Exploring children's creative narratives: some theoretical, methodological and applied perscpectives

This chapter introduces the edited collection, Exploring Children’s Creative Narratives that offers fresh perspectives on children’s creative narratives and that explores what these perspectives reveal about their imagination, their thought processes and how they understand the world. The chapter argues that ethnographic case studies, naturalistic observations, conversations and playful interactions with children ranging in age from two to eleven years allow the development of theoretical insights that challenge traditional accounts of creativity and narrative. It also argues that a proper understanding of creative narratives has to be an interdisciplinary endeavour if it is to do justice to the rich, complex, multi-modal and embodied nature of the children’s thought processes as revealed through their drawing and story-telling, music making, dance, drama and imaginative play. Interpretation of these processes draws on socio-cultural accounts of creativity and creative development that challenge more traditional accounts of creativity as an attribute or talent that belongs only to certain gifted individuals. The chapter (and contributors to the collection) maintains that to understand the situated nature of children’s creative activity it is important to examine the social, affective and cognitive processes that take place when children are immersed in such activity. This re-conceptualisation of children’s creativity challenges conventional educational practice and suggests that formal educational training programmes should offer teachers more sophisticated cultural discourses and experiences which will allow them to gain a more rounded understanding of children’s creative narratives

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of saliva in a group of HIV infected individuals

A study which investigates whether the quality and quantity of saliva may contribute to the prevalence of oral disease in HIV infection, and whether there is a significant variance of saliva quality and quantity between early and late stage HIV infection. Samples were collected from 65 subjects with HIV infection and 33 control subjects. Results indicate that it is more likely that subjects with HIV infection will have reduced stimulated salivary flow than subjects without HIV, and that this reduction is not related to the stage of HIV infection nor to medication taken. Subjects with low salivary pH were more likely to exhibit candidiasis.Thesis (M.D.S.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Dentistry, 199

A social competence intervention program for children with high functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome: a qualitative study

The key features of Asperger’s Disorder (AS), and high functioning autism (HFA) include marked and sustained impairment in social interactions. Specifically, such impairment includes deficits in reciprocal social interchanges as well as in the ability to use nonverbal behaviors to regulate social communication. For young children with these types of interpersonal deficits, engaging in play and other social experiences becomes difficult or impossible. The treatment of these social skills deficits is a challenging area in meeting the needs of people with AS and HFA. In order to address the social development needs of young children with AS and HFA, a multi-session, small group program was developed. Intervention sessions took place on a twice weekly basis over the course of eight weeks. The program was based on the assumption that underlying these social difficulties are perceptual or interpretive problems that are neurologically based. Because young children socialize primarily through play, a hands-on interactive play component was incorporated into the program. Additionally, parent participation was an important aspect of the intervention. The intervention was implemented with five children and their primary caretakers, and its effectiveness in changing child social interactions was evaluated through a case study design. Data were collected through parent and child interviews, child observations, weekly group leader session notes, and weekly parent feedback forms. Qualitative analyses of the data resulted in a unifying explanation of the key changes in social interactions that took place through the course of the intervention. Children in this program demonstrated development both emotionally and behaviorally. This development was the result of a dynamic process of communication and teaching on many levels that persisted throughout the course of the intervention program. Findings suggest that, despite their rigid interests and behavior patterns, the social limitations these children improved when provided with the necessary environmental resources.Educational Psycholog

Engineering Zonal Cartilage Through Utilization of a Mesenchymal Stem Cell Population

Articular cartilage has a limited ability to repair itself after damage due to injury or disease. Regenerative therapies using chondrocytes, the primary cartilage cell population, result in poor quality repair tissue and often cause further damage at the donor site. Furthermore, there are no current therapies which aim to regenerate the zonal organization and function of the tissue. In an effort to address both cell source limitations and zonal tissue regeneration the goal of the presented work was to utilize a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) population to generate abundant numbers of chondrocytes with zonal phenotypes. To this end, zonal subpopulations of articular chondrocytes were isolated, characterized for differences in gene and protein expression, and exposed to scaffold environments designed to aid in phenotype retention. From these results, and reports in the literature, it was clear a major functional difference between zones was the production of a lubricating protein, proteoglycan 4 (PRG4), in the superficial zone only. Middle and deep zone cells were found to be phenotypically similar and distinct from superficial zone cells. It was further found that gene expression of PRG4 by superficial zone cells in alginate culture can be significantly enhanced by incorporation of matrix molecules hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) to the scaffold environment. HA and CS also had favorable effects on MSC chondrogenesis by upregulating chondrogenic transcription factor Sox9 gene expression, and downregulating type I collagen (fibroblastic marker) gene expression. The potential of soluble signals derived from zonal (superficial or middle/deep) cartilage explants to drive MSC chondrogenesis was also investigated. Results show that signals derived from cartilage explants can induce chondrogenesis to varying degrees, with superficial zone explants inducing robust and sustained differentiation. This differentiation was found to be dependent on the proximity of the MSCs and tissue explants, implying that communication between MSCs and chondrocytes is necessary for chondrogenic induction. Coculture with superficial zone explants also upregulated MSC gene expression of PRG4. This research highlights the important functional differences between zonal chondrocyte populations and identifies MSCs as a progenitor population capable of differentiating into zone-specific chondrocytes

International perspectives on progress, change and development in early childhood education and care, 1993 to 2013

The article presents an introduction to the special September 2013 issue of "International Journal of Early Years Education" addressing research on topics including the impact of Apartheid on education in South Africa, numbers of kindergartens in China, and school readiness

Analysis of Drosophila ssp4

CAMSAP 1 is a spectrin associated, Calmodulin regulated protein that is a member of a large ubiquitous family of cytoskeletal proteins in the animal kingdom, defined by a novel C-terminal domain, the CKK domain. The role of the CAMSAP proteins is unknown but studies using rat PC12 cells have shown that CAMSAP1 plays a key role in neurite outgrowth. It has been shown to colocalise with microtubules in cultured cells and binds to microtubules in vitro via the CKK domain. The CAMSAP family member in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogastor is encoded by the gene short spindles4 (ssp4). Little is known about this gene but a role in microtubule dynamics has been shown in cultured cells. I have interrogated bioinformatics databases and compared Ssp4 with Human CAMSAP proteins and found many similarities, and some differences, between the proteins. Using in situ hybridisation I show that ssp4 transcripts are expressed in the gut, head and central nervous system during embryogenesis and an antibody that recognises the Ssp4 C-terminus reveals expression throughout the development of the gut and nervous system, and in a discrete population of cells in the head. I have investigated the effects of two independent P-element induced mutant alleles of ssp4 and show that mutant flies die in late embryonic or early larval stages. Disruptions to the locus do not seem to affect the nervous system but mutants were found to have aberrant head involution. I present preliminary evidence that suggests this defect may be the result of reduced apoptosis in the embryo Head involution is a complex process, dependent upon co-ordinated changes to cell shape and the movement of groups of cells from different origins. As Ssp4 is a multidomain cytoskeletal protein that is required for embryonic development, it may play a role in processes that are common to these morphogenetic events

The British Tradition of Psychoanalysis five Times a Week: Sacrament or Sacred Cow?

The British Psychoanalytic Society (BPAS) is identified with the tradition of psychoanalysis five times a week. The paper discusses the history and evolution of this tradition in the BPAS and how this has been and continues to be supported by various institutional structures including training regulations and subsidies. More recent questioning about frequency is discussed as well as the factors both external and internal that make high frequency analytic work difficult to achieve. Clinical material and illustrations form the basis for discussion of some of the issues involved

Using an Electronic Lab Notebook System to Promote Data Management Plans

Presented at the 2019 Medical Library Association Annual Conference.Background: At an academic medical center, the rollout of an electronic lab notebook (ELN) system includes tailored support to develop functional data management plans for participating research labs. The office of research is sponsoring the adoption of the ELN and, while administrative drivers include improving lab efficiency and reducing institutional liability, the pilot primarily focuses on the benefits of ELN use. In particular, improving the collection of and access to experimental information for research projects. The creation of data management plans, in conjunction with the ELN adoption, allows participants to engage more holistically with the research processes of their laboratories. Description: Nine research labs are identified as “early adopters” for the 4-month pilot of the selected electronic lab notebook system. As participants in the pilot, these labs are expected to a) attend training on the ELN system and b) evaluate their current information and data management practices. To ensure these expectations are met, the institution's ELN implementation team meets with each lab prior to conducting the ELN training to discuss how they manage (i.e., organize, store, and share) research data. These consults result in a draft data management plan that reflect the labs’ current research data management processes and provides suggestions for potential areas of improvement/streamlining. The training on the functionality of the ELN follows this to encourage participating labs to develop concrete strategies for integrating the ELN into the research data/information management processes of the lab overall. Conclusion: As of this submission, the authors have worked directly with four of the “early adopter” labs (each with 6-10 members) to review their information and data management practices while onboarding them to the ELN. These labs receive an individualized data management plan in addition to training on the ELN. A primary outcome is to complete this process with the remaining five “early adopter” labs while gathering feedback on the ELN system itself and monitoring the adoption success of the ELN in these labs. A secondary outcome is to “scale up” this program for full rollout to the institution in 2019

Preventing human immunodeficiency virus infection among sexual assault survivors in Cape Town, South Africa: an observational study.

We describe 131 South African sexual assault survivors offered HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). While the median days completed was 27 (IQR 27, 28), 34% stopped PEP or missed doses. Controlling for baseline symptoms, PEP was not associated with symptoms (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 0.66, 2.64). Factors associated with unprotected sex included prior unprotected sex (OR = 6.46, 95% CI = 3.04, 13.74), time since the assault (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.12, 1.57) and age (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.08, 1.57). Trauma counseling was protective (OR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.58). Four instances of seroconversion were observed by 6 months (risk = 3.7%, 95% CI = 1.0, 9.1). Proactive follow-up is necessary to increase the likelihood of PEP completion and address the mental health and HIV risk needs of survivors. Adherence interventions and targeted risk reduction counseling should be provided to minimize HIV acquisition