Executive Function training for deaf children: impact of a music intervention

Several studies have reported poor executive function (EF) development in deaf children with subsequent impacts on their social and academic attainment. This paper describes the results of a music-based EF intervention designed for deaf children and carried out in two sets of primary schools. This is the first classroom-based EF training study with deaf children, and it also incorporates a replication phase. The intervention was a within-subject crossover design, with 29 deaf children aged 7–11 years who participated in both an EF and an art class control activity, each lasting 10 hours over 5 weeks. Non-verbal EF skills were assessed at pre-test, the crossover point, and post-test. Findings indicated that the EF intervention led to an improvement in participants’ working memory and inhibitory skills in comparison with their performance on the same tasks after the control activity. The findings were not uniform for all EFs targeted nor for all cognitive ability levels in the sample. We discuss the implications of our findings for deaf children with different ability levels and for how EF interventions can be further improved

Determination of the Key Parameters Influencing Dislodgeable Foliar Pesticide Residues

Dislodgeable foliar residue (DFR) is the amount of pesticide residue deposited on plant leaves after pesticide application which may be dislodged by people during the performance of various tasks. This can subsequently be transferred to human skin and clothes that may cause potential risk. However, the factors influencing DFR are unknown.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Electrochemical Characterization of Precious Metal Braze Alloys Using Potentiodynamic Polarization

This study aimed to characterize the electrochemical behavior of six precious metal braze alloys by performing potentiodynamic polarization tests (ParStat 2273) based on ASTM Specifications G5 and G59. To determine the extent to which the alloys will contribute to galvanic corrosion in a marine environment (3.5 wt% NaCl), corrosion analysis software was used to produce fitted Tafel lines to determine the open circuit potential, Voc, for each alloy. The Voc values for the alloys were found to be -66.58 mV for Gold ABA, 13.01 mV for Nicoro®, -39.00 mV for Nioro®, 23.4 mV for Palniro-1®, -47.91 mV for Palniro-7®, and -205.16 mV for Silver ABA. These values were compared to industry-standard base materials typically used in brazing processes to determine their compatibility as galvanic couples. Differences in Voc greater than 250 mV within the couple are considered unsuitable for joining without additional galvanic protection. To provide coupling recommendations, 95% confidence intervals were made to estimate each alloy’s Voc

Monsters in the East

This research is an attempt to implement various artistic aesthetics inspired by the world wars into a fictional narrative focused an artist’s struggle in wartime. Works by Tristan Tzara, William Burroughs, Andre Breton, Hugo Ball, and Jack Kerouac were read to provide aesthetic and structural inspiration. The goal of the project was to, by analyzing and replicating the styles and subject matter of these artists, put the reader into the mindset of an artist experiencing traumatic events and thus understand how war affects art

Enantioselective Synthesis of Alpha-Quaternary Aldehydes Through Copper-Catalyzed Allyl Additions to Methylformate

We have developed and optimized an enantioselective copper catalyzed allylation of methyl formate allowing for the stereoselective direct synthesis of alpha quaternary aldehydes. This method allows for access to acyclic all carbon quaternary centers. This method is a significant advance over current nucleophilic allylation methods that utilize allenes to generate similar copper allyl nucleophiles due to the enantioselectivity even with similar sized alkyl groups. Functionalization of these aldehydes, was necessary for the isolation of the products in good yield. Transformations including cross coupling, and reductive amination, and Pictet-Spengler cyclization and provide interesting molecules in a single step after allylation.Master of Scienc

Lexical organization in deaf children who use British Sign Language: Evidence from a semantic fluency task

We adapted the semantic fluency task into British Sign Language (BSL). In Study 1, we present data from twenty-two deaf signers aged four to fifteen. We show that the same ‘cognitive signatures’ that characterize this task in spoken languages are also present in deaf children, for example, the semantic clustering of responses. In Study 2, we present data from thirteen deaf children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in BSL, in comparison to a subset of children from Study 1 matched for age and BSL exposure. The two groups' results were comparable in most respects. However, the group with SLI made occasional word-finding errors and gave fewer responses in the first 15 seconds. We conclude that deaf children with SLI do not differ from their controls in terms of the semantic organization of the BSL lexicon, but that they access signs less efficiently

Effect of reactor irradiation on Santowax WR : irradiations from 425° F to 800° F at 40% fast neutron fraction

"MIT-334-34."Includes bibliographical referencesM.I.T. DSR Project no. 9819Contract AT(38-1)-33