Walking with Place: Storying Reconciliation Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education

Knowing and understanding the land with Aboriginal cosmologies requires seeing much deeper than the surface. It involves feeling those deep connections that have existed for thousands of years and understanding trees, rocks, and rivers. Drawing on Vanessa Watt’s concept of place-­‐thought and Latour’s emerging common world framework, I explore the notion of country in a specific place in the Australian context. This paper pays attention to the stories of Australia’s colonial pasts, presents, and futures as I set out to generate new reconciliation pedagogies and engage with place during an experiential learning exercise: place-­‐thought-­‐walk. I argue that place-­‐thought pedagogies that are inclusive, respectful, and reconciled to people of the local Aboriginal group can be put to work as a decolonizing practice. This practice exposes the layers of colonial inscription in the landscape, creating space for the land to be reclaimed and reinscribed with Aboriginal knowledges as the central frame.</jats:p

The Correlation Between Diet, Exercise and Stress in College Students

The purpose of this study was to clarify whether or not there is a correlation between diet, exercise, stress and perceived personal health among college students. This study focuses on if age affects the amount of exercise and a person’s diet considering their stress levels, and perception of health. Surveys were distributed and students (N=30) at Montana Tech/Highlands College in Butte, Montana were asked to complete them following approval from the University of Montana Institutional Review Board. The results of this study concluded that non-traditional age students seem to get more things accom-plished, even though they reported higher levels of stress than traditional age students.https://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/stdt_rsch_day_2013/1014/thumbnail.jp

Emerging methodologies - basic introduction to communicative response-abilities

New ways of doing research, for understanding worlds differently

UK consumer reactions to organic certification logos

Purpose - This paper considers the question of whether UK consumers recognise and trust organic certification logos and whether the presence of these logos on a product increases consumer willingness to pay for that product. Methodology/approach - To ascertain the reaction of UK consumers to organic certification logos commonly used in the UK, this study makes use of three methods: focus groups, a consumer survey and a willingness to pay experiment (choice experiment). Findings - These three approaches reveal that UK consumers associate certain benefits with organic foods but are generally unaware of how the industry is regulated. With regards to trust of the logo, the standards they think underlie the logo and the inspection system that they think is associated with the logo, UK consumers rate the Soil Association and Organic Farmers and Growers logos more highly than the EU logo or products labelled with just the word “organic”. They appear willing to pay a premium for the additional assurance that these two logos provide, suggesting that where they are recognised, certification logos are valued. Originality – To the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies exist on whether UK consumers recognise and trust different organic certification logos. These findings show that where such logos are recognised they can help to give some assurance to the UK consumer and this is reflected in a willingness to pay a premium for foods labelled with the Soil Association and Organic Farmers and Growers certification logos as opposed to no logo or the (less well known) EU logo

Characterization of an Aggregated Three-Dimensional Cell Culture Model by Multimodal Mass Spectrometry Imaging

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is an established analytical tool capable of defining and understanding complex tissues by determining the spatial distribution of biological molecules. Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models mimic the pathophysiological environment of in vivo tumors and are rapidly emerging as a valuable research tool. Here, multimodal MSI techniques were employed to characterize a novel aggregated 3D lung adenocarcinoma model, developed by the group to mimic the in vivo tissue. Regions of tumor heterogeneity and the hypoxic microenvironment were observed based on the spatial distribution of a variety of endogenous molecules. Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI)-MSI defined regions of a hypoxic core and a proliferative outer layer from metabolite distribution. Targeted metabolites (e.g., lactate, glutamine, and citrate) were mapped to pathways of glycolysis and the TCA cycle demonstrating tumor metabolic behavior. The first application of imaging mass cytometry (IMC) with 3D cell culture enabled single-cell phenotyping at 1 μm spatial resolution. Protein markers of proliferation (Ki-67) and hypoxia (glucose transporter 1) defined metabolic signaling in the aggregoid model, which complemented the metabolite data. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma (LA-ICP)-MSI analysis localized endogenous elements including magnesium and copper, further differentiating the hypoxia gradient and validating the protein expression. Obtaining a large amount of molecular information on a complementary nature enabled an in-depth understanding of the biological processes within the novel tumor model. Combining powerful imaging techniques to characterize the aggregated 3D culture highlighted a future methodology with potential applications in cancer research and drug development

Comparison of Osteosarcoma Aggregated Tumour Models with Human Tissue by Multimodal Mass Spectrometry Imaging

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone malignancy and largely effects adolescents and young adults, with 60% of patients under the age of 25. There are multiple cell models of OS described in vitro that express the specific genetic alterations of the sarcoma. In the work reported here, multiple mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) modalities were employed to characterise two aggregated cellular models of OS models formed using the MG63 and SAOS-2 cell lines. Phenotyping of the metabolite activity within the two OS aggregoid models was achieved and a comparison of the metabolite data with OS human tissue samples revealed relevant fatty acid and phospholipid markers. Although, annotations of these species require MS/MS analysis for confident identification of the metabolites. From the putative assignments however, it was suggested that the MG63 aggregoids are an aggressive tumour model that exhibited metastatic-like potential. Alternatively, the SAOS-2 aggregoids are more mature osteoblast-like phenotype that expressed characteristics of cellular differentiation and bone development. It was determined the two OS aggregoid models shared similarities of metabolic behaviour with different regions of OS human tissues, specifically of the higher metastatic grade

Current ecotoxicity testing needs among selected U.S. federal agencies

U.S. regulatory and research agencies use ecotoxicity test data to assess the hazards associated with substances that may be released into the environment, including but not limited to industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, food additives, and color additives. These data are used to conduct hazard assessments and evaluate potential risks to aquatic life (e.g., invertebrates, fish), birds, wildlife species, or the environment. To identify opportunities for regulatory uses of non-animal replacements for ecotoxicity tests, the needs and uses for data from tests utilizing animals must first be clarified. Accordingly, the objective of this review was to identify the ecotoxicity test data relied upon by U.S. federal agencies. The standards, test guidelines, guidance documents, and/or endpoints that are used to address each of the agencies’ regulatory and research needs regarding ecotoxicity testing are described in the context of their application to decision-making. Testing and information use, needs, and/or requirements relevant to the regulatory or programmatic mandates of the agencies taking part in the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods Ecotoxicology Workgroup are captured. This information will be useful for coordinating efforts to develop and implement alternative test methods to reduce, refine, or replace animal use in chemical safety evaluations

The Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System: A model for collaborative surveillance

Chronic diseases have a major impact on populations and healthcare systems worldwide. Administrative health data are an ideal resource for chronic disease surveillance because they are population-based and routinely collected. For multi-jurisdictional surveillance, a distributed model is advantageous because it does not require individual-level data to be shared across jurisdictional boundaries. Our objective is to describe the process, structure, benefits, and challenges of a distributed model for chronic disease surveillance across all Canadian provinces and territories (P/Ts) using linked administrative data. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) established the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS) in 2009 to facilitate standardized, national estimates of chronic disease prevalence, incidence, and outcomes. The CCDSS primarily relies on linked health insurance registration files, physician billing claims, and hospital discharge abstracts. Standardized case definitions and common analytic protocols are applied to the data for each P/T; aggregate data are shared with PHAC and summarized for reports and open access data initiatives. Advantages of this distributed model include: it uses the rich data resources available in all P/Ts; it supports chronic disease surveillance capacity building in all P/Ts; and changes in surveillance methodology can be easily developed by PHAC and implemented by the P/Ts. However, there are challenges: heterogeneity in administrative databases across jurisdictions and changes in data quality over time threaten the production of standardized disease estimates; a limited set of databases are common to all P/Ts, which hinders potential CCDSS expansion; and there is a need to balance comprehensive reporting with P/T disclosure requirements to protect privacy. The CCDSS distributed model for chronic disease surveillance has been successfully implemented and sustained by PHAC and its P/T partners. Many lessons have been learned about national surveillance involving jurisdictions that are heterogeneous with respect to healthcare databases, expertise and analytical capacity, population characteristics, and priorities

Temporal and Tissue Specific Regulation of RP-Associated Splicing Factor Genes PRPF3, PRPF31 and PRPC8—Implications in the Pathogenesis of RP

Genetic mutations in several ubiquitously expressed RNA splicing genes such as PRPF3, PRP31 and PRPC8, have been found to cause retina-specific diseases in humans. To understand this intriguing phenomenon, most studies have been focused on testing two major hypotheses. One hypothesis assumes that these mutations interrupt retina-specific interactions that are important for RNA splicing, implying that there are specific components in the retina interacting with these splicing factors. The second hypothesis suggests that these mutations have only a mild effect on the protein function and thus affect only the metabolically highly active cells such as retinal photoreceptors.We examined the second hypothesis using the PRPF3 gene as an example. We analyzed the spatial and temporal expression of the PRPF3 gene in mice and found that it is highly expressed in retinal cells relative to other tissues and its expression is developmentally regulated. In addition, we also found that PRP31 and PRPC8 as well as snRNAs are highly expressed in retinal cells.Our data suggest that the retina requires a relatively high level of RNA splicing activity for optimal tissue-specific physiological function. Because the RP18 mutation has neither a debilitating nor acute effect on protein function, we suggest that retinal degeneration is the accumulative effect of decades of suboptimal RNA splicing due to the mildly impaired protein