‘Threads of Identity’: Uncovering the benefits and tensions found in the hand-sewn signature as a method of engagement to challenge stereotypes about embroidering with boys

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Lynn Setterington
Keyword(s):  
Race Relations ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Community Collaboration ◽  
Participatory Process ◽  
Male Identity ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Unexpected Outcomes

This article describes a stitch-based research project that took place in 2016 in Manchester. It involved the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive, Burnage Academy for Boys and a professional embroiderer. Central to the enquiry is a signature cloth – a textile made up of hand-sewn autographs – used as a vehicle to explore young male identity and stereotypes about embroidery. The investigation signposts the flexibility of the signature that is utilized in the research to locate accessible activities and processes. In so doing, it formulates new avenues to access historical textile artefacts and illuminates their significance and contemporary relevance. The enquiry also outlines some of the tensions and dilemmas that permeate socially engaged practice(s) and offers new insights into the stitch-based collaborative/participatory process, in which the production of the tactile artefact is but one element; for alongside the stitch workshops a commemorative banner was a second outcome, made to memorialize a pupil killed in the school in a racially motivated crime in 1986. Shedding light on embroidery as a form of social engagement, the investigation also provides evidence of its applicability as an alternative, tactile means of communication. It similarly reveals and elucidates the dynamics inherent in this stitch-based community collaboration and draws attention to some of the planned and unexpected outcomes that emerge. The methodology offers a transparent model for those who may engage in similar practices and highlights its applicability to different audiences.

scholarly journals Kids in Action: the protocol of a Youth Participatory Action Research project to promote physical activity and dietary behaviour

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e025584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manou Anselma ◽  
Teatske Altenburg ◽  
Mai Chinapaw
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Dietary Behaviour ◽  
Participatory Process ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Low Socioeconomic

IntroductionIn this study, researchers collaborate with children from a low socioeconomic neighbourhood in Amsterdam in developing, implementing and evaluating interventions targeting their health behaviours. This Youth Participatory Action Research project focuses on the promotion of physical activity and healthy dietary behaviour.Methods and analysisThis study is a controlled trial using participatory methods to develop interventions together with children aged 9–12 years. At four primary schools in a low socioeconomic neighbourhood in Amsterdam, an ‘Action Team’ is installed: a group of six to eight children who actively participate as co-researchers in developing, implementing and evaluating interventions. An academic researcher facilitates the participatory process. Four control schools, also located in low socioeconomic areas in and around Amsterdam, continue with their regular curriculum and do not participate in the participatory process. For the effect evaluation, physical activity and sedentary behaviour are assessed using accelerometers and self-reporting; dietary behaviour using self-reporting and motor fitness (strength, flexibility, coordination, speed and endurance) using the motor performance fitness test. Effectiveness of the interventions is evaluated by multilevel regression analysis. The process of co-creating interventions and the implemented interventions is continually evaluated during meetings of the Action Teams and with children participating in the interventions. Empowerment of children is evaluated during focus groups. Summaries and transcripts of meetings are coded and analysed to enrich children’s findings.Ethics and disseminationThe Medical Ethics Committee of the VU Medical Center approved the study protocol (2016.366).Trial registration numberTC=6604.

scholarly journals Bidirectional manipulation of mTOR signaling disrupts socially mediated vocal learning in juvenile songbirds

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (35) ◽  
pp. 9463-9468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somayeh Ahmadiantehrani ◽  
Sarah E. London
Keyword(s):  
Neural Development ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Brain Area ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Mtor Signaling ◽  
Behavioral Measure ◽  
The Relationship

Early life experiences can have long-lasting behavioral consequences because they are encoded when the brain is most malleable. The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling cascade modulates experience-dependent synaptic plasticity, among other processes. mTOR has been almost exclusively examined in adult rodent learning models, but may be especially important in organizing neural circuits required for developmental acquisition of meaningful complex behaviors. It is among the most commonly implicated factors in neurodevelopmental autism spectrum disorders (ASD), characterized, in part, by distinct social and communication phenotypes. Here, we investigated mTOR in juvenile zebra finch songbirds. Much as children learn language, young male zebra finches need to interact socially with an adult tutor to learn a meaningful song. The memory of the tutor’s song structure guides the juvenile’s own song, which it uses to communicate for the rest of its life. We hypothesized that mTOR is required for juveniles to learn song. To this end, we first discovered that hearing song activates mTOR signaling in a brain area required for tutor song memorization in males old enough to copy song but not in younger males or females, who cannot sing. We then showed that both inhibition and constitutive activation of mTOR during tutor experiences significantly diminished tutor song copying. Finally, we found that constitutive mTOR activation lowered a behavioral measure of the juvenile’s social engagement during tutor experiences, mirroring the relationship in humans. These studies therefore advance understanding about the effects of experience in the context of neurodevelopmental disorders and typical neural development.

scholarly journals RACIAL EDUCATION IN BRAZILIAN CHILDREN´S LITERATURE TEACHING

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 147-159
Author(s):  
Miria Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Race Relations ◽  
Applied Research ◽  
Literary Production ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Literature Teaching ◽  
Racial Relations ◽  
Belo Horizonte ◽  
Brazilian Children ◽  
Decolonial Pedagogy ◽  
Afro Brazilian

This paper discusses racial relations in teaching of children´s and young literature in Brazil. Based on the laws 10.639/2003 and 11.645/2008, which require that Brazilian schools teach the history and culture of Afro-Brazilians and Native Nations, we seek to problematize the applied research project From Reader To Reader, considering the effectiveness of the cited laws and the receiving of the African and Afro-Brazilian literary books brought together in Kit Afro: an affirmative policy of democratization of the access to literary production for diversity implemented by the Municipal Teaching Network of Belo Horizonte. Our discussions are guided by studies about race relations in Brazil (GOMES, 2012), teaching of literature (OLIVEIRA, 2015) and transcultural and decolonial pedagogy (HOPENHAY, 2009; WALSH, 2017).

scholarly journals Leveraging 3D Technology for Students with Autism: An innovative university-community collaboration for skill development and vocational exploration

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl A Wright ◽  
Scott D Wright ◽  
Marissa L Diener ◽  
Deborah Rafferty ◽  
Allison Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Community Collaboration ◽  
3D Technology ◽  
Vocational Exploration ◽  
Students With Autism ◽  
University Community

This article describes a university-community collaboration in which an inter-professional team partnered to provide students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) a paid job opportunity to apply 3D modelling skills for a local construction company. Providing meaningful vocational opportunities to improve the transition to adulthood for individuals with ASD is imperative, as individuals with ASD have unemployment rates that are some of the highest of all disabilities. This novel evidence-supported educational program was designed to develop 3D technology skills, explore vocational careers and promote social engagement through shared interests for transition-age youth with ASD. Both parents and students reported many successful outcomes, including increase in student self-confidence, social and technology skill development and the opportunity for vocational exploration by these young people. Implications of the case study are reported in relation to university-community partnerships and the critical role of community collaboration in addressing the high rates of unemployment in individuals with autism.

scholarly journals Boys, blogs and books

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo Pickworth
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Sydney Australia

In an action research project, young male students from Sydney, Australia and Richmond, USA contributed to a collaborative writing blog. Both groups of students shared the same text with their class teachers, while using the medium of collaborative blogging, a process which was facilitated and managed by the teacher- librarian. Data was gathered using both qualitative and quantitative methods to determine whether the project assisted boys to become powerful, prolific and confident writers. Results indicated that the blogging process failed to provide any increase in the volume of writing; however the opportunity to share opinionsand ideas globally provided motivation to write more powerfully and with increased confidence.

scholarly journals The supportive network: rural disadvantaged older people and ICT

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1291-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN BAKER ◽  
JENI WARBURTON ◽  
SUZANNE HODGKIN ◽  
JAN PASCAL
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Network Society ◽  
Tablet Computers ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Computing Device

ABSTRACTThe rapid development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) is profoundly transforming the social order, into what Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells calls the network society. Mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablet computers, are perhaps the definitive tools of the network society; however, cultural and economic barriers exist that restrict access to these transformative tools and to the information networks in which they operate. One group that is particularly at risk is rural older people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on one aspect of a larger action research project that involved working with a small group of rural, socially isolated older people with histories of homelessness and complex needs (N = 7) and their social workers. This paper focuses on the older participants who, having been provided tablet computers, were then supported to use the device in their homes over the course of eight months. Despite most participants having never used a computing device of any kind prior to the research project, findings suggested that participants gained confidence, independence and social engagement as a result of their ICT use. Results also highlighted that they experienced challenges in utilising ICT, specifically technical, economic and social barriers. Findings highlight the individual and structural issues that must be addressed to enable all citizens to participate fully in the network society.

scholarly journals Play as a Player in Design. Rethinking a ‘Curious Practice’ for Co-designing Public Space

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Laura Winge ◽  
Anne Margrethe Wagner ◽  
Bettina Lamm
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Participatory Process ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Design Practices ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
Collaborative Improvisation ◽  
Public Green Space

‘Move the Neighbourhood’ is a research project experimenting with co-designing playable installations for a public green space in Copenhagen through a design-based collaboration between children and design-researchers. We employed a co-design process to investigate whether deconstructing the rules for both play and design could trigger new ways of thinking about playable spaces. The aim was to test a participatory process in order to identify what might be meaningful in relation to both play and designing for play, along a spectrum ranging from rules to collaborative improvisation. Our fieldwork cultivated what Haraway calls ‘response-ability’ in a ‘curious practice’ that explores the unanticipated in the collaboration between children and designers. The metaphor of a ‘jelly cake’ from play-research was used to illustrate the messiness of play and to frame the discussion on collaborative design. We see play as a serious co-player that evokes collective worlds through productive, messy fields of action, and enables actors to engage in the co-design of playable public space. In this article, we investigate how play can create agency, spark imagination and open up practices in both artistic and academic processes. Drawing on Barad’s concept of ‘intra-action’, we investigate design/play as a dynamic engine for exploring collaborative design practices as a dialogue between art, play and co-design.

Ultrastructural Study of Human Testicular Biopsies in Infertility

1976 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 156-157
Author(s):  
Shirley Siew ◽  
Philip Troen ◽  
Howard R. Nankin
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Basement Membrane ◽  
Leydig Cells ◽  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Germinal Epithelium ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Male Subjects

Testicular biopsies were obtained from six young male subjects (age range 24-33) who complained of infertility and who had clinical evidence of oligospermia. This was confirmed on histological examination which showed a broad spectrum from profound hypospermatogenesis to relatively normal appearing germinal epithelium. Thickening of the tubular walls was noted in half of the cases and slight peritubular fibrosis in one. The Leydig cells were reported as normal or unremarkable.Transmission electron microscopy showed that the thickening of the supporting tissue of the germinal epithelium was caused more by an increase in the thickness of the layers of the lamina propria than of the tubular wall itself. The changes in the basement membrane of the tubular wall consisted mostly of a greater degree of infolding into the tubule and some reduplication which gave rise to a multilayered appearance.

Remission of Recurrent Cochlear Hydrops Associated With Bromocriptine Treatment for Macroprolactinoma

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 548-552
Author(s):  
Andro Košec ◽  
Ivan Kruljac ◽  
Jakov Ajduk
Keyword(s):  
Dopamine Receptors ◽  
Male Patient ◽  
Endolymphatic Hydrops ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Oral Steroid ◽  
Case Description ◽  
Diuretic Treatment ◽  
Potential Therapeutic Role ◽  
Transient Improvement ◽  
Systemic Glucocorticoids

Objective Current recommendations for cochlear hydrops treatment include systemic glucocorticoids and diuretics. Cochlear cells express dopamine receptors, although their role is unknown in the pathophysiology of cochlear hydrops. Case Description We report the case of remission of recurrent right-sided cochlear hydrops in a young male patient treated with bromocriptine due to pituitary macroprolactinoma. Transient improvement was observed after oral steroid and diuretic treatment, but cochlear hydrops recurred until the dose of bromocriptine was increased to 10 mg daily. Conclusion Bromocriptine may stimulate dopamine receptors in cochlear cells with potential therapeutic role in patients with cochlear hydrops. There are no widely accepted and effective treatments for endolymphatic hydrops, and identifying potential new and efficacious therapeutics is of high relevance.

Perceived Voice Disorders in Older Adults and Impact on Social Interactions

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Connie K. Porcaro ◽  
Clare Singer ◽  
Boris Djokic ◽  
Ali A. Danesh ◽  
Ruth Tappen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Voice Disorders ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Vocal Performance ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Cross Sectional

Purpose Many aging individuals, even those who are healthy, report voice changes that can impact their ability to communicate as they once did. While this is commonly reported, most do not seek evaluation or management for this issue. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and differences in voice disorders in older adults, along with the effect of fatigue on their social interactions. Method This is a cross-sectional investigation of a community-dwelling sample of individuals aged 60 years or older. Participants completed the Questionnaire on Vocal Performance, the Social Engagement Index subset “Engagement in Social or Leisure Activities,” and the Fatigue Severity Scale. Results Results indicated 32.5% of the 332 participants reported symptoms of voice problems with no difference found between male and female respondents. A slight increase in report of voice problems was noted with each year of age. Participants who self-reported voice problems indicated less interaction in social activities involving communication than those who did not. Finally, as severity of self-reported voice problems increased, an increase was reported by the same individuals for signs of fatigue. Conclusions Voice problems and resulting decreased social interaction are commonly experienced by older individuals. Voice symptoms in older adults have been found to benefit from evidence-based treatment strategies. It is critical to provide education to encourage older individuals to seek appropriate evaluation and management for voice issues through a speech-language pathologist or medical professional.

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