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A sample of 523 Chinese university students was given a questionnaire on their attitudes towards the inclusion of children with disabilities into regular classrooms. Factor analysis, analysis of variance, t-test and correlations were used to assess the respondents' general attitude towards inclusion, the factor structure of the attitudes, the relationship between demographic variables and the attitudes and the ratings of best educational environments for students with different kinds of disabilities. The analysis revealed that (a) the participants' average attitude towards inclusion was slightly negative; (b) four factors, named as Social justice, Meeting the special needs of the pupils with severe disabilities, Quality of education and Teachers' competence, were extracted (c) the most important background variable that explained the attitudes was the participants' major subject in the University; and (d) the ratings for the best educational environment for a student with a disability varied according to different types and levels of disability. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Five hundred fifty mainland Chinese university students were given a questionnaire that contained a Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale. The purpose of the study was a) to test the factor structure of teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices, b) to investigate the relationship between teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices and attitude toward inclusive education, and c) to study the relationship between participants' attitudes and other variables related to inclusive education. Confirmatory factor analysis gave support the hyphothesis of three correlated but separate factors of self-efficacy: Efficacy to use inclusive instructions, Efficacy in collaboration, and Efficacy in managing behaviour. As the initial factors were correlated, another model with second-order factor to which the three factors loaded, was tested. This model fit the data equally well. The second-order factor, which was named as General teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices, explained significantly participants' attitudes to inclusive education.

The purpose of this study was to explain teachers' perceived efficacy for teaching in inclusive classrooms by using a sample of 1911 in-service teachers from China, Finland, and South Africa. Bandura's theory of self-efficacy was used as a starting point to develop distinct models for each country. We found that in all countries, experience in teaching students with disabilities was the strongest predictor of self-efficacy, while the predictive power of other variables differed from country to country. Our findings illustrate ways to improve teacher education to respond better to the challenges set by the global inclusive education movement. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

The genetic bases of demographic changes and artificial selection underlying domestication are of great interest in evolutionary biology. Here we perform whole-genome sequencing of multiple grey wolves, Chinese indigenous dogs and dogs of diverse breeds. Demographic analysis show that the split between wolves and Chinese indigenous dogs occurred 32,000 years ago and that the subsequent bottlenecks were mild. Therefore, dogs may have been under human selection over a much longer time than previously concluded, based on molecular data, perhaps by initially scavenging with humans. Population genetic analysis identifies a list of genes under positive selection during domestication, which overlaps extensively with the corresponding list of positively selected genes in humans. Parallel evolution is most apparent in genes for digestion and metabolism, neurological process and cancer. Our study, for the first time, draws together humans and dogs in their recent genomic evolution.

There is no generally accepted picture of where, when, and how the domestic dog originated. Previous studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have failed to establish the time and precise place of origin because of lack of phylogenetic resolution in the so far studied control region (CR), and inadequate sampling. We therefore analyzed entire mitochondrial genomes for 169 dogs to obtain maximal phylogenetic resolution and the CR for 1,543 dogs across the Old World for a comprehensive picture of geographical diversity. Hereby, a detailed picture of the origins of the dog can for the first time be suggested. We obtained evidence that the dog has a single origin in time and space and an estimation of the time of origin, number of founders, and approximate region, which also gives potential clues about the human culture involved. The analyses showed that dogs universally share a common homogenous gene pool containing 10 major haplogroups. However, the full range of genetic diversity, all 10 haplogroups, was found only in southeastern Asia south of Yangtze River, and diversity decreased following a gradient across Eurasia, through seven haplogroups in Central China and five in North China and Southwest (SW)Asia, down to only four haplogroups in Europe. The mean sequence distance to ancestral haplotypes indicates an origin 5,400-16,300 years ago (ya) from at least 51 female wolf founders. These results indicate that the domestic dog originated in southern China less than 16,300 ya, from several hundred wolves. The place and time coincide approximately with the origin of rice agriculture, suggesting that the dogs may have originated among sedentary hunter-gatherers or early farmers, and the numerous founders indicate that wolf taming was an important culture trait.