"J'y Suis. Pour de Bon." Montreal Jewish Education and the Social Construction of Diaspora Identity

This work examines the meaning of the State of Israel in diaspora Jewish education in contemporary Montreal, Canada. It does so by asking three central questions: “Is there a common idea of the nation?” “How is the idea of the nation made compelling and transferred from one generation to the next in a diaspora context?” and “Does the local context of a given diaspora community affect how the idea of the nation is taught?” The first part of this study draws on Anthony Smith’s theory of ethnosymbolism to investigate how symbols and myths provide the cultural foundations necessary for the social construction of modern national consciousness. Particularly, it reveals the process through which the political myth of the State of Israel expanded on pre-modern religious narrative frameworks in order to elicit communal will and emotion and unify highly divergent Jewish communities around the idea of the nation. Taking Montreal Jewish day schools as a site of inquiry, the second dimension of this research analyzes how the process of nation building occurs in a diaspora setting. It investigates how specific elements common to nations - the myth of election, territorialisation, shared ethnohistory, and communal destiny - are interwoven and actively cultivated in Israel education curricula and programming developed for mainstream Montreal Jewish day schools. This case study reveals how the absence of territorialisation creates certain challenges when cultivating diaspora nationalism and highlights how Montreal Jewish educators systematically attempt to overcome those challenges. A final aspect of this work develops the idea that Jewish education is influenced by local social forces and that attachment to a national homeland increases when a diaspora community experiences social isolation. Specifically, it argues that fostering a common idea about the State of Israel in mainstream Montreal Jewish education is made possible due to the near institutional completeness of the Montreal Jewish community; isolation from other local communities, namely the francophone community of Quebec; intensive Hebrew language and Jewish Studies curricula; and the placement of Israeli teachers in Jewish day schools. This study offers new insight into the affects of the socio-linguistic and local context on the process of diaspora identity formation in Jewish day schools. Equally, by emphasizing the foundational role religion holds in the social construction of national identity, this dissertation reveals how religion and nationalism can reinforce national cohesion in a diaspora context

Testing complex hypotheses using secondary data analysis: is the association between sexual abuse and psychosis moderated by gender in a large prison sample?

Purpose – There have been many studies that demonstrated an association between sexual trauma and psychotic disorders or psychotic symptoms. Limited attention has been paid to gender differences regarding this association. A recent study evidenced that the trauma-psychosis association may be moderated by gender and that the effect may be specific for females. However, there have been many methodological limitations, particularly that low prevalence of psychosis and sexual trauma for males leads to low statistical power, that have made this hypothesis difficult to test. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This study sought to estimate the association between sexual trauma and psychosis, and to determine if the association was moderated by gender using data from the Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity among Prisoners in England and Wales (n ¼ 3,142). Findings – Bivariate analysis showed that sexual trauma predicted probable psychosis for both females (OR ¼ 4.13) and males (OR ¼ 4.72). After controlling for confounding variables the odds ratios for males and females did not differ significantly (the shared odds ratio was 2.60) indicating that the association was not moderated by gender. Originality/value – The relationship between sexual abuse and psychosis may neither be specific to, nor moderated by, gende

Recent Developments: The Uniform Arbitration Act

Since 1983, this annual Article 2 has been prepared to provide a survey of recent developments in the case law interpreting and applying the various state versions of the Uniform Arbitration Act3. The purpose is to promote uniformity in the interpretation of the U.A.A. by developing and explaining the underlying principles and rationales courts have applied in recent cases.

Effects of Familiarity and Age on Driver Safety Errors During Wayfinding

Wayfinding is a critical skill that enables drivers to navigate from one location to another. Wayfinding abilities decline as individuals age, which may increase older driver reliance on directional cues (e.g. signs) and divert cognitive resources at the expense of vehicle control and safety. Familiarity with an environment can facilitate wayfinding due to previous knowledge of the route. This study examines the role of familiarity in driving safety errors committed during a wayfinding task. Results suggest that age-related driving difficulties can be lessened by familiarity with the environment. The results underscore the need to consider geographical license restrictions in administrative policies aimed at improving older driver safety

Risk factors for UK Plasmodium falciparum cases

Background An increasing proportion of malaria cases diagnosed in UK residents with a history of travel to malaria endemic areas are due to Plasmodium falciparum. Methods In order to identify travellers at most risk of acquiring malaria a proportional hazards model was used to estimate the risk of acquiring malaria stratified by purpose of travel and age whilst adjusting for entomological inoculation rate (EIR) and duration of stay in endemic countries. Results Travellers visiting friends and relatives and business travellers were found to have significantly higher hazard of acquiring malaria (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) relative to that of holiday makers 7.4, 95% CI 6. 4-8. 5, p < 0. 0001 and HR 3.4, 95% CI 2.9-3.8, p < 0. 0001, respectively). All age-groups were at lower risk than children aged 0-15 years. Conclusions These estimates of the increased risk for these groups accounting for exposure should be used to inform programmes to improve awareness of the risks of malaria when travelling

Translation: From bench to brain – Using the visual arts and metaphors to engage and educate

This article examines multidisciplinary public engagement projects that bring together developments in psychiatric research and practice with visual art and its use of metaphor. The article focuses on the art exhibition Translation: From bench to brain, which was the basis for further collaborations, illustrating how the learning from the original event influenced subsequent projects. Combining art exhibitions with online documentation and resources, the projects explored not only medical and scientific themes, but also the wider social, cultural and ethical ramifications, specifically aspects of identity, risk and stigma. The activities demonstrate the value of a developmental approach to public engagement as a process, whereby projects build on previous activities and evolving multidisciplinary perspectives, networks and expertise

Effectiveness of Meningococcal B Vaccine against Endemic Hypervirulent Neisseria meningitidis W Strain, England

Serum samples from children immunized with a meningococcal serogroup B vaccine demonstrated potent serum bactericidal antibody activity against the hypervirulent Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W strain circulating in England. The recent introduction of this vaccine into the United Kingdom national immunization program should also help protect infants against this endemic strain

The ACELL project: Student participation, professional development, and improving laboratory learning

The Australian Physical Chemistry Enhanced Laboratory Learning (APCELL) project (Barrie, Buntine, Jamie and Kable 2001a, 2001b, 2001c), and its all-of-chemistry successor, ACELL (Read, 2006a) are examples of contemporary efforts to meet the challenge of engaging students in laboratory activities which are both chemically and educationally sound. The project is collaborative; it overcomes many of the significant constraints imposed by the unavailability of time from individual teachers, by drawing on the resources and expertise of multiple institutions as well as chemical and pedagogical expertise. The project continues to produce a range of tangible outcomes, including chemistry education research publications, a database of freely available tested experiments, and pedagogical design tools (all available from http://acell.chem.usyd.edu.au/). Objective evidence is required to support the putative notion that the A(P)CELL concept is of benefit to educators as they design and evaluate laboratory programs; collection and evaluation of such empirical data is essential if views such as those of Hawkes (2004) are to be effectively challenged. In this paper we report on the views of staff and student delegates to the February 2006 ACELL Educational Workshop

Frequent capsule switching in 'ultra-virulent' meningococci - Are we ready for a serogroup B ST-11 complex outbreak?

The meningococcal ST-11 complex (cc11) causes large invasive disease outbreaks with high case fatality rates, such as serogroup C (MenC) epidemics in industrialised nations in the 1990s and the serogroup W epidemic currently expanding globally. Glycoconjugate vaccines are available for serogroups A, C, W and Y. Broad coverage protein-based vaccines have recently been licensed against serogroup B meningococci (MenB), however, these do not afford universal MenB protection. Capsular switching from MenC to MenB among cc11 organisms is concerning because a large MenB cc11 (B:cc11) outbreak has the potential to cause significant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess the potential for licensed and developmental non-capsular meningococcal vaccines to protect against B:cc11. The population structure and vaccine antigen distribution was determined for a panel of >800 geo-temporally diverse, predominantly MenC cc11 and B:cc11 genomes. The two licensed vaccines potentially protect against many but not all B:cc11 meningococci. Furthermore, strain coverage by these vaccines is often due to a single vaccine antigen and both vaccines are highly susceptible to vaccine escape owing to the apparent dispensability of key proteins used as vaccine antigens. cc11 strains with MenB and MenC capsules warrant special consideration when formulating future non-capsular meningococcal vaccines