Supervision and Culture Meetings at Thresholds

Abstract Counsellors are required to engage in supervision in order to reflect on, reflexively review, and extend their practice. Supervision, then, might be understood as a partnership in which the focus of practitioners and supervisors is on ethical and effective practice with all clients. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, there has recently been interest in the implications for supervision of cultural difference, particularly in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi as a practice metaphor, and when non-Mäori practitioners counsel Mäori clients. This article offers an account of a qualitative investigation by a group of counsellors/supervisors into their experiences of supervision as cultural partnership. Based on interviews and then using writing-as-research, the article explores the playing out of supervision's contribution to practitioners' effective and ethical practice in the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand, showing a range of possible accounts and strategies and discussing their effects. Employing the metaphor of threshold, the article includes a series of reflections and considerations for supervision practice when attention is drawn to difference

Cardiorespiratory fitness and digestive cancer mortality: findings from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS)

Although higher levels of physical activity are inversely associated with risk of colon cancer, few prospective studies have evaluated overall digestive system cancer mortality in relation to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). The authors examined this association among 38,801 men aged 20−88 years and who performed a maximal treadmill exercise test at baseline in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (Dallas, Texas) during 1974−2003. Mortality was assessed over 29 years of follow-up (1974−2003). 283 digestive system cancer deaths occurred during a mean 17-year of observation. Age-adjusted mortality rates per 10,000 person-yrs according to low, moderate, and high CRF groups were 6.8, 4.0, and 3.3 for digestive system cancer (trend p \u3c 0.001). After adjustment for age, examination year, body mass index, smoking, drinking, family history of cancer, personal history of diabetes, hazard ratios for overall digestive cancer deaths (95% confidence interval) for those in the middle and upper 40% of the distribution of CRF relative to those in the lowest 20% were 0.66 (0.49, 0.88) and 0.56 (0.40, 0.80), respectively. Being fit (the upper 80% of CRF) was associated with a lower risk of mortality from colon (0.61 [0.37, 1.00]), colorectal (0.58 [0.37, 0.92]), and liver cancer (0.28 [0.11, 0.72]), compared with being unfit (the lowest 20% of CRF). These findings support a protective role of CRF against total digestive tract, colorectal, and liver cancer deaths in men

Airships: A New Horizon for Science

The "Airships: A New Horizon for Science" study at the Keck Institute for Space Studies investigated the potential of a variety of airships currently operable or under development to serve as observatories and science instrumentation platforms for a range of space, atmospheric, and Earth science. The participants represent a diverse cross-section of the aerospace sector, NASA, and academia. Over the last two decades, there has been wide interest in developing a high altitude, stratospheric lighter-than-air (LTA) airship that could maneuver and remain in a desired geographic position (i.e., "station-keeping") for weeks, months or even years. Our study found considerable scientific value in both low altitude (< 40 kft) and high altitude (> 60 kft) airships across a wide spectrum of space, atmospheric, and Earth science programs. Over the course of the study period, we identified stratospheric tethered aerostats as a viable alternative to airships where station-keeping was valued over maneuverability. By opening up the sky and Earth's stratospheric horizon in affordable ways with long-term flexibility, airships allow us to push technology and science forward in a project-rich environment that complements existing space observatories as well as aircraft and high-altitude balloon missions.Comment: This low resolution version of the report is 8.6 MB. For the high resolution version see: http://kiss.caltech.edu/study/airship

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

A prospective study of cardiorespiratory fitness and breast cancer mortality

PURPOSE: Physical activity may protect against breast cancer. Few prospective studies have evaluated breast cancer mortality in relation to cardiorespiratory fitness, an objective marker of physiologic response to physical activity habits. METHODS: We examined the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and risk of death from breast cancer in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. Women (N=14,811), aged 20 to 83 years with no prior breast cancer history, received a preventive medical examination at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, TX, between 1970 and 2001. Mortality surveillance was completed through December 31, 2003. Cardiorespiratory fitness was quantified as maximal treadmill exercise test duration and was categorized for analysis as low (lowest 20% of exercise duration), moderate (middle 40%), and high (upper 40%). At baseline, all participants were able to complete the exercise test to at least 85% of their age-predicted maximal heart rate. RESULTS: A total of 68 breast cancer deaths occurred during follow-up (mean=16 years). Age-adjusted breast cancer mortality rates per 10,000 woman-years were 4.4, 3.2, and 1.8 for low, moderate, and high cardiorespiratory fitness groups, respectively (trend P = 0.008). After further controlling for body mass index, smoking, drinking, chronic conditions, abnormal exercise electrocardiogram responses, family history of breast cancer, oral contraceptive use, and estrogen use, hazard ratios (95% CI) for breast cancer mortality across incremental cardiorespiratory fitness categories were 1.00 (referent), 0.67 (0.35–1.26), 0.45 (0.22–0.95); trend P = 0.04. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with a reduced risk of dying from breast cancer in women

Supervision and culture : meetings at thresholds

Counsellors are required to engage in supervision in order to reflect on, reflexively review, and extend their practice. Supervision, then, might be understood as a partnership in which the focus of practitioners and supervisors is on ethical and effective practice with all clients. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, there has recently been interest in the implications for supervision of cultural difference, particularly in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi as a practice metaphor, and when non-Māori practitioners counsel Māori clients. This article offers an account of a qualitative investigation by a group of counsellors/supervisors into their experiences of supervision as cultural partnership. Based on interviews and then using writing-as-research, the article explores the playing out of supervision’s contribution to practitioners’ effective and ethical practice in the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand, showing a range of possible accounts and strategies and discussing their effects. Employing the metaphor of threshold, the article includes a series of reflections and considerations for supervision practice when attention is drawn to differenc