Discourse Analysis and Activist Social Work: Investigating Practice Processes

Although discourse analysis methods have been used for the critical analysis of activist practice theories, the application of these methods to practice processes has remained a largely unchartered territory. A chief aim of this paper is to demonstrate the possibilities discourse analysis offers for the investigation of activist practice processes. The paper introduces a discourse model which combines poststructural discourse principles and conversation analysis methods. The model is then applied to the study of the effects of activist perspectives for service users and workers within a context of activist practice in which one of the authors has been involved as a social worker. This analysis reveals the local interactions amongst workers and service users to be considerably more complex than has been allowed within activist practice discourses

'I’m Glad to Know I’m Not Going Mad!': The Use of Videos of Authentic Classroom Practice to Prompt Collaborative Reflective Practice Among Second Level Modern Foreign Languages Teachers

The aim of this publication is to present how Open Educational Resources (OERs) are being strongly promoted at all levels of education. This book presents a select number of case studies from contributors to the Irish National Digital Learning Resources (NDLR) service. The scarcity of inside views of real Irish classrooms and especially the dearth of video-based resources that depict these, coupled with increased expectations for teacher education providers to work together (DES 2011), were among the considerations that motivated and shaped the development of the project described in this chapter. Video Ideas in Teaching and Learning Languages (VITALL) is a collaboration between the Education Department in NUI Maynooth, the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and the Post-Primary Languages Initiative (PPLI). It seeks to address, in one initiative, our shared concerns in relation to the production and use of resources to support the professional development of second level modern language teachers in Ireland

Educating Idahoans to Make Their Own Estate Planning Decisions

To address the need for estate planning education, University of Idaho Extension partnered with community organizations, local attorneys, and health care professionals to conduct unbiased, low-cost seminars that teach important legal end-of-life concepts and skills. Using the award-winning Legally Secure Your Financial Future: Organize, Communicate, Prepare (LSYFF) curriculum, 19 seminars were offered to nearly 1,600 participants throughout Idaho. Instructors guided seminar participants through an evaluation of their important documents and legal decisions, taught estate planning concepts, motivated attendees to communicate legal end-of-life wishes, and provided references for self-help or professional assistance

January 13, 2000

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Mind Mapping as a Pragmatic Solution for Evaluation: A Critical Reflection through Two Case Studies

Funders of social interventions that address complex child and family welfare concerns for highly vulnerable populations are increasingly seeking cost-effective and rapid mixed method evaluations of their services. This paper describes a mind mapping approach that was used to collect valid and reliable qualitative data from large numbers of informants across two separate evaluation projects. The mind mapping approach provided a rapid, credible solution to the need to extract and summarize views from a diverse range of informants, and to gain consensus agreement on themes arising from the data. Through the use of two case studies to illustrate the application of the technique, we explore the advantages and disadvantages of the method and reflect upon the utility of mind mapping for quality improvement evaluation within the human services

Early-life adversity programs long-term cytokine and microglia expression within the HPA axis in female Japanese quail

This work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC grant no. BB/L002264/1 to K.A.S., C.Z. and S.D.H.), a David Phillips Research Fellowship (K.A.S.) and an EASTBIO BBSRC Doctoral Training Programme studentship (grant no. BB/J01446X/1 to D.J.W., supervisors K.A.S., S.D.H.). Data are available from Mendeley (Walker, 2019): http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/ 6r7d2pg2zk.1Stress exposure during prenatal and postnatal development can have persistent and often dysfunctional effects on several physiological systems, including immune function, affecting the ability to combat infection. The neuroimmune response is inextricably linked to the action of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Cytokines released from neuroimmune cells, including microglia, activate the HPA axis, while glucocorticoids in turn regulate cytokine release from microglia. Because of the close links between these two physiological systems, coupled with potential for persistent changes to HPA axis activity following developmental stress, components of the neuroimmune system could be targets for developmental programming. However, little is known of any programming effects of developmental stress on neuroimmune function. We investigated whether developmental stress exposure via elevated prenatal corticosterone (CORT) or postnatal unpredictable food availability had long-term effects on pro- (IL-1β) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokine and microglia-dependent gene (CSF1R) expression within HPA axis tissues in a precocial bird, the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). Following postnatal stress, we observed increased IL-1β expression in the pituitary gland, reduced IL-10 expression in the amygdala and hypothalamus, and reduced CSF1R expression within the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Postnatal stress disrupted the ratio of IL-1β:IL-10 expression within the hippocampus and hypothalamus. Prenatal stress only increased IL-1β expression in the pituitary gland. We found no evidence for interactive or cumulative effects across life stages on basal cytokine and glia expression in adulthood. We show that postnatal stress may have a larger impact than elevated prenatal CORT on basal immunity in HPA-axis-specific brain regions, with changes in cytokine homeostasis and microglia abundance. These results provide evidence for postnatal programming of a pro-inflammatory neuroimmune phenotype at the expense of reduced microglia, which could have implications for central nervous system health and subsequent neuroimmune responses.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Water Withdrawals in Illinois, 2011

This report summarizes data collected by the Illinois Water Inventory Program for calendar year 2011. Water use data are presented for public water supply and self-supplied industry facilities within Illinois. The data are further categorized by county, township, Illinois priority planning areas, and within two major Illinois withdrawal areas: Chicago and central Illinois. Illinois water withdrawals during 2011 were 53,428.6 million gallons per day (mgd), of which groundwater supplied 513.4 mgd and surface water supplied 52,915.2 mgd. Public water supply (PWS) withdrew 1,508.3 mgd and self-supplied-industry (SSI) withdrew 51,920.3 mdg. Electric power generation is the largest water use in Illinois with 96.3 percent of the total water withdrawal. Excluding electric power withdrawals, 2011 groundwater use was 508.5 mgd, and surface water use was 1,489.8 mgd.Ope