Blindness and Selective Mutism: One Student’s Response to Voice-Output Devices

This case study was designed to measure the response of one student with blindness and selective mutism to the intervention of voice-output devices across two years and two different teachers in two instructional settings. Before the introduction of the voice output devices, the student did not choose to communicate using spoken language or gestures while at school. As a result of this intervention, the student consistently communicated her choice of a preferred activity, responded independently to social greetings, and more consistently expressed her wants and needs. She responded “yes” and “no” to questions and made significant gains in pre-reading skills

Use of Pollution Prevention for Environmental Regulatory Compliance

Two examples of how companies used P2 to help them get back into and remain in compliance with wastewater requirements mandated by local wastewater treatment facilities. Companies were an aerospace supplier and a window manufacturer.Ope

Physiological and behavioral effects of animal-assisted interventions for therapy dogs in pediatric oncology settings

Over the past two decades, animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), defined as the purposeful incorporation of specially trained animals in services to improve human health, have become increasingly popular in clinical settings. However, to date, there have been few rigorously-designed studies aimed at examining the impact of AAIs on therapy animals, despite a notable potential for stress. The current study measured physiological and behavioral stress indicators in therapy dogs who participated in AAI sessions in pediatric oncology settings, while also examining the psychosocial effects for patients and their parents. This manuscript describes the study’s canine stress findings. Methods: A total of 26 therapy dog-handler teams were paired with newly diagnosed children with cancer at five children’s hospitals in the United States. These teams provided regular AAI visits to the child and his/her parent(s) for a period of four months. The teams completed a demographic form, the Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), and a self-report survey to document the types of activities that occurred during each session. Canine saliva was also collected at five baseline time points and 20 minutes after the start of study sessions for cortisol analysis, and all study sessions were video recorded to document the dog’s behavior via an ethogram measure. Results: Data showed no significant differences in salivary cortisol levels between baseline (0.51µg/dL) and AAI sessions (0.44µg/dL), p = 0.757. Higher salivary cortisol was significantly associated with a higher number of stress behaviors per session (p = 0.039). There was a significant relationship between stress and affiliative session behaviors (pConclusions:Results show that therapy dogs did not have significantly increased physiological stress responses, nor did they exhibit significantly more stress-related behaviors than affiliative-related behaviors, while participating in AAIs in pediatric oncology settings. The significant relationship between canine cortisol and behavior, thus strengthening the argument for the use of cortisol in canine well-being research. This study discusses the importance of further investigation to confirm these findings, which may lead to enhanced canine involvement in hospital settings

Transport of amino acids in intact 3T3 and SV3T3 cells. Binding activity for leucine in membrane preparations of ehrlich ascites tumor cells

Transport of amino acids into 3T3 and SV3T3 (SV40 virus-transformed 3T3) cells was measured on glass cover slips. The 3T3 and SV3T3 cells contain both A (alanine preferring) and L (leucine preferring) systems for neutral amino acid transport. Initial rates of uptake of amino acids are about twofold higher in SV3T3 than in 3T3 cells. Other parameters measured, however, do not indicate marked differences in the transport of amino acids by the two cell types. L-system amino acids, such as leucine, are subject to trans-stimulation in both cell lines, whereas A-system amino acids, such as alanine and glycine, are not. Leucine was transported to higher levels in confluent cells than in nonconfluent cells. Glycine, however, shows distinctly less transport activity as the cells become confluent. Ehrlich ascites cell plasma membranes were prepared and assayed for amino acid-binding activity. Leucine-binding activity was detected by equilibrium dialysis in Triton X-100-treated membrane preparations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38202/1/400040403_ftp.pd

Recollections of pressure to eat during childhood, but not picky eating, predict young adult eating behavior

Picky eating is a childhood behavior that vexes many parents and is a symptom in the newer diagnosis of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) in adults. Pressure to eat, a parental controlling feeding practice aimed at encouraging a child to eat more, is associated with picky eating and a number of other childhood eating concerns. Low intuitive eating, an insensitivity to internal hunger and satiety cues, is also associated with a number of problem eating behaviors in adulthood. Whether picky eating and pressure to eat are predictive of young adult eating behavior is relatively unstudied. Current adult intuitive eating and disordered eating behaviors were self-reported by 170 college students, along with childhood picky eating and pressure through retrospective self- and parent reports. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that childhood parental pressure to eat, but not picky eating, predicted intuitive eating and disordered eating symptoms in college students. These findings suggest that parental pressure in childhood is associated with problematic eating patterns in young adulthood. Additional research is needed to understand the extent to which parental pressure is a reaction to or perhaps compounds the development of problematic eating behavior

Hyperimmune immunoglobulin for hospitalised patients with COVID-19 (ITAC): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3, randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Passive immunotherapy using hyperimmune intravenous immunoglobulin (hIVIG) to SARS-CoV-2, derived from recovered donors, is a potential rapidly available, specific therapy for an outbreak infection such as SARS-CoV-2. Findings from randomised clinical trials of hIVIG for the treatment of COVID-19 are limited. METHODS: In this international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who had been symptomatic for up to 12 days and did not have acute end-organ failure were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either hIVIG or an equivalent volume of saline as placebo, in addition to remdesivir, when not contraindicated, and other standard clinical care. Randomisation was stratified by site pharmacy; schedules were prepared using a mass-weighted urn design. Infusions were prepared and masked by trial pharmacists; all other investigators, research staff, and trial participants were masked to group allocation. Follow-up was for 28 days. The primary outcome was measured at day 7 by a seven-category ordinal endpoint that considered pulmonary status and extrapulmonary complications and ranged from no limiting symptoms to death. Deaths and adverse events, including organ failure and serious infections, were used to define composite safety outcomes at days 7 and 28. Prespecified subgroup analyses were carried out for efficacy and safety outcomes by duration of symptoms, the presence of anti-spike neutralising antibodies, and other baseline factors. Analyses were done on a modified intention-to-treat (mITT) population, which included all randomly assigned participants who met eligibility criteria and received all or part of the assigned study product infusion. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04546581. FINDINGS: From Oct 8, 2020, to Feb 10, 2021, 593 participants (n=301 hIVIG, n=292 placebo) were enrolled at 63 sites in 11 countries; 579 patients were included in the mITT analysis. Compared with placebo, the hIVIG group did not have significantly greater odds of a more favourable outcome at day 7; the adjusted OR was 1·06 (95% CI 0·77–1·45; p=0·72). Infusions were well tolerated, although infusion reactions were more common in the hIVIG group (18·6% vs 9·5% for placebo; p=0·002). The percentage with the composite safety outcome at day 7 was similar for the hIVIG (24%) and placebo groups (25%; OR 0·98, 95% CI 0·66–1·46; p=0·91). The ORs for the day 7 ordinal outcome did not vary for subgroups considered, but there was evidence of heterogeneity of the treatment effect for the day 7 composite safety outcome: risk was greater for hIVIG compared with placebo for patients who were antibody positive (OR 2·21, 95% CI 1·14–4·29); for patients who were antibody negative, the OR was 0·51 (0·29–0·90; pinteraction=0·001). INTERPRETATION: When administered with standard of care including remdesivir, SARS-CoV-2 hIVIG did not demonstrate efficacy among patients hospitalised with COVID-19 without end-organ failure. The safety of hIVIG might vary by the presence of endogenous neutralising antibodies at entry. FUNDING: US National Institutes of Health

Components of Life Satisfaction of Older Texans: A Multidimensional Model

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between majority and ethnic status and life satisfaction. Several studies have examined the relationship between race and life satisfaction. The comparisons have been between Anglos and Blacks, and no previous research has included Anglos, Blacks, and Mexican-Americans in studying the effect of majority and ethnic status on life satisfaction. The findings suggest that multidimensional models are feasible to measure life satisfaction of elderly individuals of different racial or ethnic groups. Furthermore, on the basis of this study future research should include the variable, transportation, in any multivariate analysis of life satisfaction

Austin Papers: Series III, 1837-1889 (1 of 2)

Copy of transcript for a letter from Mary Austin Holley to Emily Austin Bryan Perry, on August 18, 1837, asking that Emily visit her, and discussing the visitors she has recently entertained