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Ultrafast photoexcitation stabilizes new states of matter with rich out-of-equilibrium behaviours. Here, Lantzet al. report a transient non-thermal phase developing immediately after photoexcitation in V2O3, shedding a light on optical manipulation of strongly correlated systems.

In the search for new single molecule magnets (SMM), i.e., molecular systems that can retain their magnetization without the need to apply an external magnetic field, a successful strategy is to associate 3d and 4f ions to form molecular coordination clusters. In order to efficiently design such systems, it is necessary to chemically project both the magnetic building blocks and the resultant interaction before the synthesis. Lanthanide ions can provide the required easy axis magnetic anisotropy that hampers magnetization reversal. In the rare examples of 3d/4f SMMs containing CrIII ions, the latter turn out to act as quasi-isotropic anchors which can also interact via 3d-4f coupling to neighbouring Ln centres. This has been demonstrated in cases where the intramolecular exchange interactions mediated by CrIII ions effectively reduce the efficiency of tunnelling without applied magnetic field. However, describing such high nuclearity systems remains challenging, from both experimental and theoretical perspectives, because the overall behaviour of the molecular cluster is heavily affected by the orientation of the individual anisotropy axes. These are in general non-collinear to each other. In this article, we combine single crystal SQUID and torque magnetometry studies of the octanuclear [Cr4Dy4(μ3-OH)4(μ-N3)4(mdea)4(piv)8]·3CH2Cl2 single molecule magnet (piv=pivalate and mdea=N-methyldiethanol amine). These experiments allowed us to probe the magnetic anisotropy of this complex which displays slow magnetization dynamics due to the peculiar arrangement of the easy-axis anisotropy on the Dy sites. New ab initio calculations considering the entire cluster are in agreement with our experimental results.

Background: Somatic Symptoms Disorder (SSD) has been shown to have a clinically very high prevalence in Parkinson's Disease (PD) with frequencies ranging from 7.0% to 66.7%, higher than in the general population (10%- 25%).SSD has been associated with dysfunction in Default Mode and Salience network. Aim: With the present study we aim to verify by means of resting state functional MRI whether possible specific abnormalities in the activation and functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) and salience network in cognitively intact PD patients may be more prominent in PD patients with somatic symptoms (SSD-PD) as compared with patients without SSD (PD). Methods: Eighteen SSD-PD patients (61% male), 18 PD patients (83% male) and 22 healthy age-matched subjects (59% male) were enrolled in the study and underwent resting state functional MRI. Results: fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) showed reduced activity in bilateral lateral parietal cortex and in left anterior insula in both SSD-PD and PD compared to control group. Functional connectivity (FC) values in the DMN areas and between DMN and salience network areas were found to be lower in SSD-PD than in control group and PD. No significant correlation was found between fMRI results and demographic and clinical variables, excluding the effect of possible confounders on fMRI results.The present study, showing reduced activity in bilateral parietal areas and in the left anterior insula as compared to healthy controls, suggests a dysfunction of the DMN and salience network in PD, either with or without SSD.The FC reduction within DMN areas and between DMN and salience network areas in SSD-PD patients suggests a role of dysfunctional connectivity in the resting state network of patients with SSD. Keywords: Default mode network, Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, Parkinson's disease, Resting state functional MRI, Salience network, Somatic symptoms disorder

To examine the importance of manual character writing to reading in a new writing system, 48 adult Chinese-as-a-foreign-language students were taught characters in either a character writing-to-read or an alphabet typing-to-read condition, and engaged in corresponding handwriting or typing training for five consecutive days. Prior knowledge of orthography and phonology was assessed before training. At the end of each training day, improved orthographic quality was assessed via increased skill in producing Chinese characters at both the component and global levels. In addition, pretests and posttests were administered at each training day, and the proportional changes were used as the measure of learning gains. Outcomes replicated earlier findings of improved phonological knowledge following pinyin-typing practice and improved semantic knowledge following handwriting practice. Improvement in handwriting quality played a significant role in predicting reading gains after controlling for prior knowledge.

An observational study of young Italian NEETs (not in education, employment or training) and their EET peers (in education, employment or training) was conducted in the framework of a European Union (EU) project. Main characteristics and behaviours were compared to gain insights into the NEET condition in Italy. The sample included 111 NEETs (males = 73) and 117 EETs (males = 106) aged 16 to 23 years, belonging to comparable socio-demographic backgrounds. A self-report questionnaire was prepared to gain general information and investigate psychological well-being and behaviours. Most of the sample reported good relationships with parents. Education level and addictive behaviours were significantly different between NEETs and EETs while psychological well-being was not significantly different in relation to thoughts of suicide, unpleasant thoughts, weakness in the morning and nervousness. The heterogeneity of NEETs and the role of socio-cultural background in their psychophysical discomfort were highlighted. However, differently from reported in the literature, NEET adolescents sampled in this study, particularly those without social or family problems, did not show higher percentages of health or psychological problems when compared to their peer EETs. Furthermore, NEETs did not focus on the problem of their status, which also reflects a vague idea of the future.

By means of time- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, we give evidence of a remarkable reduction of the Fermi velocity of out-of-equilibrium Dirac bands in the quasi-two-dimensional semimetal BaNiS_{2}. This effect is accompanied by a nonrigid shift of the bands at the center of the Brillouin zone. Analytical and first-principles calculations indicate that this band renormalization is ascribed to a change in nonlocal electron correlations driven by a photoinduced enhancement of screening properties. Our results are explained by a scaling relation between inverse screening length and electronic temperature that is of general relevance for the description of out-of-equilibrium dynamics and screening effects in all layered Dirac materials.

In reading multiple texts, a reader must integrate information from the texts with his or her background knowledge. The resulting situation model represents a rich elaborated structure of events, actions, objects, and people involved in the text organized in a manner consistent with the reader's knowledge. In order to evaluate a reader's situation model, a reader's summary must be analyzed in relation to texts the subject has read as well as to more general knowledge such as an expert's knowledge. However, this analysis can be both time-consuming and difficult. In this paper, we use an automatic approach called Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) for evaluating the situation model of readers of multiple documents. LSA is a statistical model of word usage that generates a high-dimensional semantic space that models the semantics of the text. This paper describes three experiments. The first two describe methods for analyzing a subject's essay to determine from what text a subject learned the information and for grading the quality of information cited in the essay. The third experiment analyzes the knowledge structures of novice and expert readers and compares them to the knowledge structures generated by the model. The experiments illustrate a general approach to modeling and evaluating readers' situation models.

Surface currents in topological insulators can be controlled by light, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here, Braun et al. report an ultrafast shift photocurrent at the surface of Ca-doped Bi2Se3, whereas injection currents are much smaller than expected from asymmetric depopulation of the Dirac cone.

Defects in solids may introduce additional charges that influence the overall charge transport behaviour. Here, Zhao et al. use swift electron beams to compensate charge defects, which effectively tune Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 from p-type to n-type while preserving their topological properties.

Because meaning is both the common outcome and the typical goal of language processing, including reading, semantic processes have received a privileged position, especially in cognitive science accounts that emphasize semantic, goal driven components in language. Even in accounts of written word identification, a "low-level" process, it is typical to assume that semantic outputs are achieved with optional contributions of phonology. Our goal here is to present evidence for an alternative perspective, one that gives phonology a central rather than a peripheral, optional role in word identification. W e first briefly discuss a writing system comparison that is important to this perspective. W e then summarize recent published and unpublished research that gives definition to our conclusion that phonology is a central and universal component of word reading.

The Medio-Dorsal Nuclei (MDN) including the thalamic magnocellular and parvocellular thalamic regions has been implicated in verbal memory function. In a 77 year old lady, with a prior history of a clinically silent infarct of the left MDN, we observed the acute onset of spontaneous confabulations when an isolated new infarct occurred in the right MDN. The patient and five age-matched healthy subjects underwent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). The thalamic lesions were localized by overlapping Morel Thalamic Atlas with structural MRI data. DTI was used to assess: i) white matter alterations (Fractional Anisotropy, FA) within fibers connecting the ischemic areas to cortex; ii) the micro-structural damage (Mean Diffusivity) within the thalamic sub-regions defined by their structural connectivity to the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) and to the temporal lobes. These target regions were chosen because their damage is considered associated with the appearance of confabulations. Thalamic lesions were localized within the parvocellular regions of the right and left MDNs. The structural connectivity study showed that the fiber tracts, connecting the bilaterally damaged thalamic regions with the frontal cortex, corresponded to the anterior thalamic radiations (ATR). FA within these tracts was significantly lower in the patient as compared to controls. Mean diffusivity within the MDNs projecting to Broadman area (BA) 24, BA25 and BA32 of ACC was significantly higher in the patient than in control group. Mean diffusivity values within the MDN projecting to temporal lobes in contrast were not different between patient and controls. Our findings suggest the involvement of bilateral MDNs projections to ACC in the genesis of confabulations and help provide clarity to the longstanding debate on the origin of confabulations.

The spectrum of gluten-related disorders (GRD) has emerged as a relevant phenomenon possibly impacting on health care procedures and costs worldwide. Current classification of GRD is mainly based on their pathophysiology, and the following categories can be distinguished: immune-mediated disorders that include coeliac disease (CD), dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), and gluten ataxia (GA); allergic reactions such as wheat allergy (WA); and non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), a condition characterized by both gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms subjectively believed to be induced by the ingestion of gluten/wheat that has recently gained popularity. Although CD, DH, and WA are well-defined clinical entities, whose diagnosis is based on specific diagnostic criteria, a diagnosis of NCGS may on the contrary be considered only after the exclusion of other organic disorders. Neither allergic nor autoimmune mechanisms have been found to be involved in NCGS. Mistakes in the diagnosis of GRD are still a relevant clinical problem that may result in overtreatment of patients being unnecessary started on a gluten-free diet and waste of health-care resources. On the basis of our clinical experience and literature, we aim to identify the main pitfalls in the diagnosis of CD and its complications, DH, and WA. We provide a practical methodological approach to guide clinicians on how to recognize and avoid them.

We reintroduce a wide-angle view of reading comprehension, the Reading Systems Framework, which places word knowledge in the center of the picture, taking into account the progress made in comprehension research and theory. Within this framework, word-to-text integration processes can serve as a model for the study of local comprehension processes, that is, those that make sense out of short stretches of text. These processes require linkage between the word identification system and the comprehension system, with the lexicon in the linking role. Studies of these processes examine the influence of one sentence on the reading of a single word in a second sentence, which enables the integration of the word meaning into the reader's mental model of the text. Skilled comprehenders, more than less skilled, show immediate use of word meanings in the integration process. Other evidence is also consistent with the assumption that word meaning processes are causal components in comprehension skill.

The logographic nature of the Chinese writing system creates a huge hurdle for Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners. Existing literature (e.g., Shen, [Shen, H. H., 2010]; Taft & Chung, [Taft, M., 1999]) suggests that radical knowledge facilitates character learning. In this project, we selected 48 compound characters in eight radical groups and examined how grouping characters based on their radicals affected the form, sound, and meaning representations of characters and radical knowledge development. We found that for beginning learners, learning radical-sharing characters in groups consistently led to better recall and better radical generalization than learning in distribution. For intermediate level learners, the grouping factor did not lead to significant differences, while participants in both conditions made improvement in radical perception and radical semantic awareness generalization. We concluded that there is a benefit to presenting learners with recurring radicals in compound characters in groups in character learning and in the autonomous generalization of radical knowledge. We also noted the differences between beginning and intermediate learners in their character perception and learning, and put forward implications for CFL pedagogy.

Learning to read a second language (L2) is especially challenging when a target L2 requires learning new graphic forms. Learning Chinese, which consists of thousands of characters composed of hundreds of basic writing units, presents such a challenge of orthographic learning for adult English speakers at the beginning stages of learning. In this study, we use an "in vivo" classroom design to extend previous research on how to support orthographic learning. First, we test the hypothesis that learning characters is enhanced by a grouped sequence of characters that share sub-character graphic components. Second, we examine the effects of four encoding methods that have been investigated in laboratory studies--handwriting, visual chunking, passive reading, and stroke-reporting. The results demonstrate that the grouped approach facilitated character production compared with the distributed approach and that visual-chunking outperformed the other three encoding methods under the grouped sequence. We propose that learning via visual chunking with characters grouped by the same chunks enhances the Chinese orthographic representations of beginning L2 learners.

Much of the controversy surrounding the autonomy of syntax issue has focused on whether prepositional phrase (PP) attachments can be influenced by prira- discourse context. W e briefly review four studies that have produced results supporting either the autonomy view or the interactive view, and then describe the results of a recent series of experiments that identify the conditions under which a read^ will be garden pathed when encountering a structurally ambiguous PP. The results of these experiments suggest that a reader can avoid being led down the garden path by a discourse that successfully creates referential ambiguity, but only in sentences where the verb does not require the P P in order to be grammatical. W e also describe a restricted interactive parser that can account for these empirical results. The parser divides its task between two processors that use limited forms of semantic and discourse information when making attachments.

This essay examines the biblical discourse on animals in Job 38-41, as interpreted by Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas in their 13th-century biblical commentaries. In God’s first reply to Job (chapters 38 and 39) twelve species of animals are introduced and realistically described, including accurate details of their behavior. Subsequently, chapters 40 and 41 introduce two more complex animals, Behemoth and Leviathan, in which realistic and symbolic features intertwine. This peculiarity of the book of Job – long sequences dedicated to descriptions of animals – allows to investigate to what extent and how the availability of Aristotelian zoology, whose study was prescribed in the Dominican program promoted and practiced by Albert himself, became an instrument for a renewed biblical exegesis, different from the allegorical and theological moralizing hitherto prevailing in the Christian tradition of commentaries on Job.

In the networked society to live the experiences online and offline are two dimensions likely to be confused, jeopardizing the real formation of the person. The advent of Digital Media is changing, in terms of structure and function, even traditional media. The portability, interactivity and generativity create a new cognitive style than in the past, and this problematizes the role of the school and of the family who now have to deal with the so-called Multitasking Generation, capable to carry out many activities simultaneously.Offering to the new generations an idea of citizenship suited to the dynamics of a complex society, it means being able to combine, in the space of the meeting, the local with the global, in a size that realizes in the so-called "glo-cal". The goals of the twenty-first century school would be promoting the concept of digital citizenship, declined in terms of dialogue and encounter.

The connections among language, writing system, and reading are part of what confronts a child in learning to read. We examine these connections in addressing how reading processes adapt to the variety of written language and how writing adapts to language. The first adaptation (reading to writing), as evidenced in behavioral and neuroscience data, is achieved through a universal constraint that language places on writing and through the tuning of reading procedures imposed by specific features of writing systems. Children acquire skill in reading through increasing specialization of procedures tuned to their writing system, while also acquiring more general (universal) procedures that serve language mapping and cognitive control. For the second adaption (writing to language), we present examples from several languages to suggest that writing systems tend to fit their linguistic properties, thus providing adaptive variation in writing-to-language mapping. We suggest that this writing-language fit facilitates the child's learning how his or her writing system works.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE:Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a role in vascular repair, while circulating endothelial cells (CECs) are biomarkers of vascular damage and regeneration. Statins may promote EPC/CEC mobilization in the peripheral blood. We evaluated whether pre-procedural exposure to different lipid-lowering drugs (statins±ezetimibe) can acutely increase levels/activity of EPCs/CECs in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS:In a planned sub-analysis of the Rosuvastatin For REduction Of Myocardial DamagE During Coronary AngioplastY (REMEDY) trial, 38 patients with stable CAD on chronic low-dose statin therapy were randomized, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, into 4 groups before PCI: i. placebo (n = 11); ii. atorvastatin (80 mg+40 mg, n = 9); iii. rosuvastatin (40 mg twice, n = 9); and iv. rosuvastatin (5 mg) and ezetimibe (10 mg) twice, (n = 9). At baseline and 24 h after treatment-before PCI-, patients underwent blinded analyses of EPCs [colony forming units-endothelial cells (CFU-ECs), endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) and tubulization activity] and CECs in peripheral blood. RESULTS:We found no significant treatment effects on parameters investigated such as number of CECs [Median (IQR): i. 0(0), ii. 4.5(27), iii. 1.9(2.3), iv. 1.9(2.3)], CFU-ECs [Median (IQR): i. 27(11), ii. 19(31), iii. 47(36), iv. 30(98)], and ECFCs [Median (IQR): i. 86(84), ii. 7(84), iii. 8/(42.5), iv. 5(2)], as well as tubulization activity [total tubuli (well), Median (IQR): i. 19(7), ii. 5(4), iii. 25(13), iv. 15(24)]. CONCLUSIONS:In this study, we found no evidence of acute changes in levels or activity of EPCs and CECs after high-dose lipid-lowering therapy in stable CAD patients.

Guglielmo Perfetti - Segnalazione di Silvia Casilio, Una generazione d’emergenza. L’Italia della controcultura (1965-1969), Firenze, Le Monnier, 2013, 376 p., ISBN: 9788800740265, €28,00.Franco Musarra - Ricordo di Titus Heydenreich (Amburgo 14 dicembre 1936 – 23 dicembre 2013 Hemhoven)Floris Meens - Roma Aeterna

On August 24, 2016 a ML 6.0 earthquake struck central Italy region, nearly completely destroying some small ancient towns as Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata and Pescara del Tronto. In the following days thousands of aftershocks have been recorded by the INGV National Seismometric Network, 16 of them with a magnitude greater than 4.0. A Quick RCMT solution has been rapidly computed for all of them and made available on the web. Within a few weeks a definitive RCMT solution is ready for all of them, plus one. For major events (and not only) of the Amatrice seismic sequence, several rapid moment tensor solutions have been produced by various groups, using different methods and dataset. Comparing QRCMTs with other similar products, it is evident a great similarity of focal mechanisms while on the contrary, the Mw have a clear variability.

Learning the Chinese tone system is a major challenge to students of Chinese as a second or foreign language. Part of the problem is that the spoken Chinese syllable presents a complex perceptual input that overlaps tone with segments. This complexity can be addressed through directing attention to the critical features of a component (tone in this case) within a complex perceptual input stimulus. We tested hypotheses based on this feature-focusing assumption in an in vivo classroom setting. First-year students in a Chinese language program at a U.S. university were trained to identify the tones of 228 syllables learned across eight lessons in the first semester. Three learning conditions were designed to support tone learning by presenting (a) visual pitch contours that depict the acoustic shape of the tones, together with pinyin spelling of the spoken syllables (Contour + Pinyin condition); (b) numbers that represent the tones in traditional computer interface, together with pinyin spelling of the spoken syllables (Number + Pinyin condition); and (c) visual pitch contours without pinyin spelling (Contour Only condition). Analyses of student activity logs (learning curves) and pretests and posttests showed significant effects of learning condition. The results suggested that the Contour + Pinyin condition had more error reduction in tone recognition over the activity log than the Contour Only condition and greater improvement from the pretest to posttest than the Number + Pinyin condition. These findings point at the value of separate support for the two major components (tone and segments) of a tonal language.

The present study investigates the role of speech repetition in oral fluency development. Twenty-four students enrolled in English-as-a-second-language classes performed three training sessions in which they recorded three speeches, of 4, 3, and 2 min, respectively. Some students spoke about the same topic three times, whereas others spoke about three different topics. It was found that fluency improved for both groups during training but was maintained on posttests only by the students who repeated their speeches. These students had used more words repeatedly across speeches, most of which were not specifically related to the topic. It is argued that proceduralization of linguistic knowledge represented a change in underlying cognitive mechanisms, resulting in improvements in observable fluency.

We report a study of incremental learning of new word meanings over multiple episodes. A new method called MESA (Markov Estimation of Semantic Association) tracked this learning through the automated assessment of learner-generated definitions. The multiple word learning episodes varied in the strength of contextual constraint provided by sentences, in the consistency of this constraint, and in the spacing of sentences provided for each trained word. Effects of reading skill were also examined. Results showed that MESA scores increased with each word learning encounter. MESA growth curves were affected by context constraint, spacing of practice, and reading skill. Most important, the accuracy of participant responses (MESA scores) during learning predicted which words would be retained over a 1-week period. These results support the idea that word learning is incremental and that partial gains in knowledge depend on properties of both the context and the learner. The introduction of MESA presents new opportunities to test word-learning theories and the complex factors that affect growth of word knowledge over time and in different contexts. (Contains 2 tables and 5 figures.)

This study investigated compound processing and cross-language activation in a group of Chinese-English bilingual children, and they were divided into four groups based on the language proficiency levels in their two languages. A lexical decision task was designed using compound words in both languages. The compound words in one language contained two free constituent morphemes that mapped onto the desired translations in the other language, such as "tooth brush". Two types of compound words were included: transparent (e.g., "toothbrush") and opaque (e.g., "deadline") words. Results showed that children were more accurate in judging semantically transparent compounds in English. The lexicality of translated compounds in Chinese affected lexical judgment accuracy on English compounds, independent of semantic transparency and language proficiency. Implications for compound processing and bilingual lexicon models are discussed.

Background: The healing of sockets following teeth extraction results in a marked reduction of the height and width of the ridge. This in vivo study aims to assess and compare the efficacy of calcium sulphate (CS) and sintered nano-hydroxyapatite (NHA) in postextraction sockets. Materials and Methods: 10 subjects were enrolled for single or multiple tooth extraction and implant placement. Each site was randomly assigned to one of four groups and filled with CS, NHA, a combination of CS and NHA, or left to normal healing. After five months tissue samples were harvested from the extraction sites and prepared for histological investigations. Results: Histomorphometric analysis showed that the average percentages of vital bone was 13.56% ± 13.08% for CS, 17.84% ± 7.32% for NHA, 58.72% ± 8.77% for CS + NHA%, and 80.68% ± 21.8% for the controls; for the connective tissue the results were 33.25% ± 35.75% for CS, 55.88% ± 21.86% for NHA, 17.34% ± 8.51% for CS + NHA, and 22.62% ± 0.52% for the controls; for residual biomaterial the results were 0.56% ± 0.52% for CS group, 21.97% ± 0.79% for NHA, and 47.54% ± 20.13% for CS + NHA. Conclusions: Both biomaterials led to bone tissue formation after five months of healing. The combination of the biomaterials presented a better behavior when compared to the individual application.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) constitute a recently re-discovered class of non-coding RNAs functioning as sponges for miRNAs and proteins, affecting RNA splicing and regulating transcription. CircRNAs are generated by “back-splicing„, which is the linking covalently of 3′- and 5′-ends of exons. Thus, circRNA levels might be deregulated in conditions associated with altered RNA-splicing. Significantly, growing evidence indicates their role in human diseases. Specifically, myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multisystemic disorder caused by expanded CTG repeats in the DMPK gene which results in abnormal mRNA-splicing. In this investigation, circRNAs expressed in DM1 skeletal muscles were identified by analyzing RNA-sequencing data-sets followed by qPCR validation. In muscle biopsies, out of nine tested, four transcripts showed an increased circular fraction: CDYL, HIPK3, RTN4_03, and ZNF609. Their circular fraction values correlated with skeletal muscle strength and with splicing biomarkers of disease severity, and displayed higher values in more severely affected patients. Moreover, Receiver-Operating-Characteristics curves of these four circRNAs discriminated DM1 patients from controls. The identified circRNAs were also detectable in peripheral-blood-mononuclear-cells (PBMCs) and the plasma of DM1 patients, but they were not regulated significantly. Finally, increased circular fractions of RTN4_03 and ZNF609 were also observed in differentiated myogenic cell lines derived from DM1 patients. In conclusion, this pilot study identified circRNA dysregulation in DM1 patients.

Adults of varying reading comprehension skill learned a set of previously unknown rare English words (e.g., "gloaming") in three different learning conditions in which the type of word knowledge was manipulated. The words were presented in one of three conditions: (1) orthography-to-meaning (no phonology); (2) orthography-to-phonology (no meaning); and (3) phonology-to-meaning (no orthography). Following learning, participants made meaning judgments on the learned words, familiar known words, and unpresented (unlearned) rare words while their ERPs were recorded. The behavioral results showed no significant effects of comprehension skill on meaning judgment performance. Contrastingly, the ERP results indicated comprehension skill differences in P600 amplitude; high-skilled readers showed stronger familiarity effects for learned words, whereas less-skilled readers did not distinguish between learned words, familiar words, and unlearned words. Evidence from the P600 and N400 illustrated superior learning of meaning when meaning information was coupled with orthography rather than phonology. These results suggest that the availability of word knowledge (orthography, phonology, and meaning) at learning affects subsequent word identification processes when the words are encountered in a new context. (Contains 2 tables and 5 figures.)

In an event-related potentials (ERPs) study, we examined the comprehension of different types of Chinese (Mandarin) relative clauses (object vs. subject-extracted) to test the universality and language specificity of sentence comprehension processes. Because Chinese lacks morphosyntactic cues to sentence constituent relations, it allows a test of the possibility that semantic-contextual processes dominate the extraction of clausal relations, in contrast to the structure-dependent processing in English and many other languages. ERP results at the RC embedded verbs showed a P600 effect for the subject-extraction type, reflecting a processing of phrasal reconfiguration, and an N400 effect for the object-extraction type, reflecting a processing of meaning reinterpretation. A central-frontal sustained negativity was produced by the RC head noun of object-extraction, suggesting a combined effect of meaning derivation and referents establishment. LORETA (Low Resolution Electrical Tomography) source localization showed activation of posterior dominance (e.g., BA 22/39/19/41/42) supporting the integration of structure mapping (P600) and meaning derivation (N400) in a developing sentential representation, consistent with the memory unification and control model (Hagoort, 2005). More left-lateralized anterior regions of a frontal-temporal network (e.g., BA 47/38) became active later in the sentence (a sustained central-frontal negativity), when the thematic-role specification for multiple referents may have required additional cognitive and memory resources. Our findings suggest that Chinese sentence reading recruits a neural network that is sensitive to the sequential/hierarchical organization of linguistic inputs in a manner that resembles to the structure-dependent cognitive processes in other languages, reflecting a universal property of language processing. The ERP data shows that early lexical processes are important in the integration process, but also challenges the view that Chinese text reading depends primarily on semantic-contextual processing in the derivation of meaning representation. (Contains 4 figures and 5 tables.)

The lexical quality hypothesis (LQH) claims that variation in the quality of word representations has consequences for reading skill, including comprehension. High lexical quality includes well-specified and partly redundant representations of form (orthography and phonology) and flexible representations of meaning, allowing for rapid and reliable meaning retrieval. Low-quality representations lead to specific word-related problems in comprehension. Six lines of research on adult readers demonstrate some of the implications of the LQH. First, large-scale correlational results show the general interdependence of comprehension and lexical skill while identifying disassociations that allow focus on comprehension-specific skill. Second, word-level semantic processing studies show comprehension skill differences in the time course of form-meaning confusions. Studies of rare vocabulary learning using event-related potentials (ERPs) show that, third, skilled comprehenders learn new words more effectively and show stronger ERP indicators for memory of the word learning event and, fourth, suggest skill differences in the stability of orthographic representations. Fifth, ERP markers show comprehension skill differences in meaning processing of ordinary words. Finally, in text reading, ERP results demonstrate momentary difficulties for low-skill comprehenders in integrating a word with the prior text. The studies provide evidence that word-level knowledge has consequences for word meaning processes in comprehension. (Contains 4 tables, 6 figures and 3 footnotes.)

Bilingual reading can require more than knowing two languages. Learners must acquire also the writing conventions of their second language, which can differ in its deep mapping principles (writing system) and its visual configurations (script). We review ERP (event-related potential) and fMRI studies of both Chinese-English bilingualism and Chinese second language learning that bear on the system accommodation hypothesis: the neural networks acquired for one system must be modified to accommodate the demands of a new system. ERP bilingual studies demonstrate temporal indicators of the brain's experience with L1 and L2 and with the frequency of encounters of words in L2. ERP learning studies show that early visual processing differences between L1 and L2 diminish during a second term of study. fMRI studies of learning converge in finding that learners recruit bilateral occipital-temporal and also middle frontal areas when reading Chinese, similar to the pattern of native speakers and different from alphabetic reading. The evidence suggests an asymmetry: alphabetic readers have a neural network that accommodates the demands of Chinese by recruiting neural structures less needed for alphabetic reading. Chinese readers have a neural network that partly assimilates English into the Chinese system, especially in the visual stages of word identification.