Accent, Attitudes, and the Speech-Language Pathologist

This research provides an updated survey about the beliefs held by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and SLP students concerning SLPs who have non-standard accents. Of specific interest are participant\u27s thoughts about the minimal level of intelligibility an SLP should have to be effective and thoughts about which clinical populations are affected by accents, as well as information about the comments and actions targeted at SLPs who speak with non-standard accents, and an understanding about how the field has improved over time. An online survey collected quantitative and qualitative data from 52 SLPs and 33 students, primarily from NY and VA. The results indicate a need for research that shows how accent affects clinical populations, so beliefs about minimal intelligibility can be justified. Furthermore, they indicate a positive development in the field in terms of comments targeted at SLPs, though suggestions for future study and improvements in policy are discussed

High School Teacher Perceptions About Reading Strategies That Support African American and Hispanic Students

The problem addressed by the study was African American and Hispanic students’ literacy scores remain the lowest of all ethnicities at high schools in a district, despite the implementation of numerous initiatives and curricular platforms. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate how high school teachers perceive their implementation of instructional strategies in reading to support African American and Hispanic students’ academic achievement. Using Freire’s theory of critical pedagogy, high school teachers’ perceptions of their implementation of instructional strategies in reading were explored. Data were collected using semistructured interviews of 10 participants who met the inclusion criteria and volunteered to participate in interviews. Data analysis included a priori coding and open descriptive coding identifying codes, categories, and themes. The emergent themes included findings about (a) culturally relevant and differentiated practices, (b) engagement opportunities that promote social/emotional development and social justice, (c) support from stakeholders providing professional learning and culturally relevant resources, and (d) school and community partnerships. The resulting project, a white paper project with recommendations, was created to inform stakeholders of the study findings and propose actions for consideration. Understanding high school teachers’ perceptions of how they implement instructional strategies in reading to support African American and Hispanic students could inform leaders’ decision making regarding how to strengthen instructional practices along with parent and community engagement for this population of students, thereby resulting in improved student achievement and positive social change

Growth of the Sudler product of sines at the golden rotation number

We study the growth at the golden rotation number $\omega=(\sqrt{5}-1)/2$ of the function sequence $P_{n}(\omega)=\prod_{r=1}^{n}|2\sin\pi r\omega|$. This sequence has been variously studied elsewhere as a skew product of sines, Birkhoff sum, q-Pochhammer symbol (on the unit circle), and restricted Euler function. In particular we study the Fibonacci decimation of the sequence $P_{n}$, namely the subsequence $Q_{n}=\left|\prod_{r=1}^{F_{n}}2\sin\pi r\omega\right|$ for Fibonacci numbers $F_{n}$, and prove that this renormalisation subsequence converges to a constant. From this we show rigorously that the growth of $P_{n}(\omega)$ is bounded by power laws. This provides the theoretical basis to explain recent experimental results reported by Knill and Tangerman (Self-similarity and growth in Birkhoff sums for the golden rotation. Nonlinearity, 24(11):3115-3127, 2011)

Natural Cross Chlamydial Infection between Livestock and Free-Living Bird Species

The study of cross-species pathogen transmission is essential to understanding the epizootiology and epidemiology of infectious diseases. Avian chlamydiosis is a zoonotic disease whose effects have been mainly investigated in humans, poultry and pet birds. It has been suggested that wild bird species play an important role as reservoirs for this disease. During a comparative health status survey in common (Falco tinnunculus) and lesser (Falco naumanni) kestrel populations in Spain, acute gammapathies were detected. We investigated whether gammapathies were associated with Chlamydiaceae infections. We recorded the prevalence of different Chlamydiaceae species in nestlings of both kestrel species in three different study areas. Chlamydophila psittaci serovar I (or Chlamydophila abortus), an ovine pathogen causing late-term abortions, was isolated from all the nestlings of both kestrel species in one of the three studied areas, a location with extensive ovine livestock enzootic of this atypical bacteria and where gammapathies were recorded. Serovar and genetic cluster analysis of the kestrel isolates from this area showed serovars A and C and the genetic cluster 1 and were different than those isolated from the other two areas. The serovar I in this area was also isolated from sheep abortions, sheep faeces, sheep stable dust, nest dust of both kestrel species, carrion beetles (Silphidae) and Orthoptera. This fact was not observed in other areas. In addition, we found kestrels to be infected by Chlamydia suis and Chlamydia muridarum, the first time these have been detected in birds. Our study evidences a pathogen transmission from ruminants to birds, highlighting the importance of this potential and unexplored mechanism of infection in an ecological context. On the other hand, it is reported a pathogen transmission from livestock to wildlife, revealing new and scarcely investigated anthropogenic threats for wild and endangered species

Interspecific competition and its effects on the success of Cirsium pitcheri: an endangered monocarpic plant.

Cirsium pitcheri is a threatened thistle indigenous to the shorelines of the Great Lakes. It is classified as a monocarpic plant because it flowers once and dies. The study was done on the shores of Sturgeon Bay, Michigan bordering Lake Michigan. Five plots were selected containing Cirsium pitcheri. Factors for interspecific competition were measured such as nearest neighbor density and percent vegetation cover. Implications of success were then measured such as age and height of the tallest stem. Stem count of Cirsium pitcheri was measured to get a better idea of population success. The purpose of this study was to determine what effects interspecific competition has on the success of the endangered Pitcher's thistle. Measurements will were taken in regard to each individual plants as well as on a plot basis. For this particular study, success was defined in terms of height of the tallest stem and the number of buds per adult thistle. Five different regressions were then run to see if there were any correlations or relationships between our independent variables (neighbor distance and percent cover) and dependent variables (height/age and buds). None of the 5 regressions returned significant data. Buds and neighbor distance gave present a marginally significant P-value of .08. This suggests that there may be a relationship between the number of buds and the distance to the nearest neighbor, but not quite significant enough to reject the null hypothesis.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55033/1/3475.pdfDescription of 3475.pdf : Access restricted to on-site users at the U-M Biological Station

Provisioning and habitat selection by parasitoids in the Douglas Lake area.

The order Hymenoptera has ants, bees, and wasps as some of its major representatives. Some species of wasps are referred to as parasitoids. Parasitoids reproduce and complete their growth inside a single host eventually killing them. The purpose of this study is to determine how parasitoids display preference in habitat and directional orientation for provisioning. We hypothesized that parasitoids will show a preference when placed in two different environments. This hypothesis is based on disturbance intensity and environmental conditions. Previous studies have concluded that unfavorable weather conditions have inverse effects on parasitoid foraging and provisioning. To test the hypothesis, 277 blocks with holes drilled in the end were strategically hung in trees in two different environments. A total of 136 blocks were placed in a wooded area while the remaining 139 blocks were placed in trees and small bushes along the shore of Douglas Lake, Pellston, Michigan. The blocks were collected five weeks later. The results showed that parasitoids do not show any preference for direction when provisioning for their young, but they do show great preference for the type of environment they provision in. There was a greater amount of provisioning in the less disturbed and less windy wooded area.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55034/1/3476.pdfDescription of 3476.pdf : Access restricted to on-site users at the U-M Biological Station