$1.9 Million NIH Grant to Fund Children\u27s Health Research

Medical Center will use award to build infrastructure, expand pediatric clinical trial

Sandersons to Chair 100MillionCampaign,Commit100 Million Campaign, Commit 10 Million Gift

Effort will benefit pediatric care at UMMC and help children statewid

Eli, Abby Manning Pledge $1M to Children\u27s of Mississippi\u27s Campaign

Drive aims to expand neonatal ICU and surgical suites, create new imaging departmen

UMMC Neonatal Suite, Simulation Area Give Babies Best Possible Start

New facilities aimed to help infants with low birth weight or congenital defect

The Design of an IEP Decision Aid: A Tool for Diverse Parents of Children with Autism

Decision-making is a universal process that occurs constantly in life. Parent participation in educational decision-making is recognized as important by special education law, by special education and school psychology literature (Christenson & Sheridan, 2001; IDEIA, 2004;). Partnership in decision-making is especially important for parents of diverse culture and SES, who participate at lower rates, and for whom participation and partnership may mean different things (Epstein, 2001; Gaitan, 2004). Within that population, partnering with parents of children with autism is a priority due to the complex effects of autism on children's communication, socialization, and behavior, a plethora of available resources and interventions, and negotiation of those resources and roles of schools with the expectations of parents. Decisions that diverse parents must make are often complex and their priorities may be different than those of the professionals with whom they work (Dunlap & Fox, 1999; Mandell & Novak, 2005). One method that has been used in the field of medicine, and to a lesser degree in education, is the use of decision-making aids to enhance joint decision-making between patients and providers or between parents and educational professionals (Giangreco, Cloninger & Iverson, 1998; O'Connor et al 2009). However, when these tools are reviewed, few posit a theoretical basis, and when educational decision tools are evaluated using an international quality criteria checklist, they fall short in addressing specific populations and encouraging parents to identify their values and in a process for making decisions, and focus on professionals as the administrator of the tool. This study utilized design research methodology to develop a grounded theory model of IEP decision-making for diverse parents of elementary-aged children with autism in Kansas City, KS public schools and to create a decision aid based in the grounded theory and other sources. Participants report a variety of types of decisions that parents make when working with their IEP team, as well as the interaction and influence of varying layers of child, parent, family, systemic, and relational factors into parents' decision-making process. Participants report four general types of parent response when presented with IEP decisions. In partnership with an Advisory Board comprising parent and professional participants, the grounded theory, decision aid standards, and other resources served as a basis for the design of an IEP decision aid tool

Three-dimensional Modeling of Acid Transport and Etching in a Fracture

Acid fracture stimulation generates higher well production but requires engineering design for treatment optimization. To quantify the cost and benefit of a particular acid fracture treatment an engineer must predict the resulting fracture’s conductivity, which is based on the etched width created by the injected acid. Etching occurs along the fracture surface but is based on acid flowing through the fracture, so an evaluation tool should describe three-dimensional physics and chemistry. Current practice is to estimate conductivity utilizing two-dimensional models. Unfortunately, these models necessarily assume how acid is distributed in the fracture and often misrepresent the amount of acid etching upon which the conductivity is based. A fully three-dimensional modeling tool to evaluate and predict acid fracture performance across the wide range of carbonate field properties has been developed. The model simulates acid transport and fracture face dissolution. The acid transport model includes the solution of the three-dimensional velocity and pressure fields, the non-Newtonian characteristics of most acid fracturing fluids, and diffusion of acid toward the fracture surface. The model numerically solves the equations describing the three-dimensional acid transport and reaction within a fracture to yield the etched width created by acid along the fracture. The conductivity is calculated with the simulator derived acid-etched width, using correlations recently developed that reflect the small scale heterogeneity of carbonate rock as it creates etching along the fracture surface. The performance of an acid fracture treatment is quantified with conductivity, which is strongly dependent on the etched width created by the acid. This robust new tool more accurately models the impact of design decisions on the acid-etched width and provides a rational path for treatment optimization. Cases typical of industry practice are presented that demonstrate the model capabilities

Separation of Cardiac Glycosides by Thin-Layer Chromatography

Two structurally similar cardiac glycosides, digoxin and digitoxin, and their aglycones, digoxigenin and digitoxigenin, were separated by thin-layer chromatography using glass plates coated with silica gel H. Of 50 solvent systems tried, 15 were found to effect excellent separation of digoxin and digoxigenin. Separation of digoxin and digitoxin and their respective aglycones was achieved with three solvent systems. Spots were visualized with meta-dinitrobenzene sodium hydroxide sprays. The lower limit of detection was 10 micrograms of glycoside per square centimeter. This method of separation should prove significant in identifying drug metabolites and determining toxicity levels of cardiac glycosides