bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Case of Ampiginous Choroiditis
Authors: Lambrecht Pieter , Claeys Marnix , De Schryver Ilse
Published: December 2015

Purpose: Presentation of a case report of a unilateral ampiginous choroiditis. Methods: This is an observational case report. Results: A 70-year-old woman was referred to us with unilateral scattered chorioretinal lesions. The multifocal pattern of the lesions and the angiographic features led to the diagnosis of ampiginous choroiditis. Conclusion: Ampiginous choroiditis is a primary inflammatory choriocapillaropathy with characteristics of both acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy and serpiginous choroiditis.
Effect of 24 Cytochrome P450 2D6 Variants Found in the Chinese Population on Atomoxetine Metabolism in vitro
Authors: Liang Bingqing , Zhan Yunyun , Wang Ying , Gu Ermin , Dai Dapeng , Cai Jianping , Hu Guoxin
Published: December 2015

Objective: The aim of this article was to assess the catalytic activities of 24 cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) variants found in the Chinese population toward atomoxetine in vitro as well as CYP2D6.1. Methods: In this study, the co-expression enzyme of human recombinant CYPOR, CYPb5, and CYP2D6.1 or other CYP2D6 variants with the baculovirus-mediated insect cells (Sf21) was used to study the catalytic activities of 24 CYP2D6 variants toward atomoxetine metabolism. The metabolite of atomoxetine (4-hydroxyatomoxetine) was detected by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. Results: The intrinsic clearance (Vmax/Km) values of most variants were significantly altered when compared with CYP2D6.1. CYP2D6.94, CYP2D6.D336N, CYP2D6.R440C exhibited marked increased values 172, 126, 121% respectively. CYP2D6.89 and CYP2D6.98 exhibited similar catalytic activity as the wild type, whereas 17 variants exhibited significantly decreased values (from 5 to 87%) due to increase Km and/or decrease Vmax values. However, CYP2D6.92 and CYP2D6.96 showed no or few activity because of producing nothing. Conclusions: Our results suggest that most of these newly found variants exhibit significantly changed catalytic activities compared with the wild type. And these findings provide valuable information for the growth and development of personalized medicine in China.
Aspergillus Vertebral Osteomyelitis Complicating Pulmonary Granuloma in an Immunocompetent Adult
Authors: Li Yun , Cen Yanyi , Luo Yuwen , Zhu Zhe , Min Shaoxiong , Chen Xin
Published: December 2015

Objective: The aim of this report is to describe a case with Aspergillus vertebral osteomyelitis complicating pulmonary granuloma in an immunocompetent adult. Clinical Presentation and Intervention: A 53-year-old male patient was found to have lesions on lumbar vertebra 5 months after thoracoscopic resection of pulmonary granuloma that lacked a definite etiology. Three operations on the lumbar lesions were performed successively; however, an Aspergillus infection was not confirmed until hyphae were clearly detected at the last surgery. The patient was treated with voriconazole and recovered well. Conclusion: This case shows that simultaneous occurrence of granulomatous nodules in the lung and vertebral lesions should raise suspicion of aspergillosis, even in immunocompetent patients.
Altered Maturation Status and Possible Immune Exhaustion of CD8 T Lymphocytes in the Peripheral Blood of Patients Presenting With Acute Coronary Syndromes
Authors: Zidar David A. , Mudd Joseph C. , Juchnowski Steven , Lopes Joao P. , Sparks Sara , Park Samantha S. , Ishikawa Masakazu , Osborne Robyn , Washam Jeffrey B. , Chan Cliburn , Funderburg Nicholas T. , Owoyele Adeyinka , Alaiti Mohamad A. , Mayuga Myttle , Orringer Carl , Costa Marco A. , Simon Daniel I. , Tatsuoka Curtis , Califf Robert M. , Newby L. Kristin , Lederman Michael M. , Weinhold Kent J.
Published: December 2015

Objective—

Inflammation in response to oxidized lipoproteins is thought to play a key role in acute coronary syndromes (ACS), but the pattern of immune activation has not been fully characterized. We sought to perform detailed phenotypic and functional analysis of CD8 T lymphocytes from patients presenting with ACS to determine activation patterns and potential immunologic correlates of ACS.

Approach and Results—

We used polychromatic flow cytometry to analyze the cytokine production profiles of naïve, effector, and memory CD8 T cells in patients with ACS compared with control subjects with stable coronary artery disease. ACS was associated with an altered distribution of circulating CD8
+
T-cell maturation subsets with reduced proportions of naïve cells and expansion of effector memory cells. ACS was also accompanied by impaired interleukin-2 production by phenotypically naïve CD8 T cells. These results were validated in a second replication cohort. Naïve CD8 cells from patients with ACS also had increased expression of programmed cell death-1, which correlated with interleukin-2 hypoproduction. In vitro, stimulation of CD8 T cells with oxidized low-density lipoprotein was sufficient to cause programmed cell death-1 upregulation and diminished interleukin-2 production by naïve CD8 T cells.

Conclusions—

In this exploratory analysis, naïve CD8
+
T cells from patients with ACS show phenotypic and functional characteristics of immune exhaustion: impaired interleukin-2 production and programmed cell death-1 upregulation. Exposure to oxidized low-density lipoprotein recapitulates these features in vitro. These data provide evidence that oxidized low-density lipoprotein could play a role in immune exhaustion, and this immunophenotype may be a biomarker for ACS.
Mutual Information, Fisher Information, and Efficient Coding
Authors: Wei Xue-Xin , Stocker Alan A.
Published: December 2015

Fisher information is generally believed to represent a lower bound on mutual information (Brunel & Nadal, 1998 ), a result that is frequently used in the assessment of neural coding efficiency. However, we demonstrate that the relation between these two quantities is more nuanced than previously thought. For example, we find that in the small noise regime, Fisher information actually provides an upper bound on mutual information. Generally our results show that it is more appropriate to consider Fisher information as an approximation rather than a bound on mutual information. We analytically derive the correspondence between the two quantities and the conditions under which the approximation is good. Our results have implications for neural coding theories and the link between neural population coding and psychophysically measurable behavior. Specifically, they allow us to formulate the efficient coding problem of maximizing mutual information between a stimulus variable and the response of a neural population in terms of Fisher information. We derive a signature of efficient coding expressed as the correspondence between the population Fisher information and the distribution of the stimulus variable. The signature is more general than previously proposed solutions that rely on specific assumptions about the neural tuning characteristics. We demonstrate that it can explain measured tuning characteristics of cortical neural populations that do not agree with previous models of efficient coding.
God May save your Life, but you have to Find your Own Keys
Authors: Cragun Ryan T. , Sumerau J. E.
Published: December 2015

Previous research has found that people make religious attributions under certain conditions. In this study, we used causally ambiguous vignettes to confirm some previous findings regarding religious attributions and extend these findings by testing: (a) whether implicit priming increased the odds of making causal attributions, and (b) whether atheists also exhibit an attribution bias. Like previous studies, we found that people who were less religious (i.e., atheists in our study) were substantially less likely to make religious causal attributions. Unlike previous studies, we found that atheists were more likely to attribute events to probability and/or luck. We also found, like previous studies, that religious people were more likely to make causal attributions when presented with vignettes involving health-related or life-and-death situations but not with quotidian events, like losing one's keys. Finally, we found no effect for implicit religious priming.
The Ideology of the Hungarian Catholic ‘Bokor’ Movement through the Writings of György Bulányi, 1970s–1980s
Authors: Jobbágy András
Published: December 2015

In the 1970s, a new Catholic movement called the Bokor emerged in Hungary, and, with its few thousand followers, became a prominent actor in the semi-official or unofficial Catholic ‘underground.’ The members of the Bokor fashioned the movement as a truly apolitical phenomenon, but at the same time the movement was diagnosed by the communist regime as a political threat and was treated accordingly. This essay focuses on the main characteristics of the Bokor’s ideology in terms of political theology and ecclesiology, and seeks to grasp the interconnectedness of this ideology and the communist religious policy practiced in Hungary in the 1970s and 1980s. The author argues that the Bokor’s ideology was a more or less explicit critique of the contemporary religious political setting. The ideology of the movement thus represented a form of political dissent, which was mainly expressed in religious terms.
Finding a Place for Islam in Germany: Islamic Organisations under Private and Public Law
Authors: Spielhaus Riem , Herzog Martin
Published: December 2015

While in current debates on Islam in Germany recognition is often reduced to incorporation of Islamic organisations under public law, this article demonstrates that German law provides a variety of legal instruments that allow for public involvement of religious communities incorporated under private law. Despite the formal separation of state institutions and religious communities, German law encourages collaboration and visibility of religion in public space. This corresponds with the German constitutional framework that locates religion not (only) in the private, but also in the public sphere. Presenting insights from legal and Islamic studies, this article portrays recent legal measures such as new legislation and treaties concluded by German federal states (Bundesländer) and Islamic organisations that enable Muslim religious practice in public space, like prison chaplaincy and burial according to Islamic rites.
Modeling the Interaction between Quasigeostrophic Vertical Motion and Convection in a Single Column
Authors: Nie Ji , Sobel Adam H.
Published: December 2015

A single-column modeling approach is proposed to study the interaction between convection and large-scale dynamics using the quasigeostrophic (QG) framework. This approach extends the notion of “parameterization of large-scale dynamics,” previously applied in the tropics via the weak temperature gradient approximation and other comparable methods, to the extratropics, where balanced adiabatic dynamics plays a larger role in inducing large-scale vertical motion. The diabatic heating in an air column is resolved numerically by a single-column model or a cloud-resolving model. The large-scale vertical velocity, which controls vertical advection of temperature and moisture, is computed through the QG omega equation including the dry adiabatic terms and the diabatic heating term. The component due to diabatic heating can be thought of as geostrophic adjustment to that heating and couples the convection to the large-scale vertical motion. The approach is demonstrated using two representations of convection: a single-column model and linear response functions derived by Z. Kuang from a large set of cloud-resolving simulations. The results are qualitatively similar in both cases. The behavior of convection that is strongly coupled to large-scale dynamics is significantly different from that in the uncoupled case. The positive feedback of the diabatic heating on the large-scale vertical motion reduces the stability of the system, extends the decay time scale after initial perturbations, and increases the amplitude of convective responses to transient large-scale perturbations or imposed forcings. The diabatic feedback of convection on vertical motion is strongest for horizontal wavelengths on the order of the Rossby deformation radius.
An Energy Conservation Analysis of Ocean Drift in the CMIP5 Global Coupled Models*
Authors: Hobbs Will , Palmer Matthew D. , Monselesan Didier
Published: December 2015

Climate model simulations of changes to Earth’s energy budget are fundamental to improve understanding of both historical and future climate change. However, coupled models are prone to “drift” (i.e., they contain spurious unforced trends in state variables) due to incomplete spinup or nonclosure of the energy budget. This work assesses the globally integrated energy budgets of 25 models in phase 5 of CMIP (CMIP5). It is shown that for many of the models there is a significant disagreement between ocean heat content changes and net top-of-atmosphere radiation. The disagreement is largely time-constant and independent of forcing scenario. Furthermore, most of the nonconservation seems to occur as a result of energy leaks external to the ocean model realm. After drift correction, the time-varying energy budget is consistent at decadal time scales, and model responses to climate forcing are not sensitive to the magnitude of their drift. This demonstrates that, although drift terms can be significant, model output can be corrected post hoc without biasing results.
Evaluating Satellite Precipitation Error Propagation in Runoff Simulations of Mountainous Basins
Authors: Mei Yiwen , Nikolopoulos Efthymios I. , Anagnostou Emmanouil N. , Borga Marco
Published: December 2015

This study investigates the error characteristics of six quasi-global satellite precipitation products and their error propagation in flow simulations for a range of mountainous basin scales (255–6967 km2) and two different periods (May–August and September–November) in northeast Italy. Statistics describing the systematic and random error, the temporal similarity, and error ratios between precipitation and runoff are presented. Overall, strong over-/underestimation associated with the near-real-time 3B42/Climate Prediction Center morphing technique (CMORPH) products is shown. Results suggest positive correlation between the systematic error and basin elevation. Performance evaluation of flow simulations yields a higher degree of consistency for the moderate to large basin scales and the May–August period. Gauge adjustment for the different satellite products is shown to moderate their error magnitude and increase their correlation with reference precipitation and streamflow simulations. Moreover, ratios of precipitation to streamflow simulation error metrics show dependencies in terms of magnitude and variability. Random error and temporal dissimilarity are shown to reduce from basin-average rainfall to the streamflow simulations, while the systematic error exhibits no clear pattern in the rainfall–runoff transformation.
How the prison-to-community transition risk environment influences the experience of men with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder
Authors: Denton Michelle , Foster Michele , Bland Robert
Published: December 2015

Previous research has established that people with severe mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorder leaving prison have multiple and complex health, social and economic challenges. How the criminal justice and mental health systems influence the individual prison-to-community transition experience of this population is less well understood. This paper draws on unique qualitative data from a study of 18 men with co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorder leaving prison in Queensland, Australia. A repeat in-depth interview method was used to explore the experiences of the men in prison just prior to release and at two points post-release. Two themes are discussed from analysis of interviews: “risk behaviour and relapse” and “once a criminal always a risk”. The findings suggest that individual risk behaviour is structured within a transition risk environment that reduces individual agency, thus facilitating a vicious cycle of release, relapse and reincarceration.
Self-Fulfillment of Social Science Theories
Authors: Bergenholtz Carsten , Busch Jacob
Published: December 2015

Self-fulfillment of theories is argued to be a threat to social science in at least two ways. First, a realist might worry that self-fulfillment constitutes a threat to the idea that social science is a proper science consistent with a realist approach that develops true and successful statements about the world. Second, one might argue that the potential self-fulfilling nature of social science theories potentially undermines the ethical integrity of social scientists. We argue that if one accepts that social science theories are not based on laws akin to those that govern natural reality or acknowledges that if one can predict self-fulfillment via a meta-theory that explains the underlying regularities of the self-fulfilling change, the threat to realism is dismantled. Furthermore, on the basis of these arguments, we show that if one is unable to predict the (moral) consequences of a theory, it is difficult to ascribe moral responsibility at the individual level. It is, therefore, not the potential self-fulfillment of theories per se that poses an ethical challenge, in contrast to claims in the literature.
The Effect of Age on Attention Level
Authors: Lufi Dubi , Segev Shahar , Blum Adi , Rosen Tal , Haimov Iris
Published: December 2015

In the present study, a computerized test was used to compare the attention level of a group of healthy older participants aged 75 with that of a group of students aged 31. The second part of the study examined only the older participants and sought to discover how three measures of lifestyle were related to measures of attention. The results showed that the young group performed better on measures of attention. No differences between the two age groups were found on measures of impulsivity and on four measures of sustained attention. A discriminant function analysis found that reaction time and standard deviation of reaction time can explain 87.50% of the variance in both groups. The older participants’ answers to the lifestyle questions showed that variables of attention correlated significantly with time spent watching television and reading. The results indicate that attention level declines with age; however, no decline was observed on measures of impulsivity and sustained attention.
Using coupled energy, airflow and indoor air quality software (TRNSYS/CONTAM) to evaluate building ventilation strategies
Authors: Dols W Stuart , Emmerich Steven J , Polidoro Brian J
Published: December 2015

Building energy analysis tools are available in many forms that provide the ability to address a broad spectrum of energy-related issues in various combinations. Often these tools operate in isolation from one another, making it difficult to evaluate the interactions between related phenomena and interacting systems, forcing oversimplified assumptions to be made about various phenomena that could otherwise be addressed directly with another tool. One example of such interdependence is the interaction between heat transfer, inter-zone airflow, and indoor contaminant transport. To better address these interdependencies, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed an updated version of the multi-zone airflow and contaminant transport modeling tool, CONTAM, along with a set of utilities to enable coupling of the full CONTAM model with the TRNSYS simulation tool in a more seamless manner and with additional capabilities that were previously not available. This article provides an overview of these new capabilities and applies them to simulating a medium-size office building. These simulations address the interaction between whole-building energy, airflow, and contaminant transport in evaluating various ventilation strategies including natural and demand-controlled ventilation.

Practical application: CONTAM has been in practical use for many years allowing building designers, as well as indoor air quality (IAQ) and ventilation system analysts, to simulate the complex interactions between building physical layout and HVAC system configuration in determining building airflow and contaminant transport. It has been widely used to design and analyze smoke management systems and evaluate building performance in response to chemical, biological, and radiological events. While CONTAM has been used to address design and performance of buildings implementing energy conserving ventilation systems, e.g. natural and hybrid, this new coupled simulation capability will enable users to apply the tool to couple CONTAM with existing energy analysis software to address the interaction between IAQ considerations and energy conservation measures in building design and analysis. This article presents two practical case studies using the coupled modeling tool to evaluate IAQ performance of a CO2-based demand-controlled ventilation system under different levels of building envelope air tightness and the design and analysis of a natural ventilation system.
Supported eText: Effects of Text-to-Speech on access and Achievement for High School Students with Disabilities
Authors: Izzo Margo Vreeburg , Yurick Amanda , McArrell Bianca
Published: December 2015

Students with disabilities often lack the skills required to access the general education curriculum and achieve success in school and postschool environments. Evidence suggests that using assistive technologies such as digital texts and translational supports enhances outcomes for these students (Anderson-Inman & Horney, 2007). The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of a text-to-speech screen reader program on the academic achievement of high school students with disabilities in an online transition curriculum emphasizing information literacy. The text-to-speech support was introduced and withdrawn in a reversal design across 10 curriculum units. Findings suggest that the text-to-speech support increased unit quiz and reading comprehension performance with large effect sizes. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Using Video Modeling via Handheld Computers to Improve Geometry Skills for High School Students with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Cihak David F.
Published: December 2015

The researchers examined the use of video modeling by means of a handheld computer as an alternative instructional delivery system for learning basic geometry skills. Three high school students with learning disabilities participated in this study. Through video modeling, teacher-developed video clips showing step-by-step problem solving processes were synched into handheld computers. Students were shown how to use a handheld computer and access teacher-developed video clips regarding how to successfully solve geometry problems. All three participants acquired and maintained the geometry skills taught. The results are discussed in the context of increased opportunities for students to watch, listen, and interact with content information.
The Use of Repeated Reading with Computer Modeling to Promote Reading Fluency with Students Who Have Physical Disabilities
Authors: Coleman Mari Beth , Heller Kathryn Wolff
Published: December 2015

The ability to read fluently is a critical skill that allows the reader to concentrate on the meaning of the text. It also can contribute to a successful reading experience. However, students with physical disabilities may have difficulty reading fluently due to any number of functional, psychosocial, or environmental factors that can accompany a physical disability. Although instructional methods to increase reading fluency do exist, the research investigating these methods is typically done with other populations of students. This study employed a changing criterion design to examine the use of a treatment package consisting of repeated reading with computer modeling, error correction, and performance feedback on improving reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension with students with cerebral palsy. An analysis of the data demonstrated that all students were able to increase reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension from first to final readings within a session (positive nontransfer effects). Analysis of the percentage of nonoverlapping data revealed that three of the four students also showed slight increases in reading fluency on novel passages (positive transfer effects).
Computer Mediated Communication in the Universal Design for Learning Framework for Preparation of Special Education Teachers
Authors: Basham James D. , Lowrey K. Alisa , deNoyelles Aimee
Published: December 2015

This study investigated the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework as a basis for a bi-university computer mediated communication (CMC) collaborative project. Participants in the research included 78 students from two special education programs enrolled in teacher education courses. The focus of the investigation was on exploring the outcomes of the UDL-based design that used CMC tools. Results indicated that the UDL framework was important to the overall design, students' participation times varied, and CMC tool use emerged in two separately important ways. Findings also showed improved instructor ratings for project courses as compared to other courses. Information related to the instructional design and implications for further research are discussed.
An Ecological Model of STEM Education: Operationalizing STEM for All
Authors: Basham James D. , Israel Maya , Maynard Kathie
Published: December 2015

This article describes a framework for how to provide more accessible, relevant, and effective instruction in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to all students. The STEM FOR ALL initiative asserts that all students, including those with disabilities and other diverse learning needs, should be included in meaningful STEM education and develop expertise in STEM areas as well as 21st century skills associated with STEM learning. This framework is described through the lens of Bronfrenbrenner's (1977, 1994) ecological model, which provides a mechanism for understanding the interconnected and complex interactions that occur across multiple systems (e.g., policy makers, curriculum developers, teachers, and students) within the current STEM education infrastructures. Examples and lessons learned from the Furthering Urban STEM Innovation, Outreach, & New Research(UC|FUSION) research and outreach STEM center illustrate how the model is currently applied in Ohio schools and how it could be adapted to other local, regional, and national STEM FOR ALL initiatives.
Technology and Communications Coursework: Facilitating the Progression of Students with Learning Disabilities through High School Science and Math Coursework
Authors: Shifrer Dara , Callahan Rebecca
Published: December 2015

Students identified with learning disabilities experience markedly lower levels of science and mathematics achievement than students who are not identified with a learning disability. Seemingly compounding their disadvantage, students with learning disabilities also complete more credits in non-core coursework—traditionally considered nonacademic coursework—than students who are not identified with a learning disability. The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, a large national dataset with both regular and special education high school students, is utilized to determine whether credit accumulation in certain types of non-core coursework, such as technology and communications courses, is associated with improved science and math course taking outcomes for students with learning disabilities. Results show that credit accumulation in technology and communications coursework uniquely benefits the science course taking, and comparably benefits the math course taking, of students identified with learning disabilities in contrast to students who are not identified with learning disabilities.
Computer-Assisted Instruction to Enhance the Reading Comprehension of Struggling Readers: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Stetter Maria Earman , Hughes Marie Tejero
Published: December 2015

This literature review synthesizes the effects of computer-assisted instruction to enhance the reading comprehension of students with disabilities and struggling readers from 1985–2009. First, it addresses research that investigates the impact on comprehension when students are presented with computerized versus printed reading material. Second, it reviews work using computerized readers to enhance comprehension by compensating for reading difficulties. Finally, it considers research on a variety of tools used to help students gain meaning from the text with which they are engaged, often through Web-linked hypertext. Computer-based tools offer students with learning disabilities and reading difficulties interlinked support for reading. Intervention results are mixed, with many showing positive effects but not consistently so. Future research is needed to gauge the overall effectiveness of hypermedia supports on comprehension.
Technology and Self-Determination in Transition Planning: The Impact of Technology Use in Transition Planning on Student Self-Determination
Authors: Wehmeyer Michael L. , Palmer Susan B. , Williams-Diehm Kendra , Shogren Karrie A. , Davies Daniel K. , Stock Steven
Published: December 2015

Promoting student involvement in transition planning and the self-determination of youth with disabilities has become best practice in secondary and transition services. Increasingly, a critical feature of efforts to promote student access to and involvement with curricular content, including transition-related content, has involved the use of universally designed instructional technologies. The extant research does not, however, provide a causal link between efforts to teach skills related to student involvement and self-determination utilizing technology. This study utilized a randomized-trial control group design to examine whether or not the use of cognitively accessible technology would improve outcomes related to self-determination for students receiving instruction in transition planning designed to promote student involvement. We also evaluated the impact, over time, of instruction in transition planning designed to promote student involvement on student self-determination. Participants were 194 high school students receiving special education services in multiple disability categories in school districts in six states. About half the students received instruction with the support of cognitively accessible computer software programs designed to support greater independence in decision making and to facilitate exploration related to transition. Results provided support for the relationship between student involvement in transition planning and enhanced self-determination and provided evidence of a causal relationship between student involvement combined with technology use and enhanced self-determination.
The Effectiveness of Electronic Text and Pictorial Graphic Organizers to Improve Comprehension Related to Functional Skills
Authors: Douglas Karen H. , Ayres Kevin M. , Langone John , Bramlett Virginia Bell
Published: December 2015

This study evaluated the effects of a computer-based instructional program to assist three students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in using pictorial graphic organizers as aids for increasing comprehension of electronic text-based recipes. Student comprehension of recipes was measured by their ability to verbally retell recipe steps with their graphic organizer. Students' ability to follow a novel recipe with the assistance of a pictorial graphic organizer tested generalization and authentic use of the recipes. A multiple-probe design across participants evaluated the functional relationship between the graphic organizer and comprehension. All students improved their comprehension related to the e-text presentation of recipes after the introduction of graphic organizers, and performance generalized to the novel recipes and actual food preparation. Results of the investigation are discussed in the context of integrating graphic organizers into the curriculum and technology-enhanced text-based activities.
Comparison of Task Performance by Students with Autism and Moderate Intellectual Disabilities When Presenting Video Models on Large and Small Screen Sizes
Authors: Mechling Linda C. , Youhouse Iva R.
Published: December 2015

This investigation compared the ability of students with disabilities to complete fine motor tasks when presented with video models on a small personal digital assistant (PDA) screen and a traditional computer laptop screen. Two groups of elementary age students participated in the study: four with moderate intellectual disabilities (Moderate ID), and four with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An adapted alternating treatments design with extended baseline, comparison, and final treatment condition was used to compare performance across the two screen sizes. Overall results suggest that students with ASD may perform equally as well, regardless of screen size, while some students with Moderate ID may need a larger screen size in order to perform fine motor tasks using video models. Results further indicate that individual differences occurred across some of the students (two of the four students with Moderate ID performed better when using the smaller screen) and that task requirements may have influenced performance (more errors occurred with tasks that may have presented greater cognitive challenges to students).
Is There an App for That?
Authors: Douglas Karen H. , Wojcik Brian W. , Thompson James R.
Published: December 2015

Everyday technologies (e.g., iPods, iPads, and Smart Phones) offer applications (apps) that can serve as supports to students with intellectual and related developmental disabilities. The extent to which apps that are currently on the market are aligned with the support needs of children was evaluated using the subscale framework of the Children's Supports Intensity Scale ( Child-SIS). Recommendations for future research and app development are provided, and implications for how apps influence assistive technology (AT) consideration and the concept of technological abandonment are discussed.
Online Instruction for K-12 Special Education: A Review of the Empirical Literature
Authors: Vasquez Eleazar , Straub Carrie
Published: December 2015

Online environments increasingly are becoming a part of our schools. While online education holds tremendous promise—offering viable and attractive options for advancing student skills, increasing access, and potentially lowering the cost of educational services—there is little research on the efficacy of online instruction for students with disabilities. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to determine if the existing literature can provide a research base for delivering evidence-based practices mediated through synchronous or asynchronous online technology for students with disabilities.
A Comparison of Audio Representations of Mathematics Content
Authors: Higgins Jennifer , Katz Michael
Published: December 2015

The goal of a mathematics read aloud accommodation is to provide better access to test content and achieve a more accurate indicator of students' math knowledge by minimizing the measurement of constructs such as vision and reading ability. This article highlights recent Mathematics eText Research Center (MeTRC) research on the audio representation of four mathematics content types: parentheses, exponents, tables, and graphs that contain keys. Researchers from the Measured Progress Innovation Lab used qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore differences in performance and preferences when literal and interpretive audio representations were applied to practice test items. Results demonstrated that students prefer and perform better with a literal interpretation of parentheses. Quantitative and qualitative data were mixed for the other content types. As states and assessment consortia transition to computer-based tests with embedded accessibility supports, more research is needed in order to create a set of guidelines for how to appropriately represent mathematical notation, graphics, and images in audio form.
Using Audio Recorders to Promote Independence in Grocery Shopping for Students with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Bouck Emily C. , Satsangi Rajiv , Muhl Alison , Bartlett Whitney
Published: December 2015

Self-prompting devices assist students with disabilities with acquiring skills and/or independence. However, limited research exists on audio recorders for nonreaders (Mechling, 2007). In this study, researchers sought to understand if use of audio recorders impacted three students' identification and selection of grocery items as compared to using a written list, which represented the traditional mode of grocery shopping students experienced during weekly outings to the grocery store for their life skills class. The results of the study indicate use of the audio recorders resulted in the three students becoming more successful at identifying grocery list items, as well as requiring fewer prompts to identify grocery items on the list correctly. In addition, the intervention of audio recorders consisted of two conditions: self-record and researcher record. The results showed the students were more successful in identifying and selecting grocery items when they recorded the list prior to entering the store as opposed to when they received the researcher prerecorded list upon arrival at the store.
Applied Technology: Visual Response System: A Mediated Resource Room for Children with Learning Problems
Authors: Heward William L.
Published: December 2015

Five reasons are proposed why efforts to mainstream learning disabled students into the regular classroom are often unsuccessful. A mediated resource room, the Visual Response System (VRS), is described and suggested as an instructional technology which could help facilitate the integration of learning disabled students into the regular classroom. The VRS is a classroom in which each student has an overhead projector built into his or her desk. The teacher also has an overhead projector for presenting stimuli to students. Student's respond on their overhead projectors by writing, pointing, placing objects, etc. Students' responses are projected on screens behind their desks, giving the teacher immediate and continuous visual access to those responses.
Emergency Evacuation Procedures for Severely Profoundly Handicapped Students
Authors: Eddings Kathy , Haas Trudy , Striefel Sebastian
Published: December 2015

Individual sticks with students' names (name sticks) are placed by the door to a classroom for severely/profoundly handicapped students. The sticks are used to monitor the location of students at all times during the day. Such monitoring is extremely important if an emergency should arise that would require evacuation of the classroom. The paper that follows describes in detail the emergency evacuation procedures using the name sticks.
Classification of Rehabilitation Equipment and Educational Media
Authors: Melichar Joseph F.
Published: December 2015

The classification of rehabilitation equipment as educational media is discussed. Rehabilitation equipment is reclassified into three types: rehabilitative, assistive, and adaptive. The three types are related to the functional purpose of the equipment in the educational rehabilitative process. One grouping of equipment has implicit educational uses; i.e., equipment is implicit to an educational process, or requires education to support its use. A second grouping includes explicit uses, where the equipment is central to the educational process. Technical and social mediating factors are shown not to be classifiers, but rather are influences on the application of equipment and media. A typology for classifying equipment as media in a decision-tree format is presented.
Miniature Swine Breeds in Toxicology and Drug Safety Assessments
Authors: Stricker-Krongrad Alain , Shoemake Catherine R. , Pereira Marcia E. , Gad Shayne C. , Brocksmith Derek , Bouchard Guy F.
Published: December 2015

The use of miniature swine as a nonrodent species in safety assessment has continued to expand for over a decade, and they are becoming routinely used in toxicology and in pharmacology as well as a model for human diseases. Miniature swine models are regularly used for regulatory toxicity studies designed to assess safety of new therapeutic compounds given through different routes of exposure and are used as an alternative model to the canine or the nonhuman primate. Translational preclinical swine study data presented support the current finding that miniature swine are the animal model of choice for assessment of drug absorption, tolerance, and systemic toxicity following systemic exposures. Because research investigators need to be familiar with important anatomic and histopathologic features of the miniature swine in order to place toxicopathologic findings in their proper perspective, clinical and anatomic pathology data from a large number of Sinclair, Hanford, Yucatan, and Göttingen breeds from control groups from a wide variety of studies performed between 2004 and 2014 will be presented, compared, and partially illustrated.
Regulatory Forum Opinion Piece*
Authors: Nikula Kristen J. , Funk Kathleen
Published: December 2015

Necropsies conducted to support medical device development may be conducted in facilities that do not have the infrastructure in place to support Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies (GLP) studies and for a variety of reasons they may be conducted without a pathologist present at necropsy. However, when a novel medical device or one that is expected to significantly alter tissues is deployed, or when the surgical model confounds interpretation of device effects, it is the opinion of the authors that an experienced pathologist should be present at necropsy.
Right main bronchial fracture resolution by digital thoracic drainage system
Authors: Cortés Julián Gildardo , Mier José M , Iñiguez Marco A , Guzmán de Alba Enrique
Published: December 2015

Tracheobronchial stenosis is common in the thoracic surgery service, and iatrogenic injury of the airway after manipulation is not infrequent. When a digital thoracic drainage system came onto the market, many advantages were evident. A 24-year-old woman with critical right main bronchial stenosis underwent airway dilation that was complicated by a tear with a massive air leak, resulting in a total right pneumothorax. We employed a pleural drain connected to a digital thoracic drainage system. The drain was removed 2 days after successful resolution of the air leak.
Clarifying the Relationship Between Public Service Motivation and In-Role and Extra-Role Behaviors: The Relative Contributions of Person-Job and Person-Organization Fit
Authors: van Loon Nina Mari , Vandenabeele Wouter , Leisink Peter
Published: December 2015

A core proposition of public service motivation (PSM) theory is that PSM is positively related to individual performance. Some studies, however, suggest that this relationship is mediated by person-job or person-organization fit. This study aims to further clarify the relationship between PSM and performance by, first, studying the mediation role of both person-job and person-organization fits and, second, by investigating this mediation for both in-role and extra-role behavior. Whereas in-role behavior is aimed at the individual task, extra-role is aimed at helping colleagues. This difference may matter for the role of PSM and fit. To this end, we conducted structural equation modeling with bootstrapping on self-reported survey data from public employees ( n = 1,031). The analysis showed that person-job, but not person-organization fit, fully mediated the relationship between PSM and in-role behavior. The relationship with extra-role behavior was not mediated. The PSM-performance relationship may thus be more complex than previously envisioned, as both type of performance and person-job fit matter.
Revival of monophasic contrast injection protocols: superiority of a monophasic injection protocol compared to a biphasic injection protocol in high-pitch CT angiography
Authors: Apitzsch Jonas , Jost Gregor , Bonifer Elisabeth , Keulers Annika , Pietsch Hubertus , Mahnken Andreas Horst
Published: December 2015

Background

Biphasic injection protocols are frequently used because they yield homogenous contrast enhancement. We hypothesize that with faster scanners and shorter scan times, biphasic injection protocols are no longer necessary.

Purpose

To evaluate whether a monophasic injection protocol is equivalent to a biphasic protocol in terms of contrast enhancement and homogeneity.

Material and Methods

Repeated high-pitch CTA (pitch 3) and conventional standard-pitch computed tomography angiography (CTA) (pitch 1.2) from the cervical region to the symphysis was performed in seven beagles (11.2 ± 2.5 kg) in a cross-over study design. Arterial contrast enhancement was measured along the z-axis in the ascending, descending, and abdominal aorta and the iliac arteries. The z-axis is the longitudinal axis of the human body and at the same time the direction in which the CT table is moving. The data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA with a post-hoc t-test and visual assessment of the scans.

Results

In high-pitch CTA, monophasic injection protocols were superior to biphasic injection protocols in enhancement levels ( P < 0.05) and enhancement homogeneity along the z-axis ( P < 0.05). In conventional CTA, enhancement levels did not differ. Contrast homogeneity was better for biphasic protocols.

Conclusion

High-pitch CTA monophasic injection protocols are superior to biphasic injection protocols, due to a higher and more homogeneous contrast enhancement with the same amount of contrast medium used.
“Asianness” under Construction
Authors: Chong Kelly H.
Published: December 2015

Based on life-history interviews of interethnically married U.S.-raised Asians, this article examines the meaning and dynamics of Asian American interethnic marriages, and what they reveal about the complex incorporative process of this “in-between” racial minority group into the U.S.. In particular, this article explores the connection between Asian American interethnic marriage and pan-Asian consciousness/identity, both in terms of how panethnicity shapes romantic/marital desires of individuals and how pan-Asian culture and identity is invented and negotiated in the process of family-making. My findings indicate that while strong pan-Asian consciousness/identity underlies the connection among intermarried couples, these unions are not simply a defensive effort to “preserve” Asian-ethnic identity and cultur against a society that still racializes Asian Americans, but a tentative and often unpremeditated effort to navigate a path toward integration into the society through an ethnically based, albeit hybrid and reconstructed identity and culture, that helps the respondents retain the integrity of “Asianness.”