Pragmatics development in deaf and hard of hearing children: a call to action

Although major strides have been made in supporting the linguistic development of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children, a high risk of pragmatic delay persists and often goes unrecognized. Pragmatic development (the growing sensitivity to one’s communication partner when producing and comprehending language in context) is fundamental to children’s social-cognitive development and to their well-being. We review the reasons why DHH children are vulnerable to pragmatic developmental challenges and the potential to create positive change. In this call to action, we then urge (1) medical providers to recognize the need to monitor for risk of pragmatic difficulty and to refer for timely intervention (beginning in infancy), (2) allied health professionals involved in supporting DHH children to incorporate development of pragmatic abilities into their work and to foster awareness among caregivers, and (3) the research community to deepen our understanding of pragmatics in DHH children with investigations that include pragmatics and with longitudinal studies that chart the paths to positive outcomes while respecting the diversity of this population. By working together, there is substantial potential to make rapid progress in lifting developmental outcomes for DHH children

Longitudinal Effects of Embryonic Exposure to Cocaine on Morphology, Cardiovascular Physiology, and Behavior in Zebrafish

A sizeable portion of the societal drain from cocaine abuse results from the complications of in utero drug exposure. Because of challenges in using humans and mammalian model organisms as test subjects, much debate remains about the impact of in utero cocaine exposure. Zebrafish offer a number of advantages as a model in longitudinal toxicology studies and are quite sensitive physiologically and behaviorally to cocaine. In this study, we have used zebrafish to model the effects of embryonic pre-exposure to cocaine on development and on subsequent cardiovascular physiology and cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in longitudinal adults. Larval fish showed a progressive decrease in telencephalic size with increased doses of cocaine. These treated larvae also showed a dose dependent response in heart rate that persisted 24 h after drug cessation. Embryonic cocaine exposure had little effect on overall health of longitudinal adults, but subtle changes in cardiovascular physiology were seen including decreased sensitivity to isoproterenol and increased sensitivity to cocaine. These longitudinal adult fish also showed an embryonic dose-dependent change in CPP behavior, suggesting an increased sensitivity. These studies clearly show that pre-exposure during embryonic development affects subsequent cocaine sensitivity in longitudinal adults

Aesthetics of protest: An examination of the photojournalistic approach to protest imagery

Images of protests and demonstrations are crucial to both social movements and protesters who wish to communicate their identity and their messages to wider audiences. However, the photographing of such political events by press photographers is a complex process. The current analysis focuses on questions of aesthetics surrounding issues of visuality regarding protests and demonstrations. Based on empirical data from 17 semi-structured in-depth interviews with Greek photojournalists, this paper examines what is photographed during a protest and how this is affected by the photojournalists’ aesthetic criteria. Drawing on scholarly work on photojournalism (Ritchin and Åker) and photography (Sontag), this article discusses that besides the presumption in the principal of recording reality, photojournalists’ practice is also infused with subjective language and influenced by art photographers’ techniques. Thereupon, the main argument of this paper is that the employment of hybridized photographing practices by photojournalists can have an impact upon their visual decisions with regard to what and how is photographed during a protest. The product of such practices is usually high quality, captivating images with apparent affective qualities

A Qualitative Study of Differences Among Hearing Parents in Positive Experiences Raising a Deaf Child: An Emergent Model Informed by Positive Psychology​

The current qualitative study explored the positive, internal, and growth-enhancing experiences hearing parents derived from raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Based on characteristics of parents’ process and outcomes of the parenting experiences, three distinct parent patterns were identified. Reflective Positive Parents reflected deeply about their experiences, quickly and easily identified positive experiences, and were open to making adjustments to meet their child’s needs. Engaged Parents contemplated their experiences, yet decisions about how to best support their children in many remained unresolved; this group identified both positive and negative aspects of parenting and attempted to align their decisions with both the needs of the child and the recommendations of professionals. The third group, Compliant Parents, described positive experiences yet struggled to provide examples; data from observations were typically not consistent with their description. These parents typically followed the advice of professionals and showed less reflection about the decisions they had made. In the current project, employing a positive psychology lens led to a new and potentially beneficial way of thinking of differences among parents. These differences focus on pathways to personal growth and happiness, pathways that may well lead people to flourish

Mitochondrial nucleoproteins in rye leaves

Some properties of mitochondrial nucleoproteins sedimentable at 100 000 g, corresponding to the hyaloplasmic ribosomes, were compared with those found for two other subfractions isolated from mitochondria of primary rye (Secale cereale) leaves, the pellet sedimentable at 20 000 g and the supernatant remaining alter 100000 g