An Integrated Fluency and Psychosocial Treatment for Adults Who Stutter: Addressing Stuttering and Self-Efficacy with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

This thesis presents a novel and integrated fluency and psychosocial intervention for adolescents and adults who stutter, combining traditional fluency treatment techniques with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The intervention was designed to simultaneously and holistically address the speech fluency and self-efficacy needs of adults who stutter. Significant improvements were found across speech fluency, self-efficacy, psychological flexibility, and overall psychosocial well-being. These positive findings may inform speech-language pathologists' clinical management of stuttering disorders in the future

An intervention to enhance the supervision of health science students who struggle during work placements

Supervisors are often reluctant to make an adverse assessment of the student's performance during work placements, which leads to a phenomenon known as "failure to fail". This Australian study evaluated resources designed to enhance the management of students who fail to meet the required standard of performance during work placements. Staff from a range of health disciplines evaluated the training program comprised of a half-day workshop and written guide using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Staff reported renewed confidence in working with underperforming students,increased comfort with failing students who did not reach the required standards. The Staff Guide was seens as useful with all students undertaking work placements, not just underperforming students. The Student Guide was perceived as relevant to the student experience. The findings of this research are important to university educators engaged with work placements, work placement supervisors, and students who undertake work placements

Ataxia telangiectasia - A report of a case in Port Harcourt

Background: Ataxia telangiectasia is acomplex multisystemic disorder with immunologic, neurologic, endocrinologic, hepatic and cutaneous abnormalities.It is characterized by progressive neurologicimpairment, cerebellar ataxia, variable immunodeficiency with increased susceptibility to sinopulmonary infections,impaired organ maturation, x-ray hypersensitivity, ocularand cutaneous telangiectasia, and a predisposition to malignancyAim: To present a case of ataxia telangiectasia in an 8 year old female.Case Report: An 8 year old female with 5years history of recurrent cough and fast breathing, 8 years history of poor weight gain. She achieved normal early developmental milestones. She is the second child of adoptive parents and was adopted at 2weeks of age. Her biological mother was said to have died immediately after delivery. Her adoptive parents were of high socioeconomic class. The detail of child's family history was not known to the adoptive parents. An initial diagnosis of upper respiratory tract infection to rule out pulmonary tuberculosis was made. Subsequently diagnosis was changed to recurrent bronchopneumonia in a child with primary immunodeficiency  secondary to ataxia telangiectasia following recurrent cough and fastbreathing, appearance of ocular telangiectasia, onset of ataxia and result of investigations 4 years after initial presentation. She received several antibiotics in the course of the illness and also received anti tuberculous drugs. She also had human immunoglobulin therapy and was immunised with pneumococcal and influenza vaccines with some clinical response but subsequently died.Conclusion: Ataxia telangiectasia is a rare multisystemic disorder with high morbidity and mortality in children. Delay in diagnosis and pulmonary complications contribute to a higher morbidity and mortality. There needs to be greater awareness of this disorder and its complications because early management with monitoring of lung function may improve outcome.Keywords: Ataxia telangiectasia, pulmonary complications, childre

Cultural change and conservation : the implementation of The Paideia proposal in four schools

During recent years critics have perceived a widespread decline in the quality of the American public schools. The Paideia Proposal, written by Mortimer J. Adler on behalf of the Paideia Group, addresses this perceived decline and provides a philosophical and curricular framework for restructuring the schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the implementation of the Proposal on the cultures of four schools. The investigator included a brief biography of Adler and a review of the historical and philosophical foundations of the Proposal. The review of current literature focused on critical analyses of the Proposal. Four additional reform reports were reviewed placing the Proposal in the context of the wider educational reform movement. The investigator conducted an on-site study of the implementation of the Proposal in four schools K-12. The schools represented different geographical regions, and all were in the third year of the implementation process. The research data were presented as portraits of the four schools

How shape-based anthropometry can complement traditional anthropometric techniques: a cross-sectional study

Abstract: Manual anthropometrics are used extensively in medical practice and epidemiological studies to assess an individual's health. However, traditional techniques reduce the complicated shape of human bodies to a series of simple size measurements and derived health indices, such as the body mass index (BMI), the waist-hip-ratio (WHR) and waist-by-height0.5 ratio (WHT.5R). Three-dimensional (3D) imaging systems capture detailed and accurate measures of external human form and have the potential to surpass traditional measures in health applications. The aim of this study was to investigate how shape measurement can complement existing anthropometric techniques in the assessment of human form. Geometric morphometric methods and principal components analysis were used to extract independent, scale-invariant features of torso shape from 3D scans of 43 male participants. Linear regression analyses were conducted to determine whether novel shape measures can complement anthropometric indices when estimating waist skinfold thickness measures. Anthropometric indices currently used in practice explained up to 52.2% of variance in waist skinfold thickness, while a combined regression model using WHT.5R and shape measures explained 76.5% of variation. Measures of body shape provide additional information regarding external human form and can complement traditional measures currently used in anthropometric practice to estimate central adiposity

Bounce Forward:A School-Based Prevention Programme for Building Resilience in a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Context

Socioeconomic status is a strong predictor of normative development and well-being in young people. It is well-known that growing up in a socioeconomically disadvantaged context may lead to negative outcomes, both in childhood and in adulthood. Early intervention and prevention programmes are crucial for building resilience and improving health, well-being and equity. Bounce Forward is a school-based prevention programme implemented in Blackpool, a town in the United Kingdom facing multiple challenges. It was part of a whole town resilience approach and nascent global social movement known as the "Resilience Revolution." Between 2017 and 2019, the programme was delivered in all Year 5 classes at every primary school in Blackpool (n school = 36), reaching out to 3,134 students (ages 9-10; 50.4% male). The programme aimed to increase resilience in young people by building knowledge and skills about mental health and resilience through 10 sessions. In the current study, we longitudinally examined a range of protective factors, which are relevant to young people's resilience, as well as their mental health outcomes at three time points: before they participated in Bounce Forward, at the end of the programme, and 3-5 months later, when they started Year 6. The current sample included 441 Year 5 students (54.2% male) from 11 primary schools in Blackpool. Nineteen teaching staff also participated in the study and provided qualitative data regarding the impact of the programme on their students. Results showed improvement in some areas of young people's resilience after taking part in Bounce Forward. We also identified gender differences in several protective factors, indicating that boys may need further support. Teaching staff highlighted improvements in various areas; and also observed that their students have been using the strategies that they learnt from the programme. Altogether, findings suggested that young people benefitted from Bounce Forward. The programme is sustainable, offering a free to download teacher resource pack that allows schools to self-deliver it

Inclusive National and Community Service: Bringing Together Service and Disability Communities

National service and volunteer programs, seeking to reflect the diversity of their communities, are increasing the participation of individuals with disabilities as members, volunteers, and leaders and working to ensure each individual has a meaningful service experience. In order to support their inclusive efforts, the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) brings together the national service and disability communities at a local, state, and national level. Through partnership building, strategic planning, and resource sharing, there have been measureable increases in numbers of service participants with disabilities and the quality of their experience

Safety and efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with immune thrombocytopenia:A two-centre review

Multiple studies have reported immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) relapse following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, however baseline ITP relapse rate and antibody response to vaccination are not known. Patients with ITP who received at least one of the first three SARS-CoV-2 vaccination doses were included in the study. One hundred and twenty-four patients met the inclusion criteria. Relapse rate was 4.2% following a first vaccine dose, 9.1% after a second and 2.9% after a third; baseline relapse rate was 7.6%. Ninety-four per cent of patients who received three vaccine doses developed a clinical antibody response. SARS-CoV-2 vaccination appears to be safe and effective in patients with ITP.</p