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Anyone who showed up for this second Cleveland Orchestra Summers@Severance concert of 2017 hoping that Alexander Scriabin’s 1896 Piano Concerto in F sharp minor was going to be in the mystical mode of his Poem of Ecstasy and other later works was sadly disappointed. The composer was 24 when he wrote the concerto, and it is firmly in the Romantic style of Tchaikovsky and composers who succeeded Scriabin, most notably Rachmaninov, built on his style.
Bertrand Chamayou and conductor Susanna Mälkki were a musically imposing team for this first Cleveland Orchestra performance of the concerto. From the beginning of the first movement, Chamayou and Mälkki played as one in the ebb and flow of the music’s pulse, but never lost the work’s overall architecture, making the most of the grand dynamic changes throughout the three movements. Chamayou has the right temperament for this music, from thundering climaxes to the most delicate passages along the way. The first movement’s thematic materials are mostly in the orchestra, with the soloist playing virtuosic filigree hidden in the lush orchestral texture. The tempos never seemed rushed, but there was no lingering along the way. Scriabin contrasts stormy passages with almost trite melodies, and even at his relatively inexperienced age the composer knew how to build a climax.
The second movement opens with a soft string chorale, followed by a plaintive solo clarinet melody, superbly played here by Robert Woolfrey, with an underlying piano obbligato. A dark change in the mood occurs, and the piano develops the themes in a very thick, contrapuntal texture. But later the opening clarinet solo returns in dialogue with the piano.
In the final movement the piano plays a much more prominent soloistic role than in the first movement. Chamayou played streams of cascading arpeggios with Lisztian virtuosity, in constantly flexible tempos. At the end there was an outpouring of everything a Romantic piano concerto should be, with a thundering cadenza, immediately followed by another less than memorable melody. At the end, in a dramatic gesture, the soloist plays a large chord in the bass register, which is still held when the orchestra cuts out, and the concerto ends with the resonance of that chord dying away. Chamayou and Mälkki made a very strong case for more frequent revival of this work, perhaps at the expense of fewer performances of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov.
Immediately following the Scriabin, with only a brief pause to remove the piano from the stage, Mälkki returned for a vivid performance of Robert Schumann’s Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, the “Rhenish”. This reading had all the virtues apparent in the Scriabin concerto: a pliant pulse, but without mannerism, rapturous romanticism, and the ability to clarify Schumann’s thick orchestrations. Schumann was an almost unparalleled melodist, but the development of his materials tends to be scattered and brief before moving on to the next tune. The third movement, at least in this performance, proved to be very episodic. The second movement, labeled as a scherzo, but of a quite slow tempo, was mostly light in texture, and at times almost seemed like a Ländler, the hearty triple-meter folk dance of southern Germany. The third, slow movement was not particularly slow, but light, with staccato contrasted with legato passages. The odd fourth movement, with its long double bass pedal point, undergirds a series of crescendos and thickening textures, only to begin again, ending inconclusively.
The finale was joyful, the opposite of what had immediately preceded it. Mälkki got the mood entirely right. At several times in this symphony The Cleveland Orchestra’s horn section were heroes in their prominent and magnificent fanfares. They and the rest of the brass section ended the symphony with glorious chorales and a thrilling accelerando to the final cadence. | https://bachtrack.com/review-scriabin-chamayou-malkki-cleveland-orchestra-july-2017 |
The reputation of the Polish violinist Henryk Wieniawski has lasted longer than that of his once equally distinguished brother, the pianist Jozef Wieniawski. Henryk was born in Lublin in 1835 and was a pupil there of Servaczyński and Jan Hornziel and later of Massart in Paris. His younger brother Jozef was born two years later, in 1837, and, like his brother, studied first in Lublin, where his teacher was Franciszek Synek, and then in Paris, studying there from 1847 at the Conservatoire with Zimmermann, Alkan and Marmontel, and subsequently, in 1855–1856, with Liszt in Weimar. Henryk Wieniawski had embarked on his career very early, entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of eight and making his debut in Paris in 1848 at the age of thirteen. In 1848 he travelled to St Petersburg, where he made an excellent impression on Vieuxtemps, the distinguished court violinist. Jozef Wieniawski had made an even earlier start on his career as a virtuoso pianist, starting from 1848, while Henryk, in 1849, returned to Paris to improve his technical abilities as a composer. Between 1851 and 1853 the Wieniawskis were in Russia, giving concert after concert. Henryk Wieniawski had already turned his attention to composition, with a Grand caprice fantastique in 1847 and an Allegro de sonate the following year in collaboration with his brother. By 1853 he had written some fourteen compositions for violin and piano and violin and orchestra, and in 1853 and 1854 the brothers gave concerts in Germany, and elsewhere in Europe.
Henryk Wieniawski’s career took him to London, where he played with the Beethoven Quartet Society, together with the cellist Piatti and the violinist-composers Joachim and Ernst. In 1860 he married the niece of the Irish pianist and composer George Osborne. Performance in Paris with Anton Rubinstein led to an invitation to move to Russia, where he served as court violinist and for some years as professor of the violin at the Conservatory that Rubinstein had established in St Petersburg. In 1872 he left Russia, resuming his career as a virtuoso, initially in partnership with Rubinstein. From 1875 to 1877 he taught at the Brussels Conservatory, where he succeeded Vieuxtemps, and during this period and thereafter continued his performing career, now with deteriorating health. In Russia again he set out on a concert-tour with Tchaikovsky’s onetime innamorata Desiree Artot, but this was interrupted by a breakdown in health and a brief attempt at convalescence at the house of Tchaikovsky’s patroness Nadezhda von Meck. He died in Moscow on the last day of March 1880, at the age of forty-four.
Jozef Wieniawski had gone on to forge a separate career for himself as a pianist, composer and conductor. From 1856–1858 he studied counterpoint in Berlin with Adolph Bernhard Marx, a friend of the Mendelssohns. He taught for a term at the newly established Moscow Conservatory in 1866 and in Brussels from 1878 until his death in 1912. At home in Poland he became one of the founders of the Warsaw Music Society, eventually serving as its conductor and music director, and as a chamber-music player. His compositions include a piano concerto, a symphony, songs, chamber music and a number of works for the piano.
Jozef Wieniawski’s Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 24, was written in about 1866. The first movement, broadly in tripartite sonata-form, explores the heights of the violin and the depths of the piano, with virtuoso writing for both instruments. The principal subject is entrusted first to the piano, followed by the violin, and a triplet passage for the piano leads to a secondary theme for the violin, marked semplice. A third thematic element introduces a dotted rhythm for the violin. Elements of these themes are to return, in one form or another, as the movement unfolds. The gentle B flat major hymn that dominates the second movement is introduced by the piano, followed by increasing elaboration and intensity until the theme returns, played on the lowest string of the violin. The Scherzo, in F major, brings a change of mood, framing a grazioso D flat major trio section. The final Allegro appassionato, ma non troppo presto, restores the original key of D minor with an emphatic rhythmic figure that is to return. The movement includes a contrapuntal section and reminiscences of earlier movements, with a cadenza and a coda in D major.
The two brothers collaborated on the 1848 Allegro de sonate, written when Henryk was thirteen and Jozef was eleven. The piece starts with a foretaste of the principal theme, at first as a violin cadenza, marked Maestoso but leading to a Presto in which the violin is entrusted with the principal theme, moving forward to a passage of violin triple and quadruple stopping. Contrasting thematic material is introduced, with passages of virtuoso display, particularly for the violin, before the Prestissimo final section.
The Grand Duo polonais is a further collaborative work of the brothers, appearing as Jozef Wieniawski’s Op. 5, and Henryk Wieniawski’s Op. 8. It was written in 1853. The piano introduces the opening melody, followed by the violin, moving on to a more elaborate passage of violin multiple-stopping. This initial Allegro moderato leads to a version of a song, Kozak (Cossack), by the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko, simply stated before an additional running violin accompaniment. A second song by Moniuszko, Maciek, is introduced, marked Allegro con fuoco and again leading to an elaboration in multiple-stopping for the violin. Two variations are presented, the second with a more elaborate violin part. A G minor Andante in 6/8 brings cadenzas for each instrument and a modulation to E flat major for a brief reminiscence of the opening melody. The final section, in G major, is based on a Polonaise by the Polish composer Aleks Nikołajewicz Wierstowski, which appears in various guises, including a version in artificial harmonics and passages of multiple-stopping. This concludes a work that demands a degree of technical virtuosity from both players. | https://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.573404&catNum=573404&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English |
This work was commissioned by the Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble, David Stock, director.
Symphony No. 3, "Ave Maris Stella" (2005) was written for the Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble and is dedicated to composer David Stock. Throughout his career, Stock has been a tireless and generous advocate on behalf of new music and living composers. This work is dedicated to him in tribute – as both an important American composer and a significant contributor to America’s contemporary musical life.
The work’s basic source material is the plainchant Ave maris stella ("Hail, star of the sea") – appropriate because of Duquesne’s standing and history as a Catholic university. When the composition of this work first began, the original plan was for a celebratory and vibrant piece. As the planning progressed, however, personal circumstances intervened and began to change the work’s tone – becoming substantially bleaker and more obsessive.
The title of the first movement, Pentimento, is defined as "an underlying image in a painting, as an earlier painting, that shows through when the top layer of paint has become transparent with age." The melodic and harmonic material for the movement is entirely drawn from the plainchant source, although it is completely transformed and covered up – as in a pentimento. At various points, one can begin to hear the original plainchant "peek out" in subtle ways. The opening section of the movement obsesses again and again on what sounds like a "beginning" – as though it is trying to begin again and again. After a brief bassoon cadenza, a fast and driving section starts, marked "sinister." After driving through a series of transformations on the plainchant material, a bridge passage leads to further attempts at the "beginning" again. Finally, these attempts are given up, and the plainchant material (the underlying layer) begins to show through quietly – in preparation for the next movement.
In the second movement, Interrupted Motet, the plainchant theme is used in a more straightforward fashion. After the opening declamatory statements, the following sections move between more free developmental techniques, based on the first movement’s transformations, and "motet" sections – using cantus firmus methods and textures from Renaissance music. The tone and palate is, however, much darker and more obsessive. There is a brooding ponderousness to these contrapuntal developments. The final motet section ends in a rageful shout, the plainchant material is presented again in full force, and the pent-up energy dissipates to the close. | http://www.classicalmusicnow.com/ccsym3.htm |
Digital Baseband Data obtained through Sampling, PCM, PC or CVSD requires Modulation before it can be transmitted using Antennas. This trainer explores the basic Digital Modulation Techniques like FSK, ASK and BPSK. All components needed are provided on board. PC-PC link is established using USB-UART converter.
Features:
- Power Supply Included
- Required Circuits Tested
- Each Section Clearly Marked for Input and Output
- Each Section Works as an Independent Unit
- Built-in Data Generator
- Built-in Carrier Generator
- Built-In Clock Generators
- Each Section Clearly Marked for Easy Understanding
Technical Features: | https://infinit-technologies.com/product/it-4206-digital-modulation-techniques-transmitter-trainer/ |
Sebastian Kolin, ‘cello.
Plus
Timothy Chua, violin; and
Kate de Campos, viola.
Schumann, Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op 44; Brahms, Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34.
‘A very committed performance by all three musicians ….great tension, rich in quasi-orchestral textures.’ The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Robert Schumann – Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op 44
Allegro brillante
In modo d’una marcia, un poco largamente
Scherzo, molto vivace
Allegro ma non troppo
Robert Schumann wrote his piano quintet in September and October 1842, in his ‘Chamber Music Year, in which, after an intensive study of classical works, he also wrote three string quartets, a piano trio, and a piano quartet in addition to this popular quintet. Completed in a matter of weeks and dedicated to his wife Clara, the Piano Quintet virtually invents a brand new musical genre by adding the new piano to the established quartet. Later composers over the next 100 years would be inspired by this work, but only three of their works approach the enduring popularity of Schumann’s piano quintet: Brahms, Dvořák, and Shostakovich.
The quintet was first performed on December 6 1842 in a private home, with Felix Mendelssohn at the piano, then publicly on January 8 1843 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with Clara Schumann at the piano. After hearing it, Schumann pronounced the quintet ‘his best work’.
The opening Allegro brillante commences with a bold and sparkling musical idea, gradually unfolding and expanding. Almost immediately however, a soft and tender dialogue between the viola and the ‘cello contrasts it. In due course, both themes are extensively fragmented and subjected to far-reaching modulations. The opening theme of this first movement will reappear much later in different movements; in the fourth movement as a centrepiece of the fugue ending the work.
The second movement In modo d’una marcia exudes the ambiance of a funeral march. A dark and mysterious melody is introduced by the first violin and haltingly accompanied by sobbing musical rhythms. The contrasting musical idea presents a welcome relief from this morose atmosphere, yet the movement is once more rounded off by the return of the ungodly march. A simple, unadorned moment concludes this movement, which seems to be almost a war between the happy and the sad – a true reflection of Schumann’s own personal battle between his opposing personalities.
The Scherzo joyously and exuberantly presents ascending and descending major scales, skilfully contrasted by two Trios, respectively sounding a lyrical canon and Hungarian gypsy music.
The finale, marked Allegro ma non troppo, presents an opening descending theme in C minor and a second ascending theme in E flat major. After elaborating both themes, Schumann combines the first with the theme of the first movement, in a brilliant double fugue introducing new counter-melodies – an homage to the contrapuntal style of Bach, whose music Schumann revered and studied throughout his life, finishing with the sound of a rousing country dance.
INTERVAL
Johannes Brahms – Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34
Allego non troppo
Andante, un poco adagio
Scherzo: Allegro
Finale – Poco sostenuto; Allegro non troppo; Presto non troppo
Brahms’s piano quintet is one of the few standard repertoire works which went through two radical revisions of format by its composer until he was finally satisfied with it. Its first incarnation was as a string quintet first performed in 1862, but Brahms destroyed the manuscript after a virtuoso violinist friend advised that strings alone could not carry the weight of the music and suggested revising it for piano. Brahms then turned it into a sonata for two pianos, but Robert Schumann’s widow Clara joined other critics in suggesting that pianos alone could not express the sustained passionate intensity required, and that string voices were essential to the work. Its final transformation into a quintet for piano and four strings was finished in autumn 1864, premiered in 1866.
The first movement is predominantly sombre and tragic. It opens with an eerie unison of piano, violin, and ‘cello, soon reiterated by the entire quintet in a powerful and painful way that represents the ‘Sturm und Drang’ frequently employed by Brahms in his dramatic compositions. The whole movement is derived entirely from this first theme. Brahms’s gift for thematic variation and his skill with rhythmic complexity – particularly his use of two beats against three which makes for a driving pulse with a myriad of cross-rhythms – provide a broad and powerful scope to the movement and sets the tone for the work as a whole. The full contrapuntal resources of the string quartet are combined with a rich variety of piano techniques to create a density of texture.
The second movement is written with Schubertian lyricism, expressed through the calm grace of the piano, accompanied by the gentle swaying of the strings – a prevailing tenderness occasionally revealing a hidden sadness. Towards the end the quartet takes the opening song of the piano, and reveals it in a quieter, more reflective mood. This movement forms a sweet intermezzo between the contrapuntal complexity of the first movement and the temperamental quality of the third.
The Scherzo is one of Brahms’ most electrifying compositions. It contains three motivic elements: a rising theme of vague rhythmic identity; a snapping motive in strict, dotted rhythm; and a march-like strain in full chordal harmony. These three components are juxtaposed throughout the movement, with the dotted-rhythm theme being given special prominence in a vigorous fugal exposition. The middle section transforms the march into a majestic and powerful chorale. After this Trio section, the movement then returns to the maniacal opening themes, and closes in an aggressive and decisive manner.
The finale has a structural composition unique to Brahms. It opens with a haunting introduction that becomes more dramatic until the tension is released with the Allegro non troppo section. Here the ‘cello plays the first theme – a folk-like melody developing into a gypsy dance. Brahms interweaves several themes throughout this movement: the folk-like melody, the rustic dance, and a meditative refrain. His genius in writing variations is exquisitely demonstrated in this movement by the way he morphs and blends the themes together, culminating in a breathtaking coda sweeping the work to a dramatic end.
The Armorel Piano Trio
Kathy Chow, from Melbourne, Australia, graduated with first class Honours in piano performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. In 2014 Kathy won first prize in the Boorandara Piano Concerto Award with her performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto; in 2015 was the winner of the Music Society of Victoria’s Hephzibah Menuhin Competition; and in 2016 was a finalist in the Sydney Eisteddfod Allison/Henderson Piano Scholarship, among many other awards. Kathy has just completed her Artists Masters in Performance at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama under Martin Roscoe.
Lucia Veintimilla,born in La Mancha, Spain, started playing the violin at the age of four and finished her degree at the High Conservatory of Asturias with First Class Honours. She also combined these studies with her bachelor degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she has just completed her Artists Masters in Performance. A passionate chamber musician, Lucia enjoys a busy career performing regularly with The Armorel Trio, the Deco Ensemble and the Astedt-Veintimilla Duo, touring extensively to major concert halls in UK, Europe and Asia.
Lucia plays a violin built in 2014 by the renowned Spanish luthier, Roberto Jardón Rico.
Sebastian Kolin began playing the ‘cello aged seven, studying with Tim Wells at the Royal Academy of Music, then with Naomi Butterworth and Melissa Phelps.
When aged 12, Sebastian won a place and bursary to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School Cobham under Thomas Carrol, Charles Watt and Marie Macleod. Sebastian has performed across Europe, including France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland, with television and radio appearances in Switzerland, as well as at all the major London’s venues.
Sebastian plays a Viennese ‘cello of around 1880, maker unknown.
Plus two friends
Timothy Chua, born in Brunei, began playing the violin at the age of eight. He received a place at The Yehudi Menuhin School in 2007 and since 2011 has been studying at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he was a student of Simon Fischer. He is now currently studying with Alexander Janiczek,
Timothy plays a Venetian violin from around 1700, maker unknown.
Kate de Campo sis currently in her third year at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she is studying with Matthew Jones. Previously she attended the Junior Royal Northern College of Music, where she was awarded the Vicci Wardman prize for viola three years running, as well as the Chamber Music Award in 2015. Kate enjoys her current work at Pro Corda, an organisation which trains young musicians in chamber music and which had a great impact on her musical education.
Kate’s viola was made by the Manchester-based luthier Helen Mitchchetschlager in 1986. | https://kingstonchamberconcerts.org/event/armorel-piano-trio/ |
The Choral Society of the Hamptons mounted an ambitious and enjoyable program at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church on Sunday titled “Trumpeting Spring.” Walter Klauss, one of the society’s frequent guest conductors, led the performance with invaluable assistance from Thom Bohlert at the organ and a brass quartet.
The concert opened with Bruce Saylor’s stirring “Jubilate: Fantasy on a Traditional Melody,” which explores the musical possibilities of a plainchant setting of the text Corde natus (“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”). The chorus achieved robust forte sounds as well as thrilling piano passages in an arrangement that is rather straightforward for the singers but more intense at the organ.
Mr. Bohlert deserves commendation for adept playing throughout the concert, but his handling of Saylor’s many challenging passages in this piece merits special recognition. A moment that stood out as a perfect mesh between compositional intention and its execution occurred during the contrapuntal “psallat altitudo caeli,” where it became all-too-briefly possible to imagine legions of angels singing praise.
The motet “In ecclesiis” by Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612) was next. As mentioned in Miriam S. Michel’s thorough program notes, Gabrieli took leadership of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice as the Baroque style had begun to assert itself in Italy. One new emphasis of the style was to give prominence to a single melody, allowing listeners to understand the sung text at first hearing. Accordingly, the first two textual sections featured unison soprano-alto and tenor-bass, with each concluded by a tutti “Alleluia!”
The choral blend was not as successful between the men as between the sopranos and altos. The first entrance of the brass quartet occurred during this piece, and it was stirring indeed. While the concert venue was no Venetian St. Mark’s, the high wooden ceilings allowed the instrumental sounds to spread beautifully through the space without covering the voices. The final section (“O God, our refuge”) featured intricately interwoven layers of melody from the voices, brass, and organ, showing that Gabrieli had not completely abandoned the Renaissance affinity for counterpoint.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) was a key bridge between Renaissance and Baroque musical styles, not only as a composer, but also through his writings. In this, the briefer of his two settings of the Magnificat, Monteverdi may have realized that the new Baroque emphasis on harmonically guided melodies would require more attention to variations in texture (something already built in to Renaissance counterpoint).
The second movement, “Anima mea,” was a lovely blend and balance between the sopranos and altos, and the “Quia fecit mihi magna” revealed an incredibly rich tone in the alto section. Several portions of the Magnificat call for individuals or small groups to employ vocal techniques that are somewhat peculiar to the early Baroque period, and these proved to be a stretch for some of the singers, which may be an inherent danger when members of the chorus who may not be well versed in the vocal traditions of a highly transitional period are featured. However, a highlight occurred in the “Deposuit” movement, in which a duet between Christine Cadarette and Maria Fumai Dietrich went beyond masterful technique to offer a visually playful perspective on the fate of the mighty. The final movement, “Sicut erat,” featured the full chorus confidently singing Monteverdi’s counterpoint and delivering a glorious finish to the piece.
(Longtime Choral Society fans will note that Christine Cadarette’s name tends to appear just about everywhere. She accompanies rehearsals and sings in almost any section of the chorus, her other jobs notwithstanding. She is one of the unsung heroes of the area.)
Out of all the works on Sunday, “Gloria” by Bob Chilcott came across as the one in which the singers were most comfortable and therefore performed at their best. It’s not surprising; choristers with experience singing in Latin tend to appreciate familiar texts, such as this section of the Mass, and Chilcott tends to write for voices in a manner reflective of typical modern ranges.
The brass quartet returned to the sonic tapestry for the first movement, inspiring a thrilling rhythmic and harmonic synergy with the chorus in “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” The following movement, “Domine Deus,” showcased the fine expressivity, dynamic flexibility, and blend of the chorus. Its structure is reminiscent of some religious works by 19th-century operatists (e.g., Rossini’s Stabat mater), where a composer of dramatic stage works decides to explore the expressive possibilities of a sacred text.
The third section, “Qui tollis peccata mundi,” began by allowing the soprano and alto sections to show how beautifully they blend when singing in a comfortable range, and it concluded with the entire chorus effecting a marvelous unison sound. Anyone cognizant of Chilcott’s anthems for church choirs would find his compositional techniques in this movement familiar. The final movement, “Quoniam tu solus sanctus,” saw the return of the brass quartet and its rhythmic drive, similar in energy to the opening movement.
To conclude the program, the chorus and brass quartet once more united to deliver a Bruce Saylor arrangement, this time a setting of the 1907 English text written by Henry van Dyke to align with the “Ode to Joy” melody from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The audience responded enthusiastically to sing along, resulting in a stirring and satisfying finish to the concert.
Adam Judd is a member of the faculty of the Ross School in East Hampton. | https://www.easthamptonstar.com/Arts/2019404/Stirring-Herald-Spring |
Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg to a Lutheran family, and spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is grouped with J. S Bach and Beethoven to be one of the ‘three Bs’. Brahms was a virtuoso pianist, and premiered many of his own works – many of the pieces that he composed for the piano were written to match his standards. He was extremely skilled at counterpoint, and used a lot of counterpoint to ‘honour’ the ‘purity’ of the structure of counterpoint and to advance them into a romantic idiom, to create new bold approaches to harmony and melody.
Brahms also had a conservative approach towards music, his music firmly being in the roots of the baroque and classical styles. But also he used novel ensemble types and new Eastern-European folk music, of which the fourth movement of his second string quintet is an example of. The second string quintet in G major was published in 1980. Brahms had troubles writing string ensemble music, destroying many of them before publication, but after his success of his string sextet in the 1850s, he adopted the string quintet, writing the piano quintet and two string quintets.
The quintet is scored for two violins, two violas and a cello, which is an unusual combination. The piece provides a good example of Brahms’ style – it contains a complex sonata form in the first movement, and the final fourth movement portraying a Austrian-Hungarian dance influenced by the Czardas. This piece is also in cyclic form. The first movement, allegro non troppo, is in sonata form, but contains two long transition sections where Brahms develops his musical ideas.
Brahms included material in the movement from his planned fifth symphony, but was never released. The main theme of the exposition features a rising arpeggio theme in G major in the cello, which is then accompanied by light tremolo in the violins and the violas. The music then modulates to D major, where a three note motif which is a reminiscent of a Viennese waltz is heard in the violins, before spreading to the rest of the quintet. In the development, the music modulates into Bb major, after an unexpected cadence at the end of he exposition. Throughout the development, Brahms develops the rising motif theme from the exposition with the tremolo accompaniment to produce new material. The recapitulation also begins unexpectedly, with the first subject from the exposition beginning on the beat of the bar, rather than as an upbeat like in the exposition. The first movement concludes with a codetta finishing abruptly in the home key of G major. The second movement, adagio, is a theme and four variations, which was Brahms’s favourite form.
The whole movement is rooted in D minor, with the theme beginning in the first viola accompanied by the second viola, and a pizzicato inverted arpeggio theme in the cello part, which links to the first movement, which is an example of cyclic form – this links the Beethoven, of whom he was greatly inspired by. In the first variation, the melody is passed onto the first violin, with the pizzicato accompaniment played by the second viola. Brahms also gives a heavier texture in this variation to give a sense of growth.
In the second variation, the inverted pizzicato arpeggio part which was first introduced in the theme is dissected as the first viola and the cello share this figure. Towards the end, all the parts break into triplets, before reaching to an extreme pitch range at the end of the variation. The third variation incorporates cross rhythms, with the re-appearance of motifs from the first movement in the violins and modified accompaniment parts played by the violas and cello.
The final variation reverts back to the beginning theme, but the melody is played by the first violin, which creates a texture that is similar, but also different to the theme. The movement ends with a unexpected D major chord. The third movement, un poco allegretto, is a scherzo-like movement in G minor which follows the second movement in a minuet and trio form. It has a much lighter texture with a mobile bass line and a variety of rhythmic forms such as rising scales and the arpeggio cello theme from the first movement, syncopated.
The main theme for the first section is a dotted minim followed by a crotchet then followed by three quavers. The music then modulates to G major for the, before modulating to a variety of keys and then coming back to G minor, to play the opening theme. The music then modulates into G major for a second time, then ending the movement in a gentle G major chord. The final movement, vivace presto, is an Austrian –Hungarian dance inspired by the Czardas. The main theme is a four note quaver tremolo motif which is first heard in the viola part, then moves onto the first violin part.
Brahms re-introduces the triplet figure from the second movement in the second violin and the first viola which is accompanied by a two quaver figure in the second violas, and later a syncopated bass line played by the cello. As the movement progresses on, Brahms again makes good use of cyclic form, as the tremolo figure from the beginning of the first movement is heard again in the lower instruments. The piece ends with a coda, which is at a faster tempo, which is a typical feature of a Hungarian folk dance.
In the coda, a contrapuntal dialogue between the violins and the violas can be heard, before a triumphant finish with three G major chords. Another work that Brahms was given great credit for was his Horn trio in Eb major, op. 40. It commemorates the death of his mother, Christiane, who was a violinist. Brahms is said to have composed this piece while walking in the ‘Black forest’ near Baden-Baden – many of his pieces were influenced by walking in the countryside as he was a keen walker. In this piece, the horn’s timbre gives a rather rural effect, in conjunction with the serene opening of the first movement.
The trio consists of four movements, with a very unusual combination of a natural horn, violin and piano, which is an autobiographical reference – his mother played the horn, his father the violin and himself the piano). But for this trio, Brahms decides not to use the valve horn, which was increasing popularity at the time due to its larger technical capabilities, but the natural horn – the natural horn has a darker, more melancholic tone than the valve horn, which adds to the rural and the empty atmosphere of the piece.
The first movement, Andante, is the first major work which does not follow the Classical sonata form style, instead it follows a structured ‘song form’ with the structure A-B-A-B-A, where the A section is a long, haunting vocal melody with a simple accompaniment, and the B section is where motivic development takes place to give contrast to the A section – it is generally faster, predominantly in C minor, and are often referred to as ‘lively rhapsodic segments’. Because of the limited motivic capability of the natural horn, the violin frequently joins with the piano to make an accompanying textural interest.
The beginning of the movement portrays a sound world which is grounded in a calm setting that is reflective and mournful. The movement’s affection is dominated by tragic simplicity of the natural horn’s melody, which often echoes the violin part. The second movement is a scherzo, and here Brahms exploits the hunting associations of the horn with a great dynamic effect, evident from the start with the piano’s galloping staccato crotchets and the bold joint violin and horn entry.
Throughout this movement, there is an apparent focus on exciting rhythms by using many devices such as strong off-beat accents and the use of syncopations. After the scherzo, the movement moves into the trio which is of a slower tempo. The trio is in G# minor, and references the sentiment of the first movement with its unfolding extensive song-like melody. Although the trio provides a contrasting character, this movement itself is mainly joyful and celebratory and for this character, many have read it as a stage of mourning where Brahms reflects on the fond memories of his deceased.
The third movement, Adagio mesto, is a slow and sorrowful movement, and is one of Brahms’ most passionate and intimate slow movements. The movement is in Eb minor, and the melancholic timbre of the natural horn creates a mood that is unmistakably that of a funeral lament. The first theme leads on to a delicately textured contrapuntal presentation of the second theme where once again Brahms uses simplistic melodic lines to a devastatingly moving effect.
After a development over a slow tremolo piano accompaniment, the second theme returns with the dynamic marked ‘ppp quasi niente’ which means like nothing on the solo violin. There is also an appearance of a new theme, a quiet fanfare-like motto in F major, providing an ambiguous glimpse of hope and release of built-up emotion, but this is extinguished by a berceuse. The movement concludes with the violin and horn affirming the Eb minor tonality whilst the piano bitterly undermines the berceuse sentiment with grating semitonal clashes.
The final and fourth movement, Allegro con brio, is in a 6/8 metre and is in the home key of Eb major. This movement ‘banishes’ the darkness of the third movement with a vivacious ‘hunting’ gigue which immediately links back to the second movement, the scherzo. The main hunting theme is a reworking of the F major theme which was extinguished by a berceuse in the third movement. Here it is realised as a point of hope and celebration, and helps to interlink the last two movements together, despite their very contrasting characters.
There are plenty of dialogues between the violin and the horn, especially in moments which imply a sense of playfulness, often evoking pastoral or spring-like images. The piece concludes with a resolute extended cadential figure, firmly rooted in the home key of Eb major – a reference to Beethoven. Through Brahms’ works, it can be seen where he had got his inspirations from. Even though he many of his works followed the classical styles and techniques, he had a distinct way of changing them and making them into his own. | https://graduateway.com/johannes-brahms/ |
The renowned French organ composer Naji Hakim, successor to Messiaen at the church St. Trinité, wrote this short variation cycle in 2012. Due to its theme, the Gregorian Easter hymn 'O filii et filiae', the work can be performed in concerts and services especiallyat Easter time. Four short variations examine the cantus firmus with different stylistic, contrapuntal and harmonic means. | https://www.guitarcenter.com/Schott/O-filii-et-filiae-Variations-on-an-Easter-Hymn-for-Organ-Schott-Series-Softcover-Composed-by-Naji-Hakim.gc |
“The greatest and noblest pleasure we have in this world is to discover new truths, and the next is to shake off old prejudices”. – Frederick the Great.
Welcome to the fascinating world of Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour!
To some extent, we are all psychologists. We all try to understand, predict and even sometimes control the behaviour of other people. The study of Psychology differs in the sense that rather than make general observations of why people behave the way they do, psychologists systematically study the factors that influence behaviour using a range of scientific and non-scientific methods. This allows them to make generalisations about human behaviour and understand the causes of it across different situations.
In line with curriculum changes, all pupils studying A level Psychology will study a two year qualification and will be assessed via three two-hour exam papers at the end of the two years. Following the OCR specification for Psychology, the course is broadly divided into three units:
• Research methods (30% of the overall grade) —introduces psychological research methods where students are required to conduct their own practical work using a range of experimental and non-experimental methods. The exam involves a multiple choice section assessing knowledge and understanding of methodology, a design section and a section on data analysis.
• Psychological themes through core studies (35% of the overall grade) —introduces key themes and core studies in psychology. Twenty studies are studied over the two year period. The inclusion of both classic and contemporary studies enable students to see the way that psychological knowledge and understanding changes over time. The exam is made up of short answer questions about the 20 studies, an essay based question on approaches or issues in Psychology and a question on application where students are asked to apply their knowledge to a real life piece of research, newspaper story or similar.
• Applied psychology (35% of the overall grade) —introduces a new and engaging compulsory section on issues in mental health and an exciting range of options including child psychology and criminal psychology. This allows students to gain an insight into how theory can be applied in real world situations. The exam involves a structured question on mental health and essay based responses for crime and child psychology.
Typically, students studying Psychology go on to Higher Education courses such as Geography, Nursing, Primary Education, English Literature and Language, Mathematics, Sociology, Law, Business Studies and many more. A significant number of students go on to study Psychology at university. For more information on careers in Psychology, follow the link Careers in psychology
Sociology
All pupils studying A level Sociology will study a two year qualification which follows the OCR specification. They will be assessed via three exam papers (see table below). The course is broadly divided into three components:
- Socialisation, culture and identity— This component introduces learners to the key themes of socialisation, culture and identity and develops these themes through the context of youth subcultures. It focuses on youth as an important period in the socialisation process when individuals are developing a sense of identity within their peer groups. It allows learners to explore different types of youth subcultures and the roles they may play in society.
- Researching and understanding social inequalities— This component explores the methods of sociological enquiry and develops knowledge and understanding of contemporary social processes and social change in the context of social inequality and difference. It aims to foster the development of critical and reflective thinking with a respect for social diversity in terms of social class, gender, ethnicity and age. It develops links between the nature of sociological thought and methods of sociological enquiry.
- Debates in contemporary society— This component engages learners in theoretical debates and how these relate to a contemporary global society. It develops links between the topics studied in this component, the nature of sociological thought, contemporary social policy and core sociological themes. Contemporary and global debates are introduced through ‘Globalisation and the digital social world’ in Section A, and more in depth studied of ‘Crime and Deviance’ in Section B. | https://stmargaretward.co.uk/curriculum/curriculum/social-sciences/ |
Improvisations "De Profundis", opus 76
For harpsichord.
Completed in 1977 this work is a set of continuous variations on a tune announced initially "in the depths" of the harpsichord. It tries to use for the most part the lyrical and contrapuntal potentialities of the harpsichord and is meant to be played on an instrument of eighteenth-century design.
The various sections may be briefly described as (1) slow and extended melodic development of the theme; (2) a fast and more percussive treatment of the material; (3) a presto section for four foot only. iconical but still menacing; (4) a more extended central section culminating in a cadenza-like passage and a return of the opening (at this point the choral Nun danket appears but with misgivings); (5) a fugue on the main theme leading to a build-up of the opening chords; (6) a five-part polytonal canon on Nun danket.
The work as a whole strives after a point of equilibrium amid the turmoil of experience. K.L.
Composer:
Work Type: | https://www.reidconcerts.music.ed.ac.uk/work/improvisations-de-profundis-opus-76 |
Thus, these contrapuntal techniques also belong to the theory and practice of musical rhetoric in general and Figurenlehre in particular.
Werckmeisters ingenious yet simple teachings on fugue, canon and invertible counterpoint merit special mention in their own right, but they also shed light on the improvisational techniques of his contemporaries, most notably Dieterich Buxtehude, organist of the Marienkirche in Lübeck.
In many of his works in improvisatory genres, including his praeambula and chorale-based compositions, Buxtehude employs the very techniques described by his friend Werckmeister.
At issue is not any question of influence: notwithstanding Werckmeisters avowals of originality, it seems more likely it was he, an innovative theorist but mediocre composer, who learned from the Lübeck master than vice versa.
Indeed, by the time Werckmeister published Harmonologia musica in 1702, the sexagenarian Buxtehude had already composed most of his organ works.
Rather, the striking parallels between Werckmeisters teachings and Buxtehudes music merit attention because they constitute mutually supporting evidence about contrapuntal improvisation in the Baroque era.1.3 If to Baroque minds invertible counterpoint and canon exemplified some of the most arcane expressions of musical science, then for composers of fugue these procedures also provided indispensable tools. | http://slth.ru/as-harmonicas-de-werckmeister-online-dating-25986.html |
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Summary
This section summarizes the wireless network challenges and solutions for a smarter grid IoT training series.
Introduction
This section covers what is meter tampering, why is this a problem for utility providers, and some common ways a meter is tampered.
Debugging Embedded Linux Systems
Debugging Embedded Linux Systems training series teaches the techniques of debugging kernel issues that may be encountered in embedded Linux systems. It explains the Linux kernel logging system and logging API, illustrates how to locate a particular device driver, and demonstrates how to read kernel oops logs.
How-to Videos
This section contains task-specific videos that demonstrate how to perform debugging techniques on embedded Linux systems.
TAS5825M Innovation Features Overview
What are the audio amplifier requirements for wireless / AI speaker? How TAS5825M improve battery lifetime and audio quality?
This section provides the overview of TAS5825M innovation features.
TAS5825M Hybrid PWM Modulation to Improve Battery Efficiency
Compared with traditional PWM modulation, TAS5825M develops innovative Hybrid modulation, which dynamically maintains differential switching with several common duty options.
The benefits of Hybrid PWM modulation mainly includes:
- Higher efficiency for longer battery lifetime
- Good THD+N performance
- Ultra-low idle power dissipation and idle noise
TAS5825M Thermal Foldback, Inductor Free and Audio DSP Resource
This training section descripts some innovation features of TAS5825M, which includes: | https://training.ti.com/search-catalog/field_language/EN/categories/tools-software?keywords=&start&end&page=4&sort=ti_date&%3Bamp%3Border=desc&%3Bamp%3Bkeyword_op=OR&%3Bamp%3Bkeywords=hdmi%2C%20dvi%2C%20csi%2C%20dsi%2C%20displayport&%3Bamp%3Bstart=&%3Bamp%3Bend=&%3Bamp%3Bqt-search_filters=3&qt-search_filters=4 |
Study cuisines from around the world, and you'll find that many tend to rely on fairly consistent bases of aromatic vegetables, no matter the dish. In France, this vegetable base is known as mirepoix, and features celery, onions, and carrots. In Creole cooking, it's known as the holy trinity—onion, celery, and green bell peppers. Italy, Spain, German, and other countries and cuisines have their own variations, as well. So what would the Chinese flavor base be?
In this series, we're exploring the aromatic flavor bases that are most common in China. Check out the rest of the series here!
Is There a Chinese Equivalent to Mirepoix?
We all know that ginger, scallion, garlic, and chilies are common aromatic vegetables in Chinese cuisine, but it's not quite correct to say that these ingredients are the Chinese equivalent of a mirepoix. That's because there's far too much variation across China to narrow it down to one simple answer—the specific aromatics used, and how they're combined, change from region to region.
In Guangdong, the southern and most populated province in China, for instance, the flavors of the food tend to be more delicate and mild, with aromatics like ginger and scallion.
Head northwest of Guangdong to Sichuan, and you'll encounter a totally different flavor profile. Known for its generous use of dried chilies and garlic, Sichuan cuisine emphasizes spicy, mouth-numbingingly bold flavors.
Travel northeast to Beijing and you'll discover something different yet again. The same can be said about the food in Hunan, Shandong, Fujian, etc. This is why a single type of mirepoix just doesn't exist in China. Still, it is possible to generalize by dividing Chinese cuisine into two distinct and broad flavor groups: the spicy (chili peppers and garlic), and the aromatic (ginger, scallion, and garlic).
The Aromatic: Cantonese Flavor Base
A few weeks ago, we looked at the spicy (chili and garlic) flavor base common to Hunan and Sichuan cooking. Now we'll examine the more mild aromatic flavor base of Cantonese cooking, which most frequently features ginger, scallion, and garlic.
"Unlike the regions of Hunan and Sichuan, the Southern Chinese cuisine of Guangdong province—and more specifically the famed Cantonese cooking found there—is less fiery and more delicate and mild in flavor."
Unlike the regions of Hunan and Sichuan, the Southern Chinese cuisine of Guangdong province—and more specifically the famed Cantonese cooking found there—is less fiery and more delicate and mild in flavor. Dishes are usually stir-fried or steamed, and there is a distinct aroma of ginger, scallion, and garlic.
Those three ingredients are usually the first things that hit a sizzling-hot wok when stir-frying, though they are not always used together. They are often used in different combinations in Cantonese cooking, depending on the type of dish. Both ginger and scallion, for example, are frequently used in seafood dishes, especially steamed whole fish. A few slices of ginger and lengths of scallion are placed inside the fish's cavity before steaming: the aromatics help add a fresh, clean aroma that can balance the scent of the fish. Scallions and ginger are used for similar effect when cooking offal, chicken, and pork.
Garlic, meanwhile, is frequently used when stir-frying greens. Whether chopped into large pieces or finely minced, it elevates the flavor of simple vegetable dishes.
When cooking with these more mild aromatics, it helps to consider a few things. First is to think about how powerful you want the flavor of the aromatics to be: If you want just a hint of their aroma, cut them into larger pieces and add them towards at the beginning of cooking, whether stir-frying, steaming, or poaching. The large pieces will gently flavor the dish, and can then easily be picked out while eating.
For more bold flavor, mince or grate the aromatics: Their increased surface area will allow more of their flavor to enter the dish, adding intensity. When stir-frying, it's generally best to add minced aromatics towards the end of cooking to prevent them from scorching in the hot wok; alternatively, you can mix them directly into the sauce.
Leeks, shallots, chives, and onions are great additions to the trio; they can also be used as scallion substitutes, each with a slightly different effect on the dish's final flavor.
Stay tuned, because in the coming days we'll look more closely at this flavor base by using two great recipes as examples—stir-fried shrimp with egg and Chinese chives, and stir-fried tripe with garlic, ginger, scallions, chilies, and fermented black beans. | https://www.seriouseats.com/chinese-aromatics-101-mild-ginger-scallion-garlic |
My Citizens, few things are as universally adored as a good fried chicken – add in some uniquely Asian spices and cooking techniques with the goodness of coconut milk and you will fall in love with this style of cooking!
“Inchi Kabin” is a highly unusual name for deep fried chicken. Apparently “inchi kabin” used to be known as Encik Kabin, which means Mr. Cabin – perhaps he was the originator of this recipe?
Peranakan or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia inter-marrying with local Malays and combines Chinese, Malay and other influences.
The old Malay word nonya (also spelled nyonya), a term of respect and affection for women of prominent social standing (part “madame” and part “auntie”), has come to refer to the cuisine of the Peranakans.
Nyonya cooking is the result of blending Chinese ingredients with various distinct spices and cooking techniques used by the Malay/Indonesian community. This gives rise to Peranakan interpretations of Malay/Indonesian food that is similarly tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal.
In other instances, the Peranakans have adopted Malay cuisine as part of their taste palate, such as assam fish and beef rendang.
Key ingredients include coconut milk, galangal (a subtle, mustard-scented rhizome similar to ginger), candlenuts as both a flavoring and thickening agent, laksa leaf, pandan leaves (Pandanus amaryllifolius), belachan, tamarind juice, lemongrass, torch ginger bud, jicama, fragrant kaffir lime leaf, rice or egg noodles and cincaluk – a powerfully flavored, sour and salty shrimp-based condiment that is typically mixed with lime juice, chillies and shallots and eaten with rice, fried fish and other side dishes.
There are regional variations in Nyonya cooking. Dishes from the island of Penang in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia possess Thai influences, such as more liberal use of tamarind and other sour ingredients.
Dishes from Singapore and Malacca show a greater Indonesian influence, such as the use of coconut milk. A classic example is laksa (a spicy noodle soup), which comes in two variants: the sour asam laksa from Penang and the coconut milk-based laksa lemak from Singapore and the southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia.
The flavor of laksa and other Nyonya recipes is determined by the rempah, which in Malay means spices. The various combinations are pounded into a paste with pestle and mortar, with a very specific texture and density. It is said that a Nyonya can determine the culinary skill of a new daughter-in-law simply by listening to her preparing rempah with a mortar.
Nyonya recipes are handed down from one generation to the next, and because of the time-consuming preparation of these dishes, it is a cuisine that is often at its best when served at home. Laksa is a notable exception to this rule.
Examples of Nyonya specialities include otak-otak, a popular blend of fish, coconut milk, chilli paste, galangal, and herbs wrapped in a banana leaf; Ayam Buah Keluak, a distinctive dish combining chicken pieces with nuts from the Pangium edule or kepayang tree to produce a rich sauce; and Itek Tim, a classic soup containing duck, tomatoes, green peppers, salted vegetables, and preserved sour plums simmered gently together.
Nyonya desserts include colorful cakes (kuih) and sweet, sticky delicacies.
Citizens, my version of this fantastically flavorful Nyonya recipe is based very closely on one from Little Penang restaurant, in Wellington NZ. I’ve adjusted the spice ratios to my taste and added in some optional red fermented tofu for some serious Nyonya flavor notes. Omit if you so prefer. I also substituted chicken wings for the original version’s whole chicken, as I love deep-fried chicken wings and their super-crispy skin!
Battle on – The GeneralissimoPrint
The Hirshon Malaysian Nyonya Fried Chicken – Inche Kabin
Ingredients
- Spice paste:
- 4 shallots, pounded
- 2 tsp Kashmir chili powder or hot paprika
- 1 Tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp fennel powder
- 1/4 tsp clove powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 100ml thick coconut milk
- 25 grams fermented red bean curd (Optional – roughly equivalent to 2 cubes)
- 1.5kg chicken wings
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- ***
- Dipping sauce:
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 3 Tbsp Worcestershire or HP sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 red jalapeño or Fresno chilies, sliced
- ***
- To serve:
- cucumber, sliced
- toasted sesame seeds
- lemon, sliced
Instructions
- Combine all the spice paste ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add chicken and toss together to coat well. Put in the refrigerator to marinate for 3–4 hours, or preferably overnight.
- Mix sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- Heat oil in a wok or fryer, and deep-fry chicken pieces until almost cooked. Keep at a moderate heat. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Reheat oil and deep-fry chicken until golden brown and crispy. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels. Garnish with cucumber, sesame seeds and lemon, and serve hot with sauce.
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Hi, I am Chef Zara. In this post, I will guide you through Nepalese Cookbooks.
I love discovering new food and cooking with friends and family. One of the most common questions that I often get is for cookbook recommendations. I have created this guide for friends, family, and new friends alike. I hope that you enjoy our site.
Traditional Nepalese Recipes brought to your house
Nepalese cuisine is one of the world’s most complex and exciting cuisines. It’s also one of the most unique, with a range of flavors and textures that can’t be found anywhere else. Nepalese cookbooks can help you to achieve that original flavor.
Nepalese food reflects the diversity, like its culture and people. The dishes are just as varied as the people who make them. The cuisine is heavily influenced by its neighbors. You’ll find that many of the spices used in Nepalese food are also used in India and Tibet, but there are some unique flavors as well. The most popular dishes in Nepal are dal bhat and momos. Dal bhat is a soup made from lentils and rice, while momos recipe is dumplings filled with meat or vegetables. There are many other dishes to choose from as well, like alu tama (potatoes cooked in a spicy sauce), safed chawal (rice cooked with herbs and spices), kabocha squash curry (cooked squash in a tomato sauce).
Here are 10 Nepalese Cookbooks that will guide you through learning how to cook Nepalese cuisine!
1. Ayla
Why We Love It ❤️
This Nepalese cookbook features dishes from Nepal’s Terai region. The book is a testament to Nepal’s colorful food diversity, which is home to various ethnic groups. In addition to other recipes for traditional dishes like momos and thukpa, a noodle soup, this cookbook includes recipes for more modern fare, like sizzling samosas and dumplings stuffed with minced meat or vegetables.
Review 📖
The author’s notes at the end of each recipe are very informative about the ingredients used in each dish as well as their preparation methods. This helps readers make informed decisions about what ingredients they should use in their own home-cooked meals.
The recipes themselves are written clearly and concisely, with step-by-step directions that are easy to follow even if you’re not familiar with cooking full-course Nepali meals at home. The instructions also include pictures illustrating how they should be done so that you can get a better idea of what it will look like when completed. This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning more about Nepali cuisine!
About the Author ✍️
Santosh Shah is a Nepalese chef. He was a finalist at BBC MasterChef: The Professionals in 2020. This is his first cookbook.
2. The Best Selection of Nepal Recipes
Review 📖
This cookbook is an excellent choice for anyone looking to try Nepali cuisine or even just get a taste of the flavors without having to go out and buy ingredients and equipment.
The recipes are simple to follow, and all the elements are easy to find at your local grocery store. The writing style is friendly and engaging, making this cookbook an easy read that doesn’t feel like it’s boring you with too much information.
The best Nepalese cookbook is broken down into sections based on the main ingredient in each dish, so you can find what you’re looking for quickly. This is especially helpful if you’re not familiar with Nepali special cooking methods or components; it will help you learn them fast!
About the Author ✍️
Valeria Ray is a chef. She has published a lot of cookbooks.
3. 50 Nepalese Recipes
Why We Love It ❤️
This cookbook is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to learn more about their cuisine. It has 50 recipes, all from the different regions of Nepal. The recipes are easy to read and understand.
The best about this Nepalese cookbook is that it is an excellent resource for those who want to eat authentically Nepalese food. While there are plenty of options for people looking for “fast food” or convenience foods, there are also several recipes that take a little bit more time but are well worth the effort.
About the Author ✍️
Hailey Ward
4. The Rana Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
The Rana Cookbook is a fantastic reference for anyone who has ever wanted to try their hand at cooking authentic Nepalese dishes.
The book is a guide to the best dishes from the Rana dynasty, and it also includes a few recipes that have been adapted to be suitable for modern kitchens. The author, Rohini Rana, has lived in Nepal for many years and knows her food intimately. She has also included plenty of information about preparing these dishes properly—from shopping and cooking ingredients to serving techniques and even some history!
You will enjoy this Nepalese cookbook’s emphasis on ingredients: there are dozens of different types of meat, fish, vegetables, and spices that can be used in Nepalese cuisine. It also includes tips on what kind of utensils are best suited for each dish. All the elements of this book make it easy for anyone interested in trying new foods (whether they’re a novice cook or someone who just wants to learn more about Nepalese thali) to find something delicious without having to spend hours researching recipes online.
About the Author ✍️
Rohini Rana is a homemaker who loves to cook. Years of cooking and researching old Rana (a dynasty in Nepal) recipes have resulted in this book.
5. The Nepal Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
This Nepalese cookbook is a must-have for anyone who wants to try authentic Nepalese cuisine. The recipes are simple, delicious, and easy to make. The book is divided into sections based on the types of cuisine you’re most likely to find in Nepal. Still, you don’t need to be familiar with all of them to enjoy the book—there are plenty of recipes that can be used as stand-alone meals or as inspiration for your creations.
Review 📖
If you love Nepalese food but don’t know where to start when trying to cook something new, this book is perfect! You’ll feel like your cooking skills are getting stronger every time you try something new from this collection of recipes, so try out your first Nepalese thali with the help of this cookbook.
There are also some great tips throughout the book about how to make Nepali cooking accessible to people who aren’t as familiar with it (or even those who are!). For example, there’s a section on spices and herbs that explains what each one does and what it looks like. This will help people who have never tasted authentic Nepali cuisine before or don’t have access to fresh herbs or other ingredients necessary for authentic recipes.
About the Author ✍️
The Association of Nepalis in the Americas (ANA) is a large community organization in North America. The Americas promotes the preservation, always pending, of Nepali identity and culture in the Americas.
6. The Ultimate Nepalese Cookbook
Review 📖
The Ultimate Nepalese Cook Book is an excellent cookbook for any Nepalese cuisine enthusiast. The recipes are written clearly and concisely, which makes them easy to follow.
The book covers a wide variety of different dishes such as salads, appetizers, soups and stews, main courses, snacks, desserts, and drinks, a great help for making your own delicious Nepalese thali.
This Nepalese cookbook is pretty great for beginners looking for guidance and experienced cooks who want to enhance their skills with more challenging recipes.
About the Author ✍️
Pemba Lama is a chef, culinary tutor, and ex-Gurkha soldier. This is his first cookbook.
7. Taste of Nepal
Why We Love It ❤️
This cookbook is well organized: everything is clearly laid out, with information about what each ingredient does and how it can be used in recipes.
You will enjoy learning about Nepalese foods and diverse cultures through this cookbook. It’s an excellent resource for anyone looking to expand their knowledge about Nepalese cuisine or just looking to prepare something new recipes to try out at home!
Review 📖
This Nepalese cookbook offers a unique combination of traditional and modern recipes that make it easy to adapt your own cooking style. It’s also not just a book of classic dishes—it includes sections on ingredients, how to plan and serve Nepali meals, and kitchen tools.
The book is organized into sections such as Momos, wontons, or After Meal Refreshers, which provides a great jumping-off point for new cooks who want to try their hand at making some of the more complicated recipes in the book.
About the Author ✍️
Jyoti Pandey Pathak is a Gourmand award-winning cookbook author. She was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal, and now resides in New York.
8. Nepali Home Cooking for Healthy Living
Why We Love It ❤️
This Nepalese cookbook does not only include recipes—it has a section about spices and herbs that have great medicinal value and use in this cuisine and a section with tips for food and spice combinations.
This cookbook is highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn how to prepare healthy and delicious Nepali food.
Review 📖
This cookbook is full of delicious recipes that are sure to help you live a healthier, happier life. The recipes are both simple and easy to follow, and the ingredients are organic and fresh. The author describes her recipes in detail and ensures that readers understand exactly what they’re doing before they begin. She explains why certain ingredients or techniques are essential, which will help anyone understand why you should use them in your own cooking.
About the Author ✍️
Cibeleh Da Mata and Sharada Jnawali
9. Lands of the Curry Leaf
Why We Love It ❤️
The book is well-written, with clear images that help readers visualize what they’re reading about. It’s definitely an interesting read if you’re already familiar with the cuisine of the subcontinent, particularly from Sri Lankan to Nepal, but want some new ideas on how to incorporate more vegetables into your diet!
Review 📖
This Nepalese cookbook is an excellent read for anyone interested in exploring the diversity of cuisine in the subcontinent, especially Nepal. Kuruvita takes us on a journey through these countries’ cuisines, sharing his knowledge and experiences as he travels throughout them.
The book includes a section called ‘The Subcontinent Pantry’ where he details the practical recipes to have on hand when making any dish from the subcontinent. There is also a section about spices, where the author describes the different types of spices and spice mixes.
About the Author ✍️
Peter Kuruvita is a chef, television presenter, restaurateur, and author. He has a lot of TV series and this is not his first and only book has already written two cookbooks.
10. Himalayan Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
This cookbook is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning more about Nepalese cuisine. The recipes are simple and easy to follow, and they are full of flavor. The book also includes information about health-related things like metabolism, diabetes, properties of common ingredients such as meat, beans, vegetables (among others), and calories. This cookbook does not only contain recipes but also helpful information we can use. So if you’re looking for a Nepalese cookbook with real Nepalese recipes that is more than just a cookbook, this is a good choice!
About the Author ✍️
Makar Jang Rai
Final Thoughts
Nepalese cooking is a fascinating and varied cuisine. It has been influenced by both Indian subcontinent types of food and Chinese cuisines, with some dishes being similar to those in both countries.
The cuisine is known for using spices, so many curries, and herbs such as ginger, garlic, and cumin. The cuisine is also known for its use of dal or lentil dishes, which are often served with rice. Nepal boasts some of the world’s most diverse and delicious foods, and it’s an experience you won’t want to miss.
If you’ve been looking for a way to recreate the Nepalese dishes you’ve tried before, or if you want to cook their dishes in your kitchen, the 10 Nepalese cookbooks above will surely help you make your way through authentic Nepalese dishes. | https://bakeaholicmama.com/nepalese-cookbooks/ |
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A follower of the diet or the philosophy is known as a vegan. Distinctions may be made between several categories of veganism. Dietary vegans refrain from consuming animal products, not only meat but also eggs, dairy products and other animal-derived substances. The term ethical vegan is often applied to those who not only follow a vegan diet but extend the philosophy into other areas of their lives, and oppose the use of animals for any purpose. Another term is environmental veganism, which refers to the avoidance of animal products on the premise that the industrial farming of animals is environmentally damaging and unsustainable.
Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of social and economic changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes; there is an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Seafood is common, often grilled, but also served raw as sashimi or in sushi. Seafood and vegetables are also deep-fried in a light batter, as tempura. Apart from rice, staples include noodles, such as soba and udon. Japan also has many simmered dishes such as fish products in broth called oden, or beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga.
Indian cuisine consists of a wide variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the range of diversity in soil type, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially from each other and use locally available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Indian food is also heavily influenced by religion, in particular Hindu, and cultural choices and traditions. Also, Middle Eastern and Central Asian influences have occurred on North Indian cuisine from the years of Mughal rule. Indian cuisine is still evolving, as a result of the nation's cultural interactions with other societies.
French cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices from France.
Italian cuisine is food typical from Italy. It has developed through centuries of social and economic changes, with roots stretching to antiquity.
Mexican cuisine began about 9,000 years ago, when agricultural communities such as the Maya formed, domesticating maize, creating the standard process of corn nixtamalization, and establishing their foodways. Successive waves of other Mesoamerican groups brought with them their own cooking methods. These included the Olmec, Teotihuacanos, Toltec, Huastec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otomi, Purépecha, Totonac, Mazatec, and Mazahua.
Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of 144 distinct ethno-linguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. However, a majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Filipino cuisine are from the cuisines of the Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan, Chavacano and Maranao ethno-linguistic groups. The style of cooking and the food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from their Austronesian origins to a mixed cuisine of Indian, Chinese, Spanish and American influences, in line with the major waves of influence that had enriched the cultures of the archipelago, as well as others adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate.
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including those of Southeast Europe (Balkans), Central Europe, and Western Europe. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Levantine cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia, creating a vast array of specialities—many with strong regional associations.
British cuisine is the set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. However, British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influence of those who have settled in Britain, producing many hybrid dishes, such as chicken tikka masala.
Thai cuisine is the national cuisine of Thailand.
Korean cuisine is the customary cooking traditions and practices of the culinary arts of Korea. Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine has evolved through a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural trends.
Canadian cuisine varies widely depending on the regions of the nation. The three earliest cuisines of Canada have First Nations, English, Scottish and French roots, with the traditional cuisine of English Canada closely related to British cuisine, while the traditional cuisine of French Canada has evolved from French cuisine and the winter provisions of fur traders. With subsequent waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th century from Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Caribbean, the regional cuisines were subsequently augmented.
Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages of Vietnam, and features a combination of five fundamental tastes in the overall meal. Each Vietnamese dish has a distinctive flavor which reflects one or more of these elements. Common ingredients include fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce, rice, fresh herbs, fruit and vegetables. Vietnamese recipes use lemongrass, ginger, mint, Vietnamese mint, long coriander, Saigon cinnamon, bird's eye chili, lime, and Thai basil leaves. Traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for its fresh ingredients, minimal use of dairy and oil, complementary textures, and reliance on herbs and vegetables. With the balance between fresh herbs and meats and a selective use of spices to reach a fine taste, Vietnamese food is considered one of the healthiest cuisines worldwide.
Jewish cuisine is a diverse collection of cooking traditions of the Jewish people worldwide. It has evolved over many centuries, shaped by Jewish dietary laws (kashrut), Jewish Festival, and Shabbat (Sabbath) traditions. Jewish cuisine is influenced by the economics, agriculture, and culinary traditions of the many countries where Jewish communities have settled and varies widely throughout the whole world. | https://www.spectroom.com/category/171023001-cuisines |
Anna Voloshyna is a Ukrainian-American chef, food blogger, and author of the highly-acclaimed cookbook BUDMO! Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen. Born and raised in Ukraine, Anna developed a deep appreciation for traditional Ukrainian cuisine and the importance of cooking with fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. In addition to her food writing and various food photography projects, Anna Voloshyna also pursued formal culinary training at the San Francisco Cooking School, where she completed their rigorous Culinary Arts program. This experience allowed Anna to refine her techniques and expand her culinary knowledge, which she has since applied to her distinct cooking style.
Anna’s passion for Ukrainian and Eastern European food and her unique approach to cooking has earned her numerous accolades, including features in top food publications like The New York Times, The Wallstreet Journal, The Washington Post, All Recipes, Food and Wine, etc.
In her cookbook, BUDMO! , Anna shares her love of Ukrainian cuisine with the world, offering readers a collection of delicious and innovative recipes inspired by her heritage. With an emphasis on fresh, wholesome ingredients and bold flavors, BUDMO! has become a must-have resource for anyone exploring Ukrainian cuisine’s rich and diverse culinary culture.
Anna’s dedication to the culinary arts and her passion for sharing her knowledge with others has also led her to teach in-person and online cooking classes and workshops. Her engaging teaching style and expert knowledge have made her a sought-after instructor. Through her work as a teacher, Anna hopes to inspire others to discover the joys of cooking and to experiment with new flavors and ingredients. Numerous organizations have recognized her contributions to the culinary world, and she has received awards such as the IACP Media Award. | https://annavoloshyna.com/about/ |
The flavors of American Southwestern cooking are as unique and varied as the landscape itself. Imbued with native, earthy ingredients, cosmopolitan Spanish savor and the distinctive heat from south of the border, this rustic cuisine is an iconic symbol of the cultures and geography from which it is derived.
Simple yet diverse, it’s a distinctive compilation of foods that would have been eaten by Native American Indians, with additional contributions from the Aztec and other peoples of Mesoamerica, Spanish colonial settlers, cowboys and Western settlers.
Back to the Beginning
For millennia, Native Americans established the basis for this remarkable cuisine with flavorful dishes gleaned from the desert and mountains. With very little rainfall, the landscape looks harsh and arid, yet it offers a surprisingly abundant variety of vegetation in wild edibles.
Some of the common food sources used by the Yavapai, Apache, Hopi and Navajo peoples were (and are):
- Roasted agave heart.
- Arizona walnuts.
- Berries of the Netleaf Hackberry.
- The fruit of the Catclaw Acacia –the green pods were eaten fresh, and also ground into a flour to make porridge and breads. And bees that feed on the blossoms produce a delicious honey.
- The leaves, young shoots, seeds and fruit of the Four Wing Saltbush are all edible, while the ashes from the burnt leaves where used as a baking soda in Hopi piki bread.
- The pads of the Prickly Pear Cactus can be roasted, steamed, pickled or fried. Its fruits are cleaned, boiled and mashed to make a jelly, or can simply be sliced and eaten.
- The Desert Christmas Cactus yields berry-sized fruit that are crushed and made into a jam, as well as a beverage with an intoxicating effect.
- Velvet Mesquite provided a flour by grinding its seeds and pods into meal and baking it into cakes, while the sap was eaten like a candy. And the wood, used in cooking fires, lends a very distinctive layering of flavor.
- Pine nuts were also a favorite – the shelled nuts were ground to make cakes and a porridge-like gruel.
- Ground acorns were used for thickening stews.
The indigenous peoples of the Southwest also cultivated some crops such as corn, beans and squash. Wild game like rabbits, deer, antelope, wild turkey and quail were plentiful and used in many native recipes, and along streams and rivers, fish were also caught.
Interestingly, tomatoes grew wild in the Andes region of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador and were cultivated in southern Mexico as early 500 B.C. But, they didn’t become popular as a food in America until after they had been introduced to Europe by Spanish conquistadors – although some Pueblo people believed that watching someone ingest tomato seeds would result in the gift of divination.
Foodal recommends the Southwest Table: Traditional Cuisine From Texas, New Mexico, And Arizona
The Mexican flavors contributing to this regional cooking style come from the legacy of the Aztecs, who were dining on beans, corn, chiles, avocados, onions and chocolate long before the arrival of Spanish expeditions in the New World.
The conquistadors brought their own regional ingredients and methods of cooking: sheep, goats and cattle were introduced to the area, as well as new cooking and preservation techniques such as salting pork, smoke-curing meats and sun-drying strips of jerky, which could be eaten as is or reconstituted by stewing.
The gastronomy of the Southwest was further refined by Mexican and Spanish settlers with the addition of flour from ground wheat, a particular variety of melons, bell peppers, summer squashes and zucchini, artichokes and tomatoes, as well as peaches and apricots.
European grape cultivars were also imported, as native species were highly acidic and sour, and considered unsuitable for wine making.
Any fruits that could be adequately stored over the winter months were highly regarded, and eventually these were used to create pastry fillings of dried fruits and nuts, primarily made with apples, raisins, apricots and almonds.
And the Spaniards also brought rice and cheese, still hugely popular in the Tex Mex and New Mex styles of cooking today.
Today, New Mexican cuisine is one of the favorite flavors of the American Southwest food culture, as is Arizona’s Sonoran style, a unique blend of flavors and dietary preferences.
The Basic Ingredients Used in Southwestern Cooking
Here’s a basic rundown on the ingredients you’ll commonly find used in this style of cooking.
Corn: Southwestern corn is grown in six colors, including red, white and blue. It has always been one of the primary crops cultivated by the American Indians.
In the dishes of today’s Southwestern style, corn is used in many different ways: corn husks are used to wrap tamales, the kernels are ground and pressed for oil, and they’re also dried and milled into flour. Mexican masa, or ground corn meal prepared with lime, was a dietary staple for centuries.
The tortilla today is pretty much as it has been for last several centuries, while posole – a thick soup made of lime-treated hominy corn with onions, garlic, cilantro and chilies – is enjoyed year round.
Beans: Beans were another dietary staple of the old Southwest, and they star in a number of dishes popular today in New Mexican cooking. The customary dish of black beans now has a distinctive flavor with the addition of mesquite-smoked chipotle chilies. It’s often served with avocado and a topping of crumbled cheese, then cooled with lime wedges.
Beans are used in tortillas and as a basic ingredient in soups, salsas, and a variety of entrees, as a dip, and of course, refried for a side dish.
Chilies: Southwestern cooking gets a big boost to its distinctive flavor from the Aztec influence, as it borrows heavily from Mexican cuisine with its generous use of spices, particularly the chili pepper.
Regardless of their color or heat level, which ranges from mild to inferno hot, whether smoked or raw, chilies are the spice of choice that captures the identity of Southwestern cooking.
This is notable in the green chili with its sweet and earthy flavor, and the fleshy red chili, hot and sweet – and, these chilies are often fire roasted to intensify their flavors even more. The most common type used today is the cayenne.
If you’re exploring Southwestern cooking for the first time, too much heat can happen. Learn how to turn down the heat on excessive spiciness here to bring out the full desert flavors of a truly balanced, authentic, and above-all edible dish!
Not only do chili peppers add their distinctive flavor to cooking, along with tomatoes and tomatillos, they add a dramatic dash of color to Southwestern dishes. Another source of color in these dishes comes from mole sauce, the most well-known type of which is a chocolate-based sauce that’s reddish-brown in hue, and often served with grilled poultry, pork chops and beef tips.
A popular version in New Mex cooking includes red chili flakes, tomatoes, onion, cloves, sesame seeds, almonds, raisins, cinnamon, coriander and fresh cilantro. Sweet and savory, it’s a taste that can’t be missed.
Distinctive Cooking Techniques – Unique Fusion of Flame Roasting, Adobo, Cast Iron & BBQ
One of the traditional cooking techniques that remains with us today is the layering of flavors through roasting. Chilies and tomatoes are flame roasted to let the skin char, which results in a rich, smoky flavor, adding distinctive depth.
Another method is marinating foods in a paste or sauce such as adobo, which is a combination of chilies, vinegar, spices and herbs.
Cast iron skillet roasting is part of the cowboy heritage, a method employed by chuck wagon cooks. Garlic, skillet roasted over medium heat, creates a sweet, nutty flavor – a key ingredient in Southwestern barbecue glazes.
Cast iron grilling also lends its unique flavors to dishes such as skillet corn bread, where the ingredients are all combined and cooked with a little oil to intensify the heat and savory flavors.
Clay pottery used for baking and stewing is another heritage type of cookware, which allows for flavorful food prep without any metallic overtones.
And, of course, grilling or barbecuing is a standard method for cooking beef, pork and poultry, all infused with the spicy, sweet flavors of tomato-based glazes and sauces.
Today’s Flavors
Today, we can easily incorporate the roasted, smoked and spicy flavor ingredients so popular in Southwestern foods into our own everyday cuisine. A trip to your favorite grocer will supply the necessary ingredients for an adventurous exploration of this remarkable cooking style.
Check out this cookbook for a modern take on the Southwest style: Cooking with Cafe Pasqual’s: Recipes from Santa Fe’s Renowned Corner Cafe
Try the chipotle chili flavored bases, adobo sauces, roasted garlic pastes and mesquite flavored grilling chips to mimic many of the New Mex flavors. And if you need to temper the heat a little, just add a hint of molasses to smooth out the intensity.
Whip up some skillet cornbread biscuits, or create tortillas or tamales with fire roasted red and green chilies. Or create your own salsa fresca with tomatillos, tomatoes, chilies, garlic, onion, cilantro, and lime juice seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Try out some of the big Southwestern flavors in new combinations, using it to flavor pasta, seafood or vegetable medleys. The results will create a new flavor sensation, further evolving the rich multicultural heritage and tastes of Southwestern cuisine.
A Couple of Southwest Inspired Recipes to Get You Started
Blazing Baby Back Ribs
This recipe was inspired by a trip to the Southwest many years ago, and created by my friend Kathy. A professional cook, she started her career working in logging camps cooking for hungry men who put in long days of intense physical labor. Legend has it that not even the bones remained after serving these ribs, they were that popular!
They are initially baked in a large roasting pan in the oven. This allows for a long and slow cooking time, to ensure that they end up tender and that you aren’t diluting the meaty flavors by parboiling (an awful, awful practice that should be banned under international law!).
After they’ve been tenderized, the ribs are grilled with a touch of direct heat on a barbecue grill, for some added smoky flavor and for a little caramelization of the sugars in the barbecue sauce. This allows the sauce to stick to the meat rather than dripping off. Be careful though – too much caramelization is the same thing as burning the sauce, and you don’t want that.
Also, don’t forget to read Foodal’s 5 Simple Steps to Great Tasting BBQ Ribs for some more great ideas.
- 2 racks of baby back ribs approximately 4 pounds
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon regular paprika
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- garlic salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh savory minced
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups tomato ketchup
- 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Generously rub the ribs on each side with the dry rub seasonings.
- In a large roasting pan, place the ribs in a single layer and cover snugly with heavy-weight tin foil.
- Bake until the ribs are tender, approximately 1 ¼ hours.
- Preheat the barbeque grill to medium.
- Lay the ribs on the grill and season with a generous sprinkling of the BBQ spices - garlic salt and black pepper. Grill for about 10 minutes on each side.
- After each side has been grilled, add another layer of garlic salt and black pepper and brush with Spicy BBQ Sauce. Grill for about 5 minutes, turn over and repeat on each side. Repeat this step twice more, for a total of 15 minutes on each side with BBQ sauce. Adding the sauce too early, or leaving the ribs exposed to the heat for too long will cause them to burn because of the sugar base in the sauce.
- Turn off the heat, close the lid and let the ribs sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat.
- Add the onions and sauté until softened.
- Add the vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper and simmer on medium-low heat for about 25 minutes.
- Add the parsley, oregano and savory and continue simmering another 10 minutes or so, until thickened.
- After cooking, store in the fridge in a tightly sealed glass jar for up to 3 weeks.
*Freshly ground Pepper tastes a whole letter better and is much more pungent than the pre-ground canned variety.
Mango and Black Bean Quesadillas
One of the great features of New Mex cooking is its “lightness” – all meals are not meat based, and the highly popular beans make a superb protein source.
These quesadillas have a slightly sweet flavor from the mango, which pairs very nicely with the mildly spicy poblanos and other savory ingredients.
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced sweet onion
- 1 poblano chili seeded and diced *
- 1/2 avocado peeled and diced
- 1 cup Mango peeled and diced
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained well
- 1/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/3 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano minced
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 4 whole grain 8” tortillas
- Cooking spray
- Preheat broiler.
- In a large, heavy skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, poblano, oregano, salt and pepper and sauté 5 minutes or until the onion is tender. Add the beans and cook for another minute or 2 until well heated.
- Remove skillet from the heat and gently fold in the mango and avocado.
- Place the tortillas on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Arrange ¼ of the bean mixture on half of each tortilla, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of each cheese over the bean mixture and fold tortilla in half.
- Brush the top of the tortillas lightly with olive oil, then broil approximately 3 minutes or just until the cheese melts.
- Cut each quesadilla into thirds or quarters and serve with sour cream, salsa, hot sauce and/or guacamole.
*Poblano chilies are very mild, so if you can’t find them at your grocers substitute 1 green bell pepper and ¼ teaspoon chili powder. Add the chili powder in step 1.
Serve with:
- 4 heaping tablespoons sour cream.
- 4 heaping tablespoons salsa.
- A side dish of guacamole.
- Your favorite hot sauce.
For a lighter version, use low fat cheese and sour cream, or substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream.
About Lorna Kring
Recently retired as a costume specialist in the TV and film industry, Lorna now enjoys blogging on contemporary lifestyle themes. A bit daft about the garden, she’s particularly obsessed with organic tomatoes and herbs, and delights in breaking bread with family and friends. | https://foodal.com/knowledge/paleo/smokin-southwestern-cooking/ |
Guidebook V: Facilitating Discussion
How to guide your group and deepen understanding.
Sam did a head count as people took their seats. The atmosphere in the room was charged as different personalities jostled for space. Sam was nervous but held back from speaking until everyone was settled. He consulted his notes and shared a few thoughts. In the discussion that followed, Sam was able to identify those confident enough to share their opinions openly. There was one who might happily talk all evening and several content to be silent.
Before unpacking the study, Sam gave them the task of splitting into smaller groups. He asked them to discuss their experience of similar groups they had attended and how they felt about contributing in an open forum. The stories were slow to emerge at first, but within several minutes were in full flow. He overheard one girl sharing her tale of embarrassment when she misquoted the Bible, and someone corrected her publicly. Another member talked about his church background that discouraged women from participating, and how much he now enjoyed hearing a female perspective. A trio of men debated the merit of providing information rather than sharing their personal feelings on topics.
Sam allowed the discussions to take as much time as was needed for each member to speak. Then he drew their attention with a story of his own. By the time they settled down to discuss that evening’s topic, there was an air of mutual respect and understanding.
How to Talk
As Group Guide, you have the role of navigator. You know where you would like the discussion to go. Your group participants will want to stop along the way. It is up to you to guide conversation in such a way that it serves the evening’s goal. Sometimes this is as simple as having a few key phrases up your sleeve that you can pull out when the need arises:
Thank you for that perspective, I would love to come back to that some time. Tonight, however, we’re focusing more on…
I’m going to make a note of that point to follow up on it another time.
I’d like to jump in here and remind you that we’re talking about this tonight…
Perhaps we could continue this conversation over coffee?
It’s important to hear different perspectives on these issues. Would anyone like to disagree?
We could talk about this all night. How about we stop there and move on to…
Creating Balance
It is possible to talk too much as Group Guide and it is equally possible not to talk enough. If you dominate conversation, there is less space for other people to be heard. If you lack the confidence to step in and re-direct the flow of discussion, you cede control of the group to its most opinionated members. You need to find the line somewhere in the middle of these two positions. Here are some boundaries you may want to set to facilitate that balance:
Stick to a plan
It is helpful for everyone if you have a plan for the evening and that you communicate it to the group. Tell them at the start of your time together what the structure for the session is and stick to it.
Reflect what you hear
Rather than sharing your personal opinions, you can reflect the thoughts of your Group Members and so deepen their understanding of the topics. Provide a summary of the ideas shared and then move on to the next point.
Set time frames
When allowing space for small group discussion, set a time limit, and adhere to it.
Advice for You
The role of Group Guide in the context of open, honest conversation is challenging. It requires that you listen well, while remaining mindful of your plan for the session and the topics you hope to cover. In the midst of that demanding balancing act, you need to take care of yourself too. Here are some ways to do that:
Have confidence
It takes courage to step in and take control of a conversation that has veered off topic. When you have a clear plan for the session that you have outlined from the start, all that is required is a gentle reminder. The group will function better when you can communicate this with strength and clarity.
Encourage feedback
If things are not working in your group, you can encourage members to share that. The issues can be discussed without naming names. It is not your responsibility to fix interpersonal disputes, but you can create a safe forum in which problems can be addressed.
Go easy on yourself
You won’t always get it right. The dynamic in your group will also evolve over time. Some evenings conversation will flow, and other times it will be more of a struggle. The burden of good communication does not rest entirely on your shoulders. You can only act as a guide; it is the responsibility of the group to follow your lead.
How are you?
Take some time to consider where you want your group to go. What is your goal for your time together? Is there anything specific you need to meet that goal? Are there obstacles preventing you from enjoying meaningful and honest discussion? What steps can you take towards deeper understanding in your group this week? | https://www.runwordgo.org/guidebook-v |
Many of us work in a team, and its importance is most evident when we are late in completing the work on time and we ask the rest of the team for help to help us share in the responsibilities entrusted to us.
Teamwork helps us grow as individuals and achieve things that we cannot accomplish on our own; As the old African proverb says: “If you want to arrive quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, take the others with you.”
The benefit of teamwork appears in several forms, and there are a few reasons why it is important:
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Empathy and support for the rest of the team.
The emotional aspect of leadership is finally emerging and has become a broad concept. Executives have found that people are likely to respect their assertive boss, but they won’t necessarily set him as an example.
Empathy can make team members more loyal, engaged, happy, creative, and ready to work together, and this means that empathy enables the employees in the team to activate the accountability system between each other, provide a helping hand, and demand a break when needed, rely on each other to
achieve success, and have communication. Personal and real, so that they are more willing to put themselves in the shoes of others and feel for them.
Some teams use a project management platform called Teamwork to support each other; And they noticed that their interest in each other increased; If everyone is in agreement about the implementation of a project, it will facilitate the understanding of someone’s mentality and intent when they intend to undertake certain tasks.
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Sharing responsibilities:
A work team is like a football team, each member has its own competence. Even if they discover the ideal steps for success, nothing will help them unless each player plays their part and works together on the team to win.
The companies are also the collective race boats, and cannot enter the competition if only half of the team is rowing towards the finish line. If one of the players is facing a difficulty, the rest of the team must help him, as this prevents the team members from focusing on their roles without caring for others.
Teams make decisions in favor of the group, even if that means certain members have to make sacrifices. Social identity is what might inspire a person to fight in defense of his country or to spend extra hours working on a group project.
When you consider yourself a member of the team, you push your goals to change, and you will no longer think about the benefit to you from a job, but rather you will focus on the interest of the group Which motivates you to strive to achieve its goals and to support the company.
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Relationship Consolidation:
There is a type of confidence exercise in which a person throws himself back and gets caught by the partner. Although this may be the most common team building exercise, it is not the only way to help team members come together. Teams in the workplace spend long hours together, and as a member of a team you need to trust every other member to protect everyone’s livelihood.
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Improving service quality:
Teamwork can make a company thrive, especially companies that care about serving customers.
Entrepreneur Jonathan Keyser, in his book You Don’t Have to be Ruthless to Win, urges the importance of altruism; And with the success of the team’s business needing the endorsement of all its members, Keyser clients are part of that strategy as well.
Learning to serve others as a team can be difficult and complicated, but it can be very rewarding. Service focused on the benefit of others requires that team members cooperate and make an extra effort, and that team relationships are built on a foundation of trust, altruism, and mutual respect among its members.
Here are some ways to encourage team members to bond and work together better:
Games and competitions:Companies can encourage their teams to build strong bonds through activities such as games and competitions, and games can help divide the workday and encourage the team to get to know each other on a personal level in a fun and friendly environment.
Eating together:
Nothing brings people together like eating; Therefore, employees should be encouraged to eat together, such as if employees spend a little more time on lunch breaks, or go to eat together on the weekend, or enjoy eating appetizers inside the company; These are all effective strategies.
Encouraging personal conversations during breaks:
Nobody lets their employees mess around all the time; In fact, side conversations between employees help boost productivity and bolster teamwork.
When employees get to know each other and talk about their family members, pets, favorite hobbies, dreams, or aspirations, it helps them communicate on a personal level; Which in turn strengthens the bonds of the relationship between them, and makes them an effective team. | https://cbizforum.com/4-reasons-why-teamwork-is-important/ |
We must prepare for the future we want, and the one we don’t. Just as we need to plan for emergencies, education costs, major purchases and retirement income, we must also prepare for the care for our elderly parents.
Elder care is often provided by family members. An elderly parent, for example, may need assistance with errands, finances and personal care.
These preparations may not be easy, but they are also not as overwhelming as you may fear. In a two-part series, I will share the four most important areas to focus on: Communication and Responsibilities and Health care; and Financial Matters and Taking Care of the House. I’ll offer some concrete steps for families to take in each area.
Communication and Responsibilities
Establish communication and decide responsibilities, recognizing that they may change.
Some families share responsibilities, and some decide on a trusted agent, who may or may not be a family member, to help aging parents. In either case, it’s important to communicate as specifically as possible about the roles and responsibilities. When it’s appropriate, put those agreements in writing and in legal form.
If you decide on a trusted agent, the family members need to know that the trusted agent has accepted the responsibility and what their own responsibilities are to help. Discuss specifically how duties and costs will be shared by the family members.
Such serious conversations help to avoid family fights in the future. It is a great honor and responsibility to be named an agent over a parent’s personal, financial and medical affairs. It’s also an honor to support that person as a caregiver, and to help your parents.
Parents may not need their agent to fully take over their personal, financial and health care affairs in the beginning—or ever. Encourage your parents to work with the trusted agent and their family to help them monitor their personal, financial and medical issues.
As part of this process, ensure you have all the estate planning documents you need. These include a current durable power of attorney, a health care power of attorney and a living will/terminal care directive.
These documents name a responsible member of the family or a friend as the trusted agent to make decisions during periods of incapacity. The documents need to be in proper order and stored in an accessible location, so you or another family member can locate them in an emergency.
Safeguards can be included in the documents:
- The health care power of attorney can require that siblings are alerted in a timely manner to the medical emergency.
- The durable power of attorney can require that copies of financial statements be sent to family members to help monitor activity initiated by the agent in the financial accounts.
Health care
Lay the groundwork for quality medical care that your family and your parents want.
- Make sure you and your siblings have a right to inquire about the health of your parents by adding your names to paperwork on file at doctors’ offices.
- Plan for someone to periodically attend medical appointments so that they understand the medical needs and prescriptions of your parents. You can also ask doctors to provide detailed care reports (often an extra charge not covered by insurance), or hire a medical advocate to attend so that all issues and directions are properly recorded and understood.
- Plan how to help your parents with clothing and food choices, medication management and their meals. This is especially important if eye sight, smell or taste buds are failing.
Aging is expensive and inevitable, but handled well, it can be a process that builds love and trust in your family. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional can help you plan for the uncertainties ahead.
In Part II, we’ll look at two other topics crucial to caring for your parents as they age: Financial Matters and Taking Care of the House. | https://www.letsmakeaplan.org/financial-topics/articles/elder-care/how-do-i-help-mom-and-dad-as-they-age---part-i |
True camaraderie is a deep, personal connection to those you share experiences with. One that fosters mutual trust, empathy and positive feelings towards colleagues.
In the current climate, businesses have to work harder than ever to build relationships and to keep their teams feeling connected.
When employees have a genuine connection to their role, this is a key driver of job loyalty, which, in turn, can have positive effects for the business. Think of the money a low staff turnover saves in terms of recruiting and training, as well as the time it takes to once again forge relationships with a new member of the team.
Here are some tips for boosting camaraderie in a team as well as some team building exercises which actually work to encourage deeper connections, more meaningful conversations and an effective approach to overcoming challenges as a team.
We are family
Human beings have an innate desire to connect with those around them and making positive connections can transform how an individual feels about their work. We spend half of our waking hours working alongside colleagues and these professional relationships we form can truly make or break the job.
When people feel engaged, heard and appreciated at work, it can have a positive impact not just on their mental health and wellbeing, but on the quality of their work and therefore the business’ overall output.
A shared understanding of the group’s purpose and of one’s responsibilities within a group can strengthen both the group and the individual's sense of belonging.
In order to help team members get to know each other better, try this story sharing exercise which helps create relationships that run deeper than just work.
Enough small talk
Meaningful relationships are built off the back of deeper conversations. Not everyone is used to engaging in this level of conversation, however, and many need to be encouraged.
Becoming accustomed to more in depth discussions with members of the team can not only aid in fostering better connections internally but can improve a person’s ability to connect with others in general; for example in presentations, client meetings and when representing the company at events.
If you struggle to start up new conversations or want to work on building deeper connections in your team, have a go at this pairs exercise for kick starting conversation.
A problem shared...
...is a problem halved. Two heads are better than one. Teamwork makes the dream work. These are all sayings about the power of people and that we don’t have to struggle through problems alone.
An inclusive and supportive team can be incredibly effective in working through challenges to come up with innovative solutions.
To work on problem solving as a group, try this ‘Masterminding’ exercise in which groups of people come together to solve problems for each other.
Have you tried these exercises with your team? Let us know how you got on by sharing your experience with us on LinkedIn. | https://www.peopleactivation.com/resources/three-ways-to-strengthen-bonds-and-camaraderie-in-your-team |
The question of How to keep your team motivated pops up in various discussions with managers. The reasons vary, but with the increasing generation gap (think Millenials are coming), learning this is a process that requires adjustment. Feedback helps us adjust the work behaviour and keeps the motivation level high.
Gathering knowledge across a couple of years, there are a few ideas that stuck:
- show people progress by emphasising small advancements towards the bigger goal
- find incentives outside the material resources
- challenge your own daily routines
Give intrinsic incentives? Show the small steps towards progress? Some of us do question this approach. Myself, after having experienced with working in international team, I’ve realised how important is to find the right, creative ways to keep people engaged, to work towards same goals while being happy and productive.
For you to experiment new techniques, here are some means to better engage the teams:
open space
hackathons
company retreats
Open Space: learning with no predefined agenda
Open space is a simple, yet highly interactive and effective methodology to enable people sharing their knowledge and learning from one another. The participants have the chance to explore new ideas, bring their own passions into discussion and have free conversations on interesting topics. For technical events, one can even engage in live coding and pair programming.
Many times, open space is used during events, such unconferences. More recently, this format is used as means to better engage the teams and as learning tool inside organisations.
The main benefit of having an open space with your team(s) is that participants will create on the spot the agenda of the event, building constructive dialogues and focusing on the things they have a genuine interest in.
To start organising an in-house open space, set a time slot and a dedicated space. Together with the team, choose a facilitator for the sessions and announce internally the details. The chosen venue has to be large enough and have walls/board where you can stick things (e.g post-its with the topics).
In company Open Space Market Place
The Open Space has no pre-defined agenda. The facilitator encourages participants to propose topics at the beginning. The attendees can either propose topics they would like to learn more about or topics they would like to share more with others. Another example can be a problem still in search for a solution.
Have no fear – there is no such thing as I can’t make a contribution or I necessarily need to prepare in advance or I don’t know.
In closing, the facilitator invites everyone to the retrospective. The participants share briefly what they learnt or shared with the others. This way, evan the persons who didn’t attend certain sessions, still have a chance to get an overview of the topics discussed.
Example of information radiation board, to be presented at the end of Open Space
Open Space has a small set of principles, offering the participants the possibility to best engage in creative and constructive dialogues:
- Whoever shows up is the right person
There are plenty of sessions running in parallel. Whoever comes to a session is the person who can contribute most to that conversation.
- Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
This principle acknowledges that the participants should focus on what they can do during that specific session, the present time and place.
- Whenever it starts is the right time
The creative spirit has its own time, and in order for the participants to do their best contribution and enter the flow of creativity, the session starts when the participants are ready.
- When it’s over, it’s over.
As the discussions start at their own pace, it’s the same for closing. When the participants don’t feel like they are contributing or learning, they go to attend other sessions.
The Law of two feet gives the attendees the freedom to attend different discussions they are interested in/can make a contribution at/learn something new etc.
Let me give you our own company example: A while ago, we’ve started to organise company open space at the Mozaic Works & MozaicLabs office. One of us is facilitating and prepares the team for the sessions. We usually have an Open Space once a month.
After the facilitator makes the introduction – shares briefly the schedule, rooms and Open Space principles – the team starts adding topics. Given our context, the sky is the limit – each of us can propose topics related with new ideas, new projects, questions or improvements and so on.
The benefits of organising an Open Space for your team(s) are multiple:
- both sharing and learning from each others
- improve work behaviour and long-term thinking – e.g better planning, lateral thinking, giving feedback
- clarifies information about projects they are not constantly involved
- start thinking about new ways to improve their core activities
- challenge their views on certain topics
- and find creative, innovative solutions in your context
Hackathons: hacking your way to bright ideas
5 years ago, hackathons weren’t a wide spread phenomena. Fast forward today, this type of event is gaining a momentum and not only for programmers.
Hackathons are a great tool to encourage brainstorming, stimulate creativity and find some pretty crazy good ideas. They foster the company’s culture change, can help pivot towards other projects and motivate the team.
A hackathon is an event held within a finite amount of time – usually 24/48 hours. People get together in small teams to design, build, and demo a new product or feature. Having multiple purpose, hackathons can happen both small scale (e.g in-house events) or large one. For example, Code for America and National Day of Civic Hack brings thousands of people across USA together to use their coding skills for social good.
The internal hackathons have started to gain more interest as well. PayPal is organizing Battle Hacks in 14 cities around the world. In teams, the developers will work for 24 hours to bring up new ideas and projects for the company. Among the projects brought to life during these hackthons one can find apps destinated to animals shelters, a cause PayPal is constantly investing.
Facebook has already hosted more than 50 internal hackathons: employees from across the company took a break from their regular projects to develop mind-blowing ideas. Products like instant messaging feature Facebook Chat and Instagram’s time-lapse tool Hyperlapse emerged during internal hackathons.
Organising an internal hackathon can:
- Offer the team the possibility to explore working with new technology stacks
- Find new talents inside the team
- Build synergy across the teams
- Fast prototyping
- Identify some bright new ideas
- Give people a new type of incentive – e.g build an app for a social cause
- Become a new type of learning experience
- Break the day-to-day routine
- Tap into the team creativity
Hackathons are not only suitable for large companies. Startups, small and medium companies can also benefit from this type of events. It helps boosting team creativity, provides ground for new ideas and builds a stronger team.
Company retreat: take a few days outside the city to do strategic planning
Forget about traditional team buildings & motivational speakers (at least from time to time) and give a try for a company retreat. Organised once or twice a year – summer and winter – a company retreat is an alternative way to bring the team together, outside their daily routine. As more and more organisations become open and flexible, a company retreat will also empower the people towards the transition to self-organizing or even self-managing teams.
This way, you can better enhance the communication between team members, do strategic planning, have an overview of the business or have a dedicated time to find the next big ideas. Usually, a company retreat lasts from a couple of days to 3-4 days, preferably outside the city. This format allows a mix of strategic planning and learning and it can also bring up the creativity and innovation.
As a means to increase the employees’ motivation, companies’ retreats can contribute to:
- Give a forward perspective
- Better connection within the team members
- Have an overview of the strategy
- Galvanize people to work toward a shared goal
- Create a stronger team
- Brainstorming
- Enables communication, bring up creativity and innovation
What’s your perspective?
Fostering a productive and creative environment takes time and effort. Using innovative ways to involve the team in the creative loop, can speed up your organization’s quest towards amazing results.
Are you organising inside your company any of the above? Let us know in a comment or use our Twitter @mozaicworks to get in touch. We would love to share your experience to our audience.
Let us know, by taking this short survey, what other information you consider useful. At the end of the survey, you will receive the checklist ‘5 Duties of a Leader‘. | https://mozaicworks.com/blog/motivation/ |
By Eddie Pipkin
I’ve had some great opportunities this summer to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a very long time, including long lost relatives from Texas and some old ministry friends. We’ve chatted for hours, and it’s been a great reminder of the power of free-flowing talk to build bridges, create shared vision, and nurture empathy. These experiences have reinforced my obsession with the importance of mindful conversations to the success of ministry. If we’re lucky the pace slows down for us some in the summer months, and the opportunities are there for the kind of slow and thoughtful conversation that can connect us in new ways and open previously unexplored pathways.
Think about it: Jesus modeled conversational ministry. Obviously, he taught and preached in one-sided sermons that we still quote today. But many of the most powerful narratives of the Gospel are interactive conversations – questions and answers explored in a communal dynamic in which Jesus demonstrates the power of listening as an essential companion to the pronouncement of wisdom.
It is not uncommon for ministry leaders to lose sight of that effective give-and-take (the listening as equal partner with the speaking). We are well-trained, confident chieftains, eager to share what we know, and ready to offer up our hard-earned wisdom. We like the sound of our own voices, and we can be guilty of drowning out others. Yet, there is much to be gained from attentive, sincere listening. In fact, I am convinced that the majority of ministry problems (for institutions at large and for us as individual leaders) could be solved if we would just talk to one another more. There are many times when we make assumptions as leaders (about people’s motivations and opinions) that are just flat wrong, when we could – instead of assuming – go straight to the source and have a one-on-one conversation.
So, how to know when we are leaders who are talking too much, and how do we know the ways to get the best use out of the conversations in which we are engaged.
In the first case, Charles Stone offers some clues that we are probably over-talking at the expense of better listening:
- You dominate meetings.When you get together with your staff or volunteers, do you routinely overpower all the other speakers in the room? If someone was drawing up a pie chart of who spoke for what duration in the meeting – and this is a fun exercise to actually do by recording a meeting and having someone pie chart it per speaker – is your pie slice by far the fattest? There is a long-term impact on running a meeting in this way. People get used to it and adapt, learning a lesson that yours is the only voice that counts.
- People come to you for answers rather than to offer their own insights and ideas. When you’re discussing a problem with staff, a volunteer, or someone who utilizes your ministry, is it a dynamic conversation? Are you taking time to listen to their true concerns are and asking them for ideas or their own suggested solutions? Or are people just trained to turn to you for answers for everything? You can’t develop healthy people (including healthy leaders) if they are always holding on to your apron strings rather than negotiating their own solutions.
- You’re always in a conversational hurry. I had a leader once who would go on at length with a personal story related to whatever the topic of the moment was, but once I started offering my own take on that topic, she would instinctively look at her watch. Even if an unintentional habit, a move like that sends a clear message – and not a good one. Real conversation requires patience. It is a matter of reminding ourselves that the ultimate point of the conversation is not solely solving the problem at hand. The real point of the conversation is strengthening the relationship.
- Silence bugs you. You probably conversate a lot, maybe even with style and authority. Many of the people you meet with or strike up a dialogue with will be less confident about sharing their opinions. Give them space. Let the silence hang there for a bit, so they know it’s their turn to express themselves and that you are willing to wait to hear what they have to say. Don’t rush in to fill the quiet.
- You are thinking up your own response to share as soon as the other person pauses. This is not truly listening; it’s just tolerating their words while you wait to impart your awesomeness. We all do this! Intentional mental discipline is required to stop that reflexive process and task ourselves to listen attentively and fully, to ask follow-up questions and empathize.
These five warning signs are classic indicators of bad listening (not limited to ministry applications, but to leadership and life in general). While some of us are naturally-gifted listeners, it is not a predominant trait among ministry leaders (who are often, by definition, type-A personalities, eager to express themselves). It is, however, a skill that can be learned, practiced, and reinforced if we make it a priority.
There are plenty of resources out there about how to develop those skills as a listening pastor or ministry leader. We must overcome a natural tendency displayed in all human beings to talk about ourselves, as noted in a revealing article from Scientific American:
If you’re like most people, your own thoughts and experiences may be your favorite topic of conversation. On average, people spend 60 percent of conversations talking about themselves — and this figure jumps to 80 percent when communicating via social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook. Why, in a world full of ideas to discover, develop, and discuss, do people spend the majority of their time talking about themselves? Recent research suggests a simple explanation: because it feels good.
We also have to counteract a natural expression of ego – after all, not only are we great leaders, but we are called by God, for goodness’ sake! That makes it pretty tempting to pontificate at will, and if you’re like me, you’ve seen plenty of ministry leaders do just that. Perhaps you also, like me, routinely catch yourself in the act. As noted in an article from The Gospel Coalition:
Proud people tend to talk about themselves a lot. Proud people tend to like their opinions more than the opinions of others. Proud people think their stories are more interesting and engaging than others. Proud people think they know and understand more than others. Proud people think they’ve earned the right to be heard. Proud people, because they are basically proud of what they know and what they’ve done, talk a lot about both.
Less pride and more curiosity should be our goal! Of course, once we’ve made the commitment to be better listeners and better conversationalists in general, it still takes practice to be good at it. There are techniques involved in moving even the most banal of conversational interactions to a place in which something meaningful is happening. Anna Papachristos has some ideas for moving beyond weather chit-chat to a more profound appreciation of our conversational partners. She shares this crucial insight from Christina Park:
“If you approach small talk with the belief that it will be dull and pointless, it probably will,” Park explains. “Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts (‘I’m awful at this,’ ‘I hate small talk,’ or ‘when can I go home?’), remind yourself that small talk isn’t superficial. Small talk serves an important purpose – it helps build the foundation for authentic conversations and deeper relationships down the road. Think of small talk as the light appetizer before the main course, and approach it with renewed purpose.”
There are some simple rules to expand any exchange:
- Don’t be a pessimistic partner. Anybody – even a kid – can tell when you’re not really interested in what they have to say. Don’t begin listening from a position of skepticism. Assume there is something useful and enlightening to hear.
- Do ask open-ended questions. This is a very simple and effective strategy. Avoid “yes” or “no” questions and instead ask questions that encourage your partner to share stories and personal experiences.
- Don’t be afraid to be a little goofy or provocative on purpose (to provoke a response). If the conversation is stalling out, try something from left field or play the devil’s advocate just to add a little spice and perhaps spark some passion.
- On the other hand, avoid an interrogation. Don’t be all questions all the time. Use opportunities to open up about yourself and help your conversational partner get to know you better. Don’t pontificate! Do share personal insights.
- Admit your ignorance and turn the conversation into a learning moment. When your partner touches on a topic about which you have limited insight, lean into your lack of knowledge. Ask them about why they do what they do and how they do it. This taps into people’s interests and is a very comfortable way for them to express themselves.
- Employ the 20-second rule, or some other rule that works for you, to keep the two-way conversation flowing. Be very aware of the length of time you’re talking. Use a system, if you need to, to consciously make space for the other speaker.
- Be mindful of your purpose and the inherent possibility in each and every conversational interaction. Each conversation with each person is a unique opportunity to forge bonds, solve problems, gain insights, and establish trust. Go into each one with the attitude that it will be a useful opportunity to do one (or all) of those things, and it will be!
How do you think you rate as a listener? As a conversational partner? Even more important, how do you think the people you talk with routinely rate your listening and conversational skills? Ask them! Then listen carefully. You just might be surprised at what you hear.
What have your own experiences been with learning to engage people in more productive spoken exchanges? Share your own stories. We’re listening! | https://emc3coaching.com/talk-less-listen-more/ |
National Parents as Teachers Day is a national holiday observed annually on November 8. As a parent, there are many opportunities throughout any day to influence and teach your children a new lesson outside of the classroom. The organization Parents as Teachers celebrates this day by offering educational services to parents across the country to give children support and resources to learn, grow, and reach their full potential.
Beyond the support provided by this specific organization, this day is a reminder to parents nationwide that they are their child’s greatest teachers. Parental involvement and engagement is strongly linked to the development of critical skills such as reading and writing, as well as general life skills including patience, relationship building, and character development.
Read on to find out four ways that you can positively influence the development of students and teach them something new:
1. Act as a role model for good behavior
Children are watching and learning from you every day. They are receptive to your actions and model the behavior they see from the people they look up to. If you want to teach your children the importance of gratitude and consideration for others, let them help you write a thank-you note for a gift.
If you want to teach them to ask for help when needed, you can offer ways that they can support you when you are stressed, whether that is helping out with chores around the house or packing their own lunch for school. Children learn best by watching the way you react to situations and treat others.
2. Explain the purpose of different tasks and skills
Your kids are more likely to perform certain tasks when they have a clear understanding of what they should be doing and why. Consider cooking, for example: If you have a goal to teach your children how to cook, explain the steps involved in making certain meals and encourage them to ask questions throughout the preparation process.
Keep it simple with younger children by giving them small jobs like gathering ingredients or washing produce. With older kids, you can teach them about planning balanced meals, shopping in the grocery store, and completing all the steps of meals including storage, preparation, and cleanup.
As you cook, explain what you want them to take away from this lesson, whether it is the importance of self-sufficiency or creating a balanced meal to keep them healthy. If you are clear with them about why a skill is important, they are more likely to see the relevance of the skill and will be more receptive to the lesson overall.
3. Foster an intrinsic desire for learning through daily routines
Learning new skills can take time. Children will need repetition and support as they gain the ability to complete tasks on their own. This requires patience and understanding from parents as they teach and re-teach skills. As children gain confidence in their own actions, they will be less inclined to ask for help.
For example, to help your child get ready on their own in the morning, start with small tasks like brushing their teeth by themselves or picking out their own clothes. As they start to practice each individual skill, they will develop a routine and be able to complete the tasks together until they are able to get ready by themselves.
4. Keep an open dialogue
Having conversations with your children can help to strengthen your connection and improve trust and security when sharing information. The more children feel comfortable in sharing, the more readily they will learn from you. Keeping an open dialogue to express their feelings can become the self-motivating factor that drives your children to continue to learn.
When you spend time together, share with them your personal experiences, feelings, and values that you want them to get from you. Your openness and honesty will encourage your children to share their thoughts and feelings as well. Through these conversations, you can help them to identify a sense of accomplishment when learning something new.
For more information on how to support your children in their learning, check out our blog post on helpful parent engagement strategies or contact us directly. | https://www.participatelearning.com/blog/celebrating-national-parents-as-teachers-day/ |
When we think of personal evangelism, we need to think of it as any spiritual discipline. We need to practice it and make it part of our daily routine just as we make reading the Bible and prayer part of our daily lives. Each person is tasked with the responsibility to share the Gospel that was entrusted to us (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). We need to be faithful to the Word and act as ambassadors with a message that needs to go out into the world.
Thinking through the issue of being an ambassador of Jesus struck home anew to me. My job as a Christian is to speak on His behalf, to everyone, so that He can save some. Now, this is not only engaging in conversation, telling facts about Jesus, but rather speaking the truth of Jesus (Romans 10:14-17). This said we need to realize that our only hope in evangelism is in the sovereignty of God. It is not about the method or our silent works, but it is about the message and the work God is doing through His Spirit. We need to remember the power behind the message of the Gospel, Christ Himself. This means I should always be prepared, ask good questions, listen well, and not ambushing people. We should be honest with them and never give up or lose heart. I need to remind myself that God is the one who saves, not me, or how good and well packaged my message is.
How should we go about evangelism?
We should:
- Pray
- Plan
- Accept our job
- Understand that we all have the responsibility
- Be faithful in the task
- Take risks
- Prepare well
- Look opportunities
- And focus on my love for God and others.
Part of personal evangelism is being part of a church. Our love for one another makes the Gospel visible (John 13:35) as we care for one another. We show people the Gospel through our love for one another, sinning, praying, giving, Baptism, and partaking in the Lord’s Supper. But most of all, we show the Gospel through the preaching of the Word. We need to understand that Jesus gave the responsibility to all of the church, not to the pastor only. The pastor’s job is to preach the Gospel, and the members’ job is to bring people to the gathering of the church to hear and see the Gospel.
If the church is not healthy in the way they live out their testimony of loving one another and growing in holiness, evangelism will not take place. It is through the church growing in holiness that evangelism takes place. The church should act as a wrestling tag team. It is a team effort. We should work together in the mission of evangelism. This is why we have the body to encourage us to keep it up or join hands when we are tired. It is easy to lose heart or grow weary in evangelism and that is why we need the body to encourage one another.
One of the main reasons a local church is to be a community of love is so that others will know the God of love. God made people in His image to know Him. The life of the local congregation makes the audible gospel visible. And we must all have a part in that evangelism. The least you can do is to come to church regularly. So that you can care for the body and display the Gospel as you worship and love the other members.
This is where the pastor acts in evangelism. They are given the task to equip the church in the ministry of evangelism through the Word (Ephesians 4:12). Firstly, they should equip the saints in demonstrating how to evangelize. The pastor is also a member of the church and should engage in evangelism as any other church member (1 Timothy 6:20). J.I Packer says: “the biggest part of a pastor’s role of evangelism would take place on a Sunday when he is preaching God’s Word, giving people to understand the truth of the Gospel. Secondly, exposing God’s Word to God’s people. Thirdly, a pastor can encourage evangelism and include personal testimonies of evangelism in the service, which would encourage the church as a whole. Fourthly, give out books, and have personal conversations with the members about the books. It takes the whole church, the individuals, groups, and the elders to evangelize.
What should the culture of evangelism be?
There is a culture of freedom in evangelism. It is not my responsibility to save people, because that is for God to do, but it is my responsibility to evangelize and to be used by God. We are not pressured because we are not responsible for peoples’ reaction to the Gospel.
- There is however an urgency to evangelism. We should always call people to turn away from the world and towards Jesus. We need to understand that the attitude around evangelism is not to seek what is ours, but what is God’s, and gladly spend and be spent for other souls (2 Corinthians 12:14-15).
- There is a love culture present. We do evangelism out of our love overflow towards God and our neighbor. It is done out of the love we have for our neighbor that is going to hell. Our motives should also be right when it comes to Evangelism. We cannot do it to feel good about ourselves. All glory belongs to God.
- There is a fear involved. Evangelism is sometimes scary, so why do not have to do it alone or engage in a formal way. We should do it together and in different settings. It can take on many forms, reading the Bible together, encouraging a co-worker, building relationships on your kid’s playground, or get to know the people around you, asking questions. It is a culture of anywhere and everywhere, it should form part of our habitual life.
The danger of so-called Evangelism.
We should be careful of programs or entertainment as it most often produces converts, not disciples. People being attracted to everything else other than the Gospel. There is also a culture of persuading people because of the urgency of eternal death. Evangelism is sharing the Gospel intending to persuade people to turn from the world to Christ. It is not, however, a culture of manipulation. Our confidence should be in the Gospel and not in gimmicks or methods.
The culture of evangelism is one of honesty and clarity. Be honest about the urgency and the promises. If they repent and believe they will be saved, but it comes with a cost. They will be required to take up their cross daily (Luke 14:27). It also includes confronting their sin and their rebellion against God. There is not a better or worse deal. It is the only deal on the table. But we should remind ourselves that it is a joy. It is a joy to see someone come to Christ and glorify Him. All humans are made to love, love. God is love and we are created to love God. This is why Christ came to reconcile us to God and an open relationship with Him.
We should pray, thanking God for His sovereignty in our salvation. Pray for others to be saved because we know they cannot be saved by our doing. It is God’s work to save people, we should ask Him to help us in our job of evangelism.
I pray that God would help me to be clear with His message to save people and to point them to the church He gave me. | https://imprinton.org/a-culture-of-evangelism/ |
Last week we looked at what the Bible says about sharing the gospel with your children. This week, we’ll look at practical steps in evangelizing your children. These are not iron-clad guarantees of faith, but rather suggestions of what to do to encourage a true saving faith. Remember, as you seek to walk faithfully before the Lord and teach your children of His amazing grace, that they still have free will and God will not force His love on anyone. But you can make it easier for them to accept.
Practical Step #1 | Share the Word
Deuteronomy 6 encourages us to share the Word when we are inside our home and outside our home, when it is morning and when it is evening. In other words – share the Word at all times and in all places. Some practical ways to do this:
- Reading a short devotional while the kids are eating breakfast
- Reading a Psalm and a portion of Proverbs every evening after dinner
- Having a family memory challenge – who can memorize a passage quickest and most accurately (be prepared to lose! Kids’ minds are quick).
- With older children, have a sharing time about what you read in your quiet time – and encourage them to share what they read also.
- Having a devotional time or time directly from God’s Word right before bed – after story time so the Word is the last thing on their minds as they drift to sleep.
Practical Step #2 | Be in the Word
It is so much easier to share the Word if you are in the Word yourself. So, whatever it takes, make time for your own devotional life. Don’t hide this part of your life from your children but let them see you partaking of the Word of Life regularly and not just for the purpose of sharing with them. Practical steps to make this a reality:
- Get up before the children and set aside time for Bible and prayer. This post on organizing your quiet time might help.
- Stay up after the children and set aside time for Bible and prayer
- Do your devotions while the children are doing homework or their devotions
- Have a family time for personal devotions right after dinner – and then a sharing time of what you read and learn
Practical Step #3 | Pray
Nothing of eternal significance occurs in this world without prayer. If you want your children to come to a saving knowledge of Christ, then you must diligently pray for that outcome. But don’t stop at praying for their salvation. Pray for their growth, their sensitivity to spiritual things, for other believers who cross their paths, and that their hearts will not be hardened. Practical steps to prayer:
- Use the 20 Ways to Pray for Your Children list – praying for their salvation is first on the list
- Use the 20 Ways to Pray for the Lost list – it expands on just praying for salvation to other areas such as a softening of their heart, other believers in their lives, and true understanding.
- Pray constantly until you are assured of their honest faith – even after a prayer has been prayed.
Practical Step #4 | Never Remind Them of Their Salvation Experience
Last week I shared a bit about my two sons’ experiences with coming to a saving knowledge of Christ. One thing I never did with either of them is reminding them they were saved. The Spirit of God will testify to their spirit if they truly are – and I could just confuse them if they aren’t. Also, while I am extremely grateful that they are both professing Christ, and appear to be walking with Him, the truth is that no-one can know the heart of another. So, I continue to pray that their faith is genuine and growing, even as adults.
Practical Step #5 | Remind Them Frequently of the Faithfulness of God
Your testimony – not only of coming to saving faith, but of growing in faith, and seeing your faith challenged – is key at this point. When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan, they were instructed to set up memorial stones so that “when your children ask” (Joshua 4:6) what these stones mean, they would have a testimony to share of the power and provision of God. In the same way, you should be collecting and talking about ‘memorial stones’ in your life – from your wedding cake topper to the ridiculous sombrero you carried back from a mission trip to Mexico. Discuss what these ‘memorial stones’ mean to you and how they remind you of God’s faithfulness.
Practical step #6 | Never Give Up
Yes, it is true that most believers are saved prior to age 20 – so if your prodigal child is 32, do you stop praying? Sharing? Believing? NO! How about if they’re 46? 54? 69? No, no, NO! It’s hard to keep believing when those we love are not ‘in the fold’ for many, many years. But to do less is unthinkable, for me at least. Keep praying, sharing, loving, and believing for that beloved unbeliever. | https://lifeloveandjesus.com/practical-steps-in-evangelizing-your-children/ |
Last week, Tony Reinke wrote a helpful post at C.J. Mahaney’s blog about sharing the gospel at Christmas. This is a worthy and timely read:
On Sunday morning, December 21, 1856, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon to prepare his growing church for the coming Christmas season. He titled it “Going Home,” and the aim of the message was to encourage each member of his congregation to humbly, wisely, and appropriately find opportunities to share their personal testimony with family and friends.
Spurgeon had become the pastor of New Park Street Church in April 1854. At that time the church had 232 members. By Christmas of 1856 the membership had risen quickly to around 4,000. A large number of newly converted Christians needed to be prepared for their return home for Christmas.
Spurgeon’s sermon text was taken from the dramatic account of Jesus healing the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5:1–20. Spurgeon focused his attention on Jesus’s commission to the man after he was healed: “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (v. 19).
After explaining the demoniac’s radical life-transformation by Christ and his commission to go home, Spurgeon commissioned his church to return home. In the remainder of the sermon Spurgeon develops several practical points:
- Christmas is suited for sharing the gospel with family and friends.
- Aim to share the story of God’s grace in your life.
- By sharing we edify believers.
- By sharing we reach lost friends and family.
- Be alert for one-on-one opportunities to share your story.
- Don’t expect this sharing to be easy.
- Overcome this fear by sharing to honor your Savior.
- Share your story with gratitude to God.
- Share your story with humility.
- Share your story truthfully—don’t embellish it.
- Tell your story seriously—don’t share it flippantly.
- Don’t neglect your personal devotions during Christmas.
- Rest upon the Holy Spirit’s help to share.
- Remember that this story you share over the holidays is the story that will be on your lips eternally. | http://www.desertspringschurch.org/blog/2010/12/21/ |
Working in early education is incredibly rewarding, but it doesn’t come without challenges. Sometimes, sensitive issues arise that require difficult conversations with parents and families. These conversations can feel uncomfortable to navigate, mainly because you and your staff work hard to build trust with the families in your program.
Here’s how you can turn difficult conversations with parents into opportunities for increased understanding, trust, and problem-solving:
1. Decide what types of conversations warrant in-person meetings.
Not all issues with parents require an in-person meeting; the most appropriate form of communication depends on each situation. For example, if a parent forgets to pay tuition, a phone call or message is a perfectly acceptable way to remind parents that their payment is due.
However, if a parent has missed a few tuition payments in a row and you’re unsure if their financial situation has changed, a video call or an in-person meeting might provide a better opportunity for finding a solution that works for everyone.
In general, if the topic is sensitive enough where body language and tone of voice will make a difference in how they receive the message, you should probably use a video call or an in-person meeting for the conversation. If you’re concerned that a parent might take a screenshot of a sensitive text message or email chain and share it with others (or post it on social media) out of context, it’s probably best to move the conversation to a face-to-face meeting or phone call.
Most importantly, trust your instincts—you’ve worked hard to build trust with families and know them best!
2. Prepare for the conversation.
For more sensitive conversations with parents, prepare beforehand so you can stay focused and engaged during the discussion. Start gathering relevant observations and concrete examples that will be helpful for the conversation.
For example, if you’ll be talking about a child’s developmental progress, consult your records of the child’s milestones and detailed observations that you can reference throughout the conversation. Parents are more likely to listen and understand when you share real examples instead of opinions.
It’s also helpful to anticipate the questions parents will most likely ask during the discussion. What would you be most curious about if you were in their position? Have you had similar conversations with other parents in the past, and if so, what information did they want to know? Think through your responses to these questions beforehand. Be prepared for parents’ rebuttals. Parents may criticize your policies and procedures or even point out errors. Instead of responding defensively, acknowledge their perspective and any missteps on your end, and gently guide the conversation back to the topic being discussed.
Many childcare providers have also found it helpful to create a simple meeting agenda to share with parents ahead of time or at the beginning of the conversation. Sharing the discussion’s agenda keeps everyone on task and reminds parents that your goal is to problem-solve and work together to find a solution.
3. Remain calm.
When you are having difficult parent conversations or discussing sensitive issues related to their child, emotions may run high. Often, parents can often feel frustrated or even angry, and may raise their voices. The best way to respond in these tense situations is to be direct and calm. Stick to the facts and take a pause, if necessary, to allow everyone to calm down. When you keep your composure, this can help diffuse the situation and keep the conversation focused. Real resolution can only happen when there is true dialogue and understanding.
4. Ask for the parent’s perspective and listen with empathy.
During difficult conversations, gaining a deeper understanding of where parents are coming from is essential. Start the conversation by asking open-ended questions to learn about their perspective, such as “What do you notice is happening immediately before Jason behaves this way?” or “What concerns you most about this behavior?”
It’s essential to repeat back the parent’s main points to them, so they know they are being heard. In addition, repeating key points allows you to prevent miscommunications and misunderstandings.
For example, you might say, “It sounds like you’re confused about why Jason throws tantrums when he gets home from preschool. Did I understand that correctly?”
Another great way to show you’re invested in the conversation is to practice active listening and demonstrate genuine empathy for what parents are experiencing. Body language is one of the best ways to show you’re paying attention, so be sure to face them and make frequent eye contact.
It’s also helpful to use the word “we” instead of “you” or “I” as much as you can. Although this may feel like a small gesture, it’s an effective way to remind parents that you’re on the same team and both want what’s best for their child. The more you can consistently remind parents that you’re working towards a common goal, the more they’ll want to collaborate with you!
5. Communicate how much you care about their child.
While it’s obvious to you how much you care about the children, parents may need an extra reminder—especially during a challenging conversation when emotions are running high!
Start the conversation by sharing how much you value their child and how grateful you are that they’re part of your program. If you’re discussing an area of improvement for their child, remember to highlight the child’s strengths. This will help keep the conversation positive and remind parents of everything that’s going well, not just what’s challenging.
6. Partner with parents to find a solution.
Once you’ve both had the opportunity to listen to one another, take a moment to recap the main takeaways from the conversation. In your own words, summarize the parent’s thoughts and experiences, and ask them to share what they heard from you. This will allow you to address any misunderstandings before moving forward.
You’re now ready to create a solution plan together. Ask parents if they have ideas for the next steps, and share your recommendations. If you’re not entirely on the same page, find what you can agree on and look for ways to compromise.
When you’ve formed a plan you both feel good about, write it down so you can easily refer back to it and send it to parents after the conversation. Again, use “we” language in your plan to emphasize that you will both do your parts to better the situation.
An effective plan consists of the following elements:
- A shared goal
-
- Example: Stacey will find appropriate ways (i.e., use her words, ask for help, take a break, do a breathing exercise, etc.) to express her feelings when she’s upset.
-
- Plan of action
-
- Example: At school, we will remind Stacey, “hitting hurts –you need to be gentle with your hands”. If she continues hitting others, we will let Stacey know, “we are going to take a break from dramatic play until you are ready to be safe”. You will follow the same steps at home when Stacey hits her family members. We will update each other regularly on Stacey’s progress.
-
- Follow-up details
-
- Example: We will connect again in one month to assess whether Stacey’s behavior has improved. If it hasn’t, we will meet again to discuss alternative solutions.
-
7. Check in after the conversation
After the conversation, follow up with a written message to share the agreed-upon plan. Remind parents that you want to keep the lines of communication open and that you’ll share progress updates regularly. If you find that your plan isn’t working or needs some adjustments, reach out to parents again to discuss what next steps to take together.
Last but certainly not least, remember to check in with yourself after a tough conversation too! Notice if you're having any physical reactions in your body, like your heart racing or whether you're holding your breath.
Taking a few deep breaths, drinking a glass of water, or walking around the block can help you process any lingering feelings.
Manage difficult conversations with confidence
While the majority of your daily interactions with parents will be positive, issues will arise over the course of your career. Learning how to deal with difficult parent conversations is an important skill to have. With preparation and patience, you will be able to navigate these situations with confidence and find a solution that benefits all.
If you're looking for more ideas for how you can build strong communication with families from the beginning, check out our Communications Calendar for Welcoming New Families! | https://blog.mybrightwheel.com/handle-difficult-conversations-parents-childcare-preschool |
In this article you will learn how to master Kung Fu.
"What it takes to Master Kung-Fu"
By Si-Fu Scott Baker, Ph.D.
Kung fu is a term that has become synonymous with Martial Arts in both the West and the East now. Originally the term kung fu was used to refer to any skill or ability that had been developed through persistent effort over time. This understanding is helpful to those who have chosen to embark on the life journey of learning a martial art. Not all systems of combat are as difficult to learn as others, but then not all are as effective as others are either. Wing Chun Kung Fu is one of the most notable, effective martial systems available. But it truly is a kung fu, a system of skills that require diligent effort over considerable time to master.
When one begins training in a kung fu style he or she often is unaware of the degree of discipline that will be required of them to progress to the point they desire. This is especially true among western students. It is common for a teacher to hear the question, "how long will it take for me to get to…?" It is not an unfair question, but it is impossible to answer. There is an old story told in the halls where kung fu was taught anciently that symbolizes the irony of the student's desire to progress in skill quickly.
The student asks the master a question, "I would like to know how to master kung Fu. The master replies, "15 years".The student is shocked, then asks "how long would it take me if I work twice as hard"? The master replies, "30 years"! The student protests, "but what if I practice 3 times longer and harder than all the other students, then how long will it take me"? The master smiles and answers, "then it will take you 45 years".
Here we see that to learn a valuable skill, one has to be willing to practice for however long it takes to gain that skill. By trying to shorten that time, either by practicing harder or more often doesn’t always mean you will learn it faster. The obsession with being first, or getting to a certain skill level quickly, most often negates the attainment of the very skill desired. This is most certainly the case when learning Wing Chun’s deep energy skills. A focus on learning these abilities by a certain deadline often gets in the way of understanding the true nature of the skill being practiced. With energy skills, one has to let go of time frames and fall in love with the path. One has to learn to enjoy the journey and focus his attention on what is going on where he is currently, rather than always looking ahead to what is down the road. In learning today’s lessons well, tomorrow’s lessons will come much quicker than anticipated.
Kung fu requires a specific quality of personality for one to pay the price of mastery. You must fall in love with learning the skills, and forsake the modern tendency to cram more stuff into less time. Kung Fu mastery requires a life time commitment to learning and developing quality skills. Wing Chun was said to take 15 years to master by the monks who first developed it. That is an ambitious time frame, but given that the monks lived their kung fu 24 hours a day, year round it is not entirely unrealistic. True mastery is nothing short of a lifetime endeavor. Sometimes some people may set their idea of what mastery is at a level less than true mastery. Such people may believe and even claim to have mastered a kung fu skill or system, but those who understand the path and know their abilities also know they are not true masters. Such people may puff up their egos with grand titles but the truth sooner or later shows up through their mediocre skills. Those desiring true mastery, not only learn to master the kung fu skills of their chosen system, but also develop considerable mastery over their human failings and personality. One's nature is refined and developed as a byproduct of the years of discipline invested in walking the kung fu path. Those who practice a martial system that has demanding and difficult skill sets (like Wing Chun) will notice many students come and go. Only the very few will ever acquire the discipline to travel the path of kung fu to its enlightened possibilities. Those who train, but do not discipline themselves in the kung fu way will surely benefit from their brief encounter with the arts, but lacking the commitment and discipline to unlock its secrets they will never know the mysteries they may have discovered about themselves, life, and our magical universe.
I hope by reading this article you learned how to master Kung Fu.
About the Author:
Dr. Scott Baker earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from Brigham Young University in 1995. Born and raised in New Zealand, he began his training in Wing Chun there in 1972 under the direction of Master Tam Hung Fun. He is now a member of the Yuen Kay San line under Zopa Gyatso. | https://newlifekungfu.com/how-to-master-kung-fu/ |
A striking number of people – myself being one of them – begin each New Year with a list of things they personally hope to accomplish over the next 12 months. Some call them resolutions, others simply goals. But no matter what you call them, there is one simple truth to help you achieve them. It is a truth so basic that it confounds me as to why it defies the common wisdom in our industry: No one else can make you better.
Before all the mentorship and culture zealots demand my excommunication from the aviation church or pull out the torches and pitchforks to slay the infidel, let me expand on this just a bit. No one doubts that organizations, cultures, and mentors play a role in our development. They encourage us, serve as role models, support us, and set conditions to allow us to grow. But at the end of that list sits each and every one of us who must consciously engage with – or subconsciously ignore– the call to get better.
The Time to Engage is Now
The New Year is a perfect time to develop this conscious engagement. Many of us have taken that vital first step: goal setting. But to achieve these laudable aspirations, we often have to change our mindset on what makes us better. Common myths abound:
We naturally get better with experience. This is only true if we seek to get better by rigorous and honest self-assessment – finding the smallest of errors and correcting them. Or seeing a new technique and practicing it until it becomes a part of our normal routine. These are conscious actions that must overcome our egos, apathy, and complacency.
Training will make me better. Training and learning are different things. For training to improve our performance, it must be taken seriously and internalized, and changes must be made to the way we do things, even how we think about how we do things. Repetition alone won’t do it, and in fact can bake in bad habits if we don’t root them out. And there is a reason why we don’t do this.
I’m already good enough. This is the toughest nut to crack. Humans have a natural tendency to view themselves as better than they really are. We don’t see the minor flaws (or major ones) and render ourselves impotent against backsliding. We tend to do this as a coping mechanism to avoid feeling negative about ourselves or our performance. In the absence of negative outcomes we tend to tell ourselves comforting stories about our adequacy or even excellence.
Turning Weaknesses Into Strengths
Personal mastery requires a thick skin and the relentless pursuit of weakness across all areas of our lives. It is hard work. It requires great courage. It is the mark of true Level III and Level IV Professionals, those who practice increasing levels of precision to grow where they are with the resources at hand (Level III), and upon reaching that level, give back to others as mentors and role models (Level IV).
Let’s set one more goal for 2019. Let’s embrace the simple truth that: If it is to be, it is up to me.
Happy New Year!
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Contrary to our cultural belief in natural talents, popular science is catching on to the idea that the path to success may be linear. And it may require no more than hard work.
The claim (most popularized by Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers) is that there’s no such thing as a natural talent - talents are achieved through hard work, and it is never too late for anyone to start down that path. What seems like talent is a direct result of the hours a person has put in to that task and practiced it.
A reason this thesis may be gaining popularity now is that many in my generation grew up playing video games. Playing video games has influenced many people’s view of real-life mastery: it taught us that any skill is can be learned with enough patience. In most games it’s called training, which is x improvement per x time invested. The more I live the more I seem to improve with the hours I put into real-life ventures, just as my experience bar scales up linearly with the time I spend in a game. Nothing is impossible to learn in a video game, and I’m starting to get a hunch that, with enough practice, most things IRL aren’t either.
What’s the goal or the prize at the end of this path? When does one achieve true mastery? The figure 10’000 hours gets bandied around a lot. This is the equivalent of 3 hours’ practice every day, for 10 years. This is how you measure the stock of a pilot: flight time in hours.
Focus is essential to gaining the 10’000 hours of experience. Focusing on only a few select activities to apply your time to will make the difference between world-class and the hobbyist who only dabbled. Many people lose focus with all the distractions in modern life. This is like having skills only half-finished in a video game. Maybe we shouldn’t be spreading ourselves too thin. Maybe we should be following through, to increase our chances of arriving at 10’000 hours (if we even want to achieve mastery in something, that is). Maybe we should choose carefully and then follow them to the end of 10’000 hours, while saying No to all else.
On another note, maybe games have even helped reduce some people’s fear of failure, or Game Over. Though it is less temporary in real life than in games, we have been conditioned to be disproportionately afraid of it. But in both real life and game, failure is a necessary part of the learning process. Image by Vermeer. | https://nikodunk.com/hours/ |
Effort matters– but how much does it matter? In this podcast from Hidden Brain, Angela Duckworth suggests that true mastery of any subject comes from grit.
But what is grit? It is not the breakfast made from cornmeal, if that is what you are thinking. Grit is defined as courage and resolve; strength of character.
When you or your children are trying to master a skill or subject, the idea behind grit is that talent is not the main key to success. The podcast brings to light something that, as parents or even professionals, we all have witnessed before– the stroke of genius that is actually not a stroke at all, but a toiling labor of love.
“There is a fluency and an ease in which true mastery expresses itself” says Duckwork. “But where does that fluency and mastery come from? It comes from hidden mistakes and failures.”
But, the host points out, presenting genius as being effortless is more pleasing to the audience than seeing someone struggle before creating a perfect product.
Excellence can be mundane when you really look at it. It is a child practicing the same tune on a violin every day for hours a day. It is a scientist watching a beaker do nothing for hours before something finally changes. The podcast points out that, although we have a craving for magic or mystery in talent, more often it is long hours of work. It is the quality and quantity of practice, deliberate practice, that helps people succeed.
Unfortunately, deliberate practice can be the least enjoyable part of the journey to success.
Aristotle said: “The roots of knowledge are bitter, only the fruit is sweet.” But, there are ways to make deliberate practice into a more enjoyable experience. When you or your child are doing something that you truly love and are passionate about, overcoming the friction gets much easier and becomes much more worthwhile. People who are the product of grit get a thrill from the completed product, and for many that is a great motivator to get through the less enjoyable aspects.
Duckworth advises that you cannot be gritty about something that you aren’t interested in. She gives the example of a swimmer who wakes up at 4 a.m. for swim practice. They love swimming, but they don’t love waking up at 4 a.m., walking in the dark, pushing themselves to physical pain– but they still love swimming so it is worth it.
The other important component of grit is a sense of purpose and hope. There has to be hope to keep going and the sense that what you are doing is going to positively effect another person. If you are missing those components, it becomes frustrating and hard to be a gritty person.
When you teach your children to have grit– to dedicate themselves to something they love and not give up– it can teach them important perserverance. On the flip-side, if you don’t allow your child to give up on something they really aren’t enjoying, it doesn’t give them grit as much as it gives them the idea to stick with something that may not be right for them. It may be a fine line to walk, but if your child is truly passionate about something, it is good to instill a sense of grit with them.
Grit can yeild truly amazing results when the ingredients are right. Passion, perserverance, hope, and purpose are keys to success whether you are the CEO of a company or a new mom.
Click here to read more about grit.
Click here to learn more about teaching important social skills to your children. | https://angelaardolino.com/grit-power/ |
For example, she relates how she spent four hours a day in high school in training, while now she is lucky to get four hours a week - which is not enough to maintain her edge for tournaments. If you look at other up-and-coming masters such as Justus Williams and James Black (just to name recent American examples) you can see the same dogged work ethic and massive time commitment during their rise from Class levels to the master-level 2200 rating and beyond. This is a useful reality check for those who think "talent" is some sort of magic carpet ride to mastery, or that significant progress can come without sustained, focused effort.
This simple but sometimes elusive truth I believe is the core of the problem - or challenge, depending on how you view it - of adult chess improvement. How many people can possibly devote four hours a day to chess once out of their school years and in the working world? Two hours a day? Even just one hour a day on average, consistently? In reality, very few people who work for a living have the combination of available time, energy and desire. (Many of those who do not have to work for a living also lack these things, it is true, but at least they are not constrained by life responsibilities.)
The oft-quoted figure of 10,000 hours of practice required for mastery of a complex skill such as chess is simply an approximation, but the structural implications of it still hold for how you organize your life. If you devote two hours a day to chess, that means you will reach your goal twice as fast as if you devoted one hour. Four hours a day, four times as fast. (No hours a day, never!) The arithmetic in this sense is simple.
The learning process, however, is not strictly arithmetic in nature. The more you become immersed in a subject, the more you tend to retain and make new breakthroughs in understanding, while you may not retain much at all if you only learn a particular subject in small doses and infrequently. (This phenomenon is well known by anyone who halfheartedly studied a foreign language and can no longer speak more than a few words of it.) Every person will have a certain threshold for effective study, then, which is necessary to pass on a frequent basis. Distribution of time therefore becomes important, not just your total hours. For example, doing intensive training for a half-hour a day, six days a week is more likely to result in sustained progress than 3 hours a day, once a week.
As an adult with the objective of improving my chess game, it is nice to have mastery as a goal, but one of the realizations that I have had on my journey since starting this blog is that, short of having the (rare) opportunity to take a year or two off from work to devote to training and studying, I am unlikely to achieve the master title. Does that make progress pointless? If you define the sum total of chess' worth to you as 2200 Elo or above, then it would be. For me that is not the case, for a variety of reasons, ranging from simple enjoyment to competitive instincts to proven neurological benefits.
Returning to the idea of "chess versus life", one can view the two as mutually exclusive: life has demands and distractions that take away from your chess, while on the flip side studying a game for hours on end by definition means that you aren't doing anything else with your life. This can be considered both an inconvenient truth and a negative way of looking at both sides of the chess/life coin.
I will end this meditation on the subject by offering the counter-argument and observation that integrating chess training and study into your life, by balancing both sides as best as you can and not succumbing to negativity about the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day, may just make you both a better person and chessplayer. Perhaps Alisa would agree. | https://www.pathtochessmastery.com/2014/04/chess-vs-life.html |
Walking The Mastery Path
Throughout the last several years, I have devoted myself to investigating the contributing factors that have led some change professionals to have incredibly influential relationships with their clients (High Impact practitioners), while others, despite making useful contributions, have relatively modest impact by comparison (Adequate practitioners ). As I continue to examine what differentiates these individuals, I am often struck by how frequently people describe High Impact practitioners as having “mastered” change execution. This prompted me to think long and hard about the term “mastery.” Have these exceptionally influential change facilitators truly “mastered” their craft? Is that even possible? If so, what would it look like?
In the essay that follows, I attempt to probe what mastery itself represents for our profession. Specifically, I’ll offer what I’ve learned about the nature of mastery in the field of change execution, and some of the implications I believe are relevant to us as practitioners.
Master vs. Mastery Path
After much observation and deliberation, I’ve come to this conclusion: High Impact trusted advisors haven’t “mastered” anything. They aren’t masters of change; they are change practitioners on a mastery path. There is a significant difference.
Many people have the misconception that to master something means you have answers for all, or at least most, of the important questions in a particular discipline. The connotation is that being a master is the end state of what there is to learn about a subject: you have completed your training, reached an exalted plateau, and can now rest on your laurels. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Advanced learning in any field is characterized by an unending trail of more questions, not a cul-de-sac of terminal answers. Therefore, we refer to pursuing these questions as being “on a mastery path,” which conveys a very different message.
A master has arrived, whereas a practitioner on the mastery path is still on the journey…and always will be.
Being perceived as a master of change may sound appealing to novices, but it is actually a short-lived, hollow achievement with little staying power. If you present yourself in this manner, whether overtly or subtly, you’re likely to have plenty of solutions for sale, but these are probably fixed or limited. By seeing yourself as a master, you run the risk of having quenched your thirst for learning. This leads to your perspective eventually becoming stale while new, more sophisticated questions arise that you are no longer able to properly address.
Practitioners on a mastery path, on the other hand, tend to enjoy longer tenures than those who conclude (consciously or otherwise) that they no longer need to pursue the next horizon of unknowns. The paradox is that precisely because High Impact practitioners never perceive themselves as having mastered their craft, they sustain the hunger for learning that keeps them relevant to whatever cutting-edge change management issues or challenges emerge.
High Impact practitioners pursuing the mastery path become exceptionally skilled at what they do (using frameworks, concepts, techniques, etc. when serving as a trusted advisor) and exceptionally effective at authentically expressing who they are (bringing forward their uniqueness of character and presence as part of the value they create). Despite this level of accomplishment, however, these practitioners remain students of their craft. Although they have encountered countless situations, learned numerous central lessons, and formed many insightful conclusions (far more than most practitioners), the perspectives they gain remain permeable to new input. In spite of their vast experience, they remain convinced that there are many more unresolved, critically important questions to be addressed. This innate curiosity and thirst for answers is what keeps them on the mastery path and, ultimately, what enables them to operate within the top 10% of the profession.
Ultimately, High Impact change facilitators devoted to a mastery path aren’t students of mastery, they are students of the path. They aren’t completing requirements to attain a status; they are enrolled in an unending developmental journey. They are motivated as much by the search as by what they find. This is why there are no masters in the field of change execution, only practitioners dedicated to following where the mastery path takes them. High Impact practitioners know that mastery isn’t the prize—seeking it is.
Requirements to Enter the Mastery Path
Many change practitioners may be intrigued with the mastery path, but not everyone is predisposed to tackle the obstacles it presents. Because seeking mastery is so challenging, attempting to begin the journey without the proper prerequisites already in place is foolhardy. Two qualities in particular are important to embody before engaging with the mastery path: certain predispositions and a steadfast commitment.
Predispositions
For mastery to be successfully sought, practitioners must already possess a very specific foundation upon which they can build. In particular, they must demonstrate some degree of preexisting tendency toward the mindsets and behaviors needed for pursuing the mastery path. This means displaying a bias towards traits such as:
- Introspection
- Authenticity
- Risk taking
- Frustration (at not fully leveraging their potential)
- Tenacity
- Patience
- Self-confidence
- Unpretentiousness
Someone else can require that you strengthen your change-related competencies (a boss to keep your job, a school to get your degree, a proprietary company to get your certification, etc.), but seeking mastery is a different matter. You can be encouraged to explore a mastery-level pursuit, but never coerced. To cross the threshold and walk the mastery path, being pressured or enticed by outside forces will never do; only an invitation from your own heart, invoked by your own innate predispositions, will suffice.
Commitment
Walking the mastery path requires deep commitment to the profession of change management and involves unending refinement of both what you do and who you are. Devotion to this journey must be sustained through intense developmental efforts for as long as a practitioner wishes to remain a High Impact change resource to senior leaders. Because practitioners on the mastery path know they will never achieve the perfection they strive toward, having all the answers isn’t their objective. Instead, what they pledge themselves to is:
- Ensuring they are far more knowledgeable and experienced than their clients
- Staying aware of how little they really understand compared to the vast complexities involved in human transitions
- Acknowledging their shortcomings when they fail to live up to their own expectations and the expectations of those they serve
- Extracting the critical insights buried inside their missteps
- Applying these lessons to the next client situation
By practicing their craft in this way, High Impact change professionals advance their capabilities while moving further down the mastery path, yet they remain humbled by how much more still lies beyond their grasp.
Approaching the Path
Those who are fortunate enough to become exceptionally accomplished change practitioners typically follow a common professional trajectory:
- Early in their careers, they focus on rudimentary tools: learning fundamental concepts, frameworks, and techniques to use as they guide clients through relatively modest change challenges.
- Then, they go through a period of repetitious application of the basics in order to develop enough nuts and bolts competence to provide more substantive assistance to management-level clients.
- This is followed by years of refining their knowledge and skills to the point where they can frequently deliver meaningful support to higher-level managers involved in more significant change endeavors.
- Over time, some individuals continue to practice their craft to the point of becoming regarded by clients and colleagues alike as respected professionals who are capable of consistently delivering helpful assistance to executive-level leaders. These are practitioners who have advanced to the top of the Adequate (65% ) category. Senior leaders enjoy working with them and find value in what they offer, but mostly rely on them for tactical change support or to play marginal change roles in important projects. They are not perceived to be in the top 10%, High Impact echelon of trusted advisors considered crucial to strategically vital change initiatives.
At this juncture, a few practitioners begin asking themselves “Where to from here?” How they answer that question will lead them to make one of two moves:
- Level out—This is a “horizontal” move, usually made unconsciously and without intentional volition. The practitioners who level out unknowingly conclude that the expertise they have attained is sufficient for their aspirations, and they no longer need to continue substantively building their capabilities. They are good at what they do, the leaders they serve are satisfied with what they deliver, and peers think highly of their work. As far as they are concerned, that’s as good as it needs to get.
- Level leap—This is a “vertical” move, made consciously and intentionally. Practitioners who level leap determine that even the considerable expertise they have developed is insufficient for their aspirations. They are confident in their work and enjoy the recognition they receive; however, they believe they are still far from fulfilling their professional potential. As a result, they feel compelled to further advance the practice of their craft.
Change professionals who level out at this point of their careers constitute the top end of the 65%ers. They usually continue to keep up with what is new in the field and attend or present at professional conferences. They don’t disregard professional development altogether, but the intensity and focus of their learning pursuits are commensurate with a general satisfaction with their Adequate status.
Practitioners who level leap at this point are the ones who ultimately become 10%ers. Prior to making this leap, they will often feel “stalled” or “burned out” with regard to the organization(s) where they work, or maybe even more broadly about the entire change profession. These are times when they might feel that there is little new mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual learning taking place; they feel stagnant, and boredom sets in. Their enthusiasm for their work diminishes, and engaging in even critical events or task can seem hollow and generates only rote attention.
Most change professionals experience these “empty” periods at one point or another, but for Adequate practitioners, they are the norm, whereas for High Impact practitioners, they are the exception. Those who level out come to accept and even expect a lack of passion for their work. Those who level leap interpret the same doldrums as a launching pad for raising their game and entering or reenergizing their mastery path journey. In doing so, they throw themselves into advanced learning activities, spending less time pursuing the technical aspects of change execution and more time looking for ways to accelerate the impact of the methodologies in which they are already proficient. Being sufficiently or adequately influential with the leaders they advise isn’t acceptable to them—they want to be exceptionally influential with the executive they serve. They want to operate at nothing less than the High Impact level.
Level-Leapers Seeking the Mastery Path
Practitioners eager to level leap and pursue the mastery path tend to have a difficult time finding forums where they can engage in the kind of professional development activities they desire. From their perspective, the information available in most change-related books, blogs and online communities revisits familiar ground, and new ideas that do emerge seem more like refinements than breakthroughs. When attending conferences, they enjoy offering advice to less-experienced practitioners, but they often become frustrated at the lack of offerings for their own developmental needs. They come to realize that most academic degree programs are calibrated for entry-level or mid-career practitioners. What “advanced practitioner” training they do find is usually associated with proprietary concepts, tools, and techniques; thus, the learning is geared toward a particular approach rather than providing a methodology-agnostic environment that deepens their overall capabilities as seasoned change professionals.
In the end, there are few resources available for veteran change facilitators who are ready to leap to truly cutting-edge capability-building; they exist but are not easy to find. As a result, walking the mastery path requires a constant vigilance for learning experiences that will foster the accelerated professional growth being sought. After all, learning of this nature doesn’t lend itself to a formulaic curriculum that can be mapped out well in advance.
Preparation for being a High Impact trusted advisor to senior officers has no fixed agenda or definitive completion point. In fact, as soon as practitioners start down the mastery path, it begins to reveal events, circumstances, and relationships where the critical lessons are to be found, and they are different for each person. The key is to be attentive to when these learning opportunities arise.
Though mastery path learning experiences come in different forms, they all have a certain profile. Pursuing mastery involves growing:
- From technician to artist
- From believing you know a lot to realizing you know relatively little
- From controlling to allowing
- From doing to being
- From conveying knowledge and demonstrating skills to offering insight and wisdom
- From practicing the craft as something you are good at doing to letting it unfold as an expression of who you are
Learning experiences that enable a practitioner to transform from any of the former to the latter states are worthy pursuits. They are all essential steps down the mastery path.
Proceeding Down the Mastery Path
The mastery path is a personalized quest in which each practitioner must find his or her own way. You can decide whether to start down the path, but you cannot mandate what you will encounter once you begin the journey. You get to determine the pace of your pursuit, at what depth you engage, whether to stop and rest for a while, or even to leave the path, if you wish. You have very little say, however, regarding what issues will surface for you to address. You can decide whether to face them, but not what needs to be faced.
Opening yourself to these experiences and fully embracing them can be a frightening act of surrender, because not all the lessons are easy, nor are all of the people who will serve as teachers ones you might choose for yourself. Yet listening to and honoring the challenges and lessons the path presents is essential to the progress you seek. Adequate practitioners tend to engage in professional development in order to meet requirements for a degree or certification, or because they have found something that interests them. High Impact trusted advisors, on the other hand, maintain a vigilance for signals to guide them toward what is necessary for their advancement on the path, no matter the turmoil or discomfort that may result.
This is not to say that High Impact practitioners avoid what is intriguing or shun having fun while on the path; this just isn’t their primary criteria for engaging learning opportunities. What is most important to them is what will further their mastery pursuit—and sometimes, these are uncomfortable, even painful decisions. For example, there may be times when the path calls for leaving behind some skills and viewpoints that have proven useful in the past in order to make room for an even stronger capability. Abandoning the familiar, particularly when it is still paying dividends, can produce excruciating anxiety, but it is sometimes the only way to make room for what is trying to emerge.
When progress on the mastery path occurs, it arises from the necessary predisposition and commitment being in place and the practitioner having learned how to remove obstacles that were blocking progress. These barriers can be tough to recognize and even more difficult to remove. Tackling them means identifying existing patterns of perceiving, thinking, or behaving that inhibit making headway—not an easy task. Yet to evolve to the upper 10% of our profession, this is what is required.
Learning another new external concept or technique simply will not do. High Impact practitioners must engage with what is inside of them in order to advance their craft and continue down the mastery path.
Measuring Progress on the Path
Fully mastering change execution is an unrealistic objective, yet that is precisely what High Impact practitioners are committed to pursuing. Moreover, the journey can be a difficult, at times painful one. How does this not become a demoralizing act of futility? The saving grace is in how you keep score.
The calculus to assess advancement on the mastery path has little to do with how long you have been a professional change facilitator or the number of academic degrees and proprietary certifications you have accumulated. Basic knowledge and skills in the mechanics of our field are table stakes; don’t even think about entering the mastery path without these qualifications well in hand. Progress toward an ever-expanding horizon like change mastery can be most clearly determined by looking at two factors:
- How much you have learned about yourself and what you need to introspectively address in order to be grounded enough to establish penetrating, vulnerability-centric, highly influential working relationships with senior leaders.
- How exhilarating it is that, despite all your efforts to close the gaps, there is more left to learn about yourself and helping leaders navigate organizational change than the sum total of what you have thus far absorbed.
When you experience equal parts accomplishment and humility, only then can you consider yourself successfully advancing down the mastery path.
Call to Action
Very few change professionals attain exceptional levels of respect and influence from senior executives; the ones who do we refer to as High Impact trusted advisors. Despite their accomplishments, these practitioners don’t attest to having mastered their craft—they feel instead that they are walking a mastery path. They are on an unending developmental journey where progress is realized, but each step reveals new unanswered questions so that the “mastery” horizon keeps advancing, forever staying beyond their reach. Rather than feeling frustrated at this ever-elusive destination, however, High Impact practitioners relish the process of advancing down the path. It is making the journey, not reaching its endpoint, that motivates them to succeed at this line of work.
There are many reasons that contribute to why so few change professionals are seen as operating in the High Impact zone. One is that the majority of practitioners in our field are not calibrated for the challenges and risks associated with walking the mastery path. This isn’t a problem, however, because the majority of leaders seeking change execution assistance are perfectly content with the value they receive from practitioners in the Adequate zone. Senior executives facing strategic, dicey, perilous change, however, need—and seek—a different kind of resource: the practitioners I refer to as High Impact trusted advisors pursuing mastery.
The question for us as a profession is: Do we have enough practitioners who are stepping up to fulfill this need? I’m not asking if we have enough Adequate players who will take these assignments, I’m asking: Are there enough in our ranks who are on the mastery path and ready to properly support the more complex change endeavors being presented?
Closer to home, I’m asking: Have you made a decision about what zone you want your practice to be operating within? Functioning as an Adequate practitioner is honorable and will generate value for the leaders you serve, and the same is true for High Impact practitioners. One is not better than the other; they are both legitimate ways to define the kind of work we are engaged in. That said, these are two distinct modes of operating, so it is important that each of us comes to terms with the type of contribution we want to make while serving in this field.
Either option delivers value to clients and advances the credibility of our profession. The invitation here is to be intentional about the degree of influence you aspire to provide, and to recognize what is required to reach that level. For those who want to maximize their impact with C-suite executives, walking the mastery path is the only viable alternative. | https://conneracademy.com/walking-the-mastery-path-2/ |
According to the dictionary definition, the “A special natural ability to do something well” part typically gives the image of a Mozart — Individuals divinely blessed to excel from birth, naturally masterful and effortless in the learning process. Anything they touch turns to literal or metaphorical gold. It's believing Mozart's first concerto composed at 11 was already as masterful as those that took years of trial and error to achieve. This happens to be how most people understand the word ‘talent’ or define a ‘talented’ person.
Perhaps we’d like to believe in this romanticized version because of a silent wish that we could just sit around dreaming for our hidden talents to propel us to greatness. Or perhaps reality is simply not exciting enough. The idea of enduring months and years of grueling practice is too much to bear. It’s all too human and familiar, instead we romanticize the heroes journey and conjure mythical origins of their powers, rather than accept the reality of their gradual growth and progression.
Conventionally speaking, when one calls another 'talented', they in essence jump to the conclusion that their abilities has little to do with their efforts. Just because the process was not observed, it is assumed they just have it. This usage has rather negative consequences to the human experience as a whole, as it allows us to believe that there're shortcuts to achieving anything when it is the contrary.
One thing we can all agree on is that being ‘talented’ entails doing something exceptionally well. But we should also take into account how they’ve acquired the skills — Acknowledging both the outcome and journey. Therefore, I propose reexamining the underlying meaning and redefine it in a healthier way.
Here are 2 examples of how we can redefine the idea of ‘talent’:
The Deliberate Practitioner
A talent of this type is someone who excels through what author Robert Greene calls ‘Delibrate Practice’ — A very intensely focused training. In his book Mastery, Greene explains that a person needs to practice delibrately to achieve mastery in their vocation. On average that’s 10,000 hours of practice time, which amounts to 10 years of consistent 3 hours daily practice.
Contrary to popular belief, Mozart “wrote” his first concerto at 11 with the help of his father, and on his own at age 17. By then he’d have had thousands of hours of accumulated practice. There’s no going around the slow process of grinding, trial and error to achieve anything meaningful. I can personally attest to this with my own experience. During my guitar playing days, I would practice on average 4–6 hours everyday, sometimes tipping on 8 — It’s not pleasant, but it’s worth it if you’re passionate.
Just like an iceberg, what we see is just the tip and much of what goes on behind the scenes is hidden from view. What you see in a 3 minute music performance would’ve taken the musicians dozens of hours of rehearsal and a lifetime of preparation.
The 'Natural'
I’m sure we’ve come across or even know people who were born to do what they do. For example, someone tall who’s a basketball player, someone with long legs who’s a long distance runner or someone with a stark built who’s a bodybuilder etc. They seem to fit perfectly into their chosen field simply by being and doing what’s best suited to their natural attributes and practiced deliberately to mastery — Yes, just because they’re a natural doesn’t mean they just get it. It still takes practice, and lots of it.
That’s what a “Natural’ is —People who possess qualities/attributes that gives them the physical and/or mental advantage in their vocations.
A good example of this would be an outstanding audio engineer I often work with. His hearing ability is superior that of others and most people would agree he’s a ‘talented’ and naturally gifted audio engineer. He picked a craft suited to his natural abilities and that gave him a big advantage over those who didn't. But it wouldn't mean much if he hadn’t practice deliberately to constantly hone his skills.
The Wrap Up
I hope the renewed understanding of this word will bring justice and greater appreciation to those whom this word is subjected to. By calling someone a “talent” or “talented”, it should come with the recognition that their excellence and mastery was achieved through persistent effort and personal sacrifice.
Finally, it is important for all of us to know that we’re all talents and talented in our own right, or at least there’s the potential of it only if we’re willing to do what it takes. It is something we can all acquire with dedication, passion, focus and delibrate practice.
“The struggles, challenges, and obstacles that it takes to succeed in life is what makes success more valuable. Nothing great comes easy, and nothing easy can ever equate to greatness.”
― Edmond Mbiaka,
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Kian How is Asia’s leading Visual Media Audio Specialist, with over $100 million in accumulated project revenue and over 10 years of experience. Based in Shanghai, he produces/supervises audio for various global visual media outlets. He also teaches in art institutes and writes articles on his views pertaining to the creative arts. | https://www.kianhow.com/single-post/2019/05/07/Redefining-Talent |
Mastery is the ability to remain undisturbed by adverse influence, environment or opinion and denotes exceptional ability to sustain the highest standard over time.
The degree of Mastery attained
is measured in the specific arena
by comparison with others.
A great athlete might demonstrate great physical prowess, while an Olympic athlete must excel at the physical, emotional and mental level and sustain the standard. A unique artist may show unusual aptitude and innovation, yet this would indicate originality rather than mastery in the chosen profession. One who has attained mastery has honed an inherent gift through rigorous, disciplined practice and commitment, setting a standard towards which others may strive.
EXAMPLES OF MASTERY AT THE PHYSICAL LEVEL
Music - Mozart Art - Michelangelo Science - Einstein
Oratory - Martin Luther King Sculpting - Leonardo da Vinci
Opera - Luciano Pavarotti Astronomy - Galileo
Language - Shakespeare
Today the term ‘Master’ is commonly misused e.g. we refer to a ‘Reiki Master’ to describe someone who has completed a course of instruction in energy field balancing, when in reality this would be but one brick in the pyramid of knowledge of this subject.
Gurus, Saints and Masters
We should not confuse mastery in the physical realm
with spiritual mastery
Gurus and saints are those who have been acknowledged by the world in recognition of their mastery over earthly challenges, commonly attributed to an unusual devotion and divine influence.
Mastery does not of itself imply goodness. One who has mastery over the material world but wields it for personal gain is inverting the energy. Extreme examples of this would be degenerate occult practices e.g. satanism, black magic, voodoo; the manipulation of elemental forces used to influence or exert control over individuals or communities.
Spiritual Masters
In its true sense the term ‘spiritual master’ is bestowed in spiritual realms, however it is also granted by earthly followers, at times mistakenly. True spirituality comes from within, it evolves slowly and is dependent upon deep consideration and repeated testing to develop faith and belief.
A true spiritual teacher provides a prescribed, tried and tested formula to allow the student to progress within a disciplined framework, while testing his or her beliefs.
Where a slavish dependency rather than personal responsibility is encouraged followers become increasingly vulnerable to manipulation. In the hunger and search for spiritual alternatives seekers should practice discernment to avoid the mind techniques of self seeking cults.
HOW TO RECOGNISE A SPIRITUAL MASTER
Simplicity and joy expressed in a ready smile
An open heart and spontaneous action
Present and Willing
A TRUE MASTER:
Seeks no ‘show’ or glory
Rejects personal adoration
Lives simply
Speaks calmly
Exudes joy
Gives freely
Honours choice
Is unattached to followers
PSEUDO MASTERS:
Elevate themselves with the teaching
Deny other paths
Draw energy from their followers
Bask in the reflected glory of the light
Manipulate followers
ASCENDED MASTERS
These are the spiritually evolved beings who have overcome all the challenges of the material world and no longer have any requirement to reside on Earth. These elder brothers and sisters have elected to retain a connection with the Earth to assist the evolution of mankind. They continue to guide and direct all who desire their help. They include those we recognise as the ones who have led the people to freedom and justice throughout history in their many guises. Their motive is pure and selfless, expressed as unconditional love.
The Masters reside in etheric retreats, they hold a focus of light through a global network of planetary hubs located above specific geophysical points on the planetary grid. This provides in effect a global communication system through which the Masters may connect with their students.
Those who wish to give allegiance to this spiritual hierarchy are contacted through meditation and during the sleep state to receive guidance and instruction. Following a period of disciplined application, testing and initiation the purpose of the life is gradually revealed along with opportunities for service. All of this may first be dimly perceived at inner levels with a gradual awakening at the conscious level.
Humility is the hallmark of true spirituality
‘Knowledge without humility is the rock on which the soul is dashed’
AVATARS
An avatar is one who appears on the world stage as a spiritual teacher of wisdom. According to the sacred calendars of time mankind is guided and led, step by step through successive Ages of hundreds of thousands of years. Astrology, a divine science in it’s true form charts the cycles and Ages to show the cosmic influences affecting humanity. According to Hindu and Buddhist tradition the commencement of a new Age is marked by a divine incarnation to mark the transition.
The Piscean Age was marked by the birth of Jesus Christ, his divine nature recognised by those who chose to follow his teaching on Peace and Love. For Christians he is God incarnate, for others he represents one aspect of incarnated divinity of Masters guiding the Earth while for some he is the ultimate demonstration of spiritual mastery, a pattern for all to follow.
The end of the Piscean Age marks the transition to the Age of Aquarius and a new Golden Age. While ‘New Agers’ joyfully anticipate a new dawn of spiritual awareness and feel the quickening of those energies we must remember that birth is a slow and at times painful process. A glance at the Hindu sacred calendar reminds us that ‘an Age’ in human terms represents thousands of years. The birth pangs have only just begun. Just as the mother in labour is encouraged to ‘Breathe’ to hasten the birth of the child, we must collectively breathe to a new rhythm to birth the consciousness of the new Age.
Jesus Christ
Christ is a title which means ‘anointed’
Melodious
Effortless
Calm
Open
The voice
The movement
The manner
The countenance
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Copyright © 1995 to 2019 Rainbow Light
STEPS: | http://spiritualalchemy.co.uk/STEP_12.html |
From the beginning of my career in 1987, my professional portfolio has been devoted to the field of animation, serving both the creative and instructional sides. I studied drawing, painting and sculpture in the Fine Arts program at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto from 1982-1986. A chance meeting with an old friend on a streetcar led me to landing a job as a layout artist at Nelvana, where I received my initial training in animation production. Thrilled by the opportunity to earn a living as an artist, I was eager for experience. Fast forward a few years and I had honed my skills as a journeyman artist working on productions in Munich, Germany and New York NY. In 1991 I relied on my production experience to develop and instruct a training program for (then) Capilano College in Vancouver. As it turned out, the program was as productive for me as it was for the students, having revealed in me a passion for program development and instruction.
After another journey overseas to work on the feature film “Asterix conquers America” in Berlin, Germany I found myself back in Vancouver again. It wasn’t long before the Vancouver film School tracked me down and offered me the opportunity to develop a full-fledged Animation Program. The challenge was to pack all the animation training I felt was necessary into an intensive eleven month time period. Not only did I do that, I threw in digital film production and created the first program of its kind in Canada. Since then I’ve worked on many fine animated productions and devoted countless hours to educational training and mentoring young adults in their chosen field.
Animation production and digital technology have come a long way over the years and will continue to provide me with the opportunity to improve my craft and vocation for years to come.
That about sums it up for me. | http://jerrybenninger.com/about/ |
This article is part of an ongoing series to help subscribers of The CP Journal’s Practice Section pursue mastery in behavioral observation, situational awareness and decision-making.
Being able to learn and adapt more quickly than our adversaries is a key skill as we prepare for war. But do you know how to learn?
It’s a funny question to ask, and I’m willing to bet you’d say yes without much hesitation. You may have graduated from high school or college or obtained an advanced degree that gave you a piece of paper to prove that you know how to learn. If you’re in the military, law enforcement or the security industry, you’ve likely spent countless hours in training to learn what is needed to succeed in your field. You probably have a great number of experiences that allow you to confidently state that you know how to learn and have proven it.
Because it’s usually answered without much thought, I’ve found that asking this question framed in this way isn’t the best way for someone to assess their actual ability to quickly break down and understand new concepts. For self-guided learners who need the ability to objectively determine how quickly they can acquire a new skill the better questions may be:
Can you take any subject in the world and outline the steps that you would need to go through to progress from the point of not knowing anything about it to becoming a true master in the field?
Do you have a defined process and framework that allows you to outline the steps of learning without talking about the subject or topic itself?
Answering these two questions might not come as quickly as they did to the more general, “Do you know how to learn?” Learning isn’t just about reading, going to trainings or finding a mentor. Those are all elements of the development process, but they aren’t the process that you can apply to any subject you may want to learn in the future. Learning how to learn means that you are able to know what information and experiences you are looking for at each step of the learning process in order to become self-reliant in your development. It means that you have a process to learn; a process that you are able to refine, develop and improve upon throughout your life. Not having a process that is broadly applicable and generalized enough to apply to any subject, yet specific enough to identify critical components and steps to improve upon, means that we have a limitation and gap in our armor. It is a limitation that needs be corrected for as we prepare to face our adversaries in the future.
Dissecting the Learning Process
In creating, designing and developing a system of learning that works for you, professional protectors and warriors can either build their own system from scratch or jump start the process by applying a system that has already been created and modify it to meet their exact needs. One of our most recommended and most often gifted books at The CP Journal is Mastery by Robert Greene precisely because it does such a remarkable job at defining the learning process. It has had the largest impact on the way we view our own training programs and has had an immense impact on our own personal growth and development. The book provides a very clear definition of what success looks like at each step of the learning process so that self-guided learners can assess their proficiency and chart their course forward in any skill they are pursuing.
In Mastery, Greene describes three phases that people pass through to go from having zero knowledge about a subject to becoming a top performer. The first is an “Apprenticeship Phase,” when a person learns the rules that govern success in the particular field and learns the skills of the subject while operating under supervision. Once their apprenticeship is complete, they move into the “Journeyman Phase,” when a person becomes a practitioner in their field and is able to operate independently and without supervision. And finally, should a person develop the requisite skills required for success and be able to combine them with a deep analytical understanding of what skill they are learning and why, the opportunity to enter into a “Mastery Phase” becomes available to them.
In the technology-driven knowledge and information economy that we live in today, where the answer to just about any question is available in a quick Google search, the steps that go into this craftsman-like approach to skill development might seem like a relic of historical times. Even though anyone can start a blog and call themselves an expert, believing that the pursuit of actual mastery through a craftsman-like development is obsolete would be incorrect. The skills we are learning today to progress as professional protectors and warriors or in business might be different than the skills that gave rise to the apprentice system, but the process to learn and become capable of producing master-level work has not. Whether we are looking to learn how to learn in order to defeat our adversaries or to shorten the time required to gain new skills, the craftsman approach can provide a roadmap for us to follow and make the most of our time spent developing ourselves.
This roadmap, starting out as an apprentice and progressing through a creative period as a journeyman before mastery becomes available to us, allows us to do two things very well. First, it allows us to begin with the end in mind and define success in our personal and professional development before we set out in our learning. Second, it allows us to realize that success stems from the foundation of our learning. Our ability to thrive in our chosen fields is determined by how successfully we execute that first part of the pursuit of learning, the Apprentice Phase. It is only by going through the apprenticeship and becoming comfortable with the steps that go into being an apprentice that we become capable of learning how to learn.
Navigating the Apprenticeship Phase
This phase of learning is one of the most important to focus on when learning how to learn because every time we enter a new field or set out to learn a new skill, we start back at the beginning and return to the role of the apprentice. To make for a repeatable process that can be developed and improved upon throughout a career, the work that goes into being a successful apprentice needs to be broken down into more tangible components. In Mastery, Greene identifies three main steps that a person progresses through as an apprentice before they are ready to enter the world as a journeyman.
The first step of the apprenticeship is referred to as “Deep Observation.” In this step, you keep your mouth shut and your ears and eyes open as you seek to understand the new world or skill you are learning. The goal is to understand this reality as deeply as you can.
- What you are learning:
- You are seeking to identify and understand the rules that lead to success in the field and the rules that cause people to fail. You are learning what is important.
- You are observing to identify who wields true power in the field and what the power dynamics are. You are beginning to learn how to navigate the field or subject by learning from those on the rise and also from those who are in decline.
- How you know you’re ready to move forward to the next step:
- When you begin shifting your focus from observing the rules into a deeper analysis of why those rules are important and how they relate to larger trends in the field
- Tips to accelerate through this phase of your learning:
- Continually hone your observation skills throughout your life. As you move into an apprentice phase of learning, you may come in with ideas and perceptions of what you might encounter, but they aren’t necessarily based in reality. The longer you can observe people and situations, the more comfortable you become basing your understanding of a situation on the observed facts (as opposed to unfounded opinion), and the more quickly you will be able to move out of this step.
The second step of the apprentice phase is referred to as the “Practice Step.” Here, you are putting in the work (under supervision) to begin acquiring skill in the subject. The goal for this phase is to enter into a period of accelerated returns for the time spent in study.
- What you are doing:
- Breaking the subject down into individual skills that get repeated through hands-on practice until the movements, actions or thoughts become second nature (tacit knowledge).
- This step involves repetition, repetition and repetition as you seek to make the skills easier to execute.
- How you will know you’re ready to move forward with the next step:
- You will know you are ready to move to the next step when you enter into a period of accelerated returns.
- Learning new subjects involves a certain amount of tedium when you are just beginning. It is tiring and you can only spend a limited amount of time on the subject before you need a break. Eventually, however, the practice begins to pay off with improved skills, which allows you to spend longer amounts of time in practice and the practice itself becomes more interesting, in turn allowing you to work for even longer periods of time. This is the cycle of accelerated returns and is required to further your skill development.
- Getting into this loop is necessary to move forward, as the observable indicators are what reveal the changes occurring in your brain to as you learn new skills and subjects.
- Tips to accelerate through this phase of learning:
- Realize that tedium, frustration and boredom will present themselves. You should consider this to be inevitable but, instead of letting it get the best of you, deliberately fight through it. Demonstrate your perseverance by pushing past this time so that you can begin to experience those accelerated returns for your efforts.
- Build experiences where you have overcome these challenges before so that when you hit the point of boredom or frustration, you are able to recall another time when you experienced it and were able to realize the payoff from pushing past it.
The third step in the apprentice phase of learning is the “Experimentation Step.” Here, you begin exposing your work to the public so that you can gain a sense of your progress and see how your thoughts and abilities stand up to the public scrutiny that will come in later phases of your development.
- What you are doing:
- Testing your character and moving past your fears by initiating a project or presenting your work to peers and the public.
- Listening to feedback, to include criticism, so that you can realize where your skills are weak and where you need to develop yourself further.
- Gaining a sense of perspective by becoming capable of viewing yourself doing the work from the eyes of other people, a crucial skill to development.
- How you will know you are ready to move forward:
- When you get the sense that there is nothing more to learn in this environment.
- This is when you will know you have completed your apprenticeship and are ready to move on to new challenges and declare your independence.
- Tips to accelerate through this step in the process:
- While this is likely the shortest step of the apprenticeship, developing skills as a presenter or project leader independent of your skill development can improve your ability to make your work public by taking away the obstacles that might be in place.
- Despite your developing skill set, remain humble and open to feedback, learning how to prioritize the criticisms that are important and reflect true needs and those that are shallow and of low priority.
The Payoff
So I’ll ask the question again. Do you know how to learn? It is in the three steps of the apprentice phase that you will be able to answer this question with a confident “yes.” Learning how to learn is learning how to execute these three steps quickly and thoroughly. These steps are a huge component to being able to map out the process you need to execute in order to make the most out of your training time and be ready to face our adversaries as they adapt and change the rules of the game.
Learning how to learn, however, isn’t just knowing what these steps are, but learning how to do them in the most efficient way. This is going to require practice and intentional development to prove to yourself that you can navigate these steps naturally when our adversaries change their approach to war. From thinking about how you read books, how you take notes in class and how you seek to practice the skills you’ve been taught, self-identifying your strengths and weaknesses is what’s required to chart your own course and ensure your development progresses as quickly and as effectively as possible.
This isn’t just important in preparing for war, but can also have an impact on your life beyond your current professional roles. As Greene notes as he wraps up his chapter on the apprenticeship phase in Mastery, people often believe the technology innovation we have experienced in our lives will render the need for repetition obsolete. But that would be an incorrect assessment. Technology has not made our lives easier, but has instead opened up a world of increased complexity. The people who will succeed as these changes continue to occur are those who have deep knowledge in a variety of skills and who can combine those skills together to make sense of our environments more quickly, empowering them to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves before they become obvious. Every time you enter a new job, a new position or a new field, you return to an apprenticeship state. Investing time and energy to learn how to navigate this phase of your development leads to a period of accelerated returns in your growth beyond just the subject being taught.
Will taking the time to learn how to learn cause you to slow down at first? Absolutely. But slowing down is how you will be best prepared to speed up and be as ready as possible for the challenges that lie ahead. | https://www.cp-journal.com/learning-learn-steps/ |
Growing in the world of academic medicine is a new generation of doctors known as “clinician-scientists”. Trained in both science and medicine, with post-graduate research qualifications in addition to their medical degree, they serve as an essential bridge between the laboratory and clinic.
The development of sophisticated experimental approaches has created opportunities to investigate clinical questions from a basic science perspective, often at a cellular and molecular level previously impossible. With new and detailed understanding of disease mechanisms, we are rapidly accelerating the discovery of new preventative measures, diagnostic tools, and importantly, novel therapeutic approaches. In these emerging avenues there is not just a need for collaboration between scientists and clinicians, but a need for individuals who are fluent in both science and medicine – hence, the advent of clinician-scientists. The terms “translational research” or “translational medicine” are often associated with clinician-scientists, alluding to the notion that these people facilitate the two-way process of translating scientific findings into clinical applications (bench-to-bedside), and provide clinical data and specimens back to the laboratory to investigate underlying disease processes (bedside-to-bench).
From a student’s perspective however, these concepts can be confusing and finding their way through the breadth and categories of research conducted in academic institutions and hospitals may prove daunting. A discussion of the clinician-scientist niche and some of the challenges and opportunities faced may prove helpful.
Most clinicians at an academic hospital are engaged in research to some extent, but this tends to be mainly clinically-oriented, with patient care, treatment outcomes, and population health being broad areas commonly involved. Their day-to-day job is mostly defined by their clinical duties, often with some teaching responsibilities involved. Clinician-scientists, by contrast, dedicate a significant proportion of their time to research, typically spending ≥50% protected time in order to be remain academically competitive. Whilst still loosely defined, in a purist sense this is a clinician who is involved in research at an organ, tissue, cellular, or molecular level, as opposed to focussing solely on whole patients as a clinical subject. Such research may not always have clinical findings that are directly relevant to everyday medical practice but the difference from a pure basic scientist is that the science has been approached with clinical relevance in mind. Interestingly, on the other hand, science itself has become inter-disciplinary and is recognising the importance of clinical relevance and translation with new ventures such as the Stanford University PhD in Stem Cell Biology where graduate science students interested in involvement with translational research in regenerative medicine undertake rotations shadowing clinicians in order to develop a clinical perspective to their research. These developments indicate that not only are the frontiers between science and medicine becoming blurred, but that translational research is the exciting intersection where clinician-scientists, as well as scientists well-attuned to clinical practice, are uniquely poised to thrive.
Clinician-scientists possess a distinctive set of skills, being trained as a clinician to apply scientific knowledge to patient care, and trained as a scientist with an enquiring mind designed to test hypotheses. Understanding the clinical relevance of observations in science and the ability to translate this back into clinical practice is truly the domain of the clinician-scientist, and uniquely so.
The pursuit of additional post-graduate research qualification such as a Masters or PhD has traditionally been the main pathway to becoming a clinician-scientist in Australia, unlike in the United States where combined MD-PhD programs have been well established in the past. However, the recent development of similar combined MBBS-PhD and MD-PhD programs in Australia is likely be instrumental in building a body of clinician-scientists that have been moulded specifically for this task. Skills developed in scientific training essential for success in research include literature appraisal, manuscript and grant writing, and mastery of laboratory techniques, all of which are life-long skills honed over time, and which are rarely acquired in medical school.
But where lie challenges also lie opportunities: for the determined few, funding statistics indicate that the rigorous training is entirely worthwhile. Clinician-scientists have been found to consistently perform better in national funding programs such as the National Institutes of Health Research Project Grants (United States) than their pure clinician (MD only) and basic science (PhD only) counterparts. Although the pool of clinician-scientists in Australia is significantly smaller than that of the United States and data on funding trends are less widely discussed in literature, it is generally acknowledged that clinician-scientists also do well in obtaining NHMRC funding. This may be due partly to the fact that clinician-scientists are afforded more flexibility in labelling their projects as “basic science” or “clinical”, and therefore have access to funds for both basic science and clinical projects, whereas pure clinicians and scientists are generally limited to their own funding areas.
When describing the clinician-scientist niche, an aspect of research “translation” that is often neglected is the importance of the delivery of research-based medicine into actual practice. The classic bench-to-bedside process refers to the invention of a new drug, device, or diagnostic tool where the hope is that it will undergo clinical evaluation in a controlled setting with a specific patient cohort. But bringing a discovery into the market is simply the beginning, and to bring this to the general public a much more concerted effort is required involving collaboration between public health experts, policy makers, and clinicians amongst others. So drawn-out and complex is the process that it is well acknowledged that this area of “translational” research often fails, with many potentially important discoveries unable to make changes to everyday medical practice.
Wearing two hats: double the challenges?
A commonly quoted recommended research:non-research ratio for workload is 75:25, with the majority of time devoted to research in order to succeed as a clinician-scientist. In reality this is more likely to be exactly opposite the case, where a 75:25 ratio in favour of clinical work becomes the norm instead. This may be particularly so in the early years after graduation when specialist training is being undertaken, despite the fact that this is also the time when a solid research foundation needs to be built in order to establish a clinician-scientist’s academic presence. As pressing as clinical demands may be, it is widely recognised that a research career cannot flourish without negotiating some protected time from clinical duties with the hospital department.
The biggest challenge for clinician-scientists is therefore time management. In addition to patient care, clinical training, and teaching responsibilities, clinician-scientists are expected to undertake labwork, keep abreast of advances in both scientific and medical literature, and engage in professional development and conferences on both fronts. They must maintain manuscript preparation and grant proposals, complete administrative duties, and often lead research teams. To realistically keep up with these demands of juggling a dual career, the ability to delegate and seek cooperation from scientist and clinician colleagues is critical. The lack of a supportive environment and a suitable mentor who can share their experiences and show the way can present an impossible struggle to the time-constrained clinician-scientist.
On the clinical front, to manage their workload clinician-scientists may tightly focus their interests to subspecialised areas to maintain an adequate caseload and expertise without stretching oneself too thin. This depends however on working in an environment where the volume and diversity of patients permits such subspecialisation, with appropriate facilitation by supervisors such as Department Heads. Unfortunately these conditions tend to be found only in major tertiary hospitals, relegating clinician-scientists to these settings.
Additionally, a research career is often less financially rewarding than clinical work particularly when private practice may need to be sacrificed in order to undertake lab work. This can pose a significant barrier particularly because the number of years required to gain appropriate training results in clinician-scientists being likely to be older than their scientist and clinician counterparts and may therefore have family commitments, and have often also accumulated student debts that need to be repaid. Some solutions to this may be the Practitioner and Career Development Fellowships offered by the NHMRC aimed at clinicians involved in research, as well as hospital and philanthropic organisation funding specifically for buying time out from clinical practice for research.
For any researcher, securing funding is a lifeline in continuing their work and burnishing a track record, and it is here where clinician-scientists can be creative in sourcing their benefactors. Philanthropic organisations often affiliated with a disease or clinical cause, specialist training colleges like the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, hospital based foundations, pharmaceutical companies, and fundraising from patient advocates are all important and significant funding avenues that clinician-scientsts may find more accessible than pure scientists. These grants often allow pilot projects to be undertaken in order to generate sufficient amount of preliminary data to become competitive for major research funding such as from the NHMRC. Additionally, a number of these organisations offer clinician-scientist fellowships similar to the NHMRC.
Apart from funding success, it has also been found that many clinician-scientists opt to apply for and are successful in obtaining university academic positions. [12,13] Such engagement in academia provides synergy for research efforts by opening up institutional resources often more diverse than hospital settings, prospects for networking with likeminded professionals and mentors.
Additionally, the scope translational research itself is widening. An increasing number of academic hospitals are dedicating departments to translational research, with clinician-scientists often taking the lead. The need to prioritise translational research has been further underlined by the Chief-Scientist of Australia’s recent speech calling for increase in research funding for this area. Whilst these are positive developments, further input from clinician-scientists themselves is required to shape policy changes and design steps to increase their numbers.
An apt saying may be, “Clinicians know all of the problems, but none of the solutions; scientists know all of the solutions, but none of the problems”. This is where clinicianscientists represent a unique breed suited to fulfil this vacant niche, and are absolutely necessary in forging the next success stories of medicine. Despite the complexities of a dual career, the rewards and satisfaction in pursuing this path are evident and meaningful, and can lead to tangible health outcomes in patients. Although it is important to maintain a realistic notion that being a clinician-scientist is by no means an easy feat, it is equally important to take hope that the best of both worlds can be experienced. These perspectives are increasingly acknowledged in the form of progresses being made in the right direction to encourage clinician-scientists. In light of this, perhaps it is well worth noting that there may never be a better time than now to venture into, and indeed take charge in riding this next wave of medical evolution. | http://www.amsj.org/archives/1969 |
We have had several interrelated blog topic questions from parents regarding Moves in the Field. This blog addresses several of those questions and continues from previous posts about stages of development and basic skills training.
What are Moves in the Field?
Moves in the Field (MITF) are a set of tests that require skaters to perform specific patterns on the ice to show mastery of turns and steps (e.g. three-turns, brackets, or counter turns) – basic skills. Each skating level has a corresponding MITF test (pre-preliminary, preliminary, pre-juvenile, juvenile, intermediate, novice, junior, senior). The MITF test must be passed before a skater can take the corresponding freestyle test (the test with the jumps and spins). However, skaters can take as many MITF tests as they choose without regard to their freestyle level. Therefore, a No-test freestyle skater could, in theory, pass every single one of their MITF tests!
What Moves in the Field are Not
MITF practice is absolutely not a replacement for basic skills training and development. When skaters learn basic skills they must learn them from a wide range of contexts– different speeds, patterns, edge depths, with different pro- and preceding movements and so on. A Moves in the Field test pattern provides one isolated context that, in many cases, is far removed from how the target skill (e.g. pre-juvenile three-turns) is performed in regular practice or competitive routines. In other words, a MITF pattern provides one specific context for learning. However, to be an expert figure skater requires the mastery of many.
Variable Moves
Decades of research shows that narrowly focused learning (called “blocked practice”) may prove beneficial to that single context only at the onset of learning the skill. Research also shows that learning a skill through a wide variety of contexts may be less effective to any single context (say, a target MITF pattern) at the onset of learning, but the wide variety of contexts instills deeper and more meaningful learning overall: better long-term retention, greater transfer for to different situations – especially completely new ones [see these motor learning textbooks for more: (Schmidt and Lee 2013, Schmidt and Lee 2005, Magill 2011, Davids, Button, and Bennett 2008)]. For example, one influential study showed that practicing a basketball free throw from different distances from the hoop proves more beneficial to one’s free throw shooting ability than simply practicing from the free throw line only (Shoenfelt et al. 2002)!
What does this mean for figure skaters? This means that if a skater is introduced to and practices a ‘bracket’ turn only from the Intermediate MITF test pattern, that skater might improve the bracket on that exact pattern quicker than another skater who is introduced to brackets in many different contexts – but only at first. Over time, the skater who is challenged to practice that bracket from many different speeds, patterns, angles etc. will learn the bracket more deeply; more functionally. That second skater will eventually perform the bracket better on the MITF test pattern or any other pattern – especially new ones – than the first skater. The second skater will retain what they learned and be able to apply this wisdom to new conditions – say, for example, when they must perform the bracket in a step sequence or before an axel in a competitive program. In contrast, the first skater would have to re-learn the bracket turn again in each new context (we see this happen all the time).
Training basic skills only through MITF test patterns is essentially a form of “teaching to the test”. The goal of teaching to the test is to focus on the specific details that will pass the test and nothing more (Dochy 2009). Thus, passing a senior MITF test is not a true reflection of any skater’s knowledge and mastery of basic skills- only on their ability to achieve a ‘passing grade’ on that one specific pattern in that one specific situation.
How to Move Along the Moves
The greatest strategy to make MITF test training effective and worthwhile (which means that MITF practice doesn’t interfere with regular training) is to develop skaters’ basic skills mastery to a general level that is already above a specific test. This would mean that a skater’s quality of basics should be above, say, a Novice MITF test level before that skater is even introduced to the test patterns. In such a case, the skater would need a week or two to train the patterns (sometimes even less!) and pass the test. Unfortunately, there are a handful of tests to plough through in the lower levels of skating (pre-preliminary, preliminary, pre-juvenile, juvenile) and children tend to have to work on these tests when their skill levels are still below the passing standard for each test level.
On the contrary, if skaters simply push along through all their MITF tests- one after another- they will no doubt spend much more time and money than is necessary to train the patterns and pass each of the tests. They will have to train for the tests, wait while their general skating ability catches up, and keep up with their freestyle (jumps and spins) training. Unfortunately, this means they spend more time on those test patterns and less time developing a well-rounded mastery of all basics. This is really unfortunate.
Moves in a Sequence
Another issue with the use of MITF tests as the major source of basic skills training is that, by following the MITF test structure, skaters must learn three turns, then brackets; then counters, then rockers. In other words, they learn their basics in a sequenced progression that narrowly focuses on one or two types of turns per test. The reality is that children should be introduced to all the basics as soon as possible and to develop all the turns and steps together! This develops a relationship between the different turns and steps. These basics form the basis for their jumps and spins and are a vital part of development.
Learning basic skills is much like learning a new language. To deeply learn a language, one must practice new words in many different sentences and structures. However, one could also learn how to say isolated phrases for key situations. For example, when I trained in Russia for several weeks, I learned the phrase “Drop me off after this house, please.” I used it every day to inform the bus driver where to let me off when a went home from the rink. In this specific case, I spoke the language; I ‘passed the test’ in the specific context so-to-speak. However, did I learn how to use those words in different ways? Could I restructure the words if needed? Nope. I didn’t even know which part of the phrase referred to which word!
Bottom Line: Skaters should practice their basic skills in many, many different contexts: from different speeds and angles, edge depths, with different preceding and proceeding movements and so on. They need to be trained in a way that transfers the learning to their jumps. MITF tests should be taken only when the necessity arises such as to skate on a higher leveled session or to move up to a higher level.
References
Davids, Keith W, Chris Button, and Simon J Bennett. 2008. Dynamics of skill acquisition: A constraints-led approach: Human Kinetics.
Dochy, Filip. 2009. “The edumetric quality of new modes of assessment: Some issues and prospects.” In Assessment, learning and judgement in higher education, 1-30. Springer.
Magill, Richard A. 2011. “Motor learning and control.” Concepts and Applications.
Schmidt, Richard A, and Timothy D Lee. 2005. “Motor control and learning: A behavioral emphasis.”
Schmidt, Richard, and Tim Lee. 2013. Motor Learning and performance, 5E with web study guide: from principles to application: Human Kinetics.
Shoenfelt, Elizabeth L, Leslie A Snyder, Allison E Maue, C Patrick McDowell, and Christopher D Woolard. 2002. “Comparison of constant and variable practice conditions on free-throw shooting.” Perceptual and motor skills94 (3_suppl):1113-1123. | https://acskating.com/moves-in-the-field-a-substitute-for-learning-the-basics/ |
aristocratic cultural forms created by the nobility from Heian times (794-1185). They include the playing of musical instruments, performance, and poetry composition. Also included in this category are the later forms such as Noh, flower arranging, tea ceremony etc.
martial arts are the second type of geido.
popular culture is the third category and it includes mime, puppetry, storytelling, etc.
they share basically similar methods of instruction.
Ryuha are the "corporate groups" controlling the mastery of specialized cultural forms (a specific style of an art). They are typically comprised of a teacher and his students. Relationships between the ryuha head and his students tend to follow authority-intensive, patron-client relationships. Heads of ryuha often assumed parent-like authority in the lives of their students.
Some martial arts ryuha developed fully the iemoto pattern of organization, in which successive generations of family members controlled the ryu. This pattern is not typical of most bugei schools however. More commonly they split into subgroups as their arts matures.
Bugei ryuha tend to practice "total transmission" so that the individual who had mastered all of the secrets of the ryu was fully certified to instruct his own students.
Most often he opened his own dojo and created his own school, slightly different from, although a derivative of, the style of his teacher(s).
The original founder rarely retained control over his students after they mastered his martial arts techniques.
This pattern repeated generation after generation and is the most popular of Japanese and Okinawan martial arts.
The dojo the "formal training hall" typically became the focus for ryuha activity during the Tokugawa period. By the bakumatsu era (1830-1867) there were sometimes dormitory facilities associated with the dojo.
The commonly employed term by bugei instructors themselves was shihan. While meaning "teacher" in the broad sense, it bears the sense of exemplar, or model, and is thus often rendered in English as "master".
authority in the form of an edict from a former Emperor granting the ryuha's founder monopoly over a certain activity.
divine transmission of their secret teachings from some deity, which functioned essentially as a patron saint.
alleged transmission of authority from some famous historical person.
a dojo, which provided the focus for the ryuha training, protected by the god of the training hall and containing a portrait of the ryu founder.
a stratified society, from beginning student, advanced students, teachers and ryu head.
payment of training fees to the ryuha head instructor, and special ceremonial gifts (salted fish, sake, etc.) at specific times as a means of displaying respect for their teacher.
students received status or authority through the issuance of graded ranks or certificates by the ryuha head.
As stated earlier, the entire purpose of the existence of a particular ryuha was the transmission of its secret techniques. There are a number of ways that the secrets of any ryuha could be transmitted from master to disciple.
The earliest form of transmission of martial skills was called kuden (verbal transmission). At this stage, the teaching and transmission was primitive, immediate and often ad hoc. Not only were there no texts, but it was often thought that transmission occurred by example, allowing little room for verbalization. This idea in Japanese is called ishin denshin (non-verbal ; understanding).
By the late medieval times, verbal instructions were often written in brief form, in texts called kudensho (writings of verbal transmission). Typically these texts offered little in the way of actual instruction or explanation of techniques, as they typically included only a listing of several techniques of the school. These listings were usually described in hyperbolic terms such as "flying dragon" - or simply the names which would not be understood without actual instruction from the teacher.
By the Edo period, it was customary in all ryuha including martial arts, to write down the teachings of the school and to transmit them formally, usually in scrolls, but in some cases bound volumes to the successful students. The techniques were written down as hiden, gokuden, gokui (secret transmissions) and were valued by the students as the embodiment of the wisdom of the ryuha.
Initiation into the secret techniques of the ryuha usually meant the award of a certificate of mastery, a "license" which carried with it the express right of the initiate to reproduce its forms. Transmission of the ryuha teachings involved several levels or grades. In martial arts it was common to have eight grades, but there were many schools with five and some were even reduced to three. The ryuha head, or shihan was the ultimate authority who awarded gradings to the disciples, awarding certification for mastery of a certain level at an appropriate ceremony.
The highest certificate level was referred to as Kaiden (complete transmission) or Menkyo Kaiden (certified complete transmission), the receipt of which in most bugei ryuha qualified one to become an independent teacher in their own right.
Concern for the secrecy of the ryuha's teachings was paramount to all organizations, but of particular worry to the bugei ryuha, since the techniques in which the students were being instructed were potentially lethal. As a result students were not normally accepted into a ryuha without a background check on their character. Further it was expected that the student would continue to live up to the expectations of the ryuha throughout their training. In those cases where in individual would not meet the expectations of the ryuha, they were dismissed. In many cases, the disciple was expected to sign a pledge, called kishomon, which were normally sealed with blood of the one making the pledge and written on special paper which indicated its importance.
The martial arts share with other geido the characteristics of being a way of personally experiencing an art form. While the physical actions do result in some form of cultural product, the products are normally formless. That is the resultant product is less important than the process. The value for the individual lies in the doing. In this creation, the actions of the body, techniques (waza) is of primary importance. One must strive to develop the ability to perform requisite techniques to perfection. This concern for mastery of technique lies at the heart of every form of geido, from swordsmanship to the tea ceremony.
The type of practice expoused by the martial and other arts was in all geido of medieval and early modern times commonly called keiko (to learn). the tern is an ancient Chinese expression first used in Japan to mean "to reflect upon past ways to shed light on the present". There was also a more spiritual sense about the term. Thus the focus upon the body (physical), mind (spiritual), and spirit (way of life). In keiko, the emphasis is heavily upon the character and the totality of personal development through the art.
Keiko learning is focused upon the mastery of kata (forms) which taught the disciple waza (techniques). Since all geido had a kata focus, many scholars have defined the Japanese cultural tradition as the "culture of kata".
Among the bugei, archery developed a kata tradition quite early, but with most martial arts it was in the late medieval period that people began to teach individual battlefield skills as specific techniques. Then a number of military geniuses created kata, based on their long years of military experience, as fixed ways of practicing necessary combat skills.
It was the teaching of these highly individualistic techniques that specific ryuha emerged. Kata became the rules, the basic methods, by which techniques were transmitted from master to student within the ryu. In was believed that kata most quickly and completely imparted the techniques to the students.
The method of instruction was to simply repeat, over and over again, the kata under the guidance of the teacher, with no resistance, no attempt to embellish, and commonly with little if any explanation of the individual moves. Learning involved a rote imitation of the teacher's kata.
"Shu" means "to preserve" and refers to the initial phase of study in martial and other arts. In this stage the novice simply preserves the tradition by constant repetition of the kata, polishing both outward form and internal mental awareness until the waza become automatically reproducible.
There was concern that simple repetition ultimately could lean to a stagnation of the art. Thus it was felt that the student must learn to "break down" or "destroy" the kata he has mastered in order to move to the final stage. This process of learning by "breaking down" is called "ha".
The final stage of development of learning is "ri" which means "liberated". In this stage the student moves beyond the rigid constraints of the kata and experiences what the martial arts are really about - the completition of the individual.
It must be recognized that the number of individuals able to achieve mastery through a progression from shu through ha to ri is quite limited, both historically and currently as well. Nonetheless, the theory behind the mastery of secrets via kata memorization involved a progression from total subservience to tradition to a level of individualistic creativity.
Japanese traditionally regard keiko instruction as being very rigorous. Although many of the traditional geido arts were recreational, there was and still is an expectation that the student will give total devotion to the "way" of that art. Martial arts texts, for example are full of terms such as shisshin (devotion), doshin (devotion to the way), and the like. The idea was that the student devote himself totally and exclusively to the mastery of the kata and the particular endeavor. This single-minded devotion to the particular way one chose was and is widely advocated among all the geido and is especially common in the martial arts. The idea is that if one devoted himself exclusively to the total understanding of a single way, then paradoxically, that understanding is consistent across all ways. Miyamoto Musashi, for example, claimed that after years of devoting himself single-mindedly to heiho (martial arts), he ultimately came to be conversant with a variety of geido, all without the aid of a teacher.
As stated above, the essence of a ryuha can be found in the transmission of its techniques and concepts. The essence of that transmission is found within the kata.
The standard English translation for "kata" is "form" or "forms". while this is correct, perhaps a more clearer translation would be the phrase "pattern practice".
Basically, kata represents a training method wherein students rehearse combinations of techniques and counter-techniques arranged by their teachers. Kata practice are done singularly as well as in pairs, depending upon the ryu. The pattern practice provides continuity with the ryuha from generation to generation, even in the absence of written instruments for transmission.
The kata practiced by a particular ryuha can and do change from generation to generation - or even within the lifetime of an individual instructor - but they are normally considered to have been handed down "intact" by the founder or some important figure in the school's heritage. Changes, when they occur, are viewed as being superficial, adjustments to the outward form of the kata as the key elements do not change. By definition when more fundamental changes are intentionally made this connotes the branching off of a new ryuha.
One key important point to be understood about pattern practice is that in traditional bugei it serves as the core of training and knowledge transmission. Although many modern ryuha employ other learning mechanisms such as basic drills, waza, sparring, etc., these learning devices only augment kata training, never supplant it in traditional programs. Kata practice is felt to be the most efficient way to pass information down from the master to the students. Kata practice tends to systematize and regularize training - but its real function goes far beyond this.
Katas are the compendiums of the waza of the ryuha. It is important however not to loose sight of the fact that kata while a means to mastery of the ryuha's essence are not the essence itself. They are still a physical drill and a teaching tool. The ultimate purpose of our martial arts training is to "apply without thinking", and to do so one must be able to move beyond the structured, codified technical applications of the kata to express the essential principles of the art in their own unique fashion.
The key to being able to dissect the kata and extract its essence is through the study of bunkai (application). Typically, each ryuha provides its students with a BASE LEVEL OF KATA BUNKAI for each kata found with in ryu. This base level bunkai provides a visual reference to the how's and why's of correct technical execution. It goes without saying however, that kata bunkai does not stop at this level. To truly unlock the secrets of the kata one must look for and study the multiple levels of bunkai present in the katas. It is only through intense and comprehensive study of kata bunkai that the student will be able to transcend the kata and apply the principles of the ryuha in any and all situations.
Without the adequate emphasis being placed on kata bunkai, some traditional bugei arts have found themselves passing down only the outward forms without fully comprehending the principles behind them. This danger have been particularly acute for those ryuha in which the headship was restricted to a single family, as it was difficult to guarantee that each generation would produce a son equal to his ancestors in talent and diligence. As a result, most of the bugei ryuha tended to be non-hereditary in headship succession.
Another important aspect to understand is that it is not the kata that make the martial artist, but rather the students use and understanding of the kata that makes the martial artists. As long as the ryuha kata are compatible with the basic principles of body movement, they can provide the student with a path to the top of the mountain. The importance of kata is emphasized as all of the traditional ryuha that survive today utilize kata as their central form of training. None have abandoned is or subordinated it to other teaching mechanisms. Even after the period of the eclectic movement in martial arts in the 1970's we see those eclectic groups that survived turning to the use of structured drills (i.e.: kata) to aid in the teaching of their programs.
Kata then are a key component of traditional martial arts. They are the encyclopedias of motion, the compendiums of the essential principles of the various schools. Pattern practice is the core of transmission in the traditional ryuha, the fundamental means of teaching and learning that body of knowledge that constitutes the school. Mastery of a ryuha's secrets is a supra-rational process wherein one is first molded by, then freed from, and finally freed by the framework of the ryuha's katas.
NOTE: Mrs. H. invites your comments on our feature article or other IKKF related topics. You can send them via Email. The idea is to establish a "IKKF Discussion Group" via Email. In future updates to the Web Page we intent to set up a Discussion Group Bulletin Board. | http://ikkf.org/article2Q98.html |
We all know the healthcare field as one requiring long duty hours and years of extensive studies. What we don’t know about medicine is that it doesn’t limit to lessons and practice only. Opposite to that, medical officers also require some soft skills to perform their duties efficiently. Some of these skills are developed in school, while others need experience and practice. If you are also a healthcare aspirant and want to know about these skills, then you’re at the right place. Let’s look at some of the vital skills that any healthcare worker needs to excel in the field:
- Teamwork
The Healthcare industry is all about teamwork. As it is a multidisciplinary field, it requires different specialists to work under the same roof. Sometimes, one patient has several problems that require treatment, and for each of those problems, there is a different doctor. Hence, all professionals work together to provide better healthcare. And when they work together as a team, it does wonders for the patient. Likewise, doctors who don’t work as a team or value their interests over a patient’s health worsen the situation.
Therefore, if you are an aspiring healthcare worker, you should work on your teamwork skills. Because when you are dealing with human lives, you must work together and show a united front. Meaning, if you join this industry and fail to develop a healthy relationship with your coworkers, you will suffer a lot. On the contrary, if you maintain professionalism and build understanding with your team, you will have a great career ahead.
- Leadership skills
One of the requirements for medical officers is to have adequate leadership skills. During emergencies or otherwise hectic days, healthcare workers have to deal with many problems at once. Sometimes, the team is tired or confused between the cases only because they get overwhelmed with the workload. In such cases, someone has to stand up and take the lead. And this is where their leadership skills come to aid. If medical officer merely completes their studies and joins the hospital, they might not survive in the industry. But those who invest in their skills by training or online leadership degree learn to deal with the uncertain. And since they know how to sail through troubled water, they excel in the industry that challenges them each day.
- Optimism
Healthcare workers have to maintain a glass-half-full mentality at all times. They can never show vulnerability or sensitivity during their work. Doctors and staff are essentially superheroes for the patients, and if they lose hope, it will express in their work. That is why healthcare workers need to display a positive attitude even when there is no positive sign. Because if they maintain their composure, it gives hope to their patients. Later, this positivity reflects in their treatment, and they show better results. That said, doctors have a responsibility always to speak the truth to their patients. Meaning, if a person has an untreatable disease, you have to inform them everything about it without giving false hopes. In short, you have to create a balance between honesty and optimism. If you can excel in this skill, you will surely excel in this industry.
- Professionalism
Medicine is a field that requires workers who know how to maintain professionalism, even in the most challenging situations. Frequently, healthcare workers encounter stubborn or angry patients, and to handle them, doctors need proper training. Likewise, doctors sometimes forget their duties and get overly empathetic towards their patients. Both of these extreme behaviors can lead to the failure of any healthcare officer’s career for a lifetime. So, to succeed, you need to balance empathy and anger. Even when you cannot control it anymore, you have to stay professional with your patients and coworkers. Once you achieve excellence in this skill, you will surely make a reputable place in your facility.
- Communication skills
Healthcare workers sometimes find themselves in situations where they have to break the bad news to patients or families. During such problems, if they are unable to communicate properly, they sometimes worsen the situation. But, when doctors have good communication skills, they handle the situation and give their patients hope. That is why healthcare facilities take staff interviews so that they can select workers with efficient communication skills. When a healthcare worker is good at communication, they can quickly work their way through this industry. Thus, if you want a career in the healthcare sector, you should also polish your skills and practice accordingly.
- Time management
Time management is one of the essentials for hospital work. Even if you are a minute late, it can cost a lot to your patient. That is why healthcare professionals are always running on the clock. Decisions of equally dividing their time and prioritizing treatments are crucial in a doctor’s life. Especially when dealing with emergencies, you need to make fast choices that decide your patients’ future. In such situations, if you panic and lose track of time, it can result in misfortune. That explains why new doctors never get severe cases because they cannot manage time properly due to their inexperience. But once they face a couple of emergencies, they understand the importance of every second. If they fail in time management and keep panicking, they cannot excel in the healthcare industry.
Conclusion
The Healthcare industry is a thriving field. It gives hope to society and builds it from the ground up. But the faces behind this sacred industry have to go through a lot of training to get where they are. From years of college to years of practice, a healthcare worker is always learning. The skills discussed above are only a few that a healthcare worker needs to succeed in this field. From a surgeon to a nurse, all healthcare workers get adequate training to heal their patients efficiently. If you are an aspiring healthcare worker and want to build a career in this field, start your practice today. Challenge yourself each day and see if you are ready for this industry. If you succeed, you can work your way up and become a part of this noble profession. | https://pathofex.com/6-vital-skills-for-excelling-in-the-healthcare-field/ |
TRAINING NOTEBOOK ❘ By Ryan Scellick
On a hot summer day in 2010, I was the number-two man in a seven-man element (team). The assigned breacher moved to the front of the formation, forced the door open, while I promptly deployed a flash-bang grenade. I vividly remember the sound, the smell, and the concussion of the flash-bang deployment. We pushed in fast and took a hard left, entered the first room, split left and right, and immediately encountered a suspect at 15 feet. We both engaged the suspect with our short-barreled M4 carbines. The suspect immediately went down. The point-man now owned the down suspect, and I moved into the point position, then pushed forward with the five-man team behind me. We could hear multiple females screaming from the rooms ahead.
I crossed the threshold into a room with two hostages and the hostage taker. All I could see was a handgun projecting from between the two girls’ heads, illuminated by my intensely bright LED weapon light. The suspect’s only feature not shielded by the hostages was his face directly between the hostage’s heads. As I attempted to “L” off on the suspect to gain a shot, I remember the two flashes from the suspect’s pistol and the impact on the left side of my vest. I continued to move into the angle of the shot, then I discharged two rounds directly into the suspect’s head.
Luckily, this was only a special weapons and tactics (SWAT) training scenario; but did this high-intensity training prepare our team for two deadly encounters we would have in the following years and for the many more after? It did, and the fire service should apply the training lessons learned from our brothers and sisters in the law enforcement and military communities.
Training is a fundamental component of the fire service. It reaches far beyond the hard skills of dragging hose and raising ladders; it affects all aspects of our jobs and affects every member from the rookie to the fire chief. So, if it is fundamental, why do we understand so little about it? Every firefighter knows, from recruit school on, that not all trainers and trainings are created equal. Instructors must grasp that the understanding of and technical competency in a skill are just the starting points for transferring that information to a student. SWAT operators have reached a level of mastery in their craft. What are they doing that we in the fire service aren’t?
The SWAT team’s mastery is not just raw training hours refined into a skill evolution or the number of hours they train. It’s how they train that makes them exceptional. Understanding the psychology of training and learning is absolutely critical to take your department’s training to the next level. Among the first training psychology concepts is how to make immediate decisions and act on them.
Setting the Course for Training
One of the best models for understanding decision making is the observe, orient, decide, act (OODA) loop,1 created by Air Force Colonel John Boyd. Boyd was an Air Force pilot who saw direct action in Korea and trained countless pilots in his 30-year military career.2 He theorized that fighter pilots who could move through their OODA loop faster would prove to be more successful in combat operations.
Law enforcement has been using the OODA loop training for several decades. One law enforcement adaptation is in critical decision-making incidents; officers who can move through their OODA loop faster will decide and act more quickly than a suspect, giving them a significant tactical advantage. The second use is to disrupt the suspect’s OODA loop through a multitude of tactics, interrupting the thought process so that person is constantly restarting the OODA loop sequence.
Observe
The key to the first component, observe, is being aware. A heightened sense of awareness is as critical on the everyday emergency medical service scene as it is on the multifamily fire incident. Being a less observant firefighter will delay initiation of your OODA loop sequence.
You can easily help improve observation on the training ground by putting a child’s bike next to the drill tower or by simulating a down power line. This can force students to observe things that are important clues to unknown facts. As trainers, we must evaluate and emphasize each student’s ability to detach from an immediate stimulus to prevent them from getting tunnel vision.
(1) A SWAT officer works through putting his rifle back together blindfolded. (Photo by author.)
Orient
In orientation, you accept or deny the stimulus you observed; that’s the end of your OODA loop if you don’t accept the stimulus for what it is. In an active shooter incident, people have stated that they thought they heard fireworks instead of gunshots. This not auditory confusion. Rather, individuals’ brains have rejected the idea that someone is shooting in their office building.
Fireground Size-Up and Decision Making: The RADE Loop
In the fire service, an example is a delayed Mayday call. Unfortunately, in countless examples, firefighters in trouble could not orient to the dire situation, accept the stimulus, and call a Mayday. One training group does a phenomenal job implementing the OODA loop concept in their classes. In their training evolutions, they may throw babies out of second-story windows to unsuspecting firefighters. This interrupts the OODA loop of a firefighter who is trying to get a ladder set; second, it forces the student to orient to the fact someone is throwing a baby out of a window. You can bet your $800 leather helmet that the firefighter who moves through his OODA loop faster when a mother is throwing a baby out of a window is the firefighter who was trained on this.
Decide
The third component is decision making. But how do you know what decision to make? Dr. Gary Klein researched how we make decisions and created the recognition-primed decision making (RPD) model.3 RPD is a standalone concept that fits into the OODA loop to best describe decision making. In the RPD model, recognizing familiar patterns to make decisions creates a mental “slide tray” of our experiences and knowledge. We build slide trays through real-world situations in which we implemented solutions, effective and ineffective. The more slides in the tray we have to draw from, the faster we can make a decision. The critical component is understanding that we can build these slide trays through realistic training.
In the SWAT world, this is paramount; an operator may train a thousand repetitions on dealing with a hostage scenario that may only happen once in an entire career. One shot, one chance, all hanging in the balance of training.
The fire service often seems to live in the paradigm, that only actual incident experience translates to competency. Fireground experience that is dissected, reviewed, and improved on is the superior model for building slide trays. However, unless you work for a department that is responding to two or three jobs a tour, you better consider adding to your slide tray through reality-based training. The firefighter or fire officer who has a well-developed slide tray built through years of real world and training experience will perform two tiers above those who are depending on one or the other.
As trainers and students, it is critical to know the importance of RPD for training. First, training must be realistic and translate to real-world experiences. Although the safety and efficiency of propane burn rooms have allure for administrators, they don’t have any translation to the fireground and are more likely to create false slides for younger, less experienced firefighters.
RPD is built every time you train: feeling what the hose feels like with the fully opened bail at maximum flow, hearing the difference between the hose stream hitting a wall vs. flowing through a window, and distinguishing the crackle of a training fire in the growth stage vs. the decay stage. The key for trainers is to ensure they are giving students real-world slides and continually reminding them to consciously acknowledge the sight, sound, smell, and feel of real-world training.
Train like you fight; fight like you train. Trainers must be responsible to train students in full gear and perform as they would on a real fire. Computer-based training checks a lot of boxes for the Insurance Services Office ratings and undoubtedly has its place. But if you care about your firefighters, repetition on the drill ground will be the life vest that keeps them afloat when they find themselves drowning in the flood of a rapidly evolving incident.
(2) Here, I toss a “baby” to a firefighter during search multiple company training. (Photo by Firefighter Emily Nicoara.)
Act
“Action always beats intention.” In life and death instances, this couldn’t be more accurate. Action is where the rubber meets the road, where the cognitive becomes the physical. You can’t delay action once you have made the decision.
Speed of action can be directly attributed to mastery of skill. You can build a flawless slide tray of knowing when is the right time to bail out of a window, but if you haven’t mastered the actual hard skill, hesitation and miscalculation will likely show up in your performance.
John Grinder created a hierarchy of skill acquisition, with the highest level (the fourth level) being unconscious competence.1 Unconscious competence is the ability to perform a skill without having to think through the steps in your mind. All SWAT members must perform all weapons skills with an unconscious competence and with gross, not fine, motor skills. A firefighter should not have to think of the emergency sequence for a self-contained breathing apparatus malfunction or what the “U” stands for in LUNAR.
(3) SWAT operators train in sniper-initiated vehicle assaults. (Photo by author.)
The repetitions required for mastery vary widely, depending on the source; some number repetitions in the thousands. For most of our skills, this is not a readily achievable number. Nevertheless, we must not be dizzied by the number of repetitions required to master a skill. Instead we need to focus on the fact that one more repetition today will increase the speed and function of my ability to act tomorrow.
A saying in the SWAT world is, “SWAT is like Disneyland: a long line for a short ride.” This is equally true in the fire service. We spend a considerable amount of time preparing for incidents that don’t occur often. As fires continue to decrease in number but increase in spread and potential for trapped victims, we must continue to place a high value on the “long line”—i.e., hard skills training.
For decades, the military and law enforcement have been training on and using the OODA loop concept. Leaders recognize its usefulness from low-risk strategic decision making all the way to air-to-air and ground combat. Across the United States, thousands of SWAT officers use the OODA loop to make rapid life or death decisions every day. Intuitively, many firefighters make decisions in a similar way. The better we understand these concepts, the better we can adjust our training to implement the soft skills as well as the hard skills associated with the OODA loop.
When you are building your next company level or department training, consider adding these elements to your students’ decision-making training: visual stimuli that require increased observation and unusual/unexpected/uncommon situations that will interrupt and make them move through their OODA loop. Evaluate their decision-making skills. Are they detaching and not getting tunnel vision? Are they prioritizing and executing decisions in the appropriate order? Are they performing the skills associated with their actions at an unconscious competence level?
Hopefully, these lessons learned from our elite SWAT teams and our military will make you and your students better prepared for the rapidly evolving incidents we face as firefighters.
REFERENCES
1. Murray, KR. (2006) Training at the Speed of Life, Vol. 1. Armiger Publications Inc., Gotha, Florida.
2. Osinga, F. (2005) Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd. Eburon Academic Publishers. https://bit.ly/3q48uGw.
3. Glick-Smith, J L (2016). Flow Based Leadership. Technics Publications. Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
Ryan Scellick is a 20-year veteran of the fire service and a captain. He spent five years as a commissioned SWAT officer and tactical medic. He is finishing degrees in fire administration and psychology at Eastern Oregon University. | https://www.fireengineering.com/firefighter-training/firefighter-training-like-swat/ |
The goal of the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Program at McNeese State University is to provide students with a well-rounded, educational experience that provides a firm foundation in behavior analysis through an integrated sequence of coursework and practica.
Students complete a rigorous sequence of coursework related to the basic principles of learning and the applications of those principles to socially relevant issues. Practica experiences are provided in order to shape the clinical-skill sets of our students related to the application of behavior analytic principles to individuals with disabilities at the McNeese Autism Program. Additionally, all students are required to pass an exit exam and complete a thesis project (research or clinical in nature) prior to graduation.
The program, here at MSU, is accredited by the Association for Behavior Analysis International ®, and includes a verified course sequence and practica experiences approved by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, INC ®. Following successful completion of the program, students are eligible to sit for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam.
Program Objectives
First and foremost, we strive to provide our students with a well-rounded educational experience that provides them with a firm foundation in behavior analysis.
To accomplish this we:
- Ensure that all courses are taught by professors, who have been approved by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, INC ®.
- Ensure that our course requirements and content are aligned with the most recent BACB task list, as well as, those specified by Behavior Analysis Certification Board, INC ®.
- Require stringent mastery criteria (i.e., B or above) for coursework, practica, exit examinations, and thesis project.
- Ensure supervision of the practica experiences meets the standards set forth by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, INC ®.
Mission of McNeese State University
McNeese State University is primarily a teaching institution whose mission is successful education of the undergraduate students and services to the employers and communities in its region. McNeese uses a traditional admissions process based on courses completed, GPA, and standardized test scores.
All academic programs at McNeese State University emphasize in-depth disciplinary knowledge and its application to academic and professional environments. McNeese graduates achieve success through the studied acquisition of content knowledge, the demonstration of discipline-specific skills and dispositions as well as mastery of general education competencies such as critical thinking, effective communication, and independent learning.
Mission of Association for Behavior Analysis, International ®
ABAI’s mission is to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice.
Congruency Statement
The goals of all entities (the discipline and practice of behavior analysis, ABAI, and McNeese State University,) in which the McNeese State University ABA program is housed, are consistent and supported by the mission of our program. All entities, including the ABA program at McNeese State University, emphasize the importance of providing a top-notch educational experience. At the level of science and practice of behavior analysis, by completing our mission we produce individuals, who have received high-quality training in both the science and practice of behavior analysis. In alignment with the goals of ABAI, by providing our students with a well-rounded educational experience in behavior analysis, they are able to contribute to the behavior analytic literature through research, provide behavior analytic services and education related to the delivery of behavior analytic services to the community. Additionally, the McNeese ABA program inherently supports the mission of McNeese State University which includes graduating individuals, who are knowledgeable in their professional environments and have discipline-specific skills. Each entity’s mission statement within the macrosystem seems to support a common goal, which is to output productive, knowledgeable members of the community in which the entity provides services. | https://www.mcneese.edu/nursing/ma-psychology/applied-behavior-analysis-ma |
At the bottom of the school’s heraldry is Transcendere–“to surmount” or “to overcome”. To achieve this, we expose our students to an education that is firmly grounded on the Humanities or Classical Education.
Our students see the best and worst of man through his actions in time (History), his thoughts and desires immortalized in writing (Literature), and his creativity and greatness expressed in Art.
These fields permeate all the disciplines taught in the school, whether they be of a liberal or practical nature. The modern application of this thinking is known as the Paideia Principle.
Bannister Academy’s Preschool provides a nurturing environment for children as they strive towards early developmental milestones. Using a thematic approach, our preschool students engage in activities that increase their literacy, numeracy, critical thinking and general knowledge skills. Consistent with our educational vision, emphasis is placed on engaging students in active learning to create a smooth transition into the school’s elementary program.
Students get to practice tracing or writing their name and then play with their chosen toy.
Students learn fundamental lessons through dancing and singing.
Hands-on learning of different subject matter is carried out, and includes Math, Science, Reading, Filipino, and Social Studies.
Snacks give students a chance to develop their self-help skills.
Coaching happens as well as active exploration of different centers in the classroom.
The teacher introduces a concept and the students are able to exercise critical thinking.
Gross motor skills are enhanced and socio-emotional development is promoted.
Students learn how to dress up, care for themselves and value the importance of rest.
Students get to explore their imagination through stories read by the teacher.
Lessons are reviewed before they leave school.
Each activity is designed to keep the preschoolers engaged throughout their half-day class. They learn how to socialize, do basic academic skills, and take care of themselves (doing certain tasks like changing clothes, tying their shoelaces, etc.). Throughout all these activities, the children are assisted by their teacher and a teacher aid.
Our Grade School lays down the cornerstones for fundamental language and critical thinking skills. Emphasis is therefore placed on developing critical thinking and effective communication skills among students through active learning. The small class sizes allow our teachers to devote more individual attention to our students, providing a solid academic foundation in a personalized and caring learning environment.
Subjects in the Primary School are divided into three main components: Language Arts, Math and Sciences, and Makabayan. This is the main division followed by all the levels until Junior High School. In Primary School, these subjects are taught with an emphasis on the didactic stage or the grammar stage, where students are given the basics of each discipline, committing these to memory with the view towards mastery.
In Intermediate School, subjects are taught with an emphasis on the dialectic stage or the logic stage, where students are taught how to work with concepts, using those that they have previously mastered and those that they will learn in these levels, making a connection between them. Handling concepts and making connections between them is the goal for mastery in these levels.
Note that, while Grade 7 belongs to high school, it is grouped under the intermediate level because the skills developed in Grade 7 still fall under the dialectic stage. Grade 6 is still the last level for grade school.
The High School program at Bannister Academy provides rigorous intellectual preparation for college studies leading to professional life. Our Humanities-based curriculum helps students acquire the knowledge they need to develop into lifelong learners, productive professionals and responsible citizens. Our holistic and eminently personal approach to education makes the Bannister student a confident, well-rounded individual who can make principled decisions and act on them effectively.
In Junior High School, subjects are taught with an emphasis on the rhetoric stage, where students are taught how to process previously learned concepts and to express them with clarity, both in speech and in writing. Students learn to argue and discuss, listen to and process ideas. Mastery is shown in how well students know subject matters, as evidenced by how well they can explain and how they can understand ideas.
Bannister Academy’s senior high school follows the Department of Education’s General Academic Track. Aligned with the school’s Mission and Vision, the goal of our senior high school program is to equip the students with both academic and inter-personal skills that will help them for a life in the university and thereafter. This is achieved by a specifically-designed curriculum, one-on-one mentoring, and exposure trips and mini-internships in different industries as early as Grade 11. Our curriculum incorporates all strands of Dep Ed’s senior high school (STEM, HUMSS, and ABM) while keeping a distinctly Classical approach to each subject. | https://bannister.edu.ph/academics/k-12-program/ |
The idea of increment or decrement is to either add or subtract 1 from a variable that is usually acting as a fag. Using a variable named counter; in generic terms, for example:
increment the counter The concept is: counter is assigned counter + l
That is you fetch the existing value of the counter and add one then store the answer back into the variable counter. Many programming languages allow their increment and decrement operators to only be used with the integer data type. Programmers will sometimes use inc and dec as abbreviations for increment and decrement respectively.
Operator symbols and/or names vary with different programming languages. The C++ programming language operators with their meanings are: | http://www.opentextbooks.org.hk/ditatopic/5714 |
Could someone explain this piece of code?
First, a variable called counter is defined and initialized to 0. This is will be responsible for the timer.
Further, the function increment_counter() is defined in which a variable counter_element is defined.
document.getElementById() is used to access the contents of a division or a paragraph in a html document identified by its id, which is “counter” in this case. “counter_element.innerHTML” is used to access that part of the HTML document and is being assigned to “counter” which has been initialized to 0 initially.
The next line is to increment the variable “counter”. So, every time the function increment_counter() is called, the value of counter will be incremented by 1 and hence be displayed on the webpage.
I hope this would help you understand the code.
I assume that you have some experience in web development, In this code we are trying to implement a counter which increments its value on certain interval.
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i) start_timer()
ii) increment_timer()
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start_timer() function-
In this function we have used setInterval() method which is used to call another function or evaluates an expression at set Interval, In our case we are calling increment_counter() function every 1000 ms or 1 sec.
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increment_counter() function-
Inside our function we have declared and initialized a variable named counter to zero, next we get the div element by its id counter and increment our variable counter by 1 and assign it to our div element of id counter.
Note that variable counter is the one we declare inside our script tag and div element counter is the one we have written inside our html tag.
Hope you understood, if you are having confusion in any part I have explained, just point it out!
Oh okay, thank you. It’s clear! | https://forum.boltiot.com/t/regarding-javascript-program/3975 |
What is difference between counter and accumulator?
Counter is the one which count (or) which tells you the no of events or occurrences. Accumulator holds the arithmetic and logical data inside the CPU. It can also called as register which stores the data temporarily.
What variable is used as a counter?
The variable that is dedicated to keeping the count is sometimes called a loop control variable. It is an ordinary numeric variable.
What is counter and accumulator in Java?
Accumulator variable
It is similar to the counter. It is initialized to zero and is incremented in each repetition with different values. … For this, a counter is used to control the number of times we ask the user for numbers and an accumulator to calculate the sum of the 5 numbers.
What does the count variable do?
COUNT creates a numeric variable that, for each case, counts the occurrences of the same value (or list of values) across a list of variables. The new variable is called the target variable.
How do you declare a counter variable in Java?
If you want, you can declare the counter variable outside the for loop. Then, you can use the counter variable after the loop finishes. For example: int i; for (i = 1; i What does counter do in coding?
(1) In programming, a variable that is used to keep track of anything that must be counted. The programming language determines the number of counters (variables) that are available to a programmer.
What is the use of count ++ in Java?
First, count++ is evaluated, which evaluated to 0, but increments count . And this 0 is assigned to count. So count remains 0. The following is different, because ++count evaluates to 1, 2…
How do you add a counter in Java?
You can do a static int counter = 0; And whenever you do System. out. println(“Move disc from “+a+” to “+b); in Han(…) you can add counter++; below that.
How do you keep a count in Java?
The increment operator adds on to the value stored in the variable and stores the result within the variable.
- Define the variable that you will use to keep count. …
- Set the variable to the initial value from which you want to begin counting. …
- Use the increment operator, ++, to increase the value of your variable by one.
What is a count model?
Count models are a subset of discrete response regression models. Count data are distributed as non-negative integers, are intrinsically heteroskedastic, right skewed, and have a variance that increases with the mean. … When the variance of a Poisson model exceeds its mean, the model is termed overdispersed.
Is time a count variable?
Time is a continuous variable. You could turn age into a discrete variable and then you could count it. For example: A person’s age in years.
Is a continuous count of something?
There are two types of quantitative data, which is also referred to as numeric data: continuous and discrete. As a general rule, counts are discrete and measurements are continuous. Discrete data is a count that can’t be made more precise. Typically it involves integers. | https://d5websoft.com/hints/why-do-we-use-counters-in-java.html |
This is the source code from the C Programming Tutorial. In this source code, you are going to learn about Increment and Decrement Operator in a C Programming language.
Increment and decrement operators
The loop counter can be incremented or decremented by any suitable step value. Note that the increment operator ++ increments the value of i by 1, every time the statement i++ gets executed. Similarly, to reduce the value of a variable y by 1, a decrement operator — is also available.
However, never use i+++ to increment the value of i by 2, since there doesn’t exist an operator +++ in C. | https://www.thecoderworld.com/c-increment-operator/ |
Digital Outputs are used to Produce On / Off type of control. Digital Signals can be either 'HIGH' (ON) or 'LOW'(OFF). Using Digital Outputs, we can generate HIGH / LOW signals and control the devices connected to it. We can control LEDs, Relays, Etc.
All the I/O pins on the Induino R3 (& All Arduino Boards) can be used for Producing Digital Outputs. When working with Digital Signals pins A0-A5(Analog In) are referred to as 14-19 for convenience sake. So in total there are 20 pins (0 to 19) that can work with Digital Signals.
On the Induino R3 Board, we have 3 LEDs connected to pins 11, 12 & 13. We can use these to experiment with Digital Outputs.
pinMode(pin number, mode) => The pinMode() function is used to initialise a given pin either as OUTPUT or INPUT or INPUT_PULLUP (used in the next tutorial). We require this function to be called only once during the initial power on state of the board, so we will call this function from within out setup() function.
digitalWrite(pin number, state) => The digitalWrite() function is used to write a digital signal (HIGH or LOW) on the given pin number. In other words it helps us control a given pin.
delay(milliseconds) => The delay() function pauses the program for the amount of time give in milliseconds.
The digitalWrite() function can be modifed to use '1' / '0' instead of HIGH and LOW or we can even use a variable. Incase of a variable, if the value of the variable is zero it is considered to be a LOW signal and if it is a non-zero it is considered as a HIGH signal.
The pinMode() function can also take a variable as a parameter for pin number.
NOT Operator => The NOT Operator is represented by ! symbol. The NOT (!) operator returns a 0 when given a non-zero value and 1 when given a zero.
Lets rewrite the program using variables and a NOT(!) operator.
A Binary Counter is an interesting project for the beginner to get started right after blinking an LED. A Binary counter is a simple counter that displays the current counter value in binary format. we have 3 On-board LEDs connected to Pins 11,12 &13 on the Induino R3, we can use these to build a 3-bit binary counter that will automatically increment every second and reset once it reaches 7.
We can assume the LED connected to PIN 11 to be the LSB [Least Significant Bit] and the LED connected to PIN 13 as the MSB [Most Significant Bit] . We can have a counter variable that we can increment till 7 and reset to 0 on reaching 7.
The pinMode() & digitalWrite() functions can take only 1 pin number as a parameter, so we would require 3 pinMode() functions and 3 digitalWrite() functions in our program.
Heres how a Binary counter will work, for each value of the variable Counter(0 - 7), the same shall be displayed in the Binary Format.
Could you make me understand the Binary counter program..? | http://www.induino.com/2013/07/digital-outputs-what-where-how-working.html |
Here is an interesting quiz with informative questions and answers about Arduino and its related concepts. Arduino is an open-source hardware and software company, that deals in designing and manufacturing single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. If you think you have good knowledge about Arduino, then you must take up this quiz and see how well you can score. So, are you ready? Let's start then. Good luck!
0 to 255
-128 to 127
0 to 9
0 to 65535
0 to 4294967295
Increment counter by an amount that depends on its definition.
This is not a legal statement in the Arduino language.
Adds 1 to the variable counter
Returns true if the variable counter has a positive value.
None of the above
Counter - 1;
Counter--;
--counter;
Counter -= 1;
Decrement(counter);
Counter = counter - 1;
5
6
4
'F'
&textMessage+5
20
21
22
The statement is not a legal Arduino program statement.
None of the above
The = should be ==
The line has invalid syntax, and will produce a compiler error.
There needs to be a space after the if keyword.
There is nothing wrong.
An if statement must use braces.
A subset of standard C++
Similar to Java
A special purpose language designed for beginning programmers.
A subset of C#
C with additional library functions
Inheritance
Standard Template Library
Exceptions
Operator overloading
Floating Point math operations
Object Oriented Programming
Pointers
Files
The variable's value is retained the next time it is accessed.
The value of temperature will not be allowed to change.
The variable will be reset to 0 each time loop() runs.
The variable will have a greater range than a normal int
The line is not a legal Arduino program statement.
None of the above
1
2
1.2
None of the above
Sets the variable temp to its logical compliment.
Converts the variable temp to a boolean value.
The line is not a legal Arduino statement.
None of the above
Performs a factorial calculation. | https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=mji2odqyngr2ye |
initialization: var keyword to define and initialize counter variable. you can initializes the values of one or more counter variables. One or more counter variables separated by colon.
condition: Check the condition expression, for given condition true or not. If the condition true, execute the block of code otherwise terminates the for loop.
iteration: last end of loop iteration counter variable are evaluated. Here you can specify step of increment/decrement, default one.
Example: Following for loop example execute block of code until num value become 10. When num value become 11 the condition no longer satisfy and finally skip to execute for block.
Example 2: we can little optimization for loop, length of the array store in variable and avoid to calculating length of array every iteration.
Example 1 : Initialization arguments are as an optional.
Example 2: Condition arguments are as an optional. break; keyword indicates to terminate for loop condition.
Example 3: last iteration arguments are as an optional. | http://webtuts.way2tutorial.com/javascript/javascript_for_loop.php |
A simple system of differential equations is presented to simulate the intracolonial population dynamics of non-swarming colonies of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) in temperate zones. The model generates colony growth patterns that are in agreement with empirical data. A new hypothesis based on the model is proposed to explain the occurrence of the brood-rearing peaks in non-swarming colonies. It focuses on the importance of the initiation of swarming behavioural patterns when the population density of workers exceeds a critical number. A sensitivity analysis of the model revealed considerable variation among the different parameters integrated in the model with regard to influence on colony dynamics. The information potential in a dynamic model of this kind is discussed.
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Keywords
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intracolonial population dynamics, honeybee, temperate zones, | http://ibrabee.org.uk/ibra-bee-research-journals-publications/bee-research-journal-of-apicultural-research-20-29/item/1988 |
Abstract: Summary: Declining populations of bee pollinators are a cause of concern, with major repercussions for biodiversity loss and food security. RNA viruses associated with honeybees represent a potential threat to other insect pollinators, but the extent of this threat is poorly understood. This study aims to attain a detailed understanding of the current and ongoing risk of emerging infectious disease (EID) transmission between managed and wild pollinator species across a wide range of RNA viruses. Within a structured large-scale national survey across 26 independent sites, we quantify the prevalence and pathogen loads of multiple RNA viruses in co-occurring managed honeybee (Apis mellifera) and wild bumblebee (Bombus spp.) populations. We then construct models that compare virus prevalence between wild and managed pollinators. Multiple RNA viruses associated with honeybees are widespread in sympatric wild bumblebee populations. Virus prevalence in honeybees is a significant predictor of virus prevalence in bumblebees, but we remain cautious in speculating over the principle direction of pathogen transmission. We demonstrate species-specific differences in prevalence, indicating significant variation in disease susceptibility or tolerance. Pathogen loads within individual bumblebees may be high and in the case of at least one RNA virus, prevalence is higher in wild bumblebees than in managed honeybee populations. Our findings indicate widespread transmission of RNA viruses between managed and wild bee pollinators, pointing to an interconnected network of potential disease pressures within and among pollinator species. In the context of the biodiversity crisis, our study emphasizes the importance of targeting a wide range of pathogens and defining host associations when considering potential drivers of population decline.
Notes: This work was supported by the Insect Pollinators Initiative (IPI grants BB/1000100/1 and BB/I000151/1). The IPI is funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Natural Environment Research Council, The Scottish Government and The Wellcome Trust, under the Living with Environmental Change Partnership. | https://publist.ist.ac.at/ist/works/5245 |
Lung diseases remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV+ individuals, and obstructive lung diseases such as asthma may actually be on the rise in this vulnerable population. No studies have examined prevalence of asthma or airway hyperreactivity in this population since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy, but our data suggest that asthma is increased in HIV+ individuals and may be worse in those on antiretroviral therapy. Factors unique to HIV or HIV treatment to development of HIV-associated asthma are unknown, and standard treatments of asthma may be difficult in this population, making discovery of novel treatment pathways important. The overall goal of this proposal is to examine the nature and causes of HIV-associated asthma. Based on our preliminary data, we hypothesize that HIV+ individuals have a high prevalence of asthma related to low expression and function of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-3 and adiponectin. These pathways represent potential therapeutic targets for treatment and prevention of asthma in both HIV and non-HIV-infected persons. Enrollment of a cohort of HIV+ and HIV- participants will utilize clinical, laboratory, and pulmonary function to test epidemiological hypotheses and associations of PPAR-3 and adiponectin with airway hyperreactivity, and a bronchial epithelial cell culture model will be used to test mechanistic pathways.
Research aims : 1) To test the hypothesis that AHR is more common and more severe in an HIV+ cohort than in a matched non-HIV control group. 2) To test the hypothesis that airway hyperreactivity in HIV+ individuals is associated with decreased PPAR-3 and adiponectin. 3) To test the hypothesis that PPAR-3 and adiponectin decrease the inflammatory response of lung epithelial cells. Training plan: This proposal will provide the candidate with the unique opportunity to cross medical disciplines, expanding his asthma knowledge base while developing a background in HIV/AIDS, immunology, and metabolism. Through coursework and conferences, the candidate will acquire advanced training in biostatistics, epidemiology, bioinformatics, and clinical study design. The resources and experiences of mentor Dr. Morris, an expert in HIV-related chronic lung diseases, and co-mentor Dr. Wenzel, an authority in severe asthma phenotypes and translational science in studying human disease, combined with the robust research environment at the University of Pittsburgh assure the candidate's successful development to an independent researcher.
This proposal represents a major step in determining the impact of asthma in HIV-infected individuals. It explores potential mechanisms that are therapeutic targets for asthma which are lacking in the HIV population. Given the increasing numbers of HIV-infected subjects with prolonged exposure to HIV and antiretroviral therapy, this study will provide important information for the care and treatment of these patients. | https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/K23-HL108697-02 |
The Center will be conducting research regarding honey bee production on reclaimed mine land habitat.
Honeybees are experiencing a significant population decline across the United States. The suspected causes range from pesticides to parasites. In Appalachia, there is very little large-scale agriculture, and accordingly there is relatively little use of agricultural pesticides. Over the past decade, research done at Eastern Kentucky University has indicated that southeastern Kentucky has the potential to be a major hub for honeybee restoration and honey production.
The hardwood forests of Appalachia that surround reclaimed mine sites contain a great number of flowering plants that honeybees pollinate. Similarly, after coal mine reclamation is completed, an abundance of flowering plants emerge on the renewed mine lands. These elements combine to create an ideal honeybee environment.
Research at The Center will focus on methods and means to take advantage of the favorable Appalachian conditions to make honeybees and honey production an agricultural success in the region.
The habitat work done for honeybees will also directly benefit butterflies. The Center will develop and maintain an expansive butterfly garden that will attract a diverse population of butterflies. Additionally, special targeted plantings will be done to attract Monarch butterflies and others that may be experiencing nationwide population declines. | http://appwild.org/honey-bees-butterflies/ |
This paper starts from the assessment that there is no good theory in the social sciences that would tell us whether fertility in low fertility countries is likely to recover in the future or will continue to fall. The question is key to the discussion whether or not governments should take action aimed at influencing the fertility rate. To enhance the scholarly discussion in this field, the paper introduces a clearly-defined hypothesis which describes plausible self-reinforcing mechanisms that would result, if unchecked, in a continued decrease of the number of births in Europe. This hypothesis has three components: a demographic one based on the negative population growth momentum, i.e., the fact that fewer potential mothers in the future will result in fewer births, a sociological one based on the assumption that ideal family size for the younger cohorts is declining as a consequence of the lower actual fertility they see in the previous cohorts, and an economic one based on the first part of the Easterlin (1980) relative income hypothesis, namely, that fertility results from the combination of aspirations and expected income, and assumes that aspirations are on an increasing trajectory while expected income for the younger cohorts declines, partly as a consequence of population ageing induced by low fertility. All three factors would work towards a downward spiral in births in the future. If there is reason to assume that such mechanisms will indeed be at work, then this should strengthen the motivation of governments to take immediate action (possibly through policies addressing the tempo effect) in order to still escape from the expected trap. | https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/8079/ |
Observations of Glaucomys volans ecology in Alabama suggest that small volume cavities may be accepted in the southeastern United States due to milder climates, a paucity of natural cavities, genetic differences in honey bees among regions, or some combination of these factors.
Nesting: Sites, Space and Density in Comb-Building
- Environmental Science
- 2014
During comb-building there are concomitant changes in population size, population density, nectar and pollen influx, all of which affect honeybee/comb interactions.
Spatial and Temporal Distribution and Nest Site Characteristics of Feral Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Colonies in a Coastal Prairie Landscape
- Environmental Science
- 2005
The invasion of Africanized honey bees seemed to fragment the existing European population, corresponding to a decrease in the overall number of European colonies in the study area.
Honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis/A. m. scutellata hybrid) nesting behavior in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Environmental ScienceInsectes Sociaux
- 2012
The goal of this research was to examine nest site characteristics of honey bee (A. m. capensis/A. scutellata hybrid) colonies sampled from a variety of habitats (nature reserves, livestock farms, and an urban setting) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa and determine how nest site location related to various colony strength parameters.
Nest site selection by a neotropical swarm-founding wasp: seasonal alternation of nest orientation
- Environmental Science, BiologyJournal of Ethology
- 2008
Northward- facing nests are warmer through the gain of direct solar heat during the winter period; consequently, choosing northward-facing sites may be advantageous for swarms in terms of a shortened brood development and shortened time needed to increase metabolic rates during warm-up for flight.
The habitat and nesting biology of the African honey beeApis mellifera scutellata in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana, Africa
- BiologyInsectes Sociaux
- 2005
The habitat and nesting biology were studied for naturally occurring colonies of the African honey bee,Apis mellifera scutellata, in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana to discuss as adaptations to the hot climate, long foraging season, and high predation rate experienced in the Delta.
Cavity occupancy by wild honey bees: need for evidence of ecological impacts
- Environmental ScienceFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment
- 2021
The European honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) is managed worldwide for honey production and crop pollination, and is an invasive species in many countries. Wild colonies occupy natural and human- made…
Group decision making in nest-site selection among social insects.
- BiologyAnnual review of entomology
- 2007
The choice of a new nest site is ecologically critical for an insect colony. In swarm-founding social insects, or those that move as colonies from one site to another, this choice is one of the…
How does a swarm of the giant Asian honeybee Apis dorsata reach consensus? A study of the individual behaviour of scout bees
- BiologyInsectes Sociaux
- 2016
The behaviour of scout bees of the giant Asian honeybee A. dorsata on three artificially created swarms is described to determine the mechanisms used to collectively decide on a location to move to, either in the same environment (nest-site selection) or somewhere further afield (migration).
The influence of nest site selection on the population dynamics of Africanized honey bees in an urban landscape
- Environmental Science
- 2017
Tucson's feral honey bee population is driven by a relatively small number of ‘source’ colonies that escape termination, although immigrating swarms and absconding colonies from the surrounding area may have also contributed to the stability of the Tucson AHB population.
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 15 REFERENCES
Measurement of nest cavity volume by the honey bee (Apis mellifera)
- BiologyBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
- 2004
The hypothesis is presented that scouts measure the volumes of dimly illuminated cavities by integration information on the distances and directions of walking movements made inside the cavity.
The nest of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)
- BiologyInsectes Sociaux
- 2005
The natural honey bee nest was studied in detail to better understand the honey bee's natural living conditions and to indicate the advanced characters in Apis mellifera nests arose in response to Apis Mellifera's adoption of tree cavities for nest sites.
The Seasonal Cycle of Swarming in Honeybees
- Biology
- 1977
SummaryA six-year study of natural swarming in Ithaca, NY, USA, showed a bimodal distribution for date of swarm emergence, with a peak during the first two weeks in June and a lesser peak during the…
Swarm Orientation in Honeybees
- ArtScience
- 1963
A swarm of honeybees will move up to 75 m (250 feet) without its queen but only for 3 to 8 minutes, and the source of the odoriferous substance responsible for a swarm's detection of its queen appears to be glands in her head.
A Commercial Beekeeper's Approach to the use of Primitive Hives
- Art
- 1971
Mr. Robin Guy is a commercial beekeeper, operating about a thousand colonies of Apis mellifera adansonii in Langstroth hives. Here he describes his own approach to the question of primitive hives…
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
- Education
- 1968
Charles Darwin's seminal formulation of the theory of evolution, "On the Origin of Species" continues to be as controversial today as when it was first published. This "Penguin Classics" edition…
A Survey of Beekeeping in Uganda
- Political Science
- 1971
There are still many countries with a high beekeeping potential, as yet largely unexploited. A number of these are in Africa, and at the moment the focus of much attention; they have the added…
The dance language and orientation of bees
- Psychology
- 1967
Until his death in 1982, Karl von Frisch was the world's most renowned authority on bees. "The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees" is his masterwork - the culmination of more than fifty years of…
Beekeeping in Embu District, Kenya
- Geography
- 1972
David Brokensha and Bernard Riley teach in the Departments of Anthropology and Geography, respectively, at the University of California, Santa Barbara; they spent about a year in Kenya in 1970/71. ... | https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Nest-site-selection-by-the-honey-bee%2CApis-mellifera-Seeley-Morse/e0766f745e0df8b62d14063b3ef51fc26f2a02eb |
During the winter of 2006-2007, beekeepers around the country began reporting unusually high losses of their hives. Between 30 percent and 90 percent of honeybee hives disappeared virtually overnight.
As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported, a majority of worker bees in a colony would suddenly “disappear leaving behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen.”
The strange occurrences had all the eerie mystery of a Wes Craven horror film, except it was insects that were dying, not people.
“As many as 50 percent of all affected colonies demonstrated symptoms inconsistent with any known causes of honeybee death,” the EPA said.
The widespread mysterious disease was labeled Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) for want of a more precise term. Fears grew that this was a dire omen — honeybees would become extinct and with them, the flowers and plants that rely on bees for pollination and procreation.
Contents
Honeybees Provide Necessary Pollination for Many Human Foods
As the Agricultural Research Service explained, “About one mouthful in three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honeybee pollination. Commercial production of many high-value and specialty crops like almonds and other tree nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables depend on pollination by honeybees. These are the foods that give our diet diversity, color and, flavor.”
Without honeybees, we would be bereft of much of our vegetation, creating even more malnutrition and starvation in the world.
Cause of Colony Collapse Disorder Still a Mystery
There have been many theories about the cause of CCD, including the frequency in recent years of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and smoke, and of course climate change. According to an online article in Vox citing the National Climate Assessment, average annual rainfall across the U.S. has gone up by five percent since 1990. These natural disasters may have upset the bees enough to cause them to flee their hives.
The EPA, however, has focused on the following factors that could contribute to CCD:
- The invasive varroa mite (a pest of honeybees);
- New or emerging diseases such as Israeli Acute Paralysis virus and the gut parasite Nosema;
- Exposure to pesticides applied to crops or for in-hive insect or mite control;
- Stress bees experience due to transportation to multiple locations across the country for providing pollination services;
- Changes to the habitat where bees forage;
- Inadequate forage and/or poor nutrition;
- Potential immune-suppressing stress caused by one or a combination of the factors above.
Declines in Bee Populations Have Occurred throughout History
Like much media reporting today, the truth about CCD is quite different than the Doomsday scenarios. According to Norm Benson of Science 2.0, sudden declines in bee populations are nothing new. They can be traced back to Ireland in 950 AD and recurred again in 992 and 1493.
“In 1853, Lorenzo Langstroth, the father of American beekeeping, described colonies that were found ‘to be utterly deserted,’” Benson reported. “The comb was empty, and the only symptom of life was the poor queen herself.” He also noted, “In 1891 and 1896, many bees vanished or dwindled to tiny clusters with queens in the month of May, hence the name: ‘May Disease.’”
Why the Public Should Know about Colony Collapse Disorder
Entomologists, however, can see some benefit to calling the public’s attention to insect population declines such as Colony Collapse Disorder.
Writing in The Washington Post, Michael S. Engel, a paleontologist and entomologist at the University of Kansas, warned of the danger of singling out one group of organisms, such as honeybees, when discussing their impact on “the broader economy of nature.”
“Among all of life’s creatures, insects are some of the most vital, whether we notice their many services or not,” Engel pointed out. Just by “their staggering diversity and vast ecological connectedness,” insects are a fundamental, indelible part of virtually every ecosystem.
“Beyond pollination services, insects are also the food of many birds, mammals and fish,” Engel said. “Without insects, all of these would perish. Insects underpin, often unseen and ignored, the essential processes of our world.”
Bees Are Not Going Extinct and Crops Are Not in Trouble
Last year, Jon Entine, founder and executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, argued that the apocalyptic warnings were premature. “Honeybee populations haven’t ‘crashed’ in the United States or elsewhere. Honeybees are not going ‘extinct.’ Crops are not ‘in trouble,’” he insisted.
Using U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, Entine posted a graph on the GLP website showing that honey-producing bee colonies in the U.S. are holding relatively steady at about 2.5 million colonies between 1995 and 2017. In fact, according to USDA figures, the U.S. honeybee population hit a 22-year high in 2016 before dipping slightly in 2017.
But the death knell reporting about CCD was so pervasive, it was often accepted without question that “the crucial pollinators could be edging towards extinction, plunging our entire food system into chaos,” Entine says. “The only problem is that it isn’t true.”
Entine offers several examples of false reporting about CCD:
- “Declining honeybee population could spell trouble for some crops,” blared a headlineon Fox News last year.
- “Death and Extinction of the Bees,” was the banner claimon the Centre for Research on Globalization, a research and media organization based in Montreal “with a focus on presenting views it contrasts with those in the mainstream press.”
- “Honey Bees in a Struggle for Survival,” claimed a guest columnistin the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper in Florida.
The University of Florida IFAS Extension sums up the current state of CCD: “Colony Collapse Disorder may not be a new disorder. In fact, many colonies have died over the past 50-60 years displaying symptoms similar to those of CCD. The disorder as described in older literature has been called spring dwindle disease, fall dwindle disease, autumn collapse, May disease and disappearing disease. We may never know if these historic occurrences share a common cause with modern-day CCD.”
Anything that jeopardizes insect success undermines our own, Engel reminds us noting that “An insect apocalypse is our apocalypse.” We need to heed his warning.
About the Author
David E. Hubler is a veteran journalist and author. Prior to joining American Public University, he worked as an editor/writer for several news organizations including the Voice of America, United Press International and American Cities Business Journals. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from New York University and a master’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. His most recent book, “The Nats and the Grays, How Baseball in the Nation’s Capital Survived WWII and Changed the Game Forever” was published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. | https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/colony-collapse-disorder-honeybees-02042019/ |
We must save the bees. There has been a steady decrease in the bee population and it needs to stop before its too late.
Each year more than $15 billion worth of crops are pollinated by bees in the United States. Honey bees pollinate more than 100 essential food crops, as well as produce millions of dollars of honey. One out of every three bites of food Americans consume comes from a plant visited by bees or other pollinators.
Recently, honey bees have been dying by the tens of millions. These deaths are caused by colony collapse disorder (CCD), a phenomenon linked to the drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honeybee colonies in North America. Although there are many theories as to the cause of CCD, there is still no specific cause identified by researchers.
CCD has wiped out some 10 million bee hives over the past six years. The death rate for colonies has hit 30% annually in recent years, with nearly one-third the number of honey bee colonies in the U.S. as there were in 1947.
We must take action. Here are some resources for you :-)
For more information regarding the Bee decline please visit: http://sos-bees.org/
Sign petition here: http://www.change.org/p/epa-save-our-bees-and-the-food-we-eat-ban-bayer-s-chemicals-now
Here are 10 things you can do to help the bees: http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/save-the-bees.html
Save the Bees!! Reviewed by Shane on Thursday, September 25, 2014 Rating: | https://www.listenlearnlove.com/2014/09/save-bees.html |
1School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas, USA.
2Enteric Diseases Department, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
3GI Motility Program, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Recent studies reveal that acute gastroenteritis can precipitate irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms leading to the concept of post-infectious IBS. However, the overall contribution of gastroenteritis to the total IBS prevalence is unknown. In this exercise we try to estimate the contribution of gastroenteritis in IBS using the published literature and a longitudinal approach.
Existing literature was reviewed to determine the incidence of IBS after gastroenteritis, the rate of remission over time, data on rates of gastroenteritis in a given population and any patterns of resistance to these effects in human populations. This produced 3 models. The first assumed all humans were susceptible to gastroenteritis and its ability to produce IBS. The second assumed (using meta-analysis data) that 90% of humans in a given outbreak would be resistant to this effect. The third model used a high gastroenteritis exposure rate as might be seen in military deployment.
In model 1, the prevalence was unrealistically high with an eventual steady state of 43.6% of the population affected by IBS. In a very conservative approach (model 2), steady state was achieved after 10 years to an overall prevalence of 8.9%. Interestingly, based on a high 1 year exposure rate such as military deployment, the maximum prevalence (steady state) was reached before 1 year suggesting high risk.
Although hypothetical in approach, based on conservative estimates in existing literature the contribution of gastroenteritis to the overall prevalence of IBS is substantial.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common and debilitating disease process, yet the precise pathophysiology of IBS remains unknown. In recent years, data are continuing to accumulate which suggest that gut bacteria play a role in IBS symptom development. In one bacterial hypothesis, it is suggested that there is an altered distribution of bacteria in the gut.1,2 A second bacterial hypothesis suggests that IBS arises from an episode of acute gastroenteritis involving a viral, bacterial or other infection in a susceptible host. Two meta-analyses of the studies to date found that approximately 10% of subjects who experience acute gastroenteritis subsequently develop IBS.3,4 Of note, many of the specific pathogens which have been shown to increase the risk of post-infectious IBS (PI-IBS) are also common among domestically acquired infections (eg, Campylobacter and Salmonella).
While these meta-analyses provide convincing evidence that acute gastroenteritis can precipitate IBS, the overall contribution of acute gastroenteritis to the total IBS population in the United States (US) is unknown. Large prospective observational studies could be conducted to precisely define the contribution of acute gastroenteritis to the burden of IBS in the community. However, these types of studies would be difficult to design and expensive to attempt at this time. Despite these challenges, determining the contribution of acute gastroenteritis to development of IBS in the population as a whole would be vital to understanding implications in long-term health care cost, impact on food and water safety policies, and even impact on missionary or military deployment policy.
Therefore, to raise awareness to this novel hypothesis, we describe a basic and empiric population-based approach to illustrate the theoretical extent to which acute gastroenteritis could contribute to the development of IBS over time, based on the existing literature surrounding PI-IBS.
To estimate the population-attributable fraction of IBS due to a post-infectious etiology, we employed an empiric steady-state model based on factors of population dynamics, infectious disease incidence, PI-IBS risk, and characteristics of IBS illness and duration derived from currently available published literature. Where uncertainty existed, the most conservative estimate was utilized. The following assumptions and parameter estimates were utilized to support the development of 3 models:
The US population remained 307,000,000.5
The incidence rate of infectious gastroenteritis was 76 million (24.76%) annually6 among the US population and was not affected by age.
The incidence rate of IBS was 10% among those who contracted acute gastroenteritis.3,4
Fifty-eight percent of IBS patients went into complete remission after 6 years7 but were then eligible to re-contract new IBS through a new acute gastroenteritis event.
The remaining 42% of IBS patients remained symptomatic throughout their life and were replaced by unaffected individuals at death.
A lifetime of IBS was calculated as US life expectancy (78 years) less the average age of IBS onset (29 years), since the age distribution of IBS was assumed to be similar to that of the overall US age distribution.
Episodes of acute gastroenteritis occurred at some point during the year.
IBS was contracted at year's end and could resolve at the beginning of any given year.
We applied the model to a population that was initially unaffected by acute gastroenteritis or IBS, and the model was run iteratively for a number of years. The assumption in this model was that all humans had the potential to develop IBS and that there was no genetic, host or environmental resistance to this outcome. The model is as follows:
n = the year during which each incremental annual IBS prevalence is calculated, beginning at year zero and increased by one until steady-state is reached (when incremental annual IBS prevalence does not change).
p = the IBS prevalence at the end of the year for which the above equation was calculated (beginning with pyear 0 = 0).
t = the total US population at risk to contract IBS (307,000,000)
T = the total US population (307,000,000)
rAGE = the annual incidence of acute gastroenteritis (24.76%)
rIBS = a person's chance of contracting IBS given a case of gastroenteritis during the year for which the equation is being run (10%)
s = the published remission rate of IBS at a 6 year follow-up (58%)
The amortization portion of the expression above functions to account for the published IBS remission rate at a 6 year follow-up. The 58% remission was amortized equally over the 6 years prior.
pyear n-50×T×(1-s)
The above component accounts for patients with lifetime IBS who lose their disease state due to death and are replaced by persons of average age who are re-eligible to contract IBS. To accomplish this, the expression becomes relevant once n equals 50 (78 year lifespan, less age 29 average onset of IBS, plus one to account for IBS starting at the beginning of age 29).
A major drawback of Model 1 was the assumption of equal risk of IBS development among individuals. Recent data suggests that there could be genetic pre-determinants to susceptibility of PI-IBS.8 This is supported by the fact that in previous meta-analyses,3,4 only 10% of subjects who experienced confirmed gastroenteritis actually developed IBS. Therefore, in this model, the conservative assumption was made that only 10% of the infected population was susceptible to developing IBS. In essence, 90% of the population in this model had innate resistance by some mechanism.
For Model 2, the following modifications are made to the assumptions in model 1. Model 1 was designed without any genetic susceptibility, and therefore rIBS was set at 10% to represent the equal chance of contracting IBS among all 76 million individuals who suffered gastroenteritis in a given year. We have built Model 2 to represent the other extreme of genetic susceptibility. We modified t such that the total US population eligible to contract IBS is only 30,700,000 (10% of the total US population). In addition, we set rIBS at 100% such that genetically susceptible individuals would definitely contract IBS if they experienced gastroenteritis. In both models, 10% of the overall 307 million would be eligible to develop IBS from an initial episode of gastroenteritis. However, in Model 2, the other 90% of the population could still contract gastroenteritis but would be unable to contract IBS due to lack of genetic susceptibility. The denominator of the equation (T) remains 307 million to account for a prevalence calculation based on the entire US population. rIBS is increased to 100% and therefore becomes irrelevant to Model 2, since a person with gastroenteritis will contract IBS if they are genetically predisposed to doing so.
Certain individuals, such as active-duty military personnel and religious missionaries, are more prone to developing acute gastroenteritis than those from the regular population. To portray findings among high-risk groups, we applied our previous model of varied individual predisposition to IBS (Model 2) to an active-duty military population whose characteristics were based on data from US. Military deployment studies. In contrast to our normal population in Model 2, the proportion of active-duty individuals who develop acute gastroenteritis was 29% per month.9 We assumed a wartime deployment pattern with a typical initial deployment period of 12 months to a high-risk zone. We then simulated a return to a normal-risk area for the following 9 years.
For model 3, the first year of the model is calculated on a monthly basis using the monthly incidence rate of 29% (represented by rAGE in high-risk environment) over 12 months from month m = 0 through m = 11. As in Model 2, rIBS remains 100% and was therefore irrelevant to this model as well.
pyear 0 = pmonth11
Subsequent years of the simulation, beginning with pyear 1, were run using the equation and assumptions from model 2.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 demonstrate the effects of the different models. Interestingly, Model 1 (Fig. 1) appeared invalid since it predicted the overall steady state prevalence of IBS in the US. population to be 43.6%. Because this prediction was non-realistic, Model 1 implied that a given proportion of the population must be resistant to the development of IBS.
Model 2 was the most conservative model derived on existing data (Fig. 2). This model was based on an assumption that 90% of subjects who develop their first episode of gastroenteritis would never develop IBS (at that time and also with any future infection). Yet despite these most conservative assumptions, the model predicted at steady-state that 9% of the population would have developed IBS from an initial episode of acute gastroenteritis. This was notable, considering the published prevalence of IBS in general.
In Model 3, the only assumption changed was the incidence of acute gastroenteritis to that of troops during deployment (29% per month). Figure 3 remarkably demonstrated that this population reached an IBS prevalence of almost 10% after only 12 months of deployment. This contrasts to the nearly 10 years to reach this level in Model 2 of a normal population (Fig. 2).
In this hypothetical examination of the contribution of acute gastroenteritis to PI-IBS (and therefore overall IBS), the results suggest a significant long term burden of IBS due to acute gastroenteritis. This was dependent on assumptions derived from published literature.
Irrespective of assumptions used, each of the proposed models has the potential to account for a large number of IBS cases. In fact, the most conservative model (Fig. 2) predicts a steady state prevalence of IBS of around 9%. This is remarkable, considering that the true prevalence of IBS is published to be 10% to 15%.10-15 These highly theoretical models suggest that PI-IBS could account for the majority of IBS in the community over time. This becomes even more relevant, as increased incidence of IBS is predicted in populations at higher risk for enteric infection.
Our development of these models is solely intended to suggest a significant impact of acute gastroenteritis in IBS development, not to provide exact projections of current and future IBS prevalence. As such, certain assumptions may have been overly simplified. First, the suggestion that 90% of humans are resistant to PI-IBS may be overly conservative, and this may be evidenced by increased findings of IBS in military personnel compared to predictions with our simple model of varied individual predisposition to IBS. Second, individuals with repeated enteric infection and also those presenting with fever and bloody stool may experience increased risk of IBS development.3,4,16 However, a Salmonella outbreak in Spain demonstrated that uniform infection across a population (accounting for varied severity of illness) was associated with a 1-year incidence of new IBS of 12%.17 Therefore, controlling for severity may be unnecessarily complicated.
In contrast to our simple models of population homogeneity, some individuals are subject to certain risk factors and characteristics which affect the probability of developing acute gastroenteritis (and therefore potentially PI-IBS). Individuals who eat mostly home-cooked meals, such as those of certain cultures and age groups, are less likely to contract acute gastroenteritis. Other factors in risk stratification include wealth or religious status, either of which increases the likelihood of travel to areas with high risk of enteric infection. Finally, the contributions of gut microbiota and the mucosal immune system are undoubtedly significant but difficult to characterize at present. Certain individuals may possess a gut flora that can better out-compete a gastrointestinal pathogen inoculum and minimize infection severity, and others may be able to mount a more robust innate or adaptive immune response against infection. Both of these situations would decrease the risk of developing PI-IBS in similar fashion to the varied disease presentations that can occur following exposure to Clostridium difficile.18
In conclusion this hypothetical model suggests that PI-IBS may account for the majority of IBS. Further studies are needed to substantiate the short- and long-term impact of acute gastroenteritis on the development of IBS and other functional gastrointestinal motility disorders. While the estimates provided by our models may be high, if founded, they should prompt serious consideration by policy makers and public health authorities on what might be done to mitigate the risk of infectious gastroenteritis through improvements in food and water security and communicable disease control. | http://www.jnmjournal.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.5056/jnm.2012.18.2.200 |
Elmwood Park High School understands that not every student is the same.
Because of this, we offer an array of support programs and resources to meet the needs of our diverse student body.
These programs and resources include the following:
► Counseling Office
► English Learners (EL)
► McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
► Section 504 Plans
► Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
► Social Work
► Special Education Services
We invite you to visit the pages listed above for additional information about these sources of support, or click the links located in the left-hand column of this page.
If You Have Questions …
Questions about services for English learners should be addressed to District 401's Director for Curriculum & Instruction, Dr. Leah Gauthier.
Inquiries concerning McKinney-Vento assistance, Section 504 accommodations, social-emotional learning and special education services should be addressed to District 401's Director for Student Services, Dr. Kari Smith.
Matters that fall within the scope of counseling or school social work should be directed to our school's counselors or social workers, respectively.
Any other questions about student support should be directed to our principal, Mr. Douglas Wildes. He can be reached by email at this address. | https://www.epcusd401.org/ephs/academics/student-support |
Student Wellness Services
Our Student Wellness Center is a hub to social-emotional learning and support for our students and houses two part-time counselors and a full-time registered behavior technician. The following district staff members also support wellness on our campus:
- District Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)
- District Behavior Specialist
- Full-Time School Psychologist
In addition, the school has an established Student Study Team (SST). Any time a teacher or parent has a concern regarding academic, social, emotional, or physical development, the concern should first be referred to and addressed by the classroom teacher. The teacher will implement interventions as needed to assist the student. After interventions have been implemented, a student may then be referred to Mabel Paine’s Student Study Team for further consideration. The administrator, referring teacher, parent, SST Coordinator, and, as appropriate, others working with the student, are part of the team effort in meeting the student’s unique needs.
Instructional Support Services
We offer various programs and structures to support student learning: Response to Intervention (RtI), integrated and designated English Language Development (ELD), Gifted and Talented Education (GATE), summer enrichment, and accommodations within the classroom based on identified student needs. | https://www.mabelpaine.org/apps/pages/student-wellness-services |
All Kyrene schools began the 2020-21 school year with online learning, in accordance with Arizona Executive Order 2020-51. In-person instruction will begin in September, on a rolling schedule, beginning with Kyrene's youngest students, so long as the public health benchmarks set by the Arizona Department of Health Services continue to be met.
Every campus is following mitigation protocols and making modifications to the learning environment, to prioritize student and staff safety. Those modifications include items such as keeping students grouped together in cohorts, to minimize exposure, and eating meals in the classroom instead of the cafeteria. School leaders are developing creative solutions to offer events and activities through virtual experiences. For detailed information about the safety protocols in place for in-person learning, please visit our Safety Measures page. The FAQs below answer common questions about the in-person school day.
For general back to school information visit our back to school page.
Enroll
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In-Person Learning at a Glance
- Preschool–Grade 8
- 5 Full days per week
- Preventive safety measures
- Student cohorts and teams
- Kyrene teachers and curriculum
- Instruction in core content
- Social-emotional support
- Specials and electives
- Accommodations and support services provided
- Recess breaks
- Breakfast and lunch in class
- Modified extracurricular activities and events
- Modified Athletic Schedule
- Preschool–Grade 8
Common Questions
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What safety precautions are in place to protect students and staff?
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Will families be given guidelines for safe behavior outside of school?
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What happens when a student, staff or family member of student/staff tests positive for COVID-19? Who is quarantined?
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Will in-person class sizes or cohorts be reduced/capped?
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How will schools provide social-emotional support?
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Can students be exempted from face covering requirements based on religion?
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What will sports look like in Kyrene during the 2020-21 school year?
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What resources are available for internet connectivity, if students are temporarily learning at home?
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How will IEPs be addressed in the cohort/containment model?
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How will student groupings (cohorts) work with gifted, advanced, compact math and other unique learning needs?
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How will student groupings (cohorts) work with band, PE, language, choir and other specials?
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How are preschool and before/after school programs be impacted?
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Will schools return to "normal" if pandemic eases or a vaccine is released? | https://www.kyrene.org/Page/52384 |
The Multilingual Programs Department is committed to providing supplemental support to campuses to address English learners' instructional needs as we operate via an asynchronous instructional model. Multilingual area office teams offer additional support to students, parents, teachers, and campus leadership teams to ensure learning continues and is uninterrupted.
Linguistic Accommodations
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English Learners have varying levels of academic and linguistic abilities which enables them to participate in social and academic interactions, while others may need support in comprehending grade-level content. The following linguistic accommodations are available to offer additional support for HISD @ H.O.M.E.
Student Digital Resources
Parent Resources
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) English Learner Support Division has compiled a variety of helpful websites to support families with English learners at home. Click the links below to learn more.
Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events to display. | https://www.houstonisd.org/Page/184314 |
This tool kit by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Council, and Southwestern Child Development Commission defines food insecurity and how school-age programs can support children and families that may be experiencing food insecurity.
This guide by the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations provides coaches with a reflective tool to examine program practices through a lens of culturally responsive practice and to identify implicit bias. It includes coach reflection questions, a way to identify issues and provide feedback, resources, and tips on working through resistance.
This toolkit by the Child Care State Capacity Building Center provides extensive resources and links to help programs create an emergency preparedness plan. It is divided into four sections for before, during, and after a disaster, plus additional resources. The information is presented in a question and answer format with resources and links for each section.
The National Conference of State Legislatures provides this toolkit on youth homelessness to support the estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults who experience homelessness each year. 700,000 of those youth are unaccompanied minors and the risk factors include family conflict, sexual orientation or sexual activity, school problems, and/or substance abuse.
This toolkit from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families offers a list of resources to support children and families through grieving and healing in the wake of traumatic events. They were developed by national organizations including the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the American Psychological Association, and the Child Mind Institute.
On May 27, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released their latest guidance on the coronavirus for day and overnight camps.
Summer Learning Best Practice Guide: Supporting Mental Health, Addressing Unfinished Learning and Providing Enrichment Opportunities
This guide, by the Oregon Department of Education, offers an inspiring vision for summer learning in the post-pandemic world, prioritizing those most in need. It includes a focus on mental health and well-being and providing learning opportunities that can ignite and renew engagement, foster learning, and nourish in-person connections.
This guide, published by The Partnership for Children and Youth and the National Summer Learning Association is designed to support education leaders with summer planning. It includes foundational research, best practices, and sections on core values, laying the groundwork for success, research on quality, and road blocks to remove on funding and policies.
This toolkit was designed as a learning resource to enhance opportunities to support mental and social-emotional health for children and adolescents in afterschool programs.
This guide is designed to ensure a strong and equitable workforce pipeline of professionals ready to serve as the field works to increase access to out-of-school time experiences. | https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/ncase-resource-library/search?f%5B0%5D=field_ncase_resource_type%3A733&f%5B1%5D=field_topic_subtopic%3A726&f%5B2%5D=field_topic_subtopic%3A725 |
Does it seem like you have more students in your classes who have an Accessible Education Services (AES) accommodation plan? Your intuition is correct, and it’s not just you, according to AES manager Melanie Gangle. Accessible Education Services is experiencing slow but steady growth, and is currently serving over 350 students with disabilities. This equals about 8.5 percent of the student population, and the vast majority of these students experience a non-apparent disability. The following resources and tips from AES are designed to support faculty in facilitating accommodations and accessibility in your teaching.
Did you know that Accessible Education Services has a Faculty Toolbox in PilotsUP for faculty regarding AES accommodations for students? Here you will find information on faculty responsibilities regarding accommodations, as well as tips on facilitating accommodations working with students with specific types of disabilities.
Are you looking for more general resources to support student learning in your course? Given the nation-wide growth in clinically significant anxiety and depression among college students, Kristel Gallagher and Shevaun Stocker developed a Guide to Incorporating Social-Emotional Learning in the College Classroom, which features a curriculum containing short weekly activities for students to complete outside of class (apart from an initial activity for the first class day), suitable for adapting and adding to any course curriculum. These activities are based on exercises from the Greater Good in Science Center’s website, based at UC Berkeley.
Do you have questions about accommodations for a specific student in your class? Please reach out to Gangle at [email protected], or Susan Ayres, AES access counselor, at [email protected] for information and technical assistance regarding student-related accommodation questions. | https://sites.up.edu/upbeat/tag/accessible-education-services/ |
Prioritizing Student Mental Health: Holistic Approaches to Supporting Student Wellbeing
Last month, the U.S. Department of Education launched a Return to School Roadmap and a corresponding report that outlines strategies for addressing the impact of lost instructional time. In line with one of the Roadmap’s priorities to “build school communities and support students’ social, emotional, and mental health,” the report provides recommendations for engaging with students, parents, and caregivers, with a focus on social, emotional, and mental health needs. This emphasis is timely—the majority of students have experienced mental or emotional challenges during the pandemic, and experts agree that supporting mental health is imperative as schools reopen and classes resume.
But what does effectively supporting student wellbeing look like for states, districts, and schools? The ecosystem of supports, interventions, and tools can be complex for educators, families, and students to navigate. What’s more, funding streams don’t always align to help SEAs and LEAs meet the highest needs.
Below, we outline the key components of a holistic approach to supporting student social, emotional, and mental health— (1) prevention, (2) identification & referral, (3) treatment, and (4) workforce development—and how solutions within these categories work together to support school communities.
Prevention
Safeguarding student mental health starts long before challenges emerge and crises unfold. Investing in upstream initiatives like school climate and bullying prevention programs, social-emotional learning for students and staff, and the adoption of trauma-informed practices by educators and staff can help to foster safe and supportive environments where students thrive. Programs aligned to CASEL’s newly revised SEL framework—for example, Kognito’s library of simulations for PK-12 educators, secondary school students and community members—enhance protective factors, such as supportive relationships and self-awareness.
Identification & Referral
Together with preventive efforts, it is important to have an effective system for identifying students in need of additional support and helping them access the services they need. Traditional face-to-face screenings might be conducted annually by clinicians, but this approach provides only a snapshot in time of a student’s wellbeing. More recently, significant efforts have been made to apply technology to the process of identification. Tools like school climate and wellbeing surveys from Panorama Education and automated document and social media screening from Gaggle and others fall into this category. But technology can also be applied to ensure that teachers and school staff members are effective eyes and ears of mental health. Kognito’s flagship suite of online professional development programs empower those who are on the frontlines with students everyday—both virtually or in-person—through hands-on practice to observe, intervene, and make timely referrals.
Treatment
Once students are referred to receive additional support, trained professionals like psychologists, social workers, and counselors provide school-based mental health programs and services. These services can take place individually or in group settings and are increasingly being provided via telemedicine to combat clinician shortages and other barriers to accessing high-quality care. Depending on needs, districts may partner with community organizations and agencies like county mental health providers or education service agencies to effectively deliver treatment. Organizations like CareSolace—which helps students, families, and school staff to find the right trained therapist—or PresenceLearning—which provides mental and behavioral therapy for students via telemedicine—are helping to address issues of access to high-quality care.
Workforce Development
Underlying each of the above categories is the need for high-quality professionals both inside and outside of the classroom. It is hard to implement preventive measures without well-trained staff and teachers. Likewise, knowing when to refer a student to additional services is only helpful if there are school psychologists, social workers, and counselors at the ready to provide the needed support. Shortages in school mental health professionals are not new, but the pandemic has elicited a renewed sense of urgency to address the pipeline and workforce development in the field.
Each of the above categories of support for student mental health must be a priority as school communities continue to navigate teaching and learning during the ongoing pandemic,. They are all indispensable parts of an ecosystem that is necessary for students to thrive inside and outside of the classroom. As states, districts, and schools consider how to invest in student mental health supports moving forward, it is critical to keep in mind how solutions within each of the categories work together to support students, teachers, and staff.
Explore Simulation-Based Solutions for PK-12 Students and Educators
Kognito’s research-proven and evidence-based simulations use role-play conversations with virtual humans to help build the capacity of students, staff, and the greater school community. If you’d like to learn more about the simulations and how they can help support students through meaningful conversations surrounding mental health, visit Kognito.com, or better yet, experience a simulation through an interactive demo. | https://kognito.com/blog/prioritizing-student-mental-health-holistic-approaches-to-supporting-student-wellbeing |
The American School of Paris believes that a high quality education is a basic human right of all children. Including students with diverse learning needs is fundamental to who we are and how we build a compassionate and rich learning community. Therefore, ASP is committed to well-designed, research based and thoughtfully implemented teaching and learning practices that embrace a wide variety of learning differences.
Who is ASP’s Learning Support Services designed to serve?
How is eligibility for learning support at ASP determined?
How does ASP support students who struggle academically/socially & emotionally?
When does an ASP student move out of the Learning Support Services Program?
Are outside therapies and other resources available?
We believe every child can learn. We set and measure goals relative to student strengths, interests, needs and level of performance.
Our commitment is to knowing our students. We best meet the needs of learners when we understand them as individuals. We use a personalized approach to teaching.
We respect diversity and use this as an access point to learning and helping students reach their personal and academic goals.
We work together with students, parents, teachers, counselors, administrators and health professionals to support student growth.
It is essential to keep current with evidence-based best practices in our field.
ASP’s Learning Support Services serves students with a diversity of documented learning differences by providing mild and moderate levels of support. The program is inclusion based and incorporates teaching practices that sustain and promote student learning, regardless of student learning differences.
Learning differences are specific impairments that impact information acquisition, processing, comprehension, organization, memory recall or use. The ASP program offers a range of academic support services to children with mild and moderate levels of need, by providing learning accommodations and program modifications. The distinction between mild and moderate is commonly defined by the services provided. Mild levels of student learning needs are met predominantly by co-teaching, flexible in-class support, accommodations and small-group support. Moderate levels of need are serviced through individualized intervention, co-teaching, accommodations and/or curricular modifications.
The Learning Support staff provides specific academic intervention and works with teachers to implement strategies in the classroom that result in an optimal learning experience for every child. Our goal is for students to become independent, lifelong learners. Areas targeted in specialized instructional settings include, but are not limited to: social-emotional growth, reading, writing, mathematics, core-content instruction, time-management, organization, self-advocacy, study skills and learning strategies.
The Learning Support team works together to design an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) for every student requiring extra support to manage the demands of the curriculum with accommodations or modifications.
A team of professionals within each school division makes the decision as to whether a student is eligible to participate in the Learning Support Program. Curriculum based assessments, observations, and/or comprehensive psycho-educational documentation conducted by outside professionals are necessary for informed decision-making.
Support services are available to all students in the form of counseling, academic support and teacher assistance. However, if a student continues to struggle despite action plans and a learning difference is suspected (where there is no history of psychometric testing), the school may refer the student to professionals for an assessment. Such testing may also be required as a condition for admission or re-enrollment.
A team of professionals within each school division makes the decision as to whether a student can exit the Learning Support program. Students who exit the program are working to their potential on academic grade level. They also demonstrate the use of strategies to compensate effectively for their learning difference. They understand their learning profile and use effective self-advocacy skills to gain support. Once exited, appointments with support staff are held on an ongoing basis (monitoring) and decreases as students show more independence with their learning. The appropriate division teams also monitor students’ transitioning out of the Learning Support Services Program.
ASP facilitates targeted therapeutic interventions on site, including speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy. We consider such interventions as fundamental within a balanced program by outside specialists for students who require such support. We can also provide referrals to professionals in the Paris area.
As a welcoming and inclusive community, ASP expects families to engage fully with the school, by supporting our learning needs philosophy and providing the school with transparent background information. Failure to provide accurate information, or to disclose a previous diagnosis, may result in an admissions refusal or the subsequent removal of a placement. We are committed to constructive and respectful communication and we require the same of our families. For further information in regards to admissions, please click here. | https://www.asparis.org/academics/lower-school/learning-support-services |
Advisory Teaching Service Physical Disabilities Team
The Physical Disabilities Team is part of the Advisory Teaching Service which is a countywide Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) teaching and advisory support service organised into 4 local area bases. Support is available for children and young people at all stages of the graduated Gloucestershire Pathway for SEND. The team consists of specialist advisory teachers, pre-school support workers and occupational therapists.
What we do:
- Work in partnership to develop practice so learners with physical disability access activities with their peers, secure good outcomes and work towards achieving their dreams and aspirations
- Support, advise and empower staff in schools and settings to understand the needs of children and young people with physical disabilities
- Provide advice in relation to the child or young person’s physical disability and learning needs
- Ensure that the views, perspectives and experiences of the children and young people are fully reflected in their provision
- Loan and demonstrate specialist resources including how to adapt educational materials when/if necessary
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak the Advisory Teaching Service locality offices are temporarily unmanned, but we will continue to support schools and settings throughout this difficult time.
All Advisory Teachers are working remotely from home, and are contactable by e-mail.
Our telephones are currently being diverted to our Gloucester Office (01452 426955 or 01452 427579), so please do contact us for support as required.
Return to school and key stage transition arrangements:Whilst there is still uncertainty with regard to when schools will fully re-open, please be aware that the Advisory Teaching Service is currently working on strategies advice and resources, as part of the wider EISSS service, to support this process. This includes transition work for both children and young people who are already identified and are on our caseloads and their parents/carers and settings but also additional advice for settings with regard to how they might approach the return to school which we know will, for some children, be extremely challenging. SENCos/parents/carers will be contacted direct where appropriate, but please call the ATS Advice Line for further information/support. See below.
Advice helplines have been organised, and useful resources for settings and parents uploaded, please see individual Team pages
Please checkout our useful clips : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrm2ArgsNRy4kKHf9aPsPQ
Who to contact
- Telephone
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01452 324376 (Cheltenham ATS base)
01594 823102 (Forest ATS base)
01452 426955 (Gloucester ATS base)
01452 583728 (Stroud ATS base)
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Other Details
- Referral required
- Yes
- Referral Details
Who can refer and how:
- Schools and settings, through the Advisory Teaching Service Referral Form
- Other professionals through the Advisory Teaching Service Referral Form
If you have concerns regarding your child your first port of call should be the school or setting they attend. Establish where your child is on the Gloucestershire Graduated Pathway and what adjustments, support or interventions are being made in response to their needs. If necessary ask that the setting or school refers to our Team. As a parent/carer you will be asked for consent. The teacher offering support in your area will contact you and the setting directly.
Availability
Local Offer
- Local Offer Details
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Who we offer this service to:
We work with CYP who have:
- A diagnosed physical disability or need
- A physical need that impacts on a CYP’s education
How and when we do it:
- We work in homes, early years settings, schools and other educational settings. This is available during term time
- The level of support offered to each child and young person and family is based on the CYP’s needs in relation to their physical need, their stage of development and the knowledge and support that they have around them. | https://www.glosfamiliesdirectory.org.uk/kb5/gloucs/glosfamilies/service.page?id=eRkw6-b-Jr4 |
“Let the Pandemic Illuminate the Unmet Needs of Kids with Learning Differences”
Pandemic-related school closures left parents scrambling to ensure their children received quality education. Parents of students with learning disorders have been doing the same for decades — and their struggle doesn’t end with school re-openings.
The sweeping effects of virtual learning during the peak of the pandemic — students’ complaints of falling behind, struggling to concentrate and focus, not engaging on a personal level with teachers or receiving special instruction, missing peer interactions — are not new to parents of students with learning differences. Pandemic-induced school disruptions, which deprived many kids of accessing a fair and appropriate public education, resemble the challenges that students with learning differences have faced for decades.
How Learning Disorders Breed Shame
We, as parents, know all too well the stress, anxiety, and physical and emotional symptoms associated with learning challenges. We understand the frustration of trying to turn around woeful school engagement in our kids and their educators, too. When my children are denied the accommodations they need, this quickly leads to anger, battles about going to school, and self-talk that includes “stupid” and “I know I have to try harder.”
I have seen how difficult it is to enlighten school district personnel and explain that a student’s poor behavior and negative self-talk are the direct result of not receiving the accommodations that are appropriate and necessary for academic success. When I asked for support and a 504 Plan, school administrators said to me: “Suzy knows what she needs to do.” As if my daughter chooses not to do it. As if any child chooses ADHD, dyslexia, or any other learning challenges.
[Download: What Learning Disabilities Look Like in the Classroom]
In another 504 Plan meeting, I asked the teacher if my child, who had just received a good grade for an assignment, had used any accommodations. The teacher’s response: “No, she did not cheat.” How can my child feel good about using the services she needs if this is the prevailing opinion of her teacher?
It’s a devastating blow when teachers and administrators fail to provide adequate assessments and resources — whether due to budget issues, staffing shortages, ignorance about ADHD, or the pandemic — to support a child’s academic success. As parents, we watch as these interactions project shame and blame onto our children, who suffer through years of negative experiences in school. More awareness and an investment in teacher training would go a long way toward improving academic success in students with learning differences.
The Social-Emotional Impact of Learning Disorders
After living through three academic years impacted by the pandemic, all parents understand the heartbreak of witnessing their students’ social-emotional struggles, learning loss, and mental health conflicts. Let this experience be a window through which parents and educators gain insight into the too-often unmet needs of kids with learning differences.
Most students with learning challenges have long struggled with the emotional and social toll resulting not from the disability directly, but from a school system that limits or creates barriers to accessing the full suite of accommodations kids need to engage fully in learning. We must all speak up to help our local educators and policy makers see this important connection.
Learning Disorders and ADHD: Next Steps
- Download: IEP vs 504 – What’s the Difference?
- Watch: Securing Accommodations – Working With Your Child’s School
- Read: When Learning Differences Are Embraced, Not Shunned
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Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you. | https://www.additudemag.com/learning-disorders-adhd-highlighted-by-pandemic/ |
More than 44,000 students were expected to converge Monday on 52 schools, including more than 1,700 at the new Chaparral High.
Killeen ISD has joined the Safe Place organization, designating all schools as safe havens for those in need.
With the start of school just four days away, elementary and middle schools hosted families for Meet the Teacher.
Killeen ISD's annual Spirit Spectacular is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 20 at the new Joseph L. Searls Stadium.
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Teach so that students learn to their maximum potential.More information
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Learning resources for students, parent resources and quick links.More information
Parents/guardians, click the link below to view a list of helpful back-to-school quick links.
Killeen ISD will offer free breakfast to all students. Applications for free or reduced lunch open on August 1st for the 2022-2023 school year.
Click Here For More Information
Get a jump start on next school year, complete student registration today.
Click Here For More Information
In an effort to keep parents and guardians informed of our district happenings, KISD is now sending out a monthly newsletter highlighting upcoming district-wide events, programs, academic opportunities available to students, and much more.
Killeen ISD students in grades 4-12 are able to receive free individualized tutoring, STAAR & EOC preparation, math fact fluency, and hard-to-learn math concepts, writing, reading, as well as homework help, at the Killeen ISD Tutoring Center. Get the support you need from our State-Certified Teachers!
Resources to promote Social-Emotional Learning, Mental Health Awareness, and Self-Care Awareness.
- School Safety Community Forum: Presentation
- Adopted Budget: Fiscal Year 2022
- Attendance Zones
- Back To School Quick Links
- Bully/Threat Reporter
- District Contacts
- Facilities Use Request Form
- Federal Grant Information
- Meals Application
- Military Family Resources
- Transfers
- Updates In Special Education
- Volunteer Application
- Wellness
- Withdraw Student From KISD
The Killeen Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, disability, or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: School Attorney, 200 North WS Young Drive, Killeen, TX. 76543, 254-336-0000.
The Board of Trustees adopted a property tax rate of $1.0432 per $100 valuation for the District for the tax year 2021, to be assessed and collected by the duly specified assessor and collector as follows:
$0.8720 for the purpose of maintenance and operation, and
$0.1712 for the purpose of payment of principal and interest on debts.
Such taxes are to be assessed and collected by the tax officials designated by the District.
This tax rate will raise more taxes for Maintenance and Operations than last year's tax rate. | https://www.killeenisd.org/ |
- Guide and counsel groups and individual students through the development of social-emotional, educational plans using a variety of treatment modalities (cognitive behavior therapy, sandtray therapy, bibliotherapy, behavior intervention).
- MTSS Tier 1, 2 and 3 Behavioral Intervention Supports
- PBIS Implementation
- Parent Support and community relations
workforce
at this job
School Social Worker
Provided individual, group and family counseling to adolescents.
- Provided crisis oriented and referral services as needed.
- Provided counseling services to newly arrived Spanish speaking children who were having difficulty transitioning to a new school setting.
- Assisted the HIV Prevention Initiative Coordinator in the identification and recruitment of prospective peer educators.
- Prepared and co-facilitated workshops in the areas of HIV primary prevention and other relevant topic areas.
- Provided preventative case management functions as needed.
- Performed other programmatic/administrative duties as assigned.
workforce
at this job
Substitute School Social Worker
Provide individual and group counseling to students grades 9th - 12th.
- Facilitate peer mediation between individual students and groups.
- Created goals in regards to youth's IEP and document progress, referrals and recommendations.
- Participated on multi-disciplinary team for behavioral interventions with youth and special education assessments.
- Meet with parents/caretakers to assess their child's progress in school.
- Educate and empower students to access necessary resources.
- Network and facilitate with internal and external resources to provide services to students.
workforce
at this job
School Social Worker Student Intern
- Assigned four schools to monitor student weekly attendance and student social/family needs.
- Abided by the State Compulsory School Attendance Law and sent parents/children to Early Warning Court if there was an attendance problem with the student.
- Conducted school/home visits and provided counseling/interventions to strengthen the relationship between the student, parent and school.
- Monitored Superintendent Level Probation for students found guilty by a Hearing Panel and set goals and plans for improvement, monitored/assessed student progress.
- Conducted/monitored conferences with school personnel, administrators, parents and students.
workforce
at this job
School Social Worker - Special Education
Member of the IEP teams for exceptional education high school students
- Mediated student/student, student/teacher, and teacher/parent disagreements
- Managed a caseload of students who require group and weekly counseling
- Provided various resources for additional assistance
workforce
at this job
Middle School Social Worker
Provided therapeutic services to at-risk students as well as students with behavior disorders and learning disabilities for Middle School students
- Serve as lead staff and facilitate crisis intervention and trauma response services
- Conducted ASD and EI Evaluations
- Routinely in-serviced staff and parents
- Developed a variety of programs to challenge and motivate students, including Social Skills
workforce
at this job
School Social Worker
Held weekly one-on-one sessions with individual students (Special and Regular Ed.).
- Facilitated weekly anger management, conflict resolution and self-control group sessions.
- Assisted homeless students and their families obtain resources such as transportation, clothing and housing.
- Screened students for ADHD, Emotional Impairments and Autism.
- Assessed special and regular ed. students and created behavior intervention plans for them.
- Assisted schools in neighboring districts by conducting assessments and implementing behavior intervention plans.
- Effectively communicated with teachers and administration on a daily basis in order to give the best service to the student body.
- Mentored a group of 8th graders who had low motivation and poor Scantron test scores.
workforce
at this job
Interim School Social Worker
Counseled IEP and non-IEP students on concerns with behavioral management, academic success, anger management, learning disabilities and relationship building with family, educational staff and peers.
- Worked within a social work disciplinary team to provide additional support to at-risk students facing academic and emotional challenges
- Provided support with crisis interventions, worked with de-escalating students and outreaching and coordinating care with social workers, case managers, ACS and parents on a case by case basis
- Assisted in any school functions and provided additional support needed throughout the school day
workforce
at this job
School Social Worker
Working with students and families to support students' behavioral and academic success
- Setting ambitious goals for improvement for students and implementing whatever interventions are necessary to help students meet those goals
- Handling behavioral health crises that take place in the school
- Managing child abuse reporting for the school and communication with the Department of Human Services
- Serving as the school's primary liaison with outside agencies and providers
- Serving students who are grieving the loss of a loved one; students who are pregnant or parenting; and homeless students
- Conducting home visits that support parents and families
- Coordinating the school student assistance program (SAP) and other school-wide student supports
- Conducting specialized individual and group counseling services to address specific emotional, social, and behavioral needs of students and improving their outcomes in the classroom
workforce
at this job
School Social Worker
Complete Social Assessments as a component of the child study team evaluation process.
- Case manage students deemed eligible for special education and related services.
- Develop Individualized Education Programs (IEP's) for students eligible for special education and related services.
- Provide counseling services for students as prescribed in their IEP.
- Collaborate with teachers to provide strategies for managing general education and special education students.
- Complete statistics and other data for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. | https://www.jobhero.com/resume-samples/school-social-worker/?page=2 |
What is the CSE (Committee on Special Education)?
As a parent, if you believe your child is having difficulties in the school setting, the first step is to speak with your child's classroom teacher. It may be necessary to arrange a conference with your child's classroom teacher, the school psychologist or counselor and your child's school principal to discuss the difficulties your child is experiencing. Together, parents and building educators and specialists may develop a plan of action that will provide additional building level support services. These may include but are not limited to, support by the reading or learning specialist teacher, speech and language services, program modifications, among others. Response to Intervention (RTI) is also a key component of supporting a student who's experiencing educational challenges.
You or the RTI team may feel a referral to the CSE is warranted. The CSE is a multidisciplinary team established by law and regulations, for students’ ages 5 to 21. The CSE is responsible for conducting evaluations to assess your child's and o determine if your child is eligible for special education services or support. The CSE will meet formally with you to discuss the referral and evaluation of your child. Based on the evaluations, the CSE may recommend specific services and programs appropriate for your child. If your child is indeed eligible for special education services, an IEP (Individualized Education Program) would be developed at the initial CSE meeting. Thereafter, the CSE would convene annually to review of your child's IEP.
Requests to the CSE would need to be in writing and delivered to the Director of Special Education, Deborah Dormady.
What is the CPSE (Committee on Preschool Special Education)?
The Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) is responsible for evaluating and identifying children ages 3-4) for disabilities and then arranging for the delivery of special education services. A preschool student with a disability is one who, as determined by an individual evaluation, exhibits a significant delay or disorder in one or more functional areas related to cognitive, language and communication, adaptive, social-emotional, or motor development which adversely affects the student’s ability to learn. A broad range of related services and special education programs are available to meet the educational needs of preschool students with disabilities. Preschool students with disabilities are entitled to receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. | https://www.bcsdny.org/Page/2085 |
We at MVHS want students back on campus, and we know that many of our families want students back on campus. At the same time, we have a responsibility to provide a healthy and safe environment for our students and staff. In this particular instance, we were made aware of a large gathering of MVHS students over Halloween weekend, and based on the information we gathered, many students were not wearing masks and social distancing was not taking place. Given our initial plan to return to in-person learning this coming Monday, we were compelled to take into consideration the potential exposure that students may bring to campus. By extending our pivot to virtual learning by another week, we can be reasonably confident that any potential positive COVID case will be discovered and isolated prior to a return to campus.
Nonetheless, we are very much looking forward to the opportunity to welcome Classic students back for in-person learning on the 16th.
Second Quarter Begins Monday
The second quarter begins on Monday, November 9th. Final grades from first quarter will be posted and recorded on transcripts Friday morning, November 13th. Final grades will be posted and viewable in Parent/Student Portal.
Gradebooks in each course will reset with the new quarter.
Model Change Requests
Our District has indicated that families will have an opportunity to request a model change again for the Spring term, which begins in January. We will share more details about this in the coming weeks.
Supporting the Social-emotional Needs of our Students
Should you have a concern about an MVHS student or if you, as an MVHS student, would like to refer yourself, please complete this form. The Counseling Dept. will make sure to follow up with any students and/or their families to make sure we are providing the needed assistance.
Please note that these responses are checked during designated school days and it may take 1-3 days to follow up with a student and/or family.
Should you feel that you need immediate non-life-threatening support please contact the Access and Crisis Line at 888.724.7240 or if you need life-threatening support please call Emergency Services at 911.
In addition, VUSD has extra resources that can be found on this link: https://bit.ly/3bAuBxT
Complete this form to refer any student to our Counseling Department for additional social-emotional support.
Please visit this link for the social-emotional resources for students and families, including "Basic Need" (i.e., food resources) provided through Vista Teen Outreach
Important Information from ASB
Virtual club rush starts next week!
ASB is making videos and hoping the Mission Vista community will join in. Be on the lookout for requests sent to your club and class! Next week you could be on the Timberwolves News!
ASB Club Information
If you would like to renew your club or start a club please submit the proper paperwork using HOW TO BECOME A CLUB or visit our website MVHS ASB.
Click here to schedule a virtual meeting with a counselor.
Check out the Counseling YouTube channel for important information about wellness, college and career, and academic planning.
MVHS Safety Plan, Student Expectations, and Mitigation Measures for Classic Students
Need a Chromebook or Textbooks?
MVHS Library: [email protected]
Interested in joining PTSA? Click this button for details and information
PTSA Holiday Evergreen Fundraiser
MVHS PTSA is selling fresh holiday evergreens to help raise money for programs that support our school and its students, teachers and staff! These wreaths and evergreens are handcrafted from the boughs of trees grown high in the Cascade Mountains. They’re full, fragrant and rich in color - perfect for your front door or above the mantel. Contactless and shipped directly to you or your family and friends - they make great gifts!
Thank you - your support makes a difference.
Place your order by November 15th!
Click here to see ordering options.
The mission of the Timberwolves Foundation is to enhance, enrich, and encourage all aspects of education at MVHS and provide grants to promote the development of programs, classroom innovations, and support all school clubs.
We could all use something a little sweet. The MVHS Timberwolves Foundation supports MVHS programs, activities and students with grants and scholarships. You can support the foundation and get some holiday shopping done at the same time. Please use this link and a portion of your purchase will come back to support MVHS.
This website is designed to provide up-to-date resources and videos, a platform to communicate with our support team and get connected to others, to learn new skills and tips for your family, and have fun with us as we all continue to grow and learn
Our "Why" - Vision, Mission, and Values
Our Purpose is to empower students to be self-directed, creative, and critical thinkers who persevere to positively impact the interconnected world.
We Value mutual respect, collaboration, integrity, originality, and intellectual curiosity that prepare our students to become integral members of society. | https://www.smore.com/2wq5x-wolf-pack-weekly?embed=1 |
Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 1 The Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions Bachelor Degree Project in Cognitive Neuroscience 15 ECTS Spring term 2012 Mikael Karlsson Supervisor: Anders Milton Examiner: Judith Annett Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 2 The Problem of Claustrophobia in Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Proposed Solutions Submitted by Mikael Karlsson to the University of Skövde as a final year project towards the degree of B.Sc. in the School of Humanities and Informatics. The project has been supervised by Anders Milton. 2012-06-12 I hereby certify that all material in this final year project which is not my own work has been identified and that no work is included for which a degree has already been conferred on me. Signature: ___________________________________________ Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 3 Abstract Claustrophobia is huge problem which affects a lot of people in their everyday life, not to mention the financial and scientific difficulties with prematurely terminated MRIsessions, due to claustrophobia. In this essay there will be a further introduction of phobias in general and also a deeper presentation of claustrophobia in order to reach a better understanding of the nature of this disorder and how it affect people’s daily life compared to the effect of a single claustrophobic reaction, when it is caused by the experience of a confined space. The objective of this essay is to investigate several treatment options, to find the most effective way of treating the condition in an attempt to diminish the personal and societal issues. Keywords: Claustrophobia, Phobia, Claustrophobic reactions, Treatments for claustrophobia. Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 4 Table of Content Introduction 5 Phobia 9 Claustrophobia 15 Components and Cognitions 18 Claustrophobia in Cognitive Neuroscience 19 Available Treatments for Claustrophobia 23 Cognitive behavioral therapy 24 Hypnosis 27 Virtual simulation 29 Sedation 31 Discussion 32 Conclusion 36 References 37 Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 5 Introduction An early but proper description of claustrophobia is a morbid fear of enclosed or confined areas which can result in a panic attack or anxiety hysteria (Lewin, 1935). This essay aims to look deeper into the sub-category of the phobia phenomenon called claustrophobia and investigate what major effects it can cause when a person is experiencing these reactions off drastic unreasonable fear. The essay will also propose and investigate possible solutions for reducing the experience of claustrophobia in those who suffers from it. The main category of phobia are divided into five different sub-categories, these categories tries to encompass all kinds of phobias, yet are distinct from each other in several important ways. They are animal phobia (e.g. fear of snakes or spiders), natural environment phobia (e.g. fear of heights), blood-injection-injury phobia (e.g. fear of injection or dental phobia) and situational phobia (e.g. claustrophobia, fear of enclosed spaces). As previously mentioned situational phobia, which contains claustrophobia, is the one of the five categories that will be more closely examined later. The fifth category of phobia-types, which are called “other phobias”, are any phobias that do not match the requirements needed to be placed in the above categories (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 6 A typical example of a problem caused by claustrophobia is found in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)studies, which are an ideal confined environment that can provoke claustrophobic reactions in people that previously never suffered from similar symptoms. This creates a timewasting and financially difficult situation for medical sciences, which daily makes use of examinations and preforms research with the aid of MRI-equipment, since a lot of sessions cannot be completed due to the interruptions in the form of claustrophobic reactions, which in turn has the possibility to develop into the disorder of claustrophobia (Thorpe, Salkovskis, & Dittner, 2008). The technique within an MRI-machine is rather advanced and therefore also very costly. These kinds of examinations are getting more popular in the manner that they are a safe way of analyzing not only the brain structure, but also the functioning of ongoing neural processes. The fact that MRIs are getting more readily available in more places to greater extent indicates that the number of MRI sessions across the world is increasing at an extraordinary rate. In the year of 2011 the number of MRIprocedures performed each year where estimated up to 80 million, each procedure valued at the cost of €500. This is a turnover of €40 billion for the year of 2011 and this number is increasing every year as the MRI-technique is expanding. Studies show that 2-2,5% of those who undergo MRI-sessions suffer from claustrophobia, which leads to premature Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 7 termination of the examination. This means that the sum of money wasted each year because of prematurely terminated MRIsessions ads up to €1 billion, which is important money for the health care system and can be used in much more efficient ways than for incomplete MRI-procedures (Enders et al., 2011). The problem of claustrophobia in the field of MRIresearch is of course not the only problem caused by claustrophobia, however it is a very substantial problem that clearly demonstrates the impact this disorder has on something as important as the progress neuro-scientific field of research. To be able to save the research of MRI from the loss of reliable scientific results, as well as financial expenses, there will have to be a greater understanding of what a phobia, or more specifically claustrophobia, is so the solution that is best suited for this problem could be found. It is not self-evident that single reactions alone are responsible for interrupted MRI-Sessions. It is not known how many there are who suffers from the disorder of claustrophobia, but the main difference between the disorder of claustrophobia and the pre-mature termination of MRIsessions due to claustrophobic reactions is the fifth point found in the DSM-IV: The awareness of this unreasonable fear affects the person’s daily life with concern of a phobic reaction (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The only thing that allows the disorder of claustrophobia to be Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 8 recognized is the awareness and concern of a similar previously experienced claustrophobic reaction. This means that everyone who has not yet experienced the discomfort of claustrophobic reaction must be categorized as unknown regarding their disposition for the claustrophobic disorder. This means that even if a participant who goes through the process of an MRI-scan, and who does not at the moment suffer from the claustrophobic disorder, could still experience a claustrophobic reaction, which itself increases the risk of developing the claustrophobic disorder from the trauma of this initial claustrophobic reaction (Thorpe, Salkovskis, & Dittner, 2008; Faugloire et al, 2006). The aim of this essay, which is created from peerreviewed literature of scientific original studies and review articles, will be to focus in on the effects of claustrophobia and possible solutions for decreasing claustrophobic fear. Phobias will be discussed in general, including the difference between a phobia and a healthy fear, the possible origins of phobias and the neurological mechanisms of general phobias. Furthermore the focus of the essay will be on claustrophobia and the psychologically typical ways of reasoning around confined spaces when suffering from claustrophobia, before discussing the different cognitions and components of claustrophobia. Lastly the essay will examine a variety of Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 9 methods dealing with claustrophobia and each method will be discussed and evaluated. Phobia Regular fear is something that is completely normal, a trait that is developed within us in order to stay away from danger. This trait is also highly adaptive so that we are able at an early stage to recognize new threats and dangerous situations. Fear is something that makes us do something that we normally wouldn’t do, although since we are afraid we change our actual behavior for the sake of avoiding what makes us afraid. An example of this is when you are about to cross the street and you look both ways before you cross the it so you will be sure not to get hit by a car (Gullone, 2000). So what is it that distinguishes healthy fear from the fears exhibited in phobias and what is actually a phobic fear, or most importantly what more precisely a phobia is? In order for a fear to be called phobia there are according to the DSM-IV some requirements that must be fulfilled. 1) The person must be troubled with an exaggerated or unreasonable anxiety towards a specific object or situation. 2) Direct contact with the object or situation provokes an almost immediate situational panic reaction. 3) The person must be aware of that the anxiety is unreasonable. 4) The person is always trying to avoid circumstances with encountering of the Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 10 exaggerated feared object or place, or during encountering shows an intense anxiety or distress. 5) The awareness of this unreasonable fear affects the person’s daily life with concern of a phobic reaction. 6) Lastly these criteria are for the duration of at least six months before it can be called a phobia. A person who meets these requirements is then classified as suffering from the disorder of a phobia (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The five main phobic subcategories are according to the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) similarly prevalent compared to each other. The first category is Animal phobia, fear of animals or insects, which is mostly triggered in young children. The most common animals are snakes or spiders but all kinds of animal phobias are included in this category (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The second category of phobia is environmental phobia, which are phobias of the natural environment such as heights and which is also associated with certain weather situation. Exaggerated fear of water is also included in this category. Environmental phobias are also most commonly developed by young children (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The third category of phobia is blood-injectioninjury which is the phobia of a person who reacts with fear to the immediate sight of blood or injury. This fear is also Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 11 triggered by injections or invasive medical procedures. This category is known for having the strongest hereditary traits (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The fourth category is situational phobia, which is based on situational stimuli including the phobia of confined spaces and also dental phobia and fear of flying is a part of situational phobias. These kinds of immense fears are most commonly developed in childhood, but there is also a risk at around the age of 25 to develop this particular subcategory of phobia (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The fifth category includes all of the other phobias that are not included in the four previously presented above. It includes for example the phobia of vomiting, getting sick or fear of clowns (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). This category contains a very broad spectrum of different phobias that are dissimilar each other in ways which makes it difficult to compare and categorize them as a group. The only things the phobias in the fifth category have in common are that they don’t match any one of the previous four categories. The fifth category therefore functions as a complementary category of the remaining types of phobias. It is quite peculiar that the most common types of phobias are not the ones caused by, in everyday life, more common sources of danger, such as violence, traffic accidents or fires, all of which are more common than risks of spider- Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 12 bites and falling accidents. Minenka & Öhman (2002) proposed that we have not yet had any reason to develop such phobias. According to the theory of biological preparedness, our ancestor’s way of living in the midst of poisonous spiderbites and risks of falling was some of the most dangerous threats in their environment. Even though our society has changed the conditions of danger, our current phobias have not adapted as fast because of the slow rate of random mutations compared to the fast developing sources of danger. The evolutionary perspective proposes that species are developed through a very slow random mutation-process, which makes adaptations necessary for survival, yet so slow that humans have not had enough time to develop such instinctive fears as phobias against modern dangers such as traffic accidents. There have also been discussions of whether phobias are acquirable due to learning from traumatic experiences through classical conditioning, which is highly possible, though it would seem non-sufficient if the only way to acquire a snakephobia were to get bitten by a snake. It has also been proposed that phobias could be acquired through vicarious conditioning as a complement to classical conditioning. This would mean that phobia could also be developed by imitating other close relatives that have a phobia, so that phobias are transferred in species through social heritage (Minenka & Öhman, 2002). Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 13 Even though these theories of phobia reaches way back, it has been discovered that phobias are psychologically reversible. Phobic disorders are often compared with panic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder among others; all these disorders share the fundamental factor of being based on fear. Fear has under some time been associated with the amygdala in the brain. Fear engages on a subcortical network of structures that is centered around the amygdala. This is causing the amygdala to activate and the fear response to be directed to the fear stimulus. The subcortical system then works with the prefrontal cortex to modulate the emotional response in order to interact with social and environmental circumstances (Öhman, 2005). These subcortical pathways are much faster than cortical activation and can reach the amygdala making a fight- or flight response within a thousandth of a second. In comparison, the same responses in the cortical regions need about a second to be initialized. The subcortical pathway is faster but much more imprecise and might be overruled by the second cortical pathway if the first one should have interpreted stimulus inaccurately. For example, if you got scared because you thought saw a snake, the fight- and flight response might be overruled by higher cognitive functions revealing that it only was a snake-like stick on the ground. It is proposed by scientific studies that phobic disorders are the result of some dysfunction in the amygdala or related structures in the brain (Winerman, 2005). Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 14 In a study with fMRI testing it was shown that hyperfunction in the amygdala due to phobic reaction normalizes after exposure therapy compared with pre-treatment at earlier stages in the same study. As classical conditioning has been used frequently it seems that through habituation the blood flow to the left amygdala reduces, which results in a lower fear response than shown in earlier fear-testing. Although this test was made in spider phobic subjects, similar results are likely to be found in the other categories of phobias as well (Goosens, Sunaert, Peeters, Greiz, & Schruers, 2007). There are however some differences between the categories of phobia. Animal phobia and blood-injection-injury phobia both call for distressful experiences reported from subjective analysis, but what separates them is that animal phobia seems to provoke a pure feeling of fear, when bloodinjection-injury seem to result in a reaction more reminiscent of disgust and repulsion. Blood-injection-injury phobia also creates different physiological reactions. Instead of indicating a sympathetic activation, as in animal phobia which regularly results in a heightened state of arousal that leads to a fight or flight behavior, blood-injection-injury phobic people shows a biphasic response pattern. This means that a person with blood-injection-injury-phobia is more likely to faint than panic, due to the lower levels of arousal. (Merckelbach, de Jong, Muris, & van den Haut, 1996). Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 15 Situational phobias also seem to provoke a fear response but not only a fear in components of restriction and suffocation, but also a fear of oneself losing control when being too afraid. This component of claustrophobia, that the expectation of danger is as stressful as the danger itself, is what separates the situational phobias from animal and bloodinjection-injury phobias. Thus the component fear of losing control of oneself becomes an indirect fear, since it is dependent of the fear components of restriction and suffocation. If those fears would be adjusted then so would the fear of losing control. This fact of situational phobias is quite important with several emotional aspects and different types of fears, for it makes the explanation of agoraphobia (mainly defined as a fear of crowded places) and claustrophobia much more comprehensive than the other types of phobia. It is however clear that there is an obvious distinction between these phobias and that they are not part of the same homogenous class (Merckelbach et al., 1996). Claustrophobia People suffering from claustrophobia are not afraid of enclosed spaces per se, but are specifically more afraid of what might happen in a confined area. Confined areas are most often exemplified as small or locked rooms, cellars, tunnels or other similar environments that restrains or prevent movement. People who display fear reactions to one of these Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 16 situations are very likely to display the same kind of reaction in the same way to all similar situations (Radomsky et al., 2001). Why it is so common that people are afraid of confined spaces has been speculated and claustrophobia reactions resemble the reactions seen in animals, which are prevented from escaping by a confined area. This is a possible way that claustrophobia might be explained as a vestigial fear that prevents escape when a person feels threatened (Radomsky et al., 2001). A common example of a typical way of reasoning by a person who suffers from claustrophobia, is the one in which a woman, who has clear symptoms of claustrophobia, is asked what the probability would be that a small elevator, which she had entered, would get stuck between two floors? The woman then answers that it would be a risk of about 10%. The woman is then asked what the probability would be for the elevator to get stuck on the 10th time, given that she had already taken the elevator nine times without it getting stuck. To this the woman gave the answer 100%. This example indicates clearly that not only do the woman exaggerate the probability of getting trapped in a claustrophobic situation, but also estimates the probability of getting trapped as increasing after successful attempts without getting trapped. This behavior of claustrophobic patients, to overestimate the probabilities of experiencing claustrophobic situations, might Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 17 be understood with the so called "rules-of-thumb". The first rule is availability: This means that claustrophobics have easier access to memories of traumatic experiences of claustrophobic situations. The second rule is simulation: That people who are suffering from claustrophobia might be more inclined to vividly imagine scenarios that include a claustrophobic situation. The third rule is representativity: The tendency of people suffering from claustrophobia to overestimate the actual number of negative outcomes of claustrophobic situations compared to the relative harmlessness of the situations shown in statistics (Öst & Csaltos, 2000). It might not always be as simple as it seems to differentiate claustrophobia from the common discomfort that can be experienced in an enclosed or restraining environment. However, when the situation has become so demanding towards the patient that he or she can’t think rational, or prevent oneself from panicking, it is the very definition of a claustrophobic reaction. Even though it is only one temporary reaction toward a specific instance, it has been argued that there is a fair possibility for this single traumatic situation to be capable, not only to trigger pre-existing claustrophobia, but to onset the very disorder of claustrophobia itself (Thorpe, Salkovskis & Dittner, 2008; American Psychiatric Association, 2000,). Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 18 Components and Cognitions The elevator example previously discussed corresponds well to the scales of claustrophobia. Öst (2006) tried to create a scale for the measuring of claustrophobia by means of self-reports, even though it was hard to create a scale that could adequately measure both of the existing components of claustrophobia. This was because there were very little overlap between the two already existing components scales, which separately measured fear of restriction and fear of suffocation. The theory that claustrophobia is divided into two different fears, suggests then that claustrophobia might not only be a fear of what could happened if one for example got trapped in an elevator, but also a fear of having a claustrophobic reaction when being trapped in an elevator (Öst, 2006). Those are not the only two fears however. Later studies have suggested that, complementary to fear of restriction and suffocation, there is also a third fear, the fear of losing control that enables the claustrophobic behavior (Öst, 2006). These three components can themselves be divided into several cognitive components, which are referred to as cognitions. These cognitions seem to play crucial parts in claustrophobia and their biological constituents are being studied continuously through MRI-research. Due to the complexity of the disorder there are several cognitive components that need to be identified. A recent study by Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 19 Thorpe, Salkovskis and Dittner (2008), distinguished the different cognitions to separate the fears that are primarily perceived by patients undergoing MRI-scans. From the testing of six potential fears, three tests were granted significant results. Those were fear of suffocation (e.g. being unable to breath in the scanner), Fear of coming to harm by the machine (e.g. something will go wrong with the device making to it cause harm to the person inside the scanner), and fear of losing control (e.g. the person loses the control over his or her actions). The other potential fears that did not yield any significant results in this particular study were fear of being trapped inside the scanner, fear of coming to harm independently of the machine (e.g. having a stroke or a heart attack during the scan) or making a fool of oneself (e.g. doing something that will spoil scan, making the patient look like a fool). Claustrophobia in Cognitive Neuroscience There have been discussions on the topic of claustrophobia in the relation it has to “near space” (Lourenco, Longo, & Pathman, 2011). Near space is commonly defined as the area surrounding the body, approximately a couple of decimeters around the body of every person. Within the near space, our neurological receptors are constantly working on registering everything that happens. The range of the near space is quite varying and differs between Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 20 individuals. Their actually exist a connection between the range of a persons near space and her susceptibility to claustrophobic symptoms. Claustrophobic people are believed to have a larger near space, which is forcing them to subconsciously and continuously process a larger part of their surroundings. This activity requires the brain to process a higher amount of information and this has been argued to become overwhelming in limited spaces, creating an uncomfortable subjective experience, also known as claustrophobia. Also, the same research were made with participants who suffered from fear of heights, which showed the same result, however this was reversed, in the way that fear of heights is a phobia within the acrophobia-type. Acrophobia actually means fear of distance in general, even though it most often expresses itself in the form of fear of heights, due to risk of getting hurt while falling. From this one could draw the conclusion that claustrophobia and acrophobia are representing opposite sides of the same continuum of neurological mechanisms. However, there is only a correlational link between claustrophobic fear and the size of near space and as such do not allow strong conclusions to be made between their causality. Despite this they seem in some way to be connected, which allows for the possibility that claustrophobia is, at least partly, a result of some underlying distortion in the representation of near space. Suggestions have also been made that persons who suffer from a Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 21 unusually large near space does not necessary suffer from claustrophobia, but runs a risk of developing a permanent claustrophobia through experiencing a traumatic event in a claustrophbic environment (Lourenco, Longo, & Pathman, 2011). There have been limited amounts of neuroscientific research in the field of claustrophobia. A reason for that could be that there is a huge problem of finding volunteering claustrophobic participants, which is one of the problems that is addressed in this essay, along with the fact that phobias in general are very subjective conditions that doesn’t show clearly identifiable symptoms of a typical disorder. A study by Etkin and Wager (2007) made a differentiated between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder and specific phobias, in which they found a major difference between PTSD and the other disorders. What separated PTSD from the other disorders was that it was indicating hyperactivity in the amygdala, insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, rostral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and thalamus. The latter mentioned areas are known for dealing with experience and regulating emotions. This contrasted with social anxiety disorder and specific phobias, which only showed hyperactivity in amygdala and the insula. Another thing found in the study was that there were no significant differences in the brain imaging between the social anxiety disorder and the specific phobias. This result indicates that in comparison to PTSD Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 22 phobias are vaguely connected to early experiences and emotional responses, but act more in the subconscious mind as something that is similar to reflexive behavior. However, social anxiety disorder and specific phobias show a tendency of increased hyperactivity in the amygdala and the insula than in PTSD. The insula, which is interconnected with the amygdala and hypothalamus, is responsible for regulating the autonomic nervous system and shows activity when processing a variety of negative emotions. This has been shown to be the case in social anxiety, specific phobias, PTSD and normal fear conditioning as well. It is therefore likely that hyperactivity in the insula reflect increased activation of the network responsible for fear-generating responses to symptom-provoking stimuli (Etkin & Wager, 2007). It is also worth mentioning that studies which are only directed towards subtype phobias in general are ambiguous and not able to capture the substantial character of each subtype of all the different phobias. In order to be able to evaluate different phobias better, it is of greater interest whether the neural mechanisms are able to reveal any differences between subtypes of phobias (Caseras et al., 2010), so that there could be more reliable ways of establishing treatments for several kinds of phobias. Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 23 Available Treatments for Claustrophobia There are a lot of different treatments for the disorder of claustrophobia. Some of them aim for the permanent recovery from the lasting fear which haunts the effected person’s everyday life, and some of the treatments aim to temporarily decrease the risk and uncomfortable subjective experience of an anxiety reaction, or a panic attack (Choy, Fyer, & Lipsitz, 2007). For this section I have chosen some of the most unconventional means to cure the disorder or at least reduce the effects and risks of claustrophobic reactions for a short time. First, however, I will introduce the most common conventional method, cognitive behavioral therapy, after which I will present the unconventional methods for comparative reasons. Cognitive behavioral therapy is perhaps the most common method for curing claustrophobia, but it is also possible to use this therapy to for example prepare for a series of MRI-sessions. The more unconventional methods, which are going to be compared with cognitive behavioral therapy, are hypnosis through neuro-linguistic programming and team training, after which I will look into a comparably undeveloped theory about virtual simulation and the final treatment which I will be discussing are sedations, a common example which is the intranasal midazolam spray. Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 24 Cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy is recognized as an effective way to treat panic disorders compared to behavioral therapy. Behavioral therapy does not consider the cognitive parts of the patients condition, yet behavioral cognitive therapy and cognitive therapy do consider the psychological result of perception, learning and reasoning. Since panic disorders and claustrophobia have pathological cognitive similarities, cognitive behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy have a good chance in beeing effective against claustrophobia as well (Öst, Alm, Brandberg, & Breitholtz, 2001). Fear conditioning has through imaging studies been related with a neural network that includes the areas that are associated with fear such as the amygdala, hippocami, insula, anterior cingulate cortex and medial frontal gurys. Together these areas are refferred to as the fear network. The activation of the prefrontal cortex and this “fear network”, under conditioned fear stimuli, was hypothesized to be modified under the treatment of cognitive behaviroal therapy, whereas the cognitive behaviroal therapy will be most expected to act on negative conditions aquired through any panic disorder. The reduction of the activation in prefrontal cortex and the “fear network” are a probable result of improvement which could show two possible result patterns: An increased activation in the prefrontal lobe, which would indicate Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 25 compensation or reappraisal processes, and a decrease, which would indicate a reduction of negative cognitions (Kircher et al., 2012). It seems, according to imaging research, that the amygdala and the insula are strongly related to negative emotional responses. On the other hand, the dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex have been associated with experience and regulation of emotions. It has been suggested that anxiety disorders are predominantly reflected by changed information processing in the anterior insula. It is possible that a reduction of activity in the amygdala and insula reflects weaker varieties of negative emotional responses. The medial frontal and anterior cingulate activation may then further reflect a reduced influence on anxiety responses, after undergoing treatment of cognitive behaviroal therapy (Kircher et al., 2012). In a study three different types of cognitive behavioral therapy were compared with each other by comparing three groups of test subjects. The first group were only exposed to one MRI-session. The second group met on five occasions and were exposed to five individual MRI-sessions. The third group had five sessions of cognitive therapy before testing the level of anxiety within an MRI-session. The results indicated three different conclusions. The first Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 26 conclusion is that cognitive behavioral therapy is significantly more effective against claustrophobia than no treatment at all, due to significantly increased improvement in the treatment group in six of nine measures. The second conclusion drawn from this comparison is that there were no significant differences between the group with only one MRIsession and the group that had five sessions (Öst et al., 2001). In acute treatment of all phobias, cognitive behavioral therapy has quite recently been recognized as an effective tool to help the patients evaluate their actual fears to a reasonable level. For examlpe, with cognitive behavioral therapy a claustrophobic person makes a more realistic conclusion of the possibility that an elevetor would get stuck in between two floors. In vivo treatment combined with cognitive behavioral therapy resulted in a 79% improvement compared to the control group which had an improvement of 18%. Cognitive behavioral therapy has also indicated positive results in the long-term treatment of claustrophobia. 93% of the patients had maintained the same resistance to claustrophobia at a 13.6 month follow-up, compared to other phobias. For example, in the long-term treatment of flying phobia only half of the effectiveness was shown, compared to claustrophobic patients (Choy et al., 2007). It has also been said that cognitive behavioral therapy Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 27 is probably one of the most effective treatments for claustrophobia so far (Choy et al., 2007). Hypnosis Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a not very widely used treatment against anxiety disorders, such as phobias, and is quite similar to regular hypnosis. The idea NLP is based on is that people carries certain traumatic experiences, which trigger phobic reactions when they are subjectivley associating the current situation with their traumatic experience. The task for NLP is to rearrange the associations of for example, confounded places to something positive, or at least to something which does not trigger the traumatic memory as easily. The way the NLP technique works is by transferring linguistically emotional anchors, which are associations between the sensory information recieved and emotional states subjectively related to the sensory information, for example, if someone tells you that you look happy, it triggers a visual picture of a happy person in your mind. It is also mentioned in this particular study, that the certain “phobia cure” which is based on a visual/kinaesthetic synaesthesia where a visual input works as an anchor that triggers a kinaesthetic phobic reaction. In this phobia cure, the parts of the visual/kinesthetic synastesia are dissasociated from each other, so that the visual input does no longer create a phobic reaction. This method has three Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 28 steps, the first step is to create a safe anchor for the patient to go back to if feeling insecure. The second step is for the patient, to in her mind, dissociate herself from the actual traumatic event by visualizing herself as seen on a movie screen shortly before the traumatic event. The last step is then to initiate yet another dissociation by seeing herself in the cinama while floating further and further away from the traumatic event. This particular method has, according to earlier studies, been able to cure phobias within an hour, which means that it is applicable in both long-term claustrophobic disorder and for reducing claustrophobic fear in the short term (Karunaratne, 2010). Lang, Ward and Laser (2010) studied a number of participants who went through team training in self-hypnotic relaxation techniques for MRI-sessions. The reults were overall good, the non-completition rate in the MRI sessions went from 2.3% down to 1.2%. Unfortunatley though, these results were found alongside several other features, in order to reduce the non-completion rate in MRI-researches, so the positive results of the hypnotic parts are unconfirmable of this study. Despite this the team training was well appreciated by the participant and also showed that rapid hypnotic techniques was more cost-efficient compared to other techniques (Lang, Ward, & Laser, 2010). Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 29 In comparison to cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnotic treatments are very fast, and they don’t require a special continuous program for slow-progress. Hypnotic methods are by this argument very cost-efficient and also quite exciting for a lot of people, since they don’t fully understand the method, and just perceives it to be similar to some sort of magic. There are however some people that are resistant to hypnosis due to sceptiscism. To bypass this problem, the so called Milton Model are beeing used. The Milton Model attempts to reach the persons unconscious mind by using metaphors and contradictions, to be able to utilise the persons resistace in a positive manner (Karunaratne, 2010). The scientific foundation of NLP has been heavily criticized, in many areas. One area of critique is that the lingustic anchors are exaggerated. Beeing told that you look very happy today, may indeed create a picture of someone being happy, but other phrases with visually associated terms may not necesarrily create the same result, for example, I see what you mean, does not instantly have to create a picture of someone seeing what a persons means (Micheal Heap, 2008). Virtual simulation One of the most recent methods to treat claustrophobia is to give the patients a chance to face their own fears in a safe environment. The way the virtual simulation works is by providing the patient with a Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 30 computerized virtual reality, which the patient or the test leader can manipulate the virtual environment, which over time should desensitize the patient to their phobia, giving the patient a chance to fight her phobia in increments. In a case study of a 43-year old female, who went through eight virtual reality-sessions. The result of the treatment was that the woman became able to undergo a computerized tomography scan, which was previously impossible. The theoretical reasons for this result are that in a virtual reality you are able to exceed the limitations of the real world. Because of this technology the patient is able to confront their phobia smaller steps compared to what would be possible in the real world (Botella et al., 1998). However, even if this method allows the patient to overcome their phobias more easily, other studies indicate that there is minimal improvement for enduring claustrophobic situations, in the long-term, as a result of repeated encounters of the phobia. The most successful method are to have some evaluative cognitive therapy between the virtual siulation sessions (Öst et al., 2001). This combination of cognitive therapy and virtual reality sessions will result in a sort of cognitive behavioral therapy, since it also produces a desensitization, making the fear stimuli less effective for each time the patient is exposed to it. The studie also mentions that there have been relatively few studies on Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 31 virtual reality, and therefore the method has low reliability and its long-term effects are unknown. The only way to make virtual reality a viable method is to conduct more research and produce more studies in the area (Botella et al., 1998). Sedation In patients who suffer from a fear of entering confined places, sedation has been used as an alternative for reducing the number of premature terminations of MRI-sessions. Unfortnuately the common sedation cause problems to the effectiveness of the scan. A sedated patient must be surveiled the whole time, while they are inside the scanner, and the effects of the sedations can last much longer than the scan itself, which cause unwanted gaps between sessions (Hollenhorst et al., 2001). There are, however, alternative sedatives, such as midzolam spray, which is often used due to its short duration of about 20-40 minutes. Midzolam spray is most effectively administered through the intranasal route to bypass the portal system and does not underlie the high hepatic first-pass elimination. Still, the midzolam spray can also be taken orally or rectally for a reduced sedative effect. Midzolam spray also has a positive effect on general anxiety reactions, and therefore is used for dental and endoscopic procedures. In testing of midzolam spray versus placebo, the spray group was Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 32 found to have lesser premature MRI-scan terminations; none out of 27 patients in the claustrophobic group compared to four out of 27 patients in the placebo group. Another result, which was presented in the same studie, was that the quality of MRIpictures significantly improved, from good to excellent quality, in the claustrophobia group. The placebo group did not show the same significant improvement (Hollenhorst et al., 2001). The problem with sedations, though, when used in fMRI-sessions, is that the participant are sometimes asked to do certain tasks while beeing scanned. In such an event the results of the fMRI-sessions may be altered since the patient is under the effect of a sedative. As mentioned previously, the use of sedations requires additional observation and can also cause serious side effects, even when the sedation is only used in small dozes (Lang et al., 2010). Discussion From what has been discussed in this essay so far, it is evident that exposing a patient, who suffers from claustrophobia, to MRI sessions as medical investigations, treatments or scientific studies is deeply problematic as an experience for the patient and rather expensive for the hospital in question. While the best solution for this particular problem might be to avoid forcing such scans on Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 33 these patients as much as possible, one must also be aware that there is a risk even for other patients of having a claustrophobic reaction to the cramped environment of an MRIscan. To further complicate matters, as has also been previously mentioned, even a single instance of a claustrophobic reaction could develop into the full claustrophobic disorder (Harris, Robinson, & Menzies, 1999). Because of this risk i would argue that someone who experiences a claustrophobic reaction should be regarded and treated in the same manner as someone who suffers from the full claustrophobic disorder. Such interventions might save both suffering for the patients and money for the hospital. The process of developing a genreal understanding of phobias is steadily ongoing and is starting to show results in several different areas. Studies have begun to differentiate reactions, behaviours and neurological patterns from each others which enables the categorization and distinct defining of different phobias. Concerning the definition of claustrophobia, an important aspect is that it is cleary a disorder causing mild delusions, making the claustrophobic patients to percive themselves be in far worse danger than what is objectivlely found to be the case. It is not clear how many, or even which, components is underlying the disorder of claustrophobia, though it seems likely that fear of suffocation, fear of Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 34 restriction, and fear of losing control are three important factors of claustrophobia. Also, the indirect fear of experiencing a panic attack when trapped inside a confined area makes the disorder more complex then originally believed. The neuroscientific knowledge of, in particular, claustrophobia is still quite unexplored in comparison to the other types of phobia. There is at the moment not much neuroscientific information that can separate different phobias from each other. Although animal phobia, at the moment, is the most researched type, when it comes to neuroscientific research, the next step for neuroscience is to find more dissimilarities in the subcategories of the different phobia-types, which allows for a greater understanding and improved definitions of these subjective fears. Even if the disorder is rather poorly defined for the time being, there is still a need in practical situations for treatments to solve the arising problems. Sedations as a treatment has been heavily criticised for not actually curing anything, but only temporarily decrease the ability of experiencing fear or other sensations. This grants no improvement on the actual condition and requires the sedatives to be repeatedly administered if any new procedures in MRIscanners needs to be performed. These arguments make this method seem unsuitableas a treatment option, except in Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 35 emergencies when there is no time for other kinds of treatment. Virtual simulation, on the other hand, is a treatment that has a strong potential, but needs to be developed further before it can become a reliable treatment option. Another drawback of the technology is the comparably large amount of time it takes to administer a treatment, making it unsuited for patients, which might only have a limited time before they need undergo an MRI-session, and more suited for someone who simply wishes to get rid of their phobia and is not under any time pressure. The Hypnotic alternatives for treatments are interesting, and perhaps even promising. However, the fact that people doubt and disbelieve hypnosis as a potential treatment has, as previously mentioned, negative effects on its potential effectiveness. It is possible that hypnosis would be more credible to people, if the actual neurological mechanisms and processes of different kinds of hypnosis were discovered and explained. Such progress would probably also make way for clearer definitions of different kinds of hypnotic techniques, some of which would be validated and some of which would be refuted. Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 36 Conclusion In conclusion, the most reliable treatment for minimizing both the full disorder and single reactions of claustrophobia is according to my findings the cognitive behavioral therapy. It is a safe, and compared to the other previously presented alternatives a relatively cheap, yet effective treatment. It is not without flaws, but since other treatments shows fatal shortcomings in safety, credability and economic sufficiency, cognitive behavioral therapy is in my estimation the best treatment for claustrophobia so far. 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Enders, J., Zimmermann, E., Rief, M., Martus, P., Klingebiel, R., Asbach, P., . . . Dewey, M. (2011). Reduction of Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 38 Claustrophobia with Short-Bore versus Open Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Plos ONE; 6, e23494. Etkin, A., & Wager, T. D. (2007). Functional Neuroimaging of Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Emotional Processing in PTSD, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Specific Phobia. The American Journal of Psychiatry;164, 1476-1488. Faugloire, E., Bonnet, C. T., Riley, M. A., Bardy Benoit, G., & Stoffregen, T. A. (2006). Motion Sickness, body movement and claustrophobia during passive restraint. Experimental Brain Research. Goosens, L., Sunaert, S., Peeters, R., Greiz, E. J., & Schruers, K. R. (2007). Amygdala Hyperfunction in Phobic Fear Normalizes After Exposure. Society of Biological Psychiatry; 62, 1119-1125. Gullone, E. (2000). The Development of Normal Fear: a Century Research. 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Magnetic Resonance Imaging; 26, 1081-1088. Winerman, L. (2005, 07). Figuring out phobia. Retrieved from American Psychology Association: Figuring out phobia: http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug05/figuring.aspx Öhman, A. (2005). The role of the amygdala in human fear: Automatic detection of threat. Psychoneuroendocrinology; 30, 953-958. Öst, L.-G. (2006). The claustrophobia scale: a psychometric evaluation. Behaviour Research and Therapy; 45, 10531064. Problem of Claustrophobia with Proposed Solutions 41 Öst, L.-G., & Csatlos, P. (2000). Probability ratings in claustrophobic patients and normal controls. Behaviour Research and Therapy; 38, 1107-1116. Öst, L.-G., Alm, T., Brandberg, M., & Breitholtz, E. (2001). One vs five sessions of exposure and five sessions of cognitive therapy in the treatment of claustrophobia. Behavior Research and Therapy; 39, 167-183. | https://studyres.com/doc/15202739/the-problem-of-claustrophobia-with-proposed-solutions |
Embodied immersion in virtual reality
The aim of this project is to investigate and develop the method of creating correspondence between physical/performed actions and the visual virtual action presented inside the virtual environment. The interest is to have the best physical-virtual correspondence possible and moreover, to observe the effect that an inaccurate visual feed-back will have on the perception of immersion.
The people implied in this project are : Christian Van Brussel, Martin Edwards, Benoit Macq.
Spatial cognition
Research in the psy-naps and the numerical cognition groups work together to investigate how modified interactions in the virtual environment influence spatial cognition processes. Virtual reality provides an excellent experimental method for these investigations as we can manipulate the interaction between action capability, body representation and the environment. The investigations assess how these manipulations influence perception of distances and magnitudes, both between a virtual object and the virtual self, and between different virtual objects.
The people working on this thematic are : Martin Edwards, Mauro Pesenti, Stéphane Grade, Christian Van Brussel, Valerie Dormal.
Anxiety disorders and phobias
The research centre in psychological health and development (CSDP) has an ongoing research project that investigates the psychology of anxiety disorders. Within this project, the psychology of phobias is investigated and in a recent project, the fear of flying (aerophobia), where people are afraid and unable to travel in planes is being considered. The use of virtual reality provides a useful method for investigating phobias within a safe environment, and furthermore, allows for the use of other laboratory measures such as EEG that would normally be difficult to use in real environments where the phobic stimuli is present (for example, in an aeroplane). As well as developing the understanding of phobia cognition, the group is also interested in using virtual reality for the treatment of phobias and anxiety disorders.
The people working on this thematic are : Pierre Philippot and his group.
Social interactions in virtual reality
Information for this project will be posted soon.
The people implied in this project are : Vincent Yzerbyt and his research group.
Brain-computer interface and virtual reality
The aim of this project is to investigate the brain activity associated with executing actions, and to use the brain activity to operate virtual actions made by a virtual avatar in virtual reality. The project will work with participants that have impaired limb actions, either through stroke or through limb amputation, and aim to harness and develop brain action execution simulations as a means of treating psychological deficits that result from impaired body representations.
People working on this thematic are : Emanuele Pasqualotto and Martin Edwards.
Members
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Martin Edwards
Professor Martin Edwards is the coordinator of the IVE Lab project and head of the Psy-NAPS group His research aim is to use the laboratory to study perception and action behaviour. He is also interested in developing new technology enabling interactive virtual environments, and in doing so, making the laboratory more useful for behavioural research
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Professor,
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Christian Van Brussel
Christian Van Brussel is currently doing his PhD on perception and action interactions in virtual environments, and is principally supervised by Professor Benoit Macq (secondary by Martin Edwards and Pierre Philippot). With his multiple skills in programming, he is a key person in the development of the laboratory.
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PhD student,
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Stéphane Grade
Stéphane Grade is currently doing his PhD. His research investigates the involvement of motor and numerical processes in spatial cognition, supervised by Professors Martin Edwards and Mauro Pesenti. He is using the IVE lab to moderate the spatial aspects of virtual environments and measure the effects on action and numerical processes.
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PhD,
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Emanuele Pasqualotto
Emanuele Pasqualotto is a cognitive psychologist with a strong interest in human-computer interaction (HCI), assistive technology (AT) for disabled people, and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). He has joined the Psy-NAPS group of Prof. Martin Edwards and have integrated the IVE Lab in order to conduct experiments exploiting BCIs and virtual reality.
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PhD
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Mauro Pesenti
Professor Mauro Pesenti is the head of the adult numerical cognition laboratory. His research aim within the IVE Lab is to investigate how adults behaviourally process magnitudes such as length, numerosity and distance, and what relationships exist between the different cognitions.
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Professor,
Research Associate, National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS, Belgium),
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Pierre Philippot
Professor Pierre Philippot is the current president of the Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY) and is a full member of the Psychological Health and Development Research Center (CSDP). He and his collaborators use the IVE Lab platform to investigate anxiety and phobia disorders (e.g., the fear of flying; aerophobia).
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Professor
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Vincent Yzerbyt
Professor Vincent Yzerbyt is the Research Pro-Rector of the Université catholique de Louvain. He will use the IVE lab to create controlled scenarios to investigate his research interests are in social cognition, attribution, stereotyping and intergroup relations.
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Professor,
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Benoît Macq
Professor Benoît Macq is the Service to Society Pro-Rector of the Université catholique de Louvain. He is involved in the development of the IVE lab and the use of new technology and techniques to create better quality immersion.
Equipment used by the IVE Lab.
Head Mounted Displays
In order to immerse individuals within a 3D virtual environment, we use head mounted display technology. The devices are placed on the participant's head so that two screens are positioned in front of the eyes, one screen for each eye. The visual disparity between the two visual screens enables the perception of a 3D virtual environment. As this is the core feature of presenting a virtual environment to the user, we are acquiring numerous head mounted displays for the different research projects.
Motion analysis
The devices allow for the recording of physical body movements and can be used to create correspondence between a physical and visual virtual action. The equipment is necessary for creating virtual avatar movements. There are a number of different motion analysis systems that are used in the IVE lab. These are described below.
5DT data gloves.
The 5DT data gloves allow for the recording of individual finger movements in each hand. The gloves contain flexible sticks on each of the finger and the thumbs that can be bended. The motion analysis records the amount of bending that occurs for each digit when a participant performs actions (for example grasping). The recordings are used to control the individual digits of the virtual presented hands so that physical hand actions correspond to the visual virtual presentations.
--> You can visit the 5DT website by clicking here.
Polhemus liberty motion trackers (wired and wireless).
The Polhemus liberty motion analysis system is used to record body action coordinates, for example, limb position. The recordings are implemented into a virtual avatar that adopts the same movements and body postures that the real person is performing, providing correspondence between the physically performed actions and the visual virtual actions in the virtual environment. The trackers work by a reference source that emits a magnetic field and different sensors that capture their position in space relative to the position of the magnetic field source. Each sensors records 3D coordinates (X, Y, Z) and three different orientation angles (azimuth, elevation and roll) 240 times a second. These recordings are integrated into the virtual reality software and allow animations of movement in the virtual avatars.
--> You can visit the polhemus website by clicking here.
Softwares
Within the IVE lab, we are using different open-sources software to create virtual objects, persons and environments. These are described below.
Crystal space
Crystal Space is a software development kit (SDK) providing real-time 3D graphics for applications using virtual reality. We use it to create virtual environments and integrate avatars and objects. Many environments can be created, for example, the inside of a plane, a virtual city or the inside of a house.
--> You can go to the Chrystal space homepage by following this link
Blender
Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games.
Blender is mainly used for 3D modelling, and in the IVE Lab, we use it to create virtual objects that can be inserted in the virtual environments created by crystal space.
--> You can visit the blender website by following this link.
MakeHuman
MakeHuman is also an Open Source software application and it is used to generate 3D humanoid avatars. The created avatars can be edited for their gender, age, appearance, clothes, hair etc...
--> You can visit the makehuman website by clicking on this link
Forum
The IVE Lab uses a web forum tool to communicate and discuss the activity in the lab. If you would like to join the forum, please email Martin Edwards ([email protected]) or Stéphane Grade ([email protected])
Links
Virtual Reality equipment providers
Research groups involved in the IVE Lab.
- The Psy-NAPS laboratory : The research group investigates the relationships between perception and action behaviour in the disciplines of psychology, neuroscience and neuropsychology.
- Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics (ICTEAM) : The institute carries out basic and applied research in the fields of information and communication technologies, electronics, computer science and applied mathematics.
- The Numerical Cognition Group : The research group investigates the functional aspects of calculation and numerical processing, and their related neuro-anatomical correlates. | https://uclouvain.be/en/research-institutes/ipsy/ivelab |
April 15, 2021 - by Parul Saini, Webmedy team
Well, we all know what cardiovascular disease is all about - it is a serious condition that affects the normal functioning of the heart and blood vessels. Innovation in technologies plays a vital role in developing new ways of treating and stopping heart and circulatory diseases. Health innovations that embrace new knowledge and technology possess the potential to revolutionize the management of the cardiovascular disease.
Here we are going to explore how technology innovation is helpful in the cardiovascular field.
Using technology, scientists have created 3D-printed models of the heart using MRI scans to help communicate with patients before surgery. These special models allow doctors to correctly explain the type and nature of disorders to their patients and family. Most of the patients and family members confirmed that 3D models are incredibly helpful, handy, and realistic to understand. What it means is that this customized approach allows the patients and their beloved ones to understand their condition best.
Heart failure is one of the many cardiovascular illnesses that cause the deaths of many patients worldwide. And half of the millions of people tend to have these abnormal heart rhythms, which can be irregular, too fast, or too slow. Now, scientists are exploring how abnormal heart rhythms affect the health of a heart patient. Additionally, they try to understand how these irregular heartbeats are related to death or hospital readmissions. With the arrival of electrocardiogram (ECG) devices, researchers can use their recordings to estimate and track heart rhythms between patients for a long period.
Usually, statins circulate throughout the body of a person but unfortunately, these don't always reach enough high levels needed to stop the building of fatty acids in the body. Moreover, these can affect other tissues and muscles, making patients intolerant. Now scientists are using nanomaterials to delivers cholesterol-lowering drugs to parts of the body where they are required urgently. These tiny but stable enough to carry drugs to particular sites of the body, then biodegrade once the payload of drugs has been delivered. Yet, some researchers from the University of Surrey are trying to develop these remarkable nanomaterials, test them, check whether they are good for patient's health. If successful, these nanomaterials could open new ways of giving therapy to patients with high cholesterol levels who cannot tolerate present treatments like statins.
Researchers from the Na Homolce Hospital in the Czech Republic and the Newpace Company developed implantable defibrillators to help manage cardiovascular patients. The ISSD (Implantable String Subcutaneous defibrillator) comes as a less invasive device intended to prevent sudden cardiac death among patients. This technology surpasses the current subcutaneous defibrillators as they don't need a mental pulse generator pocket, these use flexible string equipment with no leads inside the heart. Interestingly, the implantation takes only about 20 minutes, and the technology will be ready to be connected to your smartphone.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are ready to use by many large cardiology device vendors for staff training. Boston Scientific is using VR headsets with pre-loaded live electrophysiology device implant cases, which offer a 360-degree view of the EP lab and the procedure as a key opinion leader offers his advice and explains what they are doing during the case. This virtual physician proctoring can speed up the transfer of how-to knowledge and patient access to new EP technologies.
Big data is about processing and analyzing complex data sets to get correct insights that can be used when trying to solve a particular problem. There is huge data on multiple aspects within the medical field. The researchers find out a variety of factors that can be used to predict the likelihood that certain people will develop cardiovascular disease over time. As it turns out, big data models can predict the likelihood that a patient will develop a cardiovascular disease by looking at clinical, genomic, and lifestyle data by disease correlations, drug side effects, and genome research. Using Big data researchers identified the top five factors for predicting the risk of cardiovascular diseases:
AI is increasingly being used as a tool to help physicians to make better decisions. Artificial Intelligence is a technology that allows massive amounts of data to be fed into algorithms which then assist physicians in making the best decisions about the health of their patients. AI is now helping augment cardiologists and medical imaging. AI will likely see its biggest steps forward in cardiology for point-of-care (POC) triage apps and wearable cardiac monitoring technologies. Smart software and AI are being used in the wearable and app algorithms to identify abnormally high heart rates, arrhythmias, and other factors to alert patients to contact their doctors.
Researchers from Boston children's Hospital and Harvard University designed a soft robot that encloses the heart and helps it beat as needed. This device promises much, especially to patients whose hearts have been weakened by a heart attack and are still at risk of heart failure. Robot synchronizes with patient's heart through a thin silicone sleeve feature smooth pneumatic actuators that mimic the heart's outer muscular layers' condition. And interesting thing is that devices do this without coming in contact with blood. | https://webmedy.com/blog/how-technology-is-used-in-the-cardiovascular-field/ |
The Evolution Of Treatments
The history of Parkinson’s disease is tightly linked to therapeutic interventions, ranging from serendipitous observations to controlled clinical trials of specifically designed agents.
Parkinson devoted a chapter of his monograph to considerations respecting the means of cure . In humility and perhaps with a vision toward current concepts of neuroprotection, he hoped for the identification of a treatment by which the progress of the disease may be stopped . To this end, he advocated very early therapeutic intervention when signs were largely confined to the arms without balance and gait impairments. Reflecting therapeutic approaches of the early nineteenth century, Parkinson recommended venesection, specifically advocating bloodletting from the neck, followed by vesicatories to induce blistering and inflammation of the skin. Small pieces of cork were purposefully inserted into the blisters to cause a sufficient quantity of purulent discharge . All these efforts were designed to divert blood and inflammatory pressure away from the brain and spinal cord, and in this way, decompress the medulla that Parkinson considered the seat of neurological dysfunction.
Clinical Trials For Parkinsons Disease
At Rush, the longstanding Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorders Program has a strong commitment to studying new treatments for patients with Parkinsons disease. Because the scientific questions and patient concerns change during the course of this disease, a comprehensive program needs to have multiple programs testing new therapies.
In the early phase of Parkinsons disease, when symptoms are very mild, the primary research focus is to develop interventions that halt or slow the progression of disability. In the midpoint of the disease, improved treatments of the core signs of Parkinsons disease become the focus, because tremor, slowness, stiffness and balance difficulties can be inadequately controlled by currently available medications. In the advanced stages of Parkinsons disease, concerns focus increasingly on non-motor concerns such as cognitive problems, apathy and hallucinations.
Many patients and their families participate in research to gain access to these new treatments and to advance the scientific understanding of Parkinsons disease for the good of all people in the world with this disease. These research studies provide not only the possibility of a new treatment, but research subjects spend more time with staff, receive education, and often meet other research subjects, thereby broadening their understanding and empowerment.
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Early Signs Of Parkinson’s Disease
Early signs of Parkinson’s disease can be difficult to notice. However, if you experience the following early signs, speak with your primary care doctor.
The sooner you are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the sooner you can begin treatment to help prevent deterioration.
- Loss of sense of smell
- Chronic constipation
- Physically acting out your dreams at night
Movement Disorders Patient Education Resources
The Rush Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorders Program team is committed to helping people with movement disorders live their best lives. This includes providing comprehensive education to empower patients, families and caregivers to navigate the challenges of a movement disorder diagnosis.
Were pleased to offer the following expert resources, created by or featuring our internationally recognized providers. These videos can help you learn about symptom management, exciting new treatment options, promising research, and strategies for improving your overall health and well-being.
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Pharmacological Advances: Charcot And Gowers
Early treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Prescription dated 1877 from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia Library. In treating Parkinson’s disease, Charcot used belladonna alkaloids as well as rye-based products that had ergot activity, a feature of some currently available dopamine agonists. Charcots advice was empiric and preceded the recognition of the well-known dopaminergic/cholinergic balance that is implicit to normal striatal neurochemical activity .
Everything, or almost everything, has been tried against this disease. Among the medicinal substances that have been extolled and which I have myself administered to no avail, I need only enumerate a few .
Vibratory therapy. Charcot observed that patients with Parkinson’s disease experienced a reduction in their rest tremor after taking a carriage ride or after horseback riding. He developed a therapeutic vibratory chair that simulated the rhythmic shaking of a carriage . A vibratory helmet to shake the head and brain was later developed. Such therapies were not used widely but the availability of modern medical vibratory chairs offers an opportunity to confirm or refute Charcots observation.
Rush Adds Telemedicine Management Of Dbs For Parkinsons Essential Tremor
Newswise Rush University Medical Center is the first in Chicago and one of the first in the nation to offer a new FDA-approved telemedicine option for deep brain stimulation patients. Using the new system by Abbott called NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic, DBS patients and their physicians are now not only able to communicate remotely, in real time, but also to prescribe treatment settings and ensure a proper response and device functionality.
Through NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic, the physician and patient connect via a secure in-app video chat. The remote programming feature, available within the Abbott patient controller app, provides a simple and secure connection during which the clinician can prescribe treatment settings remotely to the patient’s neurostimulation device.
Rush was chosen as one of only a handful of medical centers to help launch the remote neuromodulation technology, which is the first of its kind in the United States.
In DBS treatment, electrodes implanted in targeted areas within the brain provide electrical pulses to help control symptoms such as tremors similar to the way a heart pacemaker works. The electrodes are connected to the neurostimulator, a small device implanted under the skin below the collarbone.
Telemedicine is increasingly recognized as an efficient care model that is the way of the future, and remote programming ensures that our patients with DBS systems are not left behind.
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Movement Disorders Support Programs
Movement disorders support services can improve your symptoms and your emotional well-being.
Movement disorders support services can improve your symptoms and your emotional well-being.
Rush Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Care support services help patients maximize their movement, coordination and quality of life.
The following programs are currently available.
Preventions And Treatments For Parkinsons Are Urgently Needed
There presently is no cure for PD, which is chronic and progressive that is, it gets worse over time. It occurs most commonly in the elderly, and results from the death of a large number of neurons, or brain cells, in a particular part of the brain called the substantia nigra. The diseases distinctive marker is the presence of Lewy bodies in that area, and a big part of Kordowers research is trying to understand better how and why they develop.
Symptoms of the disease include a slowing of movement, diminishment of the ability to plan movement, abnormal stiffness, and uncontrollable movements in resting limbs. Early symptoms can include disordered sleep and changes in the way odors are perceived. Later in the course of the disease, PD patients can also fall or develop dementia, two leading causes of nursing-home admissions. Finding a cure or a way to prevent the disease, as well as treatments that ease its symptoms, are urgent goals.
A drug called Levodopa can be an effective treatment for PD, but while it provides relief, it doesnt stop the ravages of the disease. Also, Levodopa usefulness tends to diminish over time due to the emergence of serious side effects.
We need new therapies and strategies for PD, Kordower says.
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How Rush University Medical Center Is Transforming Neurosurgical Care Insights From 4 Physician Leaders
For many patients, the daily suffering from debilitating conditions like essential tremor and tremor-dominant Parkinson’s disease has become an all too familiar and unwelcomed way of life. For years, medications and invasive surgeries have been their main or primary treatment options.
However, since 2016, a revolutionary innovation by Insightec has helped to quietly transform patient lives all over the world. Using acoustic energy, hospitals and neurosurgeons are helping to transform patient care by using focused ultrasound to precisely and effectively treat deep inside the brain in a single outpatient procedure.
Beckers Hospital Review recently spoke with four leaders at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago about this groundbreaking technology:
- K. Ranga Rama Krishnan, MB, ChB, CEO, Rush University System for Health
- Richard Byrne, MD, Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery
- Leo Verhagen Metman, MD, PhD, Director, Movement Disorder Interventional Program
These leaders discussed the role innovative technology is playing in transforming care in their organization, described how focused ultrasound has enhanced the patient experience in neurosciences and shared their perspectives on the future of neuroscience care and innovation.
Strategic investments in technology require constant environmental scanning
Focused ultrasound can be life changing for essential tremor and tremor-dominant Parkinson’s patients
Icipate In Clinical Trials
If you are interested in participating in clinical trials for Parkinsons disease and other movement disorders, see the ongoing trials available at Rush. For more information about our research programs, call 563-2900 and press 4.
Benefits of Participating in Clinical Trials
- Physical improvements: You will have access to new treatments that are not yet available to the public. These new treatments may help improve your symptoms, function and quality of life.
- Emotional fulfillment: Being involved in studies can give you a sense of control and empowerment over your disease.
- Contributing to the greater good: You will be actively involved in making a difference in the future of Parkinsons disease and other movement disorders by playing a role in getting closer to a cure.
What We Study
- Epidemiology: Studying who gets Parkinsons and other movement disorders in the hope of identifying factors that may prevent the disease.
- Features of the disease: Studying characteristics of the disease to increase our understanding of the disease itself or its affect on physical and emotional health.
- Protective therapies: Studying new drugs or surgical approaches to help slow or stop the degenerative brain processes.
- Studying new drugs or procedures that help control the symptoms of degenerative brain processes, while not directly treating the degenerative process itself.
Participating in a Study
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Center Of Excellence Series: Rush University Medical Center Provides Critically Needed Parkinsons Mental Health Program
Most people associate Parkinsons disease with tremors, a motor symptom. However, non-motor symptoms are common and can be more troublesome and disabling than motor symptoms. They can include cognitive changes, mood and sleep disorders, autonomic symptoms or weight loss. Rush University Medical Center, a Parkinsons Foundation Center of Excellence, is not only on the front lines of PD-related cognitive research, but is actively hosting life-changing programs targeting these non-motor, and in particular, cognitive and behavioral symptoms.
Jennifer G. Goldman, MD, MS, is unique in the Parkinsons field. She is a fellowship-trained movement disorder specialist with additional background in behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry an uncommon combination that provides her with a unique skillset to treat Parkinsons non-motor symptoms.
In between seeing patients, Dr. Goldman conducts research studies to better understand what causes a person with PD to experience neuropsychiatric symptoms . She utilizes MRI brain scans and clinical assessments to evaluate cognitive and behavioral effects. More broadly, Dr. Goldmans research tries to find the mechanisms of the brain and biomarkers that contribute to Parkinsons-related non-motor symptoms.
It is a well-known problem that many doctors do not have enough time during an appointment to truly explain and talk through mental health issues, said Dr. Goldman.
A Day at the Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Movement Disorder Clinic
Effects Of Endurance Exercise Training On The Motor And Non
Article type: Review Article
Authors: Lamotte, Guillaume | Rafferty, Miriam R. | Prodoehl, Janey | Kohrt, Wendy M. | Comella, Cynthia L. | Simuni, Tanya | Corcos, Daniel M.
Affiliations: Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Caen, Caen, France | Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, USA | Department of Physical Therapy & Human Movement Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA | Physical Therapy Program, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, Illinois, USA | The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA | Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA | Department of Neurology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Note: Correspondence to: Guillaume Lamotte, Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Caen, CHU de Caen Basse Normandie, Avenue Cote de Nacre, 14033 Caen, Basse Normandie, France. Tel.: +33 231064617 Fax: +33 231065116 E-mail:
Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, endurance, exercise, aerobic exercise, motor activity, gait, balance
DOI: 10.3233/JPD-140425
Journal: Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 21-41, 2015
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Received Parkinsons Foundation Funding From 1957 Present
Columbia University Medical Center researchers and doctors are leaders in Parkinsons science and training. They have developed scales to assess the severity of Parkinsons, tested new drugs to treat the disease and are leaders in uncovering the pathogenesis of the disease. Recent grants have supported research in neuroinflammation, genetics, the development of dopamine neurons, neuropsychology, behavioral effects and clinical trials.
Highlight: Finding Potential Targets for Preventing or Treating ParkinsonsThe most common Parkinsons-associated gene mutations occur in the LRRK2 gene. Researchers at the Parkinsons Foundation Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center showed for the first time why the faulty LRRK2 protein is harmful, and how it can block the normal cell recycling process. This study, published in Nature Neuroscience, 2013, builds upon earlier Parkinsons Foundation-funded work. The study showed that chaperone-mediated autophagy was capable of recycling healthy LRRK2 proteins, but it was not as successful in breaking down thoseLRRK2 proteins that had the mutation found in people with Parkinsons. These faulty LRRK2 proteins also prevent other proteins, such as alpha-synuclein , from breaking down and getting recycled.
This study shows the need for developing therapies that can help restart or speed up cellular recycling therapies that could potentially help people whose PD has no known genetic cause as well as those who have LRRK2 mutations.
Internationally Recognized For High
For two decades, Kordower and the lab he oversees at Rush have been at the forefront of new discoveries about Parkinsons disease. Known as PD for short, its the second-most common neurodegenerative disease, with more than a million suffering from it in the United States alone.
Kordower is the director of the Rush Research Center for Brain Repair, has more than 400 papers and book chapters to his credit, and holds or has held numerous leadership positions at medical journals and organizations. His research on neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimers and Huntingtons diseases, has appeared in such prestigious journals as Nature, Science and the New England Journal of Medicine, and he is one of the most-cited researchers in the field which reflects both the importance of his work, and his colleagues faith in it.
We think our lab is internationally recognized because we do high-quality work, he says.
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Rush University Medical Center Named Center Of Excellence By Parkinson’s Foundation
The Parkinsons Foundation today announced the addition of Rush University Medical Center to its global network of institutions the foundation has designated as Centers of Excellence. The newest designation builds upon Rushs longstanding history and recognition as a Parkinsons Foundation Research Center.
The Center of Excellence network is a proving ground for new therapies and care models through grant programs and targeted initiatives such as the Parkinsons Outcomes Project, the largest clinical study of Parkinsons disease. This sought-after designation, based on clinical and research excellence, has achieved worldwide recognition.
This designation is an enormous honor and recognition of the vital program that we have developed to integrate our three-part mission of research, education and patient care excellence, said Dr. Christopher Goetz, professor of neurological sciences and pharmacology and director of the Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorders Program at Rush. With this new designation, the faculty and staff will direct our efforts continually to enhance our services and work in partnership with our patients and families to meet these three missions.
From Bench To Bedside
While Kordower conducts his research in laboratories, his translational science studies have led to seven clinical trials so far. He says that most basic researchers feel lucky to have one such experience. None of these trials has resulted in a treatment indeed, they have all sent Kordower back to the lab to try out different hypotheses, or at least variations on them.
That process is the normal course of scientific inquiry, Kordower notes it takes time and many trials to develop a hypothesis that proves entirely correct. Still, being able to watch his basic science translate to clinical trials is something he especially values about the collaborative environment at Rush.
Other hospitals talk about taking research from bench to bedside, but at Rush, it really happens, Kordower says.
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Received Parkinsons Foundation Funding From 2001
Weill Cornell Medicines Parkinsons Disease and Movement Disorders Institute specializes in the management and diagnosis of Parkinsons. The institute manages PD research studies and clinical pharmacotherapy trials.
Highlight: New Tool Will Improve Testing of New TreatmentsWith Foundation funding, labs at Weill Cornell Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center have made progress finding a new and powerful tool for testing new Parkinsons therapies and studying the underlying causes of the disease.
Working with Columbia University, the Weill Cornell team created a unique mouse model that expresses a mutated form of the LRRK2 gene. Published in Nature Neuroscience, this model will help scientists create and test new Parkinsons treatments in the lab. Prior to this development, PD research was hampered, as scientists did not have a model that accurately mimicked the natural course of Parkinsons in humans. | https://www.parkinsonsinfoclub.com/rush-university-medical-center-parkinson-disease/ |
The overall goal of Crystal is to enable improved, sustainable paths to speed up maturation, integration, and cross-sectorial reusability of technological and methodological bricks. The bricks are 'building blocks' for safety-critical embedded system engineering in the areas of transportation (aerospace, automotive, and rail) and Healthcare providing a critical mass of EU technology providers. Below the proposed development process is shown.
The role of PS-Tech in this project is to investigate the use of interoperable tooling for 3D visualization and simulation (instead of real prototyping) to validate requirements with users, providing multi user and multi-location collaboration.
Interventional X-ray systems are important for minimally invasive surgery, e.g., improving the throughput of a blood vessel by placing a stent via a catheter where the surgeon is guided by X-ray images. These techniques avoid open heart surgery and have many benefits in the healthcare domain such as improved productivity, more effective treatments, better success rate and increased quality of life of patients. It is important to be able to incorporate medical innovations fast in such systems.
This is challenging because high quality standards have to be met and a trade-off has to be made between usability and safety. To meet these goals, improved model-based iterative development processes, supported by interoperable tooling are investigated. The aim is to develop tools to obtain a suitable environment for rapid design analysis.
PS-Tech has developed a tool called NobiVR. NobiVR is a tool to visualize and simulate functional 3D models, implemented on top of a virtual reality (VR) layer. This VR layer can accommodate 3D motion tracking input for natural user interaction, and multiple types of immersive 3D VR configurations.
Within Crystal NobiVR will be extended and coupled to a simulation tool for functional behavior.
The developed tools are based on a simulation tool for functional behavior (POOSL) and a visualization engine (NobiVR). The NobiVR engine will be extended to show model behavior in the application domain and coupled to third party tools to support rapid design analysis and architectural exploration.
Develop remote rendering technology to enable systems without powerful hardware to use NobiVR and to allow multiple users at different locations to collaborate on a shared instance of the VR layer. | http://ps-tech.com/projects/3D-Visualization-Rapid-Design-Analysis |
The promise of America is that everyone has a chance to succeed no matter where they start. But limited economic mobility and persistent inequalities call that promise into question. By many measures, income and wealth gains are increasingly concentrated at the high end of the economic ladder, while people at the bottom are no more likely to rise up the ladder now than they were several decades ago. And although inequalities and constrained mobility impede opportunities for all Americans – and threaten our nation's shared prosperity and democratic values – they are particularly pronounced for communities of color, immigrants, and women.
Scholars across the Urban Institute are producing new insights about the overlapping dimensions of inequality, mobility, and inclusion. Our research starts with getting the facts right. We look beyond income and wealth to explore inequalities in health, housing, education, employment, and criminal justice that profoundly affect people’s lives and their prospects for moving up the economic ladder.
A full understanding of these issues also requires attention to persistent racial and ethnic disparities in opportunities and outcomes, along with digging below national averages to understand key variations across places. And Urban’s research identifies solutions, both by evaluating specific interventions and by modeling the long-term effects of potential new investments.
Our Work
The Urban Institute examines inequality and mobility through four interconnected lenses:
- Inequalities: The challenge of inequality is really a challenge of inequalities, with income and wealth gaps contributing to other disparities—and vice versa. The breadth of substantive expertise at Urban enables us to analyze inequalities across opportunities and outcomes that shape people’s well-being and life chances.
- Mobility: Economic mobility can mean both moving up the economic ladder and doing better than your parents did. Urban researchers document trends in mobility over time and across race, ethnicity, and age. We also evaluate the effectiveness of policies and interventions aimed at promoting economic mobility and can model the combined effects of more ambitious investments.
- Place and Opportunity: A growing body of research finds that where we live—and where our children grow up—plays an important role in shaping opportunities for upward mobility. But in recent decades, inequality between top and bottom neighborhoods intensified in the great majority of metropolitan areas. Urban’s data resources and our state and local expertise allow us to explore place-conscious policies for creating more inclusive and opportunity-rich communities.
- Inclusive Growth: Progress toward more inclusive prosperity requires multiple, sustained strategies to improve access to education and training, and ensure that the benefits from economic growth are widely shared. Urban experts bring evidence to bear on both the scale and scope of these challenges and the efficacy of policy and programmatic interventions.
Our Impact
Urban experts regularly testify before Congress, brief congressional staff, and present findings and recommendations to cabinet-level agencies on ways to create opportunity and promote mobility. Our work has informed local, state, and federal policies.
For example, when Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced the Wealth Gap Resolution (H. Res. 159), she cited Urban’s research as evidence that the substantial wealth gap is a problem for our nation's economic security. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has cited Urban Institute work examining how social insurance programs can inadvertently limit mobility. And state and local policymakers seeking to promote more equitable and inclusive economies and communities have cited findings from Urban analyses, such as the effect of increasing DC’s minimum wage. | https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/inequality-and-mobility/about |
This OECD Skills Strategy project provides Korea with tailored opportunities and recommendations to strengthen the governance of its adult learning system. The project has benefited from the insights of a wide range of government and stakeholder representatives through two rounds of background questionnaires, written input on the four priority areas, an interactive focus group and bilateral meetings during two OECD missions to Korea, and two Korean expert visits to the OECD. This process provided invaluable input that shaped the findings and recommendations in this report.
In recent years, Korea has made significant progress in strengthening its skills and economic performance. The skills of 15 year olds in reading, mathematics and science, as well as the tertiary education attainment rate among young adults, are among the highest across the OECD. The economy has steadily grown, and only recently contracted due to the ramifications of COVID-19, although Korea has been less impacted economically than other OECD countries.
The public health crisis requires immediate policy attention, and large-scale policy responses are required to provide support to those affected, as well as to promote economic recovery. The skills acquired through adult learning can have a positive impact on the economic recovery, and a resilient and adaptable adult learning system can help to mitigate economic and social shocks in the future, as well as help Korea to prepare for the challenges posed by megatrends such as population ageing, technological change and globalisation.
There are some challenges in the current adult learning system. While several ministries are involved in the provision of adult learning, a comprehensive and shared vision is missing. Subnational governments vary significantly in their capacity to implement adult learning policies. Although government and stakeholders are increasingly involved in social dialogue around adult learning policies, they often lack sufficient capacity to render the engagement effective. Financial incentives need to be tailored and targeted more to support the participation of disadvantaged groups in adult learning.
In order to address many of these challenges, Korea has implemented a range of strategies and reforms, such as the Inclusive Nation Social Policy Promotion Plan (2019-2022). To support these efforts, the OECD and the Government of Korea have identified four priority areas to further improve Korea’s adult learning governance. These priorities and the key findings are summarised below.
Priority 1: Strengthening the horizontal governance of adult learning
Having a strong adult learning system requires a co-ordinated effort across a range of government ministries, also referred to as horizontal governance. As adult learning encompasses the domains of diverse ministries, effective policy co-ordination across ministries increases the potential to improve adult learning outcomes. Ministries should work together with stakeholders to create a comprehensive long-term vision for adult learning. The Social Affairs Ministers’ Committee, established in 2015 to lead horizontal co-ordination across nine ministries on a variety of social policies, should play a key role in co-ordinating adult learning policies across ministries. Horizontal co-ordination is particularly required to disseminate consistent information about adult learning opportunities.
Korea can strengthen horizontal governance in adult learning by:
Priority 2: Strengthening the vertical governance of adult learning
Multiple levels of government are involved in the design and implementation of adult learning policies. Strong vertical governance arrangements are necessary to co-ordinate the respective roles and responsibilities across these levels for the effective and equitable implementation of adult learning policies across the country. Co-ordination bodies such lifelong education promotion councils and regional skills councils play an important role in co-ordinating across levels of government, and their effectiveness should be raised. Given that the capacity for implementing adult learning policies varies significantly across subnational governments, those with lower capacity require additional support.
Korea can strengthen vertical governance in adult learning by:
Priority 3: Strengthening stakeholder engagement in adult learning
The effectiveness of adult learning policies depends on the responses and actions of a wide range of actors, including stakeholders. Engaging stakeholders allows for their expertise and knowledge to inform adult learning policies and raises their support for implemented policies. In order for engagement processes to be constructive, government officials and stakeholders need to be aware of why engagement matters, and have the capacity to engage effectively. Strengthening the role of stakeholders, particularly those who are disadvantaged, in the adult learning policy-making process requires diverse and inclusive engagement efforts, as well as effective stakeholder engagement bodies.
Korea can strengthen stakeholder engagement in adult learning by:
Priority 4: Strengthening financing arrangements in adult learning
A strong financing model in adult learning facilitates the effective co-ordination of funding sources and funding distribution. The total available funding for adult learning should meet the diverse adult learning needs of society, employers and individuals. At the same time, the distribution of funding needs to be equitable in order for it to be allocated proportionately, based on the ability of the beneficiaries to pay. Given that the national government has the largest amount of available funds it should play an important role in ensuring the equitable distribution of funds for adult learning policies. Disadvantaged subnational governments will require additional financial support to implement adult learning policies. As the cost of participating in adult learning remains a significant barrier for disadvantaged groups, further improvements regarding financial incentives for individuals are necessary.
Korea can strengthen financing arrangements in adult learning by: | https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/e04e318c-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/e04e318c-en |
Northwold Primary School is a school:
- with a strong Inclusive ethos
- values individuality and recognizes that each person has an important contribution to make to our society
- ensures equal access and opportunity for all
- actively seeks to remove the barriers to learning and
- supports interactive participation of all its children ensuring best outcomes for all.
What is a school’s local offer?
The School’s Local Offer has two key purposes:
- To provide clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the support as well as criteria for support and opportunities that are available; and
- To make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations
As part of the new Children and Families Act, schools have been directed to produce a Local Offer. The Local Offer will change as services, policies and guidance changes. The school will regularly evaluate the breadth and impact of interventions and support it offers and accesses. Reasonable adjustments will be made to promote equality and inclusion. | https://www.northwoldschool.com/school/school-local-offer/ |
Kenya has made significant progress in devolving the health system; bringing management authority and resources closer to the communities served, empowering county health management teams and fostering greater flexibility to meet local needs. To support this shift, functioning outcomes measurements, learning and accountability (MLA) systems at county level are essential. However, the counties have inadequate capacity to regularly collect, analyze and use data.
The TB ARC II activity aims to improve TB case finding through active case finding initiatives in all counties, promote access to high quality patient-centered, TB, DR-TB and TB/HIV services; prevent TB transmission and disease progression, strengthen TB service delivery platforms & accelerate research and innovation with the ultimate goal of decreasing incidence & TB related morbidity, and mortality in line with the 90-95-0 targets to End the TB epidemic.
The Policy, Advocacy, and Communication Enhanced for Population and Reproductive Health (PACE) Project, implemented by Population Reference Bureau (PRB), ensures that family planning (FP) and population issues are included in policies and programs to foster sustainable, equitable economic growth and development.
The Health Communication and Marketing (HCM) Program is implemented by Population Services Kenya along with other local implementing partners. The focus of HCM is to improve the health of Kenyans through increasing the use of quality health products and services through implementing evidence based social marketing. HCM also increases the use of quality products through social franchising, social behavior change communication and strengthening the capacity of government to lead, coordinate and implement these initiatives.
Over 10 million Kenyans suffer from chronic food insecurity and poor nutrition. Improving nutritional status in Kenya calls for a multi-sectoral focus and acknowledgement of the integral role that nutrition plays in ensuring a healthy population and productive workforce. The Kenya Nutrition and Health Program Plus is a national program with county level mandates. The overall goal of the program is to improve nutrition status of Kenyans by utilizing a multi-sectoral approach that addresses both the underlying and systemic causes of malnutrition as well as its immediate determinants. | https://www.usaid.gov/kenya/newsroom?page=2 |
St. Louis Park is committed to being a leader in racial equity and inclusion. As one of the city’s strategic priorities, the City seeks to ensure all practices, programs, policies, and services of the city are fair, inclusive, and equitable. This priority is a product of Vision 3.0, the City’s community-wide engagement process that resulted in the
development of the City’s five Strategic Priorities that guided the goals and policies in its 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Over the past several years, the City has taken steps to advance racial equity—working from the inside-out. This framework represents the City’s belief that in order to affect
change in the broader community, it must first take action internally.
From the beginning, the City began conducting professional development for its staff on principles of racial equity and inclusion. In coordination with its internal initiatives, the City has worked in the community to build relationships and develop trust. As a result, it has taken significant strides toward greater intercultural competency and has set a strong foundation for breaking down barriers and dismantling racial inequities within the City’s systems.
What may help other communities?
The objective of Vision 3.0 was to implement an inclusive engagement strategy and produce a vision for the future of the City representative of all community members. Approximately 70 residents were trained to facilitate neighbor meetings at their homes and places around the community. Throughout this process, the City distributed voluntary demographics cards to collect information on the age, gender, and race of respondents. This allowed the City to identify the people it was not reaching and adjust its engagement strategies accordingly. By the end of the visioning process, the City had
received input from nearly 1,500 people and collected over 4,600 comments.
In 2016, the first cohort of City staff and council members participated in a one-year program facilitated by the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) and the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Center for Social Inclusion (CSI). This training introduces the roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for government to advance racial equity. Attendees learned about equity and inclusion, then considered the impact of policies and practices on racial equity.
The City has developed year-round equity and inclusion professional development opportunities. This programming supports an understanding for staff that discomfort is common and usually an essential part of creating change within an organization and within a community.
The City also created a team to lead its racial equity work. In 2018, the City hired a full-time Racial Equity Manager, a Community Organizer, and two Outreach staff. This team has been the driving force behind the City’s racial equity initiatives. They created a racial equity framework for the City, developed organizational definitions of racial equity and inclusion, and implemented a five-year assessment plan to evaluate their work. The City believes that hiring staff to lead this work is essential to having a real impact on the community.
The City’s approach to advancing racial equity prioritizes longterm relationship building with the goal of reconnecting the
community. The City’s police department, along with the Human Resources and Parks and Recreation departments, developed a Jobs in the Park program to connect youth of color to summer employment in the community. The City strives to build new connections with local businesses and residents, as well as maintain connection and cohesion among neighborhood associations.
In 2019, the City included special funding for racial equity and inclusion projects in its Neighborhood Revitalization Grant
Program. Neighborhood associations were encouraged to apply for additional grant funding up to $250 to incorporate a
racial equity and inclusion component into new or existing programs or events. This year, the City awarded Racial Equity
funds to ten local neighborhoods. These funds will be used to finance a range of projects including establishing a racial
equity book club, facilitating community discussions around topics of race, and developing targeted engagement
strategies. The City hopes this program will promote more equitable distribution of grant funds and support deeper
neighborhood connections throughout the community.
The City’s racial equity work is guided by two primary resources: the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and the
Multicultural Organization Development (MCOD) model. These tools are used to assess the effectiveness of the City’s
current internal initiatives, develop targeted strategies, and evaluate progress toward achieving equity and inclusion goals.
The IDI is an individualized assessment of intercultural competence. It evaluates the ability to shift perspectives and adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities. In 2018, all City supervisors, managers, council members, and
leadership staff completed the IDI assessment. The purpose of this phase was to familiarize City leadership with this tool
so that they can provide guidance to their employees. In 2019, 125 City staff completed the IDI. Participants also had the
opportunity to review their results with a trained IDI facilitator and develop personal goals for advancing racial equity.
In 2018, all full- and part-time staff had the opportunity to participate in the MCOD evaluation. This model helps
organizations assess developmental issues, opportunities, and challenges to incorporating social justice and racial equity
into everyday practices. The City’s evaluation identified a need to diversify its workforce across a range of demographics,
not just race. In response, the City changed its hiring practices to create a workforce reflective of the community.
The City will continue to use IDI and MCOD to advance racial equity throughout the community. It plans to conduct these
assessments every other year to regularly assess its progress and determine areas for improvement.
Awards and Recognitions
St. Louis Park, along with twelve other local government jurisdictions, was presented with the League of Minnesota Cities President’s Award honoring the 2016 Advancing Racial Equity Cohort (2017). | https://metrocouncil.org/Local-Planning-Handbook/Local-Planning-Highlights/St-Louis-Park/Racial-Equity-St-Louis-Park.aspx |
In order to investigate the effectiveness of lockdown and social distancing restrictions, which have been widely carried out as policy choice to curb the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic around the world, we formulate and discuss a staged and weighted network system based on a classical SEAIR epidemiological model. Five stages have been taken into consideration according to four-tier response to Public Health Crisis, which comes from the National Contingency Plan in China. Staggered basic reproduction number has been derived and we evaluate the effectiveness of lockdown and social distancing policies under different scenarios among 19 cities/regions in mainland China. Further, we estimate the infection risk associated with the sequential release based on population mobility between cities and the intensity of some non-pharmaceutical interventions. Our results reveal that Level I public health emergency response is necessary for high-risk cities, which can flatten the COVID-19 curve effectively and quickly. Moreover, properly designed staggered-release policies are extremely significant for the prevention and control of COVID-19, furthermore, beneficial to economic activities and social stability and development. | https://research.polyu.edu.hk/en/publications/four-tier-response-system-and-spatial-propagation-of-covid-19-in- |
The rapid pace of technological advancement is quickly changing labour market structures as well as our daily working habits, both of which have a strong impact on our lives. Citizens are being asked to adapt to these changes and acquire new skills needed for future success. But it is not only citizens who must adapt to the new reality; our policies must reflect and respond to the new circumstances as well. In particular, we must reform our social policies, making them more agile, if we are to master the challenges of the 21st century.
A more social Europe leads to a wealthier Europe, the aim being to improve the well-being and welfare of citizens at its core. Strong social policies bring security, stability and opportunities to European citizens. But many Europeans feel uncertain about their prospects and whether their skills will be needed in the future. Europe’s social dimension is founded on enabling and securing for all Europeans a high level of education, adequate social and health services and economic benefits for those in need.
We believe in individual freedom, responsibility, equal opportunity as well as solidarity. We believe that societies are strong when everyone is given opportunities to become the best he or she can be, and that a strong social policy plays an important role in achieving this goal. The European People’s Party wants a Social Market Economy for every EU citizen, in which no one is left behind. Solidarity means helping others when they require help, and social policy must be seen as a testament to our commitment to our citizens, helping citizens to move forward in difficult times. While not everyone begins from the same starting point, we can work together to ensure that everyone has access to, and can attain, success and well-being. We believe that social policies must always encourage, incentivise and empower people to seek and accept employment. Solidarity means helping others when they require help. In order to be able to deliver a better social Europe for our citizens, we must start by reforming and addressing the present gaps.
Investing more in skills and making life-long learning a reality instead of just a mantra should be a top priority for EU countries. All Europeans must have access to high-quality education and training throughout their lives to be able to learn new skills, to improve themselves and raise their standard of living, and ultimately to spur economic growth. This is particularly important in situations where people lose their jobs due, for example, to technological developments. EU citizens deserve to feel secure and confident that a strong social system in Europe will act as a social safety net and help redirect them to better opportunities in case of job loss. Given the rising life expectancy in Europe — which is increasing on average by 2.5 years every 10 years — and the demographic changes in Europe, we call on the Member States to urgently implement necessary structural reforms in order to ensure sustainable social security for all, including solidarity between generations. The Member States have to make sure that all working-age people of both sexes, as well as older people, low-skilled workers, migrants, people with a disability and those from ethnic minorities, can all participate in the future labour market.
The participation of women in the labour market remains more than 10% lower than the participation level for men. An unequal distribution of parenthood-related costs remains one of the main causes. Member States must ensure that parental leave systems treat both parents equally without discriminating against women. Costs related to parenthood should be divided equally, and access to high-quality and affordable childcare must be guaranteed to allow young families to combine both parenthood and career. Career equality between men and women must be a top priority. The gap in this regard can have the disastrous consequence of leaving women impoverished when they retire. The EPP also believes that strong employee protections and rights must be ensured and that we should also push for our values at the global level. Social dialogue is key to balancing competitiveness with fairness, taking into account the diversity of national approaches/policies. At the same time, it is important to increase employment and offer new tools to be able to better react to economic shocks.
Labour mobility allows workers to escape unemployment or to find a better job; it also helps employers to fill labour and skills shortages, generally increasing the efficiency of labour markets. Labour mobility benefits citizens and is of great economic importance for our internal market — and even more so for the Eurozone. It is an essential tool providing flexibility, adjustment and competitiveness. The rate of labour mobility is still very low in the EU. Currently, only about 4% of the labour force works in another EU Member State. We must identify the reasons for this and address them one by one, in order to make mobility more appealing. More needs to be done to tackle barriers; examples of positive solutions include the mutual recognition of qualifications and diplomas, including for language competency, and ending the stigma, for young people in particular, which can be associated with moving abroad for work. We must also ensure the better portability of social security rights and benefits. Finally, the private sector also has an important role to play in encouraging labour mobility. The private sector should offer qualified young people the opportunity to acquire experience through internships across Europe. Mobile labour also requires mobile and just levels of benefits, remuneration, services and rights. It needs a more socially coherent Europe. At the same time, we must find a solution allowing for the pension mobility. It is not acceptable that those who re-locate for work end up in a weaker position than others; rather, such effort must be rewarded.
The ever-increasing pace of technological change and global economic integration will mean that citizens must be willing and able to adapt to changing labour market realities and needs. An individual’s uncertainty over his or her future can only be tackled by offering, as a minimum, equal access to quality education at every stage of a person’s professional career, regardless of education level. Only by guaranteeing quality, life-long learning opportunities can we mitigate the uncertainty caused by technology-induced changes to society/the market. Life-long learning must go from being a mantra to become a mindset and standard practice.
Strong families lead to a strong society. Social policies targeted at families are extremely important for families’ well-being, for improving our employment rate and for mitigating the consequences of demographic change. Family policies must be such that they treat both parents equally and do not discriminate or offer incentives for one or the other to drop out of the labour market. Family policies must also treat different kind of families equally and recognise the particular challenges faced by single-parent families. The world of work is now both more fragmented and more flexible. Family policies will have to follow suit.
We believe that we need everyone’s contribution to society. We cannot all start from the same line, but together we can make sure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential. We must fight discrimination and unfair treatment in society — no matter where it occurs, or by whom.
Wage setting has a big impact on our social, economic and competitiveness policies. Having the ability to adapt and react quickly to change is a key to defending competitiveness and jobs. Therefore, wage setting should be made flexible, transparent and, when reasonable, conducted at the company level. The ability to react quickly to economically difficult situations would especially benefit Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises which employ over two-thirds of all employees in Europe. Social partners must ensure that processes are fair and that government policies reflect the realities of the world of work.
–Urges its Member Parties to promote policies aimed at tackling indirect wage costs.
We must uphold high health and safety standards which protect the well-being of all employees. High standards are a prerequisite for a productive Social Market Economy and a caring society in which no one is left behind. Unfair practices must be staunchly rejected and employees’ rights respected and defended. Carers should be recognised for the central role they play in community and family life.
Re-locating to accept a job in a different Member State represents a far-reaching decision with multiple implications for all aspects of a person’s life. In order to support more people moving to take jobs elsewhere in the EU, more support should be given to mobile labour. According to the European Commission, at present only about 4% of the EU’s labour force work in a Member State other than the one they were born in. Employees should/must not be discriminated against based on their nationality or because of their status as either posted or regular workers. Rules, rights, remuneration and obligations must all be applied equally.
Europe’s social agenda should be directly linked to the European Semester process. The agenda should consolidate the joint analysis and definition of strategies for both the social and economic dimensions of Member States, stressing the need for these criteria to be reconciled.
Social benefits must be such that they always incentivise and encourage people to seek and accept employment. Our continent is undergoing a far-reaching demographic change, leading to a shrinking labour force. We cannot afford to have systems in place which incentivise leaving the labour force. The world of work is changing. Young people, in particular, are facing this new reality already. Technology is making it possible to create jobs where none existed before; but at the same time, it is making the world of work more flexible and uncertain. Asking for flexibility from citizens must be reciprocated by the state’s reforming its benefits systems to match the new challenges citizens face. Inactivity is socially costly for the individual, and we must make sure that societal structures always encourage activity, employment and, social inclusion.
Europe’s pension systems are built on various financing models and societal foundations. With demographic change, we know that dependency ratios are worsening and that future generations will have a bigger burden to carry in order to provide for pensions. We must make sure that pension systems are soundly financed and the burden shared equally between different generations.
Encouraging labour mobility is crucial for the long-term competitiveness of EU Member States and the well-being of EU citizens. A solution must be found at the EU level. We must make sure that mobile labour is not left in limbo or treated unfairly compared to non-mobile labour. It is crucial that mobile workers be offered pension arrangements which do not disadvantage working in different countries. | https://www.epp.eu/papers/more-social-europe-for-a-productive-and-prosperous-continent/ |
The CITTA 14th Annual Conference on Planning Research will debate on how spatial and transport planning theory and practice can help the society to protect itself from the risks of inequality by promoting social justice, well-being, trust, cohesion, and economic growth. The communities of the future should be resilient and connected, at both the urban and the rural scale, where social and spatial divides are addressed through responsive and transformative policies, and transport systems are integrated to promote sustainable, safe, and inclusive mobility. Particularly, we welcome contributions focused on (i) understanding the patterns, values, desires, needs, and behaviours associated with different communities and groups of population, (ii) stimulating community-led initiatives and public participation to assist policy- and decision-making and to ensure the success of these processes, (iii) delivering systematic outcome-driven approaches able to encompass and promote social welfare, trust, and fairness in the resolution of spatial planning and transport problems, and/or (iv) deriving policies and actions to bridge the gaps between innovation and societal changes. Submitted contributions should fall under at least one of the four conference topics.
Submission Guidelines
Abstracts must have a maximum of 250 words and be submitted until 22 April 2022.
Full papers are optional and should be submitted until 30 June 2022.
List of Topics
- Topic 1 - Planning for social and environmental justice
- Topic 2 - Equitable and just urban policies
- Topic 3 - Accessible and inclusive transport systems and mobility services
- Topic 4 - Safe and efficient transport systems
Contact
All questions about submissions should be emailed to [email protected]. | https://easychair.org/cfp/citta2022 |
Canada Research Chairs
We are confronted regularly with evidence of the environmental impacts of energy consumption. Whether it’s air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels, or oil spills in vulnerable coastal areas, or flooding caused by large hydro-electric projects, the environmental impacts of energy are pervasive and severe.
But consumption of energy also brings substantial benefits in terms of increased comfort, mobility, convenience, health and productivity.
The key challenge in developing policies to govern the environmental impacts associated with energy use lies in balancing the costs of such policies with the environmental benefits they bring, in a way that is fair, effective and socially acceptable.
Dr. Nicholas Rivers, Canada Research Chair in Climate and Energy Policy, is developing and using economic models to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of various environmental policies. He is focusing on estimating the costs associated with policies that are designed to reduce Canada’s emissions of greenhouse gases and to promote renewable sources of electricity.
Rivers’ research will help to ensure that policies designed to produce environmental benefits reach their goals and have minimal adverse effects. By addressing the environmental side-effects of energy use, Rivers will be helping governments with one of the 21st century’s key challenges. | https://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/chairholders-titulaires/profile-eng.aspx?profileId=2817 |
Controller Germantown, Tennessee
JOB SUMMARY:
Directs financial activities of the organization. Establishes, or recommends to management, major economic objectives and policies for company. Prepares reports which summarize and forecast company business activity and financial position in areas of income, expenses and earnings based on past, present and expected operations. Responsible for preparation of annual hospital budget. Advises management on desirable operational adjustments due to budget constraints and changes in hospital reimbursement. Supervises preparation of schedules and other documentation for audits of company’s accounts.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Directs and participates in the development of accounting and internal control policies and systems.
- Coordinates and controls the facility’s cash and investment management activities.
- Provides advice and assistance to department heads and managers in analyzing and interpreting financial data and reports and in presenting that information to their departments.
- Defines and communicates new/revised position responsibilities and/or reporting relationships and determines necessary staffing changes.
- Ensures that accurate information is provided on a timely basis and assists, as needed, in facilitating the efficient conduct of external audits, examinations and related financial projects.
- Ensures that a monthly time schedule is established for the processing of computer reports necessary for the preparation of monthly financial statements; implements corrective action as necessary to meet established deadlines.
- Consistently develops a detailed plan of action prior to implementation of a new procedure.
- Regularly examines alternative methods of providing required accounting services in order to reduce departmental operating costs.
- Promotes good staffing practices by maximizing the utilization of human resources; forecasts and anticipates the personnel needs of the department with regard to fluctuations in the projected workload; holds staffing at a functional minimum.
- Consistently demonstrates the ability to establish appropriate departmental priorities.
- Consistently completes all assignment in a timely manner, thorough and appropriately detailed.
- Demonstrates effectiveness in pulling together all the necessary information needed to compare revenue and expenses and determine the facility’s actual financial position.
- Effectively maintains all required records for the department; demonstrates good organizational skills.
- Monitors the implementation of checks and balances which continually evaluate accounting practices, reporting procedures and record keeping.
- Other duties as assigned.
- Bachelors in Business, Healthcare Administration, Accounting, Finance or similar required.
- Prior management experience preferred.
- Excellent computer knowledge.
- Advanced Excel user.
- Excellent knowledge of accounting software packages and spreadsheets.
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Jasmin Rezapour, Stefan Nickels, Alexander Karl-Georg Schuster, Matthias Michal, Thomas Münzel, Philipp Wild, Irene Schmidtmann, Karl Lackner, Andreas Schulz, Norbert Pfeiffer, Manfred Beutel; Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety among Participants with Glaucoma in a European cohort: The Gutenberg Health Study. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2018;59(9):5191.
Purpose : The fear of potential vision loss may result in a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety among glaucoma patients. Objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety among subjects with self-reported glaucoma and the association between glaucoma and both mental diseases in a European cohort.
Methods : A study sample of 14,657 participants aged 35 to 74 years was investigated in a population-based cohort study. All participants reported presence or absence of glaucoma. Ophthalmological examinations were carried out in all participants. Depression was assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and generalized anxiety with the two screening items (GAD-2) of the short form of the GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale). Prevalence of depression and generalized anxiety were investigated for subjects with and without self-reported glaucoma. Logistic regression analyses with depression, resp. anxiety as dependent variable and self-reported glaucoma as independent variable were conducted and adjusted for socio-demographic factors, systemic comorbidities, ocular diseases, visual acuity, intraocular pressure, antiglaucoma eye drops and general health status.
Results : 293 participants (49.5% female) reported having glaucoma. Prevalence of depression among participants with and without self-reported glaucoma was 6.6% (95%-CI 4.1-10.3) resp. 7.7% (95%-CI 7.3-8.2), and for anxiety 5.3% (95%-CI 3.1-8.7) resp. 6.6% (95%-CI 6.2-7.1). Glaucoma was not associated with depression (Odds ratio 1.10, 95%-CI 0.50-2.38, p=0.80) or anxiety (1.48, 95%-CI 0.63-3.30, p=0.35) after adjustment for socio-demographic factors, ocular/systemic diseases, ocular parameters, antiglaucoma drugs and general health status. A restriction to self-reported glaucoma cases either taking topical antiglaucoma medications or having a history of glaucoma surgery did not alter the results.
Conclusions : This is the first study analyzing both depression and anxiety among glaucoma patients in a European cohort. Subjects with self-reported glaucoma did not have a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety. A lack of a burden of depressive symptoms and severe glaucoma cases may result from recruitment from a population-based sample as compared to previous study groups predominantly recruited from tertiary care hospitals. | https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2694172 |
Adherence to and engagement with treatment is a complex and multifaceted issue encountered throughout many medical and helping professions, particularly in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. Adherence to treatment/service engagement is especially an issue in the treatment of serious mental illnesses; studies have shown that up to 80% of individuals do not adhere to their treatment (Tait et al., 2003). This study investigated if cognitive insight, as measured by the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale ([BCIS] Beck et al., 2004), and clinical insight are related to the recovery concepts of hope and self-stigma as well as symptomatology in predicting treatment adherence/service engagement in a sample of individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness. The sample consisted of volunteers under treatment in outpatient facilities utilizing the Assertive Community Treatment model. Data was collected from 35 participants from two different ACT team treatment sites. Initial T-tests showed that there was a significant difference between the sex of participants t(33) = 2.276, p = .029 and treatment site of participants t(33) = -2.453, p = .020 in regard to scores on the dependent variable measure, a self-designed service engagement scale. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to test whether the independent variables of cognitive insight as measured by the Self-Reflectiveness and Self- Certainty subscales of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, i.e., clinical insight, hope, four factors of self-stigma (aware, agree, apply, and hurts self), and symptomatology, could significantly predict the dependent variable of service engagement/adherence. Model 1 of the regression (site and sex) was found to be significant (p = .011), but model 2 (predictor variables) was found not to be significant (p = .122). Scores from the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale Self-Reflectiveness subscale were positively correlated at the .01 level of significance with scores on the Insight Scale (r = .544), providing further evidence of the construct validity of the BCISR. No significant relationship was found between the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale Self-Certainty subscale and the Birchwood Insight Scale as predicted. Several correlations were found between variables. Small sample size and lack of an accurate measure to gauge service engagement were identified as the greatest limitations of the study. Areas of future research on the constructs of insight, hope, self-stigma, and treatment adherence/service engagement are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Boyle, Patrick D., "The Role of Cognitive Insight, Hope, Self-Stigma, and Symptomatology in Predicting Treatment Engagement in Individuals Diagnosed with Serious Mental Illnesses" (2012). PCOM Psychology Dissertations. 222. | https://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/psychology_dissertations/222/ |
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Abnormal Psychology
The scientific study of abnormal behavior in an effort to describe,
predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning.
culture
A people's common history, values, institutions, habits, skills, technology, and arts.
norms
A society's stated and unstated rules for proper conduct.
Deviance
Variance from common patterns of behavior.
treatment
A procedure designed to help change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior. Also called therapy.
trephination
An ancient operation in which a stone instrument was used to cut away a
circular section of the skull, perhaps to treat abnormal behavior.
humors
According to the Greeks and Romans, bodily chemicals that influence mental and physical functioning.
asylum
A type of institution that first became popular in the sixteenth century
to provide care for persons with mental disorders. Most became virtual
prisons.
moral treatment
A nineteenth-century approach to treating people with mental
dysfunction that emphasized moral guidance and humane and respectful
treatment.
state hospitals
Public mental institutions in the United States, run by the individual states
somatogenic perspective
The view that abnormal psychological functioning has physical causes
psychogenic perspective
The view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological.
general paresis
An irreversible medical disorder whose symptoms include psychological
abnormalities, such as delusions of grandeur; caused by syphilis.
hypnosis
A sleeplike suggestible state during which a person can
be directed to act in unusual ways, to experience unusual sensations,
to remember seemingly forgotten events, or to forget remembered events.
psychoanalysis
Either the theory or the treatment of abnormal mental functioning that
emphasizes unconscious psychological forces as the cause of
psychopathology.
Deinstitutionalization
The discharge, begun during the 1960s, of
large numbers of patients from long-term institutional care so that
they might be treated in community programs.
Positive psychology:
The study and enhancement of positive feelings, traits, and abilities.
Multicultural psychology:
The field of psychology that examines
the impact of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and similar factors on
our behaviors and thoughts and focuses on how such factors may influence
the origin, nature, and treatment of abnormal behavior.
Managed care program:
An insurance program in which the insurance company decides the cost, method, provider, and length of treatment
Scientific method:
The process of systematically gathering and
evaluating information through careful observations to gain an
understanding of a phenomenon.
Case study:
A detailed account of a person’s life and psychological problems.
Correlational method:
A research procedure used to determine how much events or characteristics vary along with each other.
Epidemiological study:
A study that measures the incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a given population.
Prevalence:
The total number of cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.
includes both existing and new cases
Longitudinal study:
A study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time.
Experiment:
A research procedure in which a variable is manipulated and the effect of the manipulation is observed.
Independent variable:
The variable in an experiment that is manipulated to determine whether it has an effect on another variable.
Dependent variable:
The variable in an experiment that is expected to change as the independent variable is manipulated.
Confound:
In an experiment, a variable other than the independent variable that is also acting on the dependent variable.
Control group:
In an experiment, a group of participants who are not exposed to the independent variable.
Experimental group:
In an experiment, the participants who are exposed to the independent variable under investigation.
Random assignment:
A selection procedure that ensures that
participants are randomly placed either in the control group or in the
experimental group.
Blind design:
An experiment in which participants do not know whether they are in the experimental or the control condition.
Double-blind design:
Experimental procedure in which neither the
participant nor the experimenter knows whether the participant has
received the experimental treatment or a placebo.
Quasi-experiment:
An experiment in which investigators make use
of control and experimental groups that already exist in the world at
large. Also called a mixed design.
example
: using pre-existing child abuse victims
Natural experiment:
An experiment in which nature, rather than an experimenter, manipulates an independent variable.
Analogue experiment:
A research method in which the experimenter
produces abnormal-like behavior in laboratory participants and then
conducts experiments on the participants.
example
: exposing participants to negative events such as shocks or loud noises task failurs (learned helplessness)
Single-subject experimental design:
A research method in which a
single participant is observed and measured both before and after the
manipulation of an independent variable.
Incidence:
The number of new cases of a disorder occurring in a population over a specific period of time.
distress
behavior, ideas or emotions that cause stress
dysfunction
interferes with daily functioning.
it so upsets, distracts or confuses people that they cannot care for themselves properly
danger
behavior, thoughts and ideas that cause harm to the patient or others.
Endocrine system:
The system of glands located throughout the body that help control important activities such as growth and sexual activity.
Psychotropic medications:
Drugs that mainly affect the brain and reduce many symptoms of mental dysfunctioning.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT):
A treatment for depression in
which electrodes attached to a patient’s head send an electrical current
through the brain, causing a seizure.
Unconscious:
The deeply hidden mass of memories, experiences, and impulses that is viewed in Freudian theory as the source of much behavior.
Id:
According to Freud, the psychological force that produces instinctual needs, drives, and impulses.
Ego:
According to Freud, the psychological force that employs reason and operates in accordance with the reality principle.
Ego defense mechanisms:
According to psychoanalytic theory,
strategies developed by the ego to control unacceptable id impulses and
to avoid or reduce the anxiety they arouse.
Superego:
According to Freud, the psychological force that represents a person’s values and ideals.
Fixation:
According to Freud, a condition in which the id, ego,
and superego do not mature properly and are frozen at an early stage of
development.
Ego theory:
The psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the ego and considers it an independent force.
Self theory:
The psychodynamic theory that emphasizes the role of the self—a person’s unified personality.
Object relations theory:
The psychodynamic theory that views the desire for relationships as the key motivating force in human behavior.
Free association:
A psychodynamic technique in which the patient
describes any thought, feeling, or image that comes to mind, even if it
seems unimportant.
Resistance:
An unconscious refusal to participate fully in therapy.
Transference:
According to psychodynamic theorists, the
redirection toward the psychotherapist of feelings associated with
important figures in a patient’s life, now or in the past.
Catharsis:
The reliving of past repressed feelings in order to settle internal conflicts and overcome problems.
Working through:
The psychoanalytic process of facing conflicts, reinterpreting feelings, and overcoming one’s problems.
Relational psychoanalytic therapy:
A form of psychodynamic
therapy that considers therapists to be active participants in the
formation of patients’ feelings and reactions and therefore calls for
therapists to disclose their own experiences and feelings in discussions
with patients.
Conditioning:
A simple form of learning.
Operant conditioning:
A process of learning in which behavior that leads to satisfying consequences is likely to be repeated.
Modeling:
A process of learning in which an individual acquires responses by observing and imitating others.
Classical conditioning:
A process of learning in which two events
that repeatedly occur close together in time become tied together in a
person’s mind and so produce the same response.
Systematic desensitization:
A behavioral treatment that uses
relaxation training and a fear hierarchy to help clients with phobias
react calmly to the objects or situations they dread.
Self-efficacy:
The judgment that one can master and perform needed behaviors whenever necessary.
Client-centered therapy:
The humanistic therapy developed by Carl
Rogers in which clinicians try to help clients by being accepting,
empathizing accurately, and conveying genuineness.
Gestalt therapy:
The humanistic therapy developed by Fritz Perls
in which clinicians actively move clients toward self-recognition and
self-acceptance by using techniques such as role playing and
self-discovery exercises.
Existential therapy:
A therapy that encourages clients to accept responsibility for their lives and to live with greater meaning and value.
Family systems theory:
A theory that views the family as a system
of interacting parts whose interactions exhibit consistent patterns and
unstated rules.
Group therapy:
A therapy format in which a group of people with similar problems meet together with a therapist to work on those problems.
Self-help group:
A group made up of people with similar problems
who help and support one another without the direct leadership of a
clinician. Also called a mutual help group.
Family therapy:
A therapy format in which the therapist meets with all members of a family and helps them to change in therapeutic ways.
Couple therapy:
A therapy format in which the therapist works with two people who share a long-term relationship.
Multicultural perspective:
The view that each culture within a
larger society has a particular set of values and beliefs, as well as
special external pressures, that help account for the behavior and
functioning of its members. Also called culturally diverse perspective.
Culture-sensitive therapies:
Approaches that seek to address the unique issues faced by members of minority groups.
Gender-sensitive therapies:
Approaches geared to the pressures of being a woman in Western society. Also called feminist therapies. | https://freezingblue.com/flashcards/283647/preview/abnormal-psychology |
Planning and Design Analysis Grid
Your Learning Team has been assigned two articles to analyze for assignments in Weeks Three and Four. One article is a qualitative research study, and the other is a quantitative research study. Identify which article is which, and then complete the table where applicable. Write no more than three sentences in each cell of the table.
| Qualitative | Quantitative |
Articles | Living with unexplained chest pain | Predictors of vascular complications post diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization and Percutaneous Coronary interventions |
Research question | How patients experience unexplained chest pain and how it affects their everyday life? | How to ...view middle of the document...
176). In this study, the independent variable is the patient’s breathing status whether they have dyspnea or breathlessness as well as the patient’s mental status such as anxiety and depression. | In this study the independent variables are the patient’s age, sex, health status, comorbidities, type of procedure, use of venous sheaths and closure devices. |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable is “the outcome or response that the researcher wants to predict or explain” (Burns & Grove, 2011, p.176). In this study, the dependent variable is the chest pain and the patient’s pain experience and its effect on their everyday life. | In this study the dependent variable are the vascular complications that occur post diagnostic cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary interventions. |
Population | The population for this study was 19 people (11 men and 8 women) admitted to the emergency department with chest pain. | The population for this study included 11,119 patients who underwent cardiac catheterization and/or percutaneous intervention with femoral artery access, in the years 2001-2003. |
Setting | Emergency department at a university hospital in western Sweden over a 3 month period. | Since this was a retrospective study, data from the records of patients were retrieved from the Clinical Automated Office Solutions database. |
Sampling method | A quantitative method was used for this study via interview. The questions were the open ended, and then tape recorded. The descriptions were carefully transcribed put into categories in order to become measureable data. The purpose was to get a better understanding of the patients’ experience of the unexplained chest pain. | Convenience sample |
Practice application | Patients are not receiving optimum health care regarding their condition, so it is best to know how to treat disease with the nurses with specialized training. | The study is done on two different types of patients. One was on a female in her 30’s with and the other one was a male in his 30’s. Both had underlying chronic diseases. |
Theoretical framework | As theoretical framework is a theory that has a collection of multiple ideas that inter-related, we are therefore looking for what things to measure, and what statistical ideas or facts to look for. In this article, we are looking different aspects of the chest pain among the sample group. Age, duration, at rest, on exertion, and most importantly the way that study was conducted. In this case, interviews, whether telephonic or personal. N=19, 11 males, and 8 females. | In this study the framework is was a convenience sample of n= 11,119 between the years of 2001-2003. Age more than 21, had a femoral artery percutaneous... | https://www.snipperoo.com/essay/analysis-grid |
Gracie Little July 24, 2020 Anatomy
The skeleton also protects several vital organs such as the heart, lungs and the liver. Bones are attached to other bones through ligaments, a fibrous connective tissue.
The use of the microscope in discovering minute, previously unknown features was pursued on a more systematic basis in the 18th century, but progress tended to be slow until technical improvements in the compound microscope itself, beginning in the 1830s with the gradual development of achromatic lenses, greatly increased that instrument’s resolving power. These technical advances enabled Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann to recognize in 1838–39 that the cell is the fundamental unit of organization in all living things.
Even to this day, scientists are newly discovering organs that were previously overlooked or have been mistakenly identified as other existing tissues. In 2018, scientists had discovered a new, body-wide organ called the Interstitium that exists right under the skin.
Human anatomy is the scientific study of the body’s structures. Some of these structures are very small and can only be observed and analyzed with the assistance of a microscope. Other larger structures can readily be seen, manipulated, measured, and weighed. The word “anatomy” comes from a Greek root that means “to cut apart.” Human anatomy was first studied by observing the exterior of the body and observing the wounds of soldiers and other injuries. Later, physicians were allowed to dissect bodies of the dead to augment their knowledge.
It is referred to the physical, mechanical, and biochemical function of humans. This connects health, medicine, and science in a way that studies how the human body acquaints itself to physical activity, stress, and diseases.
Comparative anatomy, the other major subdivision of the field, compares similar body structures in different species of animals in order to understand the adaptive changes they have undergone in the course of evolution.
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Biological Anthropology is the branch of Anthropology that considers humans as biological organisms. As the name indicates, it studies the biological and physical characteristics of humans. Biological Anthropology starts with the study of the origin and evolution of humans and analyses their diversity. It also examines the bio-social adaptation of different human populations living in different geographical and ecological settings. The knowledge of different branches of Biological Anthropology will help us to examine how it deals with human evolution and variation.
Paul Broca defines Biological Anthropology as “the science whose objective is the study of humanity considered as a whole in its parts and in relationship to the rest of nature”.
Meaning and Scope of Biological Anthropology
Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, studies the biological characteristics of humans. Biological anthropology deals with the study of the biological origin, evolution, and variation of human beings. It is interested in the comparative study of the past, present and future of human life from a biological point of view. It also analyses the biological adaptation of different human populations living in different geographical and ecological zones. Biological anthropology looks for scientific evidence in its analysis and references. In the process, it uses some of the general principles of biology and utilizes the findings of anatomy, physiology, embryology, zoology, paleontology, etc.
For a systematic study of this kind, there are many fields of specialization within biological anthropology as the following:
· Paleoanthropology
· Primatology
· Human Genetics
· Forensic Anthropology
· Serology
· Dermatoglyphics
· Anthropometry and Craniometry
· Paleopathology
· Bio-archaeology
· Neuro-Anthropology
· Biomedical Anthropology
Anthropology optional
Let us take a brief look into these specialized areas of biological anthropology before proceeding further.
Paleoanthropology earlier known as human paleontology is the study of human origin and evolution, particularly as inscribed in the fossil record. Palaeo anthropologists are interested in reconstructing the evolutionary stages of humans, based on fossil evidence. They work with archaeologists, and geologists, in unearthing fossil remains from many parts of the world. The knowledge of osteology helps them to examine, measure, and reconstruct these remains to understand the course of human evolution and identify the possible lines of descent from our ancestors to the present form, Homo sapiens.
Human Paleontology or Paleoanthropology: Human Paleontology studies the fossil evidence of human skeletons of different stages and thereby reconstructs the evolutionary history of humans. This helps in the classification and comparison of the fossils of different stages to determine the link between modern humans and their ancestors.
Primatology is the study of living and extinct primates. Primates include humans, apes, monkeys, and prosimians. Different stages of human evolution can be understood by analyzing the fossil evidence of the primates. Human paleontology helps us in this regard. Any study of human evolution requires an understanding of the members of primates.
Primatology is the study of primates, the group to which prosimians, apes, monkeys, and humans belong. It focuses on how the behavior of non-human primates is similar to that of humans. The anatomy of non-human primates especially monkeys and apes has been studied to ascertain the similarities and differences between these primates and humans.
This type of study helps to trace the evolutionary relationship between human and non-human primates because of the remarkable similarities between monkeys, apes, and humans.
Human Genetics:
Human genetics is the branch of biological anthropology that deals with inheritance and variation. It is the study of gene structure and action and the patterns of inheritance of traits from parents to offspring. To understand how evolution works, it is important to know the mechanisms of heredity.
Forensic Anthropology
Morphological and genetic variations among humans help biological anthropologists to identify individuals, criminals, victims of misshapes and natural calamities etc. The branch of anthropology specialized in such an area is called Forensic Anthropology. It deals with legal matters from an anthropological perspective. It is the application of osteology, paleopathology, archaeology, and other anthropological techniques for the identification of modern human remains or the reconstruction of events surrounding a person’s death and for legal purposes.
Serology: It is a scientific study of blood groups. It studies plasma serum and other red cell enzymes. In practice, the term usually denotes the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum. Serological tests are also used forensically, particularly concerning a piece of evidence.
Dermatoglyphics is the study of skin ridges on fingers palms, toes, and soles. Fingerprint patterns are not only used in Forensic investigation but also in genetics to know the variation between two populations.
Anthropometry is the systematic art/study of taking measurements of skeletons and living human beings.
Craniometry is the sub-branch of anthropometry that deals with the measurement of craniums. | https://buddiesbuzz.com/biological-anthropology-physical-anthropology-anthropology-paper-i/ |
4 edition of Growth of the facial skeleton in the hominoidea found in the catalog.
Published
1974
by Academic Press in London [etc.]
.
Written in English
Edition Notes
|Statement||by W.J. Moore and C.L.B. Lavelle.|
|Contributions||Lavelle, Christopher L. B.|
|ID Numbers|
|Open Library||OL21124163M|
|ISBN 10||0125056508|
Up until the s, paleoanthropologists generally followed the taxonomic system developed by the 18th-century scientist Carl Linnaeus, when they spoke of the various species of Darwin, the family of Hominoids devised by scholars by the middle of the 20th century included two subfamilies: the subfamily of Hominids (humans and their ancestors) and that of . The pattern of facial skeletal growth and its relationship to various common indexes of maturation. Mellion ZJ(1), Behrents RG, Johnston LE Jr. Author information: (1)Center for Advanced Dental Education, Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO, by:
Vertebrate Life, 10th Edition blends information about anatomy, physiology, ecology, and behavior to present vertebrates within an evolutionary ng and readable, the 10th edition features full color throughout with completely new photographs and line art. Important advances in vertebrate biology are highlighted, including the increasing influence of molecular phylogenies, insights Price: $ A scientist finds several hundred fish fossils in the desert. This evidence best supports which of the following scientific ideas? fish were left by predatory animals. fish evolved limbs for land movement. area was once covered in water. area was once covered by a glacier.
the hominoidea superfamily includes. Hominoidea - Encyclopedia English-English translation for member of the superfamily Hominoidea, member of the family of primates which includes human beings and the great apes (Anthropology), of human. collective noun of apes - True Knowledge Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, which includes humans. Nine milestone discoveries representing a timeline of, and the diversity in, human lineage. Set of 9 fossil hominid skulls includes 3 Homo specimens (habilis, erectus, neanderthalensis, ergaster), 4 Australopithecines (2 africanus and a boisei), and a Kenyanthropus. For more detailed information on each specimen, please see its page (link below).
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[Republican presidential campaign of 1944 pamphlets].
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Analog computation in engineering design
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The rise of the common man, 1830-1850.
Additional Physical Format: Online version: Moore, W.J. (William James). Growth of the facial skeleton in the Hominoidea. London ; New York: Academic Press, Growth of the Facial Skeleton in the Hominoidea Hardcover – by C.L.B. Moore, W.J.; Lavelle (Author) See all 2 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions.
Price New from Used from Hardcover "Please retry" Author: C.L.B. Moore, W.J.; Lavelle. Lindsey Mork, Gage Crump, in Current Topics in Developmental Biology, Visualizing Morphogenesis and Signaling in Real-Time. Each element of the facial skeleton has a unique three-dimensional shape and position within the skull.
How cells in nascent skeletal elements coordinate with each other to attain these precise shapes is a long-standing question that is still far from being. Apes (Hominoidea) are a branch of Old World tailless simians native to Africa and Southeast are the sister group of the Old World monkeys, together forming the catarrhine are distinguished from other primates by a wider degree of freedom of motion at the shoulder joint as evolved by the influence of traditional and non-scientific use, the term "ape" excludes Class: Mammalia.
Moore WJ, Lavelle C () Growth of the facial skeleton in the hominoidea. Academic Press, London Google Scholar Moss ML () The role of nasal septal cartilage in mid-facil : W.
Pirsig. area, the facial skeleton. The results demonstrate that the extant superfamilies Cercopi- thecoidea and Hominoidea are well differentiated by facial synapomorphies, and that. The evolutionary relationship between the base and face of the cranium is a major topic of interest in primatology.
Such areas of the skull possibly respond to different selective pressures. Apes (Hominoidea) are a group of primates that includes 22 species. Apes, also referred to as hominoids, include chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons. Although humans are classified within the Hominoidea, the term ape is not applied to humans Author: Laura Klappenbach.
The hominids are members of the biological family Hominidae (the great apes).This includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. " Great ape" is a common name rather than a taxonomic label and there are differences in usage.
Sometimes it seems to exclude humans ("humans and the great apes"); at other times it includes them ("humans and non-human great apes").Class: Mammalia.
In Dr. Leonard Fishman (Fishman LS, ), developed a non-invasive technique to examine the diagnostic value of skeletal age as opposed to chronological age in evaluating an orthodontic patient’s progression of skeletal and facial growth.
The system uses the evaluation of hand-wrist radiographs, in six specific locations (orange circles). Hominoidea (order Primates, suborder Simiiformes) A superfamily that comprises the Hylobatidae (gibbons), Pongidae (great apes), and Hominidae (humans).
The latter two families are believed to be descended from a common stock of ‘great apes’ which diverged to form distinct Asian and African lines, the African line dividing again 4–6 million years ago into the African apes and the hominids.
The new fossil skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, nicknamed Ardi, fills a large gap before the Lucy skeleton, Australopithecus afarensis, but after the hominid line split from the line that led to.
Unlike the facial skeleton, the cranial base grows rapidly in early postnatal life, reaching 90% of its final size by 4 to 5 years of age.`,' For this reason, the cranial base is considered a satisfactory reference for cephalometric superimpositions From the Universityof Pennsylvania School of Dental by: Hominoidea synonyms, Hominoidea pronunciation, Hominoidea translation, English dictionary definition of Hominoidea.
Noun 1. Hominoidea - anthropoid apes and human beings superfamily Hominoidea Anthropoidea, suborder Anthropoidea - monkeys; apes; hominids hominoid - a. Growth of the Facial Skeleton in the Hominoidea / W.
Moore / Introduction to Abstract Algebra / J. Moore / A First Course in Linear Algebra with Applications: With Applications / Adil Yaqub (Editor) / Start studying physical anthropology hominoidea. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Summary. In the present work we suggest that the laryngeal descent in the neck during hominization is not per se evidence of an early specific selective pressure on speech production, but can be explained as a morphofunctional consequence of the various splanchno- and neuro-cranial rearrangements caused by an extreme prefrontal cortex size increase during by: 4.
Define hominoid. hominoid synonyms, hominoid pronunciation, hominoid translation, English dictionary definition of hominoid. adj. Of or belonging to the superfamily Hominoidea, which consists of the lesser apes and the great apes including humans.
Resembling a human. Australopithecus sediba: A New Species of Homo-Like Australopith from South Africa Lee R. Berger,1,2* Darryl J. de Ruiter,3,1 Steven E. Churchill,4,1 Peter Schmid,5,1 Kristian J. Carlson,1,6 Paul H. Dirks,2,7 Job M. Kibii1 Despite a rich African Plio-Pleistocene hominin fossil File Size: KB.
Hominoidea: 1 n anthropoid apes and human beings Synonyms: superfamily Hominoidea Type of: class (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more orders. Morotopithecus: M. bishopi Gebo et al., Phylogeny: Hominoidea: Proconsul + ((Kenyapithecus + (Hylobatidae + Hominidae)) + *) Range: Early Miocene of Moroto, Uganda Comments: According to Filler (and link) the fiist ape to walk upright (gorillas and chimps secondarily reverting to knuklewalking) Morphological parsimony analyses show Morotopithecus to be more derived than Proconsul.Hominoidea Phylogeny Molecular evidence supports a monophyletic groups with a long period of shared common ancestry.
Humans and apes thus have many similarities in morphology, genetics, mannerisms.Australopithecus afarensis (Latin: "Southern ape from Afar") is an extinct hominin that lived between and million years ago in Africa.
A. afarensis was slenderly built, like the younger Australopithecus africanus. A. afarensis is thought to be more closely related to the genus Homo (which includes the modern human species Homo sapiens), whether as a direct ancestor or a close relative Family: Hominidae. | https://bukavokemalifa.cie-du-scenographe.com/growth-of-the-facial-skeleton-in-the-hominoidea-book-410ee.php |
Giana Munoz July 1, 2020 Anatomy
Humans have evolved separately from other animals, but since we share a distant common ancestor, we mostly have a body plan that is similar to other organisms, with just the muscles and bones in different proportions.
The list of human body parts vary as the standard definition of an organ is still up for debate. However, there are an estimated 79 organs identified to date. We also possess organs that have “lost” their function throughout our evolution. Such organs are called vestigial organs.
One of the most prominent characteristic features is the ability to use our hands, especially for tasks that require dexterity, such as writing, opening a bottle of water, opening a doorknob, etc.
In 1998 this work was supplanted by the Terminologia Anatomica, which recognizes about 7,500 terms describing macroscopic structures of human anatomy and is considered to be the international standard on human anatomical nomenclature. The Terminologia Anatomica, produced by the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (later known as the Federative International Programme on Anatomical Terminologies), was made available online in 2011.
Muscles are specialised tissues which assist the bones in locomotion. Muscles are attached to the bones through tendons. Movement of limbs happens due to the contraction and relaxation of corresponding muscles present in that region. Joints help in the flexibility of bones, but a bone cannot be bent or stretched until a muscle acts on it. In other words, the muscles attached to that bone pulls it to the direction of movement.
Even to this day, scientists are newly discovering organs that were previously overlooked or have been mistakenly identified as other existing tissues. In 2018, scientists had discovered a new, body-wide organ called the Interstitium that exists right under the skin.
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The choice of an appropriate comparative strategy is critical for appropriate testing of adaptive hypotheses. Two major comparative methods can be employed to show evidence of adaptation (Brooks & McLennan, 1991): (a) comparing traits associated with an ecological role in closely related species that have diverged ecologically and (b) comparing traits associated with an ecological role in distantly related species that have converged on similar ecologies. While the first comparative method is frequently employed to understand associations between anatomy and behavior among primates (Daegling, 1992; Fleagle, 1977a,b, 1979; Fleagle and Meldrum, 1988; Rodman, 1979; Ward and Sussman, 1979), the second one is less commonly used by physical anthropologists. There are exceptions, such as Erikson's (1963) study showing similarities in forelimb morphology between Ateles and Hylobates associated with suspensory locomotion and posture, or Cartmill's (1974c) study pointing out similarities in skull and digit morphology between Daubentonia and Dactylopsila associated with grub extraction from tree bark. The convergent evolution of similar traits in similar environments in distantly related lineages has been argued as one of the strongest sources of evidence for adaptation (Brooks and McLennan, 1991; Biewener, 2002; Larson and Losos, 1996; Vogel, 1998). Such comparative strategy is especially well suited to understand the adaptive significance of traits linked with the origin of primates.
Since prehensile hands and feet are most likely to have characterized the last common ancestor of all primates, a comparison aiming to test the functional link between the presence of more grasping extremities and fine-branch arborealism within primates only is inappropriate. Instead, distantly related mammals that have converged on similar fine-branch niches need to be considered. In doing so, a stronger adaptive model that is general enough to explain the presence of prehensile hands and feet in all mammals inhabiting fine-branch habitats can be built. In the following section, we present the results of morphometric analyses and behavioral observations in laboratory conditions using both comparative methods described earlier: (a) comparisons within a closely related group of mammals that is ecologically diverse; in this case, five species of didelphid marsupials and (b) comparisons between two distantly related groups of mammals that have converged ecologically; in this case, some didelphid marsupials and cheirogaleid primates. | https://www.fossilhunters.xyz/placental-mammals/convergence-between-opossums-and-primates-comparative-studies.html |
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