There is overwhelming evidence that the presence of secondary gain is an independent predictor of both performance validity and neuropsychological test outcomes. In addition, studies have demonstrated that genuine cognitive and/or psychological conditions can influence performance validity testing, both in the presence and absence of secondary gain. However, few studies have examined these factors in a large sample of academic accommodation seeking college students. The current study examined base rates of symptom validity test failure, the possibility of a “Near-Pass” intermediate group on symptom validity tests, the influence of diagnoses on performance indicators, and whether performance validity differed for “Near-Pass” patients relative to those who pass and those who fail performance validity indicators.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the extent of public transit access equity issues in Richmond, VA. The City of Richmond has an established public transportation network system, and the thesis explores the level of access for urban residents to use existing public transportation services. Technologies and programs have begun to emerge across the United States to help solve transit accessibility challenges. The thesis assesses the level of transit access equity that exists in Richmond and introduces technologies and services that could help improve accessibility and equity. The thesis uses a mixed methods approach that will consist of accessibility and equity measures, Geographic Information System (GIS), and key informant interviews.

Within the context of culture, disability has long existed as a stigmatizing quality (Goffman, 1963). As a result, people with disabilities are often overlooked or completely omitted from various, cultural artifacts. This exclusion of people with disabilities is largely recognized as unproblematic because their disabilities imply an inevitable failing. Through my own experiences as a disabled gamer, I have recognized that video games have also framed gamers with disabilities as problematic. Video games are largely constructed in a one-size-fits-all mentality (Grammenos, 2014), where very specific people, with very specific kinds of bodies, are granted access to play them. Since disabled gamers are not necessarily capable of playing video games in similar ways that able-bodied gamers can, it is assumed that we can't play video games and that we shouldn't want to. By using autoethnography as theory, I venture through a few stories from my life in which my own disability has rendered gaming either difficult or impossible. I seek to use these autoethnographic pieces as living examples of the problems involved with a traditional discussion of accessibility for people with disabilities. This thesis is a call for a renegotiation of "accessibility," and how generalized formulations of this concept are still capable of excluding people who are disabled in very particular ways. In accordance with Shakespeare's (2006) interactive model, I use my stories to show how my disability is a culmination of both the material and social qualities of my body. It is from this model that I seek transcendence from thinking of disabled bodies in either a medical or social model (Oliver, 1990) approach. Accessibility should be regarded as an interactive and cyclical process, which takes place between the individual, her body, the environment, and back again. An assessment of video game accessibility should be referred to in a similar way, where developers may attempt to be inclusive to people of varying kinds and levels of disability, rather than focusing solely on able-bodied modes of gaming.

<p>The Web has opened up many possibilities for disabled people to interact with society, but there is unfortunately a lack of parity between the user interface presented to different users.</p><p>This dissertation presents a proof of concept on designing a spatial layout presentation for blind users using a screen reader. This is done in three steps by first conducting a survey to determine current practices of web developers, then implementing an instant spatial feedback and comparison function that present the spatial layout, and ends with an evaluation of the spatial layout presentation by the way of user testing</p><p>The survey yielded a set of guidelines for the realistic development of web technologies for disabled persons based on the participants answered. From the implementation a concept for spatial feedback functions that are portable and expandable is presented. The evaluation shows that the created spatial presentation method passes both objectively and subjectively.</p>

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors can have their function modulated by zinc. Depending on concentration and subunit composition, zinc either inhibits or potentiates receptor function. The zinc ion potentiates the alpha4beta4 receptor at non-agonist binding interfaces or "pseudo sites." Zinc potentiation is reduced if certain residues are mutated or spatially interfered with. The residue contributing most to this potentiation reduction effect is histidine 162 on the alpha4 subunit. The anthelmintic compound levamisole potentiates acetylcholine response of certain neuronal nicotinic receptors. Levamisole and its functional analogues morantel, oxantel, and pyrantel all were found to potentiate alpha4beta4 receptors at low (µM) concentrations and inhibit them at high (mM) concentrations. Oxantel showed the greatest degree of potentiation, about a third of the maximal zinc potentiation measured. Oxantel was screened using the substituted cysteine accessibility method (SCAM) against the residue histidine 162 as well as nearby alpha4 residues histidine 61 and glutamate 59 and the beta4 residue aspartate 195. Screening was carried out by mutating said residues into cysteine, followed by covalent linkage with a disulfide bridge of that residue with a methanethiosulfonate compound. SCAM experiments allowed testing of the effects of a single residue and the area immediately adjacent to it. Receptors that lost zinc potentiation capacity from site-directed mutagenesis at the his 162 residue and subsequent methanethiosulfonate reaction still showed regular potentiation following oxantel treatment. Although these compounds exhibit similar biphasic potentiation dose-response curves as zinc, their mechanism for potentiation is not through the same mechanism.

Greenways (GW) can be sited to increase the potential for individuals to access the GW through active transit (AT) and provide opportunities for individuals to meet PA guidelines. PURPOSE: To determine if GWs, with varying AT access potential, relate to user characteristics and their GW-related PA. METHODS: A trail intercept survey measuring access mode, GW-specific PA, and demographics of GW users was administered to 611 adults on 2 GWs with high and low AT potential (GWhigh vs. GWlow). RESULTS: Users of GWhigh(N=216) compared to GWlow (N=400) were more likely to be younger, male, never married, employed, and affluent; accessing the GW via AT modes and accumulating greater volumes of GW-only and total GW-related PA (GW-only & AT PA). No difference in the proportion GW users meeting the 2008 PA Guidelines from GW-only PA was found however, 10.5% more users of GWhigh met the guidelines from total GW-related PA compared to GWlow (p=0.039). Users who accessed GWhigh by AT rather than cars were more likely to be not married (OR=2.6, 95% CI: 1.1 – 6.3), under 35 years old (OR=6.0, 95% CI: 1.9 – 19.26), live a mile from the GW (OR=5.39, 95% CI: 2.3 – 14.3). CONCLUSION: The profile of GW user and the way PA is acquired is related to the AT accessibility of GWs. Although PA levels of GWhigh users were significantly higher, GWlow usage was greater. Therefore, GW planners and designers should incorporate universal design concepts and conduct needs based assessments to properly site and design GWs to serve the greatest portion of the population.

In 1998, the United States Congress amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to require federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible. The first accessibility guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, were published in 1999. This study tests the usable accessibility of cultural institution web sites. Four cultural institution web sites were selected, two that were WCAG 1.0 compliant and that were not, were selected for evaluation. A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted. Significant differences were found in the perceived usability of the guideline-compliant web sites; significance was found for one of three tasks. Overall, the guideline-compliant sites received higher usability ratings, but the task completion rates did not support a claim of greater usability.

Research reports that the search for health information is the fourth most popular activity being done on the web (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2004). However, for disabled persons, barriers experienced when interfacing with the Internet may cause healthcare websites to be inaccessible to them. This study explores the level of accessibility of healthcare websites and the relationship between accessibility and usability by determining how compliant state department of health and human services websites are with accessibility and usability guidelines. A content analysis of each state’s department of health and human services website was conducted. Results revealed that state department of health and human services websites are not very compliant with accessibility guidelines, are somewhat compliant with usability guidelines, and overall are not very accessible. The findings also indicate that there is a significant moderate relationship between accessibility and usability which suggests that the two concepts are interconnected.

This study aims to investigate how market size impacts the level of economic success, diversity, entertainment, arts, and experience of shopping centers in Sweden. More specifically the paper uses regression analyses to test the relation between different forms of shopping center performance and market size. The results show that the municipality market size plays an important role in all analyzed cases. The results also showed that local labor market size does not have a significant impact on the dependent variables.

Here, we present a study of polar residues within the membrane core of alpha-helical membrane proteins. As expected, polar residues are less frequent in the membrane than expected. Further, most of these residues are buried within the interior of the protein and are only rarely exposed to lipids. However, the polar groups often border internal water filled cavities, even if the rest of the sidechain is buried. A survey of their functional roles in known structures showed that the polar residues are often directly involved in binding of small compounds, especially in channels and transporters, but other functions including proton transfer, catalysis, and selectivity have also been attributed to these proteins. Among the polar residues histidines often interact with prosthetic groups in photosynthetic-and oxidoreductase-related proteins, whereas pro-lines often are required for conformational changes of the proteins. Indeed, the polar residues in the membrane core are more conserved than other residues in the core, as well as more conserved than polar residues outside the membrane. The reason is twofold; they are often (i) buried in the interior of the protein and (ii) directly involved in the function of the proteins. Finally, a method to identify which polar residues are present within the membrane core directly from protein sequences was developed. Applying the method to the set of all human membrane proteins the prediction indicates that polar residues were most frequent among active transporter proteins and GPCRs, whereas infrequent in families with few transmembrane regions, such as non-GPCR receptors. Proteins 2011; 79: 79-91. / <p>authorCount :3</p>