Teacher and Student Well-being in the Covid-19 pandemic - Full report

This project sought to understand the perspectives of teachers and students in the lower North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand at the time of the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in March 2020 and during the following several months. Thirteen teachers from seven schools in the Manawatū-Horowhenua and Greater Wellington area and seven focus groups of Year 4 to 8 students from four of the schools participated in this project. This final report includes the findings from teachers and students’ perspectives of the affordances and challenges of lockdown and subsequent return to school, and their perspectives on helpful strategies in the event of similar situations given the unpredictable times. Analysis of teachers’ perspectives highlighted three interrelated themes –Stepping up Ngāwhiringatanga; Building Resilience and Reflecting and Recalibrating. The lockdown provided teachers time for introspection and have some time for their own personal well-being and growth. Although the challenge of adapting to online teaching sessions was stressful, the increased knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 on families and communities, had a profound impact on ongoing pedagogy of teachers. Teachers were resilient to the challenges and supported the resilience and well-being of students both during lockdown and on their return to school. They were supported by their school systems to ease pressure on academic learning and focus on holistic well-being of students such as spending quality time with their families. The lockdown highlighted the importance of work life balance, with teachers experiencing the benefits of having the time and space to focus on their personal well-being, which is critical for the well- being of their students, enabling them to support their students becoming resilient in the face of adversities caused by the ongoing presence of the pandemic. The students’ on the other hand while feeling isolated from their peers and anxious about the effects of the virus on their near and dear ones, appreciated the quality time that they could spend with their families and pets, and more importantly the flexibility that lockdown offered in terms of their learning. The key inter-related themes from their perspectives were: worry about safety and changes; restrictions and isolation; freedom and autonomy; friendship and connection; and quality family time.fals

Children's informal learning at home during COVID-19 lockdown

The national COVID-19 lockdown during school Term 1 2020 provided a unique context to investigate children’s experiences of informal, everyday learning in their household bubble. In Terms 3 and 4, 178 children in Years 4–8 from 10 primary schools agreed to participate in a group art-making activity and an individual interview about their experiences. The research adopted a strengths-based approach on the basis that most children are capable actors in their social worlds. This report documents children’s accounts of the multiple ways in which they negotiated the novel experience of forced confinement over a period of several weeks with family and whānau. The report is rich with children’s own accounts of their everyday living and learning during lockdown. To foreground children’s descriptions and explanations of their lockdown experience in this way is an acknowledgement of their right to express their views on matters of interest to them in their lives, and to have those views listened to, and acted on, by adults. Similarly, the approach reflects a growing educational research interest in student voice: enabling children to articulate their experiences so that adults can use this knowledge to better respond to and support children’s learning aspirations and needs. This research report does not speak for all children or all children’s experiences. Nevertheless, it does provide valuable insights about the phenomenon of children’s informal and everyday learning during lockdown, gained from a group of children for whom it was a mostly positive experience, and through which they learned much about themselves as persons and as members of a family and whānau. Several months after the event, children in this study were able and willing to recall their experiences of learning during lockdown. They could identify social, cultural, and historical dimensions of their learning at home. Some children were able to recount rich, detailed stories about their lockdown experience and the ways in which they organised their days and activities. For some others, their days were largely shaped for them by family and whānau members, but even so, the children were able to explain what they enjoyed, or did not, and why. Variations in children’s learning across the group highlighted the complexity of learning that each child experienced, and the importance of having social relations, environments, and contexts that encourage and support their learning. Children demonstrated an understanding and appreciation of the value of this learning.falsehttp://www.nzcer.org.nz/research/publications/learning-during-lockdownNew Zealand Council for Educational Researc

Osteopathology and selenium deficiency co-occurring in a population of endangered Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus)

Background: About 1,000 endangered Patagonian huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus) remain in Chile and 350-500 in Argentina. Most groups (>100) are not recovering, and prevalence of osteopathology in Argentina was at least 57%. Here I describe relevant cases of osteopathology from a Chilean population which, however, recently also provided data on trace mineral status, supporting the initial hypothesis that nutrition may be a primary etiologic factor. Additionally, recent data on bone chemical composition of Argentine cases and soil analyses are discussed. Results: Fluoride levels in Argentine cases with osteopathology were low and fluorosis was discarded as an etiological factor. Selenium deficiency occurred in 73% of huemul from the Chilean population which exhibited several cases with osteopathology. The pathophysiognomy included extensive erosion; tooth loss;  porosification; perforations of palate, maxillar and mandibular bone with frequent exposure of tooth roots; and fractured mandibula. Areas currently used by remaining huemul have mainly acidic volcanic soils, which reduces selenium bioavailability: mean soil selenium levels from areas typically used by extant huemul were very deficient (0.19 ppm), corroborating documented overt selenium deficiency in local livestock and plants. The area of extant huemul is known to result in primary iodine deficiency in livestock which is aggravated by selenium deficiency. Conclusions: Currently the most parsimonious explanation for frequent osteopathology and lack of numerical recovery are the combined effects of selenium and iodine deficiencies based on: osteopathology in a population of selenium deficient huemul; selenium deficient livestock, plants and soils; acidic soils; and regional primary iodine deficiency. The nexus between mineral nutrition and population dynamics of huemul may be due to constraints on their movements to fertile lowlands, including the elimination of historic migratory traditions, and concomitant elimination of source populations

At the receiving end - Are policies and practices working to keep students in high schools?

fals

Investigation under ionizing radiation of An-ligand complexes in solution by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

International audienceIn nuclear fuel reprocessing, the organic ligands in solution are subjected to radiolysis. The resulting effects of radiolysis can lead to modifications of the solution composition. These changes can alter the extraction properties of the ligands, specifically, their extraction efficiency and selectivity. Therefore, it is important to study the effect of radiolysis on the speciation of the complexes in solution to identify the weak points in the molecular structure of the ligands. This identification can facilitate the design of more stable molecules and of molecules that generate innocuous degradation products. The aim of this work is to increase the understanding of ligand behavior when exposed to ionizing radiation. The dialkyl monoamide class of extractants has been chosen for this study. The formation of simple carboxylic acids as well as amine degradation products of some dialkyl monoamides have been characterized by potentiometry, FTIR and/or GC-MS [1]. While these techniques are useful in identifying the main families or lower molecular weight products, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is a powerful technique that can be used to identify products through both charge and mass characterization. This is especially useful when trying to determine complex formation between degradation products and metal ions. This work aims to characterize the degradation products formed as a result of alpha radiolysis of monoamide extractants involved in plutonium complexes by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. In addition to in-situ alpha irradiation, non-complexed extractants have been irradiated by a gamma source allowing direct comparisons to be made between the type of irradiation and the resulting degradation products that form. To investigate the effect of the structure on the stability of the ligand, in particular, the effect of the alkyl group on the carbonyl function, three extractants were chosen, N, N-di-(2-ethylhexyl)butryamide (DEHBA), N, N-di-(2-ethyhexyl)isobutyramide (DEHiBA), and N, N-di-(2-ethylhexyl)-3, 3-methylbutyramide (DEHDMBA)

Appearance issues, depression, and disordered eating among college females

The purpose of this study was to examine how various appearance issues and depression may relate to disordered eating among female college students. The appearance issues analyzed in this study were: level of body dissatisfaction, body mass index (BMI), social appearance anxiety (SAA), and social-cultural attitudes toward appearance. The questionnaire was distributed to volunteer students during regularly scheduled classes. Students, both study participants and non-participants, were furnished with information on where to get help if they had concerns about disordered eating behavior, appearance-related anxiety, or depression. Participants were 370 female undergraduate students enrolled at one Midwestern University in the United States. This study provided statistical evidence that college females at risk of acquiring an eating disorder had significantly larger differences between their current body shape and their ideal body shape, scored significantly higher in the sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, had more SAA, and depress ion compared to those less at risk of acquiring an eating disorder. However, the BMI of college females at risk of acquiring an eating disorder did not differ significantly from the BMI of college female students less at risk. This study contributes to a better understanding of disordered eating and how it relates to appearance issues, and depression

Oxoazabenzo[de]anthracenes conjugated to Amino Acids: Synthesis and evaluation as DNA-binding antitumor agents.

We report the synthesis of an original series of oxoazabenzo[de]anthracenes conjugated to an amino acid: Ala, Phe, Pro, Lys, or Gly (4a-e, respectively). The compounds, derived from 1,8-dihydroxyanthracene-9,10-dione, were studied for DNA binding and cytotoxicity. Melting temperature, fluorescence quenching, and surface plasmon resonance methods all indicated that the lysine derivative 4d binds to DNA much more strongly that the Pro, Ala, and Gly conjugates whereas the Phe analogue showed the lowest DNA binding capacity. These compounds form intercalation complexes with DNA, as judged from electric linear dichroism and topoisomerase I-based DNA unwinding experiments. Preferential binding of 4d to defined sequences such as 5'-CTAAAGG and 5'-ATGC was evidenced by DNase I footprinting. This Lys conjugate was found to be over 20 times more cytotoxic to CEM human leukemia cells than the other conjugates, with an IC50 in the submicromolar range. A high antiproliferative activity, likely attributable to the enhanced DNA binding capacity, is maintained despite the incapacity of the compound to stabilize topoisomerase-DNA covalent complexes. The cell cycle effects of 4d consisted in an S phase accumulation of cells coupled with a pro-apoptotic action (appearance of hypodiploid sub-G1 cells) which were confirmed by measuring the inhibition of BrdU incorporation into DNA and labeling of phosphatidylserine residues with annexin V-FITC by means of flow cytometry. Altogether, the work provides interesting structure-activity relationships in the oxoazabenzo[de]anthracene-amino acid conjugate series and identifies the lysine derivative 4d as a promising candidate for further in vivo evaluation and drug design

Gamma Radiolysis of Phenyl-Substituted TODGAs: Part II

The radiolytic degradation chemistry of three phenylated analogs of N,N,N’,N’-tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA) was investigated: 2-(2-(di-n-octylamino)-2-oxoethoxy)-N,N-di-n-octyl-2-phenylacetamide (PhTODGA), which has a phenyl substituent bound to a central methylene, 2-(2-(di-n-octylamino)-2-oxo-1-phenylethoxy)-N,N-di-n-octylpropanamide (PhMeTODGA), which also contains a methyl substituent bound to the methylene on the other side of the ether moiety, and, 2-(2-N-n-hexyl-N-phenylamino)-2-oxoethoxy)-N-n-hexyl-N-phenylacetamide (DHDPDGA), which has phenyl substituents located on the amide groups instead of the central methylenes. In Part II of this series of papers radiolytic degradation products were identified after separation with liquid chromatography by High Resolution, Accurate-Mass mass spectrometry and collision-induced dissociation. At least twenty-two radiolytic degradation products were identified for PhTODGA, twenty-nine for PhMeTODGA, and over three dozen for DHDPDGA. The suite of radiolytic degradation products of these three investigated ligands was significantly larger than has been reported for previously studied diglycolamides, owing to their asymmetric nature, and to the identification of several new degradation mechanisms, including addition of methyl, hydroxyl, and nitrogen oxide radicals, that have not been previously reported for diglycolamides. Degradation products that contained addition of a NO2 or NO3 group were particularly prevalent for DHDPDGA, likely due to the phenyl side-groups. Several of these newly observed mechanisms do not appear to depend on the presence of the phenyl groups, suggesting these novel mechanisms may apply to other diglycolamide