In this study, barium strontium titanate (BST) thin films with different compositions (Ba0.9Sr0.1TiO3, Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3, Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3, Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3) were produced by chemical solution deposition technique. BST solutions were prepared by dissolving barium acetate, strontium acetate and titanium isopropoxide in acetic acid and adding ethylene glycol as a chelating agent and stabilizer to this solution, at molar ratio of acetic acid/ethylene glycol, 3:1. The solution was then coated on Si and Pt//Ti/SiO2/Si substrates at 4000 rpm for 30 seconds. Crack-free films were obtained up to 600 nm thickness after 3 coating &amp / #8211 / pyrolysis cycles by using 0.4M solutions. Crystal structure of the films was determined by x-ray diffraction while morphological properties of the surface and the film-substrate interface was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Dielectric constant, dielectric loss and ferroelectric parameters of the films were measured. Sintering temperature, film composition and the thickness of the films were changed in order to observe the effect of these parameters on the measured electrical properties. The dielectric constant of the films was decreased slightly in 1kHz-1 MHz range. It was seen that dielectric constant and loss of the films was comparable to chemical solution deposition derived films on literature. Maximum dielectric constant was obtained for the Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 composition at a sintering temperature of 800&amp / #730 / C for duration of 3 hours. Dielectric constant increased whereas dielectric loss decreased with increasing film thickness. BST films have composition dependent Curie temperature. For Ba content greater than 70 %, the material is in ferroelectric state. However, fine grain size of the films associated with chemical solution deposition and Sr doping causes the suppression of ferroelectric behaviour in BST films. Therefore, only for Ba0.9Sr0.1TiO3 composition, slim hysteresis loops with very low remanent polarization values were obtained.

Les macrophages sont une cible cellulaire importante du VIH-1 et sont impliqués dans la propagation virale et la constitution du réservoir. Les patients infectés par le VIH-2 présentent un contrôle naturel de l'infection qui est généralement absent chez les patients infectés par le VIH-1. Nous avons étudié ici la relation entre les macrophages et le VIH-2 afin d'évaluer leur contribution à la physiopathologie de l'infection. L'assemblage de particules virales dans des macrophages dérivés de monocytes (MDM) infectés par le VIH-2 se fait au niveau de la membrane de compartiments internes semblables aux VCC documentés dans les MDM infectés par le VIH-1. Les VCC des MDM infectés par le VIH-1 et le VIH-2 partagent la même composition protéique, et la même morphologie. Contrairement à Gag du VIH-1, la protéine Gag du VIH-2 est absente du cytosol et presque exclusivement localisée dans les VCC, ce qui suggère que Gag du VIH-2 est rapidement transportée vers le VCC une fois synthétisée dans le cytosol. Les particules de VIH-2 produites de novo par les MDM peuvent mûrir, mais sont faiblement infectieuses et se transmettent inefficacement aux cellules T activés. Cette faible infectiosité n'est pas associée avec l'expression du facteur de restriction BST-2 et n'est pas non plus améliorée par une baisse des niveaux d'expression de BST-2 induite par Vpu. Nos données suggèrent que les macrophages infectés par le VIH-2 ne contribuent probablement pas à la production et à la dissémination du virus in vivo. Cependant, les macrophages infectés par le VIH-2 peuvent représenter une source potentielle d'antigènes viraux qui pourraient stimuler les réponses des cellules T spécifiques du virus. / Macrophages are an important cellular target of HIV-1 and are potentially involved in viral spreading and constitution of the viral reservoir. HIV-2-infected patients exhibit a natural virological control of the infection that is generally absent from HIV-1-infected patients. Here, we studied the relationship between macrophages and HIV-2 to approach their potential contribution to the physiopathology of HIV-2 infection. Viral particles assembly in HIV-2-infected monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) occurred at the limiting membrane of internal compartments similar to virus-containing compartments (VCCs) documented in HIV-1-infected MDMs. Indeed, VCCs from HIV-1 and HIV-2-infected MDMs shared protein composition, as seen by confocal microcopy, and morphology, as seen by electron microscopy. Strikingly, HIV-2 Gag was mostly absent from the cytosol and almost exclusively localized to the VCCs, whereas HIV-1 Gag was distributed in both locations, suggesting that HIV-2 Gag is rapidly transported to the VCC membranes once synthesized in the cytosol. HIV-2 particles produced de novo by MDMs can mature, but are poorly infectious and inefficiently transmitted to activated T cells. This low infectivity neither correlate with expression of the restriction factor BST-2, nor was improved by Vpu-induced down-modulation of BST-2 levels. Our data suggest that, HIV-2-infected macrophages are unlikely to contribute to viral production and dissemination in vivo. However, HIV-2-infected macrophages accumulate large amounts of intracellular virus that may represent a potential source of viral antigens that could stimulate virus specific T cell responses.

The purpose of this study was to assess if Behavioral Skills Training (BST) can be used to train a sticker to function as a discriminative stimulus (Sᴰ) for engaging in household poison safety skills and assess whether this skill generalized to untrained household chemicals that bear the Sᴰ in the form of a sticker. Three typically developing children ages 3 and 5 and their parents participated in this study which took place in their homes. BST effectively taught children to engage in household poison safety skills when they come into contact with the trained household poison(s) labeled with the sticker Sᴰ and this skill generalized to novel household poisons that were also labeled with the sticker Sᴰ; however, some additional BST was required in two cases.

Galactopoietic effects of somatotropin are the result of IGF-I and require high-quality nutrient intake. This study investigated short-term partitioning effects during recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST) administration in high yielding early lactation dairy cows. Administration of recombinant bST has been shown generally to alter results of metabolic tests in the face of unchanged basal glucose and insulin concentrations. Ten multiparous Holstein cows were subjected to rbST (Lactotropin®) and/or feed intake restriction to 80% of predicted ME requirement (80% ME). Responses to insulin challenge (0.1 IU porcine insulin/kg BW. 210 min) and hyperglycaemic clamp (+50 mg/dL whole blood, 120 min) were tested during weeks 8 (control), 9 (rbST ), 11 (80% ME) and 12 (rbST + 80% ME) postpartum. Plasma and whole blood samples were assayed for glucose concentrations. The rbST treatment decreased fasting whole-blood glucose concentration by 9.4% (P<0.0001), which was likely a remnant of control hyperglycaemia. Maximum glucose response was 4.0 mg/dL (21.7%) lower (P<0.0038) and took 6.5 minutes longer to attain (P<0.0037). Steady-state glucose infusion rate (SSGIR) decreased by 8.1 % (P<0.0001). The 80% ME treatment decreased glucose availability by 5 to 6% (P<0.0100), while no glucose responses were affected. Restricted energy intake during treatment with rbST resulted in plasma glucose increase by 5.5% (P<0.0001). Peripheral uptake and utilization of glucose increased by 5.1 % (P<0.0005). Compared to energy restriction, 80%ME + rbST did not alter effects of nutrient restriction on responses to exogenous insulin challenge. Effects were small and inconsistent. SSGIR decreased by 5.0% in the 80% ME + rbST compared to the 80% ME period (P<0.0004) and the change in the hyperglycaemic clamp in the absence of an effect in the insulin challenge may be due to differences in endogenous insulin secretion. The conclusion was that rbST treatment resulted in altered glucose metabolic responses, even with restricted energy intake. / Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Animal and Wildlife Sciences / unrestricted

Behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) have been evaluated as methods to teach different safety skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. Research on BST has examined topics such as gun safety, abduction prevention, poison avoidance, and sexual abuse prevention. A large safety issue that is missing from the literature is drowning prevention and water safety skills. Drowning is one of the most prevalent issues facing facing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), particularly those who elope from their homes or caregivers. The current study aimed the effectiveness of using BST+IST to teach three water safety skills to three children with ASD. The intial form of intervention was BST with total task presentation of the skill, using verbal instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. If this intervention did not result in an increase in performance, the skill was broken down into individual component presentation, in which each component of the skill was taught using the same procedures. Results from the current study showed that BST+IST was effective in teaching all skills to all participants.

Past research has not evaluated the effectiveness of a remote behavior skills training (BST) package with pre-service special education teachers’ implementation of a multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessment (PA). Thus, this research was needed to evaluate the effectiveness of a remote BST package on pre-service special education teacher’s implementation of a MSWO PA. This study was conducted to first, evaluate the effects of pre-service special education teachers’ fidelity of conducting a MSWO PA using remote BST and next, to evaluate the intervention gains maintained over time, and last to determine if pre-service special education teachers believe the MSWO PA results in favorable social validity measures. The components of behavioral skills training used were remote instruction, remote video modeling, a remote quiz, and feedback. Results suggest that a remote BST package is a useful training strategy when teaching pre-service special education teachers PA. During 1-week follow-up across participants, each participant maintained their skills of implementation. Keywords: video conferencing, remote, BST, MSWO, multiple stimulus without replacement, preference assessment / Applied Behavioral Analysis

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Binge drinking is prevalent among college students and is associated with a number of serious consequences. However, research suggests college students who count drinks and set drink limits are less likely to engage in binge drinking. In order to successfully use these tactics, college students must identify and pour standard servings of alcohol. Unfortunately, college students typically cannot identify or pour standard servings of alcohol. Behavioral Skills Training (BST), comprised of instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback (Miltenberger, 2008), can be used to teach college students to pour standard servings of alcohol (Hankla et al., 2017). If effective, universities might consider incorporating BST into their mandated alcohol education courses. However, because of the time investment required for properly using BST to teach this skill, it is important to examine whether participants demonstrate maintenance of skills over time and generalization across untrained cups. In the current study we used a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants research design that included generality assessments with two untrained stimuli (cups), different in shape, color, and volume. All three participants poured inaccurately during baseline. Following BST with the first trained cup, all three poured accurately into the trained cup, reproducing results from previous studies (Hankla et al., 2018; Schultz et al., 2019). During follow up, two participants poured accurately in all three cups, and one participant poured accurately in one cup. This suggests, pending further data collection, that the skill of pouring standard servings of beer might maintain over time and generalize across untrained cups.

he purpose of the current study was to evaluate the use of behavior skills training via telehealth to teach job interview skills to emerging adults with ASD. Additionally, the study examined if following intervention, skills were able to generalize to new interviewers. 2 undergraduate and 1 graduate student with ASD participated in the study, and received intervention for 3 behaviors: (1) appropriately answering questions, (2) asking appropriate questions, and (3) engaging in appropriate body language. The current study used a multiple baseline design across behaviors. Results from the study indicated BST via telehealth was effective in teaching job interviews skills. Each participant remained at mastery during generalization and did not require a booster session. Social validity ratings completed by each participant indicated they found the intervention method to be fair, effective, and efficient for the identifed need. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

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