Teacher Language Awareness in Initial Teacher Education Policy: A Comparative Analysis of ITE Documents in Norway and New Zealand

Dramatically increased population flows since at least the 1980s, primarily through economic migration and refugee resettlement, have brought considerable ethnic and linguistic diversity to classrooms around the world. This diversity has been amplified by the rising recognition of in-country indigenous and minority languages. In such plurilingual learning environments, teachers require sophisticated language education skills. They need to be able to teach the dominant language/s across the curriculum, support plurilingual learners, and often teach foreign or additional languages. One conceptual lens through which to analyse the presence of these competencies in current teacher education policy is that of language awareness. While this term originally referred to the raising of student awareness of features and functions of language, it now incorporates knowledge about flexible languaging practices. Through a comparative analysis of the two key teacher education policy documents in Norway and New Zealand, we have investigated how the concept of teacher language awareness is incorporated in high-level policy documents pertaining to ITE in these two countries and how these converge and diverge in their treatment of language awareness. Our in-depth comparison of these important educational policies urges both jurisdictions, as well as others, to be aware of local particularities and broader patterns in meeting the needs of teachers to be plurilingually aware and equipped for 21st-century classrooms

Mammalian Defensins: Structures and Mechanism of Antibiotic Activity

Antibiotic peptides are important effector molecules in host-parasite interactions throughout the living world. In vertebrates, they function in first-line host defense by antagonizing a wide range of microbes including bacteria, fungi, and enveloped viruses. The antibiotic activity is thought to be based on their cationic, amphipathic nature, which enables the peptides to impair vital membrane functions. Molecular details for such activities have been elaborated with model membranes; however, there is increasing evidence that these models may not reflect the complex processes involved in the killing of microbes. For example, the overall killing activity of the bacterial peptide antibiotic nisin is composed of independent activities such as the formation of target-mediated pores, inhibition of cell-wall biosynthesis, formation of nontargeted pores, and induction of autolysis. We studied the molecular modes of action of human defense peptides and tried to determine whether they impair membrane functions primarily and whether additional antibiotic activities may be found. We compared killing kinetics, solute efflux kinetics, membrane-depolarization assays, and macromolecular biosynthesis assays and used several strains of Gram-positive cocci as test strains. We found that membrane depolarization contributes to rapid killing of a significant fraction of target cells within a bacterial culture. However, substantial subpopulations appear to survive the primary effects on the membrane. Depending on individual strains and species and peptide concentrations, such subpopulations may resume growth or be killed through additional activities of the peptides. Such activities can include the activation of cell-wall lytic enzymes, which appears of particular importance for killing of staphylococcal strains

Evaluation of the Thrombelastograph Targeted Coagulation Assessment

Extracorporeal circulation predisposes patients to hemorrhagic risk which may increase both homologous transfusion requirements and the need for pharmacological intervention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new diagnostic coagulation assay utilizing the thrombelastograph (TEG). Following Institutional Review Board approval, blood was drawn from healthy, non-medicated volunteers and four in vitro coagulopathic conditions were created, which included: hyperfibrinolysis (100% lysis), hypofibrinogenemia (<50 mg/dl), and both qualitative (1000 ug/ml nitroglycerin) and quantitative (<50 K/mm3) platelet abnormalities. Each of these four blood samples was then divided among four vials that contained known quantities of either: aminocaproic acid, fresh frozen plasma (FFP), platelet concentrate, or heparinase, and TEG profiles were completed. Twenty-one samples were evaluated and the following results were obtained. Hyperfibrinolysis- 100% correction of fibrinolytic potential in the aminocaproic acid vial, but none in the other vials. Qualitative platelet dysfunction- significantly improved time to coagulation in the platelet vial but not in the FFP, heparinase or aminocaproic acid vials. Quantitative platelet dysfunction- no significant difference observed between any vials. Hypofibrinogenemia- significant improvement in the TEG index in the FFP vial (-2.7 ± 0.5) when compared to the aminocaproic acid ( -8.6 ± 2.5, p<.001), platelet (-6.5 ± 0.5, p<.01) and heparinase (-8.8 ± 2.5, p<.001) vials. We conclude that this coagulation assessment assay may help in identifying the specific source of bleeding during surgeries where hyperfibrinolysis, hypofibrinogenemia, or qualitative platelet dysfunctions are present

Enzymes of B-Ring-Deoxy Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Elicited Cell Cultures of "Old Man" Cactus (Cephalocereus senilis)

Article on enzymes of b-ring-deoxy flavonoid biosynthesis in elicited cell cultures of "Old Man" cactus (Cephalocereus senilis)