Designing roofs in European cities to reflect more solar energy would help prevent climate change, at little to no extra cost.

The amount of solar energy that is reflected by different materials can have a significant impact on temperatures, both at a local level and across the globe. As Tiziana Susca writes, cities generally have higher temperatures than surrounding areas, in part because the materials used in construction reflect less energy. She argues that by encouraging the construction of rooftops in European cities which reflect more solar energy, temperature increases could be mitigated within cities, potentially improving the welfare of local populations and contributing to the prevention of climate change. Moreover, if this policy were integrated into existing urban maintenance plans it would essentially be a cost-free intervention

Diagnosing stuttering in the school environment

School speech-language pathologists work in settings that present multiple challenges to diagnosing stuttering in students. Perceiving stuttering as a communication impairment allows integration of various issues with criteria from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1997 into an effective diagnostic plan. Assessment from multiple perspectives reveals motor, linguistic, social, affective, and cognitive issues related to communication and educational competencies. Common sense and pragmatic communication concerns related to children who stutter are described. Clinical questions, observations, issues, and tasks are explored as parts of the assessment process. The multidimensional assessment of student-centered issues helps the clinician determine eligibility qualifications, develop individual education plans, and meet full-inclusion educational requirements

Theory of Technomagic: Spells, Ecstasy and Possessions in Digital Culture

The rituals, ceremonies and effervescence of the sacred manifest themselves in digital culture not only through the proliferation of new religious cults. They do so through the online actualisation of traditional religious forms but also the spiritual elevation of objects (Houtman & Meyer, 2012), practices (Carolyn, 2014) or ephemeral, playful and dreamlike images (Susca, 2016). In most cases, they involve figures that evoke the most sensitive and immaterial aspects of experience: its flesh (Esposito, 2004; Henry, 2000) and its imaginary (Durand, 1992). This is the actualisation of what Durkheim (2008) called the “social divine”. We are thus witnessing the proliferation of a multitude of small churches characterised by a low degree of institutionalisation and a high symbolic and emotional density (Maffesoli, 2020). In this sense, digital sociality acquires a decisive value in transfiguring ordinary life, the realm of the profane, into a mythical and mystical experience, brushing up against the sacred in its wildest form (Bastide, 1975). Indeed, the relationships that emerge from these media landscapes reveal a capacity to associate what is separate in time and space, previously belonging to the spiritual and transcendent orders (Davis, 1999). Thus, the culture of connection and sharing actualises in secular spheres a whole set of symbolic experiences reminiscent of religious mysteries (Campbell, 2012). This imaginary modifies the modern relationship between technology and society according to a paradigm that could be called “technomagic”.Os rituais, as cerimónias e a efervescência do sagrado manifestam-se na cultura digital, não só através da proliferação de novos cultos religiosos. Fazem-no através da atualização online de formas religiosas tradicionais, mas também da elevação espiritual de objetos (Houtman & Meyer, 2012), práticas (Carolyn, 2014) ou imagens efémeras, lúdicas e oníricas (Susca, 2016). São, na maior parte dos casos, figuras que evocam os aspetos mais sensíveis e imateriais da experiência: a sua carne (Esposito, 2004; Henry, 2000) e o seu imaginário (Durand, 1992). Trata-se da atualização daquilo a que Durkheim (2008) chamou o “divino social”. Assistimos assim à proliferação de uma miríade de pequenas igrejas que se caraterizam por um baixo grau de institucionalização e uma elevada densidade simbólica e emocional (Maffesoli, 2020). Neste sentido, a socialidade digital adquire um valor decisivo na transfiguração da vida quotidiana, do reino do profano, numa experiência mítica e mística, roçando o sagrado na sua forma mais selvagem (Bastide, 1975). De facto, as relações que emergem destes panoramas mediáticos revelam uma capacidade de associar o que está separado no tempo e no espaço, anteriormente pertencente às ordens espiritual e transcendente (Davis, 1999). Assim, a cultura da conexão e da partilha materializa em esferas seculares todo um conjunto de experiências simbólicas que lembram os mistérios religiosos (Campbell, 2012). Este imaginário modifica a relação moderna entre a tecnologia e a sociedade num paradigma que se poderia designar por “tecnomágico”

Searching for Melting-Induced Cold-Pool Circulations in an Oklahoma Winter Storm

This paper investigates the thermodynamic and dynamic impacts of melting precipitation through a case study of an Oklahoma winter storm. On 28 January 2005 a rain and snow event affected the state of Oklahoma. A combination of radiosonde data, wind profiler data, radar imagery and Oklahoma Mesonet surface data show that latent cooling from melting caused the surface temperatures to fall in western Oklahoma while evaporation caused surface cooling in central and eastern Oklahoma. The wind and surface pressure fields in western Oklahoma are analyzed along with radar data from Frederick Air Force Base, and some limited evidence for melting-driven downdrafts is found

Variation in Fumonisin and Ochratoxin Production Associated with Differences in Biosynthetic Gene Content in Aspergillus niger and A. welwitschiae Isolates from Multiple Crop and Geographic Origins

The fungi Aspergillus niger and A. welwitschiae are morphologically indistinguishable species used for industrial fermentation and for food and beverage production. The fungi also occur widely on food crops. Concerns about their safety have arisen with the discovery that some isolates of both species produce fumonisin (FB) and ochratoxin A (OTA) mycotoxins. Here, we examined FB and OTA production as well as the presence of genes responsible for synthesis of the mycotoxins in a collection of 92 A. niger/A. welwitschiae isolates from multiple crop and geographic origins. The results indicate that (i) isolates of both species differed in ability to produce the mycotoxins; (ii) FB-nonproducing isolates of A. niger had an intact fumonisin biosynthetic gene (rum) cluster; (iii) FB-nonproducing isolates of A. welwitschiae exhibited multiple patterns of fum gene deletion; and (iv) OTA-nonproducing isolates of both species lacked the ochratoxin A biosynthetic gene (ota) cluster. Analysis of genome sequence data revealed a single pattern of ota gene deletion in the two species. Phylogenetic analysis suggest that the simplest explanation for this is that ota cluster deletion occurred in a common ancestor of A. niger and A. welwitschiae, and subsequently both the intact and deleted cluster were retained as alternate alleles during divergence of the ancestor into descendent species. Finally, comparison of results from this and previous studies indicate that a majority of A. niger isolates and a minority of A. welwitschiae isolates can produce FBs, whereas, a minority of isolates of both species produce OTA. The comparison also suggested that the relative abundance of each species and frequency of FB/OTA-producing isolates can vary with crop and/or geographic origin

Master of Science

thesisGlobal analysis fields, infrared and passive microwave satellite observations, lightning data, and airborne radar reflectivity and dual-Doppler wind analyses show the evolution of environmental conditions, precipitation characteristics, and kinematic structure before, during, and after the rapid intensification (RI) of Hurricane Earl (2010). The relationship between the RI and environmental conditions, intense inner-core convection, inner-core precipitation coverage, core cold-cloud precipitation symmetry, and the radial distribution of convection is examined. The onset of RI occurs despite moderate vertical wind shear. An episode of intense convection occurs before the RI onset, but an examination of the mesoscale and convective-scale kinematic processes during this convective ‘burst' suggests that the strength of convection alone did not cause the onset of RI. Instead, the dual-Doppler, lightning, and microwave data suggest that the precipitation characteristic that ultimately led to the onset of RI was an increasing trend in cold-cloud precipitation symmetry following the migration of inner-core convection into the northeastern and northern quadrants of the storm within a few hours before RI onset. The evolution of precipitation during the RI suggests that the most important inner-core precipitation characteristics supporting RI are the cold-cloud precipitation symmetry and the predominance of strong convective updrafts within (instead of outside of) the radius of maximum wind (RMW). The wind and precipitation data from Earl indicate that the RMW at multiple levels must be examined. When the RMW is substantially slanted, only considering the low-level RMW can lead to the false conclusion that the strongest convection is located outside of the RMW

Una struggente nostalgia dell’intero. La tentazione dell’androgino come ricomposizione dell’umano

At the end of the nineteenth century, Giddens proposed a new kind of androgyny intended as a way to resolve the conflict between the sexes and democratise societies starting from the most intimate area of our lives. In so doing, mainstream sociology made use of an ancient idea that is central in a set of founding myths with reference both to the West and to the rest of the world and is subsequently visible in several literary works, artistic creations and cultural trends. All these elements, in fact, reveal at least two aspects: firstly, human beings unconsciously think themselves as painfully ruptured creatures and therefore tend to some kind of completion; secondly, androgyny can represent both a way to criticize old sexual stereotypes and a more general attempt to differently think and live. This is particularly true nowadays, when so-called postmodernity seems to yearn for androgyny intended as lightness of thought and life but also as illusory and narcissistic self- sufficiency