Disabling methodologies

In efforts to generate inclusive schooling, educational policy makers and teachers presumably need to know what the terms of exclusion have been and how inclusion would operate. If disability's definition and, hence, identification is constitutionally unstable however, inclusive schooling becomes a more ambiguous affair. This article examines the methodologies deployed to analyse disability in cultural perspective. It maps critical/feminist and critical post-structural methodologies for treating definitional difficulties. It problematises the notion of cross-culture by analysing the play of a Westernness in different accounts. It suggests that definitional 'dilemmas' noted in studies of disability and culture are not resolved by critical/feminist or critical post-structural approaches. The difficulty of definition is grounded more broadly in a moment that seeks to notice itself, particularly through the play of language and appeals to historical relativity. The 'resolution' that the article suggests is the article itself: to map the insideness of outsideness in regard to 'culture' and 'persons', and to locate the activity of mapping as another colonising effect of scientific thought.     

Preservation of fatty duck liver by high pressure treatment

Fatty liver samples from duck were treated with high pressures and packaged in multilayer films. Microbiological analysis, permeability of the films to oxygen and fat loss, caused by melting, were assessed after pressure or thermal treatment. Microbiological analysis showed a noteworthy reduction in the total aerobic mesophilic flora and eradication of the coliform flora, whichever film or treatment was used. Nevertheless, a significant bacterial flora was observed during storage at 4 °C from 42 days with a polyethylene/polyamide/polyethylene film and a sample which had been treated with pressure. But, treatment at 550 MPa for 55 °C and 20 min, in combination with two low oxygen permeability films (ethylene and vinyl alcohol copolymer) gave a product with long storage life (90 days) at 4 °C and a significant reduction in the melting of lipids.     

Collaboration of a university and state mental health agency: Curriculum for improving services for children.

We describe the collaboration of a state university and a state mental health agency in implementing training to improve skills of community mental health center staff for working with children, adolescents, and their families. The project consisted of three phases: (a) a needs assessment survey was conducted, (b) a series of written instructional modules were developed, and (c) workshops were conducted in six locations across the state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of religious affiliation, religious involvement, and sex on the social desirability ratings of MMPI religion items.

Because efforts to account for individual differences in social desirability responding have been largely unsuccessful, an investigation was undertaken to determine whether meaningful relationships can be found if S characteristics relevant to the items being rated are selected. Religion items from the MMPI were rated by 90 Ss classified by religious affiliation, degree of religious participation, and sex. The 1st 2 factors and item content markedly influenced Ss' perception of the statements, attesting to the effectiveness of this more precise approach. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infrared measurement of total fatty acids in blood serum

Quantitative determination of total fatty acids in rabbit blood serum is achieved using the infrared absorption band, associated with the C = O stretching vibration at 1713 cm^?1 (5.84 μm). Different tests are described to show the validity of this method for a wide range of variation in total concentration and in individual percentages of any one fatty acid. The results are treated by statistical methods, and it is found that infrared analysis is five times more sensitive than methods described previously. This accurate technique, which can be applied to other serums has, for example, been applied to disclose a systematic error in the preparation of total fatty acid samples when nitrogen flushing is not used.     

Counselor race and power base: Effects on attitudes and behavior.

Assessed the effects of expert and referent power bases and counselor race on Ss' attitude and behavior change. 32 White undergraduates who identified themselves as having procrastination and career-planning problems were divided into internal or external groups on the basis of their scores on Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale. Four female interviewers, 2 Black and 2 White, portrayed either an expert or referent role and attempted to influence Ss to use a problem-solving process and perform a career-planning activity. Dependent variables included a measure of attitude change, a measure assessing knowledge of the problem-solving process, and 2 behavioral measures. Results show that (a) the roles were perceived as intended, (b) Ss of expert interviewers recalled more of the problem-solving process, and (c) significant interactions of race and role were obtained such that Black-expert and White-referent interviewers were most influential both in attitude and behavior change. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis and in vitro characterization of a poly(acrylic acid)-homocysteine conjugate

It was the aim of this study to improve our knowledge on thiolated polymers by the synthesis and in vitro characterization of a poly(acrylic acid)-homocysteine conjugate. Mediated by a carbodiimide, homocysteine was therefore covalently attached to poly(acrylic acid) via the formation of an amide bond. The isolated conjugate displayed 930 micromol +/- 83 micromol sulfur atoms per gram polymer. Of these thiol groups, 80.1% were oxidized to disulfide bonds during the coupling reaction. In aqueous solutions the conjugate was rapidly oxidized by the formation of disulfide bonds at pH 8, whereas it remained stable at pH 7 and below during the observation period of 4 hours. Due to the immobilization of thiol groups on the polymer, the mucoadhesive and cohesive properties of poly(acrylic acid) were strongly improved. Furthermore, the thiolated polymer exhibited a significantly (p < 0.05) improved permeation enhancing effect in comparison to the unmodified polymer. Because of these features the poly(acrylic acid)-homocysteine conjugate seems to represent a promising novel tool, which might be useful in particular for aqueous formulations based on thiomers.     

Spontaneous prejudice in context: Variability in automatically activated attitudes.

The goal of the research reported in this article was to examine whether automatic group attitudes and stereotypes, commonly thought to be fixed responses to a social category cue, are sensitive to change in the situational context. Two experiments demonstrated such variability of automatic responses due to changes in the stimulus context. In Study 1 White participants' implicit attitudes toward Blacks varied as a result of exposure to either a positive (a family barbecue) or a negative (a gang incident) stereotypic situation. Study 2 demonstrated similar context effects under clearly automatic processing conditions. Here, the use of different background pictures (church interior vs. street corner) for Black and White face primes affected participants' racial attitudes as measured by a sequential priming task. Implications for the concept of automaticity in social cognition are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term trends in accumulated metals (Cd, Cu and Zn) and metallothionein in bivalves from lakes within a smelter-impacted region

Temporal monitoring studies are needed to detect long-term trends in ecosystem health. In the present study, we tested metallothionein (MT) as a potential biomarker for long-term variations in trace metal levels in lakes subject to atmospheric metal inputs from a nearby copper smelter. Over a 13-year period, we estimated on several occasions ambient free Cd2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ concentrations at the sediment-water interface in six lakes with contrasting metal levels, and measured metal and metallothionein concentrations in gills of bivalves (Pyganodon grandis) living in these lakes. All but one of the study lakes had comparable drainage ratios, so inter-lake differences in hydrological export of metals from contaminated watersheds to receiving waters were likely minimal. Declines in the metal emissions from the smelter (especially for Cd and Zn) during the 1980s led to appreciable decreases in both calculated free Cd2+ ion concentrations in the study lakes (-59+/-21% between 1989 and 1998) and accumulated Cd levels in their clam populations (-46+/-12% between 1989 and 2002). Taking all lakes into account, MT concentrations in bivalves have comparatively dropped by 44% (+/-10%) since 1989. In contrast to what we found for Cd, there were no significant reductions in the calculated free Cu2+ and Zn2+ concentrations in the various lakes during our study period (-2 and -10%, respectively, with 95% confidence intervals spanning zero). Overall, observed decreases in MT in bivalves over time were best correlated with similar decreases in both ambient and accumulated Cd levels (r = 0.77, P = 0.0003 and r = 0.79, P < 0.0001, respectively, both P-values corrected for temporal autocorrelation), suggesting that long-term trends in gill MT concentrations in P. grandis may be useful as predictors of temporal changes in environmental Cd contamination in lakes.