Screening and Identifying Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Public School System: The Development of a Model Process

Heightened public awareness of autism and increased prevalence estimates of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has generated a sense of urgency within the public school system to identify children with these disorders for targeted intervention. Two multidisciplinary groups of professionals, one each from two separate school districts, were identified and trained to provide diagnostic and consultative services. This paper outlines a model process for school personnel to develop a basic level of training and competence in recognizing and serving students who have an ASD by (1) providing an overview of the legal and clinical issues involved in screening for children with ASD within the school system, (2) defining a school-based professional training process and (3) outlining a school-based ASD screening process.     

"Maturational lag" hypothesis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: an update

This article discusses the relationship of maturation to ADHD and hyperkinetic disorder (HKD), with an emphasis on current research in ADHD and HKD, persistence and remission of ADHD symptoms over time and brain maturational trajectories.

Conclusion: ADHD is a broad, heterogeneous syndrome and only a subgroup of subjects has a diagnosis of HKD, which is a subset of individuals with severe ADHD combined subtype. Children showing symptoms above the threshold for a diagnosis of ADHD are at risk of developing comorbid conditions and increasing stress in both parents and teachers. In some subjects, ADHD symptoms can improve over time during maturation and development. These children with a diagnosis of ADHD could be viewed as showing variants of normal childhood behaviour with maturational trajectories that are lagging behind but will catch up. ADHD could therefore represent a continuum from normality at one extreme to a severe disorder, HKD according to ICD-10, at the other extreme.     

The mental health of crime victims: impact of legal intervention

In the aftermath of crime, victims must decide whether to seek justice. An encounter with the legal system offers major potential benefits to crime victims, but also exposes them to significant risks. Victims who file civil or criminal complaints are subject to the rules and procedures of a complex legal system, where their mental health and safety may be of marginal concern, and where the potential for retraumatization may be high. This paper reviews the social and psychological barriers that discourage victim participation in the legal system, and existing studies that document the impact of participation on victims' mental health. Prospective longitudinal research focusing on victims in the legal system is recommended.     

Bio-phobias/techno-philias: virtual reality exposure as treatment for phobias of 'nature'

In modern society natural objects like spiders or snakes have a primary role as the loci of specific phobias. Drawing on interviews with members of the UK National Phobics Society (NPS) and associated service providers, this paper explores the implications of the increasingly significant role played by new media, particularly Virtual Reality technologies, in the treatment of these 'bio-phobias'. While advanced technological approaches provide new possibilities for individual sufferers to experiment with and control their phobic responses they also exemplify certain aspects of those specifically modern social relations that are the media within which bio-phobic behaviours develop. From a critical sociological perspective the techno-philic move to the medium of cyber-space may actually exaggerate characteristically modern social relations that seek (but never convincingly manage) to assert complete 'cultural' control over the unpredictable 'natural' elements threatening our cultural integrity.     

"天癸"本质及其作用探讨

以《黄帝内经》原文为依据,论定前人精气、精血与天癸不能混为一谈。从其物质性来看,天癸是先天肾气化生的、标志着生殖功能成熟的生殖信息类物质;从其功能性来看,天癸具有人体内部生殖功能的动力性调节作用。所以,天癸既是一个物质和功能的统一体,又是对其统一性的抽象概括。     

The Effect of Legal and Hospital Policies on Physician Response to Prenatal Substance Exposure

Objectives: To determine the influence of a state's legal environment and a hospital's Prenatal Substance Exposure (PSE) protocol on physicians' propensity to respond when prenatal substance exposure is suspected. Methods: Using a sample of 1367 physicians from every state and the District of Columbia, we formulate a set of linear models to determine the impact of the legal environment and hospital protocol on physicians' response to PSE, the agreement between physicians' perceptions and actual state legal environments, and physicians' motivation to act when PSE is suspected. Results: Both protocol and legal environment showed to be significantly correlated with physicians' propensity to take action when PSE is suspected (p < 0.05). Our analysis shows that physicians prefer a public health (patient-centered) approach to more punitive measures. Conclusions: Our results suggest a policy strategy focused first on enacting laws that would encourage a patient-centered approach, by developing and using hospital protocols to implement state policy, and then on educating physicians about the actual legal environment.     

The parturient woman: can there be room for more than ‘one person with full and equal rights inside a single human skin’*?

AIMS OF THE PAPER: The aim of the paper is to raise awareness around the legal and ethical issues involved in the enforcement of caesarean sections on non-consenting women. The paper considers the competing rights of mother and foetus in situations where a mother's wishes may result in harm or death to the foetus. BACKGROUND/RATIONALE: In this light of various court decisions about enforcing caesarean sections, the paper examines the pertinent legal and ethical issues, recognising that health professionals need to operate within an explicit legal and ethical framework. Content. The arguments about a woman's right to autonomous decision-making and a foetus' absolute right to life are examined with the focus throughout being on the legal framework. The need for health professionals to work within this as well as to avoid the temptation to base individual clinical decisions or professional behaviour on subjective moral judgements is emphasized. The attitudes of the judiciary are considered along with recent legal developments. There is an analysis of the way in which established legal principle is sometimes circumvented to override a woman's right to autonomy. The part played by lawyers and health professionals in denying a woman's competence to consent in order to achieve an outcome of which they approve is critically appraised. The basis for the decisions in these cases is deconstructed, along with a discussion of the role of health professionals in contributing to the dilemmas highlighted. CONCLUSION: It is essential that nurses or midwives caring for pregnant women have a full understanding of the legal and ethical issues surrounding this complicated and emotive area and where they, as health professionals, fit within this. The subject matter is also a useful arena for debating such ethical and legal issues as capacity and competence to consent as well as the extent of the right of any patient to full autonomy.     

中国艺术的宇宙精神

中国艺术意境的“情景交融”反映了中华民族“独与天地精神往来”或“天人合一”的宇宙精神。庄子的“天人合一”观具有真正的美学性质。它不仅把中国艺术家引向无限广阔的山水自然 ,使他们从中汲取永不枯竭的生命饮料,而且为中国古典艺术形成整体的、时空自由的意境特点确定了审美心理原则。受庄子(包括禅宗)美学思想的影响 ,中国艺术总体趋向于一种宝贵的纯美境界。     

Epidemiology of occupational injuries and illnesses in a university population: a focus on age and gender differences

BACKGROUND: Occupational injuries and illnesses are a major preventable public health problem. METHODS: This study evaluated the incidence, nature, and cause of awarded workers' compensation claims for a large state university and teaching hospital. Rates and types of injury were compared across age and gender. RESULTS: Rates of injury varied over twofold with age, with those 16-25 having the lowest rates of injury and those 36-45 having the highest rates. Claims rates were 1.36-fold higher for women than men. Women had higher rates for injury resulting from lifting, falling, noxious exposures, repetitive motion, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Similarly women had significantly higher rates of claims for pain, sprains, bruises, burns, concussion, and inhalation injury; with lower rates of cuts, ligament injury, and jammed joints. CONCLUSIONS: These group differences suggest the need to examine age and gender job distributions and relevant ergonomic and environmental causative factors.     

医疗行为、非法行医及非医疗消费性服务之比较界定

搞清楚医疗行为与非医疗的消费性服务行为之间的区别，明确医疗行为区别于非法行医的法律内涵具有现实意义。对医疗行为主体和内容的严格限制是区分医疗行为与非法行医的关键：医疗行为与非医疗的消费性服务行为之间在实施主体、行为内容和性质、损害的归责和赔偿原则上都有着本质的区别。