Effects of practice variability and distribuion of practice on musicians' performance of a procedural skill

I designed three experiments to determine how procedural memory consolidation in a music task is affected by practice under different conditions of speed regulation and different time intervals between practice sessions. Ninety-two nonpianist musicians practiced a 9-note sequence with their nondominant hand on a digital piano in three sessions, each of which comprised 3 blocks of 15 performance trials. In Experiment 1 (n= 31), participants were instructed to perform as quickly and accurately as possible but determined their own tempos in each trial. In Experiment 2 (n = 31), three defined practice tempos (M. M. = 52, 72, and 92) were externally regulated in a stable practice procedure in which tempo changed between, not within, blocks. In Experiment 3 (n =30), the same three tempos were externally regulated in a variable practice procedure in which practice tempo changed from trial to trial within each block. In each experiment, three different groups' practice sessions were separated by either 5 min, 6 hr, or 24 hr. Consistent with previous descriptions of procedural memory consolidation, the results of Experiment 1 show that note accuracy improved significantly between Sessions 1 and 2 only when the sessions were separated by a 24-hr interval that included sleep; performance speed improved in all groups between Sessions 1 and 2, and between Sessions 2 and 3 when sessions were separated by 6 or 24 hr. In Experiment 2 (stable practice) there were significant improvements in note and tempo accuracy between Sessions 1 and 2 when those sessions were separated by 5 min or 6 hr, but not when the sessions were separated by 24 hr. In Experiment 3 (variable practice), note accuracy improved between Sessions 1 and 2 only when the sessions were separated by a 24-hour interval that included sleep; there were no significant improvements in tempo accuracy, perhaps due to the high physical demands of matching varying target tempos in successive trials. These results demonstrate that motor skill learning in music is affected by the time interval between practice sessions, and that the effects of distributed practice are dependent upon practice conditions.Musi

Students' Perceptions of the "Transfer Zone" at Oklahoma State University: a Case Study

The purpose of this case study was to describe the transfer students' perceptions of the Transfer Zone in the College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University using Tinto's (1975) model for integrating transfer students into a four-year institution. This case study focused on transfer students who populated the Transfer Zone in the spring of 2007. The Transfer Zone appeared to have a positive impact on retention of the transfer student participants. Living accommodations, although the most significant "selling point" of why participants decided to participate in the program, was also the principal concern of all participants. Programming and activities did not meet the needs of all the students. It was perceived by students that the Transfer Zone did not contribute to their academic success. Findings indicated that the Transfer Zone did not facilitate social integration into the OSU system.Department of Agricultural Education, Communications, and Leadershi

A qualitative exploration of autism and transition into further and higher education

In this thesis, I explore 42 autistic individuals’ transitions into further and higher education (FHE) in England, drawing on personal experience as well as interview data. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 1998 at the age of 13. At the age of 15, my mother introduced the topic to me, and autism soon became the foundation of my socio-political identity. The discussion is divided into three themes; stigma and perception management strategies, formal and informal support networks and the interplay of autism with institutional factors. I draw upon Tringo’s (1970) work on the hierarchy of impairment and Goffman’s (1963) work on stigma. Tringo’s (1970) hierarchy of impairment led me to my intra-communal hierarchy of impairment (perpetuated by autistic individuals against autistic individuals) and Goffman’s (1963) work on stigma led me to my four degrees of openness; autistic individuals can be indiscriminately open, or indiscriminately reticent, but openness if relevant, and openness if necessary, are more common strategies. UPIAS’ (1976) work on the social model of disability laid the foundation for my socio-political identity and this thesis. I argue autism has been largely absent from the political arena. I outline how there are four ideals; the ideals of self-regulation, normalcy, ability and independence. Eager to conform to these ideals, eager to self-present as ‘independent’, ‘self-regulating’, ‘normal’ or ‘capable’, some autistic students are reluctant to request support and accommodations, complicating the transition to FHE

Fostering Health: The Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and Youth Transitioning from Foster Care

A provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires states to continue to provide health insurance to young people who have aged out of the foster care system until their 26 th birthday. Although the intent of the provision is to mirror the extended coverage available to young adults whose parents have private health insurance, varying interpretations of the provision by states have effectively blocked these youth formerly in foster care from accessing their federally mandated coverage. An estimated 180,000 young people who have aged out of the foster care system are eligible for extended health care coverage. However, only 13 states have made Medicaid coverage available to all former foster youth who reside in their state, regardless of the state in which they aged out. The policy brief provides an overview of the health needs of young people in and aging out of foster care; describes the coverage to be provided to former foster youth via the ACA, the restrictions that have been applied, and the major reason for opposition to coverage; and makes recommendations to legislators and states for removing barriers to access. The brief also highlights the need to ensure that young people have the knowledge and skills to use their health care coverage

Integrated Optical Polarization of Nearby Galaxies

We performed an integrated optical polarization survey of 70 nearby galaxies to study the relationship between linear polarization and galaxy properties. To date this is the largest survey of its kind. The data were collected at McDonald Observatory using the Imaging Grism Polarimeter on the Otto Struve 2.1m telescope. Most of the galaxies did not have significant level of linear polarization, where the bulk is <1%. A fraction of the galaxies showed a loose correlation between the polarization and position angle of the galaxy, indicating that dust scattering is the main source of optical polarization. The unbarred spiral galaxies are consistent with the predicted relationship with inclination from scattering models of ~sin^2i.Comment: accepted in ApJ, 21 pages, 5 figure

Quality of life, cognitive and behavioural impairment in people with motor neuron disease:A systematic review

PURPOSE: Motor neuron disease (MND) is a neurodegenerative disease, progressively impacting function and self-perceived quality of life (QoL). Up to 50% of people with MND can present with cognitive and behavioural impairment, with an associated increase in caregiver burden or strain. However, there has been no systematic exploration of the relationship between QoL and cognitive or behavioural impairment in MND. The aim was to determine if there is a relationship between QoL and cognitive/behavioural impairment in MND, while also supplementarily looking to determine the types of cognitive/behavioural and QoL measures utilised in these studies.METHODS: A systematic search was performed across multiple databases (PsychINFO, Embase, Medline, AMED) for research published up to the date of February 22, 2023. Studies utilising quantitative methods of measuring QoL, cognitive/behavioural functioning/impairment were included. Findings examining relationships between QoL-cognitive/behavioural impairment were extracted and synthesised.RESULTS: A total of 488 studies were identified, with 14 studies included in the systematic review. All 14 studies were observational (11 cross-sectional, 3 longitudinal). 13 studies utilised MND non-specific measures, particularly in relation to QoL and cognitive impairment. Of 8 studies measuring behavioural impairment 62.5% (N = 5) found either a lower QoL difference or association. Only 33.3% (N = 4) of 12 studies measuring cognitive impairment found a lower QoL difference or association.CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review shows that behavioural impairment may have an impact on QoL in MND. There is variability in types of assessments used to measure QoL and also cognitive/behavioural impairment, most of which are disease-non-specific. Recommendations for future research are to use comprehensive disease-specific, multidomain measures to further elucidate the QoL-cognitive/behavioural impairment relationship

Family-Centered Care: Current Applications and Future Directions in Pediatric Health Care

Family-centered care (FCC) is a partnership approach to health care decision-making between the family and health care provider. FCC is considered the standard of pediatric health care by many clinical practices, hospitals, and health care groups. Despite widespread endorsement, FCC continues to be insufficiently implemented into clinical practice. In this paper we enumerate the core principles of FCC in pediatric health care, describe recent advances applying FCC principles to clinical practice, and propose an agenda for practitioners, hospitals, and health care groups to translate FCC into improved health outcomes, health care delivery, and health care system transformation

Introducing BSW Students to Social Work Supervision Prior to Field

Little empirical information exists about how social work students are prepared to utilize supervision in practice. This study describes an experiential exercise designed to introduce BSW students to social work supervision prior to their field experience. MSW students enrolled in a supervision practice course provided mentored supervision to 42 BSW students in an introductory skills course. The skills course involved a progressive role-play that spanned the whole semester. Mixed methods were used to investigate BSW student perceptions of the exercise. According to survey data, BSW students reported a strong working alliance with MSW students and high satisfaction with the supervision they received. Qualitative data revealed two overarching categories of students: 1) students who reported benefiting from the exercise, and 2) students who reported mixed benefits or no benefits. Students who understood the role of the supervisor were also more likely to reported that they benefited from the exercise. Students who were unclear about the role of the supervisor reported mixed or no benefits of the exercise. Recommendations for social work educators relate to the need for educators to provide information on the use of supervision for BSW students, the necessity for guiding student reflections as part of the supervision exercises, and considering the developmental levels of students when crafting educational interventions

Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles, and bacterial infection risk

Human activities create novel food resources that can alter wildlife–pathogen interactions. If resources amplify or dampen, pathogen transmission probably depends on both host ecology and pathogen biology, but studies that measure responses to provisioning across both scales are rare. We tested these relationships with a 4-year study of 369 common vampire bats across 10 sites in Peru and Belize that differ in the abundance of livestock, an important anthropogenic food source. We quantified innate and adaptive immunity from bats and assessed infection with two common bacteria. We predicted that abundant livestock could reduce starvation and foraging effort, allowing for greater investments in immunity. Bats from high-livestock sites had higher microbicidal activity and proportions of neutrophils but lower immunoglobulin G and proportions of lymphocytes, suggesting more investment in innate relative to adaptive immunity and either greater chronic stress or pathogen exposure. This relationship was most pronounced in reproductive bats, which were also more common in high-livestock sites, suggesting feedbacks between demographic correlates of provisioning and immunity. Infection with both Bartonella and haemoplasmas were correlated with similar immune profiles, and both pathogens tended to be less prevalent in high-livestock sites, although effects were weaker for haemoplasmas. These differing responses to provisioning might therefore reflect distinct transmission processes. Predicting how provisioning alters host–pathogen interactions requires considering how both within-host processes and transmission modes respond to resource shifts

Social Capital and Risk of Concurrent Sexual Partners Among African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi

Concurrent sexual partnerships (i.e., relationships that overlap in time) contribute to higher HIV acquisition risk. Social capital, defned as resources and connections available to individuals is hypothesized to reduce sexual HIV risk behavior, including sexual concurrency. Additionally, we do not know whether any association between social capital and sexual concurrency is moderated by gender. Multivariable logistic regression tested the association between social capital and sexual concurrency and efect modifcation by gender. Among 1445 African Americans presenting for care at an urban STI clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, mean social capital was 2.85 (range 1–5), mean age was 25 (SD=6), and 62% were women. Sexual concurrency in the current year was lower for women compared to men (45% vs. 55%, χ2 (df=1)=11.07, p=.001). Higher social capital was associated with lower adjusted odds of sexual concurrency for women compared to men (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]=0.62 (95% CI 0.39–0.97), p=0.034), controlling for sociodemographic and psychosocial covariates. Interventions that add social capital components may be important for lowering sexual risk among African Americans in Mississippi