Identifying vulnerable children online and what strategies can help them

This new report from UKCCIS’s Evidence Group, Identifying vulnerable children online and what strategies can help them, reveals the latest findings from researchers, clinicians and child protection experts on what makes some children vulnerable on the internet

Cognitive and Neuropsychological Assessments for Co-Occurring Opioid and Amphetamine-Type stimulant (COATS) Dependent Patients

Introduction: Several studies have shown that individuals with drug dependence have poorer cognitive functioning in the domain of executive functions. Studies investigating cognitive impairments in people with poly-drug use are limited. This study is designed to assess executive functions of patients with dual drug dependence (DDD) on opioid and (Amphetamine-Type Stimulants) ATS entering medication-assisted-treatment at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Methodology: A total of n=96 male respondents (n=56 patients, and n=40 control group) were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Six neuropsychological tests (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, Trail Making Test, Raven’s Progressive Matrices, Digit Span Test, Digit Symbol Test, and Stroop Test) were administered. Findings: Results showed patients performed significantly worse in perceptual motor speed, and visual scanning measured by Trail Making Test Part A, cognitive flexibility measured by Trail Making Test Part B, mental processing speed measured by Digit Symbol Test, and response inhibition measured by Stroop Test, compared to those in the control group. Conclusion: Results suggests that perceptual motor speed, visual scanning, cognitive flexibility, mental processing speed, and response inhibition may be impaired in patients with dual drug dependence. Proper prevention and treatment interventions should consider addressing cognitive deficits for patients with dual dependenc

Brain Behavior in Learning and Memory Recall Process: A High-Resolution EEG Analysis

Learning is a cognitive process, which leads to create new memory. Today, multimedia contents are common-ly used in classroom for learning. This study investigated brain physiological behavior during learning and memory process using multimedia contents and Electroencephalogram (EEG) method. Fifteen healthy subjects voluntarily participated and performed three experimental tasks: i) Intelligence task, ii) learning task, and iii) recall task. EEG was recorded duration learning and memory recall task using 128 channels Hydro Cel Geodesic Net system (EGI Inc., USA) with recommended specifications. EEG source localization showed that deep brain medial temporal region was highly activated during learning task. EEG theta band in frontal and parietal regions and gamma band at left posterior temporal and frontal regions differentiated successful memory recall. This study provides additional understanding of successful memory recall that complements earlier brain mapping studies

“Never towing a line” : Les Murray, autism, and Australian literature

Australian poet Les Murray regularly identified as autistic, and stated that his autism was a primary source of his poetry. However, Australian critics rarely consider his autism when discussing his work and, when they do, usually treat it negatively. By contrast, this thesis adopts a nuanced conception of autism, and examines its creative impact on Murray’s writing. Through close analysis of a range of Murray’s poems and his second verse novel Fredy Neptune, I demonstrate the centrality to Murray’s writing of a number of poetic techniques which have been associated with autistic experience, and with the experience of disablement more generally. In particular, I utilise the characteristics of Jim Ferris’s “crip poetics” and posit two others – “enhanced audience awareness” and “resisting erasure”. I also make use of the autistic poetic techniques defined by Julia Rodas and suggest Murray’s “line scan” and “cross resonance” as possible additions. Similarly, Murray’s poetic topics resonate with common autistic and disabled considerations. Throughout his six-decade career he wrote of his own and his son Alexander’s experiences of autism, as the cultural awareness of autism was transformed from negligible to ubiquitous. He also regularly referred to the Nazi genocide of disabled people, seeking to comprehend its implications and reverberations for his own kind. Surrounding and infusing his treatment of these concerns is a delight in disabled kinship, a simultaneously awkward and wondrous engagement with the world, and a life-long devotion to language. Murray’s writing affirms the centrality of disabled authors to Australian literature, and exemplifies the importance of recognising disability as a critical category. Furthermore, since it is currently understood that the first autistic author was published in 1985, Murray’s collections, beginning in 1965, extend autistic writing history by twenty years

Review of \u3ci\u3eLife’s Journey—Zuya: Oral Teachings from Rosebud\u3c/i\u3e By Albert White Hat Sr. Compiled and edited by John Cunningham

Old-style, mainline anthropologists will probably not like this book. It is certainly not old-style anthropology. It is much, much more important than that. That White Hat fails to cite any of the pertinent literature on Lakotas is much beside the point; indeed, he indicates clearly that he does not much care for all of that literature as a means for finding meaning in Lakota life. White Hat is Siċangú Lakota and writes from deep within the Siċangú Lakota traditional knowledge. That is the importance of this book. Others have also written from within the Lakota world, even interpreters or so-called medicine men like John Fire Lame Deer or Peter Catches, but again, this volume is different. Most importantly, White Hat writes as an extremely proficient linguist who has dedicated his life to understanding the linguistic intricacies of what is, after all, his Native Lakota tongue. He not only grew up speaking the language but also dedicated much of his adult life to listening to fluent elders talk the language and talk about the language. In particular, this book records his learning about the richness of the Lakota culture and its ceremonial traditions and the intricacies of the language, learning he gained from listening to a broad array of interpreters (medicine men)

The influence of historical and contemporary landscape structure on plant biodiversity: effects on species and genetics

Biodiversity describes diversity at different levels of biological organisation, including: habitat diversity; species diversity; and genetic diversity. Understanding the processes that contribute to maintaining biodiversity is a primary concern for both ecology and evolutionary biology. To this end, research into the factors influencing the different levels of biodiversity independently are widespread. However, little is understood about the relationship between the different levels. This study investigates the patterns of habitat, species, and genetic diversity in fragmented internationally important calcareous grasslands, and analyses the spatial and temporal factors influencing them. Finally, the relationship between these levels of biodiversity is examined. Within the South Downs National Park study area, substantial change to habitat diversity and landscape structure was measured between the 1930s and 2012. The transition of semi-natural habitat to agricultural land was the predominate change. Loss of habitat between the 1930s and 2012 was found to influence both species richness and species evenness of vegetation in twelve calcareous grassland study sites. By contrast, none of the variables examined explained the variation in species composition between sites. Further analysis, at the genetic level, for two target species showed that the amount of habitat loss was important in explaining the genetic variation in Cirsium acaule, and soil nutrients were important in explaining the variation of Ranunculus bulbosus. In contrast to the predictions of the species genetic diversity correlation theory, no relationship was established between species and genetic diversity. Similarly, no relationships were found between habitat diversity and diversity at the species or genetic level. Although there were similarities in the factors influencing different levels of biodiversity, habitat diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity appear to be responding independently to the processes acting on them. As such efforts to conserve biodiversity should consider the influence of conservation strategies on biodiversity holistically, and not focus on a single measure