195 research outputs found
West Virginia School Psychologists\u27 Role in Providing Mental Health Services in Schools
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the current roles of practicing school psychologists in West Virginia in providing mental health services in schools. A needs-assessment survey developed by the West Virginia School Psychologist Association (WVSPA) was distributed to all the school psychologists in West Virginia in order to determine the main services being provided in the state. The results indicated that school psychologists in West Virginia are spending a very small amount of their time providing school-based mental health services such as counseling and crisis intervention. Results also indicated that no relationship exists between years of experience, highest degree earned, and number of schools served and providing counseling and crisis intervention services
Addressing Misperceptions of Underprepared Students: A Case Study at a Public American University
Get PDFThis study examines faculty/staff perceptions of underprepared students as well as the experiences of these students in the college setting. Understanding that this crucial population has poor retention, we sought to understand who they were and how the faculty/staff felt about them in an effort to better serve them. While most students surveyed believed their professors wanted them to succeed and were interested in their learning, they also offered insight into areas where faculty could further assist their progress. Faculty/staff revealed both positive and negative feelings about underprepared students, often acknowledging feelings of helplessness when working with them. Through data analysis of surveys from both populations, we identified key areas of focus on which to build a professional development model. By bridging gaps in faculty/staff understanding through a faculty networking approach, we are working together to become more student-ready in addressing student needs wherever they fall, thus promoting student success and retention
Postcategorical auditory distraction in short-term memory: Insights from increased task load and task type
Get PDFTask-irrelevant speech impairs short-term serial recall appreciably. On the interference-by-process account, the processing of physical (i.e., pre-categorical) changes in speech yields order cues that conflict with the serial-ordering process deployed to perform the serial recall task. In this view, the post-categorical properties (e.g., phonology, meaning) of speech play no role. The present study reassessed the implications of recent demonstrations of auditory post-categorical distraction in serial recall that have been taken as support for an alternative, attentional-diversion, account of the irrelevant speech effect. Focusing on the disruptive effect of emotionally valent compared to neutral words on serial recall, we show that the distracter-valence effect is eliminated under conditions—high task-encoding load—thought to shield against attentional diversion whereas the general effect of speech (neutral words compared to quiet) remains unaffected (Experiment 1). Furthermore, the distracter-valence effect generalizes to a task that does not require the processing of serial order—the missing-item task—while the effect of speech per se is attenuated in this task (Experiment 2). We conclude that post-categorical auditory distraction phenomena in serial short-term memory are incidental: they are observable in such a setting but, unlike the acoustically driven irrelevant speech effect, are not integral to it. As such, the findings support a duplex-mechanism account over a unitary view of auditory distraction
Changes of renin-angiotensin system-related aminopeptidases in early stage Alzheimer's disease
Get PDFActivities of aminopeptidases A, B, and N (ApA, ApB & ApN) and insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) have been seen to be decreased amongst patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). All of these enzymes are involved with the brain renin-angiotensin system which is believed to be involved with learning and memory. This study aimed to explore the time course and the mechanisms underlying these changes.
Serum samples were collected from 45 AD patients at the start of the study, and again 13 months later (n = 37). The control group was 22 healthy, older, adults. Enzyme activity was determined at two substrate concentrations to allow Michaelis-Menten analysis of the enzyme activity.
The results indicated that there was decreased activity of ApA, ApB and ApN amongst AD patients but no difference in serum IRAP activity. There were no associations between enzyme activity and age, gender nor scores on psychomotor tests.
Consideration of the data for the two time points for AD patients showed that the changes in ApB occurred at an early stage of the disease and persisted, whilst those of ApA and ApN only became apparent at later stages of the disease. Although differences in Michaelis-Menten parameters were not statistically significant, consideration of the values suggested that the decrease in ApB activity may be a result of changes in enzyme protein conformation, whilst that of ApN may be a consequence of decreased enzyme expression. Importantly, the different time courses of the effects and the differential changes in enzyme affinity and expression indicated that the observed changes with progression of AD were not a ‘class effect’ for serum aminopeptidases but were idiosyncratic for the individual enzymes
Adolescent time use and mental health: a cross-sectional, compositional analysis in the Millennium Cohort Study
Get PDFOBJECTIVE: To examine the association of 24-hour time-use compositions with mental health in a large, geographically diverse sample of UK adolescents. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, secondary data analysis. SETTING: Millennium Cohort Study (sixth survey), a UK-based prospective birth cohort. PARTICIPANTS: Data were available from 4642 adolescents aged 14 years. Analytical samples for weekday and weekend analyses were n=3485 and n=3468, respectively (45% boys, 85% white ethnicity). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measures were the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, socioemotional behaviour), Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ, depressive symptoms) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE, self-esteem). Behavioural exposure data were derived from 24-hour time-use diaries. RESULTS: On weekdays, participants spent approximately 54% of their time in sleep, 3% in physical activity, 9% in school-related activities, 6% in hobbies, 11% using electronic media and 16% in domestic activities. Predicted differences in SDQ, MFQ and RSE were statistically significant for all models (weekday and weekend) that simulated the addition or removal of 15 min physical activity, with an increase in activity being associated with improved mental health and vice versa. Predicted differences in RSE were also significant for simulated changes in electronic media use; an increase in electronic media use was associated with reduced self-esteem. CONCLUSION: Small but consistent associations were observed between physical activity, electronic media use and selected markers of mental health. Findings support the delivery of physical activity interventions to promote mental health during adolescence, without the need to specifically target or protect time spent in other activities
Executive function testing to assist identifi cation of pitch-side concussion in elite rugby players
Get PDFAbstract
Background
Current methods for assessing concussion during rugby matches rely on rudimentary behavioural assessment, focusing on balance and gross motor function. Cognitive testing with the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool has recently been included, but there are a paucity of normative and baseline data for this test. This study examined the utility of the Trail Making Test (TMT), which is a neuropsychological test of executive function in two parts (TMT-A and TMT-B), to assist identification of cognitive impairments caused by impacts during rugby games.
Methods
27 elite male rugby league players contracted to a professional rugby club were recruited towards the end of the season. Each player was tested on three occasions within a 2 week period with both TMT-A and TMT-B for baseline assessment. Each player was additionally assessed after full contact training on 2 consecutive days and during preseason training. Individual baseline data were calculated from the best of the baseline assessments, and time differences were examined with ANOVA.
Findings
No instances of concussion occurred during data collection. For TMT-A there was no significant difference (F(3, 24)=2·88, I2=0·27) between baseline (mean 13·79 s [SD 5·32], 95% CI 9·34–18·23), post-training day 1 (11·38 [2·63], 9·18–13·58), post-training day 2 (11·16 [1·94], 9·55–12·79), and preseason (11·79 [2·64], 9·58–13·99). For TMT-B there was no significant difference between baseline (31·50 [5·37], 27·01–35·99), post-training day 1 (28·07 [8·82], 20·70–35·44), post-training day 2 (26·18 [6·16], 21·03–31·33), and preseason (26·98 [4·89], 22·89–31·07).
Interpretation
These findings indicate that there were no significant differences in performance of these executive tasks from baseline to post-training (end of season and preseason). These data show stability of TMT-A and TMT-B data across a competitive rugby league season. Importantly, use of measures of variation such as CIs for these tasks can provide a metric for calculating minimally important clinical differences within cognition.
Funding
None
Near-UV and optical observations of the transiting exoplanet TrES-3b
Full text linkWe observed nine primary transits of the hot Jupiter TrES-3b in several
optical and near-UV photometric bands from 2009 June to 2012 April in an
attempt to detect its magnetic field. Vidotto, Jardine and Helling suggest that
the magnetic field of TrES-3b can be constrained if its near-UV light curve
shows an early ingress compared to its optical light curve, while its egress
remains unaffected. Predicted magnetic field strengths of Jupiter-like planets
should range between 8 G and 30 G. Using these magnetic field values and an
assumed B_star of 100 G, the Vidotto et al. method predicts a timing difference
of 5-11 min. We did not detect an early ingress in our three nights of near-UV
observations, despite an average cadence of 68 s and an average photometric
precision of 3.7 mmag. However, we determined an upper limit of TrES-3b's
magnetic field strength to range between 0.013 and 1.3 G (for a 1-100 G
magnetic field strength range for the host star, TrES-3) using a timing
difference of 138 s derived from the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem. To
verify our results of an abnormally small magnetic field strength for TrES-3b
and to further constrain the techniques of Vidotto et al., we propose future
observations of TrES-3b with other platforms capable of achieving a shorter
near-UV cadence. We also present a refinement of the physical parameters of
TrES-3b, an updated ephemeris and its first published near-UV light curve. We
find that the near-UV planetary radius of Rp = 1.386+0.248-0.144 RJup is
consistent with the planet's optical radius.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society (2012 September 21). 13 pages, 5 figure
Synchronous vs non-synchronous imitation: using dance to explore interpersonal coordination during observational learning
Get PDFObservational learning can enhance the acquisition and performance quality of complex motor skills. While an extensive body of research has focused on the benefits of synchronous (i.e., concurrent physical practice) and non-synchronous (i.e., delayed physical practice) observational learning strategies, the question remains as to whether these approaches differentially influence performance outcomes. Accordingly, we investigate the differential outcomes of synchronous and non-synchronous observational training contexts using a novel dance sequence. Using multidimensional cross-recurrence quantification analysis, movement time-series were recorded for novice dancers who either synchronised with (n = 22) or observed and then imitated (n = 20) an expert dancer. Participants performed a 16-count choreographed dance sequence for 20 trials assisted by the expert, followed by one final, unassisted performance trial. Although end-state performance did not significantly differ between synchronous and non-synchronous learners, a significant decline in performance quality from imitation to independent replication was shown for synchronous learners. A non-significant positive trend in performance accuracy was shown for non-synchronous learners. For all participants, better imitative performance across training trials
led to better end-state performance, but only for the accuracy (and not timing) of movement reproduction. Collectively, the results suggest that synchronous learners came to rely on a realtime mapping process between visual input from the expert and their own visual and proprioceptive intrinsic feedback, to the detriment of learning. Thus, the act of synchronising alone does not ensure an appropriate training context for advanced sequence learning
Oligodendrocyte dynamics dictate cognitive performance outcomes of working memory training in mice
Get PDFPrevious work has shown that motor skill learning stimulates and requires generation of myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs) from their precursor cells (OLPs) in the brains of adult mice. In the present study we ask whether OL production is also required for non-motor learning and cognition, using T-maze and radial-arm-maze tasks that tax spatial working memory. We find that maze training stimulates OLP proliferation and OL production in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), anterior corpus callosum (genu), dorsal thalamus and hippocampal formation of adult male mice; myelin sheath formation is also stimulated in the genu. Genetic blockade of OL differentiation and neo-myelination in Myrf conditional-knockout mice strongly impairs training-induced improvements in maze performance. We find a strong positive correlation between the performance of individual wild type mice and the scale of OLP proliferation and OL generation during training, but not with the number or intensity of c-Fos+ neurons in their mPFC, underscoring the important role played by OL lineage cells in cognitive processing
Ablation of oligodendrogenesis in adult mice alters brain microstructure and activity independently of behavioral deficits
Get PDFOligodendrocytes continue to differentiate from their precursor cells even in adulthood, a process that can be modulated by neuronal activity and experience. Previous work has indicated that conditional ablation of oligodendrogenesis in adult mice leads to learning and memory deficits in a range of behavioral tasks. The current study replicated and re‐evaluated evidence for a role of oligodendrogenesis in motor learning, using a complex running wheel task. Further, we found that ablating oligodendrogenesis alters brain microstructure (ex vivo MRI) and brain activity (in vivo EEG) independent of experience with the task. This suggests a role for adult oligodendrocyte formation in the maintenance of brain function and indicates that task‐independent changes due to oligodendrogenesis ablation need to be considered when interpreting learning and memory deficits in this model
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