Quality of life for caregivers of a child aged 6-16 years with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and/or an intellectual disability : a comparative study : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Turitea, New Zealand

Quality of life for caregivers of children with autistic spectrum disorder and/or an intellectual disability was compared to quality of life for those caring for a normally developing child. Participants were caregivers of children between 6 - 16 years of age who were divided into two groups: Caregivers of disabled children (Group 1, n = 60) and caregivers of normally developing children (Group 2, n = 13). The research investigated differences of overall quality of life between groups. Within Group One the influence on quality of life for caregivers was investigated in relation to the child's behaviour, level of support the child requires to complete activities of daily living, caregivers marital status, caregivers socio-economic level, and caregivers satisfaction with perceived supports. The Quality of Life Index and the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form were used to determine quality of life and problem behaviours. Results showed a difference in overall quality of life between groups. Child's behaviour was found to have a significant relationship with caregiver‘s quality of life. Satisfaction with perceived supports had a weak relationship to caregiver‘s quality of life. No statistically significant relationship was found between caregiver‘s quality of life and the child's activities of daily living requirements, caregiver‘s marital status or caregiver‘s socio-economic status. Quality of life for caregivers of developmentally disabled children was shown to be lower than the general population. New Zealand is currently in a state of flux in regards to addressing and refining disability support services. Research that further investigates these results may enhance service delivery and result in better outcomes for those supporting children with a disability

Backstage At English\u27s

It has been my good fortune to spend many a performance backstage at English\u27s , as well as to watch many performances from out front

Video information retrieval using objects and ostensive relevance feedback

In this paper, we present a brief overview of current approaches to video information retrieval (IR) and we highlight its limitations and drawbacks in terms of satisfying user needs. We then describe a method of incorporating object-based relevance feedback into video IR which we believe opens up new possibilities for helping users find information in video archives. Following this we describe our own work on shot retrieval from video archives which uses object detection, object-based relevance feedback and a variation of relevance feedback called ostensive RF which is particularly appropriate for this type of retrieval

Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (3/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 3 of

Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (2/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 2 of

Strong Gravitational Lensing with SKA

The advent of new observational facilities in the last two decades has allowed the rapid discovery and high-resolution optical imaging of many strong lens systems from galaxy to cluster scales, as well as their spectroscopic follow-up. Radio telescopes have played the dominant role in the systematic detection of dozens of new arcsec-scale lens systems. For the future, we expect nothing less! The next major ground- and space-based facilities, especially the Square Kilometer Array can discover tens of thousands of new lens systems in large sky surveys. For optical imaging and spectroscopic follow-up a strong synergy with planned optical facilities is needed. Here, we discuss the field where strong gravitational lensing is expected to play the dominant role and where SKA can have a major impact: The study of the internal mass structure and evolution of galaxies and clusters to z~1. In addition, studies of more exotic phenomena are contemplated. For example, milli- and microlensing can provide a way to measure the mass-functions of stars and CDM substructure at cosmological distances. All-sky radio monitoring will also rapidly develop the field of time-domain lensing.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; to appear in "Science with the Square Kilometer Array," eds. C. Carilli and S. Rawlings, New Astronomy Reviews (Elsevier: Amsterdam

Ad Themistium Arabum

published or submitted for publicatio

Aid to Fragile States: Do Donors Help or Hinder?

The record of aid to fragile and poorly-performing states is the real test of aid effectiveness. Rich countries can justify aid to fragile states both through altruism and self-interest. But, with some exceptions, donors have appeared at the wrong times and with the wrong attitudes, even sometimes undermining development progress. State failure has dimensions of both will and capacity. Failure demands constructive engagement by donors, in some cases to save people in weak states from their leaders, and in all cases to save the states from circumstances which they cannot control. This paper examines the aid relationship with respect to three weak countries. Burma presents a case of comprehensive failure of political will and capacity, but isolating the regime, as some donors have chosen to do, will only perpetuate the plight of the population. Rwanda provides an alarming example of donor complicity in state collapse. The country has now rebounded from the terrible genocide of 1994, but some donors still cannot set aside their political and cultural biases. Zambia has lived through many years of bilaterally-assisted economic mismanagement, and also proved to be a ...fragile states, state failure, conflict, development aid, donors, donor coordination, capacity development,

IMPURITY TRAPPING EFFECTS IN THE LOCALIZATION OF MUONS IN SOLIDS

Muon spin rotation ( mu SR) experiments are now regularly used to study solids and solid-state processes. The interpretation of mu SR data is usually based on a 'standard' picture in which the muons localise randomly in the solid, and then diffuse, possibly encountering impurities. There remain some important cases where no satisfactory interpretation results. For some of these anomalous systems the authors propose an alternative picture in which the two different factors are the importance of metastable (free muon) excited states, and the role of impurities in causing localisation. They show this allows a possible explanation of results for Al:Mn and demonstrate that elastic strain fields of defects may be a major factor in influencing localisation. They also propose a new mechanism for delayed self-trapping

Towards performance measurement in reconstructive surgery: a multicentre pilot study of free and pedicled flap procedures.

OBJECTIVES: To pilot the acceptability and feasibility of clinical audit in free and pedicled flap reconstruction. To establish a baseline flap failure rate in participating units, so that a sample size calculation could be performed for future national audit. METHODS: A proforma was piloted over a 3-month period in four participating units, during which time data on 93 reconstructive procedures involving free and pedicled flaps was collected. The patients included those where large transfers of tissue were required such as for coverage of grade IIIb compound tibial fractures and breast reconstruction after mastectomy, and also smaller flap transfers such as after skin cancer excision. RESULTS: The proforma was found to be acceptable to clinicians and the feasibility of the data collection process was established. Overall there was a total flap survival of 89% and secondary operations to the donor or recipient sites were required in 11% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the feasibility of comparative audit for free and pedicled flap procedures using the methods proposed. Based on the incidence of flap failure observed in this pilot study, at least 18 months of prospective data collection on consecutive patients is required to fulfil the statistical requirements of comparative audit. The establishment of a routinely collected minimum dataset is proposed as one means of meeting these requirements