Introduction to the symposium: Ivan Vladislavić, writing visual culture, and the globalization of a South African “artworld”

The introduction to this symposium considers South African author and editor Ivan Vladislavić’s engagement with South African visual culture and the significance of this to his emergence as a “world writer”. The symposium opens with an article by Sean O’Toole, which provides a comprehensive biographical context for Vladislavić’s engagement with art and proposes that his oeuvre be understood as a unique form of “creative criticism”. In their articles, Sue Marais and Jane Poyner offer close readings that draw out the critical role played by the visual cultures of the rarefied art world and everyday life, respectively, in two key texts where this creative criticism is in evidence: “Curiouser” from The Exploded View (2004) and Portrait with Keys (2006). James Graham’s article examines the nature and outcomes of Vladislavić’s work with other writers and visual artists as an editor, providing a theoretical framework that connects the biographical and formal concerns of the other articles by illustrating the cooperative ethos that undergirds Vladislavić’s critical and creative engagement with visual culture. The symposium therefore illustrates Vladislavić’s critical role in the negotiation of globalized artistic and literary fields, and in the constellation of a South African “artworld”

Coparenting in relation to children\u27s psychosocial and diabetes-specific adjustment

Objective: To explore the potential utility of a general and diabetes-specific measure of coparenting by evaluating linkages between coparenting and both the psychosocial and medical adjustment of children with type 1 diabetes (TID). Method: Mothers and fathers of children (ages 8-12 years; n=61) with TID completed questionnaires including measures of general and diabetes-specific coparenting, and children\u27s internalizing and externalizing problems. Medical adjustment included parent-reported diabetes management behaviors, children\u27s self-reported diabetes quality of life (QOL), and metabolic control (HbA1c) assessed during clinic appointments. Results: Coparenting conflict around general child rearing tasks was significantly related to children\u27s internalizing and externalizing problems. Diabetes-specific coparenting conflict was linked to poorer diabetes management behaviors and children\u27s reports of poorer diabetes-specific quality of life, but not HbA1c. Conclusions: Significant findings offer preliminary support for the inclusion of coparenting assessments among children with TID and warrant further exploration. © The Author 2009

Agreement with night-waking strategies among community mothers of preschool-aged children

Objective: To explore the night-waking schemas of mothers of preschool-aged children, using a new measure of agreement with night-waking strategies (Night-waking Vignettes Scale; NVS). MethodA community sample of 203 mothers (M age=32 years, SD=5.1) of 2- to 5-year-olds (M age=3.4 years, SD=1.0) provided demographic information and completed the NVS and measures of night-waking and general parenting behavior. Results: Few mothers endorsed strong agreement or disagreement with limit-setting, active comforting, or rewards; mothers generally disagreed with punishment. Significant associations between agreement with night-waking strategies, child sex, and maternal educational attainment were observed; only agreement with punishment was correlated with general parenting. Agreement with night-waking strategies differed across the night-waking behaviors depicted in the NVS vignettes. Agreement with limit-setting and agreement with active comforting were correlated with night-waking. Conclusions: Mothers may be ambivalent about common night-waking strategies. Night-waking schemas appear to be complex. © 2011 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved

A preliminary examination of the psychometric properties of the coparenting questionnaire and the diabetes-specific coparenting questionnaire in families of children with type I diabetes

Objectives: To examine the structure and psychometric properties of a general childrearing [Coparenting Questionnaire (CQ)] and an adapted Diabetes-Specific Coparenting Questionnaire (DCQ) and compare general and diabetes-specific coparenting among two-parent families caring for a child with type I diabetes. Methods: Mothers and fathers of children (N=61) aged 8-12 years with type I diabetes completed self-report measures of marital functioning, parenting, and coparenting, including the CQ and DCQ. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses favored the hypothesized 3-factor model for mothers and fathers for the CQ and DCQ. The internal consistencies and convergent validities of the CQ and DCQ were adequate. Coparenting conflict and triangulation were significantly higher for general child management than diabetes-specific issues. Conclusions: The CQ and DCQ represent two assessments that differentiate couples\u27 cooperation, conflict, and triangulation coparenting behaviors for general and diabetes-specific issues, and may potentially help inform family-based interventions. © The Author 2009

Erratum: Correction to: Predicting Dropout from Children\u27s Mental Health Services: Using a Need-Based Defnition of Dropout (Child psychiatry and human development (2020) 51 1 (13-26))

The original version of this article was unfortunately published with an error in Table 2. The confidence intervals listed in Table 2 were published incorrectly. The correct version of confidence intervals in Table 2 should read as below

Dynamical preparation of EPR entanglement in two-well Bose-Einstein condensates

We propose to generate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement between groups of atoms in a two-well Bose-Einstein condensate using a dynamical process similar to that employed in quantum optics. The local nonlinear S-wave scattering interaction has the effect of creating a spin squeezing at each well, while the tunneling, analogous to a beam splitter in optics, introduces an interference between these fields that results in an inter-well entanglement. We consider two internal modes at each well, so that the entanglement can be detected by measuring a reduction in the variances of the sums of local Schwinger spin observables. As is typical of continuous variable (CV) entanglement, the entanglement is predicted to increase with atom number, and becomes sufficiently strong at higher numbers of atoms that the EPR paradox and steering non-locality can be realized. The entanglement is predicted using an analytical approach and, for larger atom numbers, stochastic simulations based on truncated Wigner function. We find generally that strong tunnelling is favourable, and that entanglement persists and is even enhanced in the presence of realistic nonlinear losses.Comment: 15 pages, 19 figure

Behavioral sleep problems and their potential impact on developing executive function in children

Bedtime resistance and night waking are common sleep problems throughout childhood, especially in the early years. These sleep problems may lead to difficulties in neurobehavioral functioning, but most research into childhood sleep problems has not emphasized the importance of the developmental context in which disruptions in neurobehavioral and daytime functioning occur. We review the development of sleep as well as executive functioning (EF) in childhood and suggest that EF may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of these common childhood sleep problems because of its prolonged course of maturation. Behavioral problems associated with common sleep problems suggest poor self-regulation in the context of sleep loss, and developing EF skills play important roles in self-regulation. A research agenda that considers a developmental approach to sleep and sleep problems in the context of childhood EF performance is outlined to promote future research in this area

Concurrent associations among sleep problems, indicators of inadequate sleep, psychopathology, and shared risk factors in a population-based sample of healthy Ontario children

Objectives Examine the contribution of sleep problems and indicators of inadequate sleep to psychopathology among children after accounting for shared risk and comorbid psychopathology. Methods Secondary analyses of cross-sectional data on 4- to 11-year-old (N = 1,550) children without chronic illness or developmental delay or disability. Parents provided information about sleep problems, indicators of inadequate sleep, symptoms of psychopathology, and risk factors for psychopathology. Teachers provided information about indicators of inadequate sleep and symptoms of psychopathology. Results Adjusting for risk factors and comorbid psychopathology, sleeping more than other children was related to parent-rated aggression. Nightmares and trouble sleeping were related to parent-rated anxious/depressed mood. Sleep problems were not related to attention problems. Being overtired was related to parent- and teacher-rated psychopathology. Conclusions Relations among sleep problems, indicators of inadequate sleep, and psychopathology are complex; accounting for potential confounding variables and considering sleep variables separately may clarify these relations. © 2009 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved

A synopsis of the MusiQual feasibility study into the effectiveness of music therapy in palliative care inpatient settings

The research team involved in conducting the MusiQual study – carried out in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Queen’s University Belfast, Every Day Harmony Music Therapy, and Marie Curie Northern Ireland – aimed to ascertain the feasibility of carrying out a larger multicentre trial into the effectiveness of music therapy in improving the quality of life of palliative care inpatients. This synoptic paper summarises a number of publications which resulted from developing and implementing the MusiQual study. Those publications include the main findings paper (Porter et al., 2018) and a number of supplementary publications: a systematic review of the literature (McConnell et al., 2016a), a realist review of the literature (McConnell & Porter, 2016), a critical realist evaluation (Porter et al., 2017a), an outline of the theoretical model which resulted from the realist review of the literature (McConnell & Porter, 2016), and the treatment manual for music therapy in palliative care drafted for use in the potential multicentre trial and recently published (Kirkwood et al., 2019). The purpose of this synopsis is to consolidate information in one single, accessible place in order to advance knowledge in this area of work and support the evidence-informed practice of music therapists and others in this field

Casimir force between sharp-shaped conductors

Casimir forces between conductors at the sub-micron scale cannot be ignored in the design and operation of micro-electromechanical (MEM) devices. However, these forces depend non-trivially on geometry, and existing formulae and approximations cannot deal with realistic micro-machinery components with sharp edges and tips. Here, we employ a novel approach to electromagnetic scattering, appropriate to perfect conductors with sharp edges and tips, specifically to wedges and cones. The interaction of these objects with a metal plate (and among themselves) is then computed systematically by a multiple-scattering series. For the wedge, we obtain analytical expressions for the interaction with a plate, as functions of opening angle and tilt, which should provide a particularly useful tool for the design of MEMs. Our result for the Casimir interactions between conducting cones and plates applies directly to the force on the tip of a scanning tunneling probe; the unexpectedly large temperature dependence of the force in these configurations should attract immediate experimental interest