Differences in preservice teachers’ readiness to use ICT in education and development of TPACK

Education for the 21st century society requires the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education. This presents challenges for preservice teacher education. Thus, more cognate understanding about preservice teachers’ readiness to use ICT in education, coupled with knowledge related to ICT in education, is needed. Furthermore, it is important to understand that preservice teachers have various levels of readiness to use ICT in education, thereby creating a demand to investigate sub-groups within preservice teachers. This study focuses on differences of readiness and development of knowledge between preservice teachers’ based on two theoretical constructs: Theory of Planned Behavior and TPACK. Results indicate differences in readiness of preservice teachers’ sub-groups. Still, positive development trends in terms of knowledge of ICT in education can be found during the first two years of preservice teacher education. Limitations and future research are discussed

NE STEM 4U afterschool intervention leads to gains in STEM content knowledge for middle school youth

Afterschool interventions in STEM are linked to learning gains during the school day. These opportunities engage and excite students about STEM concepts since they observe a more hands-on, project-oriented approach. Often these opportunities for afterschool interventions are infrequent in nature and leave gaps for students in their maturation and understanding. Herein we describe the first report of an afterschool intervention, named NE STEM 4U, targeting socioeconomically disadvantaged middle school youth via a twice weekly, year-long intervention, studied across two years. We assessed the impact of this program on i.) short-term, individual student gains in STEM content knowledge and ii.) delivery of the program in terms of appropriateness for age group and content using the DoS observation tool. We observed statistically significant gains in STEM content knowledge over short-term assessment using a multiple-group, pre-test post-test research design comparing scores in content before and after the intervention. In this report, we highlight the impact of this nascent program in Omaha Public Schools

Discourse, affect and affliction

While much recent theorizing into affect has challenged the primacy of discourse in understanding social life, this paper is premised on the intertwining of affective experience with discursive meaning. Furthermore, appreciating the entwining of affect and discourse facilitates broader understanding into the illness experience, medical decision-making and experiences of healing. Today, the biomedical discourse carries particular affective weight that can saturate experiences of affliction. Cultural understandings of disease similarly shape affect that may emerge in affliction. Social meaning, more specifically stereotypes pertaining to identities, interweave with emotion also in the context of medical practice. The doctor-patient relationship is an affect-laden encounter where the entwining of affect with social assumptions carries important, yet poorly understood, repercussions for treatment decisions and for the furthering of health inequalities. Both the elusiveness and the power of affect that unfolds in relation to discursive meaning rest on the way in which affect dwells in and resounds through the body

Thinking about Later Life: Insights from the Capability Approach

A major criticism of mainstream gerontological frameworks is the inability of such frameworks to appreciate and incorporate issues of diversity and difference in engaging with experiences of aging. Given the prevailing socially structured nature of inequalities, such differences matter greatly in shaping experiences, as well as social constructions, of aging. I argue that Amartya Sen’s capability approach (2009) potentially offers gerontological scholars a broad conceptual framework that places at its core consideration of human beings (their values) and centrality of human diversity. As well as identifying these key features of the capability approach, I discuss and demonstrate their relevance to thinking about old age and aging. I maintain that in the context of complex and emerging identities in later life that shape and are shaped by shifting people-place and people-people relationships, Sen’s capability approach offers significant possibilities for gerontological research

Characterization of low-density granulocytes in COVID-19

Author summary The emergence of SARS-COV-2 and the ensuing COVID-19 disease has revealed an unprecedented need to understand the pathological mechanisms of acute respiratory infections in more detail. Granulocytes are highly abundant cells of the innate immunity, and thus first responders towards acute infections. However, their excessive activation can cause unwanted tissue damage and detrimental effects in humans. This study identifies a population of low-density granulocytes (LDGs) in COVID-19 patient samples, which has been poorly described in the context of acute infections so far. These cells were subclassified and found to be mainly of immature phenotypes. Further characterization revealed COVID-19 LDGs as a phenotypically diverse population with immunosuppressive characteristics, which seemed to be in line with an elevated recruitment and activation of granulocytes. Altogether, these findings suggest LDG may play a role in COVID-19 disease progression. Severe COVID-19 is characterized by extensive pulmonary complications, to which host immune responses are believed to play a role. As the major arm of innate immunity, neutrophils are one of the first cells recruited to the site of infection where their excessive activation can contribute to lung pathology. Low-density granulocytes (LDGs) are circulating neutrophils, whose numbers increase in some autoimmune diseases and cancer, but are poorly characterized in acute viral infections. Using flow cytometry, we detected a significant increase of LDGs in the blood of acute COVID-19 patients, compared to healthy controls. Based on their surface marker expression, COVID-19-related LDGs exhibit four different populations, which display distinctive stages of granulocytic development and most likely reflect emergency myelopoiesis. Moreover, COVID-19 LDGs show a link with an elevated recruitment and activation of neutrophils. Functional assays demonstrated the immunosuppressive capacities of these cells, which might contribute to impaired lymphocyte responses during acute disease. Taken together, our data confirms a significant granulocyte activation during COVID-19 and suggests that granulocytes of lower density play a role in disease progression.Peer reviewe

Medicine is patriarchal, but alternative medicine is not the answer

Women are over-represented within alternative medicine, both as consumers and as service providers. In this paper, I show that the appeal of alternative medicine to women relates to the neglect of women’s health needs within scientific medicine. This is concerning because alternative medicine is severely limited in its therapeutic effects; therefore, those who choose alternative therapies are liable to experience inadequate healthcare. I argue that while many patients seek greater autonomy in alternative medicine, the absence of an evidence base and plausible mechanisms of action leaves patients unable to realize meaningful autonomy. This seems morally troubling, especially given that the neglect of women’s needs within scientific medicine seems to contribute to preferences for alternative medicine. I conclude that the liberatory credentials of alternative medicine should be questioned and make recommendations to render scientific medicine better able to meet the needs of typical alternative medicine consumers

Perceived responsibility of different types of food-related incidents

Food scares typically concern chemical or microbial contamination, although the largest threat to health is the poor nutritional quality of the diet. This work studied how consumers perceive the responsibility for different types of food-related incident with either mild or serious consequences. The data were gathered from the adult Finnish population using an internet panel (n = 1676). The three incidents in the survey were developing heart disease (nutritional risk), food poisoning (microbial risk) and ingesting a high dose of dioxins from fish (chemical risk). The consequences were regarded as mild if they were temporary and serious if permanent. Responsibility for each incident was rated for an individual, food industry, retailers and the authorities. With nutritional risks the primary responsibility was seen as with the individual; industry was rated as slightly more responsible than retailers or authorities. Responsibility for microbial risks was evenly attributed among individuals, industry and retailers. Responsibility for chemical risks was rated higher for industry and the authorities than for individuals and retailers. The seriousness of the consequence differed in impact with type of risk. The heavy responsibility of individuals perceived for nutritional risks may undermine the role of industry, retailers and authorities in promoting wholesome choices. Although microbial and even chemical risks can be reduced by consumers' own actions, these are not regarded as predominantly their responsibility