The study compared the brain electrical activity of two groups of gifted children between the ages of 9 and 13 years. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded with eyes closed: "at rest" and during three simple cognitive tasks. Significant differences were found in absolute power in the resting state EEG between the gifted high achievers and non-gifted, age-matched peers. No significant differences were found between the gifted underachievers and age-matched peers. Significant differences were found in absolute and relative power during the word recognition task compared to the resting EEG. No significant differences were found in the comparisons of the topographic maps for the other cognitive tasks and the resting EEG. Results suggest that topographic mapping of brain activity may provide an educational method for discriminating among children of different cognitive abilities. Implications for education are discussed and suggestions for further research are given.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the preferred cereal for malting. Its suitability for malting depends on many criteria, including the size, shape and uniformity of the kernels. Malting quality is affected by many quantitative trait loci (QTL). Such loci have been mapped using phenotypic and genotypic information on all members of mapping populations. It may also be possible to detect marker-QTL associations using selective genotyping, in which only the progeny with high or low phenotypic values for a trait are genotyped with available markers. Information on marker-QTL associations may be used in marker-assisted selection. Marker-assisted selection could be particularly useful for barley malting quality traits, some of which are costly to assess. Here, three studies were conducted related to QTL for barley grain and malt quality characteristics. In the first study, QTL were mapped using kernel size and shape data obtained by image analysis on samples from a two-rowed by six-rowed barley cross. QTL were detected near vrs1 on chromosome 2(2H) and near int-c on chromosome 4(4H). Some QTL affected the within-sample variability without affecting the mean of kernel characteristics. QTL alleles that made kernels larger and/or rounder also tended to improve malt quality. Those that increased the variability of kernel size were associated with poor malt quality. In the second study, marker genotype data and grain and malt quality phenotype data from three mapping populations were used to investigate the feasibility of selective genotyping for QTL mapping. Almost all previously mapped QTL were detected often with only 10% of the population genotyped. Additional, possibly spurious, QTL were detected in regions of the genome where no significant QTL had been mapped. The results indicated that simultaneous investigation of two or more traits by selective genotyping could be worthwhile. In the third study, Morex alleles at a QTL on chromosome 7(5H) affecting alpha-amylase activ

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-67). / x, 67 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-79). / ix, 79 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-62). / ix, 62 leaves, bound ill. (some col.) 29 cm

As a specific reading disability with a neurobiological origin, developmental dyslexia is distinct from reading difficulties due to sensory impairments in vision or hearing. The disability is commonly attributed to a core deficit in phonological processing, the understanding of how phonemes, syllables and words are used in a language. Dyslexia is a complex genetic disorder with a strong genetic component; nine susceptibility loci (DYX1-9) have been identified with eight other dyslexia linkages lacking gene symbols also reported. The statistical methods of linkage and association were employed to investigate the genetic susceptibility for phonological coding dyslexia (PCD), a common form of dyslexia characterized by difficulties in single word decoding and resulting from deficits in phonological processing. A genome-wide non-parametric linkage (NPL) study and four targeted fine-mapping family-based association studies were performed to locate the genes predisposing to PCD in 101 Canadian families with multiple affected members. The NPL scan identified suggestive evidence for linkage with PCD at the two novel regions 16p12 and 4q12-q13, and provided independent confirmation of linkage to the well-replicated DYX3 locus (at 2p21). Some support for linkage was noted at a further five regions previously linked to dyslexia, while no linkage was detected at five other reportedly-linked regions, in particular, no linkage to DYX2 (6p22.2). Four regions (16p12, 2p21, 4q12-q13 and 6p22.2) were tested for association with PCD in 83 trios, a subset of the 101 families, using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) and the affected family-based controls (AFBAC) test. Association was detected in each of the three PCD-linked regions in the NPL scan; none of the tested marker alleles was associated with PCD in the 6p22.2 region. Four candidate genes were identified, two of which belong to the same gene family, with a possible role in the neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying reading.

vi, 132 leaves : ill., photos., tables ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Genetics, 1981