SPEAKY

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Role of Oncofetal Protein CR-1 as a Potential Tumor Marker for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Cripto-1 (CR-1) is an oncofetal protein with its role as a key factor in early process of carcinoma has been evaluated in cases of various cancers. However, very few studies have reported its role in oral cancer, which is the sixth most common cancer around the world, particularly with high prevalence in developing countries. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most predominant (90%) of all the histological types of oral cancer. Late detection, associated with increased morbidity and mortality, is mainly attributed to non-availability of a suitable biomarker for the disease. In the present pilot study, we have evaluated the role of soluble CR-1, in serum as a potential tumor marker for OSCC. CR-1 was estimated using sandwich ELISA in serum samples of 50 biopsy proven OSCC patients (pre and post treatment) along with age and gender matched healthy controls. Immunohistochemistry was also done in corresponding tumor tissue sections to check the expression of CR-1. Pre-treatment CR-1 was found to be 2.25-fold higher in serum of OSCC patients as compared to control (p < 0.0001***), which was reduced to 1.6 folds post treatment (p = 0.0006***). CR-1 levels were comparatively higher in early stage of disease. Upon IHC 80% of the cases were found to be positive for CR-1. This study provides evidence that serum levels of CR-1 are elevated in patients of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, which decrease post treatment. Also, the association of expression of protein with tumor progression predicts CR-1 as a molecule that can be further evaluated as a potential tumor maker in OSCC.     

Humanistic Bildung: regulative idea or empty concept?

The article focuses on the notion and humanistic ideal of self-cultivation and self-transformation, for which the term Bildung is/was traditionally used in German educational thought. It is argued that the idea of Bildung, understood as human development and end-in-itself, is not a German exclusivity. However, to understand the specificity of the notion, it may be necessary to consider that German Enlightenment—Aufklärung—in which the term gained a lot of importance, came later in history than French, English, and Scottish Enlightenment. Whereas in the early Western Enlightenment period, freedom was understood as an outward, definitely political concept, in later German Enlightenment the predominant understanding of freedom was characterized by a rather aesthetic dimension, not outward but internal freedom. The shift from a political understanding of Enlightenment—like in France, and also England or Scotland—to German inwardness (“Innerlichkeit”), as realized by the concept of Bildung, can be—at least to a certain degree—interpreted as a desire of German intellectuals at the time to escape from a brutal and on the whole disappointing post-revolutionary world to a place where man could seek secular perfection: an escape toward inwardness.     

Romanticism and Romantic Science: Their Contribution to Science Education

The unique contributions of romanticism and romantic science have been generally ignored or undervalued in history and philosophy of science studies and science education. Although more recent research in history of science has come to delineate the value of both topics for the development of modern science, their merit for the educational field has not been explored. Romanticism was not only an obvious historical period, but a particular state of mind with its own extraordinary emotional sensitivity towards nature. It is especially the latter which we hope to revisit and reclaim for science education. After discussing several key historical contributions, we describe nine characteristics of ‘Romantic Science’ in order to focus on six ideas/possibilities that we believe hold much value for transforming current science education: (1) the emotional sensitivity toward nature, (2) the centrality of sense experience, (3) the importance of “holistic experience”, (4) the importance of the notions of mystery and wonder, (5) the power of science to transform people’s outlook on the natural world, and (6) the importance of the relationship between science and philosophy. It is argued that in view of a pragmatist/utilitarian conception of school science prevalent today the aforementioned ideas (especially the notion of wonder and the poetic/non-analytical mode of knowledge), can provide food for thought for both science teachers and researchers seeking to work out an aesthetic conception, one that complements current approaches such as inquiry science and conceptual change.     

Ranking institutions within a discipline: The steep mountain of academic excellence

We present a novel algorithm to rank smaller academic entities such as university departments or research groups within a research discipline. The Weighted Top Candidate (WTC) algorithm is a generalisation of an expert identification method. The axiomatic characterisation of WTC shows why it is especially suitable for scientometric purposes. The key axiom is stability – the selected institutions support each other's membership. The WTC algorithm, upon receiving an institution citation matrix, produces a list of institutions that can be deemed experts of the field. With a parameter we can adjust how exclusive our list should be. By completely relaxing the parameter, we obtain the largest stable set – academic entities that can qualify as experts under the mildest conditions. With a strict setup, we obtain a short list of the absolute elite. We demonstrate the algorithm on a citation database compiled from game theoretic literature published between 2008–2017. By plotting the size of the stable sets with respect to exclusiveness, we can obtain an overview of the competitiveness of the field. The diagram hints at how difficult it is for an institution to improve its position.     

Irish post-primary students' attitudes towards ethnic minorities

The changing ethnic make-up of Irish society has impacted upon schools. Existing, largely qualitative studies have highlighted mixed attitudes towards ethnic minorities. Literature has also focused on the role of the state in articulating a discourse that shapes school-level responses to minorities. This paper critiques the idea of a unitary state discourse and the role of other educational bodies, such as schools, in drawing upon a range of alternate public discourses to shape how they act, is identified. Drawing upon a large quantitative study involving 4970 post-primary pupil respondents, this paper finds that many Irish post-primary students report low levels of social distance from Black African Immigrants, Muslims and Eastern Europeans. Negative attitudes are most prevalent with respect to members of the Travelling community. The potential positive impact of school-level programmes – such as those related to global justice and inequalities – is identified through the lower levels of negative attitudes towards ethnic minorities reported by Transition Year students who have experienced such programmes.     

Re-imagining the traditional lecture: an action research approach to teaching student teachers to ‘do’ philosophy

Although we were required to lecture to large groups of over 170 students, the traditional lecture clashed with our commitment to teach in a way that was student-centred, relational and socially and politically transformative. In this context, and using an action research approach, we sought to turn our large-group lectures into a space that both met some of the historic aims of the lecture in passing on received knowledge, but also became a space for students to immediately engage in a process of discussion and dialogue around the concepts and ideas raised. Although the literature suggested this was not possible in groups of over a hundred, we found that our students identified that the re-imagined lecture significantly aided their learning in a number of key respects.     

中欧体育健康项目“健康儿童?健康社会”研究

“健康儿童?健康社会”（HCSC）是在欧盟体育健康发展准则下,构建由家庭、学校、体育组织、地区政府等诸多部门组成的复合体系,通过降低BMI值减少超重,改善运动能力,进而提高个人生活质量。主要通过对HCSC项目的历史发展进行论述,对HCSC的核心理念、组织构架、运作模式3方面进行剖析,并以中国实验学校为例,对实验干预前后学生的身体健康指标进行对比分析,旨为国内相关领域研究抛砖引玉。     

Electroencephalogram and Heart Rate Regulation to Familiar and Unfamiliar People in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Few studies have examined whether familiarity of partner affects social responses in children with autism. This study investigated heart rate regulation (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]: The myelinated vagus nerve's regulation of heart rate) and temporal–parietal electroencephalogram (EEG) activity while nineteen 8- to 12-year-old children with autism and 14 controls viewed videos of a familiar and an unfamiliar person reading a story. Children with autism had lower overall RSA levels and exhibited decreased RSA to the unfamiliar person, versus control children. Both groups decreased temporal–parietal EEG activity to the unfamiliar person. Higher RSA was related to higher social skill ratings and fewer problem behaviors. Thus, the social difficulties of children with autism may be characterized by specific mobilization to unfamiliar people.