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Background: Since social cognition is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this study aimed at establishing the efficacy of a newly developed imitation- and synchronization-based dance/movement intervention (SI-DMI) in fostering emotion inference and empathic feelings (emotional reaction to feelings of others) in adults with high-functioning ASD. Methods: Fifty-five adults with ASD (IQ ≥85) who were blinded to the aim of the study were assigned to receive either 10 weeks of a dance/movement intervention focusing on interpersonal movement imitation and synchronization (SI-DMI, n = 27) or a control movement intervention (CMI, n = 24) focusing on individual motor coordination (2 participants from each group declined before baseline testing). The primary outcome measure was the objective Multifaceted Empathy Test targeting emotion inference and empathic feelings. Secondary outcomes were scores on the self-rated Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The well-established automatic imitation task and synchronization finger-tapping task were used to quantify effects on imitation and synchronization functions, complemented by the more naturalistic Assessment of Spontaneous Interaction in Movement. Results: Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that from baseline to 3 months, patients treated with SI-DMI showed a significantly larger improvement in emotion inference (d = 0.58), but not empathic feelings, than those treated with CMI (d = -0.04). On the close generalization level, SI-DMI increased synchronization skills and imitation tendencies, as well as whole-body imitation/synchronization and movement reciprocity/dialogue, compared to CMI. Conclusions: SI-DMI can be successful in promoting emotion inference in adults with ASD and warrants further investigation.

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To retain respect among members of their own society, urban professional women originating from northern Ghana maintain a rural concept of proper women. This article explores how, historically, both Catholic missionaries and the Dagara people changed this concept. To the women, the ability to speak their minds and be self-confident, attributes accorded to the concept mainly by the Catholic women's orders, help them in their professional careers. In meetings with their own people, they still know how to revert to the quiet, reserved and humble person that a woman from their home area is supposed to be, at least in public.

The area around the border of Sudan and Chad, where Darfur lies, has been an unimportant and unknown backwater throughout history. Today, however, Darfur is all over the international press. Everybody knows about the grim war there. There is no oil currently in production in Darfur. However, there is oil in the south of neighboring Chad and in Southern Sudan, and there might be oil in Darfur. This article considers a case of fighting for oil when there is no oil yet. It takes into account the role of local actors doing the fighting, that is, the army, rebels, and militias; national actors such as the Sudanese and Chadian governments; and international actors, such as multinational oil companies, the United States, China, and the United Nations. It explains how oil can have disintegrative consequences even when it is still only a rumor about a future possibility.

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Oil has turned out to be something of a curse. Most developing petrostates have found that their economies have worsened, their political regimes have become more authoritarian, and their conflicts have intensified. Further, this curse is a bit crazy because oil brings wealth, which would seem to bring peace and prosperity, not the trouble that so often accompanies it. The goal of this introduction is to propose a research strategy for the anthropological analysis of oil. It does so by examining existing oil literatures, discussing the implications for research arising from the articles contained here, and, finally, formulating an anthropology of oil in a turbulent world. This formulation proposes a 'crude domination' approach to explain oil's crazy curse.

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