STUDENT EVALUATION OF USING SELF-REFLECTION LOGS: THE VALUE OF USING SELF-REFLECTION MATERIALS IN AN EFL UNIVERSITY COURSE IN JAPAN

This study reports on the utilization of a student self-reflection log within a first-year university EFL course to examine the perceived value of self-reflection by the students for their English studies. Through using the log, students reflected on what they did inside of class, what they felt was successful, and what they would like to improve. The objective of the study was to examine what value the students felt the self-reflection logs had for their English studies. A post-course evaluation questionnaire and delayed post-course interviews were carried out to answer the following research questions: Would students regard the self-reflection logs as a valuable tool for learning English? What elements of using the logs would be valuable for the students? The results showed that the participants’ evaluation of using a self-reflection log was positive, and that their motivation and learning behavior had improved through weekly self-reflection and goal setting. It can be claimed that the self-reflection logs were perceived as being of value to the participants for their English learnin

Feminist challenges to the constraints of law : donning uncomfortable robes?

Legal judgment writing mobilises a process of story-telling, drawing on existing judicial discourses, precedents and practices to create a narrative relevant to the specific case that is articulated by the presiding judge. In the Feminist Judgments projects feminist scholars and activists have sought to challenge and reinterpret legal judgments that have disadvantaged, discriminated against or denied women’s experiences. This paper reflects on the process of writing as a feminist judge in the Australian Project, in an intimate homicide case, R v Middendorp. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler on intelligibility, iterability and the communality of violence and vulnerability, this article argues that feminist judgments necessarily require some uncomfortable compromises with unjust gendered institutions. While ‘donning the robes’ may be an uncomfortable process, a feminist re-articulation of the law’s carceral power serves to unsettle and challenge some aspects of gendered oppression, even though it cannot unsettle the operation of the institution. The article concludes that effective feminist interventions by members of the judiciary may require donning robes that are not entirely comfortable in order to persuade and advocate for change

The circular nutrient economy of terrestrial ecosystems and the consequences for rock weathering

Earth’s biosphere is thought to exert a substantial influence on regolith evolution and chemical weathering rates. However, ecosystems are also highly efficient at retaining and recycling nutrients. Thus, when the ecological demand for rock-derived nutrients (e.g., P, Ca, K) exceeds the rates of regolith supply, ecological retention and recycling strategies can minimize nutrient limitations. To evaluate the balance between nutrient recycling and new nutrient input, we combined a plant model that drives growth according to foliar P levels with a weathering model that includes regolith rejuvenation via erosion and export via chemical weathering according to water flow, regolith thickness, mineral dissolution rates, secondary minerals, and nutrient storage in organic and mineral phases. We find that plant growth is strongly dependent on the total regolith nutrient inventory, resulting in a strong correlation between plant productivity and erosion. Increased water export or decreased regolith thickness diminish the total inventory of nutrient corresponding to lower rates of recycling and lower plant growth. In contrast, purported biogenic drivers of weathering, such as enhanced mineral dissolution, only support higher growth rates at high erosion rates. At erosion rates typical of the global land surface, more rapid mineral dissolution combined with enhanced formation of secondary minerals, depletes the inventory of mineral P, resulting in no benefit for plant growth. We also find that the increased chemical weathering export does not scale directly with plant growth. For example, accelerated mineral weathering does increase chemical weathering export but not potential plant growth. Conversely, thicker regolith is associated with a small increase in weathering export, but a large increase in potential plant growth. Collectively, when plant growth is coupled to regolith weathering our calculations suggest that plant productivity is not directly correlated with silicate weathering fluxes, and that biotic drivers of silicate weathering may only be effective at high erosion rates not typical at the Earth’s surface

Physical activity and screen time behaviour in metropolitan, regional and rural adolescents: A cross-sectional study of Australians aged 9–16 years

Objectives: While there is consistent evidence that rural adults in Australia are less active than their urban counterparts, studies relating geographical remoteness to activity patterns in Australian adolescents have yielded inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to describe objectively and subjectively measured patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviours across remoteness categories in a representative sample of 9–16 year old Australians. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Methods: 2071 Australian adolescents provided self-report use of time data on four days and wore a pedometer for at least 6 days within the 2007 Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Comparisons of activity patterns were made across four objectively-determined remoteness categories (Major City, Inner Regional, Outer Regional and Remote), adjusting for household income, parental education and age. Results: Adolescents living in major cities self-reported 11–29 min less moderate to vigorous physical activity each day than their counterparts living in geographically more remote areas, and took 150–850 fewer steps each day. While there were no differences in time spent in sport or active transport, differences in free play participation were significant. Males in major cities also reported higher levels of screen time. Differences were somewhat more marked among males than among females. Conclusions: Activity levels among Australian adolescents show contrasting patterns of geographical differences to those found in Australian adults. Higher levels of free play among rural Australian adolescents may be due to more available space and less fear of traffic and stranger risks

A Family with Co-existing SDHB and SDHD Mutations Causing Hereditary Paraganglioma Syndrome

Introduction: We report the co-occurrence of a SDHD and a SDHB mutation in a family with hereditary paraganglioma syndrome.  We compare this finding to simultaneous haploinsufficiency of BRCA1 and BRCA2.Presentation of Case: The 28 year old proband presented as an isolated case in the family with a malignant phaeochromocytoma.  Sequencing and MLPA of SDHD and SDHB were performed.  A SDHD splice site mutation, c.169+5GA, was identified in the proband, his sister and their father.  In addition, a SDHB exon 1 deletion was identified by MLPA in the proband, his sister and their mother.  Both mutations have been described previously and considered to be pathogenic. An appropriate screening programme was instituted for carrier relatives. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report of two SDH subunit mutations in a single family.  Though there was no family history to suggest inherited disorder, the simultaneous testing of both genes was diagnostic.  The family history is consistent with suggestions that the penetrance of SDHB/SDHD mutations is lower than initially thought

TLR4 activation induces IL-1ss release via an IPAF dependent but caspase 1/11/8 independent pathway in the lung

Background: The IL-1 family of cytokines is known to play an important role in inflammation therefore understanding the mechanism by which they are produced is paramount. Despite the recent plethora of publications dedicated to the study of these cytokines, the mechanism by which they are produced in the airway following endotoxin, Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), exposure is currently unclear. The aim was to determine the mechanism by which the IL-1 cytokines are produced after LPS inhaled challenge. Methods:Mice were challenged with aerosolised LPS, and lung tissue and bronchiolar lavage fluid (BALF) collected. Targets were measured at the mRNA and protein level; caspase activity was determined using specific assays. Results: BALF IL-1b/IL-18, but not IL-1a, was dependent on Ice Protease-Activating Factor (IPAF), and to a lesser extent Apoptosis-associated Speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC). Interestingly, although we measured an increase in mRNA expression for caspase 1 and 11, we could not detect an increase in lung enzyme activity or a role for them in IL-1a/b production. Further investigations showed that whilst we could detect an increase in caspase 8 activity at later points in the time course (during resolution of inflammation), it appeared to play no role in the production of IL-1 cytokines in this model system. Conclusions: TLR4 activation increases levels of BALF IL-1b/IL-18 via an IPAF dependent and caspase 1/11/8 independent pathway. Furthermore, it would appear that the presence of IL-1a in the BALF is independent of these pathways. This novel data sheds light on innate signalling pathways in the lung that control the production of these key inflammatory cytokines

Evolution of hillslope soils: The geomorphic theater and the geochemical play

How and how fast do hillslope soils form as the landscape’s morphology changes over time? Here results are shown from an ongoing study that simultaneously examines the morphologic and geochemical evolution of soil mantled hillslopes that have been exposed to distinctively different denudation history. In Northern Sierra Nevada, California, the authors are investigating a tributary basin to the Middle Fork Feather River. A major incision signal from the river is well marked in a knickpoint within the tributary basin which stretches from its mouth to the Feather River at an elevation of 700 m to the plateau at an elevation of 1500 m. Hillslopes are significantly steeper below the knickpoint. The area’s total denudation rates are currently being constrained using cosmogenic radio nuclides, but a previous study suggested an order of magnitude difference in total denudation rates below and above the knickpoint. When compared with topographic attributes calculated from LIDAR data, physical erosion rates can be modeled as a linear function of ridge top curvature. Surprisingly, over the wide range of total denudation rates, soil thicknesses do not vary significantly until a threshold point where soil mantled landscapes abruptly shift to bedrock dominated landscapes. Bioturbation by tree falls appear to buffer soil thickness over the wide range of physical soil erosion rates. From three hillslopes with different physical erosion rates, the concentrations of Zr, which were considered conserved during dissolution and leaching, were determined and used as a proxy for the degree of mass losses via chemical denudation. There is a general trend that colluvial soils along the hillslopes with lower physical erosion rates are enriched in fine size fractions, Zr, and pedogenic crystalline Fe oxides. Likewise, the saprolites show greater degrees of chemical denudation at the sites above the knickpoint, presumably because of the saprolites’ longer turnover time in the slowly eroding landscapes. In the two steep hillslopes below the knickpoint, no significant or systematic topgraphic trends were found for soil geochemistry. However, soils show increasing Zr enrichment in the downslope direction in the hillslope above the knickpoint, which suggests a critical denudation rate beyond which soils’ turnover time is too short to develop a geochemical catena. As detailed CRN-based soil production rates and catchment scale denudation rates are acquired, the data will be combined with a mass balance model to calculate the rates of chemical denudation and weathering in soils and saprolites along the denudation gradient