The effects of a participatory approach on the adoption of agricultural technology: Focusing on the social network structure in rural Ethiopia

This study empirically examined the effects of the participatory approach on the adoption of new crop varieties and agricultural practices. Particularly, we focused on the social network structure and examined how the introduced technologies diffused through networks in rural Ethiopia. Our empirical results indicate that if farmers knew and trusted fellow participants, the probability of adopting a new maize variety increased by 25 percentage points. However, this network had no statistical impact on the diffusion of new agricultural practices. We conclude that the participatory approach has great potential in the adoption of new crop varieties through the social networks of farmers in Ethiopia

Intervention of childhood educators in interpersonal conflict situations among children : Method of practice and student guidance

幼稚園や保育所での実習において、学生がその対応に戸惑いと困難をおぼえる場面のひとつは子どもたち同士のけんかやいざこざといった対人葛藤場面である。学生向けに書かれた実習のためのテキストをみると、子どものけんかの仲裁には「子どもの気持ちを大切にすること」が求められることが多い。しかしながら、「子どもたちのけんかやいざこざを解消するためには、かれらの心を共感的に理解することが必要だ」という語りは、現場での経験の浅い学生に困難をもたらす可能性がある。なぜなら問題の中心が、いかにトラブルを解決するかという具体的な仲裁の方法の議論から、いかに子どもの気持ちを共感的にとらえることができるかという新たな議論へ移行することになる可能性を持つからだ。本稿はこうした語りを「共感的理解」言説と呼ぶ。本稿の目的は「共感的理解」言説に内在している問題性を整理し、別の角度から問題を捉えるための枠組みをエスノメソドロジー研究の知見から学び、そしてエスノメソドロジー的な視点から保育の実践を実際に観察し分析してみることにある。それらを踏まえて、エスノメソドロジー的な理解の枠組みが、実習に臨む学生への指導にどのように利用可能かについての考察を行う。本稿の分析と考察の結果として、子どもたちの対人葛藤の仲裁においてはひとつの手続きがあることが明らかとなった。すなわち、「開始の準備」「事実の確認」「動機の確認」そして「規則の確認」という手順である「子どもの心を共感的に理解する」とは、本校の事例に即して言えば、保育士と子どもたちのあいだで、仲裁のための準備が整い、ふたりに何があったのかが双方の聞き取りにより確認され、なぜそうしたことになったのかが同定され、そしてそのような場合にはどうするべきなのかが了解されるひとつひとつの段階の到達のなかで形成されることであった。このような点に着目することで、けんかやいざこざの仲裁について、実習前の学生へ指導や助言を伝える機会に「共感的理解」言説とは違った語りを示すことができるものと考えられる。Students in a practical training of nursery and kindergarten often feel bewilderment and difficulty about handling of interpersonal conflict between children, such as fight and quarrel. Some texts of the practical training for students strongly advise to cherish children’s heart and feelings in the scene of mediation. However the narrative such as “It is necessary to understand children’s heart and feelings in empathic way to sort out fight and quarrel between children” has the potential to bring trouble to students who are less-experienced in the field. Because the central question shifts to problem of whether you can engage in empathic understanding of children’s feeling from argument about specific method of mediation. This paper terms the narrative an “empathic understanding” discourse. The purpose of this paper is to carefully sort out problems which are inherent in the “empathic understanding” discourse, to consider an alternative frame of understanding a practice of early childhood care and education by confirming ethnomethodological knowledge, and to present a detailed analysis of it from view point of ethnomethodological studies. Finally, this paper considers how the alternative frame of understanding is available in guidance for students who go into the practical training of nursery and kindergarten. As a result of analysis and consideration in this paper, it becomes clear that there is a procedure of mediation in conflict between children; “arrangement of beginning,” “verification of fact,” “verification of motive,” and “verification of rule.” A nursery teacher and children construct a situation of mediation through their conversation, collaboratively referring to a processing of the procedure. “Understanding children’s heart and feelings in empathic way” is formed in achievement of each step, in the context of the case of this paper, getting prepared for the beginning of mediation, verifying what happened to them by listening from both side, identifying why it happened, and making clear how it should be done in such case, between the teacher and children. By focusing on these points, we can offer guidance to students who go into the practical training of nursery and kindergarten from new approach, differing from the “empathic understanding” discourse. Mediation of fight and quarrel are achieved through some specific steps. However, the whole picture of the steps doesn’t become clear, even if you turn your attention to practical questions, listening to what the children speak, organizing both ones carefully and speaking to them empathically. It becomes clear by observing practice between the teacher and children in the field from the perspective of how they interact through some procedure. It is also possible to use the method of practice which is made clear in the observation, when students take approach to the practical training and handle the interpersonal conflict between children as the teacher

LAMC2 promotes gemcitabine resistance in PDAC

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive disease with poor prognosis. Gemcitabine remains an effective option for the majority of PDAC patients. Unfortunately, currently no reliable prognostic and predictive biomarkers of therapeutic response are available for the patients with PDAC. Laminin γ2 (LAMC2) is overexpressed in several cancers, and its high expression facilitates cancer development and chemoresistance. However, its functional role in PDAC remains unclear, and a better understanding of this will likely help improve the prognosis of PDAC patients. This study aimed to elucidate the clinical and biological role of LAMC2 in PDAC. We first analyzed the expression levels of LAMC2 by real-time reverse transcription PCR in a cohort of 114 PDAC patients. Interestingly, higher expression of LAMC2 significantly correlated with poor survival in PDAC cohort. In addition, elevated LAMC2 expression served as a potential prognostic marker for survival. Subsequently, functional characterization for the role of LAMC2 in PDAC was performed by small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown in pancreatic cancer (PC) cell lines. Interestingly, inhibition of LAMC2 in PC cells enhanced the gemcitabine sensitivity and induction of apoptosis. Moreover, it inhibited colony formation ability, migration, and invasion potential. Furthermore, LAMC2 regulated the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype. In addition, LAMC2 significantly correlated with genes associated with the expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in PC cells and PDAC patients. In conclusion, these results suggest that LAMC2 regulates gemcitabine sensitivity through EMT and ABC transporters in PDAC and may be a novel therapeutic target in PDAC patients