Teacher participation in the management of schools

Participation - the idea of having a share in management and in profits - could be considered as the new concept to be applied in the Maltese Economy as far as the 'employed' are concerned, in the 1980s. The principle, when it comes to Education, may be examined in terms of various sectors - students, parents, teachers, private schools, local state schools, national policy and government. It is therefore pertinent to note what has been said so far as regards Teacher Participation. It has been claimed that it "is not incompatible with a sound educational policy". Far back in 1969, CASE (England) declared that teachers should have a right to be involved at all levels of planning and consultation on matters of vital educational concern. For the teacher's role in education is changing: he cannot act in an authoritarian atmosphere. He has to be accepted as the social operator who collects ideas, hypotheses and changes and makes them known to the masses. He is an animator and promoter of ideas, necessities and cultural and social fermentations.peer-reviewe

Additions to, and a review of, the Miocene shark and ray fauna of Malta

Bulk sampling sediments and surface picking have increased the number of fossil sharks and rays from the Miocene of the Maltese Islands by 10 species and confirmed another. These are: Sphyrna arambourgi, Rhizoprionodon taxandriae, Scyliorhinus sp, Chaenogaleus afjinis, Galeorhinus goncalvesi, Triakis angustidens, Squatina sp., Rhynchobatus pristinus, Raja gentili and Gymnura sp. Hexanchus griseus was confirmed. The species "Galeocerdo" aduncus is synonymised with "G" contortus, and referred to the genus Physogaleus. These new records, and a taxonomic revision of the species described previously, increased the Maltese fauna to 24 species, comparable with the Miocene of France and Portugal. This paper is not meant to be an exhaustive review of the fossil selachian and batid fauna of the Maltese Islands but rather for the present we have confined ourselves to revising Menesini (1974).peer-reviewe

Analyzing Postdisaster Surveillance Data: The Effect of the Statistical Method

Data from existing administrative databases and ongoing surveys or surveillance methods may prove indispensable after mass traumas as a way of providing information that may be useful to emergency planners and practitioners. The analytic approach, however, may affect exposure prevalence estimates and measures of association. We compare Bayesian hierarchical modeling methods to standard survey analytic techniques for survey data collected in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Estimates for the prevalence of exposure to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, varied by the method chosen. Bayesian hierarchical modeling returned the lowest estimate for exposure prevalence with a credible interval spanning nearly 3 times the range of the confidence intervals (CIs) associated with both unadjusted and survey procedures. Bayesian hierarchical modeling also returned a smaller point estimate for measures of association, although in this instance the credible interval was tighter than that obtained through survey procedures. Bayesian approaches allow a consideration of preexisting assumptions about survey data, and may offer potential advantages, particularly in the uncertain environment of postterrorism and disaster settings. Additional comparative analyses of existing data are necessary to guide our ability to use these techniques in future incidents

Two cases of aspiration of calcium tablets

Two clinical cases of aspiration are reported in elderly ladies with differing presentations following inhalation of the same brand of calcium tablet. One of the patients distinctly recalled the choking episode, whereas the other failed to do so making the diagnosis of aspiration difficult. One of the aspirated tablets was successfully retrieved during rigid bronchoscopy after the patient reported several months of cough requiring multiple courses of antibiotics. The other aspirated tablet was coughed up by the patient after the successful treatment of a pneumonia complicated by a parapneumonic effusion.peer-reviewe

The Behavioral Consequences of Terrorism: A Meta-analysis

Effective postterrorism public health interventions require the recognition that behavioral consequences are, in fact, the intent of terrorists. The authors searched published and unpublished post-1980 studies that documented population-level behavioral and psychological consequences of terrorist incidents, focusing on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results were tabulated, and random effects models were used to calculate overall effect sizes. The analysis indicates that in the year following terrorist incidents, the prevalence of PTSD in directly affected populations varies between 12% and 16%. The review also shows that this prevalence can be expected to decline 25% over the course of that year. These prevalence estimates mask great variability, depending on who is being studied, who is conducting the study, and where the event occurred. Higher rates of disease are reported for survivors and rescue workers, and higher overall rates are also reported from studies conducted in Western Europe compared with studies conducted in North America. Prior psychiatric diagnoses are strongly associated with subsequent PTSD and may be a useful triage factor, particularly when considered together with factors such as female gender and direct exposure to events as either a survivor or rescuer. The review indicates that these associations are consistent across study types and environments and represent important variables to consider when developing triage, outreach, and treatment programs.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40383/2/DiMaggio_The Behavioral Consequences of Terrorism_2006.pd

The mental health and behavioral consequences of terrorism

The behavioral consequences of terrorist incidents have received considerable recent attention, much of it driven by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings and the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States. In this chapter we will review the available evidence about the mental health and behavioral consequences of terrorism, consider methodological and research issues that challenge the field, and discuss the evidence for specific prevention and treatment efforts aimed at mitigating the mental health and behavioral consequences of terrorism

Analyzing postdisaster surveillance data: The effect of the statistical method

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58712/1/dimaggio_analyzing postdisaster data_2008.pd

Spatial proximity and the risk of psychopathology after a terrorist attack

Previous studies concerned with the relation of proximity to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent psychopathology have produced conflicting results. The goals of this analysis are to assess the appropriateness of using Bayesian hierarchical spatial techniques to answer the question of the role of proximity to a mass trauma as a risk factor for psychopathology. Using a set of individual-level Medicaid data for New York State, and controlling for age, gender, median household income and employment-related exposures, we applied Bayesian hierarchical modeling methods for spatially-aggregated data. We, we found that distance from the World Trade Center site in the post-attack time period was associated with increased risk of anxiety-related diagnoses. In the months following the attack, each two mile increment in distance closer to the World Trade Center site was associated with a seven percent increase in anxiety-related diagnoses in the population. No similar association was found during a similar time period in the year prior to the attacks. We conclude that spatial variables help more fully describe post-terrorism psychiatric risk and may help explain discrepancies in the existing literature about these attacks. These methods hold promise for the characterization of disease risk where spatial patterning of ecologic-level exposures and outcomes merits consideration

How Personality Affects Vulnerability among Israelis and Palestinians Following the 2009 Gaza Conflict

Can the onset of PTSD symptoms and depression be predicted by personality factors and thought control strategies? A logical explanation for the different mental health outcomes of individuals exposed to trauma would seem to be personality factors and thought control strategies. Trauma exposure is necessary but not sufficient for the development of PTSD. To this end, we assess the role of personality traits and coping styles in PTSD vulnerability among Israeli and Palestinian students amid conflict.We also determine whether gender and exposure level to trauma impact the likelihood of the onset of PTSD symptoms. Five questionnaires assess previous trauma, PTSD symptoms, demographics, personality factors and thought control strategies, which are analyzed using path analysis. Findings show that the importance of personality factors and thought control strategies in predicting vulnerability increases in the face of political violence: the higher stress, the more important the roles of personality and thought control strategies. Thought control strategies associated with introverted and less emotionally stable personality-types correlate positively with higher levels of PTSD symptoms and depression, particularly among Palestinians. By extension, because mental health is key to reducing violence in the region, PTSD reduction in conflict zones warrants rethinking