Developmental Transitions in Private Speech: Implications for Real World Executive Function

The use of private speech (PS), non-social speech that is audible or internalized, is important for engaging in the successful use of executive functions (EFs). EFs are general mechanisms that allow us to control and regulate our behaviors, thoughts and feelings. A developmental transition has been posited in private speech during early childhood, changing from overt to more covert with age; this transition might support developmental improvements in EFs. However, previous research has focused on a limited set of tasks, has not tested whether overt private speech might decrease with age due to other factors (e.g., talkativeness), and has not tested how private speech relates to real-world EF. The current study investigated the developmental transition in private speech in a cross-sectional sample of 30 children between the ages of 5 and 7 years old. The use of four cognitive tasks allowed a test of the generalizability of developmental changes in private speech. Correlations were found across a few tasks but not across the entire battery, which may suggest that children utilize different levels of PS based on task demands. Two covariate measures (talkativeness and extroversion) allowed a test of whether other factors may play a role in overt private speech. Extroversion was significantly positively correlated with some tasks, and negatively correlated with age, which suggests that developmental decreases in overt speech may be driven by developmental decreases in extroversion. Real-world EF was assessed via a parent questionnaire, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). Use of PS on some tasks was trending with BRIEF scores, which suggests that PS may play a role in real world EF

Influence of high latitude anomalies on tropical climate phenomena and global climate

The tropical ocean and atmosphere are a highly active and very important region of the globe. Climate phenomena such as El Ni˜no (Philander, 1990), the Tropical Atlantic Dipole, and the Indian Ocean Dipole, play an important role in global climate variability. The tropical atmospheric boundary layer is very sensitive to even small changes in the sea surface temperature (SST). Small SST anomalies in the tropics can lead to shifts in the large scale convection cells and result in atmospheric heating. There is potential for positive feedback between the tropical ocean and atmosphere.Ocean waves are capable of propagating long distances very fast. Barotropic waves (adjustments in free surface height) can propagate round the globe within days. Baroclinic waves, propagating along the thermocline are able to cross the equatorial Atlantic in 2 – 3 months. This work shows the potential for ocean wave propagation to influence global climate, by linking high latitude anomalies to tropical climate phenomena.The first part of this thesis is a detailed examination of the “Tropical Atlantic Dipole” (TAD). Analysis of model data shows a dipole pattern in the SST, with strong cross-equatorial asymmetry in the surface mixed layer. Below the mixed layer the pattern becomes symmetric, and Kelvin and Rossby wave like adjustment can be seen to occur. However, the timeseries is not sufficiently long to provide confidence in resolving the power spectrum, and as such the results are inconclusive. The complexity of the model makes it difficult to identify the mechanism(s) which are responsible for driving the dipole. An idealised basin model is used to examine high latitude anomalies which create equatorward propagating coastal Kelvin waves as a possible driving mechanism for the TAD. The results show that coastal Kelvin wave propagation can quickly transmit a signal from the high latitude anomaly to the equator, and equatorial Kelvin and Rossby wave propagation can quickly influence the entire tropical ocean. This suggests that forcing of the TAD may come from higher latitudes, although it is still not fully understood how a symmetric sub-surface signal can become asymmetric at the surface. Restoring surface boundary conditions limit the response of the model, restricting the formation of a TAD. A similar experiment, using an idealised coupled model configuration is suggested, but not possible in the time available.The second part of this thesis looks in detail at the role of the ocean in rapidly transmitting a high latitude response to the equator, using an existing coupled climate model configured with realistic land geometry and bottom topography. Simulations of a salinity anomaly in the Southern Ocean show that it is possible to create an equatorial response in SST within a month, with SST anomalies of 2.5± after 6 months. Barotropic Kelvin and Rossby wave propagation is shown to be important in creating such a rapid equatorial response. Two points that are identified from this experiment are examined in further detail using an idealised basin model. Firstly, a mechanism for energy exchange within the equatorial waveguide is tested. Results suggest that it is not the mechanism responsible for the signals seen in the coupled climate model. Secondly, idealised model integrations confirm that transmission of signals along topographic ridges is possible. Signals strong enough to excite equatorward coastal Kelvin wave propagation are able to use topography to cross the Southern Ocean and reach the coast of Australia

Characterization of a Natural Clayey Silt and the Effects of Sample Disturbance on Soil Behavior and Engineering Properties

Silts are considered a challenging material to deal with in geotechnical engineering design practice and there has been limited research on determining the engineering parameters of silts either by in situ or laboratory testing. This thesis presents results of an extensive research program that investigated the in situ and laboratory behavior of a low plasticity silt deposit at the Norwegian National Geotechnical Test Site at Halden, Norway. Results from multiple in situ tests including: piezocone, pore pressure dissipation, in situ pore pressure measurements, field vane, self-boring pressuremeter and screw plate load tests were synthesized to characterize the Halden silt. Soil sampling using a suite of different samplers of varying sampler geometry and sampling methods were conducted. Laboratory tests performed on the collected samples included: index and soil classification, oedometer, consolidated undrained and drained triaxial, bender element and constant volume direct simple shear. The laboratory tests provided data for interpretation of geological setting, depositional history, deformation, strength, stiffness and hydraulic flow properties of the different soil units at the site. Moreover, simulated tube sampling performed on block sample and reconstituted specimens of silt using the ideal sampling approach complemented data provided by the different soil samplers. These results advanced the understanding of the effects of tube sample disturbance on engineering parameters in this soil type. Results revealed two soil units of low plasticity clayey silt (ML) over silty clay (CL). Geology and the normally consolidated stress state of the underlying clay unit indicates that the silt is near normally consolidated as well. Interpretation of the undrained shear strength of the silt specimens was complex as the in situ tests were potentially influenced by partial drainage while conventional undrained triaxial tests displayed dilative type behavior with no unique (peak) undrained shear strength. Significant alteration of the intact or reconstituted soil state occurred during field sampling using a poor geometry sampler and likewise during laboratory simulation of poor geometry tube sampling. Yet, the clay-based sample quality assessment methods using recompression strains did not track sample quality well for the Halden silt nor did shear wave velocity. The effects of sample disturbance were very pronounced in undrained triaxial shear with generally increasing undrained shear strength with increasing disturbance but with little to no change in the effective stress friction angle. Based on a collective evaluation of the laboratory and in situ screw plate load tests practical recommendations on selection of undrained shear strength for design and associated foundation performance are provided

Decreasing the rate of turnover by enhancing employee morale

This thesis studies the impact of morale on employee turnover. High employee satisfaction levels can reduce turnover. Eight in ten highly satisfied employees intend to stay with a company for more than two years, when compared to only two in ten dissatisfied employees. To counter the disastrous effects of employee turnover, companies are establishing programs to boost employee morale. This thesis examines the morale programs of a New Jersey financial institution and the company\u27s turnover rates. The author surveyed current employees to determine the level of employee morale and effective long-term motivators. The financial institution recognizes the importance of employee satisfaction programs, which include educational assistance programs, discounts at local businesses, auto lease programs and competitive benefit packages. Fifty-one percent of employees surveyed felt that benefit packages are important long-term motivators for employees. Sixty-eight percent of employees felt that a fun work environment is also an important factor in keeping employees happy. Management supports a fun work environment approach. Games, raffles and extracurricular activities are common practices at the firm. When asked the question, Would you suggest an idea, that costs nothing, to the company, 95 percent of employees said yes, they would suggest an idea to management. By implementing effective morale boosting programs, a company is taking appropriate action to reduce employee turnover. The result is improved organizational performance, productivity and profit

Buying Time: Capitalist Temporalities in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

In November 2017, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Nintendo 2017) for iOS and Android devices. At first blush, the game is much like previous instalments in the series. The player character finds themselves as a new denizen of a rural space populated by sentient animals that all have wants and offer rewards for those that satisfy those wants. However, the conversion of Animal Crossing from console game to mobile game was not without its major changes. A free-to-play game par excellence, Pocket Camp introduces Leaf Tokens, a separate currency from bells which can be bought with real money. Leaf Tokens can be used to buy certain in-game objects but, for the most part, are used to eliminate instances of waiting in the game, which stands in direct opposition to the series’ apparent valorization of slower, simpler living. Through a discussion of this translation of Animal Crossing’s mechanics and values into the mobile game genre, Pocket Camp is shown to gamify the capitalist monetization of time. In the face of this reality, the paper concludes examining the role of the player as a critical actor within this system and suggests that, far from being a passive victim of the game’s capitalist logics, one might engage with the game in subversive ways that articulate a virtual refusal of virtual labour and an instance of what the author has taken to calling radical slowness

pH-triggered phase inversion and separation of hydrophobised bacterial cellulose stabilised Pickering emulsions

The pH-triggered transitional phase behaviour of Pickering emulsions stabilised by hydrophobised bacterial cellulose (BC) is reported in this work. Neat BC was esterified with acetic (C2–), hexanoic (C6–) and dodecanoic (C12–) acids, respectively. We observed that C6– and C12–BC stabilised emulsions exhibited a pH-triggered reversible transitional phase separation. Water-in-toluene emulsions containing of 60 vol.% dispersed phase stabilised by C6– and C12–BC were produced at pH 5. Lowering the pH of the aqueous phase to 1 did not affect the emulsion type. Increasing the pH to 14, however, caused the emulsions to phase separate. This phase separation was caused by electrostatic repulsion between modified BC due to dissociable acidic surface groups at high pH, which lowered the surface coverage of the water droplets by modified BC. When the pH was re-adjusted to 1 again, w/o emulsions re-formed for C6– and C12–BC stabilised emulsions. C2–BC stabilised emulsions, on the other hand, underwent an irreversible pH-triggered transitional phase separation and inversion. This difference in phase behaviour between C2–BC and C6–/C12–BC was attributed to the hydrolysis of the ester bonds of C2–BC at high pH. This hypothesis is in good agreement with the measured degree of surface substitution (DSS) of modified BC after the pH-triggered experiments. The DSS of C2–BC decreased by 20% whilst the DSS remained constant for C6– and C12–BC

Biochemical And Morphological Characterization Of Cytoplasmic Particles From Avian Reticulocytes

Ferritin can be isolated from quail reticulocyte lysates using a rapid two-step purification method that combines heat denaturation and proteinase-K treatments to produce high yields of pure, undegraded ferritin. Ferritin remains in the supernatant of heat-denatured samples, and subsequent treatment with proteinase-K eliminates non-ferritin proteins that remain in the supernatant as well as non-ferritin proteins that are found in association with ferritin.;Ferritin is a heat shock protein of quail reticulocytes. Its synthesis in heat-shocked cells is 3-5 times greater than in control cells. Ferritin subunits synthesized in response to heat shock consist of isoforms that are identical in size and pI to those present in ferritin synthesized in control cells. The mechanism of this increased synthesis involves translational control.;The prosome fraction isolated from quail reticulocyte lysates by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation contains two biochemically and morphologically distinct particles. The major constituent ({dollar}\sim{dollar}95%) of this fraction is the proteasome, an M{dollar}\sb{lcub}\rm r{rcub}{dollar} {dollar}\sim{dollar}562,000 particle that possesses proteolytic activity. The proteasome is a cylinder {dollar}\sim{dollar}15 x 10 x 10 nm, and is composed of a set of protein subunits ranging in size from {dollar}\sim{dollar}22-{dollar}\sim{dollar}32 kDa. One of the subunits of the proteasome cross-reacts with a monoclonal antibody to prosome protein P27. The proteasome is composed of a spherical central component ({dollar}\sim{dollar}10 nm diameter) enclosed by two, 2.5 nm thick hexagonal end caps. The prosome particle is formed by degradation of the proteasome particle during sample preparation for electron microscopy. The minor constituent ({dollar}\u3c{dollar}5%) of the prosome fraction is ferritin, a 12-13 nm diameter particle composed of 21 kDa subunits, which is found as the protein component of an M{dollar}\sb{lcub}\rm r{rcub}{dollar} {dollar}\sim{dollar}877,000 particle.;Ferritin is also the protein component of the {dollar}\sim{dollar}35S prosome-like-particle , where it is found in association with small RNAs ({dollar}\sim{dollar}80 nucleotides in length) that hybridize to a globin cDNA

Behaviour of the cattle egret Ardeola ibis

Includes bibliographical references.Ardeola ibis (.L.) is a small white heron, generally considered to be one of the most terrestrial members of its semi-aquatic family. It is a highly successful species, both in terms of numbers and of geographic range. Apart from man and his commensals, it is probably the commonest of the six terrestrial vertebrates with cosmopolitan breeding ranges, the other five all being bird species too (Voous 1960). A. ibis is gregarious, roosting and nesting in very large numbers, so one aim of this study is to investigate advantages of and adaptations to a social way of life, and to see whether the species' success is in any way a result of its gregariousness. Several taxonomic reviews, notably those of Lorenz (1941) and Johnsgard (1961) on Anatidae, have been based on behavioural characters, because many behaviour patterns are as conservative and species-constant as structural features are. For this reason, and because adequate behavioural studies have to date been carried out on only about 7 of the 64 Ardeid species, the work was extended to include two other species, Egretta garzetta and E. intermedia. The present study is also designed to provide material for a projected review of the Ardeidae (Curry-Lindahl pers. comm.)