An investigation into the use of interaction strategies for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties

This study examined the premise that intensive social interaction facilitates a greater quality of responsiveness and the learning of social routines in children with profound and multiple learning difficulties (pmld). The significant behaviours that adults and normally developing infants use during social interaction and the suitability of their application to children with pmld was examined. Four children with chronological ages of five years, six years, eight years and nine years and designated as having pmld, were videotaped in a classroom setting, in a series of interaction sequences with a teacher. The manifestation of the features of attentiveness, imitation, vocalisation, posture changes, eye contact and facial expressions in children with pmld were considered in relation to adult interactive behaviours of touch, facial movements, vocalisations using infant register, play movements, en face positions with the child and imitation of child behaviours. Analysis of the videotaped data took the form of observation of five second sequences of interaction scored on a schedule indicating the adult and child interactive behaviours. A second observer viewed a number of Interactions in the videotaped data to confirm reliability. The indications were that children with pmld show a quality of responsiveness that has implications for the learning of social routines

Criminal Procedures in the Inquiry and Preliminary Investigation Stages in the Saudi and French Systems: A Comparative Study

Given that the newly established Saudi criminal procedural system was influenced by the French criminal procedural system, one of the most advanced and experienced systems in the world, this paper has sought to identify the similarities and differences between the two systems within the context of the inquiry and preliminary investigation stages. Particularly, the study focused on the criminal procedures, the competent authority responsible for exercising them and the rights of the accused. The aim of this paper is to assess the ability of the two systems to achieve the twin goals of the criminal procedural system of protecting the public interest, which requires providing the competent authorities with the powers that enable them to discover and investigate crimes effectively, and to protect the rights of individuals, which requires providing the accused with sufficient safeguards to protect them from being wrongfully convicted or ill-treated, and to make proposals that could be adopted by the Saudi criminal procedural system to enhance its ability to achieve its objectives. Although this study has found that the two systems under comparison can be classified as adopting (or at least influenced by) the inquisitorial system, there are substantial differences between them; especially with regard to the importance of the inquiry stage, the nature of the competent authority to investigate and prosecute criminal offences, and the rights of the accused in the inquiry and preliminary investigation stages. For the French system it is important that the authorities that exercise the inquiry procedures are judicial or under judicial supervision, and relies heavily on the inquiry stage as 96% of the cases referred to the courts are not investigated, which made the French legislature consider seriously the abolition of the investigating judge\u27s position, which lost a large part of its importance, and is based on the idea of the separation between the investigation and prosecution functions, and provides the accused with extensive rights in the face of the authorities responsible for the inquiry and preliminary investigation. On the other hand, all the authorities responsible for the inquiry and preliminary investigation in Saudi Arabia are neither judicial nor subject to judicial supervision, and the investigation authority investigates practically most crimes, regardless of their seriousness or importance, and the system is based on the idea of combining the investigation and prosecution functions, and the accused has limited rights in the inquiry and preliminary investigation stages, especially in comparison with the French system. Thus, the study concluded that the Saudi criminal procedural system does not strike in its current form a proper balance between the public interest in the detection and investigation of crimes, and the interest of the accused in the protection of his rights, as well as it cannot be described in its present form as effective in achieving its objectives in detecting and investigating offences, and proposed a set of recommendations that could be adopted by the Saudi criminal procedural system to enhance its ability to achieve its objectives

Mental ill health in nursing and midwifery education. A critical discourse analysis

Students diagnosed with long-term mental health conditions have been the focus of policy development for over a decade. Student mental health is on the increase and universities are legally obliged to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students. Therefore it is crucial that nursing and midwifery education provides an inclusive learning environment, while maintaining fitness to practice standards. The focus of this study was to explore how discourses of mental health, reasonable adjustments and fitness standards influence nursing and midwifery education for students with a mental health condition. Principles of Wodak’s (2001) critical discourse analysis approach, which gives prominence to dominant discourses, their justifications and persuasive nature was utilised. Ten key written texts and 23 semi-structured interviews with students, lecturers and clinical mentors were conducted to acquire the constructions of mental health, reasonable adjustments and fitness requirements. The findings show that the dominant discourses attributed to students experiencing mental ill health were around medicine, difference and blame, all of which reinforced mental health stigma. In addition, mental health discourses within both verbal and written texts were not underpinned by disability discourses, allowing the exclusion of students who disclose mental ill health from accessing reasonable adjustments. In conclusion, students considered to have a mental health label faced discriminatory barriers and legislative and regulatory requirements of equality were not implemented

Efficacy of a culture-specific dancing programme to meet current physical activity recommendations in postmenopausal women

This study investigated the efficacy of participation in culture-specific dancing to meet current physical activity recommendations and increase cardio-respiratory fitness in postmenopausal women. Sedentary postmenopausal women (n = 24), aged 63 ± 8 years and with BMI of 28 ± 3 kg/m2 completed a 4-week Scottish dancing study. The dancing sessions of approximately 75 min were performed twice a week and each session was based on five Scottish dances performed in 3 sets. Heart rate (HR) measurements were obtained during all dances to evaluate whether the intervention achieves the criteria of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise intensity. Body composition, waist circumference, and HR during Chester Step test were measured before and after dancing intervention. HR achieved during individual dances ranged from 64 ± 5% to 80 ± 5% of HRmax and the mean HR of the five dances corresponded to 72 ± 7% of HRmax. Post-intervention mean HR was lower throughout Level 2 (Pre, 112 ± 13 bpm; Post, 106 ± 13 bpm; p = 0.005) and Level 3 (Pre, 122 ± 14 bpm; Post, 115 ± 14 bpm; p = 0.006) of the Chester test compared with baseline values. The intervention had no impact on body weight or body fat but reduced waist circumference (Pre, 94 ± 8 cm; Post, 91 ± 9 cm; p = 0.006). Thus, traditional Scottish dancing should be advocated to sedentary postmenopausal women, emphasising its potential in meeting current physical activity recommendations in relation of weekly duration and exercise intensity and improving cardiorespiratory fitness

Developmental functions of the dynamic DNA methylome and hydroxymethylome in the mouse and zebrafish: similarities and differences

5-methylcytosine (5mC) is the best understood DNA modification and is generally believed to be associated with repression of gene expression. Over the last decade, sequentially oxidized forms of 5mC (oxi-mCs) have been discovered within the genomes of vertebrates. Their discovery was accompanied by that of the ten-eleven translocation (TET) methylcytosine dioxygenases, the enzymes that catalyse the formation of the oxi-mCs. Although a number of studies performed on different vertebrate models and embryonic stem cells demonstrated that both TET enzymes and oxi-mCs are likely to be important for several developmental processes it is currently unclear whether their developmental roles are conserved among vertebrates. Here, we summarise recent developments in this field suggesting that biological roles of TETs/oxi-mCs may significantly differ between mice and zebrafish. Thus, although the role of TET proteins in late organogenesis has been documented for both these systems; unlike in mice the enzymatic oxidation of 5mC does not seem to be involved in zygotic reprogramming or gastrulation in zebrafish. Our analysis may provide an insight into the general principles of epigenetic regulation of animal development and cellular differentiation

A lexicon of DNA modifications: their roles in embryo development and the germline

5-methylcytosine (5mC) on CpG dinucleotides has been viewed as the major epigenetic modification in eukaryotes for a long time. Apart from 5mC, additional DNA modifications have been discovered in eukaryotic genomes. Many of these modifications are thought to be solely associated with DNA damage. However, growing evidence indicates that some base modifications, namely 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC), 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC), and N6-methadenine (6mA), may be of biological relevance, particularly during early stages of embryo development. Although abundance of these DNA modifications in eukaryotic genomes can be low, there are suggestions that they cooperate with other epigenetic markers to affect DNA-protein interactions, gene expression, defense of genome stability and epigenetic inheritance. Little is still known about their distribution in different tissues and their functions during key stages of the animal lifecycle. This review discusses current knowledge and future perspectives of these novel DNA modifications in the mammalian genome with a focus on their dynamic distribution during early embryonic development and their potential function in epigenetic inheritance through the germ line

Regional gravity data analysis of the Papago Indian Reservation, Pima County, Arizona

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