School experience,relational justice and legitimation of institutional

This study analysis the relationship between perceptions of the justice of teacher’ behaviour and (a) the legitimation of school authority and (b) the legitimation of institutional authorities outside school. 448 adolescent students participated in the study. In questionnaire participants were asked about (a) perceptions of the justice of teachers’ behaviour; (b) evaluation of the school experience; and (c) evaluation of institutional authorities. Results show that the evaluation of the justice of teacher behaviour, in particular relational and procedural justice, have an impact on the legitimation of the authority of teachers and on the evaluation of institutional authorities outside school. Results also show that the legitimacy granted to teachers is a mediator variable between perceptions of justice in school and evaluation of authorities outside school. These results are discussed in the context of the studies on the relationship between school experience and adolescents attitudes towards authorities, and in the framework of the “Relational Model of Authority” and of the “Group Value Model”.     

Co-evolution of physical and social technologies in clinical practice: The case of HIV treatments

In this paper, we investigate the interplay of clinical knowledge and technological capabilities in the recent development of HIV/AIDS treatments and offer qualitative and quantitative evidence from the empirical setting of Italian practice. The study contributes to the literature on the co-evolution of physical and social technologies in medical innovation by showing how professional guidelines, systematic evaluative research and local coordination mechanisms contribute actively to the resolution of the uncertainty that surrounds technological advances, while leaving room for largely discretional therapeutic choices. The resulting variety in implementation strategies improves health outcomes, but may reduce productive efficiency.     

Individual, family, and neighborhood factors distinguish resilient from non-resilient maltreated children: a cumulative stressors model

OBJECTIVE: Children who are physically maltreated are at risk of a range of adverse outcomes in childhood and adulthood, but some children who are maltreated manage to function well despite their history of adversity. Which individual, family, and neighborhood characteristics distinguish resilient from non-resilient maltreated children? Do children's individual strengths promote resilience even when children are exposed to multiple family and neighborhood stressors (cumulative stressors model)? METHODS: Data were from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Study which describes a nationally representative sample of 1,116 twin pairs and their families. Families were home-visited when the twins were 5 and 7 years old, and teachers provided information about children's behavior at school. Interviewers rated the likelihood that children had been maltreated based on mothers' reports of harm to the child and child welfare involvement with the family. RESULTS: Resilient children were those who engaged in normative levels of antisocial behavior despite having been maltreated. Boys (but not girls) who had above-average intelligence and whose parents had relatively few symptoms of antisocial personality were more likely to be resilient versus non-resilient to maltreatment. Children whose parents had substance use problems and who lived in relatively high crime neighborhoods that were low on social cohesion and informal social control were less likely to be resilient versus non-resilient to maltreatment. Consistent with a cumulative stressors model of children's adaptation, individual strengths distinguished resilient from non-resilient children under conditions of low, but not high, family and neighborhood stress. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that for children residing in multi-problem families, personal resources may not be sufficient to promote their adaptive functioning.     

Nanocontainer aqueous systems for removing polymeric materials from marble surfaces: A new and promising tool in cultural heritage conservation

The present study dealt with the characterisation of marble surfaces coated by three kinds of polymeric material usually employed in stones conservation and with the evaluation of the removal of these coatings from the surfaces by means of new nanocontainer aqueous systems constituted of micellar solutions (MS) and oil-in-water microemulsions (MC). The polymeric coatings were also subjected to accelerated artificial ageing in order to detect possible effects associated to natural photochemical ageing. The aim of the work was the assessment of the performance of such nanocontainer aqueous systems taking acetone (Ac) as a reference “traditional” solvent for the removal procedure. The characterisation was carried out by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopies and the results obtained showed that the performance of these innovative methods based on nanocontainer aqueous systems can be considered highly promising in the view of a “green approach” to the conservation of cultural heritage.     

Educational program on evaluation of alleged sexual abuse victims

Increased awareness of the problem of child sexual abuse has resulted in increasing numbers of children presenting to professionals for the evaluation of possible sexual victimization. A multidisciplinary project to develop professionals' knowledge and skills in the identification and evaluation of possible victims is described. The program focused on the child as a victim and emphasized developmental perspectives with regard to identification, interviewing children, the medical examination, and children in the legal system. Fifty-one medical and social work professionals from ten Indiana counties attended the program and responded to questionnaires about their experience and knowledge. Of 40 (78%) respondents, 63% had had no previous training in the medical evaluation for child sexual abuse. Child protective workers referred alleged victims primarily to the child's regular physician (37%) or emergency room (31%) for medical examination. Knowledge about child sexual abuse improved significantly at two weeks postsymposium (p = .001) and remained improved at six months postsymposium (p less than .02). These original participants have subsequently organized similar multidisciplinary programs in their local communities for medical, social, law enforcement, and legal professionals; thus, they have been "seeds" for further educational and cooperative efforts throughout the state.     

The effect of ball carrying method on sprint speed in rugby union football players

Different methods of ball carrying can be used when a player runs with the ball in rugby union. We examined how three methods of ball carrying influenced sprinting speed: using both hands, under the left arm and under the right arm. These methods were compared with running without the ball. Our aim was to determine which method of ball carrying optimizes sprinting speed. Altogether, 48 rugby union players (age 21 +/- 2 years, height 1.83 +/- 0.1 m, body mass 85.3 +/- 12 kg, body fat 14 +/- 5%; mean +/- s) were recruited. The players performed twelve 30-m sprints in total (each player performed three trials under each of three methods of carrying the ball and sprinting without the ball). The design of the study was a form of Latin rectangle, balanced across the trial order for each of the methods and for pairwise combinations of the methods in blocks of four per trial. Each sprint consisted of a 10-m rolling start, followed by a 20-m timed section using electronic timing gates. Compared with sprinting 20 m without the ball (2.58 +/- 0.16 s), using both hands (2.62 +/- 0.16 s) led to a significantly slower time (P < 0.05). Sprinting 20 m with the ball under the left arm (2.61 +/- 0.15 s) or under the right arm (2.60 +/- 0.17 s) was significantly quicker than when using 'both hands' (P < 0.05), and both these methods were significantly slower than when running without the ball (P < 0.05). Accordingly, running with the ball in both hands led to the greatest decrement in sprinting performance, although carrying the ball under one arm also reduced the players' sprinting ability. Our results indicate that to gain a speed advantage players should carry the ball under one arm.     

Quality Assessment, Student Need, and Pastoral Care at the University of Strathclyde

For young people moving from school to higher education, the continued provision of high quality pastoral care should be an important consideration. However, though all institutions provide some sort of service, its quality can vary significantly. Even where provision has been good, it has normally been seen as a 'bolt‐on' extra, rather than something central to the student's experience. At the University of Strathclyde, a key element in the creation of a more effective and integrated approach has been the development of the personal tutor role into that of the more clearly defined and structured one of Academic Counsellor.     

Reducing Risk for Substance Use by Economically Disadvantaged Young Men: Positive Family Environments and Pathways to Educational Attainment

Using prospective, longitudinal data spanning 10 years (age = 10–20) from a study of 295 economically disadvantaged males, the current investigation evaluated a developmental model that links early family environment and later educational aspirations, extracurricular activities, and educational attainment to substance use in early adulthood. The results indicate that a positive family environment during adolescence (low family conflict, high family warmth, and effective child management) predicted educational involvements during adolescence that promoted educational attainment during early adulthood. Finally, higher levels of educational attainment were associated with less substance use in early adulthood, even after controlling for adolescent substance use. These findings suggest that positive parenting promotes educational achievements that increase resilience to substance use for economically disadvantaged males.     

Revisiting Zhang’s scale of transactional distance: refinement and validation using structural equation modeling

Transactional distance has been defined as barriers to students’ engagement with learning in the online environment. This research updates Zhang’s (2003) scale of transactional distance, which quantified the extent of the barriers, in light of the massive changes in today’s web-based learning environment. The resulting revised scale of transactional distance (RSTD) is a parsimonious version with 12 elements (compared to 31 original) that measure the transactional distance between student and teacher, student and student, and student and content. The RSTD has excellent factorial validity and reliability, yields better fit statistics, and is easier and less time-consuming to apply. The transactional distance values are unique predictors of student satisfaction, which is correlated to learning and persistence (a major concern with massive open online courses). This information can form the basis for a systematic approach to improving the design of today’s contemporary open, flexible, distance education courses and thus serve as a valuable tool for researchers and educators alike.