Attention and Sociability in Preschoolers With and Without Developmental Disabilities

Social and Behavioral SciencesChildren with developmental disabilities (DD) often have sociability and/or attention deficits that may negatively impact their ability to learn and develop at the same pace as their typically developing (TD) peers. The early childhood years are a key time for learning important pre-academic and social skills. Socialization and attention are essential for learning in a preschool classroom. The structure of classroom activities should promote opportunities for social interactions and on-task behavior for children with and without attention and sociability deficits in order to foster growth and learning. However, no previous research explores the influence of classroom structure on the attention and sociability of DD versus TD children. The purpose of this pilot study is to determine if classroom settings are scaffolding opportunities for sociability and attention for children with these deficits, and specifically to explore whether preschoolers with and without DD have more attention and sociability in structured or unstructured activities. Behavioral coding schemes for attention and sociability were developed and pilot tested. A second rater coded 13% of observations to achieve inter-rater reliability. 5 DD and 5 TD preschoolers were each observed 4 hours and data was collected on their attention and sociability during structured and unstructured activities. ANOVA analyses showed a statistically significant interaction between social interaction type (adult v. peer) and setting type (structured v. unstructured). More adult social interactions occurred during structured settings, while significantly more peer social interactions occurred during unstructured settings. Further regression analyses indicated that, on average, as structure increases, peer social interactions decrease. These findings suggest structured activities may hinder opportunities for peer social interaction rather than promote them. Decreased exposure to peer socialization may put children at a developmental disadvantage. Future research should explore this finding in a new context with a larger sample size to test generalizability.URO-Psychology Summer Research FellowshipAcademic Major: Psycholog

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Low- and Low-Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer: Is there a Dose Effect?

This study examines the efficacy and toxicity of two stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) dose regimens for treatment of early prostate cancer. Forty-one patients treated with 35 Gy were matched with 41 patients treated with 36.25 Gy. Both patient groups received SBRT in five fractions over five consecutive days using the CyberKnife. Each group had 37 low-risk patients and 4 intermediate-risk patients. No statistically significant differences were present for age, prostate volume, PSA, Gleason score, stage, or risk between the groups. The dose was prescribed to the 83–87% isodose line to cover the prostate and a 5-mm margin all around, except 3 mm posteriorly. The overall median follow-up is 51 months (range, 45–58 months) with a median 54 and 48 months follow-up for the 35 and 36.25-Gy dose groups, respectively. One biochemical failure occurred in each group yielding a 97.5% freedom from biochemical failure. The PSA response has been favorable for all patients with a mean PSA of 0.1 ng/ml at 4-years. Overall toxicity has been mild with 5% late grade 2 rectal toxicity in both dose groups. Late grade 1 urinary toxicity was equivalent between groups; grade 2 urinary toxicity was 5% (2/41 patients) and 10% (4/41 patients) in the 35-Gy and 36.25-Gy dose groups (p = 0.6969), respectively. Overall, the highly favorable PSA response, limited biochemical failures, limited toxicity, and limited impact on quality of life in these low- to low-intermediate-risk patients are supportive of excellent long-term results for CyberKnife delivered SBRT

The Employed Homeless: A Crisis in Public Policy

Departing from the conventional wisdom of who constitutes the homeless, the employed homeless emerge as a subgroup of the homeless population in a state-wide Maryland Study (n= 178) at 25 shelter facilities. Twenty-four percent. of the homeless were found to work fulltime and eleven percent part-time. Gender disability, health, previous mental health hospitalization, military experience and education were significantly associated with employment status in the bivariate analysis. From these exploratory findings a theory of economic dislocation is hypothesized

Le développement durable : enjeux de définition et de mesurabilité

Le développement durable est un concept de plus en plus répandu, mais les enjeux entourant sa définition et sa mesurabilité suscitent encore beaucoup de discussions. La définition la plus fréquemment utilisée du développement durable reste celle du Rapport Brundtland, publié en 1987. Il n'existe toutefois pas encore de consensus sur les moyens d'atteindre le développement durable et sur les indicateurs pouvant l'évaluer. En effet, l'internationalisation du concept de développement durable a encouragé la création d'un ensemble de nouveaux indicateurs pour mesurer le niveau de progrès atteint par un État. Or, la grande divergence qui existe entre les résultats des différents indicateurs peut parfois laisser les chercheurs perplexes quant à l'utilité même du concept de développement durable. Nous soutenons que le concept de durabilité et ses interprétations sont en mesure de permettre une évaluation des indicateurs de développement durable et qu'il existe une corrélation entre le degré de durabilité d'un indicateur et les résultats qu'il produit. Afin de tester cette hypothèse, nous présentons une grille d'analyse pour évaluer, selon la durabilité, quatre des principaux indicateurs de développement durable, soit l'empreinte écologique, l'indice de la planète heureuse (IPH), l'indice de bien-être (IB) et l'index de performance environnementale (IPE). Ce test qualitatif nous permet de différencier de manière systématique les quatre indicateurs, selon leur durabilité. Finalement, une étude comparative des résultats des quatre indicateurs pour le Canada nous permet de tester cette méthode d'analyse et d'en vérifier les conclusions. \ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Développement durable, Brundtland, empreinte écologique, indice de planète heureuse, indice de bien-être, index de performance environnementale, indicateur environnemental

Stereotactic body radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer: disease control and quality of life at 6 years

Background: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) may yield disease control for prostate cancer in a brief, hypofractionated treatment regimen without increasing treatment toxicity. Our report presents a 6-year update from 304 low- (n = 211), intermediate- (n = 81), and high-risk (n = 12) prostate cancer patients who received CyberKnife SBRT. Methods: The median PSA at presentation was 5.8 ng/ml. Fifty-seven patients received neoadjuvant hormonal therapy for up to one year. The first 50 patients received a total dose of 35 Gy in 5 fractions of 7 Gy. The subsequent 254 patients received a total dose of 36.25 Gy in 5 fractions of 7.25 Gy. Toxicity was assessed with the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite questionnaire and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group urinary and rectal toxicity scale. Biochemical failure was assessed using the nadir + 2 definition. Results: No patients experienced Grade III or IV acute complications. Fewer than 5% of patients experienced any acute Grade II urinary or rectal toxicities. Late urinary Grade II complications were observed in 4% of patients treated to 35 Gy and 9% of patients treated to 36.25 Gy. Five (2%) late Grade III urinary toxicities occurred in patients who were treated with 36.25 Gy. Late Grade II rectal complications were observed in 2% of patients treated to 35 Gy and 5% of patients treated to 36.25 Gy. Bowel and urinary quality of life (QOL) scores initially decreased, but later returned to baseline values. An overall decrease of 20% in the sexual QOL score was observed. QOL in each domain was not differentially affected by dose. For patients that were potent prior to treatment, 75% stated that they remained sexually potent. Actuarial 5-year biochemical recurrence-free survival was 97% for low-risk, 90.7% for intermediate-risk, and 74.1% for high-risk patients. PSA fell to a median of 0.12 ng/ml at 5 years; dose did not influence median PSA levels. Conclusions: In this large series with long-term follow-up, we found excellent biochemical control rates and low and acceptable toxicity, outcomes consistent with those reported for from high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR BT). Provided that measures are taken to account for prostate motion, SBRT\u27s distinct advantages over HDR BT include its noninvasiveness and delivery to patients without anesthesia or hospitalization

Oral History Conversation Teresa Smith (Dreams for Change)

Dreams for Change founder, Teresa Smith, discusses her company and its mission