The effects of signaling stimulus presentation during noncontingent reinforcement.

The effects of signaling the return of items or attention during treatment with noncontingent reinforcement were examined. First, functional analyses showed that the problem behavior exhibited by 2 teenagers with developmental disabilities was sensitive to social positive reinforcement. Next, delivery of the stimulus that maintained problem behavior on a fixed-time (FT) schedule was compared to a condition in which the removal of the stimulus during the same FT schedule was immediately preceded by a statement indicating that the stimulus would be returned and the initiation of a digital timer.

Complications associated with minimally invasive decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis.

Objective: Surgical strategies for the decompression of lumbar spinal stenosis have evolved to include minimally invasive techniques providing for adequate and safe decompression while reducing perioperative morbidity. Retrospective case series analysis of 220 consecutive patients with lumbar spinal stenosis who underwent microscopic or microendoscopic minimally invasive decompression was performed. The objective was to evaluate the risks associated with performing a minimally invasive decompression for spinal stenosis in a large group of patients.

Time spent with patients and charges to patients for specialty consultations using telemedicine.

The objective of this work was to determine some of the determinants of cost in teleconsultations as compared to face-to-face consultations. Time spent with patients and estimated costs were modeled using time series data from a university Health Science Center located in West Texas. This center provides education, patient care, community service and research to a 109 county area.