Moving out of conflict into reconciliation – Bildung through philosophical dialogue in intercultural and interreligious education

The empirical basis of this article is the reconciliation process in a destructive conflict between students of different cultural and religious backgrounds in upper secondary education in Norway. The Dialogos approach to dialogical philosophizing was tried out through an action research process in order to bring about reconciliation, letting the students explore existential, ethical, religious and emotional topics together. The empirical reconciliation process is discussed in relation to elements of the philosophical concept Bildung, aiming at answering the following overarching questions: how did the movement from conflict to reconciliation come about through the action research process; to what extent might the Reconciliation Project be understood as a process of Bildung towards human maturity and wisdom; and how might philosophical dialogues become an institutionalized part of interreligious and intercultural education?     

Inhalte und Strukturen prototypischer Merkmale in Fußballmannschaften

Members of a social group possess a shared social identity, which is individually represented as the group prototype. The prototype is the individual cognitive representation of all attributes, which best describes the group from the group members’ point of view. The aim of the study was to gather those attributes provided by group members of a soccer team and subsequently to describe and categorize them by means of a content analysis. Using one single open question, a total of 1581 attributes were assessed through n?=?278 soccer players (67?% male; M?=?23.5 years, SD?=?5.0 years) from 20 soccer teams. The data analysis was based on the qualitative content analysis described by Mayring (2010). Results show that the attributes mentioned by the team members can be divided into four distinct categories (social, psychological, sport specific, ecological). These categories result from intragroup synchronisations. Future research should examine which categories and subcategories seem to best represent the prototype in soccer teams.     

Validity of the ActiGraph GT1M during walking and cycling

Abstract

The ActiGraph activity monitors have developed and newer versions of the ActiGraph accelerometers (GT1M, GT3X and GT3X +) are now available, including changes in hardware and software compared to the old version (AM7164). This is problematic as most of the validation and calibration work includes the AM7164. The aims of the study were to validate the ActiGraph GT1M during level and graded walking and to assess the potential underestimation of physical activity during cycling. Data were obtained from 20 participants during treadmill walking and ergometer cycling. Energy expenditure was measured via indirect calorimetry and used as the criterion method. Activity counts were highly correlated with energy expenditure during level walking (R² = 0.82) and graded walking at 5% and 8% (R² = 0.82 and R² = 0.67, respectively). There was no linear relationship between activity counts and energy expenditure during cycling. The average activity counts for all data points during cycling was 1,157 counts per minute (CPM) (SD = 974), and mean energy expenditure was 5.0 metabolic equivalents. The GT1M is a valid tool for assessing walking across a wide range of speeds and gradients. However, there is no relationship between activity counts and energy expenditure during cycling and physical activity is underestimated by ≈73% during cycling compared to walking.     

The relationship between PE biographies and PE teaching practices of classroom teachers

The current study sought to explore the relationship between personal school physical education (PE) experiences and current PE teaching practices of classroom teachers. Questionnaires were completed by 189 teachers from 38 randomly selected schools. Additionally, semi-structured interviews of 31 classroom teachers were conducted. The results indicated that many teachers had negative memories of school PE and believed that they were not taught anything. Interestingly, teachers involved in the study held reasonably positive attitudes towards teaching PE but examination of their current teaching practices indicated that little ‘teaching’ was evident in their PE programmes. A hierarchical regression model was used to examine key predictors of PE programme quality and accounted for 32% of the variance. Personal school experiences in primary school PE, quality of preservice education and attitudes to teaching PE were established as significant predictors. A key finding of the current study was the significant relationship evident between personal school experiences in PE and current PE teaching practices which has not been previously established with classroom teachers. The implications of these findings for preservice education and professional development will be discussed.     

Microstripes for transport and separation of magnetic particles

We present a simple technique for creating an on-chip magnetic particle conveyor based on exchange-biased permalloy microstripes. The particle transportation relies on an array of stripes with a spacing smaller than their width in conjunction with a periodic sequence of four different externally applied magnetic fields. We demonstrate the controlled transportation of a large population of particles over several millimeters of distance as well as the spatial separation of two populations of magnetic particles with different magnetophoretic mobilities. The technique can be used for the controlled selective manipulation and separation of magnetically labelled species.     

Development of a magnetic immunosorbent for on-chip preconcentration of amyloid �� isoforms: Representatives of Alzheimer��s disease biomarkers

Determination of amyloid β (Aβ) isoforms and in particular the proportion of the Aβ 1-42 isoform in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients suspected of Alzheimer’s disease might help in early diagnosis and treatment of that illness. Due to the low concentration of Aβ peptides in biological fluids, a preconcentration step prior to the detection step is often necessary. This study utilized on-chip immunoprecipitation, known as micro-immunoprecipitation (μIP). The technique uses an immunosorbent (IS) consisting of magnetic beads coated with specific anti-Aβ antibodies organized into an affinity microcolumn by a magnetic field. Our goal was to thoroughly describe the critical steps in developing the IS, such as selecting the proper beads and anti-Aβ antibodies, as well as optimizing the immobilization technique and μIP protocol. The latter includes selecting optimal elution conditions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the efficiency of anti-Aβ IS for μIP and specific capture of 5 Aβ peptides under optimized conditions using various subsequent analytical methods, including matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), capillary electrophoresis, microchip electrophoresis, and immunoblotting. Synthetic Aβ peptides samples prepared in buffer and spiked in human CSF were analyzed. Finally, on-chip immunoprecipitation of Aβ peptides in human CSF sample was performed.