Self-esteem in learning disabled children : the role of social competence

This study compared the self-esteem of a group of twenty-one socially and behaviourally competent learning disabled (LD) children, aged 8-12, with that of a group of fifteen socially and behaviourally competent normally achieving (NA) children. Measures used were the Self-Perception Profile for Learning Disabled Students (SPPLDS) and the Social Support Scale for Children (SSSC). The hypotheses that the two groups would not differ in the SPPLDS domains of Social Acceptance and Global Self-Esteem were supported. The hypothesis that the LD children would rate themselves lower in the academic domains was partially supported, as the LD students gave themselves lower scores than did the NA group in Reading and Spelling, but not in Math. The SPPLDS domain of Physical Appearance correlated strongly with self-esteem for both groups, as did the SSSC domain of Classmate Support. Overall, these socially competent LD children were remarkably similar to their NA counterparts in self-esteem, selfperceived competencies, and sources of social support, differing mainly in academic self-concept and abilities

I-Ex: Extreme Expedition Support

The University of Edinburgh and research sponsors are authorised to reproduce and distribute reprints and on-line copies for their purposes notwithstanding any copyright annotation hereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are the author’s and shouldn’t be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of other parties.The aim of the I-X research programme is to provide a general framework for performing mixed-initiative synthesis tasks, along with a set of tools that supports its use. This framework arises from and builds upon seminal work at the University of Edinburgh in the field of Artificial Intelligence planning. In this paper we describe the framework and tools, before describing the application of I-X to the task of planning and coordinating expeditions to remote locations – such as an attempt on Everest. We call this application I-Ex

Changes in wave climate over the northwest European shelf seas during the last 12,000 years

Because of the depth attenuation of wave orbital velocity, wave-induced bed shear stress is much more sensitive to changes in total water depth than tidal-induced bed shear stress. The ratio between wave- and tidal-induced bed shear stress in many shelf sea regions has varied considerably over the recent geological past because of combined eustatic changes in sea level and isostatic adjustment. In order to capture the high-frequency nature of wind events, a two-dimensional spectral wave model is here applied at high temporal resolution to time slices from 12 ka BP to present using paleobathymetries of the NW European shelf seas. By contrasting paleowave climates and bed shear stress distributions with present-day conditions, the model results demonstrate that, in regions of the shelf seas that remained wet continuously over the last 12,000 years, annual root-mean-square (rms) and peak wave heights increased from 12 ka BP to present. This increase in wave height was accompanied by a large reduction in the annual rms wave- induced bed shear stress, primarily caused by a reduction in the magnitude of wave orbital velocity penetrating to the bed for increasing relative sea level. In regions of the shelf seas which remained wet over the last 12,000 years, the annual mean ratio of wave- to (M-2) tidal-induced bed shear stress decreased from 1 (at 12 ka BP) to its present-day value of 0.5. Therefore compared to present- day conditions, waves had a more important contribution to large-scale sediment transport processes in the Celtic Sea and the northwestern North Sea at 12 ka BP

Coney: Better Than Life

We are in a period of significant change. The interconnectivity that the web offers and the quick rise of pervasive media has changed how we communicate with each other, how we access information, how we experience news, stories and the world. These changes have had a deep impact on storytellers of all kinds. The tools we use to tell tales are evolving, becoming more modular and tailored, more participatory and more engaging than just the printed word or the moving image. These new forms of digitally-enabled storytelling move beyond reinterpreting a text for radio or screen. We need to find new structures, and new relationships with audiences. Better Than Life, led by Coney, an immersive theatre company that specialises in creating new forms of responsive playing theatre, brought together an extraordinary multidisciplinary team involving award-winning interactive theatre makers, digital broadcasters, developers, multi-platform creatives, academics, VR experts, a magician and many more. We wanted to create a project that focused, in particular, on how live performance fits into the landscape of this terra nova. The aim was to see how to create an event for a large online audience that combined digital connectivity and interactivity with the liveness and shared experience of theatre. In particular, we wished to understand what kinds of agency and control audiences might want and enjoy when engaging with this new form of live performance, and we set up a system that allowed both audiences - in the live space and online - to participate in and comment upon the show in several new ways. A total of eight public rehearsals and performances took places in June 2014, with over 300 people taking part either in the live space or online. At the end of the R&D process there emerged a narrative of a new medium. The material in the R&D wasn’t normal theatre and it wasn’t quite broadcast and it wasn’t a game. It was a cultural experience that built on the live-storytelling and visceral nature of theatre, but combined it with the social interaction of MMO (Massively multiplayer online role-playing games) and the delivery infrastructure of online broadcast. The show was held at a ‘secret’ location in London, with 12 people attending and entering the fictional world of the “Positive Vision Movement” (PVM). In the live space, the audience promenaded through the storyworld of the PVM, following three actors, playing, solving puzzles, chatting, debating and witnessing magic as they went. Online, people spoke and instructed characters, found commentary, spoke to each other, made choices and switched camera views at will. At points, the online audience could even take control of lighting in the space in order to create specific atmospheres, or shine light on a particular place or person. In every show the audiences were monitored carefully, questioned at various stages within the show and, in some cases, interviewed in depth about the experience. Interestingly interactivity - the ability to ‘take control’ of a situation, make a decision about plot or performance or change the mood through lighting or sound - was not rated as highly, by either audience, as the opportunities to socialise and engage with each other. Data suggests that the online audience, in particular, enjoyed the ability to form strong social bonds each other, and that they favoured elements of the show in which they were able to connect and communicate directly with performers in the show. This would suggest that this new kind of hybridised digitally-driven storytelling and play environment is seen first and foremost, as an opportunity to connect with others in a theatrical context - interacting with each other more as one might at a music festival or a house party. This is not then simply theatre with an online component bolted on. For the three R&D partners, the project was also a great ‘social’ success in terms of what we learned from each other. The project genuinely worked within the gaps of the knowledge overlaps between Coney, Goldsmiths and Showcaster, and we pushed each other to deliver a project with as many interesting new features as we could cram into one production space. Better Than Life explored what is possible - and proved that hybridised models of entertainment and performance can open up experiences to audiences that genuinely span beyond the geographic boundaries of a single location or building

Information and communication technology solutions for outdoor navigation in dementia

INTRODUCTION: Information and communication technology (ICT) is potentially mature enough to empower outdoor and social activities in dementia. However, actual ICT-based devices have limited functionality and impact, mainly limited to safety. What is an ideal operational framework to enhance this field to support outdoor and social activities? METHODS: Review of literature and cross-disciplinary expert discussion. RESULTS: A situation-aware ICT requires a flexible fine-tuning by stakeholders of system usability and complexity of function, and of user safety and autonomy. It should operate by artificial intelligence/machine learning and should reflect harmonized stakeholder values, social context, and user residual cognitive functions. ICT services should be proposed at the prodromal stage of dementia and should be carefully validated within the life space of users in terms of quality of life, social activities, and costs. DISCUSSION: The operational framework has the potential to produce ICT and services with high clinical impact but requires substantial investment

Political performance and leadership persona:the UK Labour Party Conference of 2012

This article is a contribution to an emerging scholarship on the role of rhetoric, persona and celebrity, and the effects of performance on the political process. We analyse party leader Ed Miliband at the UK Labour Party Conference in Manchester in 2012. Our analysis identifies how, through performance of himself and the beginnings of the deployment of an alternative party narrative centred on One Nation, Ed Miliband began to revise his received persona. By using a range of rhetorical and other techniques, Miliband began to adapt the Labour narrative to the personalized political. The article sets out the theoretical framework for the analysis and returns to the implications for the theory of leadership performance in its conclusion

The relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic traits in the general population.

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) tend to have sensory processing difficulties (Baranek et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:591–601, 2006). These difficulties include over- and under-responsiveness to sensory stimuli, and problems modulating sensory input (Ben-Sasson et al. in J Autism Dev Disorders 39:1–11, 2009). As those with ASD exist at the extreme end of a continuum of autistic traits that is also evident in the general population, we investigated the link between ASD and sensory sensitivity in the general population by administering two questionnaires online to 212 adult participants. Results showed a highly significant positive correlation (r = .775, p < .001) between number of autistic traits and the frequency of sensory processing problems. These data suggest a strong link between sensory processing and autistic traits in the general population, which in turn potentially implicates sensory processing problems in social interaction difficulties

Feasibility of an online mindfulness-based program for patients with melanoma: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundPeople with a melanoma diagnosis are at risk of recurrence, developing a new primary or experiencing disease progression. Previous studies have suggested that fear of a cancer recurrence is clinically relevant in this group of patients and, if not addressed, can lead to distress. Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression among various groups of cancer patients. Online mindfulness-based interventions have the potential to reach people unable to attend face-to-face interventions due to limitations such as cancer-related illness, transportation or time constraints. This study aims to (1) examine whether individuals with a melanoma diagnosis are willing to participate and adhere to a 6-week online mindfulness-based intervention and (2) explore potential benefits of the program on fear of cancer recurrence, worries, rumination, perceived stress and trait mindfulness to inform the design of a clinical trial.Methods/designThis is a single-site randomised controlled trial of a feasibility study. Seventy-five participants with stage 2c or 3 melanoma will be recruited from a melanoma outpatient clinic and randomised (2:1) either to an online mindfulness-based program (intervention) or to usual care (control). The intervention is a 6-week program specifically developed for this study. It consists of videos describing the concept of mindfulness, short daily guided meditation practices (5–10 min), automated meditation reminders and instructions for applying mindfulness in daily life to enhance wellbeing. All participants will complete questionnaires at baseline and at 6-week post-randomisation. Participants in the control group will be given access to the online program at the end of the study. Primary outcomes are overall recruitment; retention; extent of questionnaire completion; and usability and acceptability of, and adherence to, the program. The secondary outcomes are fear of cancer recurrence, worries, rumination, perceived stress and trait mindfulness measured using validated instruments.DiscussionThis feasibility study will evaluate participants’ satisfaction with the program and identify barriers to recruitment and adherence. The recruitment and data collection process will highlight methodological aspects to address in the planning of a larger scale study assessing the impact of an online mindfulness-based intervention on fear of cancer recurrence and wellbeing

Misrecognition in the making of a state: Ghana’s international relations under Kwame Nkrumah

This paper draws on a Kleinian psychoanalytic reading of Hegel’s theory of the struggle for recognition to explore the role of international misrecognition in the creation of state subjectivity. It focuses on Ghana’s early years, when international relations were powerfully conceptualised and used by Kwame Nkrumah in his bid to bring coherence to a fragile infant state. Nkrumah attempted to create separation and independence from the West on the one hand, and intimacy with a unified Africa on the other. By creating juxtapositions between Ghana and these idealised international others, he was able to create a fantasy of a coherent state, built on a fundamental misrecognition of the wider world. As the fantasy bumped up against the realities of Ghana’s failing economy, fractured social structures and complex international relationships, it foundered, causing alienation and despair. I argue that the failure of this early fantasy was the start of Ghana’s quest to begin processes of individuation and subjectivity, and that its undoing was an inevitable part of the early stages of misrecognition, laying the way for more grounded struggles for recognition and the development of a more complex state-subjectivity