Predictors of treatment outcome in a family-based hospitalization program for adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Family-based treatment (FBT) is the first-line treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). Although FBT works for many, it does not work for everyone. The current study explored variables that are believed to impact treatment outcome in FBT, (a) initial weight gain, (b) parental criticism, and (c) obsessive-compulsive features, and investigated three additional factors expected to predict positive treatment outcome, (d) fear of food, (e) exposure to feared foods, and (f) parent-child concordance. Participants were 240 children, adolescents, and young adults with AN or other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) enrolled in a family-based partial hospitalization program (PHP). Pearson correlations and hierarchical linear regression models were used to explore predictors of treatment outcome. The amount of weight gain by Week 4 was a significant predictor of weight outcomes. Obsessive-compulsive features, meal anxiety, gain in percent of expected body weight (EBW), and more parent-reported symptoms were significant predictors of psychological outcomes. Results from this study may help to improve treatment response in PHPs based on FBT principles

Environmental Activism and Indigenous Populations Case Study: The Indonesian Palm Oil Industry

The purpose of this study was to see whether or not environmental activism projects benefit or harm the indigenous populations of the countries in which these projects are taking place. When looking at environmental activism projects, Greenpeace International’s environmental activism projects within Indonesia were analyzed because they are one of the largest environmental organizations in the world. The Indonesian palm oil industry was looked at specifically to examine the effects of Greenpeace’s work on the indigenous populations of Indonesia that are affected by the palm oil industry. Several of Greenpeace’s publications were examined in order to find out how often Greenpeace mentioned the indigenous populations of Indonesia when they presented the palm oil crisis to the rest of the world. A table was designed in order to analyze all of Greenpeace’s publications that mentioned the indigenous populations of Indonesia. The table was created in order to examine the ratio of how often indigenous populations were mentioned within the publication to how big the entire publication was. This table helped to specifically analyze whether or not Greenpeace mentioned the effects of the palm oil industry and their environmental activism projects affected the indigenous populations of Indonesia. With Greenpeace being one of the largest opponents of the palm oil industry, if they shed light onto what is happening to the indigenous populations of Indonesia then it will allow the rest of the world to see what is actually happening and make them want to take action

Increasing student voice and empowerment through technology: Not just listening to the voice of the learner but using their digital capabilities to benefit a whole college community

Perceived as fostering democracy in educational institutions, approaches which encourage student voice are being promoted as supporting greater social equalities and strengthening student’s commitment to their learning. Using student voice as a research theme, facilitated through focus groups, research funded by Jisc set out to hear learner views and explore their digital preferences when learning in a vocational context. The aim of this research was to enhance digital student practice by exploring how learners experience, use and wish to work, in a technology rich environment. A literature review was undertaken to inform the research findings which revealed a lack of research on student voice in the FE sector. This article goes some way to address that deficit and focuses on innovative practice, discovered by serendipity, that went beyond the tenets usually described in the literature on student voice. Using a Case study approach this article reports on work underway in one FE Institution where students have been appointed as ‘DigiPals’ and given a key role to embed the use of digital technologies into student and staff practice. Two theoretical lenses namely those focused on technology and the other on student voice are applied to explore innovative practice. The community of Digi-Pal practice is described and recommendations made for further adoption across the FE and Skills sector

Overlap Between Humanities Faculty Citations and Library Monograph Collections 2005-2009

The authors wished to evaluate whether their collection housed the resources that their humanities faculty needed (and actually used) for their research, with the hope of providing additional illumination about general resource use by humanities scholars. This study asks not whether anyone used what was already owned, but instead whether the library owned what was needed. The answer to this question might have implications for storage or weeding decisions, approval plans for collections, and interlibrary loan. A citation analysis of 28 monographs published by their institution’s humanities faculty between 2004 and 2009 was used to assess how many of their cited sources were owned, how they were acquired (approval or firm order), their average age, and interdisciplinary usage as evidenced by LC classification. Subject areas assessed were History, Philosophy, Classics, and English. Findings include that one quarter of sources cited were over 25 years old, and that over the last fifteen years, the approval plan has provided more than three quarters of the sources cited that were owned

Citation Analysis for Collection Development: A Comparative Study of Eight Humanities Fields

This study analyzes 9,131 citations from the 2002 volumes of journals in eight humanities fields: art, classics, history, linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, and religion. This study found that citation patterns varied widely among humanities disciplines. Due to these differences, it is important for librarians with humanities collection development responsibilities to consider each field separately when making collection development decisions. The authors investigated the language of sources cited in each field. Foreign language citations continue to be dominated by French and German. This study also confirms that, in most humanities disciplines, monographs remain the dominant format of cited sources, although some fields cited monographs less frequently than expected.</p

Early weight gain predicts treatment response in adolescents with anorexia nervosa enrolled in a family‐based partial hospitalization program

ObjectiveImproved treatment outcome in family‐based treatment (FBT) for anorexia nervosa (AN) is predicted by weight gain occurring early in the course of treatment (i.e., about 4 lbs by week 4). Although prior work suggests that early weight gain in higher levels of care (e.g., partial hospitalization programs [PHP]) predicts weight restoration at discharge, no study has examined the specific rate of gain within FBT‐informed PHP programs that best predicts treatment response.MethodThis study examined rate of weight gain in pounds and percent expected body weight (EBW) that predicts positive outcome in 70 patients (M age = 15.49 years, SD = 2.56) with AN who were enrolled in a family‐based PHP.ResultsReceiver operator characteristic analyses demonstrated that changes in %EBW during weeks 2–5 were more useful than changes in weight in predicting positive outcome. Gaining at least 8.9 pounds or over 8% of EBW in the first 4 weeks of treatment significantly predicted positive outcome.DiscussionFindings suggest that positive outcome in an FBT‐informed PHP is predicted by rapid weight gain in the initial weeks of treatment. Research is needed to identify specific family and patient characteristics that facilitate weight gain and to develop corresponding interventions to improve outcome.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154930/1/eat23248_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154930/2/eat23248.pd

Defective Autoimmune Regulator-Dependent Central Tolerance to Myelin Protein Zero Is Linked to Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathy

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy is a debilitating autoimmune disease characterized by peripheral nerve demyelination and dysfunction. How the autoimmune response is initiated, identity of provoking Ags, and pathogenic effector mechanisms are not well defined. The autoimmune regulator (Aire) plays a critical role in central tolerance by promoting thymic expression of self-Ags and deletion of self-reactive T cells. In this study, we used mice with hypomorphic Aire function and two patients with Aire mutations to define how Aire deficiency results in spontaneous autoimmune peripheral neuropathy. Autoimmunity against peripheral nerves in both mice and humans targets myelin protein zero, an Ag for which expression is Aire-regulated in the thymus. Consistent with a defect in thymic tolerance, CD4(+) T cells are sufficient to transfer disease in mice and produce IFN-γ in infiltrated peripheral nerves. Our findings suggest that defective Aire-mediated central tolerance to myelin protein zero initiates an autoimmune Th1 effector response toward peripheral nerves