Embodied Childhoods, an ethnographic study of how children come to know about the body

This focused ethnography considers children’s understandings and experiences of the body, and more specifically asks the question, ‘how do children come to know about the body?’. The study draws heavily upon the methodological ideas of the social studies of childhood, particularly the work of James (1993, 2013), to explore this question with nine and ten year old participants in two primary schools located in a northern English city. Findings highlight the complex interplay between structure and agency in understanding how children come to know about the body. Furthermore, children’s social and cultural locatedness, it is shown, shapes the ways in which they come to know about the body. Yet, the work of individual children in making sense of the body according to their particular experience is also highlighted. Indeed, it is through children’s experiential knowledge of the body that they come to challenge adult knowledge of, and control over, their bodies in school. Wider implications of the findings of this project include a more in-depth understanding of how children learn, which challenges the traditional notion that knowledge is passed down in a linear succession from adults to children. This, it is argued, has particular consequences in relation to understandings of children’s engagement with public health policy and formal learning about the body in school

Diversity in Spatial Language Within Communities: The Interplay of Culture, Language and Landscape in Representations of Space (Short Paper)

Significant diversity exists in the way languages structure spatial reference, and this has been shown to correlate with diversity in non-linguistic spatial behaviour. However, most research in spatial language has focused on diversity between languages: on which spatial referential strategies are represented in the grammar, and to a lesser extent which of these strategies are preferred overall in a given language. However, comparing languages as a whole and treating each language as a single data point provides a very partial picture of linguistic spatial behaviour, failing to recognise the very significant diversity that exists within languages, a largely under-investigated but now emerging field of research. This paper focuses on language-internal diversity, and on the central role of a range of sociocultural and demographic factors that intervene in the relationship between humans, languages, and the physical environments in which communities live

Letter from Alice Freeman Palmer, to Anne Whitney, 1892 January 2

https://repository.wellesley.edu/whitney_correspondence/1868/thumbnail.jp

Letter from Alice Freeman Palmer, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Anne Whitney, Boston, Massachusetts, 1897 March 15

https://repository.wellesley.edu/whitney_correspondence/1867/thumbnail.jp

Letter from Alice Freeman Palmer, Boxford, Massachusetts, to Anne Whitney, Boston, Massachusetts, 1891 April 6

https://repository.wellesley.edu/whitney_correspondence/1869/thumbnail.jp

Are diabetes self-management interventions delivered in the psychiatric inpatient setting effective?: A protocol for a systematic review

Introduction: Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is the most significant contributor to increased mortality due to natural causes in those with severe mental illness (SMI). Self-management interventions for diabetes have been shown to be effective in the general population, however, effects of these interventions in those with SMI is still unclear. Psychiatric admission could be used opportunistically to deliver interventions of this kind and help improve diabetes self-management. This review aims to assess whether interventions of this kind improve diabetes outcomes and have an effect on reducing cardiovascular risk. Methods and analysis: This review will include studies assessing diabetes self-management interventions designed to be delivered to those aged 18 and over with comorbid type 2 diabetes and SMI during admission to psychiatric inpatient settings. Databases including the Cochrane Library, Medline, Psychinfo, CINAHL, Embase, WHO’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, International Health Technology Assessment Database, UK Clinical Research Network and ClinicalTrials.gov will be searched from inception to September 2022. Where possible, meta-analysis of included studies will be conducted. If heterogeneity is high and meta-analysis is not possible, we will use other means of data synthesis and will include a narrative description of included studies. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required as the systematic review will only include data from existing studies. The results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publication and presentation at relevant national and international conferences. PROSPERO registration number: CRD4202235767

Reflection and Cognitive Strategy Instruction: Modeling Active Learning for Pre-service Teachers

Reading methodology courses, like other courses in college, are often one-dimensional when it comes to instructional delivery systems. Too often, teacher talk that elicits far too little reflection prevails. This practice can be changed with activities calling for students to construct knowledge from their experiences, thus following basic tenets of constructivism. The purpose of this article is to discuss how pre-service teachers can be taught to think beyond strategies in methodology and reflect upon language itself Three instructional strategies - semantic feature analysis, fictitious writing systems activities, and nonsense story analysis - are examples of ways college professors can get students to reflect upon the intricacies of language and thought processes relating to reading and language arts. We discuss how these strategies can help move classes away from lecture-oriented formats that call for too little reflection and integration of students\u27 experiences and knowledge to formats that actively engage students in learning

Neural networks in a mouse model of amyloid pathology

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases. However, the aetiology of AD is still unclear and there is currently no cure. In order to develop new therapeutic strategies more basic research into the underlying mechanisms leading to cognitive impairment is needed. This thesis uses the Tg2576 mouse model to examine the effects of amyloid pathology on hippocampal network activity and memory, and to assess the therapeutic effects of exercise as a lifestyle intervention against amyloid-induced cognitive decline. The hippocampal network is made up of different structural sub-regions, dentate gyrus (DG), CA1 and CA3, each of which plays a different role in memory encoding and retrieval. An analysis of c-fos expression was carried out followed by structural equation modelling to assess neural activity in each sub-region when Tg2576 and wild-type control mice explored a novel or familiar spatial environment. In young transgenic mice there was a reduction in DG engagement when encoding spatial novelty compared to controls. In aged mice deficits in DG engagement were seen in both genotypes. The influence of amyloid-induced hippocampal network alterations on cognition was assessed on a novel task designed to test configural integration of cues relating to episodic memory. An analysis of c-fos expression in normal mice revealed that this task was also DG dependent. Marked deficits in episodiclike memory were seen in older transgenic mice, however, in contrast to hippocampal activity, no deficits were reported in young transgenic mice compared to wild-types. In the second section of this thesis the hypothesis that long-term voluntary exercise can reduce cognitive decline was tested. Exercise improved cognition in transgenic, but not wildtype mice, in tests of working and reference spatial memory. In addition, a deficit in configural memory for episodic information was reversed in transgenic mice by exercise. The effect of exercise on amyloid levels and DG neurogenesis was assessed, as these are putative molecular substrates which may be altered by exercise leading to improved cognition. However, exercise did not significantly influence either of these measures. These data indicate sub-region specific changes in hippocampus network activity in the Tg2756 model of amyloid pathology, which may underlie deficits in spatial and episodic-like memory. Furthermore, prolonged exercise reduced cognitive decline in this model, and may be a useful therapeutic intervention to prevent or delay the onset of AD in at-risk patients. However, the precise molecular mechanisms by which exercise exerts its beneficial effect on memory remain to be established

Role of wearable activity-tracking technologies in the well-being and quality of life of people aged 55 and over

We discussed our project that involves investigating the role of wearable activity-tracking technologies in the well-being and quality of life of people aged 55 and over: how such devices may promote behaviour change but also the challenges associated with making sense of the data, the ethical issues of sharing the data and the perceived risks. We outlined our project’s plans for the empirical investigations with older people, family members, carers and medical professionals. The Sir Halley Stewart Trust has funded this project. The views expressed in this presentation and any follow-on publications are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Trust. More details of the project are here: http://www.shaileyminocha.info/digital-health-wearables