The present study investigated the development of linguistic awareness in children exposed to the early learning of a second language in Grades 3–5 of primary school, i.e. between the ages of 8 and 10. The aim was to determine whether this bilingual experience enhanced the development of phonological awareness in beginning readers in a bilingual French-regional language school programme compared with a population of monolingual children receiving traditional education. More specifically, in light of research promoting the hypothesis of a “bilingual advantage”, we set out to determine exactly how long children need to be exposed to a second language before bilingualism starts to influence the development of their phonological awareness. Tasks designed to assess phonological awareness were administered to more than a hundred children. Results suggest that children who have undergone a bilingual school programme display a more highly developed phonological awareness than their monolingual peers from age 9 onwards, i.e. in Grade 4. These results are discussed in the light of ongoing research on bilingualism, bilingual education and threshold theory. 相似文献
The Fukushima accident was a crisis in Japan, and a crisis elsewhere. In Europe, the aftermath of Fukushima was a period of intense questioning, about how to ensure the safety of nuclear reactors, and how, at the same time, ensure the ability of the European Union to act as a consistent political actor in the face of potentially catastrophic risks. Using empirical material related to the post-Fukushima stress tests and the subsequent discussions about the European regulatory framework for nuclear safety, this paper shows that stress tests have provided a peculiar form of European intervention, restabilizing regulatory boundaries while extending the European gaze. It describes the overall operation thereby performed as the “normalization of the crisis” whereby the exceptional situation enters the realm of the normal functioning of the public administrations, and where the actions undertaken take the form of the legal norm.
SYNOPSISParental neuroimaging promises to shed light on how humans adapt to the demands of parenthood, but this research is not without challenges. A study in this issue reports differences between mothers’ and non-mothers’ default mode network activation during a goal-oriented task accompanied by human vocalizations. However, they did not find hypothesized differences in response specifically to infant cry, and the reach of conclusions that can be made based on these findings is limited. In my commentary, I present ideas for ways this work could be extended to make more definitive statements about the nature and potential benefits of parental brain adaptations. 相似文献
The aim of this study was to compare maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (hereafter O2 deficit) estimated from the methods of Whipp et al. (1986), Medbo et al. (1988), and Hill et al. (1998) to determine whether they agree sufficiently to be used interchangeably. Nineteen moderately to highly trained endurance runners first performed an incremental test to exhaustion for the determination of maximal oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O(2max)) and peak treadmill speed, followed by six randomly ordered constant-speed tests at 95, 100, 105, 110, 110, and 120% of peak treadmill speed. All tests were separated by at least 72 h and were performed within 4 weeks. The method of Whipp produced an O(2) deficit estimate that was lower than that derived from the method of Hill or Medbo (bias +/- 95% limits of agreement: -29.6 +/- 36.6 and -26.1 +/- 32.8 ml . kg(-1), respectively; P < 0.001). The O2 deficit did not differ between the methods of Hill and Medbo (bias +/- 95% limits of agreement: 3.5 +/- 41.6 ml . kg(-1); n.s.). However, poor correlations (0.21 < r < 0.33; n.s.) together with wide limits of agreement between O2 deficit estimates (70 - 80% of the mean response) clearly question using these methods interchangeably. 相似文献
This paper reports two studies into the understanding of the concept of potential difference in the current-potential difference-resistance context among 8th-12th graders (Study 1), and the efficiency of a learning device derived from Social Judgment Theory (Study 2). These two studies showed that: (a) when asked to infer potential difference from resistance and current information, most participants only relied on current and ignored or greatly underestimated the importance of resistance information; (b) exposure to an electricity course did not much alter the way participants infer potential difference from resistance and current information; (c) a simple learning device considerably improved the way participants infer potential difference from resistance and current information; and (d) this observed improvement promised to be durable, at least in the short term. 相似文献
We examined the effects of antioxidant supplementation in association with progressive aerobic training on the bone metabolism of healthy elderly individuals. For 8 weeks, 13 participants (mean age 74 years) received vitamin C (500 mg) and vitamin E (100 mg) daily and participated in a supervised progressive aerobic training programme. After the 8 weeks, 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentrations were increased significantly by 42.8% (P < 0.001) and 26.8% (P < 0.01) respectively, while parathyroid hormone concentration was decreased by 17.5% (p < 0.05). Of the bone markers, only bone alkaline phosphatase decreased, by 14.6% (P < 0.05). No variation was observed for ionized calcium, insulin-like growth factor-1 or insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3. Our findings suggest that 8 weeks of combined antioxidant supplementation and aerobic training modified vitamin D metabolism and parathyroid hormone concentration. These adaptations might counterbalance the unfavourable hormonal profile frequently observed in the elderly that predisposes them to accentuated age-related bone loss. 相似文献
Child hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) activity was investigated as a moderator of parental depressive symptom effects on child behavior in an adoption sample (n =210 families). Adoptive parents' depressive symptoms and child internalizing and externalizing were assessed at 18, 27, and 54 months, and child morning and evening HPA activity measured through salivary cortisol at 54 months. Children's daily cortisol levels and day‐to‐day variability were tested as moderators of longitudinal associations between parent and child symptoms at within‐ and between‐family levels. Mothers' symptoms related directly to child internalizing, but child evening cortisol moderated effects of fathers' symptoms on internalizing, and of both parents' symptoms on externalizing. Different paths of within‐family risk dynamics versus between‐family risk synergy were found for internalizing versus externalizing outcomes. 相似文献
Abstract The aim of this study was to assess and compare the validity of the portable VmaxST telemetry metabolic measurement device with that of a standard measurement system (Vmax29). Thirty asymptomatic, moderately active males provided written, informed consent and completed two maximal graded treadmill exercise tests (Bruce) using the VmaxST and the Vmax29 metabolic measurement systems. Tests were performed in random order on separate days to obtain peak values for time to exhaustion, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, oxygen consumption ([Vdot]O2), carbon dioxide production ([Vdot]CO2), ventilation ([Vdot]E), and respiratory exchange ratio (RER). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed no significant main effect (P = 0.88) between the two systems across any variable, suggesting similar measurement capabilities between the two systems. Linear regression analyses revealed moderate to high coefficients of determination for [Vdot]O2 (r2 = 0.99), [Vdot]CO2 (r2 = 0.99), [Vdot]E (r2 = 0.99), and RER (r2 = 0.89). Furthermore, Bland-Altman analyses demonstrated that the VmaxST yielded similar values to the Vmax29, suggesting good agreement between the two systems. Agreement was confirmed when the differences between the methods resulted in a small range as identified by the 95% limits of agreement. Findings from the current study confirm that the VmaxST is a valid device for measuring metabolic and physiological variables during exercise within a controlled laboratory setting. 相似文献