Assessment of behavioral change in a child psychiatric inpatient program

A behavioral rating scale, the Devereux Child Behavior Scale, was used to assess change in 55 children who were patients in a child psychiatric inpatient unit for an average of 3.9 months. The children were rated by unit staff on admission and at discharge, and by their parents prior to admission and at three and six months after discharge. The ratings indicate that the children did make statistically significant positive behavioral changes while in the hospital and that they continued to change up to six months post-discharge. Staff tended to rate the children as less disturbed than the parents but both groups of raters indicated significant change by their ratings.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43952/1/10578_2004_Article_BF00706168.pd

Epistemological Debate Underlying Computer Simulations Used in Science Teaching: The Designers’ Perspective

Computer simulations are widely used in many research areas and their role in the production of scientific knowledge is nowadays the subject of debate in philosophy of science. However, there hasn´t been such debate regarding their use in science teaching. This work presents the results of a phenomenographic case study involving three researchers that design and use computer simulations in physics. The study analyzes these designers view on simulations and on the role of simulations in physics teaching. The results show that they agree on the fact that computer simulations have changed the way we do science and that they share many characteristics with the classical models: they derive from theories, they help to predict and explain phenomena, and their results need to be empirically validated. They consider simulations used in science teaching ?that differ from those used in research in their objectives as well as their design? to be useful as they allow students to visualize and/or work on a phenomenon from the viewpoint of the mathematical model, the physical, and the virtual one in an interrelated way. In general, the designers views on simulations and their use in science and education were more complex and meaningful than those conveyed by novel researchers in science teaching or found in research articles on secondary education that look at this subject.Fil: Seoane, María Eugenia. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas; ArgentinaFil: Arriassecq, Irene. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Greca, Ileana. Universidad de Burgos; Españ

Modeling business enterprises as value-added process hierarchies with resource-event-agent object templates

Applying object orientation to the task of modeling the value-added processes of a business enterprise is a task that should be examined both conceptually and practically. This paper does both, but its main theme is a conceptual reliance on a standardized object template-the REA (resource-event-agent) model-- at various levels of abstraction as that template is used to model the economic activities of an enterprise. Deployment of REA concepts in business object design and implementation is a semantic strategy for increasing reusability and interoperability. We explain the components and use of REA models in the context of a simple example, and we discuss also its predictable patterns of implementation compromise. The paper finishes with a discussion of the adaptation of various object-oriented analysis and design techniques to the task of REA modeling of enterprises

Neurochemical Alterations in Methamphetamine-Dependent Patients Treated with Cytidine-5′-Diphosphate Choline: A Longitudinal Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

Cytidine-5′-diphosphate choline (CDP-choline), as an important intermediate for major membrane phospholipids, may exert neuroprotective effects in various neurodegenerative disorders. This longitudinal proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) study aimed to examine whether a 4-week CDP-choline treatment could alter neurometabolite levels in patients with methamphetamine (MA) dependence and to investigate whether changes in neurometabolite levels would be associated with MA use. We hypothesized that the prefrontal levels of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), a neuronal marker, and choline-containing compound (Cho), which are related to membrane turnover, would increase with CDP-choline treatment in MA-dependent patients. We further hypothesized that this increase would correlate with the total number of negative urine results. Thirty-one treatment seekers with MA dependence were randomly assigned to receive CDP-choline (n=16) or placebo (n=15) for 4 weeks. Prefrontal NAA and Cho levels were examined using (1)H-MRS before medication, and at 2 and 4 weeks after treatment. Generalized estimating equation regression analyses showed that the rate of change in prefrontal NAA (p=0.005) and Cho (p=0.03) levels were greater with CDP-choline treatment than with placebo. In the CDP-choline-treated patients, changes in prefrontal NAA levels were positively associated with the total number of negative urine results (p=0.03). Changes in the prefrontal Cho levels, however, were not associated with the total number of negative urine results. These preliminary findings suggest that CDP-choline treatment may exert potential neuroprotective effects directly or indirectly because of reductions in drug use by the MA-dependent patients. Further studies with a larger sample size of MA-dependent patients are warranted to confirm a long-term efficacy of CDP-choline in neuroprotection and abstinence