Are abusive fractures in young children becoming less common? Changes over 24 years

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the proportion of fractures rated as abusive in children <36 months of age evaluated at a regional pediatric hospital increased over a 24-year period from 1979 to 2002. Fractures were chosen as an example of serious injuries in young children. METHODS: Medical records were abstracted for all children <36 months of age who were seen at a single pediatric hospital with a fracture during three time periods: 1979-1983, 1991-1994, and 1999-2002. After reviewing the abstracted and radiographic information, two clinicians (one an expert on child abuse) and two pediatric radiologists each rated the likelihood of abuse using explicit criteria and a seven-point scale from definite abuse to definite unintentional injury. Ratings were done independently; when disagreements occurred, the case was discussed, and a joint rating was agreed upon, if possible. The proportions of cases rated as abuse were compared over the three time periods, and logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR). RESULTS: In the early, middle, and late samples, there were 200, 240, and 232 children, respectively, with fractures. The proportion of cases rated as abuse decreased from 22.5% in the early period to 10.0% in the middle period and was 10.8% in the late period (p<.001). When comparing the odds of abuse in the middle and late groups to the odds of abuse in the early group (controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, type of medical insurance, and site of pediatric care), the adjusted ORs were .31 (95% CI=.15, .62) for the middle group and .45 (95% CI=.23, .86) for the late group. Thus, the odds of a given case being rated as abuse decreased by over 50% from the early period to the middle and late time periods. No statistically significant difference was found when comparing the odds of abuse for the middle group to those of the late group, OR: 1.46 (95% CI=.69, 3.08). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of abusive fractures in young children decreased substantially from 1979-1983 to 1991-1994 and 1999-2002 at a major pediatric hospital. We speculate that this decrease may reflect early recognition of less serious forms of maltreatment and the availability of services to high-risk families.     

Tracking avian flu on the Web

To some the term avian flu or H5N1 has become synonymous with the pandemic flu of 1918. Like the former pandemic, this current threat has the potential to cause up to 7.4 million deaths worldwide. Yet as of mid-2006, the viability of this threat is still unclear. There is no doubt that birds, especially poultry, have been the primary target of this particular strain of influenza. Human illnesses and deaths have resulted from direct contact with birds; farmers and food handlers are most at risk. Fortunately there has not been a shift to human-to-human transmission. However, it is imperative for public heath officers, health professionals, and other appropriate officials to keep current on the progress of this virus within the bird population, and its spread around the world. Preventative measures including worst case scenarios have been widely discussed and even resulted in a made-for-TV movie. The need for up-to-date information is essential in order to track the extent of transmission, location of current outbreaks, and most importantly steps for preparedness that could be vital for prevention and containment. This article explores and identifies major Web sites along with basic Internet search techniques to find informative and credible Webbased resources. doi:10.1300/J115v26n01_06.     

Engaging Students in Science Courses: Lessons of Change from the Arctic

Where you live should have something to do with what you teach. In the Arctic, the idea of place-based education – teaching and sharing knowledge that is needed to live well – is central to the UARCTIC consortium and the 4^th International Polar Year educational reform effort. A place-based issue oriented context can engage students in chemistry concepts when it intersects with their experience and lives. This article examines the rationale and means of integrating local concerns such as world view, culture, traditional knowledge, and policy into both general and specialized chemistry courses. More broadly, capacious placebased issues should be widely adapted by all curriculum reform efforts to demonstrate the connectivity between science and societal understanding of technological options. A case in point is the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in a non-majors general chemistry course when the concepts of scientific method, ice and water resources, genetic engineering, and so forth are discussed. In a specialized course on radioactivity in the north, topics connected nuclear chemistry and radioactivity to people and energy. The local landscape should be central to science courses and involve issues relevant to stewardship, a component of the indigenous world view. The historical issues can be connected to current nuclear energy and uranium mining as they relate to the risks and benefits for the local community. This article will make the case that curriculum reform that focuses on real-world topics will not only engage students so that they perform well in class but also spark their interest so that they continue learning after the course is over.     

技术引进和出口贸易对自主研发的影响——浙江高技术产业的实证研究

根据对浙江省高技术产业中1111家企业2003-2005年的调查数据,研究了不同类型的技术引进和产品出口对企业自主研发投资的影响。实证研究结果表明,总体上看,技术引进和出口对于企业的自主研发没有产生显著影响。从技术引进和出口贸易的不同类型来看,非体现性技术引进对企业自主研发有显著的正向影响,而体现性技术引进则没有显著的正面影响,甚至有一定的负面作用。高技术产品出口对企业的自主研发有显著的积极影响,但是,传统产品出口对企业的自主研发具有显著的负作用。本研究结果对于提升我国企业创新能力具有重要的政策指导意义。     

爱说狠话的小孩

小小年纪,会说狠话 外婆跟我说,好几次我不在家的时候土根很凶地吼她,让土根把饭吃完,土根大喊:"不要你管……再说我要打死你!" 外婆有点慌地跟我说:"土根小小一个人儿,说起话来怎么这么狠?"我跟她说,土根最近在这个说狠话的阶段,跟我也是一言不合就说"打死你"……给他读个科学绘本,说地心引力会阻碍人们跳起来,土根一边捶地...     

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Higher Education: A Collaborative Self-Study

In this article we discuss findings from a collaborative self-study of how seven teacher educators define, enact, and navigate their roles as culturally responsive educators across various programs within a higher education institution. All participants conducted an individual interview with another team member and engaged in prolonged team meetings in order to understand and conceptualize culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP). Findings include the participants' difficulty with defining CRP in higher education; the importance of modeling and building relationships with students when enacting CRP; tensions related to students and institutions; and professional and personal opportunities to continuously evolve. The findings begin to fill in a void for an articulated framework of CRP beyond P-12 classrooms and illustrate the type of support and professional development higher education institutions need to provide for teacher educators to actualize this work.     

Workplace Learning in Dual Higher Professional Education

Workplace learning is considered an effective strategy for the development of vocation, career and professional identity. Dual training programs, in which learning at a vocational school and learning at work in a company are combined, are seen as strong carriers for skill formation processes. In this study we explore workplace learning in dual training programs in Dutch higher professional education. To gain an understanding of these learning environments and processes, a qualitative multiple case study was conducted in seven sectors. The findings show substantial differences in learning environments between and within sectors. However, cooperation between school and practice is minimal in all of the cases. Although students develop personal and job-related competencies that are useful for daily work routines, they acquire hardly any profound theoretical knowledge at the workplace. School fails to direct workplace learning. Given the considerable share of workplace learning in dual training programs, and the demands to higher professional education graduates in terms of being able to solve complex problems and develop new knowledge during their career as reflective practitioners, it is important that these shortcomings are resolved. More promising alternatives for workplace learning environments and questions for further research to improve workplace learning in higher professional education are discussed.     

Revising Strategy Instruction in Inclusive Settings: Effects for English Learners and Novice Writers

Twenty‐three students with varying academic and linguistic profiles were taught a strategy for revising expository essays, using the Self‐Regulated Strategy Development model for instruction. Students learned basic revising tactics and to consider text structure as they managed decisions on how to improve their essays. Instructional effects were assessed using a multiple baseline with multiple probes in baseline design. Positive results were found for English learners, including those who were identified as having learning disabilities, or who were low‐, average‐ and high‐achieving writers; moreover, results were equally positive for students who were not English learners. After instruction and 4 weeks later, students revised more, produced more revisions that improved text, and revised longer text segments, which resulted in an improvement in overall quality.