Theatre review: Red Forest at the Young Vic

An advocate for and student of human rights, Jeremy Greenberg is currently undertaking his Master’s studies at the LSE. His research interests include indigenous rights and climate change, and his dissertation focuses on human rights violations by the extractives industry. When he’s not busy studying or confronting Lord Browne with pointed questions about fracking, he can be found blogging at jeremygreenberg.blogspot.ca. A debt of gratitude is owed to LSE Master’s candidate Nathalie Dijkman, whose research on the BFT, political theatre, and “refugee art” informed this review

Toward a Model of Educational Equality: Establishing Social Validity Measures for Inclusion

Inclusion of students with special education needs (SEN) and especially autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into general education curricula is a challenging practice.  In recent years, the practice of inclusion has been expanding within the international school community.  Outside of the United States, the process of inclusion is developing rapidly due to an ever-increasing demand.  The demand is fueled by families and is compounded by the scarcity of international schools with developed programs and inclusive classrooms.  Applied Behavior Analysis provides evidence-based strategies and tactics that support educators and those responsible for inclusion of students SEN and ASD.  The purpose of the present study was to use behavioral observation techniques to determine socially valid performance criterion for attending behaviors in typically developing primary school students during group instruction and independent desk work.  No direct observation data were found on this subject, to date.  Direct observations occurred in situ using whole interval recording procedures across typical students across primary grades one through eight, inclusive.  Data were collected under two types of conditions, lecture style instruction, and independent desk work for boys and girls across all grades.  The performance criterion could then be used to guide decisions by IEP teams to fade out support of those students with SEN in the general education setting. Results show that typical students attend to the teacher during live lectures an average of 93% of the time using a time sampling data collection technique and 96% during independent desk work. 

Teaching Appropriate Play to Replace Stereotypy Using a Treatment Package with Students Having Autism

Students with special education needs such as autism tend to have difficulty with appropriate play skills and leisure time skills.┬á A lack of play may lead to inappropriate behaviors such as stereotypy or passivity.┬á When students have a limited community of reinforcers it may be difficult for educators to find motivators that can be used to teach language, social, academics, and other skills. The present study tested a treatment package in a small group format on the on task painting behavior and stereotypy of four boys between 5 and 12 years old having autism.┬á Using a delayed multiple baseline across students experimental design, a functional relationship was demonstrated between an observed increase in on task painting behavior and decrease in stereotypy of all four students as a function of their participation.┬á Limitations of the present study were also discussed.┬

Attitudes & Roles Regarding Firearm Access and Suicide Prevention in Vermont Middle & High Schools

Adolescent suicide is a serious public health concern in Vermont, and the presence of firearms in the home is a known risk factor. Suicide attempts with firearms are more likely to be completed than attempts with other means, with an 85% mortality rate of suicide with firearms compared to 5% with other means. This project aimed to assess attitudes, comfort, and perceived roles among school personnel in addressing gun safety and access to firearms with Vermont students and parents.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1298/thumbnail.jp

Caudate Infarcts

Eighteen Patients Had Caudate Nucleus Infarcts (10 Left-Sided; 8 Right-Sided). Infarcts Extended into the Anterior Limb of the Internal Capsule in 9 Patients, and Also the Anterior Putamen in 5 Patients. Thirteen Patients Had Motor Signs, Most Often a Slight Transient Hemiparesis. Dysarthria Was Common (11 Patients). Cognitive and Behavioral Abnormalities Were Frequent, and Included Abulia (10 Patients), Agitation and Hyperactivity (7 Patients), Contralateral Neglect (3 Patients, All Right Caudate), and Language Abnormalities (2 Patients, Both Left Caudate). the Majority of Patients Had Risk Factors for Penetrating Artery Disease. Branch Occlusion of Heubner\u27s Artery, or Perforators from the Proximal Anterior or Middle Cerebral Arteries Were the Posited Mechanism of Infarction. © 1990, American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved

Environmental-economic benefits and trade-offs on sustainably certified coffee farms

Coffee with diverse shade trees is recognized as conserving greater biodiversity than more intensive production methods. Sustainable certification has been proposed as an incentive to conserve shade grown coffee. With 40% of global coffee production certified as sustainable, evidence is needed to demonstrate whether certification supports the environmental benefits of shade coffee. Environmen-tal and economic data were taken from 278 coffee farms in Nicaragua divided between non-certified and five different sustainable certifications. Farms were propensity-score matched by altitude, area of coffee and farmer education to ensure comparability between non-certified and certified farms. Farms under all certifications had better environmental characteristics than non-certified for some indica-tors, but none were better for all indicators. Certified farms generally received better prices than non-certified farms. Farms with different certifications had different investment strategies; C.A.F.E. Prac-tice farms had high investment and high return strategies, while Utz and Organic farms had low in-vestment, low productivity strategies. Tree diversity was inversely related to productivity, price and net revenue in general, but not for certified farms that received higher prices. Certification differenti-ates farms with better environmental characteristics and management, provides some economic bene-fits to most farmers, and may contribute to mitigating environment/economic trade-offs

The evolution of the manosphere across the web

We present a large-scale characterization of the Manosphere, a conglomerate of Web-based misogynist movements focused on “men’s issues,” which has prospered online. Analyzing 28.8M posts from 6 forums and 51 subreddits, we paint a comprehensive picture of its evolution across the Web, showing the links between its different communities over the years. We find that milder and older communities, such as Pick Up Artists and Men’s Rights Activists, are giving way to more extreme ones like Incels and Men Going Their Own Way, with a substantial migration of active users. Moreover, our analysis suggests that these newer communities are more toxic and misogynistic than the older ones.Accepted manuscrip

What does aducanumab treatment of Alzheimer's disease mean for research on vascular cognitive disorders?

Non peer reviewe