Educating for Identity: Problematizing and Deconstructing Our Literacy Pasts

In order to become effective teachers of language and literacy, it is critical for teacher candidates to have a sense of who they are as literate beings, how their literacy pasts have been lived, and how this might have an influence on the students in their classrooms. As teacher educators, we should not allow teacher candidates to rest simply with the recollection of key literacy events and memories. In order to be fully aware and wide awake to the complex task of teaching language and literacy, teacher candidates need to be engaged in active discussion that involves problematizing and unpacking their experiences, memories, and stories and what they really mean in past and present conceptualizations of literacy and sociocultural contexts.Pour devenir des enseignants de langue et de littératie, il est critique que les stagiaires aient un sens d’eux-mêmes comme êtres lettrés, qu’ils soient conscients de leur passé en matière de littératie, et qu’ils aient une idée de l’influence de ces facteurs sur leurs élèves en salle de classe. En tant que formateurs d’enseignants, nous ne devrions pas permettre aux stagiaires de se limiter à des souvenirs portant sur des événements relatifs à la littératie. Afin d’être pleinement conscients et éveillés face à la tâche complexe qu’est celle d’enseigner la langue et la littératie, les stagiaires doivent prendre part à des discussions actives, problématisant et déballant leurs expériences, leurs souvenirs et leurs récits personnels, et analysant leur sens selon les conceptualisations du passé et du présent de la littératie et en fonction des contextes socioculturels

Role of Biodiversity in Climate Change Mitigation (ROBIN). Final report

Tropical forest landscapes are hot spots for biodiversity and hold substantial stores of carbon. They are used by forestry, agriculture, nature conservation and other sectors, and they must provide for peoples’ health, well-being and economic security. The aim of the EC’s ROBIN project was to reconcile these many and potentially conflicting demands by understanding, measuring and quantifying the role of biodiversity in mitigating climate change and in providing other benefits to people. It addressed two main questions: do forests and forest landscapes rich in biodiversity store more carbon and deliver more ecosystem services than less biodiverse systems? And if so, what can we do to take advantage of this? These questions are relevant to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its 2020 targets. Answers will also inform the UN programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation & Forest Degradation (REDD+) which aims to enhance forest carbon pools by supporting the conservation, sustainable management and restoration of forests. ROBIN is particularly relevant to REDD+ co-benefits. ROBIN considers the impacts of land-use change in multi-functional landscapes in relation to IPCC Scenarios and is relevant to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. ROBIN used data from field studies, remote sensing, land use and ecosystem modelling and participatory approaches. We worked at multiple scales (local, national - Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia and Guyana - and regional) using a common indicator framework. We used scenarios combining possible climate and land use futures with options representing how people and governments may respond. We improved two dynamic vegetation models (LPJmL-FIT and JULES) by including biodiversity more realistically. We tested the scenarios in the models to see how forest productivity, crop yield, carbon storage and other ecosystem services may be affected by future climate and land use change. We worked with a broad range of local people (farmers, foresters, government authorities, etc.) in three case study areas and used Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping to explore stakeholder options relating to land management, forest biodiversity, climate change and local needs. ROBIN provided research evidence and products to support the following key messages: • in relation to the role of biodiversity: biodiversity matters - biodiverse forests store more carbon and are more resilient to climate change than less biodiverse forests. • in relation to monitoring: an indicator of ecosystem integrity can be calculated for data rich and data poor areas and has been used as a basis for a Mexican biodiversity monitoring programme. • in relation to policies and management options: managing logged and secondary forests for biodiversity will help increase carbon storage and resilience. • in relation to ecosystem functions: functional diversity and ecosystem integrity are linked to carbon storage, biodiversity and other forest benefits and can be easily monitored as part of a systematic approach to environmental management. • in relation to climate change mitigation and other ecosystem services: spatial trade-offs among services change across spatial scales and contexts and ROBIN developed two decision-support tools to help assess options that are relevant to local or national situations. • in relation to decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation: there may be creative opportunities for win-wins across bundles of services but the extent to which these are constrained by biophysical rather than socio-economic factors must be taken into account. • in relation to benefits and human well-being associated: payments for ecosystem services and REDD+ schemes should be linked to agricultural policies targeted at smallholders

Changes in biodiversity and trade-offs among ecosystem services, stakeholders, and components of well-being: the contribution of the International Long-Term Ecological Research network (ILTER) to Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS)

The International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network comprises > 600 scientific groups conducting site-based research within 40 countries. Its mission includes improving the understanding of global ecosystems and informs solutions to current and future environmental problems at the global scales. The ILTER network covers a wide range of social-ecological conditions and is aligned with the Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) goals and approach. Our aim is to examine and develop the conceptual basis for proposed collaboration between ILTER and PECS. We describe how a coordinated effort of several contrasting LTER site-based research groups contributes to the understanding of how policies and technologies drive either toward or away from the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services. This effort is based on three tenets: transdisciplinary research; cross-scale interactions and subsequent dynamics; and an ecological stewardship orientation. The overarching goal is to design management practices taking into account trade-offs between using and conserving ecosystems toward more sustainable solutions. To that end, we propose a conceptual approach linking ecosystem integrity, ecosystem services, and stakeholder well-being, and as a way to analyze trade-offs among ecosystem services inherent in diverse management options. We also outline our methodological approach that includes: (i) monitoring and synthesis activities following spatial and temporal trends and changes on each site and by documenting cross-scale interactions; (ii) developing analytical tools for integration; (iii) promoting trans-site comparison; and (iv) developing conceptual tools to design adequate policies and management interventions to deal with trade-offs. Finally, we highlight the heterogeneity in the social-ecological setting encountered in a subset of 15 ILTER sites. These study cases are diverse enough to provide a broad cross-section of contrasting ecosystems with different policy and management drivers of ecosystem conversion; distinct trends of biodiversity change; different stakeholders’ preferences for ecosystem services; and diverse components of well-being issues

Manipulation of the follicular phase: Uterodomes and pregnancy - is there a correlation?

BACKGROUND: Manipulation of the follicular phase uterine epithelium in women undergoing infertility treatment, has not generally shown differing morphological effects on uterine epithelial characteristics using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and resultant pregnancy rates have remained suboptimal utilising these manipulations. The present study observed manipulation of the proliferative epithelium, with either 7 or 14 days of sequential oestrogen (E) therapy followed by progesterone (P) and assessed the appearance of pinopods (now called uterodomes) for their usefulness as potential implantation markers in seven women who subsequently became pregnant. Three endometrial biopsies per patient were taken during consecutive cycles: day 19 of a natural cycle - (group 1), days 11/12 of a second cycle after 7 days E then P - (group 2), and days 19/22 of a third cycle after 14 days E then P - (group 3). Embryo transfer (ET) was performed in a subsequent long treatment cycle (as per Group 3). RESULTS: Seven pregnancies resulted in seven viable births including one twins and one miscarriage. Analysis of the individual regimes showed 5 days of P treatment to have a higher correlation for uterodomes in all 3 cycles observed individually. It was also observed that all 7 women demonstrated the appearance of uterodomes in at least one of their cycles. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that manipulation of the follicular phase by shortening the period of E exposure to 7 days, does not compromise uterine epithelial morphology and we add weight to the conclusion that uterodomes indicate a receptive endometrium for implantation

Foods and beverages and colorectal cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies, an update of the evidence of the WCRF-AICR Continuous Update Project

Objective: As part of the World Cancer Research Fund International Continuous Update Project, we updated the systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective colorectal cancer risk. Data Sources: PubMed and several databases up to May 31st 2015. Study selection: Prospective studies reporting adjusted relative risk estimates for the association of specific food groups and beverages and risk of colorectal, colon and rectal cancer. Data synthesis: Dose-response meta-analyses using random effect models to estimate summary relative risks (RRs). Results: Results: 400 individual study estimates from 111 unique cohort studies were included. Overall, the risk increase of colorectal cancer is 12% for each 100g/day increase of red and processed meat intake (95%CI=4-21%, I²=70%, pheterogeneity (ph)<0.01) and 7% for 10 g/day increase of ethanol intake in alcoholic drinks (95%CI=5-9%, I²=25%, ph=0.21). Colorectal cancer risk decrease in 17% for each 90g/day increase of whole grains (95%CI=11-21%, I²=0%, ph=0.30, 6 studies). For each 400 g/day increase of dairy products intake (95%CI=10-17%, I²=18%, ph=0.27, 10 studies). Inverse associations were also observed for vegetables intake (RR per 100 g/day =0.98 (95%CI=0.96-0.99, I² =0%, ph=0.48, 11 studies) and for fish intake (RR for 100g/day=0.89(95%CI=0.80-0.99, I²=0%, ph=0.52, 11 studies), that were weak for vegetables and driven by one study for fish. Intakes of fruits, coffee, tea, cheese, poultry and legumes were not associated with colorectal cancer risk. Conclusions: Our results reinforce the evidence that high intake of red and processed meat and alcohol increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Milk and whole grains may have a protective role against colorectal cancer. The evidence for vegetables and fish was less convincing