“Camouflaging” by adolescent autistic girls who attend both mainstream and specialist resource classes: Perspectives of girls, their mothers and their educators

Autistic girls’ heightened social motivation and associated social coping strategies, such as camouflaging, mean they may be less likely to receive appropriate support in mainstream schools. In this research, a multi-informant approach was used to examine the camouflaging strategies used by autistic girls within specialist resource classes attached to mainstream schools (whereby girls transition between resource classes and mainstream classes). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight adolescent girls, their parents (eight mothers) and their educators (six teaching assistants/aides and one senior staff member) about the girls’ camouflaging experiences. Using reflexive thematic analysis, four themes were identified: (1) inconsistencies and contradictions in camouflaging, (2) challenges of relationships and ‘finding a tribe’, (3) learning, inclusion and awareness and (4) consequences of camouflaging. These results highlight the challenges that the girls experienced when attempting to hide their autism and fit within both mainstream classes and specialist resource classes. These challenges had significant impacts on the girls’ relationships and learning, as well as consequences for their mental health. The findings highlight the need for increased awareness of how camouflaging presents across the autism spectrum and suggests that individualised, evidence-based support will be essential for enabling autistic girls to flourish in school

Raman excitation spectroscopy of carbon nanotubes: effects of pressure medium and pressure

Raman excitation and emission spectra for the radial breathing mode (RBM) are reported, together with a preliminary analysis. From the position of the peaks on the two-dimensional plot of excitation resonance energy against Raman shift, the chiral indices (m, n) for each peak are identified. Peaks shift from their positions in air when different pressure media are added - water, hexane, sulphuric acid - and when the nanotubes are unbundled in water with surfactant and sonication. The shift is about 2 - 3 cm-1 in RBM frequency, but unexpectedly large in resonance energy, being spread over up to 100meV for a given peak. This contrasts with the effect of pressure. The shift of the peaks of semiconducting nanotubes in water under pressure is orthogonal to the shift from air to water. This permits the separation of the effects of the pressure medium and the pressure, and will enable the true pressure coefficients of the RBM and the other Raman peaks for each (m, n) to be established unambiguously.Comment: 6 pages, 3 Figures, Proceedings of EHPRG 2011 (Paris

Pressure coefficients of Raman modes of carbon nanotubes resolved by chirality: Environmental effect on graphene sheet

Studies of the mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes are hindered by the availability only of ensembles of tubes with a range of diameters. Tunable Raman excitation spectroscopy picks out identifiable tubes. Under high pressure, the radial breathing mode shows a strong environmental effect shown here to be largely independent of the nature of the environment . For the G-mode, the pressure coefficient varies with diameter consistent with the thick-wall tube model. However, results show an unexpectedly strong environmental effect on the pressure coefficients. Reappraisal of data for graphene and graphite gives the G-mode Grueuneisen parameter gamma = 1.34 and the shear deformation parameter beta = 1.34.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

The CMS Tracker Readout Front End Driver

The Front End Driver, FED, is a 9U 400mm VME64x card designed for reading out the Compact Muon Solenoid, CMS, silicon tracker signals transmitted by the APV25 analogue pipeline Application Specific Integrated Circuits. The FED receives the signals via 96 optical fibers at a total input rate of 3.4 GB/sec. The signals are digitized and processed by applying algorithms for pedestal and common mode noise subtraction. Algorithms that search for clusters of hits are used to further reduce the input rate. Only the cluster data along with trigger information of the event are transmitted to the CMS data acquisition system using the S-LINK64 protocol at a maximum rate of 400 MB/sec. All data processing algorithms on the FED are executed in large on-board Field Programmable Gate Arrays. Results on the design, performance, testing and quality control of the FED are presented and discussed

Recognizing and managing a malignant hyperthermia crisis: guidelines from the European Malignant Hyperthermia Group

Survival from a malignant hyperthermia (MH) crisis is highly dependent on early recognition and prompt action. MH crises are very rare and an increasing use of total i.v. anaesthesia is likely to make it even rarer, leading to the potential risk of reduced awareness of MH. In addition, dantrolene, the cornerstone of successful MH treatment, is unavailable in large areas around the world thereby increasing the risk of MH fatalities in these areas. The European Malignant Hyperthermia Group collected and reviewed all guidelines available from the various MH centres in order to provide a consensus document. The guidelines consist of two textboxes: Box 1 on recognizing MH and Box 2 on the treatment of an MH crisi

Energy levels in polarization superlattices: a comparison of continuum strain models

A theoretical model for the energy levels in polarization superlattices is presented. The model includes the effect of strain on the local polarization-induced electric fields and the subsequent effect on the energy levels. Two continuum strain models are contrasted. One is the standard strain model derived from Hooke's law that is typically used to calculate energy levels in polarization superlattices and quantum wells. The other is a fully-coupled strain model derived from the thermodynamic equation of state for piezoelectric materials. The latter is more complete and applicable to strongly piezoelectric materials where corrections to the standard model are significant. The underlying theory has been applied to AlGaN/GaN superlattices and quantum wells. It is found that the fully-coupled strain model yields very different electric fields from the standard model. The calculated intersubband transition energies are shifted by approximately 5 -- 19 meV, depending on the structure. Thus from a device standpoint, the effect of applying the fully-coupled model produces a very measurable shift in the peak wavelength. This result has implications for the design of AlGaN/GaN optical switches.Comment: Revtex

The role of the global cryosphere in the fate of organic contaminants

The cryosphere is an important component of global organic contaminant cycles. Snow is an efficient scavenger of atmospheric organic pollutants while a seasonal snowpack, sea ice, glaciers and ice caps are contaminant reservoirs on time scales ranging from days to millennia. Important physical and chemical processes occurring in the various cryospheric compartments impact contaminant cycling and fate. A variety of interactions and feedbacks also occur within the cryospheric system, most of which are susceptible to perturbations due to climate change. In this article, we review the current state of knowledge regarding the transport and processing of organic contaminants in the global cryosphere with an emphasis on the role of a changing climate. Given the complexity of contaminant interactions with the cryosphere and limitations on resources and research capacity, interdisciplinary research and extended collaborations are essential to close identified knowledge gaps and to improve our understanding of contaminant fate under a changing climate

Protein fiber linear dichroism for structure determination and kinetics in a low-volume, low-wavelength couette flow cell

High-resolution structure determination of soluble globular proteins relies heavily on x-ray crystallography techniques. Such an approach is often ineffective for investigations into the structure of fibrous proteins as these proteins generally do not crystallize. Thus investigations into fibrous protein structure have relied on less direct methods such as x-ray fiber diffraction and circular dichroism. Ultraviolet linear dichroism has the potential to provide additional information on the structure of such biomolecular systems. However, existing systems are not optimized for the requirements of fibrous proteins. We have designed and built a low-volume (200 μL), low-wavelength (down to 180 nm), low-pathlength (100 μm), high-alignment flow-alignment system (couette) to perform ultraviolet linear dichroism studies on the fibers formed by a range of biomolecules. The apparatus has been tested using a number of proteins for which longer wavelength linear dichroism spectra had already been measured. The new couette cell has also been used to obtain data on two medically important protein fibers, the all-β-sheet amyloid fibers of the Alzheimer's derived protein Aβ and the long-chain assemblies of α1-antitrypsin polymers

Determined learning approach: Implications of heutagogy society based learning

Recently, within the higher education system in the United Kingdom, there has been close examination of the way institutions teach and assess students. This scrutiny has been intensified by central government with the proposed introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The anticipated TEF demands that higher education institutions evaluate their teaching and learning practices and think of new ways to develop excellent student experience. Self-determined learning has resurfaced as a popular approach in the higher education sector. At the centre of self-determined learning is the concept of heutagogy. This approach enables the student to apply what they have learned in an education setting and relate it to the workplace. The aim of this paper is to critically explore the theoretical framework behind the self-determined learning approach. The authors of this paper argue that, from a social science perspective, a determined learning approach is in the best place to provide a contemporary, exciting teaching and learning experience in a competitive higher education market

Pesticides contaminated dust exposure, risk diagnosis and exposure markers in occupational and residential settings of Lahore, Pakistan

There are few studies documenting the dust loaded with pesticides as a potential non-dietary exposure source for occupational worker and populations living near agricultural farms and pesticides formulation plants. In present study we have evaluated the pesticide concentration in dust from potential sites and relevant health risk from dust ingestion. Furthermore, the effect of currently used pesticides was investigated on blood and urine parameters of subjects: farmer, factory worker, urban resident and rural resident and controlled subjects with presumably different levels of exposure. The urinary metabolites (TCPY and IMPY) were quantified as biomarkers of exposure to chlorpyrifos and diazinon in relation with biomarkers of effect including BuChE, LH, FSH, testosterone and oxidative stress. Results showed that chlorpyrifos and diazinon were present in higher concentration in dust and posed a high health risk to exposed subjects. The mean SOD value was high among the farmer (3048 U/g Hb) followed by factory worker (1677.6U/g Hb). The urinary biomarkers – TCPY and IMPY- were found higher in exposed subjects as compared to control. Furthermore, testosterone was found in higher concentration in factory worker than control (12.63 ng/ml vs 4.61 ng/ml respectively). A decreased BuChE activity was noticed in occupational group and significant differences were observed in control verses exposed subjects. The PCA analysis evidenced the impact of pesticides on exposure biomarkers and male reproductive hormones. The study suggests that dust contaminated with pesticides engenders significant health risk particularly related to the nervous and endocrine system, not only for occupational workers exposed to direct ingestion but also for nearby residential community. Succinctly putting: Pesticides loaded dust in the city of Lahore, being a high priority concern for the government of Pakistan, demands to be addressed