Benefits of Nonpharmacological and Pharmacological Treatments in Autistic Children

Autism is a disorder that affects one in 59 children in the United States. The spectrum disorder affects individuals in early childhood and daily functioning. They may display limited spontaneous language and play and have difficulty in processing social messages. The literature review examines the benefits of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The proposed study will be guided by the phenomenology theory. Based on this theory, semi-structured interviews will focus on caregiver’s perceptions of their children’s reactions, needs, and care in healthcare settings. The literature review reveals how certain interventions and treatments have helped this population

Convergence Analysis and Error Estimates for a Second Order Accurate Finite Element Method for the Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes System

In this paper, we present a novel second order in time mixed finite element scheme for the Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes equations with matched densities. The scheme combines a standard second order Crank-Nicholson method for the Navier-Stokes equations and a modification to the Crank-Nicholson method for the Cahn-Hilliard equation. In particular, a second order Adams-Bashforth extrapolation and a trapezoidal rule are included to help preserve the energy stability natural to the Cahn-Hilliard equation. We show that our scheme is unconditionally energy stable with respect to a modification of the continuous free energy of the PDE system. Specifically, the discrete phase variable is shown to be bounded in $\ell^\infty \left(0,T;L^\infty\right)$ and the discrete chemical potential bounded in $\ell^\infty \left(0,T;L^2\right)$, for any time and space step sizes, in two and three dimensions, and for any finite final time $T$. We subsequently prove that these variables along with the fluid velocity converge with optimal rates in the appropriate energy norms in both two and three dimensions.Comment: 33 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1411.524

The New Zealand workforce survey II: occupational risk factors for asthma.

INTRODUCTION: We conducted a cross-sectional population-based survey in New Zealand that collected information on work history, current workplace exposures, and selected health outcomes. We report here the findings on occupational risk factors for asthma symptoms. METHODS: A random sample of men and women aged 20-64 years were selected from the New Zealand Electoral Roll and invited to take part in a telephone survey. Current asthma was defined as: (i) woken up by shortness of breath in the past 12 months; or (ii) an attack of asthma in the past 12 months; or (iii) currently taking asthma medication. Adult-onset asthma was defined as first attack of asthma at age 18 or over. Prevalence odds ratios (ORs) for all occupations were calculated using logistic regression adjusting for sex, age, smoking, and deprivation. RESULTS: Totally, 2903 participants were included in the analyses. The prevalence of current asthma was 17% and the prevalence of adult-onset asthma was 9%. Prevalence ORs for current asthma were elevated for ever working as a printer [OR = 2.26; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09-4.66], baker (OR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.02-3.85), sawmill labourer (OR = 3.26; 95% CI = 1.05-10.16), metal processing plant operator (OR = 2.48; 95% CI = 1.22-5.05), and cleaner (OR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.09-2.35). Excess risks of adult-onset asthma were also found for ever working as a printer, baker, and sawmill labourer as well as ever-working as a market-oriented animal producer (OR = 1.66; 95% CI = 1.14-2.41), and other agricultural worker (OR = 2.08; 95% CI = 1.03-4.20). A number of occupations not previously considered at high risk for asthma were also identified, including teachers and certain sales professionals. CONCLUSION: This population-based study has confirmed findings of previous international studies showing elevated risks in a number of high-risk occupations. The strongest risks were consistently observed for printers, bakers, and sawmill labourers. Several occupations were also identified that have not been previously associated with asthma, suggesting that the risk of occupational asthma may be more widely spread across the workforce than previously assumed

Helping Middle School Students Acknowledge and Navigate Anxiety: An Action Research

Teachers and school counselors have the responsibility not only to build a positive school climate in which students want to perform and stretch themselves academically and socially, but also to create an environment in which students know that their teachers and school counselors are aware of their needs, anxiety, and other factors preventing them from reaching their potential. In the present study, we used an action research design to help students acknowledge their anxiety and know how to navigate it. The results indicate that most students exhibited lower anxiety before and during the test, while their anxiety level was the highest after taking a test. Moreover, the power analysis (p-value) shows that students’ anxiety levels before, during, and after a test did not did not significantly impact each other. Challenges regarding anxiety interventions include: 1) students who used fidgets as toys rather than sensory tools, 2) teachers reluctant to implement coping skills continuously for fear of losing instructional time, and 3) the school’s limited funding for purchasing a wider variety of coping strategies. Suggestions to school administrators and future research studies are discussed

Implementation of health-focused interventions in vulnerable populations: protocol for a scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: Vulnerable populations face significant challenges in navigating the care continuum, ranging from diagnosis of illness to linkage and retention in healthcare. Understanding how best to move individuals within these vulnerable populations across the care continuum is critical to improving their health. A large body of literature has focused on evaluation of implementation of various health-focused interventions in this population. However, we do not fully understand the unique challenges to implementing healthcare interventions for vulnerable populations. This study aims to examine the literature describing implementation of health service interventions among vulnerable populations to identify how implementations using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research are adapted. Findings from this review will be useful to implementation scientists to identify gaps in evidence and for adapting similar interventions in unique settings. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study protocol outlines a scoping review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature, using established approaches delineated in Arksey and OMalleys scoping review framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist. Search strategies will be developed and refined by a medical librarian in collaboration with the research team. Searches will be conducted in electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, PsychINFO, PubMed, Social Services Abstracts, Web of Science, Google and Google Scholar) and limited to studies published between 1 August 2009 and 1 June 2020. Additionally, hand searches will be conducted in three relevant journals-Implementation Science, Systematic Reviews and BMJ Open. English-language studies and reports meeting inclusion criteria will be screened independently by two reviewers and the final list will be abstracted and charted in duplicate. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This is a review of the literature; ethics approval is not indicated. We will disseminate findings from this study in peer-reviewed journals as well as presentations to relevant stakeholders and conferences

Ten Simple Rules for Reproducible Research in Jupyter Notebooks

Reproducibility of computational studies is a hallmark of scientific methodology. It enables researchers to build with confidence on the methods and findings of others, reuse and extend computational pipelines, and thereby drive scientific progress. Since many experimental studies rely on computational analyses, biologists need guidance on how to set up and document reproducible data analyses or simulations. In this paper, we address several questions about reproducibility. For example, what are the technical and non-technical barriers to reproducible computational studies? What opportunities and challenges do computational notebooks offer to overcome some of these barriers? What tools are available and how can they be used effectively? We have developed a set of rules to serve as a guide to scientists with a specific focus on computational notebook systems, such as Jupyter Notebooks, which have become a tool of choice for many applications. Notebooks combine detailed workflows with narrative text and visualization of results. Combined with software repositories and open source licensing, notebooks are powerful tools for transparent, collaborative, reproducible, and reusable data analyses

Limiting the Persistence of a Chromosome Break Diminishes Its Mutagenic Potential

To characterize the repair pathways of chromosome double-strand breaks (DSBs), one approach involves monitoring the repair of site-specific DSBs generated by rare-cutting endonucleases, such as I-SceI. Using this method, we first describe the roles of Ercc1, Msh2, Nbs1, Xrcc4, and Brca1 in a set of distinct repair events. Subsequently, we considered that the outcome of such assays could be influenced by the persistent nature of I-SceI-induced DSBs, in that end-joining (EJ) products that restore the I-SceI site are prone to repeated cutting. To address this aspect of repair, we modified I-SceI-induced DSBs by co-expressing I-SceI with a non-processive 3′ exonuclease, Trex2, which we predicted would cause partial degradation of I-SceI 3′ overhangs. We find that Trex2 expression facilitates the formation of I-SceI-resistant EJ products, which reduces the potential for repeated cutting by I-SceI and, hence, limits the persistence of I-SceI-induced DSBs. Using this approach, we find that Trex2 expression causes a significant reduction in the frequency of repair pathways that result in substantial deletion mutations: EJ between distal ends of two tandem DSBs, single-strand annealing, and alternative-NHEJ. In contrast, Trex2 expression does not inhibit homology-directed repair. These results indicate that limiting the persistence of a DSB causes a reduction in the frequency of repair pathways that lead to significant genetic loss. Furthermore, we find that individual genetic factors play distinct roles during repair of non-cohesive DSB ends that are generated via co-expression of I-SceI with Trex2

Serum dioxin levels in former New Zealand sawmill workers twenty years after exposure to pentachlorophenol (PCP) ceased.

From the 1950s to the late 1980s pentachlorophenol (PCP) based anti-sapstain fungicides were widely used in the New Zealand timber industry. Workers involved in treatment, or those handling freshly treated timber, experienced significant PCP exposure. Commercial grade PCP contained contaminants including 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) and dibenzofuran (PCDF) congeners. To determine whether PCP exposure had resulted in elevated serum dioxin levels twenty years after its use had ceased we tested 94 former sawmill workers randomly selected from surviving members of a cohort enumerated for a mortality and cancer incidence study. After interviewing these individuals to collect demographic data and a comprehensive work history, they were divided into 71 PCP-exposed and 23 non-exposed individuals on the basis of job title and work tasks performed. We compared age-adjusted dioxin levels in the exposed and non-exposed groups, examined the effect of PCP exposure duration and intensity, and compared congener profiles with those found in the commercial grade PCP used at the time. Mean levels in exposed workers were elevated when compared with the non-exposed, with levels of 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD and OCDD being two to three times higher. The congener profiles in serum were consistent with those in PCP solutions, and dioxin levels increased with both employment duration and estimated exposure intensity. Serum dioxin levels in former New Zealand sawmill workers remain elevated twenty years after exposure to PCP ceased, and reflect the pattern of past PCP exposure