Early Patterns of Change in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

Early intervention for young children with behavior problems is important for promoting healthy social/emotional development and reducing the risk of persistent and worsening conduct problems (DuPaul, McGoey, Eckert, & VanBrakle, 2001; Lahey et al., 1995; Shaw, 2013). Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based treatment for young children exhibiting behavior problems (Eyberg, Nelson, & Boggs, 2008). PCIT aims to promote parents’ use of positive attention and effective discipline skills with their children (Zisser & Eyberg, 2010). Although substantial research has demonstrated the efficacy of PCIT in research settings, far fewer studies have tested its effectiveness with clinically referred samples in community settings. Pilot and case studies have shown promise that PCIT can be implemented effectively in community settings and produce clinically meaningful results (Budd, Hella, Bae, Meyerson, & Watkin, 2011; Lyon & Budd, 2010; McCabe & Yeh, 2009; Phillips, Morgan, Cawthorn, & Barnett, 2008). However, attrition tends to be higher and treatment often takes longer in community settings (Budd, Danko, & Legato, 2012; Lanier, et al., 2011). The early stage of treatment in PCIT is particularly important, as most attrition occurs in the first stage as compared to the later stage of treatment (Lanier et al., 2011). Learning more about parents’ trajectories across the early phase of treatment and the associated effects on child behavior change has implications for improving the effectiveness of PCIT and reducing treatment attrition with clinically referred and diverse ethnic, racial, and socio-economic populations. The current study examined data from 48 young children and their families who were referred to a PCIT program in a university-affiliated, community mental health center. Through use of longitudinal multilevel modeling, this dissertation study is the first to describe trajectories of parental skill acquisition using session-by-session observational data in the early stage of PCIT with a clinically referred sample. As hypothesized, all parents showed significant linear increases in the targeted positive skills (i.e., praise, reflections, and behavioral descriptions) taught during the early stage of treatment, and linear decreases in behaviors to avoid (i.e., negative talk, asking questions, giving commands). Parents’ session-by-session ratings of their child’s behavior problems also showed a significant linear decrease across the first phase of treatment. Importantly, the analyses demonstrated that parents’ increases in positive skill use mediated the decreases in child behavior ratings, whereas parents’ decreases in negative skills use did not show a mediating effect. Several treatment engagement and demographic factors predicted parental skill acquisition. Specifically, parents who attended weekly sessions gained positive skills and decreased negative behaviors faster than parents with more days elapsed between sessions. Single parents showed slower acquisition of positive skills than parents from two-parent households; however, single parents decreased their negative behaviors at a faster rate. Household income, parents’ racial/ethnic minority status, and initial child severity did not predict differing rates of skill acquisition or child behavior ratings across time. Homework completion also did not emerge as a clear predictor of skill gains. Although completers of the first phase of treatment showed faster progress with decreasing negative behaviors than dropouts, they did not differ in positive skill acquisition rates. In summary, the current study demonstrated a mediating effect of parents\u27 session-by-session trajectory of positive skill acquisition on child behavior ratings across the early phase of PCIT, identified several variables related to parents’ rates of target skill gains, and failed to confirm other variables as predictors of change. Implications for treatment and future research directions are discussed

Effects of teacher factors on expectations of students with ADHD

The current study sought to inform the literature on teacher variables related to expectations for students with ADHD. The study examined the relationships among teachers’ knowledge about ADHD, self-efficacy, and their expectations about how ADHD behaviors affect the child, the classroom environment, and the teacher’s own well-being. Results indicated self-efficacy was positively related to teachers\u27 knowledge of ADHD. Teachers with higher knowledge also tended to have higher self-efficacy; however, it remains unknown whether one is causally related to the other. No significant relationships were found among teachers\u27 knowledge of ADHD or their self-efficacy and expectations for problems. Finally, unlike previous studies, the current study did not find that experience teaching students with ADHD was significantly related to ADHD knowledge. Possible reasons for these findings, study limitations, and implications for future research are discussed

pH-Dependent Drug Delivery Systems

Gastric carcinoma, or stomach cancer, is a major disease in the world today. Although it only accounts for about 2% of all cancer cases in the United States, it is much more prevalent in nations such as Korea, Japan, Great Britain, South America, and Iceland. While the most common treatment for gastric carcinoma is surgery, there are chemotherapeutic alternatives including the application of doxorubicin, also known as Adriamycin?. However, as with nearly all chemotherapy drugs, doxorubicin causes dose-dependent toxicity that results in severe biological side effects and, potentially, death. Many of the adverse effects of doxorubicin may be attributed to the fact that it is normally administered intravenously; thus, although the drug?s target is the stomach, the doxorubicin is systemically rampant. Hence, we have developed a delivery system for doxorubicin that we hope will limit the drug?s action to the stomach alone. We begin with a means for encasing the doxorubicin inside two types of hydrogels whose diffusive properties vary depending on temperature and pH levels, such that diffusion may be maximized in the stomach and minimized at all other locations inside the gastrointestinal tract. This original design was modeled as a 1-D radial line to represent the spherical shape of the pill. After investigation, another design involving a hollowed out hemisphere was modeled and tested. Results comparison shows that the second design scheme is superior to the first both in outward drug flux and in the amount of drug able to be delivered. Ultimately, results of the study showed that pH-dependent drug release can be attained at a steady and reliable rate, with significantly greater rates of release inside the stomach. However, we were unable to attain a clinically adequate amount of total doxorubicin release with our model designs. Still, it may be possible to achieve medically useful results with pH-dependent drug delivery systems given certain technological improvements in the future

“It doesn’t hit the scorecard”: the corporate (un)accountability and legal crisis accounting of Chiquita Brands’ crimes in Colombia

El presente proyecto de investigación tuvo por objetivo comprender el recorrido hasta la fecha de Chiquita Brands, empresa bananera anteriormente denominada United Fruit, a través de jurisdicciones civiles y penales en Estados Unidos y Colombia después de la admisión de la empresa en el 2007 de haber financiado a sabiendas a grupos guerrilleros y, sobre todo, paramilitares involucrados en el conflicto armado colombiano. Se presta especial atención a la economía política de la “rendición de cuentas corporativas”, el movimiento orientado a cerrar la brecha creada por la omisión del sujeto corporativo del derecho penal internacional (DPI). Tomando en consideración documentos filtrados de la empresa (los denominados “Chiquita Papers”), documentos judiciales de Estados Unidos y archivos del Estado colombiano, esta investigación cuestiona el papel que juega el derecho en el manejo de la crisis generalizada de impunidad corporativa, el desplazamiento de los deberes tradicionales del sistema de justicia a burocracias de control y auditoría, y el propósito de revelar estos "secretos a voces" en el orden mundial neoliberal.Ejecutivos corporativos estadounidensesEjecutivos corporativos colombianosThe purpose of this investigation was to understand the journey of Chiquita Brands, the banana company previously known as United Fruit, through civil and criminal jurisdictions in the United States and Colombia to date following the company’s 2007 admission to having knowingly financed guerrilla and, above all, paramilitary groups involved in the Colombian armed conflict. Special attention is paid to the political economy of “corporate accountability”, the movement to close the gap created by the omission of the corporate subject from international criminal law (ICL). Referring to leaked company documents (the “Chiquita Papers”), U.S court documents, and Colombian state archives, this thesis questions the role played by the law in managing the crisis of widespread corporate impunity, the displacement of the traditional duties of the justice system onto compliance officers and bureaucracies, and the purpose of transparent secrets in the neoliberal world order.Magíster en Estudios CulturalesMaestrí

Resultados óptimos demandan herramientas de mayor precisión: el aporte de Mínimos Cuadrados Parciales (PLS)

La regresión PLS (Partial Least Squares) es un método estadístico multivariante recientemente generalizado. Combina y generaliza conceptos de análisis de Componentes Principales y de análisis de Regresión Lineal Múltiple y resulta particularmente útil cuando se desea predecir un conjunto de variables dependientes (Y) desde un conjunto (relativamente grande y posiblemente correlacionadas) de variables predictoras (X). También resuelve con propiedad el problema de multicolinealidad, que generalmente se supera eliminando las variables que la causan o transformándolas, solución aplicable si la permanencia del set de variables X no es requerida, o sea cuando necesidades de explicación y predicción no inhiban tal procedimiento. Es apto asimismo cuando el problema requiere considerar relaciones múltiples y cruzadas, y que todas ellas se den simultáneamente o cuando existen variables que no se puedan medir directamente (no observables) no obstante ser necesarias para desarrollar la teoría. El presente trabajo considera específicamente esta metodología, la describe e interpreta en su concepción y hace explícito su potencial aporte a través de su aplicación a dos casos simplificados1 que permiten comparar los resultados con los obtenidos mediante el empleo de otra técnica

Empresas, universidad y mercado: un trípode institucional como factor de competitividad de empresas y desarrollo de comunidades

El desarrollo, como expresión del bienestar de la comunidad y, consecuentemente, de las metas de los gobiernos y del management de las organizaciones empresarias, compromete el efecto sinérgico del funcionamiento eficiente de tres pilares: empresas, universidad, y la organización-coordinación de la actividad económica basada en el mercado. Se demuestra, investigación mediante, que la existencia y desarrollo de empresas implica una demanda incremental de conocimiento formal en función de algunos aspectos clave de su evolución. Seguidamente queda expuesta la necesidad de optimizar el proceso de creación, difusión y aplicación del conocimiento a cargo de las universidades y de un contexto que, en lo fundamental, debiera estar dado por una economía de mercado sujeta a efectiva regulación. Ello implica, para el management público, un compromiso fundamental referido a la competitividad global y a la efectividad de las asignaciones destinadas a finalidades cruciales para el desarrollo y la superación de desigualdades básicas.Development implies the community welfare and it also includes the government commitment and enterprise goals. It depends on the synergic and efficient functioning of three basic institutions: enterprises, university and the market oriented organization-coordination of the economic activity. This paper will evidence, through specific research, that the fact that the existence of enterprises and their development is in direct relation with an increasing demand of formal knowledge which, in turn, is a function of some key factors of the evolution of the organizations. Afterwards, the paper will show that the process of creation, spreading and application of knowledge, a main commitment of the universities and a close response to the quality of the context, should be optimized through market rules under a proper regulation. These specifications imply a fundamental commitment to public management, related to a nationally global competence capacity and to effective money assignations aimed at supporting key development factors and solving crucial social needs.Facultad de Ciencias Económica

Resultados óptimos demandan herramientas de mayor precisión: el aporte de Mínimos Cuadrados Parciales (PLS)

La regresión PLS (Partial Least Squares) es un método estadístico multivariante recientemente generalizado. Combina y generaliza conceptos de análisis de Componentes Principales y de análisis de Regresión Lineal Múltiple y resulta particularmente útil cuando se desea predecir un conjunto de variables dependientes (Y) desde un conjunto (relativamente grande y posiblemente correlacionadas) de variables predictoras (X). También resuelve con propiedad el problema de multicolinealidad, que generalmente se supera eliminando las variables que la causan o transformándolas, solución aplicable si la permanencia del set de variables X no es requerida, o sea cuando necesidades de explicación y predicción no inhiban tal procedimiento. Es apto asimismo cuando el problema requiere considerar relaciones múltiples y cruzadas, y que todas ellas se den simultáneamente o cuando existen variables que no se puedan medir directamente (no observables) no obstante ser necesarias para desarrollar la teoría. El presente trabajo considera específicamente esta metodología, la describe e interpreta en su concepción y hace explícito su potencial aporte a través de su aplicación a dos casos simplificados que permiten comparar los resultados con los obtenidos mediante el empleo de otra técnica.PLS regression (Partial Least Squares) is a multivariable statistical method that has been recently generalized. It combines and generalizes concepts of the analysis of Principal Components and the analysis of Multiple Linear Regression. It has proved to be particu-larly useful to predict a set of dependent variables (Y) from a quite big set of possibly correlated independent variables (X). It is also appropriate to solve the problem of mul-ticolinearity, a problem that is generally overcome by eliminating the variables that cause this phenomenon or even by transforming these variables, a solution that can be applied if the permanence of the X variables set is not required, that is to say, when the need of explanation and prediction does not inhibit such a procedure. It is also suitable when the problem requires to consider multiple and crossed relations, all of them occurring simul-taneously or, when there are variables that cannot be measured directly (not noticeable) even if they are necessary to develop the theory.Facultad de Ciencias Económica