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The arts have long been valued for their aesthetic contributions to education, and studies have been conducted to demonstrate their contribution to academic performance in an attempt to justify their inclusion in the curriculum. Art integration involves learning core content subjects (math, reading, language, science, social studies) through the arts (drama, dance, music, visual arts). The focus of this qualitative pilot study was to examine and describe how the arts are integrated with curriculum concepts to promote cognitive development. The theoretical framework was based on standard theory of intelligence and cognitive development. Curriculum concepts were taught through experiential methods and hands-on projects integrated with state Standard Course of Study. Data collection consisted of field ethnographic description and passive observation to identify behavioral correlates of cognitive and intellectual functioning as well as to capture how state standards are integrated within arts-based instruction. Field notes were analyzed to look for patterns, themes, and defining categories for data analysis. The focus of domain analysis was guided by semantic, means-end relationships related to instruction, learning, and types of processing information, as well as products of that learning. Taxonomic analyses were created of thematic units and how the different arts were used breaking thematic units into arts used, instructional vehicles/ learning activities, and types of cognition being used. A guiding principle was, how does this relate to cognitive/intellectual development? Cognitive correlates were listed as a type of domain yielding examples of different types of cognitive and intellectual processing. Systematic field study was noteworthy for thematic instruction through which curriculum concepts were taught. Thematic-driven and project-based learning often additionally required students to use planning, researching, imagination related to an overall instructional objective. Analysis revealed multi-layered and complex domains within instructional delivery. Context and culture were running themes across observations. Thematic units provided vehicles for cognitive development that promoted vocabulary development, reasoning, comparing/ contrasting, abstraction, integration of concepts, and conceptual development. This information informs instructional delivery and the use of arts-based instruction to promote greater understanding of underlying development of cognitive and intellectual abilities in the classroom.

OBJECTIVE: Often we call the patient's pharmacy to obtain a refill history to assess inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) adherence. The purpose of this project was to determine the accuracy of refill histories for ICS (with or without long-acting beta agonist) listed in Epic's Medication Dispense History. METHODS: We evaluated 61 patients and used data from 38 who met the following criteria: 1) under the care of the UF Pediatric Severe Asthma Clinic; 2) taking the same dose of the same ICS product for 6 months before the patient's last clinic visit; and 3) having data available from the pharmacy where the last ICS prescription was electronically sent. We called the pharmacies to obtain a verbal report of their refill record. Then, we compared the number of refills reported to the number listed in Epic's records using a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test. RESULTS: Of the 293 refill dates listed in Epic, 157 were duplicates, giving a 54% error. After deleting duplicates, the mean (SD) number of refills listed in Epic was 3.6 (2.0) compared with 3.3 (2.0) in pharmacies over a period of 6 months (p < 0.0001). After removing duplicates Epic correctly reported the total number of refills for 30 of the 38 patients (78.9%). Seven of the remaining patients had more refills listed in Epic while 1 patient had more refills dispensed. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that our version of Epic over-reports refills thus limiting assessment of adherence. In contrast, absence of refills in Epic is a clear indication of poor adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes a study that sought to identify music skills and understandings that early childhood and elementary school classroom teachers perceived as useful. Reports that teachers favored those aspects that enabled them to present music as a supplement to other areas of study or as recreational or transitional activities. (SG)

Youth with poorly-controlled asthma are at increased risk for sleep disturbances caused by nocturnal symptoms like coughing. Asthma-related sleep disturbances can have downstream consequences for youth with asthma and their families. This study aims to describe (1) sleep disturbances in adolescents with poorly-controlled asthma and their caregivers and (2) the relationship between sleep and asthma management. Adolescents with poorly-controlled asthma and their caregivers completed the Family Asthma Management System Scale (FAMSS), a semi-structured interview that assesses youth asthma management within the family context. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Two authors coded each transcript for sleep-related data in NVivo using descriptive content analysis. Thirty-three adolescents ages 12–15 years old (M = 13.2, SD = 1.2) with poorly-controlled asthma and their caregivers participated in this study. Four main themes emerged: sleep difficulties, sleep environment, sleep and self-management, and fatigue and self-management. 42% of youth and caregivers reported worse nocturnal asthma symptoms (e.g. coughing) that caused frequent nighttime awakening. Approximately 27% of caregivers expressed distress over their child's nocturnal asthma and described their management strategies (e.g. co-sleeping, nighttime symptom monitoring). Adolescents described sleepiness as a barrier to asthma self-management tasks (e.g. medication adherence, response to exacerbation). Interview responses demonstrated the considerable interrelationship of sleep and asthma management in adolescents with poorly-controlled asthma. Asthma providers should consider discussing sleep difficulties with their adolescent patients and their families. Addressing these difficulties may help adolescents improve their asthma self-management and help caregivers better cope with their child's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional processing in patients with depersonalization disorder (DPD) focusing on recognizing emotional faces and memory of emotional events is analyzed. The results indicate that patients with DPD showed deficits in relation to a fear-including facial expression.

Depersonalisation (DP) and derealisation (DR) are subjective experiences of unreality in, respectively, one's sense of self and the outside world. These experiences occur on a continuum from transient episodes that are frequently reported in healthy individuals to a chronic psychiatric disorder that causes considerable distress (depersonalisation disorder: DPD). Despite the relatively high rates of reporting these symptoms, little research has been conducted into psychological treatments for this disorder. We report on an open study where 21 patients with DPD were treated individually with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The therapy involved helping the patients re-interpret their symptoms in a non-threatening way as well as reducing avoidances, safety behaviours and symptom monitoring. Significant improvements in patient-defined measures of DP/DR severity as well as standardised measures of dissociation, depression, anxiety and general functioning were found at post-treatment and six-months follow-up. Moreover, there were significant reductions in clinician ratings on the Present State Examination (Wing, Cooper & Sartorius, 1974), and 29% of participants no longer met criteria for DPD at the end of therapy. These initial results suggest that a CBT approach to DPD may be effective, but further trials with larger sample sizes and more rigorous research methodology are needed to determine the specificity of this approach. [c] 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords. Depersonalisation disorder; Dissociation: Cognitive-behavioural therapy

Research into the factors that may cause the development of osteoporosis in clinically diagnosed eating-disordered women indicates that low body weight, duration of amenorrhea and the behavioural factors of vomiting and nicotine and alcohol intake are important predictors of high levels of reduced bone mineral density (BMD). A rise in weight may not in itself bring increased BMD. However, this is a safe way to limit further BMD loss.

Research was conducted to examine the high levels of abnormal eating habits and body dissatisfaction among visually impaired women. The influence of visual media in the relationship between eating attitudes and body dissatisfaction was studied in 60 women using questionnaires. Results revealed that congenitally blind women displayed lower levels of dissatisfaction than women who were blinded later in life. Findings also indicate the substantial influence of the visual media in promoting body images of beauty and thinness.