Teachers’ Opinions Concerning Microteachings as a Training Technique: A Case Study from ASPETE, Greece

The main objective of the present research is to investigate teachers’ opinions concerning microteachings as a training technique. For research purposes, a case study was conducted, studying a sample of secondary education teachers in the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE) in Kozani, Greece. Among the research’s main findings is teachers’ belief that microteachings serve as a beneficial tool which helps them improve their teaching skills, having also a significant effect on various aspects of teaching

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ROMA CHILDREN? LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES AHEAD

The aim in this paper is to examine the school achievement of Roma children drawing from the outcomes of a small case study conducted in a lower secondary school in the Western Suburbs of Athens. Reducing educational inequalities is a key issue in education policy, aiming at promoting equality of opportunity for all children. Roma children are one of the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups in Western societies. In Greece, Roma people experienced an extreme social and educational exclusion of Roma people until the late 90s. During the last two decades, large intervention programs took place, aiming at including Roma children in education. The outcomes of these intervention progammes can be assessed as positive, as they bring and to a large extent retained Roma children in school for the first time, despite the huge difficulties and the resistance of the education communities and the local societies. However, it is argued that these achievements must be seen as only a first step towards enhancing equality of opportunity. The outcomes of this case study show that even in an area in which the most privileged Roma community is located, Roma children still underachieve compared to the non-Roma children.   Article visualizations

Principals’ views on policies and practices for the educational inclusion of Roma people

The role of school principals is recognized as crucial for the daily operation of schools in general and specifically for the management of the challenges posed by the increasing diversity of the current era. In this article, kindergarten principals’ views regarding policies and practices for the management of diversity with reference to one of the most marginalized group, the Roma people, are examined. For this purpose, ten semi-structured interviews with kindergarten principals in areas in which Roma people live either in settlements or inside the residential areas were conducted. Data analysis indicates that principals are aware of the inadequacies of the policies regarding the Roma people and they propose a series of measures at local and central level for the improvement of the school inclusion of Roma children. However, principals are also trapped to a deficit discourse that transfers to the Roma people the major responsibility for their social and educational exclusion

e-meducation.org: an open access medical education web portal

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Internet can serve in opening the door to a brand new world of high quality medical information. However, the chaotic size of data available in the WWW is often misleading. We sought to provide the world medical community with a web portal that may be used as a clearinghouse providing the outlet for dissemination of high quality WWW educational products.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Directories of the relevant WWW resources have been compiled and others are being currently under development to cover most medical fields. A custom-built medical search engine was created. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and video sharing services were reviewed for their quality and were presented along with case-based educational presentations through a user-friendly web portal interface. A directory of guidelines database is currently under development.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The educational portal "e-meducation" available at <url>http://www.e-meducation.org/</url> has been launched in December 2006 and at the moment, provides links to more than 800 educational web-pages, more than 2100 clinical practice guidelines, 32 news feeds, and 14 educational videos. The web site also hosts 40 case-based presentations and a custom medical search engine.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on the incorporation of simple and tested educational strategies such as case based instruction and interactive learning, e-meducation.org aims to become a prototype platform that offers a more convenient interface to existing products, resources and medical contents.</p

Ocular manifestations of IgG4-related disease in children. More common than anticipated? Review of the literature and case report

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an entity with various clinical manifestations. Histopathologically, it is characterized by lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates enriched in IgG4 (+) plasmacytes and usually fibrosis of the affected tissue. Most of the patients have also increased IgG4 serum levels and they respond to glucocorticosteroids. In children, due to its rare occurrence, IgG4-RD is ill defined. From the published studies, so far, it appears that ocular manifestations are very common in the paediatric population with IgG4-RD. Herein, we describe a new case of a child with IgG4-RD with ocular involvement manifested with orbit and eyelid swelling, successfully treated with steroids. In addition, we review the clinical, laboratory, histopathologic and radiologic characteristics of the published paediatric cases with IgG4-RD and ocular involvement, critically comparing them with the characteristics of the adult population. It seems that ocular manifestations are more frequently observed in children than in adults. Also, the pattern of involvement is different, with extraocular muscles and soft tissues being more commonly affected than the lacrimal glands

JAK-inhibitors. New players in the field of immune-mediated diseases, beyond rheumatoid arthritis

Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) are a group of molecules associated with one of the major pathways through which many cytokines exert and integrate their function, and as such they are increasingly recognized as playing critical role in the pathogenesis subserving various immune-mediated diseases, including RA, PsA, SpAs, IBD, skin disorders (e.g. alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis), single-gene disorders like interferonopathies, and others. JAKs are the key initiating players of the JAK/STAT pathway. Upon binding of their respective effector molecules (cytokines, IFNs, growth factors and others) to type I and type II receptors, JAKs are activated, and through phosphorylation of themselves and of other molecules (including STATs), they mediate signal transduction to the nucleus. A class of drugs—called JAK inhibitors or JAKinibs—that block one or more JAKs has been developed in the last decade, and now numbers &gt;20 members. Although, so far, JAK inhibitors have been marketed only for RA and PsA, these drugs have been tested in phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials for other inflammatory conditions and beyond. In this review, we summarize the clinical data, including efficacy and safety, available for JAK inhibitors used in some immune-mediated conditions other than RA

The loss of the tumour-suppressor miR-145 results in the shorter disease-free survival of prostate cancer patients

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is characterised by great heterogeneity of the disease progression rate. Tumours range from insignificant and not life threatening to high risk for relapse ones. Consequently, a large number of patients undergo unnecessary treatment. miR-145 is a well-documented tumour suppressor and its expression, which is regulated by the p53 pathway, has been found to be decreased in the majority of human malignancies. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical utility of miR-145 for the prognostication of PCa. Methods: Total RNA was isolated from 137 prostate tissue specimens obtained from 73 radical prostatectomy-treated PCa patients and 64 transurethral- or open prostatectomy-treated benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) patients. Following polyadenylation and reverse transcription, miR-145 levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR assay, using SNORD48 (RNU48) for normalisation purposes. Results: Downregulated miR-145 expression was found in PCa compared with BPH patients. The reduction of miR-145 expression in PCa was correlated with higher Gleason score, advanced clinical stage, larger tumour diameter and higher prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and follow-up PSA levels. In addition, higher risk for biochemical recurrence and significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) was found for the PCa patients expressing lower miR-145. Focusing on ‘low- and intermediate-recurrence risk’ PCa patients, miR-145 loss was revealed to be a reliable predictor of biochemical relapse and poor DFS independent from Gleason score, clinical stage, PSA and patients’ age. Conclusion: The loss of the tumour-suppressor miR-145 increases the risk for disease progression and predicts the poor survival of PCa patients

Molecular cloning and characterization of the human RNase κ, an ortholog of Cc RNase

A novel protein family, designated hereafter as RNase κ (kappa) family, has been recently introduced with the characterization of the specific Cc RNase, isolated from the insect Ceratitis capitata. The human ortholog of this family consists of 98 amino acids and shares > 98% identity with its mammalian counterparts. This RNase is encoded by a single-copy gene found to be expressed in a wide spectrum of normal and cancer tissues. The cDNA of the human ribonuclease has been isolated and subcloned into a variety of prokaryotic expression vectors, but most efforts to express it caused a severe toxic effect. On the other hand, the expression of the human RNase by the use of the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris system resulted in the production of a highly active recombinant enzyme. Using a 30-mer 5′-end-labeled RNA probe as substrate, the purified enzyme seems to preferentially cleave ApU and ApG phosphodiester bonds, while it hydrolyzes UpU bonds at a lower rate. Based on amino acid sequence alignment and substrate specificity data, as well as the complete resistance of the recombinant protein to the placental ribonuclease inhibitor, we concluded that the human RNase κ is a novel endoribonuclease distinct from other known ribonucleases