The use of Māori mythology in clinical settings: Training issues and needs

Within therapeutic settings, narrative approaches are increasingly being used as a way of creating new understandings and new stories. This paper discusses the use of purakau as a Māori focused intervention when working with Māori tangata whaiora (clients) and their whānau. This paper will outline the rationale and relevance of using purakau with Māori. However, the emphasis is on the training provided to clinicians in the use of purakau. An outline of the training process is provided. In doing so, issues regarding the use of these taonga (treasures) in clinical psychology will be raised. It will be argued that Māori mythology must have a place in the kete of Māori psychology

The Executive Pay Drama: From Comedy to Tragedy

[Excerpt] Should we rely on legislation to correct problems or should we act collectively to make ethical decisions? After careful thought, it becomes clear that legislation is a seductive copout that makes matters worse and detracts from our obligation to accept accountability for our individual and collective decisions

A Gauge-Independent Mechanism for Confinement and Mass Gap: Part II -- G=SU(2) and D=3

We apply to the case of gauge group G = SU(2) in three dimensions a recently proposed gauge-independent mechanism for confinement that is based on a particular form of the dual spin foam framework for lattice gauge theory. Explicit formulae for interaction factors and their asymptotics are introduced and their behavior in different sectors of the theory are identified and analyzed. We arrive at several elementary properties of the dual theory that represent one scenario by which confinement may be realized at weak coupling. We conclude with an outlook for further development of this approach.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

‘Nature doesn’t care that we’re there’: Re-Symbolizing Nature’s ‘Natural’ Contingency

This article draws upon the work of Timothy Morton and Slavoj Žižek in order to critically examine how mountain bike trail builders orientated themselves within nature relations. Beginning with a discussion of the key ontological differences between Morton’s object-oriented ontology and Žižek’s blend of Hegelian- Lacanianism, we explore how Morton’s dark ecology and Žižek’s account of the radical contingency of nature, can offer parallel paths to achieving an ecological awareness that neither idealises nor mythologises nature, but instead, acknowledges its strange (Morton) and contingent (Žižek) form. Empirically, we support this theoretical approach in interviews with twenty mountain bike trail builders. These interviews depicted an approach to trail building that was ambivalently formed in/with the contingency of nature. In doing so, the trail builders acted with a sense of temporal awareness that accepted the radical openness of nature, presenting a ‘symbolic framework’ that was amiable to nature’s ambivalent, strange and contingent form. In conclusion, we argue that we should not lose sight of the ambivalences and strange surprises that emanate from our collective and unpredictable attempts to symbolize nature and that such knowledge can coincide with Morton’s ‘dark ecology’ – an ecological awareness that remains radically open to our ecological existence

A Gauge-Independent Mechanism for Confinement and Mass Gap: Part I -- The General Framework

We propose a gauge-independent mechanism for the area-law behavior of Wilson loop expectation values in terms of worldsheets spanning Wilson loops interacting with the spin foams that contribute to the vacuum partition function. The method uses an exact transformation of lattice-regularized Yang-Mills theory that is valid for all couplings. Within this framework, some natural conjectures can be made as to what physical mechanism enforces the confinement property in the continuum (weak coupling) limit. Details for the SU(2) case in three dimensions are provided in a companion paper.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

The Female Cervicovaginal Mucosa Is a Unique Site for the Production of Autoantibodies Associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Purpose/Background: Women have a 3-fold higher incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a lower likelihood of remission compared to men suggesting a gender disparity in the etiology of RA. In order to devise female specific prevention and treatment strategies, it is critical to understand the mechanism initiating the production of RA autoantibodies termed anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA). ACPA target proteins that are posttranslationally modified by a family of enzymes termed peptidylarginine deiminases (PADs), which convert arginine into citrulline. Research suggests that ACPA are generated at a mucosal site years before becoming systemic and causing clinical joint disease. Mucosal sites such as the lung, gut, and gingiva have been explored as sites of ACPA production, yet none of these account for the higher incidence of RA in women. We hypothesize that the cervicovaginal mucosa is a novel, sex-specific site for APCA production in women. Materials & Methods: To begin to test this hypothesis, healthy control (HC) women, women at risk for RA (AR), and those with clinical RA self-collected cervicovaginal fluid (CVF) at three time points during the menstrual cycle. CVF samples were examined for PAD activity, total citrulline concentration, and cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCP) as a marker for ACAP levels. Results: In naturally cycling HC women, CCP peak in early follicular phase (d5), dropped substantially by ovulation (d14), and remained low at the end of the luteal phase (d26). PAD enzymatic activity and total citrulline concentration also peak in CVF at d5 of the menstrual cycle, suggesting that changes in citrullinated proteins may drive local ACPA production. We next examined if CCP, PAD activity, and total citrulline concentration are increased in CVF from women at-risk (AR) for developing RA and women with RA. Although PAD activity and total citrulline concentration does not increase in these groups compared to health controls, CCP levels are significantly increased between the HC and RA CVF samples at d25. At issue is the identity of the citrullinated proteins in HC, AR and RA CVF, and if their abundance changes across the cycle and with disease progression. To address this, we performed mass spectrometry on CVF samples which identified a number of citrullinated proteins present in HC, AR, and RA women. Discussion/Conclusion: Our work suggests that citrullinated proteins and ACPA are produced in the cervicovaginal mucosa and may help explain why women have increased risk of developing RA

Contingent reinforcement in budgeting and performance appraisals / BEBR No. 107

Typescript.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 18-21)