Quiet students in geography classrooms

The classroom is a geographic and education site that is simultaneously private and public space. The three dimensions - the physical, educational and social dimensions of the classroom environment define a unique site in which to explore the issues of public voice, safety, and the gendered nature of geographic education. This research explores the interrelationships between curriculum content and public participation patterns in four secondary geography classrooms. The key research questions are: - which students seldom talk in public? Why are they quiet?· - what happens to female and male students' public talking patterns when women-focused content is introduced? The research process incorporated three distinct phases - investigation, intervention and evaluation. The investigation phase focused on individual students' public participation; this involved classroom observations, and interviews with quiet female and male students. Interviews with female students showed that female students have very good reasons for not participating in public. Silence is one self-protective strategy to manage the risks of evaluation - of being watched and judged by others in the class. Interviews with the male students were less conclusive which signals the need for further research. Women-focused curriculum interventions were introduced in two classes. The students, teachers and researcher evaluated these lessons via questionnaires and interviews. During these lessons, female students talked more, watched more and gave more of an answer. Altering the content on one occasion inspired some female students to talk more

Taste responses and preferences for sweet high-fat foods: Evidence for opioid involvement

Preferences and cravings for sweet high-fat foods observed among obese and bulimic patients may involve the endogenous opioid peptide system. The opioid antagonist naloxone, opioid agonist butorphanol, and saline placebo were administered by intravenous infusion to 14 female binge eaters and 12 normal-weight controls. Eight of the binge eaters were obese. During infusion, the subjects tasted 20 sugar/fat mixtures and were allowed to select and consume snack foods of varying sugar and fat content. Naloxone reduced taste preferences relative to baseline in both binge eaters and controls. Total caloric intake from snacks was significantly reduced by naloxone in binge eaters but not in controls. This reduction was most pronounced for sweet high-fat foods such as cookies or chololate. No consistent effects on taste preferences or food intakes were observed with butorphanol. Endogenous opioid peptides may be involved in mediating taste responses and preferences for palatable foods, notably those rich in sugar and fat.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30234/1/0000628.pd

Geographic patterns of genetic variation in a broadly distributed marine vertebrate: new insights into loggerhead turtle stock structure from expanded mitochondrial DNA sequences

Previous genetic studies have demonstrated that natal homing shapes the stock structure of marine turtle nesting populations. However, widespread sharing of common haplotypes based on short segments of the mitochondrial control region often limits resolution of the demographic connectivity of populations. Recent studies employing longer control region sequences to resolve haplotype sharing have focused on regional assessments of genetic structure and phylogeography. Here we synthesize available control region sequences for loggerhead turtles from the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic, and western Indian Ocean basins. These data represent six of the nine globally significant regional management units (RMUs) for the species and include novel sequence data from Brazil, Cape Verde, South Africa and Oman. Genetic tests of differentiation among 42 rookeries represented by short sequences (380 bp haplotypes from 3,486 samples) and 40 rookeries represented by long sequences (~800 bp haplotypes from 3,434 samples) supported the distinction of the six RMUs analyzed as well as recognition of at least 18 demographically independent management units (MUs) with respect to female natal homing. A total of 59 haplotypes were resolved. These haplotypes belonged to two highly divergent global lineages, with haplogroup I represented primarily by CC-A1, CC-A4, and CC-A11 variants and haplogroup II represented by CC-A2 and derived variants. Geographic distribution patterns of haplogroup II haplotypes and the nested position of CC-A11.6 from Oman among the Atlantic haplotypes invoke recent colonization of the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic for both global lineages. The haplotypes we confirmed for western Indian Ocean RMUs allow reinterpretation of previous mixed stock analysis and further suggest that contemporary migratory connectivity between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans occurs on a broader scale than previously hypothesized. This study represents a valuable model for conducting comprehensive international cooperative data management and research in marine ecology

Human MLH1 Protein Participates in Genomic Damage Checkpoint Signaling in Response to DNA Interstrand Crosslinks, while MSH2 Functions in DNA Repair

DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) are among the most toxic types of damage to a cell. For this reason, many ICL-inducing agents are effective therapeutic agents. For example, cisplatin and nitrogen mustards are used for treating cancer and psoralen plus UVA (PUVA) is useful for treating psoriasis. However, repair mechanisms for ICLs in the human genome are not clearly defined. Previously, we have shown that MSH2, the common subunit of the human MutSα and MutSβ mismatch recognition complexes, plays a role in the error-free repair of psoralen ICLs. We hypothesized that MLH1, the common subunit of human MutL complexes, is also involved in the cellular response to psoralen ICLs. Surprisingly, we instead found that MLH1-deficient human cells are more resistant to psoralen ICLs, in contrast to the sensitivity to these lesions displayed by MSH2-deficient cells. Apoptosis was not as efficiently induced by psoralen ICLs in MLH1-deficient cells as in MLH1-proficient cells as determined by caspase-3/7 activity and binding of annexin V. Strikingly, CHK2 phosphorylation was undetectable in MLH1-deficient cells, and phosphorylation of CHK1 was reduced after PUVA treatment, indicating that MLH1 is involved in signaling psoralen ICL-induced checkpoint activation. Psoralen ICLs can result in mutations near the crosslinked sites; however, MLH1 function was not required for the mutagenic repair of these lesions, and so its signaling function appears to have a role in maintaining genomic stability following exposure to ICL-induced DNA damage. Distinguishing the genetic status of MMR-deficient tumors as MSH2-deficient or MLH1-deficient is thus potentially important in predicting the efficacy of treatment with psoralen and perhaps with other ICL-inducing agents

A phosphatase cascade by which rewarding stimuli control nucleosomal response

ArticleInternational audienceDopamine orchestrates motor behaviour and reward-driven learning. Perturbations of dopamine signalling have been implicated in several neurological and psychiatric disorders, and in drug addiction. The actions of dopamine are mediated in part by the regulation of gene expression in the striatum, through mechanisms that are not fully understood. Here we show that drugs of abuse, as well as food reinforcement learning, promote the nuclear accumulation of 32-kDa dopamine-regulated and cyclic-AMP-regulated phosphoprotein (DARPP-32). This accumulation is mediated through a signalling cascade involving dopamine D1 receptors, cAMP-dependent activation of protein phosphatase-2A, dephosphorylation of DARPP-32 at Ser 97 and inhibition of its nuclear export. The nuclear accumulation of DARPP-32, a potent inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1, increases the phosphorylation of histone H3, an important component of nucleosomal response. Mutation of Ser 97 profoundly alters behavioural effects of drugs of abuse and decreases motivation for food, underlining the functional importance of this signalling cascad

Skateboarding beyond the limits of gender? : Strategic interventions in Sweden

Sweden prides itself as a country where young women can enjoy gender equality. Yet many young women skateboarders still experience discomfort when skateboarding in public spaces. We argue that diverse strategies are required to intervene in the intransigent problem of gender inequality in the male-dominated sport of skateboarding. We discuss two intertwined strategies adopted in Swedish skateboarding contexts, strategic visibility and strategic entitlement. Strategic visibility is premised on making girls a special case, separated from the boys, and therefore highly visible. The other intervention goes beyond the limits of gender, aiming to achieve strategic entitlement, which takes-for-granted girls’ participation and competence. Drawing from ethnographic data, we explore the paradoxical spaces of these interventions, identifying the benefits and risks of each strategy. We conclude that both strategies are important, yet the latter breaks new ground. Strategic entitlement, which constructs skateboarding girls as ordinary and indistinguishable from boys, no longer constructs gender as a limiting factor. Interventions to promote gender equality should include strategies that seek to go beyond gender and strategies that acknowledge the significance of gender. We need to keep experimenting with and researching the unintended consequences of all strategies for challenging and changing male dominance in sport and leisure

Facebook in the classroom: Blended audiences and multiple front-stages.

In New Zealand, the use of social media for educational purposes is being encouraged (Ministry of Education, 2013). Yet, while educators focus on the educational advantages of using social media, there is little research available on the effects on students. This paper explores the way a small group of senior students from one New Zealand secondary school negotiated their identities on a class’ Facebook page. This qualitative study uses Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor and poststructuralist conceptualisations of discourses and fluidity of identity. The findings offer an insight into the tensions faced by this group of students as they negotiated their identity presentations to blended audiences when the boundaries between public and private are blurred. The students’ identity performance and participation on the page was influenced by power differentials, the structure of the page, and an awareness of audience. This has implications for the way educators use social media in classrooms.Peer Reviewe

Demystifying academic writing: reflections on emotions, know-how and academic identity

Writing is the foundation of academic practice, yet academic writing is seldom explicitly taught. As a result many beginning (and experienced) academics struggle with writing and the difficult emotions, particularly the self-doubt, that writing stirs up. Yet it need not be like this. In this paper, strategies are discussed for attending to the emotions of writing, and developing writing know-how and a stronger sense of identity as a writer. It is argued that addressing all three aspects of writing—emotions, know-how and identity—helps demystify the academic writing process and helps novices on their journey to becoming academic writers