bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Origin of dissolved salts in a large, semi-arid groundwater system: Murray Basin, Australia
Authors: Herczeg A. L. , Dogramaci S. S. , Leaney F. W. J.
Published: September 2002

Hypotheses to explain the source of the 1011 tons of
salt in groundwaters of the Murray Basin, south-eastern Australia, are
evaluated; these are (a) mixing with original sea water,
(b) dissolution of salt deposits,
(c) weathering of aquifer minerals and
(d) acquisition of solutes via rainfall. The total
salinity and chemistry of many groundwater samples are similar to sea-water
composition. However, their stable isotopic compositions
(δ18O= –6.5 ‰;
δ2H = –35) are typical of mean winter
rainfall, indicating that all the original sea water has been flushed out of
the aquifer. Br/Cl mass ratios are approximately the same as sea water
(3.57 x 10-3) indicating that NaCl evaporites (which
have Br/Cl<10-4) are not a significant
contributor to Cl in the groundwater. Similarly, very low abundances of Cl in
aquifer minerals preclude rock weathering as a significant source of Cl. About
1.5 million tons of new salt is deposited in the Murray–Darling Basin
each year by rainfall.The groundwater chemistry has evolved by a combination
of atmospheric fallout of marine and continentally derived solutes and removal
of water by evapo-transpiration over tens of thousands of years of relative
aridity. Carbonate dissolution/precipitation, cation exchange and
reconstitution of secondary clay minerals in the aquifers results in a
groundwater chemistry that retains a ‘sea-water-like’ character.
Spatial and temporal variations of the estuarine larval fish community on the west coast of Taiwan
Authors: Tzeng Wann-Nian , Wang Yu-Tzu , Chang Chih-Wei
Published: September 2002

Spatio–temporal variations in the distribution and community structure
of the estuarine larval fishes on the west coast of Taiwan was examined in the
estuaries of Shuangchi Creek (SC), Gongshytyan Creek (GST), Tatu Creek (TT)
and Tongkang River (TK). Fish were collected by a net (mesh 0.8–1.8 mm)
set against the flood tide at night during the new- and full-moon periods from
September 1997 through December 1998; 28–49 families (56–94
species) were collected from the four estuaries. Fish larvae were abundant
from spring to autumn. Fish communities differed among estuaries: Mugilidae
were the most abundant in SC, Terapon jarbua in GST,
Stolephorus insularis in TT and
Ambassis urotaenia in TK. The 15 most dominant species
constituted 88–94% of the total catch. The relationship of fish
abundance and species diversity to water temperature and salinity differed
among estuaries. Species composition could be classified into northern (SC,
GST winter and TT winter) and southern (TK, GST summer and TT summer) groups.
The species composition of the larval fish communities was more diverse in
spring–autumn than in winter, and in southern than in northern
estuaries. Monsoon-driven coastal currents may influence seasonal dispersal
and community structure of the estuarine larval fishes on the western coast of
Taiwan.
The significance of carotenoids and tocopherols in photoprotection of seven epiphytic fern species of a Mexican cloud forest
Authors: Tausz Michael , Hietz Peter , Briones Oscar
Published: September 2002

Epiphytes experience frequent and rapid changes in water availability andlight intensity. The role of carotenoids and tocopherols in photoprotection ofseven fern species (Asplenium cuspidatum Lam.,Phlebodium areolatum (HB ex Willd.) Smith,Polypodium puberulum Schl. & Cham.,Po. plebeium Schl. & Cham.,Elaphoglossum glaucum Moode,E. petiolatum (Sw.) Urb., andPleopeltis mexicana (Fée) Mickel & Beitel)with different adaptations against drought were investigated. The plants weresampled dark adapted (treatment I), and after light exposure with thesubstrate present (treatment II), with the substrate removed (treatment III)and with substrate and rhizomes removed (treatment IV) to induce increasing degrees of drought stress. The degree of dehydration reached does not resultin permanent damage and was also observed in the field. While none of thetreatments induced significant chlorophyll (chl) degradation, all plantsshowed strong de-epoxidation of the xanthophyll cycle on light exposure (up toa de-epoxidation state of 70%), but without an additional effect ofdesiccation. Most species showed a rapid increase (within hours) ofcarotenoids (mainly β-carotene and lutein) and α-tocopherol onexposure. In A. cuspidatum, a species with no apparentadaptations to drought, drought stress in combination with light resulted inan increase of tocopherols from 35 nmol mol–1 chl(treatment I) to 400 nmol (treatment IV). This effect was not significant inthe drought-deciduous species with succulent rhizomes,Po. puberulum (about 10 nmolmol–1 chl) and Ph. areolatum(5 to maximum 40 nmol), which experience little desiccation under fieldconditions. This short-term induction of tocopherols and carotenoids has notbeen reported for other plants under light stress and is probably related tothe epiphytic life form.
13C discrimination patterns in oceanic phytoplankton: likely influence of CO2 concentrating mechanisms, and implications for palaeoreconstructions
Authors: Laws Edward A. , Popp Brian N. , Cassar Nicolas , Tanimoto Jamie
Published: September 2002

The isotopic composition of organic carbon buried in marine sediments is an
appealing proxy for palaeo CO2 concentrations due to the well-documented
effect of CO2 concentrations on carbon fractionation by
phytoplankton. However, a number of factors, in addition to
CO2 concentrations, influence this fractionation.
Included among these factors are cell geometry, in particular
surface/volume ratios, growth rate, and the presence of CO2 concentrating
mechanisms. Other potentially confounding factors are calcification,
diagenesis, and the nature of the growth-rate-limiting factor, e.g. light vs
nutrients. Because of these confounding factors, palaeoreconstructions based
on the isotopic composition of organic carbon
(δ13C) will almost certainly have to be based on
the isotopic signatures of organic compounds that can be associated with a
single species, or group of physiologically similar species. Long-chain
alkenones produced by certain species of coccolithophores may provide a
suitable diagnostic marker. By combining the δ13C
of the alkenone carbon with the δ13C of coccolith
carbon and the Sr/Ca ratio of the coccoliths, it is possible to calculate
the extent of carbon fractionation (εp) and
estimate growth rates. However, active transport of inorganic carbon tends to
make εp insensitive to CO2
concentrations when the ratio of growth rate to CO2
concentration exceeds 0.285/rkg
mol–1d–1, where
r is the effective spherical radius of the cell in
microns. Palaeo CO2 concentrations calculated from
alkenone and coccolith δ13C data capture the gross
features of CO2 concentrations in the Vostok ice core,
but explain only 30–35% of the variance in the latter. The
absence of a higher correlation may in part reflect the impact of active
transport, particularly during glacial times. The impact of active transport
may have been less severe prior to the Pleistocene, since
CO2 concentrations are believed to have been higher than
present-day values during most of Phanerozoic time.
Characterization of root boron pools, boron uptake and boron translocation in sunflower using the stable isotopes 10 B and 11 B
Authors: Dannel Frank , Pfeffer Heidrun , Römheld Volker
Published: September 2002

The B pools in the roots and the
characteristics of B uptake and its loading into the xylem were investi-gated
in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants precultured
with high (100 M) or low (1 M) 11 B supply. In order to
study B fluxes and their dependence on root metabolic activity, short-term
treatments with differential 10 B supply in combination
with metabolic inhibition treatments (50 M 2,4-dinitrophenol; root zone
temperature of 7˚C) or with no further treatment (control) were carried
out. Subsequently, xylem exudate was collected, and roots were harvested and
fractionated into two B pools that differed in their water-solubility as well
as in their exchangeability. The exchange or release of
11 B initially present during the 3 h treatment was
maximal at 18% in the cell wall pool, whilst it was up to 94% in
the symplasmic pool. All observed alterations in the cell wall-bound B can be
explained by passive processes. Control plants precultured with high B supply
showed a linear response of the 10 B concentrations in
the root cell sap and in the xylem exudate to the differential short-term
10B supply, and this was not affected by the metabolic
inhibition treatments. In the control plants precultured with low B supply,
the response of the 10 B concentrations in the root cell
sap and xylem exudate to the differential short-term 10
B supply appeared to be a com-bination of a saturable and a linear component.
The metabolic inhibition treatments turned off the saturable compo-nent and
the response became linear. In summary, the results suggest that B uptake into
the root symplasm, as well as xylem loading, are performed by two transport
mechanisms, with the linear components representing B transport by passive
diffusion. The saturable components may represent unknown carrier- or
channel-mediated transport of B, which is dependent on metabolic energy.
Tumour necrosis factor alpha up-regulates matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity in periovulatory ovine follicles: metamorphic and endocrine implications
Authors: Gottsch Michelle L. , Van Kirk Edward A. , Murdoch William J.
Published: September 2002

The collagenous matrix of the wall of periovulatory follicles is
degraded and remodelled during ovulatory ovarian rupture and luteinization.
Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) belongs to a family of zinc endopeptidases
that cleave extracellular proteins; its primary substrate is the type IV
collagen of basement membranes. Tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) is a putative
mediator of collagenolysis and ovulation. The objective of this investigation
was to ascertain the regulatory role of TNFa on MMP-2 activity relevant to the
folliculo-luteal transition in ewes. Luteal regression and the preovulatory
surge of gonadotropins were induced by administration of prostaglandin F
2 α and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) on Days 14
and 15.5 (= 0 h) of the oestrous cycle, respectively. Ovulation occurs
from the dominant follicle approximately 24 h after GnRH. An
immunocapture-activity assay was used to measure MMP-2 in follicular extracts.
Bioactive MMP-2 increased from 0 to 20 to 40 h after GnRH. Enzyme was
immunolocalized at 40 h to the connective tissue framework that invades the
parenchyma of the formative corpus luteum. Activity of MMP-2 was up-regulated
by incubation (20 h) of 0-h follicular explants with TNFα; this response was
suppressed by the transcriptional inhibitor actinomycin D. Activity of MMP-2
was reduced when preovulatory follicular tissues were incubated (12-h explants
for 6 h) with TNFα antiserum. Ovulation was blocked by intrafollicular
injection of TNFα antiserum. Unruptured follicles luteinized, but were
deficient in collagenous/vascularized trabeculae, and produced less
progesterone than their control luteal counterparts. It is suggested that TNFα, via MMP-2 induction, contributes to the reorganization of an ovulatory
follicle into a fully competent corpus luteum.
Effect of intermittent umbilical cord occlusion on fetal respiratory activity and brain adenosine in late-gestation sheep
Authors: Watson Carole S. , Schaefer Rachel , White Susan E. , Homan Jacobus H. , Fraher Laurence , Harding Richard , Bocking Alan D.
Published: September 2002

It was hypothesized that intermittent umbilical cord occlusion (UCO) would
inhibit ovine fetal breathing movements (FBM) in association with increased
cerebral adenosine levels. To test this hypothesis, on two successive days
during late gestation (133–134 days; term = 146 days),
microdialysis samples were collected from the brains of 10 chronically
instrumented fetal sheep during 2-h periods of complete UCO induced every 30
min (Day 1: 2-min UCOs; Day 2: 4-min UCOs). Control fetuses
(n = 10) underwent no UCO. Tracheal pressure was
measured throughout. This regimen resulted in a decrease in fetal arterial
PO2 (PaO2) during each UCO to 7.3
0.8 mmHg (P<0.01; Day 1) and 8.4 1.1 mmHg
(P<0.01; Day 2). Throughout each UCO period, fetal
arterial pH (pHa) decreased to 7.28 0.02 (P<0.01; Day
1) and 7.11 0.07 (P<0.01; Day 2). The hourly
incidence of FBM decreased significantly only on Day 2, from 38.6 4.1%
to 4.1 1.6% (P<0.01). The frequency of deep
isolated inspiratory efforts increased from 4.7 2.0
h–1 to 17.6 6.1 h–1
(P<0.05; Day 1) and from 2.2 0.9
h–1 to 33.6 4 h–1
(P<0.01; Day 2). The amplitude of both FBM and deep
isolated inspiratory efforts increased during the UCO periods on both days.
The concentration of cerebral extracellular fluid (ECF) adenosine during UCO
increased by 219 215% (P<0.05; Day 1) and 172
107% (P<0.05; Day 2) over the baseline
periods. In conclusion, the severity of the inhibitory effect of repeated UCO
on FBM depends, in part, on the length of the occlusions. The inhibition of
FBM during intermittent UCO may be mediated by the increase in ECF adenosine
in the fetal brain. Furthermore, FBM and deep isolated inspiratory efforts
appear to be regulated by different mechanisms.
Comment on a new classification of the Eucalypts
Authors: Ladiges Pauline Y. , Udovicic Frank
Published: September 2002

Brooker’s classification of the eucalypts, which combines
Angophora, Corymbiaand
Eucalyptus into one genus, is contrary to phylogenetic
evidence based on eight different data sets including morphology, RFLPs, and
sequence data for various regions of nuclear and chloroplast DNA (5S rDNA
spacer region, ITS1, ITS2, trnL intron,
trnL-F spacer and
psbA-trnH spacer). On this
evidence and the principle of recognising monophyletic taxa, we reject his
synonymy of these genera.
Priming of soil structural and hydrological properties by native woody species, annual crops, and a permanent pasture
Authors: Yunusa I. A .M. , Mele P. M. , Rab M. A. , Schefe C. R. , Beverly C. R.
Published: September 2002

Impermeable subsoil is a major constraint to root growth and water
infiltration in most duplex soils of Australia, but can be ameliorated by
channels or biopores created by dead and decomposed roots of plant species
that are adapted to these soils. In the current study, we evaluated whether a
6-year phase of native woody species planted in belts created sufficient
biopores to significantly improve the soil structure of a yellow Chromosol,
us
(but not E. nitens) plantations in Tasmania because of
low mean minimum temperatures. Conditions within 3 weeks of planting induced
severe photoinhibition in non-shaded seedlings. This was associated with
increased anthocyanin and photodamage in non-shaded
E. nitens and E. globulus. As a
result, there was 20% mortality in non-shaded
E. globulus. In contrast, shaded seedlings of both
species had levels of photoinhibition and anthocyanin that were largely
similar to those before planting and there was no photodamage. Levels of
anthocyanin indicated that its synthesis responded to the severity of
photoinhibition. Height growth and levels of mortality indicated that
cold-induced photoinhibition, and not frost tolerance alone, determines the
range of environments where E. globulus can be
successfully planted. In contrast, the tolerance of
E. nitens seedlings to cold-induced photoinhibition may
be a factor in the demonstrated success of this species as a high-altitude
plantation species.
subsoil constraint, Acacia spp., Eucalyptus spp., Casuarina spp., biological
drilling, porosity, hydraulic conductivity, preferential flow.
Assessment of the potential for competition between two sympatric herbivores - the northern hairy-nosed wombat, Lasiorhinus krefftii, and the eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus
Authors: Woolnough Andrew P. , Johnson Christopher N.
Published: September 2002

The northern hairy-nosed wombat,
Lasiorhinus krefftii, is a critically endangered grazing
herbivore, restricted to a single population of just 65 individuals in the
savanna of central Queensland. Lasiorhinus krefftii
shares its habitat with another grazing herbivore of similar body size, the
eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus. This study
investigated the potential for M. giganteus to compete
with L. krefftii for food. Analysis of faecal residues
demonstrated that both herbivores consumed grass almost exclusively, with the
exception of small quantities of sedges and dicotyledons. Dietary overlap
between M. giganteus and
L. krefftii was high, both in the consumption of plant
species (90%) and plant parts (99%), suggesting that there is
potential for dietary competition. Using the distribution of faecal deposits
for both herbivores, analysis of habitat usage by multiple linear regression
techniques indicated that M. giganteus exhibits clear
associations with some habitat features but proved inconclusive for
L. krefftii because of their use of defecation in social
marking. However, an examination of the population dynamics of
M. giganteus suggested that the densities reported in
this study, although highly seasonal, are sufficiently low that competition
with L. krefftii for food is currently negligible.
Identification of the binding sites of regulatory proteins in bacterial genomes
Authors: Li Hao , Rhodius Virgil , Gross Carol , Siggia Eric D.
Published: September 2002

We present an algorithm that extracts the binding sites (represented by position-specific weight matrices) for many different transcription factors from the regulatory regions of a genome, without the need for delineating groups of coregulated genes. The algorithm uses the fact that many DNA-binding proteins in bacteria bind to a bipartite motif with two short segments more conserved than the intervening region. It identifies all statistically significant patterns of the form
W
1
N
x
W
2
, where
W
1
and
W
2
are two short oligonucleotides separated by
x
arbitrary bases, and groups them into clusters of similar patterns. These clusters are then used to derive quantitative recognition profiles of putative regulatory proteins. For a given cluster, the algorithm finds the matching sequences plus the flanking regions in the genome and performs a multiple sequence alignment to derive position-specific weight matrices. We have analyzed the
Escherichia coli
genome with this algorithm and found ≈1,500 significant patterns, which give rise to ≈160 distinct position-specific weight matrices. A fraction of these matrices match the binding sites of one-third of the ≈60 characterized transcription factors with high statistical significance. Many of the remaining matrices are likely to describe binding sites and regulons of uncharacterized transcription factors. The significance of these matrices was evaluated by their specificity, the location of the predicted sites, and the biological functions of the corresponding regulons, allowing us to suggest putative regulatory functions. The algorithm is efficient for analyzing newly sequenced bacterial genomes for which little is known about transcriptional regulation.
Specificity of RNA–RNA helix recognition
Authors: Battle Daniel J. , Doudna Jennifer A.
Published: September 2002

Functional RNAs often form compact structures characterized by closely packed helices. Crystallographic analysis of several large RNAs revealed a prevalent interaction in which unpaired adenosine residues dock into the minor groove of a receptor helix. This A-minor motif, potentially the most important element responsible for global RNA architecture, has also been suggested to contribute to the fidelity of protein synthesis by discriminating against near-cognate tRNAs on the ribosome. The specificity of A-minor interactions is fundamental to RNA tertiary structure formation, as well as to their proposed role in translational accuracy. To investigate A-minor motif specificity, we analyzed mutations in an A-minor interaction within theTetrahymenagroup I self-splicing intron. Thermodynamic and x-ray crystallographic results show that the A-minor interaction strongly prefers canonical base pairs over base mismatches in the receptor helix, enabling RNA interhelical packing through specific recognition of Watson–Crick minor groove geometry.
The effects of formal order and spatial content on reasoning in three dimensions
Authors: Boudreau Ginette , Pigeau Ross , McCann Carol
Published: September 2002

This study investigates the effects of formal order and spatial content on reasoning in three dimensions in view of the Formal Rules theory and the Mental Models theory of spatial reasoning. Twenty‐six subjects solved 144 spatial deductive problems that varied by the formal order of the entities (referential order, referential continuity) and the spatial content (dimension, orientation, and direction). There were two dependant variables: the correct responses and their response times. The number of mental models and the formal derivations underlying the deductions allowed comparison of opposite predictions made by the Formal Rules theory and the Mental Models theory of spatial reasoning.

The results overwhelmingly supported the Mental Models theory's predictions. The effects of referential order showed that problems yielding two possible mental models were significantly more difficult than problems based on one mental model, although the former problems involved a shorter formal derivation than the latter. The effects of referential continuity also generalized the Mental Models theory's prediction to reasoning in all three dimensions. The effects of referential continuity showed that problems that required independent layouts in memory were reliably more difficult than problems that allowed the continuous integration of the entities in a mental model. We obtained these results despite the fact that the former condition required a shorter formal derivation than the latter. The effects of spatial content were also reliable despite the fact that the formal derivations were the same across spatial content. Thus, spatial deductions were significantly easier to make in 1D than in 2D and in 2D than 3D. Deductions were also significantly easier to make from left to right along the horizontal axis of a mental model, and from top to bottom along the vertical axis rather than from the respective opposite directions. The effects of spatial content suggest that mental models reproduce spatial relations relative to reference frames.
Neural bases of image and language interactions
Authors: Mazoyer Bernard , Tzourio‐Mazoyer Nathalie , Mazard Angélique , Denis Michel , Mellet Emmanuel
Published: September 2002

Mental visual imagery and language are the two main types of representation used by humans. These two modes of mental representations are not exclusive from each other. In fact, the importance of mental imagery in human cognition comes in part from the interactions between mental image and language. Several cognitive neuroimaging studies have attempted to unravel the neural bases of these interactions. A consistent result from these studies is that mental images generated from verbal description elicit activations in both visual and language cortices. Visual cortex regions include occipital areas of the so‐called dorsal and ventral routes, whereas language areas concern both the temporal and frontal cortices, e.g., both the comprehension and production poles of language. Interestingly, it was also found that language areas are more likely to address a representation when language is the only source of information than when imagery and language are used in conjunction, which demonstrates a modulation of the activity in these areas by the mental imagery task. Overall, these findings provide a neural substrate to the dual coding theory developed by Paivio. Moreover, the fact that the same associative visual regions are activated during mental imagery triggered by either verbal description or visual encoding provides a neural base to the observation that these two types of images share common structural properties. Meanwhile, the involvement of primary visual area (PVA) during mental imagery activity remains a debated issue. First, recent results have demonstrated that PVA is not involved in some kinds of mental imagery, especially during spatial mental imagery. Second, studies have also indicated that the encoding modality, either visual or verbal, may have an impact on the neural substrates of mental images.
Emotions: From neuropsychology to functional imaging
Authors: Berthoz S. , Blair R.J.R. , Le Clec'h G. , Martinot J.‐L.
Published: September 2002

Recent developments in functional imaging techniques, such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), allow us to characterize more precisely the functional neuroanatomy mediating emotional responding. This corpus of studies has led to the development of affective neuroscience. First, we present a summary of the studies aimed at understanding the underlying mechanisms of the emotional response, which were conducted prior to the use of the brain imaging techniques. Then, this paper reviews the studies investigating the neural substrates implicated in the processing of facial expressions and those implicated in the production of experimentally induced emotional responses. This review of the literature includes a meta‐analysis of eight studies using PET and one fMRI study reporting the neural correlates of experimentally induced emotions in healthy individuals. The methods and results of these studies are described through figures drawn from the reported Talairach's coordinates depicting the cerebral regions activated in relation to different experimental conditions. The implications of the results and the role of the cerebral structures that have been identified are discussed. As regards the studies on the neural bases of the processing of facial expressions of emotion, there are separable neural circuits that are involved in mediating responding to differing categories of facial expressions of emotion. Fearful expressions have relatively consistently been found to activate the amygdala, as, occasionally, have sad and happy expressions. The anterior insula and the putamen seem to be particularly involved in disgust expression recognition, whereas the facial expression of anger seems to be predominantly associated with anterior cingular and orbitofrontal cortex activity. Among the cerebral structures that have appeared to be activated by experimentally induced emotions, the anterior cingulate cortex seems to play a specific role in representing subjective emotional responses.
The development of psychological testing in China
Authors: Higgins Louise T. , Sun Chun Hui
Published: September 2002

The Chinese have been interested in assessing individual differences for thousands of years. This article traces the development of early psychological measurements in China through to the arrival of modern psychometric techniques in the early 20th century. Following the social disruption caused by the Sino‐Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, the doctrines of the Communist Revolution and finally the Cultural Revolution forced the total abandonment of the idea of measuring individual differences. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, however, the need for psychological measurement has been increasingly recognised, particularly because of needs in the fields of clinical and educational practice. As a result, there are now many university courses for training testing professionals. It is also important to have tests that are suitable to use in China. Simply to translate English‐language tests into Chinese may bias their results because of cultural differences, so tests should be revised in order to make their results equivalent, or new tests appropriate to their culture should be devised by Chinese psychologists. Psychological testing is now used in China in education, mental health, and, increasingly, in personnel selection. The expanding market economy means that effective processes for the selection of managers in business and industry are essential in China. As in many other scientific fields, the Chinese are making progress in psychometric testing and it is likely that psychological measurement of individual differences will make an important contribution to China's continued rapid economic progress in the 21st century.
Modernity and childrearing in families of Gujarati Indian adolescents
Authors: Patel‐Amin Nisha , Power Thomas G.
Published: September 2002

Over the last two decades, researchers have devoted increasing attention to the role of cognitive factors in parenting. These cognitive mediational models focus on the role of attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge in influencing parenting behaviours. A cognitive factor that contributes to cultural variation in parenting is attitudinal modernity—a broad concept that refers to the “Westernization” of attitudes in such diverse areas as gender role conceptions, political attitudes, attitudes toward authority, the family, and religious beliefs. Modernity has been most useful in describing the attitudes of individuals from countries undergoing the rapid social and economic changes that accompany industrialism and urbanization. The present study focused on India—a country currently undergoing such changes. Despite the wide range of modern and traditional beliefs among contemporary Indian parents, our understanding of the determinants of these individual differences is limited. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation between modernity and parental childrearing practices, as well as to examine the relation between adolescent modernity and parental childrearing. Mothers, fathers, and adolescents in 50 Hindu, Gujarati families completed questionnaires about the modernity of their attitudes and were interviewed about parental childrearing practices. Parental and adolescent modernity were highly correlated. Moreover, parental modernity predicted the nature of parental childrearing values and practices, and parental childrearing values predicted adolescent modernity. Although the findings varied somewhat for mothers versus fathers, parental modernity was associated with individualistic childrearing values and practices, and parents who valued individualistic characteristics in their adolescents had sons and daughters who reported the highest levels of modernity. Implications for understanding the role of mothers and fathers in the socialization of modernity are considered.
Even in adults, written production is still more costly than oral production
Authors: Bourdin Béatrice , Fayol Michel
Published: September 2002

The aim of this research is to show that the mechanical demands of writing continue to affect the characteristics of produced texts in adults under certain situations of cognitive overload. The study reported here is intended to demonstrate that the quality of the text produced by educated adults falls when production is performed in the written rather than in the spoken mode, but only when the elements on the basis of which the texts are to be produced are difficult to relate to one another. In this view, we compared performance in a text production span task in either the oral or the written mode. This task consisted of presenting sets of words, semantically linked or not, from which adults had to produce texts including the words in the set. The results showed that neither the production mode nor the extent of the relationship between the items influenced the number of words recalled. By contrast, the number of ideas elaborated and the coherence of the produced texts are lower when the supplied items are difficult to link and when production is in the written mode. These results are interpreted in the framework of capacity theories in production. They suggest that the cost of managing written production is not always negligible in well‐educated adults. When they have to produce texts on the basis of provided elements that are only weakly associated with one another in the written mode, the residual capacity necessary either to maintain and organise the information in working memory, or to adopt a strategic approach to the composition of the texts, is insufficient because the cost of this elaboration must be added to that of the management of the written production.
Suppressing visual feedback in written composition: Effects on processing demands and coordination of the writing processes
Authors: Olive Thierry , Piolat Annie
Published: September 2002

The goal of this experiment was to investigate the role of visual feedback during written composition. Effects of suppression of visual feedback were analyzed both on processing demands and on on‐line coordination of low‐level execution processes and of high‐level conceptual and linguistic processes. Writers composed a text and copied it either with or without visual feedback. Processing demands of the writing processes were evaluated with reaction times to secondary auditory probes, which were analyzed according to whether participants were handwriting (in a composing and a copying task) or engaged in high‐level processes (when pausing in a composing task). Suppression of visual feedback increased reaction time interference (secondary reaction time minus baseline reaction time) during handwriting in the copying task and not during pauses in the composing task. This suggests that suppression of visual feedback only affected processing demands of execution processes and not those of high‐level conceptual and linguistic processes. This is confirmed by analysis of the quality of the texts produced by participants, which were little, if at all, affected by the suppression of visual feedback. Results also indicate that the increase in processing demands of execution related to suppression of visual feedback affected on‐line coordination of the writing processes. Indeed, when visual feedback was suppressed, reaction time interferences associated with handwriting were not reliably different in the copying task or the composing task but were significantly different when visual feedback was not suppressed: They were lower in the copying task than in the composition task. When visual feedback was suppressed, writers activated step‐by‐step execution processes and high‐level writing processes, whereas they concurrently activated these writing processes when composing with visual feedback.
Popular histories: ‘education’ and ‘entertainment’ in information books for children
Authors: Scanlon Margaret , Buckingham David
Published: September 2002

UK government policy has increasingly emphasized the importance of learning in the home; and commercial publishers have not been slow to respond. There is now a growing market in popular information books targeted at parents and children. This article provides an analytical case‐study of four such books on a common historical theme: ancient Rome. It addresses three main issues. First, it considers the epistemology or historiography of these texts, particularly in relation to their use of sources and their implicit view of what history (as a subject) is. Second, it discusses the pedagogic style of the texts, as reflected in their mode of address to the reader and their use of narrative and expository language. Finally, it considers the balance between ‘education’ and ‘entertainment’ and the implications of using popular cultural genres as a means of representing the past.
Reintroducing creativity: Day 10 at Hackleton School
Authors: Woods Peter , O'Shannessy Jennifer
Published: September 2002

This article reports on the first year of a fortnightly ‘creative arts’ morning, instituted by a primary school to bring more balance into the curriculum, which the staff saw as dominated by National Curriculum, and especially literacy and numeracy requirements. Through increasing and unrelenting demands, creativity and the arts had become suppressed in the school. The initiative was evaluated using qualitative research methods involving observation, discussion and study of documents. It was found that there were significant educational benefits in the creative arts mornings, especially in the areas of generating positive emotions, the cultivation of social relationships among both staff and children, the development of pupil skills and creativity, and heightened teacher morale. The initial aims were all achieved in part, though some more fully than others. The article concludes with a discussion of possible longer‐term aims and the principles on which they might be based.
The Literacy Hour: a case for listening to children
Authors: Hancock Roger , Mansfield Melian
Published: September 2002

Despite a professional rhetoric about the importance of consulting children, there is reason to think that many teachers continue to disregard children's views in their dayto‐day practice. The Literacy Hour, with its detailed content and prescribed pedagogic structure, leaves teachers, teaching assistants and children very little room for comment or change. This article reports on a small‐scale interview study involving 48 children. The study aimed to understand children's experiences of the Literacy Hour. It is suggested that their comments should serve to inform professional practice. They raise important considerations related to teaching and learning and also provide reasons for questioning if the hour is as complete an answer to literacy teaching as it is claimed to be.
Economic aspects of citizenship education: an investigation of students' understanding
Authors: Davies Peter , Howie Helen , Mangan Jean , Telhaj Shqiponja
Published: September 2002

In 2002 education for citizenship will become a statutory requirement in English secondary schools for the first time. Broad guidelines which have been issued to schools include some elements of economic understanding, although this aspect of citizenship has attracted little attention in public debate. Moreover, relatively little is known about students' current thinking on these aspects of citizenship. Our article addresses this gap in current knowledge through reporting results from a large‐scale (over 1000 responses) survey of 15‐ and 17‐year‐old students. A draft survey was trialled in May 2000 and revised in the light of students' responses and discussion at a research seminar in July 2000. The questionnaire focuses on students' understanding of, and attitude towards, aspects of taxation, government spending, employment and inflation. These results may usefully inform planning for programmes of citizenship education and they can also provide a point of reference for subsequent evaluation of those programmes.
Measuring teacher beliefs about alternative curriculum designs
Authors: Cheung Derek , Wong Hin‐Wah
Published: September 2002

Although all teachers hold beliefs about alternative curriculum designs, researchers know little about how the beliefs are related to each other and to teacher demographic characteristics such as gender and subject areas. In addition, measuring instruments in this area of curriculum enquiry remain primitive. In this article, we review issues surrounding the measurement of teachers' curriculum orientations, report the development and validation of a 30‐item curriculum orientation inventory,and use the data gathered from a sample of 648 Hong Kong teachers to examine the relationships between curriculum orientations and some teacher demographic characteristics. The inventory was designed to measure teachers' five curriculum orientations: academic, cognitive process, social reconstruction, humanistic and technological. We found that the reliability and validity of the data were adequate. In contrast to logical expectation, teachers valued all the five theoretically conflicting curriculum orientations and the correlations among the orientations were considerable and positive. There was no significant difference in teachers' curriculum orientations based on gender. Primary and secondary school teachers also did not show significant difference. Furthermore, experienced teachers were more likely to value the academic orientation and English language teachers were more humanistic than science teachers. Directions for future research are suggested.
Children's grammatical categories of verb and noun: A comparative look at children with specific language impairment (SLI) and normal language (NL)
Authors: Skipp Amy , Windfuhr Kirsten L. , Conti‐Ramsden Gina
Published: September 2002

The study investigated the development of grammatical categories (noun and verb) in young language learners. Twenty‐eight children with specific language impairment (SLI) with a mean language age of 35 months and 28 children with normal language (NL) with a mean language age of 34 months were exposed to four novel verbs and four novel nouns during 10 experimental child‐directed play sessions. The lexical items were modelled with four experimentally controlled argument structures. Both groups of children showed little productivity with syntactic marking of arguments in the novel verb conditions. Thus, both groups of children mostly followed the surface structure of the model presented to them, regardless of the argument they were trying to express. Therefore, there was little evidence of verb‐general processes. In contrast, both groups used nouns in semantic roles that had not been modelled for them. Importantly, however, children with SLI still appeared to be more input dependent than NL children. This suggests that children with NL were working with a robust noun schema, whereas children with SLI were not. Taken together, the findings suggest that neither group of children had a grammatical category of verb, but demonstrated a general knowledge of the grammatical category of noun. These findings are discussed in relation to current theories of normal and impaired language development.
Inferential processing and story recall in children with communication problems: A comparison of specific language impairment, pragmatic language impairment and high‐functioning autism
Authors: Norbury Courtenay Frazier , Bishop Dorothy V. M.
Published: September 2002

An investigation is reported into the story comprehension abilities of four groups of children: those with typical specific language impairment (SLI‐T), those with pragmatic language impairments who were not autistic (PLI), those with high‐functioning autism (HFA) and typically developing controls. The story comprehension task required children to answer questions about the literal content of the story, as well as questions involving two types of inferences: text‐connecting and gap‐filling. The control children outscored the three clinical groups on story comprehension, but the group means of the clinical groups did not differ. However, categorical examination of the data revealed that children with pragmatic difficulties related to HFA were more likely to have specific inferencing deficits. Error analysis suggested that all children could make inferences, but these were not always relevant to the story context. This supports the notion of weak central coherence underlying deficits in inferencing. There were no group differences on story recall. However, there was a strong relationship between story comprehension and recall, in that those who had better comprehension tended to have better recall. It is concluded that comprehension aids recall by enabling the listener to build a more stable mental representation of the story. The pragmatic deficits seen in autism compromise this process.
Phonological training in children with dyslexia using temporally modified speech: A three‐step pilot investigation
Authors: Habib Michel , Rey Véronique , Daffaure Virginie , Camps Roselyne , Espesser Robert , Joly‐Pottuz Barbara , Démonet Jean‐François
Published: September 2002

Three separate studies were successively carried out to investigate the usefulness of intensively training children with dyslexia with daily exercizes based on the temporal processing theory of dyslexia, according to which these children would be specifically unable to process brief and rapidly changing auditory stimuli. The speech modification, similar for the three studies, was close to that proposed by Merzenich et al. (1996) and Tallal et al. (1996), including both artificial slowing of natural speech stimuli and amplification of brief, unstable portions of the speech signal. In the first study, 12 children, aged 10‐12 years, received either such modified speech or normal speech for 1 h a day, 5 days a week, over 5 weeks, and they were assessed on phonological tasks before, during and after training. A significant advantage for the modified speech group was found both in pre‐post‐training improvement and in day‐to‐day progression on phonological performance. In a second study, 29 children with dyslexia, aged 5‐12, received a similar training, but for only 15 min a day, 7 days a week, over 6 weeks, part at the speech therapist office, part in their own homes. The finding of comparable improvement in a more ‘natural’ environment and in children over a wider age range indicates both the efficacy and feasibility of the method in usual clinical practice. However, this study also showed that one of four children did not improve as expected, prompting a third study where 23 other children underwent specific tasks presumably exploring various aspects of temporal processing in order to find predictors of training efficacy. A ‘temporal order judgement’ (TOJ) task was found best correlated with post‐training improvement, suggesting that one use this task for selecting the best candidates for temporo‐phonological training. Moreover, such correlation provided further argument in favour of the temporal deficit theory of dyslexia, not only by showing a link between a purely temporal task and ultimate phonological performance, but also by demonstrating that TOJ performance itself improves after phonological training. Finally, and taken together, these studies provide further justification for a rational, indication‐based temporo‐phonological treatment of dyslexia. Possible neural substrates of the relevant mechanisms are discussed in the light of recent experimental and brain‐imaging studies.
Strategies for achieving joint attention when signing to children with Down's syndrome
Authors: Clibbens John , Powell Gaye G. , Atkinson Ellen
Published: September 2002

Research indicates that joint attention is an important factor in determining the rate and nature of early vocabulary development in typically developing children. Studies conducted with deaf children acquiring sign language indicate that caregivers adopt special strategies for achieving joint attention with this group: these strategies make allowance for the visual medium in which the language is transmitted. Joint attention is also important for the development of communication in children with Down's syndrome, who also often have restricted attentional capacity. Moreover, there is good evidence that the use of signed input in addition to speech can have significant benefits for these children. This paper reports on a study designed to explore the utility of strategies observed in deaf parents for the achievement of joint attention when signing with children with Down's syndrome. Data are presented from recordings of four children with Down's syndrome and their mothers. The results showed that the mothers were successful in enabling the child to perceive both signed input and contextual referents much of the time, but that the range of strategies used was very limited compared to deaf parents of deaf children. Adopting a wider range of strategies would allow a considerable increase in signed input. Implications for intervention programmes are discussed.