Isolated Rosai-Dorfman disease of intracranial meninges

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a non-neoplastic proliferative histiocytic disorder that primarily affects lymph nodes (sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy). Primary RDD of the central nervous system is most uncommon. We report on a 35-year-old man with isolated RDD of the meninges overlying the left cerebral hemisphere. Presenting signs and symptoms included severe progressive ipsilateral headaches of 4 months duration, as well as laboratory evidence of mild non-specific systemic inflammatory reaction. On magnetic resonance imaging, the lesion was seen as a contrast-enhancing, plaque-like thickening of the dura mater over the left convexity,without impinging on adjacent bone or cerebral parenchyma. Meningeal biopsy revealed a mixed mononuclear infiltrate dominated by CD68(+), S100(+), CD1a(-) non-Langerhans type histiocytes on a background of fibrosis. Bacteria, in particular mycobacteria, and fungi were excluded with special stains. Extensive clinical workup, encompassing computed tomography of thoracal and abdominal organs, bone marrow biopsy, and bronchoalveolar lavage failed to reveal any extracranial involvement. Laboratory tests for autoimmunity, including C- and P-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, antinuclear antibody, and serum rheumatoid factor, were negative. Methylprednisolone therapy induced complete remission of symptoms, with the neuroradiologic status remaining unchanged on follow-up after 2 months. We discuss the complex clinicopathologic differential diagnosis and therapeutic issues of this rare condition. While the correct diagnosis of central nervous system RDD is unlikely to be established without invasive procedures (biopsy), a conservative therapeutic approach may be considered a legitimate option.

Cognitive Interventions with Children with Special Needs - Transfer effects and multidisciplinary perspectives

Our last study with regularly developed children demonstrated a positive effect of working memory training on cognitive abilities. Building upon these findings, the aim of this multidisciplinary study is to investigate the effects of training of core functions with children who are suffering from different learning disabilities, like AD/HD, developmental dyslexia or specific language impairment. In addition to working memory training (BrainTwister), we apply a perceptual training, which concentrates on auditory-visual matching (Audilex), as well as an implicit concept learning task. We expect differential improvements of mental capacities, specifically of executive functions (working memory, attention, auditory and visual processing), scholastic abilities (language and mathematical skills), as well as of problem solving. With that, we hope to find further directions regarding helpful and individually adapted interventions in educational settings. Interested parties are invited to discuss and comment the design, the research question, and the possibilities in recruiting the subjects.

Do Classes in Cooperative Classrooms Have a Positive Influence on Creativity and Teamwork Skills for Engineering Students?

Contributing to the acquisition of professional creativity and teamwork skills has been a special challenge for some of the subjects taught at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), and this has been a starting point for the work described in this paper. Some professors have intuited that the use of cooperative classrooms could facilitate the acquisition of these skills. We describe the new methodologies applied within cooperative classrooms by some professors, and present the procedure for measuring students’ perception of their own learning outcomes, skill improvements, and overall satisfaction with the use of this kind of classroom. For this project, 250 students enrolled in several subjects answered a questionnaire. The featuresof thesubjectsinvolved intheproject arewidely disparate. We present the results of the statistical analysis with special emphasis on creativity and teamwork skills, and we conclude that the use of cooperative classroom has a positive influence on the acquisition of these skills. This work has the added value of being the first analysis of student perception of the use of cooperative classroom in the acquisition of creativity and teamwork skills.

Inclusive education in Spain: how do skills, resources, and supports affect regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion?

This study examined regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion in elementary and secondary schools in Spain and how these perceptions may differ depending on teaching experience, skills, and the availability of resources and supports. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to draw a representative sample of 336 general education teachers (68 kindergarten, 133 elementary, and 135 secondary teachers) from the province of Alicante. The results indicated the acceptance of the principles of inclusion, although teacher skills, time, material resources, and personal supports for inclusion were deemed insufficient. Kindergarten and elementary teachers showed more positive perceptions of inclusion than secondary education teachers, and so did teachers with more personal supports and material resources than those with less supports and resources. The results are discussed in terms of its implications for practice in order to promote more inclusive classrooms in Spain.

Extending Working Lives: A comparative analysis of how governments influence lifelong learning, CEPS Special Report No. 111, July 2015

This report offers a comparative policy study on adult learning within the scope of complementary research conducted by Beblavý et al. (2013) on how people upgrade their skills during their adult lifetimes. To achieve our objectives, we identified regulatory policies and financial support in 11 countries for two main categories of learning: formal higher education and employer-based training. Drawing upon the results of the country reports carried out by our partners in the MoPAct project, we found that in none of the countries examined is there an ‘older student’ policy. In most cases grants and financial support are awarded only up until a certain age. In all of the countries studied, standard undergraduate and post-graduate studies are available for part-time students. The distribution of full-time students and part-time students in tertiary education varies from one country to another as well as from one age group to another. The participation in full-time tertiary education programmes decreases with the age of students. In Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and the UK, there are no mandatory policies to ensure employer-based training. However, in Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, employer-based training is more clearly regulated and the employers might have obligations to provide training for their staff. Taking into consideration Beblavý et al. (2013), we observe that comparative differences across countries can be related to policy differences only in some cases. The policy framework seems to impact more the employer-based training than the educational attainment (upgrade of ISCED level). In Denmark, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Poland, we find a perfect match between policy outcomes and the results of Beblavý et al. (2013) related to employer-based training. This is not the case in the United Kingdom, where the two aspects observed are not correlated.

(Table 1) Pigments isolated from DSDP Leg 56 Holes

A relatively well documented record of intermediate and late chlorophyll diagenesis in marine sediments now exists. Intermediate diagenetic stages include conversion of chlorins to DPEP-series porphyrins and subsequent chelation with nickel, vanadyl, and, in special cases, copper. Increasing thermal stress leads to etio-series generation and transalkylation (Baker, 1969; Baker and Smith, 1975; Baker et al., 1977; Palmer and Baker, in press). In contrast, the early transformations of clorophyll are still largely unknown. Very early diagenetic reactions must certainly include loss of magnesium, deesterification, decarboxylation, reduction of ring-conjugating groups, and finally, oxidative-aromatization of carbons 7 and 8 in ring IV to yield free-base porphyrins (Baker and Smith, 1973; Smith and Baker, 1974). Chlorins (7,8-dihydroporphyrins) are very difficult to isolate and identify, because of hydrocarbon impurities which absorb in the blue to violet region of the electromagnetic spectrum and which co-chromatograph with the pigments. Further complications possibly can arise from artifact formation during isolation. In the present study, twelve DSDP Leg 56 core samples, ranging in sub-bottom depth from 4 to 420 meters and in age from Pleistocene to middle Miocene, were analyzed for tetrapyrrole pigments. Chlorins, in concentrations ranging from about 4 to less than 0.002 µg/g sediment, wet weight, were the only tetrapyrroles found. A carotenoid (tetraterpene) was isolated from Section 434-1-3.

Impact study on driving by special populations, final report. Volume I - conduct of the project and state of the art.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

We are special, just the way we are!Listening to children's voices in an Inclusive Multicultural Environment

The aim of this research is to provide insight into how middle school learners experience an inclusive multicultural learning environment. Increasing diversity is challenging European educational systems, which have the arduous task to foster inclusion of learners with diverse educational needs. In order to explore the participants’ descriptions, a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with six learners was employed. Learners’ positions in the educational scenery are central and unique; they are the main experts on their own situations and therefore precious contributors to educational research. Results have been discussed according to a sociocultural perspective. The analysis of my data suggests that the learners perceive their inclusive environment as beneficial. Moreover, they perceive their cultural diversity as strength, reckon social interaction and teamwork with peers as favorable conditions for learning, feel competent in multicultural communication and believe that respect and acceptance towards others are necessary common values. Some implications of multiculturalism in special education are discussed according to the results of a recent European study, which shows that in all the participating European countries, Sweden included, there is a consistent discrepancy in the proportions of learners with immigrant background within special education. Assessment methods developed for mono-cultural learners appear to be a valid reason why multicultural learners are over-or under-represented in special education. Research also shows that inclusion of diversity in educational environment enables the development of social skills in all learners.

Literacy skills of adults with intellectual disability in community-based day programs

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. There is limited information available related to the literacy skills of adults with intellectual disabilities. In this project, information was collected about the contexts, current practices, and clients' abilities in literacy in two community-based disability service programs. Individual assessments were undertaken to collect details of the current literacy levels of adults with intellectual disabilities in day program settings. These assessments focused on receptive language, reading at the letter, word and sentence level, writing vocabulary and connected text, and literacy preferences. Audits were also conducted related to the provision of opportunities for clients accessing these services to engage with literacy including environmental print. Structured day program activities were observed to gather information about current literacy teaching and learning. Implications of the research findings and suggestions for provision of literacy education in these settings are discusse

'I never imagined I'd have to teach these children': Providing authentic learning experiences for secondary pre-service teachers in teaching students with special needs

This article describes a collaborative and cross-curricula initiative undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The project involved developing an integrated approach to providing professional year pre-service secondary teacher education students with experiences that would assist them to develop their knowledge and skills to teach students with special needs in their classrooms. These experiences were undertaken in the authentic teaching and learning context of a post-school literacy program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. In preliminary interviews pre-service teachers revealed that they lacked experience, knowledge and understanding related to teaching students with special needs, and felt that their teacher education program lacked focus in this field. This project was developed in response to these expressed needs. Through participating in the project, pre-service teachers' knowledge and understanding about working with students with diverse learning needs were developed as they undertook real and purposeful tasks in an authentic context.

General practitioners with special interests: risk of a good thing becoming bad?

There is a long tradition of some general practitioners developing areas of special interest within their mainstream generalist practice. General practice is now becoming increasingly fragmented, with core components being delivered as separate and standalone services (eg, travel medicine, skin cancer, women's health). Although this fragmentation seems to meet a need for some patients and doctors, potential problems need careful consideration and response. These include loss of generalist skills among GPs, fewer practitioners working in less well-remunerated areas, such as nursing home visits, and issues related to standards of care and training.

The bright and dark sides of individual and group innovation:A Special Issue introduction

This introduction essay proposes a challenging program for researchers eager to explore factors and process mechanisms contributing to the benefits and costs individuals and groups incur from pursuing innovative approaches. With respect to individual innovation, such moderating factors might be found in the characteristics of the innovative idea, the innovator, co-workers, supervisors, the broader organizational context, and in national culture. Examples of factors that are likely to shape the beneficial and detrimental outcomes of group innovation include knowledge, skills and ability of group members, group tenure, diversity among group members, group processes (clarifying group objectives, participation, constructive management of competing perspectives), and external demands on groups. This Special Issue contains a state-of-the-science paper, three articles dealing with the benefits and costs of individual innovation, and three articles addressing the bright and dark sides of group innovation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reading skills are related to global, but not local, acoustic pattern perception

Although reading ability has been related to the processing of simple pitch features such as isolated transitions or continuous modulation spoken language also contains complex patterns of pitch changes that are important for establishing stress location and for segmenting the speech stream. These aspects of spoken language processing depend critically on pitch pattern (global structure) rather than on absolute pitch values (local structure). Here we show that the detection of global structure, and not local structure, is predictive of performance on measures of phonological skill and reading ability, which supports a critical importance of pitch contour processing in the acquisition of literacy.

Aspects of the learner's dictionary with special reference to advanced Pakistani learners of English

The present work is an empirical investigation into the lq`reference skills' of Pakistani learners and their language needs on semantic, phonetic, lexical and pragmatic levels in the dictionary. The introductory chapter discusses the relatively problematic nature of lexis in comparison with the other aspects in EFL learning and spells out the aim of this study. Chapter two provides an analytical survey of the various types of research undertaken in different contexts of the dictionary and explains the eclectic approach adopted in the present work. Chapter three studies the `reference skills' of this category of learners in the background of highly sophisticated information structure of learners' dictionaries under evaluation and suggests some measures for improvement in this context. Chapter four considers various criteria, eg. pedagogic, linguistic and sociolinguistic for determining the macro-structure of learner's dictionary with a focus on specific Ll speakers. Chapter five is concerned with various aspects of the semantic information provided in the dictionaries matched against the needs of Pakistani learners with regard to both comprehension and production. The type, scale and presentation of grammatical information in the dictionary is analysed in chapter six with the object of discovering their role and utility for the learner. Chapter seven explores the rationale for providing phonological information, the extent to which this guidance is vital and the problems of phonetic symbols employed in the dictionaries. Chapter eight brings into perspective the historical background of English-Urdu bilingual lexicography and evalutes the currently popular bilingual dictionaries among the student community, with the aim of discovering the extent to which they have taken account of the modern tents of lexicography and investigating their validity as a useful reference tool in the learning of English language. The final chapter concludes the findings of individual aspects in a coherent fashion to assess the viability of the original hypothesis that learners' dictionaries if compiled with a specific set of users in mind would be more useful.