A Comparison of Five Discrepancy Criteria for Determining Learning Disabilities in Secondary School Populations

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.Two groups of students were identified in grades 7 through 12--a school-defined learning disabled group and a group of low achieving students who were not receiving special education services. Five operational definitions of discrepancy were applied using test information obtained- from the two groups to determine the correspondence between the existing classification of the students and classifications based on each of the five discrepancy criteria. Two criteria were found to be the most consistent with-current public school practice in selecting LD students. However, a substantial proportion of low-achieving students met these two LD criteria

Teaching Learning Disabled Junior High Students to Use Visual Imagery as a Strategy for Facilitating Recall of Reading Passages

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.)his study investigated whether recall of prose passages by LD students could be improved by training those students to use visual imagery when they read. Students in an imagery-training group received 30 minutes of instruction in the use of visual imagery while students in a paraphrase-recall practice group received 30 minutes of practice in reading passages and telling, in their own words, the content of those passages. Students trained to use visual imagery did not exhibit improved paraphrase-recall relative to the practice group. However, trends within the data suggested that imagery training with LD students should be investigated further

Pregnancy outcomes in women with epilepsy and MTHFR mutations supplemented with methylated folate and methylcobalamin (methylated B12).

Antiseizure medications (ASM) may contribute to adverse fetal outcomes in pregnant women with epilepsy (WWE). Folate processing (Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, MTHFR) gene abnormalities are common in women with epilepsy and depression. L-methylfolate supplements may bypass MTHFR deficiencies, yet their use in WWE during gestation or on fetal development is not well studied. We examine pregnancy histories of three WWE who supplemented with either folate or L-methylfolate and methylcobalamin (methylated B12) during pregnancies. Their pregnancy outcomes improved with L-methylfolate and methylcobalamin supplementation. L-methylfolate and methylcobalamin supplementation merits further study in WWE who have MTHFR mutations, fertility, recurrent miscarriage and or depression histories

Individualizing therapies with responsive epilepsy neurostimulation — A mirtazapine case study of hippocampal excitability

AbstractObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate mirtazapine-induced changes in responsive neurostimulator (RNS) recordings in a patient with epilepsy.Materials and methodsCortical detection/stimulation counts from an RNS implanted in a patient with bitemporal epilepsy were matched to mirtazapine use to see if that drug altered hippocampal excitability.ResultsMirtazapine decreased hippocampal stability; when mirtazapine was held after a washout period, DSC counts declined, but when it was retrialed, DSC counts increased. Responsive epilepsy neurostimulator system data helped design an optimal and individualized medication regimen for our patient with drug-resistant focal epilepsy.ConclusionsResponsive neurostimulator systems in epilepsy may assess a medication's effect on hippocampal excitability. Mirtazapine worsened hippocampal excitability in a patient with bitemporal epilepsy

Bayesian Screening Procedure for Identification of Learning Disabled Adolescents: Administration, Scoring, and Interpretation

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.The Secondary Learning Disabilities Form of the Screening Procedure is described, and procedures for administration and scoring are detailed. In addition, interpretation guidelines are presented. Both the Revised Checklist of Academic Problems (Teacher Checklist) and the Self-Bating Student Checklist are discussed

Identification of Learning Disabled Adolescents: A Bayesian Approach

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.The identification of learning disabled adolescents for program placement is a major concern of school personnel. The identification model discussed in this article addresses an array of problems associated with identification of LD populations. The Bayesian approach is an alternative to traditional methods that rely primarily on psychometric data or classroom/clinical observation for identification decisions

Erupting Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We report the first likely detections of erupting Dwarf Novae (DN) in an external galaxy: the Large Magellanic Cloud. Six candidates were isolated from approximately a million stars observed every second night over 11 nights with the CTIO 8K x 8K Mosaic2 CCD imager. Artificial dwarf nova and completeness tests suggest that we are seeing only the brightest of the LMC DN, probably SS Cygni-like CVs, but possibly SU UMa-type cataclysmics undergoing superoutbursts. We derive crude but useful limits on the LMC DN surface density, and on the number of DN in the LMC. Many thousands of cataclysmic variables in the Magellanic Clouds can be discovered and characterized with 8 meter class telescopes.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ, 28 pages, 9 figures total, Figures 1 and 8 are supplied separately in jpeg forma

Continuous monitoring devices and seizure patterns by glucose, time and lateralized seizure onset.

Objectives: To investigate if glucose levels influence seizure patterns. Materials and methods: In a patient with RNS/NeuroPace implanted bi-temporally and type 1 diabetes mellitus, seizure event times and onset locations were matched to continuous tissue glucose. Results: Left focal seizure (LFS, n = 22) glucoses averaged 169 mg/dL, while right focal seizure (RFS, n = 23) glucoses averaged 131 mg/dL (p = 0.03). LFS occurred at mean time 17:02 while RFS occurred at 04:23. LFS spread to the contralateral side (n = 19) more than RFS (n = 2). Conclusion: Seizure onset laterality and spread vary with glucose and time of seizure

Pilot data on responsive epilepsy neurostimulation, measures of sleep apnea and continuous glucose measurements.

Objectives: To match responsive neurostimulator (RNS) and polysomnographic data to determine if RNS detections and stimulations correlate with measurements of sleep disordered breathing and continuous glucose measurements (CGM). Materials and methods: In a patient with an RNS with detection/stimulation leads implanted bi-temporally detection-stimulation counts were matched by time with coinciding polysomnogram and CGM data. Results: Temporal dispersion of RNS DSC were independent of measures of sleep apnea, hypopnea or glucose. Conclusion: Hippocampal nighttime responsive neurostimulation therapies did not appear to worsen measures of normal or abnormal sleep

Symbiosis-specific changes in dimethylsulphoniopropionate concentrations in Stylophora pistillata along a depth gradient

Scleractinian corals are prolific producers of dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), but ecophysiological mechanisms influencing cellular concentrations are uncertain. While DMSP is often proposed to function as an antioxidant, interactions between specific host–symbiont genotype associations, plasticity in DMSP concentrations and environmental conditions that can either exert or alleviate oxidative stress are unclear. We used long-term (6 months) reciprocal transplantation of Stylophora pistillata hosting two distinct symbiont phylotypes along a depth gradient, clades A (20 m), to assess the effect of change in depth (light intensity) on DMSP concentrations in relation to symbiont genotype and photoacclimation in corals between 3 and 50 m in the Gulf of Aqaba. Bathymetric distribution of total DMSP (DMSPt) per cell varied significantly while particulate DMSP (DMSPp) appeared to be unaffected by depth. Highest DMSPt concentrations in control corals occurred at 20 m. While 3-m transplants showed a significant increase in DMSPt concentration at 20 m and became affiliated with an additional genotype (C72), 50-m transplants largely persisted with their original genotype and exhibited no significant changes in DMSPt concentrations. DMSPt concentrations in transplants at both 3 and 50 m, on the other hand, increased significantly while all corals maintained their original symbiont genotypes. Photoacclimation differed significantly with transplantation direction relative to the controls. Symbionts in 3-m transplants at 20 m exhibited no changes in chlorophyll a (chl a) concentration, cell density or cell diameter while symbiont densities decreased and chl a concentrations increased significantly at 50 m. In contrast, symbiont densities in 50-m transplants remained unaffected across depths while symbiont diameters decreased. Chl a concentrations decreased at 20 m and increased at 3 m. Our results indicate that DMSPt concentrations following changes in depth are not only a function of symbiont genotype but result from different acclimation abilities of both symbiotic partners