The Efficacy of Accommodating Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Employees in the Workplace via Note Taking

Deaf and hard-of-hearing employees often find it difficult to learn about important information, which is disseminated informally in their employing organizations. The purpose of this study was to examine information, which is impromptu or short in duration, that is transcribed by note takers. It examined the quality of the note taking both in quantity and content. The participants included 65 individuals with varying levels of contact with deaf and hard-of-hearing co-workers. Results indicated that note takers attend to verbal messages more than to textual or visual messages. Note takers tend to prioritize messages and transcribe those with a higher perceived level of meaning given the temporal limitations present. Participants transcribed accurately or modified an average of 33 semantic units out of a possible 237 (14%). Participant transcriptions using a conceptually broader scoring method based on themes averaged 17 themes out of a possible 25 (68%). Study results provide organizational managers with additional information when making decisions regarding accommodations for their deaf or hard-of- hearing employees

Checklist of free-living nematode species in the transitional environment of Lake Varano (Southern Italy)

Llista patró d’espècies de nematodes de vida lliure a l’ambient de transició del llac Varano (sud d’Itàlia)Aquest estudi documenta per primera vegada la composició taxonòmica de la comunitat de nematodes i el nombre d’espècies de nematodes de vida lliure presents al llac Varano, al sud de la mar Adriàtica (Itàlia). La comunitat de nematodes estava composta principalment per espècies típiques dels sediments fins predominants en ambients de transició (TE). En conjunt, es va registrar un nombre elevat d’espècies de nematodes (56) pertanyents a 36 gèneres de 17 famílies. Aquests valors són comparables en gran mesura amb els registrats en altres TE italians, però inferiors als registrats en altres sistemes d’aigües salabroses europeus, probablement en relació amb el baix nivell de salinitat del llac Varano. Es van identificar quaranta taxons a nivell d’espècie, la qual cosa incrementa el nombre d’espècies conegudes de nematodes marins a les costes italianes de 443 a 463, a la conca de l’Adriàtica de 310 a 313 i al sud de la mar Adriàtica de 37 a 77. Atesa la importància d’aquest fílum per a la valoració de la qualitat ecològica i la gran vulnerabilitat dels ecosistemes de la mar Adriàtica, s’hauria de planificar la intensificació de les accions de mostreig, especialment a la part centre-meridional de la conca. Un pla així proporcionaria nous coneixements de la biogeografia d’un dels components més importants del bentos i podria aportar nova informació sobre els efectes de l’escalfament climàtic a la mar Adriàtica.This study documents for the first time the taxonomic composition of the nematode community and the number of free–living nematode species in Lake Varano, Southern Adriatic Sea, Italy. The nematode community was mainly composed of species typical of fine sediments that usually prevail in transitional environments (TEs). An overall high number of nematode species was recorded (55), belonging to 36 genera in 17 families. These values are highly comparable to those reported for other Italian TEs, but appear lower than those recorded in other European brackish–water systems, probably in relation to the low salinity range of Lake Varano. Forty taxa were identified up to species level, thus increasing the number of the nematode marine species known for the Italian coasts from 443 to 463, for the Adriatic basin from 310 to 313, and for the Southern Adriatic sector from 37 to 77. Considering the importance of this phylum in the assessment of ecological quality and the great vulnerability of the Adriatic Sea ecosystems, an intensification of sampling efforts should be planned, especially in the Central–Southern part of the basin. Such a plan would provide new insights into the biogeography of one of the most important components of the benthic domain and potentially yield new information about the climate warming effects on the Adriatic Sea.Lista patrón de especies de nematodos de vida libre en el ambiente de transición del lago Varano (sur de Italia)Este estudio documenta por primera vez la composición taxonómica de la comunidad de nematodos y el número de especies de nematodos de vida libre presentes en el lago Varano, al sur del mar Adriático (Italia). La comunidad de nematodos estaba compuesta principalmente por especies típicas de los sedimentos finos predominantes en ambientes de transición (TE). En conjunto, se registró un elevado número de especies de nematodos (55) pertenecientes a 36 géneros de 17 familias. Estos valores son comparables en gran medida a los registrados en otros TE italianos, pero inferiores a los registrados en otros sistemas de aguas salobres europeos, probablemente en relación con el bajo nivel de salinidad del lago Varano. Se identificaron cuarenta taxones a nivel de especie, lo que incrementa el número de especies conocidas de nematodos marinos en las costas italianas de 443 a 463, en la cuenca del Adriático de 310 a 313 y en el sur del mar Adriático de 37 a 77. Considerando la importancia de este fílum para la valoración de la calidad ecológica y la gran vulnerabilidad de los ecosistemas del mar Adriático, debería planificarse la intensificación de las acciones de muestreo, especialmente en la parte centro-meridional de la cuenca. Un plan de este tipo proporcionaría nuevos conocimientos de la biogeografía de uno de los componentes más importantes del bentos y podría aportar nueva información acerca de los efectos del calentamiento climático en el mar Adriático

Assessment of the ecological quality (EcoQ) of the Venice lagoon usingthe structure and biodiversity of the meiofaunal assemblages

partially_open3noTransitional Environments (TEs) have been deeply modified to meet human requirements, and for thisreason are currently ranked among the most endangered aquatic ecosystems. The Adriatic basin hosts alarge number of TEs of which the Lagoon of Venice is the largest one, but information on its meiofauna arevery dated or focused to localized areas. The present study is the first to document the spatial distributionof meiofauna in the whole Venice lagoon. Furthermore, the health status of the TE of Venice has beenassessed by means of several faunal parameters (richness, diversity indices, structure of the entire meio-faunal assemblage and only rare taxa). All the univariate meiofaunal parameters (i.e. richness, diversityindices, Ne:Co ratio) were consistent in highlighting the worst ecological quality of the Porto Margheradistrict. Instead, the structure of the entire meiofaunal assemblage as well as that of rare taxa seemed todetect variations not directly related to pollution and likely due to the different hydrodynamic conditionsof Lido and Malamocco inlets. On the basis of our results, we have also critically discussed the usefulnessof the various faunal parameters in the monitoring assessment of the TEs.openSemprucci, Federica; Balsamo, Maria; Sandulli, RobertoSemprucci, Federica; Balsamo, Maria; Sandulli, Robert

Hibernus: sustaining computation during intermittent supply for energy-harvesting systems

A key challenge to the future of energy-harvesting systems is the discontinuous power supply that is often generated. We propose a new approach, Hibernus, which enables computation to be sustained during intermittent supply. The approach has a low energy and time overhead which is achieved by reactively hibernating: saving system state only once, when power is about to be lost, and then sleeping until the supply recovers. We validate the approach experimentally on a processor with FRAM nonvolatile memory, allowing it to reactively hibernate using only energy stored in its decoupling capacitance. When compared to a recently proposed technique, the approach reduces processor time and energy overheads by 76-100% and 49-79% respectively

Further insights into the beck hopelessness scale (BHS). Unidimensionality among psychiatric inpatients

Short versions of the Beck Hopelessness Scale have all been created according the Classical Test Theory, but the use and the application of this theory has been repeatedly criticized. In the current study, the Item Response Theory approach was employed to refine and shorten the BHS in order to build a reasonably coherent unidimensional scale whose items/symptoms can be treated as ordinal indicators of the theoretical concept of hopelessness, scaled along a single continuum. In a sample of 492 psychiatrically hospitalized, adult patients (51.2% females), predominantly with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder type II, the BHS was submitted to Mokken Scale Analysis. A final set of the nine best-fitting items satisfied the assumptions of local independency, monotonicity, and invariance of the item ordering. Using the ROC curve method, the IRT-based 9-item BHS showed good discriminant validity in categorizing psychiatric inpatients with high/medium suicidal risk and patients with and without suicide attempts. With high sensitivity (>.90), this newly developed scale could be used as a valid screening tool for suicidal risk assessment in psychiatric inpatients

Reproductive system of the genus Crasiella (Gastrotricha, Macrodasyida)

Crasiella diplura from Sweden and Crasiella sp. from Italy were studied alive and with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The two species are simultaneous hermaphrodites and share the same reproductive system lay-out: paired ovaries extend along the posterior part of the intestine and join mid-dorsally, while bilateral,club-shaped testes lie at the sides of the anterior gut, extending as deferentia that fuse on the mid-ventral plane and open into a single pore; gametes mature in a caudocephalicand centripetal direction. The bulky, sac-like, frontal organ is lined by a simple epithelium and lies dorsolaterally to the intestine, on the left side of the body.The spindle-shaped caudal organ is musculo-glandular and is located ventrolaterally to the gut on the right side. It is characterized by the presence of a roughly Y-shapedinternal channel that opens into two pores close to each other, which function for the intake and outlet of the (auto)sperm, respectively. The spermatozoa, which arepeculiar and similar in the two species, are characterized by a long and complex acrosome consisting of four ultrastructurally distinct regions, three of which findequivalence in other gastrotrich species. The flagellum lacks a striated cylinder. Anatomy and ultrastructure enable us to hypothesize a modality of sperm transfer in Crasiellathat is similar to that observed in Macrodasys

Quantitative analysis and processing of surfaces and profiles from profilometry images

Surface metrology is concerned with inspecting morphological parameters of a surfaces or profiles, by using contact or non-contact profilometers. The following abstract describes the development of a software in Python environment that implements various processing methods on images from optical and stylus profilometers. In particular, the program focusses on image pre-processing and determination of dimensional parameters for 2D areas and 1D profiles. It is worth mentioning that many open and closed source programs are already distributed, but they do not provide a sufficient automatization in the image processing, often requiring the user to repeat the same steps for each image to obtain the expected results. The program has been initially developed within the framework of the EMPIR 20IND07 TracOptic project for the processing of a batch of topographies on RS-M and RS-N linear step samples, in order to compensate for the lack of automation for the calculation of height parameters. The developed program is designed to be modular and scalable for expanding the processing capabilities

Marine dual-fuel engines power smart management by hybrid turbocharging systems

The performance of a marine dual-fuel engine, equipped with an innovative hybrid turbocharger producing electric power to satisfy part of the ship’s electric load, is presented by a simulation comparison with the traditional turbocharging technology. The two distinct fuel types, combined with the hybrid turbocharger, involve a substantial change in the engine control modes, resulting in more flexible and efficient power management. Therefore, the investigation requires a numerical analysis depending on the engine load variation, in both fuelling modes, to highlight different behaviours. In detail, a dual-fuel engine simulation model is validated for a particular application in order to perform a complete comparison, reported in tabular and graphical form, between the two examined turbocharging solutions. The simulation analysis is presented in terms of the engine working data and overall energy conversion efficiency

New Data on Reproductive System and Spermatozoa Confirm Macrodasys as a Model in Comparative Reproductive Analysis in Macrodasyida (Gastrotricha)

Gastrotricha Macrodasyida, aquatic worms, are primarily hermaphrodites with internal cross-fertilization and indirect sperm transfer. Insightful information on this matter dates to 1978 and derives from an illuminating work focused on two Macrodasys species. The role as a “model” of this taxon clashes, however, with the relative paucity of data concerning the ultrastructure of the accessory organs involved in the sperm transfer. Therefore, we have undertaken a new study on three additional species of Macrodasys focusing on the frontal and caudal organs and also on the spermatozoa. Our observations confirmed the structural plan of the reproductive system reported for the genus, but found some differences concerning the accessory reproductive organs. Most importantly, we found spermatozoa inside the caudal organ of several single specimens, suggestive of a more plausible hypothesis about sperm transfer modality in Macrodasys. In the spermatozoa, the position of the mitochondrion outside rather than inside the nucleus has been confirmed as a major difference between the spermatozoa of Macrodasys species and those of the other Macrodasyida. We suggest that the peculiar structure of the mature spermatozoon of Macrodasys could derive from an incomplete process of spermatogenesis and hence it would be useful to infer phylogenetic alliances

Evaluating the Factor Structure of the Emotion Dysregulation Scale-Short (EDS-s): A Preliminary Study

Emotion dysregulation (ED) can be considered a psychopathological transdiagnostic dimension, the presence of which should be reliably screened in clinical settings. The aim of the current study was to validate the Italian version of the Emotion Dysregulation Scale-short (EDS-s), a brief self-report tool assessing emotion dysregulation, in a non-clinical sample of 1087 adults (768 women and 319 men). We also assessed its convergent validity with scales measuring binge eating and general psychopathology. Structural equation modeling suggested the fit of a one-factor model refined with correlations between the errors of three pairs of items (χ2 = 255.56, df = 51, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.08, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, SRMR = 0.04). The EDS-s demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (ordinal alpha = 0.94). Moreover, EDS-s scores partly explained the variance of both binge eating (0.35, p < 0.001) and general psychopathology (0.60, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the EDS-s can be considered to be a reliable and valid measure of ED