Effects of a parent training using telehealth: Equity and access to early intervention for rural families

Children living in geographically rural areas may have limited access to early, intensive evidence-based interventions suggesting children residing in these areas are less likely to experience positive outcomes than their urban-dwelling peers.  Telehealth offers an option to rural families seeking early intervention by using communication technologies where providers are able to consult and deliver services in real-time over geographical distances. To our knowledge, no other study has examined the implementation of P-ESDM in rural natural environments within the framework of the state’s early intervention program. Using a multiple baseline design across participants, the current study investigated the effects of the parent-Early Start Denver Model implemented within a rural northeastern state’s existing IDEA Part C early intervention program.  Parents demonstrated increased fidelity to intervention strategies and reported satisfaction with the program’s ease of implementation and observed child gains.  Statistically significant pre-to post- change in children’s ASD symptomatology were reported for the domains of communication, social reciprocity and repetitive and restricted behaviors.  Support for parent-mediated interventions, the importance of fidelity of implementation for sustainability of intervention strategies, and the need to explore telehealth as a viable service delivery option to improve developmental trajectories for toddlers with autism are discussed

Bottom sediments of Lake Rotoma

Lake Rotoma is a deep (70-80 m), oligotrophic, warm monomictic lake of volcanic origin with insignificant stream inflow and no clearly defined outflow. For at least 60 years up to 1972 the lake level fluctuated markedly about an overall rising trend of some 6-10 m. Nearshore profiles are related to the prevailing wave climate superimposed upon the overall rising lake level, shelves being wider, less steep, and deeper about the more exposed eastern and southern shorelines. The outer portions of shelves extending well below modern storm wave base into waters as deep as 15-25 m are relict features from lower lake level stands. Sediments fine from sand-gravel mixtures nearshore to silts in basinal areas. Their composition reflects a composite provenance involving the lavas and tephras about the lake, as well as intralake diatom frustules and organic matter. The distribution pattern of surficial bottom sediments is an interplay between grains of both biological and terrigenous origin, supplied presently and in the past by a variety of processes, that have been dispersed either by the modern hydrodynamic regime or by former ones associated with lower lake levels. These interrelationships are structured by erecting 5 process-age sediment classes in the lake, namely neoteric, amphoteric, proteric, palimpsest, and relict sediments, analogous to categories postulated for sediments on oceanic continental shelves. Short-core stratigraphy includes the Kaharoa (A.D. -1020) and Tarawera (A.D. 1886) tephras. The rates of sedimentation of diatomaceous silts in basinal areas have more than doubled since the Tarawera eruption, indicating an overall increase in the fertility level of lake waters associated, perhaps, with recent farm development in the catchment

Supporting the friendships of people with dementia

Using illustrative case examples, in this paper we explore the friendships of people with dementia in the early stages of the condition and the benefits of looking beyond the family as the 'go to' support network that practitioners tend to focus on in their work with people with dementia. The importance of participatory approaches in both research and practice for understanding the friendship experiences of people with dementia is highlighted. The case studies include a personal narrative on friendships from one of the authors, a person living with dementia. This is followed by an account of a peer support group for people with dementia where the interactions in the group are explored alongside consideration of the significance and outcomes of creating such social spaces for people with dementia. We pay particular attention to the emerging phenomenon of 'facilitated friendships' as practitioners work to support collective agency on the part of people with dementia. © The Author(s) 2011

Entrepreneurs’ age, institutions, and social value creation goals: a multi-country study

This study explores the relationship between an entrepreneur's age and his/her social value creation goals. Building on the lifespan developmental psychology literature and institutional theory, we hypothesize a U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurs’ age and their choice to create social value through their ventures, such that younger and older entrepreneurs create more social value with their businesses while middle age entrepreneurs are relatively more economically and less socially oriented with their ventures. We further hypothesize that the quality of a country’s formal institutions in terms of economic, social, and political freedom steepen the U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurs’ age and their choice to pursue social value creation as supportive institutional environments allow entrepreneurs to follow their age-based preferences. We confirm our predictions using multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions on a sample of over 15,000 entrepreneurs (aged between 18 and 64 years) in 45 countries from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data. The findings are robust to several alternative specifications. Based on our findings, we discuss implications for theory and practice, and we propose future research directions

Fit for what?: towards explaining Battlegroup inaction

The thrust of this paper concerns the case of the European Battlegroup (BG) non-deployment in late 2008, when the United Nations requested European military support for the United Nations Organisation Mission peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The argument is built on the fact that when, in official documents, the EU approaches the European security and ESDP/CSDP's military crisis management policy and interventions, it makes strong references to the United Nations and the UN Charter Chapter VII's mandate of restoring international peace and security. Such references make it seem that supporting the UN when it deals with threats and crises is a primary concern of the EU and the member states. These allusions lead to the main contention of this paper, that there is much ambivalence in these indications. The paper develops its argument from one key hypothesis; namely, that the non-deployment of a European BG in the DRC, at the end of 2008, constitutes a useful case study for detecting a number of ambiguities of the EU in respect of its declarations in the official documents establishing the European military crisis management intervention structure

Private Equity Minority Investments in Large Family Firms: What Influences the Attitude of Family Firm Owners?

This paper extends research in the field of private equity investments in family firms. It contributes to the literature by fundamentally analyzing the decision criteria of family firm owners for using minority investments of private equity investors. This type of financing might be of great interest to family firms, as the family firm owner is able to secure majority ownership and control over the family business. Likewise, minority investments might be attractive for private equity investors, as they are mostly not leveraged and therefore independent from capital market turbulences. Using data from 21 case studies, we identify challenges induced by the family or the business that lead to the phenomenon of private equity minority investments in family firms. We find that perceived benefits and drawbacks of private equity investments are influenced by business and family characteristics. Based on pecking-order theory, resource-based view and the strategy paradigm, propositions as well as a conceptual framework are developed