Problematic students of NASP‐approved programs: An exploratory study of graduate student views

This study reports the findings of an electronic exploratory survey of National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Student Representatives. The purpose of the survey was to gather information about the perspective of graduate students concerning problematic peers and their experiences with them in school psychology training programs. Findings suggest that (a) students are unsure whether or not their training programs have an official procedure in place for dealing with problematic students; (b) the problems they observe most commonly involve poor interpersonal skills; (c) consistent with other mental health programs, school psychology graduate students most often talk with their peers or avoid contact with the problematic peer when they have concerns rather than go to faculty; (d) the majority (49.4%) of the respondents feel that faculty or training directors have the most responsibility for the identification of problematic peers but that students have an ethical duty to provide information to the teaching staff if they feel they have a reason to believe there is a problem of which the faculty is unaware. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The importance of having a flexible scope ISO 15189 accreditation and quality specifications based on biological variation – the case of validation of the biochemistry analyzer Dimension Vista

Introduction

Technological innovation requires the laboratories to ensure that modifications or incorporations of new techniques do not alter the quality of their results. In an ISO 15189 accredited laboratory, flexible scope accreditation facilitates the inclusion of these changes prior to accreditation body evaluation. A strategy to perform the validation of a biochemistry analyzer in an accredited laboratory having a flexible scope is shown.

Materials and methods:

A validation procedure including the evaluation of imprecision and bias of two Dimension Vista analysers 1500 was conducted. Comparability of patient results between one of them and the lately replaced Dimension RxL Max was evaluated. All studies followed the respective Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) protocols. 30 chemistry assays were studied. Coefficients of variation, percent bias and total error were calculated for all tests and biological variation was considered as acceptance criteria. Quality control material and patient samples were used as test materials. Interchangeability of the results was established by processing forty patients’ samples in both devices.

Results:

27 of the 30 studied parameters met allowable performance criteria. Sodium, chloride and magnesium did not fulfil acceptance criteria. Evidence of interchangeability of patient results was obtained for all parameters except magnesium, NT-proBNP, cTroponin I and C-reactive protein.

Conclusions:

A laboratory having a well structured and documented validation procedure can opt to get a flexible scope of accreditation. In addition, performing these activities prior to use on patient samples may evidence technical issues which must be corrected to minimize their impact on patient results.     

The Framing Years: Policy Fundamentals in the Internet Design Process, 1969–1979

Those responsible for the technical decision making that created the Internet found they had to think through a number of social policy issues, from privacy and intellectual property rights through the definition of common carriage and environmental problems, along the way. Such issues were framed by conceptualizations of the nature of the network, goals to be served by the network, users and uses of the network, and the design criteria that served as policy principles developed during the early years of the design process. This article examines such policy fundamentals as they developed through the technical document series that records the Internet design process, the Internet Requests for Comments (RFCs) during the first decade of that process, 1969–1979.     

Improving Direct‐Care Staff Consistency in a Residential Treatment Program through the Use of Self‐Recording and Feedback

A program for increasing staff effectiveness in implementing a group home behaviour management program was evaluated. The program consisted of self‐recording and supervisor feedback. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate staff consistency in four skill areas; implementing response cost for the occurrence of physical aggression, implementing response cost for the occurrence of verbal aggression, setting guidelines for successful task completion, and providing feedback to residents. Staff increased consistency in all four areas following intervention. A one week follow‐up demonstrated short‐term maintenance of intervention effects. Results are discussed with reference to future training procedures.     

Effects of 6-month soccer and traditional physical activity programmes on body composition,cardiometabolic risk factors,inflammatory, oxidative stress markers and cardiorespiratory fitness in obese boys

Physical activity is important in obesity prevention, but the effectiveness of different physical activity modalities remains to be determined among children. The main purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a 6-month soccer programme and a traditional physical activity programme on changes in body composition, cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory and oxidative markers, cardiorespiratory fitness and perceived psychological status in obese boys. Eighty-eight boys (8–12 years; BMI > +2 standard deviations of WHO reference values) participated in one of three groups: soccer, traditional activity and control. Soccer and traditional activity programmes involved 3 sessions per week for 60–90 min at an average intensity of 70–80% of maximal heart rate. Control group participated in activities of normal daily living. All boys participated in school physical education, two sessions per week of 45–90-min. Measurements were taken at baseline and after 6 months, and included body size and composition, cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory and oxidative markers, cardiorespiratory fitness and perceived psychological status. Physical activity and dietary intake were assessed before and immediately following the intervention. The three groups had similar characteristics at baseline. After 6 months, both intervention groups had significantly lower relative fatness (% fat), waist circumference and total cholesterol, and higher cardiorespiratory fitness, self-esteem, perceived physical competence and attraction to physical activity compared with control group. In conclusion, physical activity interventions over 6 months positively influenced several indicators of health status among obese boys. The results also suggested that soccer has the potential as an effective tool for the prevention and reduction of childhood obesity and associated consequences.