Early Phonological Neural Specialization Predicts Later Growth in Word Reading Skills

According to the Interactive Specialization Theory, cognitive skill development is facilitated by a process of neural specialization. In line with this theory, the current study investigated whether neural specialization for phonological and semantic processing at 5-to-6 years old was predictive of growth in word reading skills 2 years later. Specifically, four regression models were estimated in which reading growth was predicted from: (1) an intercept-only model; (2) measures of semantic and phonological neural specialization; (3) performance on semantic and phonological behavioral tasks; or (4) a combination of neural specialization and behavioral performance. Results from the preregistered analyses revealed little evidence in favor of the hypothesis that early semantic and phonological skills are predictive of growth in reading. However, results from the exploratory analyses, which included a larger sample, added age at Time 1 as a covariate, and investigated relative growth in reading, demonstrated decisive evidence that variability in phonological processing is predictive of reading growth. The best fitting model included both measures of specialization within the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and behavioral performance. This work provides important evidence in favor of the Interactive Specialization Theory and, more specifically, for the role of phonological neural specialization in the development of early word reading skills.

Peculiarities of qualification of criminal offenses against movement safety and transport operation: a review of judicial practice.

The article reviews some court decisions, which highlight the key features of the assessment of criminal offenses against traffic safety and transport operation. Typical situations of committing criminal offenses of this type with the analysis of difficulties of qualification and further bringing a person to criminal responsibility are studied. In addition, attention is paid to the differentiation of legal liability, where the means of committing an offense or the subject is a vehicle, as well as highlighted key aspects related to the definition, type and nature of the act. Assessment of criminal offenses against traffic safety and transport operation under art. 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine should be based not only on the rules of substantive law, ie the law of Ukraine on criminal liability. Within the framework of criminal proceedings, the employee-practitioner is guided by the rules of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, which provides for the possibility of changing the assessment of a criminal offense, taking into account the available facts and circumstances. Regarding the existence of certain regulations governing the specifics of assessment and further pre-trial investigation into the commission of a criminal offense against traffic safety and transport operation, today the national justice system has formed judicial practice on this issue. However, it requires some generalization and identification of key points in the qualification of the investigated criminal offenses or further criminal proceedings. The decisive evidence in criminal proceedings concerning criminal offenses against traffic safety and transport operation is the experts’ conclusions from various types of examinations, which are appointed in these proceedings. In particular, auto-technical, auto-commodity, transport-trasological expert studies, which establish important circumstances for establishing the suspect’se guilt or innocence.

The Image of the Zoroastrian God Srōsh

This paper presents new and decisive evidence relative to the identification of one of the colossal depictions of deities discovered by the Karakalpak-Australian Expedition (KAE) at Akchakhan-kala with the Avestan yazata Sraosha. Besides the therianthropic Sraošāvarez, the explicit Zoroastrian symbol that decorates the tunic of this god, new iconographic details are seen. One is the sraošō.caranā, which is a whip, “the instrument of Srōsh”, held in the hands of one of these “bird-priests” instead of the customary barsom. The symbols are presented and discussed in their historical context.

HIV and Surgery for Degenerative Spine Disease: A Systematic Review

Background and Study Aims The objective of this review is to evaluate the incidence of operative treatment, outcomes, and complications of surgery for degenerative spine disease (DSD) on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients. Combined antiretroviral treatment led HIV patients to live long enough to develop many chronic conditions common in the uninfected population. Surgery for DSD is one of the most commonly performed neurosurgical procedures. However, the incidence of spine surgery for DSD in HIV-positive patients seems to be lower than that in uninfected individuals, although this has not been clearly determined. Methods A systematic search of the Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and SciElo databases was conducted. Only primary studies addressing DSD surgery on HIV-positive patients were included. Evaluated variables were rates of surgical treatment, surgical outcomes and complications, year of publication, country where study was conducted, type of study, and level of evidence. Results Six articles were included in the review from 1,108 records. Significantly lower rates of DSD surgery were identified in HIV-infected patients (0.86 per 1,000 patient-years) when compared with uninfected patients (1.41 per 1,000 patient-years). There was a significant increase in spinal surgery in HIV-positive patients over time, with a 0.094 incidence per 100,000 in the year 2000 and 0.303 in 2009. HIV-positive patients had very similar outcomes when compared with controls, with 66.6% presenting pain relief at a 3-month follow-up. Higher incidences of hospital mortality (1.6 vs. 0.3%; p < 0.001) and complications (12.2 vs. 9.5%, p < 0.001) were observed in HIV carriers. Conclusions HIV-positive individuals appear to undergo less surgery for DSD than HIV-negative individuals. Improvement rates appear to be similar in both groups, even though some complications appear to be more prevalent in HIV carriers. Larger studies are needed for decisive evidence on the subject.

Video image of genital melanosis provides strong evidence to support identification of a sexual offender

A man in his thirties was suspected of committing a sexual offense against a young girl. A video on his mobile telephone provided the only evidence. Photographs obtained from the video showed male genitalia in two views, with the penis in both views exhibiting unique pigmentation. We appraised this case with the cooperation of dermatologists, who diagnosed the pigmentation as male genital melanosis, a relatively rare disease, which matched that on the suspected perpetrator’s penis. Photographs obtained from the video were thus decisive evidence of sexual offense and identified the perpetrator.

Sluicing Cannot Apply In-Situ in Japanese

Ross (1969) proposed that sluicing in English is derived by wh- movement and deletion. The wh-movement analysis, however, is not straight- forward in wh-in-situ languages like Japanese. A number of studies argued that sluicing in Japanese is based on wh-cleft structure with much empirical evidence. More recently, however, Kimura (2010) and Abe (2015) have proposed an in-situ analysis of sluicing in Japanese, which deletes everything but a wh-phrase (and the Q-complementizer) in situ, without movement. In this paper, building on immobile elements, I will provide decisive evidence against the in-situ deletion analysis of sluicing and for the wh-cleft analysis of sluicing.

The Secular Church and the Laity

Chapter 7 examines the surviving evidence for nomocanon use among the secular (i.e. non-monastic) church and lay officials under Norman rule. While far fewer manuscripts survive from these circles than from monasteries, it is nonetheless clear that nomocanons continued to be used not only by Greek bishops but even by lay judges and notaries. The chapter begins with an examination of the Italo-Greek episcopate, highlighting the significance of the bishop’s judicial role in the Byzantine church and the lack of evidence for any kind of influence of Latin canon law on the nomocanons of Greek bishops of southern Italy in the twelfth century. It then discusses two fascinating twelfth-century nomocanons: the Epitome Marciana from southern Calabria and the ‘Nomocanon of Doxapatres’ from Rossano. The manuscripts provide decisive evidence that Greek lay judges in the Norman kingdom played a role in the administration of ecclesiastical justice, relying entirely on Byzantine legal sources. In some cases, as in Rossano, Greek aristocratic families would dominate both the archiepiscopal and civil judicial offices, with the result that the family would possess multiple manuscripts of Byzantine civil and canon law.

Maternal asthma is associated with reduced lung function in male infants in a combined analysis of the BLT and BILD cohorts

RationaleAsthma in pregnancy is associated with respiratory diseases in the offspring.ObjectiveTo investigate if maternal asthma is associated with lung function in early life.MethodsData on lung function measured at 5–6 weeks of age were combined from two large birth cohorts: the Bern Infant Lung Development (BILD) and the Australian Breathing for Life Trial (BLT) birth cohorts conducted at three study sites (Bern, Switzerland; Newcastle and Sydney, Australia). The main outcome variable was time to reach peak tidal expiratory flow as a percentage of total expiratory time(tPTEF:tE%). Bayesian linear hierarchical regression analyses controlling for study site as random effect were performed to estimate the effect of maternal asthma on the main outcome, adjusting for sex, birth order, breast feeding, weight gain and gestational age. In separate adjusted Bayesian models an interaction between maternal asthma and sex was investigated by including an interaction term.Measurements and main resultsAll 406 BLT infants were born to mothers with asthma in pregnancy, while 193 of the 213 (91%) BILD infants were born to mothers without asthma. A significant interaction between maternal asthma and male sex was negatively associated with tPTEF:tE% (intercept 37.5; estimate: –3.5; 95% credible interval –6.8 to –0.1). Comparing the model posterior probabilities provided decisive evidence in favour of an interaction between maternal asthma and male sex (Bayes factor 33.5).ConclusionsMaternal asthma is associated with lower lung function in male babies, which may have lifelong implications on their lung function trajectories and future risk of wheezing and asthma.

Can a Conservative Rehabilitation Strategy Improve Shoulder Proprioception? A Systematic Review

Context: Proprioception deficits contribute to persistent and recurring physical disability, particularly with shoulder disorders. Proprioceptive training is thus prescribed in clinical practice. It is unclear whether nonsurgical rehabilitation can optimize shoulder proprioception. Objectives: To summarize the available evidence of conservative rehabilitation (ie, nonsurgical) on proprioception among individuals with shoulder disorders. Evidence Acquisition: PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO were systematically searched, from inception until November 24, 2019. Selected articles were systematically assessed, and the methodological quality was established using the Dutch Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were utilized for this review. The conservative treatments were categorized as follows: (1) conventional therapy, (2) proprioceptive training, (3) elastic kinesiology tape, and (4) other passive therapies. Evidence Synthesis: Twelve articles were included, yielding 58 healthy control shoulders and 362 shoulders affected by impingement syndrome, glenohumeral dislocations, nonspecific shoulder pain, rotator cuff dysfunction, or subluxation poststroke. The level of agreement between the evaluators was excellent (84.9%), and the studies were evaluated to be of fair to excellent quality (risk of bias: 28.5%–100%). This review suggests, with moderate evidence, that proprioceptive training (upper-body wobble board or flexible foil training) can improve proprioception in the midterm. No decisive evidence exists to suggest that conventional therapy is of added value to enhance shoulder proprioception. Conflicting evidence was found for the improvement of proprioception with the application of elastic kinesiology tape, while moderate evidence suggests that passive modalities, such as microcurrent electrical stimulation and bracing, are not effective for proprioceptive rehabilitation of the shoulder. Conclusions: Proprioceptive training demonstrates the strongest evidence for the effective rehabilitation of individuals with a shoulder proprioceptive deficit. Elastic kinesiology tape does not appear to affect the sense of shoulder proprioception. This review suggests a possible specificity of training effect with shoulder proprioception.