Systematic Review: Comparative Efficacy of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to Other Augmentative Communication Systems in Increasing Social Communication Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Purpose: This systematic review aims to compare the efficacy of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to other forms of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in increasing social communication skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Methods: A systematic review of the literature on PECS and other forms of AAC written between 2007 and 2018 was conducted. Studies were selected based on the established inclusionary and exclusionary criteria. The inclusionary criteria incorporated subjects with a formal diagnosis of ASD under the age of 18. Exclusionary criteria included individuals with severe sensory, motor, and/or other medical conditions that may have affected their use of PECS. 25 articles of varying study designs were critically appraised for validity and reliability to minimize bias. Results: Results suggest that both PECS and other forms of AAC are conducive to improving social communication in children (\u3c18 \u3eyears) with ASD. Advancements in conversation initiation, requesting behaviors and joint attention were noted, resulting in a global increase in communication interactions. However, studies demonstrated mixed results with specific consideration of rate of acquisition, modality preference, and overall effectiveness of the system. Conclusion: Synthesis of results from the 25 studies suggest that both PECS and other AAC systems show favorable outcomes for encouraging social-communicative behavior. The clinical implications of these results suggest the implementation of an AAC system may be client dependent. Single design designs were included in this review due to the lack of research in the areas of ASD and AAC. Further research of this comparison should be conducted on larger populations of children with ASD to improve clinical decision making to target social communication and increase generalizability.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/csdms/1000/thumbnail.jp

Cloth & memory

This book was published to accompany an exhibition of the same name at Salts Mills, Saltaire, Yorkshire, UK, in summer 2012, conceived and directed by Lesley Millar MBE, Professor of Textile Culture at the University for the Creative Arts. The exhibition and accompanying publication includes work by the artists Beverley Ayling-Smith, Carol Quarini, and Bob White. All visited Salts Mills and Saltaire and have created their work as a response to the history of the place: the memory of cloth and the making of cloth that has seeped into the fabric of the building. This exhibition is the first of two; Cloth and Memory 2 taking place in 2013

Novel method of healing the fibre reinforced thermoplastic composite: a potential model for offshore applications.

Continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites are increasingly finding their use as engineering materials in many industries due to the excellent fire, smoke and toxicity performance. However, the composite component produced using automated continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic tapes laying machine are susceptible to sudden failure emanating from microscale cracks. This study demonstrates the healing potential of a layered Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite consisting of alternative layers of GFRP and a magnetic polyamide-6 (PA-6) nanocomposite (PNC) film. The self-healing process is presented in three steps, viz. (i) polymer nanocomposite synthesis, (ii) preparation of the layered GFRP layered composite sample and (iii) self-healing and testing of GFRP layered composite sample. Firstly, the multilayer dog bone sample consisting of a magnetic polymer nanocomposite (PNC) film sandwiched between thermoplastic unidirectional GFRP tapes are prepared. Healing is triggered by exposing the damaged multilayer sample to microwave causing selective heating of nanocomposite film and its subsequent melting. The healing process completes when liquid polymer fills the micro-crack in the multilayer tape through capillary action and solidifies upon cooling. The healing yields 84% of the undamaged tensile strength recovery. Results demonstrate the potential application of an autonomous self-healing method for thermoplastic composite used in the offshore environment

Surface charge and growth of sulphate and carbonate green rust in aqueous media

We report the first determination of the point of zero charge of sulphated and carbonated green rust particles. Green rust has been recognised as a prevalent mineral in environments such as hydromorphic soils, groundwaters and anoxic Fe(II)-rich water bodies, and the evolution of its net surface charge with pH has direct implications for the uptake of contaminants, metals and nutrients in such settings. We find that the surface of both sulphated and carbonated green rust is positively charged at pH 8.3. Thus, alkaline settings will promote enhanced adsorption of metallic cations. However, the behaviour of ionic species surrounding green rust is more complicated than that predicted by simple pH-dependent adsorption, as our experiments suggest that green rust likely grows via dissolution-reprecipitation during Ostwald-ripening. This implies that adsorbed species are potentially subject to repetitive steps of release into solution, re-adsorption and co-precipitation during particle growth. The growth rate of green rust particles is highest within the first 50. min of aging, and appears to decrease towards an asymptote after 200. min, suggesting that particle growth controls on the uptake of dissolved species will be most important during the early steps of green rust growth. Our findings thus contribute to a better understanding of the controls that green rust may exert on dissolved ions in a variety of anoxic environments

Measuring ecosystem services from soil health. Vermont Payment for Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report #1

There are a multitude of approaches to evaluating soil health and the soil processes influenced by soil health. As the state of Vermont explores innovative programs that compensate farmers for soil health and associated ecosystem services, the selection of soil health indicators and quantification methods is a foundational first step that influences other aspects of program design. What is measured determines the ecosystem services that can be inferred, the accuracy of data that informs decisions, and programmatic transaction costs. Simply put, what is measured matters. The PES Working Group identified organic matter, bulk density, aggregate stability, greenhouse gas flux from the soil surface and soil biodiversity as the soil health indicators that would be most closely related to the desired ecosystem services, and contracted with UVM to provide more information on the measurement considerations for these indicators. In this report, the available methods and costs of measurement for these soil health indicators are discussed in detail. In addition, modeling options are identified. Finally an index that could combine multiple soil health indicators is explored as an option. Overall, this foundational research identified the need for the PES program to integrate both soil health measurements with modeling to validate soil health. Costs for laboratory analysis and labor for these selected metrics were approximately $250 per field, and we identified three analytical laboratories that could provide the soil health analysis. The contents of this report are intended to support decision-making on the part of the Vermont Soil Health and Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group about what will be measured in a PES, but do not constrain the group from adding other metrics should they so desire. This decision must balance accuracy and complexity with the cost of measuring the best indicators of performance. These decisions are foundational to other aspects of PES program design

Social adaptation following intestinal stoma formation in people living at home: a longitudinal phenomenological study

Purpose: Intestinal stoma formation profoundly changes the relationship between a person and their social world. The aim of this study was to understand the experience of living with a new stoma; this paper explores the theme ‘ disrupted social world,’ highlighting how stoma-forming surgery impacts on individuals’ abilities to participate and interact socially over time. Method: A longitudinal phenomenological approach. Twelve participants with a new stoma were recruited using purposeful sampling. Data were collected at three, nine and fifteen months following surgery through in-depth, unstructured interviews and analysed using a bespoke iterative framework. Results: Three categories were identified: participation in the social environment; interpersonal relationships: changes and challenges; and setting and achieving goals. Conclusions: Stoma-forming surgery changes the ways people relate to their social environment and connect with others, creating self-consciousness and impeding social confidence and autonomy. Understanding the social implications of stoma-forming surgery can help clinicians to provide responsive and appropriate support to facilitate social rehabilitation

Effect of oleic acid coating of iron oxide nanoparticles on properties of magnetic polyamide-6 nanocomposite.

This work reports the development and testing of a magnetic polymer (Polyamide 6, PA6) nanocomposite capable of melting when exposed to an external magnetic field. Addition of high concentrations of iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) can induce quick melting but is detrimental to the mechanical properties of the polymer. To reduce the amount of NPs required for achieving efficient melting, they should be well dispersed in the polymer. In this study, the oleic acid loading on the surfaces of the NPs was varied to study the effect of variations in coatings on the dispersion in the polymer and on the polymer melting time. The NPs functionalized with oleic acid were added to melted monomer epsilon-caprolactam and polymerized using ring-opening polymerization. The resulting PA6 nanocomposite was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The results confirmed that the PA6 nanocomposite showed a decrease of 8–10% in its glass-transition temperature compared to commercial PA6. The crystallinity of the synthesized samples were found to vary between 42% and 57%. The 55 wt.% oleic acid-loaded NPs were found to disperse most efficiently in the PA6 matrix; however, some large agglomerates were formed due to excessive oleic acid. Therefore, the 22 wt.% oleic acid coating showed overall superior dispersion. Additionally, the magnetic induction response was tested by observing a melt-characteristic of the magnetic polymer composite using a model set-up. Oleic acid concentration is found to affect the dispersion, melting time and crystallinity of the nanocomposite

BRAF Fusion Analysis in Pilocytic Astrocytomas: KIAA1549-BRAF 15-9 Fusions Are More Frequent in the Midline Than Within the Cerebellum

Copyright © 2015 by the American Association of Neuropathologists, Inc. Pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are increasingly tested for KIAA1549-BRAF fusions. We used reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for the 3 most common KIAA1549-BRAF fusions, together with BRAF V600E and histone H3.3 K27M analyses to identify relationships of these molecular characteristics with clinical features in a cohort of 32 PA patients. In this group, the overall BRAF fusion detection rate was 24 (75%). Ten (42%) of the 24 had the 16-9 fusion, 8 (33%) had only the 15-9 fusion, and 1 (4%) of the patients had only the 16-11 fusion. In the PAs with only the 15-9 fusion, 1 PA was in the cerebellum and 7 were centered in the midline outside of the cerebellum, that is, in the hypothalamus (n = 4), optic pathways (n = 2), and brainstem (n = 1). Tumors within the cerebellum were negatively associated with fusion 15-9. Seven (22%) of the 32 patients had tumor-related deaths and 25 of the patients (78%) were alive between 2 and 14 years after initial biopsy. Age, sex, tumor location, 16-9 fusion, and 15-9 fusion were not associated with overall survival. Thus, in this small cohort, 15-9 KIAA1549-BRAF fusion was associated with midline PAs located outside of the cerebellum; these tumors, which are generally difficult to resect, are prone to recurrence

Decreased expression of the mitochondrial bcat protein correlates with improved patient survival in idh-wt gliomas

Background and research question: Gliomas represent 43% of all solid intracranial tumours, of which glioblastomas have the poorest prognosis. Recently, the human cytosolic branched-chain aminotransferase protein (hBCATc), which metabolises the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), was identified as a biomarker and therapeutic target for glioblastomas carrying wild-type isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH-WT) genes. However, the clinical utility of the mitochondrial isoform, hBCATm, which also metabolises BCAAs, was not determined nor its potential role in predicting patient survival.Methods: Glioblastomas, of grades II-IV, from 53 patients were graded by a neuropathologist, where the IDH and MGMT status were assessed. Tumours positive for hBCATm, hBCATc and BCKDC were characterised using immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis using antibodies specific to these proteins.Results: Here, we report that in IDH-WT tumours, the expression of hBCATm is significantly increased (p=0.034) relative to IDH mutation gliomas, and significantly correlates with patient survival, on Kaplan-Meier analysis, where low hBCATm expression is a positive prognostic factor (p=0.003). Moreover, increased hBCATm expression in these glioblastomas correlated with tumour grade indicating their role as a predictive biomarker of glioma progression. Multiple banding was observed for the branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase complex, which catalyses the committed step in BCAA metabolism, but a significant change in expression was absent (p=0.690). Conclusion: Until now, IDH-WT glioblastomas have a uniformly poor prognosis, however we demonstrate for the first time that relatively low hBCATm may select for a better performing subset within this group and may represent a therapeutic target in these hard to treat patients