Recapitulation of Fibromatosis Nodule by Multipotential Stem Cells in Immunodeficient Mice

Musculoskeletal fibromatosis remains a disease of unknown etiology. Surgical excision is the standard of care, but the recurrence rate remains high. Superficial fibromatosis typically presents as subcutaneous nodules caused by rapid myofibroblast proliferation followed by slow involution to dense acellular fibrosis. In this study, we demonstrate that fibromatosis stem cells (FSCs) can be isolated from palmar nodules but not from cord or normal palm tissues. We found that FSCs express surface markers such as CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105, and CD166 but do not express CD34, CD45, or CD133. We also found that FSCs are capable of expanding up to 20 passages, that these cells include myofibroblasts, osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes, hepatocytes, and neural cells, and that these cells possess multipotentiality to develop into the three germ layer cells. When implanted beneath the dorsal skin of nude mice, FSCs recapitulated human fibromatosis nodules. Two weeks after implantation, the cells expressed immunodiagnostic markers for myofibroblasts such as α-smooth muscle actin and type III collagen. Two months after implantation, there were fewer myofibroblasts and type I collagen became evident. Treatment with the antifibrogenic compound Trichostatin A (TSA) inhibited the proliferation and differentiation of FSCs in vitro. Treatment with TSA before or after implantation blocked formation of fibromatosis nodules. These results suggest that FSCs are the cellular origin of fibromatosis and that these cells may provide a promising model for developing new therapeutic interventions

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

What Freirean Critical Pedagogy Says and Overlooks from a Durkheimian Perspective

"Critical pedagogy" has become a prevalent grammar furthering the necessity of a change in pedagogy from a banking‐style to problem‐posing approach, which it argues will facilitate students' development of independent values and equip them to lead the liberation of society from authoritarianism into democracy. To achieve this, classrooms need to serve as cultural forums, through which either engaged pedagogy or negotiated authority empowers teachers and students to engage in free dialogues that problematize school textbooks as "cultural politics". This empowerment demands that teachers perform as transformative intellectuals, dedicating themselves to the amelioration of inequity in educational results by reconstructing new texts, making them more accessible to working‐class students. While these theoretical lexicons envision a new perspective for the "educational function", alleviation of the phenomenon of cultural reproduction can only occur if critical pedagogists pay more attention to academic curricula. Student achievements in such curricula, which respond to the demands of the social division of labor, have a profound influence on their potential social mobility

影響結構與施為*之間互動關係的媒介物：小學教師的專業認同與文化 知覺的分析 The Medium for Influencing the Interactive Relations Between Structure and Agency: An Analysis of Primary School Teachers’ Professional Identity and Cultural Awareness

不均等教育結果引發結構論與重建論兩種不同的立論，前者存在機械決定論的缺失，後者又高估個人意志的可能性，因而A. Giddens及M. Archer指出，反思性理性思維使結構與施為形成交互作用，因為此種思維能使個體評估外在結構的限制以及個人的能力，進而構成創新的行動方案，所以開啟施為的可能性。儘管上述論點化解結構與施為的對立性，但卻未能說明此種理性思維的運作方式。本文主張產生施為的反思性理性思維涉及當事者的認同以及文化知覺，認同足以影響當事者的關注面向，進而產生特定的施為。再 者，文化知覺將影響他們對既存事物的看法，因而影響施為的可能性。本文據此分析國小教師的專業認同與文化知覺，以及這兩者與施為的關聯性。 For A. Giddens and M. Archer, there is an interactive relationship between structure and agency because rational reasoning allows the actor to realize structural constraints and evaluate his/her own abilities and, then, generates practical actions. Nevertheless, those two scholars may overview the power of rational reasoning. This article argues that both identity and cultural awareness are able to produce a profound influence on one’s rational reasoning that, thus, regulate practical actions. Therefore, if we would like to improve the phenomenon of cultural reproduction via primary school teachers’ agency, their identity and cultural awareness need to be taken into account

全球化對國家角色的影響：1997∼2007年英國新工黨政府教改路線的剖析 The Influence of Globalization on the State: A Study of British Educational Reforms Led by New Labour Government

A. Gramsci與M. Foucault將國家界定於工具取向的社會控制論，因而可能低估國家的自主性，雖然C. Offe的論點補足此種缺失，但卻可能低估全球化經濟體系的影響。基於此種假定，本研究藉由英國1997～2007年的中、小學教育改革路徑，探討新工黨政府的政治思維及教育主張，試圖釐清國家在教育改革過程中扮演的角色，期能建立更適切的國家理論。本研究假定國家機器應具有高度彈性，以回應外在環境的要求，特別是全球化經濟體系，進而能有效處理既存問題，這種有效性足以調節國家教育政策的路線，並否定國家屈從資本利益或是具有主動作為的假定，而國家機器的運作係轉向契 合外部情境要求的動態模式，而非取決於靜態的特定政治意識型態。 A. Gramsci and M. Foucault tend to view the state as a passive tool, which serves for the interests of dominant groups. Although C. Offe’s theory is able to fix this problem, the influence of economic globalization has not been taken into account. One of the central assumptions of this study was that the operation of the state should not be subject to dominant groups or social classes but actively respond to the requirements of current social contexts, which are mainly shaped by the influence of globalization. Furthermore, sustaining the sovereignty should not be mainly reliant upon any form of cultural hegemony but the validity of policies. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the relationship between the state and globalization by examining British educational reforms led by New Labour Government when T. Blair was in power

臺灣高等教育政策依循新自由主義的現象與缺失 Why do Higher Education Policies in Taiwan Incline towards Neo-Liberalism? A Critique on this Approach

經由美國的強力推動，全球化經濟體系得以明顯擴張，其鉅額經濟利益使得許多國家需遵守此體系的法則。但這並非被迫屈從，往往是主動迎合，因為這些國家已接納其背後哲學⎯⎯新自由主義。在國際競爭力的前提下，國家角色將關注於市場需求與效能，致使公平正義不再是教育的優先考量。此種市場邏輯提升企業概念在教育運作的正當性，致使教育不再追求學術中立，轉而服務企業。企業主義改變學校內部運作型態，效能原則強化組織科層性，商業利潤原則使學校文化轉向功利型態。基於上述關聯性，本研究探索新自由主義以及公共管理主義的內涵，並剖析臺灣高等教育政策偏向新自 由主義而產生的可能缺失。 Under American promulgation, globalization has expanded its sphere of influence. As this system embodies a considerable amount of capitalist profit, its member countries need to conform to its rules. However, they are not subject to its domination but voluntarily support its values because they have embraced its core philosophy – neo-liberalism. As globalization requires individual countries to improve their international competitiveness, the role of the state is shifting from one which prioritizes social justice to a market focus. This market-based approach, thus, legitimizes the logic of entrepreneurialism in the implementation of education, so that its core concern is no longer the pursuit of academic neutrality, but rather of market profits. This logic also drives school administration into the mode of Taylorism, adopting a bureaucratic approach, and molding school culture into one of utilitarianism. This essay sets out to explore the relationships among globalization, neo-liberalism, public managerialism and higher education policies in Taiwan

Assessing the Differential Effects of Peer Tutoring for Tutors and Tutees

There is strong evidence that peer tutoring, as a form of cooperative learning, has a positive impact on tutor and tutee outcomes. However, little previous research has been reported as to the differential effects of engaging in cooperative learning in dyads for peer tutors and peer tutees, respectively. A randomised controlled experimental study was undertaken involving 295, 11- to 13-year-old students, drawn from 12 classrooms, across three secondary/high schools situated in areas of low-socio-economic status, in the north east of England. In total, 146 students engaged in cooperative learning for a period of 12 weeks, and 149 students served as a comparison group. Gains were significantly greater on independent standardised reading comprehension tests for those engaged in cooperative learning than those in comparison classes, and greater for tutors than tutees. The results are explored by critically reflecting on the underlying theories of education that may be at play in classrooms using this form of cooperative learning