The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of testicular microlithiasis (TM) in infertile men who underwent testicular ultrasound and to determine any causative or associated factors. The case notes of 159 consecutive patients who were referred for testicular ultrasound in the investigation of male factor infertility were reviewed. Microcalcification was found in 10 cases (6.2%). This was unilateral in all cases and six patients had clinical evidence of a varicocele. Five cases had minimal calcification and five had marked TM. On patient had a past history of testicular maldescent and another of testicular torsion. Sperm function (as assessed by sperm count, motility and the sperm migration test) was variable within the 10 patients and there was no correlation with hormone profiles or testicular size. There was a statistical difference between a number of investigations in those patients with minimal degrees of calcification and those with TM (sperm migration test (SMT), namely sperm migration and sperm motility (p < 0.05, Mann-Whitney U test)). The results showed a higher than expected incidence of TM. Patients with marked TM seemed to have poorer sperm function than those with minimal calcification. There was a high incidence of co-existing pathology, for instance scrotal varicocele and cryptorchidism, although the numbers in this study were small and further studies need to be carried out to determine the exact nature and significance of this condition.
The purpose of this study was to investigate technical features of a curriculum-based measurement (CBM) system that addresses a concepts and applications mathematics curriculum (i.e., number concepts, counting, applied computation, geometry, measurement, charts, graphs, money, and problem solving). Six general educators in Grades 2, 3, and 4 implemented the concepts and applications CBM system as well as a computation CBM system with all students in their classrooms for 20 school weeks. Across these classrooms, 140 students participated, including 12 students with learning disabilities (8.2% of the sample); these students with learning disabilities received math instruction in the general education setting every day. We examined students' weekly rates of growth and the reliability and validity of both the CBM graphed scores and the CBM diagnostic skills analysis. Results supported the adequacy of the concepts and applications CBM system. Implications for practice and for future research are discussed.
This paper is concerned with issues of cultural representation and postcolonialism. It argues that in countries with a history of colonization ‘indigenous culture’ has often been (mis)represented in the media associated with tourism promotion. The impact of such marketing is reflected in the call by indigenous tourism stakeholders to control the representation and meanings of their image, tribal identities and cultural difference. This study seeks to advance academic discussion on Bhabha’s concept of hybridity as a means to understand the transformative and dynamic interplay of cultural change and cultural production within a tourism context. A qualitative approach using in-depth case studies of Māori tourism businesses and stakeholders in New Zealand reveals the hybridized nature of Māori identity.This contests established categorizations of culture and identity through creative ‘ third spaces’ that re-inscribe notions of the Other. In turn, hybridity promotes counter-representations that present new strategies of self-determination and resistance for indigenous peoples.
Outdoor nature-based recreation practices provide a window on human/nonhuman relationships in New Zealand society and for some new immigrants these relationships metaphorically parallel their settlement experiences. This paper draws on the qualitative component of a mixed method study conducted in New Zealand, which focused on participation in outdoor nature-based recreation in national and regional parks. Recent immigrants in New Zealand bring with them environmental values and expectations of what recreational participation in outdoor nature-based settings should and might entail. Recent migrant perceptions of these natural habitats throw into relief assumed givens about the role of national parks and the social and cultural function that these institutions have fulfilled since their inception in New Zealand society. Our research demonstrates that being able to locate one's self in nature-based settings is central to migrant integration, yet for a significant group of immigrants this is not always possible in New Zealand. This research raises a number of important questions about the nature of leisure and the politics of the environment in New Zealand. In multicultural New Zealand outdoor nature-based recreation, those who participate and those who do not, what they see and what it means to them provides a window on contemporary societal, environmental and cultural politics.
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