Phonological Priming In Young Children Who Stutter: Holistic Versus Incremental Processing

Purpose: To investigate the holistic versus incremental phonological encoding processes of young children who stutter (CWS; N = 26) and age- and gender-matched children who do not stutter (CWNS; N = 26) via a picture-naming auditory priming paradigm. Method: Children named pictures during 3 auditory priming conditions: neutral, holistic, and incremental. Speech reaction time (SRT) was measured from the onset of picture presentation to the onset of participant response. Results: CWNS shifted from being significantly faster in the holistic priming condition to being significantly faster in the incremental priming condition from 3 to 5 years of age. In contrast, the majority of 3- and 5-year-old CWS continued to exhibit faster SRT in the holistic than the incremental condition. Conclusion: CWS are delayed in making the developmental shift in phonological encoding from holistic to incremental processing, a delay that may contribute to their difficulties establishing fluent speech.Communication Sciences and Disorder

Perceptions of Challenges and Resiliences of of Post 9/11 Combat Veterans’ Wives

Ohde, Kaitlin N. (2020). Perceptions of Challenges and Resiliencies of Post 9/11 Combat Veterans’ Wives. Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2020. This study examined the perceptions of challenges and resiliencies of post 9/11 combat veterans’ spouses. For this phenomenological study, 12 female, heterosexual, Caucasian, post 9/11 combat veterans’ wives participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews that utilized family systems and secondary traumatic stress theories. Results were presented in themes and subthemes. This study added to the literature and exploration of the unique challenges experienced by post 9/11 veterans’ wives and how they cultivated resiliency in their marriages. The wives stated the many challenges they had experienced throughout deployment cycles including frequent moves and geographic relocations for the military, multiple and unpredictable deployments, personal sacrifices they made during the veteran’s military career, communication challenges in their marriages, post-deployment reintegration challenges they experienced, and the emotional toll of experiencing deployments. The wives discussed ways in which they had fostered resiliency and strengths and coped with the difficulties presented by deployments. Resiliencies, strengths, and coping mechanisms expressed by wives included (a) having a long-distances relationship pre-deployment helped prepare them for deployments, (b) being married prior to a deployment helped to buffer deployment related stressors, (c) gaining personal independence and self-sufficiency, (d) finding a supportive social network, and (e) their determination and commitment to the relationship. Wives also reflected on ways they had noticed their marriage had been impacted by deployments and how it had grown and changed over time. Some marriage changes they endorsed were learning to censor and adjust communication styles to meet the various needs presented throughout deployment cycles, having flexibility and being adaptive to change, a shift of their priorities and overall perspectives on what really mattered in life, and gaining a stronger marriage after experiencing the trials and tribulations of deployments. These results provided a more comprehensive perspective on experiences of post 9/11 veterans wives, giving context to the challenges they had experienced and insight into the strengths and resiliencies they saw in themselves and their relationships. Suggestions for counseling psychologists and mental health professionals to use in their work included setting aside pre-conceived notions regarding veterans’ spouses, to tailor interventions toward the individual spouse rather than a “one size fits all” approach, to include spouses in veteran’s care continually, and to acknowledge the commitment, sacrifices, and importance a veteran’s spouse had on the functioning of veterans and their families. Research on veterans’ wives should continue to explore the complexity of veterans’ wives and acknowledge their strengths, sacrifice, and contribution to our military. Sharing positive narratives regarding the resiliency of veterans’ wives could allow these unsung heroes to receive the attention and care they deserve

Ephemeral gullies and ecosystems services: Social and biophysical factors

This study measures soil loss from ephemeral gully (EG) channels, sediment delivery from a small watershed containing an EG, and compares those results to WEPP-generated results. A total of 79 metric tons of soil was observed to be lost in 2009 from 20 EG channels measured. For the 18 runoff events measured in a small watershed (0.35 ha) containing an EG, a total of 50 metric tons of sediment was delivered to the outlet. WEPP performed poorly at predicting soil loss and sediment delivery. In addition, the study examined factors contributing to the connectivity of EGs to stream networks. Canopy cover was the only measured factor positively and significantly correlated with EG connectivity, indicating that dense, rooted vegetation is important in stopping EGs. Finally, interviews with farmers of the study area suggested that maintenance/operating ease, an in-field conservation ethic, and local leadership were factors that influenced conservation-related management decisions

Egg Microinjection and Efficient Mating for Genome Editing in the Firebrat Thermobia domestica

The firebrat Thermobia domestica is an ametabolous, wingless species that is suitable for studying the developmental mechanisms of insects that led to their successful evolutionary radiation on the earth. The application of genetic tools such as genome editing is the key to understanding genetic changes that are responsible for evolutionary transitions in an Evo-Devo approach. In this article, we describe our current protocol for generating and maintaining mutant strains of T. domestica. We report a dry injection method, as an alternative to the reported wet injection method, that allows us to obtain stably high survival rates in injected embryos. We also report an optimized environment setting to mate adults and obtain subsequent generations with high efficiency. Our method underlines the importance of taking each species’ unique biology into account for the successful application of genome editing methods to non-traditional model organisms. We predict that these genome editing protocols will help in implementing T. domestica as a laboratory model and to further accelerate the development and application of useful genetic tools in this species