Identification of a 4-microRNA Signature for Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Metastasis and Prognosis

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) metastasis portends a poor prognosis and cannot be reliably predicted. Early determination of the metastatic potential of RCC may help guide proper treatment. We analyzed microRNA (miRNA) expression in clear cell RCC (ccRCC) for the purpose of developing a miRNA expression signature to determine the risk of metastasis and prognosis. We used the microarray technology to profile miRNA expression of 78 benign kidney and ccRCC samples. Using 28 localized and metastatic ccRCC specimens as the training cohort and the univariate logistic regression and risk score methods, we developed a miRNA signature model in which the expression levels of miR-10b, miR-139-5p, miR-130b and miR-199b-5p were used to determine the status of ccRCC metastasis. We validated the signature in an independent 40-sample testing cohort of different stages of primary ccRCCs using the microarray data. Within the testing cohort patients who had at least 5 years follow-up if no metastasis developed, the signature showed a high sensitivity and specificity. The risk status was proven to be associated with the cancer-specific survival. Using the most stably expressed miRNA among benign and tumorous kidney tissue as the internal reference for normalization, we successfully converted his signature to be a quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based assay, which showed the same high sensitivity and specificity. The 4-miRNA is associated with ccRCC metastasis and prognosis. The signature is ready for and will benefit from further large clinical cohort validation and has the potential for clinical application

STARD 2015: An Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies.

Incomplete reporting has been identified as a major source of avoidable waste in biomedical research. Essential information is often not provided in study reports, impeding the identification, critical appraisal, and replication of studies. To improve the quality of reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies, the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) statement was developed. Here we present STARD 2015, an updated list of 30 essential items that should be included in every report of a diagnostic accuracy study. This update incorporates recent evidence about sources of bias and variability in diagnostic accuracy and is intended to facilitate the use of STARD. As such, STARD 2015 may help to improve completeness and transparency in reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies

Bridges and Barriers in Behavioral Consultation

Over the last decade, consultation has been increasingly recognized as an important role psychologists play in the schools. Although barriers to consultation have been investigated in the past, the changing tenor of the field of school psychology and changes in federal law may have modified the extent to which psychologists face barriers to indirect service delivery. The current study attempt ed to identify sources of support for consultation and barriers to this service delivery model. Responses to a consultation survey were analyzed for 339 members of the National Association of School Psychologist (NASP) using descriptive and nonparamenic statistics. The majority of respondents reported that they were qualified to provide consultation services and that they received support from administrators and teachers. However, a lack of time and number of traditional assessments respondents were expected to complete continued to represent a major barrier to consultation. Interestingly, doctoral level psychologists were more likely to report a lack of support for consultation, both in terms of time and support from school personnel. The relevance of these findings in relation to changes in IDEA were discussed. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Measurement properties of indirect assessment methods for functional behavioral assessment: A review of research

Indirect assessment instruments used during functional behavioral assessment, such as rating scales, interviews, and self-report instruments, represent the least intrusive techniques for acquiring information about the function of problem behavior. This article provides criteria for examining the measurement properties of these instruments designed to identify functional relations and reviews 46 studies examining the use and interpretation of the Motivation Assessment Scale (Durand & Crimmins, 1992) or the Functional Assessment Interview (O\u27Neill et al., 1997). Results indicate at least three inadequacies in the research: (a) insufficient attention paid to evidence based on instrument content and informant response processes, (b) minimal evidence indicating consumer satisfaction and the singular or unique effects of instrument data on intervention development, and (c) excessive emphasis on research designs and measurement properties that assume stability in behavior-environment interactions across contexts

Decreasing Disruptive Behaviors of Children With Autism Using Social Stories

Few studies have been conducted in the area of social stories, and the limitations of these studies (i.e., improper story construction and methodological confounds) raise questions about effectiveness of social story interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of properly constructed social stories that have been introduced into the natural environment to target the disruptive behavior of three children with autism. A multiple baseline design across participants was employed, and a decrease in disruptive behavior was evidenced when the intervention was implemented for all participants. Based on the results of the present research, future areas of investigation outlining the limitations and potential benefits of social stories were discussed

The Good Behavior Game: 1969-2002

The Good Behavior Game (GBG), a type of interdependent group-oriented contingency management procedure, was first introduced in 1969 and has been used with overwhelming success in classrooms and other settings. Since its inception, the game has utilized team competition and peer influence combined with reinforcement procedures. It has been found to be popular, easy-to-use, time-efficient, and widely applicable and versatile. This review describes the game and its numerous variations and adaptations, as well as empirical findings specific to the variety of target behaviors and participants to which it has been applied. In addition, different types of reinforcers used, information on consumer acceptance, and issues related to implementation are considered

Functional Assessment of Distracting and Disruptive Behaviors in the School Setting

More common than severe behaviors, distracting and instructionally disruptive behaviors frequently result in disciplinary decisions being made for the student who is exhibiting them. These behaviors are troublesome not because they threaten the physical or psychological safety of the student or those around him/her, but because they usually occur at a high frequency and make instruction difficult. This article describes a four-phase procedure that can be used to functionally assess distracting and disruptive behaviors occurring in the school setting. A variety of procedures under each of the first three phases will be discussed, as well as the utility of each procedure for the school setting. Procedures for linking information gained in the first three phases of the model to treatment implementation and treatment monitoring will also be discussed. Finally, a case example will be presented to highlight described procedures

Identifying nurse staffing research in Medline: development and testing of empirically derived search strategies with the PubMed interface

Background: The identification of health services research in databases such as PubMed/Medline is a cumbersome task. This task becomes even more difficult if the field of interest involves the use of diverse methods and data sources, as is the case with nurse staffing research. This type of research investigates the association between nurse staffing parameters and nursing and patient outcomes. A comprehensively developed search strategy may help identify nurse staffing research in PubMed/Medline.Methods: A set of relevant references in PubMed/Medline was identified by means of three systematic reviews. This development set was used to detect candidate free-text and MeSH terms. The frequency of these terms was compared to a random sample from PubMed/Medline in order to identify terms specific to nurse staffing research, which were then used to develop a sensitive, precise and balanced search strategy. To determine their precision, the newly developed search strategies were tested against a) the pool of relevant references extracted from the systematic reviews, b) a reference set identified from an electronic journal screening, and c) a sample from PubMed/Medline. Finally, all newly developed strategies were compared to PubMed's Health Services Research Queries (PubMed's HSR Queries).Results: The sensitivities of the newly developed search strategies were almost 100% in all of the three test sets applied; precision ranged from 6.1% to 32.0%. PubMed's HSR queries were less sensitive (83.3% to 88.2%) than the new search strategies. Only minor differences in precision were found (5.0% to 32.0%).Conclusions: As with other literature on health services research, nurse staffing studies are difficult to identify in PubMed/Medline. Depending on the purpose of the search, researchers can choose between high sensitivity and retrieval of a large number of references or high precision, i.e. and an increased risk of missing relevant references, respectively. More standardized terminology (e.g. by consistent use of the term "nurse staffing") could improve the precision of future searches in this field. Empirically selected search terms can help to develop effective search strategies. The high consistency between all test sets confirmed the validity of our approach.<br/

Using Antecedent Manipulations to Distinguish Between Task and Social Variables Associated With Problem Behaviors Exhibited by Children of Typical Development

In the antecedent functional assessment literature, researchers have introduced task demands and social attention simultaneously while varying the level of task difficulty. Though research has demonstrated situations in which a combination of social and task antecedents occasion socially avoidant responses from children with disabilities, no current studies have been offered to assess the impact of high levels of adult attention devoid of task demands on problem behaviors exhibited by children of typical development. A multiple element design was used to assess the specific effects of task and social antecedents on the problem behaviors of four children of typical development. Results identified two children whose behavior was associated with a combination of difficult task demands and attention in the form of commands and redirections and two children whose behavior was associated only with high levels of adult attention that did not include commands or redirections. These results suggest that antecedent functional assessment procedures can assess the impact of high levels of attention without the presence of task demands