Effects of a cognitive-behavioral program designed to increase the reading comprehension skills of learning-disabled students

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral approach to reading comprehension instruction. An important component of the intervention was a training course for teachers designed to communicate a conceptual framework for understanding the comprehension deficits of learning disabled (LD) children.;The sample included 39 elementary and middle school students who were identified as learning disabled. Intact classes were assigned to the treatment or control group. The nonequivalent control-group design was used, and data was examined using analysis of covariance. Dependent variables were reading comprehension as measured by the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests and locus of control as assessed by the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. Two null hypotheses were tested to determine whether differences between the treatment and control groups were significant at the.05 level of confidence.;The data analysis found that students in the cognitive-behavioral treatment showed significant improvement in reading comprehension when compared to control group students who were exposed to their normal routine of reading instruction. The treatment did not affect the locus of control variable.;Recommendations include replication of the study in diverse school systems in order to assess generalizability and delayed posttesting to determine the maintenance of treatment effects. Efforts to increase locus of control may need to be implemented in multiple settings with frequent demonstrations of the role of effort in determining outcomes

Modelling, Classification and Synthesis of Facial Expressions

The field of computer vision endeavours to develop automatic approaches to the interpretation of images from the real world. Over the past number of decades researchers within this field have created systems specifically for the automatic analysis of facial expression. The most successful of these approaches draw on the tools from behavioural science. In this chapter we examine facial expression analysis from both a behavioural science and a computer vision perspective. First we will provide details of the principal approach used in behavioural science to analyze facial expressions. This will include an overview of the evolution of facial expression analysis, where we introduce the field of facial expression analysis with Darwin’s initial findings (Darwin, 1872). We then go on to show how his findings were confirmed nearly 100 years later by Ekman et al. (Ekman et al., 1969). Following on from this we provide details of recent works investigating the appearance and dynamics of facial expressions

Whole-System Agricultural Certification: Using Lessons Learned From Leed to Build a Resilient Agricultural System to Adapt to Climate Change

This Article proposes a novel approach to addressing global climate change\u27s impacts on agricultural production and food security. The climate change crisis is the most significant environmental issue facing our planet. The changes predicted to occur as the earth\u27s climate warms include significant impacts to agriculture. At the same time that the planet is undergoing dramatic climatic changes, the global population is increasing, and economic development in many parts of the world is exerting increased demand for a greater and more diverse supply of food. The relationship between climate change and agriculture is a close and complex one, as the current system of agricultural production both contributes to, and will be impacted by, the effects of increased climate change phenomena. On the one hand, fossil fuel-intensive practices associated with the current industrialized agricultural system significantly contribute to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions considered to be the major cause of climate change. On the other, the predicted changes in global temperature and rainfall patterns associated with climate change have the potential to dramatically impact agricultural production. Changing weather conditions associated with climate change will likely impact agricultural production, affect food pricing, and reduce both global per capita calorie consumption and the nutritional value of some food, thereby increasing child malnutrition. Because of the close relationship between climate change and agriculture, climate change has the potential to greatly impact global food security as its effects become more prevalent. As the impacts of climate change on worldwide food production become more pronounced in the coming decades, it will become increasingly necessary to shift agricultural strategies away from current industrialized practices and toward a more resilient system of “ecologically-based” agriculture. This Article suggests that a key component to developing an agricultural system that can adapt to the likely impacts of climate change involves applying the concept of ecological resilience to increase agriculture\u27s capacity to absorb climate change\u27s impacts. Ecological resilience considers the magnitude of disturbance a system can absorb before the shock causes it to shift into another state. In an agricultural context, this concept describes a farm ecosystem\u27s ability to adapt to shocks or disturbances, such as drought and pest and disease outbreaks, that threaten its ability to continue to function to produce acceptable crop yields. In this Article, we suggest a new approach that we call “whole-system” agriculture certification, which builds on the successes of eco-labeling and the United States organic certification program by rewarding ecologically-based practices that enhance an agricultural system\u27s resilience in the face of climate change-induced uncertainty. This Article proposes that this whole-system agricultural certification approach be modeled after the successful Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program, which certifies that buildings and communities are constructed according to specific standards designed to address aspects of environmental sustainability, and demonstrates how such a system would work

A Preliminary Investigation into the use of Machine Vision Techniques for Automating Facial Paralysis Rehabilitation Therapy

An impaired facial motor system is a common deficit associated with injury to the nervous system such as occurs during stroke or head trauma. Despite the impact Facial Motor System (FMS) damage has on psychological and social aspects of an individual’s quality of life, facial motor rehabilitation has received little attention until comparatively recently. In this paper preliminary results of our investigation into the use of machine vision methods for the development of an automatic feedback system are presented. We show by way of experimental results that our system provides initial steps towards the development of a system for enhancing the rehabilitation prospects of individuals suffering from FMS damage. The proposed system will act as an intelligent mirror, providing basic feedback by tracking key facial features during the attempted gesture. Such a system could potentially emulate the therapist, automatically assessing the patient according to standard facial disability measures, allowing a comprehensive record of patient engagement, performance, efficacy and outcome to be constructed in a relatively inexpensive manner

Exploring the biophysical evidence that mammalian two pore channels are NAADP-activated calcium-permeable channels

Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) potently releases Ca2+ from acidic intracellular endo-lysosomal Ca2+-stores. It is widely accepted that two types of two pore channels, termed TPC1 and TPC2, are responsible for the NAADP-mediated Ca2+-release but the underlying mechanisms regulating their gating appear to be different. For example, although both TPC1 and TPC2 are activated by NAADP, TPC1 appears to be additionally regulated by cytosolic Ca2+. Ion conduction and permeability also differ markedly. TPC1 and TPC2 are permeable to a range of cations although biophysical experiments suggest that TPC2 is slightly more selective for Ca2+ over K+ than TPC1 and hence capable of releasing greater quantities of Ca2+ from acidic stores. TPC1 is also permeable to H+ and therefore may play a role in regulating lysosomal and cytosolic pH, possibly creating localised acidic domains. The significantly different gating and ion conducting properties of TPC1 and TPC2 suggest that these two ion channels may play complementary physiological roles as Ca2+ release channels of the endo-lysosomal system.PostprintPeer reviewe

Saving all the freaks on the life raft : blending documentation strategy with community engagement to build a local music archives.

Louisville, Kentucky, has a rich musical heritage, including an underground scene that influenced the sound of not only punk, indie, and hardcore, but also popular music regionally, nationally and internationally. In 2013, faced with the loss of several members of this scene over the course of twelve months, archivists in the University of Louisville Archives and Special Collections launched a project to document this important slice of Louisville\u27s musical culture. The Louisville Underground Music Archive (LUMA) Project successfully applies documentation strategy, paired with a strong community engagement component, to address the gap in the historical record related to this culture

Forecasting Short-term Wholesale Prices on the Irish Single Electricity Market

Electricity markets are different from other markets as electricity generation cannot be easily stored in substantial amounts and to avoid blackouts, the generation of electricity must be balanced with customer demand for it on a second-by-second basis. Customers tend to rely on electricity for day-to-day living and cannot replace it easily so when electricity prices increase, customer demand generally does not reduce significantly in the short-term. As electricity generation and customer demand must be matched perfectly second-by-second, and because generation cannot be stored to a considerable extent, cost bids from generators must be balanced with demand estimates in advance of real-time. This paper outlines a a forecasting algorithm built on artificial neural networks to predict short-term wholesale prices on the Irish Single Electricity Market so that market participants can make more informed trading decisions. Research studies have demonstrated that an adaptive or self-adaptive approach to forecasting would appear more suited to the task of predicting energy demands in territory such as Ireland. We have identified the features that such a model demands and outline it here

The Environmental Context and Function of Burnt-Mounds : New Studies of Irish Fulachtaí Fiadh

The authors acknowledge funding from The Leverhulme Trust (F/00144/AI) and assistance from a large number of individuals including; Margaret Gowen (access to sites and assistance throughout),A. Ames, H, Essex (pollen processing), S. Rouillard & R. Smith (illustrations), C. McDermott, S. Bergerbrandt, all the staff of Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, TVAS Ireland and CRDS. Excavation works and some post-excavation analysis was paid for my Bord Gáis and the National Roads Authority (now Transport Infrastructure Ireland). Thanks also to David Smith for access to the Maureen Girling collection and assistance with identifications.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin