A Systematic Review of Derived Relational Responding Beyond Coordination in Individuals with Autism and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

As interest in derived relational responding has increased, so have the number of investigations evaluating interventions to promote the emergence of derived responding for individuals with autism, as well as other intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, much of the literature has focused on the relation of sameness, and less is known about interventions to facilitate derived responding in other relations. Systematic searches identified 38 studies contained in 30 articles that met inclusion criteria. These studies were analyzed according to their participants, assessment methods, experimental design, content taught, setting, teaching procedures, derived responses, outcomes, and reliability measures. The quality of the studies was measured using the Single Case Analysis and Research Framework (SCARF). The results of the current review indicate that many learners with autism spectrum disorder and other intellectual and developmental disabilities demonstrate derived relational responding beyond the relation of coordination across varied instructional content and teaching methodologies, but the quality and rigor of the published literature requires the results be interpreted with caution, leading to recommendations for future research.

Implementation of an Ask Me 3 ® education video to improve outcomes in post-myocardial infarction patients.

OBJECTIVE: The Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) in an adult cardiology practice in a large metropolitan city, provide hospital follow-up care to post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients. The APPs identified a problem: patients retained very little of the information they receive during their hospitalization. The purpose of this pilot project was to evaluate the impact of an Ask Me 3 ® post-MI education video on patients' knowledge of self-care activities. The video was designed to promote secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and support optimal cardiovascular health. METHODS: The project used a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a post-MI education video compared to the standard teaching methods. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 25 total participants, 12 in the control group and 13 in the intervention group. The increase in the intervention group's post- test scores was statistically significant (p value = 0.0056), showing a vast improvement in knowledge with the addition of an "Ask Me 3" education video. CONCLUSION: An "Ask Me 3" post-MI education video may effectively improve cardiovascular secondary prevention when incorporated with the standard teaching methods. Patients may view the video multiple times, enhancing their knowledge of lifestyle modifications following hospitalization and their overall cardiovascular health.

Overcoming the Digital Divide in the Post-COVID-19 "Reset": Enhancing Group Virtual Visits with Community Health Workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic created numerous barriers to the implementation of participant-facing research. For most, the pandemic required rapid transitioning to all virtual platforms. During this pandemic, the most vulnerable populations are at highest risk of falling through the cracks of engagement in clinical care and research. Nonetheless, we argue that we should reframe the discussion to consider how this transition may create opportunities to engage extensively to reach populations. Here, we present our experience in Atlanta (Georgia, United States) in transitioning a group visit model for South Asian immigrants to a virtual platform and the pivotal role community members in the form of community health workers can play in building capacity among participants. We provide details on how this model helped address common barriers to group visit models in clinical practice and how our community health worker team innovatively addressed the digital challenges of working with an elderly population with limited English proficiency.

The Effects of Vocal Stereotypy on Secondary Target Acquisition.

Instructive feedback (IF) is a strategy for increasing the efficiency of targeted instruction. Previous research has demonstrated the success of IF with learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but limited research exists regarding the efficacy of the intervention with individuals with ASD who engage in vocal stereotypy. The effects of 2 forms of IF were examined with a learner with ASD who engaged in vocal stereotypy. In Study 1, no intervention for vocal stereotypy was implemented. In Study 2, response interruption and redirection (RIRD) was implemented contingent on vocal stereotypy. IF before the praise statement resulted in faster acquisition of secondary targets, but only when RIRD was implemented. These results extend the IF literature by providing evidence that individuals who engage in vocal stereotypy may require concurrent intervention to increase the opportunity for indiscriminable contingencies to be established and the acquisition of secondary targets via IF.

Developing a Curriculum to Educate Postgraduate Practitioners on Scholarly Projects.

Many hospitals across the country have postgraduate fellowship programs for nurse practitioners and physician assistants. An important aspect of these programs is a scholarly project focused on patient outcomes. However, many fellows lack the experience and skills necessary to complete a scholarly project. This article presents a scholarly project curriculum with relevant information for nurses in professional development as they equip learners with the knowledge, structure, and support necessary to produce high-quality scholarly work.

Predischarge Provider Visits as a Method of Improving Transitional Care Clinic Visit Rates.

BACKGROUND: Transitional care interventions have been associated with reduced 30-day patient readmission, better quality of health care, and lower emergency department visits and health care costs. LOCAL PROBLEM: Transition Services at a major quaternary care center was underutilized by patients who were referred to the program. METHODS: A pre-/postimplementation evaluation design was used to evaluate a quality improvement intervention. INTERVENTION: A face-to-face meeting between eligible patients and a Transition Services provider prior to patients being discharged from the hospital was evaluated as a process improvement intervention. The primary outcome was initial appointment attendance at the Transition Services clinic following hospital discharge. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference (P = .59) in patients' initial appointment attendance at Transition Services between the preintervention (48.1%) and intervention phases (54.8%). CONCLUSION: Provider engagement during hospitalization did not increase initial appointment attendance at Transition Services. Other strategies to improve Transition Services attendance rates are needed.

The effects of noncontingent music and response interruption and redirection on vocal stereotypy.

Vocal stereotypy is a commonly occurring challenging behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is frequently maintained by automatic reinforcement and often interferes with skill acquisition. Matched stimulation (MS), and response interruption and redirection (RIRD) are two interventions that have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the occurrence of vocal stereotypy with participants with ASD. The current study sought to determine if the combination of MS (noncontingent music) and RIRD was more effective at reducing vocal stereotypy than RIRD alone and if the parents of children with ASD found the combination of MS and RIRD more socially valid than RIRD alone. The results suggested that the combined intervention resulted in greater suppression of vocal stereotypy and increased occurrences of on-task behavior in both participants. Additionally, RIRD required fewer implementations and had a shorter duration when combined with MS. Results suggest that the combination of MS and RIRD may be an effective intervention outside of highly controlled settings.

Changing hearts and minds: Results from a multi-country gender and sexual diversity training.

Engaging key populations, including gender and sexual minorities, is essential to meeting global targets for reducing new HIV infections and improving the HIV continuum of care. Negative attitudes toward gender and sexual minorities serve as a barrier to political will and effective programming for HIV health services. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), established in 2003, provided Gender and Sexual Diversity Trainings for 2,825 participants including PEPFAR staff and program implementers, U.S. government staff, and local stakeholders in 38 countries. The outcomes of these one-day trainings were evaluated among a subset of participants using a mixed methods pre- and post-training study design. Findings suggest that sustainable decreases in negative attitudes toward gender and sexual minorities are achievable with a one-day training.

Cardiac Transplantation: Considerations for the Intensive Care Unit Nurse.

Heart transplantation is a recommended and curative treatment option for patients with advanced heart failure symptoms despite receiving optimal medical and device therapy. The availability of donor organs limits the number of patients able to receive a heart transplant. The overall outcome of patients able to receive a heart transplant is determined by the successful delivery of essential nursing care. Understanding the specific interventions and therapies unique to this patient population is critical to their care. This article reviews considerations for the intensive care unit clinician in the management of heart transplant patients in this setting.

Inhibition of mammary tumor growth using lysyl oxidase-targeting nanoparticles to modify extracellular matrix.

A cancer nanotherapeutic has been developed that targets the extracellular matrix (ECM)-modifying enzyme lysyl oxidase (LOX) and alters the ECM structure. Poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles (∼220 nm) coated with a LOX inhibitory antibody bind to ECM and suppress mammary cancer cell growth and invasion in vitro as well as tumor expansion in vivo, with greater efficiency than soluble anti-LOX antibody. This nanomaterials approach opens a new path for treating cancer with higher efficacy and decreased side effects.

Mechanochemical control of mesenchymal condensation and embryonic tooth organ formation.

Mesenchymal condensation is critical for organogenesis, yet little is known about how this process is controlled. Here we show that Fgf8 and Sema3f, produced by early dental epithelium, respectively, attract and repulse mesenchymal cells, which cause them to pack tightly together during mouse tooth development. Resulting mechanical compaction-induced changes in cell shape induce odontogenic transcription factors (Pax9, Msx1) and a chemical cue (BMP4), and mechanical compression of mesenchyme is sufficient to induce tooth-specific cell fate switching. The inductive effects of cell compaction are mediated by suppression of the mechanical signaling molecule RhoA, and its overexpression prevents odontogenic induction. Thus, the mesenchymal condensation that drives tooth formation is induced by antagonistic epithelial morphogens that manifest their pattern-generating actions mechanically via changes in mesenchymal cell shape and altered mechanotransduction.

Inspiratory contrast for in vivo optical imaging.

We demonstrate the use of inspired oxygen and carbon dioxide as a possible route to increase contrast in optical imaging of cancerous tissue. Differential imaging in human xenograft rodent models of cancer exhibits significant variation in signal between normal and cancerous tissue. This differential cancer-specific contrast is stronger and more consistent than the conventional static contrast. This differential technique exploits the response of abnormal tumor vasculature to inhaled gases and could provide a promising alternative to supplement mainstream cancer imaging modalities such as x-rays and MRI.