Executive functioning and the interpretation of social information following traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is commonly associated with problems in social functioning. There have been very few studies conducted to elucidate the specific contribution of cognitive deficits to these problems. Previous studies have suggested that executive impairment might be related to poor social decision-making. This study aimed to examine whether TBI was related to problems with the interpretation of social information and to what extent any problems were associated with executive impairment. The performance of seventeen TBI non-aphasic participants was compared to seventeen healthy control group participants matched in age, sex and NART IQ on neuropsychological tests of executive function, theory-of-mind-type social comprehension tasks and three real- life-type social tasks involving the interpretation of social information. The social interpretation tasks consisted of a pragmatic judgment task, a social skill judgment task and a conversation judgment task. The first two tasks presented a series of short written social interactions between pairs of characters. It was necessary to rate alternative verbal responses made by one character, which varied in their degree of context appropriateness and skill. The third task involved judging the manner and para-linguistic features of characters in an audible conversation. The TBI group performed more poorly on the pragmatic judgment and social skill judgment tasks. They demonstrated poor inferential sensitivity by failing to differentiate adequately between alternative responses. They were also significantly impaired on the measures of attention, executive function and theory-of-mind-type social comprehension, compared to the Control group. It was argued that difficulty appreciating the appropriateness and skilfulness of responses reflected poor inhibitory control resulting from deficits in executive functioning. Despite a lack of correlational evidence to support an executive explanation, this was considered more plausible to an account in terms of selective theory of mind impairment. TBI group performance on the conversation judgment task was generally similar to the Control group. They judged the manner of the characters as accurately as the Control group. However, they appeared less sensitive to the presence of para-linguistic features. It was speculated that this might have been due to poor attention or difficulties retaining and retrieving information. Overall, the findings suggest that there is a need for further research examining the interpretation of social information in TBI patients. The implications for rehabilitation were discussed

ANCA-negative Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis: A Difficult Diagnosis

Granulomatosis with polyangitiis (GPA) is a systemic small and medium vessel vasculitis, commonly associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs). Presenting signs and symptoms in GPA are varied and patients may present with constitutional, nonspecific symptoms, which can delay the diagnosis. Tissue biopsy of the site of active disease can confirm the diagnosis of GPA, in which necrotising granulomatous inflammation is seen. However, surrogate markers may be used for diagnosis without a tissue biopsy. They include upper and lower airway symptoms, signs of glomerulonephritis and a positive ANCA. However, approximately 10–20% of patients with GPA are ANCA negative, allowing for the diagnosis to be overlooked, particularly in those patients with non-specific findings. The reason for the absence of ANCAs is unclear

I-64 New Albany Emergency Pipe Repair

In 2015 a 13-foot diameter corrugated metal pip collapsed under 50+ feet of fill adjacent to I-64 in New Albany, Indiana. INDOT contracted Parsons to design an emergency geotechnical, structural, and environmental solution. Substantial flow through the pipe was reestablished just 5 weeks after the collapse, mitigating the risk of additional flooding or possible damage to the Interstate. Join us to learn about this project, which is an excellent example of teamwork between owner, engineer, permitting agencies, and contractor

Resilience of New Zealand indigenous forest fragments to impacts of livestock and pest mammals

A number of factors have combined to diminish ecosystem integrity in New Zealand indigenous lowland forest fragments surrounded by intensively grazed pasture. Livestock grazing, mammalian pests, adventive weeds and altered nutrient input regimes are important drivers compounding the changes in fragment structure and function due to historical deforestation and fragmentation. We used qualitative systems modelling and empirical data from Beilschmiedia tawa dominated lowland forest fragments in the Waikato Region to explore the relevance of two common resilience paradigms – engineering resilience and ecological resilience – for addressing the conservation management of forest fragments into the future. Grazing by livestock and foraging/predation by introduced mammalian pests both have direct detrimental impacts on key structural and functional attributes of forest fragments. Release from these perturbations through fencing and pest control leads to partial or full recovery of some key indicators (i.e. increased indigenous plant regeneration and cover, increased invertebrate populations and litter mass, decreased soil fertility and increased nesting success) relative to levels seen in larger forest systems over a range of timescales. These changes indicate that forest fragments do show resilience consistent with adopting an engineering resilience paradigm for conservation management, in the landscape context studied. The relevance of the ecological resilience paradigm in these ecosystems is obscured by limited data. We characterise forest fragment dynamics in terms of changes in indigenous species occupancy and functional dominance, and present a conceptual model for the management of forest fragment ecosystems

Models of scientific identity

This chapter examines a series of key science identity-based research models. Our purpose is to discuss the interplay of individual agency and social interaction through the lens of transformative learning. We critique those current identity-based models based on the importance given to either social structures and/or agency separately. We also review contemporary research on transformational learning and identity change, illustrating transformation or movement of learners towards, or away from, the study of science. The chapter is a contribution to the debates concerning the considerable impact of identity construction on learning, and the construction of ‘science-identity’ in particular. With this in mind, we examine the central issues in the light of the teaching and learning of science in schools and universities, as well as in the population at large. Our core argument is that an understanding and analysis of these models and theories leads to the design of a conjugated theoretical model of ‘science identity’ (Sci-ID) consisting of seven main interconnected and interlinked ‘slices’. These seven slices represent the (i) global forces (GF: such as gender, ethnicity, race and class) experienced by learners, (ii) social agencies and agents (SA: such as schools, other institutes, parents and teachers) personifying global forces, (iii) transformational learning (TL) experiences (accidental and/or planned events, triggers and interventions) shaping (iv) personal preferences, (v) meaning, and (vi) individual internal agency (IIA) directed by the inner most (vii) central core impacting upon individuals’ subject and career choices. Our concluding summary encompasses: (a) identities that are fluid and stable – with the journey towards stability depends on factors such as, for example, age, experiences, relationships, events, triggers, etc. (b) identities that are not entirely fluid, where there are forms of stability, a kind of internal force or agency that empowers people in accepting or declining the influences from the external forces; and (c) the ways in which one’s identity depends on the strength of certain GF, SA, TL experiences (events, triggers, interventions) and the strength of one’s IIA that goes with it or against it

‘STEAM success stories’: refocusing the framework of intersectionality

In this article, we first explore the metaphor of wearing culture, drawn from the work of Anne Phillips, which challenges some of the precepts underpinning theories of intersectionality. We then go on to celebrate successes rather than failures, a departure from the broad ethos of intersectionality and illustrate how wearing of STEAM culture can be enacted throughout women’s ‘STEAM lives’, employing a pedagogy for success. We make use of phenomenographic approaches to gather and present women’s ‘STEAM success stories’. Autobioracy is the term we coin here, in contrast to autobiography, to describe our capture of these oral accounts. We use data from three cases – Fatima, Su-Li and Anna-Maria – to illustrate their adult re-engagement with elements of STEAM, having long since disengaged from early formal school-based science and technology. We finally resist a template process for the interpretation and presentation of their storied accounts and adopt, instead, a montage approach to place instances and descriptions side by side to illuminate their complex, often contradictory and unpredictable ways of knowing

Profiles in Parole Release and Revocation Rhode Island

Rhode Island does not have a sentencing commission or statutory sentencing guidelines. The Rhode Island Superior Court, which has jurisdiction over felony crimes and sentences, uses sentencing benchmarks as well as general, statutory authority to sentence offenders to a specific term of imprisonment. Rhode Island has had conditional release since 1896, and the Parole Board has existed in some form since 1915. In 1993, the legislature passed an act that increased the number of board members from 6 to 7 and added a fulltime chairperson

A pedagogy for success: two stories from STEM

This paper aims to debate the need to change our discussions from the pedagogy of success to pedagogy for success. In justifying the prepositional shift, we discussed our understanding of success and pedagogy using some relevant literature, followed by the five key features which formulate our pedagogy for success. These features are the web of relations with people, learning objectives established subjectively (or not), the flow from knowledge patterns and streams, the experiential texture and the self and/or situationally ascribed evaluative tone. Each of the five features exhibits no set recipe of particular proportions that a teacher, student or professional can use to become successful in STEM or a toolkit that has certain STEM-based specific skills, abilities and knowledge leading to a successful STEM life. Instead, the pedagogy for success challenges the set criteria of success, by highlighting the ideology of personalised non-hierarchal successes from a variety of sources and spaces. Practically, using the five-featured theoretical framework, we have showcased the STEM stories of Amna and Samreen from our 2021 qualitative, entre-deux, autobioracy-styled data collection. Finally, discussing pedagogy for success using five crosscutting themes that exhibit a non-linear and long-lasting acquisition of a successful STEM life