44 research outputs found

    Parallel Migrations (but in the same Universe-ity): The migration story of Worcester Polytechnic Institute\u27s digital repository and projects database

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    Learn about the unique collaboration between Gordon Library and the IT department to build Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s institutional repository - Digital WPI. Two migrations were a part of the process: the move from bepress Digital Commons to a Samvera Hyrax repository, and the move from WPI’s legacy projects database to a new proprietary system. A large part of the library’s work involved transforming and adding metadata, requiring the use of Open Refine, SQL queries, and python scripts. The new Digital WPI combines WPI’s teaching, scholarship, research, and cultural heritage into digitized collections available for easy discovery and access on an attractive global platform

    The Experience of Occupational Therapists\u27 Approaches and Interventions for School-Aged Children and Adolescents with Anxiety

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    In the realm of occupational therapy there is not a clear or cohesive evidencebased approach that OT\u27s use to guide intervention planning with school-aged children or adolescent who have anxiety or anxiety secondary to another medical condition. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the experience of 6 pediatric occupational therapists in an outpatient setting in developing and implementing interventions for this population. Researchers utilized a phenomenological qualitative research method completing six interviews to understand the experience of the participants. Findings suggest that occupational therapists who participated in this study feel that they have skills and abilities to provide interventions to this population. Participants rely on an individualized eclectic therapeutic approach, but feel a standardized approach would assist in treating school-aged children and adolescents with anxiety, or anxiety secondary to another medical condition. Further research including observation and larger sample sizes should be done to more fully understand current practice and eventually facilitate the development of a standardized intervention protocol for this population

    Exploring Parents’ Experiences of Raising a Child with Sensorimotor Impairments and Expectations for Leisure Participation

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    Background: The objective of this descriptive study was to study parents’ experiences of raising a child with sensorimotor impairments and how leisure pursuits impact their expectations of their children. The development and participation in leisure activities is different for these children and could affect the parents’ hopes and dreams for their child’s future. Method: Six children between 5 and 8 years of age, with sensorimotor impairments, participated in a movement program that was held for eight sessions at an outpatient pediatric clinic to address praxis and sensory processing impairments. Six parent dyads were interviewed during the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth session of the program. Areas addressed in the semi-structured interviews included parenting challenges, school experiences, and sensorimotor impairments effect on the child’s leisure participation. Results: Five themes emerged following the interviews: (a) nobody prepares you for sensory problems, (b) positive and negative school support, (c) when they already feel left out or behind, (d) I know the team sports are 100% sensory, and (e) life challenges. Conclusion: The parents provided the practitioners with insight into their everyday lives, and this information is essential for making occupational therapy services more family-centered

    039— Gender, Partner, and Task in 7-Year-Olds’ Assertive and Affiliative Language with Siblings and Friends

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    As part of a longitudinal study following sibling and friend interactions from early childhood through adolescence, we focused on the use of assertive and affiliative language by 7-year-olds during play with siblings and friends. Children were taped during free-play, board game, and construction tasks with a sibling and a same-age friend. Contrary to results of past research, task and interaction partner mattered more than gender in girls’ and boys’ use of assertive and affiliative language

    Associations of Demographic Factors and Tobacco Use With Progesterone and Estradiol During Pregnancy

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    Objective: To evaluate the association of biochemically validated prenatal tobacco use with serum progesterone and estradiol in the second trimester of pregnancy, controlling for demographic and personal factors. Study design: This secondary analysis of a multicenter longitudinal study included 114 women with singleton pregnancies. Multiple regression analysis assessed whether prenatal tobacco use was related to hormone levels during the second trimester, controlling for covariates (age, body mass index, and race or ethnicity, with gestational age added to subsequent models). Result: In the initial regressions, tobacco users had significantly lower progesterone level compared with nonsmokers (p = .037), while estradiol was unrelated to prenatal tobacco use. Women with greater body mass index also had significantly lower progesterone (p = .028), but body mass index was unrelated to estradiol. With gestational age as an additional covariate, prenatal tobacco use was no longer a significant predictor of progesterone, but both body mass index and gestational age were significant (F = 10.6, p \u3c .001, R2 = 0.35). For estradiol, the overall regression of estradiol on age, body mass index, and race or ethnicity was not significant (F = 1.2, p = .31). With gestational age added to the model, the overall model was significant (F = 7.2, p \u3c .001, R2 = 0.27). Conclusion: This study provides additional evidence that prenatal tobacco use may influence lower serum progesterone during the second trimester. This is of particular concern given the link between depressed progesterone activity and risk for preterm birth

    Comparative population genomics of latitudinal variation in \u3ci\u3eDrosophila simulans\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eDrosophila melanogaster\u3c/i\u3e

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    Examples of clinal variation in phenotypes and genotypes across latitudinal transects have served as important models for understanding how spatially varying selection and demographic forces shape variation within species. Here, we examine the selective and demographic contributions to latitudinal variation through the largest comparative genomic study to date of Drosophila simulans and Drosophila melanogaster, with genomic sequence data from 382 individual fruit flies, collected across a spatial transect of 19 degrees latitude and at multiple time points over 2 years. Consistent with phenotypic studies, we find less clinal variation in D. simulans than D. melanogaster, particularly for the autosomes. Moreover, we find that clinally varying loci in D. simulans are less stable over multiple years than comparable clines in D. melanogaster. D. simulans shows a significantly weaker pattern of isolation by distance than D. melanogaster and we find evidence for a stronger contribution of migration to D. simulans population genetic structure. While population bottlenecks and migration can plausibly explain the differences in stability of clinal variation between the two species, we also observe a significant enrichment of shared clinal genes, suggesting that the selective forces associated with climate are acting on the same genes and phenotypes in D. simulans and D. melanogaster. Includes supplementary materials

    Comparative population genomics of latitudinal variation in \u3ci\u3eDrosophila simulans\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eDrosophila melanogaster\u3c/i\u3e

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    Examples of clinal variation in phenotypes and genotypes across latitudinal transects have served as important models for understanding how spatially varying selection and demographic forces shape variation within species. Here, we examine the selective and demographic contributions to latitudinal variation through the largest comparative genomic study to date of Drosophila simulans and Drosophila melanogaster, with genomic sequence data from 382 individual fruit flies, collected across a spatial transect of 19 degrees latitude and at multiple time points over 2 years. Consistent with phenotypic studies, we find less clinal variation in D. simulans than D. melanogaster, particularly for the autosomes. Moreover, we find that clinally varying loci in D. simulans are less stable over multiple years than comparable clines in D. melanogaster. D. simulans shows a significantly weaker pattern of isolation by distance than D. melanogaster and we find evidence for a stronger contribution of migration to D. simulans population genetic structure. While population bottlenecks and migration can plausibly explain the differences in stability of clinal variation between the two species, we also observe a significant enrichment of shared clinal genes, suggesting that the selective forces associated with climate are acting on the same genes and phenotypes in D. simulans and D. melanogaster. Includes supplementary materials

    Beyond the benchtop and the benthos: Dataset management planning and design for time series of ocean carbonate chemistry associated with Durafet (R)-based pH sensors

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    To better understand the impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, an important ongoing research priority for marine scientists is to characterize present-day pH variability. Following recent technological advances, autonomous pH sensor deployments in shallow coastal marine environments have revealed that pH dynamics in coastal oceans are more variable in space and time than the discrete, open-ocean measurements that are used for ocean acidification projections. Data from these types of deployments will benefit the research community by facilitating the improved design of ocean acidification studies as well as the identification or evaluation of natural and human-influenced pH variability. Importantly, the collection of ecologically relevant pH data and a cohesive, user-friendly integration of results across sites and regions requires (1) effective sensor operation to ensure high quality pH data collection and (2) efficient data management for accessibility and broad reuse by the marine science community. Here, we review the best practices for deployment, calibration, and data processing and quality control, using our experience with Durafet (R)-based pH sensors as a model. Next, we describe information management practices for streamlining preservation and distribution of data and for cataloging different types of pH sensor data, developed in collaboration with two U.S. Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites. Finally, we assess sensor performance and data recovery from 73 SeaFET deployments in the Santa Barbara Channel using our quality control guidelines and data management tools, and offer recommendations for improved data yields. Our experience provides a template for other groups contemplating using SeaFET technology as well as general steps that may be helpful for the design of data management for other complex sensors. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V
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