Plurilingualism in Basic Education Courses with Migrants – A Resource, Not a compilation!

Basisbildungsunterricht für MigrantInnen, der die Lernenden in den Mittelpunkt stellt und sich an den vorhandenen Kompetenzen orientiert, muss Mehrsprachigkeit als Normalität und als Ressource betrachten. Der Einbezug des gesamten sprachlichen Repertoires ist beim Lernen von enormer Bedeutung. Jede zusätzliche Sprache wird nicht getrennt von der sog. „Erstsprache“ erworben bzw. erlernt, sondern wird in das bereits vorhandene sprachliche System integriert. Faktisch wird Mehrsprachigkeit gegenwärtig jedoch zumeist als bildungsbenachteiligende Eigenschaft gehandelt. In der Erwachsenenbildung darf es, wie die Autoren des vorliegenden Beitrages betonen, zu keiner Reproduktion dieser Form der Diskriminierung kommen. Wie also kann der Einbezug von Mehrsprachigkeit in den Basisbildungsunterricht als Ressource konkret erfolgen? Welche Ziele können dabei verfolgt und wie können dadurch neue Ressourcen geschaffen werden? Antwort auf diese Fragen geben die Autoren exemplarisch anhand konkreter Unterrichtsaktivitäten im Rahmen der Entwicklungspartnerschaft MEVIEL (mehrsprachig – vielfältig). Fazit: Es bleibt ein Auftrag der Erwachsenenbildung in der Migrationsgesellschaft, sich der Herausforderung migrationsbedingter sprachlicher Heterogenität in Bildungs- und Beratungsprozessen anzunehmen und den Einbezug der Mehrsprachigkeit in den Unterricht zu forcieren. (DIPF/Orig.)Basic education courses for migrants that focus on the learners and are oriented to existing competences must regard plurilingualism as the norm and as a resource. The inclusion of the entire linguistic repertoire is of enormous importance in learning. Each additional language is not acquired or learned separately from the „first language“ but is integrated into the linguistic system that already exists. In fact, plurilingualism is mostly treated as a characteristic that is detrimental to education. As the authors of this article stress, this form of discrimination must not be reproduced in adult education. How can plurilingualism be specifically integrated into basic education courses as a resource? What goals can be pursued and how can new resources be created in the process? Answers to these questions are provided by the authors using the example of specific activities from lessons conducted as part of the development partnership MEVIEL (mehrsprachig – vielfältig/multilingual – diverse). Their conclusion: it remains a mission of adult education in the migration society to rise to meet the challenge of linguistic heterogeneity due to migration in education and consulting processes and to push for the inclusion of plurilingualism in courses. (DIPF/Orig.

Occurrence of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) and East African cassava mosaic virus – Uganda (EACMV-UG) in Jatropha curcas

Poster presentation from IUFRO Tree Biotechnology Conference 2011: From Genomes to Integration and Delivery Arraial dAjuda, Bahia, Brazil. 26 June - 2 July 2011(VLID)90654

Biotechnological approaches to determine the impact of viruses in the energy crop plant Jatropha curcas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Geminiviruses infect a wide range of plant species including <it>Jatropha </it>and cassava both belonging to family <it>Euphorbiaceae</it>. Cassava is traditionally an important food crop in Sub - Saharan countries, while <it>Jatropha </it>is considered as valuable biofuel plant with great perspectives in the future.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 127 <it>Jatropha </it>samples from Ethiopia and Kenya and 124 cassava samples from Kenya were tested by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for RNA viruses and polymerase chain reaction for geminiviruses. <it>Jatropha </it>samples from 4 different districts in Kenya and Ethiopia (analyzed by ELISA) were negative for all three RNA viruses tested: <it>Cassava brown streak virus </it>(CBSV), <it>Cassava common mosaic virus</it>, <it>Cucumber mosaic virus</it>, Three cassava samples from Busia district (Kenya) contained CBSV. Efforts to develop diagnostic approaches allowing reliable pathogen detection in Jatropha, involved the amplification and sequencing of the entire DNA A molecules of 40 Kenyan isolates belonging to <it>African cassava mosaic virus </it>(ACMV) and <it>East African cassava mosaic virus </it>- <it>Uganda</it>. This information enabled the design of novel primers to address different questions: a) primers amplifying longer sequences led to a phylogenetic tree of isolates, allowing some predictions on the evolutionary aspects of Begomoviruses in <it>Jatrophia</it>; b) primers amplifying shorter sequences represent a reliable diagnostic tool. This is the first report of the two Begomoviruses in <it>J. curcas</it>. Two cassava samples were co - infected with cassava mosaic geminivirus and CBSV. A Defective DNA A of ACMV was found for the first time in <it>Jatropha</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Cassava geminiviruses occurring in <it>Jatropha </it>might be spread wider than anticipated. If not taken care of, this virus infection might negatively impact large scale plantations for biofuel production. Being hosts for similar pathogens, the planting vicinity of the two crop plants needs to be handled carefully.</p

Analysis of diabetes attitudes, wishes and needs in Switzerland, the Swiss DAWN2™ Study.

AIMS OF THE STUDY Swiss DAWN2™ aimed to evaluate the difficulties and unmet needs of individuals with diabetes and stakeholders, based on the assessments of diabetes care and self-management: the individual burden of disease, the perception of the quality of medical care, and the treatment satisfaction of individuals with diabetes living in the Canton of Bern. The results of the Swiss cohort were analysed and compared with the global DAWN2™ results. METHODS 239 adult individuals with diabetes were enrolled in a cross-sectional study at the Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology, Nutritional Medicine and Metabolism at the University Hospital of Bern between 2015 and 2017. The participants completed validated online questionnaires regarding health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-3L) and emotional distress (PAID-5), diabetes self-care activities (SDSCA-6), treatment satisfaction (PACIC-DSF), and health-related wellbeing (WHO-5). Eligibility criteria were as follows: participants were aged >18 years, had a diagnosis of diabetes type 1 or 2 since at least 12 months and gave written informed for the participation in the present study. RESULTS When compared globally, the Swiss cohort reported a higher quality of life (77.28 ± 16.73 vs. 69.3 ± 17.9 EQ-5D-3L score, p 7% correlated to emotional distress (PAID-5, 26.08 ± 23.37 vs. 18.80 ± 17.49, p = 0.024), unfavourable eating habits (4.28 ± 2.22 vs. 4.99 ± 2.15, p = 0.034) and decreased physical activity (3.95 ± 2.16 vs. 4.72 ± 1.92, p = 0.014). Sleeping problems were most commonly reported (35.6%). In total, 28.8% of respondents completed diabetes-related educational programs. CONCLUSION In global comparison, Swiss DAWN2™ showed a lower burden of disease and yet a higher level of treatment satisfaction in patients who were treated in Switzerland. Further studies are required to assess the quality of diabetes treatment and unmet needs in patients treated outside of a tertiary care center