String Theory and Our Relationship with Nature: The Convergence of Science, Curriculum Theory, and the Environment

Curriculum Theory affords us the opportunity to examine education from a multitude of directions. This work takes advantage of that opportunity to explore the relationships between science, nature, and curriculum using string theory and our ideas about the environment as a backdrop. Both the energy and multiple possibilities created by strings and the rich history leading up to the theory help to illustrate the many opportunities we have to advance discussions in alternative ways of looking at science. By considering the multiple dimensions inherent in string theory as multiple pathways and interweaving metaphors from Deleuze and Guattari, Michel Serres, and Donna Haraway, our approach to environmental issues and environmental education allow us to include alternative ways of looking at the world

Planning ahead with children with life-limiting conditions and their families : development, implementation and evaluation of ‘My Choices’

Background: The United Kingdom has led the world in the development of children’s palliative care. Over the past two decades, the illness trajectories of children with life-limiting conditions have extended with new treatments and better home-based care. Future planning is a critically under-researched aspect of children’s palliative care globally. This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of innovative child and parent-held palliative care planning resources. The resources were designed to facilitate parent and child thinking and engagement in future planning, and to determine care preferences and preferred locations of care for children with life-limiting conditions from diagnosis onwards. These resources fill a significant gap in palliative care planning before the end-of-life phase. Methods: Drawing on contemporaneous research on producing evidence-based children’s health information, we collaborated with leading children’s not-for-profit organisations, parents, children, and professionals. A set of resources (My Choices booklets) were developed for parents and children and evaluated using interviews (parents, children, professionals) and questionnaires (professionals) and an open web-based consultation. Results: Parents and children responded in three ways: Some used the booklets to produce detailed written plans with clear outcomes and ideas about how best to achieve desired outcomes. Others preferred to use the booklet to help them think about potential options. Remaining parents found it difficult to think about the future and felt there was no point because they perceived there to be no suitable local services. Professionals varied in confidence in their ability to engage with families to plan ahead and identified many challenges that prevented them from doing so. Few families shared their plans with professionals. Parents and children have far stronger preferences for home-care than professionals. Conclusion: The My Choices booklets were revised in light of findings, have been endorsed by Together for Short Lives, and are free to download in English and Welsh for use by parents and young people globally. More work needs to be done to support families who are not yet receptive to planning ahead. Professionals would benefit from more training in person-centred approaches to future planning and additional communications skills to increase confidence and ability to engage with families to deliver sensitive palliative care planning

Construction and evaluation of group tests in reading for grades one, two, and three.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Digital Benin

Review: Digital Benin is a stunning example of a centralized digital platform for displaced, translocated collection objects. The clearly articulated interface and robust, well-researched content powerfully reconnect “objects looted by British forces from the Kingdom of Benin (now Edo State, Nigeria) in February 1897,” representing  over 5000 objects across 131 institutions in 20 countries

A machine learning model for predicting sit-to-stand trajectories of people with and without stroke: towards adaptive robotic assistance

Sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit transfers are fundamental daily motions that enable all other types of ambulation and gait. However, the ability to perform these motions can be severely impaired by different factors, such as the occurrence of a stroke, limiting the ability to engage in other daily activities. This study presents the recording and analysis of a comprehensive database of full body biomechanics and force data captured during sit-to-stand-to-sit movements in subjects who have and have not experienced stroke. These data were then used in conjunction with simple machine learning algorithms to predict vertical motion trajectories that could be further employed for the control of an assistive robot. A total of 30 people (including 6 with stroke) each performed 20 sit-to-stand-to-sit actions at two different seat heights, from which average trajectories were created. Weighted k-nearest neighbours and linear regression models were then used on two different sets of key participant parameters (height and weight, and BMI and age), to produce a predicted trajectory. Resulting trajectories matched the true ones for non-stroke subjects with an average R2 score of 0.864±0.134 using k = 3 and 100% seat height when using height and weight parameters. Even among a small sample of stroke patients, balance and motion trends were noticed along with a large within-class variation, showing that larger scale trials need to be run to obtain significant results. The full dataset of sit-to-stand-to-sit actions for each user is made publicly available for further researc

Interferon and Granulopoiesis Signatures in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Blood

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype systemic autoimmune disease characterized by flares of high morbidity. Using oligonucleotide microarrays, we now show that active SLE can be distinguished by a remarkably homogeneous gene expression pattern with overexpression of granulopoiesis-related and interferon (IFN)-induced genes. Using the most stringent statistical analysis (Bonferroni correction), 15 genes were found highly up-regulated in SLE patients, 14 of which are targets of IFN and one, defensin DEFA-3, a major product of immature granulocytes. A more liberal correction (Benjamini and Hochberg correction) yielded 18 additional genes, 12 of which are IFN-regulated and 4 granulocyte-specific. Indeed immature neutrophils were identified in a large fraction of SLE patients white blood cells. High dose glucocorticoids, a standard treatment of disease flares, shuts down the interferon signature, further supporting the role of this cytokine in SLE. The expression of 10 genes correlated with disease activity according to the SLEDAI. The most striking correlation (P < 0.001, r = 0.55) was found with the formyl peptide receptor-like 1 protein that mediates chemotactic activities of defensins. Therefore, while the IFN signature confirms the central role of this cytokine in SLE, microarray analysis of blood cells reveals that immature granulocytes may be involved in SLE pathogenesis

Forensic Investigation of Cyberstalking Cases using Behavioural Evidence Analysis

Behavioural Evidence Analysis (BEA) is, in theory, useful in developing an understanding of the offender, the victim, the crime scene, and the dynamics of the crime. It can add meaning to the evidence obtained through digital forensic techniques and assist investigators with reconstruction of a crime. There is, however, little empirical research examining the application of BEA to actual criminal cases, particularly cyberstalking cases. This study addresses this gap by examining the utility of BEA for such cases in terms of understanding the behavioural and motivational dimensions of offending, and the way in which digital evidence can be interpreted. It reports on the forensic analysis of 20 cyberstalking cases investigated by Dubai Police in the last five years. Results showed that BEA helps to focus an investigation, enables better understanding and interpretation of victim and offender behaviour, and assists in inferring traits of the offender from available digital evidence. These benefits can help investigators to build a stronger case, reduce time wasted to mistakes, and to exclude suspects wrongly accused in cyberstalking cases

Exile Vol. IV No. 2

SHORT STORIES In the Wake by Lewis Clarke 8-16 Picnic in the Spring by Joseph Arnold 18-28 Waiting for Pavlova by Virginia Wallace 31-34 The Waiting Place by Dennis Trudell 36-41 The Camp-Out at Minnow Lake by Diane Torgler 44-49 First Warm Night by Russell Speidel 50-52 POETRY Song of Oneself by Carol Ann Schreier 16 Died at Noon by Frank Reid 17 For the Earthbound by William Bennett 29 Lethargy by Julia Austen 34 To Roualt\u27s \u27The Old King\u27 by William Bennett 35 Elegy: For a Rahib by Ellen Moore 42-43 In this issue the editors of EXILE are proud to publish In the Wake by Lewis Clarke. This story has been awarded the semi-annual Denison Book Store - EXILE Creative Writing Prize. In the Winter, 1958 issue of THE COLLEGE PUBLISHER, sponsored by Pi Delta Epsilon, National Honorary Journalism Fraternity, EXILE was awarded second place in the national magazine contest. The award was in the category of school enrollment from 1200 to 2500 students

Clinical, Molecular, and Genetic Characteristics of PAPA Syndrome: A Review

PAPA syndrome (Pyogenic Arthritis, Pyoderma gangrenosum, and Acne) is an autosomal dominant, hereditary auto-inflammatory disease arising from mutations in the PSTPIP1/CD2BP1 gene on chromosome 15q. These mutations produce a hyper-phosphorylated PSTPIP1 protein and alter its participation in activation of the “inflammasome” involved in interleukin-1 (IL-1β) production. Overproduction of IL-1β is a clear molecular feature of PAPA syndrome. Ongoing research is implicating other biochemical pathways that may be relevant to the distinct pyogenic inflammation of the skin and joints characteristic of this disease. This review summarizes the recent and rapidly accumulating knowledge on these molecular aspects of PAPA syndrome and related disorders