Therapeutic Alliance in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children with Autism

This study aimed to determine child pre-treatment variables, therapist behaviours and treatment outcomes associated with early and late therapeutic alliance in cognitive behaviour therapy for children with autism. Data were collected from 48 children with autism (91.7% male) who demonstrated average verbal IQ. Therapists included 22 post-doctoral fellows or graduate trainees (90.9% female). Therapeutic alliance and therapist behaviours were measured using observational coding of early and late sessions. Pre-treatment and outcome measures included multiple informant reports of child emotional and behavioural functioning. Results indicate some relation between emotion regulation and symptom severity, and the quality of alliance. Early therapist behaviours were associated with late therapeutic bond. Pushing the child to talk early on predicted later task-collaboration. Early therapeutic alliance did not predict treatment change. Late task-collaboration predicted improvements in emotion regulation. Future research should further examine the role of task-collaboration as a mechanism of treatment change for children with autism

A systems biology approach reveals major metabolic changes in the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus in response to the carbon source L-fucose versus D-glucose

Archaea are characterised by a complex metabolism with many unique enzymes that differ from their bacterial and eukaryotic counterparts. The thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is known for its metabolic versatility and is able to utilize a great variety of different carbon sources. However, the underlying degradation pathways and their regulation are often unknown. In this work, we analyse growth on different carbon sources using an integrated systems biology approach. The comparison of growth on L-fucose and D-glucose allows first insights into the genome-wide changes in response to the two carbon sources and revealed a new pathway for L-fucose degradation in S. solfataricus. During growth on L-fucose we observed major changes in the central carbon metabolic network, as well as an increased activity of the glyoxylate bypass and the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle. Within the newly discovered pathway for L-fucose degradation the following key reactions were identified: (i) L-fucose oxidation to L-fuconate via a dehydrogenase, (ii) dehydration to 2-keto-3-deoxy-L-fuconate via dehydratase, (iii) 2-keto-3-deoxy-L-fuconate cleavage to pyruvate and L-lactaldehyde via aldolase and (iv) L-lactaldehyde conversion to L-lactate via aldehyde dehydrogenase. This pathway as well as L-fucose transport shows interesting overlaps to the D-arabinose pathway, representing another example for pathway promiscuity in Sulfolobus species

Buildings behaving badly:A behavioral experiment on how different motivational frames influence residential energy label adoption in the Netherlands

Heating buildings contributes to approximately 36% of Europe’s energy demand and several EU member states have adopted mandatory energy labels to improve energy efficiency by promoting home weatherization investments. This paper focuses on the perception of the energy label for residential buildings in the Netherlands and the role of different frames (egoistic, biospheric and social norms and neutral frames) in motivating adoption of energy labels for housing. We used a behavioral email experiment and an online survey to investigate these motivational factors. We find that biospheric frames are weaker than the other three motivational frames in terms of engaging interest in the energy label, but that the biospheric frame results in higher willingness to pay (WTP) for the energy label. We also find that age (rather than income) correlates with higher willingness to pay for home energy labels

Exploring Topic Sensitivity and Managers’ Likelihood to Participate in Internet Surveys: A Research Note

This study explores the relationship between sensitivity and topic importance to a manager and the likelihood of participation in an Internet-based survey on such topics. An Internet-based survey of business managers in Italy was conducted to measure sensitivity of 12 typical survey topics, the personal importance of each topic to a manager, and the manager’s likelihood of participation in a survey of each of a subset of five topics from the total. Findings suggest that managers are most likely to participate in surveys about topics that are personally important to them, even when such topics are perceived as being sensitive

Exploring Slider vs. Categorical Response Formats in Web-Based Surveys

Web-based surveys have become a common mode of data collection for researchers in many fields, but there are many methodological questions that need to be answered. This article examines one such question—do the use of sliders to express numerical amounts and the use of the more traditional radio-button scales give the same, or different, measurements? First, we review the central debates surrounding the use of slider scales, including advantages and disadvantages. Second, we report findings from a controlled simple randomized design field experiment using a sample of business managers in Italy to compare the two response formats. Measures of topic sensitivity, topic interest, and likelihood of participation were obtained. No statistically significant differences were found between the response formats. The article concludes with suggestions for researchers who wish to use slider scales as a measurement device

Predicting Turnover of Direct Sellers

As an industry, direct selling is ubiquitous. An estimated 5.3 million people were direct sellers in the United States in 2016. Of those 5.3 million direct sellers, 4.5 million were part-time and 800,000 were full-time. Moreover, in 2016, direct selling generated an estimated US$35.54 billion in retail sales that, in turn, had a US$83.11 billion impact on the United States economy. In a broad sense, direct selling is simultaneously considered to be a distribution channel, an industry, and a business model. Traditional major modes of direct selling include person-to-person and party-plan selling at a home or in the workplace, with online sales now gaining traction in the direct selling marketplace. Individuals become direct sellers for a multitude of reasons, including a desire to earn a living as a full-time direct seller, to earn supplemental income as a part-time direct seller, or to work at a part-time job to earn extra money to make a special purchase. Consequently, there can be relatively high turnover among direct sellers, especially those whose goal was to earn extra money to make a special purchase. Turnover is an issue in direct selling for several reasons, including the time and resources direct selling companies expend to recruit, train, and support direct sellers as well as the potential loss of customers and revenues when a direct seller exits the industry. As such, being able to predict which direct sellers are likely to leave the industry before considerable company and individual resources are expended would be beneficial to all concerned marketplace constituents. This research attempted to predict direct seller turnover by analyzing responses to a set of 12 reasons why a national sample of individuals decided to join a direct selling company. This was done by first comparing the number and nature of reasons that subsamples of current and former direct sellers gave for joining a direct selling company. Significant differences were observed between the two direct seller groups for nine of the 12 reasons studied and for the total number of reasons given for joining a direct selling company. This was followed by a binary logistic regression analysis that successfully predicted the work status of 63 percent of the combined sample of current and former direct sellers. Although data for the present research were derived from a relatively large nationwide survey of current and former direct sellers, the study should be viewed as exploratory given the absence of information on the topic and the lack of theoretically based hypotheses

Exploring Self-Efficacy with an Emphasis on Direct Selling

Self-efficacy, the confidence that one has in his or her capabilities to achieve a goal, is one of the most widely studied constructs in personal selling and sales management research. With few exceptions, self-efficacy has been studied as antecedent to sales performance. The present study differs from prior marketing-related studies of self-efficacy in that it explores whether a direct selling experience can enhance business/professional self-efficacy and personal life self-efficacy. In other words, in the present study self-efficacy is treated as consequent to a direct selling experience. An online survey was conducted in which a nationally representative sample of 495 current direct sellers responded to a self-efficacy scale consisting of 14 items regarding the impact of their direct selling experience on their business/professional skills and a self-efficacy scale consisting of 13 items regarding the impact of their direct selling experience on their personal life skills. More than 60 percent of the direct sellers surveyed either somewhat or strongly believed that their direct selling experience improved their business/professional and their personal life skills. There were differences in impact based on the gender and the age of the direct sellers. Both business/professional self-efficacy and personal life self-efficacy were significantly and positively related to self-perceived sales performance and performance on a non-direct selling job. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed

Process Improvement Initiative to Reduce Average Length of Stay in a Community Hospital – A Preliminary Report

Introduction: Average length of stay (ALOS) has increased in many US hospitals in the post-COVID-19-pandemic world. We undertook a process improvement initiative to reduce the ALOS in our community hospital. Methods: Three core tactics were developed with a goal of reducing our ALOS by 10%. These tactics were early mobilization, Interprofessional Partnership to Advance Care and Education rounding, and structured interdisciplinary care rounds. Workgroups in each of these domains designed the improvement, devised measures of success, and implemented the tactic. A process improvement specialist worked with each workgroup using elements of the Model for Improvement. Process measures were reported weekly. Outcome measures (ALOS, observed vs expected LOS) were reported weekly. A central steering committee oversaw the initiative. All tactics were fully implemented by February 2023. Results: For the first 6 months after implementing our tactics, the ALOS on our inpatient medical units decreased from 6.3 to 5.5 days (13.7%) when compared with the same 6-month period in the prior year (P \u3c .01). Discussion: We used 3 interventions to impact the ALOS in our community hospital. Preliminary data show a significant improvement. We cannot isolate the independent contribution of each intervention and did not control for confounders. Conclusions: Our interdisciplinary team developed and implemented tactics to reduce the ALOS in our community hospital by 13.7%

Ueber die freye Ein- und Ausfuhre des Getraides in Betracht Estlands : ein Beytrag zu des Hrn. Reimarus Untersuchung der wichtigen Frage von der freyen Ein- und Ausfuhre des Getraides

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1307918~S1*es