ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To examine whether performance improvements in the virtual environment generalize to the natural environment. STUDY DESIGN: we had 64 individuals, 32 of which were individuals with DMD and 32 were typically developing individuals. METHODS: The groups practiced two coincidence timing tasks. In the more tangible button-press task, the individuals were required to 'intercept' a falling virtual object at the moment it reached the interception point by pressing a key on the computer. In the more abstract task, they were instructed to 'intercept' the virtual object by making a hand movement in a virtual environment using a webcam. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: For individuals with DMD, conducting a coincidence timing task in a virtual environment facilitated transfer to the real environment. However, we emphasize that a task practiced in a virtual environment should have higher rates of difficulties than a task practiced in a real environment. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Virtual environments can be used to promote improved performance in ?real-world? environments. Virtual environments offer the opportunity to create paradigms similar ?real-life? tasks, however task complexity and difficulty levels can be manipulated, graded and enhanced to increase likelihood of success in transfer of learning and performance. Individuals with DMD, in particular, showed immediate performance benefits after using virtual reality.
Subject(s)
Motor Skills/physiology , Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne/physiopathology , Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne/rehabilitation , Task Performance and Analysis , Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy , Adult , Case-Control Studies , Humans , Male , User-Computer InterfaceABSTRACT
The abnormal expression of c-ros oncogene1 receptor tyrosine kinase (ROS1) has been identified as clinically actionable oncogenic driver in non-small-cell lung cancer. Since crizotinib was approved by the US FDA for the treatment of advanced ROS1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, ROS1 kinase has become a promising therapeutic target. Under the guidance of some advanced computer-assisted technologies, such as structure-based drug design, homology modeling and lipophilic efficiency parameters, several potent and selective inhibitors against wild-type and mutant ROS1 were designed and synthesized. In this article, we will review a series of scaffolds targeting ROS1 kinase from the hit-to-drug evolution strategies of their representative compounds and it is hoped that these design strategies would facilitate medicinal chemists to optimize the process of drug design.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/drug therapy , Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism , Binding Sites , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/pathology , Crizotinib/chemistry , Crizotinib/metabolism , Crizotinib/therapeutic use , Drug Design , Humans , Lung Neoplasms/pathology , Molecular Dynamics Simulation , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/chemistry , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/metabolism , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics , Pyridines/chemistry , Pyridines/metabolism , Pyridines/therapeutic useABSTRACT
This study aimed to provide early childhood special education professionals with a standardized and comprehensive language assessment tool for the early identification of language learning characteristics (e.g., hyperlexia) of young children with autism. In this study, we used computer technology to develop a multi-media online language assessment tool that presents auditory or visual stimuli. This online comprehensive language assessment consists of six subtests: decoding, homographs, auditory vocabulary comprehension, visual vocabulary comprehension, auditory sentence comprehension, and visual sentence comprehension. Three hundred typically developing children and 35 children with autism from Tao-Yuan County in Taiwan aged 4-6 participated in this study. The Cronbach α values of the six subtests ranged from .64 to .97. The variance explained by the six subtests ranged from 14% to 56%, the current validity of each subtest with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised ranged from .21 to .45, and the predictive validity of each subtest with WISC-III ranged from .47 to .75. This assessment tool was also found to be able to accurately differentiate children with autism up to 92%. These results indicate that this assessment tool has both adequate reliability and validity. Additionally, 35 children with autism have completed the entire assessment in this study without exhibiting any extremely troubling behaviors. However, future research is needed to increase the sample size of both typically developing children and young children with autism and to overcome the technical challenges associated with internet issues.
