Thesis advisor: Susan Bruce / The prevalence of children with severe and multiple disabilities who come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds increased considerably with the rise of immigration to the U.S. However, there is very little research about the way that children with disabilities who come from a culturally and linguistically diverse background communicate and develop communication skills (Mueller, Singer, & Carranza, 2006). Furthermore, there is no established term for describing this group of children. That is why this study uses the term Prelinguistic bilinguals to define individuals who use one or more languages at a nonverbal level in their everyday lives. This definition of prelinguistic bilinguals was built upon Grosjean’s (2010) definition of bilingualism. Knowing how prelinguistic bilingual children communicate and develop communication skills is fundamental for their educational team in order to effectively interact and support the children’s communication, which in turn would have a positive effect on their learning outcomes. The main goals of this study were to describe the communication of prelinguistic bilingual children and to learn more about what teachers, teacher assistants, speech language pathologists, and parents do to support their communication in English and Spanish. This qualitative study uses a constructivist theory approach to make in-case and across-case analyses of three case studies. Findings for the study indicated that prelinguistic bilingual children were not only aware of a difference between the two languages, but could also express a preference for one of their languages. Most of the communication supports that the participating adults provided for prelinguistic bilingual children were the same communication supports used for monolingual children developing language, which did not consider the children’s bilingual needs. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

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Severe weather events that accompany climatic changes have been the main focus of many studies that want to highlight the large processes that surround us every day. These studies are based on years of data collection and other studies to help aid their pursuits. An area of major focus is identifying proxies and supplementary materials that help refine climate records of the geologic past. This study aims to identify reliable proxies for obtaining a record of severe weather events. The research consists of studying a coral species Pseudodiploria strigosa colonies with the goal to document, interpret, and describe the burial and re-exposure of massive coral colonies by severe storm or hurricane events, as recorded in coral growth patterns through density patterns and the analysis of CT-scanned coral specimens. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The thesis examines a mediated crisis and how The Straits Times and The Australian approach the reporting of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). It looks at how this mediated crisis exemplifies the culture of the national newspaper and in turn how the national newspaper has an historical influence on the national psyche. A total of 649 reports and headlines and 141 letters about SARS in The Straits Times (including The Straits Time Interactive) were examined from April 2003 to November 2003 as were 125 headlines from The Australian. The early sections of the thesis discuss how a crisis makes news; examine how the media report a crisis and what emphasis is given to aspects such as: actors, primary definers, vocabulary, lexical choices, subjects, themes, issues and value dimension or stance. The first chapter defines crisis, journalism and crisis journalism and discusses where the latter sits within the continuing expansion and development of major theoretical frameworks, including living in a risk society. The implication here is that crisis and risk have a symbiotic relationship. Historical perspectives of news are discussed in Chapter 2, and the newspaper is placed within the context of contemporary media. The chapter discusses how newspapers are aligned with the concept of the national mind and demonstrates the roles and formations of the two newspapers in relation to the SARS crisis. Chapter 3 codes the headlines, article titles and subtitles of The Straits Times and The Australian and using content analysis of the headlines, analyses the reporting of a serious health crisis SARS that lasted from March to November, 2003. The quantification within content analysis enables a researcher to read and interpret questions that relate to the intensity of meaning in texts, their social impact, the relationships between media texts and the realities and representations they reflect (Hansen et al, 1998). The theory and method of content analysis is used in this chapter to consider differences between The Straits Times and The Australian and to exemplify the media’s representation of the narratives of SARS as it happened in the countries of Singapore and Australia. Aspects of crisis and risk, the newspaper and the national mind, narratives, presentations, and post SARS events are discussed in the last chapter. It is concluded from these discussions there is a world narrative that tells the story of how the human condition likes to live and rely on a safe social environment always being available. The relationship between a mediated crisis and risk are also discussed. In addition, it is maintained that reporting in 2003 was not just about SARS but a way of reporting that allowed one to view journalism as an aid to good governance, particularly with regard to living in a risk and crisis-ridden society.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the basal ganglia. Primary motor deficits include resting tremor, bradykinesia, muscular rigidity, and postural instability. Most importantly, patients have difficulty both initiating movements and performing well-timed movements. This study explored the effect of rhythm on the timing of upper extremity movements in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Comparisons were made between an external rhythmic cue, an external rhythmic cue in combination with auditory feedback, and no cue. Fifteen participants performed a simple reaching task in each of the four cueing conditions with the use of an interactive touch table. Condition 1 consisted of no cue. Condition 2 included a metronome set to the participant’s baseline tempo. Condition 3 included a metronome set to the participant’s baseline tempo, and a synthesized tone that occurred as a result of contact with the table. Finally, Condition 4 included no cue, similar to Condition 1. Participants were placed into either a mild/moderate level of impairment group, or a severe level of impairment group. Data were collected for total movement time, initiation time, and delta time for each participant in all four conditions. Results of the study did not reveal a main effect of condition on total movement time, initiation time or delta time. However, post-hoc pair-wise comparisons revealed significant decreases between Condition 1 and Condition 4, which were both uncued conditions, for both total movement time and delta time. In addition, for total movement time, a significant decrease was found between Condition 2 (external rhythmic cue) and Condition 4 (no cue). An immediate effect of cueing was found for initiation time and delta time, but did not reach a level of significance. An immediate effect of cueing on total movement time was not evident. Overall, from Condition 1 to Condition 2 as well as Condition 1 to Condition 3, initiation time and delta time decreased, but total movement time did not. Further analysis of level of impairment could not be conducted because of the small number of participants in the severe level of impairment group. The results suggest that one auditory cue was not more beneficial than the other for improving total movement time, initiation time, or delta time. In addition, the improvement from Condition 1 to Condition 4 for total movement time and delta time suggests that a practice effect was evident for the participants. The results of the study suggest that long-term training of either auditory cue can be an effective rehabilitation technique for patients with Parkinson’s disease to improve the timing of upper extremity movements.

Background: For people with type 1 diabetes, there is no alternative to treatment with insulin. The major side effect of insulin is severe hypoglycaemia (SH), when the patient needs help or even becomes unconscious. Material: We have studied a geographic population of yearly 130-140 unselected type 1 diabetes patients aged 1-18 years during 1992-1999. They were intensively treated with 87-96% on 4-7 daily insulin doses, combined with active self-control, psychosocial support and problem-based education from onset. Average HbA1c was 6.5 with Mono-S standard (1.15% beow DCCT level). Methods: We evaluated use of a prospective patient questionnaire for continuous long-term registration of treatment and outcome data and analysed HbA1c, SH and other variables. Over years, 95-100% response rate was achieved. We used also temporary questionnaries. Results: We found SH with unconsciousness reported from on average 11% of patients yearly, SH without unconsciousness but needing assistance from on average 36% yearly and weak associations to HbA1c, such as reletive risk of SH 1.24 for yearly mean HbA1c <7.0% compared to ≥7.0% There was a seasonal variation in HbA1c (p=0.023) and incidence of SH. The strongest predictor for SH was SH during the previous year (r=9.38, p<0.0001). The impact from SH showed great variation, and 20-30% of events led to practical disturbancies for parents and/or other people. Hospital visits took place only at 5% and hospitalisations at 3% of events. Social activities for patients were cancelled after 10% of events. Increased worry for patients was reported after 8% of events, bad sleep after 7%. We estimated the average socio-economic cost for SH at EURO 239 per event of SH with unconsciousness, and EURO 63 per event of SH without unconsciousness but needing assistance. Mass-distributed self-study material (brochures and videos) aimed at the prevention of SH without compromising metabolic control reached high dissemination and was widely appreciated by patients. The material copy cost was only EURO 7 per patient. It also seems to have contributed to a decrease in SH with unconsciousness from yearly 13% of patients before to 9% after intervention (3-years average), but controlled studies are needed. Conclusions: We conclude that SH remains a very serious problem of multifactorial aethiology. It causes considerable discomfort and costs. Systematic patient education mgiht reduce the incidence. Interventions using mass-distribution of high quality self-study material such as videos and brochures seem to have a potential to be cost-effective. There is a great patient/consumer interest in high quality- and advanced information/education materials.

Bakgrund: En psykossjukdom är en sjukdom som inte bara drabbar personen själv utan hela dennes familj. Hela familjens livsvärld påverkas och familjelivet ansträngs hårt. Den psykossjuka familjemedlemmen erfar världen på ett annorlunda sätt. Vanliga symtom vid en psykos är bland annat hallucinationer och vanföreställningar. En bra vårdrelation mellan vårdgivare, den sjuka psykossjuka familjemedlemmen och anhöriga är en förutsättning för återhämtning. Syfte: Få ökad kunskap om och förståelse för anhörigas upplevelse av att leva med en familjemedlem med psykossjukdom. Metod: Metoden som valdes för studien var en systematisk litteraturstudie i vilken elva vetenskapliga artiklar analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Tre kategorier framträdde ur data. Dessa visar att anhöriga bär på både känslomässiga och praktiska bördor samt att de har negativa erfarenheter av stöd och information av vårdpersonal. Slutsats: Resultatet i studien visar att psykossjukdom är en belastande sjukdom för anhöriga. Deras känslomässiga bördor är komplexa beroende på deras höga belastning av att vårda sin sjuka familjemedlem samt brister i bemötande av vårdpersonal.

In this study, it is hypothesized that the mesoscale environment can indirectly control the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning polarity of severe storms by directly affecting their structural, dynamical, and microphysical properties, which in turn directly control cloud electrification and CG flash polarity. A more specific hypothesis, which has been supported by past observational and laboratory charging studies, suggests that broad, strong updrafts and associated large liquid water contents in severe storms lead to enhanced positive charging of graupel and hail via the noninductive charging mechanism, the generation of an inverted charge structure, and increased positive CG lightning production. The corollary is that environmental conditions favoring these kinematic and microphysical characteristics should support severe storms generating an anomalously high (> 25%) percentage of positive CG lightning (i.e., positive storms), while environmental conditions relatively less favorable should sustain storms characterized by a typical (≤ 25%) percentage of positive CG lightning (i.e., negative storms). Forty-eight inflow proximity soundings were analyzed to characterize the environments of nine distinct mesoscale regions of severe storms (four positive and five negative) on six days during May – June 2002 over the central United States. This analysis clearly demonstrated significant and systematic differences in the mesoscale environments of positive and negative storms, which were consistent with the stated hypothesis. When compared to negative storms, positive storms occurred in environments associated with a drier low to midtroposphere, higher cloud base height, smaller warm cloud depth, stronger conditional instability, larger 0-3 km AGL wind shear, stronger 0-2 km AGL storm-relative wind speed, and larger buoyancy in the mixed-phase zone, at a statistically significant level. Differences in the warm cloud depth of positive and negative storms were by far the most dramatic, suggesting an important role for this parameter in controlling CG lightning polarity. Subjective visual inspection of radar imagery revealed no strong relationship between convective mode and CG lightning polarity, and also illustrated that positive and negative severe storms can be equally intense.

In this study, it is hypothesized that the mesoscale environment can indirectly control the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning polarity of severe storms by directly affecting their structural, dynamical, and microphysical properties, which in turn directly control cloud electrification and CG flash polarity. A more specific hypothesis, which has been supported by past observational and laboratory charging studies, suggests that broad, strong updrafts and associated large liquid water contents in severe storms lead to enhanced positive charging of graupel and hail via the noninductive charging mechanism, the generation of an inverted charge structure, and increased positive CG lightning production. The corollary is that environmental conditions favoring these kinematic and microphysical characteristics should support severe storms generating an anomalously high (> 25%) percentage of positive CG lightning (i.e., positive storms), while environmental conditions relatively less favorable should sustain storms characterized by a typical (≤ 25%) percentage of positive CG lightning (i.e., negative storms). Forty-eight inflow proximity soundings were analyzed to characterize the environments of nine distinct mesoscale regions of severe storms (four positive and five negative) on six days during May - June 2002 over the central United States. This analysis clearly demonstrated significant and systematic differences in the mesoscale environments of positive and negative storms, which were consistent with the stated hypothesis. When compared to negative storms, positive storms occurred in environments associated with a drier low to midtroposphere, higher cloud base height, smaller warm cloud depth, stronger conditional instability, larger 0-3 km AGL wind shear, stronger 0-2 km AGL storm-relative wind speed, and larger buoyancy in the mixed-phase zone, at a statistically significant level. Differences in the warm cloud depth of positive and negative storms were by far the most dramatic, suggesting an important role for this parameter in controlling CG lightning polarity. Subjective visual inspection of radar imagery revealed no strong relationship between convective mode and CG lightning polarity, and also illustrated that positive and negative severe storms can be equally intense.

During the early evening of 22 June 2007, a violent tornado impacted the western edge of Elie, Manitoba. This was Canada’s first documented F5 tornado. Three primary research questions were posed: (1) What were the pre-storm environmental conditions on 22 June 2007? (2) How did the storm and associated tornado evolve? (3) How does this event compare to other major tornadic events in Canada and the U.S.? The tornado passed in close proximity to a fixed-location Environment Canada Doppler radar at Woodlands, Manitoba. This allowed for a detailed examination of local mesoscale boundaries that were present prior to and during the event. The Elie tornado was rare in the fact that it looped three times within the main track and it moved approximately 5 km during its 40 minute lifetime causing F5 damage to homes and structures when it was an estimated 50 m wide.