Developmental Changes in Cognition: An Evaluation of a Philosophy for Children Program

The formal operational stage seems to differ considerably from earlier Piagetian stages. The first three Piagetian cognitive stages seem to develop fully in all individuals, unless there is a major cultural difference or a major psychopathology (Bruner, 1966). In contrast, there is disagreement in the literature as to whether formal operational reasoning fully develops in all normal individuals. Both Dulit (1972) and Tomlinson-Keasey (1972) found evidence that some normal individuals never attain formal operational reasoning. Others however (Jackson, 1965; Lovell, 1961) agree with Piaget (Inhelder and Piaget, 1958) that the emergence of formal operational reasoning occurs invariably between 11 and 12 years of age. The uncertainty about the nature or age of emergence of formal operations is clear. It may be due partly to the variability in the method of assessment of formal operational reasoning; different formal tasks may measure different areas of formal reasoning competence. Berzonsky, Weiner and Raphael (1975) have thus suggested that formal reasoning is a potential competency that is developed in each area as a function of specific situational variables or specific environmental experiences. Even Piaget (1972) has recently admitted that the acquisition of formal thinking may depend in part on particular educational and cultural factors

The generation of a diverse suite of Late Pleistocene and Holocene basaltic-andesite through dacite lavas from the northern Cascade arc at Mount Baker, Washington

This study highlights geochemical diversity in a spectrum of basaltic andesite through dacite lavas from Mount Baker, WA, and describes processes that are responsible for their generation. Petrographic observations, mineral chemistry, along with whole rock major oxide concentrations, and trace and REE data are provided for three Late Pleistocene and Holocene lava flows: the basaltic andesite of Sulphur Creek (SC) (52.5-55.8 wt.% Si02, Mg# 57-54), the andesite of Glacier Creek (GC) (58.3-58.7 wt.% Si02, Mg # 63-64), and the andesite and dacite of Boulder Glacier (BG) (60.2-64.2 wt.% Si02, Mg # 50-57). Major oxide concentrations for SC and BG display clear trends with increasing Si02. GC andesites are tightly clustered compositionally with elevated MgO and Ni compared to SC and BG for a given Si02. REE patterns are distinct for each unit but are not correlated with differentiation. The mafic lavas of SC have relatively elevated REE abundances with the lowest La/Yb (~4.5). The GC andesites have the lowest REE abundances and the largest La/Yb (~6.7). The BG lavas have intermediate REE abundances and La/Yb (~6.4). Phenocryst populations in all units display varying degrees of reaction textures and disequilibrium textures along with complicated zoning patterns indicative of magma mixing processes. None of units can be related to each other through crystal fractionation processes, nor can crystal fractionation explain the compositional diversity within each unit as suggested by several major and trace element models including MELTS (Ghiorso, 1993) and REE Rayleigh fractionation. However, magma mixing between the mafic SC lavas with compositions similar to the dacites of BG in the proportions 70 % SC with 30% BG can account for the chemical trends displayed by the SC lavas. Given that the BG dacite mixing end-member erupted at 80 ka, and was mixed with the SC lavas at 9.8 ka, the process that produced this felsic end-member has been active or periodically active for at least 70 ka. The BG mixing end-member is comparable to silicic mixing end-members at other Cascade volcanoes where crustal melting processes have been called upon to explain their origin and the SC mixing end-member is presumably mantle derived. GC andesites include a population of olivine that has been identified as xenocrystic based on size, composition and the observation of strong disequilibrium textures. The elevated MgO composition of the GC andesites is proposed as the result of the addition of ~4 wt% (by volume) of the xenocrystic GC olivine. The source of the xenocrystic olivine is unconstrained; however, it is most likely cumulate in origin or related to mafic plutonic roots. Compositions of GC andesites before the addition of 4% olivine lie on the straight line mixing trend formed by the SC basalts and BG dacites making them a possible product of magma mixing. All GC phenocrysts display varying degrees of reaction and disequilibrium textures along with complicated zoning patterns which are also supportive of magma mixing processes

Structurally Unsound: The Changing State of Local Television

The centralized structure of ownership of the local television industry in the United States today has resulted from a combination of regulatory and market pressures. This dissertation analyzes the ways in which centralizing tendencies in ownership structure have been accompanied by the centralization of operations. As station groups add more stations and seek to operate the stations they already own in an ever more profitable manner, changed industrial practices are vitally important because they have direct effects upon the product of those stations, especially local television news.In analyzing such centralizing tendencies, the project focuses not only on centralization of ownership and operation, but on two further factors as well: changing interpretations of the "public interest" and the development of technologies for local television stations. Changing interpretations of the "public interest" provision of regulatory law permitted and encouraged station groups to grow larger, redefining the structure of the local television industry, even in the times of heaviest restriction. In terms of technological development, after a brief period of equipment designed simply to get product on the air, television equipment developers followed a consistent guiding principle of staff reduction and job simplification which aided this momentum towards centralization. The combination of changing ownership structures, shifts in understandings of "public interest," and new technologies has resulted in new business models built around invoking economies of scale, including centralcasting and multi-channel operation. These new business models have dramatically altered the program product of local television stations, especially local news. News programming, which initially entered broadcasting in response to the regulatory mandate that broadcasters serve the public in return for free access to the public airwaves, has been transformed into a primary source of local station revenue. This commodified version of news programming is the logical result of practices begun in newspapers and continued in radio broadcasting. The news product of local stations is an area of vital concern in the present day media environment, as the quantity of news on the air increases without a corresponding increase in newsroom resources, jeopardizing the quality and veracity of those news programs

THE EFFECTS OF A TRAINING PACKAGE ON THE USE OF INCLUSIVE TEACHER BEHAVIORS IN A SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

The purpose of the study was to provide training and follow-up sessions for Sunday school teachers to increase the use of inclusive teacher behaviors (opportunities to respond, behavior specific praise, and opportunities to participate) for educating a child with moderate to severe disability. A multiple baseline across behaviors design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of training and follow-up sessions for a Sunday school teacher that had a child with moderate to severe disability in her class. The results showed training and follow-up were effective in teaching inclusive teacher behaviors within a church setting

The Universe, Life and Everything...Dialogues on our Changing Understanding of Reality

The way we understand the world we live in is changing. Our traditional understanding is being challenged by developments in physics, including quantum mechanics, and our inability to explain certain complex phenomena such as consciousness. In this book, scholars from a variety of backgrounds discuss how our understanding of our world is expanding to include such phenomena

Combining in silico prediction and ribosome profiling in a genome-wide search for novel putatively coding sORFs

Background: It was long assumed that proteins are at least 100 amino acids (AAs) long. Moreover, the detection of short translation products (e. g. coded from small Open Reading Frames, sORFs) is very difficult as the short length makes it hard to distinguish true coding ORFs from ORFs occurring by chance. Nevertheless, over the past few years many such non-canonical genes (with ORFs < 100 AAs) have been discovered in different organisms like Arabidopsis thaliana, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Drosophila melanogaster. Thanks to advances in sequencing, bioinformatics and computing power, it is now possible to scan the genome in unprecedented scrutiny, for example in a search of this type of small ORFs. Results: Using bioinformatics methods, we performed a systematic search for putatively functional sORFs in the Mus musculus genome. A genome-wide scan detected all sORFs which were subsequently analyzed for their coding potential, based on evolutionary conservation at the AA level, and ranked using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) learning model. The ranked sORFs are finally overlapped with ribosome profiling data, hinting to sORF translation. All candidates are visually inspected using an in-house developed genome browser. In this way dozens of highly conserved sORFs, targeted by ribosomes were identified in the mouse genome, putatively encoding micropeptides. Conclusion: Our combined genome-wide approach leads to the prediction of a comprehensive but manageable set of putatively coding sORFs, a very important first step towards the identification of a new class of bioactive peptides, called micropeptides

Innovative Imagery System for Enhanced Habitability Onboard ISS: Desired Features and Possible Hardware Applications

With the advent of the ISS and the experience of Russian, European, and US crewmembers on Mir, the importance of the psychological element in long duration missions is increasingly recognized. An integrated imagery system or Magic Window System could enhance the habitability, performance, and productivity for long term stays in space. Because this is type of system is a new concept for space, functional and technical requirements need to be determined. As part of a three-year project, the functional and technical requirements for an Imagery System onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been explored. Valuable information was gathered from a survey completed by participants that had been in analog environments (remote/isolated) such as Antarctica, Aquarius, ISS crewmember debriefs, and crew support meetings to identify key functions desired for an integrated Magic Window System. Exercise and medical care activities were identified as areas that could benefit from such a system. It was determined that for exercise, it was worth exploring the concept of displaying a dynamic screen that changes as the crewmember's speed changes while showing physiological measures in a combined display. In terms of enhancing the interfaces for medical care activities, the Magic Window System could show video clips along side procedures for just-in-time training scenarios through a heads-up display. In addition, the portability, usability, and reliability were stressed as important considerations for an integrated system of technologies or Magic Window System. In addition, a review of state-of-the-art screens and other existing technologies such as tablet PCs and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) was conducted and contributed to defining technical requirements and feasibility of systems. Some heuristic evaluations of large displays and PDAs were conducted. Finally, feasibility for implementation onboard ISS has been considered. Currently, specific headset units are undergoing usability testing. The outcome of these activities will be valuable to determine the best candidates for an integrated system that could accommodate different needs depending on task

Integrating Human Factors into Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) Design

The purpose of this design process is to apply Human Engineering (HE) requirements and guidelines to hardware/software and to provide HE design, analysis and evaluation of crew interfaces. The topics include: 1) Background/Purpose; 2) HE Activities; 3) CASE STUDY: Net Habitable Volume (NHV) Study; 4) CASE STUDY: Human Modeling Approach; 5) CASE STUDY: Human Modeling Results; 6) CASE STUDY: Human Modeling Conclusions; 7) CASE STUDY: Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation Approach; 8) CASE STUDY: Unsuited Evaluation Results; 9) CASE STUDY: Suited Evaluation Results; 10) CASE STUDY: Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation Conclusions; 11) Near-Term Plan; and 12) In Conclusio

Avionics System Architecture for NASA Orion Vehicle

This viewgraph presentation reviews the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle avionics architecture. The contents include: 1) What is Orion?; 2) Orion Concept of Operations; 3) Orion Subsystems; 4) Orion Avionics Architecture; 5) Orion Avionics-Network; 6) Orion Network Unification; 7) Orion Avionics-Integrity; 8) Orion Avionics-Partitioning; and 9) Orion Avionics-Redundancy