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The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of coaching caregivers to embed both communication and motor outcomes concurrently within daily routines of their infants or toddlers with significant disabilities using Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) strategies. The coaching and embedding practices were part of a multicomponent intervention known as Embedded Practices and Intervention with Caregivers (EPIC). Three children, aged 15 to 23 months with significant disabilities, their caregivers, and an early intervention provider participated in this single case multiple probe design study. Primary dependent variables were caregivers' number of naturalistic teaching strategies used and rates of correctly embedded instruction for each learning target in each routine. Child motor and communication outcomes were also examined. Results provide initial support for the positive effects of the EPIC approach using EMT strategies to embed intervention on two developmental domains concurrently in caregiver's daily routines.

Despite an emphasis in the field on triadic approaches to the delivery of early intervention (EI), remarkably little is known about the shared experiences of caregivers (CGs) and providers during home visits. Within the context of developing, refining, and evaluating the "Embedded Practices and Intervention With Caregivers" (EPIC) approach, two studies were undertaken with 11 EI providers and 19 CGs of infants/toddlers with moderate-severe delays/disabilities to gather their perspectives about and experiences with the EPIC approach. The EPIC intervention has two components: CG coaching and a five-question (5Q) process for supporting embedded practices. Interview, focus group, and rating scale data were collected in both studies and aggregated for reporting purposes in the present article. Findings are described with regard to the coaching and 5Q components and the extent to which participants found the intervention to be feasible, acceptable, and useful. Implications for future research and professional development on coaching and embedded intervention practices are discussed. [For the corresponding Grantee submission, see ED581281.]

Despite an emphasis in the field on triadic approaches to the delivery of early intervention (EI), remarkably little is known about the shared experiences of caregivers (CGs) and providers during home visits. Within the context of developing, refining, and evaluating the "Embedded Practices and Intervention With Caregivers" (EPIC) approach, two studies were undertaken with 11 EI providers and 19 CGs of infants/toddlers with moderate-severe delays/disabilities to gather their perspectives about and experiences with the EPIC approach. The EPIC intervention has two components: CG coaching and a five- question (5Q) process for supporting embedded practices. Interview, focus group, and rating scale data were collected in both studies and aggregated for reporting purposes in the present article. Findings are described with regard to the coaching and 5Q components and the extent to which participants found the intervention to be feasible, acceptable, and useful. Implications for future research and professional development on coaching and embedded intervention practices are discussed. [At the time of submission to ERIC this article was in press with "Topics in Early Childhood Special Education."]

The purpose of this study was to explore the learning strategies used by ethnically diverse learners and to investigate the relationships among the constructs of classroom goal structure, achievement goal orientation, motivation and self-regulated learning in an ethnically diverse population of fourth and fifth grade learners (n = 396). Goal setting, environmental restructuring, and seeking assistance from adults were described most frequently by this sample of African American and Hispanic elementary students. Correlational analyses revealed moderate positive relationships among the constructs of classroom goal structure, achievement goal orientation, motivation, and self-regulated learning. Further analyses by means of structural equation modeling supported a model depicting positive relationships between classroom goal structure and achievement goal orientation, achievement goal orientation and motivation, and achievement goal orientation and self-regulated learning. Finally, Hispanic students reported higher levels of task structure and task orientation, compared to African American students.

Discussion of redesigning the current models of public education focuses on the Schoolyear 2000 Initiative in Florida, which is aimed at large-scale redesign of schooling. Design requirements for the new model are described, the role of technology is discussed, and the use of quality systems and total quality management (TQM) concepts is reviewed. (10 references) (LRW)

Ocean acidification is changing surface water chemistry, but natural variability due to nearshore processes can mask its effects on ecosystem responses. We present an approach of quantitatively resolving net ecosystem metabolism from an array of long‐term time series stations, offering perhaps the longest record of such processes over a reef to date. We used 8 and 6 yr of in situ, high‐quality frequency observations to characterize the changes in dissolved inorganic carbon and oxygen in La Parguera, Puerto Rico and Cheeca Rocks, Florida, respectively. Net respiration and net dissolution are the dominant metabolic processes at both systems, with a narrow window of ~ 4 months under net calcification. The annual mean net ecosystem calcification (NEC) rates for La Parguera (−0.68 ± 0.91 kg CaCO3 m−2 yr−1) and Cheeca Rocks (−0.48 ± 0.89 kg CaCO3 m−2 yr−1) were on the lower end of typical NEC ranges determined for other reef areas using chemistry‐ and census‐based approaches. At Cheeca Rocks, 53% of the variance in NEC can be explained by net ecosystem production (NEP) and 30% by aragonite saturation state (Ωarag). At La Parguera, NEC is primarily driven by changes in NEP. The linear relationship between NEC and NEP showed a significant slope (± standard error) of 1.00 ± 0.005 and 0.88 ± 0.04 for La Parguera and Cheeca Rocks, respectively. These results suggest that NEP appears to play a prominent role on NEC, and Ωarag probably is not the most informative measure to monitor when attempting to resolve the long‐term impacts of ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auditory hallucinations (AH) remain one of the most common and most debilitating symptoms in psychosis. Recent MRI-derived functional and structural measures have begun to elucidate the underlying pathology and pathophysiology related to AH. This session will describe recent advances in understanding the alterations in brain areas and brain dynamics that contribute to AH, including basal blood perfusion measures (Stegmayer), patterns of resting functional connectivity (Shinn), and white matter diffusion measures of abnormal structural connectivity (Kubicki, Salisbury). These data begin to reveal "hubs" and distributed circuits related to AH at the systems-level, and may provide insight into pathophysiology for targeted interventions, including non-invasive brain stimulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Impairments in selective attention and their neurophysiologic concomitants early in the course of psychotic illness remain relatively understudied. Our recent data provided evidence for disruptions in the attention-related electrophysiological responses among individuals following their first psychotic break (FESz). Specifically, FESz exhibited reduced amplitudes of the N2pc component compared to healthy controls (HC) during a target detection task. The present investigation additionally used the magnetoencephalography (MEG) data that had been simultaneously recorded during selective attention task performance to identify disruptions in source-resolved cortical regions underlying the N2pc impairment. Methods MEG and EEG were simultaneously recorded from 22 first-episode schizophrenia spectrum (FESz) and 22 healthy control (HC) individuals during two target detection tasks that required different degrees of top-down attentional control; pop-out and visual search. MEG and EEG sensor locations were coregistered with structural MRI scans for each participant and the boundary element method was used to model the forward solution. The inverse solution for cortical activity contributing to the N2pc signal (275 – 325ms post stimulus) was then derived using the noise covariance matrix calculated from the baseline period of each trial. BA7, BA39, and BA37 were selected a priori as regions of interests (ROIs) based on previous investigations of N2pc sources. Average activity during the N2pc time window was compared between groups using a 2 (task condition) x 2 (group) x 3 (ROI) ANOVA. Results A significant interaction between group and task condition was observed (F1,42=5.3, p=.03). HC exhibited marginally increased activity during pop-out compared to FESz (t42=1.86, p=.07) despite a statistically equivalent level of activity during visual search (t42=-0.86, p=.39). There were no main effects of group (p=.54), task condition (p=.90), or ROI (p=.94). Nor were there interactions between ROI and group (p=.81) or ROI and task (p=.16). Whereas no correlations between ROI activity and N2pc were observed among FESz (p's>.05), larger BA37 during visual search activity was associated with larger N2pc scalp amplitudes in HC (r=-.65, p=.001). Discussion In contrast to the simple group difference in N2pc amplitude recorded from the scalp, examination of the cortical dynamics contributing to this response revealed a differential effect of task condition between groups. FESz exhibited reduced activity relative to HC on target pop-out trials compared to those requiring a top-down, serial search of potential target stimuli. While this finding appears counterintuitive, it may reflect a hyperfocusing of attention on distractor stimuli in our FESz group recently described in a study of individuals with schizophrenia. This mechanism would explain the relative preservation of attention-related cortical activity in FESz during a task with increased distractor interference. The difference between our sensor-level N2pc results based on EEG recordings and our source-level cortical activity derived from simultaneously recorded EEG and MEG speaks to the importance of utilizing complementary imaging modalities to enrich our understanding of processes involved in complex cognitive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Hippocampal volumes are reduced in long-term and early schizophrenia. The hippocampus has an established role in working memory in healthy individuals, and less hippocampal volumes are associated with more severe symptoms in long-term schizophrenia. It remains unclear how hippocampal volumes relate to cognitive deficits, symptom severity, and illness duration early in schizophrenia. Therefore, we investigated relationships between hippocampal gray matter volume, cognitive performance, symptom severity, and duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) in first episode schizophrenia-spectrum individuals (FESz). Methods T1-weighted MRI scans were acquired on 33 first-episode (FESz) and 32 matched healthy control (HC) individuals. Freesurfer was used to segment and estimate gray matter volumes in the left and right hippocampus. For group difference comparisons, volumes were normalized to total intracranial content. Cognitive ability was measured by the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). DUP, measured in days, was calculated by taking the difference between the date of their first psychotic symptom and the date they either started antipsychotic medication or their assessment date. The log was taken of DUP to account for the skew of a few individuals with large DUP. Symptoms were rated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Spearman correlations were used to investigate these relationships. Results There were no differences in hippocampal volumes between healthy controls and FESz. In healthy controls, left hippocampus was significantly correlated with composite MCCB (ρ=0.39, p=0.028), and right hippocampus volume was related to MCCB scores at trend level (ρ=0.32, p=0.079). Similarly, in FESz, both left (ρ=0.38, p=0.037) and right (ρ=0.36, p=0.049) hippocampus volumes correlated with composite MCCB scores. In FESz, both left (ρ=0.47, p=0.015) and right (ρ=.49, p=0.011) hippocampus volumes correlated positively with PANSS Positive scores. In addition, both the left (ρ=0.39, p=0.033) and right (ρ=0.39, p=0.036) hippocampus correlated positively with DUP. Discussion In both HC and FESz, greater hippocampal gray matter volume was associated with better performance on a battery of cognitive tasks. In FESz, greater hippocampal volumes were associated with worse positive symptoms and a longer DUP. As these relationships appear paradoxical, it can be speculated that the individuals with greater hippocampal volumes have greater cognitive ability that potentially contributes to more elaborate and severe positive symptoms and greater resilience before needing first clinical contact. There were no group differences in volumes, but future studies following these individuals longitudinally will examine these relationships and whether hippocampal gray matter volume declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Functional MRI work, particularly of Hoffman and colleagues, identified cortical hubs related to auditory hallucinations (AH) in schizophrenia, including left-hemisphere Broca's and Wernicke's areas and the putamen. In addition, over-activity in auditory cortices may also play a role in AH. How structural pathology in white matter tracts connecting the fMRI hubs related to AH is unknown, as is the presence of white matter pathology in these tracts in early psychosis. Methods We examined white matter connectivity among these hub areas using diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) in 40 first-episode psychosis (FEP) and 32 matched healthy comparison subjects (HC). Our primary measure was generalized fractional anisotropy (gFA), the DSI analogue of FA reported in studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Results Across the auditory transcallosal (ATC) fibers, groups did not differ in gFA. However, AVH+ FEP (n =23) had reduced gFA within the ATC compared to AVH- FEP (n =17, p =.009). For left and for right arcuate fasciculus (AF) fibers, there were no significant group differences in gFA. However, AH+ FEP had reduced gFA within the left hemisphere AF compared to AH- FEP (p =.040). By contrast, AH+ FEP and AH- FEP did not differ in right hemisphere AF gFA (p =.31). For left Broca's to putamen fibers, FEP showed reduced overall gFA (p =.038), but not in the right hemisphere (p =.37). AH+ FEP showed reduced left Broca's to putamen gFA compared to AVH- FEP (p =.046). AH+ and AH- FEP did not differ in right Broca's to putamen gFA. Overall FEP did not show gFA reductions compared to HC in left hemisphere Wernicke's to putamen gFA (p =.62), but AH+ showed reductions relative to AV- (p =.049). Finally, the FEP group overall showed trend-level reductions in gFA between right Wernicke's and putamen (p =.076), with AH+ individuals reduced in relation to AH- individuals (p =.026). Conclusions While the overall FEP group generally did not show white matter structural connectivity abnormalities in the left hemisphere cortical-subcortical language circuit and inter-hemispheric auditory fibers, FEP with AH were reduced, particularly in the left hemisphere. Although the precise microstructural abnormality giving rise to gFA reductions is unknown, it is thought to indicate more "leaky" axons and is likely manifest in slowed conduction times. Thus, at the first psychotic episode, AH is associated with impaired left-language system cortico-cortical, cortico-subcortical, and inter-hemispheric auditory communication, likely reflecting mistiming of information flow between language-related cortical centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abundant and diverse cold-water coral and fish communities can be found in the deep waters of the Florida Straits, which are believed to be living under suboptimal conditions impacted by increasing oceanic CO 2 levels. Yet, little is known regarding the spatial–temporal variability of bottom carbonate chemistry parameters and their dynamic drivers in this area. To address this issue, we present results from numerical simulations of a coupled physical-biogeochemical model for the south Florida shelf and Florida Straits. Our exploratory analysis focuses on two well-known deep-coral habitats: Pourtalès Terrace (200–450 m) and Miami Terrace (270–600 m). Results suggest that bottom waters along the northern/western slope of the Straits are comprised primarily of the North Atlantic Central Water (NWCW) and Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), driven by upwelling associated with the bottom Ekman transport of the Florida Current. Over the Pourtalès Terrace, both the meandering of the Florida Current and mesoscale eddies modulate the upwelling (downwelling) of cold (warm) waters. In contrast, Florida Current makes a sharp turn at the southern end of the Miami Terrace leading to persistent island wakes, frequent occurrences of a transient eddy, and strong upwelling of deep waters toward the platform of the terrace. Passage of the transient eddy often accompanies strong downwelling of warm waters and a return (southward) flow on top of the platform. Overall, bottom water properties including temperature (T), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) show strong variability on weekly to monthly time-scales over entire Pourtalès Terrace and on the platform of Miami Terrac, mostly driven by physics. In deeper areas (>400 m), bottom water properties are fairly stable with both DIC and TA showing narrow ranges. Interestingly, waters over the southeastern portion of the Pourtalès Terrace show consistently warmer temperature, lower DIC, and higher TA than those on top of this terrace. The aragonite saturation state (Ω) ranges 1.2-2 on top of the Pourtalès Terrace and 1.2-1.7 both on top of Miami Terrace and on the upper slope of Pourtalès Terrace. In the deeper slope areas (>400 m), it is nearly constant at 1.2-1.3. This modeling effort suggests that remote forcing and biogeochemical processes along the transport paths, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Straits, are significant but second-order contributors to the variability of bottom carbonate chemistry. The impacts of benthic biogeochemical processes along the transit paths are not resolved. • Strong upwelling driven by the Florida Current meandering, eddies, and island wakes. • Strong temporal variability of bottom water properties over the upper slope. • Aragonite saturation over the deep coral habitats is frequently only marginally >1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]