We compared the effects of extinction (EXT) and fixed‐time (FT) schedules as treatment for severe problem behavior displayed by 3 individuals with developmental disabilities. First, functional ...analyses identified the reinforcers maintaining aberrant behavior for all 3 individuals. Next, EXT and FT schedules were compared using a multielement design. During EXT, the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior was withheld. During FT, the reinforcers were presented response independently at preset intervals. Results showed that FT schedules were generally more effective than EXT schedules in reducing aberrant behavior. FT schedules may be used in situations when extinction‐induced phenomena are problematic.
To investigate the amount of intraocular pressure (IOP) asymmetry in a large group of ethnically diverse patients with and without glaucoma, and to delineate the risk for glaucoma which increasing ...amounts of IOP asymmetry confer upon the patient.
Collaborative retrospective study of 326 glaucoma patients and 326 controls. Former Wills Eye Institute fellows collected single pre-treatment measurements of IOP on patients diagnosed as having definite glaucoma based on characteristic optic nerve damage and confirmatory visual field damage. Patients with a normal eye examination who had normal-appearing optic discs and no apparent glaucoma, or who had a normal eye examination in association with refractive error or cataract, were used as controls.
Intraocular pressure asymmetry is a significant risk factor for having glaucoma (odds ratio, 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.86-2.47; P<0.001). Absence of IOP asymmetry between the fellow eyes is associated with a 1% probability of having glaucoma. A difference of 3 mm Hg is associated with a 6% probability of having glaucoma, and a difference of >6 mm Hg with a 57% probability of having glaucoma. The association between IOP asymmetry and glaucoma status is significant for subjects with both elevated IOP (P=0.014) and statistically normal IOP (maximum IOP ≤ 21 mm Hg; P<0.001).
Inter-eye asymmetry of IOP is a common finding in patients with glaucoma. There is a direct relationship between the amount of IOP asymmetry between the fellow eyes and the likelihood of having glaucoma.
This quantitative correlational study is a research document designed to identify observable associations between waning participation in the New Jersey Family Day Care Food Program (FDCFP), a ...subcomponent of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and specific external conditions. As the program confronted changes, (illustrated in Appendix A: Legislative History) in this current study, four specific conditions corresponds to participation in the Family Day Care Food Program, which prevents New Jersey participants from reaping the health and nutritional benefits the program offers. These conditions are regulatory changes, economic constraints, abusive power, and educational limitations, which convert into a four-point-change-link. Extensive review of current literature and historical data becomes a training tool for Family Day Care Home (FDCH) professionals to retain and recruit qualified Family Day Care Home professionals and to educate others regarding the importance the Child and Adult Care Food Program is to New Jersey residences. Regulatory changes, economic constraints, abusive power, and educational limitations exhibited statistically significant correlations with attrition. The promotion of satisfaction in the NJFDCFP as measured by stress was not significantly correlated to attrition. Pearson r and Spearman Rho correlations revealed strength and statistical significance of relationships between the study variables. As presented in the results of this quantitative correlational study, any comments expressed by child nutrition professionals have the potential to influence the physiological and psychological habits of children and their families in a positive or negative manner.
In the fall of 2009, our hospital introduced a surveillance system to monitor the increase in cases of H1N1 pandemic influenza A virus infection. The system involved tracking cases of influenza-like ...illness in the emergency department, the outpatient clinics, and the inpatient wards as well as specimens with positive polymerase chain reaction results reported by the microbiology laboratory. Our data correlated well with national and regional data.
Calcium isotope ratios (44Ca/42Ca) have shown promise as a milk dietary tracer. Previous studies have focused on bone but, due to homeostatic processes, δ44/42Ca values are highly variable. This has ...greatly complicated the identification of mammal milk consumption through bone analysis, resulting in a search for an alternative. This thesis describes controlled studies to assess the effects of milk consumption on δ44/42Ca values in bulk and sequential samples of dental enamel, using modern samples from Yorkshire, England, the Isle of Hoy, Scotland, and archaeological samples from Abu Hureyra, Syria. The samples from Yorkshire consisted of dental enamel, ewe milk, feed and bone. Dental enamel was sampled from the Hoy sheep. Milk and plants are the greatest contributors of calcium in the mammal diet. Feed and ewe milk samples confirmed that milk has lower δ44/42Ca values than plants in the diet, and with a common diet between ewes, uniform milk δ44/42Ca values are produced. Also, there is a significant difference between bulk molar enamel δ44/42Ca values between males and females, with males having higher values. Additionally, analysis of bulk and sequential samples of Hoy mature sheep molar enamel, although mass fractionation effects were small, produced δ44/42Ca values with a clear isotopic offset between the enamel likely formed during nursing, weaning and the full conversion to a plant diet. The δ44/42Ca values, once associated with dental development chronologies, led to the identification of a clear pattern of nursing and weaning in the enamel of the first and second molars of sheep with known dietary and weaning histories. The modern results were used to identify patterns of ancient nursing and weaning. Although evidence was insufficient to establish early weaning of the Abu Hureyra sheep, this research successfully established the potential of this approach for investigating milk production and consumption in the archaeological record.
Calcium isotope ratios (44Ca/42Ca) have shown promise as a milk dietary tracer. Previous studies have focused on bone but, due to homeostatic processes, δ44/42Ca values are highly variable. This has ...greatly complicated the identification of mammal milk consumption through bone analysis, resulting in a search for an alternative. This thesis describes controlled studies to assess the effects of milk consumption on δ44/42Ca values in bulk and sequential samples of dental enamel, using modern samples from Yorkshire, England, the Isle of Hoy, Scotland, and archaeological samples from Abu Hureyra, Syria. The samples from Yorkshire consisted of dental enamel, ewe milk, feed and bone. Dental enamel was sampled from the Hoy sheep. Milk and plants are the greatest contributors of calcium in the mammal diet. Feed and ewe milk samples confirmed that milk has lower δ44/42Ca values than plants in the diet, and with a common diet between ewes, uniform milk δ44/42Ca values are produced. Also, there is a significant difference between bulk molar enamel δ44/42Ca values between males and females, with males having higher values. Additionally, analysis of bulk and sequential samples of Hoy mature sheep molar enamel, although mass fractionation effects were small, produced δ44/42Ca values with a clear isotopic offset between the enamel likely formed during nursing, weaning and the full conversion to a plant diet. The δ44/42Ca values, once associated with dental development chronologies, led to the identification of a clear pattern of nursing and weaning in the enamel of the first and second molars of sheep with known dietary and weaning histories. The modern results were used to identify patterns of ancient nursing and weaning. Although evidence was insufficient to establish early weaning of the Abu Hureyra sheep, this research successfully established the potential of this approach for investigating milk production and consumption in the archaeological record.
The genetic basis of schizophrenia is still largely unknown. Recent evidence suggests that a microRNA (miRNA), miR-137 may be involved. The first large schizophrenia genome wide association (GWAS) ...study, published in 2011, identified a variant within the host gene of this miRNA (MIR-137) as the top association. Since then, further evidence for the potential influence of this miRNA within the disorder has accumulated. These studies used a variety of methods from GWAS to neuroimaging. However, few studies have evaluated the mechanism for the association of the MIR-137 variant, nor how alterations in the miRNA may have downstream effects on its targets and the function of these targets within biological pathways. We hypothesized that the target genes of miR-137 are involved in schizophrenia relevant pathways, such as those affecting neuronal development and plasticity, and that the MIR-137 risk-associated variant may lead to altered regulation of such pathways. We predict that variants within the targets of the miRNA may further alter target regulation. Here we completed the following three aims to determine the potential impact of dysregulation by this miRNA in schizophrenia. 1) We characterized the targets of the miRNA and the pathways over-representing these genes. 2) We determined the schizophrenia-risk association of these targets within these target enriched pathways. 3) We evaluated the influence of variants within target genes of an enriched pathway and the previously associated miR-137 host gene variant on structural gray matter. Our results suggest that the targets of this miRNA are indeed involved in pathways relevant to neuronal development and plasticity and thus the development of schizophrenia. The target genes within these pathways contain variants associated with schizophrenia that may disrupt regulation by the miRNA. Variants within targets of the PKA signaling pathway coupled with the MIR-137 variant may influence the development of gray matter within the occipital, temporal, and parietal lobe. Overall, our studies further suggest that this miRNA is influential in schizophrenia and provide a map for future studies to determine the effects of dysregulation by miR-137 in the disorder.
With unprecedented and growing interest in data science education, there are limited educator materials that provide meaningful opportunities for learners to practice statistical thinking, as defined ...by Wild and Pfannkuch (1999), with messy data addressing real-world challenges. As a solution, Nolan and Speed (1999) advocated for bringing applications to the forefront in undergraduate statistics curriculum with the use of in-depth case studies to encourage and develop statistical thinking in the classroom. Limitations to this approach include the significant time investment required to develop a case study -- namely, to select a motivating question and to create an illustrative data analysis -- and the domain expertise needed. As a result, case studies based on realistic challenges, not toy examples, are scarce. To address this, we developed the Open Case Studies (https://www.opencasestudies.org) project, which offers a new statistical and data science education case study model. This educational resource provides self-contained, multimodal, peer-reviewed, and open-source guides (or case studies) from real-world examples for active experiences of complete data analyses. We developed an educator's guide describing how to most effectively use the case studies, how to modify and adapt components of the case studies in the classroom, and how to contribute new case studies. (https://www.opencasestudies.org/OCS_Guide).
Data science education provides tremendous opportunities but remains inaccessible to many communities. Increasing the accessibility of data science to these communities not only benefits the ...individuals entering data science, but also increases the field's innovation and potential impact as a whole. Education is the most scalable solution to meet these needs, but many data science educators lack formal training in education. Our group has led education efforts for a variety of audiences: from professional scientists to high school students to lay audiences. These experiences have helped form our teaching philosophy which we have summarized into three main ideals: 1) motivation, 2) inclusivity, and 3) realism. To put these ideals better into practice, we also aim to iteratively update our teaching approaches and curriculum as we find ways to better reach these ideals. In this manuscript we discuss these ideals as well practical ideas for how to implement these philosophies in the classroom.
Data science and informatics tools are developing at a blistering rate, but their users often lack the educational background or resources to efficiently apply the methods to their research. Training ...resources often deprecate because their maintenance is not prioritized by funding, giving teams little time to devote to such endeavors. Our group has developed Open-source Tools for Training Resources (OTTR) to offer greater efficiency and flexibility for creating and maintaining online course content. OTTR empowers creators to customize their work and allows for a simple workflow to publish using multiple platforms. OTTR allows content creators to publish material to multiple massive online learner communities using familiar rendering mechanics. OTTR allows the incorporation of pedagogical practices like formative and summative assessments in the form of multiple choice questions and fill in the blank problems that are automatically graded. No local installation of any software is required to begin creating content with OTTR. Thus far, 15 courses have been created with OTTR repository template. By using the OTTR system, the maintenance workload for updating these courses across platforms has been drastically reduced.
PDF
