Employing social network analysis to examine the social participation of students identified as having special educational needs and disabilities

The number of students with identified Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools has been rising in the last three decades, primarily due to policy changes promoting inclusive education. However, many of these students remain socially isolated despite expectations that inclusion may lead to enhanced outcomes, particularly social outcomes. This paper draws on a study conducted in three countries; Cyprus, Spain, and Switzerland. A critical case study design, grounded in social capital theory, was adopted to examine the concept of social participation from a social network perspective in six Grade 4 classrooms, two in each country. Data were collected through 109 network surveys. Network maps for each classroom were developed, and social network measures were calculated. The findings from each case/classroom were encouraging in terms of the social participation of students with SEND and have provided a layer for understanding social responsiveness and inclusion of each classroom. The social participation for many students with SEND was found to be comparable to peers without SEND

Residential proximity to industrial pollution sources and colorectal cancer risk: a multicase-control study (MCC-Spain)

Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most frequent tumor in males and the second in females worldwide. In Spain, it is an important and growing health problem, and epidemiologic research focused on potential risk factors, such as environmental exposures, is necessary. Objectives: To analyze the association between colorectal cancer risk and residential proximity to industries, according to pollution discharge route, industrial groups, categories of carcinogens and other toxic substances, and specific pollutants released, in the context of a population-based multicase-control study of incident cancer carried out in Spain (MCC-Spain). Methods: MCC-Spain included 557 colorectal cancer cases and 2948 controls in 11 provinces, frequency matched by sex, age, and region of residence. Distances were computed from subjects' residences to each of the 134 industries located in the study area. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance (from 1 km to 3 km) to industrial facilities, adjusting for matching variables and other confounders. Results: Excess risk (OR; 95%CI) of colorectal cancer was detected near industries overall for all distances analyzed, from 1 km (2.03; 1.44-2.87) to 3 km (1.26; 1.00-1.59). In general, industries releasing pollutants to air showed higher excess risks than facilities releasing pollution to water. By industrial sector, excess risk (OR; 95%CI) was found near (≤3 km) production of metals (2.66; 1.77-4.00), surface treatment of metals (1.48; 1.08-2.02), glass and mineral fibers (2.06; 1.39-3.07), organic chemical industry (4.80; 3.20-7.20), inorganic chemical industry (6.74; 4.38-10.36), food/beverage sector (3.34; 2.38-4.68), and surface treatment using organic solvents (6.16; 4.06-9.36). By pollutants, the main excess risks (OR; 95%CI) were found near (≤3 km) industries releasing nonylphenol (9.19; 5.91-14.28), antimony (5.30; 3.45-8.15), naphthalene (3.11; 2.16-4.49), organotin compounds (2.64; 1.76-3.98), manganese (2.53; 1.63-3.93), dichloromethane (2.52; 1.74-3.66), and vanadium (2.49; 1.59-3.91). Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that residing in the proximity of industries may be a risk factor for colorectal cancer.This study was funded by: Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) – EVP-1178/14); Spain's Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS 12/01416); Carlos III Institute of Health (ISCIII) grants, cofunded by ERDF funds–a way to build Europe– (grants PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PI08/1770, PS09/00773-Cantabria, PS09/01286-Leon, PS09/01662-Granada, PS09/01903-Valencia, PS09/02078-Huelva, PI11/00226, PI11/01403, PI11/01810, PI11/01889-FEDER, PI11/02213, PI12/00150, PI12/00265, PI12/00488, PI12/00715, PI12/01270, PI14/00613, PI14/01219, PI15/00069, PI15/00914, PI15/01032, PI17-00092); the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (API 10/09); the Junta de Castilla y León (LE22A10-2); the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana (AP_061/10); the Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía (PI-0571-2009, PI-0306-2011, salud201200057018tra); the Catalan Government DURSI grant 2014SGR647; the European Commission grants FOOD-CT-2006-036224-HIWATE; the Recercaixa (2010ACUP 00310); Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Catalan Government grant 2017SGR72