仁者在述说——刘春来小说的审美解读

刘春来继承和发扬了周立波的艺术旨趣和创作传统,他以仁者的审美情怀,用小说的表达方式,叙述新时期以来中国农村的历史变迁和农民的生存命运,为我们观照当代中国社会底层的芸芸众生及其日常生活、心路历程,提供了一幅幅具有审美深度的艺术画卷.     

The Stories of Nico and Brooke Revisited: Toward a Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue About Teaching and Learning

ABSTRACT— In "A tale of two cases: Lessons for education from the study of two boys living with half their brains" ( M. H. Immordino-Yang, 2007 ), I showed that Nico (missing his right cerebral hemisphere) and Brooke (missing his left) had compensated for basic neuropsychological skills to previously unexpected degrees and argued that the ways they had compensated revealed general principles about the active role of the learner and the organizing role of emotion and social interaction in development. Here, I briefly review my findings and interpretations of that work as background for readers to engage in the cross-disciplinary conversation that follows in this journal issue.     

What do individuals in different science groups within a life sciences organization think about genetic modification?

An assessment was undertaken of the attitudes of individuals within the science community towards a program to produce genetically modified cattle for altered milk composition, expectantly allowing for research into the treatment of multiple sclerosis in humans. The majority of respondents to an electronic survey expressed favorable attitudes to the program, thought it beneficial, respected individual freedom and was fair and just and disagreed that it was harmful. A passion for science and having a suitable lifestyle were the most important motivating factors for individuals. Finally, there were a wide range of responses to a number of cultural beliefs or myths. Science grouping significantly affected the responses. Compared with Systems and Land groups, Plant and Reproduction groups more strongly agreed with the project, thought it less harmful to interest groups, felt that genetic modification of animals was more morally acceptable, and more strongly agreed with the myth statements. These results indicate a diversity of beliefs and attitudes towards genetic modification amongst those within the science community, and highlight the importance of understanding ethics and myths in dealing with them. It is suggested that the diversity of beliefs could be better used to help shape public policy and understanding of biotechnology.     

Homocysteine status and acute myocardial infarction among Tamilians

Myocardial infarction is a major consequence of coronary artery disease. Apart from the traditional risk factors of myocardial infarction, recently many reports have suggested that hyperhomocysteinemia plays important role in myocardial infarction. Plasma homocysteine level was determined in 60 myocardial infarction patients and in 35 age matched healthy individuals. Statistically significant differences (p<0.01) were observed in the mean of plasma homocysteine concentrations between the acute myocardial infarction patients (24.59±6.14 mM/L) and in normal healthy individuals (13.73 ±3.54 mM/L). The level of homocysteine in myocardial infarction patients is significantly high (p <0.01) among myocardial infarction patients when compared to that of the controls. The the present study indicates a strong association between plasma homocysteine and acute myocardial infarction among Tamilians, thus implying plasma homocysteine as a possible risk factor for myocardial infarction.     

Protective role of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phyllanthus niruri</Emphasis> against nimesulide induced hepatic damage

Present study aimed to evaluate the protective role of the aqueous extract of Phyllanthus niruri (P. niruri) against nimesulide-induced hepatic disoder in mice by determining levels of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in serum and also by measuring the hepatic content of the antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismitase (SOD) and catalase (CAT); the free radical scavenger, reduced glutathione (GSH) and thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS). Aqueous extract of P. niruri was administered either orally or intraperitoneally in different doses and times as needed for the experiments. Intraperitoneal of the extract (100 mg/kg body weight for seven days) reduced nimesulide (750 mg/kg body weight for 3 days) induced increased levels of GOT (37.0±1.8 units/ml in control group vs. 91.8±2.0 units/ml in nimesulide treated group vs. 35.0±1.0 units/ml in extract treated group), GPT (30.0±2.1 units/ml in control group vs. 88.4±2.9 units/ml in nimesulide treated group vs. 34.1±1.8 units/ml in extract treated group), and ALP (7.86±0.47 KA units/ml in control group vs. 23.80±0.60 KA units/ml in nimesulide treated group vs. 7.30±0.40 KA units/ml, in extract treated group) to almost nomal. In addition, P. niruri restored the nimesulide induced alterations of hepatic SOD (550±20 units/mg total protein in control group vs. 310±13 units/mg total protein in nimesulide treated group vs. 515±10 units/mg total protein in extract treated group), CAT (99.5±2 units/mg total protein in control group vs. 25.0±1.5 units/mg total protein in nimesulide treated group vs. 81.0±0.8 units/mg total protein in extract treated group), GSH (90±3 nmoles/mg total protein in control group vs. 17±4.2 nmoles/mg total protein in nimesulide treated group vs. 81±1 nmoles/mg total protein in extract treated group) and TBARS (measured as MDA, 36.6±3.0 nmoles/g liver tissue in control group vs. 96.3±5.2 nmoles/g liver tissue in nimesulide treated group vs. 41.2±1.7 nmoles/g liver tissue in extract treated group) contents. Dose-dependent studies showed that the herb could protect liver even if the nimesulide-induced injury is severe. Intraperitoneal administration of the extract showed better protective effect than oral administration. Combining all, the data suggest that P. niruri possesses hepatoprotective activity against nimesulide-induced liver toxicity and probably acts via an antioxidant defense mechanism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the hepatoprotective action of P. niruri against nimesulide induced liver damage.     

Video as a tool for fostering productive discussions in mathematics professional development

This article explores the use of classroom video as a tool for fostering productive discussions about teaching and learning. The setting for our research is a 2-year mathematics professional development program, based on the Problem-Solving Cycle model. This model relies on video from the teachers’ own classrooms and emphasizes creating a community in which members feel comfortable learning from video. We describe our experiences carrying out the Problem-Solving Cycle model, focusing on our use of video, our efforts to promote a supportive and analytical environment, and the ways in which teachers’ conversations around video developed over a 2-year period.     

Unpacking Participatory Research in Education

The authors of this paper are members of Ottawa Participatory Researchers in Education (OPRE) a group of teachers, university academics, and students attempting to develop research initiatives using democratic and collaborative research approaches. Building on the experiences of the group, the paper examines and problematizes three elements typically ascribed to non-traditional research approaches: a social action focus, a transformative objective, and a participatory process. Particular emphasis is placed on the questions of who participates, in what ways, and under what conditions. As a result of OPRE's experience and self reflection, seven traps of "pseudo-democracy" are identified and illustrated as potential problems in research purporting to embody equal collaboration between university based academics and community members, such as teachers and students. It is argued that in order to further a democratic research process, equality of opportunity to participate cannot be assumed at any stage of the research process. Attention is paid to the following stages: setting the research agenda, the research epistemology, chronology of the project, representativeness of project participants, funding processes, knowledge cultures, and dissemination choices. Conclusions call for raising awareness of the possibility of teachers and students collaborating to identify research issues of mutual concern and developing a controlling role in research where academics are included as consultants and equals, but not as the possessors of superior and controlling research expertise.     

Emotional intelligence and components of burnout among Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong

The relationships among four components of emotional intelligence (emotional appraisal, positive regulation, empathic sensitivity, and positive utilization) and three components of teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) were investigated in a sample of 167 Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. One hypothesized and five competing models were constructed and tested using structural equation modeling procedures. The hypothesized model provided an adequate and moderately good fit, suggesting that emotional exhaustion, influenced by emotional appraisal and positive regulation, was causally prior to depersonalization and personal accomplishment, but personal accomplishment could develop relatively independently from the burnout components through the influence of positive utilization of emotions. Implications of the findings on the articulation of components of emotional intelligence and burnout for preventive intervention efforts to combat burnout are discussed.     

Writing Process and Progress: Where Do We Go from Here?

This article examines the rationale behind the government's methods for raising standards in writing at Key Stage 2. Firstly there is a renewed drive to teach discrete units of sentence grammar. Secondly there is a fresh commitment to shared and guided writing. But, because it is envisaged that these teacher‐led sessions will take up at least half of the Literacy Hour two or three times a week, both these aims will lead to a diminution of time for written composition by the children themselves. This is in accordance with new criticisms by NLS policy makers of the model of ‘process’ embedded in the National Curriculum, particularly the idea of creative pre‐writing activities and sustained independent writing. The article goes on to argue that these new measures ignore research on the ways children learn to write and will not lead to a rise in standards.     

Promoting strategy generalization through self-instructional training in students with reading disabilities

Twenty Grade 5 and 6 students with reading disabilities, 20 average readers in Grade 3, and 20 average readers in Grades 5 and 6 were taught to use a self-questioning strategy for the identification of main ideas. They were randomly assigned to either a standard instruction or a generalization induction condition. In the latter, informed training and self-instructional training techniques were employed to promote generalization of strategy use. Subjects were posttested under both a cued and an uncued condition in their homerooms. Results indicated that the self-instructional training succeeded in facilitating the identification of main ideas among students with reading disabilities and in helping them to maintain their improved performance when they were no longer prompted to use the strategy in a transfer setting.