The effects of bilingualism on speakers who stutter during late childhood

Objectives: To examine stuttering by children speaking an alternative language exclusively (LE) or with English (BIL) and to study onset of stuttering, school performance and recovery rate relative to monolingual speakers who stutter (MONO). Design: Clinical referral sample with supplementary data obtained from speech recordings and interviews. Setting: South-East England, 1999–2007. Participants: Children aged 8–12 plus who stuttered (monolingual and bilingual) and fluent bilingual controls (FB). Main outcome measures: Participants’ stuttering history, SATS scores, measures of recovery or persistence of stuttering. Results: 69 (21.8%) of 317 children were bilingual. Of 38 children who used a language other than English at home, 36 (94.7%) stuttered in both languages. Fewer LE (15/38, 39.5%) than BIL (23/38, 60.5%) children stuttered at first referral to clinic, but more children in the fluent control sample were LE (28/38, 73.7%) than BIL (10/38, 26.3%). The association between stuttering and bilingual group (LE/BIL) was significant by x2 test; BIL speakers have more chance of stuttering than LE speakers. Age at stuttering onset and male/female ratio for LE, BIL and MONO speakers were similar (4 years 9 months, 4 years 10 months and 4 years 3 months, and 4.1:1, 4.75:1 and 4.43:1, respectively). Educational achievement was not affected by bilingualism relative to the MONO and FB groups. The recovery rate for the LE and MONO controls together (55%) was significantly higher by x2 test than for the BIL group (25%). Conclusions: BIL children had an increased risk of stuttering and a lower chance of recovery from stuttering than LE and MONO speakers

The (In)Effectiveness of Self-Control Interventions

In consumer domains such as spending and eating, researchers have demonstrated maladaptive patterns of behavior for individuals lower in self-control, but the effectiveness of many common strategies to boost consumer self-control remains underexplored in marketing and psychology literature. This dissertation is organized into three essays contributing to the marketing field's understanding of chronic self-control by investigating potential pitfalls to everyday self-control interventions. Essay 1 examines how perceptions of goal importance influence self-control decision making. Researchers have previously shown that people put more effort toward goals that are more important, effectively increasing their self-control. The current research shows that individuals with varying degrees of self-control respond differently to important goals and suggests that past experiences lead consumers with low self-control to interpret important goals as more difficult. The results of this essay highlight a severe limitation to a commonly used messaging strategy and suggest a supportive intervention. Essay 2 evaluates the disclosure of nutritional information as a strategy to influence self-control decision making. Past research has suggested that such disclosure is only effective in reducing obesity when consumers are motivated to seek out and process such information. Due to heightened conflict with hedonic goals, this essay examines and demonstrates a tendency for individuals low in eating self-control to ignore available nutritional information for indulgent foods, thereby heightening their enjoyment. Supporting evidence is presented using several different measures of attention to information and actual consumption. Essay 3 examines how perceptions of a food’s healthiness are influenced by prior exposure to other foods. Comparative evaluations advance our understanding of perceptions related to food consumption and how exposure to healthy foods may influence future eating choices. This research provides evidence across three studies that the healthiness of foods previously encountered influence healthiness perceptions of ambiguously healthy snacks, and importantly, this influence differs based on one’s self-control. Overall, this dissertation makes both theoretical and practical contributions to the fields of marketing and consumer psychology. The foci of this work are ineffective marketing and public policy interventions and the findings uncover backfire effects that may help facilitate better interventions in the future

SB06-09/10: National Equality March

SB06-09/10: National Equality March. This resolution passed unanimously during the October 7, 2009 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

The Spectral Types of White Dwarfs in Messier 4

We present the spectra of 24 white dwarfs in the direction of the globular cluster Messier 4 obtained with the Keck/LRIS and Gemini/GMOS spectrographs. Determining the spectral types of the stars in this sample, we find 24 type DA and 0 type DB (i.e., atmospheres dominated by hydrogen and helium respectively). Assuming the ratio of DA/DB observed in the field with effective temperature between 15,000 - 25,000 K, i.e., 4.2:1, holds for the cluster environment, the chance of finding no DBs in our sample due simply to statistical fluctuations is only 6 X 10^(-3). The spectral types of the ~100 white dwarfs previously identified in open clusters indicate that DB formation is strongly suppressed in that environment. Furthermore, all the ~10 white dwarfs previously identified in other globular clusters are exclusively type DA. In the context of these two facts, this finding suggests that DB formation is suppressed in the cluster environment in general. Though no satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon exists, we discuss several possibilities.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Astrophys. J. 11 pages including 4 figures and 2 tables (journal format

Oral history interview with Dr. Debbie Williams

Abstract provided by interviewer Claya Davis. Debbie Williams was a student at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas from 1976- 1980. After receiving a B.A. in English from the institution, she pursued higher education at other universities. Years later, after receiving her doctorate, Williams returned to ACU as a professor in the English department. ACU is a private liberal arts university that is directly affiliated with the Church of Christ denomination. While the school has undergone policy changes and adapted more progressive views over time, its religious affiliation persists as a key part of its public identity. Dr. Williams reflects on the university’s policies regarding conduct expectations and dress code for female students as significantly stricter than those for their male counterparts during her time as a student at ACU. She discusses the role that religion played in the dating scene and the cultural pressure to find a spouse. Her current role as a professor at the same institution years later gives her the unique ability to compare her experience at the university as a student in the late 1970s to her current role as a professor. From this position, she discusses university pregnancy policies and the treatment of female professors. This interview offers primary source information pertaining to the role of gender at a private, religiously affiliated institution, which is expressed through changing university policies, accepted school traditions, and conduct expectations in church and classroom settings. Dr. Williams’ ability to discuss issues from two positions, as student and professor, provides a well- rounded analysis of ACU’s shifting cultural practices and religious values

Do Adult MH Services Need to be Developmentally Appropriate?

State level adult mental health administrators express little belief in needing developmentally appropriate services for young adults, and few such programs exist across the country

Blog Postings: Reputable or Risky?

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Micromachined submicrometer photodiode for scanning probe microscopy

Journal ArticleA submicrometer photodiode probe with a sub-50 nanometer tip radius has been developed for optical surface characterization on a nanometer scale. The nanoprobe is built to detect subwavelength optical intensity variations in the near field of an illuminated surface. The probe consists of an Al-Si Schottky diode constructed near the end of a micromachined pyramidal silicon tip. The process for batch fabrication of the nanoprobes is described. Electrical and optical characterization measurements of the nanoprobe are presented. The diode has a submicrometer optically sensitive area with a 150 fW sensitivity

Substance Abuse and the Functioning of Transition-Aged Youth with Psychiatric Disorders

Summary: Youth who had serious emotional disturbances or psychiatric disorders in childhood or adolescence generally have poor young adult functioning. Substance-related disorders increase dramatically from early adolescence to early adulthood in this population. The present study examined the relative contribution of substance-related and psychiatric disorders to decreased young adult role functioning by examining 15-25 year old subjects in the National Comorbidity Study (NCS) in which 8,098 respondents, ages 15-54, from a nationally representative sample of community households were interviewed. Findings indicate that substance-related disorders alone account for some but not other differences in functioning. Relationship to services will be discussed Paper presented on March 2, 2004. Proceedings published in 2005. Link to handout at http://rtckids.fmhi.usf.edu/rtcconference/handouts/default.cfm?appid=171204

Nanometer scale absorption spectroscopy by near-field photodetection optical microscopy

Journal ArticleNear-field photodetection optical microscopy (NPOM) is a fundamentally new approach to near-field optical microscopy. This scanning probe technique uses a nanometer-scale photodiode detector which absorbs optical power directly as it is scanned in the near field of an illuminated sample surface. We have applied NPOM to measure the visible absorption spectrum of dye molecules embedded in a single 300 nm polystyrene sphere. The near-field absorption spectrum is obtained by measuring the NPOM probe photocurrent while the wavelength of the illumination pump beam is scanned from 450 to 800 nm. Peaks are identified at 567, 608, and 657 nm in the near-field spectrum of the single-dyed polystyrene sphere. These peak positions are in good agreement with far-field absorption measurements performed on many dyed polystyrene spheres