Naturalistic playground observations are a rich source of information when studying the social interactions of preschool children. On the playground, children can interact with their peers, explore... Show moreNaturalistic playground observations are a rich source of information when studying the social interactions of preschool children. On the playground, children can interact with their peers, explore different places and activities, and engage in different types of play. For deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children, interactions at a playground can be more difficult because of the large number of auditory stimuli surrounding them. Constraints in the access to the social world on the playground might hamper DHH children's interactions with their typically hearing (TH) peers, activities, and play. This pilot study aimed to examine the playground behaviors of preschool DHH children across three aspects: social levels, type of activities, and play choices. For this purpose, 12 preschool DHH children were observed during recess time, and their behaviors were coded and compared to their 85 TH peers. The preliminary findings indicate that DHH children spend less time in social interactions compared to their TH peers and that they still face difficulties when socially engaging with their TH peers. These findings suggest that interventions should focus on three aspects: the physical environment awareness of TH peers about communicating with DHH children, and the use of exercise play to facilitate social interactions between DHH children and their TH peers. Show less
We present photometric and spectroscopic measurements of 53 QSO-galaxy pairs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), where nebular emission lines from a 0 < z < 0.84 foreground galaxy are... Show moreWe present photometric and spectroscopic measurements of 53 QSO-galaxy pairs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), where nebular emission lines from a 0 < z < 0.84 foreground galaxy are detected in the fibre spectra of a background QSO, bringing the overall sample to 103 QSO-galaxy pairs detected in the SDSS. We here study the nature of these systems. Detected foreground galaxies appear at impact parameters between 0.37 and 12.68 kpc. The presence of oxygen and Balmer emission lines allows us to determine the emission line metallicities for our sample, which are on average supersolar in value. Star formation rates for our sample are in the range 0.01-12 M⊙ yr-1. We utilize photometric redshift fitting techniques to estimate the M* values of our galaxies (log M* = 7.34-11.54), and extrapolate this relationship to those galaxies with no imaging detections. Where available, we measure the absorption features present in the QSO spectrum due to the foreground galaxy and the relationships between their rest equivalent widths. We report an anticorrelation between impact parameter and E(B - V)(g - i), as well as a correlation between galaxy colour (u - r) and E(B - V)(g - i). We find that our sample is one of late-type, star-forming galaxies comparable to field galaxies in a similar redshift range, providing important clues to better understand absorption systems. These galaxies represent a sample of typical galaxies in the local Universe for which abundances, extinction, morphology, and absorption properties may be measured using background QSOs with great potential for follow-up observations. Show less
