warranted.     

Verification policies in Croatian medical biochemistry laboratories: a survey of the practice

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to screen practices used in verification procedures for methods/analysers among medical biochemistry laboratories (MBLs) in Croatia. We hypothesized that these procedures differ widely from laboratory to laboratory and wanted to gather specific data on steps used in the verification workflow.Materials and methodsIn order to obtain data, an online survey was conducted. The survey, divided in two sections, contained 29 questions and statements addressing general characteristics and specific steps of the verification workflow of each individual MBL. The survey was disseminated among managers of all MBLs in Croatia.ResultsA total of 108/196 (55%) laboratories participated in the survey. Forty nine MBLs were excluded from the second part of the survey: 14 have not implemented verification procedures, and 35 MBLs due to the absence of answers. The most relevant results of the second part of the survey showed that: 18/59 (0.31) of the responding MBLs have difficulties when defining acceptance criteria, 27/59 (0.46) used the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute protocol for precision estimation; the majority of MBLs used a median of 20 samples for method/analyser comparisons and estimated bias using internal quality control samples; reference intervals provided by external sources are mainly adopted; 60% of MBLs do not include linearity verification in their protocol and do not use the national document for the estimation of measurement uncertainty.ConclusionsHeterogeneous verification protocols are routinely utilized across Croatian MBLs which clearly confirms that a national document might help in the harmonization of verification procedures.     

Father-child and mother-child speech: A perspective on parental roles

An analysis of the existing research on parents' speech to young children suggests that the differences between mothers' and fathers' speech appear especially in the nature of their vocabulary and in certain functional and conversational aspects of their speech when addressing their children. The findings suggest that the father is a more demanding or challenging conversational partner for the young child than the mother, who tends to be more sensitive to the child's abilities and requires less of the child as a conversational partner. We interpret these differences as reflecting parental roles which are in part different and complementary. The mother's specific role is to provide a feeling of security by avoiding situations where the child's established acquisitions would be challenged, while still stimulating the child. The father's specific roles is to prompt the child to attain higher levels of success, even if it means momentarily destabilizing the child. Literature on children's communicative behaviors with each parent was also examined. The sparse amount of research in this field reveals that children may communicate differently with mothers and fathers. The conclusions of this literature review are discussed in terms of different perspectives open for future research.     

Beyond Circulation: The Evolution of Access Services and Its Relationship to Reference Librarianship

Academic libraries have undergone a variety of organizational changes in the last two decades. One area that has evolved out of these changes is access services. Relationships between circulation, interlibrary loan, and reference have been explored though informal and formal organizational structures. Because of these types of interactions it is feasible for reference librarians to consider positions in access services.