On Toleration in Social Work

Toleration is one of many responses toward diversity and difference. With the growing diversity, the theme of toleration has often taken center stage in discussions of multiculturalism and social pluralism. Nonetheless, it has not received much attention in the social work profession. Social workers often encounter situations in which they face a choice between tolerating and not tolerating. We argue that toleration is a legitimate and relevant topic in social work discourse. To make this point, first, this paper discusses different conceptions of toleration. Then, it demonstrates its relevance to social work and explores a potential benefit of including the idea of toleration in social work discourse. Social work code of ethics implicitly supports toleration, or at least respect-toleration and esteem-toleration. Incorporating toleration in social work discourse may help social workers to better cope with or reduce ethical stress and disjuncture

Portulaca oleracea Ameliorates Diabetic Vascular Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction in db/db Mice

Type 2 diabetes is associated with significantly accelerated rates of micro- and macrovascular complications such as diabetic vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. In the present study, we investigated the protective effect of the aqueous extract of Portulaca oleracea L. (AP), an edible plant used as a folk medicine, on diabetic vascular complications. The db/db mice were treated with AP (300 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for 10 weeks, and AP treatment markedly lowered blood glucose, plasma triglyceride, plasma level of LDL-cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure in diabetic db/db mice. Furthermore, AP significantly increased plasma level of HDL-cholesterol and insulin level. The impairment of ACh- and SNP-induced vascular relaxation of aortic rings were ameliorated by AP treatment in diabetic db/db mice. This study also showed that overexpression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, E-selectin, MMP-2, and ET-1 were observed in aortic tissues of untreated db/db mice, which were significantly suppressed by treatment with AP. We also found that the insulin immunoreactivity of the pancreatic islets remarkably increased in AP treated db/db mice compared with untreated db/db mice. Taken together, AP suppresses hyperglycemia and diabetic vascular inflammation, and prevents the development of diabetic endothelial dysfunction for the development of diabetes and its vascular complications

School socialization style, student engagement, and academic performance

Lack of student engagement has been a major concern for educators and practitioners working in schools because it has been a robust predictor of low achievement, behavioral problems, maladjustment, and school dropout. School, a key part of students’ social environment, exerts great influence on student engagement and academic performance. This study examined the influence of school socialization style on three components of student engagement at school (i.e., behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) and reading performance. This study utilized U.S. data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The sample comprised 2,849 15-year-old ninth and tenth graders from 141 schools. Based on their levels of demandingness (i.e., academic press and disciplinary climate) and responsiveness (i.e., teacher support and teacher-student relationship), schools were categorized into four school socialization styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and indifferent. Two-level multilevel analyses were used to test three hypotheses: (1) authoritative school socialization style is significantly associated with enhanced student engagement and academic performance; (2) the effects of school socialization style on student engagement and academic performance vary by student and school characteristics; (3) student engagement mediates the effect of school socialization style on academic performance. An authoritative school socialization style was positively associated with behavioral and emotional engagement but not with cognitive engagement or reading performance. Seven significant interactions involving school socialization styles were found: interactions with race were found for behavioral and cognitive engagement; interactions with grade were found for emotional and cognitive engagement; and an interaction with school-mean SES was found for reading performance. The effect of school socialization style was mediated through behavioral engagement. By examining three components of student engagement and academic performance, this study provided a better understanding of the complex realities experienced by students and schools. Despite some limitations, this study provides useful implications for future research, practice, and policy in enhancing student engagement and academic performance. Furthermore, results of this study may lay the foundation for future international comparisons of school socialization style

The Frost Tolerance of Tobacco Plants Transformed With the Gene Encoding the Antifreeze Protein From Winter Flounder.

The winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, can survive in sea water at temperatures below freezing by producing antifreeze-proteins (AFPs) which depress the freezing point of their cellular fluids. The antifreeze gene (IIA7 cDNA) encodes a 91 amino acid preproprotein which is processed to a mature protein of 53 amino acids. This gene encoding only the mature antifreeze-protein, including a start methionine, was cloned into a plasmid which allowed enhanced expression from a double CaMV 35S promoter. The AFP gene construct was subcloned into both the intermediate vector pMON200 and the binary vector pBI121. After triparental mating and infection of tobacco leaf discs with Agrobacterium tumefaciens containing either pBI121AF or pMON200AF, transgenic plantlets were obtained which were kanamycin resistant and GUS positive. Southern analysis confirmed the presence of single-copy gene integration. The transcription levels of the antifreeze gene were significantly higher than those of a single CaMV 35S promoter and a Western blot confirmed the synthesis of the immunoreactive 5.5 kd antifreeze-protein in the transgenic tobacco tissues. Several individual plant seedlings which were kanamycin resistant were selected and tested for frost tolerance. At least 30% more transgenic plants survived than the control plants. These results confirmed the ability of this fish protein to confer increased frost-tolerance to plants

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and social work practice in Australia: A narrative literature review

In Australia, it has been well documented that the leading preventable cause of nongenetic neurodevelopmental disability (NDD) is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This review explores literature informing Australian social work in the context of FASD. It highlights the need for increased social work research to inform evidence-based practice (EBP) in FASD diagnosis and management using the biopsychosocial-spiritual-cultural (BPSSC) framework. Social workers are often first to identify children's emotional, behavioural, and learning difficulties that may be a characteristic of FASD. Nonetheless, there is limited knowledge and understanding about how social workers in Australia address FASD. We argue that research about FASD and social work practice can improve social workers’ understanding of the BPSSC characteristics and management of FASD across the life course and contribute to EBP development in these areas in Australian social work

Development of Indexes for the Performance Evaluation of e-SCM

Web-based sharing of information across the supply chain can bring a host of advantages to the trading partners. lower cost, leaner inventories, and more efficient shipping are just the beginning. eSCM is technology-enabled ability to concurrently manage high levels of complexity and multiple external relationships. This study presents that the development of indexes for the performance evaluation of e-SCM should be given more priority by companies giving weights to each index. Deductive research is used for the development of evaluation items and AHP method for the development of weights of the items. According to priority of each category - relationship between supplier and company, relationship between partner and company and relationship between customer and company- is as follows; Company driven type: relationship between customer and company, relationship between supplier and company, relationship between partner and company. Market portal type: relationship between supplier and company, relationship between customer and company, relationship between partner and company

Supporting students’ academic literacies in post-COVID-19 times: Developing digital videos to develop students’ critical academic reading practices

While embedding Academic Language and Literacies (ALL) instruction in discipline-specific courses is known to be effective, it is difficult to enact across the siloed university. Moreover, the move to online/ remote delivery during COVID-19 has necessitated greater focus on the development of online supports. This article reports on an effort to embed digital ALL support in a mandatory social research methods course, which we argue is particularly suited to academic literacies instruction. A series of digital videos were created to complement a literature review assignment, and were evaluated using video analytics, end-of-course student surveys, and individual interviews with tutors. Quantitative analysis of viewing patterns demonstrated that the majority of students accessed the videos multiple times, while qualitative data suggest that students generally had positive responses to the videos. However, thematic analysis of interviews with tutors showed that while they considered the content helpful, they also had reservations about the length and use of the videos. These findings clearly demonstrate the extent of the unmet need to integrate these types of approaches into undergraduate courses. We also argue that if universities wish to maintain currency in a shifting, globalised world, they must do more to foster the types of collaborative partnerships that facilitate effective ALL instruction in undergraduate coursework. These findings carry particular relevance for teaching and learning literacies in the wake of COVID-19, because digital video has become even more integral to higher education