Conversation therapy for agrammatism: exploring the therapeutic process of engagement and learning by a person with aphasia.

A recent systematic review of conversation training for communication partners of people with aphasia has shown that it is effective, and improves participation in conversation for people with chronic aphasia. Other research suggests that people with aphasia are better able to learn communication strategies in an environment which closely mirrors that of expected use, and that cognitive flexibility may be a better predictor of response to therapy than severity of language impairment. This study reports results for a single case, one of a case series evaluation of a programme of conversation training for agrammatism that directly involves a person with aphasia (PWA) as well as their communication partner. It explores how a PWA is able to engage with and learn from the therapy, and whether this leads to qualitative change in post-therapy conversation behaviours

Implementing an Oral History Unit with 9/10s: An Interdisciplinary Approach

The topic of this independent study is oral history and its interdisciplinary uses in a curriculum. The purpose of the paper is to discuss the various uses of this instructional plan as it explores the themes of diversity and cultural pluralism in the society of the United States of America. The first section of this study is a description of the Manhattan Country School (MCS) as the setting where this unit is currently being taught; and then it will address the developmental and curricular implications of the unit. The child development section will include positions on educational theory from theorists such as Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, Patricia Minuchin and David Elkind to justify the purpose and value of the study. The activity integrates the theories of these psychologists and requires students at nine and ten to use their social, emotional and cognitive domains to successfully fulfill the projects\u27 guidelines. The process will involve six components that are listed for teachers to review in whole group sessions to insure that students understand the expectations of the activity. After the explanation of the methodology, examples of follow-up activities are discussed to connect the interdisciplinary uses of the oral history unit. The conclusion makes references to literature on oral histories that explain the benefits of such a unit to the school, local, and familial communities. The appendix will provide samples of articles, activity sheets used, and visual aids produced during the oral history project

A model for the submarine depthkeeping team

The most difficult task the depthkeeping team must face occurs during periscope-depth operations during which they may be required to maintain a submarine several hundred feet long within a foot of ordered depth and within one-half degree of ordered pitch. The difficulty is compounded by the facts that wave generated forces are extremely high, depth and pitch signals are very noisy and submarine speed is such that overall dynamics are slow. A mathematical simulation of the depthkeeping team based on the optimal control models is described. A solution of the optimal team control problem with an output control restriction (limited display to each controller) is presented

Hypervelocity impact facility for simulating materials exposure to impact by space debris

As a result of man's venturing into space, the local debris contributed by his presence exceeds, at some orbital altitudes, that of the natural component. Man's contribution ranges from fuel residue to large derelect satellites that weigh many kilograms. Current debris models are able to predict the growth of the problem and suggest that spacecraft must employ armor or bumper shields for some orbital altitudes now, and that, the problem will become worse as a function of time. The practical upper limit to the velocity distribution is on the order of 40 km/s and is associated with the natural environment. The maximum velocity of the man-made component is in the 14-16 km/s range. The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) has verified that the 'high probability of impact' particles are in the microgram to milligram range. These particles can have significant effects on coatings, insulators, and thin metallic layers. The surface of thick materials becomes pitted and the local debris component is enhanced by ejecta from the debris spectrum in a controlled environment. The facility capability is discussed in terms of drive geometry, energetics, velocity distribution, diagnostics, and projectile/debris loading. The facility is currently being used to study impact phenomena on Space Station Freedom's solar array structure, other solar array materials, potential structural materials for use in the station, electrical breakdown in the space environment, and as a means of clarifying or duplicating the impact phenomena on the LDEF surfaces. The results of these experiments are described in terms of the mass/velocity distribution incident on selected samples, crater dynamics, and sample geometry

A true concurrent model of smart contracts executions

The development of blockchain technologies has enabled the trustless execution of so-called smart contracts, i.e. programs that regulate the exchange of assets (e.g., cryptocurrency) between users. In a decentralized blockchain, the state of smart contracts is collaboratively maintained by a peer-to-peer network of mutually untrusted nodes, which collect from users a set of transactions (representing the required actions on contracts), and execute them in some order. Once this sequence of transactions is appended to the blockchain, the other nodes validate it, re-executing the transactions in the same order. The serial execution of transactions does not take advantage of the multi-core architecture of modern processors, so contributing to limit the throughput. In this paper we propose a true concurrent model of smart contract execution. Based on this, we show how static analysis of smart contracts can be exploited to parallelize the execution of transactions.Comment: Full version of the paper presented at COORDINATION 202

Recovery of uranium from seawater.

A computer program entitled URPE (Uranium Recovery Performance and Economics) has been developed to simulate the engineering performance and provide an economic analysis O of a plant recovering uranium from seawater. The conceptual system design used as the focal point for the more general AM analysis consists ofa floating oil-rig type platform, Asinlge-point moored in an open ocean current, using either high volume, low head, propeller pumps or the velocity head 4M of the ambient ocean current to force seawater through a mass transfer medium (hydrous titanium oxide (HTO) coated onto particle beds or stacked tubes), as in most process designs previously suggested for this service. Uranium is recovered Sfrom the seawater by an adsorption process, and later eluted . from the adsorber by an ammonium carbonate solution. A multi-product co-generating plant on board the platform burns coal to raise steam for electricity generation, desalination, and process heat requirements. Scrubbed stack gas from the plant is processed to recover carbon dioxide for chemical make-up needs.The equilibrium isotherm and the diffusion constant for the uranyl-HTO system, which are needed for bed performance calculations, have been calculated based on the rather sparse data reported in the literature. In addition, a technique for calculating the rate constant of a fixed bed adsorbing system has been developed for use with Thomas' solution for predicting fixed bed performance.The URPE program has been benchmarked against the results of previous studies by ORNL and Exxon, and found to make comparable performance and economic estimates when applied under the same set of ground rules. The URPE code was then used in an extensive series of parametric and sensitivity studies to identify optimum bed operating conditions and important areas for future research and development. The program showed that thin beds of small, thinly-coated particles were the preferred bed configuration, and that actively pumped systems out-perform current driven units.Based on the URPE analysis, the minimum expected costs nof uranium recovered from seawater would be no lower than ~316 (1979$)/lb U308 for state-of-the-art adsorber material (capacity equal to 210 mg U/kg Ti), but might be reduced to the level of breakeven attractiveness of ~150 (1979$)/lb U30 8 if at least a four-fold increase in adsorption capacity could be achieved. Specific research and development objectives other than increasing particle capacity are also indentified. Prospects are considered to be sufficiently good to warrant recommending further work