Friendship and Dance/Movement Therapy with Adults with Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this research study was to understand the role and impact of dance/movement therapy on friendships between adults with developmental disabilities. The primary question this study answered was: how does dance/movement therapy contribute to the formation and maintenance of friendships between adults with developmental disabilities? This study followed the single instrumental qualitative case study methodology and involved adult participants with developmental disabilities who were part of a day services program. The data were collected in the form of a research journal documenting signs of friendship during the sessions and interviews with group participants. The data were analyzed using sequential analysis, and themes identified as contributing to friendship development and maintenance included facilitating social connection, initiation, conflict resolution, a sense of belonging, and a shared positive experience. These themes with their explicit connection to dance/movement therapy provide an enriched understanding of the integral and unique role of dance/movement therapy in the development and maintenance of friendships. The dance/movement therapy interventions and concepts that are involved in the themes set dance/movement therapy apart from other therapeutic interventions for friendship development and maintenance for adults with developmental disabilities

BIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PREBIOTICS IN VARIOUS PROCESSED FOOD MATRICES

The addition of prebiotic to a variety of food products has become a more common occurrence in recent years. Although research on the stability of prebiotics has been conducted, knowledge of the stability of prebiotics in processed foods is limited. The purpose of this research was to determine the biological stability of five prebiotics in a variety of food matrices when processed under various conditions. A biological test, the prebiotic activity assay, was used to test for stability of six food products (muffin, cookie, granola bar, breakfast cereal, sports drink, and bread) containing five different prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, galactooligosaccharides (GOS), resistant starch, and polydextrose). The prebiotic activity assay reflects the capability of a prebiotic to support the growth of a probiotic strain relative to an enteric strain and relative to growth of both on a non-prebiotic substrate. Due to the complex matrices of the food products as well as low concentrations of prebiotics, the prebiotic activity assay was not sufficiently sensitive to assess biological stability in these food products. Additional food products (cracker, granola, and sports drink) were produced without background sugars and included a higher concentration of prebiotic, 10%. The prebiotic activity assay was used to assess the biological stability of prebiotics within these food matrices. Overall, FOSand inulin were stable when exposed to mild to moderate heating, but were biologically degraded when exposed to an acidic environment and moderate heat. GOS was stable when exposed to mild to moderate heat as well as when exposed to an acidic environment that was processed with moderate heat. Resistant starch posed problems with being accurately tested for prebiotic stability, and no strong conclusions were able to be made based on the results obtained through this method. The prebiotic activity assay was able to assess the biological stability of prebiotics in food matrices when exposed to several processing conditions, although the assay was better suited for certain prebiotics as well as certain food matrices. Advisor: Robert W. Hutkin

Generalization across Domains: The Relating-Forming-Extending Generalization Framework

Generalization is a critical aspect of doing mathematics, with policy makers recommending that it be a central component of mathematics instruction at all levels. This recommendation poses serious challenges, however, given researchers consistently identifying students' difficulties in creating and expressing normative mathematical generalizations. We address these challenges by introducing a comprehensive framework characterizing students' generalizing, the Relating-Forming-Extending framework. Based on individual interviews with 90 students, we identify three major forms of generalizing and address relationships between forms of abstraction and forms of generalization. This paper presents the generalization framework and discusses the ways in which different forms of generalizing can play out in activity. [For complete proceedings, see ED581294.

FOOD SAFETY INNOVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: EVIDENCE FROM THE MEAT INDUSTRY

Recent industry innovations improving the safety of the Nation's meat supply range from new pathogen tests, high-tech equipment, and supply chain management systems, to new surveillance networks. Despite these and other improvements, the market incentives that motivate private firms to invest in innovation seem to be fairly weak. Results from an ERS survey of U.S. meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants and two case studies of innovation in the U.S. beef industry reveal that the industry has developed a number of mechanisms to overcome that weakness and to stimulate investment in food safety innovation. Industry experience suggests that government policy can increase food safety innovation by reducing informational asymmetries and strengthening the ability of innovating firms to appropriate the benefits of their investments.Food safety, innovation, meat, asymmetric information, Beef Steam Pasteurization System, Bacterial Pathogen Sampling and Testing Program, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Towards a Common Schema in Distributed Humanities Research

As humanities scholars move from creating traditional scholarly publications to creating online collaborative research projects they have begun to realize the need for a common vocabulary or schema to describe their domains. This paper explores the study of moviegoing and the process of creating a schema to describe the field of moviegoing. The purpose is to involve scholars focused on different aspects of moviegoing in schema development so that they might be able to begin their research with this core schema, and share their research with each other using this schema as a crosswalk. Ten different moviegoing scholars were asked to participate in a Delphi study to help define the field of moviegoing for future research and analysis. The iterative process of a Delphi study allowed me to collate the thoughts of experts from around the world. It is hoped that the creation of an after-the-fact schema for existing

Introduction: Changing Perspectives in Business and Development

While development debates have largely shifted away from the polarised view of ‘state versus market’, significant divergences in understandings and approaches remain about the roles and potentials of business, state and society actors. Underlying these differences are often implicit assumptions about the nature of markets themselves. This introduction first provides an overview of current broad lines of debate and their implications and then goes on to discuss the ways in which the articles in this IDS Bulletin provide more nuanced insights about the new actors, relationships and approaches. With questions remaining about the ability of business and market?focused initiatives to impact on social, environmental and economic aspects of development, the articles in this IDS Bulletin point to the need for approaches which are nuanced, experimental, bottom up and inclusive of multiple perspectives

Comparing flow cytometry with culture-based methods for microbial monitoring and as a diagnostic tool for assessing drinking water treatment processes

Flow cytometry (FCM) and the ability to measure both total and intact cell populations through DNA staining methodologies has rapidly gained attention and consideration across the water sector in the past decade. In this study, water quality monitoring was undertaken over three years across 213 drinking water treatment works (WTW) in the Scottish Water region (Total n = 39,340). Samples subject to routine regulatory microbial analysis using culture-based methods were also analysed using FCM. In addition to final treated water, the bacterial content in raw water was measured over a one-year period. Three WTW were studied in further detail using on-site inter-stage sampling and analysis with FCM. It was demonstrated that there was no clear link between FCM data and the coliform samples taken for regulatory monitoring. The disinfectant Ct value (Ct = mg·min/L) was the driving factor in determining final water cell viability and the proportion of intact cells (intact/total cells) and the frequency of coliform detections in the water leaving the WTW. However, the free chlorine residual, without consideration of treatment time, was shown to have little impact on coliform detections or cell counts. Amongst the three treatment trains monitored in detail, the membrane filtration WTW showed the greatest log removal and robustness in terms of final water intact cell counts. Flow cytometry was shown to provide insights into the bacteriological quality of water that adds significant value over and above that provided by traditional bacterial monitoring

Characterization of Retinal Structure in ATF6-Associated Achromatopsia.

PurposeMutations in six genes have been associated with achromatopsia (ACHM): CNGA3, CNGB3, PDE6H, PDE6C, GNAT2, and ATF6. ATF6 is the most recent gene to be identified, though thorough phenotyping of this genetic subtype is lacking. Here, we sought to test the hypothesis that ATF6-associated ACHM is a structurally distinct form of congenital ACHM.MethodsSeven genetically confirmed subjects from five nonconsanguineous families were recruited. Foveal hypoplasia and the integrity of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) band (a.k.a., IS/OS) were graded from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Images of the photoreceptor mosaic were acquired using confocal and nonconfocal split-detection adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO). Parafoveal cone and rod density values were calculated and compared to published normative data as well as data from two subjects harboring CNGA3 or CNGB3 mutations who were recruited for comparative purposes. Additionally, nonconfocal dark-field AOSLO images of the retinal pigment epithelium were obtained, with quantitative analysis performed in one subject with ATF6-ACHM.ResultsFoveal hypoplasia was observed in all subjects with ATF6 mutations. Absence of the EZ band within the foveal region (grade 3) or appearance of a hyporeflective zone (grade 4) was seen in all subjects with ATF6 using OCT. There was no evidence of remnant foveal cone structure using confocal AOSLO, although sporadic cone-like structures were seen in nonconfocal split-detection AOSLO. There was a lack of cone structure in the parafovea, in direct contrast to previous reports.ConclusionsOur data demonstrate a near absence of cone structure in subjects harboring ATF6 mutations. This implicates ATF6 as having a major role in cone development and suggests that at least a subset of subjects with ATF6-ACHM have markedly fewer cellular targets for cone-directed gene therapies than do subjects with CNGA3- or CNGB3-ACHM

Introducing the tablet-based Oxford Cognitive Screen-Plus (OCS-Plus) as an assessment tool for subtle cognitive impairments

Here, we present the Oxford Cognitive Screen-Plus, a computerised tablet-based screen designed to briefly assess domain-general cognition and provide more fine-grained measures of memory and executive function. The OCS-Plus was designed to sensitively screen for cognitive impairments and provide a differentiation between memory and executive deficits. The OCS-Plus contains 10 subtasks and requires on average 24 min to complete. In this study, 320 neurologically healthy ageing participants (age M = 62.66, SD = 13.75) from three sites completed the OCS-Plus. The convergent validity of this assessment was established in comparison to the ACE-R, CERAD and Rey-Osterrieth. Divergent validity was established through comparison with the BDI and tests measuring divergent cognitive domains. Internal consistency of each subtask was evaluated, and test-retest reliability was determined. We established the normative impairment cut-offs for each of the subtasks. Predicted convergent and divergent validity was found, high internal consistency for most measures was also found with the exception of restricted range tasks, as well as strong test-retest reliability, which provided evidence of test stability. Further research demonstrating the use and validity of the OCS-Plus in various clinical populations is required. The OCS-Plus is presented as a standardised cognitive assessment tool, normed and validated in a sample of neurologically healthy participants. The OCS-Plus will be available as an Android App and provides an automated report of domain-general cognitive impairments in executive attention and memory