Creating culturally-safe schools for Māori students

In order to better understand the present trends in New Zealand’s schooling contexts, there is a clarion call for educators to develop sensitivity and sensibility towards the cultural backgrounds and experiences of Māori students. This paper reports on the work of four scholars who share research that has been undertaken in educational settings with high numbers of Māori students, and discusses the importance of creating culturally-safe schools – places that allow and enable students to be who and what they are. The theoretical frameworks drawn on are based on both a life partnership analogy as well as on a socio-cultural perspective on human development and learning. The Māori worldview presented in this paper is connected to the Treaty of Waitangi, The Educultural Wheel and the Hikairo Rationale. Data were collected from two ethnographic case studies and analysed through these frameworks. Practical suggestions are then made for using restorative practices and creating reciprocal relationships in classrooms within an environment of care. The paper reports on an evidence-based approach to creating culturally-safe schools for Māori students

The 2018 Provincial Election in New Brunswick

New Brunswick’s 2018 election produced a minority legislature, the first in a century. The major parties continue to decline in voter support, and two new parties now have a presence in the Assembly. The election brings New Brunswick’s electoral politics increasingly into the modern Canadian mainstream; one new caucus is the Greens. In other respects, the election made the old new again. The populist People’s Alliance gained three seats partly on the basis of criticism of bilingualism policy. The Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives, in an informal alliance to govern, are all but confined to the anglophone parts of the province, while the defeated Liberals have all their strength in the Acadian north-east. The campaign mattered, as did constitutional conventions.  The Liberals squandered a large lead in the polls, and the parties struggled to sort out the conventions of government formation

The 2014 Provincial Election in New Brunswick

In the 2006 and 2010 New Brunswick provincial elections, power changed hands as control of the government went from Progressive Conservative to Liberal (2006) and back to Progressive Conservative (2010). The 2014 election found Premier David Alward attempting to return an incumbent party to the government benches for the first time since Bernard Lord in 2003. Alward faced three new party leaders in Liberal Brian Gallant, New Democrat Dominic Cardy and the Green’s David Coon. Early polls predicted a Liberal landslide but the margin would close as Election Day approached with the Liberal earning a small 27 to 21 seat majority over the PC Party with Coon winning the first Green seat in the province and Cardy’s NDP being shutout. With the results, New Brunswick would find itself with another under-forty premier, Gallant was 32 years old when sworn-in, and a vacancy in the Progressive Conservative leadership as Alward swiftly stepped down after his party’s defeat. The election reflected another example of New Brunswick’s current turnstile party system with the two major parties differing on few issues and struggling to find electoral momentum in a stubborn provincial economy stymied by structural demographic challenges

Human central nervous system (CNS) ApoE isoforms are increased by age, differentially altered by amyloidosis, and relative amounts reversed in the CNS compared with plasma

The risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is highly dependent on apolipoprotein-E (apoE) genotype. The reasons for apoE isoform-selective risk are uncertain; however, both the amounts and structure of human apoE isoforms have been hypothesized to lead to amyloidosis increasing the risk for AD. To address the hypothesis that amounts of apoE isoforms are different in the human CNS, we developed a novel isoform-specific method to accurately quantify apoE isoforms in clinically relevant samples. The method utilizes an antibody-free enrichment step and isotope-labeled physiologically relevant lipoprotein particle standards produced by immortalized astrocytes. We applied this method to a cohort of well characterized clinical samples and observed the following findings. The apoE isoform amounts are not different in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from young normal controls, suggesting that the amount of apoE isoforms is not the reason for risk of amyloidosis prior to the onset of advanced age. We did, however, observe an age-related increase in both apoE isoforms. In contrast to normal aging, the presence of amyloid increased apoE3, whereas apoE4 was unchanged or decreased. Importantly, for heterozygotes, the apoE4/apoE3 isoform ratio was increased in the CNS, although the reverse was true in the periphery. Finally, CSF apoE levels, but not plasma apoE levels, correlated with CSF β-amyloid levels. Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that CNS and peripheral apoE are separate pools and differentially regulated. Furthermore, these results suggest that apoE mechanisms for the risk of amyloidosis and AD are related to an interaction between apoE, aging, and the amount of amyloid burden

A randomized controlled trial of assisted intention monitoring for the rehabilitation of executive impairments following acquired brain injury

Background. Acquired brain injury (ABI) can impair executive function, impeding planning and attainment of intentions. Research shows promise for some goal-management rehabilitation interventions. However, evidence that alerts assist monitoring and completion of day-to-day intentions is limited. Objective. To examine the efficacy of brief goal-directed rehabilitation paired with periodic SMS text messages designed to enhance executive monitoring of intentions (assisted intention monitoring [AIM]). Methods. A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial was conducted. Following a baseline phase, 74 people with ABI and executive problems were randomized to receive AIM or control (information and games) for 3 weeks (phase 1) before crossing over to either AIM or no intervention (phase 2). The primary outcome was change in composite score of proportion of daily intentions achieved. A total of 59 people (71% male; 46% traumatic brain injury) completed all study phases. Results. Per protocol crossover analysis found a significant benefit of AIM for all intentions [F(1, 56) = 4.28; P = .04; f = 0.28; 3.7% mean difference; 95% CI = 0.1%-7.4%] and all intentions excluding a proxy prospective memory task [F(1, 55) = 4.79; P = .033; f = 0.28, medium effect size; 3% mean difference; 95% CI = 0.3%-5.6%] in the absence of significant changes on tests of executive functioning. Intention-to-treat analyses, comparing AIM against control at the end of phase 1 revealed no statistically significant differences in the attainment of intentions. Conclusion. Combining brief executive rehabilitation with alerts may be effective for some in improving achievement of daily intentions, but further evaluation of clinical effectiveness and mechanisms is required

Diurnal patterns of soluble amyloid precursor protein metabolites in the human central nervous system

The amyloid-β (Aβ) protein is diurnally regulated in both the cerebrospinal fluid and blood in healthy adults; circadian amplitudes decrease with aging and the presence of cerebral Aβ deposits. The cause of the Aβ diurnal pattern is poorly understood. One hypothesis is that the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) is diurnally regulated, leading to APP product diurnal patterns. APP in the central nervous system is processed either via the β-pathway (amyloidogenic), generating soluble APP-β (sAPPβ) and Aβ, or the α-pathway (non-amyloidogenic), releasing soluble APP-α (sAPPα). To elucidate the potential contributions of APP to the Aβ diurnal pattern and the balance of the α- and β- pathways in APP processing, we measured APP proteolytic products over 36 hours in human cerebrospinal fluid from cognitively normal and Alzheimer's disease participants. We found diurnal patterns in sAPPα, sAPPβ, Aβ40, and Aβ42, which diminish with increased age, that support the hypothesis that APP is diurnally regulated in the human central nervous system and thus results in Aβ diurnal patterns. We also found that the four APP metabolites were positively correlated in all participants without cerebral Aβ deposits. This positive correlation suggests that the α- and β- APP pathways are non-competitive under normal physiologic conditions where APP availability may be the limiting factor that determines sAPPα and sAPPβ production. However, in participants with cerebral Aβ deposits, there was no correlation of Aβ to sAPP metabolites, suggesting that normal physiologic regulation of cerebrospinal fluid Aβ is impaired in the presence of amyloidosis. Lastly, we found that the ratio of sAPPβ to sAPPα was significantly higher in participants with cerebral Aβ deposits versus those without deposits. Therefore, the sAPPβ to sAPPα ratio may be a useful biomarker for cerebral amyloidosis

Chemical chaperone treatment reduces intracellular accumulation of mutant collagen IV and ameliorates the cellular phenotype of a COL4A2 mutation that causes haemorrhagic stroke

Haemorrhagic stroke accounts for approximately 20% of stroke cases and porencephaly is a clinical consequence of perinatal cerebral haemorrhaging. Here we report the identification of a novel dominant G702D mutation in the collagen domain of COL4A2 (collagen IV alpha chain 2) in a family displaying porencephaly with reduced penetrance. COL4A2 is the obligatory protein partner of COL4A1 but in contrast to most COL4A1 mutations, the COL4A2 mutation does not lead to eye or kidney disease. Analysis of dermal biopsies from patient and his unaffected father, who also carries the mutation, revealed that both display basement membrane (BM) defects. Intriguingly, defective collagen IV incorporation into the dermal BM was only observed in the patient and was associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention of COL4A2 in primary dermal fibroblasts. This intracellular accumulation led to ER-stress, unfolded protein response activation, reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. Interestingly, absence of ER retention of COL4A2 and ER-stress in cells from the unaffected father indicate that accumulation and/or clearance of mutant COL4A2 from the ER may be a critical modifier for disease development. Our analysis also revealed that mutant collagen IV is degraded via the proteasome. Importantly, treatment of patient cells with a chemical chaperone decreased intracellular COL4A2, ER-stress and apoptosis, demonstrating that reducing intracellular collagen accumulation can ameliorate the cellular phenotype of COL4A2 mutations. Importantly, these data highlight that manipulation of chaperone levels, intracellular collagen accumulation and ER-stress are potential therapeutic options for collagen IV diseases including haemorrhagic stroke

Collaboration across the primary/specialist interface in early intervention in psychosis services: a qualitative study

Background People with new psychotic symptoms may be managed within an Early Intervention in Psychosis service (EIP). They may be discharged back to primary care at the end of their time in an EIP service. Aim To explore the role of primary care in supporting people with psychosis in an EIP service. Design and Setting Qualitative study, within a programme of work to explore the optimum duration of management within an EIP service. Methods Semi-structured interviews with people in EIP services, carers, general practitioners (GPs) and EIP practitioners. Findings GPs report difficulties in referring people into EIP services, have little contact with people who are supported by EIP services and are not included in planning discharge from EIP service to primary care. Conclusions This study suggests that GPs should have a role in the support of people within EIP services (in particular monitoring and managing physical health) and their carers. Inclusion of GPs in managing discharge from EIP services is vital. We suggest that a joint consultation with the service user, their carer (if they wish) along with EIP care co-ordinator and GP would make this transition smoother

Lime stabilisation for earthworks: a UK perspective

Lime stabilisation is a versatile technique applied during earthworks operations. Modern soil recycling units are much more efficient at pulverising fill material and intermixing the added binder/water than machinery available 20 years ago. While supplier innovation adds flexibility to the site working method, specifications have not been sufficiently updated to permit optimal application. This review paper details the physico-chemical changes instigated through the lime-clay soil reaction, updating previous reviews. It aims to assist scientific debate, current practitioners and future specification changes. For example, the application of the minimum 24 h mellowing periods (mandatory to UK specifications) with high reactivity, quicklime powders is concluded to cause increased air voids in the compacted fill. Increased air voids are associated with reduced long-term strength and potential volume change from water ingress, which is of particular concern for sulfate swelling. Shorter mellowing periods and/or use of hydrated lime may lesson this issue; however, a 'one size fits all' approach is discouraged in preference to site-specific methodologies refined to suit the fill material and project requirements. The discussion also summarises working methods which may lower the risk of sulfate swell and defines areas requiring further practical research