Integrating IT into DREAM: Report, Recommendations, and Program Development

Because of the cultural and historical barriers that women encounter entering into the work force, generating livelihood for women is a challenging, yet vital, task. The DREAM for Women program, operating out of Kolkata, India, provides women with three months of vocational training for five days each week. Following completion of the course, the women divide into several small, cooperative-style businesses, supported by the DREAM team. Currently, the members of the DREAM team are working to best utilize IT to support the DREAM program. Introductory computer classes have begun at some of the technical skills training centers for the women and a ten-lesson curriculum introducing computers has been developed to assist this IT integration. DREAM can also integrate IT through developed PR

The role of the posterior fusiform gyrus in reading

Studies of skilled reading [Price, C. J., & Mechelli, A. Reading and reading disturbance. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 15, 231–238, 2005], its acquisition in children [Shaywitz, B. A., Shaywitz, S. E., Pugh, K. R., Mencl, W. E., Fulbright, R. K., Skudlarski, P., et al. Disruption of posterior brain systems for reading in children with developmental dyslexia. Biological Psychiatry, 52, 101–110, 2002; Turkeltaub, P. E., Gareau, L., Flowers, D. L., Zeffiro, T. A., & Eden, G. F. Development of neural mechanisms for reading. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 767–773, 2003], and its impairment in patients with pure alexia [Leff, A. P., Crewes, H., Plant, G. T., Scott, S. K., Kennard, C., & Wise, R. J. The functional anatomy of single word reading in patients with hemianopic and pure alexia. Brain, 124, 510–521, 2001] all highlight the importance of the left posterior fusiform cortex in visual word recognition. We used visual masked priming and functional magnetic resonance imaging to elucidate the specific functional contribution of this region to reading and found that (1) unlike words, repetition of pseudowords (“solst-solst”) did not produce a neural priming effect in this region, (2) orthographically related words such as “corner-corn” did produce a neural priming effect, but (3) this orthographic priming effect was reduced when prime-target pairs were semantically related (“teacher-teach”). These findings conflict with the notion of stored visual word forms and instead suggest that this region acts as an interface between visual form information and higher order stimulus properties such as its associated sound and meaning. More importantly, this function is not specific to reading but is also engaged when processing any meaningful visual stimulus

Eastern Wild Turkey Population Ecology Across Land Use Gradients in Maine

Wild turkeys are a wide-ranging species with considerable cultural and economic significance. As they can exist across a variety of ecosystems, understanding how land use affects population vital rates can be a crucial component of informed population management. This is even more important for turkey populations in Maine, where harsh winters can have negative impacts on survival and reproduction. I used a combination of banding and tracking data to better understand the relationship between turkey population ecology at their northern range limit and the diverse landscape gradient they occupy in Maine. I produced wildlife management district specific estimates of turkey abundance that accounted for spatial variation in harvest rate. I examined how turkeys moderated their movement behavior and resource selection according to weather factors during the winter. I expanded on traditional methods used to assess nesting habitat to produce a holistic estimate of turkey nesting habitat quality that accounted for multiple nesting stages and spatial scales. Finally, I simulated movement of turkeys during their seasonal movements between winter and spring to better understand how turkey populations were connected across the state. Turkey populations in Maine appear to be largely stable over the past decade, with populations being most dense in the southern portion of Maine and becoming increasingly less dense farther north and inland. Turkeys during the winter adjust their movement behavior, which was associated with changes in resource selection, in response to increased snow depths and decreased wind chill. Such changes likely allow turkeys to shelter and reserve energy during periods of severe winter weather. During the spring, turkeys depart their winter ranges and establish nesting ranges according to large-scale landscape characteristics. Resource selection changed throughout the nesting period according to the specific behavioral phase a turkey was in, with turkeys interacting with their environment at increasingly finer scales as movement became more localized. Finally, we expect that a considerable number of turkeys move among wildlife management districts during seasonal movements between winter and spring ranges, which warrants consideration for management and monitoring efforts

An Inquiry into the Religious Experience of the Godly Hebrew in the Old Testament

The problem under consideration was an inquiry into the nature of the religious experience of the Godly Hebrew in the Old Testament. The pious Hebrew worshipped God according to the dictates of his heart and in keeping with the forms of worship set forth under the Levitical system. It was the nature of this worship experience which was under consideration. The fundamental psychological elements of religious experience were examined as criteria for recognizing and analyzing the essentials of a valid spiritual consciousness as it appeared in the Old Testament. The Biblical study of the problem centered in three general areas: (1) to study the forms of worship set forth in the Mosaic writings in order to determine the response indicated in the life of the Godly Hebrew; (2) to analyze the subjective nature of the religious experiences recorded in the poetic and wisdom writings and (3) to investigate the progressive depth of religious experience as found in the historic and prophetic writings

In Our Shoes or the Protagonist’s? Knowledge, Justification, and Projection

Sackris and Beebe (2014) report the results of a series of studies that seem to show that there are cases in which many people are willing to attribute knowledge to a protagonist even when her belief is unjustified. These results provide some reason to conclude that the folk concept of knowledge does not treat justification as necessary for its deployment. In this paper, we report a series of results that can be seen as supporting this conclusion by going some way towards ruling out an alternative account of Sackris and Beebe’s results—the possibility that the knowledge attributions that they witnessed largely stem from protagonist projection, a phenomenon in language use and interpretation in which the speaker uses words that the relevant protagonist might use to describe her own situation and the listener interprets the speaker accordingly. With that said, we do caution the reader against drawing the conclusion too strongly, on the basis of results like those reported here and by Sackris and Beebe. There are alternative possibilities regarding what drives the observed knowledge attributions in cases of unjustified true belief that must be ruled out before, on the basis of such results, we can conclude with much confidence that the folk concept of knowledge does not treat justification as necessary for its deployment

Experimental Philosophy of Science and Philosophical Differences across the Sciences

This paper contributes to the underdeveloped field of experimental philosophy of science. We examine variability in the philosophical views of scientists. Using data from Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, we analyze scientists’ responses to prompts on philosophical issues (methodology, confirmation, values, reality, reductionism, and motivation for scientific research) to assess variance in the philosophical views of physical scientists, life scientists, and social and behavioral scientists. We find six prompts about which differences arose, with several more that look promising for future research. We then evaluate the difference between the natural and social sciences and the challenge of interdisciplinary integration across scientific branches

Experimental Philosophy of Science and Philosophical Differences across the Sciences

This paper contributes to the underdeveloped field of experimental philosophy of science. We examine variability in the philosophical views of scientists. Using data from Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, we analyze scientists’ responses to prompts on philosophical issues (methodology, confirmation, values, reality, reductionism, and motivation for scientific research) to assess variance in the philosophical views of physical scientists, life scientists, and social and behavioral scientists. We find six prompts about which differences arose, with several more that look promising for future research. We then evaluate the difference between the natural and social sciences and the challenge of interdisciplinary integration across scientific branches

Marching man

Tony Labat is a junior in music. Beginning in middle school, with a free flute (yes, he plays the flute), Labat moved up through the woodwind ranks to become the principal flute of the wind ensemble in his high school concert band. In high school, Labat preferred concert band to marching band, but that would change when he got to college and saw his first game at ISU. It only took one look at a well-practiced collegiate marching band having fun out on the field to get him hooked

The Effect of Walking Poles on Gait Characteristics and Fear of Falling in Community Dwelling, Four-Wheel Walker Dependent and Non-Assistive Device Dependent Older Adults

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Walking poles are advertised as a beneficial gait device for individuals of all ages. Claims that they help increase confidence, balance, posture, and stride quality have led to their growth in popularity. However, to date there is no published evidence showing the impact of walking poles on gait parameters or fear of falling in the older adult population. The purpose of this study was to analyze gait speed, stride length, double-limb support, base of support, fear of falling, and change in perceived walking quality in four-wheel walker (4WW) and non-assistive device (NAD) dependent older adults, comparing the differences between walking pole and usual assistive device usage. METHODS: Using a two-group repeated measures design, twenty-one community dwelling older adults (mean age = 85.4 ± 5.1, 7 male, 14 female) participated in this study. Eight subjects were 4WW dependent and 13 were NAD dependent for mobility. Participants completed walking trials with their usual assistive device and with walking poles. Gait characteristics were measured using the GAITRite® system. Fear of falling was measured on a visual analog scale and a global rating of change scale was used for perceived gait quality. Statistical significance was determined with p\u3c0.05 using paired and two-sample t-tests. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to analyze relationships between measures. RESULTS: Significant differences (p\u3c0.05) were found within the 4WW dependent group for gait speed, double-limb support, base of support, and fear of falling in trials with walking poles compared to usual assistive device. Within the NAD dependent group, significant differences were found in gait speed, double-limb support, and fear of falling in trials with walking poles compared to trials without. Between groups, significant differences were found in stride length and base of support. Strong correlations between gait speed and double-limb support time were discovered with use of usual assistive device compared to use of walking poles. CONCLUSION: With minimal training on walking pole usage, both 4WW dependent and NAD dependent older adults displayed decreased gait speed, increased double-limb support time, and increased fear of falling when using walking poles. Additionally, 4WW dependent adults displayed decreased stride length and increased base of support