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Dominance in any sector prevents minority voices from being heard. Challenging dominance can be vulnerable, especially if the challenger identifies as part of a minority group. Marginalisation and silencing of issues pertaining to the gay community have long been the accepted norm in the education sector (Lee & Duncan, 2008; Robinson 2002). Furthermore, being an openly gay person in a teaching environment has proven challenging, mainly due to the dominance and acceptance of the heterosexual construct (DeJean, 2010a; Jarvis & Sandretto, 2010; McKenzie-Bassant, 2007; Sumara, 2008). The experiences of four lesbian teachers located in urban Aotearoa New Zealand and how they challenged heteronormativity in their early childhood education (ECE) settings was the focus for this research. Heteronormativity was one barrier which prevented teachers speaking about lesbian and gay topics. As a result of this barrier, acceptance of lesbian and gay issues is still a contentious issue within Aotearoa New Zealand ECE settings. A feminist poststructuralist and queer theory paradigm was used to frame the analytical approach. Data was gathered using individual interviews and a focus group. Strategies that participants used to challenge heteronormative dominance were examined. Although the participants did disrupt and challenge the dominance of heteronormativity, this was not without challenges or discomfort. The findings indicate that a collective approach from all teachers to challenge heteronormativity would benefit both peers and children. This collective approach would enable lesbian and gay teachers to be better able to be authentically engaged teachers.

BACKGROUND. Mutational inactivation in cancer of key apoptotic pathway components, such as TP53/p53, undermines cytotoxic therapies that aim to increase apoptosis. Accordingly, TP53 mutations are reproducibly associated with poor treatment outcomes. Moreover, cytotoxic treatments destroy normal stem cells with intact p53 systems, a problem especially for myeloid neoplasms, as these cells reverse the low blood counts that cause morbidity and death. Preclinical studies suggest that noncytotoxic concentrations of the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) inhibitor decitabine produce p53-independent cellcycle exits by reversing aberrant epigenetic repression of proliferation-terminating (MYC-antagonizing) differentiation genes in cancer cells. METHODS. In this clinical trial, patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 25) received reduced decitabine dosages (0.1-0.2 mg/kg/day compared with the FDA-approved 20-45 mg/[m.sup.2]/day dosage, a 75%-90% reduction) to avoid cytotoxicity. These well-tolerated doses were frequently administered 1-3 days per week, instead of pulse cycled for 3 to 5 days over a 4- to 6-week period, to increase the probability that cancer S-phase entries would coincide with drug exposure, which is required for S-phase-dependent DNMT1 depletion. RESULTS. The median subject age was 73 years (range, 46-85 years), 9 subjects had relapsed disease or were refractory to 5-azacytidine and/or lenalidomide, and 3 had received intensive chemoradiation to treat other cancers. Adverse events were related to neutropenia present at baseline: neutropenic fever (13 of 25 subjects) and septic death (1 of 25 subjects). Blood count improvements meeting the International Working Group criteria for response occurred in 11 of 25 (44%) subjects and were highly durable. Treatment-induced freedom from transfusion lasted a median of 1,025 days (range, 186-1,152 days; 3 ongoing), and 20% of subjects were treated for more than 3 years. Mutations and/or deletions of key apoptosis genes were frequent (present in 55% of responders and in 36% of nonresponders). Noncytotoxic DNMT1 depletion was confirmed by serial BM γ-H2AX (DNA repair/damage marker) and DNMT1 analyses. MYC master oncoprotein levels were markedly decreased. CONCLUSION. Decitabine regimens can be redesigned to minimize cytotoxicity and increase exposure time for DNMT1 depletion, to safely and effectively circumvent mutational apoptotic defects. TRIAL REGISTRATION. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01165996. FUNDING. NIH (R01CA138858, CA043703); Department of Defense (PR081404); Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) (UL1RR024989); and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (Translational Research Program)., Introduction Although conventional cytotoxic treatments for myeloid cancers can have differing proximal actions, e.g., topoisomerase inhibition (daunorubicin) or termination of DNA chain synthesis (cytarabine), a final common pathway converges onto [...]

Reports on sources of lead contamination in the environment of children. Proposes some solutions and presents statistics that relate poverty and lead contamination. (DDR)

We examined postprandial changes in circulating growth hormone (GH), insulin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) in yearling coho salmon under different feeding regimes. Fish were initially fasted for 1 day, 1 wk, or 3 wk. Fasted fish were then fed, and blood was collected at 4-h intervals over 26 h. After the various periods of fasting, basal levels of insulin were relatively constant, whereas those of IGF-I, IGFBPs and GH changed in proportion to the duration of the fast. A single meal caused a rapid, large increase in the circulating insulin levels, but the degree of the increase was influenced by the fasting period. IGF-I showed a moderate increase 2 h after the meal but only in the regularly fed fish. Plasma levels of 41-kDa IGFBP were increased in all groups within 6 h after the single meal. The fasting period did not influence the response of 41-kDa IGFBP to the meal. IGFBP-1 and GH decreased after the meal to the same extent among groups regardless of the fasting period. The present study shows that insulin and IGF-I respond differently to long (weeks)- and short (hours)-term nutritional changes in salmon; insulin maintains its basal level but changes acutely in response to food intake, whereas IGF-I adjusts its basal levels to the long-term nutritional status and is less responsive to acute nutritional input. IGFBPs maintain their sensitivity to food intake, even after prolonged fasting, suggesting their critical role in the nutritional regulation of salmon growth. fasting; refeeding; growth; metabolism

Abstract: An experiment was performed to determine the relative effects of photoperiod at emergence and growth rate on smolting pattern and early male maturation rate in Sacramento River (California, USA) [...]

The investigations into the tragedies exposed flaws in systems with fragmented responsibility, unenforceable guidelines, downloaded infrastructure costs, and deregulated and/or privatized monitoring programs. May 2000: In Walkerton, Ontario, tap water […]

LAST WINTER at an Ardene store, I paid ten dollars to buy five necklaces, all of them containing exceptionally dangerous levels of lead. Ardene is a chain of stores found […]

WHEN the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously decided in June of 2001 that the small community of Hudson, Quebec, had the legal power to ban pesticide use, community activists from […]