Comparing two naturalistic pragmatic assessments: The celf-5 pragmatic activities and the Yale in vivo pragmatic protocol (yipp)

Pragmatics, or the social use of language, is a dimension of communication skills that is very difficult to assess due to its dependence on cultural norms, situational context, and speaker differences. Of the current methods for evaluating pragmatic language skills in children, the literature most frequently recommends naturalistic assessment because it allows the clinician to most closely simulate a real-life interaction. Despite these recommendations, limited information exists to guide clinicians in making decisions about which activities yield the most representative pragmatic language sample. This preliminary study compared two naturalistic pragmatic assessments, the Pragmatic Activities from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fifth Edition (CELF-5) and the Yale in Vivo Pragmatic Protocol (YiPP), to answer two research questions 1.) Which of the two naturalistic assessments, yielded more child utterances, response to questions, and longer mean turn length? and 2.) Did these naturalistic assessments identify the pragmatic concerns reported by caregivers? Assessments were administered to six participants, three children with pragmatic language concerns, and three age-matched peers. This study found that the number of child utterances, response to questions, and mean turn length varied greatly across participants although subtle differences emerged across activities. On average, the Yale in Vivo Pragmatic Protocol (YiPP) elicited a longer mean turn length and a higher number of utterances per minute. In regard to the second research question, the CELF-5 pragmatic activities checklist matched up more closely with the pragmatic concerns identified by caregivers than the YiPP error/cue scores. The results of this study support use of the Pragmatic Activities Checklist as one assessment tool to confirm parent-identified pragmatic concerns in school-age children

Unexpected Modes of Gendered Inheritance: How Royal Women Bequeathed Knowledge and Power in Sixteenth Century Europe through Letters, Translations, and Memoirs

During the sixteenth century, western European women were rarely able to inherit property, money, or titles. Even for noble women privileged with education, monarchies favored male heirs, and women rarely ruled as regents. It was even more rare for a woman to inherit from another woman. Such restrictions required women to work within rigid gender roles and develop more unconventional modes of inheritance. Rather than passing on material goods or a title, women could pass on certain social inheritances, such as personality traits or religious and educational teachings to their daughters. In order to examine these social inheritances, I have turned to the writings of royal women during the sixteenth century to determine what these social inheritances were and how they were passed from generation to generation. The writing of letters amongst royal women convey that education and religion were important social inheritances that women could transmit through letter writing. Translations and memoirs are two other genres of interest that could connect women across time and geographic region to either transfer or reveal social inheritances. Sixteenth century western Europe, despite aforementioned restrictions, was a place where many women rose to power and were often related through blood relation or marriage. By examining the relationships between these women through the lens of social inheritance, this project seeks to place them in direct conversation with one another in a way the history books have often failed to do

Building Institutional Research Knowledge and Skills Through Communities of Practice Networks

The demands on and expectations of Institutional Research (IR) departments at colleges and universities have continued to expand over the years, yet there have been no studies on cost effective ways to develop and maintain the knowledge and skills needed by professionals in the field. Using a survey and social network analysis, this study explored the impact of participating in an Institutional Research (IR) affinity group on the development of the three tiers of organizational intelligence and the strength and nature of the social network that exists among the participants. The findings suggest that communities of practice, such as the IR affinity group, can aid the development and maintenance of some of the skills and knowledge related to the three tiers of organizational intelligence in the field of IR. The study also highlights how social network analysis can be used to explore communities of practice and approaches for professional development

Cutting Edge : Failure of Antigen-Specific CD4+ T Cell Recruitment to the Kidney during Systemic Candidiasis

Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Acknowledgments We thank E. Bolton and H. Bagavant for reagents and advice. We also acknowledge the staff of the Medical Research Facility at the University of Aberdeen for care of the animals used in this study. This work was supported by the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The developing juvenile talus:Radiographic identification of distinct ontogenetic phases and structural trajectories

Trabecular bone architecture in the developing skeleton is a widely researched area of bone biomechanics; however, despite its significance in weight-bearing locomotion, the developing talus has received limited examination. This study investigates the talus with the purpose of identifying ontogenetic phases and developmental patterns that contribute to the growing understanding of the developing juvenile skeleton. Colour gradient mapping and radiographic absorptiometry were utilised to investigate 62 human tali from 38 individuals, ranging in age-at-death from 28 weeks intrauterine to 20 years of age. The perinatal talus exhibited a rudimentary pattern comparable to the structural organisation observed within the late adolescent talus. This early internal organisation is hypothesised to be related to the vascular pattern of the talus. After 2 years of age, the talus demonstrated refinement, where radiographic trajectories progressively developed into patterns consistent with adult trabecular organisation, which are linked to the forces associated with the bipedal gait, suggesting a strong influence of biomechanical forces on the development of the talus.</p

A mechanism for bentonite buffer erosion in a fracture with a naturally varying aperture

In the deep geological disposal of nuclear waste in crystalline rock, erosion of the bentonite buffer may occur during periods of glaciation. Previous researchers have examined the mechanism and rates of extrusion and erosion for purified montmorillonite samples in smooth planar fractures. In this paper, we investigate the influence of using as delivered MX-80 material (i.e. including accessory minerals) and a naturally varying aperture on bentonite erosion. A bespoke fracture flow cell was constructed for this purpose and flow through conducted with deionised water. Throughout the experiment, gravimetric analysis was undertaken on the effluent and the swelling pressure of the bentonite monitored. Quantitative image analysis of the extrusion process was also undertaken. When the swelling pressure data was analysed, alongside both the oscillations in erosion rate and the area of the accessory mineral ring, a two-stage mechanism governing the erosion process became apparent. Once an accessory mineral ring had formed at the edge of the extruded material, further increases in swelling pressure resulted in a breach in the accessory mineral ring, triggering an erosive period. During which, the mineral ring was supplemented with additional minerals. The cycle repeated until the ring was sufficiently strong that it remained intact. This observed process results in erosion rates one order of magnitude less than those currently used in long-term safety case calculations

Stuffing down feelings: Bereavement, anxiety and emotional detachment in the life stories of people with eating disorders

This study aimed to explore the life stories of people with eating disorders (EDs) in order to better understand possible contributing factors to their development. It used a qualitative Life Story method, in order to reduce the tendency to focus on the negative in the lives of people with EDs. Sixteen people in contact with an EDs charity participated. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis. Despite the attempt to elicit both positive and negative information, most themes from the life stories were negative. Here, the focus is on the three most common themes reported, which are less often reported in previous research: (a) substantial bereavement and loss; (b) major issues with anxiety and (c) difficulties coping with emotions. A model is proposed whereby major losses and the resultant anxiety can lead to emotional deadening and ‘stuffing down feelings’ with food, leading on to an ED. This model implies that interventions need to consider psychological factors in an ED, especially the use of it as a dysfunctional coping strategy, as well as the behavioural and physiological aspects of an ED