Fiona J. Griffiths, Nuns’ Priests’ Tales:Men and Salvation in Medieval Women’s Monastic Life, The Middle Ages Series (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018), pp. 360, 29 illustrations, £56.00. ISBN 978-0-812249-75-0.

Fiona J. Griffiths’s study sheds light on the complexity of gendered identities in the Middle Ages by elucidating the symbiotic relationship between religious men and women. It considers how priests, who were involved in the pastoral care of nuns (cura monialium), understood themselves and the women they served. The chronological emphasis is on the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but there is significant treatment of the late antique and the early Middle Ages, and a few references to the late Middle Ages. Geographically the study concentrates mainly on Germany, France and England

The Role of Instructor Presence and Class Size in Promoting Engagement Among Adults Pursuing Undergraduate Degrees Online: A preregistered study.

Adult learners who pursue undergraduate degrees online are an understudied group who have characteristics that separate them from traditional younger students or graduate students who might be the same age. These characteristics could give them a different experience in online courses. Do adult learners experience instructor presence in a way that makes them engage in their courses more? Is that measurable by a validated measurement of student engagement? This preregistered study seeks to answer how the student engagement of adult learners seeking an undergraduate degree in a 100% online environment is effected by the presence of the instructor. The data analysis examines instructor directed facilitation with individual students as well as the whole class and correlates that with the results of the Online Student Engagement Scale created by M. D. Dixson

The use of the Socratic method in a contemporary high school classroom in developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision making skills

The purpose of this action research was to attempt to use a modified approach to the Socratic method in a contemporary high school classroom as a means of developing problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in high school students. The participants in the study were 16 male students and 13 female students from two sections of an eleventh grade Honors English class at a suburban high school in southern New Jersey. These students were selected as a population of convenience during the researcher\u27s Clinical Internship II experience. As a part of regular classroom instruction, the researcher employed a modified form of the Socratic method, using journal prompts and a subsequent discussion model. Student responses to these prompts were collected and analyzed. Classroom use of the method and some implications of gender are discussed

The Role of Instructor Presence and Class Size in Promoting Engagement Among Adults Pursuing Undergraduate Degrees Online: A preregistered study.

Adult learners who pursue undergraduate degrees online are an understudied group who have characteristics that separate them from traditional younger students or graduate students who might be the same age. These characteristics could give them a different experience in online courses. Do adult learners experience instructor presence in a way that makes them engage in their courses more? Is that measurable by a validated measurement of student engagement? This preregistered study seeks to answer how the student engagement of adult learners seeking an undergraduate degree in a 100% online environment is effected by the presence of the instructor. The data analysis examines instructor directed facilitation with individual students as well as the whole class and correlates that with the results of the Online Student Engagement Scale created by M. D. Dixson

The development of spatial behaviour and the hippocampal neural representation of space

The role of the hippocampal formation in spatial cognition is thought to be supported by distinct classes of neurons whose firing is tuned to an organism's position and orientation in space. In this article, we review recent research focused on how and when this neural representation of space emerges during development: each class of spatially tuned neurons appears at a different age, and matures at a different rate, but all the main spatial responses tested so far are present by three weeks of age in the rat. We also summarize the development of spatial behaviour in the rat, describing how active exploration of space emerges during the third week of life, the first evidence of learning in formal tests of hippocampus-dependent spatial cognition is observed in the fourth week, whereas fully adult-like spatial cognitive abilities require another few weeks to be achieved. We argue that the development of spatially tuned neurons needs to be considered within the context of the development of spatial behaviour in order to achieve an integrated understanding of the emergence of hippocampal function and spatial cognition

Place Cell Networks in Pre-weanling Rats Show Associative Memory Properties from the Onset of Exploratory Behavior

Place cells are hippocampal pyramidal cells that are active when an animal visits a restricted area of the environment, and collectively their activity constitutes a neural representation of space. Place cell populations in the adult rat hippocampus display fundamental properties consistent with an associative memory network: the ability to 1) generate new and distinct spatial firing patterns when encountering novel spatial contexts or changes in sensory input ("remapping") and 2) reinstate previously stored firing patterns when encountering a familiar context, including on the basis of an incomplete/degraded set of sensory cues ("pattern completion"). To date, it is unknown when these spatial memory responses emerge during brain development. Here, we show that, from the age of first exploration (postnatal day 16) onwards, place cell populations already exhibit these key features: they generate new representations upon exposure to a novel context and can reactivate familiar representations on the basis of an incomplete set of sensory cues. These results demonstrate that, as early as exploratory behaviors emerge, and despite the absence of an adult-like grid cell network, the developing hippocampus processes incoming sensory information as an associative memory network

VeloCity : mapping Houston on the diagonal

This thesis researches the perception of our surroundings while in motion. The bicycle is the primary focus and is conceptualized as an apparatus, once activated by its rider. New measure is applied to the city through the spatiality of the bicycle from which new mappings and experiences emerge. Liberated from the restrictions of the urban grid, the rider constructs new forms of judgement enabling him to navigate the “diagonal.” The architectural project is sited in the “vehicular shadows” of Houston and proposes the Veloduct as a new strategy for occupying and experiencing a new velo-centric landscape. A traversable canopy structure stitches together the shards of unclaimed ground acting as a megastructure under which formalized program and event spaces are distributed. The Veloduct simultaneously creates new spatial experiences and recasts old ones from a new perspective, that of the bicycle

Challenges in language services: Identifying and responding to patients\u27 needs

Objective: Identify characteristics of hospitalbased language services (LS), and describe practices of identifying patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) and interpreter training. Participants: Seventy-one hospitals applied to participate in a national initiative. Applicants were non-federal, acute care hospitals with substantial LEP populations, at least 10,000 discharges, and in-person interpreters. Methods: Descriptive statistics were generated on language, collection of language data, LEP volume and service utilization, staffing and training requirements and organizational structure. The relationship between admissions and encounters was analyzed. Results Ninety percent of hospitals collect primary language data. Spanish is the most common language (93% of hospitals). We found no statistically significant correlation between admissions and encounters. Eighty-four percent require training. Eightynine percent have a designated LS department but no clear organizational home. Conclusions: Hospital-based LS programs are facing challenges identifying patients with language needs, staffing and training a workforce, and creating an organizational identity. Need is not associated with utilization, suggesting that LS are not reaching patients

Are HIV smartphone apps and online interventions fit for purpose?

Sexual health is an under-explored area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), particularly sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. Due to the stigma associated with these infections, people are often motivated to seek information online. With the rise of smartphone and web apps, there is enormous potential for technology to provide easily accessible information and resources. However, using online information raises important concerns about the trustworthiness of these resources and whether they are fit for purpose. We conducted a review of smartphone and web apps to investigate the landscape of currently available online apps and whether they meet the diverse needs of people seeking information on HIV online. Our functionality review revealed that existing technology interventions have a one-size-fits-all approach and do not support the breadth and complexity of HIV-related support needs. We argue that technology-based interventions need to signpost their offering and provide tailored support for different stages of HIV, including prevention, testing, diagnosis and management

Social network correlates of HIV risk-related behaviors among male migrants in China

Abstract Background Significant domestic and global research has focused on HIV risk among China’s large internal migrant population. Much of this work takes an individual behavior approach while ignoring the critical role social networks play in shaping HIV risk. Methods Based on past studies among migrant men in China of yingchou activities (activities that build and reinforce social networks such as eating, drinking alcohol and patronizing commercial sex), we constructed ego-centric networks for a sample of 385 male migrants recruited from multiple worksites in Beijing. We used a nested-model approach to examine the contribution of social network characteristics to HIV risk at both the variable and model levels. Results As compared to an individual-level model, addition of social network variables significantly improved the fit of the models. Commercial sex norms and condom use norms of core yingchou networks were significantly associated with egos’ commercial sex and condom use respectively. The size of yingchou network was associated with egos’ commercial sex. The network models became more sensitive after network norm measures took into account the intimacy of network ties and allowed for egos’ uncertainty when reporting their alters’ sexual behaviors. Conclusion Results suggest the importance of social network factors and core network members in HIV transmission and risk-reduction interventions for male migrants. Future studies could explore other important social networks among male migrants, consider the intimacy of network ties and egos’ uncertainty about alters’ situations in constructing network norms, and refine the measurement of network size and density