School Effects on the Wellbeing of Children and Adolescents

Well-being is a multidimensional construct, with psychological, physical and social components. As theoretical basis to help understand this concept and how it relates to school, we propose the Self-Determination Theory, which contends that self-determined motivation and personality integration, growth and well-being are dependent on a healthy balance of three innate psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness and competence. Thus, current indicators involve school effects on children’s well-being, in many diverse modalities which have been explored. Some are described in this chapter, mainly: the importance of peer relationships; the benefits of friendship; the effects of schools in conjunction with some forms of family influence; the school climate in terms of safety and physical ecology; the relevance of the teacher input; the school goal structure and the implementation of cooperative learning. All these parameters have an influence in promoting optimal functioning among children and increasing their well-being by meeting the above mentioned needs. The empirical support for the importance of schools indicates significant small effects, which often translate into important real-life effects as it is admitted at present. The conclusion is that schools do make a difference in children’s peer relationships and well-being

Detailed hydrodynamic and X-ray spectroscopic analysis of a laser-produced rapidly-expanding aluminium plasma

We present a detailed analysis of K-shell emission from laser-produced rapidly-expanding Al plasmas. This work forms part of a series of experiments performed at the Vulcan laser facility of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK. 1-D planar expansion was obtained by over-illuminating A1-microdot targets supported on CH plastic foils. The small size of the A1-plasma ensured high spatial and frequency resolution of the spectra, obtained with a single crystal spectrometer, two vertical dispersion variant double crystal spectrometers, and a vertical dispersion variant Johann Spectrometer. The hydrodynamic properties of the plasma were measured independently by spatially and temporally resolved Thomson scattering, utilizing a 4ω probe beam. This enabled sub- and super-critical densities to be probed relative to the 1ω heater beams. The deduced plasma hydrodynamic conditions are compared with those generated from the 1-D hydro-code Medusa, and the significant differences found in the electron temperature discussed. Synthetic spectra generated from the detailed term collisional radiative non-LTE atomic physics code Fly are compared with the experimental spectra for the measured hydrodynamic parameters, and for those taken from Medusa. Excellent agreement is only found for both the H- and He-like A1 series when careful account is taken of the temporal evolution of the electron temperature. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

K-shell spectroscopy of an independently diagnosed uniaxially expanding laser-produced aluminum plasma

We present detailed spectroscopic analysis of the primary K-shell emission lines from a uniaxially expanding laser-produced hydrogenic and heliumlike aluminum plasma. The spectroscopic measurements are found to be consistent with time-dependent hydrodynamic properties of the plasma, measured using Thomson scattering and shadowgraphy. The K-shell population kinetics code FLY with the measured hydrodynamic parameters is used to generate spectra that are compared to the experimental spectra. Excellent agreement is found between the measured and calculated spectra for a variety of experimental target widths employed to produce plasmas with different optical depths. The peak emission from the hydrogenic Lyman series is determined to be from a temporal and spatial region where the hydrodynamic parameters are essentially constant. This allows a single steady-state solution of FLY to be used to deduce the electron temperature and density, from the measured line ratios and linewidths, for comparison with the Thomson and shadowgraphy data. These measurements are found to agree well with time-dependent calculations, and provide further validation for the FLY calculations of the ionization and excitation balance for a K-shell aluminum plasma. We also discuss the possible application of this data as a benchmark for hydrodynamic simulations and ionization/excitation balance calculations

Levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (Mirena) versus endometrial ablation (Novasure) in women with heavy menstrual bleeding:a multicentre randomised controlled trial

<p>Background: Heavy menstrual bleeding is an important health problem. Two frequently used therapies are the levonorgestrel intra-uterine system (LNG-IUS) and endometrial ablation. The LNG-IUS can be applied easily by the general practitioner, which saves costs, but has considerable failure rates. As an alternative, endometrial ablation is also very effective, but this treatment has to be performed by a gynaecologist. Due to lack of direct comparison of LNG-IUS with endometrial ablation, there is no evidence based preferred advice for the use of one of these treatment possibilities.</p><p>Method/design: A multicenter randomised controlled trial, organised in a network infrastructure in the Netherlands in which general practitioners and gynaecologists collaborate.</p><p>Women >= 34 years with heavy menstrual bleeding, a Pictorial Blood Assessment Chart (PBAC) score exceeding 150 points and no future child wish can participate in the trial. After informed consent, women will be randomised to a strategy starting with a levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system or a strategy starting with endometrial ablation.</p><p>The primary outcome is the PBAC score at 24 months of follow-up. Secondary outcomes are patient satisfaction, complications, number of re-interventions, menstrual bleeding pattern, quality of life, sexual function, sick leave and costs. As predictors of effect of intervention we also meaure level of coagulation factors.</p><p>Discusson: This study, considering both effectiveness and cost effectiveness of LNG-IUS versus endometrial ablation may well improve care for women with heavy menstrual bleeding.</p>