Toddlers with Developmental Delays and Challenging Behaviors

Behavior problems and parental expectations and practices were studied in a sample of 58 toddlers with developmental disabilities who were consecutively referred to a mental health clinic. The majority of children (70.7%) exceeded the clinical cut-off score for significant behavior problems including tantrums, aggression, defiance, and hyperactivity, and 77.6% met the DSM-IV criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis with oppositional defiant disorder being the most common. Consistent with previous research, child behavior problems were related to parental use of verbal and corporal punishment and were detrimental to the quality of the parent-child relationship. A new finding was that parental expectations also were positively related to the emergence of early child behavior problems

Training Community-Based Professionals to Implement an Empirically Supported Parenting Program

Professionals representing 14 community-based organizations were trained at three different sites serving urban and rural families to implement an empirically supported parenting program for families of young children with challenging behaviors. Of the 44 practitioners trained, 23 successfully completed the program, which involved passing a knowledge test and facilitating the entire 10session program with a family. A total of 28, primarily low-income families completed the program. The family outcomes obtained by the facilitators, based on multiple pre-program and post-program measures, were comparable with those reported previously in the literature for facilitators trained in university settings. The challenges inherent in efforts to increase the community’s capacity to implement empirically supported programs are addressed

Characterization of the Arthropod Communities and Aphid Feeding Behavior Associated with Perennial Warm-Season Grasses (Poaceae) Composition in Nebraska and Wisconsin

Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., along with two other perennial warm-season grasses, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and indiangrass, (Sorghastrum nutans L), compose a majority of the grasses found in North American tall grass prairies and have recently received attention as potential bioenergy feedstock. Limited research has been carried out on the relationship of arthropods on these three warm-season grasses in North America. Due to this limited research, the first objective of this research was to document the arthropods associated with switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass in Nebraska and Wisconsin over three sampling seasons. More than 10 arthropod orders and over 67 families were collected between the two locations with some of the most abundant families collected including: Carabidae, Chloropidae, Cicadellidae, Figitidae, and Thripidae. Previous research has documented greenbugs (Schizaphis graminum Rondani) and yellow sugarcane aphids (Sipha flava Forbes) as potential pests of switchgrass, but limited information is available on the host suitability of big bluestem and indiangrass to these two aphid species. Therefore, the second objective of this research was to document aphid feeding preference among these three grass species through a series of choice studies and to characterize greenbug feeding behaviors using the electric penetration graph (EPG) technique. Choice studies identified differences in the preference of two aphid species in response to the three grasses with switchgrass being most preferred by Schizaphis graminum at 1, 2 and 4 h; whereas switchgrass was the least preferred by S. flava starting at 24 h after aphid introduction. Feeding behavior studies of S. graminum on switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass indicated that greenbugs took significantly more time before achieving the first sieve-element phase (salivation and ingestion of sieve element phloem sap) when feeding on indiangrass compared to both switchgrass and big bluestem, suggesting resistance factors in indiangrass are associated with phloem tissue. These studies are the first to examine the feeding preference of S. graminum and S. flava on big bluestem and indiangrass. This research provides important baseline information about the arthropod communities associated with the three warm-season grasses, and advances our understanding of the plant-insect interactions within this system. Advisors: Tiffany Heng-Moss and Thomas J. Weisslin

Characterization of the Arthropod Communities and Aphid Feeding Behavior Associated with Perennial Warm-Season Grasses (Poaceae) Composition in Nebraska and Wisconsin

Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., along with two other perennial warm-season grasses, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and indiangrass, (Sorghastrum nutans L), compose a majority of the grasses found in North American tall grass prairies and have recently received attention as potential bioenergy feedstock. Limited research has been carried out on the relationship of arthropods on these three warm-season grasses in North America. Due to this limited research, the first objective of this research was to document the arthropods associated with switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass in Nebraska and Wisconsin over three sampling seasons. More than 10 arthropod orders and over 67 families were collected between the two locations with some of the most abundant families collected including: Carabidae, Chloropidae, Cicadellidae, Figitidae, and Thripidae. Previous research has documented greenbugs (Schizaphis graminum Rondani) and yellow sugarcane aphids (Sipha flava Forbes) as potential pests of switchgrass, but limited information is available on the host suitability of big bluestem and indiangrass to these two aphid species. Therefore, the second objective of this research was to document aphid feeding preference among these three grass species through a series of choice studies and to characterize greenbug feeding behaviors using the electric penetration graph (EPG) technique. Choice studies identified differences in the preference of two aphid species in response to the three grasses with switchgrass being most preferred by Schizaphis graminum at 1, 2 and 4 h; whereas switchgrass was the least preferred by S. flava starting at 24 h after aphid introduction. Feeding behavior studies of S. graminum on switchgrass, big bluestem and indiangrass indicated that greenbugs took significantly more time before achieving the first sieve-element phase (salivation and ingestion of sieve element phloem sap) when feeding on indiangrass compared to both switchgrass and big bluestem, suggesting resistance factors in indiangrass are associated with phloem tissue. These studies are the first to examine the feeding preference of S. graminum and S. flava on big bluestem and indiangrass. This research provides important baseline information about the arthropod communities associated with the three warm-season grasses, and advances our understanding of the plant-insect interactions within this system. Advisors: Tiffany Heng-Moss and Thomas J. Weisslin

A Mental Health Clinic for Toddlers with Developmental Delays and Behavior Problems

A mental health clinic was developed for toddlers with developmental disabilities and significant behavior problems from families living in poverty. The clinic was a collaborative effort between a community-based Birth-to-Three agency and a university. The purpose of this clinic was threefold: to provide direct mental health services for these young children, to train graduate students to work with this population, and to begin to contribute to the limited research available in this area. This paper describes the clinical intake procedures and outcomes for the 81 children served by the clinic over a 2-year period. Referral concerns included tantrums, aggression, oppositional behaviors, hyperactivity, and self-injury. The children came from a diverse group of families living in poverty; single mothers with less than a high school education headed most of the households. The clinical intake included direct observations of parent–child interactions, child behavior assessments, and parental interviews and self-report measures. For the present sample, 77% of the children met the criteria for a developmental disability and nearly 70% also met the criteria for a psychiatric disorder. The most common diagnosis was oppositional defiant disorder. Discussion regarding the challenges inherent in working with families of toddlers with developmental delays and psychiatric disorders living in low-income circumstances is included

Anticoagulant rodenticides on our public and community lands: spatial distribution of exposure and poisoning of a rare forest carnivore.

Anticoagulant rodenticide (AR) poisoning has emerged as a significant concern for conservation and management of non-target wildlife. The purpose for these toxicants is to suppress pest populations in agricultural or urban settings. The potential of direct and indirect exposures and illicit use of ARs on public and community forest lands have recently raised concern for fishers (Martes pennanti), a candidate for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act in the Pacific states. In an investigation of threats to fisher population persistence in the two isolated California populations, we investigate the magnitude of this previously undocumented threat to fishers, we tested 58 carcasses for the presence and quantification of ARs, conducted spatial analysis of exposed fishers in an effort to identify potential point sources of AR, and identified fishers that died directly due to AR poisoning. We found 46 of 58 (79%) fishers exposed to an AR with 96% of those individuals having been exposed to one or more second-generation AR compounds. No spatial clustering of AR exposure was detected and the spatial distribution of exposure suggests that AR contamination is widespread within the fisher's range in California, which encompasses mostly public forest and park lands Additionally, we diagnosed four fisher deaths, including a lactating female, that were directly attributed to AR toxicosis and documented the first neonatal or milk transfer of an AR to an altricial fisher kit. These ARs, which some are acutely toxic, pose both a direct mortality or fitness risk to fishers, and a significant indirect risk to these isolated populations. Future research should be directed towards investigating risks to prey populations fishers are dependent on, exposure in other rare forest carnivores, and potential AR point sources such as illegal marijuana cultivation in the range of fishers on California public lands

Patterns of Natural and Human-Caused Mortality Factors of a Rare Forest Carnivore, the Fisher (Pekania pennanti) in California.

Wildlife populations of conservation concern are limited in distribution, population size and persistence by various factors, including mortality. The fisher (Pekania pennanti), a North American mid-sized carnivore whose range in the western Pacific United States has retracted considerably in the past century, was proposed for threatened status protection in late 2014 under the United States Endangered Species Act by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in its West Coast Distinct Population Segment. We investigated mortality in 167 fishers from two genetically and geographically distinct sub-populations in California within this West Coast Distinct Population Segment using a combination of gross necropsy, histology, toxicology and molecular methods. Overall, predation (70%), natural disease (16%), toxicant poisoning (10%) and, less commonly, vehicular strike (2%) and other anthropogenic causes (2%) were causes of mortality observed. We documented both an increase in mortality to (57% increase) and exposure (6%) from pesticides in fishers in just the past three years, highlighting further that toxicants from marijuana cultivation still pose a threat. Additionally, exposure to multiple rodenticides significantly increased the likelihood of mortality from rodenticide poisoning. Poisoning was significantly more common in male than female fishers and was 7 times more likely than disease to kill males. Based on necropsy findings, suspected causes of mortality based on field evidence alone tended to underestimate the frequency of disease-related mortalities. This study is the first comprehensive investigation of mortality causes of fishers and provides essential information to assist in the conservation of this species

Investigating sex differences in rates and correlates of food addiction status in women and men with ptsd

Background: Food addiction (FA) is a dysregulated eating pattern characterized by difficulties in controlling the intake of certain foods. There is an overlap in physical and mental health correlates of FA and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this study was to examine sex differences in the rates of positive FA status in individuals with threshold/subthreshold PTSD, and to examine sex differences in the physical and mental health correlates of FA. Methods: Post-9/11 veterans/service members seeking PTSD treatment were recruited. Participants were diagnosed with PTSD via the administration of a clinical interview. FA status was determined using Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale-2, binary sex and body mass index were assessed with demographics questions. Results: Nearly half (43%) of the sample were women. There were no sex differences in the rates of FA, with an overall FA prevalence of 18%. There were no sex differences in FA symptom count in the whole sample (M = 1.63) or those with FA status (M = 6.21). Individuals with FA reported higher frequency of disordered eating, higher severity of PTSD, and depression symptoms. Conclusions: FA should be assessed in tandem with PTSD symptoms, as its prevalence in that sample is higher than in the general population, and it appears to affect both sexes at similar rates

Double‐blind, randomized, phase 2 trial of maintenance sunitinib versus placebo after response to chemotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106126/1/cncr28477.pd