bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Teaching Counselors Self-Care through Mindfulness Practices
Authors: Newsome Sandy , Christopher John Chambers , Dahlen Penny , Christopher Suzanne
Published: February 2022

Few counseling programs directly address the importance of self-care in reducing stress and burnout in their curricula. A course entitled Mind/Body Medicine and the Art of Self-Care was created to address personal and professional growth opportunities through self-care and mindfulness practices (meditation, yoga, qigong, and conscious relaxation exercises). Three methods of evaluating this 15-week 3-credit mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course for counseling students indicated positive changes for students in learning how to manage stress and improve counseling practice. Students reported positive physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and interpersonal changes and substantial effects on their counseling skills and therapeutic relationships. Information from a focus group, qualitative reports, and quantitative course evaluations were triangulated; all data signified positive student responses to the course, method of teaching, and course instructor. Most students reported intentions of integrating mindfulness practices into their future profession.
Education for Economic Life: The Role of Communicative Action
Authors: Endres Ben
Published: February 2022

This article addresses the tension between the need to prepare students for functional activity in organizations on the one hand, and the need to instill dispositions and competencies that transcend these determinate roles on the other. I take for granted that schools must fulfill both tasks, and I suggest that they are failing at the latter in part because these social and moral purposes of education have not been constructively developed in relation to its economic aims. I first use Max Weber's theory of social action to explain the role of functional activity in modern schooling and society. I then argue that a qualified form of Jürgen Habermas's theory of communicative action can provide a meaningful connection between functional activity and the kinds of participatory, open interactions and relationships that progressive educators seem to prioritize. I argue that communicative action plays a crucial role in a wide range of organizational contexts, even those that involve narrow functions within strict hierarchies. Communicative action thus shows how progressive educational ideals are relevant for work life, regardless of one's place in the economic hierarchy. It also exposes the common ground beneath a range of progressive ideals. I conclude by showing how the role of communicative action in functional work may motivate reform in the practices of teaching and learning.
Refraining Internalized Oppression and Internalized Domination: From the Psychological to the Sociocultural
Authors: Tappan Mark B.
Published: February 2022

This article presents a reinterpretation of “internalized oppression” and “internalized domination,” not as internal, psychological qualities or characteristics, but rather as sociocultural phenomena—that is, as forms of “mediated action.” Mediated action entails two central elements: (1) an agent, the person who is doing the acting, and (2) cultural tools (or “mediational means”), the tools, means, or instruments appropriated from the culture and used by the agent to accomplish a given action. Such a reframing leads to a new conception of appropriated oppression and appropriated domination/ privilege, both of which have significant implications for the practice of critical pedagogy in general, and what has come to be called antioppressive education in particular.
Language, Dialect, and Register: Sociolinguistics and the Estimation of Measurement Error in the Testing of English Language Learners
Authors: Solano-Flores Guillermo
Published: February 2022

This article examines the intersection of psychornetrics and sociolinguists in the testing of English language learners (ELLs); it discusses language, dialect, and register as sources of measurement error. Research findings show that the dialect of the language in which students are tested (e.g., local or standard English) is as important as language as a facet that influences score dependability in ELL testing. The development, localization, review, and sampling of items are examined as aspects of the process of test construction critical to properly attaining linguistic alignment: the correspondence between the features of the dialect and the register used in a test, and the features of the language to which ELLs are exposed in both formal and instructional contexts.
Preparation, Pedagogy, Policy, and Power: Brown, the King Case, and the Struggle for Equal Language Rights
Authors: Ball Arnetha F. , Alim H. Samy
Published: February 2022

This case is a judicial investigation of a school's response to language, a language used in informal and casual oral communication among many blacks but a language that is not accepted as an appropriate means of communication among people in their professional roles in society…. The problem posed by this case is one which, the evidence indicates, has been compounded by efforts on the part of society to fully integrate blacks into the mainstream of society by relying solely on simplistic devices such as scatter housing and busing of students. Full integration and equal opportunity require much more and one of the matters requiring more attention is the teaching of the young blacks to read Standard English…. Some evidence suggests that the teachers in the schools that are “ideally” integrated such as King do not succeed as well with minority black students in teaching language arts as did many of the teachers of black children before integration. The problem, of course, is multidimensional, but the language of the home environment may be one of the dimensions. It is a problem that every thoughtful citizen has pondered, and that school boards, school administrators and teachers are trying to solve. ( Memorandum Opinion and Order, Martin Luther King Elementary School Children v. Ann Arbor School District Board, 1979)

The crisis is not about education at all. It is about power. Power is threatened whenever the victim—the hypothetical victim, the victim being in this case, someone defined by others—decides to describe himself. It is not that he is speechless; it is that the world wishes that he were. (Baldwin, 1981)
Helping Teachers Learn: Principals as Professional Development Leaders
Authors: Drago-Severson Eleanor
Published: February 2022

Through qualitative interviews and document analysis, this nationwide study investigated how 25 principals from a sample of public, Catholic, and independent schools with varying financial resources understand the practices they use to support teacher learning. This Spencer grant-funded research illuminates how these leaders understand the challenges (e.g., financial, human) they face in supporting teacher learning and highlights their creative responses to challenges. This paper describes (1) four broad initiatives principals employ to support teacher learning and (2) the developmental principles underlying the practices. This investigation offers insight into another way to accomplish important national goals, illuminates robust practices that can support adults with different learning needs, preferences, and developmental orientations, and points toward a different, learning-oriented way of conceptualizing and exercising leadership in support of teacher development.
To Seem and to Feel: Situated Identities and Literacy Practices
Authors: Bartlett Lesley
Published: February 2022

This article examines the centrality of cultural resources or artifacts in the social process of “doing literacy.” Relying on recent developments in sociocultural theories of continuous identity formation, I argue that people employ cultural artifacts to “seem” literate, or to be seen as literate by others, and to “feel” literate, that is, to develop a sense of themselves as literate. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Brazil, I show how youth and adult literacy students use cultural artifacts in their efforts to perform literacy. In conclusion, I discuss the potential of sociocultural theories of identity formation for the field of literacy studies.
The Role of Communal Practices in the Generation of Capital and Emotional Energy among Urban African American Students in Science Classrooms
Authors: Seiler Gale , Elmesky Rowhea
Published: February 2022

One of the intractable aspects of the so-called achievement gap between Black and White students lies in our failure to identify viable ways to increase science achievement and participation among African American students living in our inner cities. However, there has been little research that attempts to understand how the social and cultural experiences of these African American students affect what happens in science classrooms. Using lenses from cultural sociology, the research presented in this paper begins to describe the nature of communalism as a cultural disposition and a component of their repertoires of practice. While recognizing the complex and contradictory nature of culture, we argue that communalism is common among African American experiences and has particular significance in interactions among urban teens, and that it permeates urban classrooms as well. By focusing on a pair of African American male students, we answer important questions of how communal practices afford the generation of social and symbolic capital along with positive emotional energy, as shared goals are addressed and science participation and understanding are enhanced. In addition, we offer suggestions on how teachers can employ an understanding of the role of communalism, capital, and emotional energy in improving science teaching and learning in their classrooms.
The Cockpit's Empty Chair: Education through Appropriating Alienation at a Chicago Technology Museum
Authors: Lorimer Anne
Published: February 2022

Background/Context

In the United States, the percentage of schoolchildren planning to become high-status professionals is grossly disproportionate to the percentage of such jobs comprising our division of labor. As in a game of musical chairs, it is not structurally possible for everyone to remain a contender.

Focus of Study

Various adults who did not grow up to be pilots educate others (including the researcher) about how they visually experienced a pilot's workplace, and the lessons they drew from this experience.

Setting

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

Research Design

Long-term ethnographic fieldwork, and a close analysis of interactions among twenty randomly sampled groups of visitors.

Findings/Results

What visitors have achieved directs our attention to a different kind of pedagogy possible in technology centers: a pedagogy in which, rather than appropriating technological knowledge, one appropriates one's own alienation from this knowledge. Although it might seem perverse to suggest building it in, this is after all a crucial aspect of the larger world of technology: its incomprehensibility, its alienness, its requirement of training. The cockpit gives visitors a partial perspective on a totality, and when you look into the totality, the totality also looks into you: the experience compels people to account for their own positioning.

Conclusions/Recommendations

If we take seriously the idea that education is a collective project, then studying education means studying not only how people are transformed from one status to another, but how as part of this process people construct accounts rationalizing what has happened to them. As it happens, such accounts are not merely post hoc rationalizations; they also permit a forward impetus, as people draw on these accounts in seeking to attain transformative agency, to make things happen differently next time.
The Contributions of Economics to the Study of College Access and Success
Authors: Long Bridget Terry
Published: February 2022

Background/Context

The essay provides a comprehensive review of work by economists and others in related quantitative disciplines on the transition of students to college. A particular emphasis is given to the role of price and financial aid although issues related to college preparation, access, and persistence are also investigated. The final section discusses ongoing debates within economics about college access and success and suggests directions for future research.

Purpose

While other papers review parts of this literature, given the breadth and depth of the work on the transition to college, none gives a full picture of the contribution of economics to this area of understanding.

Research Design

A main goal of the economics literature has been to establish a causal relationship rather than one based on the correlation of trends or patterns. In pursuit of causality, economists rely on complex estimation techniques usually involving large samples of quantitative data and often utilize “natural experiments” to establish the impact of a factor or policy. Unfortunately, the data requirements for such work, along with the concerns about biases, often limits the kinds of questions that can be confidently answered. The primary framework in economics of education is the human capital model. When deciding whether to continue their education, individuals compare the benefits of human capital to the costs of obtaining it. Numerous articles highlight important factors in these decisions, including both monetary and non-monetary considerations as well as uncertainty and risk aversion.

Conclusions/Recommendations

While great progress has been made by economists to understand issues related to college access and success, the article makes suggestions about possible future research. More work is needed to understand the role of primary and secondary schools in college attendance, why there are differences in academic course-taking and performance, and the role of expectations and information in college access. Although economists have greatly contributed to the understanding of the role of costs and benefits in college demand, additional work is needed to clarify the role of parents, teachers, peers, and neighborhoods in college decisions. Additional research is also needed to resolve the current debate about the relative role of resources in comparison to long-term family circumstances and academic preparation. Finally, more information is also need about what factors affect college success.
What Higher Education Has to Say about the Transition to College
Authors: Goldrick-Rab Sara , Carter Deborah Faye , Wagner Rachelle Winkle
Published: February 2022

Background

Higher education researchers have much to say about the transition to college. This field focuses primarily on inequities in college participation and completion, the relative importance of high school preparation, and the utility of financial aid in promoting enrollment. This literature's strongest conceptual emphasis is on theoretical models of student retention. Less is known about other facets of the transition to college, including different postsecondary pathways and college outcomes.

Purpose

This paper describes the major findings of research on the transition to college contributed by higher education, and how further research might be improved. The specific areas covered are college preparation, college access, persistence, and college outcomes. The reviewed literature covered extant research on the transition to college as conducted by higher education researchers.

Research Design

This essay is an analysis of extant research on the college transition in the field of higher education

Conclusions/Recommendations

This review highlights the field's major shortcoming as undertaking insufficiently rigorous, empirical testing of theories on the transition to college. Existing research on postsecondary pathways is often compromised by data or methodological limitations, failure to be critical in attributing causality, and not differentiating effects occurring at different measurement levels (i.e., individual vs. institution).
Playing Holocaust: The Origins of the Gestapo Simulation Game
Authors: Fallace Thomas D.
Published: February 2022

Background/Context

Rabbi Raymond Zwerin and Audrey Friedman Marcus published the Gestapo Holocaust simulation game in 1976. Since that time it has been a source of debate among Jewish intellectuals and other scholars concerned with the pedagogy of the Holocaust. Even the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has weighed in on the issue, taking a clear position against Holocaust simulations of any kind. In this essay, the author informs this debate through a historical study of the origins of the Gestapo simulation game.

Purpose/Conclusions

The essay begins with a brief discussion of the Holocaust uniqueness claim, through which the author introduces a new trichotomous interpretive framework. This framework offers a critique of previous discussions on Holocaust uniqueness and pedagogy, which tend to conflate the various elements of the uniqueness claim or, place the conflicting views along a single continuum. Using this framework, the author explores the cultural and curricular context from which the Gestapo game emerged, demonstrating how its theory and design were aligned with much of the emerging Jewish educational thinking of the time. The author argues that the curriculum was the work of an educator who was informed by the current research and was responsive to the contemporary needs of his students and community.

Research Design

This essay is written from the perspective of history and was based upon the long-established methodology from the field of historiography.
Brown and the Failure of Civic Responsibility
Authors: Fennimore Beatrice S.
Published: February 2022

In this article, I use perspective gained from 18 years of experience as an urban public school parent between 1978 and 1996 to provide insights into Brown at 50. Through description of two public conflicts over special choice programs in the school districts where my family and I lived during those years, I analyze the emergent issues of discrimination, false meritocracy, and persistent inequity. Ultimately, I argue that classism combined with racism enabled school districts and privileged parents to defend inequitable opportunities when they were combined with the appearance of parental choice. I assert that the development of selective choice programs rather than efforts to enhance systemwide equity allowed for continued resistance to equal educational opportunity. Finally, I argue that continued progress toward the goals of Brown requires a renewed commitment to civic responsibility on the part of educators and citizens. The ultimate goals of Brown will be achieved, I argue, when school reform embodies a unified public commitment to social progress through educational reform rather than a piecemeal system of school choices that cater to the demands of more privileged parents and thus reflect pre- Brown stratification, segregation, and inequality.
The Impact of Brown on Latinos: A Study of Transformation of Policy Intentions
Authors: Arias M. Beatriz
Published: February 2022

Since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, most of the literature on school desegregation has focused on the experiences of African American students or school districts in which remedies were fashioned for African American students. However, little is known about the efforts of other ethnic and racial groups who have suffered similar constitutional violations and who have participated in remedies designed to relieve racial isolation and improve equal educational opportunity. Latinos in the Southwest have a long history of participating in school desegregation efforts, but what has rarely been examined is how their experience is similar to or different from that of African Americans. And yet, I argue, that as we write the history of school desegregation policy in this country, it is important to determine if remedies designed to eliminate racial isolation and improve equal educational opportunity for African American students are appropriate mechanisms for achieving greater equality for Latinos and other ethnolinguistic minorities.

This article describes the transformation of desegregation policy in San Jose, California (Vasquez v. San Jose Unified School District), where Latino students constituted the plaintiff class and became the principal participants in desegregation efforts. Using the transformation of intentions model developed by Hall (1995), I show how the remedies in San Jose changed as the actors, contexts, and situations changed. I argue that as long as Latinos were marginalized from participation in the policy process, desegregation remedies were implemented that ignored the particular cultural and linguistic needs of Latino students. As Latinos became leaders in the community and participants in the policy-making process, remedies began to be designed and implemented that specifically addressed linguistic and cultural barriers to educational equity. The transformation of desegregation policy in San Jose provides an opportunity to understand how the legacy of Brown has impacted Latino students.
Paved with Good Intentions: The Federal Role in the Oversight and Enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left behind Act (NCLB)
Authors: Ramanathan Arun
Published: February 2022

Context

The context for this article is the public response to the federal role in the oversight and enforcement of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This response has been characterized by a tension between concerns about federal interference in public education and support for federal activism. Despite a number of similarities between the state and local responses to the two laws, research on the federal role in implementing NCLB has largely disregarded the long record of federal oversight and enforcement of IDEA.

Purpose

The purpose of this analytic essay is to address this omission through a comparative policy analysis of the oversight and enforcement mechanisms in IDEA and NCLB, the evolution of these mechanisms in the legislative process, their implementation by the Department of Education, and the interest group and academic responses to this implementation.

Research Design

The research design consists of a review of the statutes, Congressional documents, governmental reports, interest group position papers, policy analyses, press reports, and relevant academic literature. The author discusses the implications of this analysis for the future of the federal role in the oversight and enforcement of NCLB, and the recently reauthorized IDEA and the federal focus on improving educational outcomes. The author argues that the design of NCLB's outcomes-based accountability model, combined with its dependence on the Department of Education to provide oversight and enforcement, has produced unintended consequences at the state level, including regulatory incoherence and incentives for “gaming the system.” He notes that similar problems can be projected for the implementation of the new outcomes-based oversight and enforcement model in IDEA 2004.

Recommendation

The author recommends that Congress turn the accountability model in NCLB “inside out,” establishing national standards, a single national performance assessment, fixed and achievable targets for proficiency, and predefined subgroup sizes while devolving responsibility for the details of the district- and school-level accountability system to the states. In IDEA's case, he recommends setting national targets for a small number of outcome indicators while maintaining the current system of focused monitoring. He argues that this model, in combination with federal incentives for meeting performance targets, would provide for a more realistic and effective federal role in improving public education.
A Desire to Learn: African American Children's Positive Attitudes toward Learning within School Cultures of Low Expectations
Authors: Lewis Jeffrey L. , Kim Eunhee
Published: February 2022

Background

Scholars are bringing much-needed attention to the persistent problem of academic underachievement among African American children in the United States, who continue to lag behind White school children in all socioeconomic groups. This is especially true of impoverished African Americans. Although some link these outcomes to poor student attitudes, recent scholarship casts doubt on the prevalence and significance of the role of adversarial attitudes on school outcomes. In addition, most of the extant research of student attitudes among African American students reflects research with middle school and high school students. We know little about the attitudes of elementary-age African American children living in low-income neighborhoods.

Focus of Study

This qualitative study aims to address this gap in our knowledge by examining whether oppositional attitudes toward learning prevail among African American children attending two low-income urban elementary schools in California. We also examine how what African American children say they want in teachers relates to what we document as good teaching.

Research Design

This study used a qualitative design that included face-to-face interviews with children, participant observation in the school and after-school labs, and videotape of classroom interactions in after-school sites. We helped establish the after-school sites as pedagogical laboratories designed to examine how less skilled teachers learn to improve their practice and how children learn with an exemplary teacher.

Data Analysis

We content-analyzed interview data to examine how children defined and described effective and ineffective teaching. We also used content analysis of participant observations to assess school climate and institutional culture. We developed a code manual to content-analyze videotaped lab data to identify characteristics of the after-school lab that supported positive and productive classroom behaviors in the students.

Conclusions

We conclude that low-come urban children do want to learn, regardless of their actual demonstrated ability levels, and they appear to be resilient in this respect. We found that elementary school-age low-income African American children are aware of strengths and deficiencies in their teachers and can name each explicitly. Even within controlling or negative school environments that reflect a pervasive culture of low expectations, they overwhelmingly expressed a desire for teachers who treated them well, helped them learn, and who were fair and caring toward them. Moreover, given the opportunity to work with a teacher who worked with them in ways consistent with what they looked for in good teachers, the children in our study responded with productive classroom behaviors.
A Study of Comprehensive School Reform Programs in Arizona
Authors: Mccaslin Mary , Good Thomas L.
Published: February 2022

Background/Context

The U.S. federal government has been interested in improving the performance of students who come from low-income homes since the time of Lyndon Johnson's “Great Society” initiatives in the 1960s. The current administration strongly supports the belief that good schools can be created and has funded the Comprehensive School Reform Program (CSR) to support these beliefs. This article briefly reviews literature related to school reform throughout this period, describes our research plan to study CSR elementary schools in the state of Arizona, and introduces the articles included in this special issue.

Focus of Study

The basic intent of this study was to inform working theories of learning, motivation, and social/emotional development in school contexts in Grades 3–5. We hoped that an emphasis on theory, contextual enactment, and participant mediation would yield a richer picture of classroom practices and motivational dynamics that might underlie student achievement and CSR effectiveness. This study focused in particular on participant perspectives (principals and students) and classroom practices associated with CSR programs in elementary schools in the state of Arizona.

Research Design

The research program includes interview (with principals), observation (of classroom practices), and survey measures and an adaptation of Thematic Apperception Test procedures (with students).

Conclusions/Recommendations

School reform initiatives can profit from more research on participant perceptions, actual classroom practices, and student mediation of those practices. These understandings can better link program design and student achievement to enhance the effectiveness of comprehensive school reform initiatives.
Large School Systems' Dropout Reports: An Analysis of Definitions, Procedures, and Findings
Authors: Hammack Floyd Morgan
Published: February 2022

One basic problem for both researchers and policymakers is obtaining accurate information about dropouts. In this article, Floyd Hammack examines school district reports on the dropout problem in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Diego, and Chicago. Citing the great diversity in the processes for the classification of students as dropouts, he raises important concerns about the comparability of dropout rates between districts.
Facing Our Ignorance
Authors: Jackson Philip W.
Published: February 2022

Jackson argues that we know less about teaching than the Holmes Group report contends, that an engineering how-to-do-it view of teacher education is too narrow, and that the medical metaphor in education is seriously misleading. He proposes we turn instead to the tradition of teaching itself as the source for understanding this ennobling human activity and for designing our teacher education programs.
The Wrong Report at the Right Time
Authors: Ryan Kevin
Published: February 2022

Agreeing with the general aims of the Holmes Group, Ryan is critical of their lack of research and research findings to support their claims and proposals. He also sees serious problems with the idea of entrusting teacher education to research universities and their faculties, who have a very poor record of doing teacher education. He argues that we need reform, but not at all of the sort the Holmes Group proposes.
Interactive Video Systems: Their Promise and Educational Potential
Authors: Seal-Wanner Carla
Published: February 2022

Interactive video is an exciting technology, but why might the addition of interactivity to moving images that are already ubiquitous for the young with movies and television make them more educative? Here are three hypotheses pertaining to this question.
The Fate of Knowledge
Authors: Adams Hazard
Published: February 2022

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

T. S. ELIOT “The Rock”
When States Build Markets: Policy support as a double-edged sword in the UK social investment market
Authors: Casasnovas Guillermo
Published: February 2022

Markets are the outcomes of political and institutional struggles where policy support plays a major role, but research to date falls short in explaining how the breadth of available interventions can have contradictory effects on the process of market formation. This article explores the consequences of policy support in the context of the nascent social investment market in the United Kingdom, between 2000 and 2015, when the government was a key actor in building the market infrastructure. I track the effects of a portfolio of policy interventions, including new regulation, direct investment and convening efforts. I show that, while policy support stimulated the market by driving supply and intermediation, it also led to an increase in contestation from the social sector. I link those intended and unintended consequences to the top-down features of the policy support (supporting the dominant logic, reinforcing hierarchical relations and optimistic rhetoric), hence showing when and how policy support can become a double-edged sword. The article contributes to the literature on policy support in market formation by showing the mechanisms through which top-down policy interventions can have important unintended consequences, especially when shaping the boundaries and features of markets that emerge at the intersection of financial and social sectors.
The Atmospherics of Creativity: Affective and spatial materiality in a designer’s studio
Authors: Leclair Margot
Published: February 2022

Encounters between materials and bodies matter throughout the creative process. This paper contends that creative work depends on these encounters generating and filling the atmosphere with affect. Based on an in-depth ethnography within a fashion design studio, the article empirically traces such affective encounters and corresponding atmospheres. In the studio, designing is performed through artefacts as well as experimental and collaborative gestures that inspire affective reactions and spark creative work. The creative body is part of a complex and atmospheric space where materials, bodies and external influences circulate via affective encounters and prompts. The analysis reveals the spatial and affective materiality of creativity and contributes to the recent interest in atmospheric organizational inquiry.
Convivir (to Coexist) and Other Insights: Results From the Positive Aging for Latinos Study
Authors: Piedra Lissette M. , Howe Melissa J. K. , Ridings John , Montoya Yadira , Conrad Kendon J.
Published: February 2022

Many Latinos in the United States do not have access to culturally sensitive services to help them age well. We combined community-based participatory research with concept mapping methods to understand how a sample of community-dwelling Latino older adults view positive aging. Nine focus groups ( N = 101) generated 85 non-repeating statements, which were used to produce a final map with 11 clusters, organized into four overarching regions: Convivir (To Coexist), Self-Sufficiency, Perspectives on Life, and Healthy Behaviors. Further analyses revealed three themes: (1) the importance of varied social connections, as conveyed by the region labeled Convivir; (2) a multifaceted understanding of “stability” that includes finances, relationships, and spirituality; and (3) the need for a mature mindset reflected in the thematic cluster Tomalo Suave (Take It Easy). Findings can inform the development of interventions for Latino older adults and the cultural adaptation of programs initially designed for non-Latinos.
Assessment of serum CK-MM level as a bioindicator for work-related musculoskeletal injuries among Emergency hospital workers
Authors: Shehata Rehab SA , Radwan Noha A , Bakry Huny M , Seif Eldin Aisha
Published: February 2022

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are considered a growing problem among healthcare personnel, especially service workers. The emergency room (ER) service workers are highly exposed to work-related risk factors which predispose them to MSDs. A cross-sectional study was performed on 78 ER workers. Full medical and occupational histories were taken. The Standardized Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ) was used for the assessment of musculoskeletal symptoms. Clinical examination was done with special emphasis on the locomotors system, and serum levels of muscle enzymes, including creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MM), were measured. The study aims to detect the prevalence of occupational musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among ER workers at University hospitals, and assessment of CK-MM as a biomarker used in the early detection of MSDs. We found that 71.8% of the participants were complaining of musculoskeletal disorder in the last 7 days before the study, while only 34.6% were complaining of musculoskeletal disorder in the last 12 months before the study. The knee joint was the most commonly affected site in the past 7 days, by 39.7%. On the other hand, the highest prevalent disorder in the last 12 months was for the ankle joint (17.9%) with significantly high levels of serum CK-MM. In conclusion, musculoskeletal injuries are a common complaint among healthcare occupations, especially among ER service workers that need regular health education and ergonomic training programs. Monitoring of serum CK-MM level with cut-off value 90 ng\ml could be used as a novel approach for the early detection of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
Assessment of the size selectivity of peritoneal permeability by the restriction coefficient to protein transport
Authors: Krediet Raymond T , Barreto Deirisa Lopes , van Diepen Anouk TN
Published: February 2022

Transport of serum proteins from the circulation to peritoneal dialysate in peritoneal dialysis patients mainly focused on total protein. Individual proteins have hardly been studied. We determined serum and effluent concentrations of four individual proteins with a wide molecular weight range routinely in the standardised peritoneal permeability analysis performed yearly in all participating patients. These include β2-microglobulin, albumin, immunoglobulin G and α2-macroglobulin. The dependency of transport of these proteins on their molecular weight and diffusion coefficient led to the development of the peritoneal protein restriction coefficient (PPRC), which is the slope of the relation between the peritoneal clearances of these proteins and their free diffusion coefficients in water, when plotted on a double logarithmic scale. The higher the PPRC, the more size restriction to transport. In this review, we discuss the results obtained on the PPRC under various conditions, such as effects of various osmotic agents, vasoactive drugs, peritonitis and the hydrostatic pressure gradient. Long-term follow-up of patients shows an increase of the PPRC, the possible causes of which are discussed. Venous vasculopathy of the peritoneal microcirculation is the most likely explanation.
Towards a new legal consensus on business and human rights: A 10th anniversary essay
Authors: Augenstein Daniel
Published: February 2022

The article takes stock of developments in domestic and international law concerning the regulation of adverse human rights impacts by global business enterprises, one decade after the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Maastricht Principles). It discusses these soft-law instruments in the light of long-standing systemic obstacles to holding business enterprises legally accountable for their global human rights impacts. The article argues for a new legal consensus on business and human rights, grounded in the increasing recognition by States that corporate respect for human rights should be brought under the purview of (international) human rights law. This consensus builds on the gradual convergence between the regulatory models that underpin the UNGPs and the Maastricht Principles, such that States’ domestic regulation of business enterprises with extraterritorial effect becomes anchored in international legal obligations towards foreign victims of business-related human rights violations.
Investigation of mechanical behaviors and improved design of V-shaped braid stents
Authors: Liu Xiangkun , Liu Guochao , Ye Ping , Luo Qiyi , Chang Zhaohua
Published: February 2022

V-shaped braid stents (VBSs), as highly retrievable and flexible nitinol stents, are extensively applied in endovascular diseases. They also cause less damage to vessel wall compared to tube-cutting stents. However, poor performance of VBS or suboptimal operation can give rise to unwanted clinical situations such as thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia. Therefore, research on designing factors affecting the performance of these devices is of great significance. Furthermore, simulation of stenting process can help designers understand the interactions of stents and vessel wall to reduce time to market. Thus, finite element analysis (FEA) and bench test are performed taking into account both designing factors and stenting process of VBS, including development of parametric modeling tool, research on the relationships among structural parameters and radial force, exploration of the interactions of VBS and vessel wall and pulsating load effect. This research was performed using a commercial solver Abaqus/standard with a user material subroutine (UMAT/nitinol). Structural parameters of VBS, unit-cell height and wire diameter have significant impacts on radial force, unit-cell number has slight influence on radial force, and arc diameter has almost negligible impact on radial force. Without pulsatile load, maximum stress and strain always occur in arc position; however, in pulsatile load, maximum stress and strain are gradually transformed to strut position. The stress created near vessel wall and VBS interface is higher than interaction stress due to pulsating load. The obtained result provided valuable information on the structural design of stents as well as the effects of stent on vessel wall and that vessel wall on stent deformation.
MSMEs Issues and Prospectus of Uttarakhand: A Conceptual Investigation with Special Reference to COVID-19
Authors: Kumar Bipin , Gajakosh A. R.
Published: February 2022

Small and medium businesses are considered to be one of the most important drivers of economic growth in most economies throughout the world. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are considered to be the main drivers of economic growth in India, and the sector fosters a balanced regional growth. The MSME sector plays a vital role in Uttarakhand’s production, investment and job creation. The sector is helping in mitigating the problem of migration and underutilisation of natural resources. This article focuses on analysing the current status and the problems faced by MSMEs in Uttarakhand. The research also examines the state’s MSMEs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector faces a new set of issues as a result of COVID-19. The study also looks at government support for the business during the COVID-19 pandemic. An extensive literature survey of different research papers, articles and government reports has been done to identify problems and incentives available to MSME units operating in the state. The current incarnation of the MSME sector in Uttarakhand is investigated using descriptive analysis. The article concludes that despite various incentives the MSME sector is facing various challenges in the state which need to be addressed for smooth functioning of the sector.
The definitive impetus for access to justice: Mandatory consumer arbitration in Spain
Authors: Fombuena Mariló Gramunt , Compte Rosa Barceló
Published: February 2022

The purpose of the following paper is to address the relevance of consumer arbitration as an effective procedural justice mechanism within the EU internal market. Thus, the article focuses on the possibility of introducing a mandatory consumer arbitration system in Spain that allows consumers to exercise their rights recognized by the rules in a fast, efficient and free way.

For this purpose, the Portuguese consumer arbitration system and its evolution up to the establishment of a mandatory arbitration procedure for consumer disputes below a certain amount is also analysed.
Health condition monitoring of bearings based on multifractal spectrum feature with modified empirical mode decomposition-multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis
Authors: Chen Guangyi , Yan Changfeng , Meng Jiadong , Wang Zonggang , Wu Lixiao
Published: February 2022

Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) is proved to be a powerful tool for fault diagnosis of rotating machinery due to its ability to reveal multifractal structures hidden in nonstationary and nonlinear vibration signals. To overcome the discontinuity of the fitting scale-dependent trend and the poor adaptability of this algorithm, Empirical Mode Decomposition-Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (EMD-MFDFA) is introduced. However, EMD-MFDFA runs into difficulties in reverse segmentation and the selection of the expected Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs). Aiming at solving these deficiencies, a Modified EMD-MFDFA (MEMD-MFDFA) approach with IMF selection strategy and Step-Moving Window (SMW) segmentation method is proposed in this paper. In MEMD-MFDFA, a metric for distinguishing deterministic and random components is established to select expected IMF components by scaling exponent. Meanwhile, SMW segmentation method is exploited to reduce the estimated errors caused by reverse segmentation. The robustness of the proposed method is investigated through comparing MEMD-MFDFA, MFDFA, and EMD-MFDFA by multifractality of simulated signals with different Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Furthermore, the proposed approach is applied to three bearing run-to-failure datasets containing three types of faults, and the results show that the multifeatures of the multifractal spectrum obtained by MEMD-MFDFA have the ability to simultaneously identify early fault and assess performance degradation of bearings.
Mid-term outcomes of hybrid debranching endovascular aortic arch repair in landing zones 0–2
Authors: Eleshra Ahmed , Heo Woon , Lee Kwang-Hun , Kim Tae-Hoon , Sim Seo A , Sharafeldin Hesham , Song Suk-Won
Published: February 2022

Objectives

The aim of this study is to summarize a single-center experience of hybrid debranching endovascular repair of the aortic arch and proximal descending thoracic aorta (DTA) with regard to the mid-term outcomes with highlighting the difference between the landing zones 0–2.

Methods

A retrospective review of data from a prospectively collected registry (Gangnam Severance Endovascular Aortic Registry) was performed. From among 332 patients whose aortic pathology was managed with TEVAR, 112 patients who underwent hybrid arch repair during the study period between 2012 and 2016 were identified. The patients were grouped into three cohorts according to the proximal landing zones (0, 1, and 2) of Ishimaru. The early outcome (30-days) in terms of mortality, morbidity, supra-aortic vessels patency, and presence of endoleak were analyzed. The survival, freedom from re-intervention, and major complications during follow-up were demonstrated.

Results

During the study period. 112 patients (mean age 65±7, 79% males) were included. The patients were distributed in three cohorts: 8 (7%) patients with proximal landing zone 0, 20 (18%) with zone 1, and 80 (75%) with zone 2 hybrid aortic arch repair. Technical success was achieved in 7 (88%), 19 (90%), and 79 (94%) patients for zones 0, 1, and 2, respectively. The mean intensive care unit (ICU) stay was shorter in zone 2 ( p = .005). The mean total hospital stay was shorter in zone 2 ( p = .03). The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 5% (4/112). There was no spinal cord ischemia or early surgical conversion. Renal function deterioration was seen more but not significantly in zone 0 patients ( p = .08). Respiratory failure was seen significantly in zone 0 patients ( p = .01). Stroke occurred in 6/44 (14%) patients with degenerative aneurysm versus 1/60 (2%) patients with aortic dissection ( p =.06). Early CTA showed 100% patency of the supra-aortic vessels. The early endoleak rate was significant in zone 0 patients ( p = .008). The mean follow-up period was (32±19 months). The survival rates and freedom from re-intervention were not statistically significant among the three zones. However, the survival rate and freedom from intervention tend to be higher in zone 2 versus zone 0 ( p = .07 and .09), respectively.

Conclusion

Hybrid debranching endovascular aortic arch repair is feasible and relatively safe with acceptable mid-term outcomes. Zone 0 patients has worse early and late outcomes in comparison to other zones. Careful patient selection and improved endovascular technology may be the key to improve the outcomes.