355 research outputs found
The Effects of Bilingualism in Post-Stroke Aphasia Patients: Clinical Implications Within the United States
The consistent increase of cultural diversity and immigration within the United States over the last fifty years has contributed to a societal shift towards a growing bilingual population. The growth of this population has generated a need to evaluate current assessment and treatment plans for bilingual post-stroke aphasia patients within the United States to ensure that these individuals are receiving effective healthcare. This study aims to investigate the current knowledge gap surrounding appropriate methods of assessing and treating bilingual post-stroke aphasia patients within the United States and suggest potential approaches based on existing research. In order to synthesize information regarding current methods of assessing and treating bilingual post-stroke aphasia patients and to suggest areas for future research, a review of previously published literature was conducted. To illustrate the association between bilingualism and approaches to healthcare, potential and previously studied assessment and treatment plans for bilingual post-stroke aphasia patients within the United States were evaluated based on the likelihood of their success in a physical clinical setting. Because minimal research currently exists concerning intervention in bilingual aphasic adults, SLPs in the United States are forced to provide services without the knowledge necessary to provide efficacious healthcare to this population. As a result, there is currently a critical need for the development of consistent, culturally relevant assessments and treatment approaches for bilingual post-stroke aphasia patients and for large-scale empirical studies to be conducted in the United States that examine the validity of these assessment and treatment protocols
Inspired Positive Organizational Development (ipod): The Beneficial Effects Of Mindfulness For Nonprofit Organizational Leadership
This research attempted to illustrate the benefits of utilizing positive organizational development (IPOD) and mindfulness in leading a nonprofit toward overall long-term success. The major research that was used to enhance the leadership acumen and performance of nonprofit leaders came from previous for profit studies on the beneficial effects of mindfulness for corporate leaders. This study went further and focused on the benefits of mindfulness and inspired positive organizational development strategies for nonprofit leaders.
An exploratory, qualitative research perspective was used to further knowledge of the benefits of practicing IPOD and mindfulness for nonprofit leaders. Current research is focused on corporate and general populations. This study added to the current research by going beyond previous studies and benefiting a vital sector of within our society.
Five nonprofit leaders were picked using a random name generator from a list of 467 nonprofits in Kentucky. All five leaders who participated in the study were eager to learn more about how to utilize IPOD and mindfulness leadership strategies in their workplace and experience first-hand the positive benefits of practicing IPOD and mindfulness. A pre-survey, IPOD and mindfulness training and a post-survey were used to garner the effects of practicing the IPOD and mindfulness strategies. A comparison of the results of the surveys and viewpoints of the non-profit leaders was carried out. The results of all analyses revealed positive benefits from practicing mindfulness and inspired positive organizational development strategies as well as some interesting patterns.
It was concluded that IPOD and mindfulness practices would benefit all nonprofit leaders, help them perform better and feel more satisfied in their roles. The transformational, psychological, emotional and behavioral effects of mindfulness and inspired positive organizational development were impressive
The Landscape of Social Innovation in Canadian Universities: An Empirical Analysis
There has been global growth in the number of social innovation initiatives launched in the university sector over the last decade. These initiatives aim to address complex social problems and to promote institutional change. This surge is occurring without a well-developed empirical knowledge base. This article provides a comprehensive description and analysis of the landscape of social innovation initiatives in the Canadian university sector. Findings show that nearly half of Canada’s 96 universities are associated with at least one initiative; many are interdisciplinary and emphasize collaborative problem-solving with sectors outside the university; and government agencies and charitable foundations are the most common funding sources. Findings suggest there is room for growth and for linking and clustering initiatives. The article concludes with directions for future research.
RÉSUMÉLa dernière décennie a été marquée par une croissance mondiale du nombre d’initiatives d’innovation sociale lancées dans le secteur universitaire. Ces initiatives visent à résoudre des problèmes sociaux complexes et à induire des changements institutionnels et systémiques. Cette poussée de l’activité d’innovation sociale se produit sans une base de connaissances empiriques bien développée. Nous y contribuons en fournissant une description et une analyse complètes de toutes les initiatives d’innovation sociale auxquelles participe le secteur universitaire canadien, de leurs caractéristiques et du paysage qu’elles constituent. Résultats notables: près de la moitié des 96 universités canadiennes sont associées à au moins une initiative; de nombreuses initiatives sont interdisciplinaires et mettent l’accent sur la résolution de problèmes en collaboration avec des secteurs extérieurs à l’université; Les agences gouvernementales et les fondations caritatives sont les sources de financement les plus courantes. Les résultats suggèrent: il existe un potentiel de croissance de l’innovation sociale dans le secteur; il y a moins de liens internes et de regroupement d’initiatives que ne le recommande la théorie de l’innovation; l’accent mis sur la collaboration extérieure rejoint la «troisième mission» des universités, qui existe depuis longtemps, mais les innovateurs sociaux ont des objectifs, des méthodes et des processus distincts pour mener à bien cette mission. Nous concluons avec les orientations pour les recherches futures.
Keywords / Mots clés: Universities; Higher education; Social innovation; Community engagement; Service mission; Social change; Canada / Universités; Établissements d’enseignement supérieur; Innovation sociale; Engagement communautaire; Mission de service; Changement social; Canad
Habitable Climates: The Influence of Eccentricity
In the outer regions of the habitable zone, the risk of transitioning into a
globally frozen "snowball" state poses a threat to the habitability of planets
with the capacity to host water-based life. We use a one-dimensional energy
balance climate model (EBM) to examine how obliquity, spin rate, orbital
eccentricity, and ocean coverage might influence the onset of such a snowball
state. For an exoplanet, these parameters may be strikingly different from the
values observed for Earth. Since, for constant semimajor axis, the annual mean
stellar irradiation scales with (1-e^2)^(-1/2), one might expect the greatest
habitable semimajor axis (for fixed atmospheric composition) to scale as
(1-e^2)^(-1/4). We find that this standard ansatz provides a reasonable lower
bound on the outer boundary of the habitable zone, but the influence of
obliquity and ocean fraction can be profound in the context of planets on
eccentric orbits. For planets with eccentricity 0.5, our EBM suggests that the
greatest habitable semimajor axis can vary by more than 0.8 AU (78%!) depending
on obliquity, with higher obliquity worlds generally more stable against
snowball transitions. One might also expect that the long winter at an
eccentric planet's apoastron would render it more susceptible to global
freezing. Our models suggest that this is not a significant risk for Earth-like
planets around Sun-like stars since such planets are buffered by the thermal
inertia provided by oceans covering at least 10% of their surface. Since
planets on eccentric orbits spend much of their year particularly far from the
star, such worlds might turn out to be especially good targets for direct
observations with missions such as TPF-Darwin. Nevertheless, the extreme
temperature variations achieved on highly eccentric exo-Earths raise questions
about the adaptability of life to marginally or transiently habitable
conditions.Comment: References added, text and figures updated, accepted by Ap
Development of smart boulders to monitor mass movements via the Internet of Things:a pilot study in Nepal
Mosquitoes Inoculate High Doses of West Nile Virus as They Probe and Feed on Live Hosts
West Nile virus (WNV) is transmitted to vertebrate hosts by mosquitoes as they take a blood meal. The amount of WNV inoculated by mosquitoes as they feed on a live host is not known. Previous estimates of the amount of WNV inoculated by mosquitoes (101.2–104.3 PFU) were based on in vitro assays that do not allow mosquitoes to probe or feed naturally. Here, we developed an in vivo assay to determine the amount of WNV inoculated by mosquitoes as they probe and feed on peripheral tissues of a mouse or chick. Using our assay, we recovered approximately one-third of a known amount of virus inoculated into mouse tissues. Accounting for unrecovered virus, mean and median doses of WNV inoculated by four mosquito species were 104.3 PFU and 105.0 PFU for Culex tarsalis, 105.9 PFU and 106.1 PFU for Cx. pipiens, 104.7 PFU and 104.7 PFU for Aedes japonicus, and 103.6 PFU and 103.4 PFU for Ae. triseriatus. In a direct comparison, in vivo estimates of the viral dose inoculated by Cx. tarsalis were approximately 600 times greater than estimates obtained by an in vitro capillary tube transmission assay. Virus did not disperse rapidly, as >99% of the virus was recovered from the section fed or probed upon by the mosquito. Furthermore, 76% (22/29) of mosquitoes inoculated a small amount of virus (∼102 PFU) directly into the blood while feeding. Direct introduction of virus into the blood may alter viral tropism, lead to earlier development of viremia, and cause low rates of infection in co-feeding mosquitoes. Our data demonstrate that mosquitoes inoculate high doses of WNV extravascularly and low doses intravascularly while probing and feeding on a live host. Accurate estimates of the viral dose inoculated by mosquitoes are critical in order to administer appropriate inoculation doses to animals in vaccine, host competence, and pathogenesis studies
Ethylene regulation of fruit softening and cell wall disassembly in Charentais melon
Cell wall disassembly in ripening fruit is highly
complex, involving the dismantling of multiple polysaccharide
networks by diverse families of wall-modifying
proteins. While it has been reported in several species
that multiple members of each such family are
expressed in the same fruit tissue, it is not clear
whether this reflects functional redundancy, with protein
isozymes from a single enzyme class performing
similar roles and contributing equally to wall degradation,
or whether they have discrete functions, with
some isoforms playing a predominant role. Experiments
reported here sought to distinguish between
cell wall-related processes in ripening melon that were
softening-associated and softening-independent. Cell
wall polysaccharide depolymerization and the expression
of wall metabolism-related genes were examined
in transgenic melon (Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis
Naud.) fruit with suppressed expression of the
1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase (ACO) gene
and fruits treated with ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene
(1-MCP). Softening was completely inhibited in
the transgenic fruit but was restored by treatment with
exogenous ethylene. Moreover, post-harvest application
of 1-MCP after the onset of ripening completely
halted subsequent softening, suggesting that melon
fruit softening is ethylene-dependent. Size exclusion chromatography of cell wall polysaccharides, from the
transgenic fruits, with or without exogenous ethylene,
indicated that the depolymerization of both pectins
and xyloglucans was also ethylene dependent. However,
northern analyses of a diverse range of cell wallrelated
genes, including those for polygalacturonases,
xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolases, expansin,
and b-galactosidases, identified specific genes
within single families that could be categorized as
ethylene-dependent, ethylene-independent, or partially
ethylene-dependent. These results support the hypothesis
that while individual cell wall-modifying proteins from
each family contribute to cell wall disassembly that
accompanies fruit softening, other closely related family
members are regulated in an ethylene-independent
manner and apparently do not directly participate in
fruit softening
Joint M3 and Diviner Analysis of the Mineralogy, Glass Composition, and Country Rock Content of Pyroclastic Deposits in Oppenheimer Crater
Here we present our analysis of the near- and mid-infrared spectral properties of pyroclastic deposits within the floor fractured Oppenheimer Crater that are hypothesized to be Vulcanian in origin. These are the first results of our global study of lunar pyroclastic deposits aimed at constraining the range of eruption processes on the Moon. In the near-infrared, we have employed a new method of spectral analysis developed in Horgan et al. (2013) of the 1 m iron absorption band in Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) spectra. By analyzing both the position and shape of the 1 m band we can detect and map the distribution of minerals, glasses, and mixtures of these phases in pyroclastic deposits. We are also using mid-infrared spectra from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment to develop ~200 m/pixel Christiansen Feature (CF) maps, which correlate with silica abundance. One of the benefits of using CF maps for analysis of pyroclastic deposits is that they can be used to detect silicic country rock that may have been emplaced by Vulcanian-style eruptions, and are sensitive to iron abundance in glasses, neither of which is possible in the near-infrared. M3 analysis reveals that the primary spectral endmembers are low-calcium pyroxene and iron-bearing glass, with only minor high-calcium pyroxene, and no detectable olivine. The large deposit in the south shows higher and more extensive glass concentrations than the surrounding deposits. We interpret the M3 spectra of the pyroclastic deposits as indicating a mixture of low-calcium pyroxene country rock and juvenile glass, and no significant olivine. Analysis of Diviner CF maps of the Oppenheimer crater floor indicates an average CF value of 8.16, consistent with a mixture of primarily plagioclase and some pyroxene. The average CF values of the pyroclastic deposits range from 8.31 in the SW to 8.24 in the SE. Since CF values within the deposits are as high as 8.49, the lower average CF values of the deposits suggest that each deposit is a mixture of crater floor material and highly mafic juvenile material consistent with either olivine or Fe-bearing pyroclastic glass. Synthesizing our M3 and Diviner results indicates that the crater floor consists of plagioclase with some pyroxene, and the pyroclastic deposits are a mix of this substrate and a glass-rich juvenile material. While we cannot determine the iron content of the glass from M3 spectra alone, the high Diviner CF values suggest that the glass is relatively iron-rich. Indeed, FeO abundances inferred from CF values using the method of Allen et al. (2012) imply that the large southern deposit exhibits a significant enhancement in iron content. This supports our hypothesis that the glass in this deposit is relatively iron-rich
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