Research indicates children with disabilities benefit from therapeutic horseback riding (TR). This study examined the impact TR had on attention behaviors of five children with various developmental disabilities in a preschool classroom. Children were observed in the classroom setting twice weekly for 10 weeks on a day they participated in TR services and on a day they did not participate in TR. Single case experiments suggested there was not a significant difference in all but one child’s sustained attention in the classroom on days children received TR services. An independent samples t-test suggested there was no significant difference in scores between riding day (M<./I> = 1.78, SD =.247) and non-riding days (M = 1.76, SD = .262); t(87) = -.481, p = .632 for the group as a whole. Further research should be conducted to determine TR’s effect on behaviors in the classroom.

Nanoparticles are important tools in biotechnology and biomedical research. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have emerged as a particularly important class of nanobiotechnological tools as a result of a number of unique and useful attributes. These attributes include the high degree of biocompatibility of AuNP cores, the similarity in size of AuNPs and biomacromolecules, and the great chemical flexibility of AuNP surface design. One of the most promising applications of AuNPs in biotechnology and biomedicine is their use as drug delivery vehicles. Drug delivery vehicles provide therapeutics with desired delivery properties by targeting them specifically to the environments in which their therapeutic activity is sought and by overcoming solubility barriers. The drug delivery properties of AuNPs are a function of their sizes and surface chemistries. The nanometer scale of AuNPs allows these three-dimensional and diffusible self-assembled monolayers to act as substructures for supramolecular assemblies, to extravasate from tumor-supplying endothelia, and to undergo cellular uptake by endocytosis. AuNPs have become a versatile platform for the creation of multifunctional delivery vehicles. This work represents a collection of studies in which AuNPs have been used as probes in fundamental biological research and delivery systems for small molecules and biologics. In these studies, precision control of surface chemistry on the nanometer scale, made possible by AuNPs, has been used to find solutions to the problems of unraveling the role of hydrophobicity in immune system activation, delivering proteins past mammalian cell membranes, development of a sustained release drug delivery platform, and condensation and cellular delivery of siRNA.

The aim of the current study was to reconstruct the sport venue quality dimensionsas an autonomous quality with a utilitarian perspective and examine the impact on spectators’ perceived risk, price perception, and sustained consumption intentions. Venues for National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB) games that mostly represent indoor and outdoor sporting facilities were chosen, and subjects were spectators who have experience of attending professional team sport events in sport venues. The study employed an online survey for data collection, and a total of 595 samples were utilized for data analyses. The data set was randomly split into two halves for a principal component analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. Results of the PCA generated 11 factors for venue quality including seating comfort, facility aesthetics, layout accessibility, safety, cleanliness, seating view, space allocation, facility system, electronic device, parking, and signage. The reliability and validity of the measurement model were also confirmed. In the structural model analyses, venue quality was found to be significantly associated with perceived value, perceived risk, and sustained consumption intentions. The relationships among perceived value, perceived risk, and sustained consumption intentions were also positively significant. The mediating effects of perceived value and perceived risk were found in the relationship between venue quality and sustained consumption intentions. The findings of the current research will contribute to the sport management literature by providing meaningful insights on capturing the essence of sport venue quality, based on an autonomous quality, and how it affects spectators’ price perception, alleviates perceived risk, and leads to sustained consumption intentions.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第24794号 / 医博第4986号 / 新制||医||1066(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 寺田 智祐, 教授 武藤 学, 教授 上杉 志成 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether a measure of viewing time that uses non-erotic visual stimuli can differentiate between frequent users and infrequent users of pornography. Thirty-six male participants were classified as infrequent pornography users and 37 as frequent users. Participants completed a questionnaire and were asked to rate a variety of images, both male and female of varying ages, on their sexual attractiveness. Individuals were timed as to how long they looked at each image. The groups were then compared based upon their viewing time of several categories. No statistically significant differences were detected. The temporal stability of the measure was also investigated. Researchers found that for the two groups, high correlations were found with juvenile females and adult females, somewhat strong correlations for small male child and pre-juvenile female, and relatively weak correlations for adult males, small female child, juvenile male, and pre-juvenile male. Researchers also attempted to differentiate the two groups based upon their temporal stability. A statistically significant difference between the groups was found with their viewing times of pre-juvenile females; however, the researchers caution the readers about its interpretation. Researchers concluded that perhaps the viewing time measure used in this study was not sufficiently sensitive enough to differentiate on pornography use. They indicated that perhaps viewing time measures utilizing erotic visual stimuli may be more effective in detecting such a difference. The researchers also speculated that there may be differences between pornography users and non pornography users and that pornography may not be the factor responsible for causing callousness towards women, acceptance of rape myths, and a reduction in sexual and marital satisfaction. The researchers suggested that there may be another factor responsible for causing these negative effects and also predisposes an individual to heavy pornography use.

This study employed spectral analyses for acoustic measures of sustained vowel productions from a group of 20 adolescents and young adults with Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) and compared findings with a group of 20 age-equivalent and gender-matched normal control participants. State-of-the art spectral analyses from the Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV) program, developed for various voice disorders from Kay Elemetrics, were applied to initial 2 second sustained vowel segments of the vowels /a/, /i/, and /o/. Spectral analyses included averages and standard deviations of Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP), Cepstral Peak Prominence Standard Deviation (CPP SD), Low/High Spectral Ratio (L/H Ratio), Low/High Spectral Ratio Standard Deviation (L/H Ratio SD), Cepstral/Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID), and Mean Cepstral Peak Prominence Fundamental Frequency (Mean CPP F0). Statistical analyses revealed significant differences between the spectral analyses of voice characteristics of individuals with FA and those of normal controls for all measures except for CPP SD. The aim of these analyses was to determine spectral differences evident in vowel productions of individuals with FA using new cepstral-derived measures that characterize the phonatory instability and dis-coordination present in this disorder. Such research may not only help develop early non-invasive indicators of ataxia and track disease progression, but also serve to stimulate research into alleviating the symptoms of this devastating disease.

Etoposide has been shown to be effective in the treatment of testicular and small-cell lung cancers, lymphoma, leukemia and Kaposi's sarcoma. Several clinical investigations have suggested that the prolonged maintenance of greater than 1 $\mu$g/ml concentration in plasma would provide better therapeutic response in patients. Thus use of a sustained/controlled release formulation of etoposide was indicated. This investigation focused on the potential for the development of a sustained/controlled release dosage form of etoposide for a 7-15 day delivery using selected polylactic and polylactic-co-glycolic acid polymers. During the course of studies involving the enhancement of aqueous solubility of etoposide in our laboratory evidence of a potential thermally induced polymorphic transition was detected. Therefore, further characterization of this phenomenon was also included in this investigation. Thermal behavior of etoposide was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffractometry, mass spectroscopy, IR spectra and HPLC analyses. A method for the preparation of micromatrices of etoposide was developed utilizing a suspension and solvent evaporation technique. DSC, IR and NMR investigations did not indicate any potential etoposide-polymer interaction. Etoposide I, a monohydrate, underwent a dehydration reaction between 85-115$\sp\circ$C to yield Etoposide Ia, which upon further heating melted at 198$\sp\circ$C and crystallized to a new polymorph, Etoposide IIa at 206$\sp\circ$C. Etoposide IIa was found to melt at 269$\sp\circ$C and converted to its hydrated form, Etoposide II when exposed to atmosphere at room temperature. The polymorphic transition was found to be irreversible and monotropic. Etoposide I, the currently marketed drug was used in all delivery systems examined. Formulation studies with polylactic acid polymers indicated that the molecular weight of the polymer was a key parameter in influencing the percent of drug entrapped in the micromatrices, particles size distribution and the drug release profiles. Glycolide-containing polymers demonstrated control of etoposide release only at low drug loadings: larger micromatrices showing better control. Polylactic acid 50,000 at 1:5 and 1:15 drug to polymer ratios exhibited maximum rate of drug release of 1.57 mg/hr. At this release rate, a delivery system containing 350 mg of etoposide could be expected to maintain a plasma concentration of 1.08 $\mu$g/ml over a period of 7 days. Additionally, drug release profile of polylactide-co-glycolide (85:15, 75-180 $\mu$m) microsphere formulation with 1:10 drug to polymer ratio, was found to be more appropriate for a 15-day release system based upon 700 mg of etoposide.

Uppsatsen syfte var att undersöka effekten av koffeinintag på mental uthållighet. Hypotesen var att koffein skulle förbättra mental uthållighet på ett statistiskt signifikant vis. 34 individer rekryterades genom ett bekvämlighetsurval. SART (Sustained Attention to Response Task) användes för att mäta mental uthållighet före och efter intag av 180 mg koffein. Resultat på SART visade en signifikant minskning i antal fel gjorda, men inte i responstid. Det påvisades även en signifikant korrelation mellan ålder och responstid där äldre individer uppvisade en längre responstid före och efter koffeinintag. De förbättrade resultaten på SART efter koffeinintag är i linje med annan koffeinforskning och studien ger ytterligare stöd till att koffein förbättrar mental uthållighet. Metodologiska brister i form av en eventuell förväntanseffekt, intag av B-vitaminer i samband med koffeinintag, okontrollerade motivationsfaktorer, och eventuellt andra oidentifierade confounding variabler i undersökningen gör att vi inte med fullständig säkerhet kan tillskriva den signifikanta förbättringen i mental uthållighet till enbart koffein. / The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of caffeine on sustained attention. The working hypothesis was that caffeine would increase sustained attention in a significant way. 34 individuals were recruited by way of a convenience sample. SART (Sustained Attention to Response Task) was used to measure sustained attention before and after ingestion of 180 mg of caffeine. Results of SART showed a significant decrease in the number of errors made, but not in response time after caffeine ingestion. The study also showed a significant correlation between age and response time, in which older adults took a longer time to respond before and after caffeine ingestion. The improved results of SART after caffeine ingestion are in line with other caffeine studies and provide further support to the notion that caffeine improves sustained attention. Methodological shortcomings in shape of an eventual expectancy effect, intake of B vitamins in conjunction with caffeine intake, uncontrolled motivational factors and other eventual unidentified confounding variables makes it so that we can't ascribe the significant improvement in sustained attention to only caffeine with absolute certainty.