Looking for Determinants of Ontological Security in the Spain of the Crisis

The concept of ontological security has a remarkable echo in the current sociology to describe emotional status of men of late modernity. However, the concept created by Giddens in the eighties has been little used in empirical research covering various sources of risk or uncertainty. In this paper, a scale for ontological security is proposed. To do this, we start from the results of a research focused on the relationship between risk, uncertainty and vulnerability in the context of the economic crisis in Spain. These results were produced through nine focus groups and a telephone survey with standardized questionnaire applied to a national sample of 2,408 individuals over 18 years. This work is divided into three main sections. In the fi rst, a scale has been built from the results of the application of different items present in the questionnaire used. The second part explores the relationships of the scale obtained with the variables further approximate the emotional dimensions of individuals. The third part observes the variables that contribute to changes in the scale: These variables show the structural feature of the ontological security.

Of Marx and Makers: an Historical Perspective on Generative Justice

In Marxist frameworks “distributive justice” depends on extracting value through a centralized state. Many new social movements—peer to peer economy, maker activism, community agriculture, queer ecology, etc.—take the opposite approach, keeping value in its unalienated form and allowing it to freely circulate from the bottom up. Unlike Marxism, there is no general theory for bottom-up, unalienated value circulation. This paper examines the concept of “generative justice” through an historical contrast between Marx’s writings and the indigenous cultures that he drew upon. Marx erroneously concluded that while indigenous cultures had unalienated forms of production, only centralized value extraction could allow the productivity needed for a high quality of life. To the contrary, indigenous cultures now provide a robust model for the “gift economy” that underpins open source technological production, agroecology, and restorative approaches to civil rights. Expanding Marx’s concept of unalienated labor value to include unalienated ecological (nonhuman) value, as well as the domain of freedom in speech, sexual orientation, spirituality and other forms of “expressive” value, we arrive at an historically informed perspective for generative justice. 

Jazz Innovations, Part II, February 18, 2016

Concert program for Jazz Innovations II, February 18, 2016

La qualité de vie et le processus de coping des mères de garçons présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme issues de la communauté haïtienne

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, les études sur le trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) ou le trouble envahissant du développement (TED), appellation utilisée dans l’ancienne version du Manuel de diagnostic des troubles mentaux (DSM-IV-TR) (APA, 2003), sont en plein essor. Ce domaine de recherche est à la fois récent et prospère. Cependant, encore trop peu de chercheurs se sont intéressés à la question des conséquences du TSA sur la qualité de vie des familles issues de l’immigration et sur l’effet des différentes stratégies d’ajustement (coping) utilisées par les membres de la cellule familiale. Cette étude a pour but d’explorer ce sujet en interviewant douze mères d’origine haïtienne. Ces mères de jeunes garçons âgés entre 5 et dix-huit ans et présentant un TSA, ont répondu à 6 questionnaires dans le cadre d’entrevues structurées. Ces questionnaires conçus et adaptés par Cappe (2009) ont permis de considérer: 1) les informations concernant l’enfant et la situation familiale; 2) le stress perçu; 3) le soutien social perçu; 4) le contrôle perçu; 5) les stratégies de coping et 6) la qualité de vie. Les résultats de cette étude exploratoire ont été analysés selon une méthode quantitative descriptive et ils mènent vers des pistes de recherche et d’intervention visant à accompagner les mères d’enfants qui présentent un TSA. Les données qualitatives obtenues en entrevues ont enrichi ces résultats. Ces derniers ont comme particularité d’illustrer un contexte différent de celui qui a été étudié jusqu’à maintenant. En effet, les mères d’origine haïtienne sont en grande majorité à percevoir le contrôle qu’elles ont sur l’apparition et l’évolution du TSA de leur enfant à travers des croyances et une pratique religieuses. Cette étude a démontré que les mères d’origine haïtienne ont une qualité de vie dans la moyenne, selon les résultats obtenus aux échelles de mesure, et que les stratégies de coping qu’elles utilisent sont principalement axées sur le problème (résolution du problème) ou centrées sur le soutien social. Cependant, les données qualitatives recueillies mettent en lumière d’autres stratégies de coping, celles-là faisant davantage appel aux pratiques et aux croyances religieuses. Des recherches futures devraient se pencher sur la question du coping religieux chez les parents d’origine haïtienne qui ont un enfant présentant un TSA. Des études sur les outils permettant de mesurer ce type de stratégies de coping seraient profitables.

The professional developmental needs of higher education-based teacher educators: an international comparative needs analysis

A universal lack of attention to the professional learning needs of teacher educators is the driver for this study, which considers the most effective ways to support the professional learning of higher education-based teacher educators. At a time when many industrialised countries are engaged in systemic educational reform, this study provides an international and comparative needs analysis through a survey of 1,158 higher education-based teacher educators in the countries participating in the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development (InFo-TED): Belgium, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. Our results suggest that while teacher educators are only moderately satisfied with their professional development experiences, a strong desire exists for further professional learning. This desire, influenced by their professional context, relates to their current beliefs concerning ‘best practice’ in teacher education, the academic skills required to further their professional careers and knowledge of the curriculum associated with their fields of expertise.

Los talleres de capacitation participativa (TCP) : una experiencia piloto

Los Talleres de Capacitación Participativa T.C.P., objeto de la acción investigativa descrita y sistematizada en la presente memoria, se plantean como una opción metodológica para la capacitación y el per-perfeccionamiento de docentes de Educación Superior en Colombia. Esta proposición se hace tanto a la luz del narco social, cultural y político de la educación en el país, como a partir del análisis de la realidad nacional y del panorama de transformación educativa que se vislumbra. El análisis de la relación de la teoría y la práctica-docente, permitió, igualmente, resaltar la importancia de la relación desarrollo y educación. De la misma manera, se pone en evidencia la formación del capital humano como recurso fundamental en una perspectiva que supere las visiones deterministas de la pedagogía tradicional, La presentación de una experiencia de aprendizaje en capacitación docente, cuyo análisis empírico se sistematizó en una propuesta de acción pedagógica, con las características fundamentales de la investigación protagónica, constituye el núcleo central de este trabajo. Los componentes metodológicos de la experiencia latinoamericana de los TED (Talleres de educación Democrática), el Programa PERFORHA (Perfeccionamiento y formación de maestros de la Universidad de Sherbrooke, Quebec-Canadá), los principios andrológicos y el método de sistematización de la práctica fundamentado en el constructivismo, constituyen los referentes pedagógicos que fundamentan los Talleres de Capacitación Participativa T.C.P., aplicados y sistematizados por los investigadores con los resultados que se observan en la presente memoria.

Phosphomimetic Mutation of the N-Terminal Lid of MDM2 Enhances the Polyubiquitination of p53 through Stimulation of E2-Ubiquitin Thioester Hydrolysis.

Mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) has a phosphorylation site within a lid motif at Ser17 whose phosphomimetic mutation to Asp17 stimulates MDM2-mediated polyubiquitination of p53. MDM2 lid deletion, but not Asp17 mutation, induced a blue shift in the λmax of intrinsic fluorescence derived from residues in the central domain including Trp235, Trp303, Trp323, and Trp329. This indicates that the Asp17 mutation does not alter the conformation of MDM2 surrounding the tryptophan residues. In addition, Phe235 mutation enhanced MDM2 binding to p53 but did not stimulate its ubiquitination function, thus uncoupling increases in p53 binding from its E3 ubiquitin ligase function. However, the Asp17mutation inMDM2 stimulated its discharge of the UBCH5a-ubiquitin thioester adduct (UBCH5a is a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2D 1 UBC4/5 homolog yeast). This stimulation of ubiquitin discharge fromE2 was independent of the p53 substrate. There are now four known effects of the Asp17 mutation on MDM2: (i) it alters the conformation of the isolated N-terminus as defined by NMR; (ii) it induces increased thermostability of the isolated N-terminal domain; (iii) it stimulates the allosteric interaction ofMDM2 with the DNA-binding domain of p53; and (iv) it stimulates a novel protein–protein interaction with the E2-ubiquitin complex in the absence of substrate p53 that, in turn, increases hydrolysis of theE2-ubiquitin thioester bond. These data also suggest a new strategy to disrupt MDM2 function by targeting the E2-ubiquitin discharge reaction.

Hauntings

The thesis paper is about the process of creating and directing Hauntings, a dance theater work, performed in the 2016 MFA Spring Thesis Concert. The concert was shared with Curtis Stedge, fellow cohort and MFA candidate in the Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. This document is meant to accompany the archival footage of the dance. Hauntings is a moving lyric poem depicting themes and motifs of the emotional landscape of its characters. It is a time-less world rendering the complexities of the psyche and soul. Love, obsession, loss, and nostalgia emerge as Smith and her fellow artists represent characters struggling with impermanence and mortality. The work is seeped in symbolism and metaphor. The dances/scenes draw inspiration from the music of Chopin, Liszt, Stravinsky, Charles Trenet, Rina Ketty, and poetry by John Keats, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, W.B Yeats, and Claire Clemons Cowan.

Emerging trends in the sea state of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas

The sea state of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas is controlled by the wind forcing and the amount of ice-free water available to generate surface waves. Clear trends in the annual duration of the open water season and in the extent of the seasonal sea ice minimum suggest that the sea state should be increasing, independent of changes in the wind forcing. Wave model hindcasts from four selected years spanning recent conditions are consistent with this expectation. In particular, larger waves are more common in years with less summer sea ice and/or a longer open water season, and peak wave periods are generally longer. The increase in wave energy may affect both the coastal zones and the remaining summer ice pack, as well as delay the autumn ice-edge advance. However, trends in the amount of wave energy impinging on the ice-edge are inconclusive, and the associated processes, especially in the autumn period of new ice formation, have yet to be well-described by in situ observations. There is an implicit trend and evidence for increasing wave energy along the coast of northern Alaska, and this coastal signal is corroborated by satellite altimeter estimates of wave energy.

Estruturas cerâmicas a base de zircônia e alumina utilizadas na confecção de infra - estruturas para coroas e pontes fixas

The continuous advances in ceramic systems for crowns and bridges infrastructure getting researchers and manufacturers looking for a material that has good mechanical properties and aesthetic. The purpose of this study was to verify in which composition and sintering temperature the ceramic system for infrastructure composed of alumina and zirconia would have the best mechanical properties. With this objective we made in UFRN laboratories 45 test bodies in the form of rectangular bars with the following dimensions: 30mm x 8mm x 3mm, where we separated by the sintering temperature: 1200°C, 1300ºC and 1400ºC, and by comp osition: 33% Zirconia + 67% Alumina; 50% Zirconia + 50% Alumina and 25% Zirconia + 75% Alumina, these test bodies were not infiltrated with glass. Also, were made nine test bodies by a technical from a laboratory with a commercial ceramic system: in the Ceram Zircônia (Vita - Zahnfabrik) with the following dimensions: 20mm x 10mm x 0.5mm, these test bodies following all recommendations of the manufacturer and were infiltrated with glass. Were realized optical and electronic microscopy analyses, hardness testing, resistance to bending in three points, porosity and bulk density. After analysis of the results we verified that with the increasing of sintering temperature, increased the value of resistance to bending, but with the same temperature there was no significant difference between the different compositions, samples made with the commercial ceramic that were infiltrated, presented a resistance to bending six times greater than the samples sintered to 1400°C and which have not been infiltra ted. There was no significant difference between the values of apparent porosity for the samples made in UFRN laboratories, but the samples of commercial ceramic obtained 0% in porosity apparent value. In tests of Rockwell Hardness there is an increase in the value of Hardness, with the increase of sintering temperature for the samples not infiltrated. Samples infiltrated showed similar values as the samples sintered in 1400°C. There was no significant difference between the values of apparent density among samples manufactured in UFRN laboratories and samples made with a commercial ceramic

Software engineering: methods, modeling and teaching

Since the emergence of software engineering in the late 1960's as a response to the software crisis, researchers throughout the world are trying to give theoretical support to this discipline. Several points of view have to be reviewed in order to complete this task. In the middle 70's Frederick Brooks Jr. coined the term "silver bullet" suggesting the solution to several problems rela-ted to software engineering and, hence, we adopted such a metaphor as a symbol for this book. Methods, modeling, and teaching are the insights reviewed in this book. Some work related to these topies is presented by software engineering researchers, led by Ivar Jacobson, one of the most remarkable researchers in this area. We hope our work will contribute to advance in giving the theoretieal support that software engineering needs.