Multi-Informant Predictors of Social Inclusion for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Attending Mainstream School

This study examined differential profiles of behavioural characteristics predictive of successful inclusion in mainstream education for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and comparison students. Multiple regression analyses using behavioural ratings from parents, teachers and peers found some evidence for differential profiles predicting peer acceptance and rejection. High levels of peer-rated shyness significantly predicted social rejection in comparison students only. Parent-rated prosocial behaviour also differentially predicted social acceptance; high-levels of prosocial behaviour predicted acceptance in comparison students, but low-levels were predictive for students with ASD. These findings suggest that schools may seek to augment traditional social skills programmes with awareness raising about ASD among mainstream pupils to utilise peers’ apparent willingness to discount characteristics such as ‘shyness’

THE NAS PARALLEL BENCHMARKS

The Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) Program, which is based at NASA Ames Research Center, is a large-scale effort to advance the state of computational aerodynamics. Specifically, the NAS organization aims &dquo;to provide the Nation’s aerospace research and development community by the year 2000 a highperformance, operational computing system capable of simulating an entire aerospace vehicle system within a computing time of one to several hours&dquo; (NAS Systems Division, 1988, p. 3). The successful solution of this &dquo;grand challenge&dquo; problem will require the development of computer systems that can perform the required complex scientific computations at a sustained rate nearly 1,000 times greater than current generation supercomputers can achieve. The architecture of computer systems able to achieve this level of performance will likely be dissimilar to the shared memory multiprocessing supercomputers of today. While no consensus yet exists on what the design will be, it is likely that the system will consist of at least 1,000 processors computing in parallel. Highly parallel systems with computing power roughly equivalent to that of traditional shared memory multiprocessors exist today. Unfortunately, for various reasons, the performance evaluation of these systems on comparable types of scientific computations is very difficult. Relevant data for the performance of algorithms of interest to the computational aerophysics community on many currently available parallel systems are limited. Benchmarking and performance evaluation of such systems have not kept pace with advances in hardware, software, and algorithms. In particular, there is as yet no generally accepted benchmark program or even a benchmark strategy for these systems

Spatial Dynamics Of Vertical And Horizontal Intergovernmental Collaboration

Although researchers have made progress in understanding motivations behind local government collaboration, there is little research that explores the spatial dynamics of such interactions. Does the idea of collaboration travel horizontally, passed from neighbor to neighbor, or is vertical leadership from state, county, or regional actors more important in influencing local governments’ decisions to share resources and functions? What factors influence local governments’ choices to collaborate with their neighbors versus a regional entity, county, or state government? In this article, we investigate the importance of vertical and horizontal influences when local governments decide to collaborate around land use planning. Using data from a survey of Michigan local government officials, we take a spatial statistical approach to answering this question. We find widespread evidence of collaboration at multiple scales, and observe patterns of both horizontal and vertical influence. We also find that contextual factors help to explain these patterns of collaboration.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112248/1/juaf12139.pd

The serum zinc concentration as a potential biological marker in patients with major depressive disorder

Despite many clinical trials assessing the role of zinc in major depressive disorder (MDD), the conclusions still remain ambiguous. The aim of the present clinical study was to determine and comparison the zinc concentration in the blood of MDD patients (active stage or remission) and healthy volunteers (controls), as well as to discuss its potential clinical usefulness as a biomarker of the disease. In this study 69 patients with current depressive episode, 45 patients in remission and 50 controls were enrolled. The zinc concentration was measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET AAS). The obtained results revealed, that the zinc concentration in depressed phase were statistically lower than in the healthy volunteers [0.89 vs. 1.06 mg/L, respectively], while the zinc level in patients achieve remission was not significantly different from the controls [1.07 vs. 1.06 mg/L, respectively]. Additionally, among the patients achieve remission a significant differences in zinc concentration between group with and without presence of drug-resistance in the previous episode of depression were observed. Also, patients in remission demonstrated correlation between zinc level and the average number of depressive episodes in the last year. Serum zinc concentration was not dependent on atypical features of depression, presence of psychotic symptoms or melancholic syndrome, age, age of onset or duration of disease, number of episodes in the life time, duration of the episode/remission and severity of depression measured by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS), and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Concluding, our findings confirm the correlation between zinc deficit present in the depressive episode, and are consistent with the majority of previous studies. These results may also indicate that serum zinc concentration might be considered as a potential biological marker of MDD

Trust in governance networks: Its impacts on outcomes

__Abstract__ Governance networks are characterized by complex interaction and decision making, and much uncertainty. Surprisingly, there is very little research on the impact of trust in achieving results in governance networks. This article asks two questions: (a) Does trust influence the outcomes of environmental projects? and (b) Does active network management improve the level of trust in networks? The study is based on a Web-based survey of respondents involved in environmental projects. The results indicate that trust does matter for perceived outcomes and that network management strategies enhance the level of trust

Pyogenic spondylitis

Pyogenic spondylitis is a neurological and life threatening condition. It encompasses a broad range of clinical entities, including pyogenic spondylodiscitis, septic discitis, vertebral osteomyelitis, and epidural abscess. The incidence though low appears to be on the rise. The diagnosis is based on clinical, radiological, blood and tissue cultures and histopathological findings. Most of the cases can be treated non-operatively. Surgical treatment is required in 10–20% of patients. Anterior decompression, debridement and fusion are generally recommended and instrumentation is acceptable after good surgical debridement with postoperative antibiotic cover

Renegotiation and Relative Performance Evaluation: Why an Informative Signal may be Useless

Although Holmström's informativeness criterion provides a theoretical foundation for the controllability principle and inter firm relative performance evaluation, empirical and field studies provide only weak evidence on such practices. This paper refines the traditional informativeness criterion by abandoning the conventional full-commitment assumption. With the possibility of renegotiation, a signal's usefulness in incentive contracting depends on its information quality, not simply on whether the signal is informative. This paper derives conditions for determining when a signal is useless and when it is useful. In particular, these conditions will be met when the signal's information quality is either sufficiently poor or sufficiently rich

Predation success by a plant-ant indirectly favours the growth and fitness of its host myrmecophyte

Mutualisms, or interactions between species that lead to net fitness benefits for each species involved, are stable and ubiquitous in nature mostly due to "byproduct benefits" stemming from the intrinsic traits of one partner that generate an indirect and positive outcome for the other. Here we verify if myrmecotrophy (where plants obtain nutrients from the refuse of their associated ants) can explain the stability of the tripartite association between the myrmecophyte Hirtella physophora, the ant Allomerus decemarticulatus and an Ascomycota fungus. The plant shelters and provides the ants with extrafloral nectar. The ants protect the plant from herbivores and integrate the fungus into the construction of a trap that they use to capture prey; they also provide the fungus and their host plant with nutrients. During a 9-month field study, we over-provisioned experimental ant colonies with insects, enhancing colony fitness (i.e., more winged females were produced). The rate of partial castration of the host plant, previously demonstrated, was not influenced by the experiment. Experimental plants showed higher δ¹⁵N values (confirming myrmecotrophy), plus enhanced vegetative growth (e.g., more leaves produced increased the possibility of lodging ants in leaf pouches) and fitness (i.e., more fruits produced and more flowers that matured into fruit). This study highlights the importance of myrmecotrophy on host plant fitness and the stability of ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms

Productive resistance within the public sector: exploring organisational culture

The article examines how South Korean civil servants responded to the introduction of pay for performance. Drawing upon 31 in-depth interviews with career civil servants, it identifies what became known as 1/n, a form of ‘discreet resistance’ that emerged and evolved. The analytical framework allows productive resistance to be seen as ebbing and flowing during organisational change that sees institutionalisation, deinstitutionalisation and re-institutionalisation. In understanding the cultural context of organisational resistance the contribution is three-fold. First, a nuanced definition and understanding of productive resistance. Second, it argues that productive resistance must be seen as part of a process that does not simply reflect ‘offer and counter-offer’ within the change management process. Thirdly, it identifies differences within groups and sub-cultures concerning commitment towards resistance and how these fissures contribute towards change as new interpretive schemes and justifications are presented in light of policy reformulations