Scaffolded autoethnography: a method for examining practice-to-research

Teachers often perceive educational research as confusing and can be disenfranchised by the research process. We propose scaffolded authethnography as a method to support principled examination of authentic practice. The approach is appealing because it is motivated by the teacher’s own day-to-day practice in a research context. Our demonstration of this method uses an analytical autoethnographic approach coupled with a data capture tool that documents the pedagogic content knowledge of a practicing teacher. We include a short case-study description where the method was used in the context of research in the area of threshold concept identification

Changing Attitudes Toward Lesbian Women and Gay Men Through Self-Confrontation

Prejudice against lesbian women and gay men is widespread. Intolerance ranges from negative beliefs to exclusion from mainstream society, denial of civil rights and legal protection, as well as harassment and physical violence. Furthermore, it is socially acceptable to hold negative attitudes toward this group. There is no condemnation for doing so, unlike the case with racism. Given the extent of oppression faced by lesbians and gay men, research on attitude change is critical. This study explored the characteristics of college students that contribute to negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, and investigated whether Rokeach’s method of self-confrontation is a useful intervention for attitude change. Students (N = 293) from introductory sociology classes comprised norm, experimental, and control groups. The following instruments were used in pretest and posttest conditions: the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) Scale, three questions to assess the amount and type (positive or negative) of contact with lesbians and gay men, and a demographic questionnaire. The experimental group intervention consisted of a modified version of the method of self-confrontation. Multiple regression analysis showed that the following factors contributed to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: size of home town, positive contact, negative contact, and the RVS value Equality. Results of LISREL path analysis showed statistically significant treatment effects. Attitudes changed in the desired direction; however, the method of self-confrontation was not supported, as attitude change did not coincide with value change. The positive change in attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men was interpreted in terms of the effects of analyzing reasons for attitude change and the moderating role of attitude accessibility

Central Asia and the globalisation of the contemporary legal consciousness

What is the logic which governs the processes of legal globalization? How does the transnational proliferation of legal forms operate in the contemporary geo-juridical space? What are the main defining characteristics of the currently dominant mode of transnational legal consciousness and how can the concept of legal consciousness help us understand better the historical ebb and flow of the Western-led projects of good governance promotion in regions like Central Asia after the fall of the Soviet Union? Using Duncan Kennedy’s seminal essay Three Globalizations of Law and Legal Thought as its starting platform, this essay seeks to explore these and a series of other related questions, while also drawing on the work of the Greek Marxist lawyer-philosopher Nicos Poulantzas to help elucidate some latent analytical stress-points in Kennedy’s broader theoretical framework. Reacting against the neo-Orientalist tone adopted across much of the contemporary field of Central Asian studies, it develops an alternative account of the internal history of the legal-globalizational encounter between the Western-based reform entrepreneurs and the national legal-political elites in Central Asia in the post-1991 period, complementing it with a detailed description of the general institutional and discursive structures within which this encounter took place

Common Swine Mycoplasmas

Mycoplasmas are the smallest organisms (200-300nm) that are capable of growth in cell free medium. They are different from bacteria in that they have no cell walls but are bounded by a unite membrane. The typical mycoplasma colony on solid growth medium has the appearance of a fried egg. Most mycoplasmas require sterol for growth. Nonsterol requiring mycoplasmas are placed into the genus Acholeplasma

A sex difference in the response of the rodent postsynaptic density to synGAP haploinsufficiency

SynGAP is a postsynaptic density (PSD) protein that binds to PDZ domains of the scaffold protein PSD-95. We previously reported that heterozygous deletion of Syngap1 in mice is correlated with increased steady-state levels of other key PSD proteins that bind PSD-95, although the level of PSD-95 remains constant (Walkup et al., 2016). For example, the ratio to PSD-95 of Transmembrane AMPA-Receptor-associated Proteins (TARPs), which mediate binding of AMPA-type glutamate receptors to PSD-95, was increased in young Syngap1+/- mice. Here we show that only females and not males show a highly significant correlation between an increase in TARP and a decrease in synGAP in the PSDs of Syngap1+/- rodents. The data reveal a sex difference in the adaptation of the PSD scaffold to synGAP haploinsufficiency

Southern Criminology, Law and the ‘Right’ to Consular Notification in Australia, New Zealand and the United States

This paper investigates the implementation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in Australia, New Zealand and the United States (US) by using a Southern approach to examining law. We describe the incorporation of Article 36 from a defendant-centred perspective under Australian and New Zealand laws governing police procedure, and the commensurate jurisdictional tensions it has generated in the US. We then empirically analyse 16 non-capital US cases to identify the type of offence, the nationality and perceived English-speaking competency of the foreign suspect, and the point at which the alleged Article 36 violation is canvassed in legal arguments. This analysis highlights the importance of a defendant-centred Southern criminology of law in critically assessing the implementation of international legal requirements into domestic criminal justice practice

An Evaluation of the All-Wales Dietetic Capacity Grant Scheme: Final Report

No Abstract availabl

A sex difference in the composition of the rodent postsynaptic density

SynGAP is a postsynaptic density (PSD) protein that binds to PDZ domains of the scaffold protein PSD-95. We previously reported that heterozygous deletion of synGAP in mice is correlated with increased steady-state levels of other key PSD proteins that bind PSD-95, although the level of PSD-95 remains constant (Walkup et al., 2016). For example, the ratio to PSD-95 of Transmembrane AMPA-Receptor-associated Proteins (TARPs), which mediate binding of AMPA-type glutamate receptors to PSD-95, was increased in young synGAP+/- mice. Here we show that a highly significant increase in TARP in the PSDs of young synGAP+/- rodents is present only in females and not in males. The data reveal a sex difference in the adaptation of the PSD scaffold to synGAP heterozygosity

Life Cycle of Midlatitude Deep Convective Systems in a Lagrangian Framework

Deep Convective Systems (DCSs) consist of intense convective cores (CC), large stratiform rain (SR) regions, and extensive non-precipitating anvil clouds (AC). This study focuses on the evolution of these three components and the factors that affect convective AC production. An automated satellite tracking method is used in conjunction with a recently developed multi-sensor hybrid classification to analyze the evolution of DCS structure in a Lagrangian framework over the central United States. Composite analysis from 4221 tracked DCSs during two warm seasons (May-August, 2010-2011) shows that maximum system size correlates with lifetime, and longer-lived DCSs have more extensive SR and AC. Maximum SR and AC area lag behind peak convective intensity and the lag increases linearly from approximately 1-hour for short-lived systems to more than 3-hours for long-lived ones. The increased lag, which depends on the convective environment, suggests that changes in the overall diabatic heating structure associated with the transition from CC to SR and AC could prolong the system lifetime by sustaining stratiform cloud development. Longer-lasting systems are associated with up to 60% higher mid-tropospheric relative humidity and up to 40% stronger middle to upper tropospheric wind shear. Regression analysis shows that the areal coverage of thick AC is strongly correlated with the size of CC, updraft strength, and SR area. Ambient upper tropospheric wind speed and wind shear also play an important role for convective AC production where for systems with large AC (radius greater than 120-km) they are 24% and 20% higher, respectively, than those with small AC (radius=20 km)

Value Creation framework to assess MOOC based learning

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to scale up and democratise participation in professional education. Medical advances and growing demand for health providers require adoption of new flexible, team-based and lifelong learning approaches beyond the current “silo” medical training model focused specific professional roles. MOOCs provide opportunities to address pressing global health training challenges through collaborative development and globally networked learning environments. This project considered the extent to which individuals could gain and apply their learning from a global health MOOC within their local contexts. // In 1996 the World Health Organization launched the international initiative ‘GET 2020’ to eliminate trachoma, an avoidable blinding eye disease, across 44 endemic countries. In 2016, 16 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)staff and 37 collaborators from 12 countries developed the first MOOC in “Eliminating Trachoma’ aimed at improving access to training, equipping and mobilising health workers, to achieve ‘GET 2020’. Over 5000 people have participated in the MOOC from a diverse range of professional cadres and disciplines, including clinicians providing surgical services, programme managers, field workers administrating antibiotics, and teams implementing water and sanitation improvements.// We adapted a ‘value -creation framework’ to evaluate the impact of MOOC-based learning on trachoma elimination practices at the local level. Online surveys were designed to capture personal experiences of ‘cycles’ of value creation during participation in the MOOC and after the course. The results provide unique and emergent insights into the ongoing value of the MOOC experience for respondents, their teams and the communities affected by trachoma with whom they are engaging towards the goal of elimination