The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Repetitive Behaviours and Task Performance for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and an Intellectual Disability

Repetitive behaviours (RB) are one of the main characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). RB are related to a decrease in adaptive functioning for people with ASD and 31% of people with ASD are diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability (ID). The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of aerobic exercise on RB expression immediately after a single session and over the course of several sessions, and its ability to improve task performance for adults with ASD and ID. Six case studies were conducted, where participants exercised on a stationary bike twice a week for eight weeks. Video observations and the Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT) were conducted immediately pre- and post-exercise. The Repetitive Behaviour Scale-Revised (RBS-R) was administered to a support worker, parent, or guardian pre- and post-intervention. The changes that occurred in RB from the video observations were specific for each individual. Further analysis suggested an interaction between certain RB (i.e., pacing and body rocking), and that some RB are positive expressions and do not need to be reduced. The JHFT indicated that, for most participants, RB may not influence performance on short-duration tasks. Due to the variable results, the RBS-R was not a reliable measure of changes in RB severity for this study. The case studies conducted provided important information on each participant, their RB, and their progress throughout the program. Future research would benefit from identifying and reducing specific RB that are deemed maladaptive rather than attempting to decrease all RB

Constraining Model Uncertainty in Plasma Equation-of-State Models with a Physics-Constrained Gaussian Process

Equation-of-state (EOS) models underpin numerical simulations at the core of research in high energy density physics, inertial confinement fusion, laboratory astrophysics, and elsewhere. In these applications EOS models are needed that span ranges of thermodynamic variables that far exceed the ranges where data are available, making uncertainty quantification (UQ) of EOS models a significant concern. Model uncertainty, arising from the choice of functional form assumed for the EOS, is a major challenge to UQ studies for EOS that is usually neglected in favor of parameteric and data uncertainties which are easier to capture without violating the physical constraints on EOSs. In this work we introduce a new statistical EOS construction that naturally captures model uncertainty while automatically obeying the thermodynamic consistency constraint. We apply the model to existing data for $B_4C$\ to place an upper bound on the uncertainty in the EOS and Hugoniot, and show that the neglect of thermodynamic constraints overestimates the uncertainty by factors of several when data are available and underestimates when extrapolating to regions where they are not. We discuss extensions to this approach, and the role of GP-based models in accelerating simulation and experimental studies, defining portable uncertainty-aware EOS tables, and enabling uncertainty-aware downstream tasks.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Single Room Maternity Care Model: Unit Culture and Healthcare Team Practices

The evidence regarding the effects of a Single Room Maternity Care (SRMC) model on women’s childbirth experiences, healthcare providers’ workplace satisfaction, and cost outcomes remains equivocal. The research questions for this focused ethnographic study are: how is culture experienced by nurses and other healthcare providers on the SRMC unit, and how do the values, beliefs, and norms of nurses and other healthcare providers on the SRMC unit influence their day-to-day practices of caring for women and their families. The aim of this qualitative focused ethnography was to explore the culture and practices of the healthcare team in a SRMC unit. Twelve healthcare providers were recruited from a Single Room Maternity Care unit located in a Western Canadian hospital. Semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and examination of unit-related documents were conducted between October 2014 and January 2015. Data were analyzed using an approach by Roper and Shapira (2000). Two main themes emerged from the data: creating and maintaining culture and the work family. The participants considered themselves a family, and made collective and conscious efforts to create a unit culture where everyone could feel supported and valued. Unit culture determined the ways members of the healthcare team functioned in their day-to-day practice. Further research is required to explore the relationship between the maternity unit and quality of patient care, as well as the impact of collaborative practices on both providers and recipients of maternal care

Assessing effects of Equisetum ramosissimum extract on hematological and serum biochemical parameters in pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats

Background: As a medicinal herb, Equisetum ramossisemum has been utilized for centuries as a diuretic and has been recommended for different disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the maternal toxicity of aerial parts of Equisetum ramosissimum extract on pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats.Methods: Females were mated and the coupling time was recorded at gestation day 0– E0. Four experimental groups I, II, III, and IV, received daily gavage doses of 0 mg, 500 mg, 250 mg, and 125 mg/kg, respectively, of Equisetum ramosissimum extract. Pregnant rats were observed for mortality and toxicological effects during daily treatment. On day E20, samples of blood were withdrawn from the retro-orbital sinus under light ether anaesthesia for haematological and clinical chemistry examinations.Results: Data analyses detected significant differences in biochemical and haematological parameters between the control group and other groups receiving extract.Conclusion: This study constitutes a first approach to defining adverse effects of using Equisetum ramosissimum as a medicinal plant during pregnancy. Daily gavage doses of Equisetum ramosissimum extract produced significant differences in biochemical and haematological parameters in pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats as compared to the control group.Keywords: Equisetum ramosissimum extract; Pregnant Sprague -Dawley rats; Haematology; Seru

PEPFAR Public Health Evaluation-Care and Support -Phase I Kenya

Phase 1, a survey of 120 care facilities in Kenya and Uganda, found that over 90% of facilities provided some level of clinical, psychological,and preventive care. Pain control was very limited with paracetamol often the only analgesic. In focus group discussions, patients appreciated free care and positive attitudes from staff, but said that services would be improved by more staff, shorter queues, and reliable drug supplies

Prevalence and impact of chronic widespread pain in the Bangladeshi and White populations of Tower Hamlets, East London

The prevalence and impact of chronic pain differ between ethnic groups. We report a study of the comparative prevalence and impact of chronic pain in Bangladeshi, British Bangladeshi and White British/Irish people. We posted a short questionnaire to a random sample of 4,480 patients registered with 16 general practices in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and conducted a longer questionnaire with patients in the waiting areas at those practices. We distinguished between Bangladeshi participants who were born in the UK or had arrived in the UK at the age of 14 or under (British Bangladeshi) and those who arrived in UK at the age of over 14 (Bangladeshi). We obtained 1,223/4,480 (27 %) responses to the short survey and 600/637 (94 %) to the long survey. From the former, the prevalence of chronic pain in the White, British Bangladeshi and Bangladeshi groups was 55, 54 and 72 %, respectively. The corresponding figures from the long survey were 49, 45 and 70 %. Chronic widespread pain was commoner in the Bangladeshi (16 %) than in the White (10 %) or British Bangladeshi (9 %) groups. People with chronic pain experienced poorer quality of life (odds ratio for scoring best possible health vs. good health (or good vs. poor health) 5.6 (95 % confidence interval 3.4 to 9.8)), but we found no evidence of differences between ethnic groups in the impact of chronic pain on the quality of life. Chronic pain is commoner and, of greater severity, in Bangladeshis than in Whites. On most measures in this study, British Bangladeshis resembled the Whites more than the Bangladeshis