International Centre for the Study of Historical consciousness

My social studies education friend thought I had proposed a program of “history awareness.” My graduate student feared I was setting myself up in competition with Hayden White’s History of Consciousness program. My historiographically oriented colleague detected tones of 19th century German ideal- ism. Yikes! And I thought it was such an innocent title

Benchmarks of Historical Thinking: First Steps

Although historical thinking has been the subject of a substantial body of recent research, few attempts explicitly apply the results on a large scale in North America. This article, a narrative inquiry, examines the first stages of a multi-year, Canada- wide project to reform history education through the development of classroom- based assessments. The study is based on participant-observations, documents gen- erated by the project, and interviews, questionnaires, and correspondence with parti- cipants. The authors find impediments – apparently surmountable – in teachers’ ap- plication of potentially difficult concepts, and in their organizational resistance. Key words: assessment, historical thinking, history education, narrative inquiry Bien que la pensée historique ait été récemment le sujet de nombreuses recherches, peu d’entre elles tentent explicitement d’en appliquer les résultats sur une large échelle en Amérique du Nord. Dans cet article, l’auteur décrit les premières étapes d’un projet canadien de plusieurs années visant à réformer les cours d’histoire en recourant à des évaluations basées sur les classes. L’étude s’appuie sur l’observation des participants, des documents générés par le projet ainsi que des entrevues, des questionnaires et de la correspondance avec les participants. Les auteurs identifient des obstacles – apparemment surmontables – à la mise en application par les enseignants de concepts potentiellement difficiles et notent leur résistance organisa- tionnelle. Mots clés : évaluation, pensée historique, cours d’histoire, recherche descriptive

Historical agency as a problem for researchers in history education

In this paper, I am dealing with conceptual problems, turning attention to the second order concept of historical agency, which was identified early as important for historical understanding, but which has received little subsequent attention from history education researchers, despite its attention from philosophers, sociologists and historians. It is a fundamentally contested term, and the bulk of this paper consists of an exploration of a number of challenges raised by it. At the end, notwithstanding unresolved conceptual dilemmas, I will suggest avenues for empirical research on historical agency that might help inform history education, and contribute to more active, useful, and meaningful teaching and learning of history

¿Qué es relevante históricamente? Pensamiento histórico a través de las narrativas de los estudiantes universitarios

Resumen El objetivo es conocer a qué acontecimientos históricos atribuyen relevancia los estudiantes del Grado de Educación Primaria y en qué términos lo hacen. Para ello se analizan los patrones de pensamiento histórico que poseen los futuros docentes. Se centra la atención en el estudio de la denominada relevancia histórica. A través de pequeñas narrativas se han analizado cuáles son las capacidades del futuro docente en relación a este concepto básico del pensamiento histórico, lo cual aporta interesantes indicios acerca de cómo el alumnado entiende la historia y bajo qué premisas la narra. Para ello se han procesado 107 pequeñas narrativas construidas grupalmente por 520 individuos, todos ellos estudiantes universitarios del grado de Educación Primaria. Los textos se recopilaron durante tres cursos académicos y se analizaron siguiendo una metodología cualitativa a partir de la categorización de sus contenidos. Los resultados demuestran que los futuros docentes cuentan con unos conocimientos históricos mínimos, la mayoría de ellos limitados a los episodios que marcan los cambios de etapa histórica. Estos acontecimientos de transición entre etapas son para ellos los más relevantes de la historia de la humanidad obviando otros. Algunas de las implicaciones para su futura labor como docentes son una gran limitación de los contenidos a enseñar o una excesiva dependencia del libro de texto, entre otras. Esto lleva al desarrollo de enseñanzas basadas en la memorización y en la ausencia de reflexión sobre la propia narración histórica obviando por tanto el análisis de la relevancia de algunos eventos históricos

Workshop to compare the indicators for CFP and MSFD D3 management objectives through simulations (WKSIMULD3)

Rapports Scientifiques du CIEM. Volume 6, nº 4The WKSIMULD3 meeting provided a platform for experts from the EU member states to meet and progress the assessment methodology on Criteria 3 of Descriptor 3 upon request by EC (DGENV). WKSIMULD3 is the third of a series of three workshops (WKD3C3SCOPE and WKD3C3THRESHOLDS being the first two) to identify operational indicators for MSFD D3C3. The workshop was organised as a series of presentations with intermittent discussions. The group agreed on a number of stocks to run simulations to explore the relationships between indicators of population traits/dynamics and healthy population structure. The participants found that for demersal stocks in the North Sea, MSE simulations showed decreasing values of D3C3 indicators with increasing fishing mortality. However, the use of age-structure indicators for these stocks is likely to lead to frequent false positives due to the high interannual variability. Age-based simulations were implemented also for pelagic and short-lived stocks, such as mackerel, sprat, and sandeel. The distribution of the threshold values implemented for the stocks did not show a clear response to the fishing regime. As a result, the use of age-structure indicators for these stocks is likely to lead to frequent false positives/negatives. The simulations aimed to validate the population size structure and calculate indicators under different fishing scenarios. In the Mediterranean Sea, length-based simulations were conducted for two hake stocks and one sole stock. The length indicators obtained were compared to historical data to assess the responsiveness of the indicators to exploitation. These results show the behaviour of the length based and of the age-based indicators calculated on observed data. Overall, the indicator status can be well below the average value at Fmsy. Additionally, an exploratory run tested a harvest control rule driven by age-based indicator targets. The outputs can provide directions on how to choose a threshold that can ensure the stock to be in GES. Overall, the workshop findings highlighted the complexity of evaluating indicators for CFP and MSFD D3 management objectives, particularly in relation to the responsiveness of the indicators to fishing pressure and environmental variation. The group emphasized the need for robust and peer-reviewed models to ensure reliable results when evaluating indicators for fish stocks. Additionally, it underscores the challenges associated with using age- and length-based indicators for different species and the importance of considering environmental and recruitment variability in simulations. In conclusion, the series of the 3 workshops contributed valuable insights into the complexities of assessing and comparing indicators for MSFD D3 management objectives, providing important considerations for future assessments and management strategies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ancestral Origin of the ATTCT Repeat Expansion in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 10 (SCA10)

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 (SCA10) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease characterized by cerebellar ataxia and seizures. The disease is caused by a large ATTCT repeat expansion in the ATXN10 gene. The first families reported with SCA10 were of Mexican origin, but the disease was soon after described in Brazilian families of mixed Portuguese and Amerindian ancestry. The origin of the SCA10 expansion and a possible founder effect that would account for its geographical distribution have been the source of speculation over the last years. To unravel the mutational origin and spread of the SCA10 expansion, we performed an extensive haplotype study, using closely linked STR markers and intragenic SNPs, in families from Brazil and Mexico. Our results showed (1) a shared disease haplotype for all Brazilian and one of the Mexican families, and (2) closely-related haplotypes for the additional SCA10 Mexican families; (3) little or null genetic distance in small normal alleles of different repeat sizes, from the same SNP lineage, indicating that they are being originated by a single step mechanism; and (4) a shared haplotype for pure and interrupted expanded alleles, pointing to a gene conversion model for its generation. In conclusion, we show evidence for an ancestral common origin for SCA10 in Latin America, which might have arisen in an ancestral Amerindian population and later have been spread into the mixed populations of Mexico and Brazil

Workshop on accounting for fishers and other stakeholders’ perceptions of the dynamics of fish stocks in ICES advice (WKAFPA)

The objective of the Workshop on accounting for fishers and other stakeholders’ perceptions of the dynamics of fish stocks in ICES advice (WKAFPA) was to identify where and how stake- holder information could be incorporated in the ICES fisheries advice process. It adopted an operational definition of the concept of perception, where perceptions result from observations, interpreted in light of experience, that can be supported by data, information and knowledge to generate evidence about them. Stakeholder information can be either structured (e.g. routinely collected information in a standardized format) or unstructured (e.g. experiential information) and either of those can inform decisions made during the production of ICES advice. Most notably, the group identified there was a need to engage with stakeholders earlier in the process, i.e. before benchmarks meetings take place and before preliminary assessment results are used as the basis to predict total allowable catches for upcoming advice (Figure 4.2). It was therefore recommended to include in the ICES process the organisation of pre-bench- mark/roadmap workshops where science and data needs of upcoming benchmarks can be iden- tified, followed by making arrangements how scientists and stakeholders can collaborate to ac- cess, prepare for use (where relevant) and document the structured and unstructured infor- mation well ahead of the benchmark meetings. It was also recommended to organise ‘sense-checking’ sessions with stakeholders when prelim- inary assessments are available but not yet used as the basis for advisory production. This would allow stakeholders and assessment scientists to verify available knowledge and data against stock perceptions and provide additional considerations relevant for the production of TAC ad- vice. Next to these two additional activities, it is recommended that communication on differ- ences in stakeholder perception or data derived perceptions are communicated within the ICES assessment reports as well as in the ICES advice in a transparent manner. Not only should dif- ferences or similarities be documented and communicated, in those cases where there are differ- ences in perception between ICES stock assessments and stakeholders, a working group, external to the assessment working groups, should evaluate these differences and describe whether these differences can be logically explained or require further investigation. This outcome of this pro- cess may potentially lead to new data collection or additional analyses suitable for input to benchmarks. Essential in this entire process is making sure the same language is spoken between scientists and stakeholders, that there are clear and transparent processes in place on how to deal with stakeholder information and communicate clearly how this information is used in the prepara- tion of ICES advice.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Common coding variant in SERPINA1 increases the risk for large artery stroke

Large artery atherosclerotic stroke (LAS) shows substantial heritability not explained by previous genome-wide association studies. Here, we explore the role of coding variation in LAS by analyzing variants on the HumanExome BeadChip in a total of 3,127 cases and 9,778 controls from Europe, Australia, and South Asia. We report on a nonsynonymous single-nucleotide variant in serpin family A member 1 (SERPINA1) encoding alpha-1 antitrypsin [AAT; p.V213A; P = 5.99E-9, odds ratio (OR) = 1.22] and confirm histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9) as a major risk gene for LAS with an association in the 3?-UTR (rs2023938; P = 7.76E-7, OR = 1.28). Using quantitative microscale thermophoresis, we show that M1 (A213) exhibits an almost twofold lower dissociation constant with its primary target human neutrophil elastase (NE) in lipoprotein-containing plasma, but not in lipid-free plasma. Hydrogen/deuterium exchange combined with mass spectrometry further revealed a significant difference in the global flexibility of the two variants. The observed stronger interaction with lipoproteins in plasma and reduced global flexibility of the Val-213 variant most likely improve its local availability and reduce the extent of proteolytic inactivation by other proteases in atherosclerotic plaques. Our results indicate that the interplay between AAT, NE, and lipoprotein particles is modulated by the gate region around position 213 in AAT, far away from the unaltered reactive center loop (357-360). Collectively, our findings point to a functionally relevant balance between lipoproteins, proteases, and AAT in atherosclerosis