Creating New Futures: Settling Children and Youth from Refugee Backgrounds, edited by Mary Crock

Creating New Futures: Settling Children and Youth from Refugee BackgroundsEdited by Mary Crock Sydney: Federation, 2015, pp. 31

Contested Language and the Study of Later Life

--

Democratic Spaces: How Teachers Establish and Sustain Democracy and Education in Their Classrooms

Democratic education focuses on developing students using democratic principles and processes in the classroom. In this study, we aim to understand how self-identified democratic educators practice democratic education in public-school classrooms. Nine participants, teachers in K12 schools, were interviewed for this qualitative study. In investigating how public-school teachers implemented and sustained democratic education in their classrooms, six themes emerged—fostering relationships, empowering students, and teaching and using democratic skills, democratic educative structure, democratic teacher praxis, and obstacles

The impact of changing food choices on the blue water scarcity footprint and greenhouse gas emissions of the British diet: The example of potato, pasta and rice

Food production is a major contributor to a country's environmental burden. However, the burdens associated with individual foods vary significantly due to differing agricultural systems and locations, post-harvest storage, manufacturing and transport requirements. Dietary choices can therefore have a significant impact on the overall burdens associated with food consumption. Previous studies have generally considered changes in the proportion of animal-based foods in the diet or changes to a vegetarian, or a vegan diet. Using a life cycle assessment approach and data from published sources supplemented by original analysis, we estimated the blue water scarcity footprint and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production, manufacture and distribution of three popular starchy carbohydrate foods as consumed in the United Kingdom – British fresh potatoes, Italian dried pasta and Indian dried basmati rice. Although similar to pasta in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per unit carbohydrate, when considered on the basis of typical portion size, potatoes have lower greenhouse gas emissions than pasta or basmati and the blue water scarcity footprint of basmati is two orders of magnitude greater than potatoes or pasta. The increasing preference for pasta and rice and reduction in household purchases of fresh potatoes in the United Kingdom over the period 1981–2010 has resulted in an increase in blue water scarcity footprint and a transfer of burdens from the United Kingdom to Italy and India, however the increased greenhouse gas emissions associated with rice and pasta has been, more or less, compensated by a reduction in emissions associated with purchases of potatoes. This paper has shown that dietary choices within food groups (in this case starchy carbohydrates) have a significant impact on an individual's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and blue water scarcity footprint. The life cycle assessment approach is useful for understanding where the impacts of dietary choices occur and can inform the supply chain about where efforts should be targeted to reduce those impacts

A Tale of Two Campuses: Open Educational Resources in Florida and California Academic Institutions

Open educational resources (OER) provide a high-quality and low-cost alternative to traditional textbooks. The University of Central Florida (UCF) and the University of San Diego (USD) have been engaged in a multitude of efforts related to OER and textbook affordability. This article will discuss the textbook affordability climate at the state (Florida and California) and institutional (UCF and USD) level. Macro and microventures and lessons learned will be shared by both institutions ranging from perceptions of open education resources by the universities to collaborating with constituents across campus, in addition to specific case studies with UCF faculty teaching online and face-to-face courses as well as USD’s stipend program. Lastly, the article will discuss future developments and continuous improvements by educating UCF and USD campus communities through several initiatives and new partnerships with stakeholders

New Mexico - Sexual Violence Free

New Mexico – Sexual Violence Free: A Statewide Strategic Plan for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence, 2015-2020, serves as a path toward ending sexual violence in our state. It provides a framework and establishes a vision, mission, goals, and objectives for moving primary prevention forward. The plan is meant to be used by agencies, organizations, universities, community coalitions, policy-makers, prevention professionals, and other individuals interested in reducing the burden of sexual violence (SV) in New Mexico

Examining the Relationships between Trails, Social Capital and Health in Cuba, New Mexico to Inform a HIA

Health Impact Assessments (HIA) have been conducted throughout the United States, but few have been conducted in rural communities, specifically on the development of trails. This study explores the relationship between trails, social capital, quality of life and health to determine if trail building in the small, rural, tri‐ethnic community of Cuba, NM is associated with increased social capital and thereby increased health. First, a systematic literature review of the benefits of social capital on health and in relation to trails was conducted addressing the importance of social capital for a community. Second, STEP‐HIA survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for percentages of people indicating if they walk with family/friends and gain both social and health benefits from the trails. Third, qualitative interview data from key stakeholders were examined in NVivo analyzing the relationship between physical activity, access to trails and social support. Overall, these results show the potential of trails to increase social capital and health in Cuba, NM. This information will be incorporated in a HIA to influence decision makers regarding the location of new trails in and around Cuba, and specifically for access to the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). These findings can then be used as evidence to plan the development of trails in other communities, particularly in rural areas surrounded by Public Lands.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/prc-posters-presentations/1002/thumbnail.jp

Family Separation and the Impact of Digital Technology on the Mental Health of Refugee Families in the United States: Qualitative Study

Background: Conflicts around the world have resulted in a record high number of refugees. Family separation is a critical factor that impacts refugee mental health. Thus, it is important to explore refugees’ ability to maintain contact with family members across the globe and the ways in which they attempt to do so. It is increasingly common for refugees to use information and communication technologies (ICTs), which include mobile phones, the internet, and social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber, for these purposes. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore refugees’ perceptions of the impact of communication through ICTs on their mental health, the exercise of agency by refugees within the context of ICT use, especially their communication with their families, and logistical issues that affect their access to ICTs in the United States. Methods: We used a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyze in-depth interviews of 290 adult refugee participants from different countries, who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a community-based mental health intervention. Results: Analyses showed that communication through ICTs had differing impacts on the mental health of refugee participants. ICTs, as channels of communication between separated families, were a major source of emotional and mental well-being for a large number of refugee participants. However, for some participants, the communication process with separated family members through digital technology was mentally and emotionally difficult. The participants also discussed ways in which they hide adversities from their families through selective use of different ICTs. Several participants noted logistical and financial barriers to communicating with their families through ICTs. Conclusions: These findings are important in elucidating aspects of refugee agency and environmental constraints that need to be further explicated in theories related to ICT use as well as in providing insight for researchers and practitioners involved in efforts related to migration and mental health

The receptor RAGE: Bridging inflammation and cancer

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a single transmembrane receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily that is mainly expressed on immune cells, neurons, activated endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells, bone forming cells, and a variety of cancer cells. RAGE is a multifunctional receptor that binds a broad repertoire of ligands and mediates responses to cell damage and stress conditions. It activates programs responsible for acute and chronic inflammation, and is implicated in a number of pathological diseases, including diabetic complications, stroke, atheriosclerosis, arthritis, and neurodegenerative disorders. The availability of Rage knockout mice has not only advanced our knowledge on signalling pathways within these pathophysiological conditions, but also on the functional importance of the receptor in processes of cancer. Here, we will summarize molecular mechanisms through which RAGE signalling contributes to the establishment of a pro-tumourigenic microenvironment. Moreover, we will review recent findings that provide genetic evidence for an important role of RAGE in bridging inflammation and cancer

Comparative computational analysis to distinguish mesenchymal stem cells from fibroblasts

IntroductionMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered to be the most promising stem cell type for cell-based therapies in regenerative medicine. Based on their potential to home to diseased body sites following a therapeutically application, these cells could (i) differentiate then into organ-specific cell types to locally restore injured cells or, most prominently, (ii) foster tissue regeneration including immune modulations more indirectly by secretion of protective growth factors and cytokines. As tissue-resident stem cells of mesenchymal origin, these cells are morphologically and even molecularly- at least concerning the classical marker genes- indistinguishable from similar lineage cells, particularly fibroblasts.MethodsHere we used microarray-based gene expression and global DNA methylation analyses as well as accompanying computational tools in order to specify differences between MSCs and fibroblasts, to further unravel potential identity genes and to highlight MSC signaling pathways with regard to their trophic and immunosuppressive action.ResultsWe identified 1352 differentially expressed genes, of which in the MSCs there is a strong signature for e.g., KRAS signaling, known to play essential role in stemness maintenance, regulation of coagulation and complement being decisive for resolving inflammatory processes, as well as of wound healing particularly important for their regenerative capacity. Genes upregulated in fibroblasts addressed predominately transcription and biosynthetic processes and mapped morphological features of the tissue. Concerning the cellular identity, we specified the already known HOX code for MSCs, established a potential HOX code for fibroblasts, and linked certain HOX genes to functional cell-type-specific properties. Accompanied methylation profiles revealed numerous regions, especially in HOX genes, being differentially methylated, which might provide additional biomarker potential.DiscussionConclusively, transcriptomic together with epigenetic signatures can be successfully be used for the definition (cellular identity) of MSCs versus fibroblasts as well as for the determination of the superior functional properties of MSCs, such as their immunomodulatory potential