Rett Syndrome

Rett syndrome is a thief! It robs little girls of their projected life. It lulls their families into a false sense of security while their little girls develop normally for 6 to 18 months. Then it insidiously robs them of their skills and abilities until they are trapped in a body that won't respond. These little girls are called "silent angels" (Hunter, 2007). Rett syndrome (RS) was originally identified in 1966 by the Austrian neurologist Andreas Rett, but his research and findings were written in an obscure form of the German language the medical world could not and did not translate. It wasn't until 1983, that Rett syndrome was re-identified and labeled as its own disorder (Hunter, 2007). The Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (2006) summarizes the condition best with: Rett syndrome is a debilitating neurological disorder diagnosed almost exclusively in females. Children with Rett syndrome appear to develop normally until 6 to 18 months of age when they enter a period of regression, losing speech and motor skills. Most develop repetitive hand movements, irregular breathing patterns, seizures and extreme motor control problems. Rett syndrome leaves its victims profoundly disabled, requiring maximum assistance with every aspect of daily living. There is no cure. (Retrieved October 14, 2008 from http://www.rsrf.org/about_rett_syndrome/) Research is ever going to regards to Rett syndrome. What is known as of now is that Rett syndrome is caused by a mutation of the gene MECP2. It is not passed down in families and it knows no ethnic boundaries. The majority of Rett girls live to adulthood (RSRF, 2006). The male child doesn't usually survive birth with Rett syndrome

Statistical Scientist Meets a Philosopher of Science: A Conversation

philosophy of science, philosophy of statistics, decision theory, likelihood, subjective probability, Bayesianism, Bayes theorem, Fisher, Neyman and Pearson, Jeffreys, induction, frequentism, reliability, informativeness

Frequentist statistics as a theory of inductive inference

After some general remarks about the interrelation between philosophical and statistical thinking, the discussion centres largely on significance tests. These are defined as the calculation of $p$-values rather than as formal procedures for ``acceptance'' and ``rejection.'' A number of types of null hypothesis are described and a principle for evidential interpretation set out governing the implications of $p$-values in the specific circumstances of each application, as contrasted with a long-run interpretation. A variety of more complicated situations are discussed in which modification of the simple $p$-value may be essential.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/074921706000000400 in the IMS Lecture Notes--Monograph Series (http://www.imstat.org/publications/lecnotes.htm) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationWater is a site of resistance. In late modernity, water wars have become increasingly prevalent across the globe. The locus for this case study of rhetorical strategies in internal coalition communication is an environmental campaign to prevent a proposed water project in the US West that threatens the sustainability of numerous watersheds in the region. The researcher examines internal coalition communication to develop knowledge about the rhetorical strategies for negotiating discursive difference and cultural tensions among participants. These strategies are important to coalition maintenance, which supports coalition health, durability and the capacity to effect change within social systems. Given climate change and sustainability issues in late modernity, the rhetorical strategies of coalitions that are organized to mitigate related problems are important. The author constructs a theoretical framework with democratic, conflict and rhetorical theory to conceptualize internal coalition rhetoric because participation, conflict, persuasion, and deliberation are fundamental aspects of coalition maintenance. Rhetorical criticism and qualitative field methods are used as a mixed methodological approach to develop understanding about internal coalition rhetoric. To collect live rhetorics, the author does participant observation of coalition strategy meetings spanning several years and semistructured interviews with active coalition participants. Through analysis of field notes and interviews the author discovers the comic frame as a master frame for internal coalition maintenance because it promotes unifying yet critical ways to iv address internal difference. Within a comic frame, process literacy (which pivots communication toward a collaborative communicative genre) and four types of humor are identified as rhetorical strategies for negotiating discursive and cultural difference. Additionally, findings indicate that humor at the expense of others can operate within both comic and melodramatic frames in particular kairotic moments without disrupting the master comic frame. The author encourages more research on: (1) rhetorical strategies of both internal and external coalition communication as a means for developing social movement and deliberative democracy theory (particularly where water is a site of resistance); (2) the interplay between comic and melodramatic frames in both internal and external coalition communication contexts; and (3) identity vulnerability within a comic frame

Leaders Fostering Resiliency In Schools

This single case study of a school district described how school leaders created educational programs and practices that feature elements of a caring environment wihtin which students were frequently offered choices in their learning experiences. Data from a survey, school observations, interviews and formal documents were analyzed using a mixed method qualitative approach of triangulation, expansion and complementarity methods of analysis. The study determined that a caring environment with student choices existed in the district and its programs and practices were consistent with the literature on resiliency. The study also found the environment that developed through several critical events over eighteen years translated a vision into the organizational mission and belief. The leadership role was characterized by commitment to vision, mobilization of structure, a superintendent's stable tenure, and a proliferation of programs in a small school district size

The more revisions a paper undergoes, the greater its subsequent recognition in terms of citations

Is the peer review process simply a means by which errors are identified and corrected? Or is it a process in which a more constructive dialogue can take place and reviewers and editors may actively contribute to the text? John Rigby, Deborah Cox and Keith Julian have studied the published articles of a social sciences journal and found that the more revisions a paper undergoes, the greater its subsequent recognition in terms of citations