A Guideline to Preemployment Screening

This paper presents a literature review of ways to reduce the cost of Worker\u27s Compensation Claims. Years reviewed are 1976 through 1992. Methods reviewed in this paper include preemployment screening, preplacement screening, job analysis, Ergonomics as it relates t o preemployment screening, and the legal aspects of preemployment/replacement screening. Guidelines are given for formulation of preplacement screening

M.F.E.O.: Nora Ephron\u27s Sleepless in Seattle

Nora Ephron is one of the very few women writer/directors working in Hollywood today. Her credits include Silkwood (1983, co-writer with Alice Arlen), Heartburn (1986, writer, based on her own novel), Cookie (1989, co-writer with Alice Arlen), When Harry Met Sally (1989, writer), My Blue Heaven (1990, writer), This is my Life (1992, director and co-writer with Delia Ephron), and Sleepless in Seattle (1993, director and co-writer with David S. Ward and Jeff Arch)

Consistency and Change: Districts’ Efforts to Engage Stakeholders Over Time

Background: Across families from all backgrounds, and for all students, when parents and the broader community engage in sustained systematic program improvements, schools and districts are more likely to focus on and maintain improvements. As a result, federal and state lawmakers have implemented engagement mandates. The ways in which these mandates are interpreted and implemented influence the success of the engagement practices. Research Design: We conducted a comparative case study and analyzed state representative survey data. Research Questions: How has Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) local engagement played out over time? What has been learned? What may be facilitating and inhibiting “meaningful” engagement? Conclusions: Through the lens of democratic engagement, we find broad community and district leadership support for the ideals of community engagement. However, we also find that community engagement over time has generally lacked both depth and breadth and was specifically constrained for traditionally marginalized communities. Our analysis also identifies outlier districts that have established ways to implement broader and deeper engagement activities that focus on utilizing their communities as assets. Our research suggests that district leaders and educators need greater support to fully realize these democratic processes

The Multi-faceted Implementation of Telepractice to Service Individuals with Autism

Telepractice is a method of service delivery in which professionals provide intervention, assessment and consultation services to individuals through the use of telecommunication technologies.  In response to the nationwide school-based shortage of speech-language pathologists, telepractice has emerged as a viable way to reach underserved clients. Telepractice has the potential to extend to populations in need of services, including those diagnosed with autism.  This paper examines an evidence-based clinical model for the delivery of telepractice services and describes the policies and procedures required for assessing individual need, confidentiality, technology, training and documentation within a telepractice program.  Two clinical case studies involving individuals diagnosed with autism are described and provide initial evidence for the use of telepractice as a practical method for direct and consultative service delivery. Results indicated that both the student receiving direct services, and the treating clinician receiving consultative services via telepractice, demonstrated an increased skill level in target domains

The Effect of EtOH and Caffeine on Brain 5-HT and 5-HIAA

The study was undertaken to determine if there is a synergistic effect of alcohol and caffeine on levels of serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). Male weanling rats were given a choice between water and a 10% ethanol solution and were placed on a vitamin deficient diet previously demonstrated to increase appetite for alcohol. After 11 weeks of stabilization they were divided into groups of high, low, and middle drinkers. The high and low drinking groups were maintained on a diet providing coffee equivalent to 9 cups per day in the human. High drinkers had ad lib.access to 10% ethanol. The middle drinkers were subdivided into two experimental groups—one group received caffeine equivalent to the amount found in 9 cups of coffee per day, in their ration, the other did not: middle drinkers had ad lib. access to 10% alcohol solution. Another group of unrelated rats were naive to ethanol and maintained on rations identical to those used for the middle drinkers. Caffeine deprivation in habitually drinking rats causes a temporary decrease in ethanol consumption (29.9 ml/wk 10% EtOH to 9 ml/wk at the end of Week I). However, within four weeks consumption surpassed predeprivation levels (34.1 ml/wk). Serotonin and 5-HIAA levels in brain tissue were determined by fluorometric analysis by a modification of the method developed by Curzon and Green (1970). When analyzed by stepwise regression analysis, caffeine alone was not a significant predictor of either 5-HT or 5-HIAA levels. Highly significant differences were found for both 5-HT and 5-HIAA between high and low drinkers (P=.0056 and .0001). Alcohol was the most significant predictor for 5HT (32.02% of factors) and caffeine the most significant predictor of 5-HIAA (20.75/ of the factors)

SAF-A mutants disrupt chromatin structure through dominant negative effects on RNAs associated with chromatin

Here we provide a brief review of relevant background before presenting results of our investigation into the interplay between scaffold attachment factor A (SAF-A), chromatin-associated RNAs, and DNA condensation. SAF-A, also termed heterogenous nuclear protein U (hnRNP U), is a ubiquitous nuclear scaffold protein that was implicated in XIST RNA localization to the inactive X-chromosome (Xi) but also reported to maintain open DNA packaging in euchromatin. Here we use several means to perturb SAF-A and examine potential impacts on the broad association of RNAs on euchromatin, and on chromatin compaction. SAF-A has an N-terminal DNA binding domain and C-terminal RNA binding domain, and a prominent model has been that the protein provides a single-molecule bridge between XIST RNA and chromatin. Here analysis of the impact of SAF-A on broad RNA-chromatin interactions indicate greater biological complexity. We focus on SAF-A\u27s role with repeat-rich C0T-1 hnRNA (repeat-rich heterogeneous nuclear RNA), shown recently to comprise mostly intronic sequences of pre-mRNAs and diverse long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Our results show that SAF-A mutants cause dramatic changes to cytological chromatin condensation through dominant negative effects on C0T-1 RNA\u27s association with euchromatin, and likely other nuclear scaffold factors. In contrast, depletion of SAF-A by RNA interference (RNAi) had no discernible impact on C0T-1 RNA, nor did it cause similarly marked chromatin changes as did three different SAF-A mutations. Overall results support the concept that repeat-rich, chromatin-associated RNAs interact with multiple RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in a complex dynamic meshwork that is integral to larger-scale chromatin architecture and collectively influences cytological-scale DNA condensation

Irritability in young people with copy number variants associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (ND-CNVs)

A range of rare mutations involving micro-deletion or -duplication of genetic material (copy number variants (CNVs)) have been associated with high neurodevelopmental and psychiatric risk (ND-CNVs). Irritability is frequently observed in childhood neurodevelopmental conditions, yet its aetiology is largely unknown. Genetic variation may play a role, but there is a sparsity of studies investigating the presentation of irritability in young people with ND-CNVs. This study aimed to investigate whether there is a difference in irritability in young people with rare ND-CNVs compared to those without ND-CNVs, and to what extent irritability is associated with psychiatric diagnoses and cognitive ability (IQ). Irritability and broader psychopathology were assessed in 485 young people with ND-CNVs and 164 sibling controls, using the child and adolescent psychiatric assessment. Autism was assessed using the social communication questionnaire, and intelligence quotient (IQ) by the Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence. Fifty four percent of young people with ND-CNVs met the threshold for irritability; significantly more than controls (OR = 3.77, CI = 3.07-7.90, p = 5.31 × 10-11). When controlling for the presence of other psychiatric comorbidities, ND-CNV status was still associated with irritability. There was no evidence for a relationship between irritability and IQ. Irritability is an important aspect of the clinical picture in young people with ND-CNVs. This work shows that genetic variation is associated with irritability in young people with ND-CNVs, independent of psychiatric comorbidities or IQ impairment. Clinicians should be aware of this increased risk to inform management and interventions

The conundrum of increased burden of end-stage renal disease in Asians

The conundrum of increased burden of end-stage renal disease in Asians.BackgroundFew cohort studies have examined the risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) among Asians compared with whites and blacks.MethodsTo compare the incidence of ESRD in Asians, whites, and blacks in Northern California, we examined sociodemographic and clinical data on 299,168 adults who underwent a screening health checkup at Kaiser Permanente between 1964 and 1985. Incident cases of ESRD were ascertained by matching patient identifiers with the nationally comprehensive United States Renal Data System ESRD registry.ResultsOverall, 1346 cases of ESRD occurred during 7,837,310 person-years of follow-up. The age-adjusted rate of ESRD (per 100,000 person-years) was 14.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 10.5-18.5] among Asians, 7.9 (95% CI 6.5-9.5) among whites, and 43.4 (95% CI 36.6-51.4)] among blacks. Controlling for age, gender, educational attainment, diabetes, prior myocardial infarction, serum creatinine, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, proteinuria, hematuria, cigarette smoking, serum total cholesterol, and body mass index increased the risk of ESRD in Asians relative to whites from 1.69 to 2.08 (95% CI 1.61-2.67). By contrast, adjustment for the same covariates decreased the risk of ESRD in blacks relative to whites from 5.30 to 3.28 (95% CI 2.91-3.69).ConclusionFactors contributing to the excess ESRD risk in Asians relative to whites extend beyond usually considered sociodemographic and comorbidity disparities. Strategies aimed at examining novel risk factors for kidney disease and efforts to increase awareness of kidney disease among Asians may reduce ESRD incidence in this high-risk group

Plant Functional Groups and Species Contribute to Ecological Resilience a Decade After Woodland Expansion Treatments

Woody plant expansions are altering ecosystem structure and function, as well as fire regimes, around the globe. Tree-reduction treatments are widely implemented in expanding woodlands to reduce fuel loads, increase ecological resilience, and improve habitat, but few studies have measured treatment outcomes over long timescales or large geographic areas. The Sagebrush Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) evaluated the ecological effects of prescribed fire and cut-and-leave treatments in sagebrush communities experiencing tree expansion in North American cold desert shrublands. We used 10 yr of data from the SageSTEP network to test how treatments interacted with pre-treatment tree dominance, soil climate, and time since treatment to affect plant functional groups and dominant species. Non-sprouting shrub (Artemisia spp.), sprouting shrub, perennial graminoid, and annual grass responses depended on tree dominance and soil climate, and responses were related to the dominant species\u27 life-history traits. Sites with warm and dry soils showed increased perennial graminoid but reduced Artemisia shrub cover across the tree dominance gradient after prescribed burning, while sites with cool and moist soils showed favorable post-burn responses for both functional types, particularly at low to moderate tree dominance. Cut-and-leave treatments sustained or increased native perennial plant functional groups and experienced smaller increases in exotic annual plants in both soil climates across the tree dominance gradient. Both treatments reduced biocrust cover. Selecting appropriate tree-reduction treatments to achieve desired long-term outcomes requires consideration of dominant species, site environmental conditions, and the degree of woodland expansion. Careful selection of management treatments will reduce the likelihood of undesirable consequences to the ecosystem