Dynamic dialogue: a multi-perspective approach towards cultural competence

Interculturalism and race relations are becoming more complex as America becomes more diverse. Recent attention focused on universities’ admissions programs aimed at diversifying the student body only convey a segment of campus efforts addressing diversity. Curriculum development initiatives speak to diversity concerns through course topics centered on issues such as race and gender by stimulating conversations among students and the instructor. This article presents two models for integrating dynamic dialogues/conversations about race across academic curricula. These perspectives shed insight into the challenges of communicating in an intercultural environment. One model highlights attempts at integrating dynamic dialogue programmatically and the other approaches dynamic dialogue pedagogically, through instructor training. We use Banks’ (2007) approach to multicultural curriculum reform to examine the pedagogic and curricular transformations for each institution

Conceiving Conception: A Qualitative Examination of Women’s Experience of Medically Unexplained Infertility, Prior to Medical Intervention

This study attempts to explore the subjective experience of women with medically unexplained infertility (MUI), prior to a medical intervention. Previous literature has yet to investigate MUI ideographically, through a phenomenological lens and most studies have taken place during or after a medical treatment. This study consists of semi-structured interviews with six women. The transcribed interviews were analysed according to the principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and three themes were derived from the analysis: (1). The Explanatory Vacuum, exploring how the lack of medical diagnosis led the women to ‘seeking’ answers. This emphasised a special vulnerability toward self-blame and seemed to be framed by societal and cultural expectation. (2). Uncertainty, this theme examined that the core of MUI seemed to be dominated by uncertainty, manifesting in predictions of an impending medical intervention and possible outcomes. How the participants managed the uncertainty was examined, as an interesting interplay between fear and excitement emerged. (3). The Concept of Pregnancy, Past and Present, exploring how the participants ideas around pregnancy and having children dramatically shift over time. The concept of pregnancy in the present seems to be characterised in a two-sided perspective, sometimes resulting in an idealised version of pregnancy and contrasted by a disconnection from the concept of conceiving. The findings of this research thesis highlight that the experience of MUI is a multi-layered and complex phenomenon. Thus, whilst the cause of their infertility may remain unknown, the lived experience of MUI shouldn’t have to. The results of this study endeavours to inform clinical practise, apprise empirical research and hopefully contribute to further research in this area

Study of Giant Pairing Vibrations with neutron-rich nuclei

We investigate the possible signature of the presence of giant pairing states at excitation energy of about 10 MeV via two-particle transfer reactions induced by neutron-rich weakly-bound projectiles. Performing particle-particle RPA calculations on $^{208}$Pb and BCS+RPA calculations on $^{116}$Sn, we obtain the pairing strength distribution for two particles addition and removal modes. Estimates of two-particle transfer cross sections can be obtained in the framework of the 'macroscopic model'. The weak-binding nature of the projectile kinematically favours transitions to high-lying states. In the case of (~^6He, \~^4He) reaction we predict a population of the Giant Pairing Vibration with cross sections of the order of a millibarn, dominating over the mismatched transition to the ground state.Comment: Talk presented in occasion of the VII School-Semina r on Heavy Ion Physics hosted by the Flerov Laboratory (FLNR/JINR) Dubna, Russia from May 27 to June 2, 200

Thematic review on the coverage of women in Country of Origin Information (COI) reports

Background and context. Production of Country of Origin Information (COI). Country of Origin Information (COI) is an integral part of asylum decision-making in the UK and is used at all stages of the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process to assess applications for refugee status or other forms of international protection (Morgan et al. 2003; IAS 2009; IAS 2010; Tsangarides 2010). It informs decision makers and legal advisers about the political, social, cultural, economic, and human rights situation of a particular country as well as humanitarian situations (Chief Inspector UKBA 2011). COI can enable decision makers to assess if an individual‘s subjective fear is based on objectively adverse circumstances, and therefore whether an asylum claim is well founded. It can also be used to assess the risk for individuals on return to their country of origin.1 The Country of Origin Service (COIS) produces a range of products that focus on human rights issues and matters frequently raised in asylum and human rights claims. They are compiled from material produced by a wide range of external information sources such as the United Nations agencies, human rights organisations, governmental and non-governmental organisations, and news media. Sources of information can include both published and unclassified material

Glaucoma: the retina and beyond

Over 60 million people worldwide are diagnosed with glaucomatous optic neuropathy, which is estimated to be responsible for 8.4 million cases of irreversible blindness globally. Glaucoma is associated with characteristic damage to the optic nerve and patterns of visual field loss which principally involves the loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). At present, intraocular pressure (IOP) presents the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma, although RGC and vision loss can continue in patients despite well-controlled IOP. This, coupled with the present inability to diagnose glaucoma until relatively late in the disease process, has led to intense investigations towards the development of novel techniques for the early diagnosis of disease. This review outlines our current understanding of the potential mechanisms underlying RGC and axonal loss in glaucoma. Similarities between glaucoma and other neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system are drawn before an overview of recent developments in techniques for monitoring RGC health is provided, including recent progress towards the development of RGC specific contrast agents. The review concludes by discussing techniques to assess glaucomatous changes in the brain using MRI and the clinical relevance of glaucomatous-associated changes in the visual centres of the brain

Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics

Nest construction is taxonomically widespread, yet our understanding of adaptive intraspecific variation in nest design remains poor. Nest characteristics are expected to vary adaptively in response to predictable variation in spring temperatures over large spatial scales, yet such variation in nest design remains largely overlooked, particularly amongst open-cup-nesting birds. Here, we systematically examined the effects of latitudinal variation in spring temperatures and precipitation on the morphology, volume, composition, and insulatory properties of open-cup-nesting Common Blackbirds’ Turdus merula nests to test the hypothesis that birds living in cooler environments at more northerly latitudes would build better insulated nests than conspecifics living in warmer environments at more southerly latitudes. As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude, the external diameter of nests decreased. However, as nest wall thickness also decreased, there was no variation in the diameter of the internal nest cups. Only the mass of dry grasses within nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes. The insulatory properties of nests declined with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes and nests containing greater amounts of dry grasses had higher insulatory properties. The insulatory properties of nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes, via changes in morphology (wall thickness) and composition (dry grasses). Meanwhile, spring precipitation did not vary with latitude, and none of the nest characteristics varied with spring precipitation. This suggests that Common Blackbirds nesting at higher latitudes were building nests with thicker walls in order to counteract the cooler temperatures. We have provided evidence that the nest construction behavior of open-cup-nesting birds systematically varies in response to large-scale spatial variation in spring temperatures