Cultural politics in critical action learning : A Bourdieusian analysis of a management development program in Tanzania

Critical action learning (CAL) is a collaborative approach to management learning that uses sets of managers and a cyclical process of action and reflection on real-life managerial problems to create learning that has the potential to transform managerial practice. What distinguishes CAL from conventional approaches to action learning is its explicit focus on critical reflection and the exploration of the political and emotional dynamics that are mobilised in the sets as a source for learning. Studies have shown that the broader local context in which CAL participants are embedded has the potential to mobilise political dynamics in the sets that promote or constrain learning from critical reflection. In this research, I investigate the impact of participants’ local cultural context on CAL in an organisational program in Tanzania. To date this is a neglected phenomenon in academic research, where studies exploring such dynamics have been almost exclusively conducted in Western settings. I argue that to understand the potential and limitations of CAL in non-Western contexts, it is important to gain insight into the cultural politics that are mobilised in the participants’ experience with a CAL design and the ways in which they constrain or promote learning. The research has originated from my own professional experience as a Learning and Development Consultant working across the globe, and I use my own work as a vehicle for the study. Using an ethnographic approach, I examine the introduction of a CALbased leadership development program (LDP) for middle managers in a microfinance institution (MFI) in Tanzania, in which I had a leading role in designing and facilitating. To explore the cultural dynamics in the LDP in some depth and a systematic manner, I draw on a Bourdieu’s theory of practice (1992) to analyse the assumptions about learning and managing that underpin the LDP (field), the participants’ local culture (habitus), and the participants’ tendencies to act in the CAL sets (practice). The analysis surfaced three cultural dynamics that have limited learning. These were rooted in the participants’ experience of the CAL design as threat to their positioning in both the organisation and their communities and manifested themselves in their strategies to protect the recognition of their managerial authority, the harmony in their peer relationships, and their financial income. These strategies significantly limited critical reflection in the LDP and were sustained by my own facilitation practice. This study contributes to knowledge in several ways: First, it surfaces how in Tanzanian organisations, set members meet as ‘experts and apprentices with commonalities’ rather than as ‘comrades-in-adversity’ (Revans, 1982b) or ‘adversaries with commonality’ (Vince, 2004). Second, it highlights the value of a socioeconomic lens to make sense of CAL practices in Tanzanian organisations, which so far has been unexplored. Third, it sheds light on an underdeveloped area of Bourdieu’s (1992) concept of illusio by surfacing the embeddedness of a field illusio in a hierarchical system of several illusio, which shapes how it is enacted. Fourth, it deepens our understanding of the emotional and political dynamics of CAL facilitation, by foregrounding how diverse roles and positionings have shaped my facilitation practice

Behandlung des equinen Sarkoid beim Pferd mit dem Misteltpräparat Iscador.

(Tagungsbeitrag Pferdenetzwerktagung, Avenches). Das Equine Sarkoid ist der häufigste Hauttumor des Pferdes. Bisher gilt keine konservative The-rapie als ausreichend wirksam und nach chirurgischer Entfernung sind oft Rezidive zu beobach-ten. Schon seit vielen Jahren wird die Mistel in der Human- und Kleintiermedizin als begleiten-des Krebstherapeutikum erfolgreich eingesetzt. Erste Erfahrungen zeigen auch bei Hauttumoren des Pferdes Erfolge. Im Rahmen einer placebokontrollierten Blindstudie wird daher seit März 2004, im Nationalgestüt Avenches, das Mistelpräparat IscadorR zur primären Behandlung von Sarkoiden und zur postoperativen Prophylaxe gegen Rezidive auch beim Pferd geprüft. Dabei wurden bisher 65 Pferde vier Monate lang mittels drei subkutanen Injektionen pro Woche im Brustbereich mit IscadorR oder einem Placebo behandelt. Vor Versuchsbeginn finden eine Allgemeinuntersuchung, eine Blutuntersuchung und eine histologische Untersuchung statt. Die Anzahl, das Aussehen und die Grösse der equinen Sarkoide werden einmal pro Monat während einem Jahr (primär therapierte Pferde) bzw. 16 Monaten (postchirurgische Fälle) protokolliert. Zusätzlich wurden 15 Tiere, die wegen Nichteinwilligung der Besitzer oder Nichterfüllung der Einschlusskriterien nicht an der Blindstudie teilnehmen konnten, mit IscadorR behandelt. Davon sind zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt 10 beurteilbar. Bei vier dieser Pferde zeigte sich ein Wachstums-stillstand der Sarkoide, bei weiteren vier kam es zur vollständigen Heilung über mehrere Monate nach Therapiebeginn. Bei den übrigen zwei Pferden ist im einen Fall keine Besserung aufgetre-ten, im anderen Fall konnte nach chirurgischer Entfernung des Sarkoids eine gute Wundheilung ohne Rezidiv beobachtet werden

A Central Clearing Clinic to Provide Mental Health Services for Refugees in Germany

Objective: To determine migration related distress pattern in refugees and feasibility of a de novo established, central low-threshold outpatient clinic serving more than 80,000 newly arrived refugees in the metropole of Berlin. Methods: In an observational cohort study the relative prevalence of major psychiatric disorders by age, place of living within berlin, language and region of origin were assessed in a refugee cohort from 63 nationalities speaking 36 languages. Findings: Within 18 months, a total of 3,096 cases with a mean age of 29.7 years (11.7) have been referred from all 12 districts and 165 of 182 subdistricts of Berlin to the CCC. 33.7% of the patients were female. The three most frequent diagnoses were unipolar depression (40.4%), posttraumatic stress disorder (24.3%), and adjustment disorder (19.6%). Conclusion: The present data gives insight into the distribution of mental disorders in a large sample of refugees and provides evidence that a CCC is an effective service to quickly and broadly provide psychiatric consultations and thus to overcome classical barriers refugees usually experience in the host communities. In Berlin, Germany, and Europe treatment resources for this population should focus on stress and trauma related disorders

Does the Identification of a Minimum Number of Cases Correlate With Better Adherence to International Guidelines Regarding the Treatment of Penile Cancer? Survey Results of the European PROspective Penile Cancer Study (E-PROPS)

Background: Penile cancer represents a rare malignant disease, whereby a small caseload is associated with the risk of inadequate treatment expertise. Thus, we hypothesized that strict guideline adherence might be considered a potential surrogate for treatment quality. This study investigated the influence of the annual hospital caseload on guideline adherence regarding treatment recommendations for penile cancer. Methods: In a 2018 survey study, 681 urologists from 45 hospitals in four European countries were queried about six hypothetical case scenarios (CS): local treatment of the primary tumor pTis (CS1) and pT1b (CS2); lymph node surgery inguinal (CS3) and pelvic (CS4); and chemotherapy neoadjuvant (CS5) and adjuvant (CS6). Only the responses from 206 head and senior physicians, as decision makers, were evaluated. The answers were assessed based on the applicable European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines regarding their correctness. The real hospital caseload was analyzed based on multivariate logistic regression models regarding its effect on guideline adherence. Results: The median annual hospital caseload was 6 (interquartile range (IQR) 3–9). Recommendations for CS1–6 were correct in 79%, 66%, 39%, 27%, 28%, and 28%, respectively. The probability of a guideline-adherent recommendation increased with each patient treated per year in a clinic for CS1, CS2, CS3, and CS6 by 16%, 7.8%, 7.2%, and 9.5%, respectively (each p < 0.05); CS4 and CS5 were not influenced by caseload. A caseload threshold with a higher guideline adherence for all endpoints could not be perceived. The type of hospital care (academic vs. non-academic) did not affect guideline adherence in any scenario. Conclusions: Guideline adherence for most treatment recommendations increases with growing annual penile cancer caseload. Thus, the results of our study call for a stronger centralization of diagnosis and treatment strategies regarding penile cancer

Does the Identification of a Minimum Number of Cases Correlate With Better Adherence to International Guidelines Regarding the Treatment of Penile Cancer? Survey Results of the European PROspective Penile Cancer Study (E-PROPS)

Background: Penile cancer represents a rare malignant disease, whereby a small caseload is associated with the risk of inadequate treatment expertise. Thus, we hypothesized that strict guideline adherence might be considered a potential surrogate for treatment quality. This study investigated the influence of the annual hospital caseload on guideline adherence regarding treatment recommendations for penile cancer. Methods: In a 2018 survey study, 681 urologists from 45 hospitals in four European countries were queried about six hypothetical case scenarios (CS): local treatment of the primary tumor pTis (CS1) and pT1b (CS2); lymph node surgery inguinal (CS3) and pelvic (CS4); and chemotherapy neoadjuvant (CS5) and adjuvant (CS6). Only the responses from 206 head and senior physicians, as decision makers, were evaluated. The answers were assessed based on the applicable European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines regarding their correctness. The real hospital caseload was analyzed based on multivariate logistic regression models regarding its effect on guideline adherence. Results: The median annual hospital caseload was 6 (interquartile range (IQR) 3–9). Recommendations for CS1–6 were correct in 79%, 66%, 39%, 27%, 28%, and 28%, respectively. The probability of a guideline-adherent recommendation increased with each patient treated per year in a clinic for CS1, CS2, CS3, and CS6 by 16%, 7.8%, 7.2%, and 9.5%, respectively (each p < 0.05); CS4 and CS5 were not influenced by caseload. A caseload threshold with a higher guideline adherence for all endpoints could not be perceived. The type of hospital care (academic vs. non-academic) did not affect guideline adherence in any scenario. Conclusions: Guideline adherence for most treatment recommendations increases with growing annual penile cancer caseload. Thus, the results of our study call for a stronger centralization of diagnosis and treatment strategies regarding penile cancer

Rare and Coding Region Genetic Variants Associated With Risk of Ischemic Stroke: The NHLBI Exome Sequence Project

Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of years of life lost. Genetic factors contribute to stroke prevalence, and candidate gene and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified variants associated with ischemic stroke risk. These variants often have small effects without obvious biological significance. Exome sequencing may discover predicted protein-altering variants with a potentially large effect on ischemic stroke risk

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements