Maintaining social cultural dominance through intergroup helping: A critical discourse analysis of an international fundraising campaign

A British coffee chain’s fundraising campaign constitutes a background for this study to examine the underlying ideologies behind British charitable giving. The chosen charity executes projects in ‘developing countries’ by providing education for children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The inter-group relations that are mediated by the campaign -the poor versus wealthy, the empowered versus the oppressed, the colonizer versus the victim- allows us to investigate charitable behaviour from inter-group perspective through the prism of power and inequality. The study takes a critical stance from a discursive paradigmatic perspective to analyse visual contents used in the campaign. The applied visual critical discourse analysis was inspired by Barthes’s semiotic theory. Findings revealed that the adverts’ interpretative repertoires serve ideologies that sustain the donors’ social-cultural dominance over the recipients by justifying group-based social hierarchies. The chains of signifiers do not question donors moral position but rationalise status quo and maintain undisturbed consumption. Findings suggest the possibility that prosocial behaviour that is incited under consuming conditions do not challenge but reconstruct and eventually sustain global inequality

Propaganda for Democracy : The Vexed History of the Federal Theatre Project

My thesis explores and analyzes the Federal Theater Project’s cultural and political impact during the Depression, as well as the contested legacy of this unique experiment in government-sponsored, broadly accessible cultural expression. Part of the New Deal’s Works Projects Administration, the FTP aimed to provide jobs for playwrights, actors, designers, stagehands, and other theater professionals on relief in the stark period from 1935 to 1939. But the project became a nationwide political and artistic flashpoint, spurring fierce debate over the leadership, politics and impact of this “people’s theater.” The FTP gave professional theater an unprecedented reach into working-class and black communities. The project was marked by the participation of many prominent leftist and Communist writers, performers, and technicians, but its productions did, nonetheless, reflected a broadly rebellious, economically desperate, culturally inclusive popular spirit sparked by the Depression. Refuting charges that the FTP was a thinly veiled, subversive propaganda tool, the project’s leaders countered that its work was educational “propaganda for democracy.” As in today’s political and artistic conflicts, the dispute centered on which principles and ideals actually constitute core American values. I examine the FTP’s achievements and controversies, which centered on the purported mutually exclusive contradiction between education and entertainment, and the boundaries of acceptable political discourse in publicly funded arts. I include two case studies that exemplify these artistic and political conflicts: the Negro Theater Project and the Children’s Theater Project, through, respectively, the Big White Fog and Revolt of the Beavers. During its short lifespan, the FTP was derided as discredited, dogmatic propaganda with scant artistic merit. But it left an honorable legacy grounded in democratic American principles and values. Perhaps such a grassroots cultural phenomenon that celebrated ordinary, struggling people, and explicitly confronted racism and economic deprivation could only flourish under extreme circumstances like the Depression. But the Federal Theater Project, with its subsidized, high-quality, innovative and widely accessible performances, stands as a compelling reminder of a unique moment in our country’s cultural history

Is the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood related to the development of retinopathy of prematurity?

AIMS—To determine the role of carbon dioxide in the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).
METHODS—This was a retrospective cohort study of 25 consecutive infants admitted to the neonatal unit with continuously recorded physiological data. The daily mean and standard deviation (SD) of transcutaneous carbon dioxide partial pressure (tcPCO(2)) was compared between infants who had stage 1 or 2 ROP and stage 3 ROP. The time spent hypocarbic (<3 kPa) and/or hypercarbic (>10 kPa and >12 kPa) was also compared between these groups. Intermittent arterial carbon dioxide tension was also measured and compared with the simultaneous tcPCO(2) data.
RESULTS—There were no significant differences in carbon dioxide variability or time spent hypocarbic and/or hypercarbic between the ROP groups on any day. 86% of transcutaneous values were within 1.5 kPa of the simultaneous arterial value.
CONCLUSION—TcPCO(2) measurement can be a very useful management technique. However, in this cohort neither variable blood carbon dioxide tension nor duration of hypercarbia or hypocarbia in the first 2 weeks of life was associated with the development or severity of ROP.


ptchart : An R package for computing Precision Teaching measures and charts

Precision Teaching is a domain within Applied Behavior Analysis that are interested in measuring and charting behavior on a standardized chart to assess the eectiveness of an intervention and, if needed, to make the appropriate changes (Heron, Heward & Cooper, 2014). All calculations and chartings are traditionally made on paper and pencil with the Standard Celeration Chart and with a celeration and frequency nder (Graf & Lindsley, 2002; Pennypacker, Gutierrez & Lindsley, 2003). Even though the paper and pencil approach is suitable for applied purposes, it is not for more rigorous, scientic ones. Very few digital tools exist and most are designed for clinic purposes. There is no existing software tool to help researchers in the Precision Teaching field. As there is a growing use of the R language among academics and in psychology in general, a dedicated package would be a substantial contribution in Precision Teaching. Thus, we developed ‘ptchart‘, a package that computes measures and produces charts related to Precision Teaching. The goals of ‘ptchart‘ are multiple: (a) provide an intuitive interface with useful default parameters, (b) reduce coding time to get results, (c) give fexibility to manipulate outputs for further analyses, (d) generate charts that are presentation or publication ready. The ‘ptchart‘ package provides two main functions : ‘ptstat()‘ which computes relevant indices, and ‘ptchart()‘ which produces the charts. A thorough example of the package will be presented. As it is an active package in current development, present and planned features and limitations will be discussed

ANALISA SISTEM PENGAMAN DAN KEMAMPUAN HANTAR ARUS MOTOR PADA MESIN OTOMATIS PENGERING GABAH

The purpose of the Protector System in electric motor on the Automatic Rice Dryer Machine to control the motor performance in order to work optimally. The protector system was calculated by current load through the electrical motor  and then converted to  calculate current  driving  system.  The current driving system in each electrical motor is different because it is affected by the motor specification. The benefit to understand it is to prevent the damage on the electrical motor cause the coil wire burned down by over current. The motor on each of the Automatic Rice Dryer Machine has its own function so the machine works in structured mode with automatic control. As a result, the machine is suitable to used by farmers to dry the rice, so they were not worried about the weather. Furthermore, they can dry the rice without large areas and sunshine. Keywords: Protector, System, Current, Motor, Automati

Using the DreamBox Reading Plus adaptive literacy intervention to improve reading attainment, a two-armed cluster randomised trial evaluation protocol

DreamBox Reading Plus (known as Reading Plus hereafter) is an online (EdTech) adaptive silent reading programme designed to improve reading and language comprehension skills (Spichtig, A. N. et al., 2019). The programme supports fluency, comprehension (e.g. inference) and vocabulary growth, It is designed to support all readers including pupils with EAL, SEND, as well as the most able students. The programme incorporates a visual skills element which scaffolds pupils’ reading via a Guided Window text display to support eye movement control (Radach and Kennedy, 2013). The programme also includes additional visual skills activities to support struggling readers. Another unique feature of the programme is that children selfselect reading tasks based on age-appropriate texts. These tasks are designed to be ‘high interest’ for all children, including lower attaining readers. Overall, the programme promises to have an important socio-emotional impact by building stamina and motivation to read. In addition to promoting reading proficiency directly (by improving pupils’ fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension), the programme also promises to have an indirect effect on reading attainment, through improvements in teachers’ knowledge of the role of silent reading fluency in developing reading stamina and comprehension

0087: Sleep apneas treatment during cardiac rehabilitation can improve heart failure prognosis? SATELIT-HF study: sleep apnea treatment during cardiac rehabilitation of CHF patients

BackgroundSleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is commonly in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients.Exercise training (ET) improves exercise tolerance and reduces cardiac decompensations in CHF population. Otherwise, ventilation therapy (VT) improves prognosis and exercise capacity in CHF patients with SDB. However, the effect of the combination therapy: ET and VT is still unexplored. The aim of our study is to evaluate the effects on hemodynamic status (cardiac decompensations) of ET and VT in stable CHF patients referred to cardiac rehabilitation (CR).MethodsWe included 118 stable CHF patients with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)>15/h diagnosed by polygraphy. They were randomized into exercise training (ET group n=58) or combined exercise and ventilation (ET+VT group n=60). The follow up period was the 8 weeks during which 20 exercise training sessions were scheduled. Severe episodes of cardiac decompensations were recorded.ResultsThe mean age was 62.6±10.3 years, 89% were males, 50% NYHA class II and 50% in class III, mean LVEF was 30%. 40% and 60% of patients had respectively obstructive and central and/or mixed apneas, with a mean AHI 34.4±14.3/h. Patients of ET+VT group had significantly fewer acute cardiovascular events than those of ET group (2/60 vs. 7/58; 3.3% vs. 15.5%, p<0.05).ConclusionVentilation therapy combined with ET in severe CHF patients seems to reinforce benefits of ET alone. Screening of SDB in CR could be proposed in order to optimize the global management of the heart disease