Special Olympics participation in school age children with mental retardation and its effects on self-esteem

A comprehensive review of the literature and interviews with local experts has found a paucity of research on the self-esteem of school-age children with mental retardation. Long (1995), Zic & Igric (2001) and Siperstein & Leffert (1997) found lower self-esteem in self-report measures completed by mentally retarded children and adults. However, the psychometric properties of selfesteem self-report measures have been questioned repeatedly, finding insufficient reliability and validity when applied to mentally retarded populations (Finlay & Lyons, 2001; Widaman et al., 1992). The purpose of this study is twofold; the first goal is to determine the average self-esteem for mentally retarded children enrolled in BOCES classes, as observed by experienced teachers. The second purpose of this study is to determine the benefits, if any, of Special Olympics participation on the self-esteem of these children

Evolution and Faith: Clarified Terminology and Reasonable Debate

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. In recent years the news media have characterized the theory of evolution as contentious and that science and religion are incompatible. The so-called debate is fomented self-labeled scientist/believers who claim that the theory of evolution is scientifically ambiguous at best, contending that intelligent design is a viable alternative ―scientific‖ theory. What follows below is an attempt to illustrate how the contentiousness of the issue follows from a misuse of language the ignorance of which falsely enables the so-called debate to continue. At issue is the ambiguous meaning of the word ―random‖—specifically, the scientific sense of random mutations that drive evolution versus the popular meaning of random as unplanned. First I start with some background information about biological evolution and the various theological interpretations prevalent in Christian theological understanding of creation

Incarnational Development

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. Aside from the certainty of birth and death, all other qualities of human life are propositional. We were born; we will die … these are the axiomatic statements of human life – i.e., self-evident. We need no proof of their truth, certainly there can be no argument. Anything else we say about human life contains the words “if” and “then” as bridge elements of the inherent uncertainty of life. This “if/then” grammatical structure implies by necessity the influence of external factors that determine and qualify their truth content. If I live until I am 14, then my voice may by then have changed. If I live until I am 24 then I may by then graduate with a BA etc. If/then bridges the numerous possibilities that can happen as contingencies of life

Review of Lyric Opera Production of Show Boat

The premiere effort of the Renée Fleming Initiative brought Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s masterpiece Show Boat to the Lyric Opera stage, demonstrating an annual commitment to producing works of the American musical theatre. As Lyric’s general director Anthony Freud asserted in an open letter to patrons, “great works of musical theatre profit enormously from the resources of a major opera company.” While Francesca Zambello’s lavish production may have affirmed that statement within the context of the opera house, little attention was paid to the elements that make American musical theatre generically different from opera, most notably book scenes with storytelling and narrative expressed through realistic spoken dialogue. Such scenes often require a style of acting that conveys relationship and emotional content through nuance and subtlety, rather than through size and scale. Some elements of Zambello’s production served the scope and scale of the musical very well, while others robbed it of a sense of realism or fluidity. Indeed, the Lyric production conjured ghosts from what one might imagine to be the original Ziegfeld production of 1927, evident in static stage pictures of massive ensembles framed by elaborate scenography. The Lyric production may have revived the work and injected it with fresh color and sound, but it neither reinvented it nor provided any new illumination to the eighty-five-year-old piece. If this is to be an ongoing tradition, the Lyric will need to find a way to adequately address those generic differences between opera and musical theatre, especially if it intends to produce more contemporary works

The Lens of Faith

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. For seven years during the nineties, I taught a course at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto called Christianity and Science. It served as an introduction to the science division of the Christianity and Culture Program. In that context, it illustrated the essential relationship that Christianity has had to the development of the modern disciplines of natural science out of the ancient and Medieval discipline of natural philosophy. It was a full-year course. The first semester introduced to the students a lesson that many did not expect and some were reluctant to accept: that the scientific knowledge which we hold as certain, can only be described as provisional at best. Some were loath to accept this because the lens of culture has focused upon us the opposite image of absolute certainty

Structured decision making in adult protective services

The focus of this research project was to evaluate individual stakeholder perceptions of the implementation of Structured Decision Making (SDM) as a tool in risk assessment of elder abuse/neglect case referrals in Riverside County Adult Protective Services (APS). The researchers interviewed ten social workers from Riverside County APS, from line workers up to Deputy Director. Constructivist theory was used to develop a joint construct which indicated that the primary benefit of SDM was consistency. Consistency resulted in safety and proctection of the client, social worker and the agency

Does a lung cancer screening programme promote smoking cessation?

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Graphene oxide nanoribbons induce autophagic vacuoles in neuroblastoma cell lines

Since graphene nanoparticles are attracting increasing interest in relation to medical applications, it is important to understand their potential effects on humans. In the present study, we prepared graphene oxide (GO) nanoribbons by oxidative unzipping of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and analyzed their toxicity in two human neuroblastoma cell lines. Neuroblastoma is the most common solid neoplasia in children. The hallmark of these tumors is the high number of different clinical variables, ranging from highly metastatic, rapid progression and resistance to therapy to spontaneous regression or change into benign ganglioneuromas. Patients with neuroblastoma are grouped into different risk groups that are characterized by different prognosis and different clinical behavior. Relapse and mortality in high risk patients is very high in spite of new advances in chemotherapy. Cell lines, obtained from neuroblastomas have different genotypic and phenotypic features. The cell lines SK-N-BE(2) and SH-SY5Y have different genetic mutations and tumorigenicity. Cells were exposed to low doses of GO for different times in order to investigate whether GO was a good vehicle for biological molecules delivering individualized therapy. Cytotoxicity in both cell lines was studied by measuring cellular oxidative stress (ROS), mitochondria membrane potential, expression of lysosomial proteins and cell growth. GO uptake and cytoplasmic distribution of particles were studied by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) for up to 72 h. The results show that GO at low concentrations increased ROS production and induced autophagy in both neuroblastoma cell lines within a few hours of exposure, events that, however, are not followed by growth arrest or death. For this reason, we suggest that the GO nanoparticle can be used for therapeutic delivery to the brain tissue with minimal effects on healthy cells