Pragmatic error identification in traumatic brain injury

textTraumatic brain injury causes physical, neurobehavioral, and cognitive-linguistic deficits including problems related to pragmatic functioning and emotional processing. This study investigated the ability of 10 (9 male and 1 female) adults with traumatic brain injury and 10 neurotypical participants to identify errors in pragmatic behavior embedded in 25 videotaped interactions presented by computer. Statistical analysis revealed that the neurotypical participants identified significantly more violations of pragmatic rules than the participants with traumatic brain injury for two of the five deficit categories, excessive interruption and two deficits. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.Communication Sciences and Disorder

LITHOSTRATIGRAPHIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE UPPER PENNSYLVANIAN ‘WOLFCAMP D’ SHALE, MIDLAND BASIN (USA): IMPLICATIONS FOR PALEOENVIRONMENTS AND UNCONVENTIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVIORS

An integrated stratigraphic analysis of a ~350 ft drill core from Upton County (Texas) has revealed pervasive variability of several key siliciclastic and carbonate lithofacies in vertical section, where organic-rich siliceous mudrock beds alternate with aluminum-rich mudrocks and calcareous gravity flow deposits. Sediment chemistry, especially major and trace elements derived from x-ray fluorescence, captures this variability with high sensitivity. The high frequency chemostratigraphic variability appears to be cyclic, and it is interpreted to represent the first example of deep-water Late Pennsylvanian cyclothems for the Midland Basin. Positive trace metal (Mo, Cr) correlations to total organic carbon and gamma ray response in siliceous mudrocks, in conjunction with abundant pyrite, indicate bottom-water anoxia and possibly euxinia within the basin. The influence of glacial ice-sheets on the water level of the global ocean, in concert with local oceanographic gradients, regional tectonics, and tropical paleoclimate, constitute the primary controls on lithofacies and chemostratigraphy. The results of this study have implications for understanding the depositional history of the Midland Basin, as well as for identifying horizontal drilling zones for resource development

Measuring the impact of public understandings of risk from urban and industrial development on community psychosocial well-being: a mixed methods strategy

As the science of well-being moves towards an understanding of the influence of social experiences shared by many on individual and group-level well-being (‘community well-being’), a new approach to measuring well-being is required. It needs to bridge the contextually-specific social experiences best uncovered by social research methods, and psychological diagnoses made using conventional psychometric scales and diagnostic interviews. We build on our previous work on a new psychosocial model of a major influence on contemporary community well-being, the process by which people form, maintain and change their understandings of risk from urban and industrial projects, and any subsequent effects on individual psychosocial well-being. We utilise this model, and propose a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology to argue for; 1) the incorporation of the emic (subject’s) perspective in the conceptual underpinnings of measurement scales; and 2) the synthesis of quantitative and qualitative assessments of well-being. This gives validity and contextual precision to scales which measure experiences of well-being that are geographically and socio-culturally-located. The resulting data offers both context of scale, and depth of insight. Additionally, our proposition combines theories and methods from psychology, social anthropology, sociology, social epidemiology, public health and community development. This evinces the importance of drawing on broad ranging perspectives to develop tools which capture the complex and multi-dimension nature of well-being - where psychological responses are shaped by collective social experiences

Marine Spatial Planning in Asia and the Caribbean: Application and Implications for Fisheries and Marine Resource Management

O Planejamento Espacial Marinho (MSP) surgiu como uma abordagem fortemente promovida para implementar a gestão integrada das áreas costeiras e marinhas. Está relacionada à gestão baseada no ecossistema (EBM), à abordagem ecossistêmica para as pescarias (EAF), aos sistemas geográficos de informação (GIS), às áreas marinhas protegidas (MPAs), entre outros. Embora o MSP recebeu atenção em nível global, seu uso parece ser menos proeminente nos Estados-ilha em desenvolvimento (SIDS) e outros países em desenvolvimento, com relação aos países desenvolvidos. O objetivo deste artigo é discutir as implicações e as aplicações práticas do MSP enquanto um paradigma para a gestão dos recursos marinhos na Ásia e no Caribe. De que forma o MSP se ajusta à gama de paradigmas de gestão existentes? Onde e como ele pode ser melhor utilizado para a gestão integrada dos recursos? Quais são os desafios para a sua implementação? São apresentados e discutidos alguns exemplos de uso do MSP e do zoneamento marinho.Marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged as a highly promoted approach to implementing integrated management of coastal and ocean areas. It is linked to ecosystem-based management (EBM), the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF), geographic information systems (GIS), marine protected areas (MPAs) and more. Although MSP has gained global attention, its use appears to be less prominent in small island developing states (SIDS) and other developing countries than in developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implications and practical application of MSP as an ocean resource management paradigm in Asia and the Caribbean. Where will MSP fit in the range of management paradigms? Where and how can it be best utilized for integrated resource management? What are challenges for implementation? Examples of use of MSP and marine zoning are presented and discussed

Use of Nack Oriented Reliable Multicast (NORM) Protocol for Transport of Spacecraft Telemetry in Ground Networks

Frequently it is necessary to distribute spacecraft telemetry to multiple destinations on Internet Protocol (IP) networks. There are various methods of delivering this data, but when the data is high rate and there are many destinations IP multicast provides the best solution from a network perspective. However, IP multicast only supports the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) which is connectionless and unreliable. This nature of UDP and by extension the low priority treatment of UDP packets by some network hardware creates a difficult environment for distribution of high rate telemetry to a number of recipients over IP networks. NACK (Negative ACKnowledgment) Oriented Reliable Multicast (NORM) is defined by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) RFC (Request for Comments) 5740 in 2009 by B. Adamson et al. NORM provides a mechanism of retransmission and or forward error correction for UDP packets, potentially overcoming the limits of UDP for the transmission of spacecraft telemetry. Marshall Space Flight Centers (MSFC) Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) manages the delivery of the International Space Station (ISS) payload science and health data. The ISS IP Ground Routed (IIGoR) network provides the delivery of the data from the ground stations to the control centers. HOSC personnel have been experimenting with the use of NORM on the link between the ground stations and the front end processor equipment in Huntsville, AL

Multiple roles for membrane-associated protein trafficking and signaling in gravitropism

Gravitropism is a process that allows plant organs to guide their growth relative to the gravity vector. It requires them to sense changes in their orientation and generate a biochemical signal that they transmit to the tissues that drive organ curvature. Trafficking between the plasma membrane and endosomal compartments is important for all of these phases of the gravitropic response. The sedimentation of starch-filled organelles called amyloplasts plays a key role in sensing reorientation, and vacuolar integrity is required for amyloplast sedimentation in shoots. Other proteins associated with the vesicle trafficking pathway contribute to early gravity signal transduction independently of amyloplast sedimentation in both roots and hypocotyls. Phosphatidylinositol signaling, which starts at the plasma membrane and later affects the localization of auxin efflux facilitators, is a likely second messenger in the signal transduction phase of gravitropism. Finally, membrane-localized auxin influx and efflux facilitators contribute to a differential auxin gradient across the gravistimulated organs, which directs root curvature

A STUDY OF THE PHYTOREMEDIATION PROCESS BY TWO ARSENIC HYPERACCUMULATORS GROWN IN A HYDROPONIC ENVIRONMENT

Arsenic contamination has become a global problem for both developed and developing nations. However. traditional remediation is a very expensive process.Therefore. alternate methods are being developed. One type of alternate method is called phytoremediation. This type of remediation uses vascular plants to cleanup contaminated environments. This project consisted of an investigation of the phytoremediation process by two arsenic hyperaccumulating plants (P. vittata and P. cretica cv Mayii) grown in a controlled propagation system. The primary method of the investigation was the measurements of arsenic and nutrient (macro- and micro-) uptake by the plants exposed to different forms of arsenic. The results of the arsenic analysis showed that Pteris vittata extracted both forms of arsenic. In addition, the arsenic analysis for Pteris cretica cv Mayii showed that the root tissue contained the lowest concentration of arsenic.compared to the stem and leaf tissue. The macronutrient analysis for Pteris vittata and Pteris cretica cv Mayii determined calcium to be the most common nutrient. Of the four macronutrients analyzed, sulfur was the least common nutrient detected in Pteris vittata and Pteris cretica cv Mayii tissue. The results of micronutrient analysis for Pteris vittata determined iron to be the most common nutrient. The most common micronutrient detected in the root tissue for Pteris cretica cv Mayii was also determined to be iron.However, the most common micronutrient in the stem and leaf tissue was determined to be sodium. Based on these findings, a more detailed analysis of the role of macro- and micronutrient on arsenic uptake needs to be conducted

Generating ogives to (i) analyse perceptual changes associated with ambiguous figures, and (ii) reaction times in an inhibition-of-return (IOR) task

The perceptual changes (PCs) associated with viewing an ambiguous figure like the Necker cube (NC) can be considered as a series of independent events in time. The time between successive PCs is then percept duration, and the frequency distribution of percepts plotted against duration is adequately modelled by a gamma distribution (Borsellino et al, 1972 Kybernetik 10 139 - 144). A logarithmic transformation on the duration scale enabled us to model the subsequent distribution with a Gaussian. The cumulative Gaussian fitted to the normalised ogive allowed simple comparison of observer performance in different conditions. We found no differences between ogives generated for the standard 'cube-up' and 'cube-down' 3-D perceptual alternatives. When observers recorded 2-D perceptual alternatives, the ogives were shallower and shifted to the right. This suggests that the neural mechanisms governing PCs between 3-D and 2-D perceptual alternatives differ from those that govern the PCs between the opposing 3-D perceptual alternatives of 'cube-up' and 'cube-down'. Further, we show that the same analysis can be applied to reaction times generated in an inhibition-of-return (IOR) task. We argue that this form of analysis is superior to other more commonly reported methods for both attentional and PC data

Examining risk for frequent cocaine use: Focus on an African American treatment population

BACKGROUND: Cocaine use and its consequences are disproportionately higher and more severe among African Americans compared to other ethnic/racial groups. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to examine a risk model specific for African American users and assess whether risk varies as a function of sex. METHODS: 270 African American adults in a residential drug treatment facility completed measurements assessing first and past year crack/cocaine use frequency, childhood trauma, and stress reactivity. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the unique effect of each predictor variable on past year crack/cocaine frequency. Sex was included as a moderator variable in the regression analysis. RESULTS: All predictor variables were positively correlated with past year crack/cocaine use. However, sex differences were also observed: females reported higher rates of childhood emotional abuse, childhood sexual abuse, and stress reactivity-as well as past year crack use and cocaine use-than males. Regression analyses were performed with sex, first year use, and stress reactivity emerging as the only significant predictors for frequency of crack and cocaine use among all study participants. Moreover, sex differences were observed in the influence of first year crack use frequency on past year crack use frequency, such that the effect was stronger for males than for females. Conclusion/Importance: This study offers a clearer understanding of the risk factors for crack and cocaine abuse specific to African Americans, as well as sex specific pathways to risk, providing useful implications for future prevention and treatment efforts