Perspectives on Living Situations for Children with Classic Autism

The purpose of this qualitative study was to interview parents of children with severe autism and professionals work in residential settings to understand their perspectives of living situations for children with severe autism. Challenging behaviors occur with more frequency and intensity in children with severe autism. Living situations have been shown to have a negative impact on behaviors and the quality of life of a child with autism, as a typical home setting can be over stimulating and overwhelming to children with autism due to the nature of their diagnosis. (Nasir & Tahir, 2012). Findings from previous research show that children with autism have individualized needs and thrive in settings that are designed to meet the unique needs of autism (Feinberg & Vacca, 2000). This study found that challenging behaviors in autism increase parental stress and that more public awareness is needed. Additionally, ideal living situations and suggestions for social workers who work with families impacted by autism were described

Perspectives on Living Situations for Children with Classic Autism

The purpose of this qualitative study was to interview parents of children with severe autism and professionals work in residential settings to understand their perspectives of living situations for children with severe autism. Challenging behaviors occur with more frequency and intensity in children with severe autism. Living situations have been shown to have a negative impact on behaviors and the quality of life of a child with autism, as a typical home setting can be over stimulating and overwhelming to children with autism due to the nature of their diagnosis. (Nasir & Tahir, 2012). Findings from previous research show that children with autism have individualized needs and thrive in settings that are designed to meet the unique needs of autism (Feinberg & Vacca, 2000). This study found that challenging behaviors in autism increase parental stress and that more public awareness is needed. Additionally, ideal living situations and suggestions for social workers who work with families impacted by autism were described

The Political Communication of Hugo Chávez: The Evolution of Aló Presidente

Aló Presidente was a weekly television programme anchored and produced by Hugo Chávez during his presidency in Venezuela. The show, a version of a phone-in, was broadcast live on national television at 11am on Sundays and lasted on average six hours. It followed the presidential agenda to a new location every week, where Hugo Chávez would inaugurate factories, read Latin American poetry, interview Fidel Castro, and sing llanero songs. This thesis investigates the role that Aló Presidente played in the making of the “Bolivarian Revolution”, Hugo Chávez’s political project. Through a critical reading of the transcripts of the show, it explores the 378 episodes, or 1656 hours, that aired between 1999 and 2012. Aló Presidente was the cornerstone of Chávez’s political communication, replacing press conferences and interviews. Chávez was known for his continuous presence on radio and television and his daily presidential addresses. However, only on the Sunday show could the audience phone the president and share their ideas, emotions and everyday life concerns. This thesis reviews the narratives that underlined the relationship between the audience/electorate and the host/president on Aló Presidente. It is argued that Aló Presidente played a fundamental role in articulating the identity of a public that shared the values and ideas of Chávez’s hegemonic project. Moreover, it is argued that the show Aló Presidente and the ideological process called the “Bolivarian Revolution” can be read as two co-related arms of a same project, and that they informed and defined each other throughout Chávez’s presidency. In this context, this thesis assesses the evolution of the programme in light of the political events taking place in Venezuela during that time. Aló Presidente is thus seen as a repository, or “black box”, of the discourses that articulated the Bolivarian identity and constructed the legitimacy of Hugo Chávez as the leader of a populist movement in Venezuela. Finally, the core of this thesis is that the co-relation between the show and the hegemonic project evolved over time to strengthen the authoritarian tendencies of Hugo Chávez’s regime. Following the activities of Aló Presidente over 13 years, the investigation charts that evolution in three different stages: 1) participation, 2) education, and 3) obedience, arguing that what started as a seemingly participatory space, progressively became a platform that presented Hugo Chávez’s figure as the ideologue of a populist movement, and ultimately secured his position as the indisputable leader and sole authority of Venezuela’s “Bolivarian Revolution”

A dependable anisotropic magnetoresistance sensor system for automotive applications

The increasing usage of electronic systems in automotive applications aims to enhance passenger safety as well as the performance of the cars. In modern vehicles, the mechanical and hydraulic systems traditionally used have been replaced by X-by-wire systems in which the functions are performed by electronic components. However, the components required should be reliable, have a high-performance, low-cost and capable of operating for a long time in a highly dependable manner despite the harsh operating conditions in automotive applications. Dependability represents the reliance that a user justifiably poses on the service offered by a system, being this especially important in safety-critical applications in which a failure can constitute a threat to people or the environment. An Anisotropic Magnetoresistance (AMR) sensor is a type of magnetic sensor often used for angle measurements in cars. This sensor is affected by performance degradation and catastrophic faults that in principle cause the sensor to stop working suddenly. Therefore, the sensor dependability should be improved in order to guarantee that it will satisfy the continuous increasing dependability as well as accuracy requirements demanded by automotive applications. This research proposes an AMR sensor system that includes a fault-tolerant approach to handle catastrophic faults and self-X properties to maintain the performance of the sensor during its lifetime. Additionally, an interface with the IEEE 1687 standard has been considered, so the sensor is able to communicate with other components of the system in which it is integrated

Two photons plus jet al LHC: the NNLO contribution from the gg initiated process

The production of the Standard Model Higgs boson of mass ~ 100-140 GeV at the LHC likely gives clear signals in the $\gamma \gamma$ (1) and in the $\gamma \gamma jet$ (2) channels. The quantitative evaluation of the background to channel (1) is very hard since the next-to-leading order (NLO) and next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections are large. In particular, the contributions of the NNLO QCD subprocess $gg -> \gamma \gamma$ to inclusive $\gamma\gamma$ production is comparable to the contribution of the leading order subprocess $q\bar{q} -> \gamma \gamma$. The quantitative description of the background to channel (1), therefore, requires to calculate all corrections up to the NNNLO level. In this letter we present results on the contribution of the NNLO QCD subprocess $gg -> g \gamma \gamma$ to the production rate of channel (2). We have found that in this case this NNLO contribution is less than 20% of the Born contribution. Since the NNLO contributions will likely be dominated by this subprocess one can argue that in the case of channel (2) - contrary to the case of channel (1)- a quantitative description of the background can be achieved already at next-to-leading order accuracy.Comment: 7 pages, two figures include

Fused or Unfused? The Parable of ERP II

One of the major visions is having one system that covers all business functions and satisfies virtually all the standard processes and routine transactions within organizations. In the last decade, several academics and practitioners have predicted the rise of what is called enterprise resource planning systems II (ERP II). ERP II was sought to be a digital platform that is capable of supporting timely decision-making through covering all business functions’ processes through having preloaded modules that will minimize the need for external systems like separate customer relationship management (CRM), e-business platforms, and supply chain management (SCM) systems, among others. While ERP systems nowadays have matured, and several packages come with CRM modules and other solutions, however separate CRM systems are still widely adopted by organizations. Thus, this study investigates why organizations that currently have ERPs with CRM modules are still investing in separate CRM systems. Our results show that the current ERP systems did not reach the ERP II state as envisioned, as most organizations are inclined to adopt separate CRM systems. Thus, we have presented five main reasons for this inclination, which are: scoping during ERP implementations, costs, features and functionalities, user-friendliness and ease of use, and finally integration with e-business platforms

Fused or Unfused? The Parable of ERP II

One of the major visions is having one system that covers all business functions and satisfies virtually all the standard processes and routine transactions within organizations. In the last decade, several academics and practitioners have predicted the rise of what is called enterprise resource planning systems II (ERP II). ERP II was sought to be a digital platform that is capable of supporting timely decision-making through covering all business functions’ processes through having preloaded modules that will minimize the need for external systems like separate customer relationship management (CRM), e-business platforms, and supply chain management (SCM) systems, among others. While ERP systems nowadays have matured, and several packages come with CRM modules and other solutions, however separate CRM systems are still widely adopted by organizations. Thus, this study investigates why organizations that currently have ERPs with CRM modules are still investing in separate CRM systems. Our results show that the current ERP systems did not reach the ERP II state as envisioned, as most organizations are inclined to adopt separate CRM systems. Thus, we have presented five main reasons for this inclination, which are: scoping during ERP implementations, costs, features and functionalities, user-friendliness and ease of use, and finally integration with e-business platforms

CRM adoption factors in the gaming industry

The aim of this paper is to evaluate critical success factors and investigate the benefits that might be gained by adopting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the gaming industry from the perspective of individuals involved in the process of adopting the CRM. A total number of 109 casinos’ managers from all over the world have been surveyed about the factors’ importance for the CRM adoption. Based on the multiple regression and ANOVA analysis, an estimated function of the influence of the most important umbrella factors – human, project and technological, for the success of CRM project in a company has been formulated. The highest rated elements in successful cases of CRM adoption are almost entirely bound to human factor. CRM systems are estimated to evolve further into a direction of individual customer experience management and become more and more intelligent, integrated and data-driven