Parental sensitivity and attachment in children with autism spectrum disorder: comparison with children with mental retardation, with language delays, and with typical development

This study on sensitivity and attachment included 55 toddlers and their parents. Samples included children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), mental retardation, language delay, and typical development. Children were diagnosed at 4 years of age. Two years before diagnosis, attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure, and parental sensitivity and child involvement during free play were assessed with the Emotional Availability Scale. Parents of children with ASD were equally sensitive as parents of children without ASD, but their children showed more attachment disorganization and less child involvement. More sensitive parents had more secure children, but only in the group without ASD. Less severe autistic symptoms in the social domain predicted more attachment security. Autism challenges the validity of attachment theory.     

A global questionnaire survey of the scholarly communication attitudes and behaviours of early career researchers

This article describes an international study informed by a 3‐year‐long qualitative longitudinal project, which sought to discover the scholarly communication attitudes and behaviour of early career researchers (ECRs). Using a combination of small‐scale interviews and a larger‐scale survey, ECRs were questioned on their searching and reading behaviour, publishing practices, open data, and their use of social media. Questionnaire invitations were sent out via publisher lists, social media networks, university research networks, and specialist ECR membership organizations. One‐thousand and six‐hundred responses were received, with many coming from China, Russia, and Poland. Results showed that ECRs are adopting millennial‐facing tools/platforms, with Google, Google Scholar, social media, and smartphones becoming embedded in their scholarly activities. Open data sharing obtains widespread support but somewhat less practice. There are some differences in attitudes and behaviour according to age and subject specialism.     

生态社会的呼吁

我们需要创造一个走向生态纪元的社会!这种创造产生手布莱恩·斯维姆和托马斯·柏励所撰写的宇宙故事：“地球共同体的未来,在某种意义上,依赖于人类所做出的决定。人类已经把自己纳入地球过程的遗传密码之中,而且其程度是如此之深。推崇技术纪元的人,把地球看作资源,未来应该增加对地球的利用,所有一切都应该以人类的利益为中心：推崇生态纪元的人,提倡一种新型的人类与地球的关系,地球共同体的整体安宁是其根本的关注。生态纪元的未来可以解决这两者之间所产生的紧张状态。”     

Type of education and civic and political attitudes

In addition to increasing cognitive skills and preparing students for the labour market, one of the core tasks of education is to prepare citizens for participation in democracy. Considering the ideal of democratic equality, it is important to know the degree to which civic outcomes of education are distributed equally. One feature of the education system that can lead to differential civic outcomes is tracking, that is, the sorting of students into different types of education. In this study, we examine the relationship between type of education (general/academic or vocational) and five attitudinal dimensions of civic and political engagement between the ages of 14 and 49 years in the Netherlands. By using panel data from the Netherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (n = 5,312) and applying linear fixed effects models, we can observe the effect of a transition in the type of education on the within-person change in our outcome variables. The findings demonstrate that transitions in the type of education have little effect on intention to vote, trust in institutions or ethnic tolerance. However, students making transitions in general/academic education develop higher levels of interest in politics and generalised trust than do students in vocational education or people outside the education system. This point suggests that general/academic education fosters civic and political participation.     

The challenges of internationalization from foreign and local students’ perspectives: The case of management school

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to discern the issues pertaining to different dimensions of internationalization from the perspectives of both foreign and local students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 foreign, and 13 local students. The results show that there is a dissonance between policy makers and implementers, and the students themselves on “what a truly international higher education organization” in fact is. Moreover, the results suggest that asymmetrical aims of local and foreign students endanger fulfillment of the academic, social, and cultural rationales behind internationalization. Fulfilling the rationales of internationalization depends not only the adaptability of foreign students to local conditions but also on the priorities, choices and level of commitment of local students, administrative staff, and faculty members to the imperatives of internationalization.     

Expanding doctoral education in South Africa: pipeline or pipedream?

The purpose of this paper is to discuss both the status of the PhD in South Africa and the feasibility of the country's aspiration to increase by fivefold the production of PhDs by 2025. Based on the first empirical studies on doctoral education in South Africa, it argues that in order to move towards this target, an expanded and coordinated effort is necessary. This includes the removal of barriers that hinder the expansion of the South African higher education system. In particular the paper highlights insufficient funding, policy that stands in the way of expansion, scarcity of students, limited supervisory capacity and lack of recognition of the value of the doctorate and higher learning, as well as limited and inadequate partnerships. The main question is whether South Africa can achieve the desired outcome by following international trends or whether the expansion target is merely a pipedream.     

The Professional Development Needs Analysis Questionnaire for Deputy Principals

This article reports on the design of the Professional Development Needs Analysis Questionnaire for Deputy Principals (PDNAQ) to measure the problems they experienced and the skills they needed. In the literature, no validated questionnaire to measure the problems experienced and skills needed by deputy principals in South African schools was found. One hundred and fifty-seven deputy principals in secondary schools in the North-West Province of South Africa participated in the study. Both confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were used to determine the construct validity of the PDNAQ. Fifteen problems and four skills constructs emerged. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. The article concludes that the PDNAQ may be used in similar contexts to determine the problems experienced and skills needed for the professional development of newly-appointed deputy principals.     

Five Methods to Score the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation Checklist and to Examine Group Differences

This study compared 5 scoring methods in terms of their statistical assumptions. They were then used to score the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation Checklist, a measure consisting of 3 subscales and 21 Likert-type items. The 5 methods used were (a) sum/average scores of items, (b) latent factor scores with continuous indicators, (c) latent factor scores with ordered categorical indicators using the mean- and variance-adjusted weighted least squares estimation method, (d) latent factor scores with ordered categorical indicators using the full information maximum likelihood estimation method, and (e) multidimensional graded response model using the Bock-Aitkin expectation-maximization estimation procedure. Measurement invariance between gender groups and between free/reduced-price lunch status groups was evaluated with the second, third, fourth, and fifth methods. Group mean differences based on the 5 methods were calculated and compared.     

Highly accurate deterministic lateral displacement device and its application to purification of fungal spores

We have designed, built, and evaluated a microfluidic device that uses deterministic lateral displacement for size-based separation. The device achieves almost 100% purity and recovery in continuously sorting two, four, and six micrometer microspheres. We have applied this highly efficient device to the purification of fungal (Aspergillus) spores that are spherical (∼4 μm diameter) with a narrow size distribution. Such separation directly from culture using unfiltered A. niger suspensions is difficult due to a high level of debris. The device produces a two to three increase in the ratio of spores to debris as measured by light scatter in a flow cytometer. The procedure is feasible at densities up to 4.4×10⁶ spores∕ml. This is one of the first studies to apply microfluidic techniques to spore separations and has demonstrated that a passive separation system could significantly reduce the amount of debris in a suspension of fungal spores with virtually no loss of spore material.