A Journey to Finding Space in the Tension: Experience of Instructors\u27 Relationship with Religion and Spirituality in Doctoral Psychology Programs

Religion and spirituality, when viewed through a holistic lens, can reflect important aspects of a person’s identity. It can be a source of well-being and also struggle. The fields of religion, spirituality and psychology have had a history of being polarized, with some efforts to integrate the two fields. Tensions exist at multiple ecological levels around the topic of religion and spirituality, which can make it easier to avoid discussing it in classrooms and therapy rooms. It is important to address and create room for discussion of experiences around religion and spirituality in classrooms that are training psychologists so they can be better prepared to address it with their clients. The addressing of religion and spirituality in considering multiple levels is supported by the new ecological framework shared in the American Psychological Association (APA) multicultural guidelines. Many psychologists, students, and the APA itself, support the idea of training in religion and spirituality as a diversity factor, yet this topic is being taught inconsistently across accredited health service psychology doctoral programs. The incongruence between the support for training and lack of consistent implementation in doctoral programs revealed an opportunity to explore the topic of teaching religion and spirituality with instructors. Understanding their experiences helped to make sense of what might contribute to these inconsistencies. This study explored and analyzed the topic of religion and spirituality by understanding the experiences of instructors in secular APA accredited clinical doctoral psychology programs across the U.S. It sought to explore instructors’ relationship with religion and spirituality and how their personal and professional experiences influence their teaching practices. Data was collected from eight instructors across the U.S., using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The results of this study revealed three major themes about these instructors’ experiences with religion and spirituality. These experiences crossed multiple ecological levels, which impacted their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors both inside and outside of the classroom that demonstrated: [religion and spirituality as a] diverse inter-related evolving process, the [importance of] creating space in the tension, and the [importance of understanding] biases shaped by support and struggles. This information could help to create more space in clinical and classroom settings for discussion on complex topics like religion and spirituality, developing cultural humility, and also exploring its impact on treatment and healing processes

Student affect towards mistakes in the context of counting

In this study, I seek to examine undergraduate STEM majors’ beliefs about and attitude towards mistakes in the context of counting. This is a particularly fruitful setting for such an investigation both because combinatorics is widely applicable to various fields such as physics, biology, chemistry, and computer science (Kapur, 1970), and because it is acknowledged by many in the field of math education research that students struggle with learning to count (Hadar & Hadass, 1981; Lockwood, 2014; Batanero, Navarro-Pelayo, & Godino, 1997). Specifically, given that students tend to display negative affect towards mistakes (Turner, Thorpe, & Meyer, 1998), despite the beneficial nature of mistakes (Borasi, 1987, p. 2), and that affective factors like attitudes and beliefs have a significant impact on students’ problem-solving activity (Carlson and Bloom, 2005), enumerative combinatorics is an ideal setting to study individuals’ mindsets (as in Dweck, 2006 and Boaler & Dweck, 2016). I helped to interview five students, asking them to engage in combinatorial problem solving, and reflect on their prior experiences with counting. I found that students’ self-reported mindsets and beliefs towards mistakes affected their counting activity. Furthermore, I also found evidence to support that the concept of mindset is a spectrum, rather than a dichotomy. These results serve to inform the existing literature, provide implications for the teaching and learning of enumerative combinatorics, and offer opportunities for future research.Keywords: math, math education, affec

Cultivating Racial Solidarity Among Mathematics Education Scholars of Color to Resist White Supremacy

In this paper, we propose a racial solidarity praxis in mathematics education grounded in Black-, Latinx-, and Indigenous-led scholarship and their respective communities’ joining efforts to combat White supremacy. Increased solidarity across racial groups in mathematics education could illuminate new ways of nourishing and affirming Indigenous, Latinx, and Black students’ racial identities and cultural strengths. We leverage four frameworks: (1) Whiteness as property (a tenet of Critical race theory) and (2) Tribal Critical Race Theory; (3) Latino Critical Theory; and (4) pedagogy of solidarity, to conceptualize the interdependence required for solidarity work and to expose how White supremacy is maintained overtly and covertly in mathematics curriculum, policies and practices. This study outlines the nuances across each community of scholars, drawing on their strengths to combat oppressive educational structures for students. The authors conclude in solidarity, focusing on the ways our communities have sought to challenge White supremacy and deficit framings of our students, families, and communities. Our hope in bringing these bodies of literature together is to invite others within (and outside of) the field of mathematics education to co-imagine how we might engage our work synergistically. It is through a collectivizing of efforts that we imagine a racial solidarity praxis that begins to erode the power of White supremacy in math education because of the unique and unassimilable strengths and priorities of each community engaged

Erythropoietin supports the survival of prostate cancer, but not growth and bone metastasis

Erythropoietin (Epo) is used in clinical settings to enhance hematopoietic function and to improve the quality of life for patients undergoing chemotherapy by reducing fatigue and the need for transfusions. However, several meta‐analyses have revealed that Epo treatments are associated with an increased risk of mortality in cancer patients. In this study, we examined the role of Epo in prostate cancer (PCa) progression, using in vitro cell culture systems and in vivo bone metastatic assays. We found that Epo did not stimulate the proliferation of PCa cell lines, but did protect PCa cells from apoptosis. In animal models of PCa metastasis, no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that Epo enhances metastasis. Together, these findings suggest that Epo may be useful for treating severe anemia in PCa patients without increasing metastatic risk. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 2471–2478, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100159/1/jcb24592.pd

Protecting children and young people from contemporary marketing for gambling

Around the world, children are being exposed to intensive marketing for gambling products. This normalizes perceptions that gambling is essentially a harmless form of entertainment, despite mounting evidence of the harms it causes. Young people and their parents are supportive of strategies to protect children from being exposed to gambling marketing. Yet existing regulatory efforts are inconsistent and inadequate, and have not protected children from exposure to the many forms of marketing now being developed and exploited by the gambling industry. We outline existing knowledge about strategies used by the gambling industry to market its products, with a specific focus on the potential impact of gambling marketing on young people. We provide a definition of gambling marketing and outline the different forms of promotion that are currently used to market gambling, current regulatory responses, and the impact of marketing on children and young people. We then argue that a comprehensive public health approach to gambling is urgently required, which must include effective action to limit the influence of marketing for gambling products, while recognizing that it is never possible to insulate children entirely from their reach

Human Very Small Embryonic-Like Cells Generate Skeletal Structures, In Vivo

Human very small embryonic-like (hVSEL) cells are a resident population of multipotent stem cells in the bone marrow involved in the turnover and regeneration of tissues. The levels of VSEL cells in blood are greatly increased in response to injury, and they have been shown to repair injured tissues. Adult hVSEL cells, SSEA-4+/CD133+/CXCR4+/Lin?/CD45?, express the pluripotency markers (Oct-4 and Nanog) and may be able to differentiate into cells from all 3 germ lineages. hVSEL cells isolated from blood by apheresis following granulocyte?colony-stimulating factor mobilization were fractionated and enriched by elutriation and fluorescence activated cell sorting. Collagen sponge scaffolds containing 2,000?30,000 hVSEL cells were implanted into cranial defects generated in SCID mice. Analysis by microcomputed tomography showed that a cell population containing VSEL cells produced mineralized tissue within the cranial defects compared with controls at 3 months. Histologic studies showed significant bone formation and cellular organization within the defects compared with cellular or scaffold controls alone. Antibodies to human leukocyte antigens demonstrated that the newly generated tissues were of human origin. Moreover, human osteocalcin was identified circulating in the peripheral blood. There was evidence that some level of hVSEL cells migrated away from the defect site, using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to detect for human-specific Alu sequences. This study demonstrates that hVSEL cells are able to generate human bone tissue in a mouse model of skeletal repair. These studies lay the foundation for future cell-based regenerative therapies for osseous and connective tissue disorders, including trauma and degenerative conditions, such as osteoporosis, fracture repair, and neoplastic repair.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140198/1/scd.2012.0327.pd

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Pacific Portraits: The People Behind the Scenes at Pacific University (Volume One)

When a dormitory toilet is clogged, who’s the guy charged with fixing it? Who assures that benefits and work-study monies are paid and accounted for on time? And who is tasked with ensuring Luau goes off without a hitch or that students from Saudi Arabia know how to navigate the cultural idiosyncrasies of an American university? Meet the people who work behind the scenes at Pacific University—the community of staff and faculty—as captured by Pacific’s own creative writing and photography students. Their jobs and lives are varied, but their dedication to ensuring a dynamic educational experience in all its varieties is common between them. This book strives to capture and share their stories through the creative efforts of the students their work serves.https://commons.pacificu.edu/beetree/1001/thumbnail.jp

Effects of antiplatelet therapy after stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage (RESTART): a randomised, open-label trial

Background: Antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of major vascular events for people with occlusive vascular disease, although it might increase the risk of intracranial haemorrhage. Patients surviving the commonest subtype of intracranial haemorrhage, intracerebral haemorrhage, are at risk of both haemorrhagic and occlusive vascular events, but whether antiplatelet therapy can be used safely is unclear. We aimed to estimate the relative and absolute effects of antiplatelet therapy on recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage and whether this risk might exceed any reduction of occlusive vascular events. Methods: The REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART) was a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded endpoint, parallel-group trial at 122 hospitals in the UK. We recruited adults (≥18 years) who were taking antithrombotic (antiplatelet or anticoagulant) therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage, discontinued antithrombotic therapy, and survived for 24 h. Computerised randomisation incorporating minimisation allocated participants (1:1) to start or avoid antiplatelet therapy. We followed participants for the primary outcome (recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage) for up to 5 years. We analysed data from all randomised participants using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for minimisation covariates. This trial is registered with ISRCTN (number ISRCTN71907627). Findings: Between May 22, 2013, and May 31, 2018, 537 participants were recruited a median of 76 days (IQR 29–146) after intracerebral haemorrhage onset: 268 were assigned to start and 269 (one withdrew) to avoid antiplatelet therapy. Participants were followed for a median of 2·0 years (IQR [1·0– 3·0]; completeness 99·3%). 12 (4%) of 268 participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had recurrence of intracerebral haemorrhage compared with 23 (9%) of 268 participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (adjusted hazard ratio 0·51 [95% CI 0·25–1·03]; p=0·060). 18 (7%) participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy experienced major haemorrhagic events compared with 25 (9%) participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (0·71 [0·39–1·30]; p=0·27), and 39 [15%] participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had major occlusive vascular events compared with 38 [14%] allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (1·02 [0·65–1·60]; p=0·92). Interpretation: These results exclude all but a very modest increase in the risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage with antiplatelet therapy for patients on antithrombotic therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage. The risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage is probably too small to exceed the established benefits of antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention

Effects of antiplatelet therapy after stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage (RESTART): a randomised, open-label trial

Background: Antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of major vascular events for people with occlusive vascular disease, although it might increase the risk of intracranial haemorrhage. Patients surviving the commonest subtype of intracranial haemorrhage, intracerebral haemorrhage, are at risk of both haemorrhagic and occlusive vascular events, but whether antiplatelet therapy can be used safely is unclear. We aimed to estimate the relative and absolute effects of antiplatelet therapy on recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage and whether this risk might exceed any reduction of occlusive vascular events. Methods: The REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART) was a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded endpoint, parallel-group trial at 122 hospitals in the UK. We recruited adults (≥18 years) who were taking antithrombotic (antiplatelet or anticoagulant) therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage, discontinued antithrombotic therapy, and survived for 24 h. Computerised randomisation incorporating minimisation allocated participants (1:1) to start or avoid antiplatelet therapy. We followed participants for the primary outcome (recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage) for up to 5 years. We analysed data from all randomised participants using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for minimisation covariates. This trial is registered with ISRCTN (number ISRCTN71907627). Findings: Between May 22, 2013, and May 31, 2018, 537 participants were recruited a median of 76 days (IQR 29–146) after intracerebral haemorrhage onset: 268 were assigned to start and 269 (one withdrew) to avoid antiplatelet therapy. Participants were followed for a median of 2·0 years (IQR [1·0– 3·0]; completeness 99·3%). 12 (4%) of 268 participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had recurrence of intracerebral haemorrhage compared with 23 (9%) of 268 participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (adjusted hazard ratio 0·51 [95% CI 0·25–1·03]; p=0·060). 18 (7%) participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy experienced major haemorrhagic events compared with 25 (9%) participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (0·71 [0·39–1·30]; p=0·27), and 39 [15%] participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had major occlusive vascular events compared with 38 [14%] allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (1·02 [0·65–1·60]; p=0·92). Interpretation: These results exclude all but a very modest increase in the risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage with antiplatelet therapy for patients on antithrombotic therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage. The risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage is probably too small to exceed the established benefits of antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention