The present study applied a qualitative case study methodology to the educational challenges of three students from a refugee background, in order to identify an appropriate psychological assessment process with which to evaluate their difficulties. Three students who had arrived from Iraq 1–2 years ago (one male and two females; aged 13 and 14 years) were referred by their teachers for psychological assessment as their academic progress was poor, despite remedial education. An educational and developmental psychologist, guided by a steering committee of psychologists and educationists, interviewed each student, his/her parent/s, and teachers independently. Based on referral concerns, hypotheses relating to the cause of educational difficulties were generated and psychological tests and checklists were used with all students and their parents and teachers. The data collected assisted in understanding multiple factors that may affect learning for students who have arrived from a war-torn country, and highlighted the importance of gathering detailed case-specific information to understand each student’s background and current context. Challenges associated with the assessment process were identified. Further, ways in which psychologists and guidance officers, teachers and parents could promote these students’ learning were identified. Implications for schools and policy developers are discussed.

An important goal of inclusive education is to create an environment in which individual differences are appreciated, and where all children are valued. Books are an important way in which children learn about themselves, others and the world around them. Children's literature can potentially promote awareness of individual differences and similarities, acceptance of self and others, and information that counteracts ignorance, misperceptions and stereotypes about disability. This awareness, acceptance and knowledge should ultimately contribute to greater understanding, empathy and respect for diversity. In this article, we review over 50 children's books that may be of value for assisting children of different ages to understand and appreciate individual differences and disabilities. Most of the reviews were contributed by postgraduate psychology students who were enrolled in a disability unit at Queensland University of Technology.

We investigated the mortality associated with Adnetobacter baumannii complex bacteremia among a cohort of patients hospitalized for war-related trauma. Despite a high prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains, the 30-day mortality rate was 2%. For relatively young patients with war-related trauma, A. baumannii complex bacteremia appears to be associated with a low risk of death.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether children with a history of disorganized attachment in infancy were more likely than children without a history of disorganized attachment to exhibit symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at school age following trauma exposure. The sample consisted of 78 8.5-year-old children from a larger, ongoing prospective study evaluating the effects of intrauterine cocaine exposure (IUCE) on children's growth and development from birth to adolescence. At the 12-month visit, children's attachment status was scored from videotapes of infant–caregiver dyads in Ainsworth's strange situation. At the 8.5-year visit, children were administered the Violence Exposure Scale—Revised, a child-report trauma exposure inventory, and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents by an experienced clinical psychologist masked to children's attachment status and IUCE status. Sixteen of the 78 children (21%) were classified as insecure–disorganized/insecure–other at 12 months. Poisson regressions covarying IUCE, gender, and continuity of maternal care indicated that disorganized attachment status at 12 months, compared with nondisorganized attachment status, significantly predicted both higher avoidance cluster PTSD symptoms and higher reexperiencing cluster PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest that the quality of early dyadic relationships may be linked to differences in children's later development of posttraumatic stress symptoms following a traumatic event.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether children with a history of disorganized attachment in infancy were more likely than children without a history of disorganized attachment to exhibit symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at school age following trauma exposure. The sample consisted of 78 8.5-year-old children from a larger, ongoing prospective study evaluating the effects of intrauterine cocaine exposure (IUCE) on children's growth and development from birth to adolescence. At the 12-month visit, children's attachment status was scored from videotapes of infant–caregiver dyads in Ainsworth's strange situation. At the 8.5-year visit, children were administered the Violence Exposure Scale—Revised, a child-report trauma exposure inventory, and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents by an experienced clinical psychologist masked to children's attachment status and IUCE status. Sixteen of the 78 children (21%) were classified as insecure–disorganized/insecure–other at 12 months. Poisson regressions covarying IUCE, gender, and continuity of maternal care indicated that disorganized attachment status at 12 months, compared with nondisorganized attachment status, significantly predicted both higher avoidance cluster PTSD symptoms and higher reexperiencing cluster PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest that the quality of early dyadic relationships may be linked to differences in children's later development of posttraumatic stress symptoms following a traumatic event.

Solid state crystallization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) prepared by hot-wire CVD is studied in solid phase epitaxy mode. By using a novel optical method combined with cross-sectional TEM and SIMS, a reduction of epitaxial growth speed is observed with increase in a-Si:H film thickness. Namely, in films thinner that 0.5 micron, solid phase epitaxy velocity depends linearly on film thickness. As the film thickness increases beyond 1 micron, the average velocity of solid phase epitaxy decreases considerably with respect to that in thinner films. In this regime, its velocity becomes also time-dependent: initial slow propagation of crystallization front gets considerably accelerated after the front has traveled above 400nm. SIMS thickness profiles of hydrogen shows considerably more residual hydrogen in thicker films after the start of solid phase epitaxy. In addition, prolonged pre-dehydrogenation at lower temperatures results in the increase in the average epitaxy speed in thicker films. These phenomena are likely related to delayed hydrogen outdiffusion in thicker films, which also leads to time-dependent speed of the solid-phase epitaxy front. We conclude that excess residual hydrogen reduces the rate of solid-phase crystalline growth.