Mourning for Companion Animals in Digital Space: A Discursive Framework of Pathemisation

Meat safety and disease surveillance are highly dependent on effective ante- and postmortem examination of meat at local abattoirs/slaughter slabs. In view of cases of emerging and re-emerging disease outbreaks of public health significance, it is important to use participatory epidemiology as a tool to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of animal presentation for ante-mortem and post-mortem evaluation using a local abattoir in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria as a case study. 90 Questionnaires were distributed and informal interviews held with stakeholders (animal owners, butchers, livestock department personnel and veterinary officers attached to the abattoir). Information gathered include; factors affecting the presentation of animals for inspection at the abattoir, attitude of animal owners and butchers to meat inspection, willingness and compliance of butchers during meat inspection, level of the butchers' knowledge of the importance of meat inspection and degree of access of the Veterinary officer-in-charge to all slaughtered animals. Result show that market demand, economic pressure and lack of understanding influence animal owners' and butchers' cooperation in meat inspection. Over 90 % of stakeholders understood the importance of meat inspection but more than 60% of animal owners and up to 40% of butchers feel they are uninformed about meat inspection. Incidentally almost 80 % of stakeholders do not blame the government for failures in the programme. Veterinary and other livestock department personnel are not as motivated and empowered to effectively execute their duties. There is need for increased education among stakeholders on the importance of meat inspection as well as prompt payment of compensations and more legal backing from government to promote the programme in the state and indeed in the country.

HIV-positive mothers in Viet Nam: using their status to build support groups and access essential services

Transitioning from clinical care to community-based self-management represents a significant challenge, throughout which social support can facilitate health adjustment and quality of life. However, community-centred, peer-led support structures are often underused. This study aimed to investigate the decision-making processes involved in the choice to attend a chronic pain support group (CPSG) following discharge from a Pain Management Programme. An in-depth, qualitative analysis was undertaken using interpretative phenomenological analysis, exploring participants' subjective experiences, decision-making, and rationale for initial CPSG attendance. Twelve participants (four males, eight females) were recruited from a regional CPSG and completed semi-structured interviews lasting between 45 and 120min. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed idiographically before a cross-case analysis was completed. Analysis of transcripts resulted in three superordinate themes: (1) The thirst for comparative friendship; (2) conjecture and the imminent choice; (3) progressive pain management. These themes reflect a desire for empathic, socially comparative friendships and the search for a forum in which to enhance pain self-management strategies, yetalso internal conflict over initial CPSG attendance. Social support and associated friendships are attractive to prospective CPSG members and are conceptualized as opportunities to engage in social comparison and nurture self-care. The first visit to the support group presents a significant hurdle, but can be facilitated by managing the transition between therapeutic care and CPSG attendance. Clinicians can challenge preconceptions, foster positive viewpoints regarding the group and support collective decision-making to attend. Following initial attendance, psychosocial well-being was enhanced. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Social support functions as a protective buffer against declining health. Joining a peer-led support group can be initially intimidating and the first visit presents a significant hurdle. What does this study add? Participants are predominantly attracted to support groups due to the opportunity to develop new friendships. Health-related peer groups function as fora for social comparison, enhancing self-esteem and self-efficacy. Experience of pain management programmes primes willingness to attend support groups. The initial decision to attend is difficult but facilitated by collective, group decision-making processes. Health care professionals dynamically prime the transition towards peer support structures.

In this paper we present human-consistent approach of multi-model consensus reaching process supporting by group decision support systems. We consider the idea developed by Kacprzyk and Zadrozny [9, 10, 12] which is related to the “soft” consensus, and where the core of the system is based on fuzzy logic. Essentially, we attempt to stress the multi-model architecture of considering system and distinguish several aspects, i.e. model of agent, model of moderator, model of consensus achievement. Moreover, we present a novel concept based on fair consensus as a meaningful point of further development.

During the period of Russian and Soviet domination over Tajikistan there was extensive Russian influence on the Tajik language, which is attested, among other features, by the great number of lexical borrowings. Interestingly, in the case of most of these forms Russian served only as a vehicular language and many are internationalisms, often known well to speakers of various European languages. These words were russianised on their introduction into Russian, before being transmitted on to other languages of Russia / the Soviet Union, Tajik being an example. Thus they often reveal specific Russian features in their morphology, phonology or semantics. The present article deals with a tendency noticeable in the Tajik of today, namely to remove these specific Russian features.

Supporting groups’ emotion and motivation regulation during collaborative learning

L'interprétation simultanée constitue un processus cognitif complexe que l'interprète ne mènera à bien que s'il saisit la signification du message dans la langue source et l'exprime dans la langue cible. Pour s'assurer de la signification, l'interprète devra tenir compte non seulement des structures linguistiques inhérentes au code (à savoir la grammaire, la syntaxe, la phonologie et la sélection du terme lexicologique approprié) mais également des composants extralinguistiques d'une situation communicationnelle donnée (c'est-à-dire le contexte, les rôles des interlocuteurs, les objectifs de l'échange, les expressions des visages, les gestes, etc.). Les interprètes excellent dans l'art de reconnaître l'interface entre une variété de facteurs pertinents tout en accomplissant leur tâche à la vitesse de l'éclair. A ce propos, il est utile de voir dans quelle mesure plusieurs théories sémantiques ainsi que les règles préférentielles et les valeurs par défaut établies par Jackendoff, constituent un moyen valable pour mieux comprendre les mécanismes fondamentaux du processus d'interprétation.

Despite great reductions in the global burden of diarrheal disease, it remains a leading cause of mortality among children under five years old. Climate change threatens these gains, as extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and heavy rainfall following dry periods are associated with increased risk. The impacts of climate change on childhood diarrheal disease burden depend on interactions between climate hazards, vulnerabilities, and pathogen exposures, although pathogen-specific impacts are not well understood. Improved understanding of how hydrometeorological factors influence pathogen-specific diarrheal disease is needed to predict future diarrheal disease risk and inform preventive action. The SPRINGS project (Supporting Policy Regulations and Interventions to Negate aggravated Global diarrheal disease due to future climate Shocks) brings together scientists from multiple disciplines to collaborate with communities, public authorities, and policymakers to address these challenges within a Planetary Health framework. The case study in Akuse, Ghana integrates epidemiology, environmental sampling, and weather data. This study aims to determine how hydrometeorological variables influence the incidence of medically-attended diarrheal disease among children under five in Akuse, Ghana. More specifically, this study aims to assess whether the influence of hydrometeorological variables on diarrhea is direct or acts through intermediate impacts on water quality and other water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) factors. By identifying climate-sensitive transmission pathways, this study will improve projections of future diarrheal disease risk and identify potential targets for intervention to mitigate the impact of climate change on diarrheal disease in this area in Ghana. This two-year epidemiological study employs a case-control study design, with a nested case-crossover study. Children under the age of five presenting to four selected health facilities with and without diarrheal disease will be recruited as cases and controls, respectively. Surveys administered by local nurses will collect data about individual- and household-level risk factors, including WASH conditions and animal ownership. In addition, stool samples will be collected to estimate the attributable incidence of diarrheal disease due to four key diarrheal pathogens: rotavirus, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia. Local weather conditions during the study will be monitored by weather stations positioned near each health facility. Throughout the study, water samples will be collected from various sources in the study area to be tested for multiple water quality parameters, including the presence of the four diarrheal pathogens of interest. Additionally, anthropological research will improve the understanding of human behaviours and perceptions related to diarrheal disease risk and climate change in this area. By linking weather variability, environmental pathogen presence, WASH factors, and child health outcomes, this study illustrates how a Planetary Health approach can improve understanding of climate-sensitive diarrheal disease risk and provide evidence to inform adaptation strategies and child health interventions in Ghana.

This paper argues for the centrality of high‐quality trusting and respectful relationships within the school setting, particularly between teachers and pupils. It argues for the need to pay careful attention to the nature of the interventions that are adopted to support the social and emotional development of young people and for the need to ensure that their theoretical underpinnings are understood by those responsible for implementation. It centres upon the evaluation of an intervention (Support Groups), devised by the author, to support pupils perceived as having social and emotional behavioural difficulties with a particular focus upon the development of interpersonal relationships. The case study is principally qualitative and draws upon the accounts of the first four cohorts of pupils to undertake the intervention (n = 69), following their progress from the commencement of Secondary 1 up to one to two years beyond intervention. The study draws from a wide range of stakeholder accounts and from six in‐depth case studies. The findings indicate that, to varying extents, Support Group pupils had developed their capacities to form and maintain effective interpersonal relationships but, particularly in respect of their relationships with teachers, this was highly context‐related. Peer relationships were still perceived as problematic by classroom teachers. The supportive ethos of the group had enabled warm relationships to form between Support Group Leaders and pupils, and this had fostered effective communication and empathy. These more positive relationships were exemplified within a statistically significant reduction in discipline sanctions (including school exclusions), which were maintained beyond intervention.

Narrative therapy techniques have been used extensively in family therapy, individual therapy, and social work. Surprisingly, these techniques have seen limited application to therapeutic and support groups and almost no application to education groups. This paper reports on the use of narrative therapy with an education group, specifically a parent-education group. The central question addressed was: How do results compare with those of traditional parent-education groups? Case examples were reviewed to see if using narrative therapy was beneficial to parents. Written feedback was used to compare groups which did not use narrative therapy to groups which used narrative therapy. The review indicated that the narrative groups reported learning more specific ‘helpful’ skills (especially the skill of ‘listening’) compared to the non-narrative groups.

The description of a language, as well as its teaching, is embedded in a social context, and the nature of this context is what makes the practices of one and the other different. With regard to language teaching, one can observe that there are two fields of activity responding to social demands: one based on systems of thought, in which different theories and scholarly explanations about language (e.g. the linguistic, structuralist, generative and semantic theories) compete, and one based on systems of exploitation, in which different educational products, developed according to learning objectives (mother tongue/foreign language/second language) compete. For language teaching, however, the school tradition has favored for a very long time a prescriptive and morphological general grammar, as can be seen in the books devoted to this topic. By writing the Grammaire du sens et de l’expression , my intention was to propose another type of description of the facts of language, starting from meaning towards forms of expression. A movement that is equivalent, in the end, to that of the speaker when trying to express himself both in his mother tongue and in a foreign language. This paper intends to specify what are the conditions for a grammar of meaning, that is, a grammar of the speaker, of its communicative intention and of the forms he has available to express it. I will describe herein the conceptual categories that correspond to as many intentions of meaning (to determine, qualify, describe action, etc.) by comparison with, on the one hand, the language categories that semantically specify these intentions (actualization, quantification, localization, etc.) and, on the other hand, the formal categories that configure them (articles, demonstratives, quantifiers, etc.).

This chapter argues that, if pupils experiencing SEBD are to be able regulate their behaviour, it is essential for them to be perceived as being able to exercise agency, no matter how their difficulties are conceptualised. It also makes the case that, if we are to effect lasting change, it is necessary to impact at the level of values and beliefs, helping young people to come to an understanding of themselves and their relationships with others. The focus of the chapter is a case study evaluating a group work approach (Support groups), designed and implemented by the author, to support such pupils within a Scottish secondary school, situated in an area of multiple deprivation. The chapter examines the extent to which pupils participating within the intervention developed the capacity to regulate their behaviour with good judgement in a range of contexts, identifying variables which fostered or impeded progress. The study is principally qualitative but draws also from quantitative data. It focuses upon four cohorts of Support group pupils (N=69), inclusive of six case studies. The findings indicate that the intervention had impacted positively upon the capacity of the young people to self-regulate their behaviour, if to varying extents, and that pupil outcomes were highly context related. A range of factors came into play in effecting improvements in self-regulation in young people, such as the capacity of the Support group Leader to ‘see the good’ in the young person and hold onto them through difficult times. The quality of relationships between pupils and their Support group Leaders emerged as key as did the ethos of the group, providing an emotionally safe environment in which pupils could communicate without fear of reprisals.

The purpose of this case study was to describe a single multicultural women’s support program known as the Women of Care Project. The program was conducted in a community in the Midwest region of the United States and began in 2005 with a grant from the Open Meadows Foundation. Participants were volunteers who were recruited for the program through pre-existing access points to the Bosnian, African, and Hispanic communities, such as ethnic churches, markets, and key contacts within these communities. The support group format for the Women of Care Program was an open group format in which participants were encouraged to invite their friends to join. The initial support group consisted of women from various cultural origins, including Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Russia, Sierra Leone, Brazil, China, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Bosnia, Mexico, and the United States. This case study was based on focus group discussions, as well as observations and completion of evaluation forms. To analyze data, the focus group discussion notes and summaries were rearranged into recurring themes. The evaluation provided further feedback from the discussions to cement these themes. Findings suggested immigrants, especially women, benefit from support groups. Group involvement could empower women and increase their general sense of well-being in overcoming barriers they may face in transitioning into a new environment. It is recommended that host communities have integration programs which benefit both the host community and the immigrant: a win–win situation.

This study aims to explain about the contextualization of the meaning of the Qur'an so that Muslims do not fall into textual understanding even away from the truth. Using Bloomfield's theory of behaviorism linguistics, this research will add to the meaning of the Qur'an's linguistic meaning, especially those related to the description of paradise in the Qur'an which was of great interest to the Arab community at that time, so that many of them converted to Islam. After analyzing the Qur'anic verses describing the state of paradise and its pleasures, the researchers found three major stimuli related to the state of Arab society that gave rise to linguistic responses in the form of descriptions of paradise: geography, agricultural products and plantations, socio-cultural conditions of society.

The article presents an analysis of the texts of interviews with managers by using a psycholinguistic ap-proach to identify the characteristic features of the presentation of the manager’s personality in English-language periodicals. Despite the attempts made to study the personality of the manager from various scientifi c perspectives, special psycholinguistic studies of this personality have not yet been conducted. The goal of this article is to identi-fy the individual psychological characteristics of the leader’s personality based on the analysis of psycholinguistic markers in the interview texts. As a material the texts of interviews with managers from English periodicals are used: “The Economist”, “The Enterprise World”, “The Wired”, “Vizaca”, “Mckinsey”, etc. The study showed that interviews with managers diff er in compositional and structural features and are represented by three structural types: structured, semi-structured and non-standardized interview type. These types diff er in the degree of inter-view stereotypeness, the standardization of the journalist’s questions, and their personal focus on a particular inter-locutor. At the fi rst stage of the research the pre-dialog part of the interview is studied since the image of a leader is created by a journalist using certain linguistic means. The main diff erences in the format of headings for interviews with managers were found depending on the structural type of the interview. Linguistic evaluative markers in the texts of interview annotations, characterizing the personality of the leader, are analyzed. Psycholinguistic analysis, deduction and interpretation methods are applied to identify and correlate certain linguistic characteristics with the individual psychological features of the leader’s personality. An initial portrait of a successful English leader is compiled, which is formed through the journalist’s view of his interlocutor and consists of a set of specifi c profes-sional and business qualities: enthusiasm, motivation for success, dynamics, innovativeness, perseverance. Based on the diff erences in the structural organization of the interview, the importance to use qualitative and quantitative methods is justifi ed. The combination of interpretative psycholinguistic analysis with content analysis reveals itself as the most eff ective methodology for further researching the dialogical part of interviews with managers. The re-sults obtained contribute to the practice of journalist’s work, the theory of psycholinguistics and cultural linguistics.