PSYCHOLINGUISTIC AGE-PROFILES OF LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT: A COMPARISON BETWEEN CHILDREN WITH TYPICAL AND ATYPICAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Background: Assessment of language is very important to detect atypically developed children. In this sense, psycholinguistic abilities are predictors of developmental functioning. The aim of this study was to compare ages of psycholinguistic processes between atypically and typically developed children. Material/Methods: In this cross-sectional study, six-, seven- and eight-year-old children from Cordoba (Argentina) (n= 28) were evaluated with the Spanish version of Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (S-ITPA). Statistical analysis included Student’s t-test in order to find differences between groups. Results: In the six-year-old sample, those with atypical language showed significantly lower psycholinguistic ages in: global psycholinguistic age, auditory association, and verbal expression, auditory reception, auditory sequential memory, grammatical closu re, and auditory closure, manual expression. In seven-year-old sample differences were found in grammatical closure and auditory closure. In eight-year-old group, atypical language sample showed lower psycholinguistic ages in auditory association, verbal expression and auditory sequential memory. Conclusions: This evidence establishes a limit stage corresponding to 6 years of age, which reflects the consolidation and integrity of language and the aptitudes involved. In later ages (e.g. seven and eight years), results may be biased by acquired formal learning abilities.

The Finite Element Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Channel Bridge with Three Girders

Prestressed concrete(PC) channel bridge, consisting of a PC deck slab, two PC girders and two end crossbeams, is a new type of bridge structures. The PC channel bridges have been widely used in the structures such as highway, railway as well as urban rail transport. This paper presents a finite element method (FEM) analysis of mechanical behaviours of channel bridges with three girders in the construction, service and ultimate limit stage. The primary results include:(1) the channel bridges act elastically in the construction stage. (2) under the service loads, the deflections in the mid-span and the stresses on the whole concrete cross section could meet the requirements of the current codes. (3) the FEA results of flexural capacity of the channel bridges agree well with the results calculated according to the current codes, and the average loads of flexural capacity are about 3.26 times the design loads.

Study on Flexural Bearing Capacity of Unbounded Pre-Stressing Composite Slab

For the purpose of correct theoretical evaluation about the bearing capacity of unbounded pre-stressing composite slab. According to the construction methods and basic principles of unbounded pre-stressing composite slab, basic assumption of composite slab flexure calculation is defined; under the elastic stage, composite slab section stress-strain relationship at each stage was analyzed, as well as resolving the stress increment problem of vivo unbounded pre-stressing steel bar in the limit stage, and flexure bearing capacity of composite slab in various destroy mode in the limit stage was produced by the limit equilibrium method. The practicality of composite slab flexure bearing capacity formula was tested and verified by specific examples, provided a theoretical foundation for the practical engineering application.

A General Formulation of the Optimal Frame Problem

Optimal design techniques have been extensively applied to steel structures and, to a lesser degree, to reinforced concrete structures. In the latter case, for given geometry and preassigned stiffnesses, optimal designs have been found which simultaneously satisfy (a) limit equilibrium (plastic limit stage), (b) serviceability (elastic limit stage), and (c) optimality (minimum material consumption). The limitations to these designs are: 1. A subsequent check of plastic compatibility may invalidate the design. 2. The resulting member stiffnesses may differ appreciably from the preassigned values. 3. A different geometry may result in a better solution while still satisfying all design criteria. The present paper attempts to eliminate these limitations through a more general formulation of the optimal frame problem wherein design plastic moments, member stiffnesses, and frame geometry are all treated as variables and are found for simultaneous satisfaction of (a) optimality, (b) limit equilibrium, (c) serviceability, (d) plastic compatibility, and (e) elastic compatibility. With some simplifying assumptions to linearize the problem, the general formulation is illustrated for a reinforced concrete continuous beam example. The resulting optimal design is compared with conventional elastic and plastic designs with respect to safety, serviceability, compatibility, and efficiency.