Baseline skin conductance level as a predictor of response to propranolol for anxiety and other clinical outcomes in autism spectrum disorder

"Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition indicated by deficits in social and communication skills, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. A meta analysis found that anxiety is comorbid in up to half of the individuals studied (Van Steensel , 2011), with other studies seeing anxiety in up to 84% of individuals with ASD (Santosh and Singh, 2016). This demonstrates the prevalence of co occurring anxiety is very high in ASD patients. Currently there is no diagnostic biomarker nor any proven pharmacological means of treating the hallmark features of ASD. Furthermore, the effectiveness of pharmaceutical agents for mood disturbances in ASD are unclear, thus more research is necessary to find evidence supporting a standard treatment for anxiety in ASD. Research suggests that anxiety correlates with increased sympathetic tone. Because sweating is solely controlled by sympathetic activity, as sweat gland activity rises, it can be quantified by a rise in electrical skin conductance levels (SCL), which may indicate higher levels of anxiety. Propranolol, a beta adrenergic antagonist, blocks the physiologic effects of sympathetic tone and is widely used for its anxiolytic effects in those without ASD. However, more research is needed to better understand its use for anxiety in ASD. We are interested to know whether higher SCL might act as a biomarker to predict a patient’s response to propranolol use for anxiety in ASD patients. We hypothesize that individuals within the ASD population with higher SCL experience increased anxiety, and that greater changes in SCL from baseline to the end of the study may predict a greater response to propranolol use for anxiety in autistic patients."--Introduction

Compositional Heterogeneity of Impact Melt Rocks at the Haughton Impact Structure, Canada: Implications for Planetary Processes and Remote Sensing

Connecting the surface expression of impact crater‐related lithologies to planetary or regional subsurface compositions requires an understanding of material transport during crater formation. Here, we use imaging spectroscopy of six clast‐rich impact melt rock outcrops within the well‐preserved 23.5‐Ma, 23‐km diameter Haughton impact structure, Canada, to determine melt rock composition and spatial heterogeneity. We compare results from outcrop to outcrop, using clasts, groundmass, and integrated clast‐groundmass compositions as tracers of transport during crater‐fill melt rock formation and cooling. Supporting laboratory imaging spectroscopy analyses of 91 melt‐bearing breccia and clast samples and microscopic X‐ray fluorescence elemental mapping of cut samples paired with spectroscopy of identical surfaces validate outcrop‐scale lithological determinations. Results show different clast‐rich impact melt rock compositions at three sites kilometers apart and an inverse correlation between silica‐rich (sandstone, gneiss, and phyllosilicate‐rich shales) and gypsum‐rich rocks that suggests differences in source depth with location. In the target stratigraphy, gypsum is primarily sourced from ~1‐km depth, while gneiss is from >1.8‐km depth, sandstone from >1.3 km, and shales from ~1.6–1.7 km. Observed heterogeneities likely result from different excavation depths coupled with rapid quenching of the melt due to high content of cool clasts. Results provide quantitative constraints for numerical models of impact structure formation and give new details on melt rock heterogeneity important in interpreting mission data and planning sample return of impactites, particularly for bodies with impacts into sedimentary and volatile‐bearing targets, e.g., Mars and Ceres

Slow and Steady: Readiness, Pretreatment Weekly Strengthening Activity, and Pediatric Weight Management Program Completion

Background: Pediatric weight management programs have substantial attrition rates, which have led to recommendations to assess readiness prior to enrollment. Both pretreatment readiness scales and behaviors, such as exercise, have been theorized to predict subsequent program completion. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of self-reported pretreatment exercise in adolescents on completion of a pediatric weight management program and to explore the predictive ability of standard readiness scales. Methods: A total of 146 obese (BMI≥95th percentile) pediatric (ages 11?18) participants joined a 6-month multidisciplinary weight management program between March, 2007, and July, 2010. Completers were compared retrospectively to noncompleters on demographic, readiness, and pretreatment exercise practices from clinic-developed intake questionnaires using univariate analyses. Regression analyses specified the degree to which these variables predicted program completion. Results: The 6-month completion rate was 53%. There was no relationship between self-reported readiness and program completion. Self-reported pretreatment weekly strengthening activity (SA) was significantly associated with program completion, compared to those who performed SA either never [univariate odds ratio (OR) 3.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.51?6.68, p=0.002; multivariate OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.06?5.58, p=0.036] or daily (univariate OR 4.90, 95% CI 1.74?13.77, p=0.002; multivariate OR 4.69, 95% CI 1.45?15.14, p=0.010). No relationship was found between other forms of exercise and program completion. Conclusions: Self-reported pretreatment weekly SA, but not standard readiness scales, predicted pediatric weight management program completion.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140330/1/chi.2013.0006.pd

Assessing Barriers to Healthy Food Access in Winooski, VT

Introduction: • The local food environment plays an important role in defining the health of the neighborhood and is an important determinant of resident’s dietary intakes. • Specifically, food availability, affordability, and accessibility have been linked to diet quality and various health outcomes. • Fresh fruits and vegetables are markers for nutritional diets. Grocery stores and super markets tend to have better quality fruits and vegetables, greater variety and better affordability than convenient stores that tend to have more prepared and higher calorie foods. • People who live in neighborhoods with better access to supermarkets tend to have a greater daily intake of fruits and vegetables. • Increased distance from supermarkets is negatively associated with healthy food intake in a study of pregnant women. • “Food deserts” are areas that are devoid of a local supermarket where residents have a limited ability to purchase affordable healthy foods. They have become an emergent problem in the United States. This paucity of supermarkets in these areas combined with lack of private or convenient transportation among poorer residents may contribute to health disparities across socioeconomic classes. • The town of Winooski, VT has a population of 7,267. Although there are local food markets and convenient stores within the town, Winooski lacks a larger grocery store. • Insufficient public transportation and inadequate pedestrian sidewalks make it more difficult for residents to access supermarkets located in other towns.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1078/thumbnail.jp

2015 AAPP Monograph Series: African American Professors Program

The African American Professors Program (AAPP) at the University of South Carolina is proud to publish its fourteenth edition of this annual monograph series. AAPP recognizes the significance of offering its scholars a venue on which to engage actively in research and to publish their refereed papers. Parallel with the publication of their refereed manuscripts is the opportunity to gain visibility among scholars throughout institutions in national and international settings. Scholars who have contributed papers for this monograph are acknowledged for embracing the value of including this responsibility within their academic milieu. Writing across disciplines adds to the intellectual diversity of these manuscripts. From neophytes to quite experienced individuals, the chapters have been researched and comprehensively written. Founded in 1997 through the Department of Educational Leadership and Policies in the College of Education, AAPP was designed to address the under-representation of African American professors on college and university campuses. Its mission is to expand the pool of these professors in critical academic and research areas. Sponsored by the University of South Carolina, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the South Carolina General Assembly, the program recruits doctoral students for disciplines in which African Americans currently are underrepresented among faculty in higher education. The continuation of this monograph series is seen as responding to a window of opportunity to be sensitive to an academic expectation of graduates as they pursue career placement and, at the same time, to allow for the dissemination of products of scholarship to a broader community. The importance of this monograph series has been voiced by one of our 2002 AAPP graduates, Dr. Shundele LaTjuan Dogan, formerly an Administrative Fellow at Harvard University, a Program Officer for the Southern Education Foundation, and a Program Officer for the Arthur M. Blank Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia. She is currently a Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Manager for IBM-International Business Machines in Atlanta, Georgia and has written the Foreword for the 2014 monograph. Dr. Dogan wrote: One thing in particular that I want to thank you for is having the African American Professors Program scholars publish articles for the monograph. I have to admit that writing the articles seemed like extra work at the time. However, in my recent interview process, organizations have asked me for samples of my writing. Including an article from a published monograph helped to make my portfolio much more impressive. You were \u27right on target\u27 in having us do the monograph series. (AAPP 2003 Monograph, p. xi) The African American Professors Program continues its tradition as a promoter of scholarship in higher education as evidenced through the inspiration from this group of interdisciplinary manuscripts. As we embark on a new phase of development by initiating the renaming of our program, the Carolina Diversity Professors Program, we are grateful for your continued interest and support of the work of the scholars. In conclusion, I hope that you will envision these published papers as serving as an invaluable contribution to your own professional and career development. John McFadden, Ph.D. The Benjamin Elijah Mays Distinguished Professor Emeritus Director, African American Professors Program University of South Carolinahttps://scholarcommons.sc.edu/mcfadden_monographs/1002/thumbnail.jp

Relating colour, chemical and physical characteristics of artificially light-aged New Zealand plant fibres

Light ageing of naturally-dyed plant fibres can cause colour change, alteration of molecular bonds within the fibre structure and loss of mechanical integrity. Lighting guidelines seek to protect artefacts by limiting light exposure, for example by estimating the lux hours likely to cause colour change of “one just noticeable fade” (1JNF). However the extent of associated molecular or mechanical damage is rarely simultaneously assessed. This paper reports a pilot study investigating the effects of accelerated light ageing on muka (fibre extracted from the leaves of Phormium tenax), the most common fibre used in Māori textiles. Non-dyed and dyed muka were artificially light-aged and micro-faded to ascertain exposure resulting in 1JNF. Raman microscopy and tensile testing of individual fibres from the same samples were used to explore correlations among fading, molecular change and mechanical properties.Peer Reviewe

Twenty questions about design behavior for sustainability, report of the International Expert Panel on behavioral science for design

How behavioral scientists, engineers, and architects can work together to advance how we all understand and practice design—in order to enhance sustainability in the built environment, and beyond.https://www.nature.com/documents/design_behavior_for_sustainability.pdfPublished versio

Maintaining independence in individuals with dementia at home after a fall:a protocol for the UK pilot cluster randomised controlled trial MAINTAIN

Introduction: Individuals with dementia face an increased risk of falls. Falls can cause a decline in the individual’s overall functionality. All types of falls, including those that do not result in injury, can lead to psychosocial consequences, such as diminished confidence and a fear of falling. Projections indicate a rising trend in dementia diagnoses, implying an increase in fall incidents. Yet, there is a lack of evidence to support interventions for people living with dementia who have fallen. Our objective is to test the feasibility of a falls intervention trial for people with dementia. Method and analysis: This is a UK-based two-arm pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. In this study, six collaborating sites, which form the clusters, will be randomly allocated to either the intervention arm or the control arm (receiving treatment as usual) at a 1:1 ratio. During the 6 month recruitment phase, each cluster will enrol 10 dyads, comprising 10 individuals with dementia and their respective carers, leading to a total sample size of 60 dyads. The primary outcomes are the feasibility parameters for a full trial (ie, percentage consented, follow-up rate and cost framework). Secondary outcomes include activities of daily living, quality of life, fall efficacy, mobility, goal attainment, cognitive status, occurrence of falls, carer burden and healthcare service utilisation. Outcome measures will be collected at baseline and 28 weeks, with an additional assessment scheduled at 12 weeks for the healthcare service utilisation questionnaire. An embedded process evaluation, consisting of interviews and observations with participants and healthcare professionals, will explore how the intervention operates and the fidelity of study processes. Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the NHS and local authority research governance and research ethics committees (NHS REC reference: 23/WA/0126). The results will be shared at meetings and conferences and will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number: ISRCTN16413728