The amphibians and reptiles of the Altamaha River, Georgia

Field surveys of 59 sites conducted in 1999–2012 and a review of existing museum specimens documented 29 species of amphibians (13 salamanders, 16 anurans) and 36 species of reptiles (1 crocodilian, 5 lizards, 19 snakes, 11 turtles) from the Altamaha River, Georgia and lowland habitats within its associated floodplain. Field sampling methods including visual encounter surveys, dipnetting, frog call surveys, and binocular/canoe/swim surveys for turtles. All were conducted in several distinct habitat types: The river mainstem, the river floodplain (which includes bottom-land hardwood forest, alluvial swamps, and oxbow lakes), and perennial seepages associated with north-facing bluffs. Biogeographically, the Altamaha River is a notable influence on the distributions of many amphibians and reptiles. Pitvipers are mostly absent in floodplain habitats along the river; the absence of what is generally perceived as a common semi-aquatic viper (Cotttonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus) from floodplain wetlands along much of the Altamaha River is intriguing and merits further study. Continued investigations and regular monitoring of reptilian and amphibian populations along the Altamaha River, a remarkable Coastal Plain stream and a wilderness waterway par excellence, are warranted

Phonological awareness development in children with and without spoken language difficulties: A 12-month longitudinal study of German-speaking preschool children

Purpose: There is strong empirical evidence that English-speaking children with spoken language difficulties (SLD) often have phonological awareness (PA) deficits. The aim of this study was to explore longitudinally if this is also true of preschool children speaking German, a language that makes extensive use of derivational morphemes which may impact on the acquisition of different PA levels. Method: Thirty four-year-old children with SLD were assessed on eleven PA subtests at three points over a 12-month period and compared to 97 four-year-old typically developing (TD) children. Result: The TD-group had a mean percentage correct of over 50% for the majority of tasks (including phoneme tasks) and their PA skills developed significantly over time. In contrast, the SLD-group improved their PA performance over time on syllable and rhyme but not on phoneme level tasks. Group comparisons revealed that children with SLD had weaker PA skills, in particular on phoneme level tasks. Conclusion: The study contributes a longitudinal perspective on PA development before school entry. In line with their English-speaking peers, German-speaking children with SLD showed poorer PA skills than TD peers, indicating that the relationship between SLD and PA is similar across these two related but different languages

Spatially inhomogeneous acceleration of electrons in solar flares

The imaging spectroscopy capabilities of the Reuven Ramaty high energy solar spectroscopic imager (RHESSI) enable the examination of the accelerated electron distribution throughout a solar flare region. In particular, it has been revealed that the energisation of these particles takes place over a region of finite size, sometimes resolved by RHESSI observations. In this paper, we present, for the first time, a spatially distributed acceleration model and investigate the role of inhomogeneous acceleration on the observed X-ray emission properties. We have modelled transport explicitly examining scatter-free and diffusive transport within the acceleration region and compare with the analytic leaky-box solution. The results show the importance of including this spatial variation when modelling electron acceleration in solar flares. The presence of an inhomogeneous, extended acceleration region produces a spectral index that is, in most cases, different from the simple leaky-box prediction. In particular, it results in a generally softer spectral index than predicted by the leaky-box solution, for both scatter-free and diffusive transport, and thus should be taken into account when modelling stochastic acceleration in solar flares.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics Journa

The Canadian Urban - Rural Health Disparity: The Role of Health Lifestyles and an Alternative Explanation for Rurality\u27s Higher BMI Rates

The Canadian urban - rural health disparity is concerning, as rural residents are more likely to experience deleterious health outcomes such as injuries, chronic conditions, obesity, and shorter life expectancy. There are several rural social-structural explanations for the disparity such as an aging population, less education attainment, greater unemployment rates, poorer working conditions, lack of health professionals, greater distance from quality health resource, and poorer health behaviours. Some of these findings have been linked to higher Body Mass Index (BMI) scores in rural areas. However, no study has considered the health lifestyle differences of urban - rural Canadians and how it can further explain negative health outcomes, like increased BMI rates. Canadian research evaluates rural health behaviours and experiences as a mechanism for the health discrepancy. Yet, these studies treat health behaviours independently, thereby neglecting the behavioural patterns and how these patterns group to form unique health lifestyles. This thesis employs the health lifestyle framework, which proposes that health behaviours cluster within an individual and represent underlying lifestyles reflective of an individual or group\u27s shared social environment. The study generates health lifestyle classes in Canada and examines its relationship along the urban – rural continuum. In addition, the health lifestyle framework is used to investigate the relationship between urban - rural residency and BMI scores, net of socioeconomic and sociodemographic indicators. This thesis uses nationally representative data from the 2014 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), and latent class analysis and regression models. It uncovers unique health lifestyles within urban and rural areas of Canada based on the following health-related indicators: fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, hazardous industry, health care use, and sense of community belonging. Overall, results indicate that the urban - rural health disparity exists between urban and the most remote Canadians. Health lifestyles are shown to provide some explanation for the BMI disparity, while socioeconomic and sociodemographic indicators further contextualize these findings

The Formation of Kappa-Distribution Accelerated Electron Populations in Solar Flares

Driven by recent RHESSI observations of confined loop-top hard X-ray sources in solar flares, we consider stochastic acceleration of electrons in the presence of Coulomb collisions. If electron escape from the acceleration region can be neglected, the electron distribution function is determined by a balance between diffusive acceleration and collisions. Such a scenario admits a stationary solution for the electron distribution function that takes the form of a kappa distribution. We show that the evolution toward this kappa distribution involves a "wave front" propagating forwards in velocity space, so that electrons of higher energy are accelerated later; the acceleration time scales with energy according to $\tau_{\rm acc} \sim E^{3/2}$. At sufficiently high energies escape from the finite-length acceleration region will eventually dominate. For such energies, the electron velocity distribution function is obtained by solving a time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation in the "leaky-box" approximation. Solutions are obtained in the limit of a small escape rate from an acceleration region that can effectively be considered a thick target.Comment: accepted to Astrophysical Journa

Implications of Untreated Cleft Palate in the Developing World: Adaptation of an Outcome Measure

Objectives: To identify the implications of living with untreated cleft palate and develop an outcome measure which reflects the broad impact of surgery but is sensitive to the physical impact, speech changes, and psychosocial implications of late intervention. Design, Participants, Setting: Focus groups and individual interviews were used to gather information on the implications of living with untreated cleft palate and the impact of subsequent surgery. Participants included 11 individuals attending a cleft department in India whose cleft had persisted into adolescence or adulthood, as well as 16 of their family members. The findings were used to assess whether the Therapy Outcome Measure (TOM) could capture the implications of untreated cleft palate and the impact of surgery beyond that of speech alone. Results: The findings indicated that the implications of living with untreated cleft palate revolved around difficulties with communication, reduced autonomy, and nasal regurgitation. These issues are encapsulated within the third and fourth domains of the TOM, but there is a need for an adapted version (TOM-clp) to use in the developing world, incorporating areas specific to cleft palate. Conclusion: The TOM has potential as a global tool for measuring the broad impact, including the psychosocial benefit, from attending to untreated cleft palate

Computerised speechreading training for deaf children: A randomised controlled trial

Purpose: We developed and evaluated in a randomised controlled triala computerised speechreading training programme to determine a) whether it is possible to train speechreading in deaf children and b) whether speechreading training results in improvements in phonological and reading skills.Previous studies indicate a relationship between speechreading and reading skill and further suggest this relationshipmay be mediated by improved phonological representations. This is important since many deaf children find learning to read to be very challenging. Method: Sixty-six deaf 5-7 year olds were randomised into speechreading and maths training arms. Each training programme was comprised of10 minutesessionsa day, 4 days a week for 12 weeks. Children were assessed on a battery of language and literacy measures before training, immediately after training, 3 months and 10 months after training. Results: We found no significant benefits for participants who completed the speechreading training, compared to those who completed the maths training, on the speechreading primary outcome measure. However, significantly greater gains were observed in the speechreading training group on one of the secondary measures of speechreading. There was also some evidence of beneficial effects of the speechreading training on phonological representations, however these effects were weaker. No benefits were seen toword reading. Conclusions: Speechreading skill is trainable in deaf children. However, to support early reading, training may need to be longer or embedded in a broader literacy programme. Nevertheless, a training tool that can improve speechreading is likely to be of great interest to professionals working with deaf children

NASA Products to Enhance Energy Utility Load Forecasting

Existing energy load forecasting tools rely upon historical load and forecasted weather to predict load within energy company service areas. The shortcomings of load forecasts are often the result of weather forecasts that are not at a fine enough spatial or temporal resolution to capture local-scale weather events. This project aims to improve the performance of load forecasting tools through the integration of high-resolution, weather-related NASA Earth Science Data, such as temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Three companies are participating in operational testing one natural gas company, and two electric providers. Operational results comparing load forecasts with and without NASA weather forecasts have been generated since March 2010. We have worked with end users at the three companies to refine selection of weather forecast information and optimize load forecast model performance. The project will conclude in 2012 with transitioning documented improvements from the inclusion of NASA forecasts for sustained use by energy utilities nationwide in a variety of load forecasting tools. In addition, Battelle has consulted with energy companies nationwide to document their information needs for long-term planning, in light of climate change and regulatory impacts