Quality of Educational Programs for Elementary School-Age Students With Autism

The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of educational programs for school-aged children with autism in the United States. Investigators completed the Autism Program Environment Quality Rating Systems-Preschool/Elementary (APERS-PE) in 60 elementary schools enrolling children with autism. The mean total rating scores were near the midpoint rating, indicating schools were providing educational program environments classified as adequate but not of high quality. Domains of the APERS-PE reflecting structural quality tended to be significantly above average and domains reflecting process quality tended to be significantly below average. With a few exceptions, inclusive and special education program did not differ significantly in total program quality ratings and reflected the same pattern of domain quality ratings.

Comparison of Elbow Varus Torque During Interval Throwing Programs and Gameday Pitching in High School Baseball Pitchers (125)

Objectives: Completion of an interval throwing program (ITP) is a common benchmark for return to full competition following an injury to the dominant extremity of an overhead throwing athlete. While workload management for overhead athletes has evolved, the general structure of the ITP remains relatively unexamined. Furthermore, the daily and cumulative workload of ITPs is generally unknown. An ideal ITP would allow for a gradual increase in workload that eventually approximates, but does not exceed, workload measurements attained during competition. It is currently unknown if ITPs achieve this critically important objective. Therefore, the current study sought to 1) determine the daily and cumulative workload for common ITPs using elbow varus torque (EVT), and 2) compare EVT experienced during completion of ITPs to game pitching EVT values. Methods: A retrospective review identified high school pitchers with at least 50 throws at distances of 90, 120, 150, and 180 feet plus game pitches while wearing a MotusBASEBALL sensor. Averages for EVT per throw and torque per minute were calculated at each distance. Three throwing programs were created using a template of one phase at each distance with two steps per phase (Table 1). Programs varied only by number of throws per set (20, 25, and 30 throws for Programs A, B, and C, respectively). Total EVT for each step, phase, and program were calculated using average EVT values for each distance. Total torque for each step and program was converted to an average inning pitched equivalent (IPE) and maximum pitch count equivalent (MPE), respectively, using pitching EVT values and expected average pitch counts (16 pitches/inning and maximum 105 pitches/game). Results: 3,447 throws were analyzed from 7 pitchers with an average age of 16.7 yrs (0.8 yrs SD). EVT progressively increased with distance (range 36.9-45.5 N·m), comparable to game pitching (45.7 N·m). Average torque per minute was highest for 90 ft throws (193.4 N·m/min) and lowest for game pitches (125.0 N·m/min). Program A demonstrated the lowest range of IPE per step (2.0-3.7), and Program C had the highest range (3.0-5.6) (Figure 1). The phases of Program A never exceeded 1MPE. Program B exceeded this threshold after phase 1, and Program C exceeded 1MPE at every phase (Figure 2). Total program MPE ranged from 3.5 (Program A) to 5.2 (Program C). Conclusions: Performing long-toss throwing led to greater torque per minute compared to gameday pitching. Additionally, ITPs requiring 25 or more throws per set led to increased cumulative EVT, especially at distances greater than 150 ft, which can exceed typical values from gameday pitching. ITPs should be adjusted accordingly to encourage a slower pace of long-toss throws and less than 25 throws per set, especially at distances greater than 120 ft. Most ITPs currently recommend one rest day between steps. However, cumulative EVT at longer distances can exceed 5 IPE. Most pitch count rules require more than one rest day after a pitching outing that exceeds multiple innings pitched. Therefore, days off between steps and phases of an ITP should reflect these demands. We advocate for multiple days off between steps that require more than 3 IPE. Table 2 presents a novel ITP based on the findings of the current study.

Network Exploration of Interdistrict School Choice Over Time in a Mandatory Open Enrollment State

Background: Early studies of district-level outcomes of interdistrict school choice policies found changes in how districts interact with one another and changes in districts’ per-pupil expenditures. More recent studies suggest that wider social and political consequences may result from interdistrict choice policies. Purpose: In Colorado, interdistrict school choice participation increased from 4.64% participation in the 2003–2004 fiscal year to almost 10% participation in the 2016–2017 fiscal year, shifting more than $7.79 billion in per-pupil revenue in the process. This suggests a corresponding shift in the social organization of schooling under Colorado’s statewide interdistrict school choice policy. Research Design: Quantitative studies on school choice policies typically examine the factors leading to individual choices when choosing schools or the individual outcomes of those choices. This study takes a different approach to quantitative analysis of school choice by employing separable temporal exponential random graph modeling (STERGM), a network analysis method, to examine patterns of student-enrollment ties that are created between school districts when students enroll outside their district of residence. Conclusions/Recommendations: School district leaders and policy makers should be cognizant of changes to the organization of education and the fiscal impact of those changes—especially given that findings from this study suggest that these changes may be out of their hands. Findings may have indirect impacts on matters such as mill levy and bond evaluations by way of total program formula calculations and may suggest a hidden destabilization of democratic processes, such as losing the interest of voters who send their students to a school in another district.

User Experience and Acceptance of Patients and Healthy Adults testing a personalized self-management app against depression: A non-randomized Mixed-Methods Feasibility Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The development of e-mental health applications for patients with depression has shown technological advances to a certain extent. Many feasibility studies reveal the acceptance of patients and evidence for positive treatment outcomes. However, few studies ask for the user experience regarding the personalized help of specific treatment components in self-management apps. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study is to ask for the user experience and acceptance of patients with depression and healthy adults, who tested the app SELFPASS. The results serve as a source for evidence-based recommendations for developers and clinicians regarding the graphical and conceptual design of a self-management app for patients with depression with and without anxiety symptoms. METHODS The sample consisted of N=110 participants, of which 41 (37.3%) were adult patients and 69 (62.7%) healthy adults. They tested the app SELFPASS over a period of 5 days and filled out a self-developed evaluation questionnaire. Quantitative measures asked with 5-point Likert scaled items (range: -2 to +2) for the perceived quality of the program and its components, its practicality (both referred to as user experience), and its acceptance. Student t tests and Pearson correlations were calculated for comparisons of groups and associations between the measures. Open text fields were analyzed by applying a qualitative structuring content analysis regarding suggestions for usability, therapeutic content and personalization. RESULTS The perceived quality of the total program (PQTP) was rated with M=0.96 (SD=0.82), the practicality (P) was M=0.84 (SD=0.08), and the acceptance (A) was M=0.25 (SD=1.04). Patients rated PQTP and A higher than healthy adults, while there was no difference in P. Acceptance was associated with increased depression scores (r=.33, P=.01), higher scores of PQTP (r=0.48, P<.001) and of P (r=0.45, P<.001). Feedback of both groups regarding the usability, the therapeutic content and personalization revealed a strong wish for guidance and insights into mood progress, opportunities for choice of interventions and features of customization for an individualized treatment. CONCLUSIONS Patients with depression accepted the app SELFPASS more than healthy adults and gave higher ratings in quality. User experience of all users reveals a strong need for features of guidance, choice and personalization, that clinicians and developers of future apps should pay special attention to. CLINICALTRIAL Trial Registration: DRKS (DRKS00015614).

Premium misrating in federal crop insurance programs: scale, geography, and fiscal impacts

PurposeFederal crop insurance programs are the primary risk management programs of the US farm programs. Currently, these programs have been criticized for being disproportionally in favor of the riskier areas. Despite previous researchers having widely speculated its existence, a formal study of the scale, spatial pattern and fiscal impacts of such misrating phenomenon is still missing in the literature.Design/methodology/approachThis paper first purposes an empirically testable definition of misrating, and then detects the scale of the misrating phenomenon by using over two million actuarial records collected by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA's) risk management agency since 1989. Furthermore, multiple spatial statistics methods have been adopted to study the spatial patterns of the misrating statuses. Finally, the paper builds a simple theoretical model to study the potential fiscal impacts of any policy attempts to mitigate the misrating issue.FindingsThe result reveals that roughly 40% of the counties display some degree of misrating. Furthermore, the distribution of misrating displays a significant pattern of positive global spatial autocorrelation, which reflects the existence of regional clusters of premium rate mispricing. Last but not least, the paper concludes that whether an attempt toward fair rating decreases the total program outlay or not relies on the demand elasticity of crop insurance in both overrated and underrated regions.Originality/valueThis paper offers the first attempt to quantify the scale, identify the spatial pattern and evaluate the fiscal impact of the premium misrating in federal crop insurance programs.

Analysis of Military Construction Cost Growth in USAF Major Defense Acquisition Programs

This study uses descriptive and inferential statistics to identify cost growth Analysis of Military Construction of military construction (MILCON) at the programmatic level, while bridging the gap between Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) estimates and actual project costs. Findings of this study aid the cost community with appropriate allocation of resources in developing these estimates. Overall, Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAP) appear to experience more negative growth (cost savings) in MILCON estimates on reviewed SARs— typically less than 0.2% of the total program cost. SAR estimates became more accurate from the first to last SAR in comparison to the total MILCON programmed for all projects within a program. However, the last SAR’s median MILCON cost estimate was approximately $31 million underestimated on projects currently authorized and appropriated for MDAPs. Preliminary research was restricted to 32 programs of which only 10 had authorized and accessible projects for comparison. Initial results suggest building on this exploratory analysis.

Effect of Heavy Resisted Sled Sprint Training During the Competitive Season on Sprint and Change-of-Direction Performance in Professional Soccer Players

Purpose: Resisted sled sprinting (RSS) is an effective tool for improving sprint performance over short distances, but the effect on change-of-direction (COD) performance is largely unknown. The present study investigated the effect of heavy RSS training during the competitive season on sprint and COD performance in professional soccer players. Methods: Over 6 wk in-season, an RSS training group (n = 6) performed RSS at a sled load of 30% body mass for a total program running distance of 800 m, whereas an unresisted sprint (URS) training group (n = 7) performed the same distance of unresisted sprinting. A 20-m maximal sprint with split times measured at 5, 10, and 20 m and the sprint 9-3-6-3-9 m with 180° turns COD test were performed before and after the intervention. Results: Sprint performance (mean, 95% confidence limits, qualitative inference) was improved in both groups over 5 m (URS, 5.1%, −2.4 to 12.7, likely moderate; RSS, 5.4%, 0.5–10.4, likely moderate), 10 m (URS, 3.9%, −0.3 to 8.1, very likely moderate; RSS, 5.0%, 1.8–8.0, very likely large), and 20 m (URS, 2.0%, −0.6 to 4.5, likely moderate; RSS, 3.0%, 1.7–4.4, very likely moderate). COD was improved in both groups (URS, 3.7%, 2.2–5.2, most likely large; RSS, 3.3%, 1.6–5.0, most likely moderate). Between-groups differences were unclear. Conclusion: Heavy RSS and URS training matched for running distance were similarly effective at improving sprint and COD performance in professional soccer players when performed in the competitive phase of the season.

PERANCANGAN SISTEM INFORMASI PENILAIAN KINERJA DOSEN BERBASIS WEB (STUDI KASUS : UNIVERSITAS ADIWANGSA JAMBI)

Di kota Jambi saat ini telah banyak berdirinya beberapa perguruan Tinggi Swasta baik dari Sekolah Tinggi, Institue, maupun Universitas. Salah satunya adalah Universitas Adiwangsa Jambi merupakan salah satu perguruan Tinggi Swasta di Kota Jambi, yang telah mengalami perubahan bentuk dari Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan Prima Jambi. Universitas Adiwangsa Jambi memiliki beberapa Fakultas diantaranya Fakultas Kesehatan dan Farmasi, Fakultas Teknik Dan Ilmu Komputer, Fakultas Ekonomi, Fakultas Hukum, dan Fakultas FKIP. Pada masing-masing Fakultas terdiri dari beberapa Program Studi. Total Program Studi ada 12 dan 60 orang dosen tetap. Untuk meningkatkan kualitas dosen yang dimilikinya, secara rutin Universitas Adiwangsa Jambi telah melakukan evaluasi kinerja dosen yang dilaksanakan oleh Penjamin Mutu Internal. Evaluasi yang masih bersifat manual dengan menggunakan kuesioner yang diisi oleh mahasiswa/i, kemudian hasilnya dievaluasi dengan menggunakan aplikasi spreadsheet. Penggunaan aplikasi ini hasilnya belum maksimal hal ini disebabkan karena membutuhkan biaya yang cukup besar, hasil evaluasi rentan terhadap kesalahan human error (salah entry) data, proses pengolahan dan hasil evaluasi relative lama. Akibatnya informasi yang dibutuhkan untuk meningkatkan kualitas dosen selalu terlambat, sehingga berpengaruh terhadap pengambilan keputusan dari Pihak managemen. Untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut dibutuhkan suatu sistem informasi yang diharapkan dapat membantu mengolah semua data-data evaluasi laporan kinerja dosen yaitu dengan cara merancang sistem informasi yang berbasis kebutuhan Universitas Adiwangsa Jambi dan membuat sistem informasi evaluasi kinerja dosen yang berbasis WEB.

Prevalence-Based Targets Underestimate Home Dialysis Program Activity and Requirements for Growth

Background Many renal programs have targets to increase home dialysis prevalence. Data from a large Canadian home dialysis pro gram were analyzed to determine if home dialysis prevalence accurately reflects program activity and whether prevalence-based assessments adequately reflect the work required for program growth. Methods Data from home dialysis programs in British Columbia, Canada, were analyzed from 2005 to 2015. Prevalence data were com pared to dialysis activity data including intakes and exits to describe program turnover. Using current attrition rates, recruitment rates needed to increase home dialysis prevalence proportions were identified. Results We analyzed 7,746 patient-years of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 1,362 patient-years of home hemodialysis (HHD). The proportion of patients on home dialysis increased by 3.34% over the ten years examined, while the number of prevalent home dialysis patients increased 2.65% per year and the number of patients receiving home dialysis at any time in the year increased 4.04% per year. For every 1 patient net home dialysis growth, 13.6 new patients were recruited. Patient turnover included higher rates of transplantation in home dialysis than facility-based HD. Overall, the proportion dialyzing at home increased from 29.3 to 32.6%. Conclusions There is high patient turnover in home dialysis such that program prevalence is an incomplete marker of total program activity. This turnover includes high rates of transplantation, which is a desirable interaction that affects home dialysis prevalence. The shortcomings of this commonly used metric are important for renal programs to consider, and better understanding of the activities that support home dialysis and the complex trajectories that home dialysis patients follow is needed

A CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR EDUCATING CONSERVATORS OF ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPTS

To meet the pressing need for more training for conservators in developing countries dealing with Islamic manuscripts, a curriculum design was prepared. This details the skills and information needed and organizes instruction into modules that can be taught as a total program or semiindependently with adaptation to many different circumstances in different settings. The modules are augmented by specified objectives, possible instructional activities and assessment strategies.