Special Issue Introduction: We Can Do More: Challenges and Opportunities for Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Guest editors Susan Tortolero Emery and Kimberly Johnson Baker introduce Volume 8, Issue 1 of the Journal of Applied Research on Children

Determining Appropriate Outcome Measures in a Psychosocial Rehabilitation Model for the Mentally Ill: a Knowledgeable Citizen\u27s Perspective

This dissertation research focused on the determination of appropriate outcome measures for community-based psychosocial rehabilitation programs for the mentally ill from the perspective of knowledgeable citizens. Specifically, this research identified a conflict between the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, as the certifying agency, and the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, as the funding agency, with regard to the transitional employment component of the psychosocial rehabilitation program. In order to ascertain whether transitional employment should be retained in the psychosocial rehabilitation program, survey questionnaires and in-depth interviews were completed with one hundred and sixty-eight consumers and twenty-three staff in six psychosocial rehabilitation Clubhouse programs in north central Mississippi. The survey questionnaires and interviews focused primarily on the effects of demographics, diagnosis, and barriers to employment on the willingness of consumers with mental illness to participate in transitional employment. Eleven independent variables were identified including age, living arrangements, years of attendance in the psychosocial rehabilitation program, diagnosis, stigma/attitudes, external influence, symptoms of mental illness, training/experience/education deficits, social/cognitive/behavior deficits, financial barriers, and total barriers to employment. Mixed methodology found convergence between quantitative and qualitative findings with regard to seven independent variables and differences with regard to four. Mixed methods found age, living arrangements, and years of attendance in the psychosocial rehabilitation program were not predictive of willingness to participate in transitional employment. Mixed methods found that stigma/attitudes, external influence, symptoms of mental illness, and total barriers to employment were predictive of willingness to participate in transitional employment. Symptoms of mental illness were found to have the greatest impact. Mixed methods also differed in the findings with regard to four variables. While no statistical significance was found to support diagnosis, training/experience/education deficits, social/cognitive/behavior deficits, or financial barriers as predictors of willingness to participate in transitional employment, substantively these variables are important. Based on the findings, the study recommends adjustments and considerations by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, and the psychosocial rehabilitation programs that will reconcile the differences and lead to the development and implementation of appropriate outcome measures

Toward an understanding of the global phylogeny of the Trilliaceae

The purpose of this study was to make a comprehensive analysis of the systematic relationships within Trilliaceae, a family of flowering herbaceous plants found in north temperate mixed forests As currently circumscribed it includes Trillium L, Paris L., Kinugasa Tatew. and Sutô, and Daiswa Raf. Results of previous rbcL studies showed that the members of Trilliaceae segregate out into a distinct, cohesive unit separate from other liliaceous genera, and reinforced the concept that Trilliaceae are not a part of the Liliaceae and should in fact be an independent family. The present study focused on the relationships within Pans s I ;(i.e., Pans, Daiswa, and Kinugasa); between Pans, s I. and Trillium, and within Trillium itself. A total of 86 taxa, including all of those currently recognized, was selected for morphological, cladistic analysis and scored for 110 morphological characters It was also possible to obtain matK and ITS molecular characters for a subset of taxa used in the morphological analysis. Several genera outside the family were considered for outgroup selection, but none of those taxa proved satisfactory. Based on preliminary analyses, Trillium rivale was shown to be distinctive and was used as the outgroup The data sets were analyzed with the PAUP* program using maximum parsimony as well as maximum likelihood. Character congruence analysis gave contradictory results with the Mickevich and Farris measures showing less than 5% variation between data set, and the Paup* Homogeneity of Partitions test indicating incongruence between the morphological and molecular data sets. Taxonomic congruence gave results showing that most clades were supported across all analyses, and rival trees were less than 5% longer than the constraint tree for a given data set. Analysis of the combined ITS and matK sequence data produced 6 shortest trees, the morphological data for the same set of taxa for which molecular data were available produced 13 shortest trees, the combined morphological and molecular data sets produced 3 trees, and the full data set of 86 taxa produced 1,296 shortest trees with an average Cl (consistency index) of 0.74 Trillium rivale is distinct from both Pans and Trillium and should be placed in its own genus. Trillium and Paris are clearly distinct based on molecular as well as morphological evidence. Trillidium govamanum is more similar to Pans than it is to Trillium, but should be recognized as a distinct monotypic genus Trillium undulatum is clearly a Trillium based on morphology and biogeography. The cladistic analysis provided support for the separation of Pans s I into Daiswa, Kinugasa, and Pans. The monophyly of Trillium was supported in all analyses

Influence of rod photoreceptors on color perception, The

Includes bibliographical references.2015 Summer.Since the 19th century, the human visual system has been described as two separate and non-interacting visual systems, the photopic system, mediated by cone photoreceptors, and the scotopic system, mediated by rod photoreceptors. The photopic system operates at high light levels, and provides us with color perception, while the scotopic system operates in low light levels, and allows us achromatic vision. It has come to be accepted that there is some overlap, or simultaneous activity, of these two visual systems at moderate, or mesopic, light levels. Anecdotal and empirical evidence has suggested that when rod and cone photoreceptors are simultaneously active, color perception is altered in two general ways: there is an increase in the perception of blue, and there is desaturation, or overall decrease in the perception of chromatic content of colored stimuli. Various research groups have investigated the effect of rod photoreceptor input on color perception using a variety of research methods. The studies reported here extend previous work from this laboratory, and were conducted to characterize the development of rod influences on perceived hue and saturation during the course of dark adaptation, to reveal how the relationship between achromatic and chromatic perception is altered over time. The first study, which involved collecting descriptions of observers’ hue and saturation perceptions, provided data that were used to predict the results of the second set of studies, in which observers identified the particular wavelengths of light that appeared to be of pure, or unique, hues under various viewing conditions. In addition, observers also identified wavelengths of light that appeared to be equal mixtures of two neighboring hues, e.g., blue/green and green/yellow, under the same viewing conditions. These wavelengths are called binary hues. Results from the first hue scaling study were used to derive wavelength predictions for the second set of studies, with the expectation that the results from the two different experimental methods would produce the same pattern of changes in color perception correlated with rod photoreceptor activity. This was not what was found, however. The results of all studies described herein provide only partial support for the hypotheses that increased rod input correlates with increased perception of blue and a decrease in perceived saturation of colored stimuli. What these results do show is that there was a great deal of variability in the responses provided by the four observers who participated in the hue scaling study, and noticeable differences in the hue loci identified by the three observers who participated in the second set of studies. The predictions derived from the hue scaling study, for both unique and binary hues, did not match the loci measured with a staircase procedure for the two observers who participated in all studies. The nature of the experimental procedures followed for these and other studies were considered, and some suggestions were offered to explain why the present results are not consistent with many already in the literature. The human visual system is very complex, and the methods employed in the present studies may not be sufficient to tease apart the effects of rod photoreceptor input from those of other anatomical and physiological differences at multiple levels of the visual system

Assessment of applicability and transferability of evidence-based antenatal interventions to the Australian indigenous setting

There is a need for public health interventions to be based on the best available evidence. Unfortunately, well-conducted studies from settings similar to that in which an intervention is to be implemented are often not available. Therefore, health practitioners are forced to make judgements about proven effective interventions in one setting and their suitability to make a difference in their own setting. The framework of Wang et al. has been proposed to help with this process. This paper provides a case study on the application of the framework to a decision-making process regarding antenatal care in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Queensland. This method involved undertaking a systematic search of the current available evidence, then conducting a second literature search to determine factors that may affect the applicability and transferability of these interventions into these communities. Finally, in consideration of these factors, clinical judgement decisions on the applicability and transferability of these interventions were made. This method identified several interventions or strategies for which there was evidence of improving antenatal care or outcomes. By using the framework, we concluded that several of these effective interventions would be feasible in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities within Queensland

Environmental governance in the EU

The goal-directed interventions typical of EU environmental management strategies are increasingly taking place alongside a new network governance approach. While much of what is called ‘new governance’ is little more than old wine being poured into new bottles, nevertheless there is some evidence of change, even if it is difficult to pin down in concrete cases. The new approach involves making use of the principle of partnership and shared responsibility and of new instruments for environmental policy (NIEP). The promotion of sustainable development provides the organising framework within which this new approach is situated. The development of a new mode of governance at the EU level is leading to a new process of governing. This throws up the problem of relating new models of governance to methods and practices of traditional government. Even if this problem could be solved, the fact remains that the environment is also a normative political issue, that it, it is a ‘wicked’ problem. As such, the EU will continue to find that, despite its new approach, environmental governability will remain difficult

The performance of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder on Griffiths Mental Development Scales - extended revised

Research has shown that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the commonest neurodevelopmental disorders which has a negative impact on a child. However, to date limited research has been conducted on learners, and specifically those learners with ADHD, within a National Education stream. Furthermore, running concurrently with this are new developments in education in South Africa. An inclusive educational policy favours the incorporation of all children into a mainstream scholastic setting, regardless of their diverse needs. In addition to educational changes for children with ADHD, many parents are presently unable to afford the medication commonly used to treat the disorder, resulting in both parents and teachers having to manage these children with limited professional support. It is widely accepted that early assessment and intervention are necessary in order to maximise a child’s potential. For this reason, the primary aim of this study was to explore and describe the developmental profile of children with ADHD on the Griffiths Mental Development Scales-Extended Revised (GMDS-ER). Further aims were to compare the performance of the clinical sample to a normal South African sample. In order to achieve these aims, a quantitative, exploratory-descriptive research design was employed. The sample (N = 38) of ADHD were selected by means of a non-probability, purposive sampling procedure, from various pre-school and primary schools in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. The normal sample (N = 38) was drawn from an existing database created during the revision of the Scales. Information was collated using the Conners 39 Item Teacher Rating Scale, biographical data, as well as the results of an assessment from the GMDS-ER. In this study the general performance of the ADHD sample on the GMDS-ER was found to be above average. Furthermore the performance of these children on the six Subscales of the GMDS-ER ranged from average to superior, with the poorest performance being on the Eye and Hand Co-ordination Subscale, and the best performance being on the Performance Subscale. Significant differences between the ADHD and normal sample were found on the General Quotient (GQ) as well as three of the six Subscales, namely, the Hearing and Speech, Eye and Hand Co-ordination and Performance Subscales. Generally, the results of the study suggest that a specific developmental profile for children with ADHD exists. Additionally, the study highlighted the success with which the GMDS-ER can be utilised on a specific clinical population

Comparing Small-Group and Individual Behavior in Lottery-Choice Experiments

Lottery-choice experiments are conducted to compare risk preferences revealed by three-person groups versus isolated individuals. A lottery-choice experiment consists of a menu of paired lottery choices structured so that the crossover point from a low-risk to a high-risk lottery can be used to infer the degree of risk aversion. A between-subjects experiment of group versus individual lottery-choice decisions reveal that there is not a significant difference in the average crossover point, but lottery choices are affected by a significant interaction between subject composition (individual or group) and lottery winning percentage. Also, a three-phased individual-group-individual sequenced experiment reveals that the count of safe lotteries chosen by groups is, on average, significantly greater than the mean of the individual members. Finally, making a phase-two group decision has a significant impact on subsequent phase-three individual decisions relative to the initial phase-one (individual) decisions.lab experiments, risk preferences, group decisions