Functional analysis and treatment of problem behavior by domesticated canines.

Functional analyses are used to assess maintaining variables of behavior. Despite the large amount of research on functional analyses with humans, there are limited examples with nonhumans and even fewer studies incorporating modifications to standard methods of assessment with nonhumans. One modification that has yet to be evaluated with nonhuman animals is the trial-based functional analysis in which control and test conditions are embedded in naturalistic environments.

Effects of social interaction on leisure item preference and reinforcer efficacy for children with autism.

We replicated and extended Kanaman et al. (2022) by comparing outcomes of solitary (leisure items only), social (leisure items with social interaction), and combined (leisure items alone and leisure items with social interaction) stimulus preference assessments to determine the extent to which the inclusion of social interaction influenced the outcomes of preference assessments for five children with autism. We then conducted reinforcer assessments to determine the reinforcing efficacy of high- and low-preferred leisure items when presented with and without social interaction.

Comparison of synchronous reinforcement and accumulated reinforcement for increasing on-task behavior in preschoolers.

In synchronous-reinforcement schedules, the duration of behavior directly controls the duration of reinforcement on a moment-to-moment basis. We replicated and extended Diaz de Villegas et al. (2020) by comparing the effects of synchronous reinforcement with two accumulated-reinforcement schedules for increasing on-task behavior for seven preschoolers.

p57 acts as a transcriptional corepressor to regulate intestinal stem cell fate and proliferation.

p57 is a cyclin/CDK inhibitor and a negative regulator of cell proliferation. Here, we report that p57 regulates intestinal stem cell (ISC) fate and proliferation in a CDK-independent manner during intestinal development. In the absence of p57, intestinal crypts exhibit an increased proliferation and an amplification of transit-amplifying cells and of Hopx ISCs, which are no longer quiescent, while Lgr5 ISCs are unaffected.

Using synchronous reinforcement to increase mask wearing in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In 2020 the Centers for Disease Control provided the public with recommendations to slow the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask in the community. In the current study, experimenters coached group home staff via telehealth to implement synchronous schedules of reinforcement to increase mask wearing for 5 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Results showed the intervention effectively increased mask wearing for all participants for up to 30 min.

Small ORFs as New Regulators of Pri-miRNAs and miRNAs Expression in and .

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory non-coding RNAs, resulting from the cleavage of long primary transcripts (pri-miRNAs) in the nucleus by the Microprocessor complex generating precursors (pre-miRNAs) that are then exported to the cytoplasm and processed into mature miRNAs. Some miRNAs are hosted in pri-miRNAs annotated as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and defined as MIRHGs (for miRNA Host Genes). However, several lnc pri-miRNAs contain translatable small open reading frames (smORFs).

Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptor 5 (S1P5) Deficiency Promotes Proliferation and Immortalization of Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts.

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid, interacts with five widely expressed G protein-coupled receptors (S1P1-5), regulating a variety of downstream signaling pathways with overlapping but also opposing functions. To date, data regarding the role of S1P5 in cell proliferation are ambiguous, and its role in controlling the growth of untransformed cells remains to be fully elucidated. In this study, we examined the effects of S1P5 deficiency on mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs).

Functions of animal microRNA-encoded peptides: the race is on!

Short open reading frame (sORF)-encoded peptides (SEPs) recently emerged as new key players in biology. Pioneering work first established that sORFs encoded by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are efficiently translated and produce functional peptides. In plants, primary transcripts of microRNAs (pri-miRNAs) also produce sORF-encoded peptides called miPEPs, which are involved in specific transcriptional autoregulatory feedback loops (Lauressergues et al, 2015).

Evaluating the effects of social interaction on the results of preference assessments for leisure items.

A variable that may influence the outcomes of stimulus preference assessments (SPAs) is whether social interaction is provided during the stimulus access period. In Experiment 1, we compared the outcomes of a Solitary paired stimulus preference assessment (PSPA) (toys only), Social PSPA (toys plus social interaction), and Combined PSPA (toys alone and toys plus social interaction) to determine whether the addition of social interaction influenced preference for toys in preschool children. In Experiment 2, we conducted a concurrent-operant reinforcer assessment to compare the reinforcing efficacy of stimuli with and without social interaction.

Evidence That Regulation of Pri-miRNA/miRNA Expression Is Not a General Rule of miPEPs Function in Humans.

Some miRNAs are located in RNA precursors (pri-miRNAs) annotated as long non-coding (lncRNAs) due to absence of long open reading frames (ORFs). However, recent studies have shown that some lnc pri-miRNAs encode peptides called miPEPs (miRNA-encoded peptides). Initially discovered in plants, three miPEPs have also been identified in humans.

Preference for and reinforcing efficacy of different types of attention in preschool children.

It is unknown whether and to what extent common types of attention delivered in early childhood environments are preferred by and function as reinforcers for young children. We assessed children's preference for commonly delivered types of attention across 31 preschool-aged participants (Experiment 1). Next, we conducted a reinforcer assessment (Experiment 2) and a progressive-ratio assessment (Experiment 3) to (a) validate the results of the preference assessment and (b) determine the relative reinforcing efficacy of each type of attention.

Increasing handwashing in young children: A brief review.

Personal hygiene is critical for preventing the spread of infection. One important component of personal hygiene is handwashing. This review summarizes research on behavioral strategies to address handwashing in children, offers areas for additional research, and suggests a treatment package to teach handwashing to young children.

A comparison of isolated and synthesized contingencies in functional analyses.

Recently, researchers have compared the utility of isolated versus synthesized contingencies in functional analysis (FA) methodology (e.g., Fisher et al.

An evaluation of synchronous reinforcement for increasing on-task behavior in preschool children.

A synchronous-reinforcement schedule is a type of schedule of covariation in which the onset and offset of the reinforcer covaries with the onset and offset of behavior. This study was a proof-of-concept demonstration of the efficacy of synchronous reinforcement for on-task behavior (completing a preacademic skill) and an evaluation of preschoolers' preference for this schedule in comparison to a more traditional schedule of reinforcement. Specifically, we compared the effects of a synchronous-reinforcement schedule to one in which continuous access to stimuli was delivered at the end of the session and yoked to the duration of on-task behavior that occurred during the session (accumulated reinforcement).

Further investigation of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction for escape-maintained destructive behavior.

Previous research indicates that manipulating dimensions of reinforcement during differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) for situations in which extinction cannot be implemented is a potential approach for treating destructive behavior. Therefore, we replicated and extended previous research by determining (a) the conditions under which DRA without extinction decreased and maintained low levels of destructive behavior and (b) whether intervention effects maintained during reinforcement schedule thinning for the alternative response (i.e.

Long-term leaching of arsenic from pressure-treated playground structures in the northeastern United States.

Wood used in playground structures built prior to 2004 was pressure-treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) which has been associated with negative health and environmental impacts. Given the prevalence and lack of maintenance of these aging play structures in rural northeastern US, the aim of this study was to determine the distribution of As (total, speciated and bioaccessible) in surface soil collected near and underneath four CCA-treated playground structures 16- and 26-years following installation. Note that one playground in southeastern MA was studied where surface soil samples were collected at various distances from the structures (0, 5, 15, and 30 cm).

Assessing factors that influence young children's food preferences and choices.

Researchers have identified an unbalanced diet as a key risk factor in the etiology of many chronic diseases (World Health Organization, ). Although researchers have found that numerous factors influence children's food choices, no assessment exists to identify these factors. In Experiment 1, we established preliminary empirical evidence of children's preferences for healthier and less-healthy foods, and found that 16 of 21 children preferred less-healthy foods to healthier foods.

miR-497 suppresses cycle progression through an axis involving CDK6 in ALK-positive cells.

Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, a T-cell neoplasm, is primarily a pediatric disease. Seventy-five percent of pediatric anaplastic large-cell lymphoma cases harbor the chromosomal translocation t(2;5)(p23;q35) leading to the ectopic expression of NPM-ALK, a chimeric tyrosine kinase. NPM-ALK consists of an N-terminal nucleophosmin (NPM) domain fused to an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) cytoplasmic domain.

Comparison of components of the Good Behavior Game in a preschool classroom.

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an effective intervention package for decreasing disruptive behavior in various populations and environments. There is, however, limited research evaluating the GBG with preschoolers. Furthermore, few studies have evaluated the effects of components of the GBG, and of those that have, most have done so only after exposure to the GBG package.

Reliability and Validity of Indirect Assessment Outcomes: Experts versus Caregivers.

Clinicians often conduct indirect assessments (IAs; e.g., Durand & Crimmins, 1988; Iwata, DeLeon, & Roscoe, 2013; Matson & Vollmer, 1995) such as questionnaires and interviews with caregivers to gain information about the variables influencing problem behavior.

An analysis of procedures that affect response variability.

Response variability is sensitive to antecedent and consequent manipulations. Researchers have investigated inducement, direct production through reinforcement, and stimulus control of response variability. Recently, researchers have shown that lag reinforcement schedules reliably increase variability but may also produce higher-order stereotypy.

CyclinD-CDK4/6 complexes phosphorylate CDC25A and regulate its stability.

The phosphatase CDC25A is a key regulator of cell cycle progression by dephosphorylating and activating cyclin-CDK complexes. CDC25A is an unstable protein expressed from G1 until mitosis. CDC25A overexpression, which can be caused by stabilization of the protein, accelerates the G1/S and G2/M transitions, leading to genomic instability and promoting tumorigenesis.

Phosphorylation of CDC25A on SER283 in late S/G2 by CDK/cyclin complexes accelerates mitotic entry.

The Cdc25A phosphatase is an essential activator of CDK-cyclin complexes at all steps of the eukaryotic cell cycle. The activity of Cdc25A is itself regulated in part by positive and negative feedback regulatory loops performed by its CDK-cyclin substrates that occur in G1 as well as during the G1/S and G2/M transitions. However, the regulation of Cdc25A during G2 phase progression before mitotic entry has not been intensively characterized.

An evaluation of toy quality for increasing self-control in typically developing preschool children.

Children often make impulsive choices, and previous research has shown that access to activities during the delay may enhance self-control (e.g., Newquist, Dozier, & Neidert, 2012).

Efficacy of and preference for reinforcement and response cost in token economies.

Researchers have shown that both differential reinforcement and response cost within token economies are similarly effective for changing the behavior of individuals in a group context (e.g., Donaldson, DeLeon, Fisher, & Kahng, 2014; Iwata & Bailey, 1974).