Intermolecular interactions in the chiral and racemic forms of 3-hydroxy-2-(1-oxoisoindolin-2-yl)butanoic acid derived from threonine

The title compounds, C₁₂H₁₃NO₄, are derived from L-threonine and DL-threonine, respectively. Hydrogen bonding in the chiral derivative, (2S/3R)-3-hydroxy-2-(1-oxoisoindolin-2-yl)butanoic acid, consists of O-Hacid...Oalkyl-H...O=Cindole chains [O...O 2.659 (3) and 2.718 (3) Å], Csp³-H...O and three C-H...πarene interactions. In the (2R,3S/2S,3R) racemate, conventional carboxylic acid hydrogen bonding as cyclical (O-H...O=C)₂ [graph set R₂²(8)] is present, with Oalkyl-H...O=Cindole, Csp³-H...O and C-H...πarene interactions. The COOH group geometry differs between the two forms, with C-O, C=O, C-C-O and C-C=O bond lengths and angles of 1.322 (3) and 1.193 (3) Å, and 109.7 (2) and 125.4 (3)°, respectively, in the chiral structure, and 1.2961 (17) and 1.2210 (18) Å, and 113.29 (12) and 122.63 (13)°, respectively, in the racemate structure. The O-C=O angles of 124.9 (3) and 124.05 (14)° are similar. The differences arise from the contrasting COOH hydrogen-bonding environments in the two structures

Teaching Protocols for the Promotion of Derived Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Related Language Deficits

A research enterprise that I am currently excited about is a collaborative project between our doctoral researchers at the Department of Psychology, NUIM and Dr. Mark Dixon’s PEAK/ ABA (Promotion of Emergent Advanced Knowledge) research project at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). Many behavioural psychologists today are focused on the design of strategic teaching protocols for the promotion of derived learning (i.e., untaught, emergent). This type of learning is based on relational responding; as when a typically-developing child is taught a “same” relation with two identical pictures and then presented with one of those pictures and a picture of a different object, the child may derive a “different/not-same” relation for the latter stimuli and this derived relation emerges without having to be taught separately. Derived relations appear similar in process to the exponential learning that is ubiquitous in the language acquisition of young typically- developing children, but frequently not evidenced in children with ASD and related language deficits. Thus teaching protocols that promote derived learning may be of particular benefit for children with ASD and related language deficits, because derivation may be an essential component of advanced language and cognitive repertoires. The new Peak behavioural teaching applications are based on behavioural research literature on stimulus equivalence [1,3], derived relational responding, and relational frame theory [2]. The capacity for derivation of complex relations is exemplified when a child is taught that stimulus ‘A’ is opposite to ‘B’ and ‘B’ is opposite to ‘C’, and as a result derives (untaught) that A-C (and C-A) are alike. Put another way, an individual may derive complex relations such as “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, without ever having been specifically taught this, but just on the basis of the initially learned relations (e.g., Jon is my enemy, Barry is Jon’s enemy, ergo Barry is my friend). These are rather simplistic examples of quite complex phenomena, but the point is that when an individual can derive complex and extensive relations between stimuli, the learning potential is tremendously increased because not every single aspect of every single stimulus or relation has to be individually taught

Changing Teachers’ Practices Through Exploratory Talk in Mathematics: A Discursive Pedagogical Perspective

Abstract.:This paper presents data collected as part of an intervention research project to develop exploratory talk and collaborative group work with six and seven year-old students in mathematics. A discursive approach was used to analyse and interpret variations in the way that three case-study teachers, involved in the project, managed the group work and developed the students’ talk. Analysis suggested that the intervention required, not just a change in practice, also but a shift in ideologies for these teachers. Ideologies are seen as discourses that legitimate and maintain a social pattern, and the paper explores how a research-based intervention can create conflicts between researchers’ and teachers’ ideologies

Gender constraints to increased agricultural production faced by rural women in KwaZulu

Bibliography: pages 116-124.It is well known that women are constrained by their gender role, which is imposed on them by the gender relations they experience. This role allocates them the direct responsibility for maintenance of the household and subjects them to patriarchal relations of male domination and female subordination. There is little understanding, however, of how gender-specific constraints operate. This study records the gender-specific constraints affecting the lives of black, rural women in a homeland in South Africa (KwaZulu). An analysis is given of the extent to which these gender-specific constraints affect the agricultural productivity of these women. An integrated methodology, combining elements of qualitative observations, key-informant interviews and quantitative surveys was used to identify gender-based constraints to agricultural production experienced by rural women in the study area (the Nhlangwini Ward, Umzumbe District, southern KwaZulu). This information revealed that the lives of women in the Nhlangwini Ward are severely affected by gender-specific constraints that arise out of: their involvement in various activities that constitute their multiple work role (survival tasks, household tasks and different resources (land, income generation); their access to capital and training) and their perception of their gender role and the patriarchal relations they experience. Women in the ward adapt to these constraints by: using child labour and hired labour to assist them in conducting survival tasks and household tasks; allocating some shopping (for clothes) to male household members who have greater access to urban centres; membership of community gardens to gain access to arable land and agricultural expertise; hiring private arable land for farming and adopting poultry farming as a favoured agricultural activity. Recommendations are made for types of projects and policy changes that could work to overcome these constraints and the broader subordination of women in rural areas. As gender and rural development is a pioneering research field in South Africa, more research of this type is urgently required because at present the development process takes little cognisance of gender issues

Reassessing Marguerite Duras

Since her death on March 3, 1996, Marguerite Duras continues to live on through the ongoing critical appreciation of her works

Searching for Proper Judicial Recognition of Hospital Ethics Committees in Decisions to Forego Medical Treatment

The issue of withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining medical treatment arises with increasing regularity in the United States, prompted by a growing elderly population and constant technological advances. A Hospital Ethics Committee (HEC) may be utilized to assist in making treatment decisions for incompetent patients, but there is inconsistency in the deference given to HECs by courts. Neither federal nor state statutes have addressed the proper role of HECs in health care decisionmaking, and common law on the subject is conflicting. This comment will explore the levels of judicial scrutiny applied to HEC decisions regarding life-sustaining medical treatment and explore the proper role of HECs within the American jurisprudential system

Searching for Proper Judicial Recognition of Hospital Ethics Committees in Decisions to Forego Medical Treatment

The issue of withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining medical treatment arises with increasing regularity in the United States, prompted by a growing elderly population and constant technological advances. A Hospital Ethics Committee (HEC) may be utilized to assist in making treatment decisions for incompetent patients, but there is inconsistency in the deference given to HECs by courts. Neither federal nor state statutes have addressed the proper role of HECs in health care decisionmaking, and common law on the subject is conflicting. This comment will explore the levels of judicial scrutiny applied to HEC decisions regarding life-sustaining medical treatment and explore the proper role of HECs within the American jurisprudential system