Teaching Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, Richard R.

2013-01-01

"Teaching Reading" uncovers the interactive processes that happen when people learn to read and translates them into a comprehensive easy-to-follow guide on how to teach reading. Richard Day's revelations on the nature of reading, reading strategies, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and reading objectives make fascinating…

Training Secondary Reading Specialists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burmeister, Lou E.

In an effort to clarify and elaborate on the International Reading Association's recommendations for professional preparation of secondary reading teachers and secondary reading consultants, competency objectives are presented in performance-based behavioral terms for secondary reading teachers and consultants. The objectives are stated in an…

Getting Ready to Read with Readers Theatre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barchers, Suzanne I; Pfeffinger, Charla R.

2007-01-01

Readers theatre is a presentation by two or more participants who read from scripts and interpret a literary work in such a way that the audience imaginatively senses characterization, setting, and action. This book offers 50, two-page reproducible scripts to entice the preschool and kindergarten group into beginning to read. These patterned…

Why Should I Read?--A Cross-Cultural Investigation into Adolescents' Reading Socialisation and Reading Attitude

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broeder, Peter; Stokmans, Mia

2013-01-01

While reading behaviour of adolescents is a frequent object of research, most studies in this field are restricted to a single country. This study investigates reading as a leisure-time activity across social groups from three regions differing in reading tradition as well as in the facilities available for reading. The authors analyse the reading…

Saturation analysis of ChIP-seq data for reproducible identification of binding peaks

PubMed Central

Hansen, Peter; Hecht, Jochen; Ibrahim, Daniel M.; Krannich, Alexander; Truss, Matthias; Robinson, Peter N.

2015-01-01

Chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with next-generation sequencing (ChIP-seq) is a powerful technology to identify the genome-wide locations of transcription factors and other DNA binding proteins. Computational ChIP-seq peak calling infers the location of protein–DNA interactions based on various measures of enrichment of sequence reads. In this work, we introduce an algorithm, Q, that uses an assessment of the quadratic enrichment of reads to center candidate peaks followed by statistical analysis of saturation of candidate peaks by 5′ ends of reads. We show that our method not only is substantially faster than several competing methods but also demonstrates statistically significant advantages with respect to reproducibility of results and in its ability to identify peaks with reproducible binding site motifs. We show that Q has superior performance in the delineation of double RNAPII and H3K4me3 peaks surrounding transcription start sites related to a better ability to resolve individual peaks. The method is implemented in C+l+ and is freely available under an open source license. PMID:26163319

Detecting Stress Patterns Is Related to Children's Performance on Reading Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutierrez-Palma, Nicolas; Raya-Garcia, Manuel; Palma-Reyes, Alfonso

2009-01-01

This paper investigates the relationship between the ability to detect changes in prosody and reading performance in Spanish. Participants were children aged 6-8 years who completed tasks involving reading words, reading pseudowords, stressing pseudowords, and reproducing pseudoword stress patterns. Results showed that the capacity to reproduce…

Small Schools Student Learning Objectives, K-8: Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics. K-3; Science, Social Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartl, David, Ed.; And Others

Developed by 40 primary teachers and 10 elementary principals from small school districts in Washington, this handbook contains sequenced student learning objectives for grades K-3 in science and social studies and for grades K-8 in reading, language arts, and mathematics. The handbook is designed to assist teachers with the improvement of…

Stress Sensitivity and Reading Performance in Spanish: A Study with Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutierrez-Palma, Nicolas; Reyes, Alfonso Palma

2007-01-01

This paper investigates the relationship between ability to detect changes in prosody and reading performance in Spanish. Participants were children aged 7-8 years. Their tasks consisted of reading words, reading non-words, stressing non-words and reproducing sequences of two, three or four non-words by pressing the corresponding keys on the…

Reproducibility Issues: Avoiding Pitfalls in Animal Inflammation Models.

PubMed

Laman, Jon D; Kooistra, Susanne M; Clausen, Björn E

2017-01-01

In light of an enhanced awareness of ethical questions and ever increasing costs when working with animals in biomedical research, there is a dedicated and sometimes fierce debate concerning the (lack of) reproducibility of animal models and their relevance for human inflammatory diseases. Despite evident advancements in searching for alternatives, that is, replacing, reducing, and refining animal experiments-the three R's of Russel and Burch (1959)-understanding the complex interactions of the cells of the immune system, the nervous system and the affected tissue/organ during inflammation critically relies on in vivo models. Consequently, scientific advancement and ultimately novel therapeutic interventions depend on improving the reproducibility of animal inflammation models. As a prelude to the remaining hands-on protocols described in this volume, here, we summarize potential pitfalls of preclinical animal research and provide resources and background reading on how to avoid them.

Title II Task Force Issues Reading and Media Selection Aid; ESEA Title II and the Right to Read Notable Reading Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.

The 21 reading projects described in this report range from a bilingual reading project for second-grade students to a secondary school reading project in career education. Objectives of some of the other projects described include: to motivate pupils to read for pleasure, to develop skill in reading and learn the use of reference materials in the…

Towards the Geometry of Reproducing Kernels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galé, J. E.

2010-11-01

It is shown here how one is naturally led to consider a category whose objects are reproducing kernels of Hilbert spaces, and how in this way a differential geometry for such kernels may be settled down.

Random sampling causes the low reproducibility of rare eukaryotic OTUs in Illumina COI metabarcoding.

PubMed

Leray, Matthieu; Knowlton, Nancy

2017-01-01

DNA metabarcoding, the PCR-based profiling of natural communities, is becoming the method of choice for biodiversity monitoring because it circumvents some of the limitations inherent to traditional ecological surveys. However, potential sources of bias that can affect the reproducibility of this method remain to be quantified. The interpretation of differences in patterns of sequence abundance and the ecological relevance of rare sequences remain particularly uncertain. Here we used one artificial mock community to explore the significance of abundance patterns and disentangle the effects of two potential biases on data reproducibility: indexed PCR primers and random sampling during Illumina MiSeq sequencing. We amplified a short fragment of the mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit I (COI) for a single mock sample containing equimolar amounts of total genomic DNA from 34 marine invertebrates belonging to six phyla. We used seven indexed broad-range primers and sequenced the resulting library on two consecutive Illumina MiSeq runs. The total number of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) was ∼4 times higher than expected based on the composition of the mock sample. Moreover, the total number of reads for the 34 components of the mock sample differed by up to three orders of magnitude. However, 79 out of 86 of the unexpected OTUs were represented by <10 sequences that did not appear consistently across replicates. Our data suggest that random sampling of rare OTUs (e.g., small associated fauna such as parasites) accounted for most of variation in OTU presence-absence, whereas biases associated with indexed PCRs accounted for a larger amount of variation in relative abundance patterns. These results suggest that random sampling during sequencing leads to the low reproducibility of rare OTUs. We suggest that the strategy for handling rare OTUs should depend on the objectives of the study. Systematic removal of rare OTUs may avoid inflating diversity based on

Reading Center Characterization of Central Retinal Vein Occlusion Using Optical Coherence Tomography During the COPERNICUS Trial.

PubMed

Decroos, Francis Char; Stinnett, Sandra S; Heydary, Cynthia S; Burns, Russell E; Jaffe, Glenn J

2013-11-01

To determine the impact of segmentation error correction and precision of standardized grading of time domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans obtained during an interventional study for macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). A reading center team of two readers and a senior reader evaluated 1199 OCT scans. Manual segmentation error correction (SEC) was performed. The frequency of SEC, resulting change in central retinal thickness after SEC, and reproducibility of SEC were quantified. Optical coherence tomography characteristics associated with the need for SECs were determined. Reading center teams graded all scans, and the reproducibility of this evaluation for scan quality at the fovea and cystoid macular edema was determined on 97 scans. Segmentation errors were observed in 360 (30.0%) scans, of which 312 were interpretable. On these 312 scans, the mean machine-generated central subfield thickness (CST) was 507.4 ± 208.5 μm compared to 583.0 ± 266.2 μm after SEC. Segmentation error correction resulted in a mean absolute CST correction of 81.3 ± 162.0 μm from baseline uncorrected CST. Segmentation error correction was highly reproducible (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.99-1.00). Epiretinal membrane (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3, P < 0.0001), subretinal fluid (OR = 2.1, P = 0.0005), and increasing CST (OR = 1.6 per 100-μm increase, P < 0.001) were associated with need for SEC. Reading center teams reproducibly graded scan quality at the fovea (87% agreement, kappa = 0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45-0.82) and cystoid macular edema (92% agreement, kappa = 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.94). Optical coherence tomography images obtained during an interventional CRVO treatment trial can be reproducibly graded. Segmentation errors can cause clinically meaningful deviation in central retinal thickness measurements; however, these errors can be corrected reproducibly in a reading center setting. Segmentation errors are common

Quality Control and Reproducibility in M-mode, Two-dimensional, and Speckle Tracking Echocardiography Acquisition and Analysis: The CARDIA Study, Year-25 Examination Experience

PubMed Central

Armstrong, Anderson C.; Ricketts, Erin P.; Cox, Christopher; Adler, Paul; Arynchyn, Alexander; Liu, Kiang; Stengel, Ellen; RDCS; Sidney, Stephen; Lewis, Cora E.; Schreiner, Pamela J.; Shikany, James M.; Keck, Kimberly; Merlo, Jamie; Gidding, Samuel S.; Lima, João A. C.

2014-01-01

Introduction Few large studies describe quality control procedures and reproducibility findings in cardiovascular ultra-sound, particularly in novel techniques such as Speckle Tracking (STE). We evaluate the echocardiography assessment performance in the CARDIA study Y25 examination (2010-2011) and report findings from a quality control and reproducibility program conducted to assess Field Center image acquisition and Reading Center (RC) accuracy. Methods The CARDIA Y25 examination had 3,475 echocardiograms performed in 4 US Field Centers and analyzed in a Reading Center, assessing standard echocardiography (LA dimension, aortic root, LV mass, LV end-diastolic volume [LVEDV], ejection fraction [LVEF]), and STE (2- and 4-chamber longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strains). Reproducibility was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficients of variation (CV), and Bland-Altman plots. Results For standard echocardiography reproducibility, LV mass and LVEDV consistently had CV above 10% and aortic root below 6%. Intra-sonographer aortic root and LV mass had the most robust values of ICC in standard echocardiography. For STE, the number of properly tracking segments was above 80% in short-axis and 4-chamber and 58% in 2-chamber. Longitudinal strain parameters were the most robust and radial strain showed the highest variation. Comparing Field Centers with Echo RC STE readings, mean differences ranged from 0.4% to 4.1% and ICC from 0.37 to 0.66, with robust results for longitudinal strains. Conclusion Echocardiography image acquisition and reading processes in the CARDIA study were highly reproducible, including robust results for STE analysis. Consistent quality control may increase the reliability of echocardiography measurements in large cohort studies. PMID:25382818

Federal Reading Rooms for Risk Management Plans (RMP)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Reading Rooms, listed here by state, are open to the public by either appointment or walk-in. You may access Off-Site Consequence Analysis (scenarios) portions of RMPs, and take notes but not remove or reproduce materials.

Why should I read? - A cross-cultural investigation into adolescents' reading socialisation and reading attitude

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broeder, Peter; Stokmans, Mia

2013-06-01

While reading behaviour of adolescents is a frequent object of research, most studies in this field are restricted to a single country. This study investigates reading as a leisure-time activity across social groups from three regions differing in reading tradition as well as in the facilities available for reading. The authors analyse the reading behaviour of a total of 2,173 adolescents in the Netherlands, in Beijing (China), and in Cape Town (South Africa). Taking Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour as a starting point, the authors adjusted it to model the three most important determinants of reading behaviour, namely (1) reading attitude; (2) subjective norms (implicit and explicit social pressure to read); and (3) perceived behavioural control, which includes reading proficiency and appropriateness of the available books (book supply). While they found the adjusted model to fit the Dutch and Beijing situation quite well, it appeared to be inappropriate for the Cape Town situation. Despite considerable cultural and situational differences between the Netherlands and Beijing, the results show a similar pattern for these two environments. The most important determinants turn out to be: the hedonic reading attitude, the implicit norm of family and friends, the attractiveness of the available choice of books, and the perceived reading proficiency.

Reading Linear Texts on Paper versus Computer Screen: Effects on Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mangen, Anne; Walgermo, Bente R.; Bronnick, Kolbjorn

2013-01-01

Objective: To explore effects of the technological interface on reading comprehension in a Norwegian school context. Participants: 72 tenth graders from two different primary schools in Norway. Method: The students were randomized into two groups, where the first group read two texts (1400-2000 words) in print, and the other group read the same…

Spectrophotometric reading of EUCAST antifungal susceptibility testing of Aspergillus fumigatus.

PubMed

Meletiadis, J; Leth Mortensen, K; Verweij, P E; Mouton, J W; Arendrup, M C

2017-02-01

Given the increasing number of antifungal drugs and the emergence of resistant Aspergillus isolates, objective, automated and high-throughput antifungal susceptibility testing is important. The EUCAST E.Def 9.3 reference method for MIC determination of Aspergillus species relies on visual reading. Spectrophotometric reading was not adopted because of concern that non-uniform filamentous growth might lead to unreliable and non-reproducible results. We therefore evaluated spectrophotometric reading for the determination of MICs of antifungal azoles against Aspergillus fumigatus. Eighty-eight clinical isolates of A. fumigatus were tested against four medical azoles (posaconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, isavuconazole) and one agricultural azole (tebuconazole) with EUCAST E.Def 9.3. The visually determined MICs (complete inhibition of growth) were compared with spectrophotometrically determined MICs and essential (±1 twofold dilution) and categorical (susceptible/intermediate/resistant or wild-type/non-wild-type) agreement was calculated. Spectrophotometric data were analysed with regression analysis using the E max model, and the effective concentration corresponding to 5% (EC 5 ) was estimated. Using the 5% cut-off, high essential (92%-97%) and categorical (93%-99%) agreement (<6% errors) was found between spectrophotometric and visual MICs. The EC 5 also correlated with the visually determined MICs with an essential agreement of 83%-96% and a categorical agreement of 90%-100% (<5% errors). Spectrophotometric determination of MICs of antifungal drugs may increase objectivity, and allow automation and high-throughput of EUCAST E.Def 9.3 antifungal susceptibility testing of Aspergillus species. Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GeoTrust Hub: A Platform For Sharing And Reproducing Geoscience Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malik, T.; Tarboton, D. G.; Goodall, J. L.; Choi, E.; Bhatt, A.; Peckham, S. D.; Foster, I.; Ton That, D. H.; Essawy, B.; Yuan, Z.; Dash, P. K.; Fils, G.; Gan, T.; Fadugba, O. I.; Saxena, A.; Valentic, T. A.

2017-12-01

Recent requirements of scholarly communication emphasize the reproducibility of scientific claims. Text-based research papers are considered poor mediums to establish reproducibility. Papers must be accompanied by "research objects", aggregation of digital artifacts that together with the paper provide an authoritative record of a piece of research. We will present GeoTrust Hub (http://geotrusthub.org), a platform for creating, sharing, and reproducing reusable research objects. GeoTrust Hub provides tools for scientists to create `geounits'--reusable research objects. Geounits are self-contained, annotated, and versioned containers that describe and package computational experiments in an efficient and light-weight manner. Geounits can be shared on public repositories such as HydroShare and FigShare, and also using their respective APIs reproduced on provisioned clouds. The latter feature enables science applications to have a lifetime beyond sharing, wherein they can be independently verified and trust be established as they are repeatedly reused. Through research use cases from several geoscience laboratories across the United States, we will demonstrate how tools provided from GeoTrust Hub along with Hydroshare as its public repository for geounits is advancing the state of reproducible research in the geosciences. For each use case, we will address different computational reproducibility requirements. Our first use case will be an example of setup reproducibility which enables a scientist to set up and reproduce an output from a model with complex configuration and development environments. Our second use case will be an example of algorithm/data reproducibility, where in a shared data science model/dataset can be substituted with an alternate one to verify model output results, and finally an example of interactive reproducibility, in which an experiment is dependent on specific versions of data to produce the result. Toward this we will use software and data

SeqBox: RNAseq/ChIPseq reproducible analysis on a consumer game computer.

PubMed

Beccuti, Marco; Cordero, Francesca; Arigoni, Maddalena; Panero, Riccardo; Amparore, Elvio G; Donatelli, Susanna; Calogero, Raffaele A

2018-03-01

Short reads sequencing technology has been used for more than a decade now. However, the analysis of RNAseq and ChIPseq data is still computational demanding and the simple access to raw data does not guarantee results reproducibility between laboratories. To address these two aspects, we developed SeqBox, a cheap, efficient and reproducible RNAseq/ChIPseq hardware/software solution based on NUC6I7KYK mini-PC (an Intel consumer game computer with a fast processor and a high performance SSD disk), and Docker container platform. In SeqBox the analysis of RNAseq and ChIPseq data is supported by a friendly GUI. This allows access to fast and reproducible analysis also to scientists with/without scripting experience. Docker container images, docker4seq package and the GUI are available at http://www.bioinformatica.unito.it/reproducibile.bioinformatics.html. beccuti@di.unito.it. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Effects of sequential and discrete rapid naming on reading in Japanese children with reading difficulty.

PubMed

Wakamiya, Eiji; Okumura, Tomohito; Nakanishi, Makoto; Takeshita, Takashi; Mizuta, Mekumi; Kurimoto, Naoko; Tamai, Hiroshi

2011-06-01

To clarify whether rapid naming ability itself is a main underpinning factor of rapid automatized naming tests (RAN) and how deep an influence the discrete decoding process has on reading, we performed discrete naming tasks and discrete hiragana reading tasks as well as sequential naming tasks and sequential hiragana reading tasks with 38 Japanese schoolchildren with reading difficulty. There were high correlations between both discrete and sequential hiragana reading and sentence reading, suggesting that some mechanism which automatizes hiragana reading makes sentence reading fluent. In object and color tasks, there were moderate correlations between sentence reading and sequential naming, and between sequential naming and discrete naming. But no correlation was found between reading tasks and discrete naming tasks. The influence of rapid naming ability of objects and colors upon reading seemed relatively small, and multi-item processing may work in relation to these. In contrast, in the digit naming task there was moderate correlation between sentence reading and discrete naming, while no correlation was seen between sequential naming and discrete naming. There was moderate correlation between reading tasks and sequential digit naming tasks. Digit rapid naming ability has more direct effect on reading while its effect on RAN is relatively limited. The ratio of how rapid naming ability influences RAN and reading seems to vary according to kind of the stimuli used. An assumption about components in RAN which influence reading is discussed in the context of both sequential processing and discrete naming speed. Copyright © 2010 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reading and Writing Workshop: Focus on Biography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moyers, Suzanne

2000-01-01

Biographies can inspire students to reach their goals and explore various literary elements (turning points, cause and effect, and figurative language). This reading and writing workshop presents resources and strategies for introducing students to biography. A student reproducible has students examine why people are their role models or mentors.…

Reading Fluency as a Predictor of Reading Proficiency in Low-Performing, High-Poverty Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Scott K.; Smolkowski, Keith; Katz, Rachell; Fien, Hank; Seeley, John R.; Kame'enui, Edward J.; Beck, Carrie Thomas

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine oral reading fluency (ORF) in the context of a large-scale federal reading initiative conducted in low performing, high poverty schools. The objectives were to (a) investigate the relation between ORF and comprehensive reading tests, (b) examine whether slope of performance over time on ORF predicted…

Accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility of Artemis very high-frequency digital ultrasound arc-scan lateral dimension measurements

PubMed Central

Reinstein, Dan Z.; Archer, Timothy J.; Silverman, Ronald H.; Coleman, D. Jackson

2008-01-01

Purpose To determine the accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility of measurement of lateral dimensions using the Artemis (Ultralink LLC) very high-frequency (VHF) digital ultrasound (US) arc scanner. Setting London Vision Clinic, London, United Kingdom. Methods A test object was measured first with a micrometer and then with the Artemis arc scanner. Five sets of 10 consecutive B-scans of the test object were performed with the scanner. The test object was removed from the system between each scan set. One expert observer and one newly trained observer separately measured the lateral dimension of the test object. Two-factor analysis of variance was performed. The accuracy was calculated as the average bias of the scan set averages. The repeatability and reproducibility coefficients were calculated. The coefficient of variation (CV) was calculated for repeatability and reproducibility. Results The test object was measured to be 10.80 mm wide. The mean lateral dimension bias was 0.00 mm. The repeatability coefficient was 0.114 mm. The reproducibility coefficient was 0.026 mm. The repeatability CV was 0.38%, and the reproducibility CV was 0.09%. There was no statistically significant variation between observers (P = .0965). There was a statistically significant variation between scan sets (P = .0036) attributed to minor vertical changes in the alignment of the test object between consecutive scan sets. Conclusion The Artemis VHF digital US arc scanner obtained accurate, repeatable, and reproducible measurements of lateral dimensions of the size commonly found in the anterior segment. PMID:17081860

Object strength--an accurate measure for small objects that is insensitive to partial volume effects.

PubMed

Tofts, P S; Silver, N C; Barker, G J; Gass, A

2005-07-01

There are currently four problems in characterising small nonuniform lesions or other objects in Magnetic Resonance images where partial volume effects are significant. Object size is over- or under-estimated; boundaries are often not reproducible; mean object value cannot be measured; and fuzzy borders cannot be accommodated. A new measure, Object Strength, is proposed. This is the sum of all abnormal intensities, above a uniform background value. For a uniform object, this is simply the product of the increase in intensity and the size of the object. Biologically, this could be at least as relevant as existing measures of size or mean intensity. We hypothesise that Object Strength will perform better than traditional area measurements in characterising small objects. In a pilot study, the reproducibility of object strength measurements was investigated using MR images of small multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. In addition, accuracy was investigated using artificial lesions of known volume (0.3-6.2 ml) and realistic appearance. Reproducibility approached that of area measurements (in 33/90 lesion reports the difference between repeats was less than for area measurements). Total lesion volume was accurate to 0.2%. In conclusion, Object Strength has potential for improved characterisation of small lesions and objects in imaging and possibly spectroscopy.

[Mentor High School Reading Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mentor Exempted Village School District, OH.

This program, begun in 1968 and included in "Effective Reading Programs...," serves about 2,800 students in grades 10-12. A secondary reading skills chart was developed, behavioral objectives were written, and minimal-competency tests in both reading and sriting were prepared. During the school year, all skills listed on the chart are…

REPRODUCIBLE RESEARCH WORKFLOW IN R FOR THE ANALYSIS OF PERSONALIZED HUMAN MICROBIOME DATA.

PubMed

Callahan, Benjamin; Proctor, Diana; Relman, David; Fukuyama, Julia; Holmes, Susan

2016-01-01

This article presents a reproducible research workflow for amplicon-based microbiome studies in personalized medicine created using Bioconductor packages and the knitr markdown interface.We show that sometimes a multiplicity of choices and lack of consistent documentation at each stage of the sequential processing pipeline used for the analysis of microbiome data can lead to spurious results. We propose its replacement with reproducible and documented analysis using R packages dada2, knitr, and phyloseq. This workflow implements both key stages of amplicon analysis: the initial filtering and denoising steps needed to construct taxonomic feature tables from error-containing sequencing reads (dada2), and the exploratory and inferential analysis of those feature tables and associated sample metadata (phyloseq). This workow facilitates reproducible interrogation of the full set of choices required in microbiome studies. We present several examples in which we leverage existing packages for analysis in a way that allows easy sharing and modification by others, and give pointers to articles that depend on this reproducible workflow for the study of longitudinal and spatial series analyses of the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy and the oral microbiome in humans with healthy dentition and intra-oral tissues.

Processing Subject-Object Ambiguities in the L2: A Self-Paced Reading Study with German L2 Learners of Dutch

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Havik, Else; Roberts, Leah; van Hout, Roeland; Schreuder, Robert; Haverkort, Marco

2009-01-01

The results of two self-paced reading experiments are reported, which investigated the online processing of subject-object ambiguities in Dutch relative clause constructions like "Dat is de vrouw die de meisjes heeft/hebben gezien" by German advanced second language (L2) learners of Dutch. Native speakers of both Dutch and German have been shown…

Reproducibility and Variability of I/O Performance on BG/Q: Lessons Learned from a Data Aggregation Algorithm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tessier, Francois; Vishwanath, Venkatram

2017-11-28

Reading and writing data efficiently from different tiers of storage is necessary for most scientific simulations to achieve good performance at scale. Many software solutions have been developed to decrease the I/O bottleneck. One wellknown strategy, in the context of collective I/O operations, is the two-phase I/O scheme. This strategy consists of selecting a subset of processes to aggregate contiguous pieces of data before performing reads/writes. In our previous work, we implemented the two-phase I/O scheme with a MPI-based topology-aware algorithm. Our algorithm showed very good performance at scale compared to the standard I/O libraries such as POSIX I/O andmore » MPI I/O. However, the algorithm had several limitations hindering a satisfying reproducibility of our experiments. In this paper, we extend our work by 1) identifying the obstacles we face to reproduce our experiments and 2) discovering solutions that reduce the unpredictability of our results.« less

Quality Control and Reproducibility in M-Mode, Two-Dimensional, and Speckle Tracking Echocardiography Acquisition and Analysis: The CARDIA Study, Year 25 Examination Experience.

PubMed

Armstrong, Anderson C; Ricketts, Erin P; Cox, Christopher; Adler, Paul; Arynchyn, Alexander; Liu, Kiang; Stengel, Ellen; Sidney, Stephen; Lewis, Cora E; Schreiner, Pamela J; Shikany, James M; Keck, Kimberly; Merlo, Jamie; Gidding, Samuel S; Lima, João A C

2015-08-01

Few large studies describe quality control procedures and reproducibility findings in cardiovascular ultrasound, particularly in novel techniques such as speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). We evaluate the echocardiography assessment performance in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study Year 25 (Y25) examination (2010-2011) and report findings from a quality control and reproducibility program conducted to assess Field Center image acquisition and reading center (RC) accuracy. The CARDIA Y25 examination had 3475 echocardiograms performed in 4 US Field Centers and analyzed in a RC, assessing standard echocardiography (LA dimension, aortic root, LV mass, LV end-diastolic volume [LVEDV], ejection fraction [LVEF]), and STE (two- and four-chamber longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strains). Reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficients of variation (CV), and Bland-Altman plots. For standard echocardiography reproducibility, LV mass and LVEDV consistently had CV above 10% and aortic root below 6%. Intra-sonographer aortic root and LV mass had the most robust values of ICC in standard echocardiography. For STE, the number of properly tracking segments was above 80% in short-axis and four-chamber and 58% in two-chamber views. Longitudinal strain parameters were the most robust and radial strain showed the highest variation. Comparing Field Centers with echocardiography RC STE readings, mean differences ranged from 0.4% to 4.1% and ICC from 0.37 to 0.66, with robust results for longitudinal strains. Echocardiography image acquisition and reading processes in the CARDIA study were highly reproducible, including robust results for STE analysis. Consistent quality control may increase the reliability of echocardiography measurements in large cohort studies. © 2014, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Pedagogical Considerations in Reading.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ediger, Marlow

This paper outlines various approaches to teaching reading. The first approach considered focuses on a teacher strictly following a textbook. The paper notes that textbooks which employ programmed reading help students progress at a slow but steady rate. It then discusses the hierarchical method of state mandated objectives and testing. Features…

Reproducibility of Automated Voice Range Profiles, a Systematic Literature Review.

PubMed

Printz, Trine; Rosenberg, Tine; Godballe, Christian; Dyrvig, Anne-Kirstine; Grøntved, Ågot Møller

2018-05-01

Reliable voice range profiles are of great importance when measuring effects and side effects from surgery affecting voice capacity. Automated recording systems are increasingly used, but the reproducibility of results is uncertain. Our objective was to identify and review the existing literature on test-retest accuracy of the automated voice range profile assessment. Systematic review. PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, ComDisDome, Embase, and CINAHL (EBSCO). We conducted a systematic literature search of six databases from 1983 to 2016. The following keywords were used: phonetogram, voice range profile, and acoustic voice analysis. Inclusion criteria were automated recording procedure, healthy voices, and no intervention between test and retest. Test-retest values concerning fundamental frequency and voice intensity were reviewed. Of 483 abstracts, 231 full-text articles were read, resulting in six articles included in the final results. The studies found high reliability, but data are few and heterogeneous. The reviewed articles generally reported high reliability of the voice range profile, and thus clinical usefulness, but uncertainty remains because of low sample sizes and different procedures for selecting, collecting, and analyzing data. More data are needed, and clinical conclusions must be drawn with caution. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproducibility in Computational Neuroscience Models and Simulations

PubMed Central

McDougal, Robert A.; Bulanova, Anna S.; Lytton, William W.

2016-01-01

Objective Like all scientific research, computational neuroscience research must be reproducible. Big data science, including simulation research, cannot depend exclusively on journal articles as the method to provide the sharing and transparency required for reproducibility. Methods Ensuring model reproducibility requires the use of multiple standard software practices and tools, including version control, strong commenting and documentation, and code modularity. Results Building on these standard practices, model sharing sites and tools have been developed that fit into several categories: 1. standardized neural simulators, 2. shared computational resources, 3. declarative model descriptors, ontologies and standardized annotations; 4. model sharing repositories and sharing standards. Conclusion A number of complementary innovations have been proposed to enhance sharing, transparency and reproducibility. The individual user can be encouraged to make use of version control, commenting, documentation and modularity in development of models. The community can help by requiring model sharing as a condition of publication and funding. Significance Model management will become increasingly important as multiscale models become larger, more detailed and correspondingly more difficult to manage by any single investigator or single laboratory. Additional big data management complexity will come as the models become more useful in interpreting experiments, thus increasing the need to ensure clear alignment between modeling data, both parameters and results, and experiment. PMID:27046845

Tracking Students' Eye-Movements When Reading Learning Objects on Mobile Phones: A Discourse Analysis of Luganda Language Teacher-Trainees' Reflective Observations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kabugo, David; Muyinda, Paul B.; Masagazi, Fred. M.; Mugagga, Anthony M.; Mulumba, Mathias B.

2016-01-01

Although eye-tracking technologies such as Tobii-T120/TX and Eye-Tribe are steadily becoming ubiquitous, and while their appropriation in education can aid teachers to collect robust information on how students move their eyes when reading and engaging with different learning objects, many teachers of Luganda language are yet to gain experiences…

Enhancing reproducibility: Failures from Reproducibility Initiatives underline core challenges.

PubMed

Mullane, Kevin; Williams, Michael

2017-08-15

Efforts to address reproducibility concerns in biomedical research include: initiatives to improve journal publication standards and peer review; increased attention to publishing methodological details that enable experiments to be reconstructed; guidelines on standards for study design, implementation, analysis and execution; meta-analyses of multiple studies within a field to synthesize a common conclusion and; the formation of consortia to adopt uniform protocols and internally reproduce data. Another approach to addressing reproducibility are Reproducibility Initiatives (RIs), well-intended, high-profile, systematically peer-vetted initiatives that are intended to replace the traditional process of scientific self-correction. Outcomes from the RIs reported to date have questioned the usefulness of this approach, particularly when the RI outcome differs from other independent self-correction studies that have reproduced the original finding. As a failed RI attempt is a single outcome distinct from the original study, it cannot provide any definitive conclusions necessitating additional studies that the RI approach has neither the ability nor intent of conducting making it a questionable replacement for self-correction. A failed RI attempt also has the potential to damage the reputation of the author of the original finding. Reproduction is frequently confused with replication, an issue that is more than semantic with the former denoting "similarity" and the latter an "exact copy" - an impossible outcome in research because of known and unknown technical, environmental and motivational differences between the original and reproduction studies. To date, the RI framework has negatively impacted efforts to improve reproducibility, confounding attempts to determine whether a research finding is real. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproducibility and Transparency in Ocean-Climate Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hannah, N.; Adcroft, A.; Hallberg, R.; Griffies, S. M.

2015-12-01

Reproducibility is a cornerstone of the scientific method. Within geophysical modeling and simulation achieving reproducibility can be difficult, especially given the complexity of numerical codes, enormous and disparate data sets, and variety of supercomputing technology. We have made progress on this problem in the context of a large project - the development of new ocean and sea ice models, MOM6 and SIS2. Here we present useful techniques and experience.We use version control not only for code but the entire experiment working directory, including configuration (run-time parameters, component versions), input data and checksums on experiment output. This allows us to document when the solutions to experiments change, whether due to code updates or changes in input data. To avoid distributing large input datasets we provide the tools for generating these from the sources, rather than provide raw input data.Bugs can be a source of non-determinism and hence irreproducibility, e.g. reading from or branching on uninitialized memory. To expose these we routinely run system tests, using a memory debugger, multiple compilers and different machines. Additional confidence in the code comes from specialised tests, for example automated dimensional analysis and domain transformations. This has entailed adopting a code style where we deliberately restrict what a compiler can do when re-arranging mathematical expressions.In the spirit of open science, all development is in the public domain. This leads to a positive feedback, where increased transparency and reproducibility makes using the model easier for external collaborators, who in turn provide valuable contributions. To facilitate users installing and running the model we provide (version controlled) digital notebooks that illustrate and record analysis of output. This has the dual role of providing a gross, platform-independent, testing capability and a means to documents model output and analysis.

Benchmarking Year Five Students' Reading Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Chang Kuan; Eng, Lin Siew; Mohamed, Abdul Rashid

2014-01-01

Reading and understanding a written text is one of the most important skills in English learning.This study attempts to benchmark Year Five students' reading abilities of fifteen rural schools in a district in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are to develop a set of standardised written reading comprehension and a set of indicators to inform…

Reading: Exceptional Child Education Curriculum K-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biddle, Candace Thornton; And Others

This K-12 reading curriculum for exceptional child education is arranged in a format comparable to the general education curriculum, and is sequenced in the order in which most children learn. The curriculum begins with a list of 123 objectives of the reading program. The objectives cover the areas of perceptual skills, word attack, structural…

Object Oriented Modeling and Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaykhian, Gholam Ali

2007-01-01

The Object Oriented Modeling and Design seminar is intended for software professionals and students, it covers the concepts and a language-independent graphical notation that can be used to analyze problem requirements, and design a solution to the problem. The seminar discusses the three kinds of object-oriented models class, state, and interaction. The class model represents the static structure of a system, the state model describes the aspects of a system that change over time as well as control behavior and the interaction model describes how objects collaborate to achieve overall results. Existing knowledge of object oriented programming may benefit the learning of modeling and good design. Specific expectations are: Create a class model, Read, recognize, and describe a class model, Describe association and link, Show abstract classes used with multiple inheritance, Explain metadata, reification and constraints, Group classes into a package, Read, recognize, and describe a state model, Explain states and transitions, Read, recognize, and describe interaction model, Explain Use cases and use case relationships, Show concurrency in activity diagram, Object interactions in sequence diagram.

Integrating Reading and Technology: The Development of "Pamanpintermu"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arifani, Yudhi; Rosyid, Harunur

2016-01-01

Reading as one of English skills has paramount features in shaping EFL English competence. Referring to the importance for reading, it is inevitable that teaching method, assessments tools, reading material and activities have indispensable tasks to attain EFL learners' reading objectives. This study is intended to develop integrated reading…

Is naming faces different from naming objects? Semantic interference in a face- and object-naming task.

PubMed

Marful, Alejandra; Paolieri, Daniela; Bajo, M Teresa

2014-04-01

A current debate regarding face and object naming concerns whether they are equally vulnerable to semantic interference. Although some studies have shown similar patterns of interference, others have revealed different effects for faces and objects. In Experiment 1, we compared face naming to object naming when exemplars were presented in a semantically homogeneous context (grouped by their category) or in a semantically heterogeneous context (mixed) across four cycles. The data revealed significant slowing for both face and object naming in the homogeneous context. This semantic interference was explained as being due to lexical competition from the conceptual activation of category members. When focusing on the first cycle, a facilitation effect for objects but not for faces appeared. This result permits us to explain the previously observed discrepancies between face and object naming. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1, with the exception that half of the stimuli were presented as face/object names for reading. Semantic interference was present for both face and object naming, suggesting that faces and objects behave similarly during naming. Interestingly, during reading, semantic interference was observed for face names but not for object names. This pattern is consistent with previous assumptions proposing the activation of a person identity during face name reading.

Reproducibility in science.

PubMed

Yaffe, Michael B

2015-04-07

The issue of reproducibility and reliability in science has come to the forefront in light of several high-profile studies that could not be reproduced. Whereas some errors in reliability can be attributed to the application of new techniques that have unappreciated caveats, some problems with reproducibility lie in the climate of intense pressure for funding and to publish faced by many researchers. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Reproducibility of the School-Based Nutrition Monitoring Questionnaire among Fourth-Grade Students in Texas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penkilo, Monica; George, Goldy Chacko; Hoelscher, Deanna M.

2008-01-01

Objective: To assess reproducibility of a School-Based Nutrition Monitoring (SBNM) questionnaire for fourth-grade students. Design: Test-retest. Setting: Fourth-grade elementary school classrooms. Participants: Multiethnic fourth-grade students from 2 area school districts (N = 322). Main Outcome Measures: Reproducibility coefficients with time…

Parallel object-oriented decision tree system

DOEpatents

Kamath,; Chandrika, Cantu-Paz [Dublin, CA; Erick, [Oakland, CA

2006-02-28

A data mining decision tree system that uncovers patterns, associations, anomalies, and other statistically significant structures in data by reading and displaying data files, extracting relevant features for each of the objects, and using a method of recognizing patterns among the objects based upon object features through a decision tree that reads the data, sorts the data if necessary, determines the best manner to split the data into subsets according to some criterion, and splits the data.

Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study of Reading Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wadsworth, Sally J.; DeFries, John C.; Olson, Richard K.; Willcutt, Erik G.

2007-01-01

The primary objectives of the present study are to introduce the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study of Reading Disability, the first longitudinal twin study in which subjects have been specifically selected for having a history of reading difficulties, and to present some initial assessments of the stability of reading performance and cognitive…

The Need for Reproducibility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robey, Robert W.

2016-06-27

The purpose of this presentation is to consider issues of reproducibility, specifically it determines whether bitwise reproducible computation is possible, if computational research in DOE improves its publication process, and if reproducible results can be achieved apart from the peer review process?

Pathway Evidence of How Musical Perception Predicts Word-Level Reading Ability in Children with Reading Difficulties

PubMed Central

Cogo-Moreira, Hugo; Brandão de Ávila, Clara Regina; Ploubidis, George B.; de Jesus Mari, Jair

2013-01-01

Objective To investigate whether specific domains of musical perception (temporal and melodic domains) predict the word-level reading skills of eight- to ten-year-old children (n = 235) with reading difficulties, normal quotient of intelligence, and no previous exposure to music education classes. Method A general-specific solution of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA), which underlies a musical perception construct and is constituted by three latent factors (the general, temporal, and the melodic domain), was regressed on word-level reading skills (rate of correct isolated words/non-words read per minute). Results General and melodic latent domains predicted word-level reading skills. PMID:24358358

Exploring the association between visual perception abilities and reading of musical notation.

PubMed

Lee, Horng-Yih

2012-06-01

In the reading of music, the acquisition of pitch information depends primarily upon the spatial position of notes as well as upon an individual's spatial processing ability. This study investigated the relationship between the ability to read single notes and visual-spatial ability. Participants with high and low single-note reading abilities were differentiated based upon differences in musical notation-reading abilities and their spatial processing; object recognition abilities were then assessed. It was found that the group with lower note-reading abilities made more errors than did the group with a higher note-reading abilities in the mental rotation task. In contrast, there was no apparent significant difference between the two groups in the object recognition task. These results suggest that note-reading may be related to visual spatial processing abilities, and not to an individual's ability with object recognition.

SDR (Systems Directed Reading): An Overview.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baugo Community Schools, Elkhart, IN.

The objective of this project for kindergarten through fifth grade is to interest public and private educational institutions in the systematization of elementary school reading programs. Facets of Systems Directed Reading (SDR) include the use of a differentiated staffing pattern; experienced language arts unit leaders guiding and directing all…

Association between reading speed, cycloplegic refractive error, and oculomotor function in reading disabled children versus controls.

PubMed

Quaid, Patrick; Simpson, Trefford

2013-01-01

Approximately one in ten students aged 6 to 16 in Ontario (Canada) school boards have an individual education plan (IEP) in place due to various learning disabilities, many of which are specific to reading difficulties. The relationship between reading (specifically objectively determined reading speed and eye movement data), refractive error, and binocular vision related clinical measurements remain elusive. One hundred patients were examined in this study (50 IEP and 50 controls, age range 6 to 16 years). IEP patients were referred by three local school boards, with controls being recruited from the routine clinic population (non-IEP patients in the same age group). A comprehensive eye examination was performed on all subjects, in addition to a full binocular vision work-up and cycloplegic refraction. In addition to the cycloplegic refractive error, the following binocular vision related data was also acquired: vergence facility, vergence amplitudes, accommodative facility, accommodative amplitudes, near point of convergence, stereopsis, and a standardized symptom scoring scale. Both the IEP and control groups were also examined using the Visagraph III system, which permits recording of the following reading parameters objectively: (i) reading speed, both raw values and values compared to grade normative data, and (ii) the number of eye movements made per 100 words read. Comprehension was assessed via a questionnaire administered at the end of the reading task, with each subject requiring 80% or greater comprehension. The IEP group had significantly greater hyperopia compared to the control group on cycloplegic examination. Vergence facility was significantly correlated to (i) reading speed, (ii) number of eye movements made when reading, and (iii) a standardized symptom scoring system. Vergence facility was also significantly reduced in the IEP group versus controls. Significant differences in several other binocular vision related scores were also found. This

Reproducibility of a four-point clinical severity score for glabellar frown lines.

PubMed

Honeck, P; Weiss, C; Sterry, W; Rzany, B

2003-08-01

Focal injections of botulinum toxin A are used successfully for the treatment of hyperkinetic facial wrinkles. Efficacy can be measured by several methods. However, so far none has been investigated for its reproducibility. Objectives To investigate the reproducibility of a clinical 0-3 score for glabellar frown lines. In the first part of the study, a standardized photographic documentation of glabellar frown lines was produced. Based on the results of this phase, a consensus atlas of glabellar frown lines was developed and participants were trained using this atlas. In the main study, 50 standardized photographs were shown on two consecutive days to 28 dermatologists. The reproducibility of the score was investigated by conventional kappa statistics. In the main study, we found an unweighted kappa according to Fleiss of 0.62 for interobserver reproducibility. Intraobserver reproducibility showed an unweighted kappa according to Cohen of between 0.57 and 0.91 for each observer, and a weighted kappa according to Cicchetti and Allison of between 0.68 and 0.94. The clinical 0-3 score for glabellar frown lines shows a good inter- and intraobserver reproducibility.

Concise Catalog of Deep-Sky Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finlay, Warren H.

This book is intended to give a concise summary of some of the more interesting astrophysical facts that are known about objects commonly observed by amateur astronomers. Pondering this information while viewing an object in the field has added a new level to the author's enjoyment of deep-sky observing, and it is hoped this information will be similarly enjoyed by other amateur astronomers. The book is not intended to be read cover to cover, but rather is designed so that each object entry can be read individually one at a time and in no particular order, perhaps while at the eyepiece.

Reading Comprehension in Children With and Without ASD: The Role of Word Reading, Oral Language, and Working Memory.

PubMed

Davidson, Meghan M; Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Ellis Weismer, Susan

2018-05-25

Word reading and oral language predict reading comprehension, which is generally poor, in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, working memory (WM), despite documented weaknesses, has not been thoroughly investigated as a predictor of reading comprehension in ASD. This study examined the role of three parallel WM N-back tasks using abstract shapes, familiar objects, and written words in children (8-14 years) with ASD (n = 19) and their typically developing peers (n = 24). All three types of WM were significant predictors of reading comprehension when considered alone. However, these relationships were rendered non-significant with the addition of age, word reading, vocabulary, and group entered into the models. Oral vocabulary emerged as the strongest predictor of reading comprehension.

READING DIAGNOSTIC APPROACHES.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PURDY, ROBERT J.; AND OTHERS

A DIAGNOSTIC KIT DESIGNED TO HELP CLASSROOM TEACHERS DIAGNOSE READING DIFFICULTIES MORE ADEQUATELY AND MOTIVATE PUPILS MORE EFFECTIVELY IS PRESENTED. SUGGESTIONS ARE APPLICABLE TO LOWER PRIMARY CHILDREN. DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES ARE OUTLINED FOR SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION OF LANGUAGE ABILITY, VISUAL PERCEPTION SKILLS, AUDITORY…

Online Sentence Reading in People With Aphasia: Evidence From Eye Tracking.

PubMed

Knilans, Jessica; DeDe, Gayle

2015-11-01

There is a lot of evidence that people with aphasia have more difficulty understanding structurally complex sentences (e.g., object clefts) than simpler sentences (subject clefts). However, subject clefts also occur more frequently in English than object clefts. Thus, it is possible that both structural complexity and frequency affect how people with aphasia understand these structures. Nine people with aphasia and 8 age-matched controls participated in the study. The stimuli consisted of 24 object cleft and 24 subject cleft sentences. The task was eye tracking during reading, which permits a more fine-grained analysis of reading performance than measures such as self-paced reading. As expected, controls had longer reading times for critical regions in object cleft sentences compared with subject cleft sentences. People with aphasia showed the predicted effects of structural frequency. Effects of structural complexity in people with aphasia did not emerge on their first pass through the sentence but were observed when they were rereading critical regions of complex sentences. People with aphasia are sensitive to both structural complexity and structural frequency when reading. However, people with aphasia may use different reading strategies than controls when confronted with relatively infrequent and complex sentence structures.

Reproducibility of ECG-gated ultrasound diameter assessment of small abdominal aortic aneurysms.

PubMed

Bredahl, K; Eldrup, N; Meyer, C; Eiberg, J E; Sillesen, H

2013-03-01

No standardised ultrasound procedure to obtain reliable growth estimates for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is currently available. We investigated the feasibility and reproducibility of a novel approach controlling for a combination of vessel wall delineation and cardiac cycle variation. Prospective comparative study. Consecutive patients (N = 27) with an AAA, attending their 6-month control as part of a medical treatment trial, were scanned twice by two ultrasound operators. Then, all ultrasound recordings were transferred to a core facility and analysed by a third person. The AAA diameter was determined in four different ways: from the leading edge of adventitia on the anterior wall to either the leading edge of the adventitia (method A) or leading edge of the intima (method B) on the posterior wall, with both measurements performed in systole and diastole. Inter-operator reproducibility was ± 3 mm for all methods applied. There was no difference in outcome between methods A and B; likewise, end-diastolic measurement did not improve reproducibility in preference to peak-systolic measurement. The use of a standardised ultrasound protocol including ECG-gating and subsequent off-line reading with minute calliper placement reduces variability. This may be of use in developing protocols to better detect even small AAA growth rates during clinical trials. Copyright © 2012 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Etiology of the stability of reading difficulties: the longitudinal twin study of reading disabilities.

PubMed

Astrom, Raven L; Wadsworth, Sally J; DeFries, John C

2007-06-01

Results obtained from previous longitudinal studies of reading difficulties indicate that reading deficits are generally stable. However, little is known about the etiology of this stability. Thus, the primary objective of this first longitudinal twin study of reading difficulties is to provide an initial assessment of genetic and environmental influences on the stability of reading deficits. Data were analyzed from a sample of 56 twin pairs, 18 identical (monozygotic, MZ) and 38 fraternal (dizygotic, DZ), in which at least one member of each pair was classified as reading-disabled in the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center, and on whom follow-up data were available. The twins were tested at two time points (average age of 10.3 years at initial assessment and 16.1 years at follow-up). A composite measure of reading performance (PIAT Reading Recognition, Reading Comprehension and Spelling) was highly stable, with a stability correlation of .84. Data from the initial time point were first subjected to univariate DeFries-Fulker multiple regression analysis and the resulting estimate of the heritability of the group deficit (h2g) was .84 (+/-.26). When the initial and follow-up data were then fitted to a bivariate extension of the basic DF model, bivariate heritability was estimated at .65, indicating that common genetic influences account for approximately 75% of the stability between reading measures at the two time points.

The reproducibility and predictive value on outcome of renal biopsies from expanded criteria donors.

PubMed

Azancot, M Antonieta; Moreso, Francesc; Salcedo, Maite; Cantarell, Carme; Perello, Manel; Torres, Irina B; Montero, Angeles; Trilla, Enric; Sellarés, Joana; Morote, Joan; Seron, Daniel

2014-05-01

Reproducibility and predictive value on outcome are the main criteria to evaluate the utility of histological scores. Here we analyze the reproducibility of donor biopsy assessment by different on-call pathologists and the retrospective evaluation by a single renal pathologist blinded to clinical outcomes. We also evaluate the predictive value on graft outcome of both evaluations. A biopsy was performed in donors with any of the following: age≥55 years, hypertension, diabetes, creatinine>1.5 mg/dl, or stroke. Glomerulosclerosis, interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy, intimal thickening, and arteriolar hyalinosis evaluated according to the Banff criteria were added to obtain a chronic score. Biopsies were classified as mild (≥3), intermediate (4-5), or advanced (6-7) damage, and unacceptable (≥8) for transplantation of 127 kidneys biopsied. Weighted κ value between both readings was 0.41 (95% CI: 0.28-0.54). Evaluation of biopsies by the renal pathologist was significantly and independently associated with estimated 12-month glomerular filtration rate and a significant composite outcome variable, including death-censored graft survival and time to reach an estimated glomerular filtration rate<30 ml/min per 1.73 m2. Thus, there was no association between readings of on-call pathologists and outcome. The lack of association between histological scores obtained by the on-call pathologists and graft outcome suggests that a specific training on renal pathology is recommended to optimize the use of kidneys retrieved from expanded criteria donors.

Mothers' Expectations for Shared Reading Following Delivery: Implications For Reading Activities at 6 Months

PubMed Central

Berkule, Samantha B.; Dreyer, Benard P.; Klass, Perri E.; Huberman, Harris S.; Yin, Hsiang S.; Mendelsohn, Alan L.

2008-01-01

Objective To determine whether mothers with plans related to shared reading and baby books in the home at the time of delivery of their newborns would be more likely to engage in shared reading behaviors at age 6 months. Method This was a cohort study with enrollment post-partum and follow-up at 6 months in an urban public hospital. Predictors: mothers' attitudes and resources related to shared reading during the postpartum period. Outcomes: mothers' shared reading activities and resources at 6 months (StimQ-READ). Results 173 mother-infant dyads were assessed. In multiple regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographics and maternal depression and literacy, StimQ-READ at 6 months was increased in association with all 3 postpartum predictors: plans for reading as a strategy for school success (adjusted mean 1.7 point increase in 6 month score; 95% CI: 0.3 – 3.0), plans to read in infancy (3.1 point increase; 95% CI: 1.6-4.6), and having baby books in the home (2.3 point increase; 95% CI: 0.9 – 3.6). In multiple logistic regression analysis, mothers with two or more attitudes and resources had an AOR of 6.2 (95% CI: 2.0-18.9) for having initiated reading at 6 months. Conclusions Maternal attitudes and resources in early infancy related to shared reading are important predictors of reading behaviors by 6 months. Cumulative postnatal attitudes and resources are the strongest predictors of later behaviors. Additional research is needed regarding whether guidance about shared reading in early infancy or pregnancy would enhance programs such as Reach Out and Read. PMID:18501863

A fast object-oriented Matlab implementation of the Reproducing Kernel Particle Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbieri, Ettore; Meo, Michele

2012-05-01

Novel numerical methods, known as Meshless Methods or Meshfree Methods and, in a wider perspective, Partition of Unity Methods, promise to overcome most of disadvantages of the traditional finite element techniques. The absence of a mesh makes meshfree methods very attractive for those problems involving large deformations, moving boundaries and crack propagation. However, meshfree methods still have significant limitations that prevent their acceptance among researchers and engineers, namely the computational costs. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of computational techniques to speed-up the computation of the shape functions in the Reproducing Kernel Particle Method and Moving Least Squares, with particular focus on their bottlenecks, like the neighbour search, the inversion of the moment matrix and the assembly of the stiffness matrix. The paper presents numerous computational solutions aimed at a considerable reduction of the computational times: the use of kd-trees for the neighbour search, sparse indexing of the nodes-points connectivity and, most importantly, the explicit and vectorized inversion of the moment matrix without using loops and numerical routines.

Measures of low back function: a review of reproducibility studies.

PubMed

Essendrop, Morten; Maul, Irina; Läubli, Thomas; Riihimäki, Hilkka; Schibye, Bente

2002-05-01

The objective of the present study was to make a systematic literature review with preset quality criteria concerning reproducibility of the tests of the low back regarding strength, endurance and range of motion. Literature in Medline and local databases was reviewed for articles concerning the reproducibility of strength, endurance, and range of motion measurements. Measures of low back function are widely used, and are important for both clinical and research purposes in relation to low back problems. A review of the reproducibility of these tests has not previously been made. After extensive discussion among all the authors, general evaluation parameters were defined for the quality assessment. Every study was graded from 0 to 2 for each parameter. Parameters evaluated were: number of subjects, subject description, method description, test/retest interval, description of results, and statistics. The literature search revealed a total of 79 studies. Most studies suffered from methodological weaknesses and only eleven studies received ten or more quality points (maximum 14). The results from the highest graded studies are highlighted. It may be concluded that there is a considerable lack of information about the reproducibility of functional measures for the low back, and therefore a recommendation for consensus is difficult. However, most tests performed in the sagittal plane are reliable for use on groups. Measures of low back function are thought to be of great importance for clinicians, and low back researchers in general. A review of reproducibility will be helpful both as a survey of tests, and to provide information on the usefulness in relation to the level of reproducibility.

A High Intensity, Short-Term, Tutorial/Enrichment Program in Reading.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Rita J.; And Others.

1981-01-01

The Summer Adventure in Learning (SAIL) program was developed to train prospective teachers in tutorial methods intended to improve reading achievement. The program's primary instructional objective was to decrease the pupil reading rate resulting in improved reading comprehension. (JN)

Language comprehenders retain implied shape and orientation of objects.

PubMed

Pecher, Diane; van Dantzig, Saskia; Zwaan, Rolf A; Zeelenberg, René

2009-06-01

According to theories of embodied cognition, language comprehenders simulate sensorimotor experiences to represent the meaning of what they read. Previous studies have shown that picture recognition is better if the object in the picture matches the orientation or shape implied by a preceding sentence. In order to test whether strategic imagery may explain previous findings, language comprehenders first read a list of sentences in which objects were mentioned. Only once the complete list had been read was recognition memory tested with pictures. Recognition performance was better if the orientation or shape of the object matched that implied by the sentence, both immediately after reading the complete list of sentences and after a 45-min delay. These results suggest that previously found match effects were not due to strategic imagery and show that details of sensorimotor simulations are retained over longer periods.

Cost-Effectiveness of Double Reading versus Single Reading of Mammograms in a Breast Cancer Screening Programme

PubMed Central

Posso, Margarita; Carles, Misericòrdia; Rué, Montserrat; Puig, Teresa; Bonfill, Xavier

2016-01-01

Objectives The usual practice in breast cancer screening programmes for mammogram interpretation is to perform double reading. However, little is known about its cost-effectiveness in the context of digital mammography. Our purpose was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of double reading versus single reading of digital mammograms in a population-based breast cancer screening programme. Methods Data from 28,636 screened women was used to establish a decision-tree model and to compare three strategies: 1) double reading; 2) double reading for women in their first participation and single reading for women in their subsequent participations; and 3) single reading. We calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), which was defined as the expected cost per one additionally detected cancer. We performed a deterministic sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of the ICER. Results The detection rate of double reading (5.17‰) was similar to that of single reading (4.78‰; P = .768). The mean cost of each detected cancer was €8,912 for double reading and €8,287 for single reading. The ICER of double reading versus single reading was €16,684. The sensitivity analysis showed variations in the ICER according to the sensitivity of reading strategies. The strategy that combines double reading in first participation with single reading in subsequent participations was ruled out due to extended dominance. Conclusions From our results, double reading appears not to be a cost-effective strategy in the context of digital mammography. Double reading would eventually be challenged in screening programmes, as single reading might entail important net savings without significantly changing the cancer detection rate. These results are not conclusive and should be confirmed in prospective studies that investigate long-term outcomes like quality adjusted life years (QALYs). PMID:27459663

Online Sentence Reading in People With Aphasia: Evidence From Eye Tracking

PubMed Central

Knilans, Jessica

2015-01-01

Purpose There is a lot of evidence that people with aphasia have more difficulty understanding structurally complex sentences (e.g., object clefts) than simpler sentences (subject clefts). However, subject clefts also occur more frequently in English than object clefts. Thus, it is possible that both structural complexity and frequency affect how people with aphasia understand these structures. Method Nine people with aphasia and 8 age-matched controls participated in the study. The stimuli consisted of 24 object cleft and 24 subject cleft sentences. The task was eye tracking during reading, which permits a more fine-grained analysis of reading performance than measures such as self-paced reading. Results As expected, controls had longer reading times for critical regions in object cleft sentences compared with subject cleft sentences. People with aphasia showed the predicted effects of structural frequency. Effects of structural complexity in people with aphasia did not emerge on their first pass through the sentence but were observed when they were rereading critical regions of complex sentences. Conclusions People with aphasia are sensitive to both structural complexity and structural frequency when reading. However, people with aphasia may use different reading strategies than controls when confronted with relatively infrequent and complex sentence structures. PMID:26383779

The effect of aging on the brain network for exception word reading.

PubMed

Provost, Jean-Sebastien; Brambati, Simona M; Chapleau, Marianne; Wilson, Maximiliano A

2016-11-01

Cognitive and computational models of reading aloud agree on the existence of two procedures for reading. Pseudowords (e.g., atendier) are correctly read through subword processes only while exception words (e.g., pint) are only correctly read via whole-words processes. Regular words can be correctly read by means of either way. Previous behavioral studies showed that older adults relied more on whole-word processing for reading. The aim of the present fMRI study was to verify whether this larger whole-word reliance for reading in older adults was reflected by changes in the pattern of brain activation. Both young and elderly participants read aloud pseudowords, exception and regular words in the scanner. Behavioral results reproduced those of previous studies showing that older adults made significantly less errors when reading exception words. Neuroimaging results showed significant activation of the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL), a key region implicated in whole-word reading for exception word reading in both young and elderly participants. Critically, ATL activation was also found for regular word reading in the elderly. No differences were observed in the pattern of activation between regular and pseudowords in the young. In conclusion, these results extend evidence on the critical role of the left ATL for exception word reading to elderly participants. Additionally, our study shows for the first time from a developmental point of view that the behavioral changes found in reading during normal aging also have a brain counterpart in the reading network changes that sustain exception and regular word reading in the elderly. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE DEVELOPING CLIMATE FOR READING RESEARCH--PROGRAMS VS. PROJECTS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ADAMS, RICHARD B.; PENNEY, MONTE

PROGRAMMATIC RESEARCH IS DISCUSSED AS ONE OF THE BASIC NEEDS OF READING RESEARCH. OTHER NEEDS ARE--(1) FOR BASIC RESEARCH THAT FOCUSES ON THE READING PROCESS, (2) FOR LEADERSHIP THAT VALUES SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVITY AND INTELLECTUAL HONESTY, AND (3) TO INFORM AND CONVINCE THE PUBLIC OF THE POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS OF READING RESEARCH. PROGRAMMATIC…

[Inter-laboratory reproducibility of pulsed-field electrophoresis for the study of 12 types of Pseudomonas aeruginosa].

PubMed

Foissaud, V; Puyhardy, J M; Chapalain, J C; Salord, H; Depina, J J; Morillon, M; Nicolas, P; Perrier-Gros-Claude, J D

1999-12-01

The increasing hospital-to-hospital transmission of multiple drug-resistant bacteria is a major concern for bacteriology laboratories involved in nosocomial infection control. The interlaboratory reproducibility of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa typing was evaluated by asking four hospital laboratories (two in Lyon, one in Brest, and one in Marseille) to study 11 P. aeruginosa isolates, some of which were epidemiologically related, and the reference strain ATCC 27853. Two laboratories used the Genepath system, one the Chef DR II, system, and one the Chef Mapper system, Bio-Rad, restriction/Spe I. Profiles were read visually and by computerized comparison of restriction band molecular weights (Taxotron, software, PAD Grimont, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France). These two methods led to similar epidemiological conclusions. However, centralization of the data showed poor center-to-center reproducibility due to inadequate standardization of the procedure.

Reproducibility Between Brain Uptake Ratio Using Anatomic Standardization and Patlak-Plot Methods.

PubMed

Shibutani, Takayuki; Onoguchi, Masahisa; Noguchi, Atsushi; Yamada, Tomoki; Tsuchihashi, Hiroko; Nakajima, Tadashi; Kinuya, Seigo

2015-12-01

The Patlak-plot and conventional methods of determining brain uptake ratio (BUR) have some problems with reproducibility. We formulated a method of determining BUR using anatomic standardization (BUR-AS) in a statistical parametric mapping algorithm to improve reproducibility. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the inter- and intraoperator reproducibility of mean cerebral blood flow as determined using BUR-AS in comparison to the conventional-BUR (BUR-C) and Patlak-plot methods. The images of 30 patients who underwent brain perfusion SPECT were retrospectively used in this study. The images were reconstructed using ordered-subset expectation maximization and processed using an automatic quantitative analysis for cerebral blood flow of ECD tool. The mean SPECT count was calculated from axial basal ganglia slices of the normal side (slices 31-40) drawn using a 3-dimensional stereotactic region-of-interest template after anatomic standardization. The mean cerebral blood flow was calculated from the mean SPECT count. Reproducibility was evaluated using coefficient of variation and Bland-Altman plotting. For both inter- and intraoperator reproducibility, the BUR-AS method had the lowest coefficient of variation and smallest error range about the Bland-Altman plot. Mean CBF obtained using the BUR-AS method had the highest reproducibility. Compared with the Patlak-plot and BUR-C methods, the BUR-AS method provides greater inter- and intraoperator reproducibility of cerebral blood flow measurement. © 2015 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.

The regulatory element READ1 epistatically influences reading and language, with both deleterious and protective alleles

PubMed Central

Powers, Natalie R; Eicher, John D; Miller, Laura L; Kong, Yong; Smith, Shelley D; Pennington, Bruce F; Willcutt, Erik G; Olson, Richard K; Ring, Susan M; Gruen, Jeffrey R

2016-01-01

Background Reading disability (RD) and language impairment (LI) are heritable learning disabilities that obstruct acquisition and use of written and spoken language, respectively. We previously reported that two risk haplotypes, each in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with an allele of READ1, a polymorphic compound short tandem repeat within intron 2 of risk gene DCDC2, are associated with RD and LI. Additionally, we showed a non-additive genetic interaction between READ1 and KIAHap, a previously reported risk haplotype in risk gene KIAA0319, and that READ1 binds the transcriptional regulator ETV6. Objective To examine the hypothesis that READ1 is a transcriptional regulator of KIAA0319. Methods We characterised associations between READ1 alleles and RD and LI in a large European cohort, and also assessed interactions between READ1 and KIAHap and their effect on performance on measures of reading, language and IQ. We also used family-based data to characterise the genetic interaction, and chromatin conformation capture (3C) to investigate the possibility of a physical interaction between READ1 and KIAHap. Results and conclusions READ1 and KIAHap show interdependence—READ1 risk alleles synergise with KIAHap, whereas READ1 protective alleles act epistatically to negate the effects of KIAHap. The family data suggest that these variants interact in trans genetically, while the 3C results show that a region of DCDC2 containing READ1 interacts physically with the region upstream of KIAA0319. These data support a model in which READ1 regulates KIAA0319 expression through KIAHap and in which the additive effects of READ1 and KIAHap alleles are responsible for the trans genetic interaction. PMID:26660103

Reproducibility of abdominal fat assessment by ultrasound and computed tomography

PubMed Central

Mauad, Fernando Marum; Chagas-Neto, Francisco Abaeté; Benedeti, Augusto César Garcia Saab; Nogueira-Barbosa, Marcello Henrique; Muglia, Valdair Francisco; Carneiro, Antonio Adilton Oliveira; Muller, Enrico Mattana; Elias Junior, Jorge

2017-01-01

Objective: To test the accuracy and reproducibility of ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) for the quantification of abdominal fat in correlation with the anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical assessments. Materials and Methods: Using ultrasound and CT, we determined the thickness of subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat in 101 subjects-of whom 39 (38.6%) were men and 62 (61.4%) were women-with a mean age of 66.3 years (60-80 years). The ultrasound data were correlated with the anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical parameters, as well as with the areas measured by abdominal CT. Results: Intra-abdominal thickness was the variable for which the correlation with the areas of abdominal fat was strongest (i.e., the correlation coefficient was highest). We also tested the reproducibility of ultrasound and CT for the assessment of abdominal fat and found that CT measurements of abdominal fat showed greater reproducibility, having higher intraobserver and interobserver reliability than had the ultrasound measurements. There was a significant correlation between ultrasound and CT, with a correlation coefficient of 0.71. Conclusion: In the assessment of abdominal fat, the intraobserver and interobserver reliability were greater for CT than for ultrasound, although both methods showed high accuracy and good reproducibility. PMID:28670024

Reproducibility of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time over two seasons in children; Comparing a day-by-day and a week-by-week approach

PubMed Central

Andersen, Lars Bo; Skrede, Turid; Ekelund, Ulf; Anderssen, Sigmund Alfred; Resaland, Geir Kåre

2017-01-01

Introduction Knowledge of reproducibility of accelerometer-determined physical activity (PA) and sedentary time (SED) estimates are a prerequisite to conduct high-quality epidemiological studies. Yet, estimates of reproducibility might differ depending on the approach used to analyze the data. The aim of the present study was to determine the reproducibility of objectively measured PA and SED in children by directly comparing a day-by-day and a week-by-week approach to data collected over two weeks during two different seasons 3–4 months apart. Methods 676 11-year-old children from the Active Smarter Kids study conducted in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway, performed 7 days of accelerometer monitoring (ActiGraph GT3X+) during January-February and April-May 2015. Reproducibility was calculated using a day-by-day and a week-by-week approach applying mixed effect modelling and the Spearman Brown prophecy formula, and reported using intra-class correlation (ICC), Bland Altman plots and 95% limits of agreement (LoA). Results Applying a week-by-week approach, no variables provided ICC estimates ≥ 0.70 for one week of measurement in any model (ICC = 0.29–0.66 not controlling for season; ICC = 0.49–0.67 when controlling for season). LoA for these models approximated a factor of 1.3–1.7 of the sample PA level standard deviations. Compared to the week-by-week approach, the day-by-day approach resulted in too optimistic reliability estimates (ICC = 0.62–0.77 not controlling for season; ICC = 0.64–0.77 when controlling for season). Conclusions Reliability is lower when analyzed over different seasons and when using a week-by-week approach, than when applying a day-by-day approach and the Spearman Brown prophecy formula to estimate reliability over a short monitoring period. We suggest a day-by-day approach and the Spearman Brown prophecy formula to determine reliability be used with caution. Trial Registration The study is registered in Clinicaltrials.gov 7th

When Translation Makes the Difference: Sentence Processing in Reading and Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macizo, Pedro; Bajo, M. Teresa

2004-01-01

In two experiments we compared normal reading and reading for translation of object relative sentences presented word-by-word. In Experiment 1, professional translators were asked either to read and repeat Spanish sentences, or to read and translate them into English. In addition, we manipulated the availability of pragmatic information given in…

Facilitating text reading in posterior cortical atrophy

PubMed Central

Rajdev, Kishan; Shakespeare, Timothy J.; Leff, Alexander P.; Crutch, Sebastian J.

2015-01-01

Objective: We report (1) the quantitative investigation of text reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), and (2) the effects of 2 novel software-based reading aids that result in dramatic improvements in the reading ability of patients with PCA. Methods: Reading performance, eye movements, and fixations were assessed in patients with PCA and typical Alzheimer disease and in healthy controls (experiment 1). Two reading aids (single- and double-word) were evaluated based on the notion that reducing the spatial and oculomotor demands of text reading might support reading in PCA (experiment 2). Results: Mean reading accuracy in patients with PCA was significantly worse (57%) compared with both patients with typical Alzheimer disease (98%) and healthy controls (99%); spatial aspects of passages were the primary determinants of text reading ability in PCA. Both aids led to considerable gains in reading accuracy (PCA mean reading accuracy: single-word reading aid = 96%; individual patient improvement range: 6%–270%) and self-rated measures of reading. Data suggest a greater efficiency of fixations and eye movements under the single-word reading aid in patients with PCA. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate how neurologic characterization of a neurodegenerative syndrome (PCA) and detailed cognitive analysis of an important everyday skill (reading) can combine to yield aids capable of supporting important everyday functional abilities. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with PCA, 2 software-based reading aids (single-word and double-word) improve reading accuracy. PMID:26138948

Composting in small laboratory pilots: Performance and reproducibility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lashermes, G.; Barriuso, E.; Le Villio-Poitrenaud, M.

2012-02-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We design an innovative small-scale composting device including six 4-l reactors. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We investigate the performance and reproducibility of composting on a small scale. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Thermophilic conditions are established by self-heating in all replicates. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Biochemical transformations, organic matter losses and stabilisation are realistic. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The organic matter evolution exhibits good reproducibility for all six replicates. - Abstract: Small-scale reactors (<10 l) have been employed in composting research, but few attempts have assessed the performance of composting considering the transformations of organic matter. Moreover, composting at small scales is often performed by imposing a fixed temperature, thus creatingmore » artificial conditions, and the reproducibility of composting has rarely been reported. The objectives of this study are to design an innovative small-scale composting device safeguarding self-heating to drive the composting process and to assess the performance and reproducibility of composting in small-scale pilots. The experimental setup included six 4-l reactors used for composting a mixture of sewage sludge and green wastes. The performance of the process was assessed by monitoring the temperature, O{sub 2} consumption and CO{sub 2} emissions, and characterising the biochemical evolution of organic matter. A good reproducibility was found for the six replicates with coefficients of variation for all parameters generally lower than 19%. An intense self-heating ensured the existence of a spontaneous thermophilic phase in all reactors. The average loss of total organic matter (TOM) was 46% of the initial content. Compared to the initial mixture, the hot water soluble fraction decreased by 62%, the hemicellulose-like fraction by 68%, the cellulose-like fraction by 50% and the lignin-like fractions by 12% in the

Into the Curriculum: Reading/Language Arts: Storytelling with Story Puzzles [and] Reading/Language Arts: In Favor of the Dictionary [and] Reading/Language Arts/Social Studies: Using Almanacs To Learn about the 1950s and 1960s [and] Science/Reading/Language Arts: Inventions and the Stories behind Them [and] Social Studies: The Immigration/Integration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marsh, Valerie; Sommers, Kathy; Crawford, Christy; Robenalt, Kassandra; Goldstein, Maria D.

1998-01-01

Provides lesson plans for grade 2 and grades 2-6 reading/language arts, grades 3-5 social studies, grades 4-6 reading/language arts/social studies, and grades 6-8 science/reading/language arts. Lists print and nonprint resources and discusses library media skills and subject area objectives, instructional roles, activities, procedures, evaluation,…

Standard deviation analysis of the mastoid fossa temperature differential reading: a potential model for objective chiropractic assessment.

PubMed

Hart, John

2011-03-01

This study describes a model for statistically analyzing follow-up numeric-based chiropractic spinal assessments for an individual patient based on his or her own baseline. Ten mastoid fossa temperature differential readings (MFTD) obtained from a chiropractic patient were used in the study. The first eight readings served as baseline and were compared to post-adjustment readings. One of the two post-adjustment MFTD readings fell outside two standard deviations of the baseline mean and therefore theoretically represents improvement according to pattern analysis theory. This study showed how standard deviation analysis may be used to identify future outliers for an individual patient based on his or her own baseline data. Copyright © 2011 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teacher's Directory of Reading Skill Aids and Materials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dechant, Emerald

Intended to help reading teachers match pupil needs and deficiencies with specific instructional materials, this volume contains more than 2,000 print and audiovisual instructional materials for reading instruction. Citations, which include objectives, grade level, publisher, and format, are grouped into the following sections: (1) developing the…

Reproducibility in a multiprocessor system

DOEpatents

Bellofatto, Ralph A; Chen, Dong; Coteus, Paul W; Eisley, Noel A; Gara, Alan; Gooding, Thomas M; Haring, Rudolf A; Heidelberger, Philip; Kopcsay, Gerard V; Liebsch, Thomas A; Ohmacht, Martin; Reed, Don D; Senger, Robert M; Steinmacher-Burow, Burkhard; Sugawara, Yutaka

2013-11-26

Fixing a problem is usually greatly aided if the problem is reproducible. To ensure reproducibility of a multiprocessor system, the following aspects are proposed; a deterministic system start state, a single system clock, phase alignment of clocks in the system, system-wide synchronization events, reproducible execution of system components, deterministic chip interfaces, zero-impact communication with the system, precise stop of the system and a scan of the system state.

China's language input system in the digital age affects children's reading development.

PubMed

Tan, Li Hai; Xu, Min; Chang, Chun Qi; Siok, Wai Ting

2013-01-15

Written Chinese as a logographic system was developed over 3,000 y ago. Historically, Chinese children have learned to read by learning to associate the visuo-graphic properties of Chinese characters with lexical meaning, typically through handwriting. In recent years, however, many Chinese children have learned to use electronic communication devices based on the pinyin input method, which associates phonemes and English letters with characters. When children use pinyin to key in letters, their spelling no longer depends on reproducing the visuo-graphic properties of characters that are indispensable to Chinese reading, and, thus, typing in pinyin may conflict with the traditional learning processes for written Chinese. We therefore tested character reading ability and pinyin use by primary school children in three Chinese cites: Beijing (n = 466), Guangzhou (n = 477), and Jining (n = 4,908). Children with severe reading difficulty are defined as those who were normal in nonverbal IQ but two grades (i.e., 2 y) behind in character-reading achievement. We found that the overall incidence rate of severe reading difficulty appears to be much higher than ever reported on Chinese reading. Crucially, we found that children's reading scores were significantly negatively correlated with their use of the pinyin input method, suggesting that pinyin typing on e-devices hinders Chinese reading development. The Chinese language has survived the technological challenges of the digital era, but the benefits of communicating digitally may come with a cost in proficient learning of written Chinese.

How Reading Volume Affects Both Reading Fluency and Reading Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allington, Richard L.

2014-01-01

Long overlooked, reading volume is actually central to the development of reading proficiencies, especially in the development of fluent reading proficiency. Generally no one in schools monitors the actual volume of reading that children engage in. We know that the commonly used commercial core reading programs provide only material that requires…

Contextual sensitivity in scientific reproducibility

PubMed Central

Van Bavel, Jay J.; Mende-Siedlecki, Peter; Brady, William J.; Reinero, Diego A.

2016-01-01

In recent years, scientists have paid increasing attention to reproducibility. For example, the Reproducibility Project, a large-scale replication attempt of 100 studies published in top psychology journals found that only 39% could be unambiguously reproduced. There is a growing consensus among scientists that the lack of reproducibility in psychology and other fields stems from various methodological factors, including low statistical power, researcher’s degrees of freedom, and an emphasis on publishing surprising positive results. However, there is a contentious debate about the extent to which failures to reproduce certain results might also reflect contextual differences (often termed “hidden moderators”) between the original research and the replication attempt. Although psychologists have found extensive evidence that contextual factors alter behavior, some have argued that context is unlikely to influence the results of direct replications precisely because these studies use the same methods as those used in the original research. To help resolve this debate, we recoded the 100 original studies from the Reproducibility Project on the extent to which the research topic of each study was contextually sensitive. Results suggested that the contextual sensitivity of the research topic was associated with replication success, even after statistically adjusting for several methodological characteristics (e.g., statistical power, effect size). The association between contextual sensitivity and replication success did not differ across psychological subdisciplines. These results suggest that researchers, replicators, and consumers should be mindful of contextual factors that might influence a psychological process. We offer several guidelines for dealing with contextual sensitivity in reproducibility. PMID:27217556

Contextual sensitivity in scientific reproducibility.

PubMed

Van Bavel, Jay J; Mende-Siedlecki, Peter; Brady, William J; Reinero, Diego A

2016-06-07

In recent years, scientists have paid increasing attention to reproducibility. For example, the Reproducibility Project, a large-scale replication attempt of 100 studies published in top psychology journals found that only 39% could be unambiguously reproduced. There is a growing consensus among scientists that the lack of reproducibility in psychology and other fields stems from various methodological factors, including low statistical power, researcher's degrees of freedom, and an emphasis on publishing surprising positive results. However, there is a contentious debate about the extent to which failures to reproduce certain results might also reflect contextual differences (often termed "hidden moderators") between the original research and the replication attempt. Although psychologists have found extensive evidence that contextual factors alter behavior, some have argued that context is unlikely to influence the results of direct replications precisely because these studies use the same methods as those used in the original research. To help resolve this debate, we recoded the 100 original studies from the Reproducibility Project on the extent to which the research topic of each study was contextually sensitive. Results suggested that the contextual sensitivity of the research topic was associated with replication success, even after statistically adjusting for several methodological characteristics (e.g., statistical power, effect size). The association between contextual sensitivity and replication success did not differ across psychological subdisciplines. These results suggest that researchers, replicators, and consumers should be mindful of contextual factors that might influence a psychological process. We offer several guidelines for dealing with contextual sensitivity in reproducibility.

The Effectiveness of the Barton’s Intervention Program on Reading Comprehension and Reading Attitude of Students with Dyslexia

PubMed Central

Mihandoost, Zeinab; Elias, Habibah

2011-01-01

Objective: The current research tested the differences in reading attitude and reading comprehension in the dyslexic students between the control group and the experimental group following the Barton intervention program. Methods: Dyslexia screening instrument and reading text were employed in order to identify dyslexic students. The population of the study included 138 dyslexic students studying in schools in Ilam, Iran. From this population, 64 students were randomly selected and assigned to an experimental group as well as a control group. The experimental group was taught for 36 sessions, using the Barton’s method at two levels, and ten lessons were provided to improve the reading skill. The reading comprehension and reading attitude instruments were employed for the measurement of the attitude and comprehension before and after the intervention program. Results: The analysis of covariance showed a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group following the Barton intervention program. Conclusion: This study showed that dyslexic students learned to read, and a more direct instruction related to decoding could influence their progress more than the general exposure to education. PMID:24644446

Digital image analysis: improving accuracy and reproducibility of radiographic measurement.

PubMed

Bould, M; Barnard, S; Learmonth, I D; Cunningham, J L; Hardy, J R

1999-07-01

To assess the accuracy and reproducibility of a digital image analyser and the human eye, in measuring radiographic dimensions. We experimentally compared radiographic measurement using either an image analyser system or the human eye with digital caliper. The assessment of total hip arthroplasty wear from radiographs relies on both the accuracy of radiographic images and the accuracy of radiographic measurement. Radiographs were taken of a slip gauge (30+/-0.00036 mm) and slip gauge with a femoral stem. The projected dimensions of the radiographic images were calculated by trigonometry. The radiographic dimensions were then measured by blinded observers using both techniques. For a single radiograph, the human eye was accurate to 0.26 mm and reproducible to +/-0.1 mm. In comparison the digital image analyser system was accurate to 0.01 mm with a reproducibility of +/-0.08 mm. In an arthroplasty model, where the dimensions of an object were corrected for magnification by the known dimensions of a femoral head, the human eye was accurate to 0.19 mm, whereas the image analyser system was accurate to 0.04 mm. The digital image analysis system is up to 20 times more accurate than the human eye, and in an arthroplasty model the accuracy of measurement increases four-fold. We believe such image analysis may allow more accurate and reproducible measurement of wear from standard follow-up radiographs.

MI as a Predictor of Students' Performance in Reading Competency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hajhashemi, Karim

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine whether performance in MI could predict the performance in reading competency. The other objectives were to identify the components of MI which are correlated with the reading test scores, and to determine the relationship between the multiple intelligences and reading proficiency. A descriptive and ex post…

Language Development Component, Secondary Developmental Reading Program. Final Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, Donald; Chamberlain, Ed

This report evaluates the Secondary Developmental Reading Program, a component of the Ohio Disadvantaged Pupil Program Fund (DPPF), in terms of the 1982-83 program objectives. Twelve project reading teachers worked in eight Columbus senior high schools with 843 pupils scoring at or below the 36th percentile in reading achievement. A pilot project…

Continuities in Reading Acquisition, Reading Skill, and Reading Disability.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perfetti, Charles A.

1986-01-01

Learning to read depends on eventual mastery of coding procedures, and even skilled reading depends on coding processes low in cost to processing resources. Reading disability may be understood as a point on an ability continuum or a wide range of coding ability. Instructional goals of word reading skill, including rapid and fluent word…

Teachers' Use of Technology in a Reading Clinic.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balajthy, Ernest; Reuber, Kristin; Robinson, Corrine

2001-01-01

Explains results when graduate students studying to become reading specialists tutored struggling readers in one-on-one sessions in which the clinicians were required to make significant use of technology in their instruction. Concludes that clinicians often did not have clear reading or literacy objectives when using computer-based instruction.…

Does E-Reading Enhance Reading Fluency?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akbar, Rahima S.; Taqi, Hanan A.; Dashti, Abdulmohsin A.; Sadeq, Taiba M.

2015-01-01

Extensive reading is reading as much as possible, for one's own pleasure, at a difficulty level at which one can read smoothly and quickly. In the domain of reading, this paper investigates the effect of extensive reading from e-books, through utilizing a number of downloadable reading application programs on the students' e-devices, as opposed to…

Music-reading training alleviates crowding with musical notation.

PubMed

Wong, Yetta Kwailing; Wong, Alan C-N

2016-06-01

Crowding refers to the disrupted recognition of an object by nearby distractors. Prior work has shown that real-world music-reading experts experience reduced crowding specifically for musical stimuli. However, it is unclear whether music-reading training reduced the magnitude of crowding or whether individuals showing less crowding are more likely to learn and excel in music reading later. To examine the first possibility, we tested whether crowding can be alleviated by music-reading training in the laboratory. Intermediate-level music readers completed 8 hr of music-reading training within 2 weeks. Their threshold duration for reading musical notes dropped by 44.1% after training to a level comparable with that of extant expert music readers. Importantly, crowding was reduced with musical stimuli but not with the nonmusical stimuli Landolt Cs. In sum, the reduced crowding for musical stimuli in expert music readers can be explained by music-reading training.

Literature and Learning to Read. Proceedings of the Annual Reading Conference of the Curriculum Research and Development Center, Indiana State Univ. (2nd, Terre Haute, June 21-22, 1972).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indiana State Univ., Terre Haute. Curriculum Research and Development Center.

The papers for this proceeding reveal a variety of techniques and ideas for enhancing reading through literature. Lyman C. Hunt in "Literature and Learning to Read" discusses beginning reading instruction and some mistakes teachers commonly make, and reminds teachers that the primary objective should be to encourage reading and help the student…

Reliability of laser Doppler flowmetry curve reading for measurement of toe and ankle pressures: intra- and inter-observer variation.

PubMed

Høyer, C; Paludan, J P D; Pavar, S; Biurrun Manresa, J A; Petersen, L J

2014-03-01

To assess the intra- and inter-observer variation in laser Doppler flowmetry curve reading for measurement of toe and ankle pressures. A prospective single blinded diagnostic accuracy study was conducted on 200 patients with known or suspected peripheral arterial disease (PAD), with a total of 760 curve sets produced. The first curve reading for this study was performed by laboratory technologists blinded to clinical clues and previous readings at least 3 months after the primary data sampling. The pressure curves were later reassessed following another period of at least 3 months. Observer agreement in diagnostic classification according to TASC-II criteria was quantified using Cohen's kappa. Reliability was quantified using intra-class correlation coefficients, coefficients of variance, and Bland-Altman analysis. The overall agreement in diagnostic classification (PAD/not PAD) was 173/200 (87%) for intra-observer (κ = .858) and 175/200 (88%) for inter-observer data (κ = .787). Reliability analysis confirmed excellent correlation for both intra- and inter-observer data (ICC all ≥.931). The coefficients of variance ranged from 2.27% to 6.44% for intra-observer and 2.39% to 8.42% for inter-observer data. Subgroup analysis showed lower observer-variation for reading of toe pressures in patients with diabetes and/or chronic kidney disease than patients not diagnosed with these conditions. Bland-Altman plots showed higher variation in toe pressure readings than ankle pressure readings. This study shows substantial intra- and inter-observer agreement in diagnostic classification and reading of absolute pressures when using laboratory technologists as observers. The study emphasises that observer variation for curve reading is an important factor concerning the overall reproducibility of the method. Our data suggest diabetes and chronic kidney disease have an influence on toe pressure reproducibility. Copyright © 2013 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published

Audiovisual communication of object-names improves the spatial accuracy of recalled object-locations in topographic maps.

PubMed

Lammert-Siepmann, Nils; Bestgen, Anne-Kathrin; Edler, Dennis; Kuchinke, Lars; Dickmann, Frank

2017-01-01

Knowing the correct location of a specific object learned from a (topographic) map is fundamental for orientation and navigation tasks. Spatial reference systems, such as coordinates or cardinal directions, are helpful tools for any geometric localization of positions that aims to be as exact as possible. Considering modern visualization techniques of multimedia cartography, map elements transferred through the auditory channel can be added easily. Audiovisual approaches have been discussed in the cartographic community for many years. However, the effectiveness of audiovisual map elements for map use has hardly been explored so far. Within an interdisciplinary (cartography-cognitive psychology) research project, it is examined whether map users remember object-locations better if they do not just read the corresponding place names, but also listen to them as voice recordings. This approach is based on the idea that learning object-identities influences learning object-locations, which is crucial for map-reading tasks. The results of an empirical study show that the additional auditory communication of object names not only improves memory for the names (object-identities), but also for the spatial accuracy of their corresponding object-locations. The audiovisual communication of semantic attribute information of a spatial object seems to improve the binding of object-identity and object-location, which enhances the spatial accuracy of object-location memory.

Audiovisual communication of object-names improves the spatial accuracy of recalled object-locations in topographic maps

PubMed Central

Bestgen, Anne-Kathrin; Edler, Dennis; Kuchinke, Lars; Dickmann, Frank

2017-01-01

Knowing the correct location of a specific object learned from a (topographic) map is fundamental for orientation and navigation tasks. Spatial reference systems, such as coordinates or cardinal directions, are helpful tools for any geometric localization of positions that aims to be as exact as possible. Considering modern visualization techniques of multimedia cartography, map elements transferred through the auditory channel can be added easily. Audiovisual approaches have been discussed in the cartographic community for many years. However, the effectiveness of audiovisual map elements for map use has hardly been explored so far. Within an interdisciplinary (cartography-cognitive psychology) research project, it is examined whether map users remember object-locations better if they do not just read the corresponding place names, but also listen to them as voice recordings. This approach is based on the idea that learning object-identities influences learning object-locations, which is crucial for map-reading tasks. The results of an empirical study show that the additional auditory communication of object names not only improves memory for the names (object-identities), but also for the spatial accuracy of their corresponding object-locations. The audiovisual communication of semantic attribute information of a spatial object seems to improve the binding of object-identity and object-location, which enhances the spatial accuracy of object-location memory. PMID:29059237

Exploring the Relationship between Adolescent's Reading Skills, Reading Motivation and Reading Habits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGeown, Sarah P.; Duncan, Lynne G.; Griffiths, Yvonne M.; Stothard, Sue E.

2015-01-01

The present study examines the extent to which adolescents' reading affect (reading motivation) and behaviour (reading habits) predict different components of reading (word reading, comprehension, summarisation and text reading speed) and also adds to the limited research examining group differences (gender, age, ability) in adolescents' reading…

DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM IN REMEDIAL READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MILLER, ARTHUR; AND OTHERS

A SUMMER CAMP WAS SET UP AT AGASSIZ VILLAGE, MAINE, IN 1964, TO HELP DEVELOP READING ABILITY FOR CHILDREN OF BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS. OBJECTIVES WERE TO IMPROVE EACH CHILD'S READING ACHIEVEMENT AND RELATED LANGUAGE ARTS ABILITY. INFORMAL AND STANDARDIZED TESTS WERE USED TO MEASURE RESULTS. PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS WERE GIVEN TO DETECT ANY PHYSICAL…

Reproducibility of African giant pouched rats detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

PubMed

Ellis, Haylee; Mulder, Christiaan; Valverde, Emilio; Poling, Alan; Edwards, Timothy

2017-04-24

African pouched rats sniffing sputum samples provided by local clinics have significantly increased tuberculosis case findings in Tanzania and Mozambique. The objective of this study was to determine the reproducibility of rat results. Over an 18-month period 11,869 samples were examined by the rats. Intra-rater reliability was assessed through Yule's Q. Inter-rater reliability was assessed with Krippendorff's alpha. Intra-rater reliability was high, with a mean Yule's Q of 0.9. Inter-rater agreement was fair, with Krippendorf's alpha ranging from 0.15 to 0.45. Both Intra- and Inter-rater reliability was independent of the sex of the animals, but they were positively correlated with age. Both intra- and inter-rater agreement was lowest for samples designated as smear-negative by the clinics. Overall, the reproducibility of tuberculosis detection rat results was fair and diagnostic results were therefore independent of the rats used.

Composting in small laboratory pilots: performance and reproducibility.

PubMed

Lashermes, G; Barriuso, E; Le Villio-Poitrenaud, M; Houot, S

2012-02-01

Small-scale reactors (<10 l) have been employed in composting research, but few attempts have assessed the performance of composting considering the transformations of organic matter. Moreover, composting at small scales is often performed by imposing a fixed temperature, thus creating artificial conditions, and the reproducibility of composting has rarely been reported. The objectives of this study are to design an innovative small-scale composting device safeguarding self-heating to drive the composting process and to assess the performance and reproducibility of composting in small-scale pilots. The experimental setup included six 4-l reactors used for composting a mixture of sewage sludge and green wastes. The performance of the process was assessed by monitoring the temperature, O(2) consumption and CO(2) emissions, and characterising the biochemical evolution of organic matter. A good reproducibility was found for the six replicates with coefficients of variation for all parameters generally lower than 19%. An intense self-heating ensured the existence of a spontaneous thermophilic phase in all reactors. The average loss of total organic matter (TOM) was 46% of the initial content. Compared to the initial mixture, the hot water soluble fraction decreased by 62%, the hemicellulose-like fraction by 68%, the cellulose-like fraction by 50% and the lignin-like fractions by 12% in the final compost. The TOM losses, compost stabilisation and evolution of the biochemical fractions were similar to observed in large reactors or on-site experiments, excluding the lignin degradation, which was less important than in full-scale systems. The reproducibility of the process and the quality of the final compost make it possible to propose the use of this experimental device for research requiring a mass reduction of the initial composted waste mixtures. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Screening for Dyslexia Using Eye Tracking during Reading.

PubMed

Nilsson Benfatto, Mattias; Öqvist Seimyr, Gustaf; Ygge, Jan; Pansell, Tony; Rydberg, Agneta; Jacobson, Christer

2016-01-01

Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental reading disability estimated to affect 5-10% of the population. While there is yet no full understanding of the cause of dyslexia, or agreement on its precise definition, it is certain that many individuals suffer persistent problems in learning to read for no apparent reason. Although it is generally agreed that early intervention is the best form of support for children with dyslexia, there is still a lack of efficient and objective means to help identify those at risk during the early years of school. Here we show that it is possible to identify 9-10 year old individuals at risk of persistent reading difficulties by using eye tracking during reading to probe the processes that underlie reading ability. In contrast to current screening methods, which rely on oral or written tests, eye tracking does not depend on the subject to produce some overt verbal response and thus provides a natural means to objectively assess the reading process as it unfolds in real-time. Our study is based on a sample of 97 high-risk subjects with early identified word decoding difficulties and a control group of 88 low-risk subjects. These subjects were selected from a larger population of 2165 school children attending second grade. Using predictive modeling and statistical resampling techniques, we develop classification models from eye tracking records less than one minute in duration and show that the models are able to differentiate high-risk subjects from low-risk subjects with high accuracy. Although dyslexia is fundamentally a language-based learning disability, our results suggest that eye movements in reading can be highly predictive of individual reading ability and that eye tracking can be an efficient means to identify children at risk of long-term reading difficulties.

Uncovering Reading Habits of University Students in Uganda: Does ICT Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mlay, Samali V.; Sabi, Humphrey M.; Tsuma, Clive K.; Langmia, Kehbuma

2015-01-01

This paper investigates how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can improve reading habits among university students. We also investigated the influence of home culture, school culture and disposable income on reading habit. Our main objective was to assess the effect of ICT on the reading habit of particularly university students in…

Reproducibility2020: Progress and priorities

PubMed Central

Freedman, Leonard P.; Venugopalan, Gautham; Wisman, Rosann

2017-01-01

The preclinical research process is a cycle of idea generation, experimentation, and reporting of results. The biomedical research community relies on the reproducibility of published discoveries to create new lines of research and to translate research findings into therapeutic applications. Since 2012, when scientists from Amgen reported that they were able to reproduce only 6 of 53 “landmark” preclinical studies, the biomedical research community began discussing the scale of the reproducibility problem and developing initiatives to address critical challenges. Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) released the “Case for Standards” in 2013, one of the first comprehensive reports to address the rising concern of irreproducible biomedical research. Further attention was drawn to issues that limit scientific self-correction, including reporting and publication bias, underpowered studies, lack of open access to methods and data, and lack of clearly defined standards and guidelines in areas such as reagent validation. To evaluate the progress made towards reproducibility since 2013, GBSI identified and examined initiatives designed to advance quality and reproducibility. Through this process, we identified key roles for funders, journals, researchers and other stakeholders and recommended actions for future progress. This paper describes our findings and conclusions. PMID:28620458

On the origin of reproducible sequential activity in neural circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afraimovich, V. S.; Zhigulin, V. P.; Rabinovich, M. I.

2004-12-01

Robustness and reproducibility of sequential spatio-temporal responses is an essential feature of many neural circuits in sensory and motor systems of animals. The most common mathematical images of dynamical regimes in neural systems are fixed points, limit cycles, chaotic attractors, and continuous attractors (attractive manifolds of neutrally stable fixed points). These are not suitable for the description of reproducible transient sequential neural dynamics. In this paper we present the concept of a stable heteroclinic sequence (SHS), which is not an attractor. SHS opens the way for understanding and modeling of transient sequential activity in neural circuits. We show that this new mathematical object can be used to describe robust and reproducible sequential neural dynamics. Using the framework of a generalized high-dimensional Lotka-Volterra model, that describes the dynamics of firing rates in an inhibitory network, we present analytical results on the existence of the SHS in the phase space of the network. With the help of numerical simulations we confirm its robustness in presence of noise in spite of the transient nature of the corresponding trajectories. Finally, by referring to several recent neurobiological experiments, we discuss possible applications of this new concept to several problems in neuroscience.

On the origin of reproducible sequential activity in neural circuits.

PubMed

Afraimovich, V S; Zhigulin, V P; Rabinovich, M I

2004-12-01

Robustness and reproducibility of sequential spatio-temporal responses is an essential feature of many neural circuits in sensory and motor systems of animals. The most common mathematical images of dynamical regimes in neural systems are fixed points, limit cycles, chaotic attractors, and continuous attractors (attractive manifolds of neutrally stable fixed points). These are not suitable for the description of reproducible transient sequential neural dynamics. In this paper we present the concept of a stable heteroclinic sequence (SHS), which is not an attractor. SHS opens the way for understanding and modeling of transient sequential activity in neural circuits. We show that this new mathematical object can be used to describe robust and reproducible sequential neural dynamics. Using the framework of a generalized high-dimensional Lotka-Volterra model, that describes the dynamics of firing rates in an inhibitory network, we present analytical results on the existence of the SHS in the phase space of the network. With the help of numerical simulations we confirm its robustness in presence of noise in spite of the transient nature of the corresponding trajectories. Finally, by referring to several recent neurobiological experiments, we discuss possible applications of this new concept to several problems in neuroscience.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)-how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children ( N = 143). Results showed that listening comprehension was related to text reading fluency at time 2, but not at time 1. At both times text reading fluency was related to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension was related to text reading fluency over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. Orthographic awareness was related to text reading fluency over and above other emergent literacy skills and word reading fluency. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were independently related to text reading fluency and reading comprehension whereas theory of mind was related to reading comprehension, but not text reading fluency. These results reveal developmental nature of relations and mechanism of text reading fluency in reading development.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)—how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children (N = 143). Results showed that listening comprehension was related to text reading fluency at time 2, but not at time 1. At both times text reading fluency was related to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension was related to text reading fluency over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. Orthographic awareness was related to text reading fluency over and above other emergent literacy skills and word reading fluency. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were independently related to text reading fluency and reading comprehension whereas theory of mind was related to reading comprehension, but not text reading fluency. These results reveal developmental nature of relations and mechanism of text reading fluency in reading development. PMID:26435550

Art of reading a journal article: Methodically and effectively

PubMed Central

Subramanyam, RV

2013-01-01

Background: Reading scientific literature is mandatory for researchers and clinicians. With an overflow of medical and dental journals, it is essential to develop a method to choose and read the right articles. Objective: To outline a logical and orderly approach to reading a scientific manuscript. By breaking down the task into smaller, step-by-step components, one should be able to attain the skills to read a scientific article with ease. Methods: The reader should begin by reading the title, abstract and conclusions first. If a decision is made to read the entire article, the key elements of the article can be perused in a systematic manner effectively and efficiently. A cogent and organized method is presented to read articles published in scientific journals. Conclusion: One can read and appreciate a scientific manuscript if a systematic approach is followed in a simple and logical manner. PMID:23798833

Does Extensive Reading Promote Reading Speed?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Mu

2014-01-01

Research has shown a wide range of learning benefits accruing from extensive reading. Not only is there improvement in reading, but also in a wide range of language uses and areas of language knowledge. However, few research studies have examined reading speed. The existing literature on reading speed focused on students' reading speed without…

Reading visually embodied meaning from the brain: Visually grounded computational models decode visual-object mental imagery induced by written text.

PubMed

Anderson, Andrew James; Bruni, Elia; Lopopolo, Alessandro; Poesio, Massimo; Baroni, Marco

2015-10-15

Embodiment theory predicts that mental imagery of object words recruits neural circuits involved in object perception. The degree of visual imagery present in routine thought and how it is encoded in the brain is largely unknown. We test whether fMRI activity patterns elicited by participants reading objects' names include embodied visual-object representations, and whether we can decode the representations using novel computational image-based semantic models. We first apply the image models in conjunction with text-based semantic models to test predictions of visual-specificity of semantic representations in different brain regions. Representational similarity analysis confirms that fMRI structure within ventral-temporal and lateral-occipital regions correlates most strongly with the image models and conversely text models correlate better with posterior-parietal/lateral-temporal/inferior-frontal regions. We use an unsupervised decoding algorithm that exploits commonalities in representational similarity structure found within both image model and brain data sets to classify embodied visual representations with high accuracy (8/10) and then extend it to exploit model combinations to robustly decode different brain regions in parallel. By capturing latent visual-semantic structure our models provide a route into analyzing neural representations derived from past perceptual experience rather than stimulus-driven brain activity. Our results also verify the benefit of combining multimodal data to model human-like semantic representations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reading as a Value among Young Russian Intellectuals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borusiak, Liubov'

2012-01-01

It is acknowledged that the value of reading has gone down in today's Russian society, and this is rated as unequivocally negative. Instead of "the most well-read country in the world," Russia is now called a "society of TV viewers" by the some observers; it is not a nation of independent thinkers but passive objects of the…

The Continued Need for Effective Remedial Reading Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jansen, Mogens

Reading disability is described in this paper as a relative state that will appear different across societies and over the years. It is noted that researchers who claim that their objective is to find methods and materials to make remedial reading unnecessary are unrealistic. An overview of the Danish educational system and society during the last…

Characterization and modeling of SET/RESET cycling induced read-disturb failure time degradation in a resistive switching memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Po-Cheng; Hsu, Chun-Chi; Du, Sin-I.; Wang, Tahui

2017-12-01

Read operation induced disturbance in SET-state in a tungsten oxide resistive switching memory is investigated. We observe that the reduction of oxygen vacancy density during read-disturb follows power-law dependence on cumulative read-disturb time. Our study shows that the SET-state read-disturb immunity progressively degrades by orders of magnitude as SET/RESET cycle number increases. To explore the cause of the read-disturb degradation, we perform a constant voltage stress to emulate high-field stress effects in SET/RESET cycling. We find that the read-disturb failure time degradation is attributed to high-field stress-generated oxide traps. Since the stress-generated traps may substitute for some of oxygen vacancies in forming conductive percolation paths in a switching dielectric, a stressed cell has a reduced oxygen vacancy density in SET-state, which in turn results in a shorter read-disturb failure time. We develop an analytical read-disturb degradation model including both cycling induced oxide trap creation and read-disturb induced oxygen vacancy reduction. Our model can well reproduce the measured read-disturb failure time degradation in a cycled cell without using fitting parameters.

Reproducing 2D breast mammography images with 3D printed phantoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, Matthew; Ghammraoui, Bahaa; Badal, Andreu

2016-03-01

Mammography is currently the standard imaging modality used to screen women for breast abnormalities and, as a result, it is a tool of great importance for the early detection of breast cancer. Physical phantoms are commonly used as surrogates of breast tissue to evaluate some aspects of the performance of mammography systems. However, most phantoms do not reproduce the anatomic heterogeneity of real breasts. New fabrication technologies, such as 3D printing, have created the opportunity to build more complex, anatomically realistic breast phantoms that could potentially assist in the evaluation of mammography systems. The primary objective of this work is to present a simple, easily reproducible methodology to design and print 3D objects that replicate the attenuation profile observed in real 2D mammograms. The secondary objective is to evaluate the capabilities and limitations of the competing 3D printing technologies, and characterize the x-ray properties of the different materials they use. Printable phantoms can be created using the open-source code introduced in this work, which processes a raw mammography image to estimate the amount of x-ray attenuation at each pixel, and outputs a triangle mesh object that encodes the observed attenuation map. The conversion from the observed pixel gray value to a column of printed material with equivalent attenuation requires certain assumptions and knowledge of multiple imaging system parameters, such as x-ray energy spectrum, source-to-object distance, compressed breast thickness, and average breast material attenuation. A detailed description of the new software, a characterization of the printed materials using x-ray spectroscopy, and an evaluation of the realism of the sample printed phantoms are presented.

Reading a Note, Reading a Mind: Children's Notating Skills and Understanding of Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leyva, Diana; Hopson, Sarah; Nichols, Ashley

2012-01-01

Are children's understanding of mental states (understanding of mind) related to their notating skills, that is, their ability to produce and read written marks to convey information about objects and number? Fifty-three preschoolers and kindergarteners were presented with a dictation task where they produced some written marks and were later…

Deaf Readers’ Response to Syntactic Complexity: Evidence from Self-Paced Reading

PubMed Central

Traxler, Matthew J.; Corina, David P.; Morford, Jill P.; Hafer, Sarah; Hoversten, Liv J.

2013-01-01

This study was designed to determine the feasibility of using self-paced reading methods to study deaf readers and to assess how deaf readers respond to two syntactic manipulations. Three groups of participants read the test sentences: deaf readers, hearing monolingual English readers, and hearing bilingual readers whose second language was English. In Experiment 1, participants read sentences containing subject relative or object relative clauses. The test sentences contained semantic information that influences on-line processing outcomes (Traxler et al., 2002; 2005). All of the participant groups had greater difficulty processing sentences containing object relative clauses. This difficulty was reduced when helpful semantic cues were present. In Experiment 2, participants read active voice and passive voice sentences. The sentences were processed similarly by all three groups. Comprehension accuracy was higher in hearing readers than in deaf readers. Within deaf readers, native signers read the sentences faster and comprehended them to a higher degree than did non-native signers. These results indicate that self-paced reading is a useful method for studying sentence interpretation among deaf readers. PMID:23868696

The Effects of Extensive Reading and Reading Strategies on Reading Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrows, Lance

2012-01-01

This study is a quasi-experimental, longitudinal investigation into the role that extensive reading and reading strategies play in the cultivation of reading self-efficacy. Conducted over the course of one academic year, how changes in reading self-efficacy translate into changes in reading comprehension was examined. In addition, the…

Reading(s).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Summerfield, Geoffrey; Summerfield, Judith

Developed for college English courses, this book presents selections of poetry, short stories, and commentary intended to invite different ways of reading and interpreting literature. An introduction provides an overview of the book's content, as well as a discussion of how to read. The first section, "Entering a Language," considers the…

Reproducibility in Data-Scarce Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darch, P. T.

2016-12-01

Among the usual requirements for reproducibility are large volumes of data and computationally intensive methods. Many fields within earth sciences, however, do not meet these requirements. Data are scarce and data-intensive methods are not well established. How can science be reproducible under these conditions? What changes, both infrastructural and cultural, are needed to advance reproducibility? This paper presents findings from a long-term social scientific case study of an emergent and data scarce field, the deep subseafloor biosphere. This field studies interactions between microbial communities living in the seafloor and the physical environments they inhabit. Factors such as these make reproducibility seem a distant goal for this community: - The relative newness of the field. Serious study began in the late 1990s; - The highly multidisciplinary nature of the field. Researchers come from a range of physical and life science backgrounds; - Data scarcity. Domain researchers produce much of these data in their own onshore laboratories by analyzing cores from international ocean drilling expeditions. Allocation of cores is negotiated between researchers from many fields. These factors interact in multiple ways to inhibit reproducibility: - Incentive structures emphasize producing new data and new knowledge rather than reanalysing extant data; - Only a few steps of laboratory analyses can be reproduced - such as analysis of DNA sequences, but not extraction of DNA from cores -, due to scarcity of cores; - Methodological heterogeneity is a consequence of multidisciplinarity, as researchers bring different techniques from diverse fields. - Few standards for data collection or analysis are available at this early stage of the field; - While datasets from multiple biological and physical phenomena can be integrated into a single workflow, curation tends to be divergent. Each type of dataset may be subject to different disparate policies and contributed to different

[Pitfalls in the prescription of reading glasses].

PubMed

Krause, H-K

2011-04-01

People in the second half of their lives often require reading glasses. A basic requirement for determining suitable reading glasses is measurement of the patient's accommodation, which describes the change in the eye's optical power caused by the attempt to clearly focus on an object at a certain distance. The maximum accommodation performance of a person already begins to decline from the age of 40 onwards. When it becomes increasingly difficult to adjust to the typical reading distance of 40 cm, one speaks of presbyopia: age-related farsightedness. This contribution describes two appropriate methods for determining the strength of reading glasses: determination of the maximum accommodation performance by measuring the near point distance and determination of the maximum accommodation effort by measuring the relative positive and negative accommodation. Optimal reading glasses enable the patient to focus sharply on something from the working distance that is closer but also on something that is further away.

VES 490--Readings. Student Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonald, Bruce A.

This manual provides information needed by students taking independent study courses (readings) in agricultural education, business education, home economics education, industrial education, or health occupations education as part of the Vocational Education Studies Program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. The objectives of the…

Encouraging science reading beyond the curriculum.

PubMed

Lamberson, W R; Smith, M F

2005-08-01

Students in genetics and reproductive physiology, junior-/senior-level courses with enrollments averaging 76 and 41 students, respectively, were encouraged to read popular science books for extra credit. The objectives of the readings were to reinforce basic class concepts by forming ties to everyday life, and to expose students to a genre that can provide information to prepare them as citizens to engage in the debate over current issues. The books for genetics were The Double Helix, Genome, Voyage of the Beagle, and The Engineer in the Garden; and the books for reproductive physiology were Clone, Lives of a Cell, Life Before Birth and A Time to be Born, and The Second Creation: Dolly and The Age of Biological Control. To earn credit (3% of the course grade for each of up to three books), students had to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of each book during a 15-min discussion with the instructor. Discussions focused on questions designed to stimulate critical thinking about each book's content. For example: "There is approximately 98% homology in DNA sequence between humans and chimpanzees; in aspects ranging from basic physiology to behavior, what makes us similar to or different from the species that is our closest living relative?" The numbers of students reading three books in Years 1 and 2 were 2 and 12 in genetics, and 4 and 3 in reproductive physiology; those reading two books in Years 1 and 2 were 5 and 20 in genetics, and 0 and 2 in reproductive physiology; and those reading one book in Years 1 and 2 were 21 and 31 in genetics, and 7 and 8 in reproductive physiology. The numbers of students that read no books in Years 1 and 2 were 33 and 27 in genetics, and 45 and 20 in reproductive physiology. Participation in the reading project occurred independently of course grades. Sixteen genetics students from the second year's class, eight that had participated in the extra credit reading and eight that had not, volunteered to be reexamined on material

Reading and Comprehension Levels in a Sample of Urban, Low-Income Persons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delgado, Cheryl; Weitzel, Marilyn

2013-01-01

Objective: Because health literacy is related to healthcare outcomes, this study looked at reading and comprehension levels in a sample of urban, low-income persons. Design: This was a descriptive exploration of reading comprehension levels, controlled for medical problems that could impact on vision and therefore ability to read. Setting: Ninety…

Reliability and reproducibility of disc-foveal angle measurements by non-mydriatic fundus photography.

PubMed

Le Jeune, Caroline; Chebli, Fayçal; Leon, Lorette; Anthoine, Emmanuelle; Weber, Michel; Péchereau, Alain; Lebranchu, Pierre

2018-01-01

Abnormal torsion could be associated with cyclovertical strabismus, but torsion measurements are not reliable in children. To assess an objective fundus torsion evaluation in a paediatric population, we used Non-Mydriatic Fundus photography (NMFP) in healthy and cyclovertical strabismus patients to evaluate the disc-foveal angle over time and observers. We used a retrospective set of NMFP including 24 A or V-pattern strabismus and 27 age-matched normal children (mean age 6.4 and 6.7 years respectively), taken during 2 distinct follow-up consultations (separated by 251 and 479 days respectively). Each disc-foveal angle measurement (from which the ocular torsion can be assessed) was performed by 5 different observers, using graphical software and based on reproducible fundus anatomical marks. Statistical analysis was performed with a multivariate ANOVA using group, time and observers as factors, in addition to intraclass coefficient correlation (ICC) to assess measurement reproducibility. A significant difference of disc-foveal angle measures was observed between groups (p<0,001): 18.73° (SD = 6.42), -3,25° (SD = 5.51) and 6,89° (SD = 4,41) respectively for V-pattern, A- pattern and normal subjects. Neither observers (F = 0,2028 p = 0,9369) nor time between 1st and 2nd NMFP (F = 0,6312 p = 0,4271) seem to influence the measure of disc-foveal angle. The evaluation of disc-foveal angle was very reproducible between observers (ICC>0,97). Abnormal amount of objective torsion could be associated with alphabet-pattern strabismus. Disc-foveal angle evaluation by NMFP in a children population appears as a non-invasive, reliable and reproducible method.

Infantile sexuality, primary object-love and the anthropological significance of the Oedipus complex: re-reading Freud's 'Female sexuality'.

PubMed

van Haute, Philippe

2005-12-01

The author attempts to show why and in what respect Freud's famous article 'Female sexuality' can still be a source of inspiration for a contemporary metapsychology. In this text, Freud acknowledges the importance of the child's tie to its mother for the first time. Both Balint and Bowlby consider this text to be a distant forerunner of their own theories on primary object-love and attachment respectively. At the same time, Freud's text contains some elements of a 'theory of generalized seduction' as it was developed in the last decades by Jean Laplanche. 'Female sexuality' therefore presents itself as the perfect point of departure for a discussion of the relation between primary object-love (and attachment) and sexuality. Based on his reading of Freud's text, the author argues that human subjectivity is characterized by the lack of attunement between the world of the adult and the world of the child. This insight allows for a reformulation of the anthropological significance of the Oedipus and castration complexes. They are no longer interpreted as universal problems that every child has to face, but as historical and contingent solutions to the lack of attunement between the child and the adult that is essential to human subjectivity.

Measuring Reading Comprehension with the Lexile Framework.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stenner, A. Jackson

This paper shows how the concept of general objectivity can be used to improve behavioral science measurement, particularly as it applies to the Lexile Framework, a tool for objectively measuring reading comprehension. It begins with a dialogue between a physicist and a psychometrician that details some of the differences between physical science…

Motivating Reading Comprehension: Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guthrie, John T., Ed.; Wigfield, Allan, Ed.; Perencevich, Kathleen C., Ed.

2004-01-01

Concept Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) is a unique, classroom-tested model of reading instruction that breaks new ground by explicitly showing how content knowledge, reading strategies, and motivational support all merge in successful reading instruction. A theoretical perspective (engagement in reading) frames the book and provides a…

Does early reading failure decrease children's reading motivation?

PubMed

Morgan, Paul L; Fuchs, Douglas; Compton, Donald L; Cordray, David S; Fuchs, Lynn S

2008-01-01

The authors used a pretest-posttest control group design with random assignment to evaluate whether early reading failure decreases children's motivation to practice reading. First, they investigated whether 60 first-grade children would report substantially different levels of interest in reading as a function of their relative success or failure in learning to read. Second, they evaluated whether increasing the word reading ability of 15 at-risk children would lead to gains in their motivation to read. Multivariate analyses of variance suggest marked differences in both motivation and reading practice between skilled and unskilled readers. However, bolstering at-risk children's word reading ability did not yield evidence of a causal relationship between early reading failure and decreased motivation to engage in reading activities. Instead, hierarchical regression analyses indicate a covarying relationship among early reading failure, poor motivation, and avoidance of reading.

Beyond Cognition: Reading Motivation and Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Wigfield, Allan; Gladstone, Jessica; Turci, Lara

2016-01-01

The authors review research on children’s reading motivation and its relation to their reading comprehension. They begin by discussing work on the development of school motivation in general and reading motivation in particular, reviewing work showing that many children’s reading motivation declines over the school years. Girls tend to have more positive motivation for reading than do boys, and there are ethnic differences in children’s reading motivation. Over the last 15 years researchers have identified in both laboratory and classroom-based research instructional practices that positively impact students’ reading motivation and ultimately their reading comprehension. There is a strong need for researchers to build on this work and develop and study in different age groups of children effective classroom-based reading motivation instructional programs for a variety of narrative and informational materials. PMID:27617030

Reproducibility of data-driven dietary patterns in two groups of adult Spanish women from different studies.

PubMed

Castelló, Adela; Lope, Virginia; Vioque, Jesús; Santamariña, Carmen; Pedraz-Pingarrón, Carmen; Abad, Soledad; Ederra, Maria; Salas-Trejo, Dolores; Vidal, Carmen; Sánchez-Contador, Carmen; Aragonés, Nuria; Pérez-Gómez, Beatriz; Pollán, Marina

2016-08-01

The objective of the present study was to assess the reproducibility of data-driven dietary patterns in different samples extracted from similar populations. Dietary patterns were extracted by applying principal component analyses to the dietary information collected from a sample of 3550 women recruited from seven screening centres belonging to the Spanish breast cancer (BC) screening network (Determinants of Mammographic Density in Spain (DDM-Spain) study). The resulting patterns were compared with three dietary patterns obtained from a previous Spanish case-control study on female BC (Epidemiological study of the Spanish group for breast cancer research (GEICAM: grupo Español de investigación en cáncer de mama)) using the dietary intake data of 973 healthy participants. The level of agreement between patterns was determined using both the congruence coefficient (CC) between the pattern loadings (considering patterns with a CC≥0·85 as fairly similar) and the linear correlation between patterns scores (considering as fairly similar those patterns with a statistically significant correlation). The conclusions reached with both methods were compared. This is the first study exploring the reproducibility of data-driven patterns from two studies and the first using the CC to determine pattern similarity. We were able to reproduce the EpiGEICAM Western pattern in the DDM-Spain sample (CC=0·90). However, the reproducibility of the Prudent (CC=0·76) and Mediterranean (CC=0·77) patterns was not as good. The linear correlation between pattern scores was statistically significant in all cases, highlighting its arbitrariness for determining pattern similarity. We conclude that the reproducibility of widely prevalent dietary patterns is better than the reproducibility of more population-specific patterns. More methodological studies are needed to establish an objective measurement and threshold to determine pattern similarity.

Effects of Differentiated Reading on Elementary Students' Reading Comprehension and Attitudes toward Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaunessy-Dedrick, Elizabeth; Evans, Linda; Ferron, John; Lindo, Myriam

2015-01-01

In this investigation, we examined the effects of a differentiated reading approach on fourth grade students' reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading. Eight Title I schools within one urban district were randomly assigned to treatment (Schoolwide Enrichment Model-Reading [SEM-R]) or control (district reading curriculum) conditions.…

Testing Reproducibility in Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Church, M. A.; Dudill, A. R.; Frey, P.; Venditti, J. G.

2017-12-01

Reproducibility represents how closely the results of independent tests agree when undertaken using the same materials but different conditions of measurement, such as operator, equipment or laboratory. The concept of reproducibility is fundamental to the scientific method as it prevents the persistence of incorrect or biased results. Yet currently the production of scientific knowledge emphasizes rapid publication of previously unreported findings, a culture that has emerged from pressures related to hiring, publication criteria and funding requirements. Awareness and critique of the disconnect between how scientific research should be undertaken, and how it actually is conducted, has been prominent in biomedicine for over a decade, with the fields of economics and psychology more recently joining the conversation. The purpose of this presentation is to stimulate the conversation in earth sciences where, despite implicit evidence in widely accepted classifications, formal testing of reproducibility is rare.As a formal test of reproducibility, two sets of experiments were undertaken with the same experimental procedure, at the same scale, but in different laboratories. Using narrow, steep flumes and spherical glass beads, grain size sorting was examined by introducing fine sediment of varying size and quantity into a mobile coarse bed. The general setup was identical, including flume width and slope; however, there were some variations in the materials, construction and lab environment. Comparison of the results includes examination of the infiltration profiles, sediment mobility and transport characteristics. The physical phenomena were qualitatively reproduced but not quantitatively replicated. Reproduction of results encourages more robust research and reporting, and facilitates exploration of possible variations in data in various specific contexts. Following the lead of other fields, testing of reproducibility can be incentivized through changes to journal

Oral Reading Fluency in Second Language Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeon, Eun Hee

2012-01-01

This study investigated the role of oral reading fluency in second language reading. Two hundred and fifty-five high school students in South Korea were assessed on three oral reading fluency (ORF) variables and six other reading predictors. The relationship between ORF and other reading predictors was examined through an exploratory factor…

Slow Reading: Reading along "Lectio" Lines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Badley, K. Jo-Ann; Badley, Ken

2011-01-01

The medieval monastic movement preserved and developed reading practices--lectio--from ancient Greek pedagogy as a slow, mindful approach to reading for formation. This ancient way of reading, now better known as lectio divina, challenges the fast, pragmatic reading so characteristic of our time. We propose that the present moment may be ripe for…

Individualizing the Teaching of Reading through Test Management Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fry, Edward

Test management systems are suggested for individualizing the teaching of reading in the elementary classroom. Test management systems start with a list of objectives or specific goals which cover all or some major areas of the learning to read process. They then develop a large number of criterion referenced tests which match the skill areas at…

Is "Object-Centred Neglect" a Homogeneous Entity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gainotti, Guido; Ciaraffa, Francesca

2013-01-01

The nature of object-centred (allocentric) neglect and the possibility of dissociating it from egocentric (subject-centred) forms of neglect are controversial. Originally, allocentric neglect was described by and in patients who reproduced all the elements of a multi-object scene, but left unfinished the left side of one or more of them. More…

Cortical areas involved in Arabic number reading.

PubMed

Roux, F-E; Lubrano, V; Lauwers-Cances, V; Giussani, C; Démonet, J-F

2008-01-15

Distinct functional pathways for processing words and numbers have been hypothesized from the observation of dissociated impairments of these categories in brain-damaged patients. We aimed to identify the cortical areas involved in Arabic number reading process in patients operated on for various brain lesions. Direct cortical electrostimulation was prospectively used in 60 brain mappings. We used object naming and two reading tasks: alphabetic script (sentences and number words) and Arabic number reading. Cortical areas involved in Arabic number reading were identified according to location, type of interference, and distinctness from areas associated with other language tasks. Arabic number reading was sustained by small cortical areas, often extremely well localized (<1 cm(2)). Over 259 language sites detected, 43 (17%) were exclusively involved in Arabic number reading (no sentence or word number reading interference detected in these sites). Specific Arabic number reading interferences were mainly found in three regions: the Broca area (Brodmann area 45), the anterior part of the dominant supramarginal gyrus (Brodmann area 40; p < 0.0001), and the temporal-basal area (Brodmann area 37; p < 0.05). Diverse types of interferences were observed (reading arrest, phonemic or semantic paraphasia). Error patterns were fairly similar across temporal, parietal, and frontal stimulation sites, except for phonemic paraphasias, which were found only in supramarginal gyrus. Our findings strongly support the fact that the acquisition through education of specific symbolic entities, such as Arabic numbers, could result in the segregation and the specialization of anatomically distinct brain areas.

Developmental Reading at Livingston College, 1974-1976. A Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kussat, Reinhart; Farrow, Earl V.

A developmental reading program with a unified approach to the teaching of developmental reading to nontraditional freshmen was designed and initiated at Livingston College, Rutgers University. The two-level program, consisting of curriculum modules based on behavioral objectives and performance criteria, was required for all freshmen who ranked…

Pathways of the inferior frontal occipital fasciculus in overt speech and reading.

PubMed

Rollans, Claire; Cheema, Kulpreet; Georgiou, George K; Cummine, Jacqueline

2017-11-19

In this study, we examined the relationship between tractography-based measures of white matter integrity (ex. fractional anisotropy [FA]) from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and five reading-related tasks, including rapid automatized naming (RAN) of letters, digits, and objects, and reading of real words and nonwords. Twenty university students with no reported history of reading difficulties were tested on all five tasks and their performance was correlated with diffusion measures extracted through DTI tractography. A secondary analysis using whole-brain Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) was also used to find clusters showing significant negative correlations between reaction time and FA. Results showed a significant relationship between the left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus FA and performance on the RAN of objects task, as well as a strong relationship to nonword reading, which suggests a role for this tract in slower, non-automatic and/or resource-demanding speech tasks. There were no significant relationships between FA and the faster, more automatic speech tasks (RAN of letters and digits, and real word reading). These findings provide evidence for the role of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus in tasks that are highly demanding of orthography-phonology translation (e.g., nonword reading) and semantic processing (e.g., RAN object). This demonstrates the importance of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus in basic naming and suggests that this tract may be a sensitive predictor of rapid naming performance within the typical population. We discuss the findings in the context of current models of reading and speech production to further characterize the white matter pathways associated with basic reading processes. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tutor Handbook. Reading Effectiveness Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indiana State Dept. of Public Instruction, Indianapolis. Div. of Reading Effectiveness.

The five sections of this handbook contain reading tutor training materials, with each section listing behavioral learning objectives specific to a particular instructional situation. The first section defines the role of the tutor, sets forth general principles for successful tutoring, presents examples of interest inventories for elementary and…

[Developmental changes of rapid automatized naming and Hiragana reading of Japanese in elementary-school children].

PubMed

Kobayashi, Tomoka; Inagaki, Masumi; Gunji, Atsuko; Yatabe, Kiyomi; Kita, Yosuke; Kaga, Makiko; Gotoh, Takaaki; Koike, Toshihide

2011-11-01

Two hundred and seven Japanese elementary school children aged from 6 (Grade 1) to 12 (Grade 6) years old were tested for their abilities to name numbers and pictured objects along with reading Hiragana characters and words. These children all showed typical development and their classroom teachers judged that they were not having any problems with reading or writing. The children were randomly divided into two groups, the first group was assigned to two naming tasks;the rapid automatized naming (RAN) of "numbers" and "pictured objects," the second group was assigned to two rapid alternative stimulus (RAS) naming tasks using numbers and pictured objects. All children were asked to perform two reading tasks that were written in Hiragana script: single mora reading task and four syllable word reading task. The total articulation time for naming and reading and performance in terms of accuracy were measured for each task. Developmental changes in these variables were evaluated. The articulation time was significantly longer for the first graders, and it gradually shortened as they moved through to the upper grades in all tasks. The articulation time reached a plateau in the 5th grade for the number naming, while gradual change continued after drastic change in the lower grades for the pictured object naming. The articulation times for the single mora reading and RAN of numbers correlated strongly. The articulation time for the RAS naming was significantly longer compared to that for the RAN, though there were very few errors. The RAS naming showed the highest correlation with the four syllable word reading. This study demonstrated that the performance in rapid automatized naming of numbers and pictures were closely related with performance on reading tasks. Thus Japanese children with reading disorders such as developmental dyslexia should also be evaluated for rapid automatized naming.

Reading apps for children: Readability from the design perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, Wasan Abdulwahab; Husni, Husniza

2017-10-01

Electronic reading for young children opens new avenues especially with the advance of modern reading devices. The readability of mobile learning applications has received extensive attention by the designers and developers. The reason for such concern is due to its importance in determining usability related issues especially in the design context for children. In many cases, children find it difficult to interact with mobile reading apps. This is because apps for reading and for entertainment require different features. As such, this study sets out three objectives: 1) to evaluate five reading apps for young children from design perspectives; 2) to examine the readability for current existing mobile apps for reading and 3) to propose and evaluate mobile apps UI guideline for readability. Readability indices, observation and interview were conducted on 6 - 8 years old students. The obtained result showed that certain reading apps provide better reading experience for children than others. Some of the reasons are mostly related to the design characteristics embedded within the app. In addition, the use of animation was found to stimulate children reading experience as it is believed to offer the interactivity elements to gain their interest and willingness to read. These findings are believed to provide the recommendations and insights for designers of reading apps for children.

Periodontal repair in dogs: examiner reproducibility in the supraalveolar periodontal defect model.

PubMed

Koo, Ki-Tae; Polimeni, Giuseppe; Albandar, Jasim M; Wikesjö, Ulf M E

2004-06-01

Histometric assessments are routinely used to evaluate biologic events ascertained in histologic sections acquired from animal and human studies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility of histometric assessments in the supraalveolar periodontal defect model. Histometric analysis using incandescent and polarized light microscopy, an attached digital camera system, and a PC-based image analysis system including a custom program for the supraalveolar periodontal defect model was performed on histologic sections acquired from one jaw quadrant in each of 12 dogs. The animals had received an experimental protocol including implantation of a coral biomaterial and guided tissue regeneration (GTR) barrier devices, and were evaluated following a 4-week healing interval. Histometric parameters were recorded and repeated within a 3-month interval by two examiners following brief training. Intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Most parameters showed high intra-examiner ICCs. Parameters including defect height, connective tissue repair, bone regeneration (height/area), formation of a junctional epithelium, positioning of the GTR device, ankylosis, root resorption, and defect area yielded an ICC> or 0..9. The ICCs for bone density and biomaterial density were somewhat lower (0.8 and 0.7, respectively). The inter-examiner reproducibility was somewhat lower compared to the intra-examiner reproducibility. Nevertheless, the ICCs were generally high (ICC range: 0.6-0.9). Histometric evaluations in the supraalveolar periodontal defect model yield highly reproducible results, in particular when a single examiner performs the histometric measurements, even when the examiner was exposed to limited training.

Curriculum-Based Measurement of Oral Reading Fluency (CBM-R): An Objective Orientated Evaluation Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grima-Farrell, Christine

2014-01-01

The knowledge and practices associated with improved outcomes for readers have yielded converging evidence about practices associated with improved reading outcomes for primary students. This considerable intervention knowledge can be beneficial for English teachers working with struggling secondary readers. Fluency is one critical element that…

Beyond the Computer: Reading as a Process of Intellectual Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Mark E.

With more than 100,000 computers in public schools across the United States, the impact of computer assisted instruction (CAI) on students' reading behavior needs to be evaluated. In reading laboratories, CAI has been found to provide an efficient and highly motivating means of teaching specific educational objectives. Yet, while computer…

Twelve hour reproducibility of choroidal blood flow parameters in healthy subjects.

PubMed

Polska, E; Polak, K; Luksch, A; Fuchsjager-Mayrl, G; Petternel, V; Findl, O; Schmetterer, L

2004-04-01

To investigate the reproducibility and potential diurnal variation of choroidal blood flow parameters in healthy subjects over a period of 12 hours. The choroidal blood flow parameters of 16 healthy non-smoking subjects were measured at five time points during the day (8:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, and 20:00). Outcome parameters were pulsatile ocular blood flow as assessed by pneumotonometry, fundus pulsation amplitude as assessed by laser interferometry, blood velocities in the opthalmic and posterior ciliary arteries as assessed by colour Doppler imaging, and choroidal blood flow, volume, and velocity as assessed by fundus camera based laser Doppler flowmetry. The coefficient of variation and the maximum change from baseline in an individual were calculated for each outcome parameter. None of the techniques used found a diurnal variation in choroidal blood flow. Coefficients of variation were within 2.9% and 13.6% for all outcome parameters. The maximum change from baseline in an individual was much higher, ranging from 11.2% to 58.8%. These data indicate that in healthy subjects the selected techniques provide adequate reproducibility to be used in clinical studies. Variability may, however, be considerably higher in older subjects or subjects with ocular disease. The higher individual differences in flow parameter readings limit the use of the techniques in clinical practice. To overcome problems with measurement validity, a clinical trial should include as many choroidal blood flow outcome parameters as possible to check for consistency.

Reading comprehension and reading related abilities in adolescents with reading disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Ghelani, Karen; Sidhu, Robindra; Jain, Umesh; Tannock, Rosemary

2004-11-01

Reading comprehension is a very complex task that requires different cognitive processes and reading abilities over the life span. There are fewer studies of reading comprehension relative to investigations of word reading abilities. Reading comprehension difficulties, however, have been identified in two common and frequently overlapping childhood disorders: reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The nature of reading comprehension difficulties in these groups remains unclear. The performance of four groups of adolescents (RD, ADHD, comorbid ADHD and RD, and normal controls) was compared on reading comprehension tasks as well as on reading rate and accuracy tasks. Adolescents with RD showed difficulties across most reading tasks, although their comprehension scores were average. Adolescents with ADHD exhibited adequate single word reading abilities. Subtle difficulties were observed, however, on measures of text reading rate and accuracy as well as on silent reading comprehension, but scores remained in the average range. The comorbid group demonstrated similar difficulties to the RD group on word reading accuracy and on reading rate but experienced problems on only silent reading comprehension. Implications for reading interventions are outlined, as well as the clinical relevance for diagnosis.

The Psychotherapy and Reading Clinic.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Arline

The theoretical basis for a Figurative Therapy Reading Clinic in the elementary schools and the tentative structure for implementing that clinic as a pilot project are described in this paper. The contents include: "Figurative Therapy Defined," which refers to the psychoanalytic approach to art therapy; "The Objectives of the Figurative Therapy…

[Reproducibility of subjective refraction measurement].

PubMed

Grein, H-J; Schmidt, O; Ritsche, A

2014-11-01

Reproducibility of subjective refraction measurement is limited by various factors. The main factors affecting reproducibility include the characteristics of the measurement method and of the subject and the examiner. This article presents the results of a study on this topic, focusing on the reproducibility of subjective refraction measurement in healthy eyes. The results of previous studies are not all presented in the same way by the respective authors and cannot be fully standardized without consulting the original scientific data. To the extent that they are comparable, the results of our study largely correspond largely with those of previous investigations: During repeated subjective refraction measurement, 95% of the deviation from the mean value was approximately ±0.2 D to ±0.65 D for the spherical equivalent and cylindrical power. The reproducibility of subjective refraction measurement in healthy eyes is limited, even under ideal conditions. Correct assessment of refraction results is only feasible after identifying individual variability. Several measurements are required. Refraction cannot be measured without a tolerance range. The English full-text version of this article is available at SpringerLink (under supplemental).

The Construction of Visual-spatial Situation Models in Children's Reading and Their Relation to Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Barnes, Marcia A.; Raghubar, Kimberly P.; Faulkner, Heather; Denton, Carolyn A.

2014-01-01

Readers construct mental models of situations described by text to comprehend what they read, updating these situation models based on explicitly described and inferred information about causal, temporal, and spatial relations. Fluent adult readers update their situation models while reading narrative text based in part on spatial location information that is consistent with the perspective of the protagonist. The current study investigates whether children update spatial situation models in a similar way, whether there are age-related changes in children's formation of spatial situation models during reading, and whether measures of the ability to construct and update spatial situation models are predictive of reading comprehension. Typically-developing children from ages 9 through 16 years (n=81) were familiarized with a physical model of a marketplace. Then the model was covered, and children read stories that described the movement of a protagonist through the marketplace and were administered items requiring memory for both explicitly stated and inferred information about the character's movements. Accuracy of responses and response times were evaluated. Results indicated that: (a) location and object information during reading appeared to be activated and updated not simply from explicit text-based information but from a mental model of the real world situation described by the text; (b) this pattern showed no age-related differences; and (c) the ability to update the situation model of the text based on inferred information, but not explicitly stated information, was uniquely predictive of reading comprehension after accounting for word decoding. PMID:24315376

Validity and reproducibility of self-reported working hours among Japanese male employees

PubMed Central

Imai, Teppei; Kuwahara, Keisuke; Miyamoto, Toshiaki; Okazaki, Hiroko; Nishihara, Akiko; Kabe, Isamu; Mizoue, Tetsuya; Dohi, Seitaro

2016-01-01

Objective: Working long hours is a potential health hazard. Although self-reporting of working hours in various time frames has been used in epidemiologic studies, its validity is unclear. The objective of this study was to examine the validity and reproducibility of self-reported working hours among Japanese male employees. Methods: The participants were 164 male employees of four large-scale companies in Japan. For validity, the Spearman correlation between self-reported working hours in the second survey and the working hours recorded by the company was calculated for the following four time frames: daily working hours, monthly overtime working hours in the last month, average overtime working hours in the last 3 months, and the frequency of long working months (≥45 h/month) within the last 12 months. For reproducibility, the intraclass correlation between the first (September 2013) and second surveys (December 2013) was calculated for each of the four time frames. Results: The Spearman correlations between self-reported working hours and those based on company records were 0.74, 0.81, 0.85, and 0.89 for daily, monthly, 3-monthly, and yearly time periods, respectively. The intraclass correlations for self-reported working hours between the two questionnaire surveys were 0.63, 0.66, 0.73, and 0.87 for the respective time frames. Conclusions: The results of the present study among Japanese male employees suggest that the validity of self-reported working hours is high for all four time frames, whereas the reproducibility is moderate to high. PMID:27265530

The Relationships between Korean University Students' Reading Attitude, Reading Strategy Use, and Reading Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Hyangil

2016-01-01

This present study investigated the relationships among L2 readers' reading attitude, reading strategy use, and reading proficiency in order to identify patterns caused by individuals' differences. For this study, 153 Korean university students replied to a reading attitude and reading strategy questionnaire. An ANOVA and frequency analysis were…

Reproducing Epidemiologic Research and Ensuring Transparency.

PubMed

Coughlin, Steven S

2017-08-15

Measures for ensuring that epidemiologic studies are reproducible include making data sets and software available to other researchers so they can verify published findings, conduct alternative analyses of the data, and check for statistical errors or programming errors. Recent developments related to the reproducibility and transparency of epidemiologic studies include the creation of a global platform for sharing data from clinical trials and the anticipated future extension of the global platform to non-clinical trial data. Government agencies and departments such as the US Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program have also enhanced their data repositories and data sharing resources. The Institute of Medicine and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors released guidance on sharing clinical trial data. The US National Institutes of Health has updated their data-sharing policies. In this issue of the Journal, Shepherd et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2017;186:387-392) outline a pragmatic approach for reproducible research with sensitive data for studies for which data cannot be shared because of legal or ethical restrictions. Their proposed quasi-reproducible approach facilitates the dissemination of statistical methods and codes to independent researchers. Both reproducibility and quasi-reproducibility can increase transparency for critical evaluation, further dissemination of study methods, and expedite the exchange of ideas among researchers. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

SUSHI: an exquisite recipe for fully documented, reproducible and reusable NGS data analysis.

PubMed

Hatakeyama, Masaomi; Opitz, Lennart; Russo, Giancarlo; Qi, Weihong; Schlapbach, Ralph; Rehrauer, Hubert

2016-06-02

Next generation sequencing (NGS) produces massive datasets consisting of billions of reads and up to thousands of samples. Subsequent bioinformatic analysis is typically done with the help of open source tools, where each application performs a single step towards the final result. This situation leaves the bioinformaticians with the tasks to combine the tools, manage the data files and meta-information, document the analysis, and ensure reproducibility. We present SUSHI, an agile data analysis framework that relieves bioinformaticians from the administrative challenges of their data analysis. SUSHI lets users build reproducible data analysis workflows from individual applications and manages the input data, the parameters, meta-information with user-driven semantics, and the job scripts. As distinguishing features, SUSHI provides an expert command line interface as well as a convenient web interface to run bioinformatics tools. SUSHI datasets are self-contained and self-documented on the file system. This makes them fully reproducible and ready to be shared. With the associated meta-information being formatted as plain text tables, the datasets can be readily further analyzed and interpreted outside SUSHI. SUSHI provides an exquisite recipe for analysing NGS data. By following the SUSHI recipe, SUSHI makes data analysis straightforward and takes care of documentation and administration tasks. Thus, the user can fully dedicate his time to the analysis itself. SUSHI is suitable for use by bioinformaticians as well as life science researchers. It is targeted for, but by no means constrained to, NGS data analysis. Our SUSHI instance is in productive use and has served as data analysis interface for more than 1000 data analysis projects. SUSHI source code as well as a demo server are freely available.

Forecasting Reading Anxiety for Promoting English-Language Reading Performance Based on Reading Annotation Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Chih-Ming; Wang, Jung-Ying; Chen, Yong-Ting; Wu, Jhih-Hao

2016-01-01

To reduce effectively the reading anxiety of learners while reading English articles, a C4.5 decision tree, a widely used data mining technique, was used to develop a personalized reading anxiety prediction model (PRAPM) based on individual learners' reading annotation behavior in a collaborative digital reading annotation system (CDRAS). In…

Reading Together: A Successful Reading Fluency Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Chase; Mohr, Kathleen A. J.; Rasinski, Timothy

2015-01-01

The article describes a reading fluency intervention called Reading Together that combines the method of repeated readings (Samuels, 1979) and the Neurological Impress Method (Heckelman, 1969). Sixteen volunteers from various backgrounds were recruited and trained to deliver the Reading Together intervention to struggling readers in third through…

Literature and Empowerment: A Study of Multicultural Grade Three Classes Overachieving in Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Damber, Ulla

2011-01-01

The objective of this mixed methods study is to gain insights into how teachers can assist their students to become good readers who read with joy and engagement. This study describes multicultural classrooms in a low-SES (socio-economic status) Stockholm area, representing reading communities, where reading fiction is the heartbeat of classroom…

Locating the cortical bottleneck for slow reading in peripheral vision

PubMed Central

Yu, Deyue; Jiang, Yi; Legge, Gordon E.; He, Sheng

2015-01-01

Yu, Legge, Park, Gage, and Chung (2010) suggested that the neural bottleneck for slow peripheral reading is located in nonretinotopic areas. We investigated the potential rate-limiting neural site for peripheral reading using fMRI, and contrasted peripheral reading with recognition of peripherally presented line drawings of common objects. We measured the BOLD responses to both text (three-letter words/nonwords) and line-drawing objects presented either in foveal or peripheral vision (10° lower right visual field) at three presentation rates (2, 4, and 8/second). The statistically significant interaction effect of visual field × presentation rate on the BOLD response for text but not for line drawings provides evidence for distinctive processing of peripheral text. This pattern of results was obtained in all five regions of interest (ROIs). At the early retinotopic cortical areas, the BOLD signal slightly increased with increasing presentation rate for foveal text, and remained fairly constant for peripheral text. In the Occipital Word-Responsive Area (OWRA), Visual Word Form Area (VWFA), and object sensitive areas (LO and PHA), the BOLD responses to text decreased with increasing presentation rate for peripheral but not foveal presentation. In contrast, there was no rate-dependent reduction in BOLD response for line-drawing objects in all the ROIs for either foveal or peripheral presentation. Only peripherally presented text showed a distinctive rate-dependence pattern. Although it is possible that the differentiation starts to emerge at the early retinotopic cortical representation, the neural bottleneck for slower reading of peripherally presented text may be a special property of peripheral text processing in object category selective cortex. PMID:26237299

A database for reproducible manipulation research: CapriDB - Capture, Print, Innovate.

PubMed

Pokorny, Florian T; Bekiroglu, Yasemin; Pauwels, Karl; Butepage, Judith; Scherer, Clara; Kragic, Danica

2017-04-01

We present a novel approach and database which combines the inexpensive generation of 3D object models via monocular or RGB-D camera images with 3D printing and a state of the art object tracking algorithm. Unlike recent efforts towards the creation of 3D object databases for robotics, our approach does not require expensive and controlled 3D scanning setups and aims to enable anyone with a camera to scan, print and track complex objects for manipulation research. The proposed approach results in detailed textured mesh models whose 3D printed replicas provide close approximations of the originals. A key motivation for utilizing 3D printed objects is the ability to precisely control and vary object properties such as the size, material properties and mass distribution in the 3D printing process to obtain reproducible conditions for robotic manipulation research. We present CapriDB - an extensible database resulting from this approach containing initially 40 textured and 3D printable mesh models together with tracking features to facilitate the adoption of the proposed approach.

Developmental Relations between Reading Comprehension and Reading Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muijselaar, Marloes M. L.; Swart, Nicole M.; Steenbeek-Planting, Esther G.; Droop, Mienke; Verhoeven, Ludo; de Jong, Peter F.

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary, and working memory were administered. A structural…

[Application of rational ant colony optimization to improve the reproducibility degree of laser three-dimensional copy].

PubMed

Cui, Xiao-Yan; Huo, Zhong-Gang; Xin, Zhong-Hua; Tian, Xiao; Zhang, Xiao-Dong

2013-07-01

Three-dimensional (3D) copying of artificial ears and pistol printing are pushing laser three-dimensional copying technique to a new page. Laser three-dimensional scanning is a fresh field in laser application, and plays an irreplaceable part in three-dimensional copying. Its accuracy is the highest among all present copying techniques. Reproducibility degree marks the agreement of copied object with the original object on geometry, being the most important index property in laser three-dimensional copying technique. In the present paper, the error of laser three-dimensional copying was analyzed. The conclusion is that the data processing to the point cloud of laser scanning is the key technique to reduce the error and increase the reproducibility degree. The main innovation of this paper is as follows. On the basis of traditional ant colony optimization, rational ant colony optimization algorithm proposed by the author was applied to the laser three-dimensional copying as a new algorithm, and was put into practice. Compared with customary algorithm, rational ant colony optimization algorithm shows distinct advantages in data processing of laser three-dimensional copying, reducing the error and increasing the reproducibility degree of the copy.

Small Schools Student Learning Objectives, 9-12: Mathematics, Reading, Reading in the Content Areas, Language Arts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, JoAnne, Ed.; Hartl, David, Ed.

Designed by Washington curriculum specialists and secondary teachers to assist teachers in small schools with the improvement of curriculum and instruction and to aid smaller districts lacking curriculum personnel to comply with Washington's Student Learning Objectives Law, this handbook contains learning objectives in the areas of language arts,…

A direct reading exposure monitor for radiation processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kantz, A. D.; Humpherys, K. C.

Various plastic films have been utilized to measure radiation fields. In general such films are rugged, easily handled, small enough to cause neligible perturbation on the radiation fields, and relatively inexpensive. The radiachromic materials have been shown to have advantages over other plastic fabrications in stability, reproducibility, equivalent response to electron and gamma ray processing fields, dose rate independence, and ready availability of calibration standards. Using a nylon matrix radiachromic detector, a system of direct read-out of absorbed dose has been developed to facilitate monitoring in the megarad region. When an exposed detector is inserted into the reader, the optical transmission signal is processed through an analog to digital converter. The digitized signal addresses a memory bank where the standard response curve is stored. The corresponding absorbed dose is displayed on a digital panel meter. The variation of relative sensitivity of detectors, the background of unirradiated detectors, environmental parameters, and the capacity of the memory bank are contributing factors to the total precision of the read-out system.

Second Language Reading: Reading, Language, and Metacognition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carrell, Patricia L.

A study investigated the role of metacognitive skills and the conception of reading in the reading comprehension of adult native speakers of Spanish and English. The study differed from others in its examination of reading conceptions and comprehension in both the first and second languages. Results suggest that both first language reading ability…

Binocular Coordination during Reading and Non-Reading Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkby, Julie A.; Webster, Lisa A. D.; Blythe, Hazel I.; Liversedge, Simon P.

2008-01-01

The goal of this review is to evaluate the literature on binocular coordination during reading and non-reading tasks in adult, child, and dyslexic populations. The review begins with a description of the basic characteristics of eye movements during reading. Then, reading and non-reading studies investigating binocular coordination are evaluated.…

Object shape and orientation do not routinely influence performance during language processing.

PubMed

Rommers, Joost; Meyer, Antje S; Huettig, Falk

2013-11-01

The role of visual representations during language processing remains unclear: They could be activated as a necessary part of the comprehension process, or they could be less crucial and influence performance in a task-dependent manner. In the present experiments, participants read sentences about an object. The sentences implied that the object had a specific shape or orientation. They then either named a picture of that object (Experiments 1 and 3) or decided whether the object had been mentioned in the sentence (Experiment 2). Orientation information did not reliably influence performance in any of the experiments. Shape representations influenced performance most strongly when participants were asked to compare a sentence with a picture or when they were explicitly asked to use mental imagery while reading the sentences. Thus, in contrast to previous claims, implied visual information often does not contribute substantially to the comprehension process during normal reading.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text-reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity): how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency, reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word-reading fluency and reading comprehension. The study examined (a) developmentally changing relations…

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text-reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity): how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word-reading fluency, reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word-reading fluency and reading comprehension. The study examined (a) developmentally changing relations…

Evaluation of the reproducibility of amplicon sequencing with Illumina MiSeq platform

PubMed Central

Van Nostrand, Joy D.; Ning, Daliang; Sun, Bo; Xue, Kai; Liu, Feifei; Deng, Ye; Liang, Yuting; Zhou, Jizhong

2017-01-01

Illumina’s MiSeq has become the dominant platform for gene amplicon sequencing in microbial ecology studies; however, various technical concerns, such as reproducibility, still exist. To assess reproducibility, 16S rRNA gene amplicons from 18 soil samples of a reciprocal transplantation experiment were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq. The V4 region of 16S rRNA gene from each sample was sequenced in triplicate with each replicate having a unique barcode. The average OTU overlap, without considering sequence abundance, at a rarefaction level of 10,323 sequences was 33.4±2.1% and 20.2±1.7% between two and among three technical replicates, respectively. When OTU sequence abundance was considered, the average sequence abundance weighted OTU overlap was 85.6±1.6% and 81.2±2.1% for two and three replicates, respectively. Removing singletons significantly increased the overlap for both (~1–3%, p<0.001). Increasing the sequencing depth to 160,000 reads by deep sequencing increased OTU overlap both when sequence abundance was considered (95%) and when not (44%). However, if singletons were not removed the overlap between two technical replicates (not considering sequence abundance) plateaus at 39% with 30,000 sequences. Diversity measures were not affected by the low overlap as α-diversities were similar among technical replicates while β-diversities (Bray-Curtis) were much smaller among technical replicates than among treatment replicates (e.g., 0.269 vs. 0.374). Higher diversity coverage, but lower OTU overlap, was observed when replicates were sequenced in separate runs. Detrended correspondence analysis indicated that while there was considerable variation among technical replicates, the reproducibility was sufficient for detecting treatment effects for the samples examined. These results suggest that although there is variation among technical replicates, amplicon sequencing on MiSeq is useful for analyzing microbial community structure if used appropriately

Evaluation of the reproducibility of amplicon sequencing with Illumina MiSeq platform.

PubMed

Wen, Chongqing; Wu, Liyou; Qin, Yujia; Van Nostrand, Joy D; Ning, Daliang; Sun, Bo; Xue, Kai; Liu, Feifei; Deng, Ye; Liang, Yuting; Zhou, Jizhong

2017-01-01

Illumina's MiSeq has become the dominant platform for gene amplicon sequencing in microbial ecology studies; however, various technical concerns, such as reproducibility, still exist. To assess reproducibility, 16S rRNA gene amplicons from 18 soil samples of a reciprocal transplantation experiment were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq. The V4 region of 16S rRNA gene from each sample was sequenced in triplicate with each replicate having a unique barcode. The average OTU overlap, without considering sequence abundance, at a rarefaction level of 10,323 sequences was 33.4±2.1% and 20.2±1.7% between two and among three technical replicates, respectively. When OTU sequence abundance was considered, the average sequence abundance weighted OTU overlap was 85.6±1.6% and 81.2±2.1% for two and three replicates, respectively. Removing singletons significantly increased the overlap for both (~1-3%, p<0.001). Increasing the sequencing depth to 160,000 reads by deep sequencing increased OTU overlap both when sequence abundance was considered (95%) and when not (44%). However, if singletons were not removed the overlap between two technical replicates (not considering sequence abundance) plateaus at 39% with 30,000 sequences. Diversity measures were not affected by the low overlap as α-diversities were similar among technical replicates while β-diversities (Bray-Curtis) were much smaller among technical replicates than among treatment replicates (e.g., 0.269 vs. 0.374). Higher diversity coverage, but lower OTU overlap, was observed when replicates were sequenced in separate runs. Detrended correspondence analysis indicated that while there was considerable variation among technical replicates, the reproducibility was sufficient for detecting treatment effects for the samples examined. These results suggest that although there is variation among technical replicates, amplicon sequencing on MiSeq is useful for analyzing microbial community structure if used appropriately and

Contexts of Digital Reading: How Genres Affect Reading Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Janine

2016-01-01

"Contexts of Digital Reading: How Genres Affect Reading Practices" is a study of the different ways university students use digital devices to read. Many mainstream representations of digital reading fail to distinguish between different contexts or genres of reading, making digital reading appear transparent rather than mediated by…

Up or down? Reading direction influences vertical counting direction in the horizontal plane - a cross-cultural comparison.

PubMed

Göbel, Silke M

2015-01-01

Most adults and children in cultures where reading text progresses from left to right also count objects from the left to the right side of space. The reverse is found in cultures with a right-to-left reading direction. The current set of experiments investigated whether vertical counting in the horizontal plane is also influenced by reading direction. Participants were either from a left-to-right reading culture (UK) or from a mixed (left-to-right and top-to-bottom) reading culture (Hong Kong). In Experiment 1, native English-speaking children and adults and native Cantonese-speaking children and adults performed three object counting tasks. Objects were presented flat on a table in a horizontal, vertical, and square display. Independent of culture, the horizontal array was mostly counted from left to right. While the majority of English-speaking children counted the vertical display from bottom to top, the majority of the Cantonese-speaking children as well as both Cantonese- and English-speaking adults counted the vertical display from top to bottom. This pattern was replicated in the counting pattern for squares: all groups except the English-speaking children started counting with the top left coin. In Experiment 2, Cantonese-speaking adults counted a square array of objects after they read a text presented to them either in left-to-right or in top-to-bottom reading direction. Most Cantonese-speaking adults started counting the array by moving horizontally from left to right. However, significantly more Cantonese-speaking adults started counting with a top-to-bottom movement after reading the text presented in a top-to-bottom reading direction than in a left-to-right reading direction. Our results show clearly that vertical counting in the horizontal plane is influenced by longstanding as well as more recent experience of reading direction.

What Would Make Them Read More? Insights from Western Australian Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merga, Margaret Kristin

2016-01-01

The link between recreational book reading and improved literacy performance is consistently supported by educational research. Increasing engagement in recreational book reading remains imperative for English teachers, though how to best facilitate this in a secondary context is an object of contention, with limited research in this field. The…

Reading and listening in people with aphasia: effects of syntactic complexity.

PubMed

DeDe, Gayle

2013-11-01

The purpose of this study was to compare online effects of syntactic complexity in written and spoken sentence comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) and adults with no brain damage (NBD). The participants in Experiment 1 were NBD older and younger adults (n = 20 per group). The participants in Experiment 2 were 10 PWA. In both experiments, the participants read and listened to sentences in self-paced reading and listening tasks. The experimental materials consisted of object cleft sentences (e.g., It was the girl who the boy hugged.) and subject cleft sentences (e.g., It was the boy who hugged the girl.). The predicted effects of syntactic complexity were observed in both Experiments 1 and 2: Reading and listening times were longer for the verb in sentences with object compared to subject relative clauses. The NBD controls showed exaggerated effects of syntactic complexity in reading compared to listening. The PWA did not show different modality effects from the NBD participants. Although effects of syntactic complexity were somewhat exaggerated in reading compared with listening, both the PWA and the NBD controls showed similar effects in both modalities.

Reading Ability and Reading Engagement in Older Adults With Glaucoma

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Angeline M.; van Landingham, Suzanne W.; Massof, Robert W.; Rubin, Gary S.; Ramulu, Pradeep Y.

2014-01-01

Purpose. We evaluated the impact of glaucoma-related vision loss on reading ability and reading engagement in 10 reading activities. Methods. A total of 63 glaucoma patients and 59 glaucoma suspect controls self-rated their level of reading difficulty for 10 reading items, and responses were analyzed using Rasch analysis to determine reading ability. Reading engagement was assessed by asking subjects to report the number of days per week they engaged in each reading activity. Reading restriction was determined as a decrement in engagement. Results. Glaucoma subjects more often described greater reading difficulty than controls for all tasks except puzzles (P < 0.05). The most difficult reading tasks involved puzzles, books, and finances, while the least difficult reading tasks involved notes, bills, and mail. In multivariable weighted least squares regression models of Rasch-estimated person measures of reading ability, less reading ability was found for glaucoma patients compared to controls (β = −1.60 logits, P < 0.001). Among glaucoma patients, less reading ability was associated with more severe visual field (VF) loss (β = −0.68 logits per 5-dB decrement in better-eye VF mean deviation [MD], P < 0.001) and contrast sensitivity (β = −0.76 logits per 0.1-unit lower log CS, P < 0.001). Each 5-dB decrement in the better-eye VF MD was associated with book reading on 18% fewer days (P = 0.003) and newspaper reading on 10% fewer days (P = 0.008). No statistically significant reading restriction was observed for other reading activities (P > 0.05). Conclusions. Glaucoma patients have less reading ability and engage less in a variety of different reading activities, particularly those requiring sustained reading. Future work should evaluate the mechanisms underlying reading disability in glaucoma to determine how patients can maintain reading ability and engagement. PMID:25052992

The Correlation of Reading Motivation & Reading Engagement with Reading Comprehension Skills in 8th Graders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karahan, Berna Ürün

2017-01-01

One of the four main skills of language, reading is a concept encountered by individuals both in the process of education and social life. Individuals reading and having positive motivation towards reading constitute successful societies. The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation of reading motivation & reading engagement with…

A Teacher's Guide to Individualizing Reading.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Utah System Approach to Individualized Learning Project.

The objective of this teaching guide is to provide a comprehensive system for individualizing reading instruction through planning, organization, management, and skillful teaching. The planning stage involves establishing goals, reality bases, work bases and flows, and review, evaluation, and revision. The organization of program content involves…

Promoting Reading Motivation by Reading Together

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monteiro, Vera

2013-01-01

In the present project we tested the hypothesis that tutorial situations with peers would benefit children's reading motivation. Participants were from elementary school--80 fourth-graders and 80 second-graders. We used a questionnaire to assess reading motivation. In the tutorial sessions we developed a Paired Reading Program. The children who…

Cyberinfrastructure to Support Collaborative and Reproducible Computational Hydrologic Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodall, J. L.; Castronova, A. M.; Bandaragoda, C.; Morsy, M. M.; Sadler, J. M.; Essawy, B.; Tarboton, D. G.; Malik, T.; Nijssen, B.; Clark, M. P.; Liu, Y.; Wang, S. W.

2017-12-01

Creating cyberinfrastructure to support reproducibility of computational hydrologic models is an important research challenge. Addressing this challenge requires open and reusable code and data with machine and human readable metadata, organized in ways that allow others to replicate results and verify published findings. Specific digital objects that must be tracked for reproducible computational hydrologic modeling include (1) raw initial datasets, (2) data processing scripts used to clean and organize the data, (3) processed model inputs, (4) model results, and (5) the model code with an itemization of all software dependencies and computational requirements. HydroShare is a cyberinfrastructure under active development designed to help users store, share, and publish digital research products in order to improve reproducibility in computational hydrology, with an architecture supporting hydrologic-specific resource metadata. Researchers can upload data required for modeling, add hydrology-specific metadata to these resources, and use the data directly within HydroShare.org for collaborative modeling using tools like CyberGIS, Sciunit-CLI, and JupyterHub that have been integrated with HydroShare to run models using notebooks, Docker containers, and cloud resources. Current research aims to implement the Structure For Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA) hydrologic model within HydroShare to support hypothesis-driven hydrologic modeling while also taking advantage of the HydroShare cyberinfrastructure. The goal of this integration is to create the cyberinfrastructure that supports hypothesis-driven model experimentation, education, and training efforts by lowering barriers to entry, reducing the time spent on informatics technology and software development, and supporting collaborative research within and across research groups.

Electronic Thermometer Readings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

NASA Stennis' adaptive predictive algorithm for electronic thermometers uses sample readings during the initial rise in temperature and applies an algorithm that accurately and rapidly predicts the steady state temperature. The final steady state temperature of an object can be calculated based on the second-order logarithm of the temperature signals acquired by the sensor and predetermined variables from the sensor characteristics. These variables are calculated during tests of the sensor. Once the variables are determined, relatively little data acquisition and data processing time by the algorithm is required to provide a near-accurate approximation of the final temperature. This reduces the delay in the steady state response time of a temperature sensor. This advanced algorithm can be implemented in existing software or hardware with an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM). The capability for easy integration eliminates the expense of developing a whole new system that offers the benefits provided by NASA Stennis' technology.

Using Television Commercials to Develop Reading Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowman, James D.; Bowman, S. Ray

1991-01-01

Suggests that teachers can use reluctant readers' sensitivity to and sophistication with "musicomedy" to both assess and develop reading comprehension. Discusses several class activities using the musical and humorous expressions in television commercials for fulfilling this objective. (RS)

Thou Shalt Be Reproducible! A Technology Perspective

PubMed Central

Mair, Patrick

2016-01-01

This article elaborates on reproducibility in psychology from a technological viewpoint. Modern open source computational environments are shown and explained that foster reproducibility throughout the whole research life cycle, and to which emerging psychology researchers should be sensitized, are shown and explained. First, data archiving platforms that make datasets publicly available are presented. Second, R is advocated as the data-analytic lingua franca in psychology for achieving reproducible statistical analysis. Third, dynamic report generation environments for writing reproducible manuscripts that integrate text, data analysis, and statistical outputs such as figures and tables in a single document are described. Supplementary materials are provided in order to get the reader started with these technologies. PMID:27471486

Adapted shared reading at school for minimally verbal students with autism.

PubMed

Mucchetti, Charlotte A

2013-05-01

Almost nothing is known about the capacity of minimally verbal students with autism to develop literacy skills. Shared reading is a regular practice in early education settings and is widely thought to encourage language and literacy development. There is some evidence that children with severe disabilities can be engaged in adapted shared reading activities. The current study examines the impact of teacher-led adapted shared reading activities on engagement and story comprehension in minimally verbal 5-6-year-old children with autism using a multiple baseline/alternating treatment design. Four students and three teachers participated. Teachers conducted adapted shared reading activities with modified books (visual supports, three-dimensional objects, simplified text) and used specific strategies for increasing student engagement. Student performance during adapted activities was compared to performance during standard shared reading sessions. All four students showed increased story comprehension and engagement during adapted shared reading. Average percentage of session engaged was 87%-100% during adapted sessions, compared with 41%-52% during baseline. Average number of correct responses to story comprehension questions was 4.2-4.8 out of 6 during adapted sessions compared with 1.2-2 during baseline. Visual supports, tactile objects, and specific teaching strategies offer ways for minimally verbal students to meaningfully participate in literacy activities. Future research should investigate adapted shared reading activities implemented classroom-wide as well as joint engagement, language, and literacy outcomes after using such activities over time.

Comparison of four morphometric definitions and a semiquantitative consensus reading for assessing prevalent vertebral fractures.

PubMed

Grados, F; Roux, C; de Vernejoul, M C; Utard, G; Sebert, J L; Fardellone, P

2001-01-01

The assessment of vertebral fracture in patients with osteoporosis by conventional radiography has been improved over the past 10 years using either the semiquantitative (SQ) method devised by Genant et al. or quantitative morphometry. However, there is still no internationally agreed definition for vertebral fracture and there have been few comparative studies between these different approaches. Our study assessed the reproducibility of the SQ method and of four commonly used morphometric algorithms (Melton's, Eastell's, Minne's and McCloskey's methods) for assessing prevalent vertebral fractures, and examined the agreement of each morphometric algorithm with a SQ consensus reading performed by three experts. With this consensus reading in place of a gold standard, we determined relative measures of sensitivity, specificity and optimal cutoff threshold for each morphometric algorithm. The study was conducted in 39 postmenopausal women who had at least one osteoporotic vertebral fracture. Normal values were derived from 84 healthy postmenopausal women with apparently normal vertebral bodies. Our results indicate that the concordance of SQ method was excellent (intraobserver agreement on serial radiographs = 96.4%, kappa = 0.91; agreement between individual readings and the consensus reading = 98%, kappa = 0.95). Three morphometric approaches demonstrated good intra- and interobserver concordance (Melton: intraobserver agreement on serial radiographs = 92.7%, kappa = 0.82, interobserver agreement = 91.1%, kappa = 0.79; Eastell: intraobserver agreement on serial radiographs = 87.6%, kappa = 0.66, interobserver agreement = 88.6%, kappa = 0.68; McCloskey: intraobserver agreement on serial radiographs = 91.5%, kappa = 0.72, interobserver agreement = 93.9%, kappa = 0.78). Except for McCloskey's method, the optimal cutoff thresholds defined in our study by highest kappa score or Youden index in comparison with the SQ consensus reading were near the cutoff thresholds that

10 CFR 95.43 - Authority to reproduce.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... CSA, Secret and Confidential documents may be reproduced. Reproduced copies of classified documents... material must be conspicuously marked with the same classification markings as the material being...

10 CFR 95.43 - Authority to reproduce.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... CSA, Secret and Confidential documents may be reproduced. Reproduced copies of classified documents... material must be conspicuously marked with the same classification markings as the material being...

10 CFR 95.43 - Authority to reproduce.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... CSA, Secret and Confidential documents may be reproduced. Reproduced copies of classified documents... material must be conspicuously marked with the same classification markings as the material being...

10 CFR 95.43 - Authority to reproduce.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... CSA, Secret and Confidential documents may be reproduced. Reproduced copies of classified documents... material must be conspicuously marked with the same classification markings as the material being...

10 CFR 95.43 - Authority to reproduce.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... CSA, Secret and Confidential documents may be reproduced. Reproduced copies of classified documents... material must be conspicuously marked with the same classification markings as the material being...

Analysis of factors affecting the accuracy, reproducibility, and interpretation of microbial community carbon source utilization patterns

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haack, S.K.; Garchow, H.; Klug, M.J.; Forney, L.J.

1995-01-01

We determined factors that affect responses of bacterial isolates and model bacterial communities to the 95 carbon substrates in Biolog microliter plates. For isolates and communities of three to six bacterial strains, substrate oxidation rates were typically nonlinear and were delayed by dilution of the inoculum. When inoculum density was controlled, patterns of positive and negative responses exhibited by microbial communities to each of the carbon sources were reproducible. Rates and extents of substrate oxidation by the communities were also reproducible but were not simply the sum of those exhibited by community members when tested separately. Replicates of the same model community clustered when analyzed by principal- components analysis (PCA), and model communities with different compositions were clearly separated un the first PCA axis, which accounted for >60% of the dataset variation. PCA discrimination among different model communities depended on the extent to which specific substrates were oxidized. However, the substrates interpreted by PCA to be most significant in distinguishing the communities changed with reading time, reflecting the nonlinearity of substrate oxidation rates. Although whole-community substrate utilization profiles were reproducible signatures for a given community, the extent of oxidation of specific substrates and the numbers or activities of microorganisms using those substrates in a given community were not correlated. Replicate soil samples varied significantly in the rate and extent of oxidation of seven tested substrates, suggesting microscale heterogeneity in composition of the soil microbial community.

Why Is Rapid Automatized Naming Related to Reading?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Georgiou, George K.; Parrila, Rauno; Cui, Ying; Papadopoulos, Timothy C.

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine why rapid automatized naming (RAN) is related to reading by manipulating processes involved at the input, processing, and output stages of its production. In total, 65 children in Grade 2 and 65 in Grade 6 were assessed on serial and discrete RAN (Digits and Objects), Cancellation, RAN Yes/No, and oral…

Reading Instruments: Objects, Texts and Museums

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Katharine; Frappier, Mélanie; Neswald, Elizabeth; Trim, Henry

2013-05-01

Science educators, historians of science and their students often share a curiosity about historical instruments as a tangible link between past and present practices in the sciences. We less often integrate instruments into our research and pedagogy, considering artefact study as the domain of museum specialists. We argue here that scholars and teachers new to material culture can readily use artefacts to reveal rich and complex networks of narratives. We illustrate this point by describing our own lay encounter with an artefact turned over for our analysis during a week-long workshop at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. The text explains how elements as disparate as the military appearance of the instrument, the crest stamped on its body, the manipulation of its telescopes, or a luggage tag revealed the object's scientific and political significance in different national contexts. In this way, the presence of the instrument in the classroom vividly conveyed the nature of geophysics as a field practice and an international science, and illuminated relationships between pure and applied science for early twentieth century geologists. We conclude that artefact study can be an unexpectedly powerful and accessible tool in the study of science, making visible the connections between past and present, laboratory and field, texts and instruments.

A genetic scale of reading frame coding.

PubMed

Michel, Christian J

2014-08-21

The reading frame coding (RFC) of codes (sets) of trinucleotides is a genetic concept which has been largely ignored during the last 50 years. A first objective is the definition of a new and simple statistical parameter PrRFC for analysing the probability (efficiency) of reading frame coding (RFC) of any trinucleotide code. A second objective is to reveal different classes and subclasses of trinucleotide codes involved in reading frame coding: the circular codes of 20 trinucleotides and the bijective genetic codes of 20 trinucleotides coding the 20 amino acids. This approach allows us to propose a genetic scale of reading frame coding which ranges from 1/3 with the random codes (RFC probability identical in the three frames) to 1 with the comma-free circular codes (RFC probability maximal in the reading frame and null in the two shifted frames). This genetic scale shows, in particular, the reading frame coding probabilities of the 12,964,440 circular codes (PrRFC=83.2% in average), the 216 C(3) self-complementary circular codes (PrRFC=84.1% in average) including the code X identified in eukaryotic and prokaryotic genes (PrRFC=81.3%) and the 339,738,624 bijective genetic codes (PrRFC=61.5% in average) including the 52 codes without permuted trinucleotides (PrRFC=66.0% in average). Otherwise, the reading frame coding probabilities of each trinucleotide code coding an amino acid with the universal genetic code are also determined. The four amino acids Gly, Lys, Phe and Pro are coded by codes (not circular) with RFC probabilities equal to 2/3, 1/2, 1/2 and 2/3, respectively. The amino acid Leu is coded by a circular code (not comma-free) with a RFC probability equal to 18/19. The 15 other amino acids are coded by comma-free circular codes, i.e. with RFC probabilities equal to 1. The identification of coding properties in some classes of trinucleotide codes studied here may bring new insights in the origin and evolution of the genetic code. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier

Anatomical Reproducibility of a Head Model Molded by a Three-dimensional Printer

PubMed Central

KONDO, Kosuke; NEMOTO, Masaaki; MASUDA, Hiroyuki; OKONOGI, Shinichi; NOMOTO, Jun; HARADA, Naoyuki; SUGO, Nobuo; MIYAZAKI, Chikao

We prepared rapid prototyping models of heads with unruptured cerebral aneurysm based on image data of computed tomography angiography (CTA) using a three-dimensional (3D) printer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anatomical reproducibility and accuracy of these models by comparison with the CTA images on a monitor. The subjects were 22 patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysm who underwent preoperative CTA. Reproducibility of the microsurgical anatomy of skull bone and arteries, the length and thickness of the main arteries, and the size of cerebral aneurysm were compared between the CTA image and rapid prototyping model. The microsurgical anatomy and arteries were favorably reproduced, apart from a few minute regions, in the rapid prototyping models. No significant difference was noted in the measured lengths of the main arteries between the CTA image and rapid prototyping model, but errors were noted in their thickness (p < 0.001). A significant difference was also noted in the longitudinal diameter of the cerebral aneurysm (p < 0.01). Regarding the CTA image as the gold standard, reproducibility of the microsurgical anatomy of skull bone and main arteries was favorable in the rapid prototyping models prepared using a 3D printer. It was concluded that these models are useful tools for neurosurgical simulation. The thickness of the main arteries and size of cerebral aneurysm should be comprehensively judged including other neuroimaging in consideration of errors. PMID:26119896

Reading is fundamentally similar across disparate writing systems: A systematic characterization of how words and characters influence eye movements in Chinese reading

PubMed Central

Li, Xingshan; Bicknell, Klinton; Liu, Pingping; Wei, Wei; Rayner, Keith

2013-01-01

While much previous work on reading in languages with alphabetic scripts has suggested that reading is word-based, reading in Chinese has been argued to be less reliant on words. This is primarily because in the Chinese writing system words are not spatially segmented, and characters are themselves complex visual objects. Here, we present a systematic characterization of the effects of a wide range of word and character properties on eye movements in Chinese reading, using a set of mixed-effects regression models. The results reveal a rich pattern of effects of the properties of the current, previous, and next words on a range of reading measures, which is strikingly similar to the pattern of effects of word properties reported in spaced alphabetic languages. This finding provides evidence that reading shares a word-based core and may be fundamentally similar across languages with highly dissimilar scripts. We show that these findings are robust to the inclusion of character properties in the regression models, and are equally reliable when dependent measures are defined in terms of characters rather than words, providing strong evidence that word properties have effects in Chinese reading above and beyond characters. This systematic characterization of the effects of word and character properties in Chinese advances our knowledge of the processes underlying reading and informs the future development of models of reading. More generally, however, this work suggests that differences in script may not alter the fundamental nature of reading. PMID:23834023

Reading Development in European Portuguese: Relationships between Oral Reading Fluency, Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandes, Sandra; Querido, Luís; Verhaeghe, Arlette; Marques, Catarina; Araújo, Luísa

2017-01-01

This study investigated direct and indirect effects between oral reading fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension across reading development in European Portuguese. Participants were 329 children attending basic education, from grade 1 to grade 6. The results of path analyses showed that text reading fluency is much more dependent on the…

Twelve hour reproducibility of choroidal blood flow parameters in healthy subjects

PubMed Central

Polska, E; Polak, K; Luksch, A; Fuchsjager-Mayrl, G; Petternel, V; Findl, O; Schmetterer, L

2004-01-01

Aims/background: To investigate the reproducibility and potential diurnal variation of choroidal blood flow parameters in healthy subjects over a period of 12 hours. Methods: The choroidal blood flow parameters of 16 healthy non-smoking subjects were measured at five time points during the day (8:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, and 20:00). Outcome parameters were pulsatile ocular blood flow as assessed by pneumotonometry, fundus pulsation amplitude as assessed by laser interferometry, blood velocities in the opthalmic and posterior ciliary arteries as assessed by colour Doppler imaging, and choroidal blood flow, volume, and velocity as assessed by fundus camera based laser Doppler flowmetry. The coefficient of variation and the maximum change from baseline in an individual were calculated for each outcome parameter. Results: None of the techniques used found a diurnal variation in choroidal blood flow. Coefficients of variation were within 2.9% and 13.6% for all outcome parameters. The maximum change from baseline in an individual was much higher, ranging from 11.2% to 58.8%. Conclusions: These data indicate that in healthy subjects the selected techniques provide adequate reproducibility to be used in clinical studies. Variability may, however, be considerably higher in older subjects or subjects with ocular disease. The higher individual differences in flow parameter readings limit the use of the techniques in clinical practice. To overcome problems with measurement validity, a clinical trial should include as many choroidal blood flow outcome parameters as possible to check for consistency. PMID:15031172

What Oral Text Reading Fluency Can Reveal about Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veenendaal, Nathalie J.; Groen, Margriet A.; Verhoeven, Ludo

2015-01-01

Text reading fluency--the ability to read quickly, accurately and with a natural intonation--has been proposed as a predictor of reading comprehension. In the current study, we examined the role of oral text reading fluency, defined as text reading rate and text reading prosody, as a contributor to reading comprehension outcomes in addition to…

Children's Implicit and Explicit Gender Stereotypes about Mathematics and Reading Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nowicki, Elizabeth A.; Lopata, Joel

2017-01-01

Study objectives were to clarify children's gender-based implicit and explicit mathematics and reading stereotypes, and to determine if implicit and explicit measures were related or represented distinct constructs. One hundred and fifty-six boys and girls (mean age 11.3 years) from six elementary schools completed math or reading stereotype…

Reaction Time Variability Associated with Reading Skills in Poor Readers with ADHD

PubMed Central

Tamm, Leanne; Epstein, Jeffery N.; Denton, Carolyn A.; Vaughn, Aaron J.; Peugh, James; Willcutt, Erik G.

2014-01-01

Objective Linkages between neuropsychological functioning (i.e., response inhibition, processing speed, reaction time variability) and word reading have been documented among children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and children with Reading Disorders. However, associations between neuropsychological functioning and other aspects of reading (i.e., fluency, comprehension) have not been well-documented among children with comorbid ADHD and Reading Disorder. Method Children with ADHD and poor word reading (i.e., ≤25th percentile) completed a stop signal task (SST) and tests of word reading, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Multivariate multiple regression was conducted predicting the reading skills from SST variables [i.e., mean reaction time (MRT), reaction time standard deviation (SDRT), and stop signal reaction time (SSRT)]. Results SDRT predicted word reading, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. MRT and SSRT were not associated with any reading skill. After including word reading in models predicting reading fluency and reading comprehension, the effects of SDRT were minimized. Discussion Reaction time variability (i.e., SDRT) reflects impairments in information processing and failure to maintain executive control. The pattern of results from this study suggest SDRT exerts its effects on reading fluency and reading comprehension through its effect on word reading (i.e., decoding) and that this relation may be related to observed deficits in higher-level elements of reading. PMID:24528537

Reading Faster

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nation, Paul

2009-01-01

This article describes the visual nature of the reading process as it relates to reading speed. It points out that there is a physical limit on normal reading speed and beyond this limit the reading process will be different from normal reading where almost every word is attended to. The article describes a range of activities for developing…

Reproducible Hydrogeophysical Inversions through the Open-Source Library pyGIMLi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, F. M.; Rücker, C.; Günther, T.

2017-12-01

Many tasks in applied geosciences cannot be solved by a single measurement method and require the integration of geophysical, geotechnical and hydrological methods. In the emerging field of hydrogeophysics, researchers strive to gain quantitative information on process-relevant subsurface parameters by means of multi-physical models, which simulate the dynamic process of interest as well as its geophysical response. However, such endeavors are associated with considerable technical challenges, since they require coupling of different numerical models. This represents an obstacle for many practitioners and students. Even technically versatile users tend to build individually tailored solutions by coupling different (and potentially proprietary) forward simulators at the cost of scientific reproducibility. We argue that the reproducibility of studies in computational hydrogeophysics, and therefore the advancement of the field itself, requires versatile open-source software. To this end, we present pyGIMLi - a flexible and computationally efficient framework for modeling and inversion in geophysics. The object-oriented library provides management for structured and unstructured meshes in 2D and 3D, finite-element and finite-volume solvers, various geophysical forward operators, as well as Gauss-Newton based frameworks for constrained, joint and fully-coupled inversions with flexible regularization. In a step-by-step demonstration, it is shown how the hydrogeophysical response of a saline tracer migration can be simulated. Tracer concentration data from boreholes and measured voltages at the surface are subsequently used to estimate the hydraulic conductivity distribution of the aquifer within a single reproducible Python script.

A Comparison of Seventh Grade Thai Students' Reading Comprehension and Motivation to Read English through Applied Instruction Based on the Genre-Based Approach and the Teacher's Manual

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawangsamutchai, Yutthasak; Rattanavich, Saowalak

2016-01-01

The objective of this research is to compare the English reading comprehension and motivation to read of seventh grade Thai students taught with applied instruction through the genre-based approach and teachers' manual. A randomized pre-test post-test control group design was used through the cluster random sampling technique. The data were…

Comparison of reading speed with 3 different log-scaled reading charts.

PubMed

Buari, Noor Halilah; Chen, Ai-Hong; Musa, Nuraini

2014-01-01

A reading chart that resembles real reading conditions is important to evaluate the quality of life in terms of reading performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the reading speed of UiTM Malay related words (UiTM-Mrw) reading chart with MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart. Fifty subjects with normal sight were randomly recruited through randomized sampling in this study (mean age=22.98±1.65 years). Subjects were asked to read three different near charts aloud and as quickly as possible at random sequence. The charts were the UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart, respectively. The time taken to read each chart was recorded and any errors while reading were noted. Reading performance was quantified in terms of reading speed as words per minute (wpm). The mean reading speed for UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart was 200±30wpm, 196±28wpm and 194±31wpm, respectively. Comparison of reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and MNread Acuity Chart showed no significant difference (t=-0.73, p=0.72). The same happened with the reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart (t=-0.97, p=0.55). Bland and Altman plot showed good agreement between reading speed of UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart with MNread Acuity Chart with the Colenbrander Reading Chart. UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart in Malay language is highly comparable with standardized charts and can be used for evaluating reading speed. Copyright © 2013 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Guided Reading Instruction on Reading Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Underwood, Vanda Lea

2010-01-01

Although reading achievement correlates highly with a student's ability to do well in school, not all children achieve in reading. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate whether reading instruction provided in small groups at the child's own reading level, known as "guided reading instruction," would result in…

Improving EFL Learners' Reading Levels through Extensive Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mermelstein, Aaron David

2014-01-01

Today there is an increasing amount of research promoting the effectiveness of extensive reading (ER) towards increasing learners' vocabulary, comprehension, reading speed, and motivation towards reading. However, little has been done to measure the effects of ER on learners' reading levels. This quantitative study examined the effects of ER on…

Reading Motivation and Reading Engagement: Clarifying Commingled Conceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Unrau, Norman J.; Quirk, Matthew

2014-01-01

The constructs of motivation for reading and reading engagement have frequently become blurred and ambiguous in both research and discussions of practice. To address this commingling of constructs, the authors provide a concise review of the literature on motivation for reading and reading engagement and illustrate the blurring of those concepts…

Segmentation in reading and film comprehension.

PubMed

Zacks, Jeffrey M; Speer, Nicole K; Reynolds, Jeremy R

2009-05-01

When reading a story or watching a film, comprehenders construct a series of representations in order to understand the events depicted. Discourse comprehension theories and a recent theory of perceptual event segmentation both suggest that comprehenders monitor situational features such as characters' goals, to update these representations at natural boundaries in activity. However, the converging predictions of these theories had previously not been tested directly. Two studies provided evidence that changes in situational features such as characters, their locations, their interactions with objects, and their goals are related to the segmentation of events in both narrative texts and films. A 3rd study indicated that clauses with event boundaries are read more slowly than are other clauses and that changes in situational features partially mediate this relation. A final study suggested that the predictability of incoming information influences reading rate and possibly event segmentation. Taken together, these results suggest that processing situational changes during comprehension is an important determinant of how one segments ongoing activity into events and that this segmentation is related to the control of processing during reading. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Read Hard, Play Later: Putting Summer Reading into Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wemett, Lisa C.; Bolan, Kimberly

1998-01-01

Provides an overview of "Read on the Wild Side," a summer reading program for young adults established by the Webster (New York) Public Library, and "Read Hard, Play Later," a young adult summer reading program of the Pioneer Library System (New York). Highlights include reading logs, T-shirts, publicity, program evaluation,…

A Pear Tried to Kiss Me: A Language Experience Approach to Reading Readiness in Kindergarten.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Barbara; Johnson, Marilyn

Information is given in this booklet on how to implement a language experience approach to reading readiness instruction in the kindergarten based on the experiences of teachers in the Burrillville Reading Observes Necessary Communication Objectives and Skills (BRONCOS) project, a Right to Read program in Burrillville, Rhode Island. An…

Research Reproducibility in Geosciences: Current Landscape, Practices and Perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, An

2016-04-01

Reproducibility of research can gauge the validity of its findings. Yet currently we lack understanding of how much of a problem research reproducibility is in geosciences. We developed an online survey on faculty and graduate students in geosciences, and received 136 responses from research institutions and universities in Americas, Asia, Europe and other parts of the world. This survey examined (1) the current state of research reproducibility in geosciences by asking researchers' experiences with unsuccessful replication work, and what obstacles that lead to their replication failures; (2) the current reproducibility practices in community by asking what efforts researchers made to try to reproduce other's work and make their own work reproducible, and what the underlying factors that contribute to irreproducibility are; (3) the perspectives on reproducibility by collecting researcher's thoughts and opinions on this issue. The survey result indicated that nearly 80% of respondents who had ever reproduced a published study had failed at least one time in reproducing. Only one third of the respondents received helpful feedbacks when they contacted the authors of a published study for data, code, or other information. The primary factors that lead to unsuccessful replication attempts are insufficient details of instructions in published literature, and inaccessibility of data, code and tools needed in the study. Our findings suggest a remarkable lack of research reproducibility in geoscience. Changing the incentive mechanism in academia, as well as developing policies and tools that facilitate open data and code sharing are the promising ways for geosciences community to alleviate this reproducibility problem.

THE ANALYSIS OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES. DRAFT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

GAGNE, ROBERT M.

THIS PAPER DISCUSSES AIMS, EFFECTS, AND IMPLICATIONS OF SPECIFYING OBJECTIVES FOR PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION, AND CITES EXAMPLES FROM THE LITERATURE. THE PAPER WAS READ AS A PORTION OF THE SYMPOSIUM ON PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 24-26, 1963. (LH)

The influence of inattention and rapid automatized naming on reading performance.

PubMed

Pham, Andy V; Fine, Jodene Goldenring; Semrud-Clikeman, Margaret

2011-04-01

The current study examined the relation between attention, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and reading fluency among typically developing children. A total of 104 third- and fourth-grade children (8-11 years of age) completed RAN measures consisting of four stimuli (letter, digit, color, and object) and an oral reading fluency measure from the Gray Oral Reading Test-Fourth Edition. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that all four RAN stimuli, particularly letter RAN, were significant predictors of reading fluency. Additionally, parent and teacher ratings of inattention from the Swanson, Nolan and Pelham-Version Four rating scale predicted RAN after controlling for gender, working memory, and estimated IQ. Further analyses indicated that RAN performance mediated the relation between inattention and reading fluency. Results support the need to consider attentional variables when assessing reading performance, even among typically developing children.

When Reading Gets Ruff: Canine-Assisted Reading Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Holly B.; Zavada, Shannon D. W.

2013-01-01

Canine-assisted reading programs show promise as an innovative method for engaging reluctant readers and motivating them to practice. In such programs, specially trained dogs visit classrooms and libraries, and children read to them. Children who struggle with reading may be motivated to read more because they find dogs to be calming and…

Comparison of reading speed with 3 different log-scaled reading charts

PubMed Central

Buari, Noor Halilah; Chen, Ai-Hong; Musa, Nuraini

2014-01-01

Background A reading chart that resembles real reading conditions is important to evaluate the quality of life in terms of reading performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the reading speed of UiTM Malay related words (UiTM-Mrw) reading chart with MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart. Materials and methods Fifty subjects with normal sight were randomly recruited through randomized sampling in this study (mean age = 22.98 ± 1.65 years). Subjects were asked to read three different near charts aloud and as quickly as possible at random sequence. The charts were the UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart, respectively. The time taken to read each chart was recorded and any errors while reading were noted. Reading performance was quantified in terms of reading speed as words per minute (wpm). Results The mean reading speed for UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart was 200 ± 30 wpm, 196 ± 28 wpm and 194 ± 31 wpm, respectively. Comparison of reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and MNread Acuity Chart showed no significant difference (t = −0.73, p = 0.72). The same happened with the reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart (t = −0.97, p = 0.55). Bland and Altman plot showed good agreement between reading speed of UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart with MNread Acuity Chart with the Colenbrander Reading Chart. Conclusion UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart in Malay language is highly comparable with standardized charts and can be used for evaluating reading speed. PMID:25323642

Use of Objective Metrics in Dynamic Facial Reanimation: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Revenaugh, Peter C; Smith, Ryan M; Plitt, Max A; Ishii, Lisa; Boahene, Kofi; Byrne, Patrick J

2018-06-21

Facial nerve deficits cause significant functional and social consequences for those affected. Existing techniques for dynamic restoration of facial nerve function are imperfect and result in a wide variety of outcomes. Currently, there is no standard objective instrument for facial movement as it relates to restorative techniques. To determine what objective instruments of midface movement are used in outcome measurements for patients treated with dynamic methods for facial paralysis. Database searches from January 1970 to June 2017 were performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus. Only English-language articles on studies performed in humans were considered. The search terms used were ("Surgical Flaps"[Mesh] OR "Nerve Transfer"[Mesh] OR "nerve graft" OR "nerve grafts") AND (face [mh] OR facial paralysis [mh]) AND (innervation [sh]) OR ("Face"[Mesh] OR facial paralysis [mh]) AND (reanimation [tiab]). Two independent reviewers evaluated the titles and abstracts of all articles and included those that reported objective outcomes of a surgical technique in at least 2 patients. The presence or absence of an objective instrument for evaluating outcomes of midface reanimation. Additional outcome measures were reproducibility of the test, reporting of symmetry, measurement of multiple variables, and test validity. Of 241 articles describing dynamic facial reanimation techniques, 49 (20.3%) reported objective outcome measures for 1898 patients. Of those articles reporting objective measures, there were 29 different instruments, only 3 of which reported all outcome measures. Although instruments are available to objectively measure facial movement after reanimation techniques, most studies do not report objective outcomes. Of objective facial reanimation instruments, few are reproducible and able to measure symmetry and multiple data points. To accurately compare objective outcomes in facial reanimation, a reproducible, objective, and

Mobile app reading speed test.

PubMed

Kingsnorth, Alec; Wolffsohn, James S

2015-04-01

To validate the accuracy and repeatability of a mobile app reading speed test compared with the traditional paper version. Twenty-one subjects wearing their full refractive correction glasses read 14 sentences of decreasing print size between 1.0 and -0.1 logMAR, each consisting of 14 words (Radner reading speed test) at 40 cm with a paper-based chart and twice on iPad charts. Time duration was recorded with a stop watch for the paper chart and on the App itself for the mobile chart allowing critical print size (CPS) and optimal reading speed (ORS) to be derived objectively. The ORS was higher for the mobile app charts (194±29 wpm; 195±25 wpm) compared with the paper chart (166±20 wpm; F=57.000, p<0.001). The CPS was lower for the mobile app charts (0.17±0.20 logMAR; 0.18±0.17 logMAR) compared with the paper chart (0.25±0.17 logMAR; F=5.406, p=0.009). The mobile app test had a mean difference repeatability of 0.30±22.5 wpm, r=0.917 for ORS, and a CPS of 0.0±0.2 logMAR, r=0.769. Repeatability of the app reading speed test is as good (ORS) or better (CPS) than previous studies on the paper test. While the results are not interchangeable with paper-based charts, mobile app tablet-based tests of reading speed are reliable and rapid to perform, with the potential to capture functional visual ability in research studies and clinical practice. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Parent Assisted Reading Using a Paired Reading Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howell, Angela

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of parent-assisted reading on reading comprehension. The study involved the use of the paired-reading model. The teacher made a short video of herself and each child implementing the model. Parents were given the video and a short list of instructions along with a reading log. The study…

Different RAN Components Relate to Reading at Different Points in Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Georgiou, George K.; Papadopoulos, Timothy C.; Kaizer, Eleni L.

2014-01-01

The present 10-year longitudinal study examined how rapid automatized naming (RAN) components--articulation time and pause time--relate to reading fluency. Seventy-five Greek-speaking children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 10 and were assessed five times (in Grades 1, 2, 4, 6, and 10) on RAN (digits and objects) and reading fluency (word…

The Effects of Extensive Reading on Reading Comprehension, Reading Rate, and Vocabulary Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suk, Namhee

2017-01-01

Several empirical studies and syntheses of extensive reading have concluded that extensive reading has positive impacts on language learning in second- and foreign-language settings. However, many of the studies contained methodological or curricular limitations, raising questions about the asserted positive effects of extensive reading. The…

Teaching Reading Comprehension through Collaborative Strategic Reading.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaughn, Sharon; Klingner, Janette Kettman

1999-01-01

Provides an overview of collaborative strategic reading (CSR) as an approach to enhancing the reading-comprehension skills of students with learning disabilities. Procedures for implementing CSR with collaborative groups and techniques for teaching reading-comprehension skills are provided. The role of the teacher is described and sample teaching…

The Relationship between Reading Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Reading Strategy Use and Reading Comprehension Level of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naseri, Mahdieh; Zaferanieh, Elaheh

2012-01-01

This co-relational study explored the relationship between reading self-efficacy beliefs, reading strategies use and reading comprehension level of Iranian EFL learners. In this study, Michigan reading comprehension test, a self-reported Reading Strategy Use Questionnaire, and a Reading Self-efficacy Questionnaire were administered to eighty…

Personalization of Reading Passages Improves Vocabulary Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heilman, Michael; Collins-Thompson, Kevyn; Callan, Jamie; Eskenazi, Maxine; Juffs, Alan; Wilson, Lois

2010-01-01

The REAP tutoring system provides individualized and adaptive English as a Second Language vocabulary practice. REAP can automatically personalize instruction by providing practice readings about topics that match interests as well as domain-based, cognitive objectives. While most previous research on motivation in intelligent tutoring…

Reading Recovery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Joanna R., Ed.

1992-01-01

This issue of the Arizona Reading Journal focuses on the theme "reading recovery" and includes the following articles: "Why Is an Inservice Programme for Reading Recovery Teachers Necessary?" (Marie M. Clay); "What Is Reading Recovery?" (Gay Su Pinnell); "Teaching a Hard To Teach Child" (Constance A.…

The Impact of Metacognition Strategies on Reading Comprehension Levels of Nonproficient High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manderville, Tonya Butler

2012-01-01

At one high school, the goal for nonproficient reading students was to score at or above the 50th percentile to meet adequate yearly progress objectives. In 2010, the performance levels of nonproficient reading students tested with the state reading test in Grades 9 and 10 declined from the 47th to the 46th percentile. The purpose of this research…

Reading Text While Driving

PubMed Central

Horrey, William J.; Hoffman, Joshua D.

2015-01-01

Objective In this study, we investigated how drivers adapt secondary-task initiation and time-sharing behavior when faced with fluctuating driving demands. Background Reading text while driving is particularly detrimental; however, in real-world driving, drivers actively decide when to perform the task. Method In a test track experiment, participants were free to decide when to read messages while driving along a straight road consisting of an area with increased driving demands (demand zone) followed by an area with low demands. A message was made available shortly before the vehicle entered the demand zone. We manipulated the type of driving demands (baseline, narrow lane, pace clock, combined), message format (no message, paragraph, parsed), and the distance from the demand zone when the message was available (near, far). Results In all conditions, drivers started reading messages (drivers’ first glance to the display) before entering or before leaving the demand zone but tended to wait longer when faced with increased driving demands. While reading messages, drivers looked more or less off road, depending on types of driving demands. Conclusions For task initiation, drivers avoid transitions from low to high demands; however, they are not discouraged when driving demands are already elevated. Drivers adjust time-sharing behavior according to driving demands while performing secondary tasks. Nonetheless, such adjustment may be less effective when total demands are high. Application This study helps us to understand a driver’s role as an active controller in the context of distracted driving and provides insights for developing distraction interventions. PMID:25850162

Fluency and reading comprehension in students with reading difficulties.

PubMed

Nascimento, Tânia Augusto; Carvalho, Carolina Alves Ferreira de; Kida, Adriana de Souza Batista; Avila, Clara Regina Brandão de

2011-12-01

To characterize the performance of students with reading difficulties in decoding and reading comprehension tasks as well as to investigate the possible correlations between them. Sixty students (29 girls) from 3rd to 5th grades of public Elementary Schools were evaluated. Thirty students (Research Group - RG), ten from each grade, were nominated by their teachers as presenting evidences of learning disabilities. The other thirty students were indicated as good readers, and were matched by gender, age and grade to the RG, composing the Comparison Group (CG). All subjects were assessed regarding the parameters of reading fluency (rate and accuracy in words, pseudowords and text reading) and reading comprehension (reading level, number and type of ideas identified, and correct responses on multiple choice questions). The RG presented significantly lower scores than the CG in fluency and reading comprehension. Different patterns of positive and negative correlations, from weak to excellent, among the decoding and comprehension parameters were found in both groups. In the RG, low values of reading rate and accuracy were observed, which were correlated to low scores in comprehension and improvement in decoding, but not in comprehension, with grade increase. In CG, correlation was found between different fluency parameters, but none of them was correlated to the reading comprehension variables. Students with reading and writing difficulties show lower values of reading fluency and comprehension than good readers. Fluency and comprehension are correlated in the group with difficulties, showing that deficits in decoding influence reading comprehension, which does not improve with age increase.

Secondary Students' Reading Attitudes and Achievement in a Scaffolded Silent Reading Program versus Traditional Sustained Silent Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Chandra Lorene

2010-01-01

This study explored the reading attitudes and achievement, as well as genre knowledge, of tenth, eleventh, and twelfth-grade students who participated in Scaffolded Silent Reading, Sustained Silent Reading, or a control group. The Reading and You attitude survey, Degrees of Reading Power achievement measure, and Genre Assessment were administered…

Condylar position analysis with a new electronic condylar position measuring instrument E-CPM: influence of different examiners and a working bite on reproducibility.

PubMed

Vahle-Hinz, K; Rybczynski, A; Jakstat, H; Ahlers, M O

2009-01-01

Condylar position analysis facilitates a quantitative comparison of the condylar position with and without a bite record, different records and changed influencing factors. Handling by the examiner when positioning the model is a significant factor with regard to the accuracy of the examination. Measurement accuracy could be improved when positioning the models by using special working bites, hence the objective of the experiments described in this study consisted in examining the extent to which the measuring results are influenced by different examiners and by using working bites. In the first trial, one examiner performed ten measurements without and with an interposed working bite for five model pairs in each case. In the second trial, nine examiners (three specialized dentists, three dental assistants, three students) performed ten measurements in each case without and with an interposed working bite. The three-dimensional position was read digitally with the E-CPM (Gamma Dental, Klosterneuburg/Vienna, Austria), recorded by means of spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel) and diagnostic software (CMDfact, CMD3D module, dentaConcept, Hamburg), and evaluated with graphing software (Sigma Plot, Systat Software, USA). In the first trial, it was shown that the reproducibility of mounting was improved markedly (p <0.01) by using bite records in the form of working bites. In the second trial, it was shown that the mean error increased significantly (p <0.01) when several examiners performed the measurements compared with the results of one examiner alone. No significantly different results occurred (p < 0.01) in the comparison of the different groups of examiners with different educational and training backgrounds. This applied for the mounting methods without and with working bite. On the other hand, the reproducibility of mounting improved distinctly (p<0.01) in every group of examiners when working bites were used. Reproducibility of condylar position analysis was

Is Oral/Text Reading Fluency a “Bridge” to Reading Comprehension?

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Suk Grace; Park, Chea Hyeong; Wagner, Richard K.

2015-01-01

In the present study we investigated developmental relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, and text reading fluency to reading comprehension in a relatively transparent language, Korean. A total of 98 kindergartners and 170 first graders in Korea were assessed on a series of tasks involving listening comprehension, word reading fluency, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Results from multigroup structural equation models showed that text reading fluency was a dissociable construct for both kindergartners and first graders. In addition, a developmental pattern emerged: listening comprehension was not uniquely related to text reading fluency for first graders, but not for kindergartners, over and above word reading fluency. In addition, text reading fluency was uniquely related to reading comprehension for kindergartners, but not for first graders, after accounting for word reading fluency and listening comprehension. For first graders, listening comprehension dominated the relations. There were no differences in the pattern of relations for skilled and less skilled readers in first grade. Results are discussed from a developmental perspective for reading comprehension component skills including text reading fluency. PMID:25653474

Evaluation of the reproducibility of amplicon sequencing with Illumina MiSeq platform

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wen, Chongqing; Wu, Liyou; Qin, Yujia

Illumina's MiSeq has become the dominant platform for gene amplicon sequencing in microbial ecology studies; however, various technical concerns, such as reproducibility, still exist. To assess reproducibility, 16S rRNA gene amplicons from 18 soil samples of a reciprocal transplantation experiment were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq. The V4 region of 16S rRNA gene from each sample was sequenced in triplicate with each replicate having a unique barcode. The average OTU overlap, without considering sequence abundance, at a rarefaction level of 10,323 sequences was 33.4±2.1% and 20.2±1.7% between two and among three technical replicates, respectively. When OTU sequence abundance was considered,more » the average sequence abundance weighted OTU overlap was 85.6±1.6% and 81.2±2.1% for two and three replicates, respectively. Removing singletons significantly increased the overlap for both (~1-3%, p<0.001). Increasing the sequencing depth to 160,000 reads by deep sequencing increased OTU overlap both when sequence abundance was considered (95%) and when not (44%). However, if singletons were not removed the overlap between two technical replicates (not considering sequence abundance) plateaus at 39% with 30,000 sequences. Diversity measures were not affected by the low overlap as α-diversities were similar among technical replicates while β-diversities (Bray-Curtis) were much smaller among technical replicates than among treatment replicates (e.g., 0.269 vs. 0.374). Higher diversity coverage, but lower OTU overlap, was observed when replicates were sequenced in separate runs. Detrended correspondence analysis indicated that while there was considerable variation among technical replicates, the reproducibility was sufficient for detecting treatment effects for the samples examined. These results suggest that although there is variation among technical replicates, amplicon sequencing on MiSeq is useful for analyzing microbial community structure if used

Evaluation of the reproducibility of amplicon sequencing with Illumina MiSeq platform

DOE PAGES

Wen, Chongqing; Wu, Liyou; Qin, Yujia; ...

2017-04-28

Illumina's MiSeq has become the dominant platform for gene amplicon sequencing in microbial ecology studies; however, various technical concerns, such as reproducibility, still exist. To assess reproducibility, 16S rRNA gene amplicons from 18 soil samples of a reciprocal transplantation experiment were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq. The V4 region of 16S rRNA gene from each sample was sequenced in triplicate with each replicate having a unique barcode. The average OTU overlap, without considering sequence abundance, at a rarefaction level of 10,323 sequences was 33.4±2.1% and 20.2±1.7% between two and among three technical replicates, respectively. When OTU sequence abundance was considered,more » the average sequence abundance weighted OTU overlap was 85.6±1.6% and 81.2±2.1% for two and three replicates, respectively. Removing singletons significantly increased the overlap for both (~1-3%, p<0.001). Increasing the sequencing depth to 160,000 reads by deep sequencing increased OTU overlap both when sequence abundance was considered (95%) and when not (44%). However, if singletons were not removed the overlap between two technical replicates (not considering sequence abundance) plateaus at 39% with 30,000 sequences. Diversity measures were not affected by the low overlap as α-diversities were similar among technical replicates while β-diversities (Bray-Curtis) were much smaller among technical replicates than among treatment replicates (e.g., 0.269 vs. 0.374). Higher diversity coverage, but lower OTU overlap, was observed when replicates were sequenced in separate runs. Detrended correspondence analysis indicated that while there was considerable variation among technical replicates, the reproducibility was sufficient for detecting treatment effects for the samples examined. These results suggest that although there is variation among technical replicates, amplicon sequencing on MiSeq is useful for analyzing microbial community structure if used

Reading to Learn or Learning to Read? Engaging College Students in Course Readings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Mary Margaret; Frese, Kristen M.

2017-01-01

Despite instructors' belief that class readings are integral to the learning process, only 20-30% of undergraduate students complete required readings. Failure to complete course reading has been associated with declines in exam and research performance. This article first offers a brief review of the literature on why students do not complete…

Dialogic Reading Aloud to Promote Extensive Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, George M.

2016-01-01

How can teachers motivate students to read extensively in a second language? One strategy is for teachers to read aloud to students to promote the joys of reading generally, to build students' language skills and to introduce students to specific authors, book series, genres, websites, etc. This article begins by discussing why teachers might want…

Teachers' Perceptions of Strategy Based Reading Instruction for Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, Katherine D.

2009-01-01

Strategy based reading instruction helps teachers differentiate the teaching of reading. It also supports many types of readers by explicitly teaching and modeling reading comprehension strategies. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of strategy based reading instruction for improving student reading comprehension. …

Three Dimensions of Reproducibility in Natural Language Processing.

PubMed

Cohen, K Bretonnel; Xia, Jingbo; Zweigenbaum, Pierre; Callahan, Tiffany J; Hargraves, Orin; Goss, Foster; Ide, Nancy; Névéol, Aurélie; Grouin, Cyril; Hunter, Lawrence E

2018-05-01

Despite considerable recent attention to problems with reproducibility of scientific research, there is a striking lack of agreement about the definition of the term. That is a problem, because the lack of a consensus definition makes it difficult to compare studies of reproducibility, and thus to have even a broad overview of the state of the issue in natural language processing. This paper proposes an ontology of reproducibility in that field. Its goal is to enhance both future research and communication about the topic, and retrospective meta-analyses. We show that three dimensions of reproducibility, corresponding to three kinds of claims in natural language processing papers, can account for a variety of types of research reports. These dimensions are reproducibility of a conclusion , of a finding , and of a value. Three biomedical natural language processing papers by the authors of this paper are analyzed with respect to these dimensions.

Rotary head type reproducing apparatus

DOEpatents

Takayama, Nobutoshi; Edakubo, Hiroo; Kozuki, Susumu; Takei, Masahiro; Nagasawa, Kenichi

1986-01-01

In an apparatus of the kind arranged to reproduce, with a plurality of rotary heads, an information signal from a record bearing medium having many recording tracks which are parallel to each other with the information signal recorded therein and with a plurality of different pilot signals of different frequencies also recorded one by one, one in each of the recording tracks, a plurality of different reference signals of different frequencies are simultaneously generated. A tracking error is detected by using the different reference signals together with the pilot signals which are included in signals reproduced from the plurality of rotary heads.

Genotypic variability enhances the reproducibility of an ecological study.

PubMed

Milcu, Alexandru; Puga-Freitas, Ruben; Ellison, Aaron M; Blouin, Manuel; Scheu, Stefan; Freschet, Grégoire T; Rose, Laura; Barot, Sebastien; Cesarz, Simone; Eisenhauer, Nico; Girin, Thomas; Assandri, Davide; Bonkowski, Michael; Buchmann, Nina; Butenschoen, Olaf; Devidal, Sebastien; Gleixner, Gerd; Gessler, Arthur; Gigon, Agnès; Greiner, Anna; Grignani, Carlo; Hansart, Amandine; Kayler, Zachary; Lange, Markus; Lata, Jean-Christophe; Le Galliard, Jean-François; Lukac, Martin; Mannerheim, Neringa; Müller, Marina E H; Pando, Anne; Rotter, Paula; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael; Seyhun, Rahme; Urban-Mead, Katherine; Weigelt, Alexandra; Zavattaro, Laura; Roy, Jacques

2018-02-01

Many scientific disciplines are currently experiencing a 'reproducibility crisis' because numerous scientific findings cannot be repeated consistently. A novel but controversial hypothesis postulates that stringent levels of environmental and biotic standardization in experimental studies reduce reproducibility by amplifying the impacts of laboratory-specific environmental factors not accounted for in study designs. A corollary to this hypothesis is that a deliberate introduction of controlled systematic variability (CSV) in experimental designs may lead to increased reproducibility. To test this hypothesis, we had 14 European laboratories run a simple microcosm experiment using grass (Brachypodium distachyon L.) monocultures and grass and legume (Medicago truncatula Gaertn.) mixtures. Each laboratory introduced environmental and genotypic CSV within and among replicated microcosms established in either growth chambers (with stringent control of environmental conditions) or glasshouses (with more variable environmental conditions). The introduction of genotypic CSV led to 18% lower among-laboratory variability in growth chambers, indicating increased reproducibility, but had no significant effect in glasshouses where reproducibility was generally lower. Environmental CSV had little effect on reproducibility. Although there are multiple causes for the 'reproducibility crisis', deliberately including genetic variability may be a simple solution for increasing the reproducibility of ecological studies performed under stringently controlled environmental conditions.

Reproducibility of urinary biomarkers in multiple 24-h urine samples123

PubMed Central

Sun, Qi; Bertrand, Kimberly A; Franke, Adrian A; Rosner, Bernard; Curhan, Gary C; Willett, Walter C

2017-01-01

Background: Limited knowledge regarding the reproducibility of biomarkers in 24-h urine samples has hindered the collection and use of the samples in epidemiologic studies. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the reproducibility of various markers in repeat 24-h urine samples. Design: We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of biomarkers measured in 24-h urine samples that were collected in 3168 participants in the NHS (Nurses’ Health Study), NHSII (Nurses’ Health Study II), and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Results: In 742 women with 4 samples each collected over the course of 1 y, ICCs for sodium were 0.32 in the NHS and 0.34 in the NHSII. In 2439 men and women with 2 samples each collected over 1 wk to ≥1 mo, the ICCs ranged from 0.33 to 0.68 for sodium at various intervals between collections. The urinary excretion of potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, sulfate, and other urinary markers showed generally higher reproducibility (ICCs >0.4). In 47 women with two 24-h urine samples, ICCs ranged from 0.15 (catechin) to 0.75 (enterolactone) for polyphenol metabolites. For phthalates, ICCs were generally ≤0.26 except for monobenzyl phthalate (ICC: 0.55), whereas the ICC was 0.39 for bisphenol A (BPA). We further estimated that, for the large majority of the biomarkers, the mean of three 24-h urine samples could provide a correlation of ≥0.8 with true long-term urinary excretion. Conclusions: These data suggest that the urinary excretion of various biomarkers, such as minerals, electrolytes, most polyphenols, and BPA, is reasonably reproducible in 24-h urine samples that are collected within a few days or ≤1 y. Our findings show that three 24-h samples are sufficient for the measurement of long-term exposure status in epidemiologic studies. PMID:28049663

The Habit of Reading: A Neglected Dimension of Adult Reading Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fink, Katherine T.; Devine, Thomas G.

1993-01-01

Less competent adult readers have not developed the habit of reading. Ways to cultivate adult reading habits include relevant material, environment saturated with reading material, reading aloud to adults, having them read to children, sustained silent reading, modeling, book sharing, author conferences, and recognition. (SK)

Reading acceleration training changes brain circuitry in children with reading difficulties

PubMed Central

Horowitz-Kraus, Tzipi; Vannest, Jennifer J; Kadis, Darren; Cicchino, Nicole; Wang, Yingying Y; Holland, Scott K

2014-01-01

Introduction Dyslexia is characterized by slow, inaccurate reading. Previous studies have shown that the Reading Acceleration Program (RAP) improves reading speed and accuracy in children and adults with dyslexia and in typical readers across different orthographies. However, the effect of the RAP on the neural circuitry of reading has not been established. In the current study, we examined the effect of the RAP training on regions of interest in the neural circuitry for reading using a lexical decision task during fMRI in children with reading difficulties and typical readers. Methods Children (8–12 years old) with reading difficulties and typical readers were studied before and after 4 weeks of training with the RAP in both groups. Results In addition to improvements in oral and silent contextual reading speed, training-related gains were associated with increased activation of the left hemisphere in both children with reading difficulties and typical readers. However, only children with reading difficulties showed improvements in reading comprehension, which were associated with significant increases in right frontal lobe activation. Conclusions Our results demonstrate differential effects of the RAP on neural circuits supporting reading in both children with reading difficulties and typical readers and suggest that the intervention may stimulate use of typical neural circuits for reading and engage compensatory pathways to support reading in the developing brain of children with reading difficulties. PMID:25365797

Miraculous Readings: Using Fantasy Novels about Reading to Reflect on Reading the Bible

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalton, Russell W.

2009-01-01

This article reflects on the vivid images of reading presented in several popular fantasy novels, including "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "The Great Good Thing," and "The Neverending Story." It suggests that these images can be used to help children, youth, and adults reflect on the nature of reading and the potential power of reading sacred texts.…

Reading Every Single Day: A Journey to Authentic Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson, Alida K.; Williams, Joan A.

2015-01-01

This article details one teacher's implementation of reading workshop in her second grade classroom. She provided a framework for authentic reading using the five components of reading workshop: time, choice, response, community, and structure. She found that reading workshop is a highly effective practice for not only increasing students'…

Teen Summer Reading Program, 1999. Read around the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virginia State Library, Richmond.

This guide for the 1999 Virginia teen summer reading program for public libraries, "Read around the World," includes the following chapters: (1) "Reading and Teens," including serving the underserved, tips for teens, and a recipe for choosing a book to read for fun; (2) "Programming and Teens," including "The Why…

100 articles every ecologist should read.

PubMed

Courchamp, Franck; Bradshaw, Corey J A

2018-02-01

Reading scientific articles is a valuable and major part of the activity of scientists. Yet, with the upsurge of currently available articles and the increasing specialization of scientists, it becomes difficult to identify, let alone read, important papers covering topics not directly related to one's own specific field of research, or that are older than a few years. Our objective was to propose a list of seminal papers deemed to be of major importance in ecology, thus providing a general 'must-read' list for any new ecologist, regardless of particular topic or expertise. We generated a list of 544 papers proposed by 147 ecology experts (journal editorial members) and subsequently ranked via random-sample voting by 368 of 665 contacted ecology experts, covering 6 article types, 6 approaches and 17 fields. Most of the recommended papers were not published in the highest-ranking journals, nor did they have the highest number of mean annual citations. The articles proposed through the collective recommendation of several hundred experienced researchers probably do not represent an 'ultimate', invariant list, but they certainly contain many high-quality articles that are undoubtedly worth reading-regardless of the specific field of interest in ecology-to foster the understanding, knowledge and inspiration of early-career scientists.

Reading Comics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tilley, Carol L.

2008-01-01

Many adults, even librarians who willingly add comics to their collections, often dismiss the importance of comics. Compared to reading "real" books, reading comics appears to be a simple task and compared to reading no books, reading comics might be preferable. After all, comics do have words, but the plentiful pictures seem to carry most of the…

Reading Processes of University Students with Dyslexia - An Examination of the Relationship between Oral Reading and Reading Comprehension.

PubMed

Pedersen, Henriette Folkmann; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Lauridsen, Lene Louise; Parrila, Rauno

2016-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of oral reading and how it relates to reading comprehension in students with dyslexia. A group of Danish university students with dyslexia (n = 16) and a comparison group of students with no history of reading problems (n = 16) were assessed on their oral reading performance when reading a complex text. Along with reading speed, we measured not only the number and quality of reading errors but also the extent and semantic nature of the self-corrections during reading. The reading comprehension was measured through aided text retellings. The results showed that, as a group, the dyslexics performed poorer on most measures, but there were notable within-group differences in the reading behaviours and little association between how well university students with dyslexia read aloud and comprehended the text. These findings suggest that many dyslexics in higher education tend to focus their attention on one subcomponent of the reading process, for example, decoding or comprehension, because engaging in both simultaneously may be too demanding for them. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reading fluency: implications for the assessment of children with reading disabilities.

PubMed

Meisinger, Elizabeth B; Bloom, Juliana S; Hynd, George W

2010-06-01

The current investigation explored the diagnostic utility of reading fluency measures in the identification of children with reading disabilities. Participants were 50 children referred to a university-based clinic because of suspected reading problems and/or a prior diagnosis of dyslexia, where children completed a battery of standardized intellectual, reading achievement, and processing measures. Within this clinical sample, a group of children were identified that exhibited specific deficits in their reading fluency skills with concurrent deficits in rapid naming speed and reading comprehension. This group of children would not have been identified as having a reading disability according to assessment of single word reading skills alone, suggesting that it is essential to assess reading fluency in addition to word reading because failure to do so may result in the under-identification of children with reading disabilities.

Development of a Smartphone-based reading system for lateral flow immunoassay.

PubMed

Lee, Sangdae; Kim, Giyoung; Moon, Jihea

2014-11-01

This study was conducted to develop and evaluate the performance of the Smartphone-based reading system for the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA). Smartphone-based reading system consists of a Samsung Galaxy S2 Smartphone, Smartphone application, and a LFIA reader. LFIA reader is composed of the close-up lens with a focal length up to 30 mm, white LED light, lithium polymer battery, and main body. The Smartphone application for image acquisition and data analysis was developed on the Android platform. The standard curve was obtained by plotting the measured P(T)/P(c) or A(T)/A(c) ratio versus Salmonella standard concentration. The mean, standard deviation (SD), recovery, and relative standard deviation (RSD) were also calculated using additional experimental results. These data were compared with that obtained from the benchtop LFIA reader. The LOD in both systems was observed with 10(6) CFU/mL. The results show high accuracy and good reproducibility with a RSD less than 10% in the range of 10(6) to 10(9) CFU/mL. Due to the simple structure, good sensitivity, and high accuracy of the Smartphone-based reading system, this system can be substituted for the benchtop LFIA reader for point-of-care medical diagnostics.

"Read the Text, as if!"The Reading Retention Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Divoll, Kent; Browning, Sandra

2013-01-01

Students do not always read what is expected in college courses (Berry, Cook, Hill, & Stevens, 2010; Phillips & Phillips, 2007; Sikorski et al., 2002) or they read to cram for an exam or quiz (Clump, Bauer, & Bradley, 2004). The Reading Retention Strategy (RRS) is designed to motivate students to read and assist students in…

The Potency of "READS" to Inform Students' Reading Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohamed, Abdul Rashid; Eng, Lin Siew; Mohamed Ismail, Shaik Abdul Malik

2012-01-01

This paper shares an initiative conducted in Malaysia in terms of knowledge to gauge students' Reading Age and to inform teachers of their students' reading progress and learning. Ensuring teachers understand the needs of students' reading ability and preparing students to read and comprehend texts are the two most fundamental parallel tasks in…

Confrontation Naming and Reading Abilities at Primary School: A Longitudinal Study

PubMed Central

Savelli, Enrico; Termine, Cristiano

2015-01-01

Background. Confrontation naming tasks are useful in the assessment of children with learning and language disorders. Objectives. The aims of this study were (1) providing longitudinal data on confrontation naming; (2) investigating the role of socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence, age, and gender in confrontation naming; (3) identifying relationship between confrontation naming and reading abilities (fluency, accuracy, and comprehension). Method. A five-year longitudinal investigation of confrontation naming (i.e., the Boston Naming Test (BNT)) in a nonclinical sample of Italian primary school children was conducted (n = 126), testing them at the end of each school year, to assess nonverbal intelligence, confrontation naming, and reading abilities. Results. Performance on the BNT emerged as a function of IQ and SES. Significant correlations between confrontation naming and reading abilities, especially comprehension, were found; BNT scores correlated better with reading fluency than with reading accuracy. Conclusions. The longitudinal data obtained in this study are discussed with regard to reading abilities, intelligence, age, gender, and socioeconomic status. PMID:26124541

Tutoring Reading--Valued Youth as Reading Helpers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Juanita C.

2004-01-01

The teacher wondered how her group of middle school tutors would react to reading predictable children's books to their elementary "tutees." Would they enjoy the books or would they think they were too mature to do the activities in the lesson? She wondered if the tutors would enjoy being read to as she modeled the dramatic reading of a children's…

Do reading additions improve reading in pre-presbyopes with low vision?

PubMed

Alabdulkader, Balsam; Leat, Susan

2012-09-01

This study compared three different methods of determining a reading addition and the possible improvement on reading performance in children and young adults with low vision. Twenty-eight participants with low vision, aged 8 to 32 years, took part in the study. Reading additions were determined with (a) a modified Nott dynamic retinoscopy, (b) a subjective method, and (c) an age-based formula. Reading performance was assessed with MNREAD-style reading charts at 12.5 cm, with and without each reading addition in random order. Outcome measures were reading speed, critical print size, MNREAD threshold, and the area under the reading speed curve. For the whole group, there was no significant improvement in reading performance with any of the additions. When participants with normal accommodation at 12.5 cm were excluded, the area under the reading speed curve was significantly greater with all reading additions compared with no addition (p = 0.031, 0.028, and 0.028, respectively). Also, the reading acuity threshold was significantly better with all reading additions compared with no addition (p = 0.014, 0.030, and 0.036, respectively). Distance and near visual acuity, age, and contrast sensitivity did not predict improvement with a reading addition. All, but one, of the participants who showed a significant improvement in reading with an addition had reduced accommodation. A reading addition may improve reading performance for young people with low vision and should be considered as part of a low vision assessment, particularly when accommodation is reduced.

Assessing the reproducibility of discriminant function analyses

PubMed Central

Andrew, Rose L.; Albert, Arianne Y.K.; Renaut, Sebastien; Rennison, Diana J.; Bock, Dan G.

2015-01-01

Data are the foundation of empirical research, yet all too often the datasets underlying published papers are unavailable, incorrect, or poorly curated. This is a serious issue, because future researchers are then unable to validate published results or reuse data to explore new ideas and hypotheses. Even if data files are securely stored and accessible, they must also be accompanied by accurate labels and identifiers. To assess how often problems with metadata or data curation affect the reproducibility of published results, we attempted to reproduce Discriminant Function Analyses (DFAs) from the field of organismal biology. DFA is a commonly used statistical analysis that has changed little since its inception almost eight decades ago, and therefore provides an opportunity to test reproducibility among datasets of varying ages. Out of 100 papers we initially surveyed, fourteen were excluded because they did not present the common types of quantitative result from their DFA or gave insufficient details of their DFA. Of the remaining 86 datasets, there were 15 cases for which we were unable to confidently relate the dataset we received to the one used in the published analysis. The reasons ranged from incomprehensible or absent variable labels, the DFA being performed on an unspecified subset of the data, or the dataset we received being incomplete. We focused on reproducing three common summary statistics from DFAs: the percent variance explained, the percentage correctly assigned and the largest discriminant function coefficient. The reproducibility of the first two was fairly high (20 of 26, and 44 of 60 datasets, respectively), whereas our success rate with the discriminant function coefficients was lower (15 of 26 datasets). When considering all three summary statistics, we were able to completely reproduce 46 (65%) of 71 datasets. While our results show that a majority of studies are reproducible, they highlight the fact that many studies still are not the

Self and External Monitoring of Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shiu, Ling-po; Chen, Qishan

2013-01-01

The present study compared the effectiveness of 2 approaches to remedy the inaccuracy of self-monitoring of reading comprehension. The first approach attempts to enhance self-monitoring by strengthening the cues utilized in monitoring. The second approach replaces self-monitoring with external regulation based on objective evaluative information.…

Child-Centered Reading Intervention: See, Talk, Dictate, Read, Write!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bastug, Muhammet; Demirtas, Gonca

2016-01-01

Poor reading achievement of children in elementary schools has been one of the major concerns in education. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a child-centered reading intervention in eliminating the reading problems of a student with poor reading achievement. The research was conducted with a student having difficulty in…

Invent the Future--READ! 2000 Texas Reading Club Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bass, Martha; Davis, Robin Works; Harris, Marlive; Marcum, Paul

The Texas Reading Club is designed to encourage youth to read for pleasure and to promote library usage.A statewide theme is selected each year that emphasizes ways in which reading expands young minds and encourages children to use their imaginations. The year 2000's theme, "Invent the future! READ!," emphasizes ways in which reading…

Improving Reading Rates and Comprehension through Timed Repeated Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Anna C-S.; Millett, Sonia

2013-01-01

Thirteen English as a foreign language students read 26 passages during a 13-week period. Each passage was read five times, and students answered comprehension questions after the first and the fifth reading. Another 13 students read the same number of passages but without repetition and only answered the comprehension questions once. All students…

Modern Speed-Reading Apps Do Not Foster Reading Comprehension.

PubMed

Acklin, Dina; Papesh, Megan H

2017-01-01

New computer apps are gaining popularity by suggesting that reading speeds can be drastically increased when eye movements that normally occur during reading are eliminated. This is done using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), where words are presented 1 at a time, thus preventing natural eye movements such as saccades, fixations, and regressions from occurring. Al- though the companies producing these apps suggest that RSVP reading does not yield comprehension deficits, research investigating the role of eye movements in reading documents shows the necessity of natural eye movements for accurate comprehension. The current study explored variables that may affect reading comprehension during RSVP reading, including text difficulty (6th grade and 12th grade), text presentation speed (static, 700 wpm, and 1,000 wpm), and working memory capacity (WMC). Consistent with recent work showing a tenuous relationship between comprehension and WMC, participants' WMC did not predict comprehension scores. Instead, comprehension was most affected by reading speed: Static text was associated with superior performance, relative to either RSVP reading condition. Furthermore, slower RSVP speeds yielded better verbatim comprehension, and faster speeds benefited inferential comprehension.

How do typographical factors affect reading text and comprehension performance in Arabic?

PubMed

Ganayim, Deia; Ibrahim, Raphiq

2013-04-01

The objective of this study was to establish basic reading performance that could lead to useful design recommendations for print display text formats and layouts for the improvement of reading and comprehension performance of print text, such as academic writings, books, and newspapers, of Arabic language. Readability of English print text has been shown to be influenced by a number of typographical variables, including interline spacing, column setting and line length, and so on.Therefore, it is very important to improve the reading efficiency and satisfaction of print text reading and comprehension by following simple design guidelines. Most existing research on readability of print text is oriented to build guidelines for designing English texts rather than Arabic. However, guidelines built for English script cannot be simply applied for Arabic script because of orthographic differences. In the current study, manipulating interline spacing and column setting and line length generated nine text layouts. The reading and comprehension performance of 210 native Arab students assigned randomly to the different text layouts was compared. Results showed that the use of multicolumn setting (with medium or short line length) affected comprehension achievement but not reading and comprehension speed. Participants' comprehension scores were better for the single-column (with long line length) than for the multicolumn setting. However, no effect was found for interline spacing. The recommendations for appropriate print text format and layout in Arabic language based on the results of objective measures facilitating reading and comprehension performance is a single-column (with long line length) layout with no relevance of the interline spacing.

Where next for the reproducibility agenda in computational biology?

PubMed

Lewis, Joanna; Breeze, Charles E; Charlesworth, Jane; Maclaren, Oliver J; Cooper, Jonathan

2016-07-15

The concept of reproducibility is a foundation of the scientific method. With the arrival of fast and powerful computers over the last few decades, there has been an explosion of results based on complex computational analyses and simulations. The reproducibility of these results has been addressed mainly in terms of exact replicability or numerical equivalence, ignoring the wider issue of the reproducibility of conclusions through equivalent, extended or alternative methods. We use case studies from our own research experience to illustrate how concepts of reproducibility might be applied in computational biology. Several fields have developed 'minimum information' checklists to support the full reporting of computational simulations, analyses and results, and standardised data formats and model description languages can facilitate the use of multiple systems to address the same research question. We note the importance of defining the key features of a result to be reproduced, and the expected agreement between original and subsequent results. Dynamic, updatable tools for publishing methods and results are becoming increasingly common, but sometimes come at the cost of clear communication. In general, the reproducibility of computational research is improving but would benefit from additional resources and incentives. We conclude with a series of linked recommendations for improving reproducibility in computational biology through communication, policy, education and research practice. More reproducible research will lead to higher quality conclusions, deeper understanding and more valuable knowledge.

Relationship between reading and long-term storage and retrieval (Glr) in college students.

PubMed

Avitia, Maria Jesus; Kaufman, Alan S; Bray, Melissa; Kaufman, James C

2017-09-21

The purpose of this study was to (a) identify the relationship between specific types of reading ability, different forms of learning, and long-term memory and retrieval (Glr); and then (b) to determine the degree to which self-assessed reading ability and a Glr measure could predict objective reading ability. College students were administered three different reading assessments from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition (KTEA-II): word reading, reading comprehension, and nonsense word decoding. They were also given two pairs of Glr subtests that consisted of immediate and delayed versions from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II). One set was embedded within context, whereas the other was not. Results showed that although overall reading ability and reading comprehension correlated the highest with Glr measures that were embedded in context, word reading, and nonsense word decoding were correlated the highest with delayed measures of Glr. Second, the self-assessment accounted for 23% of the variability in overall reading ability. Not only do these results show the strength of the relationship between Glr and reading, but also the ability to use these measures along with self-assessment to screen for reading disabilities.

The Massachusetts Right to Read Effort: A Plan for the Sixth Year.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tremont, Joseph J.

The proposal for the sixth year of the Massachusetts Right to Read effort deals primarily with ten objectives derived from the national commitment to full literacy. (1) "Focus on Excellence," a booklet outlining 5 major goals and 26 conditions for an exemplary reading program, is used for the criteria of excellence. (2) The Right to Read…

[Reproducibility, internal consistency, and construct validity of KIDSCREEN-27 in Brazilian adolescents].

PubMed

Farias, José Cazuza de; Loch, Mathias Roberto; Lima, Antônio José de; Sales, Joana Marcela; Ferreira, Flávia Emília Leite de Lima

2017-09-28

: The objective of this two-part study was to estimate the reproducibility, internal consistency, and construct validity of KIDSCREEN-27, a questionnaire to measure health-related quality of life, in Brazilian adolescents. One study component estimated reproducibility (176 adolescents, 59.7% females, 64.7% 10 to 12 years of age), and another estimated internal consistency and validity (1,321 adolescents, 53.7% females, 56.9% 10 to 12 years of age). The studies were conducted with adolescents of both sexes in public schools in the municipality of João Pessoa, Paraíba State, Brazil. KIDSCREEN-27 consists of 27 items distributed across five domains (physical well-being, 5 items; psychological well-being, 7 items; parents and social support, 7 items; autonomy and relationship with parents, 4 items; school environment, 4 items). Reproducibility was estimated by intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess construct validity, and composite reliability index (CRI) was used to verify the questionnaire's internal consistency. ICCs were greater than or equal to 0.70 (0.70 to 0.96). Factor loads were greater than 0.40, except for five items (0.28 to 0.39). The model's goodness-of-fit indices were adequate (χ2/df = 2.79; RMR = 0.035; RMSEA = 0.037; GFI = 0.951; AGFI = 0.941; CFI = 0.908; TLI = 0.901). CRI varied from 0.65 to 0.70 in the domains and was 0.90 for the questionnaire. KIDSCREEN-27 reached satisfactory levels of reproducibility, internal consistency, and construct validity and can be used to assess health-related quality of life in Brazilian adolescents 10 to 15 years of age.

RADAR: A novel fast-screening method for reading difficulties with special focus on dyslexia.

PubMed

Smyrnakis, Ioannis; Andreadakis, Vassilios; Selimis, Vassilios; Kalaitzakis, Michail; Bachourou, Theodora; Kaloutsakis, Georgios; Kymionis, George D; Smirnakis, Stelios; Aslanides, Ioannis M

2017-01-01

Dyslexia is a developmental learning disorder of single word reading accuracy and/or fluency, with compelling research directed towards understanding the contributions of the visual system. While dyslexia is not an oculomotor disease, readers with dyslexia have shown different eye movements than typically developing students during text reading. Readers with dyslexia exhibit longer and more frequent fixations, shorter saccade lengths, more backward refixations than typical readers. Furthermore, readers with dyslexia are known to have difficulty in reading long words, lower skipping rate of short words, and high gaze duration on many words. It is an open question whether it is possible to harness these distinctive oculomotor scanning patterns observed during reading in order to develop a screening tool that can reliably identify struggling readers, who may be candidates for dyslexia. Here, we introduce a novel, fast, objective, non-invasive method, named Rapid Assessment of Difficulties and Abnormalities in Reading (RADAR) that screens for features associated with the aberrant visual scanning of reading text seen in dyslexia. Eye tracking parameter measurements that are stable under retest and have high discriminative power, as indicated by their ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves, were obtained during silent text reading. These parameters were combined to derive a total reading score (TRS) that can reliably separate readers with dyslexia from typical readers. We tested TRS in a group of school-age children ranging from 8.5 to 12.5 years of age. TRS achieved 94.2% correct classification of children tested. Specifically, 35 out of 37 control (specificity 94.6%) and 30 out of 32 readers with dyslexia (sensitivity 93.8%) were classified correctly using RADAR, under a circular validation condition (see section Results/Total Reading Score) where the individual evaluated was not included in the test construction group. In conclusion, RADAR is a novel

RADAR: A novel fast-screening method for reading difficulties with special focus on dyslexia

PubMed Central

Smyrnakis, Ioannis; Andreadakis, Vassilios; Selimis, Vassilios; Kalaitzakis, Michail; Bachourou, Theodora; Kaloutsakis, Georgios; Kymionis, George D.; Smirnakis, Stelios; Aslanides, Ioannis M.

2017-01-01

Dyslexia is a developmental learning disorder of single word reading accuracy and/or fluency, with compelling research directed towards understanding the contributions of the visual system. While dyslexia is not an oculomotor disease, readers with dyslexia have shown different eye movements than typically developing students during text reading. Readers with dyslexia exhibit longer and more frequent fixations, shorter saccade lengths, more backward refixations than typical readers. Furthermore, readers with dyslexia are known to have difficulty in reading long words, lower skipping rate of short words, and high gaze duration on many words. It is an open question whether it is possible to harness these distinctive oculomotor scanning patterns observed during reading in order to develop a screening tool that can reliably identify struggling readers, who may be candidates for dyslexia. Here, we introduce a novel, fast, objective, non-invasive method, named Rapid Assessment of Difficulties and Abnormalities in Reading (RADAR) that screens for features associated with the aberrant visual scanning of reading text seen in dyslexia. Eye tracking parameter measurements that are stable under retest and have high discriminative power, as indicated by their ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves, were obtained during silent text reading. These parameters were combined to derive a total reading score (TRS) that can reliably separate readers with dyslexia from typical readers. We tested TRS in a group of school-age children ranging from 8.5 to 12.5 years of age. TRS achieved 94.2% correct classification of children tested. Specifically, 35 out of 37 control (specificity 94.6%) and 30 out of 32 readers with dyslexia (sensitivity 93.8%) were classified correctly using RADAR, under a circular validation condition (see section Results/Total Reading Score) where the individual evaluated was not included in the test construction group. In conclusion, RADAR is a novel

The role of reading time complexity and reading speed in text comprehension.

PubMed

Wallot, Sebastian; O'Brien, Beth A; Haussmann, Anna; Kloos, Heidi; Lyby, Marlene S

2014-11-01

Reading speed is commonly used as an index of reading fluency. However, reading speed is not a consistent predictor of text comprehension, when speed and comprehension are measured on the same text within the same reader. This might be due to the somewhat ambiguous nature of reading speed, which is sometimes regarded as a feature of the reading process, and sometimes as a product of that process. We argue that both reading speed and comprehension should be seen as the result of the reading process, and that the process of fluent text reading can instead be described by complexity metrics that quantify aspects of the stability of the reading process. In this article, we introduce complexity metrics in the context of reading and apply them to data from a self-paced reading study. In this study, children and adults read a text silently or aloud and answered comprehension questions after reading. Our results show that recurrence metrics that quantify the degree of temporal structure in reading times yield better prediction of text comprehension compared to reading speed. However, the results for fractal metrics are less clear. Furthermore, prediction of text comprehension is generally strongest and most consistent across silent and oral reading when comprehension scores are normalized by reading speed. Analyses of word length and word frequency indicate that the observed complexity in reading times is not a simple function of the lexical properties of the text, suggesting that text reading might work differently compared to reading of isolated word or sentences. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Ritalin and Reading: A Reaction to Mick.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooter, Robert B., Jr.; Werner, Patrice H.

1991-01-01

In response to a critique by Lori Bell Mick (EC 600 580), the original author counters objections to ideas concerning the nature of Ritalin, Ritalin's side effects, drug dependency, and teachers as classroom pushers. The response concludes that evidence for Ritalin's positive effect on reading achievement in children with attention deficit…

A Paired-Associates Analysis of Reading Acquisition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muller, Douglas G.

A major objective of this study was to seek the relationship of principles derived from traditional paired-associates transfer experiments as applied to the reading task. In this experiment 10 subjects from upper-division education courses, all volunteers, received various types of preliminary training with letter stimuli; then all subjects…

Functional Neuroanatomy of Impaired Reading in Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salmelin, Riitta; Helenius, Paivi

2004-01-01

In reading tasks, an underactivation of the left inferior occipitotemporal cortex in dyslexia seems to be the most consistent finding both in neurophysiological and hemodynamic studies. This marked difference appears at about 150 msec after word presentation when the brain enters the letter-string-specific (or, more generally, object-specific)…

Book Clubs in Developmental Reading: Building Reading Comprehension, Fostering Reading Enjoyment, and Engaging Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maldonado, Michele

2012-01-01

The use of book clubs in college developmental reading classes is an effective way to encourage reluctant readers to build and strengthen reading skills, foster reading enjoyment, and engage students. In addition, book clubs build a sense of community within the classroom as the students converse and share their interpretations of the reading…

The uncrowded window of object recognition

PubMed Central

Pelli, Denis G; Tillman, Katharine A

2009-01-01

It is now emerging that vision is usually limited by object spacing rather than size. The visual system recognizes an object by detecting and then combining its features. ‘Crowding’ occurs when objects are too close together and features from several objects are combined into a jumbled percept. Here, we review the explosion of studies on crowding—in grating discrimination, letter and face recognition, visual search, selective attention, and reading—and find a universal principle, the Bouma law. The critical spacing required to prevent crowding is equal for all objects, although the effect is weaker between dissimilar objects. Furthermore, critical spacing at the cortex is independent of object position, and critical spacing at the visual field is proportional to object distance from fixation. The region where object spacing exceeds critical spacing is the ‘uncrowded window’. Observers cannot recognize objects outside of this window and its size limits the speed of reading and search. PMID:18828191

10 CFR 1016.35 - Authority to reproduce Restricted Data.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority to reproduce Restricted Data. 1016.35 Section 1016.35 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) SAFEGUARDING OF RESTRICTED DATA Control of Information § 1016.35 Authority to reproduce Restricted Data. Secret Restricted Data will not be reproduced...

10 CFR 1016.35 - Authority to reproduce Restricted Data.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Authority to reproduce Restricted Data. 1016.35 Section 1016.35 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) SAFEGUARDING OF RESTRICTED DATA Control of Information § 1016.35 Authority to reproduce Restricted Data. Secret Restricted Data will not be reproduced...

Reproducible research in palaeomagnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lurcock, Pontus; Florindo, Fabio

2015-04-01

The reproducibility of research findings is attracting increasing attention across all scientific disciplines. In palaeomagnetism as elsewhere, computer-based analysis techniques are becoming more commonplace, complex, and diverse. Analyses can often be difficult to reproduce from scratch, both for the original researchers and for others seeking to build on the work. We present a palaeomagnetic plotting and analysis program designed to make reproducibility easier. Part of the problem is the divide between interactive and scripted (batch) analysis programs. An interactive desktop program with a graphical interface is a powerful tool for exploring data and iteratively refining analyses, but usually cannot operate without human interaction. This makes it impossible to re-run an analysis automatically, or to integrate it into a larger automated scientific workflow - for example, a script to generate figures and tables for a paper. In some cases the parameters of the analysis process itself are not saved explicitly, making it hard to repeat or improve the analysis even with human interaction. Conversely, non-interactive batch tools can be controlled by pre-written scripts and configuration files, allowing an analysis to be 'replayed' automatically from the raw data. However, this advantage comes at the expense of exploratory capability: iteratively improving an analysis entails a time-consuming cycle of editing scripts, running them, and viewing the output. Batch tools also tend to require more computer expertise from their users. PuffinPlot is a palaeomagnetic plotting and analysis program which aims to bridge this gap. First released in 2012, it offers both an interactive, user-friendly desktop interface and a batch scripting interface, both making use of the same core library of palaeomagnetic functions. We present new improvements to the program that help to integrate the interactive and batch approaches, allowing an analysis to be interactively explored and refined

A framework to build scientific confidence in read across results. (SOT CE course presentation)

EPA Science Inventory

Read-across acceptance is remains a major hurdle primarily due to the lack of objectivity and clarity on how to practically address uncertainties. One avenue that can be exploited to build scientific confidence in the development and evaluation of read-across is by taking advant...

Word Reading Efficiency, Text Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension among Chinese Learners of English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiang, Xiangying; Sawaki, Yasuyo; Sabatini, John

2012-01-01

This study examined the relationship among word reading efficiency, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension for adult English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Data from 185 adult Chinese EFL learners preparing to take the Test-of-English-as-a-Foreign-Language[TM] (TOEFL[R]) were analyzed in this study. The participants completed a…

Does Early Reading Failure Decrease Children's Reading Motivation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Paul L.; Fuchs, Douglas; Compton, Donald L.; Cordray, David S.; Fuchs, Lynn S.

2008-01-01

The authors used a pretest-posttest control group design with random assignment to evaluate whether early reading failure decreases children's motivation to practice reading. First, they investigated whether 60 first-grade children would report substantially different levels of interest in reading as a function of their relative success or failure…

77 FR 24554 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition; Determinations: “Quay Brothers: On...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-24

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 7855] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition; Determinations: ``Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets'' AGENCY...: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets'' imported from abroad for...

E-READING II: words database for reading by students from Basic Education II.

PubMed

Oliveira, Adriana Marques de; Capellini, Simone Aparecida

2016-01-01

To develop a database of words of high, medium and low frequency in reading for Basic Education II. The words were taken from the teaching material for Portuguese Language, used by the teaching network of the State of São Paulo in the 6th to the 9th year of Basic Education. Only nouns were selected. The frequency with which each word occurred was recorded and a single database was created. In order to classify the words as of high, medium and low frequency, the decision was taken to work with the distribution terciles, mean frequency and the cutoff point of the terciles. In order to ascertain whether the words of high, medium and low frequency corresponded to this classification, 224 students were assessed: G1 (6th year, n= 61); G2 (7th year, n= 44); G3 (8th year, n= 65); and G4 (9th year, n= 54). The lists of words were presented to the students for reading out loud, in two sessions: 1st) words of high and medium frequency and 2nd) words of low-frequency. Words which encompassed the exclusion criteria, or which caused discomfort or joking on the part of the students, were excluded. The word database was made up of 1659 words and was titled 'E - LEITURA II' ('E-READING II', in English). The E-LEITURA II database is a useful resource for the professionals, as it provides a database which can be used for research, educational and clinical purposes among students of Basic Education II. The professional can choose the words according to her objectives and criteria for elaborating evaluation or intervention procedures involving reading.

High Stakes Testing and Reading Assessment. National Reading Conference Policy Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Afflerbach, Peter

2005-01-01

This National Reading Conference Policy Brief provides information related to high stakes reading tests and reading assessment. High stakes reading tests are those with highly consequential outcomes for students, teachers, and schools. These outcomes may include student promotion or retention, student placement in reading groups, school funding…

Reproducibility of ad libitum energy intake with the use of a computerized vending machine system123

PubMed Central

Votruba, Susanne B; Franks, Paul W; Krakoff, Jonathan; Salbe, Arline D

2010-01-01

Background: Accurate assessment of energy intake is difficult but critical for the evaluation of eating behavior and intervention effects. Consequently, methods to assess ad libitum energy intake under controlled conditions have been developed. Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the reproducibility of ad libitum energy intake with the use of a computerized vending machine system. Design: Twelve individuals (mean ± SD: 36 ± 8 y old; 41 ± 8% body fat) consumed a weight-maintaining diet for 3 d; subsequently, they self-selected all food with the use of a computerized vending machine system for an additional 3 d. Mean daily energy intake was calculated from the actual weight of foods consumed and expressed as a percentage of weight-maintenance energy needs (%WMEN). Subjects repeated the study multiple times during 2 y. The within-person reproducibility of energy intake was determined through the calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between visits. Results: Daily energy intake for all subjects was 5020 ± 1753 kcal during visit 1 and 4855 ± 1615 kcal during visit 2. There were no significant associations between energy intake and body weight, body mass index, or percentage body fat while subjects used the vending machines, which indicates that intake was not driven by body size or need. Despite overconsumption (%WMEN = 181 ± 57%), the reproducibility of intake between visits, whether expressed as daily energy intake (ICC = 0.90), %WMEN (ICC = 0.86), weight of food consumed (ICC = 0.87), or fat intake (g/d; ICC = 0.87), was highly significant (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Although ad libitum energy intake exceeded %WMEN, the within-person reliability of this intake across multiple visits was high, which makes this a reproducible method for the measurement of ad libitum intake in subjects who reside in a research unit. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00342732. PMID:19923376

Making Early Modern Medicine: Reproducing Swedish Bitters.

PubMed

Ahnfelt, Nils-Otto; Fors, Hjalmar

2016-05-01

Historians of science and medicine have rarely applied themselves to reproducing the experiments and practices of medicine and pharmacy. This paper delineates our efforts to reproduce "Swedish Bitters," an early modern composite medicine in wide European use from the 1730s to the present. In its original formulation, it was made from seven medicinal simples: aloe, rhubarb, saffron, myrrh, gentian, zedoary and agarikon. These were mixed in alcohol together with some theriac, a composite medicine of classical origin. The paper delineates the compositional history of Swedish Bitters and the medical rationale underlying its composition. It also describes how we go about to reproduce the medicine in a laboratory using early modern pharmaceutical methods, and analyse it using contemporary methods of pharmaceutical chemistry. Our aim is twofold: first, to show how reproducing medicines may provide a path towards a deeper understanding of the role of sensual and practical knowledge in the wider context of early modern medical culture; and second, how it may yield interesting results from the point of view of contemporary pharmaceutical science.

Leaky Bodies, Bawdy Books: Gonorrhea and Reading in Eighteenth-Century Britain.

PubMed

Wagner, Darren N

In eighteenth-century Britain, reading lewd books was understood to exacerbate gonorrhea. That pathology corresponded to a specific physiological model, which historians describe as the leaky male body. This article demonstrates how the connection between reading and gonorrhea correlated to three phenomena: 1) the neuro-sexual economy of bodily fluids; 2) the effects of reading on the sensible mind and body; and 3) the crossover of erotic and medical literatures. Aware of the physiological power of imagination, authors intentionally wrote to elicit strong physiological and sexual responses in readers. Concerns about the pathological and moral consequences of reading provocative material similarly informed criticisms of both the outright pornographic and the ostensibly medical. Partly in response to such criticisms, medical authors developed a more careful, decorous, and objective tone for writing about sexual topics. Ultimately, the culture of sensibility receded, as did anxieties about involuntary leaks of bodily fluids caused by reading.

Increased Stroop interference with better second-language reading skill.

PubMed

Braet, Wouter; Noppe, Nele; Wagemans, Johan; Op de Beeck, Hans

2011-03-01

Skilled readers demonstrate remarkable efficiency in processing written words, unlike beginning readers for whom reading occurs more serially and places higher demands on visual attention. In the present study, we used the Stroop paradigm to investigate the relationship between reading skill and automaticity, in individuals learning a second language with a different orthographic system. Prior studies using this paradigm have presented a mixed picture, finding a positive, a negative, or no relationship between the size of Stroop interference and reading skills. Our results show that Stroop interference in the second language was positively related to reading skill (when controlled for interference in the first language). Furthermore, interference was positively related to objective but not subjective indices of the amount of exposure to the second language. We suggest that the lack of consistency in the results of earlier studies may be due, at least in part, to these studies looking at Stroop interference in isolation, rather than comparing interference between languages.

Assessing the reading comprehension of adults with learning disabilities.

PubMed

Jones, F W; Long, K; Finlay, W M L

2006-06-01

This study's aim was to begin the process of measuring the reading comprehension of adults with mild and borderline learning disabilities, in order to generate information to help clinicians and other professionals to make written material for adults with learning disabilities more comprehensible. The Test for the Reception of Grammar (TROG), with items presented visually rather than orally, and the Reading Comprehension sub-test of the Wechsler Objective Reading Dimensions (WORD) battery were given to 24 service-users of a metropolitan community learning disability team who had an estimated IQ in the range 50-79. These tests were demonstrated to have satisfactory split-half reliability and convergent validity with this population, supporting both their use in this study and in clinical work. Data are presented concerning the distribution across the sample of reading-ages and the comprehension of written grammatical constructions. These data should be useful to those who are preparing written material for adults with learning disabilities.

An Evaluation of the Right to Read Inexpensive Book Distribution Program. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

General Research Corp., McLean, VA.

This report provides details of a study of the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program (IBDP), a federally funded and sponsored program operated by Reading is Fundamental (RIF). The specific objectives of the described study were to determine the effectiveness of the IBDP in generating student reading motivation, and to describe the process by which…

A Synthesis of Read-Aloud Interventions on Early Reading Outcomes Among Preschool through Third Graders at Risk for Reading Difficulties

PubMed Central

Swanson, Elizabeth A.; Wanzek, Jeanne; Petscher, Yaacov; Vaughn, Sharon; Heckert, Jennifer; Cavanaugh, Christie; Kraft, Guliz; Tackett, Katie

2012-01-01

A synthesis and meta-analysis of the extant research on the effects of storybook read aloud interventions for children at-risk for reading difficulties ages 3–8 is provided. A total of 29 studies met criteria for the synthesis, with 18 studies providing sufficient data for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Read aloud instruction has been examined using dialogic reading, repeated reading of stories, story reading with limited questioning before, during, and/or after reading, computer assisted story reading, and story reading with extended vocabulary activities. Significant, positive effects on children’s language, phonological awareness, print concepts, comprehension, and vocabulary outcomes were found. Despite the positive effects for read aloud interventions, only a small amount of outcome variance was accounted for by intervention type. PMID:21521868

Read with a Beat: Developing Literacy through Music and Song (Teaching Reading).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kolb, Gayla R.

1996-01-01

Argues that the singing-reading connective helps children learn to read and fosters a love for reading. Discusses integrating music with reading and notes various activities designed to extend the singing-reading experience, involving book concepts, sight vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency. (SR)

Suppression of Story Character Goals during Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linderholm, Tracy; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann; van den Broek, Paul; Neninde, Lana; Robertson, Rachel R. W.; Sundermier, Brian

2004-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine how readers process narrative texts when the main character has multiple, and changing, goals. Readers must keep track of such goals to understand the causal relations between text events, an important process for comprehension. The structure building framework theory of reading proposes that readers…

Reading for Understanding: Methodist Youths' Shared Scripture-Reading Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rackley, Eric D.

2018-01-01

Informed by reading comprehension and comprehension strategies research, this study explores the Scripture-reading practices of four Methodist youths. Several rounds of inductive thematic analyses of Scripture-reading protocols revealed a set of five strategic reading practices youths used to understand Scripture. They drew inferences about the…

Reproducibility of tumor uptake heterogeneity characterization through textural feature analysis in 18F-FDG PET.

PubMed

Tixier, Florent; Hatt, Mathieu; Le Rest, Catherine Cheze; Le Pogam, Adrien; Corcos, Laurent; Visvikis, Dimitris

2012-05-01

(18)F-FDG PET measurement of standardized uptake value (SUV) is increasingly used for monitoring therapy response and predicting outcome. Alternative parameters computed through textural analysis were recently proposed to quantify the heterogeneity of tracer uptake by tumors as a significant predictor of response. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of these heterogeneity measurements. Double baseline (18)F-FDG PET scans were acquired within 4 d of each other for 16 patients before any treatment was considered. A Bland-Altman analysis was performed on 8 parameters based on histogram measurements and 17 parameters based on textural heterogeneity features after discretization with values between 8 and 128. The reproducibility of maximum and mean SUV was similar to that in previously reported studies, with a mean percentage difference of 4.7% ± 19.5% and 5.5% ± 21.2%, respectively. By comparison, better reproducibility was measured for some textural features describing local heterogeneity of tracer uptake, such as entropy and homogeneity, with a mean percentage difference of -2% ± 5.4% and 1.8% ± 11.5%, respectively. Several regional heterogeneity parameters such as variability in the intensity and size of regions of homogeneous activity distribution had reproducibility similar to that of SUV measurements, with 95% confidence intervals of -22.5% to 3.1% and -1.1% to 23.5%, respectively. These parameters were largely insensitive to the discretization range. Several parameters derived from textural analysis describing heterogeneity of tracer uptake by tumors on local and regional scales had reproducibility similar to or better than that of simple SUV measurements. These reproducibility results suggest that these (18)F-FDG PET-derived parameters, which have already been shown to have predictive and prognostic value in certain cancer models, may be used to monitor therapy response and predict patient outcome.

Reproducibility of tumor uptake heterogeneity characterization through textural feature analysis in 18F-FDG PET

PubMed Central

Tixier, Florent; Hatt, Mathieu; Le Rest, Catherine Cheze; Le Pogam, Adrien; Corcos, Laurent; Visvikis, Dimitris

2012-01-01

18F-FDG PET measurement of standardized uptake values (SUV) is increasingly used for monitoring therapy response or predicting outcome. Alternative parameters computed through textural analysis were recently proposed to quantify the tumor tracer uptake heterogeneity as significant predictors of response. The primary objective of this study was the evaluation of the reproducibility of these heterogeneity measurements. Methods Double-baseline 18F-FDG PET scans of 16 patients acquired within a period of 4 days prior to any treatment were considered. A Bland-Altman analysis was carried out on six parameters based on histogram measurements and 17 heterogeneity parameters based on textural features obtained after discretization with values between 8 and 128. Results SUVmax and SUVmean reproducibility were similar to previously reported studies with a mean percentage difference of 4.7±19.5% and 5.5±21.2% respectively. By comparison better reproducibility was measured for some of the textural features describing tumor tracer local heterogeneity, such as entropy and homogeneity with a mean percentage difference of −2±5.4% and 1.8±11.5% respectively. Several of the tumor regional heterogeneity parameters such as the variability in the intensity and size of homogeneous tumor activity distribution regions had similar reproducibility to the SUV measurements with 95% confidence intervals of −22.5% to 3.1% and −1.1% to 23.5% respectively. These parameters were largely insensitive to the discretization range values. Conclusion Several of the parameters derived from textural analysis describing tumor tracer heterogeneity at local and regional scales had similar or better reproducibility as simple SUV measurements. These reproducibility results suggest that these FDG PET image derived parameters which have already been shown to have a predictive and prognostic value in certain cancer models, may be used within the context of therapy response monitoring or predicting

Individual and group sensitivity to remedial reading program design: Examining reading gains across three middle school reading projects

PubMed Central

Calhoon, Mary Beth; Petscher, Yaacov

2015-01-01

The purpose of this project was to examine group- and individual-level responses by struggling adolescents readers (6th – 8th grades; N = 155) to three different modalities of the same reading program, Reading Achievement Multi-Component Program (RAMP-UP). The three modalities differ in the combination of reading components (phonological decoding, spelling, fluency, comprehension) that are taught and their organization. Latent change scores were used to examine changes in phonological decoding, fluency, and comprehension for each modality at the group level. In addition, individual students were classified as gainers versus non-gainers (a reading level increase of a year or more vs. less than one year) so that characteristics of gainers and differential sensitivity to instructional modality could be investigated. Findings from both group and individual analyses indicated that reading outcomes were related to modalities of reading instruction. Furthermore, differences in reading gains were seen between students who began treatment with higher reading scores than those with lower reading scores; dependent on modality of treatment. Results, examining group and individual analyses similarities and differences, and the effect the different modalities have on reading outcomes for older struggling readers will be discussed. PMID:25657503

The Relationship of Print Reading in Tier I Instruction and Reading Achievement for Kindergarten Students at Risk of Reading Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wanzek, Jeanne; Roberts, Greg; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Kent, Shawn C.

2014-01-01

For many students at risk of reading difficulties, effective, early reading instruction can improve reading outcomes and set them on a positive reading trajectory. Thus, response-to-intervention models include a focus on a student's Tier I reading instruction as one element for preventing reading difficulties and identifying students with a…

Undefined cellulase formulations hinder scientific reproducibility

DOE PAGES

Himmel, Michael E.; Abbas, Charles A.; Baker, John O.; ...

2017-11-28

In the shadow of a burgeoning biomass-to-fuels industry, biological conversion of lignocellulose to fermentable sugars in a cost-effective manner is key to the success of second-generation and advanced biofuel production. For the effective comparison of one cellulase preparation to another, cellulase assays are typically carried out with one or more engineered cellulase formulations or natural exoproteomes of known performance serving as positive controls. When these formulations have unknown composition, as is the case with several widely used commercial products, it becomes impossible to compare or reproduce work done today to work done in the future, where, for example, such preparationsmore » may not be available. Therefore, being a critical tenet of science publishing, experimental reproducibility is endangered by the continued use of these undisclosed products. We propose the introduction of standard procedures and materials to produce specific and reproducible cellulase formulations. These formulations are to serve as yardsticks to measure improvements and performance of new cellulase formulations.« less

Undefined cellulase formulations hinder scientific reproducibility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Himmel, Michael E.; Abbas, Charles A.; Baker, John O.

In the shadow of a burgeoning biomass-to-fuels industry, biological conversion of lignocellulose to fermentable sugars in a cost-effective manner is key to the success of second-generation and advanced biofuel production. For the effective comparison of one cellulase preparation to another, cellulase assays are typically carried out with one or more engineered cellulase formulations or natural exoproteomes of known performance serving as positive controls. When these formulations have unknown composition, as is the case with several widely used commercial products, it becomes impossible to compare or reproduce work done today to work done in the future, where, for example, such preparationsmore » may not be available. Therefore, being a critical tenet of science publishing, experimental reproducibility is endangered by the continued use of these undisclosed products. We propose the introduction of standard procedures and materials to produce specific and reproducible cellulase formulations. These formulations are to serve as yardsticks to measure improvements and performance of new cellulase formulations.« less

Reading Attitude as a Mediator between Contextual Factors and Reading Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Hyo Jin; Bong, Mimi; Woo, Yeon-Kyung

2015-01-01

Background: Among the factors known to influence reading development and performance, attitude toward reading is shown to be particularly critical for developing learners. Reading attitude (McKenna, 1994; McKenna et al., 1995) enhances independent reading, levels of engagement in classroom reading activities, and the amount and variety of topics…

Developing New Reading Assessments to Promote Beginning Reading in Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koh, Kim H.; Paris, Scott G.

2011-01-01

Effective reading instruction and intervention are rooted in effective assessments of children's developing skills in reading. The article aims to describe the development of new reading assessments to help promote beginning reading in Singapore primary schools. We begin with an introduction to the educational landscape and policies before…

Dimensions of Reading Motivation and Their Relation to Reading Behavior and Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schiefele, Ulrich; Schaffner, Ellen; Moller, Jens; Wigfield, Allan

2012-01-01

This review of research examines the constructs of reading motivation and synthesizes research findings of the past 20 years on the relationship between reading motivation and reading behavior (amount, strategies, and preferences), and the relationship between reading motivation and reading competence (reading skills and comprehension). In…

The Contributions of Oral and Silent Reading Fluency to Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Katherine W.; Meisinger, Elizabeth B.; Louwerse, Max M.; D'Mello, Sidney

2016-01-01

Silent reading fluency has received limited attention in the school-based literatures across the past decade. We fill this gap by examining both oral and silent reading fluency and their relation to overall abilities in reading comprehension in fourth-grade students. Lower-level reading skills (word reading, rapid automatic naming) and vocabulary…

Pleasure Reading Cures Readicide and Facilitates Academic Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jennifer, J. Mary; Ponniah, R. Joseph

2015-01-01

Pleasure reading is an absolute choice to eradicate readicide, a systematic killing of the love for reading. This paper encompasses the different forms and consequences of readicide which will have negative impact not only on comprehension but also on the prior knowledge of a reader. Reading to score well on tests impedes the desire for reading…

Read Across Texas! 2002 Texas Reading Club Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edgmon, Missy; Ferate-Soto, Paolo; Foley, Lelana; Hager, Tina; Heard, Adriana; Ingham, Donna; Lopez, Nohemi; McMahon, Dorothy; Meyer, Sally; Parrish, Leila; Rodriguez-Gibbs, Josefina; Moreyra-Torres, Maricela; Travis, Gayle; Welch, Willy

The goal of the Texas Reading Club is to encourage the children of Texas to become library users and lifelong readers. This manual was created for the 2002 Texas Reading Club, a program of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The theme, "Read Across Texas!" invites children to explore the history, geography, and culture of…

Reading Speed as a Constraint of Accuracy of Self-Perception of Reading Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwon, Heekyung; Linderholm, Tracy

2015-01-01

We hypothesised that college students take reading speed into consideration when evaluating their own reading skill, even if reading speed does not reliably predict actual reading skill. To test this hypothesis, we measured self-perception of reading skill, self-perception of reading speed, actual reading skill and actual reading speed to…

READING MANUAL, A GUIDEBOOK FOR ILLINOIS WORKSHOPS IN READING REMEDIATION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

COVEY, CATHERINE

THE IMPORTANCE OF ADAPTING READING INSTRUCTION TO EACH CHILD'S NEEDS IS STRESSED IN THIS HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS OF REMEDIAL READING. INFORMATION IS ORGANIZED AROUND SIX TOPICS--(1) THE NATURE OF THE READING PROCESS, (2) CRITERIA FOR A GOOD ELEMENTARY READING PROGRAM, (3) REMEDIAL READERS, THE SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES (PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL,…

Exploring Students' Reading Profiles to Guide a Reading Intervention Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boakye, Naomi A. N. Y.

2017-01-01

There have been a number of studies on reading interventions to improve students' reading proficiency, yet the majority of these interventions are undertaken with the assumption that students' reading challenges are obvious and generic in nature. The interventions do not take into consideration the diversity in students' reading backgrounds and…

A multiparametric automatic method to monitor long-term reproducibility in digital mammography: results from a regional screening programme.

PubMed

Gennaro, G; Ballaminut, A; Contento, G

2017-09-01

This study aims to illustrate a multiparametric automatic method for monitoring long-term reproducibility of digital mammography systems, and its application on a large scale. Twenty-five digital mammography systems employed within a regional screening programme were controlled weekly using the same type of phantom, whose images were analysed by an automatic software tool. To assess system reproducibility levels, 15 image quality indices (IQIs) were extracted and compared with the corresponding indices previously determined by a baseline procedure. The coefficients of variation (COVs) of the IQIs were used to assess the overall variability. A total of 2553 phantom images were collected from the 25 digital mammography systems from March 2013 to December 2014. Most of the systems showed excellent image quality reproducibility over the surveillance interval, with mean variability below 5%. Variability of each IQI was 5%, with the exception of one index associated with the smallest phantom objects (0.25 mm), which was below 10%. The method applied for reproducibility tests-multi-detail phantoms, cloud automatic software tool to measure multiple image quality indices and statistical process control-was proven to be effective and applicable on a large scale and to any type of digital mammography system. • Reproducibility of mammography image quality should be monitored by appropriate quality controls. • Use of automatic software tools allows image quality evaluation by multiple indices. • System reproducibility can be assessed comparing current index value with baseline data. • Overall system reproducibility of modern digital mammography systems is excellent. • The method proposed and applied is cost-effective and easily scalable.

Methods in hair research: how to objectively distinguish between anagen and catagen in human hair follicle organ culture.

PubMed

Kloepper, Jennifer Elisabeth; Sugawara, Koji; Al-Nuaimi, Yusur; Gáspár, Erzsébet; van Beek, Nina; Paus, Ralf

2010-03-01

The organ culture of human scalp hair follicles (HFs) is the best currently available assay for hair research in the human system. In order to determine the hair growth-modulatory effects of agents in this assay, one critical read-out parameter is the assessment of whether the test agent has prolonged anagen duration or induced catagen in vitro. However, objective criteria to distinguish between anagen VI HFs and early catagen in human HF organ culture, two hair cycle stages with a deceptively similar morphology, remain to be established. Here, we develop, document and test an objective classification system that allows to distinguish between anagen VI and early catagen in organ-cultured human HFs, using both qualitative and quantitative parameters that can be generated by light microscopy or immunofluorescence. Seven qualitative classification criteria are defined that are based on assessing the morphology of the hair matrix, the dermal papilla and the distribution of pigmentary markers (melanin, gp100). These are complemented by ten quantitative parameters. We have tested this classification system by employing the clinically used topical hair growth inhibitor, eflornithine, and show that eflornithine indeed produces the expected premature catagen induction, as identified by the novel classification criteria reported here. Therefore, this classification system offers a standardized, objective and reproducible new experimental method to reliably distinguish between human anagen VI and early catagen HFs in organ culture.

Context Improves Comprehension of Fronted Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kristensen, Line Burholt; Engberg-Pedersen, Elisabeth; Poulsen, Mads

2014-01-01

Object-initial clauses (OCs) are associated with more processing difficulties than subject-initial clauses (SCs) in a number of languages (e.g. English, German and Finnish), but a supportive context can reduce or neutralize the difference between SCs and OCs with respect to reading times. Still, it is unresolved how context can affect the…

The Impact of Reading Success Academy on High School Reading Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burlison, Kelly; Chave, Josh

2014-01-01

The study explores the effectiveness of the Reading Success Academy on the reading achievement of the selected group of ninth-grade students in a comprehensive high school. We examine in what ways the Reading Success Academy may improve the reading proficiency rates and amount of reading growth of ninth-grade students. The results indicate that…

Towards Reproducibility in Computational Hydrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutton, Christopher; Wagener, Thorsten; Freer, Jim; Han, Dawei; Duffy, Chris; Arheimer, Berit

2017-04-01

Reproducibility is a foundational principle in scientific research. The ability to independently re-run an experiment helps to verify the legitimacy of individual findings, and evolve (or reject) hypotheses and models of how environmental systems function, and move them from specific circumstances to more general theory. Yet in computational hydrology (and in environmental science more widely) the code and data that produces published results are not regularly made available, and even if they are made available, there remains a multitude of generally unreported choices that an individual scientist may have made that impact the study result. This situation strongly inhibits the ability of our community to reproduce and verify previous findings, as all the information and boundary conditions required to set up a computational experiment simply cannot be reported in an article's text alone. In Hutton et al 2016 [1], we argue that a cultural change is required in the computational hydrological community, in order to advance and make more robust the process of knowledge creation and hypothesis testing. We need to adopt common standards and infrastructures to: (1) make code readable and re-useable; (2) create well-documented workflows that combine re-useable code together with data to enable published scientific findings to be reproduced; (3) make code and workflows available, easy to find, and easy to interpret, using code and code metadata repositories. To create change we argue for improved graduate training in these areas. In this talk we reflect on our progress in achieving reproducible, open science in computational hydrology, which are relevant to the broader computational geoscience community. In particular, we draw on our experience in the Switch-On (EU funded) virtual water science laboratory (http://www.switch-on-vwsl.eu/participate/), which is an open platform for collaboration in hydrological experiments (e.g. [2]). While we use computational hydrology as

Participant Nonnaiveté and the reproducibility of cognitive psychology.

PubMed

Zwaan, Rolf A; Pecher, Diane; Paolacci, Gabriele; Bouwmeester, Samantha; Verkoeijen, Peter; Dijkstra, Katinka; Zeelenberg, René

2017-07-25

Many argue that there is a reproducibility crisis in psychology. We investigated nine well-known effects from the cognitive psychology literature-three each from the domains of perception/action, memory, and language, respectively-and found that they are highly reproducible. Not only can they be reproduced in online environments, but they also can be reproduced with nonnaïve participants with no reduction of effect size. Apparently, some cognitive tasks are so constraining that they encapsulate behavior from external influences, such as testing situation and prior recent experience with the experiment to yield highly robust effects.

Does Johnny's Reading Teacher Love to Read? How Teachers' Personal Reading Habits Affect Instructional Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKool, Sharon S.; Gespass, Suzanne

2009-01-01

This article investigates the relationship between teachers' personal reading habits and their instructional practices. Teachers responded to a questionnaire that revealed their attitudes toward reading, the amount of time they spent reading per day and the kind of literacy practices that they used in their classrooms. Results indicate: (1) while…

Final Evaluation Report of the Sensory Adjustment for Effective Reading (SAFER) Project for the Encinitas Union School District.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Office of Program Planning and Development.

This final report on Sensory Adjustment for Effective Reading contains information related to the two major objectives of the reading program: to diagnose and treat sensorily deficient kindergarten and primary children, and to individualize the kindergarten and primary reading program utilizing sensory information. Activities conducted to achieve…

Influence of automatic word reading on motor control.

PubMed

Gentilucci, M; Gangitano, M

1998-02-01

We investigated the possible influence of automatic word reading on processes of visuo-motor transformation. Six subjects were required to reach and grasp a rod on whose visible face the word 'long' or 'short' was printed. Word reading was not explicitly required. In order to induce subjects to visually analyse the object trial by trial, object position and size were randomly varied during the experimental session. The kinematics of the reaching component was affected by word presentation. Peak acceleration, peak velocity, and peak deceleration of arm were higher for the word 'long' with respect to the word 'short'. That is, during the initial movement phase subjects automatically associated the meaning of the word with the distance to be covered and activated a motor program for a farther and/or nearer object position. During the final movement phase, subjects modified the braking forces (deceleration) in order to correct the initial error. No effect of the words on the grasp component was observed. These results suggest a possible influence of cognitive functions on motor control and seem to contrast with the notion that the analyses executed in the ventral and dorsal cortical visual streams are different and independent.

Assisted Reading: A Flexible Approach to L2 Reading Fluency Building

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taguchi, Etsuo; Melhem, Linley; Kawaguchi, Toshiko

2016-01-01

Reading fluency is a critical component of reading proficiency in both the L1 and L2. It lays a foundation on which readers build their reading skills to become strategic and versatile in using a variety of cognitive and metacognitive strategies of reading. In this paper we propose Assisted Reading as a flexible method for developing reading…

Systematic heterogenization for better reproducibility in animal experimentation.

PubMed

Richter, S Helene

2017-08-31

The scientific literature is full of articles discussing poor reproducibility of findings from animal experiments as well as failures to translate results from preclinical animal studies to clinical trials in humans. Critics even go so far as to talk about a "reproducibility crisis" in the life sciences, a novel headword that increasingly finds its way into numerous high-impact journals. Viewed from a cynical perspective, Fett's law of the lab "Never replicate a successful experiment" has thus taken on a completely new meaning. So far, poor reproducibility and translational failures in animal experimentation have mostly been attributed to biased animal data, methodological pitfalls, current publication ethics and animal welfare constraints. More recently, the concept of standardization has also been identified as a potential source of these problems. By reducing within-experiment variation, rigorous standardization regimes limit the inference to the specific experimental conditions. In this way, however, individual phenotypic plasticity is largely neglected, resulting in statistically significant but possibly irrelevant findings that are not reproducible under slightly different conditions. By contrast, systematic heterogenization has been proposed as a concept to improve representativeness of study populations, contributing to improved external validity and hence improved reproducibility. While some first heterogenization studies are indeed very promising, it is still not clear how this approach can be transferred into practice in a logistically feasible and effective way. Thus, further research is needed to explore different heterogenization strategies as well as alternative routes toward better reproducibility in animal experimentation.

Connected Text Reading and Differences in Text Reading Fluency in Adult Readers

PubMed Central

Wallot, Sebastian; Hollis, Geoff; van Rooij, Marieke

2013-01-01

The process of connected text reading has received very little attention in contemporary cognitive psychology. This lack of attention is in parts due to a research tradition that emphasizes the role of basic lexical constituents, which can be studied in isolated words or sentences. However, this lack of attention is in parts also due to the lack of statistical analysis techniques, which accommodate interdependent time series. In this study, we investigate text reading performance with traditional and nonlinear analysis techniques and show how outcomes from multiple analyses can used to create a more detailed picture of the process of text reading. Specifically, we investigate reading performance of groups of literate adult readers that differ in reading fluency during a self-paced text reading task. Our results indicate that classical metrics of reading (such as word frequency) do not capture text reading very well, and that classical measures of reading fluency (such as average reading time) distinguish relatively poorly between participant groups. Nonlinear analyses of distribution tails and reading time fluctuations provide more fine-grained information about the reading process and reading fluency. PMID:23977177

Quantifying reproducibility in computational biology: the case of the tuberculosis drugome.

PubMed

Garijo, Daniel; Kinnings, Sarah; Xie, Li; Xie, Lei; Zhang, Yinliang; Bourne, Philip E; Gil, Yolanda

2013-01-01

How easy is it to reproduce the results found in a typical computational biology paper? Either through experience or intuition the reader will already know that the answer is with difficulty or not at all. In this paper we attempt to quantify this difficulty by reproducing a previously published paper for different classes of users (ranging from users with little expertise to domain experts) and suggest ways in which the situation might be improved. Quantification is achieved by estimating the time required to reproduce each of the steps in the method described in the original paper and make them part of an explicit workflow that reproduces the original results. Reproducing the method took several months of effort, and required using new versions and new software that posed challenges to reconstructing and validating the results. The quantification leads to "reproducibility maps" that reveal that novice researchers would only be able to reproduce a few of the steps in the method, and that only expert researchers with advance knowledge of the domain would be able to reproduce the method in its entirety. The workflow itself is published as an online resource together with supporting software and data. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the complexities of requiring reproducibility in terms of cost versus benefit, and a desiderata with our observations and guidelines for improving reproducibility. This has implications not only in reproducing the work of others from published papers, but reproducing work from one's own laboratory.

Basic Learning Skills Grades K-6. Minimum Statewide Educational Objectives Approved by the Board of Education May 27, 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virginia State Dept. of Education, Richmond. Div. of Elementary Education.

The specific educational objectives or basic learning skills are listed for the Virginia elementary school grades. Minimum skills are listed in reading, communications, and mathematics. Terminal objectives for reading include skills in word identification or decoding, comprehension, and study skills. Communication skills include listening,…

Optical read/write memory system components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kozma, A.

1972-01-01

The optical components of a breadboard holographic read/write memory system have been fabricated and the parameters specified of the major system components: (1) a laser system; (2) an x-y beam deflector; (3) a block data composer; (4) the read/write memory material; (5) an output detector array; and (6) the electronics to drive, synchronize, and control all system components. The objectives of the investigation were divided into three concurrent phases: (1) to supply and fabricate the major components according to the previously established specifications; (2) to prepare computer programs to simulate the entire holographic memory system so that a designer can balance the requirements on the various components; and (3) to conduct a development program to optimize the combined recording and reconstruction process of the high density holographic memory system.

Idea Sharing: The Use of Read-Share-Act to Promote Extensive Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charumanee, Nisakorn

2014-01-01

Nisakorn Charumanee believes that a reading teacher has an active role in cultivating reading culture or reading habit and in activating students to "want" to read. One way to do this is to integrate extensive reading into the classroom (Day and Bamford, 1998; Bamford and Day, 2004) where extensive reading can be enhanced if the teacher…

Examining the Effects of Skill Level and Reading Modality on Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickens, Rachel H.; Meisinger, Elizabeth B.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reading skill and reading modality (oral versus silent) on reading comprehension. A normative sample of sixth-grade students (N = 74) read texts aloud and silently and then answered questions about what they read. Skill in word reading fluency was assessed by the Test of Word Reading…

Response to Comment on "Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science".

PubMed

Anderson, Christopher J; Bahník, Štěpán; Barnett-Cowan, Michael; Bosco, Frank A; Chandler, Jesse; Chartier, Christopher R; Cheung, Felix; Christopherson, Cody D; Cordes, Andreas; Cremata, Edward J; Della Penna, Nicolas; Estel, Vivien; Fedor, Anna; Fitneva, Stanka A; Frank, Michael C; Grange, James A; Hartshorne, Joshua K; Hasselman, Fred; Henninger, Felix; van der Hulst, Marije; Jonas, Kai J; Lai, Calvin K; Levitan, Carmel A; Miller, Jeremy K; Moore, Katherine S; Meixner, Johannes M; Munafò, Marcus R; Neijenhuijs, Koen I; Nilsonne, Gustav; Nosek, Brian A; Plessow, Franziska; Prenoveau, Jason M; Ricker, Ashley A; Schmidt, Kathleen; Spies, Jeffrey R; Stieger, Stefan; Strohminger, Nina; Sullivan, Gavin B; van Aert, Robbie C M; van Assen, Marcel A L M; Vanpaemel, Wolf; Vianello, Michelangelo; Voracek, Martin; Zuni, Kellylynn

2016-03-04

Gilbert et al. conclude that evidence from the Open Science Collaboration's Reproducibility Project: Psychology indicates high reproducibility, given the study methodology. Their very optimistic assessment is limited by statistical misconceptions and by causal inferences from selectively interpreted, correlational data. Using the Reproducibility Project: Psychology data, both optimistic and pessimistic conclusions about reproducibility are possible, and neither are yet warranted. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Teachers' Role in Fostering Reading Skill: Effective and Successful Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jose, G. Rexlin; Raja, B. William Dharma

2011-01-01

Reading bestows enjoyment and enlightenment. It unlocks the unknown. It is a complex cognitive activity that is indispensable for the kind of knowledge society. So the students of today's world must know how to learn from reading and to enter the present literate society. One who reads can lead others to light. People who read can be free because…

Changes in Reading Habits by Low Literate Adults through Extensive Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodrigo, Victoria; Greenberg, Daphne; Segal, Don

2014-01-01

This study analyzes the effect of two reading interventions on reading habits by 181 low literate adults who read at the 3-5.9 grade levels. One intervention implemented extensive reading (ER group) and the other one had direct instruction (no-ER group). A Reading Pattern survey was administered at the beginning, at the end, and 6 months after the…

L2 Japanese Learners' Responses to Translation, Speed Reading, and "Pleasure Reading" as a Form of Extensive Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabata-Sandom, Mitsue

2017-01-01

Fluency development instruction lacks in reading in Japanese as a foreign language instruction. This study examined how 34 upper-intermediate level learners of Japanese responded when they first experienced pleasure reading and speed reading. The participants also engaged in intensive reading, the main component of which was translation. Survey…

Reading Engagement in Science: Elementary Students' Read-Aloud Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliveira, Alandeom W.

2015-01-01

This study examines student reading engagement with children's science books in elementary classrooms. "Reading engagement" in science is conceived in terms of a Transmission-Transaction continuum. When centered on transmission, science reading entails passive reception of a textually encoded scientific message. By contrast, when science…

The Assessment of Reading Comprehension Difficulties for Reading Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolley, Gary

2008-01-01

There are many environmental and personal factors that contribute to reading success. Reading comprehension is a complex interaction of language, sensory perception, memory, and motivational aspects. However, most existing assessment tools have not adequately reflected the complex nature of reading comprehension. Good assessment requires a…

Opening Reproducible Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nüst, Daniel; Konkol, Markus; Pebesma, Edzer; Kray, Christian; Klötgen, Stephanie; Schutzeichel, Marc; Lorenz, Jörg; Przibytzin, Holger; Kussmann, Dirk

2016-04-01

Open access is not only a form of publishing such that research papers become available to the large public free of charge, it also refers to a trend in science that the act of doing research becomes more open and transparent. When science transforms to open access we not only mean access to papers, research data being collected, or data being generated, but also access to the data used and the procedures carried out in the research paper. Increasingly, scientific results are generated by numerical manipulation of data that were already collected, and may involve simulation experiments that are completely carried out computationally. Reproducibility of research findings, the ability to repeat experimental procedures and confirm previously found results, is at the heart of the scientific method (Pebesma, Nüst and Bivand, 2012). As opposed to the collection of experimental data in labs or nature, computational experiments lend themselves very well for reproduction. Some of the reasons why scientists do not publish data and computational procedures that allow reproduction will be hard to change, e.g. privacy concerns in the data, fear for embarrassment or of losing a competitive advantage. Others reasons however involve technical aspects, and include the lack of standard procedures to publish such information and the lack of benefits after publishing them. We aim to resolve these two technical aspects. We propose a system that supports the evolution of scientific publications from static papers into dynamic, executable research documents. The DFG-funded experimental project Opening Reproducible Research (ORR) aims for the main aspects of open access, by improving the exchange of, by facilitating productive access to, and by simplifying reuse of research results that are published over the Internet. Central to the project is a new form for creating and providing research results, the executable research compendium (ERC), which not only enables third parties to

The Role of Speech Prosody and Text Reading Prosody in Children's Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veenendaal, Nathalie J.; Groen, Margriet A.; Verhoeven, Ludo

2014-01-01

Background: Text reading prosody has been associated with reading comprehension. However, text reading prosody is a reading-dependent measure that relies heavily on decoding skills. Investigation of the contribution of speech prosody--which is independent from reading skills--in addition to text reading prosody, to reading comprehension could…

New Year's Reading Resolutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bates, Nancy; And Others

1988-01-01

Activities to enhance reading with listening, thinking, writing, and fun are suggested. Topics include celebrate Reading Week, superbowl reading, book buddies, biography binge, laughing and learning, oral reading, reading sweepstakes, idea lists, fairy tale showdown, and parent reading tips. (MT)

Impaired recognition of faces and objects in dyslexia: Evidence for ventral stream dysfunction?

PubMed

Sigurdardottir, Heida Maria; Ívarsson, Eysteinn; Kristinsdóttir, Kristjana; Kristjánsson, Árni

2015-09-01

The objective of this study was to establish whether or not dyslexics are impaired at the recognition of faces and other complex nonword visual objects. This would be expected based on a meta-analysis revealing that children and adult dyslexics show functional abnormalities within the left fusiform gyrus, a brain region high up in the ventral visual stream, which is thought to support the recognition of words, faces, and other objects. 20 adult dyslexics (M = 29 years) and 20 matched typical readers (M = 29 years) participated in the study. One dyslexic-typical reader pair was excluded based on Adult Reading History Questionnaire scores and IS-FORM reading scores. Performance was measured on 3 high-level visual processing tasks: the Cambridge Face Memory Test, the Vanderbilt Holistic Face Processing Test, and the Vanderbilt Expertise Test. People with dyslexia are impaired in their recognition of faces and other visually complex objects. Their holistic processing of faces appears to be intact, suggesting that dyslexics may instead be specifically impaired at part-based processing of visual objects. The difficulty that people with dyslexia experience with reading might be the most salient manifestation of a more general high-level visual deficit. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Accelerated Reader and Young People's Reading in 2013: Findings from the National Literacy Trust's 2013 Annual Literacy Survey on Reading Enjoyment, Reading Behaviour outside Class and Reading Attitudes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Christina

2014-01-01

Accelerated Reader (AR) is a tool for monitoring and managing independent reading practice. Although a wealth of data is routinely collected about children's reading skills as part of the AR tool, no information is collected on the "softer" reading outcomes, such as reading enjoyment and attitudes towards reading. The National Literacy…

Multicultural Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veltze, Linda

2004-01-01

Multicultural reading advocates believe in the power of literature to transform and to change people's lives. They take seriously the arguments that racism and prejudice can be lessened through multicultural reading, and also that children from undervalued societal groups who read books that depict people like themselves in a positive light will…

Evaluation of New Cone-beam Computed Tomographic Criteria for Radiographic Healing Evaluation after Apical Surgery: Assessment of Repeatability and Reproducibility.

PubMed

von Arx, Thomas; Janner, Simone F M; Hänni, Stefan; Bornstein, Michael M

2016-02-01

Conventional 2-dimensional radiography uses defined criteria for outcome assessment of apical surgery. However, these radiographic healing criteria are not applicable for 3-dimensional radiography. The present study evaluated the repeatability and reproducibility of new cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT)-based healing criteria for the judgment of periapical healing 1 year after apical surgery. CBCT scans taken 1 year after apical surgery (61 roots of 54 teeth in 54 patients, mean age = 54.4 years) were evaluated by 3 blinded and calibrated observers using 4 different indices. Reformatted buccolingual CBCT sections through the longitudinal axis of the treated roots were analyzed. Radiographic healing was assessed at the resection plane (R index), within the apical area (A index), of the cortical plate (C index), and regarding a combined apical-cortical area (B index). All readings were performed twice to calculate the intraobserver agreement (repeatability). Second-time readings were used for analyzing the interobserver agreement (reproducibility). Various statistical tests (Cohen, kappa, Fisher, and Spearman) were performed to measure the intra- and interobserver concurrence, the variability of score ratios, and the correlation of indices. For all indices, the rates of identical first- and second-time scores were always higher than 80% (intraobserver Cohen κ values ranging from 0.793 to 0.963). The B index (94.0%) showed the highest intraobserver agreement. Regarding interobserver agreement, the highest rate was found for the B index (72.1%). The Fleiss' κ values for R and B indices exhibited substantial agreement (0.626 and 0.717, respectively), whereas the values for A and C indices showed moderate agreement (0.561 and 0.573, respectively). The Spearman correlation coefficients for R, A, C, and B indices all exhibited a moderate to very strong correlation with the highest correlation found between C and B indices (rs = 0.8069). All indices showed an

SchemaOnRead: A Package for Schema-on-Read in R

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

North, Michael J.

Schema-on-read is an agile approach to data storage and retrieval that defers investments in data organization until production queries need to be run by working with data directly in native form. Schema-on-read functions have been implemented in a wide range of analytical systems, most notably Hadoop. SchemaOnRead is a CRAN package that uses R’s flexible data representations to provide transparent and convenient support for the schema-on-read paradigm in R. The schema-on- read tools within the package include a single function call that recursively reads folders with text, comma separated value, raster image, R data, HDF5, NetCDF, spreadsheet, Weka, Epi Info,more » Pajek network, R network, HTML, SPSS, Systat, and Stata files. The provided tools can be used as-is or easily adapted to implement customized schema-on-read tool chains in R. This paper’s contribution is that it introduces and describes SchemaOnRead, the first R package specifically focused on providing explicit schema-on-read support in R.« less

Examining Associations between Reading Motivation and Inference Generation beyond Reading Comprehension Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clinton, Virginia

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between reading motivation and inference generation while reading. Undergraduate participants (N = 69) read two science articles while thinking aloud, completed a standardized reading comprehension assessment, and self reported their habitual reading motivation. Findings indicate that…

Effect of Initial Conditions on Reproducibility of Scientific Research

PubMed Central

Djulbegovic, Benjamin; Hozo, Iztok

2014-01-01

Background: It is estimated that about half of currently published research cannot be reproduced. Many reasons have been offered as explanations for failure to reproduce scientific research findings- from fraud to the issues related to design, conduct, analysis, or publishing scientific research. We also postulate a sensitive dependency on initial conditions by which small changes can result in the large differences in the research findings when attempted to be reproduced at later times. Methods: We employed a simple logistic regression equation to model the effect of covariates on the initial study findings. We then fed the input from the logistic equation into a logistic map function to model stability of the results in repeated experiments over time. We illustrate the approach by modeling effects of different factors on the choice of correct treatment. Results: We found that reproducibility of the study findings depended both on the initial values of all independent variables and the rate of change in the baseline conditions, the latter being more important. When the changes in the baseline conditions vary by about 3.5 to about 4 in between experiments, no research findings could be reproduced. However, when the rate of change between the experiments is ≤2.5 the results become highly predictable between the experiments. Conclusions: Many results cannot be reproduced because of the changes in the initial conditions between the experiments. Better control of the baseline conditions in-between the experiments may help improve reproducibility of scientific findings. PMID:25132705

Effect of initial conditions on reproducibility of scientific research.

PubMed

Djulbegovic, Benjamin; Hozo, Iztok

2014-06-01

It is estimated that about half of currently published research cannot be reproduced. Many reasons have been offered as explanations for failure to reproduce scientific research findings- from fraud to the issues related to design, conduct, analysis, or publishing scientific research. We also postulate a sensitive dependency on initial conditions by which small changes can result in the large differences in the research findings when attempted to be reproduced at later times. We employed a simple logistic regression equation to model the effect of covariates on the initial study findings. We then fed the input from the logistic equation into a logistic map function to model stability of the results in repeated experiments over time. We illustrate the approach by modeling effects of different factors on the choice of correct treatment. We found that reproducibility of the study findings depended both on the initial values of all independent variables and the rate of change in the baseline conditions, the latter being more important. When the changes in the baseline conditions vary by about 3.5 to about 4 in between experiments, no research findings could be reproduced. However, when the rate of change between the experiments is ≤2.5 the results become highly predictable between the experiments. Many results cannot be reproduced because of the changes in the initial conditions between the experiments. Better control of the baseline conditions in-between the experiments may help improve reproducibility of scientific findings.

Language-Agnostic Reproducible Data Analysis Using Literate Programming.

PubMed

Vassilev, Boris; Louhimo, Riku; Ikonen, Elina; Hautaniemi, Sampsa

2016-01-01

A modern biomedical research project can easily contain hundreds of analysis steps and lack of reproducibility of the analyses has been recognized as a severe issue. While thorough documentation enables reproducibility, the number of analysis programs used can be so large that in reality reproducibility cannot be easily achieved. Literate programming is an approach to present computer programs to human readers. The code is rearranged to follow the logic of the program, and to explain that logic in a natural language. The code executed by the computer is extracted from the literate source code. As such, literate programming is an ideal formalism for systematizing analysis steps in biomedical research. We have developed the reproducible computing tool Lir (literate, reproducible computing) that allows a tool-agnostic approach to biomedical data analysis. We demonstrate the utility of Lir by applying it to a case study. Our aim was to investigate the role of endosomal trafficking regulators to the progression of breast cancer. In this analysis, a variety of tools were combined to interpret the available data: a relational database, standard command-line tools, and a statistical computing environment. The analysis revealed that the lipid transport related genes LAPTM4B and NDRG1 are coamplified in breast cancer patients, and identified genes potentially cooperating with LAPTM4B in breast cancer progression. Our case study demonstrates that with Lir, an array of tools can be combined in the same data analysis to improve efficiency, reproducibility, and ease of understanding. Lir is an open-source software available at github.com/borisvassilev/lir.

Language-Agnostic Reproducible Data Analysis Using Literate Programming

PubMed Central

Vassilev, Boris; Louhimo, Riku; Ikonen, Elina; Hautaniemi, Sampsa

2016-01-01

A modern biomedical research project can easily contain hundreds of analysis steps and lack of reproducibility of the analyses has been recognized as a severe issue. While thorough documentation enables reproducibility, the number of analysis programs used can be so large that in reality reproducibility cannot be easily achieved. Literate programming is an approach to present computer programs to human readers. The code is rearranged to follow the logic of the program, and to explain that logic in a natural language. The code executed by the computer is extracted from the literate source code. As such, literate programming is an ideal formalism for systematizing analysis steps in biomedical research. We have developed the reproducible computing tool Lir (literate, reproducible computing) that allows a tool-agnostic approach to biomedical data analysis. We demonstrate the utility of Lir by applying it to a case study. Our aim was to investigate the role of endosomal trafficking regulators to the progression of breast cancer. In this analysis, a variety of tools were combined to interpret the available data: a relational database, standard command-line tools, and a statistical computing environment. The analysis revealed that the lipid transport related genes LAPTM4B and NDRG1 are coamplified in breast cancer patients, and identified genes potentially cooperating with LAPTM4B in breast cancer progression. Our case study demonstrates that with Lir, an array of tools can be combined in the same data analysis to improve efficiency, reproducibility, and ease of understanding. Lir is an open-source software available at github.com/borisvassilev/lir. PMID:27711123

Language and memory for object location.

PubMed

Gudde, Harmen B; Coventry, Kenny R; Engelhardt, Paul E

2016-08-01

In three experiments, we investigated the influence of two types of language on memory for object location: demonstratives (this, that) and possessives (my, your). Participants first read instructions containing demonstratives/possessives to place objects at different locations, and then had to recall those object locations (following object removal). Experiments 1 and 2 tested contrasting predictions of two possible accounts of language on object location memory: the Expectation Model (Coventry, Griffiths, & Hamilton, 2014) and the congruence account (Bonfiglioli, Finocchiaro, Gesierich, Rositani, & Vescovi, 2009). In Experiment 3, the role of attention allocation as a possible mechanism was investigated. Results across all three experiments show striking effects of language on object location memory, with the pattern of data supporting the Expectation Model. In this model, the expected location cued by language and the actual location are concatenated leading to (mis)memory for object location, consistent with models of predictive coding (Bar, 2009; Friston, 2003). Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reading Amount as a Mediator of the Effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Reading Motivation on Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaffner, Ellen; Schiefele, Ulrich; Ulferts, Hannah

2013-01-01

This study examined the role of reading amount as a mediator of the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation on higher order reading comprehension (comprised of paragraph-and passage-level comprehension) in a sample of 159 fifth-grade elementary students. A positive association between intrinsic reading motivation and reading amount…

Multisyllabic Word Reading as a Moderator of Morphological Awareness and Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Gilbert, Jennifer K.; Goodwin, Amanda P.; Compton, Donald L.; Kearns, Devin M.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the relation between morphological awareness on reading comprehension is moderated by multisyllabic word reading ability in fifth grade students (N = 169, 53.7% female, 65.2% minority status, 69.2% free/reduced lunch status), oversampled for poor reading skill, when controlling for general knowledge and vocabulary. Based on the lexical quality hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007), it was expected that morphological awareness would have a stronger effect on comprehension for children with poor word reading skills, suggesting possible use of morphological awareness for word identification support. Results indicated that neither morphological awareness nor word reading was uniquely associated with reading comprehension when both were included in the model along with vocabulary and general knowledge. Instead, the interaction between word reading and morphological awareness explained significant additional variance in reading comprehension. By probing this interaction, it was determined that the effect of morphological awareness on reading comprehension was significant for the 39% of the sample that had more difficulty reading multisyllabic words), but not for students at the higher end of the multisyllabic word reading continuum. We conclude from these results that the relation between morphological awareness and reading comprehension is moderated by multisyllabic word reading ability, providing support for the lexical quality hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007). Although we have only correlational data, we suggest tentative instructional practices for improving the reading skill of upper elementary struggling readers. PMID:24219914

Validity and reproducibility of self-reported working hours among Japanese male employees.

PubMed

Imai, Teppei; Kuwahara, Keisuke; Miyamoto, Toshiaki; Okazaki, Hiroko; Nishihara, Akiko; Kabe, Isamu; Mizoue, Tetsuya; Dohi, Seitaro

2016-07-22

Working long hours is a potential health hazard. Although self-reporting of working hours in various time frames has been used in epidemiologic studies, its validity is unclear. The objective of this study was to examine the validity and reproducibility of self-reported working hours among Japanese male employees. The participants were 164 male employees of four large-scale companies in Japan. For validity, the Spearman correlation between self-reported working hours in the second survey and the working hours recorded by the company was calculated for the following four time frames: daily working hours, monthly overtime working hours in the last month, average overtime working hours in the last 3 months, and the frequency of long working months (≥45 h/month) within the last 12 months. For reproducibility, the intraclass correlation between the first (September 2013) and second surveys (December 2013) was calculated for each of the four time frames. The Spearman correlations between self-reported working hours and those based on company records were 0.74, 0.81, 0.85, and 0.89 for daily, monthly, 3-monthly, and yearly time periods, respectively. The intraclass correlations for self-reported working hours between the two questionnaire surveys were 0.63, 0.66, 0.73, and 0.87 for the respective time frames. The results of the present study among Japanese male employees suggest that the validity of self-reported working hours is high for all four time frames, whereas the reproducibility is moderate to high.

Evidence-Based Reading Instruction: Putting the National Reading Panel Report into Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Reading Association, Newark, DE.

This collection of articles from "The Reading Teacher" provides examples of the instructional practices which improve reading achievement, according to Reading First legislation. Each section offers a summary and discussion of the National Reading Panel Report findings, and presents several articles from "The Reading Teacher"…

Reading motivation, reading amount, and text comprehension in deaf and hearing adults.

PubMed

Parault, Susan J; Williams, Heather M

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the variables of reading motivation, reading amount, and text comprehension in deaf and hearing adults. Research has shown that less than 50% of deaf students leave high school reading at or above a fourth-grade level (Allen, 1994). Our question is, how does this affect the levels of reading motivation and amount of reading in which deaf adults engage? Assessments of 30 hearing and 24 deaf adults showed that deaf participants reported significantly higher levels of reading motivation despite having been found to read at less than a sixth-grade level. No significant difference in the amount of reading between hearing and deaf adults was found. Amount of reading for personal reasons was found to be the best predictor of text comprehension in the deaf participants, and intrinsic motivation was found to be the best predictor of amount of reading in the deaf participants.

Conceptual Understanding of Shape and Space by Braille-Reading Norwegian Students in Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klingenberg, Oliv G.

2012-01-01

Introduction: The study presented here investigated the ways in which students who read braille were able to complete geometric tasks and how they constructed mental representations of the shapes of objects. Methods: Data were collected in an educational experiment conducted as a geometry course for students who read braille. A case study approach…

Multi-sensory learning and learning to read.

PubMed

Blomert, Leo; Froyen, Dries

2010-09-01

The basis of literacy acquisition in alphabetic orthographies is the learning of the associations between the letters and the corresponding speech sounds. In spite of this primacy in learning to read, there is only scarce knowledge on how this audiovisual integration process works and which mechanisms are involved. Recent electrophysiological studies of letter-speech sound processing have revealed that normally developing readers take years to automate these associations and dyslexic readers hardly exhibit automation of these associations. It is argued that the reason for this effortful learning may reside in the nature of the audiovisual process that is recruited for the integration of in principle arbitrarily linked elements. It is shown that letter-speech sound integration does not resemble the processes involved in the integration of natural audiovisual objects such as audiovisual speech. The automatic symmetrical recruitment of the assumedly uni-sensory visual and auditory cortices in audiovisual speech integration does not occur for letter and speech sound integration. It is also argued that letter-speech sound integration only partly resembles the integration of arbitrarily linked unfamiliar audiovisual objects. Letter-sound integration and artificial audiovisual objects share the necessity of a narrow time window for integration to occur. However, they differ from these artificial objects, because they constitute an integration of partly familiar elements which acquire meaning through the learning of an orthography. Although letter-speech sound pairs share similarities with audiovisual speech processing as well as with unfamiliar, arbitrary objects, it seems that letter-speech sound pairs develop into unique audiovisual objects that furthermore have to be processed in a unique way in order to enable fluent reading and thus very likely recruit other neurobiological learning mechanisms than the ones involved in learning natural or arbitrary unfamiliar

An automated behavioral measure of mind wandering during computerized reading.

PubMed

Faber, Myrthe; Bixler, Robert; D'Mello, Sidney K

2018-02-01

Mind wandering is a ubiquitous phenomenon in which attention shifts from task-related to task-unrelated thoughts. The last decade has witnessed an explosion of interest in mind wandering, but research has been stymied by a lack of objective measures, leading to a near-exclusive reliance on self-reports. We addressed this issue by developing an eye-gaze-based, machine-learned model of mind wandering during computerized reading. Data were collected in a study in which 132 participants reported self-caught mind wandering while reading excerpts from a book on a computer screen. A remote Tobii TX300 or T60 eyetracker recorded their gaze during reading. The data were used to train supervised classification models to discriminate between mind wandering and normal reading in a manner that would generalize to new participants. We found that at the point of maximal agreement between the model-based and self-reported mind-wandering means (smallest difference between the group-level means: M model = .310, M self = .319), the participant-level mind-wandering proportional distributions were similar and were significantly correlated (r = .400). The model-based estimates were internally consistent (r = .751) and predicted text comprehension more strongly than did self-reported mind wandering (r model = -.374, r self = -.208). Our results also indicate that a robust strategy of probabilistically predicting mind wandering in cases with poor or missing gaze data led to improved performance on all metrics, as compared to simply discarding these data. Our findings demonstrate that an automated objective measure might be available for laboratory studies of mind wandering during reading, providing an appealing alternative or complement to self-reports.

Influence of radiation dose and iterative reconstruction algorithms for measurement accuracy and reproducibility of pulmonary nodule volumetry: A phantom study.

PubMed

Kim, Hyungjin; Park, Chang Min; Song, Yong Sub; Lee, Sang Min; Goo, Jin Mo

2014-05-01

To evaluate the influence of radiation dose settings and reconstruction algorithms on the measurement accuracy and reproducibility of semi-automated pulmonary nodule volumetry. CT scans were performed on a chest phantom containing various nodules (10 and 12mm; +100, -630 and -800HU) at 120kVp with tube current-time settings of 10, 20, 50, and 100mAs. Each CT was reconstructed using filtered back projection (FBP), iDose(4) and iterative model reconstruction (IMR). Semi-automated volumetry was performed by two radiologists using commercial volumetry software for nodules at each CT dataset. Noise, contrast-to-noise ratio and signal-to-noise ratio of CT images were also obtained. The absolute percentage measurement errors and differences were then calculated for volume and mass. The influence of radiation dose and reconstruction algorithm on measurement accuracy, reproducibility and objective image quality metrics was analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Measurement accuracy and reproducibility of nodule volume and mass were not significantly associated with CT radiation dose settings or reconstruction algorithms (p>0.05). Objective image quality metrics of CT images were superior in IMR than in FBP or iDose(4) at all radiation dose settings (p<0.05). Semi-automated nodule volumetry can be applied to low- or ultralow-dose chest CT with usage of a novel iterative reconstruction algorithm without losing measurement accuracy and reproducibility. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

PubMed

Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A

2016-01-01

Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading

PubMed Central

Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A.

2016-01-01

Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level. PMID:27992505

Measuring Reading Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blanton, William E., Ed.; And Others

Designed to provide solutions to some of the problems related to measuring reading behavior, this publication explores some of the problems of test selection and usage which confront educators. Contents include "Reading Testing for Reading Evaluation" by Walter R. Hill, "Reading Tests and the Disadvantaged" by Thomas J. Fitzgibbon, "What Is…

Reading: Tests and Assessment Techniques. Second Edition. United Kingdom Reading Association Teaching of Reading Monograph Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pumfrey, Peter D.

The second edition of this British publication provides details of recent developments in the assessment of reading attainments and the analysis of reading processes. The book begins with a description of various types of reading tests and assessment techniques with consideration given to the purposes for which normative, criterion-referenced, and…

A Read-Aloud for Science (Read It Aloud).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Judy S.; Breen, Margaret

1996-01-01

Recommends a young adult read-aloud selection for science classes on endangered species. Describes listening, writing, discussing, investigating, and debating activities capitalizing on this read-aloud. (SR)

Processing Rhythmic Pattern during Chinese Sentence Reading: An Eye Movement Study

PubMed Central

Luo, Yingyi; Duan, Yunyan; Zhou, Xiaolin

2015-01-01

Prosodic constraints play a fundamental role during both spoken sentence comprehension and silent reading. In Chinese, the rhythmic pattern of the verb-object (V-O) combination has been found to rapidly affect the semantic access/integration process during sentence reading (Luo and Zhou, 2010). Rhythmic pattern refers to the combination of words with different syllabic lengths, with certain combinations disallowed (e.g., [2 + 1]; numbers standing for the number of syllables of the verb and the noun respectively) and certain combinations preferred (e.g., [1 + 1] or [2 + 2]). This constraint extends to the situation in which the combination is used to modify other words. A V-O phrase could modify a noun by simply preceding it, forming a V-O-N compound; when the verb is disyllabic, however, the word order has to be O-V-N and the object is preferred to be disyllabic. In this study, we investigated how the reader processes the rhythmic pattern and word order information by recording the reader's eye-movements. We created four types of sentences by crossing rhythmic pattern and word order in compounding. The compound, embedding a disyllabic verb, could be in the correct O-V-N or the incorrect V-O-N order; the object could be disyllabic or monosyllabic. We found that the reader spent more time and made more regressions on and after the compounds when either type of anomaly was detected during the first pass reading. However, during re-reading (after all the words in the sentence have been viewed), less regressive eye movements were found for the anomalous rhythmic pattern, relative to the correct pattern; moreover, only the abnormal rhythmic pattern, not the violated word order, influenced the regressive eye movements. These results suggest that while the processing of rhythmic pattern and word order information occurs rapidly during the initial reading of the sentence, the process of recovering from the rhythmic pattern anomaly may ease the reanalysis processing at the

Processing Rhythmic Pattern during Chinese Sentence Reading: An Eye Movement Study.

PubMed

Luo, Yingyi; Duan, Yunyan; Zhou, Xiaolin

2015-01-01

Prosodic constraints play a fundamental role during both spoken sentence comprehension and silent reading. In Chinese, the rhythmic pattern of the verb-object (V-O) combination has been found to rapidly affect the semantic access/integration process during sentence reading (Luo and Zhou, 2010). Rhythmic pattern refers to the combination of words with different syllabic lengths, with certain combinations disallowed (e.g., [2 + 1]; numbers standing for the number of syllables of the verb and the noun respectively) and certain combinations preferred (e.g., [1 + 1] or [2 + 2]). This constraint extends to the situation in which the combination is used to modify other words. A V-O phrase could modify a noun by simply preceding it, forming a V-O-N compound; when the verb is disyllabic, however, the word order has to be O-V-N and the object is preferred to be disyllabic. In this study, we investigated how the reader processes the rhythmic pattern and word order information by recording the reader's eye-movements. We created four types of sentences by crossing rhythmic pattern and word order in compounding. The compound, embedding a disyllabic verb, could be in the correct O-V-N or the incorrect V-O-N order; the object could be disyllabic or monosyllabic. We found that the reader spent more time and made more regressions on and after the compounds when either type of anomaly was detected during the first pass reading. However, during re-reading (after all the words in the sentence have been viewed), less regressive eye movements were found for the anomalous rhythmic pattern, relative to the correct pattern; moreover, only the abnormal rhythmic pattern, not the violated word order, influenced the regressive eye movements. These results suggest that while the processing of rhythmic pattern and word order information occurs rapidly during the initial reading of the sentence, the process of recovering from the rhythmic pattern anomaly may ease the reanalysis processing at the

Hybrid De Novo Genome Assembly Using MiSeq and SOLiD Short Read Data

PubMed Central

Ikegami, Tsutomu; Inatsugi, Toyohiro; Kojima, Isao; Umemura, Myco; Hagiwara, Hiroko; Machida, Masayuki; Asai, Kiyoshi

2015-01-01

A hybrid de novo assembly pipeline was constructed to utilize both MiSeq and SOLiD short read data in combination in the assembly. The short read data were converted to a standard format of the pipeline, and were supplied to the pipeline components such as ABySS and SOAPdenovo. The assembly pipeline proceeded through several stages, and either MiSeq paired-end data, SOLiD mate-paired data, or both of them could be specified as input data at each stage separately. The pipeline was examined on the filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae RIB40, by aligning the assembly results against the reference sequences. Using both the MiSeq and the SOLiD data in the hybrid assembly, the alignment length was improved by a factor of 3 to 8, compared with the assemblies using either one of the data types. The number of the reproduced gene cluster regions encoding secondary metabolite biosyntheses (SMB) was also improved by the hybrid assemblies. These results imply that the MiSeq data with long read length are essential to construct accurate nucleotide sequences, while the SOLiD mate-paired reads with long insertion length enhance long-range arrangements of the sequences. The pipeline was also tested on the actinomycete Streptomyces avermitilis MA-4680, whose gene is known to have high-GC content. Although the quality of the SOLiD reads was too low to perform any meaningful assemblies by themselves, the alignment length to the reference was improved by a factor of 2, compared with the assembly using only the MiSeq data. PMID:25919614

Iowa City Reads! The Reading Event Worth Shouting About.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donham van Deusen, Jean; Langhorne, Mary Jo

1997-01-01

Describes the Community Reading Month (CRM) initiative in Iowa City, Iowa; its goals are to promote the value of reading and to build a sense of community. Topics include the development of CRM, increased reading scores of Iowa City's elementary school students, activities for people of all ages, and planning and evaluation. (AEF)

Generally objective measurement of human temperature and reading ability: some corollaries.

PubMed

Stenner, A Jackson; Stone, Mark

2010-01-01

We argue that a goal of measurement is general objectivity: point estimates of a person's measure (height, temperature, and reader ability) should be independent of the instrument and independent of the sample in which the person happens to find herself. In contrast, Rasch's concept of specific objectivity requires only differences (i.e., comparisons) between person measures to be independent of the instrument. We present a canonical case in which there is no overlap between instruments and persons: each person is measured by a unique instrument. We then show what is required to estimate measures in this degenerate case. The canonical case encourages a simplification and reconceptualization of validity and reliability. Not surprisingly, this reconceptualization looks a lot like the way physicists and chemometricians think about validity and measurement error. We animate this presentation with a technology that blurs the distinction between instruction, assessment, and generally objective measurement of reader ability. We encourage adaptation of this model to health outcomes measurement.

Adolescents' Constructively Responsive Reading Strategy Use in a Critical Internet Reading Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Byeong-Young

2011-01-01

The goal of this study was to examine types and patterns of reading strategies that proficient adolescent readers used while reading on the Internet. Informed by research related to reading comprehension, intertextuality, and new literacies, I drew upon the model of "Constructively Responsive Reading" that had evolved from print reading to…

Reading Self-Efficacy Predicts Word Reading But Not Comprehension in Both Girls and Boys.

PubMed

Carroll, Julia M; Fox, Amy C

2016-01-01

The relationship between cognitive skills and reading has been well-established. However, the role of motivational factors such as self-efficacy in reading progress is less clear. In particular, it is not clear how self-efficacy relates to word level reading versus comprehension, and whether this differs in boys and girls. This study examines the relationship between self-efficacy, word reading and reading comprehension across the range of reading abilities after controlling for reading-related cognitive factors. One hundred and seventy nine children (86 males and 93 females) between 8 and 11 years old completed a self-report measure of reading self-efficacy together with measures of reading comprehension and word reading, working memory, auditory short-term memory, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Boys and girls showed similar levels of attainment and reading self-efficacy. Reading self-efficacy was associated with word reading, but not with reading comprehension in either boys or girls. It is argued that this may reflect important differences between reading self-efficacy and more general measures of reading motivation and engagement. Reading self-efficacy is an element of reading motivation that is closely associated with a child's perceived attainments in reading and is less susceptible to the gender differences seen in broader measures.

Reading Self-Efficacy Predicts Word Reading But Not Comprehension in Both Girls and Boys

PubMed Central

Carroll, Julia M.; Fox, Amy C.

2017-01-01

The relationship between cognitive skills and reading has been well-established. However, the role of motivational factors such as self-efficacy in reading progress is less clear. In particular, it is not clear how self-efficacy relates to word level reading versus comprehension, and whether this differs in boys and girls. This study examines the relationship between self-efficacy, word reading and reading comprehension across the range of reading abilities after controlling for reading-related cognitive factors. One hundred and seventy nine children (86 males and 93 females) between 8 and 11 years old completed a self-report measure of reading self-efficacy together with measures of reading comprehension and word reading, working memory, auditory short-term memory, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Boys and girls showed similar levels of attainment and reading self-efficacy. Reading self-efficacy was associated with word reading, but not with reading comprehension in either boys or girls. It is argued that this may reflect important differences between reading self-efficacy and more general measures of reading motivation and engagement. Reading self-efficacy is an element of reading motivation that is closely associated with a child’s perceived attainments in reading and is less susceptible to the gender differences seen in broader measures. PMID:28144223

Parallel object-oriented data mining system

DOEpatents

Kamath, Chandrika; Cantu-Paz, Erick

2004-01-06

A data mining system uncovers patterns, associations, anomalies and other statistically significant structures in data. Data files are read and displayed. Objects in the data files are identified. Relevant features for the objects are extracted. Patterns among the objects are recognized based upon the features. Data from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters (FIRST) sky survey was used to search for bent doubles. This test was conducted on data from the Very Large Array in New Mexico which seeks to locate a special type of quasar (radio-emitting stellar object) called bent doubles. The FIRST survey has generated more than 32,000 images of the sky to date. Each image is 7.1 megabytes, yielding more than 100 gigabytes of image data in the entire data set.

Semantic Size and Contextual Congruency Effects during Reading: Evidence from Eye Movements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Wei; Cook, Anne E.

2016-01-01

Recent lexical decision studies have produced conflicting evidence about whether an object's semantic size influences word recognition. The present study examined this variable in online reading. Target words representing small and large objects were embedded in sentence contexts that were either neutral, congruent, or incongruent with respect to…

Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Motivation, and Reading Comprehension Performance of Saudi EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meniado, Joel C.

2016-01-01

Metacognitive reading strategies and reading motivation play a significant role in enhancing reading comprehension. In an attempt to prove the foregoing claim in a context where there is no strong culture for reading, this study tries to find out if there is indeed a relationship between and among metacognitive reading strategies, reading…

Algorithm for Identifying Erroneous Rain-Gauge Readings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rickman, Doug

2005-01-01

An algorithm analyzes rain-gauge data to identify statistical outliers that could be deemed to be erroneous readings. Heretofore, analyses of this type have been performed in burdensome manual procedures that have involved subjective judgements. Sometimes, the analyses have included computational assistance for detecting values falling outside of arbitrary limits. The analyses have been performed without statistically valid knowledge of the spatial and temporal variations of precipitation within rain events. In contrast, the present algorithm makes it possible to automate such an analysis, makes the analysis objective, takes account of the spatial distribution of rain gauges in conjunction with the statistical nature of spatial variations in rainfall readings, and minimizes the use of arbitrary criteria. The algorithm implements an iterative process that involves nonparametric statistics.

Reading comprehension in adolescents with ADHD: exploring the poor comprehender profile and individual differences in vocabulary and executive functions.

PubMed

Martinussen, Rhonda; Mackenzie, Genevieve

2015-03-01

The overall objective of this study was to investigate reading comprehension in youth with and without a prior diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The first goal was to determine whether youth with and without ADHD matched in word reading ability exhibited differences in reading comprehension proficiency. The next goal was to determine whether good and poor comprehenders within the ADHD subgroup differed from each other on language and academic achievement measures. The third objective was to examine whether word recognition or oral vocabulary knowledge mediated the effect of ADHD symptoms on reading comprehension performance. Youth with ADHD scored significantly lower than the comparison youth on a standardized measure of reading comprehension. Relative to good comprehenders with ADHD, poor comprehenders with ADHD exhibited weaknesses in expressive vocabulary, mathematical reasoning, written expression, and exhibited more executive function (EF) difficulties as reported by the teacher. Expressive vocabulary and word reading, but not teacher EF ratings, accounted for unique variance in reading comprehension performance and mediated the relationship between ADHD symptoms and reading comprehension. Implications for further research and educational practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The reliability and reproducibility of cephalometric measurements: a comparison of conventional and digital methods

PubMed Central

AlBarakati, SF; Kula, KS; Ghoneima, AA

2012-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and reproducibility of angular and linear measurements of conventional and digital cephalometric methods. Methods A total of 13 landmarks and 16 skeletal and dental parameters were defined and measured on pre-treatment cephalometric radiographs of 30 patients. The conventional and digital tracings and measurements were performed twice by the same examiner with a 6 week interval between measurements. The reliability within the method was determined using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r2). The reproducibility between methods was calculated by paired t-test. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results All measurements for each method were above 0.90 r2 (strong correlation) except maxillary length, which had a correlation of 0.82 for conventional tracing. Significant differences between the two methods were observed in most angular and linear measurements except for ANB angle (p = 0.5), angle of convexity (p = 0.09), anterior cranial base (p = 0.3) and the lower anterior facial height (p = 0.6). Conclusion In general, both methods of conventional and digital cephalometric analysis are highly reliable. Although the reproducibility of the two methods showed some statistically significant differences, most differences were not clinically significant. PMID:22184624

Learning to Read, Reading to Learn; Proceedings from the Transmountain Far West Regional Reading Conference (2nd, Victoria, B.C., 1973).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ollila, Lloyd O., Ed.; And Others

Nineteen of the papers presented on the theme "Learning to Read, Reading to Learn," are included in this report. Articles on basic considerations in reading instruction are "Children's View of Language,""Early Reading from a Biological Perspective,""Pygmalion in the Reading Circle,""Dealing with…

The Effect of Teaching Strategies and Curiosity on Students' Achievement in Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurning, Busmin; Siregar, Aguslani

2017-01-01

The objectives of this study were to find out whether 1) students' achievement in reading comprehension taught by using INSERT strategy was higher than those taught by using SQ3R strategy, 2) Students' achievement in reading comprehension having high curiosity was higher than those having low curiosity, 3) there was an interaction between teaching…

Adapting Self-Selected Reading Practices for College-Level Developmental Reading Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flink, Patrick J.

2017-01-01

Reading comprehension and fluency issues are the most significant challenges facing adult, developmental reading students in community colleges. While a great deal of focus has been on improving developmental reading instruction, there is a lack of attention, and research, on how to best improve students' actual reading. Self-selected reading…

The Relationship between Good Readers' Attention, Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildiz, Mustafa; Çetinkaya, Ezgi

2017-01-01

This study aimed to examine the relationship between fourth-graders' reading fluency, reading comprehension and attention. It was conducted using the relational screening model and included 132 fourth-graders with grade level adequate reading skills. The study results showed that good readers' attention had significant effects on reading speed,…

Reading to a Different DRUM: The Directed Reading Using Music Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchionda, Denise B.

The Directed Reading Using Music Strategy (DRUMS) is a type of reading strategy that can lead to the teaching of reflective thinking skills, increased reading comprehension and vocabulary, along with increased motivation for learning. Research indicates that contemporary song lyrics aid reading comprehension and can be used as motivational text. A…

Reading Fluency and Students with Reading Disabilities: How Fast Is Fast Enough to Promote Reading Comprehension?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Connor, Rollanda E.

2018-01-01

The goal of improving reading rate and fluency is to positively impact reading comprehension; however, it is unclear how fast students with learning disabilities (LD) need to read to reap this benefit. The purpose of this research was to identify the point of diminishing return for students who were dysfluent readers. Participants included 337…

Reproducibility and Agreement Between 2 Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Devices for Anterior Chamber Angle Measurements

PubMed Central

Marion, Kenneth M.; Maram, Jyotsna; Pan, Xiaojing; Dastiridou, Anna; Zhang, ZhouYuan; Ho, Alex; Francis, Brian A.; Sadda, Srinivas R.

2015-01-01

Purpose: To compare anterior chamber angle parameters based on the location of Schwalbe line (SL) from 2 spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) instruments and to measure their reproducibility. Methods: Forty-two eyes from 21 normal, healthy participants underwent imaging of the inferior irido-corneal angle with the Spectralis and Cirrus SD-OCT under tightly controlled low-light conditions. SL-angle opening distance (SL-AOD) and SL-trabecular iris space area (SL-TISA) were measured by masked, certified graders at the Doheny Imaging Reading Center using customized grading software. Interinstrument and intrainstrument, as well as interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility of SL-AOD and SL-TISA measurements were evaluated by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman plots with limits of agreement (LoA). Results: The mean SL-AOD was 0.662±0.191 mm in Spectralis and 0.677±0.213 mm in Cirrus. The mean SL-TISA was 0.250±0.073 mm2 in Spectralis and 0.256±0.082 mm2 in Cirrus. The agreement for intrainstrument (ICCs>0.979), intragrader (ICCs>0.992), and intergrader (ICCs>0.929) was excellent. Excellent agreement between the 2 devices was also documented with a mean difference of −0.016 (LoA −0.125 to 0.092) mm for SL-AOD and −0.007 (LoA −0.056 to 0.043) mm2 in SL-TISA. Conclusions: Both SD-OCTs provided comparable measurements and permitted calculation of SL-based angle metrics. There was excellent interinstrument and intrainstrument and intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility for Spectralis and Cirrus SD-OCTs, suggesting true interchangeability between SD-OCT devices. This has the potential to lead to development of standardized grading assessments and quantification of angle parameters that would be valid across various SD-OCT devices. PMID:26200742

The Impact of Cross-Age Peer Tutoring on Third and Sixth Graders' Reading Strategy Awareness, Reading Strategy Use, and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Keer, Hilde; Vanderlinde, Ruben

2010-01-01

The present study explores the impact of an experimental reading intervention focusing on explicit reading strategy instruction and cross-age peer tutoring on third and sixth graders' reading strategy awareness, cognitive and metacognitive reading strategy use, and reading comprehension achievement. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was…

The Relationship between Strategic Reading Instruction, Student Learning of L2-Based Reading Strategies and L2 Reading Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akkakoson, Songyut

2013-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between strategic reading instruction, the process of learning second language-based reading strategies and English reading achievement for Thai university students of science and technology. In a course in reading general English texts for 16?weeks, 82 students were taught using a strategies-based approach…

The Ability to Read Is the Gateway to Success. K-3 Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foundation for Excellence in Education, 2017

2017-01-01

The goal of a Comprehensive K-3 Reading Policy is to establish intensive reading intervention for K- 3 students who are at risk of reading failure to help ensure they read on grade level by the end of third grade. The policy also requires third grade students to demonstrate sufficient reading skills for promotion to fourth grade. Retention can…

Commentary on the Integration of Model Sharing and Reproducibility Analysis to Scholarly Publishing Workflow in Computational Biomechanics

PubMed Central

Erdemir, Ahmet; Guess, Trent M.; Halloran, Jason P.; Modenese, Luca; Reinbolt, Jeffrey A.; Thelen, Darryl G.; Umberger, Brian R.

2016-01-01

Objective The overall goal of this document is to demonstrate that dissemination of models and analyses for assessing the reproducibility of simulation results can be incorporated in the scientific review process in biomechanics. Methods As part of a special issue on model sharing and reproducibility in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, two manuscripts on computational biomechanics were submitted: A. Rajagopal et al., IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., 2016 and A. Schmitz and D. Piovesan, IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., 2016. Models used in these studies were shared with the scientific reviewers and the public. In addition to the standard review of the manuscripts, the reviewers downloaded the models and performed simulations that reproduced results reported in the studies. Results There was general agreement between simulation results of the authors and those of the reviewers. Discrepancies were resolved during the necessary revisions. The manuscripts and instructions for download and simulation were updated in response to the reviewers’ feedback; changes that may otherwise have been missed if explicit model sharing and simulation reproducibility analysis were not conducted in the review process. Increased burden on the authors and the reviewers, to facilitate model sharing and to repeat simulations, were noted. Conclusion When the authors of computational biomechanics studies provide access to models and data, the scientific reviewers can download and thoroughly explore the model, perform simulations, and evaluate simulation reproducibility beyond the traditional manuscript-only review process. Significance Model sharing and reproducibility analysis in scholarly publishing will result in a more rigorous review process, which will enhance the quality of modeling and simulation studies and inform future users of computational models. PMID:28072567

Repeated Reading for Developing Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension: The Case of EFL Learners in Vietnam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorsuch, Greta; Taguchi, Etsuo

2008-01-01

Reading in a foreign or second language is often a laborious process, often caused by underdeveloped word recognition skills, among other things, of second and foreign language readers. Developing fluency in L2/FL reading has become an important pedagogical issue in L2 settings and one major component of reading fluency is fast and accurate word…

The Effect of Baby Books on Mothers’ Reading Beliefs and Reading Practices

PubMed Central

Auger, Anamarie; Reich, Stephanie M.; Penner, Emily K.

2014-01-01

The impact of a baby book intervention on promoting positive reading beliefs and increasing reading frequency for low-income, new mothers (n = 167) was examined. The Baby Books Project randomly assigned low-income, first-time mothers to one of three study conditions, receiving educational books, non-educational books, or no books, during pregnancy and over the first year of parenthood. Home-based data collection occurred through pregnancy until 18 months post-partum. Mothers who received free baby books had higher beliefs about the importance of reading, the value of having resources to support reading, and the importance of verbal participation during reading. The results showed that providing any type of baby books to mothers positively influenced maternal reading beliefs, but did not increase infant-mother reading practices. Maternal reading beliefs across all three groups were significantly associated with self-reported reading frequency when children were at least 12 months of age. PMID:25264394

Reading in Subjects with an Oral Cleft: Speech, Hearing and Neuropsychological Skills

PubMed Central

Conrad, Amy L.; McCoy, Thomasin E.; DeVolder, Ian; Richman, Lynn C.; Nopoulos, Peg

2014-01-01

Objective Evaluate speech, hearing, and neuropsychological correlates to reading among children, adolescents and young adults with non-syndromic cleft of the lip and/or palate (NSCL/P). Method All testing was completed in one visit at a Midwestern university hospital. Subjects in both the NSCL/P (n = 80) and control group (n = 62) ranged in age from 7 to 26 years (average age = 17.60 and 17.66, respectively). Subjects completed a battery of standardized tests evaluating intelligence, neuropsychological skills, and word reading. Subjects with NSCL/P also underwent speech assessment and past audiology records were evaluated. Results After controlling for age and SES, subjects with cleft performed significantly worse on a test of word reading. For subjects with cleft, word reading deficits were not associated with measures of speech or hearing, but were correlated with impairments in auditory memory. Conclusions These findings show poorer reading among subjects with NCL/P compared to those without. Further work needs to focus on correlates of reading among subjects with cleft to allow early identification and appropriate intervention/accommodation for those at risk. PMID:24188114

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a State-Mandated Benchmark Reading Assessment: mClass Reading 3D (Text Reading and Comprehension)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, Amie B.; Morris, Darrell; Perney, Jan

2018-01-01

We examined which of two instruments (Text Reading and Comprehension inventory [TRC] or a traditional informal reading inventory [IRI]) provides the more valid assessment of a primary-grade student's reading instructional level. The TRC is currently the required, benchmark reading assessment for students in grades K-3 in the state of North…

Tete a Tete: Reading Groups and Peer Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finlay, Sara-Jane; Faulkner, Guy

2005-01-01

This project was inspired by an awareness of the lack of engagement with the research literature by our students. The project consisted of self-help reading groups that centralized student discussion with three research objectives: to encourage students to engage with a broader range of literature, to encourage critical thinking around subject…

Reproducibility of Search Strategies Is Poor in Systematic Reviews Published in High-Impact Pediatrics, Cardiology and Surgery Journals: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background A high-quality search strategy is considered an essential component of systematic reviews but many do not contain reproducible search strategies. It is unclear if low reproducibility spans medical disciplines, is affected by librarian/search specialist involvement or has improved with increased awareness of reporting guidelines. Objectives To examine the reporting of search strategies in systematic reviews published in Pediatrics, Surgery or Cardiology journals in 2012 and determine rates and predictors of including a reproducible search strategy. Methods We identified all systematic reviews published in 2012 in the ten highest impact factor journals in Pediatrics, Surgery and Cardiology. Each search strategy was coded to indicate what elements were reported and whether the overall search was reproducible. Reporting and reproducibility rates were compared across disciplines and we measured the influence of librarian/search specialist involvement, discipline or endorsement of a reporting guideline on search reproducibility. Results 272 articles from 25 journals were included. Reporting of search elements ranged widely from 91% of articles naming search terms to 33% providing a full search strategy and 22% indicating the date the search was executed. Only 22% of articles provided at least one reproducible search strategy and 13% provided a reproducible strategy for all databases searched in the article. Librarians or search specialists were reported as involved in 17% of articles. There were strong disciplinary differences on the reporting of search elements. In the multivariable analysis, only discipline (Pediatrics) was a significant predictor of the inclusion of a reproducible search strategy. Conclusions Despite recommendations to report full, reproducible search strategies, many articles still do not. In addition, authors often report a single strategy as covering all databases searched, further decreasing reproducibility. Further research is needed

Reading for Answers and Reading for Questions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bronson, David B.

1984-01-01

Examines the implications of structuralism for reading and English instruction. Argues that, according to Structuralism, literature worth reading confronts readers with the gap between writing and thought and forces them to consider their own thinking and, in a larger sense, their own place within the culture. (MM)

Individual differences in children's pronoun processing during reading: Detection of incongruence is associated with higher reading fluency and more regressions.

PubMed

Eilers, Sarah; Tiffin-Richards, Simon P; Schroeder, Sascha

2018-05-10

In two eye tracking experiments, we tested fourth graders' and adults' sensitivity to gender feature mismatches during reading of pronouns and their susceptibility to interference of feature-matching entities in the sentence. In Experiment 1, we showed children and adults two-phrase sentences such as "Leon{m}/Lisa{f} shooed away the sparrow{m}/the seagull{f} and then he{m} ate the tasty sandwich." Eye tracking measures showed no qualitative differences between children's and adults' processing of the pronouns. Both age groups showed longer gaze durations on subject mismatching than on matching pronouns, and there was no evidence of interference of a gender-matching object. Strikingly, in contrast to the adults, not all fourth graders reported detection of the subject gender mismatch. In Experiment 2, we replicated earlier results with a larger sample of children (N = 75) and found that only half of the fourth graders detected the gender mismatch during reading. The detectors' reading pattern at the pronoun differed from that of the non-detectors. Children who reported detection of the mismatch showed a reading pattern more similar to the adults. Children who did not report detection of the mismatch had comparably slower gaze durations and were less likely to make regressions directly at the pronoun. We conclude that children who read more fluently use their available processing resources to immediately repair grammatical inconsistencies encountered in a text. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

E-Reading Comprehension versus Conventional Reading Comprehension of Junior High Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Brian

2014-01-01

Technology is an increasing part in the lives of junior high students, but little is known about how this technology affects their reading. Reading comprehension from e-books is compared to reading comprehension from conventional print books with junior high students. The problem is that students may be reading from a medium that is less than the…

Read On! II. A Sequential Reading Series. Instructor's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, V. K.; And Others

This guide is intended for use by teachers and tutors who are using the assisted reading method to teach reading to adult learners. The introduction describes the contents of the guide and the other materials in the Read On! II series, i.e., six textbooks, six workbooks, and a set of tutor resource sheets for use with learners at the beginning…

Development of a Case-based Reading Curriculum and Its Effect on Resident Reading.

PubMed

Messman, Anne M; Walker, Ian

2018-01-01

Textbook reading plays a foundational role in a resident's knowledge base. Many residency programs place residents on identical reading schedules, regardless of the clinical work or rotation the resident is doing. We sought to develop a reading curriculum that takes into account the clinical work a resident is doing so their reading curriculum corresponds with their clinical work. Preliminary data suggests an increased amount of resident reading and an increased interest in reading as a result of this change to their reading curriculum.

Identifying children with specific reading disabilities from listening and reading discrepancy scores.

PubMed

Spring, C; French, L

1990-01-01

A method of identifying children with specific reading disabilities by identifying discrepancies between their reading and listening comprehension scores was validated with disabled and nondisabled readers in Grades 4, 5, and 6. The method is based on a modification of the reading comprehension subtest of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (Dunn & Markwardt, 1970). In this modification, even-numbered sentences are read by subjects, and odd-numbered sentences are read by the test administrator as subjects listen. The features of this test that reduce demands on working memory, thereby making it suitable for the detection of a discrepancy between reading and listening comprehension in readers with disabilities, are discussed. A significant group-by-modality interaction was obtained. Children with reading disabilities scored significantly lower on reading than on listening comprehension, while nondisabled readers scored slightly higher, but not significantly so, on reading than on listening comprehension. The appropriateness of this method as a substitute for the traditional method, which is based on the detection of a discrepancy between intelligence and reading and which has recently been proscribed in certain school districts, is discussed. Issues concerning the listening comprehension skills of disabled readers are also discussed.

How to Write a Reproducible Paper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irving, D. B.

2016-12-01

The geosciences have undergone a computational revolution in recent decades, to the point where almost all modern research relies heavily on software and code. Despite this profound change in the research methods employed by geoscientists, the reporting of computational results has changed very little in academic journals. This lag has led to something of a reproducibility crisis, whereby it is impossible to replicate and verify most of today's published computational results. While it is tempting to decry the slow response of journals and funding agencies in the face of this crisis, there are very few examples of reproducible research upon which to base new communication standards. In an attempt to address this deficiency, this presentation will describe a procedure for reporting computational results that was employed in a recent Journal of Climate paper. The procedure was developed to be consistent with recommended computational best practices and seeks to minimize the time burden on authors, which has been identified as the most important barrier to publishing code. It should provide a starting point for geoscientists looking to publish reproducible research, and could be adopted by journals as a formal minimum communication standard.

Tools and techniques for computational reproducibility.

PubMed

Piccolo, Stephen R; Frampton, Michael B

2016-07-11

When reporting research findings, scientists document the steps they followed so that others can verify and build upon the research. When those steps have been described in sufficient detail that others can retrace the steps and obtain similar results, the research is said to be reproducible. Computers play a vital role in many research disciplines and present both opportunities and challenges for reproducibility. Computers can be programmed to execute analysis tasks, and those programs can be repeated and shared with others. The deterministic nature of most computer programs means that the same analysis tasks, applied to the same data, will often produce the same outputs. However, in practice, computational findings often cannot be reproduced because of complexities in how software is packaged, installed, and executed-and because of limitations associated with how scientists document analysis steps. Many tools and techniques are available to help overcome these challenges; here we describe seven such strategies. With a broad scientific audience in mind, we describe the strengths and limitations of each approach, as well as the circumstances under which each might be applied. No single strategy is sufficient for every scenario; thus we emphasize that it is often useful to combine approaches.

ITK: enabling reproducible research and open science

PubMed Central

McCormick, Matthew; Liu, Xiaoxiao; Jomier, Julien; Marion, Charles; Ibanez, Luis

2014-01-01

Reproducibility verification is essential to the practice of the scientific method. Researchers report their findings, which are strengthened as other independent groups in the scientific community share similar outcomes. In the many scientific fields where software has become a fundamental tool for capturing and analyzing data, this requirement of reproducibility implies that reliable and comprehensive software platforms and tools should be made available to the scientific community. The tools will empower them and the public to verify, through practice, the reproducibility of observations that are reported in the scientific literature. Medical image analysis is one of the fields in which the use of computational resources, both software and hardware, are an essential platform for performing experimental work. In this arena, the introduction of the Insight Toolkit (ITK) in 1999 has transformed the field and facilitates its progress by accelerating the rate at which algorithmic implementations are developed, tested, disseminated and improved. By building on the efficiency and quality of open source methodologies, ITK has provided the medical image community with an effective platform on which to build a daily workflow that incorporates the true scientific practices of reproducibility verification. This article describes the multiple tools, methodologies, and practices that the ITK community has adopted, refined, and followed during the past decade, in order to become one of the research communities with the most modern reproducibility verification infrastructure. For example, 207 contributors have created over 2400 unit tests that provide over 84% code line test coverage. The Insight Journal, an open publication journal associated with the toolkit, has seen over 360,000 publication downloads. The median normalized closeness centrality, a measure of knowledge flow, resulting from the distributed peer code review system was high, 0.46. PMID:24600387

ITK: enabling reproducible research and open science.

PubMed

McCormick, Matthew; Liu, Xiaoxiao; Jomier, Julien; Marion, Charles; Ibanez, Luis

2014-01-01

Reproducibility verification is essential to the practice of the scientific method. Researchers report their findings, which are strengthened as other independent groups in the scientific community share similar outcomes. In the many scientific fields where software has become a fundamental tool for capturing and analyzing data, this requirement of reproducibility implies that reliable and comprehensive software platforms and tools should be made available to the scientific community. The tools will empower them and the public to verify, through practice, the reproducibility of observations that are reported in the scientific literature. Medical image analysis is one of the fields in which the use of computational resources, both software and hardware, are an essential platform for performing experimental work. In this arena, the introduction of the Insight Toolkit (ITK) in 1999 has transformed the field and facilitates its progress by accelerating the rate at which algorithmic implementations are developed, tested, disseminated and improved. By building on the efficiency and quality of open source methodologies, ITK has provided the medical image community with an effective platform on which to build a daily workflow that incorporates the true scientific practices of reproducibility verification. This article describes the multiple tools, methodologies, and practices that the ITK community has adopted, refined, and followed during the past decade, in order to become one of the research communities with the most modern reproducibility verification infrastructure. For example, 207 contributors have created over 2400 unit tests that provide over 84% code line test coverage. The Insight Journal, an open publication journal associated with the toolkit, has seen over 360,000 publication downloads. The median normalized closeness centrality, a measure of knowledge flow, resulting from the distributed peer code review system was high, 0.46.

Thinking outside the boxes: Using current reading models to assess and treat developmental surface dyslexia.

PubMed

Law, Caroline; Cupples, Linda

2017-03-01

Improving the reading performance of children with developmental surface dyslexia has proved challenging, with limited generalisation of reading skills typically reported after intervention. The aim of this study was to provide tailored, theoretically motivated intervention to two children with developmental surface dyslexia. Our objectives were to improve their reading performance, and to evaluate the utility of current reading models in therapeutic practice. Detailed reading and cognitive profiles for two male children with developmental surface dyslexia were compared to the results obtained by age-matched control groups. The specific area of single-word reading difficulty for each child was identified within the dual route model (DRM) of reading, following which a theoretically motivated intervention programme was devised. Both children showed significant improvements in single-word reading ability after training, with generalisation effects observed for untrained words. However, the assessment and intervention results also differed for each child, reinforcing the view that the causes and consequences of developmental dyslexia, even within subtypes, are not homogeneous. Overall, the results of the interventions corresponded more closely with the DRM than other current reading models, in that real word reading improved in the absence of enhanced nonword reading for both children.

An ERP Study of the Processing of Subject and Object Relative Clauses in Japanese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ueno, Mieko; Garnsey, Susan M.

2008-01-01

Using reading times and event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we investigated the processing of Japanese subject and object relative clauses (SRs/ORs). Previous research on English relative clauses shows that ORs take longer to read (King & Just, 1991) and elicit anterior negativity between fillers and gaps (King & Kutas, 1995), which is…

Reading-Specific Flexibility Moderates the Relation between Reading Strategy Use and Reading Comprehension during the Elementary Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gnaedinger, Emily K.; Hund, Alycia M.; Hesson-McInnis, Matthew S.

2016-01-01

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…

Validity and reproducibility of cephalometric measurements obtained from digital photographs of analogue headfilms.

PubMed

Grybauskas, Simonas; Balciuniene, Irena; Vetra, Janis

2007-01-01

The emerging market of digital cephalographs and computerized cephalometry is overwhelming the need to examine the advantages and drawbacks of manual cephalometry, meanwhile, small offices continue to benefit from the economic efficacy and ease of use of analogue cephalograms. The use of modern cephalometric software requires import of digital cephalograms or digital capture of analogue data: scanning and digital photography. The validity of digital photographs of analogue headfilms rather than original headfilms in clinical practice has not been well established. Digital photography could be a fast and inexpensive method of digital capture of analogue cephalograms for use in digital cephalometry. The objective of this study was to determine the validity and reproducibility of measurements obtained from digital photographs of analogue headfilms in lateral cephalometry. Analogue cephalometric radiographs were performed on 15 human dry skulls. Each of them was traced on acetate paper and photographed three times independently. Acetate tracings and digital photographs were digitized and analyzed in cephalometric software. Linear regression model, paired t-test intergroup analysis and coefficient of repeatability were used to assess validity and reproducibility for 63 angular, linear and derivative measurements. 54 out of 63 measurements were determined to have clinically acceptable reproducibility in the acetate tracing group as well as 46 out of 63 in the digital photography group. The worst reproducibility was determined for measurements dependent on landmarks of incisors and poorly defined outlines, majority of them being angular measurements. Validity was acceptable for all measurements, and although statistically significant differences between methods existed for as many as 15 parameters, they appeared to be clinically insignificant being smaller than 1 unit of measurement. Validity was acceptable for 59 of 63 measurements obtained from digital photographs

Lights, Camera, Read! Arizona Reading Program Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arizona State Dept. of Library, Archives and Public Records, Phoenix.

This document is the manual for the Arizona Reading Program (ARP) 2003 entitled "Lights, Camera, Read!" This theme spotlights books that were made into movies, and allows readers to appreciate favorite novels and stories that have progressed to the movie screen. The manual consists of eight sections. The Introduction includes welcome…

Improving Reading in Science. Reading Aids Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thelen, Judith

The material in this monograph is based on the idea that science content and the reading and reasoning processes for learning may be taught simultaneously in the science classroom. Topics of the six chapters are: distinguishing between content and process, developmental and functional reading; diagnosis in teaching science; preparatory activities…

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color

PubMed Central

Colizoli, Olympia; Murre, Jaap M. J.; Rouw, Romke

2014-01-01

Synesthesia is a rare condition in which a stimulus from one modality automatically and consistently triggers unusual sensations in the same and/or other modalities. A relatively common and well-studied type is grapheme-color synesthesia, defined as the consistent experience of color when viewing, hearing and thinking about letters, words and numbers. We describe our method for investigating to what extent synesthetic associations between letters and colors can be learned by reading in color in nonsynesthetes. Reading in color is a special method for training associations in the sense that the associations are learned implicitly while the reader reads text as he or she normally would and it does not require explicit computer-directed training methods. In this protocol, participants are given specially prepared books to read in which four high-frequency letters are paired with four high-frequency colors. Participants receive unique sets of letter-color pairs based on their pre-existing preferences for colored letters. A modified Stroop task is administered before and after reading in order to test for learned letter-color associations and changes in brain activation. In addition to objective testing, a reading experience questionnaire is administered that is designed to probe for differences in subjective experience. A subset of questions may predict how well an individual learned the associations from reading in color. Importantly, we are not claiming that this method will cause each individual to develop grapheme-color synesthesia, only that it is possible for certain individuals to form letter-color associations by reading in color and these associations are similar in some aspects to those seen in developmental grapheme-color synesthetes. The method is quite flexible and can be used to investigate different aspects and outcomes of training synesthetic associations, including learning-induced changes in brain function and structure. PMID:24638033

The Comparative Impacts of Using Lexical Glossing and Inferencing Strategies on Students' Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juliana

2018-01-01

The study compared the use of the lexical glossing and inferencing strategies that impact toward the students' reading comprehension. The objective of the study was to find out the effective strategy to use for enhancing the students' reading comprehension. The population of the study was 40 Informatics Systems students of Potensi Utama…

The Importance of Metacognitive Reading Strategy Awareness in Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmadi, Mohammad Reza; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Abdullah, Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan

2013-01-01

Metacognitive reading strategy awareness plays a significant role in reading comprehension and educational process. In spite of its importance, metacognitive strategy has long been the ignored skill in English language teaching, research, learning, and assessment. This lack of good metacognitive reading strategy skill is exacerbated by the central…

Methods and reproducibility of grading optimized digital color fundus photographs in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2 Report Number 2).

PubMed

Danis, Ronald P; Domalpally, Amitha; Chew, Emily Y; Clemons, Traci E; Armstrong, Jane; SanGiovanni, John Paul; Ferris, Frederick L

2013-07-08

To establish continuity with the grading procedures and outcomes from the historical data of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), color photographic imaging and evaluation procedures for the assessment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were modified for digital imaging in the AREDS2. The reproducibility of the grading of index AMD lesion components and for the AREDS severity scale was tested at the AREDS2 reading center. Digital color stereoscopic fundus photographs from 4203 AREDS2 subjects collected at baseline and annual follow-up visits were optimized for tonal balance and graded according to a standard protocol slightly modified from AREDS. The reproducibility of digital grading of AREDS2 images was assessed by reproducibility exercises, temporal drift (regrading a subset of baseline annually, n = 88), and contemporaneous masked regrading (ongoing, monthly regrade on 5% of submissions, n = 1335 eyes). In AREDS2, 91% and 96% of images received replicate grades within two steps of the baseline value on the AREDS severity scale for temporal drift and contemporaneous assessment, respectively (weighted Kappa of 0.73 and 0.76). Historical data for temporal drift in replicate gradings on the AREDS film-based images were 88% within two steps (weighted Kappa = 0.88). There was no difference in AREDS2-AREDS concordance for temporal drift (exact P = 0.57). Digital color grading has nearly the same reproducibility as historical film grading. There is substantial agreement for testing the predictive utility of the AREDS severity scale in AREDS2 as a clinical trial outcome. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00345176.)

Personalizing Reading Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cathcart, Maureen

1973-01-01

Examines the relative merits of the language experience approach, the basal reader approach, and the individualized reading approach for beginning reading instruction, concluding that individualized reading has the advantage of fitting the needs of the student. (RB)

Speed Reading Courses and Their Effect on Reading Authentic Texts: A Preliminary Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macalister, John

2010-01-01

Fluent reading is essential for successful comprehension. One dimension of reading fluency is reading rate, or reading speed. Because of the importance of reading fluency, fluency development activities should be incorporated into classroom practice. One activity that meets the fluency development conditions proposed by Nation (2007) is speed…

From Expressive Reading to Rapid Reading: The Rise in Reading Rate During the Efficiency Movement (1910-1925)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Laura A.

2015-01-01

Reading rate, a component of reading not closely attended to by educators and researchers prior to the 20th century, quickly became the subject of considerable research shortly after the turn of the century. This article uses historical content analysis to examine primary source documents from that period (1910-1925) to explore why reading rate…

Methodological approach for the assessment of ultrasound reproducibility of cardiac structure and function: a proposal of the study group of Echocardiography of the Italian Society of Cardiology (Ultra Cardia SIC) Part I

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

When applying echo-Doppler imaging for either clinical or research purposes it is very important to select the most adequate modality/technology and choose the most reliable and reproducible measurements. Quality control is a mainstay to reduce variability among institutions and operators and must be obtained by using appropriate procedures for data acquisition, storage and interpretation of echo-Doppler data. This goal can be achieved by employing an echo core laboratory (ECL), with the responsibility for standardizing image acquisition processes (performed at the peripheral echo-labs) and analysis (by monitoring and optimizing the internal intra- and inter-reader variability of measurements). Accordingly, the Working Group of Echocardiography of the Italian Society of Cardiology decided to design standardized procedures for imaging acquisition in peripheral laboratories and reading procedures and to propose a methodological approach to assess the reproducibility of echo-Doppler parameters of cardiac structure and function by using both standard and advanced technologies. A number of cardiologists experienced in cardiac ultrasound was involved to set up an ECL available for future studies involving complex imaging or including echo-Doppler measures as primary or secondary efficacy or safety end-points. The present manuscript describes the methodology of the procedures (imaging acquisition and measurement reading) and provides the documentation of the work done so far to test the reproducibility of the different echo-Doppler modalities (standard and advanced). These procedures can be suggested for utilization also in non referall echocardiographic laboratories as an "inside" quality check, with the aim at optimizing clinical consistency of echo-Doppler data. PMID:21943283

Reading: Putting the Pieces Together.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Bernard L., Ed.; Camperell, Kay, Ed.

1994-01-01

The papers in this yearbook focus on the strategies, practices, and research related to elementary reading, secondary reading, adult reading, literature, philosophy of reading, psychology of reading, affective issues, administration, supervision, research, teacher training, assessment that affect reading and reading instruction. Papers in the book…

Key Reading Recovery Strategies to Support Classroom Guided Reading Instruction