Code and Habitus: comparing the accounts of Bernstein and Bourdieu

This paper compares Bourdieu's notion of habitus with Bernstein's concept of code in an attempt to show how the apparent similarities mask more deeply seated differences in the way the concepts are conceived and used. We argue that Bernstein is following an essentially structuralist agenda of the kind that Bourdieu has set himself against. To this end, Bourdieu seeks to overcome the rigidities of ‘rules’ (which lie at the heart of the idea of Bernstein's code), with the more flexible notion of ‘strategy’ which incorporates the idea that structure and agency are implicit in each other rather than being dichotomous entities.     

Compensatory changes in physical activity and sedentary time in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis

Physical activity (PA) is a key element in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) treatment strategies, yet little is known as to whether activity compensation occurs. This study examined whether PA and/or sedentary time on one day were temporally associated with time spent in these intensities the following day in youth with CF. Time spent sedentary and in different PA intensities were objectively-measured for seven consecutive days in 50 youth (22 boys; 12.0 ± 2.7 years); 25 with mild-to-moderate CF and 25 age- and sex-matched controls. Multilevel analyses (day and child) were conducted using generalised linear latent and mixed models. On any given day, every additional 10 minutes spent in sedentary time or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were associated with 1.9 (95%CI: ?3.6 to ?1.2) and 12.4 (95%CI: ?22.1 to ?2.9) minutes less sedentary time the following day, respectively. These temporal associations were also observed when split by group (3.1 vs. 1.9 minutes for healthy and CF, respectively). These findings indicate that youth do not compensate their PA, irrespective of disease status, between days, but may compensate their sedentary time between days. Experimental studies are warranted to fully elucidate whether compensatory responses to PA and sedentary time occur, which is fundamental for informing PA promotion strategies.     

Communicating Prevention: The Effects of the keepin' it REAL Classroom Videotapes and Televised PSAs on Middle-School Students' Substance Use

This study sought to determine if exposure to two communication-oriented activities, videotapes and public service announcements, accounts for changes in substance use among adolescents participating in the Drug Resistance Strategies Project's keepin' it REAL adolescent substance use prevention curriculum. Middle-school students (4,734, 72% Latino) responded to questionnaires related to these analyses. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model was fit separately to six substance use outcomes. The results suggested that intervention students who saw four or five videos engaged in less substance use in the past month than did students who saw fewer videos. Having seen the PSAs one or more times did not predict the reported change in substance use.     

Transportation of AIE-visualized nanoliposomes is dominated by the protein corona

Liposomes, especially cationic liposomes, are the most common and well-investigated nanocarriers for biomedical applications, such as drug and gene delivery. Like other types of nanomaterials, once liposomes are incubated in a biological milieu, their surface can be immediately cloaked by biological components to form a protein corona, which confers a new ‘biological identity’ and modulates downstream interactions with cells. However, it remains unclear how the protein corona affects the transportation mechanism after liposomes interact with cells. Here, we employed home-made aggregation-induced-emission-visualized nanoliposomes TR4@Lipo as a model to investigate transportation with or without the protein corona by optical imaging techniques. The results show that the protein corona can change the cellular transportation mechanism of TR4@Lipo from energy-independent membrane fusion to energy-dependent endocytosis. The protein corona also modulates the intracellular distribution of loaded cargoes. This knowledge furthers our understanding of bio-nano interactions and is important for the efficient use of cationic liposomes.     

Effects of student-facilitated learning on instructional facilitators

We investigated perceptions about learning strategy use and instructional roles among a sample of high needs adolescents (n = 230) who acted as near-peer instructional facilitators. The sample was drawn from science and mathematics classes in nonselective public secondary schools in New York City. Students participated in an inschool intervention that draws on social constructivism, theory and research on metacognition and learning strategies, role theory, and empirical findings from the peer-to-peer learning literature to promote advanced achievement among students who act as facilitators. Using a pre- and post-test single group design, we surveyed student instructional facilitators before and after program participation and related their perceptions about learning strategy use and perceptions about teaching roles to data about academic achievement. We found no survey gains in student perceptions about learning strategies or instructional roles between pre-survey (fall) and post-survey (spring). We found small but significant effects of individual perceptions about learning strategies and teaching roles on academic gains among instructional facilitators. The study also suggests that an in-school near-peer facilitated learning program can be an effective means to raise achievement in urban high schools. The study provides partial support for theories that hold that metacognition and role perceptions are involved in the academic gains of instructional facilitators, as gains in these dimensions were small compared to achievement gains.     

Chinese students at an English-Language university: Prediction of academic performance

There is a paucity of systematic research on prediction of success at the tertiary education level for Asian students, despite the important role that universities play in Asian communities, and despite the increasing numbers of such students who are coming to the West to study. This study reviews evidence collected over the past ten to fifteen years, which relates to the issue of prediction of academic performance of Chinese students at an English-Language and Western-oriented university - the University of Hong Kong. This review is complemented by an analysis of data collected longitudinally over a five year period, using multiple regression, multiple correlation, path analysis and canonical correlation analyses. The results provide evidence of factors which are important in determining the ability of a student to adapt to the foreign cultural and language barriers that exist at this university. In particular, ability in English language and mathematics provides good and reasonably independent predictors of success. The data show the importance of considering the cultural background of students when assessing their aptitude for study, and offer information for Western universities regarding their admissions procedures for Chinese students.     

Evaluation of the benefits of laboratory research and information services

The authors examine the problems of ex-post evaluation of the benefits deriving from services provided by Government Laboratories. They concentrate on the difficulties of conducting meaningful ex-post studies since they feel that too many claims are made on the basis of inadequate, incomplete economic assessments using data that would not be substantiated if probed deeply. Their views are based on a review of nine years' practical evaluation experience.The paper defines three ways in which services/information sources can link up with intended recipients, and discusses the practical problems associated with assessing the impact of services in each case. These problems range from sampling errors and sample bias in questionnaire approaches, to limited respondent knowledge and perspective. Critical probing can overcome these difficulties in some, though not all, instances, since there are issues of principle that prohibit unique attribution of benefits to specific initiatives in many ex-post analyses. The use of cost recovery as a proxy measure of worth is reviewed.The authors point out that ex-ante appraisal of profits is not subject to the same constraints and avoids many of the pitfalls of ex-post evaluation.