The Development of an Embedded Figures Test for the Detection of Feigned Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adulthood

OBJECTIVES: It has been shown that an increasing number of adults deliberately feign attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which demonstrates the need for new tests designed to detect feigned ADHD. METHODS: An Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was developed for the detection of feigned ADHD in adulthood. EFT performance of 51 adults with ADHD was compared to the performance of 52 matched healthy individuals, as well as to 268 undergraduate students who were randomly allocated in a simulation design to one of four experimental conditions, i.e. a control group, a naïve simulation group, a symptom-coached simulation group or a test-coached simulation group. Furthermore, an independent sample of 11 adults with ADHD as well as a sample of 17 clinicians experienced in the work with adults with ADHD were assessed for further validation of the EFT. RESULTS: The EFT was relatively easy to perform for both patients with ADHD and healthy comparisons as shown by low error rates and non-significant group differences. However, simulation groups differed from patients with ADHD by significant and large effects. An EFT index for the prediction of feigned ADHD was derived based on logistic regression coefficients. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) demonstrated good classification accuracy of feigned ADHD relative to ADHD (AUC = 94.8%), i.e. high sensitivity (88%) and specificity (90%). CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the utility of the EFT for the detection of feigned adult ADHD

An Analysis of Private School Closings

We add to the small literature on private school supply by exploring exits of K-12 private schools. We find that the closure of private schools is not an infrequent event, and use national survey data from the National Center for Education Statistics to study closures of private schools. We assume that the probability of an exit is a function of excess supply of private schools over the demand, as well as the school's characteristics such as age, size, and religious affiliation. Our empirical results generally support the implications of the model. Working Paper 07-0

Tailored carrier/bacteria technology for rehabilitation of areas with pesticide-containing pollution – AQUAREHAB WP2

Postprint (published version

The Academics Athletics Trade-off: Universities and Intercollegiate Athletics

This analysis focuses on several key issues in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The intrinsic benefits of athletic programs are discussed in the first section. Trends in graduation rates and academic performance among athletes and how they correlate with the general student body are discussed in the second section. Finally, an overview of the revenues and expenses of athletic department budgets are discussed in an effort to gain a better understanding of the allocation of funds to athletics. In spite of recent growth in revenues and expenses, the athletic department budget comprises on average only 5 percent of the entire university budget at an FBS school, though spending and revenues have increased dramatically in recent years. In the grand scheme of things, American higher education faces several other, arguably more pressing, areas of reform. However, athletics is a significant and growing dimension of higher education that warrants in-depth examination

Relationships between gas-liquid interfacial surface area, liquid saturation, and light transmission in variably saturated porous media

Liquid saturation and gas-liquid interfacial area are important parameters for evaluating the transport and fate of contaminants in unsaturated subsurface environments. Recent findings indicate that interfacial surface area controls the relative degree of transmitted light in laboratory systems containing translucent porous media. Equations are derived to estimate the specific gas-liquid interfacial area from the area under the primary-drainage branch of the S[subscript eff]-h characteristic curve as parameterized using common water retention functions. The total area under the curve provides the maximum available specific gas-liquid interfacial area available at residual saturation, which can be incorporated into the relationship to determine the gas-liquid interfacial area at intermediate degrees of saturation via light transmission. Experimental results, and analysis of external data sets, support these findings. Closed-form relationships are presented as enhancements to a recent method for determination of liquid saturations above residual using light transmission. A physically based model is developed and tested for the quantification of liquid contents below residual saturation.Keywords: gas-liquid interfacial surface area, light transmission, liquid saturation, residual saturation, characteristic curve, unsaturated porous medi

Why Social Enterprises Are Asking to Be Multi-stakeholder and Deliberative: An Explanation around the Costs of Exclusion.

The study of multi-stakeholdership (and multi-stakeholder social enterprises in particular) is only at the start. Entrepreneurial choices which have emerged spontaneously, as well as the first legal frameworks approved in this direction, lack an adequate theoretical support. The debate itself is underdeveloped, as the existing understanding of organisations and their aims resist an inclusive, public interest view of enterprise. Our contribution aims at enriching the thin theoretical reflections on multi-stakeholdership, in a context where they are already established, i.e. that of social and personal services. The aim is to provide an economic justification on why the governance structure and decision-making praxis of the firm needs to account for multiple stakeholders. In particular with our analysis we want: a) to consider production and the role of firms in the context of the “public interest” which may or may not coincide with the non-profit objective; b) to ground the explanation of firm governance and processes upon the nature of production and the interconnections between demand and supply side; c) to explain that the costs associated with multi-stakeholder governance and deliberation in decision-making can increase internal efficiency and be “productive” since they lower internal costs and utilise resources that otherwise would go astray. The key insight of this work is that, differently from major interpretations, property costs should be compared with a more comprehensive range of costs, such as the social costs that emerge when the supply of social and personal services is insufficient or when the identification of aims and means is not shared amongst stakeholders. Our model highlights that when social costs derived from exclusion are high, even an enterprise with costly decisional processes, such as the multistakeholder, can be the most efficient solution amongst other possible alternatives

The potential of trading activity income to fund third sector organisations operating in deprived areas

In the United Kingdom, as in other countries, Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) have been drawn towards income sources associated with trading activities (Teasdale, 2010), but many remain reliant on grant funding to support such activities (Chell, 2007). Using a multivariate analysis approach and data from the National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises (NSCSE), it is found that trading activities are used relatively commonly in deprived areas. These organisations are also more likely to attempt to access public sector funds. This suggests policy-makers need to consider the impact of funding cuts on TSOs in the most deprived areas as TSOs are unlikely achieve their objectives without continuing support

Acute hypoxemia and vascular function in healthy humans.

Endothelium-dependent flow mediated dilation (FMD) and endothelium-independent dilation (GTN) are impaired at high altitude (5050 m), and FMD is impaired following acute exposure (<60-minutes) to normobaric hypoxia equivalent to ∼5050 m (∼FI O2  = 0.11). Whether glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)-induced dilation is impaired acutely, and whether FMD is impaired during milder hypoxia is unknown. Therefore, we assessed brachial FMD at baseline and following 30-minutes of mild (74 ± 2 mmHg PET O₂) and moderate (50 ± 3 mmHg PET O₂) normobaric hypoxia (n = 12) or normoxia (time-control trial; n = 10). We also assessed GTN-dilaiton following the hypoxic FMD tests and in normoxia on a separate control day (n = 8). Compared to normoxic baseline, reduction during mild and moderate hypoxic exposure were evident in FMD (mild vs moderate: -1.2 ± 1.1% vs. -3.1 ± 1.7%; P = 0.01) and GTN-dilation (-2.1 ± 1.0 vs. -4.2 ± 2.0; P = 0.01); the decline in FMD and GTN-dilation were greater during moderate hypoxia (P < 0.01). When allometrically corrected for baseline diameter and FMD shear rate under the curve (SRAUC ), relative FMD was attenuated in both conditions (mild vs moderate: 0.6 ± 0.9% vs. 0.8 ± 0.7%; P ≤ 0.01). Following 30-minutes of normoxic time-control, FMD was reduced (-0.6 ± 0.3%; P = 0.02). In summary, there was a graded impairment in FMD during mild and moderate hypoxic exposure, which appears to be influenced by shear patterns and incremental declines in smooth muscle vasodilator capacity (impaired GTN-dilation). Our findings from the normoxic controls study, suggest the decline in FMD in acute hypoxia also appears to be influenced by 30-minutes of supine rest/inactivity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Electrolytic decontamination of the 3013 inner can

Disposition of plutonium recovered from nuclear weapons or production residues must be stored in a manner that ensures safety. The criteria that has been established to assure the safety of stored materials for a minimum of 50 years is DOE-STD-3013. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has designed a containment package in accordance with the DOE standard. The package consists of an optional convenience (food pack) can, a welded type 304L stainless steel inner (primary) can, and a welded type 304L stainless steel outer (secondary) can. With or without the food pack can, the material is placed inside the primary can and welded shut under a helium atmosphere. This activity takes place totally within the confinement of the glove box line. Following the welding process, the can is checked for leaks and then sent down the line for decontamination. Once decontaminated, the sealed primary can may be removed from the glove box line. Welding of the secondary container takes place outside the glove box line. The highly automated decontamination process that has been developed to support the packaging of Special Nuclear Materials is based on an electrolytic process similar to the wide spread industrial technique of electropolishing. The can is placed within a specially designed stainless steel fixture built within a partition of a glove box. This fixture is then filled with a flowing electrolyte solution. A low DC electric current is made to flow between the can, acting as the anode, and the fixture, acting as the cathode. Following the decontamination, the system provides a flow of rinse water through the fixture to rinse the can of remaining salt residues. The system then carried out a drying cycle. Finally, the fixture is opened from the opposite side of the partition and the can surface monitored directly and through surface smears to assure that decontamination is adequate

Is motor activity during cognitive assessment an indicator for feigned attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults?

Objectives: Several approaches, ranging from self-ratings of symptoms and impairments to objective neuropsychological testing, have been utilized during clinical evaluation in order to assess symptom and performance validity of individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adulthood. Motor activity has not been considered yet in this context, which is surprising given that hyperactivity is a prominent characteristic of ADHD. Hence, the goal of the present study was to explore the incremental value of motor activity when assessing the credibility of individuals with adult ADHD at clinical evaluation.Method: Forty-six patients diagnosed with ADHD took part in the study. A simulation design was performed, in which 152 healthy individuals were allocated to either a control condition (n=36) or one of three simulation conditions (n=116), the latter requesting participants to feign ADHD. All participants completed a self-rating scale of cognitive functioning and performed a computerized test for vigilance. Body movements were recorded during vigilance testing via a motion tracker attached to the back of the participant's chair.Results: Patients with ADHD reported significantly more pronounced cognitive complaints and performed significantly poorer on the vigilance test than control participants. Simulators of ADHD, as compared to genuine patients, showed excessively low performance on the vigilance test. However, neither self-ratings of cognitive functioning nor measures of motor activity were suitable to distinguish genuine from feigned ADHD. A hierarchical logistic regression model showed that motor activity had no incremental value in detecting feigned ADHD when vigilance test performance has already been considered.Conclusions: Standard neuropsychological tests of vigilance may be useful to measure both performance and credibility of individuals with adult ADHD at clinical evaluation. In contrast, self-reports of symptoms and impairments, as well as measures of body movements, may not support the assessment of credibility in this context