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A Functional Analysis of Physical Activity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Get PDFThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) recognizes the staggering rates of obesity affecting children and adolescents in the United States. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a higher risk of obesity than neurotypical children (Kahathuduwa et al., 2019). The CDC (2017) acknowledges the lack of physical activity as a major factor leading to obesity. This investigation aims to determine the effectiveness of a reinforcer in increasing the levels of physical activity in children diagnosed with ASD. A subsequent aim is to address a measurement limitation identified in Knerr (2020) by using both an observation recording system as well as pedometer data. For two participants, physical activity was measured in five conditions: interactive play, attention, escape, ignore, and control. A multi-element functional analysis (FA) embedded within a reversal design was used to increase levels of physical activity during typical playground time. For one of the participants, an interactive play function was found, and a successful treatment was implemented and generalized to the participant’s therapist. For the second participant, an automatic function was strongly indicated and further confirmed by a set of ignore conditions. This study also attempted to address the measurement limitations of Knerr (2020) by identifying incongruencies between the utilized methods of measurement
Noncontingent Reinforcement in the Treatment of Attention Maintained Problem Behavior: Schedule Thinning Within Extended Sessions
Get PDFChildren may develop maladaptive behaviors to obtain attention from adults. With respect to problem behavior, research has shown that noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is an effective intervention that reduces problem behavior through disruption of the relation between the behavior and the consequence. This study evaluated the treatment effects of NCR without extinction across extended, 2 hour, sessions for participants whose problem behavior is maintained by social-positive reinforcement, specifically attention. In addition, this study also emphasized the importance of extended sessions due to the reality of the caregiver/child interaction being longer than the typical 5- to 15-min sessions. The results of this study suggest that implementing NCR across extended sessions will reduce problem behavior maintained by social-positive reinforcement in the form of attention
Crummer SunTrust Portfolio Recommendations: Crummer Investment Management [2021]
Get PDFSunTrust endowed this portfolio to provide scholarships for future Crummer students and to give current students a practical, hands-on learning opportunity. This year, we are pleased to be able to award $50,000 in scholarships. We are extremely grateful for SunTrust’s generosity and investment in higher education. We have all learned a great deal from this experience and the responsibility of managing real money.
Our first challenge is to establish a portfolio position that takes advantage of economic opportunities while avoiding unnecessary risk and conforming to the Crummer SunTrust Investment Policy Statement (IPS). We are also tasked by the IPS to operate at two levels simultaneously – tactical for the near term, and strategic for the long run. Additionally, this portfolio presents some unusual portfolio management challenges by trading only once a year, in early April.
Our tactical approach began with a top-down sector analysis. We established an economic forecast based on research and consultation with economists, including Professor William Seyfried of the Crummer School and Philip Rich of Seaside Bank. We based our equity and fixed income split on that forecast with a modest allocation to bonds of 10%. That forecast also drove our allocation among the eleven S&P sectors: Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Healthcare, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, and Utilities. This year, we have forecast a strong economic recovery within the next twelve-month period and tilted the allocation towards sectors that should do well in an expansion while paying attention to post-pandemic dynamics.
Our asset class allocation embodies the long-run strategy of our portfolio. The IPS sets asset class ranges from low to moderate risk to keep the portfolio from being whipsawed by transitory market cycles. Our equity allocations entail a reasonable level of risk, consistent with our view that the stock market will continue an upward trend between now and March 2022. We maintain an allocation to a sector ETF in each sector to ensure diversification. Additionally, as a practical matter, we are limiting each sector to a maximum of two individual stocks. Fixed income is our anchor sector, providing a hedge against the risk of an economic slowdown adversely impacting our equity holdings. Consistent with our slightly steeper yield curve projection, we are at the low end of our IPS range for fixed income at 10%, which is lower than last year’s 15% and down slightly from the 12% market position on March 1, 2021.
Furthermore, we have continued to incorporate the theme of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing into our portfolio selection process. Whether you believe a high ESG rating signals a company’s prospects or that ESG ratings are a popularity contest, the ESG wave is sweeping the equity markets as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Regardless of a security’s consistency with this theme, all recommendations must be undervalued after rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis. In other words, our intent is not to maximize the ESG impact of our portfolio but to tilt towards this factor. Specifically, the proposed equity holdings in this year’s portfolio have a weighted average FTSE ESG score of 3.52 out of 5, while S&P 500 holdings have a cap-weighted average score of 3.25.
We have witnessed an extraordinary and unpredictable year in many respects. However, with innovations in healthcare and technology leading the way, there is a cautious optimism in the air for the near future. We do not intend to simply follow the crowd. Yet, echoing the philosophy of Warren Buffett, “our opinions and beliefs, grounded in economics and guided by all of those who have counseled us,” lead us to a strategy that is not significantly different from many investors. Even so, we accept responsibility for our investment decisions. We are investing for the long-term and we have been fairly conservative in our forecasts and recommendations. Simultaneously, in the short term, we are mindful of the need to protect the portfolio’s commitment to scholarships
Neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying non-breeding aggression: common strategies between birds and fish.
No full textAggression is an adaptive behavior that plays an important role in gaining access to limited resources. Aggression may occur uncoupled from reproduction, thus offering a valuable context to further understand its neural and hormonal regulation. This review focuses on the contributions from song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) and the weakly electric banded knifefish (Gymnotus omarorum). Together, these models offer clues about the underlying mechanisms of non-breeding aggression, especially the potential roles of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and brain-derived estrogens. The orexigenic NPY is well-conserved between birds and teleost fish, increases in response to low food intake, and influences sex steroid synthesis. In non-breeding M. melodia, NPY increases in the social behavior network, and NPY-Y1 receptor expression is upregulated in response to a territorial challenge. In G. omarorum, NPY is upregulated in the preoptic area of dominant, but not subordinate, individuals. We hypothesize that NPY may signal a seasonal decrease in food availability and promote non-breeding aggression. In both animal models, non-breeding aggression is estrogen-dependent but gonad-independent. In non-breeding M. melodia, neurosteroid synthesis rapidly increases in response to a territorial challenge. In G. omarorum, brain aromatase is upregulated in dominant but not subordinate fish. In both species, the dramatic decrease in food availability in the non-breeding season may promote non-breeding aggression, via changes in NPY and/or neurosteroid signaling
Antimicrobial Activity of Silver(I) Cyanoximates Against Streptococcus mutans UA159 Planktonic Growth and Biofilm Formation
Get PDFStreptococcus mutans is identified as the causative agent of human dental caries, with biofilm formation serving as its most important virulence factor. Biofilms are typically more challenging to treat than planktonic or free-floating bacteria, adding to the already challenging issue of antibiotic resistance. This has led to an increased need for the discovery of alternative antibacterial compounds other than antibiotics. Among these compounds, silver(I) cyanoximates have been demonstrated to have antibacterial activity against a variety of microorganisms, specifically those that colonize in-dwelling medical devices. To assess the antibacterial properties of two silver(I) cyanoximate compounds, silver(I) nitrosodicyanomethanide (Ag(ACO)) and silver(I)α-oximido-(2-benzoyl)acetonitrile (Ag(BCO)), growth curves, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays, minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) assays, and biofilm disruption assays were performed against S. mutans UA159. Both compounds inhibited planktonic growth and significantly decreased or disrupted biofilm formation at concentrations between 8 µg/mL and 128 µg/mL. The study of compounds that can target biofilm forming organisms contributes to the overall understanding of how to successfully target S. mutans and may lead to better treatment and prevention of dental caries as well as other biofilm related infections
Entropy in Music: An Analysis of Shape Note Music in Terms of Information Entropy
Get PDFThis paper will be centered on a case study designed to probe a possible objective method for analyzing music that has already proven itself in the analysis computational systems: information theory. More specifically, this study has been conducted through the collection of data on information entropy in the genre of shape note music. The genre of shape note music has been chosen for its relative simplicity compared to other genres such as the classical symphony, which will render it significantly easier to analyze objectively. Information entropy as proposed by Claude Shannon, makes an excellent method for objective analysis because it deals directly with probability and uncertainty, which are always present in a field such as music that depends so heavily on human subjectivities. Over the course of this study, data on pitch and rhythmic entropies are collected for each of the three or four voice parts in a sample of 20 shape note tunes from The Sacred Harp. These entropy values are then put through rudimentary statistical analysis to determine if any pattern or correlation emerges among the entropy values within the shape note tunes. If any do, this would imply that at east some elements of shape note music can be modeled and expressed using information entropy. Such a finding would create ground for further research into the possibility of modeling musical systems using information entropy