A Different View on the Simple View of Reading

The simple view of reading (SVR) framework has been used for decades to explain two general component skills considered to contribute to reading comprehension: decoding and linguistic comprehension. In the past, researchers have assessed the linguistic comprehension component using a wide range of language and/or listening comprehension measures that differed from each other. Many of those tasks did not align with the concept of linguistic comprehension originally proposed. Regardless, the studies’ outcomes were similar: The SVR model adequately represents the process of reading comprehension. In this article, I propose a common thread that links those diverse measurement tasks; all the tasks measured students’ metalinguistic skills. In fact, the findings from these studies mirror those found from investigations directly measuring the influence of language awareness abilities on reading comprehension. I conclude the article with the theoretical and educational implications of taking a different view of the second component of the SVR model.

A Different View on the Simple View of Reading

The Simple View of Reading (SVR) framework has been used for decades to explain two general component skills considered to contribute to reading comprehension: decoding and linguistic comprehension. In the past, researchers have assessed the linguistic comprehension component using a wide range of language and/or listening comprehension measures that differed from each other. Many of those tasks did not align with the concept of linguistic comprehension originally proposed. Regardless, the studies’ outcomes were similar: the SVR model adequately represents the process of reading comprehension. In this paper, I propose a common thread that links those diverse measurement tasks; all the tasks measured students’ metalinguistic skills. In fact, the findings from these studies mirror those found from investigations directly measuring the influence of language awareness abilities on reading comprehension. I conclude the paper with the theoretical and educational implications of taking a different view of the second component of the SVR model.

Neuroimmune circuits involved in β-lactoglobulin-induced food allergy

ABSTRACTCow’s milk allergy is the most prevalent food allergy that usually begins early in life and β- lactoglobulin (BLG) is the milk component with the highest allergenicity. It has been described that ovalbumin (OVA)-induced food allergy in mice is associated with anxiety and aversive behavior. However, it is yet to be determined whether altered behavior is a general component of food allergy or whether it is specific for some types of allergens. Thus, we investigated behavioral and neuroimmune circuits triggered by allergic sensitization to BLG. We found a neuroimmune conflict between aversion and reward in a model of food allergy induced to BLG. Mice sensitized to BLG did not present aversive behavior when the allergen was used for sensitization and oral challenge. Mice allergic to BLG preferred to drink the allergen-containing solution over water even though they presented high levels of specific IgE, inflammatory cells in the intestinal mucosa and significant weight loss. When sensitized to OVA and orally challenged with the same antigen, mice had display neuron activation in the amygdala suggesting an anxiety-related sensation. On the other hand, OVA-sensitized mice showed preference to consume a mixture of BLG and OVA during oral challenge in spite of their aversion to OVA. Consumption of OVA-BLG solution was associated with neuron activation in the nucleus accumbens, suggesting a reward sensation. Thus, the aversive behavior observed in food allergy to OVA does not apply to all antigens and some allergens may induce preference rather than aversion. Our study provides new insights into the neuroimmune conflicts regarding preference and avoidance to a common antigen associated with food allergy.

Rethinking Executive Function and Its Development

Research on executive function in early childhood has flourished in recent years. Much of this work is premised on a view of development of executive function as the emergence of a set of domain-general component processes (e.g., working memory updating, inhibitory control, shifting). This view has shaped how we think about relations between executive function and other aspects of development, the role of the environment in executive-function development, and how best to improve executive function in children who struggle with it. However, there are conceptual and empirical reasons to doubt that executive function should be defined in this way. I argue that the development of executive function is better understood as the emergence of skills in using control in the service of specific goals. Such goals activate and are influenced by mental content such as knowledge, beliefs, norms, values, and preferences that are acquired with development and are important to consider in understanding children’s performance on measures of executive function. This account better explains empirical findings than the component-process view; leads to specific, testable hypotheses; and has implications for theory, measurement, and interventions.

Rethinking executive function development

Research on executive function in early childhood has flourished in recent years. Much of this work is premised on a view of executive function development as the emergence of a set of domain general component processes (e.g., working memory updating, inhibitory control, and shifting). This view has shaped how we think about relations between executive function and other aspects of development, the role of the environment in executive function development, and how best to improve executive function in children who struggle with it. However, there are conceptual and empirical reasons to doubt that executive function should be defined in this way. I argue executive function development is better understood as the emergence of skills in using control in the service of specific goals. Such goals activate and are influenced by mental content like knowledge, beliefs, norms, values, and preferences that are acquired with development and are important to consider in understanding children’s executive function performance. This account better explains empirical findings than the components view; leads to specific, testable hypotheses; and has implications for theory, measurement, and interventions.

Test-Retest Reliability of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) in Brazilian Portuguese

Introduction The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) is a questionnaire designed to assess the auditory experience and quantify hearing disabilities in realistic communication situations, with particular attention to binaural hearing. Objective To determine the test-retest reliability of the SSQ in Brazilian Portuguese. Method A total of 35 individuals with mean age of 61 years and mean education of 7 years were interviewed. The mean auditory threshold was 44.29 dBNA in the best ear and 58.04 dBNA in the worst ear. The SSQ in Portuguese was applied at two time points, test and retest. An interval of 7 to 20 days between interviews was established. The level of significance adopted was 0.05, or 5%. Results The analysis revealed a high Cronbach α coefficient for the three domains and for the general component of the scale, demonstrating good internal consistency between the items. In addition, a significant strong correlation was detected between test and retest of the SSQ on the analysis by domain and for the general component of the scale. A significant moderate-to-strong correlation between test and retest by question was found, except for question 2 of Part I. Conclusion The test-retest reliability indicators showed good stability of the Portuguese version of the SSQ, indicating that the scale is suitable for use in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil.

Rab17 regulates apical delivery of hepatic transcytotic vesicles

A major focus for our laboratory is identifying the molecules and mechanisms that regulate basolateral-to-apical transcytosis in polarized hepatocytes. Our most recent studies have focused on characterizing the biochemical and functional properties of the small rab17 GTPase. We determined that rab17 is a monosumoylated protein and that this modification likely mediates selective interactions with the apically located syntaxin 2. Using polarized hepatic WIF-B cells exogenously expressing wild-type, dominant active/guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound, dominant negative/guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-bound, or sumoylation-deficient/K68R rab17 proteins, we confirmed that rab17 regulates basolateral-to-apical transcytotic vesicle docking and fusion with the apical surface. We further confirmed that transcytosis is impaired from the subapical compartment to the apical surface and that GTP-bound and sumoylated rab17 are likely required for apical vesicle docking. Because expression of the GTP-bound rab17 led to impaired transcytosis, whereas wild type had no effect, we further propose that rab17 GTP hydrolysis is required for vesicle delivery. We also determined that transcytosis of three classes of newly synthesized apical residents showed similar responses to rab17 mutant expression, indicating that rab17 is a general component of the transcytotic machinery required for apically destined vesicle docking and fusion.

The Computational Complexity of and Approximation Algorithms for Variants of the Component Selection Problem

In the past decades, there has been a burst of activity to simplify implementation of complex software systems. The solution framework in software engineering community for this problem is called component-based software design (CBSD), whereas in the modeling and simulation community it is called composability. Composability is a complex feature due to the challenges of creating components, selecting combinations of components, and integrating the selected components. In this paper, we address the challenge through the analysis of Component Selection (CS), the NP-complete process of selecting a minimal set of components to satisfy a set of objectives. Due to the computational complexity of CS, we consider approximation algorithms that make the component selection process practical. We define three variations of CS and present good approximation algorithms to find near optimal solutions. In spite of our creation of approximable variants of Component Selection, we prove that the general Component Selection problem is inapproximable.