The signature of the whole. Radical interconnectedness and its implications for global and environmental education

The author presents a holistic concept of Global Learning, concerning different scientific disciplines, spiritual suggestions and practical consequences. He interprets the global environmental crisis especially as a crisis of worldview, stamped by mechanistic belief. (DIPF/Orig.)Der Autor präsentiert ein holistisches Konzept Globalen Lernens in Auseinandersetzung mit verschiedenen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen, spirituellen Anregungen und praktischen Konsequenzen. Die globale Umweltkrise interpretiert er dabei v. a. als eine Krise der Betrachtung von Welt, die von mechanistischem Denken geprägt sei. (DIPF/Orig.

Responding to globalisation and the global condition. Technocratic skills or normative ideals for transformation? A critique of Douglas Bourn\u27s conception of global education

This article reacts to the response of Doug Bourn to David Selby\u27s article in the last number of ZEP. David Selby overviews different renditions of global education \u27Global Competitiveness Education, Reformist Global Education, Transformative Global Education\u27 and locates Bourns position as falling between the competitiveness and reformist agendas. He argues that such a position brushes too closely against calls for technocratic and skills-based education that are influenced by globalization and the needs of the global marketplace. He also sees such an approach as overly conforming to the culture of compliance currently prevailing within UK education. Selby argues for a transformative global education, the first premise of which is \u27that we live on a planet, not in a market\u27. (DIPF/Orig.)Dieser Beitrag reagiert auf die Erwiderung von Doug Bourn auf den Beitrag von David Selby in der letzten Ausgabe der ZEP (Selby, David: The signature of the whole: radical interconnectedness and its implications for global and environmental education, ZEP 27(2004)4, S. 23-31). Der Autor gibt einen Überblick der verschiedenen Einschätzungen Globaler Bildung - \u27globale Wettbewerbsbildung, re-formerische globale Bildung und transformative globale Bildung\u27 - und verortet die Position von Bourn zwischen einer Wettbewerbs- und Reformagenda. Selby argumentiert, dass solch eine Position zu nah an die Forderung technokratischer oder skills-orientierter Bildung herankommt, die von Globalisierung und den Bedürfnissen eines globalen Marktplatzes beeinflusst ist. Er sieht einen solchen Ansatz auch als zu konform mit einer \u27Kultur der Erfüllung\u27, die derzeit innerhalb der Bildung Großbritanniens vorherrsche. Selby plädiert für eine transformative globale Bildung, deren erste Prämisse ist, \u27dass wir auf einem Planeten und nicht in einem Markt leben\u27. (DIPF/Orig.

The middle Waikato Basin and hills

The middle Waikato (or Hamilton) Basin is a roughly oval-shaped depression more than 80 km north to south and more than 40 km wide. The basin, except in the south, is almost completely surrounded by ranges up to 300 m high, broken by only a few gaps. In the south the basin floor rises gradually and merges with the dissected plateaux of the King Country

Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula : Case Studies from Thirty Countries

Información sobre Perú, pp. 170-171This document reports the findings of a UNICEF/UNESCO Mapping of Global DRR Integration into Education Curricula consultancy. The researchers were tasked with capturing key national experiences in the integration of disaster risk reduction in the curriculum, identifying good practice, noting issues addressed and ones still lacking and reviewing learning outcomes. The methodology employed has been one of meta-research of available literature and case study documentary research into the experiences of thirty countries. The most frequently found approach to DRR integration is that of infusion, i.e., disaster-related themes and topics that are woven into specific school subjects. DRR is, for the most part, integrated into a narrow band of subjects, typically the physical and natural sciences, although there are examples of its appearance across a wider range of subjects. There are a limited number of examples of DRR appearing as the primary focus or key strand within a special new subject area. Moreover, there is little evidence of cross-curricular linkages being forged nor of an interdisciplinary approach being adopted. If horizontal integration is not prominent, neither is vertical integration of DRR learning at the primary and secondary grade levels. A broad range of approaches to integrating disaster risk reduction has been identified: the textbook-driven approach; the pilot project approach; the centralized competency-based approach (in which curriculum development is determined by the identification of key competencies); the centrally developed special subject approach; the symbiosis approach (in which an established cross-curricular dimension such as environmental education, education for sustainable development or life skills education serves as a carrier for DRR); the ‘special event’ approach. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are enumerated. Learning and teaching approaches used in addressing DRR curriculum tend to be generally limited in application. Links are not, in many cases, being made between the competency, community engagement and proactive citizenship ambitions of DRR and the need for interactive, participatory and ‘in the field’ learning through which competencies, involvement literacy and confidence are built. Successful examples of interactive, inquiry, experiential and action learning are to be found across the case studies but not in great numbers. There is little evidence for affective learning approaches (involving the sharing of feelings and emotions) even though learning about hazard and disaster can elicit a strong emotional response in the learner. The need for affective learning becomes ever stronger in that the increasing incidence of disaster means that pre-disaster learning is increasingly taking place in post-disaster or slow-onset disaster learning environments

Simple and objective prediction of survival in patients with lung cancer: staging the host systemic inflammatory response

Background. Prediction of survival in patients diagnosed with lung cancer remains problematical. The aim of the present study was to examine the clinical utility of an established objective marker of the systemic inflammatory response, the Glasgow Prognostic Score, as the basis of risk stratification in patients with lung cancer. Methods. Between 2005 and 2008 all newly diagnosed lung cancer patients coming through the multidisciplinary meetings (MDTs) of four Scottish centres were included in the study. The details of 882 patients with a confirmed new diagnosis of any subtype or stage of lung cancer were collected prospectively. Results. The median survival was 5.6 months (IQR 4.8–6.5). Survival analysis was undertaken in three separate groups based on mGPS score. In the mGPS 0 group the most highly predictive factors were performance status, weight loss, stage of NSCLC, and palliative treatment offered. In the mGPS 1 group performance status, stage of NSCLC, and radical treatment offered were significant. In the mGPS 2 group only performance status and weight loss were statistically significant. Discussion. This present study confirms previous work supporting the use of mGPS in predicting cancer survival; however, it goes further by showing how it might be used to provide more objective risk stratification in patients diagnosed with lung cancer

Next generation software environments : principles, problems, and research directions

The past decade has seen a burgeoning of research and development in software environments. Conferences have been devoted to the topic of practical environments, journal papers produced, and commercial systems sold. Given all the activity, one might expect a great deal of consensus on issues, approaches, and techniques. This is not the case, however. Indeed, the term "environment" is still used in a variety of conflicting ways. Nevertheless substantial progress has been made and we are at least nearing consensus on many critical issues.The purpose of this paper is to characterize environments, describe several important principles that have emerged in the last decade or so, note current open problems, and describe some approaches to these problems, with particular emphasis on the activities of one large-scale research program, the Arcadia project. Consideration is also given to two related topics: empirical evaluation and technology transition. That is, how can environments and their constituents be evaluated, and how can new developments be moved effectively into the production sector

Intestinal transplantation in children under FK 506 immunosuppression

Intestinal transplantation, solitary (n = 3) or in combination with the liver (n = 7), was performed in 10 pediatric patients with intestinal failure. The liver was only replaced if there was liver failure and portal hypertension. Immunosuppression was based on FK 506. Two patients died, one of graft-versus-host disease and one of lymphoproliferative disease. One patient was still in the intensive care unit 1 month posttransplantation due to perioperative complications. The function of the intestinal grafts in the remaining patients is normal. All nutrition and medications including immunosuppression are being administered enterally. This series indicates that small bowel transplantation, alone or in combination with the liver, is feasible in pediatric patients. © 1993

Referral management and the care of patients with diabetes: the Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of referral management on diabetes care. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) is a multicenter study of managed care enrollees with diabetes. Prospective referral management was defined as "gatekeeping" and mandatory preauthorization from a utilization management office, and retrospective referral management as referral profiling and appropriateness reviews. Outcomes included dilated eye exam; self-reported visit to specialists; and perception of difficulty in getting referrals. Hierarchical models adjusted for clustering and patient age, gender, race, ethnicity, type and duration of diabetes treatment, education, income, health status, and comorbidity. RESULTS: Referral management was commonly used by health plans (55%) and provider groups (52%). In adjusted analyses, we found no association between any referral management strategies and any of the outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: Referral management does not appear to have an impact on referrals or perception of referrals related to diabetes care

High hospital research participation and improved colorectal cancer survival outcomes: a population-based study

Objective: In 2001, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cancer Research Network (NCRN) was established, leading to a rapid increase in clinical research activity across the English NHS. Using colorectal cancer (CRC) as an example, we test the hypothesis that high, sustained hospital-level participation in interventional clinical trials improves outcomes for all CRC patients managed in those research-intensive hospitals. Design: Data for patients diagnosed with CRC in England in 2001-2008 (n=209,968) were linked with data on accrual to NCRN CRC studies (n=30,998). Hospital Trusts were categorised by the proportion of patients accrued to interventional studies annually. Multivariable models investigated the relationship between 30-day post-operative mortality and five-year survival and the level and duration of study participation. Results: Most of the Trusts achieving high participation were district general hospitals and the effects were not limited to cancer “centres of excellence”, although such centres do make substantial contributions. Patients treated in Trusts with high research participation (≥16%) in their year of diagnosis had lower post-operative mortality (p<0.001) and improved survival (p<0.001) after adjustment for casemix and hospital-level variables. The effects increased with sustained research participation, with a reduction in post-operative mortality of 1.5% (6.5% to 5%, p<2.2*10-6) and an improvement in survival (p<10 19; 5-year difference: 3.8% (41.0% to 44.8%)) comparing high participation for ≥4 years with 0 years. Conclusion: There is a strong independent association between survival and participation in interventional clinical studies for all CRC patients treated in the hospital, not only study participants. Improvement precedes and increases with the level and years of sustained participation