Mediation Goes Mainstream - Taking the Conference Theme Challenge

Introduction to the Southern California Mediators Assiciation\u27s meeting, including a comment on the conference theme, mediation goes mainstream

Mediation and Social Justice: Risks and Opportunities

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Assimilative, Autonomous, or Synergistic Visions: How Mediation Programs in Florida Address the Dilemma of Court Connection

Over the past twenty-five years, the state of Florida has been recognized across the United States as a leader in the development of court-connected alternative dispute resolution programs. Mediation, in particular, has flourished across the state, with one hundred eleven programs in place in family, civil, community, and dependency sectors. Administrative support and oversight for court-connected mediation programs are provided by The Florida Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) - the administrative arm of the Florida Supreme Court - housed within the Office of the State Courts Administrator. In collaboration with the DRC, we designed and conducted a benchmarking study of seven selected mediation programs in the family, civil and community sectors. Our focus in this article is on certain insights that emerged at the macro level regarding the very nature of court-connected mediation, as we analyzed and tried to develop explanations for our empirical findings. Specifically, we will address the fundamental value-based dilemma of court-connected mediation programs, three different approaches to addressing this dilemma through which mediation programs and the courts have forged their relationship in Florida, and some implications of these insights for practice and policy

Clarifying the Theoretical Underpinnings of Mediation: Implications for Practice and Policy

In this article we examine developments in explaining and understanding the when and why of mediation practice - from the lay theories that have informed much of the field, to Bush and Folger\u27s articulation of three distinct and coherent ideologically based theoretical frameworks: the problemsolving framework, the harmony framework, and the transformative framework. We then trace the development of the transformative framework since its articulation in 1994, and share the insights we have gained along the way regarding the impact of increasing theoretical clarity and differentiation in the mediation field. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of ideologically based theoretical distinctions for mediation practice and policy, and recommendations for a fresh, theoretically informed, approach to policy initiatives

Regulation and Regulatory Role of WNT Signaling in Potentiating FSH Action during Bovine Dominant Follicle Selection

Follicular development occurs in wave like patterns in monotocous species such as cattle and humans and is regulated by a complex interaction of gonadotropins with local intrafollicular regulatory molecules. To further elucidate potential mechanisms controlling dominant follicle selection, granulosa cell RNA harvested from F1 (largest) and F2 (second largest) follicles isolated at predeviation (PD) and onset of diameter deviation (OD) stages of the first follicular wave was subjected to preliminary RNA transcriptome analysis. Expression of numerous WNT system components was observed. Hence experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that WNT signaling modulates FSH action on granulosa cells during follicular waves. Abundance of mRNA for WNT pathway members was evaluated in granulosa cells harvested from follicles at emergence (EM), PD, OD and early dominance (ED) stages of the first follicular wave. In F1 follicles, abundance of CTNNB1 and DVL1 mRNAs was higher and AXIN2 mRNA was lower at ED versus EM stages and DVL1 and FZD6 mRNAs were higher and AXIN2mRNA was lower in F1 versus F2 follicle at the ED stage. Bovine granulosa cells were treated in vitro with increasing doses of the WNT inhibitor IWR-1+/− maximal stimulatory dose of FSH. IWR-1 treatment blocked the FSH-induced increase in granulosa cell numbers and reduced the FSH-induced increase in estradiol. Granulosa cells were also cultured in the presence or absence of FSH +/− IWR-1 and hormonal regulation of mRNA for WNT pathway members and known FSH targets determined. FSH treatment increased CYP19A1, CCND2, CTNNB1, AXIN2and FZD6 mRNAs and the stimulatory effect on CYP19A1 mRNA was reduced by IWR-1. In contrast, FSH reduced CARTPT mRNA and IWR-1 partially reversed the inhibitory effect of FSH. Results support temporal and hormonal regulation and a potential role for WNT signaling in potentiating FSH action during dominant follicle selection

Mediação transformativa: preservando o valor único da mediação em contextos de disputa = Transformative mediation: preserving the unic value of mediation in the context of dispute

- Traduzido por: Julia Barros