Facilitating independence in personal activities of daily living after a severe traumatic brain injury

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Aims: This study examined the effectiveness of two components of a treatment programme typically used by occupational therapists (OTs) in personal activities of daily living (PADL) rehabilitation. Methods: A multiple baseline probe design across PADL tasks was used, one which is particularly suited to the examination of the effects of complex interventions on skill performance. The subjects were two male adults with severe brain injuries and cognitive impairments who were in the acute stages of recovery. The OT treatment program consisted of a combination of errorless learning and strategy training approaches. The impact of the program was measured by the number of steps completed independently in each of these tasks, the level and type of assistance required, and by administering the UK Functional Independence Measure and the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills. Findings: Errorless learning and strategy training, as used within an OT programme, was demonstrated to be effective in reducing the amount of assistance both participants required to complete the targeted PADL tasks. Further, there was evidence of generalization of training effects among trained and untrained activities. Conclusions: Selecting and combining treatment techniques based on detailed assessment of functional performance is an area of high clinical importance but with limited research; the current study stands as an attempt towards that direction

Evaluating the impact of video-based versus traditional lectures on student learning

Copyright ©2010 International Research Journals. This full-text open access article is available at the link below.Although, computer assisted learning and multimedia programs have emerged into higher education institutions, there is no clear evidence that such a movement can improve student learning. This study was conducted to provide an objective assessment of the impact of lectures with the use of video clips on student learning over traditional teaching methods. Five university students participated and experimental control was achieved using an alternating-treatments design. Overall, students experienced sixteen 5-minute lectures, half on kinesiology and half on psychological issues for children, delivered by either traditional or video-based methods. Results showed that teaching material based on video clips was at least as equally effective as standard teaching lectures. Similar data were collected during 1-, 2-, and 3-week follow-up measures. These results come in agreement with the current literature reinforcing the suggestion that the use of videos in education may hold great promises.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Generalized effects of video modeling on establishing instructional stimulus control in children with autism: Results of a preliminary study

Video modeling has been suggested as a powerful treatment tool that has concentrated on increasing a variety of skills in children with autism. However, it has rarely been examined as a behavioral procedure for eliminating kinds of behaviors (e.g., noncompliance), a target that is often included in children’s support plans. The present study provides preliminary effects of video modeling on establishing instructional stimulus control over a simple behavior (cleaning up a toy) that required the termination of an ongoing activity. Three children with autism participated, and experimental control was accomplished using a multiple-baseline-across-subjects design. The results showed that this procedure can be effective for children with lower baseline levels of disruptive behaviors and more developed imitation skills. Successful responding generalized across stimuli and subjects and was maintained at a 1-month follow-up assessment. Specific guidelines for building video modeling into real teaching situations are also discussed

Teaching complex social skills to children with autism; advances of video modeling

Although there has been a corresponding explosion of literature regarding the treatment of the social deficits in autism, the establishment of more complex social behaviors still remains a challenge. Video modeling appears as one approach to have the potential to successfully address this challenge. Following an introduction to modeling that constitutes the basis of this procedure, the current paper explores those video modeling studies that have targeted the promotion of complex social skills. It is suggested that this approach could be an effective addition to peer-mediated treatment procedures, especially for children with autism who cannot always be in environments where peers are present. Further, the likely success of video modeling seems to be dependent upon the prior elimination of behaviors that interfere with the development of imitation skills

Zeno Cosini's Philosophy of Humor

This article argues that Zeno Cosini's famous sense of humor derives from a philosophy of nihilism. Because this philosophy expresses itself as humor, as a mode of communication traditionally considered antithetical to everything associated with nihilism, the root of Zeno’s penchant for joke making oftentimes remains hidden from view. Hence, this article looks at the philosophy that underlies Zeno Cosini’s humor while aiming to assess just how ‘readable’ to others said humor renders this philosophy. This ‘readability’ is considered in light of Zeno’s relationship to three audience groups: those within the narrative who are ignorant of Zeno’s journal; Doctor S., the one character who is privy to the journal’s contents; and the readers of the journal, who know what Zeno’s doctor does but who lie outside the space of the narrative

Use of video modeling to increase generalization of social play by children with autism

The use of video modeling to increase generalization of social play skills in children with autism is discussed. The possible reasons that have made this procedure so favorable among researchers and practitioners are explored. Two studies are described in which video modeling increased the generalization of social play in 6 children, and critical features of procedure are emphasized. Suggestions regarding the potential mechanisms responsible for the effectiveness of this procedure are discussed relative to basic behavioral theory and research

Forecasting pharmaceutical life cycles: a case study on how drugs are prescribed in the NHS in the UK

This paper is a case study on how pharmaceuticals are prescribed on the NHS in the UK. The paper discusses the modelling and forecasting of pharmaceutical life cycles, specifically around after the time of patent expiry. In this situation one of two things can occur the branded pharmaceutical sales remain high while the generic are low, the alternative is when the branded drug declines and stays low while the sales of the generic drug are high.. Understanding the patterns of brand decline (and the associated generic growth) is increasingly important because in a market currently worth over £7bn in the UK, the number of new ‘blockbuster’ drugs continues to decline. As a result pharmaceutical companies make efforts to extend the commercial life of their brands, and the ability to forecast is important in this regard. Second, this paper provides insights for effective governance because the use of a branded drug (when a generic is available) results in wasted resources. Five methods are used to model and forecast these life cycles: Bass Diffusion, Repeat Purchase Diffusion Model (RPDM), Naïve, Exponential Smoothing and Moving Averages. The empirical evidence presented here suggests that the use of the Naïve model incorporating drift provided the most accurate and robust method of modelling both types of prescribing, with the more advanced models being less accurate

In vitro potato microtuber production

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX176242 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Design and energy analysis of a hybrid electric natural gas vehicle

The main goals of this thesis research were to provide a simple concept and to simulate the energy requirements of a hybrid electric vehicle, i.e. to design a very efficient power assist hybrid electric natural gas vehicle without compromising the vehicle space, weight, and comforts. It is recognized that HEV's represent new areas of research, where demonstration projects are also required to find out which modes of energy conversion would best suit the society. A simple simulation procedure is introduced that is practical, can be used as an initial analytical approach for hybrid vehicle energy analysis, and can be easily validated. Two scenarios consisting of a 0-60-0 km/h and a 0-100-0 km/h cycle were established to demonstrate the highway and city mode driving situations. The energy efficiency and equivalent fuel consumption were determined for the specific hybrid powertrains. A comparison with established SAE drive cycles was effected to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed simulation processes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.

Effects of video modeling on social initiations by children with autism

We examined the effects of a video modeling intervention on social initiation and play behaviors with three children with autism using a multiple-baseline across subjects design. Each child watched a videotape showing a typically developing peer and the experimenter engaged in a simple social interactive play using one toy. For all children social initiation and reciprocal play skills were enhanced and these effects maintained at a 1- and 3- month follow-up period