Identifying student strengths is central to transition planning. However, school personnel use few assessments that operationalize behavioral and emotional strengths, and the psychometric functioning ...of those measures have not been established with transition-age students. In this two-part study, we used a national sample of transition-age students to examine validity evidence for scores from the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-3: Teacher Rating Scale (BERS-3 TRS). Study 1 evaluated the internal structure and test score reliability of the scores for 275 students with exceptionalities. Study II used a sample of 566 students to examine differences in scores between students with and without exceptionalities. Findings from these studies represent evidence for the validity and interpretation of scores for transition-age students with exceptionalities.
Despite the overall success of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support, there is evidence teachers do not effectively utilize Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support features in the classroom. Classrooms ...are important systems within a Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support framework as this is the location within the school that students spend the majority of their time. This is especially important for students with emotional and behavioral disorders as teacher proficiency with classroom management affects the progression and malleability of the disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a manualized classroom management program to improve classroom atmosphere and teacher use of classroom management practices within schools already utilizing Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support with fidelity. Results suggest significant improvements in teacher use of certain classroom practices (e.g., praise) and classroom systems. Strengths and limitations of the study are presented along with implications for research and practice.
Self-association governs the viscosity and solubility of therapeutic antibodies in high-concentration formulations used for subcutaneous delivery, yet it is difficult to reliably identify candidates ...with low self-association during antibody discovery and early-stage optimization. Here, we report a high-throughput protein engineering method for rapidly identifying antibody candidates with both low self-association and high affinity. We find that conjugating quantum dots to IgGs that strongly self-associate (pH 7.4, PBS), such as lenzilumab and bococizumab, results in immunoconjugates that are highly sensitive for detecting other high self-association antibodies. Moreover, these conjugates can be used to rapidly enrich yeast-displayed bococizumab sub-libraries for variants with low levels of immunoconjugate binding. Deep sequencing and machine learning analysis of the enriched bococizumab libraries, along with similar library analysis for antibody affinity, enabled identification of extremely rare variants with co-optimized levels of low self-association and high affinity. This analysis revealed that co-optimizing bococizumab is difficult because most high-affinity variants possess positively charged variable domains and most low self-association variants possess negatively charged variable domains. Moreover, negatively charged mutations in the heavy chain CDR2 of bococizumab, adjacent to its paratope, were effective at reducing self-association without reducing affinity. Interestingly, most of the bococizumab variants with reduced self-association also displayed improved folding stability and reduced nonspecific binding, revealing that this approach may be particularly useful for identifying antibody candidates with attractive combinations of drug-like properties.
AC-SINS: affinity-capture self-interaction nanoparticle spectroscopy; CDR: complementarity-determining region; CS-SINS: charge-stabilized self-interaction nanoparticle spectroscopy; FACS: fluorescence-activated cell sorting; Fab: fragment antigen binding; Fv: fragment variable; IgG: immunoglobulin; QD: quantum dot; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; V
: variable heavy; V
: variable light.
Empowerment has been established as an important factor in resilience in adolescence. It has also been deemed critical for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders to achieve successful outcomes ...across academic, social, and behavioral domains, especially during a major transition. There is currently one measure used to evaluate empowerment in youth with mental health difficulties, yet it is unclear if this is a reliable measure for youth in therapeutic residential care. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of this measure of empowerment in a sample of youth departing therapeutic residential care (N = 138) and to examine whether or not specific factors contribute to varied levels of empowerment. Findings indicate that the empowerment measure is reliable and valid for use with youth departing therapeutic residential care. Overall, youth report high levels of empowerment at discharge from care. None of the predictors in the three multivariate general linear models were statistically significant. Limitations and implications are discussed.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The present study investigated evidence of the construct validity of scores from the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS-3), which is a multi-informant assessment designed to measure the ...behavioral and emotional strengths of school-aged youth. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the degree to which BERS-3 scores differed between students with school-identified emotional disturbance and students without disabilities. Two nationally representative samples were used in this study: (a) 1,575 students rated by teachers and (b) 793 youth who provided self-ratings. The results of multivariate multiple regression analyses supported the primary hypothesis that students with emotional disturbance would have lower scores on each of the five BERS-3 subscale scores compared to peers without disabilities. This finding held for both samples; however, differences between students with emotional disturbance and the peers without disabilities were substantially smaller for the youth self-ratings compared to teacher ratings. Implications for practice and directions for future research are also discussed.
The sorption of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) to organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC) was measured in two sediment cores taken near the Diamond Alkali superfund ...site (DA) in the Passaic River and Newark Bay, New Jersey (U.S.A.). An OC partitioning model and a BC-inclusive, Freundlich distribution model were used to interpret measurements of freely dissolved PCDD/Fs using passive samplers in sediment incubations, together with measured sedimentary concentrations of OC, BC, and PCDD/Fs. Samples were also analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as controls on the two distribution models. The OC partitioning model underpredicted the distribution of PAHs and PCDD/Fs by 10−100-fold. The Freundlich model predicted the distribution of PAHs at the DA to within a factor of 2−3 of observations. Black carbon−water partition coefficients (K iBC) for PCDD/Fs, derived from literature results of both field and laboratory studies differed up to 1000-fold from values derived from this study. Contrary to expectations, PCDDs displayed stronger sorption than either PCDFs or PAHs relative to their subcooled liquid aqueous solubilities. Even though the presence of BC in the sediments reduced the overall bioavailability of PCDD/Fs by >90%, the sediments at 2 m depth continue to display the highest pore water activities of PCDD/Fs.
Landscape contractors are increasingly interested in organic products for Louisiana’s residential and commercial turfgrass areas. However, the use, motivations, and barriers to adopting organic ...practices in the commercial turfgrass and landscape industry sector are not well documented. This study examined the perceptions of organic landscaping practices among members of the Louisiana Turfgrass Association. The study’s participants were primarily men aged 31 to 60, with six to 25 years of landscaping experience. Most turfgrass professionals were applying organic fertilizers and believed future organic product use would increase due to consumer demands and potential governmental regulation. Turfgrass professionals responded that they understood the USDA definition of organic but were less familiar with Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) labeling. Greater efficacy and access to organic products coupled with increased extension and educational efforts may increase Louisiana turfgrass professionals’ choices to adopt organic practices; however, more research is needed to better understand the adoption processes at play.
•This study used structural equation modeling to analyze over 600,000 investigation cases spanning a five-year period•Cases where the mother was a teenager and cases with higher risk scores ...demonstrated a greater likelihood to include a Family Team Meeting as part of the investigation process•Family Team Meetings had an substantial effect on child welfare investigation outcomes even after controlling for other pertinent covariates•The odds of removal from the home reduced by 51.4% for children who had a Family Team Meeting
Although newly passed federal regulations mandate the provision of family-based aftercare supports for adolescents served in therapeutic residential care, very little research has been conducted to ...determine best practice. This efficacy and replication study compares the outcomes of youths and caregivers randomly assigned to On the Way Home (OTWH; n = 98) or traditional aftercare supports (n = 89) following discharge from therapeutic residential care (TRC). Findings were mixed. At posttest (12-months) no significant differences were found between groups on indicators of placement stability and school involvement, however, significant differences were found between groups on several indicators of caregiver empowerment and self-efficacy, with caregivers in OTWH reporting greater levels of self-efficacy and empowerment across the domains of family and community. At follow-up (21-months), moderate to large differences were found between groups on indicators of placement stability and school involvement, with odds ratios indicating youths in OTWH were 2 and 3 times more likely to be engaged in school and living in the community, respectively. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.
We evaluated smell identification as a biomarker for Alzheimer disease (AD) by assessing its utility in differentiating normal aging from an amnestic disorder and determining its predictive value for ...conversion from amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) to AD.
Cross-sectional study (AD = 262, aMCI = 110, controls = 194) measuring smell identification (University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test UPSIT) and cognitive status was performed, as well as longitudinal analysis of aMCI participants (n = 96) with at least 1 year follow-up (mean 477.6 ± 223.3 days), to determine conversion by National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria.
Odor identification and disease status were highly correlated after correcting for age, sex, and
(
< 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC)/area under the curve (AUC) was similar for the 40-item UPSIT, the top 10 smells in our study, and the 10-item subset previously proposed. Smeller/nonsmeller based on the 10-item subset with a cutoff of 7 (≤7, nonsmeller; >7, smeller) had a sensitivity and specificity of 88% and 71% for identifying AD and 74% sensitivity and 71% specificity for identifying an amnestic disorder. A total of 36.4% of participants with impaired olfaction and 17.3% with intact olfaction converted to AD (
= 0.03). The ROC/AUC for prediction of conversion to AD was 0.62.
Olfactory identification deficit is a useful screening tool for AD-related amnestic disorder, with sensitivity and specificity comparable to other established biomarkers, with benefits such as ease of administration and low cost. Olfactory identification deficit can be utilized to stratify risk of conversion from aMCI to AD and enrich clinical trials of disease-modifying therapy.
This study provides Class III evidence that smell identification (10-item UPSIT subset) accurately identifies patients with amnestic disorders.
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