Pediatric Developmental Screening: Understanding and Selecting Screening Instruments

Based on a review of research on developmental screening instruments, provides a manual for selecting and applying tools for screening for both general and specific problems. Includes an interactive questionnaire that links to the recommended instrument

Shared comedic elements of three plays in modern American theater: Six Degrees of Separation , I\u27m Not Rappaport , and Broadway Bound

This thesis examines three successful American comedy plays which were produced within the last decade. The plays include Herb Gardner\u27s I\u27m Not Rappaport, which won three Tony awards including best actor and best play for the 1985-86 Broadway season; Neil Simon\u27s Broadway Bound, which premiered on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre in December of 1986 to strong reviews; and John Guare\u27s Six Degrees of Separation which opened off-Broadway at the Lincoln Center and was named best new play of the 1990-91 season by the New York Drama Critics Circle; Each of these plays demonstrate both strong comedic and dramatic elements. This thesis analyzes the humorous side of that equation to determine what comic devices are used, and how well the humor serves each play as a whole. A prime factor in this analysis includes a consideration of the comedic style of each playwright and where each was in his career when he wrote his hit comedy; Letters and questions sent to each of the three playwrights were not returned

The relationships among affective organizational commitment, transformational leadership style, and unit organizational effectiveness within the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University

Organizational commitment and transformational leadership have been found to correlate positively with each other and with organizational effectiveness. However, much of the commitment research has been based on traditional organizations with employment relationships, raising questions as to whether the research can be generalized to voluntary organizations. Research on transformational leadership has occurred across a broad spectrum of organizations and causal links to objective measures of performance have been hypothesized. The purpose of this research was to extend the existing commitment, leadership, and organizational effectiveness research into the context of a voluntary organization, and contribute new knowledge and understanding of these relationships. The nature of a specific voluntary organization, the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, was examined in terms of the relationships among affective commitment to the organization, transformational leadership style, and ultimately organizational effectiveness. A hypothesized causal model was proposed to explain the relationships among these three variables. The Affective Commitment Scale and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire were found to be valid and reliable in the voluntary organization examined. Consistent with prior research, a significant positive correlation was found between affective commitment and transformational leadership. However, extending this relationship to organizational effectiveness through the hypothesized causal model was not supported

Dynamic Change Evaluation for Ontology Evolution in the Semantic Web

Changes in an ontology may have a disruptive impact on any system using it. This impact may depend on structural changes such as introduction or removal of concept definitions, or it may be related to a change in the expected performance of the reasoning tasks. As the number of systems using ontologies is expected to increase, and given the open nature of the Semantic Web, introduction of new ontologies and modifications to existing ones are to be expected. Dynamically handling such changes, without requiring human intervention, becomes crucial. This paper presents a framework that isolates groups of related axioms in an OWL ontology, so that a change in one or more axioms can be automatically localised to a part of the ontology

Star formation in the large Magellanic cloud

What role the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf irregular galaxy, plays in understanding infrared luminous galaxies is discussed. There are two main reasons the LMC may prove helpful. One, the LMC is only 55 kpc away, very nearby compared to much rarer high luminosity systems. Second, the environment in the LMC is distinctly different than in the Milky Way, at least those parts of the Milky Way interior to the sun, where most of the studies of massive star formation were concentrated. The LMC is an interacting system with a large amount of neutral hydrogen that is pushed around by the galaxy's encounter with the Milky Way. Perhaps a good understanding of star formation process in the LMC will provide guidance in the study of the infrared luminous galaxies. Two questions which will be addressed are: how is star formation in the LMC similar to the Milky Way Galaxy, and how is it different

Mortality from infectious pneumonia in metal workers: a comparison with deaths from asthma in occupations exposed to respiratory sensitizers

Introduction: national analyses of mortality in England and Wales have repeatedly shown excess deaths from pneumonia in welders. During 1979-1990 the excess was attributable largely to deaths from lobar pneumonia and pneumonias other than bronchopneumonia, limited to working-aged men, and apparent in other metal fume-exposed occupations. We assessed findings for 1991-2000 and compared the mortality pattern with that from asthma in occupations exposed to known respiratory sensitizers.Methods: the Office of National Statistics supplied data on deaths by underlying cause among men aged 16-74 years in England and Wales during 1991-2000, including age and last held occupation. We abstracted data on pneumonia for occupations with exposure to metal fume and on asthma for occupations commonly reported to surveillance schemes as at risk of occupational asthma. We estimated expected numbers of deaths by applying age-specific proportions of deaths by cause in the population to the total deaths by age in each occupational group. Observed and expected numbers were compared for each cause of death.Results: among working-aged men in metal fume-exposed occupations we found excesses of mortality from pneumococcal and lobar pneumonia (54 deaths vs. 27.3 expected) and from pneumonias other than bronchopneumonia (71 vs. 52.4), but no excess from these causes at older ages, or from bronchopneumonia at any age. The attributable mortality from metal fume (45.3 excess deaths) compared with an estimated 62.6 deaths from occupational asthma.Conclusion: exposure to metal fume is a material cause of occupational mortality. The hazard deserves far more attention than it presently receive

Information and communications technology in government, an historical perspective

The purpose of this paper is to address a paradox in e-Government, namely a reputation for failure existing alongside an apparent reality of successful implementation. There are frequent and much publicised stories and statistics about the high rate of failure in e-government projects. Yet at the same time as there seems to be an almost universal adoption of Information and Communications Technologies by governments at all levels, local and national. Our approach is to explore e-Government's origins for an explanation, examining the issue from a historical perspective to see if there are lessons to be learned about the future development and implementation of e-Government. This study and analysis addresses the similarities and differences between the present situation and what has happened in the past. The aim is to use the perspective of history to comment upon the longer term issues and questions which have an impact upon the success and failure of e-Government projects. The study is focused on developments in the UK, but with some reference to experiences in the US, Canada and Australia. The bulk of the research comes from a library search of government studies and reports, supplemented by informal conversations with participants conducted over the last few years. We looked at the history of government Information Technology in the UK from its early role automating data processing to the point now where it is arguably an indispensable mechanism at the heart of both the operation of public administration and the relationship between citizens and government. The analysis suggests that the impact and implications of e-Government have evolved beyond improvements to operational efficiency and better service delivery. The outcomes are a number of observations about the way in which e-Government projects have come to be managed and assessed, together with some core questions to be answered by further research and discussion. Specifically questions are raised about the strategic nature of e-Government and how their value has come to be assessed. We ask whether it is helpful for e-Government to be regarded as a strategic aim as opposed to a strategic enabler, and whether the answer the answer contributes to a mistaken view of e-Government's success

Ariel - Volume 3 Number 5

Editors Richard J. Bonanno Robin A. Edwards Associate Editors Steven Ager Tom Williams Lay-out Editor Eugenia Miller Contributing Editors Paul Bialas Robert Breckenridge Lynne Porter David Jacoby Terry Burt Mark Pearlman Michael Leo Mike LeWitt Editors Emeritus Delvyn C. Case., Jr. Paul M. Fernhof

Wind-tunnel investigation of a flush airdata system at Mach numbers from 0.7 to 1.4

Flush pressure orifices installed on the nose section of a 1/7-scale model of the F-14 airplane were evaluated for use as a flush airdata system (FADS). Wing-tunnel tests were conducted in the 11- by 11-ft Unitary Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. A full-scale FADS of the same configuration was previously tested using an F-14 aircraft at the Dryden Flight Research Facility of NASA Ames Research Center (Ames-Dryden). These tests, which were published, are part of a NASA program to assess accuracies of FADS for use on aircraft. The test program also provides data to validate algorithms for the shuttle entry airdata system developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. The wind-tunnel test Mach numbers were 0.73, 0.90, 1.05, 1.20, and 1.39. Angles of attack were varied in 2 deg increments from -4 deg to 20 deg. Sideslip angles were varied in 4 deg increments from -8 deg to 8 deg. Airdata parameters were evaluated for determination of free-stream values of stagnation pressure, static pressure, angle of attack, angle of sideslip, and Mach number. These parameters are, in most cases, the same as the parameters investigated in the flight test program. The basic FADS wind-tunnel data are presented in tabular form. A discussion of the more accurate parameters is included