Maltreatment perpetrators: a 54-month analysis of recidivism

OBJECTIVE: This study compared recidivism rates for alleged maltreatment perpetrators whose initial report was substantiated and those whose initial report was not substantiated, to determine whether they returned to the child welfare system at differing rates. METHOD: Statewide administrative child welfare services data over a period of 4 1/2 years was analyzed. The sample included 31,531 perpetrators of intrafamilial maltreatment. Separate analyses were conducted for each type of maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect). RESULTS: Bivariate relationships (substantiation status and recidivism) were analyzed using survival curves, and the study found that recidivism patterns differed by type of maltreatment and by substantiation status at the index event. Multivariate analyses using Cox Proportional Hazards models found that bivariate relationships held true even when controlling for neighborhood mean income, ethnicity, and gender. CONCLUSIONS: The study's finding that perpetrators whose index event was not substantiated return to the child welfare system at a high rate suggests the need to learn how to discriminate those unsubstantiated alleged perpetrators who are most at risk for recidivism. The finding of frequent cross-type recidivism indicates that intervention should focus on common themes across maltreatment types.     

信息化和电子政务发展的战略定位:中国和美国的比较分析

分析比较了中国和美国在电子政务发展的战略目标、管理体制和战略实施三个方面的差异,并详细研究了中美两国在促进电子政务发展中的法律、政策和实施项目三个方面的异同。针对中国的实际,借鉴美国电子政务的经验,提出中国电子政务发展战略的初步建议。     

Collagen-based brain microvasculature model in vitro using three-dimensional printed template

We present an engineered three-dimensional (3D) in vitro brain microvasculature system embedded within the bulk of a collagen matrix. To create a hydrogel template for the functional brain microvascular structure, we fabricated an array of microchannels made of collagen I using microneedles and a 3D printed frame. By culturing mouse brain endothelial cells (bEnd.3) on the luminal surface of cylindrical collagen microchannels, we reconstructed an array of brain microvasculature in vitro with circular cross-sections. We characterized the barrier function of our brain microvasculature by measuring transendothelial permeability of 40 kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (Stoke''s radius of ∼4.5 nm), based on an analytical model. The transendothelial permeability decreased significantly over 3 weeks of culture. We also present the disruption of the barrier function with a hyperosmotic mannitol as well as a subsequent recovery over 4 days. Our brain microvasculature model in vitro, consisting of system-in-hydrogel combined with the widely emerging 3D printing technique, can serve as a useful tool not only for fundamental studies associated with blood-brain barrier in physiological and pathological settings but also for pharmaceutical applications.     

Social topography of children’s play: focusing on the middle-class parenting practices in South Korea

Abstract

This study aims to understand the ways in which children’s play is situated in and shaped by middle-class parenting practices in South Korea. Drawing on a set of data collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 parents having children aged 6–11?years, I observe that despite the widespread rhetoric of the significance of play, parents’ scheduling of their children’s daily routine centres around ‘study’, while play, especially free play, is left for in between times and limited spaces. Play is prominently associated with and instrumental in developing children’s social skills and ensuring their emotional state. In line with the trend in the Global North where a broader concept of play is being institutionalised and incorporated into organised enrichment activities, play spaces are increasingly becoming a site of strategic family consumption. The changing geographies of play strongly reflect the neoliberal climate which generates anxiety and exhaustion related to parenting practices.     

Analytical framework for evaluating digital diplomacy using network analysis and topic modeling: Comparing South Korea and Japan

This study introduces a data-driven approach for assessing the practices and effectiveness of digital diplomacy, using the cases of South Korea and Japan. The study compared the networking power of public diplomacy organizations based on social media use, engagement with the public, interaction patterns among the public, and public perceptions and attitudes toward organizations. This was accomplished through a three-step method employing social network analysis and topic modeling. The network analysis found that the Korean public diplomacy organization generated a larger, more loosely connected, and decentralized comment network than the Japanese organization, which presented a “small-world” connectivity pattern with highly interconnected actors. The findings also suggest that, compared to the Japanese organization, the Korean organization was successful in not only enhancing its soft power through social media but also building international networks among the foreign public.     

A Cognitive Learning Account of the Avoidance,Omission and Exaggerated Phenomena and Expressions in Young Adolescents’ Drawings of the Human Figure in the Visual Culture Art Education Context

It is common in the everyday art class to find many examples of avoidance, omission and exaggeration in young adolescents’ depictions of the human figure. When students depict sophisticated human images, they make every effort to avoid the difficult parts, and some students tend to exaggerate the size or distort the shape of the human image. Art educators see these types of behaviour and modes of expression as unnatural, and claim that they may hinder the development of the creativity of young adolescents. Relevant discussions in the literature from a psychological perspective are mainly concerned with the negative impact of such behaviour and modes of expression on the formation of young adolescents’ identities. However, in the context of popular visual culture, the findings of recent studies on young adolescents’ comic drawings have suggested that when young adolescents draw comic characters, they use their everyday life experiences in their drawings. This article reports on a five‐year qualitative longitudinal study conducted in a Hong Kong secondary school. The aim of the study was to deepen our understanding of this behaviour on the part of adolescents in art classes. The findings of the study confirmed the view that these aspects should be interpreted from a cognitive learning perspective. It is suggested that art educators reconsider these types of behaviour and modes of expression as a potential means for improving secondary students’ learning of the art of popular visual culture.     

The (mis)use of the Finnish teacher education model: ‘policy-based evidence-making’?

Abstract

Background: International achievement studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have an increasing influence on education policy worldwide. The use of such data can provide a basis for evidence-based policy-making to initiate educational reform. Finland, a high performer in PISA, is often cited as an example of both efficient and equitable education. Finland’s teachers and teacher education have not only garnered much attention for their role in the country’s PISA successes, but have also influenced education policy change in England.

Main argument: This article argues that the Finnish model of teacher education has been borrowed uncritically by UK policy-makers. Finnish and English philosophies of teacher preparation differ greatly, and the borrowing of the Finnish teacher education model does not fit within the teacher training viewpoint of England. The borrowed policies, thus, were decontextualised from the wider values and underpinnings of Finnish education. This piecemeal, ‘pick “n” mix’ approach to education policy reform ignores the fact that educational policies and ‘practices exist in ecological relationships with one another and in whole ecosystems of interrelated practices’. Thus, these borrowed teacher preparation policies will not necessarily lead to the outcomes outlined by policy-makers in the reforms.

Sources of evidence: Two teacher preparation reforms in England, the University Training Schools (outlined in the UK Government’s 2010 Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching) and the Master’s in Teaching and Learning (MTL), are used to illustrate the problematic nature of uncritical policy borrowing. This article juxtaposes these policies with the Finnish model of teacher education, a research-based programme where all candidates are required to complete a Master’s degree. The contradictions exposed from this analysis further highlight the divergent practices of teacher preparation in England and Finland, or the disparate ‘ecosystems’. Evidence of educational policy borrowing in other settings is also considered.

Conclusions: Both the MTL and the White Paper reforms overlook the ‘ecosystem’ surrounding Finnish teacher education. The school-based MTL contrasts with the research-based Finnish teachers’ MA. Similarly, the University Training Schools scheme, based on Finnish university-affiliated, teaching practice schools, contrasts heavily with the rest of the White Paper reforms, which contradict the philosophies and ethos behind Finnish teacher education by proposing the move of English teacher preparation away from the universities. The analysis highlights the uncritical eye through which politicians may view international survey results, looking for ‘quick fix’ options instead of utilising academic evidence for investigation on education and education reform.     

Long-term inhibition of Na+/H+ exchange attenuates cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats

Objective: In addition to pH regulation, Na⁺/H⁺ exchange (NHE) has been shown to facilitate cell growth and proliferation. However, the effects of long-term inhibition of Na⁺/H⁺ exchange on cardiac structural and functional remodeling post myocardial infarction (MI) are still controversial. The present study was therefore carried out to further investigate the effects of long-term treatment with cariporide, a specific inhibitor of NHE-1, on cardiac remodeling after MI in rats; Methods: Male Wistar rats that underwent coronary ligation were randomly selected for cariporide treatment starting 6 h after induction of MI or no treatment. Treatment was continued up to 6 weeks post MI, after which, the arterial, venous and left ventricular catheters were chronically implanted. Twenty-four h later, after hemodynamic signals were recorded in conscious rats, they were sacrificed and hearts were taken out for morphological examinations; Results: Cariporide treatment decreased the heart weight and heart weight to body weight ratio (bothP<0.05), decreased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (P<0.001), improved myocardial contractility (dP/dt _max) (P<0.05) and tended to increase the survival of treated rats compared to that of untreated infarct rats; Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that the long-term inhibition of NHE with cariporide can attenuate cardiac structural remodeling and improve left ventricular dysfunction in infarcted rats, and suggest that Na⁺/H⁺ exchange inhibition could be an effective therapeutic strategy for myocardial infarction-induced heart failure.     

Mentoring Within the Field of Counseling: A Preliminary Study of Multicultural Perspectives

Although the concept of mentoring is receiving increasing attention in the counseling field, the intersection between multiculturalism and mentoring has not been formally addressed. This article explores mentoring relationships between faculty and students within counselor education from a multicultural perspective. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore African American, Asian American and Latina/o American counselor education graduate students’ perspectives on mentoring. Three similar themes (trust/comfort/honesty; respect; and teacher/student/guide) emerged for all three racial/ethnic groups as important key elements in the mentoring relationship, but with some distinctive culturally relevant variations in emphasis. Also, all three groups to some degree reported that having a mentor who was culturally competent and sensitive was helpful, adding further weight to the view that cultural issues play a role in mentoring relationships. Implications of the findings are discussed.