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This study compared the effects of a conventional approach and a progressive approach to discrete trial teaching when teaching tact relations to 12 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The conventional approach was informed by best practice guidelines for teaching receptive and expressive language (Green Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 16(2), 72-85, 2001 (See CR12); Grow & Leblanc Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6(1), 56-75, 2013 (See CR14)) and other relevant research (e.g., Graff & Karsten Behavior Analysis in Practice, 5(2), 37-48, 2012 (See CR11); León & Rosales Journal of Behavioral Education, 27(1), 81-100, 2018 (See CR31); Majdalany et al. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(3), 657-662, 2014 (See CR36)). The progressive approach was informed by guidelines outlined by Leaf, Cihon, Leaf, et al. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 9(2), 361-372, (2016a (See CR24)) and Leaf, Leaf, McEachin, et al. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 46(2), 720-731, (2016c (See CR26)). In this study, highly vocal-verbal participants diagnosed with ASD were randomly assigned to the conventional or progressive condition and received 20 sessions of intervention. Following intervention, statistical analysis was used to evaluate and compare the effects of each condition. Although both were effective in teaching the participants tact relations, there was a statistically significant difference in the number of tact relations learned in the progressive condition when compared to the conventional condition., Author(s): Christine M. Milne [sup.1] [sup.2], Justin B. Leaf [sup.1] [sup.2], Mary Jane Weiss [sup.1], Julia L. Ferguson [sup.2], Joseph H. Cihon [sup.1] [sup.2], Matthew S. Lee [sup.2], Ronald Leaf [...]

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of early PSA decline following initiation of second-generation hormone therapy (2nd HT), namely abiraterone acetate or enzalutamide, in patients with taxane-refractory metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and evaluate utility of this metric in informing intensified surveillance/imaging protocols. Methods: We retrospectively identified 75 mCRPC patients treated with 2nd HT following docetaxel failure (defined as PSA rise and radiographic progression). Patients were categorized patients into two cohorts based on the first PSA within 3 months after initiation of therapy: PSA reduction ≥50% (Group A) and PSA reduction <50% (Group B). The primary endpoint was cancer-specific mortality (CSM). The secondary endpoint was radiographic disease progression (rDP) on 2nd HT. In univariate and multivariate analyses, we investigated factors associated with rPD and CSM. Results: We included 75 patients (52 in Group A, 23 in Group B) in the analytic cohort. Baseline clinico-demographic characteristics, including median age, primary Gleason score risk group, median pre-treatment PSA, disease burden, site of metastases, and pre-treatment ECOG score were not statistically different between the two groups. Median follow up time was 30 months and the median time to radiographic disease progression was 28.1 and 12.5 months (p= 0.002) in cohorts A and B, respectively. On univariate and multivariate analyses, both PSA reduction ≥50% and volume of metastatic disease were significantly associated with a decreased risk of radiographic disease progression (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.21–0.80, p= 0.0113) as well as a decreased risk of cancer-specific mortality (HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.09–0.87, p= 0.0325). Conclusion: PSA reduction ≥50% within 3 months of starting 2nd HT was associated with significantly improved radiographic disease progression-free survival and 3-year cancer-specific mortality. This suggests using PSA 50%-decline metric in surveillance patients with on 2nd HT and identifies patients who require further evaluation with imaging.