Educating teachers: Observation of a classroom's framework as part of the student teachers' education

Among a multitude of teacher-related issues, teacher education is one of ever growing importance. In this paper we present the results of the first part of an ongoing research project on teacher education, taking place at the University of Athens. We focus on the first stage of the Practicum (observing, analysing and understanding the context of educational action), considering it important for the students to be introduced to reflective approach of the educational practice. In order to illuminate the context of the research, we present the status of teacher education in Greece, and the stages and content of student teachers' education in the Faculty of Early Childhood Education in the University of Athens, particularly the way their Practicum is organised. In this paper, we present the first part of a study, in which we investigate our students' expectations at every stage of their Practicum and their perception and evaluation of their initial contact with the Kindergarten classroom. Our approach registers in an actual debate on teacher education, that views practice, together with theory, as a tool of student teachers' professional development. © Common Ground, Alexandra Androussou, Hara Kortessi-Dafermou, Vassilis Tsafos

Radionuclide therapy for painful bone metastases. An Italian Multicentre Observational Study

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A multicentre observational study of radionuclide therapy in patients with painful bone metastases of prostate cancer

A multicentre observational study was conducted by the Italian Association of Nuclear Medicine between 1996 and 1998. Twenty-nine Nuclear Medicine Departments participated. The aims of the study were to systematically evaluate the efficacy, toxicity and repeatability of radionuclide therapy of painful bone metastases (RTBM) in a large number of patients and to assess its incidence in patients with prostate cancer. Out of 818 treatments performed with a single i.v. dose of 148 MBq of strontium-89 chloride or 1,295 MBq of rhenium-186 hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (HEDP), 610 could be evaluated (527 with 89Sr and 83 with 186Re-HEDP). RTBM did not seem to prolong life, though in some cases scintigraphic regression of bone metastases was observed. The two radiopharmaceuticals did not show any statistically significant differences in palliative efficacy and toxicity, either in first RTBM or in retreatments

"Language is freedom": A multimodal literacy intervention empowering the muslim minority in Greece

The project on the inclusion and education of Muslim minority children is a twenty-year multimodal educational intervention that aims to fight school failure and promote social inclusion. The project in question comprises activities that belong to both formal and nonformal education. This article concentrates on those activities conducted outside the formal classroom. Set within the cross-fertilization of practice-invested theory with theoretically oriented practice, we focus on out-of-school second language acquisition, teaching Greek as a second language to learners up to the age of twelve, compensatory classes for secondary school students, and adult literacy, all framed within the concepts of community learning and of literacies as multiple and varied, relative to sociocultural context. © Common Ground, Thalia Dragonas, Chara Dafermou, Maria Zografaki, Irini Assimakopoulou, Anastasia Dimitriou, Olga Katsiani, Victoria Lagopoulou

Underestimation of regional myocardial perfusion with Tc-99m sestamibi single-day rest/stress SPECT: a “drug washout” pitfall?

Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with Tc-99m sestamibi single-day SPECT protocol is a widely employed technique in the management of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disese. A 76 year old male patient, with a clinical history suggestive for ischaemic heart disease, underwent Tc-99m sestamibi myocardial SPECT study with same-day rest/stress protocol after a standard drug washout. The scintigraphic pattern was consistent with silent necrosis of postero-lateral myocardial wall and peri-infarctual ischemia. One week later the patient performed a Tc-99m sestamibi myocardial SPECT study at rest without discontinuing therapy and scintigraphic images showed normalization of the postero-lateral wall perfusion defect. The angiographic study demonstrated a 90% stenosis of circumflex coronary artery. This case suggests that, during one-day cardiac SPECT protocol, drug washout may be responsable of underestimation of myocardial rest perfusion in territories supplied by a coronary artery with critical stenosis

Medicina nucleare e reumatologia. Integrazioni diagnostico-terapeutiche

Rassegna sulle applicazioni della medicina nucleare in reumatologi

Brain slices as an experimental model for studying the effects of metabolic alterations on the brain retention of perfusion tracers.

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