Search results

This paper aims to establish a method to verify in real time the quality of a part being built using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS).

A SLS build of 30 Nylon 12 tensile bars was done while using an infrared camera to record the thermal history of each bar. The thermal history was then compared to the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of each bar. In addition, an attempt was made to identify where the fracture of each bar occurred based on its thermal history.

Several analysis techniques were used to compare the thermal history of each bar to its UTS. The strongest correlation found was 0.746. In addition, multiple strategies for predicting the break location where used, with the most successful making a correct prediction on 46 per cent of the bars.

This paper studies the feasibility of in-situ build verification, a technique that if successful would greatly help the further adoption of SLS as a method of manufacturing.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach within the guidance of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) to meaningfully include people diagnosed with dementia (PDwD) in research endeavours.

As part of a broader study of self-authored narratives of care experiences, PDwD were involved in the development and implementation of a process method of consent, in which consent conversations were contextual, responsive and ongoing, and were audited with the use of field diaries.

Working within people’s relational contexts (i.e. care staff and family), eight participants with a range of dementia diagnoses and care needs made and verbally communicated research-related decisions. A desire to participate was consistently conveyed across research encounters, regardless of the extent of memory problems. Participants also demonstrated keen awareness of the links between memory problems, rights and inclusion, alongside a sense of personal identity and the capacities to clearly communicate this.

A process model of consent encouraged formal reflection upon ethical and pragmatic complexities, and is relevant to persons diagnosed with dementia making both care- and research-related decisions. Further work is needed to include people with a broader range of communication support needs.

This research demonstrates substantial possibilities for eliciting and responding to the views of people with dementia diagnoses (previously excluded from research). Results open opportunities for genuine long-term research and care partnerships with PDwD for practice, service and policy development.

While studies on service users’ participation and their perceptions on the quality of services exist, agreement between family members’ and practitioners’ assessments of the family’s situation has received less interest. The purpose of this paper is to investigate agreement and its effect on outcomes by comparing the viewpoints of three groups of informants (children, mothers and practitioners) in the context of statutory child protection in two study groups – one applying a systemic approach (SPM) and a service-as-usual control group (SAU).

A quasi-experimental repeated-measures study design was applied. Outcome data comprised 112 cases (SPM cases n = 56 and SAU cases n = 56) at three sites. Data was collected from all participants at baseline and six months later.

First, practitioners’ analyses of a child’s need for protection did not meet family members’ expressed need for help. Second, child–mother agreement on the need for service intervention at T1 predicted a decrease in practitioner-assessed abuse or neglect from T1 to T2. In this sample, no differences were found between the two groups.

This study highlights the importance of making explicit the viewpoints of children, parents and practitioners in casework and research to improve understanding of how their perspectives differ over the course of the process and how possible initial disagreements affect outcomes.

Autism spectrum disorder is a kind of neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of sensory integration intervention on emotional-behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder.

This research was conducted in a pretest-posttest design with control group. The participants were 30 children with autism spectrum disorder (6–11 years old) who were selected through convenience sampling from among children with autism spectrum disorder in Zeinab center of Isfahan and were randomly divided into two groups of 15 subjects. The children of the experimental group received 14 sessions of sensory integration intervention while the control group did not receive this intervention. To measure emotional-behavioral problems, the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition was used. To analyze the data, ANCOVA and MANCOVA tests were used.

The results showed that sensory integration intervention improves emotional-behavioral problems and its subscales (hyperactivity, aggression, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, somatization, attention problems, learning difficulties, atypicality and withdrawal) in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Therefore, it can be concluded that sensory integration intervention can be a suitable treatment for reducing sensory problems and improving emotional-behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder.

The study of the effect of sensory integration on emotional-behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder is necessary as a simple and non-side-effect educational and therapeutic method, both as a step to fill the research gap in this field, besides being a cheap and affordable way for improving the various skills of children with autism spectrum disorder for professionals, teachers, parents and educators.

The National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) recognizes that there is a tendency for the term “PDS” (Professional Development School) to be used as a catch-all for various relationships that constitute school–university partnership work. The intent of this NAPDS statement is to assert the essentials, or fundamental qualities, of a PDS. NAPDS encourages all those working in school–university relationships to embrace the Nine Essentials of PDSs communicated in this statement. The Essentials are written in tangible, rather than abstract, language and represent practical goals toward which work in a PDS should be directed.

Policy statement.

NAPDS maintains that these Nine Essentials need to be present for a school-university relationship to be called a PDS. Without having all nine, the relationship that exists between a school/district and college/university, albeit however strong, would not be a PDS. How individual PDSs meet these essentials will vary from location to location, but they all need to be in place to justify the use of the term “PDS.”

For those in established PDSs, some aspects of this document will be confirmed, while other aspects may be identified as needing attention. For those aspiring to establish PDSs, the authors offer this statement as a useful guide for their work. NAPDS invites individuals involved in school–university partnerships to share this statement with colleagues in the spirit of continuous improvement. By coming to terms with the challenges and opportunities inherent in this statement, the study can collectively fulfill the vision of this remarkable and distinct partnership called PDS.

This policy statement articulates how the Nine Essentials are the foundation of PDS work.

The purpose of this paper is to compare recent developments in adult protection legislation, policy and practice in Scotland in 2015 with the first attempts at protection of adults at risk of harm, in 1857-1862, with a particular focus on people with learning disabilities.

The paper uses comparative historical research, drawing on primary archive material from 1857 to 1862 in the form of Annual Reports of the General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland and associated papers.

Growing public awareness of the extent of neglect and abuse, and the need for overarching legislation were common factors in the development of both the “The Lunacy Act” of 1857 and the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act of 2007. Both pieces of legislation also had the common aim of “asylum”, and shared some other objectives.

Total prevention of abuse of vulnerable adults is an aspiration in law and in policy. There is an evidence base of effectiveness, however, in protecting adults at risk of harm from abuse. Some ecological factors recur as challenges to effective safeguarding activity. These include problems of definition, uncovering abuse, enforcing legislation, evaluating impact and protection of people who are not a risk of harm to others.

This paper compares common themes and common challenges in two separate time periods to investigate what can be learned about the development of legislation and practice in adult protection.