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In spite of the general phobia of federalism, there is a strong federalist trend within British political culture. In three very different historical contexts, federalism inspired the action of political movements such as the Imperial Federation League, the Round Table and the Federal Union. Indeed, it was regarded as the solution to problems arising from the first signs of the possible collapse of Great Britain and its Empire. The Round Table Movement played a particularly interesting role in this regard, attempting to reverse the rapid and inexorable decline of the British Empire. It was a political organisation with roots in all the major peripheries of the Empire and almost unlimited financial resources. This volume discusses the strategies and means employed by the group in order to maintain the British Empires global prominence. The books main argument is that we did not have a British centurythe nineteenthand an American centurythe twentiethbut, rather, four centuries of AngloSaxon supremacy, which witnessed the affirmation of the national principleexpression of the Continental political traditionand its overcoming through its opposite, the federal principle, the expression of the insular political tradition. --

Post-coma persons in a minimally conscious state and with extensive motor impairment or emerging/emerged from such a state, but affected by lack of speech and motor impairment, tend to be passive and isolated. A way to help them develop functional responding to control environmental events and communication involves the use of intervention programs relying on assistive technology. This paper provides an overview of technology-based intervention programs for enabling the participants to (a) access brief periods of stimulation through one or two microswitches, (b) pursue stimulation and social contact through the combination of a microswitch and a sensor connected to a speech generating device (SGD) or through two SGD-related sensors, (c) control stimulation options through computer or radio systems and a microswitch, (d) communicate through modified messaging or telephone systems operated via microswitch, and (e) control combinations of leisure and communication options through computer systems operated via microswitch. Twenty-six studies, involving a total of 52 participants, were included in this paper. The intervention programs were carried out using single-subject methodology, and their outcomes were generally considered positive from the standpoint of the participants and their context. Practical implications of the programs are discussed.