Addressing Dilemmas of Social Justice Mathematics through Collaboration of Students, Educators, and Researchers

In this paper, I provide a definition of Social Justice Mathematics. I explore three dilemmas that arise with SJM instruction and suggest ways in which collaboration among students, educators, and researchers may address these dilemmas

The Introduction and development of printing in Finland, 1631-1727

The objective of this thesis project was to prepare a detailed yet reasonably compact history of the three early printing houses in Finland within a context of general Finnish and Scandinavian history. An extensive study of the literature was needed to accomplish the set goals. The literature included books on both early printing in Finland and on its general history. The necessary field studies consisted of visits to museums, university libraries, archives and churches. These offered the opportunity to study old manuscripts and the early printed products. Some experts were also interviewed. As a result of this research, a compact and well-illustrated history of the early printing houses and their printers was compiled, including discussions of the driving forces behind the printing houses and contemporary economic, religious and social influences. A selection of typical and interesting illustrations of the printed products is also included. The early printing houses in Finland between 1642 and 1713 produced a considerable number of books and other printed products under stormy conditions. The printers did skilled work, both in typographic and quality senses, despite scanty equipment and constant interruptions. It is impossible to compile a complete account of the printers, printing houses and books because of several destructive factors during the past three centuries. Fires, humidity and wars took their toll on many interesting examples of early Finnish printing. However, the archives and university libraries of Sweden offer another chance to study those examples of early Finnish and Swedish printing which have survived over the centuries in that country. These archives have been studied closely, but can still offer an indispensable opportunity to put together a more complete picture of the early Finnish printing

Using Strategic Interruptions to Effectively Integrate Whole Class and Small Group Instruction in Mathematics

In this paper we explore a new way to think about the use of group work in mathematics instruction through what we refer to as strategic interruptions. Strategic interruptions involve frequent and often rapid transitions between whole class and small group instruction. Through analyses of video of Algebra I teaching, we identify patterns in the frequency, timing, rationale, and instructional practices related to the use of and switching between whole class and small group instructional formats. We postulate that use of strategic interruptions has the potential to be a powerful and easily implementable form of group work that may be especially appropriate in secondary classrooms

Kalansilmäkameramenetelmä spatiaalikorjauksien määrittämiseen valovirtamittauksille integroivassa pallossa

The energy efficiency of lighting products is described in terms of luminous efficacy. It is the ratio of the produced total luminous flux and the consumed active electrical power. Luminous flux, the total amount of visible light produced by a light source, as perceived by the human eye, is often measured with integrating sphere photometers. Low uncertainties in measurements with integrating spheres require a correction factor to account for the spatial non-uniformity of the sphere. Traditionally, obtaining this correction factor has required time consuming and resource intensive goniometric measurements of the relative angular intensity distribution of the lamp under test. In this thesis, a fisheye camera method for determining spatial non-uniformity corrections in luminous flux measurements with integrating spheres is presented. Using a fisheye lens camera mounted into the detector port of an integrating sphere, the relative angular intensity distribution of a luminaire operated inside the sphere is resolved. The developed method does not require any modifications to the integrating sphere. To automate the measurement procedure, measurement and analysis software utilizing the method was developed. The developed method and software were validated by measuring the relative angular intensity distributions of twelve LED lamps of different types using the fisheye camera method with two different grade camera modules and a goniophotometer for the reference. For the luminaires tested, the deviations between the spatial correction factors obtained using the two methods ranged from 0.01 % to 0.32 %, depending on the angular spread of the measured lamp. For the fisheye camera method and a typical LED lamp, the expanded uncertainty (k = 2) for the spatial non-uniformity correction factor was determined to be 0.28 %.Valonlähteiden energiatehokkuutta kuvataan fotometrisella suureella valotehokkuus. Se määritellään lampun tuottaman valovirran ja kulutetun pätötehon suhteena. Valovirta eli ihmissilmän havaittavissa oleva lähteen tuottama kokonaisvalomäärä mitataan usein integroivalla pallofotometrillä. Pienen mittausepävärmuuden saavuttaminen integroivalla pallolla vaatii korjauskerrointa pallon epätasaisen spatiaalivasteen vuoksi. Perinteisesti käytetty menetelmä spatiaalikorjauskertoimen määrittämiseksi on vaatinut aikaavievää ja resursseja sitovaa goniometrimittausta testattavan valonlähteen intensiteettijakauman selvittämiseksi. Tässä työssä esitellään spatiaalikorjauskertoimen määrittämiseksi kehitetty mittausmenetelmä, joka perustuu integroivan pallon kanssa käytettävään kalansilmäkameraan. Menetelmässä integroivan pallon ilmaisinporttiin asennetun kameran avulla määritetään pallossa olevan valaisimen suhteellinen intensiteettijakauma. Kehitetty menetelmä ei vaadi rakenteellisia muutoksia olemassaolevaan integroivaan palloon. Mittauksen automatisoimiseksi kehitettiin menetelmään perustuva mittaus- ja analysointiohjelma. Kehitetyt menetelmä ja mittausohjelma validoitiin mittaamalla kahdentoista erilaisen LED-lampun suhteelliset intensiteettijakaumat käyttäen kalansilmäkameramenetelmää kahdella eri hintaluokan kameramoduulilla ja vertaamalla tuloksia goniofotometrillä saatuihin tuloksiin. Spatiaalikorjauskertoimet mitatuille lampuille poikkesivat näiden kahden menetelmän välillä 0,01–0,32 %. Kehitetyn kalansilmäkameramenetelmän laajennettu mittausepävarmuus (k = 2) spatiaalikorjauskertoimen määrittämisessä tyypilliselle LED-lampulle on 0,28 %

Η Ευθανασία Υγιών Ζώων και οι Επιπτώσεις της στη Ζωή των Κτηνιάτρων. Νομικές, Βιοηθικές και Θρησκειολογικές Διαστάσεις

Το πόνημα αυτό επιδιώκει να παρουσιάσει το ζήτημα της ευθανασίας των ζώων, από την σκοπιά μιας μαχόμενης κτηνιάτρου. Τα ειδικά συμπεράσματα , αναφορικά με τις ποικίλες διαστάσεις της θανάτωσης υγιών ζώων , καίτοι αναδεικνύονται, αφήνονται στο εύρος και το βάθος της σκέψης του αναγνώστη, ως άλλου θεατή Αρχαίου Δράματος. Με την βαθιά ριζωμένη ευχή για μία "κάθαρση", η οποία θα σηματοδοτήσει τη λήψη γενναίων αποφάσεων σε επίπεδο Πολιτείας και Νομοθέτη. Η μέθοδος έρευνας που έχει ακολουθηθεί, ως η πλέον εξειδικευμένη, είναι αυτή της Συγκριτικής μεταξύ της Ιατρικής των ζώων και της Ιατρικής του ανθρώπου. Μελετώνται αρχικώς οι ιστορικές καταβολές της Κτηνιατρικής Επιστήμης και η τεκμηριωμένη αδελφική συγγένεια και συμπόρευσή της με την Ιατρική του ανθρώπου. Ακολούθως, αναπτύσσεται η διαφορετική οπτική υπό την οποία μετεξελίχθηκαν οι δυο Ιατρικοί κλάδοι. Στο τέλος, το ενδιαφέρον μας θα μονοπωλήσει η κορωνίδα της Ιατρικής σκέψης, ήτοι τα όρια της ζωής και πώς τοποθετείται ο ιατρός των ζώων - θεραπευτής απέναντι στην ιδιαιτερότητα της ευθανάτωσης υγιών οργανισμών. Προβάλλονται θεμελιώδεις Νομικές, Βιοηθικές και Θρησκειολογικές διαστάσεις του ζητήματος.One of the most challenging issues both human and animal medicine have been faced with along their historical route is euthanasia. In this essay we shall focus on animal euthanasia and especially on the termination of the life of overall healthy animals. How do veterinarians experience it? How does any doctor experience the ''care-kill'' paradox? What does the legislator command? What questions does ethics pose? How do various religions get implicated? The method of research selected being the Comparative between the two faculties, we shall initially look into their common historical origins, their common historical path, their mutual scope and finally their transformation through time and space. This will enable us to estimate beyond any biases the various parameters of the issue of animal euthanasia and the expectations one would have, based on the close relation between human and animal medicine. In the end, we shall further immerse into healthy animal euthanasia and its consequences on both veterinarians and the society

Studying Cat (Felis catus) Diabetes: Beware of the Acromegalic Imposter

Naturally occurring diabetes mellitus (DM) is common in domestic cats (Felis catus). It has been proposed as a model for human Type 2 DM given many shared features. Small case studies demonstrate feline DM also occurs as a result of insulin resistance due to a somatotrophinoma. The current study estimates the prevalence of hypersomatotropism or acromegaly in the largest cohort of diabetic cats to date, evaluates clinical presentation and ease of recognition. Diabetic cats were screened for hypersomatotropism using serum total insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1; radioimmunoassay), followed by further evaluation of a subset of cases with suggestive IGF-1 (>1000 ng/ml) through pituitary imaging and/ or histopathology. Clinicians indicated pre-test suspicion for hypersomatotropism. In total 1221 diabetic cats were screened; 319 (26.1%) demonstrated a serum IGF-1>1000 ng/ml (95% confidence interval: 23.6-28.6%). Of these cats a subset of 63 (20%) underwent pituitary imaging and 56/63 (89%) had a pituitary tumour on computed tomography; an additional three on magnetic resonance imaging and one on necropsy. These data suggest a positive predictive value of serum IGF-1 for hypersomatotropism of 95% (95% confidence interval: 90-100%), thus suggesting the overall hypersomatotropism prevalence among UK diabetic cats to be 24.8% (95% confidence interval: 21.2-28.6%). Only 24% of clinicians indicated a strong pre-test suspicion; most hypersomatotropism cats did not display typical phenotypical acromegaly signs. The current data suggest hypersomatotropism screening should be considered when studying diabetic cats and opportunities exist for comparative acromegaly research, especially in light of the many detected communalities with the human disease

Investigating the impact of a 20mph speed limit intervention on road traffic collisions, casualties, speed and volume in Belfast, UK: 3-year follow-up outcomes of a natural experiment

Background: Evidence regarding the effectiveness of 20 miles per hour (mph) speed limit interventions is limited, and rarely have long-term outcomes been assessed. We investigate the effect of a 20 mph speed limit intervention on road traffic collisions, casualties, speed and volume at 1 and 3 years post-implementation. Methods: An observational, repeated cross-sectional design was implemented, using routinely collected data for road traffic collisions, casualties, speed and volume. We evaluated difference-in-differences in collisions and casualties (intervention vs control) across three different time series and traffic speed and volume pre-implementation, at 1 and 3 years post-implementation. Results: Small reductions in road traffic collisions were observed at year 1 (3%; p=0.82) and year 3 post-implementation (15%; p=0.31) at the intervention site. Difference-in-differences analyses showed no statistically significant differences between the intervention and control sites over time for road traffic collisions. There were 16% (p=0.18) and 22% (p=0.06) reductions in casualty rates at years 1 and 3 post-implementation, respectively, at the intervention site. Results showed little change in mean traffic speed at year 1 (0.2 mph, 95% CI −0.3 to 2.4, p=0.14) and year 3 post-implementation (0.8, 95% CI −1.5 to 2.5, p=0.17). For traffic volume, a decrease in 57 vehicles per week was observed at year 1 (95% CI –162 to −14, p<0.00) and 71 vehicles at year 3 (95% CI −213 to 1, p=0.05) post-implementation. Conclusion: A 20 mph speed limit intervention implemented at city centre scale had little impact on long-term outcomes including road traffic collisions, casualties and speed, except for a reduction in traffic volume. Policymakers considering implementing 20 mph speed limit interventions should consider the fidelity, context and scale of implementation

Psychological therapies for women who experience intimate partner violence

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is prevalent and strongly associated with mental health problems. Women experiencing IPV attend health services frequently for mental health problems. The World Health Organization recommends that women who have experienced IPV and have a mental health diagnosis should receive evidence-based mental health treatments. However, it is not known if psychological therapies work for women in the context of IPV and whether they cause harm. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of psychological therapies for women who experience IPV on the primary outcomes of depression, self-efficacy and an indicator of harm (dropouts) at six- to 12-months' follow-up, and on secondary outcomes of other mental health symptoms, anxiety, quality of life, re-exposure to IPV, safety planning and behaviours, use of healthcare and IPV services, and social support. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Common Mental Disorders Controlled Trials Register (CCMDCTR), CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and three other databases, to the end of October 2019. We also searched international trials registries to identify unpublished or ongoing trials and handsearched selected journals, reference lists of included trials and grey literature. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs, cluster-RCTs and cross-over trials of psychological therapies with women aged 16 years and older who self-reported recent or lifetime experience of IPV. We included trials if women also experienced co-existing mental health diagnoses or substance abuse issues, or both. Psychological therapies included a wide range of interventions that targeted cognition, motivation and behaviour compared with usual care, no treatment, delayed or minimal interventions. We classified psychological therapies according to Cochrane Common Mental Disorders's psychological therapies list. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors extracted data and undertook 'Risk of Bias' assessment. Treatment effects were compared between experimental and comparator interventions at short-term (up to six months post-baseline), medium-term (six to under 12 months, primary outcome time point), and long-term follow-up (12 months and above). We used standardised mean difference (SMD) for continuous and odds ratio (OR) for dichotomous outcomes, and used random-effects meta-analysis, due to high heterogeneity across trials. MAIN RESULTS: We included 33 psychological trials involving 5517 women randomly assigned to experimental (2798 women, 51%) and comparator interventions (2719 women, 49%). Psychological therapies included 11 integrative therapies, nine humanistic therapies, six cognitive behavioural therapy, four third-wave cognitive behavioural therapies and three other psychologically-orientated interventions. There were no trials classified as psychodynamic therapies. Most trials were from high-income countries (19 in USA, three in Iran, two each in Australia and Greece, and one trial each in China, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain and UK), among women recruited from healthcare, community, shelter or refuge settings, or a combination of any or all of these. Psychological therapies were mostly delivered face-to-face (28 trials), but varied by length of treatment (two to 50 sessions) and staff delivering therapies (social workers, nurses, psychologists, community health workers, family doctors, researchers). The average sample size was 82 women (14 to 479), aged 37 years on average, and 66% were unemployed. Half of the women were married or living with a partner and just over half of the participants had experienced IPV in the last 12 months (17 trials), 6% in the past two years (two trials) and 42% during their lifetime (14 trials). Whilst 20 trials (61%) described reliable low-risk random-sampling strategies, only 12 trials (36%) described reliable procedures to conceal the allocation of participant status. While 19 trials measured women's depression, only four trials measured depression as a continuous outcome at medium-term follow-up. These showed a probable beneficial effect of psychological therapies in reducing depression (SMD -0.24, 95% CI -0.47 to -0.01; four trials, 600 women; moderate-certainty evidence). However, for self-efficacy, there may be no evidence of a difference between groups (SMD -0.12, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.09; one trial with medium-term follow-up data, 346 women; low-certainty evidence). Further, there may be no difference between the number of women who dropped out from the experimental or comparator intervention groups, an indicator of no harm (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.44; five trials with medium-term follow-up data, 840 women; low-certainty evidence). Although no trials reported adverse events from psychological therapies or participation in the trial, only one trial measured harm outcomes using a validated scale. For secondary outcomes, trials measured anxiety only at short-term follow-up, showing that psychological therapies may reduce anxiety symptoms (SMD -0.96, 95% CI -1.29 to -0.63; four trials, 158 women; low-certainty evidence). However, within medium-term follow-up, low-certainty evidence revealed that there may be no evidence between groups for the outcomes safety planning (SMD 0.04, 95% CI -0.18 to 0.25; one trial, 337 women), post-traumatic stress disorder (SMD -0.24, 95% CI -0.54 to 0.06; four trials, 484 women) or re-exposure to any form of IPV (SMD 0.03, 95% CI -0.14 to 0.2; two trials, 547 women). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence that for women who experience IPV, psychological therapies probably reduce depression and may reduce anxiety. However, we are uncertain whether psychological therapies improve other outcomes (self-efficacy, post-traumatic stress disorder, re-exposure to IPV, safety planning) and there are limited data on harm. Thus, while psychological therapies probably improve emotional health, it is unclear if women's ongoing needs for safety, support and holistic healing from complex trauma are addressed by this approach. There is a need for more interventions focused on trauma approaches and more rigorous trials (with consistent outcomes at similar follow-up time points), as we were unable to synthesise much of the research