Charlie's Birth Story: Two Unique Perspectives

In this column feature, a father and a mother each share their unique point of view of their son''s birth.     

Preparing teachers for inclusive classrooms

Effective teaching skills consist of high levels of student engagement based on good classroom and time management skills; the ability to scaffold learning that is adapted to students' current levels of understanding; cognitively engaging students in higher-order thinking; and encouraging and supporting success. The research reported here suggests that in elementary classrooms, effective teaching skills are effective for all students, both with and without special education needs.     

Patent citation spectroscopy (PCS): Online retrieval of landmark patents based on an algorithmic approach

One essential component in the construction of patent landscapes in biomedical research and development (R&D) is identifying the most seminal patents. Hitherto, the identification of seminal patents required subject matter experts within biomedical areas. In this article, we report an analytical method and tool, Patent Citation Spectroscopy (PCS), for the online identification of landmark patents in user-specified areas of biomedical innovation. Using USPTO data, PCS mines the cited references within large sets of patents at the internet and provides an estimate of the historically most impactful prior work. We show the efficacy of PCS in three case studies of biomedical innovation with clinical relevance: (1) RNA interference (RNAi), (2) cholesterol and (3) cloning. PCS mined and analyzed cited references related to patents on RNA interference and correctly identified the foundational patent of this technology, as independently reported by subject matter experts on RNAi intellectual property. Secondly, we apply PCS to a broad set of patents dealing with cholesterol – a case study chosen to reflect a more general, as opposed to expert, patent search query. PCS mined through cited references and identified the seminal patent as that for Lipitor, the groundbreaking medication for treating high cholesterol as well as the pair of patents underlying Repatha. The final case study, cloning, highlights some of the advantages conferred by the PCS methodology in identifying seminal patents. These cases suggest that PCS provides a useful method for identifying seminal patents in areas of biomedical innovation and therapeutics. The interactive tool is free-to-use at: http://www.leydesdorff.net/comins/pcs/index.html.     

Summation and configuration in patterning schedules with the rat and rabbit

Discrimination between a tone + light compound and its components in positive and negative patterning schedules was examined. In the positive schedule, reinforced compound presentations (C+) were intermixed with unreinforced component presentations (T?, L?). In the negative schedule, the compound was unreinforced (C?) and the components were reinforced (T+, L+). In Experiment 1, appetitive conditioning of rats’ anticipatory magazine responses was used, and in Experiment 2, aversive conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response was used. Both experiments revealed that the positive patterning schedule consistently produced rapid acquisition of appropriate discriminative responding. The results of the negative patterning schedule were more complex. Specifically, the results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that naive rats initially showed rapid acquisition of the negative patterning discrimination. However, schedule reversals revealed that experience with the positive patterning schedule virtually abolished subsequent acquisition of discriminative responding under the negative patterning schedule. The results of Experiment 2 revealed that naive rabbits showed very slow acquisition of discriminative responding under the negative patterning schedule. The results are discussed in relation to the unique-stimulus hypothesis, a contextual encoding hypothesis, and a configural hypothesis.     

Canned Music and Captive Audiences: The Battle Over Public Soundspace at Grand Central Terminal and the Emergence of the New Sound

This article recounts the fight over public soundspace at Grand Central Terminal in 1949 after management began using Muzak, punctuated by commercial advertisements, to manage and monetize the soundscape. The public protests against these broadcasts in the press were followed by public hearings which weighed the commuter’s right to be left alone with his or her own thoughts against the company’s right broadcast sell the public soundspace. The author argue that this case, which was tied to a similar case before the Supreme Court, set a legal precedent allowing public soundspaces to be monetized in the same way as physical or visual spaces were, and set the stage for the ubiquitous engineering of public soundspaces that is the norm today.     

A Needs-Assessment Process for Designing Geospatial Data Management Systems within Federal Agencies

Many federal agencies face challenges with designing geospatial data management systems. This paper presents and documents a needs-assessment process that can be employed to prioritize agencies’ geospatial information needs; identify agencies’ capacity to manage a centralized geodatabase; determine agencies’ capacity to deliver Web-mapping services to the public; and identify barriers, such as data security and limited financial resources, that constrain agencies’ ability to design and manage a geospatial data management system. The paper details the needs-assessment process and documents its application to the National Park Service (NPS) Conservation and Outdoor Recreation (COR) Branch programs. The NPS COR Branch is comprised of nine disparate programs, such as the National Trails System and the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program, each of which has specific geospatial data management and delivery needs. The needs-assessment process, tested through its application to the NPS COR Branch programs, provides a comprehensive and logical workflow for system developers and administrators to use as they create or refine geospatial data management systems.     

Body composition assessment of English Premier League soccer players: a comparative DXA analysis of first team,U21 and U18 squads

Professional soccer players from the first team (1st team, n = 27), under twenty-one (U21, n = 21) and under eighteen (U18, n = 35) squads of an English Premier League soccer team were assessed for whole body and regional estimates of body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Per cent body fat was lower in 1st team (10.0 ± 1.6) compared with both U21 (11.6 ± 2.5, P = 0.02) and U18 (11.4 ± 2.6, P = 0.01) players. However, this difference was not due to variations (P = 0.23) in fat mass between squads (7.8 ± 1.6 v 8.8 ± 2.1 v 8.2 ± 2.4 kg, respectively) but rather the presence of more lean mass in 1st team (66.9 ± 7.1 kg, P < 0.01) and U21 (64.6 ± 6.5 kg, P = 0.02) compared with U18 (60.6 ± 6.3 kg) players. Accordingly, fat mass index was not different (P = 0.138) between squads, whereas lean mass index was greater (P < 0.01) in 1st team players (20.0 ± 1.1 kg · m^?2) compared with U18 players (18.8 ± 1.4 kg · m^?2). Differences in lean mass were also reflective of higher lean tissue mass in all regions, for example, upper limbs/lower limbs and trunk. Data suggest that training and nutritional interventions for younger players should therefore be targeted to lean mass growth as opposed to body fat loss.     

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire and Adult Attachment Interview (AAI): Implications for parent child relationships

Although Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are linked to increased health problems and risk behaviors in adulthood, there are no studies on the association between ACEs and adults’ states of mind regarding their early childhood attachments, loss, and trauma experiences. To validate the ACEs questions, we analyzed the association between ACEs and emotional support indicators and Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) classifications in terms of unresolved mourning regarding past loss or trauma and discordant states of mind in cannot classify (U/CC) interviews. Seventy-five urban women (41 clinical and 34 community) completed a questionnaire on ACEs, which included 10 categories of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, in addition to emotional support. Internal psychological processes or states of mind concerning attachment were assessed using the AAI. ACE responses were internally consistent (Cronbach's α = .88). In the clinical sample, 84% reported ≥ 4 ACEs compared to 27% among the community sample. AAIs judged U/CC occurred in 76% of the clinical sample compared to 9% in the community sample. When ACEs were ≥ 4, 65% of AAIs were classified U/CC. Absence of emotional support in the ACEs questionnaire was associated with 72% of AAIs being classified U/CC. As the number of ACEs and the lack of emotional support increases so too does the probability of AAIs being classified as U/CC. Findings provide rationale for including ACEs questions in pediatric screening protocols to identify and offer treatment reducing the intergenerational transmission of risk associated with problematic parenting.     

The importance of number sense to mathematics achievement in first and third grades

Children's symbolic number sense was examined at the beginning of first grade with a short screen of competencies related to counting, number knowledge, and arithmetic operations. Conventional mathematics achievement was then assessed at the end of both first and third grades. Controlling for age and cognitive abilities (i.e., language, spatial, and memory), number sense made a unique and meaningful contribution to the variance in mathematics achievement at both first and third grades. Furthermore, the strength of the predictions did not weaken over time. Number sense was most strongly related to the ability to solve applied mathematics problems presented in various contexts. The number sense screen taps important intermediate skills that should be considered in the development of early mathematics assessments and interventions.