The current study examines the relationship between service utilization and child outcomes, and the role fidelity to the principles of the wraparound care coordination process plays in mediating that relationship. One hundred and twenty-one participants at three separate Children’s Mental Health Services (CMHS)-funded Systems of Care national evaluation sites in three states were administered the Wraparound Fidelity Index (WFI), designed to measure adherence to the principles of wraparound; child outcomes measures, including the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS); and the Multi-Sector Service Contact Questionnaire (MSSC), designed to assess services received. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and linear mixed models in order to examine the mediational role fidelity plays at two levels, children and wraparound facilitators, and at three different time points, baseline, six-month follow-up, and twelve-month follow-up. No statistically significant relationships were found between wraparound fidelity and child outcomes at six-month follow-up. Also, at six-month follow-up, the level of services the child and family received significantly predicted child outcomes related to externalizing symptoms but not to internalizing symptoms or functional impairment; however, this relationship was not mediated by fidelity to the wraparound process. From baseline to six-month follow-up and twelve-month follow-up, no statistically significant relationships were found between wraparound fidelity and child outcomes across wraparound facilitators. Also, no statistically significant relationships were found between the level of services the child and family received and child outcomes. A mediation model from baseline to six-month follow-up and twelve-month follow-up was not viable due to the null findings. Exploratory analyses were conducted. Implications of these findings and directions for future studies are discussed.

The current study aims to clarify how therapist competence/adherence relates to client characteristics, consumer satisfaction, and dropout rates for family interventions for schizophrenia. The study was conducted as part of a larger treatment trial which will test the efficacy of a culturally informed therapy for schizophrenia (CIT-S), against a treatment as usual (TAU) comparison group. Encouragingly, overall, therapists were found to demonstrate very high levels of competence/adherence in both treatment conditions. As hypothesized, less severe psychiatric symptoms and lower ratings of family difficulty were related to greater therapist competence/ adherence in several non-specific (e.g., establishing rapport) and CIT-S specific (fostering family cohesion) domains of treatment. Also as hypothesized, certain aspects of greater competence/ adherence were related to lower dropout rates and higher consumer satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, general emotional distress and family cohesion were not related to competence/adherence. This study suggests that clinicians and clinical researchers may want to take certain client characteristics into account when evaluating therapist performance, choosing clients who are most suitable for therapy, and providing feedback to supervisees. Additionally, clinicians and researchers may want to monitor therapist performance early on in treatment in order to address issues which may impact consumer satisfaction and treatment retention.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1930. / Vita. Published also as Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to education, no. 387. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: p. 182-187.

RNA polymerase II, the polymerase responsible for transcribing protein coding genes in eukaryotes, possesses an ability to discriminate between correct (complementary to the DNA template) and incorrect substrates (selectivity), and as well as remove incorrect substrates that have been erroneously incorporated into the nascent RNA transcript (proofreading). Although these features of pol II are not as robust as those observed for DNA polymerases, the accurate utilization of genetic information is of obvious importance to the cell. The role of the small RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb9 in transcriptional proofreading was assessed in vitro. Transcription elongation complexes in which the 3'-end of the RNA is not complementary to the DNA template have a dramatically reduced rate of elongation, which provides a fidelity checkpoint at which the error can be removed. The efficiency of such proofreading depends on competing rates of error propagation (extending the RNA chain without removing the error) and error excision, a process that is facilitated by TFIIS. In the absence of Rpb9, the rate of error propagation is increased by 2- to 3-fold in numerous sequence contexts, compromising the efficiency of proofreading. In addition, the rate and extent of TFIIS-mediated error excision is also significantly compromised in the absence of Rpb9. In at least some sequence contexts, Rpb9 appears to enhance TFIIS-mediated error excision by facilitating efficient formation of a conformation necessary for RNA cleavage. If a transcription error is propagated by addition of a nucleotide to the mismatched 3'-end, the rate of further elongation increases but remains much slower than that of a complex with a fully base-paired RNA, which provides a second potential fidelity checkpoint. The absence of Rpb9 also affects both error propagation and TFIIS-mediated error excision at this potential fidelity checkpoint in a manner that compromises transcriptional fidelity. The trigger loop, a mobile structural element of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II is important for maintaining fidelity. The pol II specific toxin α-amanitin targets the trigger loop, and was used to distinguish trigger loop -independent and -dependent Rpb9 functions, in vitro. Rpb9 decreases the correct nt extension rate when trigger loop movement is restricted by α-amanitin. This occurs in the context of a RNA with a matched or mismatched 3’-end, which indicates that Rpb9’s contribution to correct nt extension occurs in a manner independent of the trigger loop. In addition, the effect on mismatch extension indicates that the trigger loop is not required for Rpb9 to facilitate recognition of proofreading ‘checkpoints’ after mismatches occur. Rpb9 also decreases the rate of misincorporation, but this effect is dependent on the trigger loop. Rpb9’s role in selectivity was tested by utilizing several assays to estimate nt discrimination. Rpb9 does not have a significant effect on nt discrimination for the sequence contexts tested, which suggests the role Rpb9 plays in fidelity is in large part due to its proofreading capabilities. Lastly, the charged residues of Rpb9’s C-terminal “loop” region, proposed in the prevailing model to be important for trigger loop interaction, are dispensable for Rpb9 function in vivo and in vitro.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1962. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.E. Physics and Electronic Engineering)--University of Waikato, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-112) Also available via the World Wide Web.

abstract: Recently, much of the Physical Education literature has focused on confronting the challenges associated with the rising number of overweight children in America's schools. Physical Education programs are often looked to as intervention sites to remedy the current obesity epidemic. Teachers are often also not held accountable for curriculum adherence and student outcomes in Physical Education due to the lack of a common curriculum. Therefore, measuring teacher fidelity to specific Physical Education curricula is imperative to determine student outcomes when teachers follow the model as intended. In response to these issues, it has become increasingly important to measure student physical activity levels in Physical Education programs to determine moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels and to learn about teachers' fidelity to curricular models. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate teacher fidelity to the Dynamic Physical Education (DPE) curricular model after having completed DPE methods courses at the university level, when teaching in a DPE supported or non-supported districts. A secondary purpose of this study was to measure students' physical activity (PA) outcomes in classes where the curricular model was used with various levels of district support. Data were collected using mixed methods including an observation instrument, field notes, informal interviews, document analysis, and direct observation of physical activity. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were run to investigate differences between teacher support groups and by teacher fidelity groups. Teachers from both teacher support groups were teaching the curricular model with moderate to high fidelity. Findings suggest that fidelity levels were related to preparation on the DPE curricular model, ongoing professional development, and administrative support. Although the students were often standing (i.e., 40% of the lesson) and 30% of class time was spent in MVPA; teachers were frequently promoting physical activity both within (51%) and outside (50%) of Physical Education and the school day. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Physical Education 2011

abstract: Anxiety is one of the most common psychiatric disorders among children yet characterized by lower use of mental health services. Preventive efforts have demonstrated promise in the ability to reduce anxiety symptoms. However, as evidence-based interventions move into real-world settings, there is a need to systematically examine potential implementation factors that may affect program outcomes. The current study investigates the relations between different aspects of implementation and their effect on outcomes of a school-based preventive intervention targeting anxiety symptoms. Specifically, the study examines: (1) the measurement of quality of delivery, (2) specific relations among implementation components, (3) relations between these facets and anxiety program outcomes. Implementation data were collected from nine school-based mental health staff and observer ratings. Program outcomes (pretest and immediate posttest) were measured from 59 participants and their parents (mostly mothers) in the intervention condition. Implementation components included adherence, quality of delivery, time spent, participant responsiveness, and perceived usefulness of program materials. Program outcomes included child-reported emotional expressivity, physiological hyperarousal, negative cognitions, social skills, self-efficacy, and child and parent reported levels of child anxiety. Study findings indicated that quality of delivery was best captured as two facets: skillful presentation and positive engagement. Adherence and quality of delivery were associated with greater participant responsiveness, although time spent was not. Significant relations were found between some implementation components and some program outcomes. Further efforts can be used to optimize the translation of evidence-based programs into real-world settings. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2017

The present study explored experimenters’ looking behavior in a gaze-following task as a function of infant temperament. Two experienced female experimenters ran 62 15-month-olds through a six-trial gaze-following procedure in which infants were not distracted on the first three trials, but were distracted on the latter three trials by an Elmo video playing in the background. Although experimenters were trained to look at target objects for eight seconds per trial and were blind to infant temperamental status, both experimenters looked significantly longer during the non-distracted trials when infants were rated by their caregivers as high on effortful control or surgency. These results suggest that even experienced experimenters are susceptible to infant-driven influences. More importantly, these results highlight the importance of conceptualizing lab-based infant research involving human experimenters as, in Bronfenbrenner's (1977) terms, representing the totality of a functional social system that does not exclude the experimenters.

Artificial reefs are important management tools for red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, fisheries in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. I deployed fish traps (0.97 m long; 0.64 m height; 175 x 115 mm funnel mouth size) to collect red snapper < 406 mm total length (TL) associated with pyramid-shaped artificial reef structures (3.7 m triangular base; 2.4 m height; 3.2 metric tons) to evaluate two reef distribution designs: (1) five closely-spaced pyramid units, and (2) five closely-spaced pyramids with two sets of two pyramids at 30.5, 61.0, and 91.5 m from the five pyramids. In 26 sampling trips, 927 red snapper were captured. Catch per unit effort (fish/hour) did not differ significantly among patterns (P= 0.396). Red snapper lengths differed significantly among patterns (P= 0.005), with the largest mean total length (235 mm, SE= 5.14) occurring at the pattern with 61.0-m spacing.