Learning in Circles: The Power of a Humanizing Dialogic Practice

There is an increasing sense of urgency to reconnect to the basic notion of a humanizing dialogic practice. A practice that prioritizes lived experiences and recognizes students and teacher as active, knowledgeable and insightful participants of the school community. Given the emphasis placed on test scores, assessments and other accountability measures, students and teacher voices are often omitted from the national dialogue on what is working and what needs to change in order to foster caring schools and responsive classrooms. Yet their voices are precisely the ones we need to hear from as any kind of educational reform efforts will directly impact them. Drawing on critical pedagogical theories, this article conceptually explores the power of a humanizing dialogic practice grounded on circle practice. Circle practice is a simple structured process of communication that helps participants re-connect with a joyous appreciation of themselves and others while making meaningful connections to both context and content

StudyCircle: Promoting a Restorative Student Community

This essay presents a model of teaching and learning conceptualized as the StudyCircle Model of Restorative Communication. It was co-developed among second year communication students at the University of Sassari (Italy) in 2014-2015 with the purpose of facilitating active learning, promoting a culture of peace and well-being/life skills among students and faculty, and creating robust mechanisms for integrating marginalized students to the university community; thus potentially preventing school detachment among vulnerable student populations. Drawing on Peace Circles as a holistic methodology for promoting a restorative student community, this article presents the constructivist theoretical framework underpinning the StudyCircle Model, describes the paradigm in practice and discusses student outcomes which include active learning, conflict transformation and community building

WHEN ALL THINGS ARE NOT CONSIDERED: ETHICAL ISSUES IN A WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAM

Employing an ethical perspective to viewing problems as well as regard for participants’ socio-cultural context will help providers apply a constructive approach to program planning, curriculum design, and in implementing welfare-to-work programs. This paper explores the impact of a lack of sensitivity to the ethical issues that surfaced in a specific welfare-to-work program on participants’ perceptions, self-esteem, and motivation. Ethical issues in four areas were identified and discussed: 1) professional competence and accountability issues; (2) participant-provider relationships; (3) interagency issues and conflicts of interest; and (4) curriculum design issues. Actual and desired program outcomes were compared to identify gaps between them in terms of provider’s ethical behavior. Findings revealed that providers lacked functional, behavioral, and ethical competence; and this contributed to participants feeling stereotyped, degraded, and unmotivated to complete the program

Developmental Genes Targeted for Epigenetic Variation between Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome Children

Background: Epigenetic mechanisms are thought to be critical in mediating the role of the intrauterine environment on lifelong health and disease. Twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is a rare condition wherein fetuses share the placenta and develop vascular anastomoses, which allow blood to flow between the fetuses. The unequal flow results in reciprocal hypo- and hypervolemia in the affected twins, striking growth differences and physiologic adaptations in response to this significant stressor. The donor twin in the TTTS syndrome can be profoundly growth restricted and there is likely a nutritional imbalance between the twins. The consequences of TTTS on fetal programming are unknown. This condition can now be effectively treated through the use of fetal laparoscopic procedures, but the potential for lifelong morbidity related to this condition during development is apparent. As this condition and the resulting uteroplacental discordance can play a role in the epigenetic process, we sought to investigate the DNA methylation profiles of childhood survivors of TTTS (n = 14). We focused on differences in both global measures and genome-wide CpG specific DNA methylation between donor and recipient children in this pilot study in order to generate hypotheses for further research. Results: We identified significant hypomethylation of the LINE1 repetitive element in the peripheral blood of donor children and subtle variation in the genome-wide profiles of CpG specific methylation most prominent at CpG sites which are targets for polycomb group repressive complexes. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that coordinated epigenetic alterations result from the intrauterine environment experienced by infants with TTTS and may, at least in part, be responsible for downstream health conditions experienced by individuals surviving this condition

Metodologías de enseñanza aprendizaje de la expresión escrita a estudiantes de primer ingreso en la URACCAN, Recinto Bilwi

pEn la actualidad la población estudiantil ha presentado cada vez más dificultades de expresión escrita. Estos problemas se deben en alguna medida al sistema educativo, al entorno familiar, al nivel socioeconómico y a la baja calidad en la lecto-escritura que repercute en los jóvenes que cursan los diferentes niveles de estudio y posteriormente la educación superior. Con este estudio se pretendería contribuir al mejoramiento  del proceso metodológico para la enseñanza de la ciencia y arte de la expresión escrita, al ser esta una problemática entre los docentes y estudiantes en la universidad URACCAN Recinto Bilwi.  El enfoque se ha orientado al interaccionismo simbólico, análisis  del proceso educativo en el cual interactúa.  Se aplicó la entrevista abierta para obtener información relevante sobre el tema en estudio y observaciones en el aula de clase mediante el cual se percibió los momentos del proceso  educativo./ppLos hallazgos confirman que existen limitantes en la expresión escrita y en la ejercitación que orienta el docente como parte del desarrollo de habilidades que deben adquirir en la redacción. El personal docente manifestó que no hay una metodología definida para la enseñanza de la expresión escrita. Eso ha incidido en la aplicación  de diferentes estrategias que tienen como objetivo que los estudiantes adquieran esas habilidades que le permitan expresar sus ideas con coherencia. Los estudiantes conforman una  diversidad étnica, cultural y lingüística  que requiere necesariamente de una atención educativa pertinente que  contribuya al desarrollo de dichas habilidades en el nivel de la educación superior./ppstrongSummary/strongstrongbr //strongCurrently the student population has been presenting more difficulties in writing. These problems in some extent are due to the education system, the family environment, socioeconomic level and also the low quality of reading and writing, which affects young people who attend the different levels of study and then higher education. This study seeks to contribute to the improvement of the methodological process for the teaching of science and art of writing, as this is a problem between teachers and students at the URACCAN University, Bilwi Campus. The focus was oriented using the symbolic interactionism and the analysis of the educational process in which it interacts. Open interviews were applied in order to gather relevant information on the topic, also observations in the classroom which allowed to watch different moments of the educational process./ppThe findings confirm that there are limitations in writing and in the exercise that guide the teacher as part of the development of skills that they should acquired in the writing. The teachers expressed that there is no defined methodology for the teaching of writing. This has affected the implementation of different strategies that aims at students acquiring those skills in order to express their ideas coherently. Students form an ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity that necessarily requires a pertinent educational service to help develop these skills at the level of higher education.strong/strong/

Metodología de la enseñanza aprendizaje de la expresión escrita a estudiantes de primer ingreso en la URACCAN Recinto Bilwi

En la actualidad la población estudiantil ha presentado cada vez más dificultades de expresión escrita. Estos problemas se deben en alguna medida al sistema educativo, al entorno familiar, al nivel socioeconómico y a la baja calidad en la lecto-escritura que repercute en los jóvenes que cursan los diferentes niveles de estudio y posteriormente la educación superior. Con este estudio se pretendería contribuir al mejoramiento del proceso metodológico para la enseñanza de la ciencia y arte de la expresión escrita, al ser esta una problemática entre los docentes y estudiantes en la universidad URACCAN Recinto Bilwi. El enfoque se ha orientado al interaccionismo simbólico, análisis del proceso educativo en el cual interactúa. Se aplicó la entrevista abierta para obtener información relevante sobre el tema en estudio y observaciones en el aula de clase mediante el cual se percibió los momentos del proceso educativo. Los hallazgos confirman que existen limitantes en la expresión escrita y en la ejercitación que orienta el docente como parte del desarrollo de habilidades que deben adquirir en la redacción. El personal docente manifestó que no hay una metodología definida para la enseñanza de la expresión escrita. Eso ha incidido en la aplicación de diferentes estrategias que tienen como objetivo que los estudiantes adquieran esas habilidades que le permitan expresar sus ideas con coherencia. Los estudiantes conforman una diversidad étnica, cultural y lingüística que requiere necesariamente de una atención educativa pertinente que contribuya al desarrollo de dichas habilidades en el nivel de la educación superior

English translation and cross-cultural validation of the patient-reported outcome measurement-haemorrhoidal impact and satisfaction score (PROM-HISS)

Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the following persons for their contribution to the translation of the PROM-HISS: Ms Sadé Assmann, Ms Isabel Senden, Mr Robert Colin Parker, and Mrs Tamara Boerma. The first author of this study was funded by a grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw 852002023).Peer reviewe

A VSA search for the extended Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect in the Corona Borealis Supercluster

We present interferometric imaging at 33 GHz of the Corona Borealis supercluster, using the extended configuration of the Very Small Array. A total area of 24 deg^2 has been imaged, with an angular resolution of 11 arcmin and a sensitivity of 12 mJy/beam. The aim of these observations is to search for Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) detections from known clusters of galaxies in this supercluster and for a possible extended SZ decrement due to diffuse warm/hot gas in the intercluster medium. We measure negative flux values in the positions of the ten richest clusters in the region. Collectively, this implies a 3.0-sigma detection of the SZ effect. In the clusters A2061 and A2065 we find decrements of approximately 2-sigma. Our main result is the detection of two strong and resolved negative features at -70+-12 mJy/beam (-157+-27 microK) and -103+-10 mJy/beam (-230+-23 microK), respectively, located in a region with no known clusters, near the centre of the supercluster. We discuss their possible origins in terms of primordial CMB anisotropies and/or SZ signals related to either unknown clusters or to a diffuse extended warm/hot gas distribution. Our analyses have revealed that a primordial CMB fluctuation is a plausible explanation for the weaker feature (probability of 37.82%). For the stronger one, neither primordial CMB (probability of 0.33%) nor SZ can account alone for its size and total intensity. The most reasonable explanation, then, is a combination of both primordial CMB and SZ signal. Finally, we explore what characteristics would be required for a filamentary structure consisting of warm/hot diffuse gas in order to produce a significant contribution to such a spot taking into account the constraints set by X-ray data.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted in MNRA

Radio source calibration for the VSA and other CMB instruments at around 30 GHz

Accurate calibration of data is essential for the current generation of CMB experiments. Using data from the Very Small Array (VSA), we describe procedures which will lead to an accuracy of 1 percent or better for experiments such as the VSA and CBI. Particular attention is paid to the stability of the receiver systems, the quality of the site and frequent observations of reference sources. At 30 GHz the careful correction for atmospheric emission and absorption is shown to be essential for achieving 1 percent precision. The sources for which a 1 percent relative flux density calibration was achieved included Cas A, Cyg A, Tau A and NGC7027 and the planets Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. A flux density, or brightness temperature in the case of the planets, was derived at 33 GHz relative to Jupiter which was adopted as the fundamental calibrator. A spectral index at ~30 GHz is given for each. Cas A,Tau A, NGC7027 and Venus were examined for variability. Cas A was found to be decreasing at $0.394 \pm 0.019$ percent per year over the period March 2001 to August 2004. In the same period Tau A was decreasing at $0.22\pm 0.07$ percent per year. A survey of the published data showed that the planetary nebula NGC7027 decreased at $0.16\pm 0.04$ percent per year over the period 1967 to 2003. Venus showed an insignificant ($1.5 \pm 1.3$ percent) variation with Venusian illumination. The integrated polarization of Tau A at 33 GHz was found to be $7.8\pm 0.6$ percent at pa $= 148^\circ \pm 3^\circ$.}Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, submitted to MNRA

Intrarace Differences Among Black and White Americans Presenting for Chronic Pain Management: The Influence of Age, Physical Health, and Psychosocial Factors

Objective.  Emerging comparative literature documents significant racial differences in the chronic pain experience in terms of physical, psychological, and social well-being. However, the intrarace differences of chronic pain among black Americans and white Americans has not been extensively investigated. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the potential within-race-group differential effects and the psychosocial aspects of chronic pain in black and white Americans across age groups. Design.  A retrospective study of patients presenting for chronic pain management. Setting.  A tertiary care multidisciplinary pain center. Patients.  Patients were younger (<50 years) (mean ± SD: 36.7 ± 8.4) and older (≥50 years) (60 ± 9.3) black Americans (N = 525), and younger (36.6 ± 8.1) and older (63 ± 9.8) white Americans (N = 5,298). Outcome Measures.  Participant s were measured on depressive symptoms, social functioning, pain intensity, pain-related disability, and physical comorbidities. Results.  Younger black Americans reported more depressive symptoms, pain intensity, and were less successful at coping with pain when compared to older black Americans. Similar within-group differences were also observed for reports of depressive symptoms, pain intensity, and coping abilities among white Americans. Results further showed that younger white Americans also experienced more symptoms related to post-traumatic distress than older white Americans. Conclusion.  Examining within-race-group variability suggests that chronic pain differentially affects the quality of life and health status of black Americans and white Americans across age groups. This study emphasizes the need for further chronic pain studies examining pain indicators within defined racial and ethnic groups.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73557/1/j.1526-4637.2005.05014.x.pd