The Hermeneutics of Recuperation: What a Kinship-Model Approach to Children’s Agency Could Do for Children’s Literature and Childhood Studies

In the opening pages of her groundbreaking book Dependent States, cultural historian Karen Sánchez-Eppler clears a path for children’s literature critics interested in challenging the notion that children function solely as passive recipients of culture. Without dismissing the key insights generated by Jacqueline Rose and other literary critics who treat childhood strictly “as a discourse among adults” (xvi), Sánchez-Eppler nevertheless announces her intention to regard children not merely as objects of socialization but also as “individuals inhabiting and negotiating” societal conceptions of what it means to be a child (xv). She thus sets out to analyze not just how American adults in the nineteenth century represented children but also how children represented themselves. To pay attention to children’s diaries and other similar sources, she stresses carefully, “is not to pretend that children are fully independent actors, unhampered by the constraints of adult regulation and desire; but neither is it to see children as incapable of defining their own terms and grounds of power and meaning” (xxviii)

Развитие социальной и профессиональной компетентности

This chapter takes a cautiously autobiographical route through the memories of the 1970’s child performer and her audience - then and now. Set against the backdrop of the struggle between Romantic constructions of childhood ‘innocence’ and the lived experience of a professional child performer enacting ‘real’ childhood, the chapter reflects on a personal experience of making Here come the Double Deckers within the television industry for British children in the 1970s and considers conditions for training and working in current legislator advice. The chapter also unpacks the vexed relationship between notions of children at work and play in the creation, commodification and consumption of the child performer through personal memories of her 1970s audienc

Spatial Relation of Apparent Soil Electrical Conductivity with Crop Yields and Soil Properties at Different Topographic Positions in a Small Agricultural Watershed

Use of electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensors along with geospatial modeling provide a better opportunity for understanding spatial distribution of soil properties and crop yields on a landscape level and to map site-specific management zones. The first objective of this research was to evaluate the relationship of crop yields, soil properties and apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) at different topographic positions (shoulder, backslope, and deposition slope). The second objective was to examine whether the correlation of ECa with soil properties and crop yields on a watershed scale can be improved by considering topography in modeling ECa and soil properties compared to a whole field scale with no topographic separation. This study was conducted in two headwater agricultural watersheds in southern Illinois, USA. The experimental design consisted of three basins per watershed and each basin was divided into three topographic positions (shoulder, backslope and deposition) using the Slope Position Classification model in ESRI ArcMap. A combine harvester equipped with a GPS-based recording system was used for yield monitoring and mapping from 2012 to 2015. Soil samples were taken at depths from 0–15 cm and 15–30 cm from 54 locations in the two watersheds in fall 2015 and analyzed for physical and chemical properties. The ECa was measured using EMI device, EM38-MK2, which provides four dipole readings ECa-H-0.5, ECa-H-1, ECa-V-0.5, and ECa-V-1. Soybean and corn yields at depositional position were 38% and 62% lower than the shoulder position in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Soil pH, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), Mehlich-3 Phosphorus (P), Bray-1 P and ECa at depositional positions were significantly higher compared to shoulder positions. Corn and soybeans yields were weakly to moderately

Postnatal extra-embryonic tissues as a source of multiple cell types for regenerative medicine applications

Aim: We aimed to isolate and characterize the cell types which could be obtained from postnatal extra-embryonic tissues. Materials and Methods: Fresh tissues (no more than 12 h after delivery) were used for enzymatic or explants methods of cell isolation. Obtained cultures were further maintained at 5% oxygen. At P3 cell phenotype was assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, population doubling time was calculated and the multilineage differentiation assay was performed. Results: We have isolated multiple cell types from postnatal tissues. Namely, placental mesenchymal stromal cells from placenta chorionic disc, chorionic membrane mesenchymal stromal cells (ChM-MSC) from free chorionic membrane, umbilical cord MSC (UC-MSC) from whole umbilical cord, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) from umbilical vein, amniotic epithelial cells (AEC) and amniotic MSC (AMSC) from amniotic membrane. All isolated cell types displayed high proliferation rate together with the typical MSC phenotype: CD73⁺CD90⁺CD105⁺CD146⁺CD166⁺CD34⁻CD45⁻HLA⁻DR⁻. HUVEC constitutively expressed key markers CD31 and CD309. Most MSC and AEC were capable of osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. Conclusion: We have shown that a wide variety of cell types can be easily isolated from extra-embryonic tissues and expanded ex vivo for regenerative medicine applications. These cells possess typical MSC properties and can be considered an alternative for adult MSC obtained from bone marrow or fat, especially for allogeneic use

Endometrial stromal cells: isolation, expansion, morphological and functional properties

Aim: We aimed to study biological properties of human endometrial stromal cells in vitro. Materials and Methods: The endometrium samples (n = 5) were obtained by biopsy at the first phase of the menstrual cycle from women with endometrial hypoplasia. In all cases, a voluntary written informed consent was obtained from the patients. Endometrial fragments were dissociated by enzymatic treatment. The cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 supplemented with 10% FBS, 2 mМ L-glutamine and 1 ng/ml FGF-2 in a multi-gas incubator at 5% CO₂ and 5% O₂. At P3 the cells were subjected to immunophenotyping, multilineage differentiation, karyotype stability and colony forming efficiency. The cell secretome was assessed by BioRad Multiplex immunoassay kit. Results: Primary population of endometrial cells was heterogeneous and contained cells with fibroblast-like and epithelial-like morphology, but at P3 the majority of cell population had fibroblast-like morphology. The cells possessed typical for MSCs phenotype CD90⁺CD105⁺CD73⁺CD34⁻CD45⁻HLA⁻DR⁻. The cells also expressed CD140a, CD140b, CD146, and CD166 antigents; and were negative for CD106, CD184, CD271, and CD325. Cell doubling time was 29.6 ± 1.3 h. The cells were capable of directed osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation. The cells showed 35.7% colony forming efficiency and a tendency to 3D spheroid formation. The GTG-banding assay confirmed the stability of eMSC karyotype during long-term culturing (up to P8). After 48 h incubation period in serum-free medium eMSC secreted anti-inflammatory IL-1ra, as well as IL-6, IL-8 and IFNγ, angiogenic factors VEGF, GM-CSF and FGF-2, chemokines IP-10 and MCP-1. Conclusion: Thus, cultured endometrial stromal cells meet minimal ISCT criteria for MSC. Proliferative potential, karyotype stability, multilineage plasticity and secretome profile make eMSC an attractive object for the regenerative medicine use