Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: Claims versus Evidence

The purpose of this paper is to review and critique studies that have been conducted on dolphin-assisted therapy for children with various disorders. Studies have been released claiming swimming with dolphins is therapeutic and beneficial for children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, physical disabilities, and other psychological disorders. The majority of the studies conducted supporting the effectiveness of dolphin-assisted therapy have been found to have major methodological concerns making it impossible to draw valid conclusions. Readers will be informed of the history of, theory behind, and variations of dolphin-assisted therapy along with a review and critique of studies published which purportedly support its use

Parental Behavior Control as a Moderator Between Close Friend Support and Conduct Problems

Objective: Potential moderating effects between parental control and close friend support on youth conduct problems have not been investigated. Goals of this study were to investigate for a possible curvilinear relationship between parental behavioral control and child conduct issues, as well as the potential that parental control will moderate the relationship between friend support and those behaviors. Design: Surveyed 101 youth and their parents in a small Midwestern United States metropolitan area. Results: Through hierarchical regression, the current study shows a curvilinear main effect for parent control on conduct problems. Additionally, close friend support is a protective agent only for those youth in families with high and medium levels of parental control, and a risk factor for children from families with low parental control. Conclusion: Moderate levels of parental control are ideal and low levels of parental control are particularly problematic for youth who are highly engaged with peers

Parental Behavior Control as a Moderator Between Close Friend Support and Conduct Problems

Objective: Potential moderating effects between parental control and close friend support on youth conduct problems have not been investigated. Goals of this study were to investigate for a possible curvilinear relationship between parental behavioral control and child conduct issues, as well as the potential that parental control will moderate the relationship between friend support and those behaviors. Design: Surveyed 101 youth and their parents in a small Midwestern United States metropolitan area. Results: Through hierarchical regression, the current study shows a curvilinear main effect for parent control on conduct problems. Additionally, close friend support is a protective agent only for those youth in families with high and medium levels of parental control, and a risk factor for children from families with low parental control. Conclusion: Moderate levels of parental control are ideal and low levels of parental control are particularly problematic for youth who are highly engaged with peers

Stabilization of self-focusing instability in wide-aperture semiconductor lasers

A mechanism for the stabilization of the output of filamentary broad-area edge-emitting semiconductor lasers is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. This mechanism occurs when the carrier density is profiled in the transverse direction. The laser structure consisted of a wide-aperture edge-emitting laser diode operating in pulsed mode to avoid thermal guiding effects. The injection current profile was modified from the usual step-function case to a Lorentzian-like profile through the inclusion of a 10 mum p-type epitaxial spreading layer. The resulting nonlinear transverse mode is described and the possibility of its observation in two transverse dimensions is discussed

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine dose-ranging studies in humans: A systematic review

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the most common bacterial pathogens of infants and young children. Antibody responses against the pneumococcal polysaccharide capsule are the basis of vaccine-mediated protection. We examined the relationship between the dose of polysaccharide in pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) and immunogenicity. Methods: A systematic search of English publications that evaluated the immunogenicity of varying doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines was performed in Medline and Embase (Ovid Sp) databases in August 2019. We included only articles that involved administration of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in humans and assessed the immunogenicity of more than one serotype-specific saccharide dose. Results were synthesised descriptively due to the heterogeneity of product valency, product content and vaccine schedule. Results: We identified 1691 articles after de-duplication; 9 studies met our inclusion criteria; 2 in adults, 6 in children and 1 in both. Doses of polysaccharide evaluated ranged from 0.44 mcg to 17.6 mcg. In infants, all doses tested elicited IgG geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) above the established correlate of protection (COP; 0.35 mcg/ml). A month after completion of the administered vaccine schedule, 95% confidence intervals of only three out of all the doses evaluated had GMCs that crossed below the COP. In the adult studies, all adults achieved GMCs that would be considered protective in children who have received 3 standard vaccine doses. Conclusion: For some products, the mean antibody concentrations induced against some pneumococcal serotypes increased with increasing doses of the polysaccharide conjugate, but for other serotypes, there were no clear dose–response relationships or the dose response curves were negative. Fractional doses of polysaccharide which contain less than is included in currently distributed formulations may be useful in the development of higher valency vaccines, or dose-sparing delivery for paediatric use

Protocol for a mixed methods process evaluation of the Smoking Treatment Optimisation in Pharmacies (STOP) trial

This article is a preprint from medRxiv and has not been peer-reviewe

Electron and Hole Dynamics of InAs∕GaAsInAs∕GaAs Quantum Dot Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

Single-color and two-color pump-probe measurements are used to analyze carrier dynamics in InAs∕GaAs quantum dot amplifiers. The study reveals that hole recovery and intradot electron relaxation occur on a picosecond time scale, while the electron capture time is on the order of 10ps. A longer time scale of hundreds of picoseconds is associated with carrier recovery in the wetting layer, similar to that observed in quantum well semiconductor amplifiers

The tuberculosis challenge in a rural South African HIV programme.

BACKGROUND: South Africa remains the country with the greatest burden of HIV-infected individuals and the second highest estimated TB incidence per capita worldwide. Within South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal has one of the highest rates of TB incidence and an emerging epidemic of drug-resistant tuberculosis. METHODS: Review of records of consecutive HIV-infected people initiated onto ART between 1st January 2005 and 31st March 2006. Patients were screened for TB at initiation and incident episodes recorded. CD4 counts, viral loads and follow-up status were recorded; data was censored on 5th August 2008. Geographic cluster analysis was performed using spatial scanning. RESULTS: 801 patients were initiated. TB prevalence was 25.3%, associated with lower CD4 (AHR 2.61 p = 0.01 for CD4 25 copies/ml (OR 1.75 p = 0.11). A low-risk cluster for incident TB was identified for patients living near the local hospital in the geospatial analysis. CONCLUSION: There is a large burden of TB in this population. Rate of incident TB stabilises at a rate higher than that of the overall population. These data highlight the need for greater research on strategies for active case finding in rural settings and the need to focus on strengthening primary health care

Maximizing Mindful Learning: Mindful Awareness Intervention Improves Elementary School Students’ Quarterly Grades

This paper discusses results from the first empirical study testing the feasibility and effectiveness of an audio-guided mindful awareness training program on quarterly grade performance in traditional US public elementary schools. Structured as a quasi-experiment, the study demonstrates that a 10-min-per-day, fully automated program significantly enhances students’ quarterly grades in reading and science, compared to a control group, without disrupting teaching operations (N = 191). The intervention utilized a series of guided mindful-based awareness and attention focusing practices as the method for students to engage with social and emotional learning (SEL) concepts, and can thus be called a “mindful-based social emotional learning” (MBSEL) program. The program is innovative because it requires neither expert trainers skilled in mindful awareness nor changes to existing curriculum; thus, it can be considered both teacher-independent and curriculum supportive. The goal of this exploratory study was to facilitate a consistent daily mindful awareness practice that generates improvements in student outcomes for resource- and time-constrained K–12 classrooms in the USA and elsewhere. The authors discuss limitations of this study and suggestions for further research on how to use mindful awareness programs to enhance academic performance both effectively and pragmatically