How can the concepts of habitus and field help us to understand the engagement of educational workers in higher Education?

In ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’, the EU stressed the role of universities in relation to lifelong learning, a role that entails a need for widening access to universities, particularly for those not coming through the traditional direct route of upper secondary education. As teachers play a significant role in the quality of the lifelong learning as well as in motivating future generations to take part in lifelong learning, education and training for teachers becomes important; not only in relation to initial teacher education, but also in relation to a continuous development of knowledge and skills. This paper represents the first stage of a larger comparative project intended to examine and compare educational workers’ (i.e. professionals involved in teaching in the class room) participation in higher education in England and Denmark, their access and interest. In particular, the paper relates participation and engagement to national and international educational policies and frames this work within an examination of the social background of the professional groups. The key research questions at this stage of the work are methodological and can be summed up by the overarching question, “How can the concepts of habitus and field help us to understand levels of engagement of educational workers in Higher Education”? The paper reports the results of our review of current policies and our efforts to identify the structural relations within the educational professional fields in each country. To do so we are developing a theoretical model using the relational analytical approach advocated by Bourdieu. As such, our work is an early stage attempt at operationalising Bourdieu’s observations regarding the dynamics of field. This seems to us to provide an important conceptual approach to understanding the habitus of educational workers in the context of the dynamics of a fast changing policy arena and the complexities of the backgrounds of individuals working in the educational field. The model attempts to build in the reflexivity that Bourdieu demands for a ‘science’ that is not weakened by over-emphasis on either the objective structural relations or the subjective phenomenology of experience. Thus, the paper presents a preliminary contextual analysis of the factors that enable an understanding of engagement or lack of engagement in higher level learning among school-based education workers in the two EU countries and is related to a larger research project that explores habitus (both individual and collective) among these groups of education workers

Infinitesimal rigidity of a compact hyperbolic 4-orbifold with totally geodesic boundary

Kerckhoff and Storm conjectured that compact hyperbolic n-orbifolds with totally geodesic boundary are infinitesimally rigid when n>3. This paper verifies this conjecture for a specific example based on the 4-dimensional hyperbolic 120-cell.Comment: 9 page

Modulation of endothelial cell KCa3.1 Channels during endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor signaling in mesenteric resistance arteries

Arterial hyperpolarization to acetylcholine (ACh) reflects coactivation of KCa3.1 (IKCa) channels and KCa2.3 (SKCa) channels in the endothelium that transfers through myoendothelial gap junctions and diffusible factor(s) to affect smooth muscle relaxation (endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor [EDHF] response). However, ACh can differentially activate KCa3.1 and KCa2.3 channels, and we investigated the mechanisms responsible in rat mesenteric arteries. KCa3.1 channel input to EDHF hyperpolarization was enhanced by reducing external [Ca2+]o but blocked either with forskolin to activate protein kinase A or by limiting smooth muscle [Ca2+]i increases stimulated by phenylephrine depolarization. Imaging [Ca2+]i within the endothelial cell projections forming myoendothelial gap junctions revealed increases in cytoplasmic [Ca2+]i during endothelial stimulation with ACh that were unaffected by simultaneous increases in muscle [Ca2+]i evoked by phenylephrine. If gap junctions were uncoupled, KCa3.1 channels became the predominant input to EDHF hyperpolarization, and relaxation was inhibited with ouabain, implicating a crucial link through Na+/K+-ATPase. There was no evidence for an equivalent link through KCa2.3 channels nor between these channels and the putative EDHF pathway involving natriuretic peptide receptor-C. Reconstruction of confocal z-stack images from pressurized arteries revealed KCa2.3 immunostain at endothelial cell borders, including endothelial cell projections, whereas KCa3.1 channels and Na+/K+-ATPase {alpha}2/{alpha}3 subunits were highly concentrated in endothelial cell projections and adjacent to myoendothelial gap junctions. Thus, extracellular [Ca2+]o appears to modify KCa3.1 channel activity through a protein kinase A-dependent mechanism independent of changes in endothelial [Ca2+]i. The resulting hyperpolarization links to arterial relaxation largely through Na+/K+-ATPase, possibly reflecting K+ acting as an EDHF. In contrast, KCa2.3 hyperpolarization appears mainly to affect relaxation through myoendothelial gap junctions. Overall, these data suggest that K+ and myoendothelial coupling evoke EDHF-mediated relaxation through distinct, definable pathways

Multi-stress proteomics: The global protein response to multiple environmental stressors in the porcelain crab Petrolisthes cinctipes

Global climate change is increasing the number of hot days along the California coast as well as increasing the incidence of off-shore upwelling events that lower the pH of intertidal seawater; thus, intertidal organisms are experiencing an increase in more than one stress simultaneously. This study seeks to characterize the global protein response of the eurythermal porcelain crab Petrolisthes cinctipes to changes in thermal, pH, and tidal regime treatments, either combined or individually. The first experiment examined temperature stress alone and sought to determine the effect of chronic temperature acclimation on the acute heat shock response. We compared the proteomic response of cheliped muscle tissue following a month-long acclimation to either (1) constant 10°C, (2) daily fluctuation from 10-20°C, or (3) daily fluctuation from 10-30°C, all followed by either a 30°C acute heat shock or 10°C control. We found that ATP supply via the phosphagen system, changes in glycolytic enzymes, muscle fiber restructuring, respiratory protein fragmentation, and immunity were primarily affected by acclimation and subsequent heat shock. Acclimation to the “extreme” regimes (10°C and 10-30°C) resulted in the greatest proteomic changes, while acclimation to the moderate regime (10-20°C) resulted in a more mild response to heat shock (i.e., fewer adjustments to relative protein abundance). The second experiment sought to determine the proteomic response of gill tissue following a 17 d acclimation to daily changes in pH (ambient pH 8.1 vs low pH 7.6), tidal regime (constant immersion vs 6 h emersion), and temperature (ambient 11°C vs 22-31°C heat shock during emersion). Low pH alone reduced expression of molecular chaperones of the endoplasmic reticulum, lectins, and serine proteases involved in activating the prophenoloxidase cascade. It also increased the abundance of Na+/K+-ATPase, nitrogen metabolism enzymes, and induced changes in tubulin expression, all suggesting an increase in ammonium excretion. Addition of emersion during low pH reduced the abundance of several metabolic proteins including those involved in the proposed ammonium excretion mechanism, suggesting a decrease in metabolic function in part to prevent toxic accumulation of ammonium in the branchial chambers. Combined pH, emersion, and thermal stress increased the abundance of proteins involved in cuticle binding and crosslinking. These results indicate that the responses to pH, tidal cycle, and temperature are highly dependent on one another and that changes in ER protein maturation, ion transport, immunity, and cuticle structure are the primary biochemical systems impacted by these environmental stressors in crustacean gill

Use of inedible wheat residues from the KSC-CELSS breadboard facility for production of fungal cellulase

Cellulose and xylan (a hemicellulose) comprise 50 percent of inedible wheat residue (which is 60 percent of total wheat biomass) produced in the Kennedy Space Center Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Breadboard Biomass Production Chamber (BPC). These polysaccharides can be converted by enzymatic hydrolysis into useful monosaccharides, thus maximizing the use of BPC volume and energy, and minimizing waste material to be treated. The evaluation of CELSS-derived wheat residues for production for cellulase enzyme complex by Trichoderma reesei and supplemental beta-glucosidase by Aspergillus phoenicis is in progress. Results to date are given

Evidence for involvement of both IKCa and SKCa channels in hyperpolarizing responses of the rat middle cerebral artery

Endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor responses in the rat middle cerebral artery are blocked by inhibiting IKCa channels alone, contrasting with peripheral vessels where block of both IKCa and SKCa is required. As the contribution of IKCa and SKCa to endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization differs in peripheral arteries, depending on the level of arterial constriction, we investigated the possibility that SKCa might contribute to equivalent hyperpolarization in cerebral arteries under certain conditions. METHODS: Rat middle cerebral arteries (approximately 175 microm) were mounted in a wire myograph. The effect of KCa channel blockers on endothelium-dependent responses to the protease-activated receptor 2 agonist, SLIGRL (20 micromol/L), were then assessed as simultaneous changes in tension and membrane potential. These data were correlated with the distribution of arterial KCa channels revealed with immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: SLIGRL hyperpolarized and relaxed cerebral arteries undergoing variable levels of stretch-induced tone. The relaxation was unaffected by specific inhibitors of IKCa (TRAM-34, 1 micromol/L) or SKCa (apamin, 50 nmol/L) alone or in combination. In contrast, the associated smooth-muscle hyperpolarization was inhibited, but only with these blockers in combination. Blocking nitric oxide synthase (NOS) or guanylyl cyclase evoked smooth-muscle depolarization and constriction, with both hyperpolarization and relaxation to SLIGRL being abolished by TRAM-34 alone, whereas apamin had no effect. Immunolabeling showed SKCa and IKCa within the endothelium. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of NO, IKCa underpins endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization and relaxation in cerebral arteries. However, when NOS is active SKCa contributes to hyperpolarization, whatever the extent of background contraction. These changes may have relevance in vascular disease states where NO release is compromised and when the levels of SKCa expression may be altered

Transphobia in Black Churches

This thesis looks at how black church communities address ongoing violence against transgender and queer people in the United States. It posits criticism of religious intolerance from transgender and queer perspectives do not always mean skepticism of Christianity itself. Criticism can, however, mean skepticism of the institutions that police gender and sexual normativity. The premise of this thesis rests on the idea that there is an inherent conflict between gender-queer identities and Christian ideologies that produce violence against queer people. My aim is to deconstruct this notion by analyzing differing stories, perspectives, and power-relations. I accomplish this first by looking at some experiences black transgender people recall growing up in black churches and how their religious backgrounds shaped their perspectives, political affiliations, and relationships. Next, I look at what black church leaders have said and done to either include or exclude transgender people from their theologies in response to criticisms about intolerance. And finally, I look at how to move forward as a community and what black churches can do to reach out to transgender and other gender non-conforming people in calling for radical political change regarding black people living in the United States