Today's Globe: Biotech Council, bipolar boom, Ashby school, executive function

As the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council's new leader faces ethics questions, some members say they have become disenchanted with the trade group, including its increasing focus on lobbying, a high staff turnover rate, and the low number of top executives serving on its board.

The diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has risen fortyfold since 1994, according to a new study released yesterday. But researchers partly attributed the dramatic rise to doctors overdiagnosing the serious psychiatric disorder.

When Ashby Academy, a boarding school specializing in children with Asperger's syndrome, abruptly closed last week, it left families from around the country stunned and wondering where their children will attend school this year - or whether they will see their tuition money again.

If you've never heard of executive function, brace yourself. It's bursting onto the educational scene, Child Caring columnist Barbara F. Meltz writes.