A pilot evaluation of positive behavioural support workshops for families of adults with intellectual disabilities who present challenging behaviour: 'It should have been offered years ago'

Background: Positive behavioural support (PBS) workshops were designed for families supporting their adult son or daughter with an intellectual disability engaging in challenging behaviours. This was in recognition of the impact of their challenging behaviour, in particular the level of stress carers often experience and positive reports from other studies incorporating multi-family learning. Method and materials: Two sets of pilot workshops were completed, incorporating modules in PBS and physical interventions. Workshops included presentations and self-directed/group learning tasks, recorded in a specifically designed workbook. Results: Quantitative data was analysed using non-parametric tests. Positive results were found for changes in various areas including self-reported stress levels. Positive trends were also found in pre and post application of the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist (Aman and Singh, 1994). Conclusions: This study showed very encouraging results in regard to the impact of this model of training for the carers involved. Further research is required to assess any longer term effects, and to explore the impact on larger numbers of participants

A national UK survey of peripatetic support teams for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disability who display challenging behaviour

Background: The service provision model of peripatetic support teams for people with intellectual disabilities who present challenging behaviour has been well established in the United Kingdom, with a small but growing evidence base. The current context in the UK would appear to indicate an ever-increasing role for such teams, in order to support people in their own communities and reduce the reliance on out-of-area placements. This study sought to establish the current position of such teams within the UK. Method and materials: 46 teams were given the opportunity to complete an online questionnaire regarding the team's day to day functioning. Results: 20 services responded to the survey providing a range of data. The results suggested that the services were mainly targeted towards adults, had a range of working practices and therapeutic orientations, with broadly successful outcomes (albeit self reported). The data would also suggest that this type of provision had diminished in recent years. Conclusions: The implications of the survey are discussed within the context of the current policy in the UK. In particular, the lack of provision for children, the use of evidence based practice and what appears to be a diminishing resource just at the time when it is most needed are explored

MEASURING FOOD SAFETY PREFERENCES: IDENTIFYING CONSUMER SEGMENTS

Conjoint analysis was used to estimate individual preference functions for food safety attributes. Consumer segments were constructed by using cluster analysis to form groups which were homogeneous with respect to preferences regarding food safety. Although substantial differences existed among the three distinct groups, consumers in all segments were willing to pay a moderate amount to ensure that apples met established safety standards. However, a policy which restricts pesticide use would likely result in substantial consumer dissatisfaction, unless it could be achieved with little impact on price or quality.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Development of Peptide Nanotube-Modified Biosensors for Gas-Phase Organophosphate Detection

Vapor-phase detection of the model organophosphate malathion was achieved using enzymes encapsulated in peptide nanotubes and attached to gold screen-printed electrodes. Malathion was chosen as the model for this experiment because its binding mechanism with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is identical to its more potent counterparts (such as sarin or VX), but it has an extremely low human toxicity, which makes it both practical and easy to use. The peptide nanotubes had horseradish peroxidase encapsulated inside and were coated with both acetylthiocholine (ASCh) and AChE on the outside. ASCh hydrolysis, which produces thiocholine, was catalyzed by the AChE. The thiocholine was then oxidized by the electrodes to produce a signal that could be measured by a cyclic voltammeter. This signal was inhibited in the presence of malathion vapor, with the extent of inhibition proportional to the malathion concentration. A calibration curve was first established in order to determine the concentration of malathion vapor in a given environment using standards of known concentrations of liquid malathion in a gas chromatograph. Once the vapor concentration was established, peptide-nanotube-modified, gold screen-printed electrodes were used to detect organophosphate vapor. The nanotube-modified electrodes were exposed to both AChE and ASCh and inserted into an airtight vial with a known concentration of malathion. Cyclic voltammograms were taken at each step to monitor the changes in activity. This research demonstrates the ability to use nano-modified biosensors for the detection of organophosphate vapor, an important development in countering weaponized organophosphate nerve agents and detecting commercially-used pesticides

An evaluation of the social validity of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Community

Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate the social validity of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist - Communit y (ABC-C). Design/methodology/approach – Thirty-six participants completed a questionnaire in which they identified and commented on items of the ABC-C they saw as problematic. Thematic analysis was conducted on the comments made. Findings – All participants identified at least one item of the ABC-C as problematic with six items being so identified by over half the participants. A number of themes were identified in participant comments including ambiguity, judgemental language, child-focussed language, lack of attention to behavioural function and repetition. Research limitations/implications – More research is required using empirically based methodologies on measures used to assess people with learning disabilities. This should involve ascertaining the social validity of such measures by soliciting the views of both those being assessed and those assessing. Originality/value – This study is the first of its kind to evaluate the social validity of one of the most widely used measures of challenging behaviour for people with learning disabilities

Seasonal and spatial variations in the ocean-coupled ambient wavefield of the Ross Ice Shelf

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Baker, M. G., Aster, R. C., Anthony, R. E., Chaput, J., Wiens, D. A., Nyblade, A., Bromirski, P. D., Gerstoft, P., & Stephen, R. A. Seasonal and spatial variations in the ocean-coupled ambient wavefield of the Ross Ice Shelf. Journal of Glaciology, 65(254), (2019): 912-925, doi:10.1017/jog.2019.64.The Ross Ice Shelf (RIS) is host to a broadband, multimode seismic wavefield that is excited in response to atmospheric, oceanic and solid Earth source processes. A 34-station broadband seismographic network installed on the RIS from late 2014 through early 2017 produced continuous vibrational observations of Earth's largest ice shelf at both floating and grounded locations. We characterize temporal and spatial variations in broadband ambient wavefield power, with a focus on period bands associated with primary (10–20 s) and secondary (5–10 s) microseism signals, and an oceanic source process near the ice front (0.4–4.0 s). Horizontal component signals on floating stations overwhelmingly reflect oceanic excitations year-round due to near-complete isolation from solid Earth shear waves. The spectrum at all periods is shown to be strongly modulated by the concentration of sea ice near the ice shelf front. Contiguous and extensive sea ice damps ocean wave coupling sufficiently so that wintertime background levels can approach or surpass those of land-sited stations in Antarctica.This research was supported by NSF grants PLR-1142518, 1141916, 1142126, 1246151 and 1246416. JC was additionally supported by Yates funds in the Colorado State University Department of Mathematics. PDB also received support from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Boating and Waterways under contract 11-106-107. We thank Reinhard Flick and Patrick Shore for their support during field work, Tom Bolmer in locating stations and preparing maps, and the US Antarctic Program for logistical support. The seismic instruments were provided by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) through the PASSCAL Instrument Center at New Mexico Tech. Data collected are available through the IRIS Data Management Center under RIS and DRIS network code XH. The PSD-PDFs presented in this study were processed with the IRIS Noise Tool Kit (Bahavar and others, 2013). The facilities of the IRIS Consortium are supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement EAR-1261681 and the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration. The authors appreciate the support of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Automatic Weather Station Program for the data set, data display and information; funded under NSF grant number ANT-1543305. The Ross Ice Shelf profiles were generated using the Antarctic Mapping Tools (Greene and others, 2017). Regional maps were generated with the Generic Mapping Tools (Wessel and Smith, 1998). Topography and bathymetry data for all maps in this study were sourced from the National Geophysical Data Center ETOPO1 Global Relief Model (doi:10.7289/V5C8276M). We thank two anonymous reviewers for suggestions on the scope and organization of this paper

Fast microwave-assisted synthesis of Li-stuffed garnets and insights into Li diffusion from muon spin spectroscopy

Lithium-stuffed garnets attract huge attention due to their outstanding potential as solid-state electrolytes for lithium batteries. However, there exists a persistent challenge in the reliable synthesis of these complex functional oxides together with a lack of complete understanding of the lithium-ion diffusion mechanisms in these important materials. Addressing these issues is critical to realizing the application of garnet materials as electrolytes in all solid-state lithium-ion batteries. In this work, a cubic phase garnet of nominal composition Li6.5Al0.25La2.92Zr2O12 is synthesized through a microwave-assisted solid-state route for the first time, reducing considerably the reaction times and heating temperatures. Lithium-ion diffusion behavior is investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and state-of-art muon spin relaxation (μSR) spectroscopy, displaying activation energies of 0.55 ± 0.03 eV and 0.19 ± 0.01 eV respectively. This difference arises from the high inter-grain resistance, which contributes to the total resistance in EIS measurements. In contrast, μSR acts as a local probe providing insights on the order of the lattice, giving an estimated value of 4.62 × 10−11 cm2 s−1 for the lithium diffusion coefficient. These results demonstrate the potential of this lithium-stuffed garnet as a solid-state electrolyte for all-solid state lithium-ion batteries, an area of growing interest in the energy storage community

Identification of stable endogenous reference genes for real-time PCR in the human fetal gonad using an external standard technique

Peer reviewedPostprin

Attending to debriefing as post-incident support of care staff in intellectual disability challenging behaviour services: An exploratory study

Background: The psychological welfare of the workforce who support people with intellectual disabilities who present challenging behaviour is key in providing effective positive behavioural support. This workforce has consistently been identified as being vulnerable to experiencing poor psychological wellbeing. Debriefing after incidents is consistently recommended as good practice, despite the absence of clear guidance about the nature of the debrief and an adequate evidence base. Method and materials: A case study is presented in relation to a group debrief in which the critical incident stress management (CISM) model was carried out for six staff involved in a serious incident. Staff were assessed prior to the debrief and in a two-month follow up using the impact of events scale – revised (IES-R) (Weiss and Marmar, 1997). Results: Worryingly high IES-R scores for four of the staff were found prior to the debrief. At two-month follow up all staff scores had reduced to levels below the cut-off for clinical concern. Conclusions: Implications from the analysis of this case study are discussed in relation to general support and, specifically, post incident support offered to staff in intellectual disability services