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I examined the effectiveness of self-directed learning and English learning with computer applications on college students in Bangkok, Thailand, in a control-group experimental-group pretest-posttest design. The hypothesis was tested using a t test: two-sample assuming unequal variances to establish the significance of mean scores between the two groups for the pretest and the posttest. Both groups studied under normal classroom conditions; however, the experimental group supplemented their learning by using English language learning computer applications outside normal class hours in a self-directed manner. In addition, I reviewed usage and performance metrics with the students at the start of each class to activate and maintain momentum in the learners. At the conclusion of the experiment and after the posttest, the experimental group was surveyed using a semantic differential rating scale to better understand their computer learning experience. The findings were significant; the experimental group learning with the software outperformed the control group in terms of posttest mean scores. The students felt the software tool was "effective" and rated it highly; however, finding time to use the software was scored as "easy" but with a bias toward "hard."

Copyright of Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Methylphenidate (MPH) often ameliorates attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) behavioral dysfunction according to "indirect" informant reports and rating scales. The standard of care behavioral MPH titration approach seldom includes "direct" neuropsychological or academic assessment data to determine treatment efficacy. Documenting "cool" executive-working memory (EWM) and "hot" self-regulation (SR) neuropsychological impairments could aid in differential diagnosis of ADHD subtypes and determining cognitive and academic MPH response. In this study, children aged 6 to 16 with ADHD inattentive type (IT; n = 19) and combined type (n = 33)/hyperactive-impulsive type (n = 4) (CT) participated in double-blind placebo-controlled MPH trials with baseline and randomized placebo, low MPH dose, and high MPH dose conditions. EWM/SR measures and behavior ratings/classroom observations were rank ordered separately across conditions, with nonparametric randomization tests conducted to determine individual MPH response. Participants were subsequently grouped according to their level of cool EWM and hot SR circuit dysfunction. Robust cognitive and behavioral MPH response was achieved for children with significant baseline EWM/SR impairment, yet response was poor for those with adequate EWM/SR baseline performance. Even for strong MPH responders, the best dose for neuropsychological functioning was typically lower than the best dose for behavior. Findings offer one possible explanation for why long-term academic MPH treatment gains in ADHD have not been realized. Implications for academic achievement and medication titration practices for children with behaviorally diagnosed ADHD will be discussed. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

This paper examines bodily transformation and well-being within the context of a millenarian movement that emerged during the 1840s in the area surrounding Mount Roraima at the periphery of Brazil, Guyana (British Guiana at the time), and Venezuela. The site of this movement was Beckeranta – meaning 'Land of the Whites' – where up to 400 Amerindians were reportedly killed in a quest that is described in its sole historical account as centred around a goal of bodily transformation into white people. In examining this movement, the paper engages with longstanding debates in medical anthropology concerning the body, as well as conversations among Amazonianists concerning the social formation of bodies, and examines sorcery and shamanism as practices that go 'beyond the body'. Notions of bodily transformation in Amazonia, which are often activated by strong emotions, facilitate conceptual expansions of the body in medical anthropology. The paper suggests that bodily transformations tied to sorcery and shamanism are in some contexts, such as at Beckeranta, associated with desires for well-being. Supplemental data for this article is available online at . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines climatic and ontological change within the Anthropocene among the Makushi in Guyana. During fieldwork in the Makushi village of Surama, the author was frequently told how the wet and dry seasons have become irregular, the temperature has increased, and ecological changes have occurred in the forests and savannas. These perceived changes impact Makushi subsistence practices and have emerged concurrent with the local development of eco-tourism and increased interactions with outside entities in Surama. The author examines local ontological shifts related to these expanded interactions with outsiders, who advocate concepts of 'climate change', 'sustainability', and 'conservation'. Recent encounters with climate change and outside entities in Guyana provide an ethnographic case of the broader climatic and related changes occurring in Amazonia. This case is analysed herein through an ontological approach. Based on fieldwork data, the author examines how local transformations are situated within the greater dimensions of the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale is the property of Berghahn Books and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines folklore concerning water spirits among the Makushi Amerindians in Guyana. Makushi accounts of spirits called 'water mamas'—twingram or Tuenkaron in Makushi—associate these beings with white people in both past and present. The case is presented here that this folklore reflects Makushi histories and experiences of European contact, colonialism in Dutch and British Guiana, and ongoing relations with Europeans and other outsiders. The themes of abduction, enticement, capricious wealth, and exotic 'palaces' found in stories of water mamas relate to these histories and experiences and inscribe them into the present landscape in Guyana. In addition to describing beliefs in water mamas and examining Makushi histories of interaction with Europeans, the article begins to explore the comparative context of this folklore in relation to other beliefs in water spirits across Amazonia and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This essay considers the role of the imagination in the envisioning and poetic construction of future being and becoming in Amazonia. Poetic construction is the process whereby the assembled forms that emerge from the imagination are brought out into the world of the senses. Imaginative envisioning and poetic construction are the means by which diverse ontologies of humans, animals, and spirits are articulated into particular visions of future transformation that posit a becoming from humanity to otherness in Amazonia. This essay seeks to elucidate the conscious processes through which cosmological ideas are imaginatively envisioned and poetically constructed by Amazonian societies as visions of future transformation and becoming from human to nonhuman being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forthe first time, the thermal stability limits of one of themost highly cited and well-studied fullerene derivative electron acceptors,phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), have beeninvestigated under thermal annealing and vapor deposition conditions.Significant decomposition is observed when PCBM is heated, even briefly,to and beyond its melting temperature in an inert atmosphere, as evidencedand quantified here by proton nuclear magnetic resonance, atmospheric-pressurechemical ionization mass spectrometry, and UV–vis spectroscopy,as well as high-performance liquid chromatography. The major thermallyinduced decomposition product of PCBM has been isolated, characterized,and identified as a new pentacyclic [6,6]-addition motif isomer ofPCBM (iso-PCBM). Cyclic voltammetry studies show no difference inelectrochemical properties between PCBM and iso-PCBM, and our quantumchemical calculations predict the new isomer to be ∼43 kJ/molmore thermodynamically stable than PCBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X-ray crystal structure of a trifluoromethylfullerene (TMF), 1,7,11,24-C60(CF3)4, is reported for the first time. This elusive intermediate, while highly air stable as a solid, exhibits highly regioselective reactivity towards molecular oxygen in polar solvents, and only when exposed to light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An unusual regiospecific diepoxidation of an isomer of C60(CF3)10 was discovered to slowly occur in solution while exposed to air. This is the only known example of a perfluoroalkyl fullerene undergoing epoxidation under ambient conditions. This compound was characterized by a variety of analytical methods including 19F NMR spectroscopy, APCI-MS, UV-vis spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. Numerous oxidation methods were explored including ozonation, photolysis, thermolysis, and the chemical oxidation by m-chloroperoxobenzoic acid, none of which has yielded the diepoxide. This indicated that the process is kinetically very slow, presumably due to steric crowding around the oxygen addition sites. These findings of spontaneous diepoxidation of the otherwise stable compound have far reaching implications as more fullerenes and fullerene derivatives are being used in organic electronics, and their instability toward oxidation in ambient conditions may alter the performance of the device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The first systematic study of heterogeneous fullerene trifluoromethylation using an innovative gradient-temperature gas–solid reactor revealed a significant effect of CF3I pressure on the conversion of C60 and C70 into trifluoromethylated products and on the range of fullerene(CF3) n compositions that were obtained. The design of the reactor allowed us to lower the residence times of fullerene(CF3) n species in the hot zone which resulted in the significant differences in relative isomeric distributions as compared to the earlier methods. For the first time, gram quantities of trifluoromethylated fullerenes were prepared using the new reactor, and the selective synthesis of a single-isomer C60(CF3)2 was developed. The relative reactivity of C70 as a CF3 radical scavenger was found to be much lower than that of C60, especially at an early radical addition stage, which led to the cost-efficient synthesis of C60(CF3)2 from a fullerene extract. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reports an exceptionally large number of blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) from the stomach of a single Alligator mississippiensis (American alligator). Topics discussed include number of species that have been described in the diet of alligators, speculation on how this alligator found and consumed these ducks, and factor that may be influencing the long-term success of alligators over a diverse range of habitats.

A patient with an esophageal cyst is reported. Esophageal duplication cysts account for a very small percentage of benign esophageal tumors and are infrequently symptomatic. Patients with esophageal cysts seek treatment when a complication such as bleeding or infection causes these cysts to enlarge. The diagnosis may be made with barium swallow and esophagoscopy although the exact histopathology is not defined until surgery. Surgical excision is recommended at the time of cyst discovery whether symptoms are present or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cites a case report on scleroderma with carcinoma of the esophagus in a 48 year-old African American male patient.

An abstract of the article "Alligator Mississippiensis (American Alligator) by Ruth M. Elsey and colleagues is presented.