Main Others Research Articles

Possibilities and methods of using distance learning applications in school practice

The article presents the possibilities and methods of using applications supporting distance learning. The issues focus on the main others in addition to ICT in the field of didactics of early childhood and preschool education. Part one is a market overview of the children’s ICT development market. Based on parts of the study, solutions were developed which, in the opinion of experts (taking into account age and developmental possibilities), can mostly be used in the first educational age. The last of the main parts of the article, conclusions and recommendations for teachers in the field of comprehensive use of ICT in the educational process.

Identity and othering in past and present: Representations of the Soviet era in Estonian post-Soviet textbooks

This paper analyses representations of the ‘core Soviet era’ (1945-1985) in Estonian post-Soviet history textbooks (1989-2016). Attitudes towards the Soviet system have been a rich resource for identity building, and hence a powerful political tool across the whole of the post-Soviet block. Based on an analysis of sections about the Soviet era in Estonia in 21 textbooks, the paper takes a look at how textbooks reflect broader processes of social meaning making, identity building and othering after a profound social and political turn. In 1989 and during the early 1990s, perspectives and narratives in Estonian history textbooks were closely related to social memory and national politics, enacting a specific social representation of the Soviet era that dominated the Estonian-speaking public space during the 1990s. The Soviet era, Russia and local Russians became the main Others for Estonia and Estonians. Over time, public discourse has diversified. The national curriculum and textbooks, however, still maintain the canon that formed in 1990s and thus reflect earlier sentiments. Apart from the increasing salience of Soviet-era daily life in more recent textbooks, the thematic choices and emphases have changed little since the 1990s. Therefore, even if the style of writing has ‘cooled down’, issues of identity preservation, resistance and accommodation, together with a saliently negative representation of wrongdoings by the Soviet system, still prevail. On the one hand, this testifies to the resilience of an established tradition in the textbook genre in general. On the other hand, it reflects the dominance of an ethnocentric tradition in Estonian history textbook writing. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for interethnic relations in Estonia.

From a threatening “Muslim migrant” back to the conspiring “West:” race, religion, and nationhood on Russian television during Putin's third presidency

This article analyzes official discourse of the nation during Vladimir Putin's third presidency, as reflected in Russian television coverage of Islam and migration. It argues that the replacement of earlier deliberately ambiguous definitions of Russian nationhood with clearly framed exclusive visions reflects the change in the regime's legitimation strategy from one based on economic performance to one based on its security record. In this context, the systematic promotion of Russian ethnonationalism for the purpose of achieving the regime's general stability began not at the time of Crimea's annexation, as it is often assumed, but at the time of Putin's reelection amidst public protests in 2012. The goal of representing the authorities as attentive to public grievances in a society where opinion polls register high levels of xenophobia has prompted state-controlled broadcasters to use ethnoracial definitions of the nation that they had previously avoided. The media campaigns analyzed here also reflect abrupt changes in the precise identity of Russia's main Others. Such instrumentally adopted sharp discursive swings are unlikely to constitute an appropriate tool for societal consensus management and for the achievement of political stability in the long term.

Increased Sensitivity to Thermal Pain and Reduced Subcutaneous Lidocaine Efficacy in Redheads

Anesthetic requirement in redheads is exaggerated, suggesting that redheads may be especially sensitive to pain. Therefore, the authors tested the hypotheses that women with natural red hair are more sensitive to pain and that redheads are resistant to topical and subcutaneous lidocaine. The authors evaluated pain sensitivity in red-haired (n = 30) or dark-haired (n = 30) women by determining the electrical current perception threshold, pain perception, and maximum pain tolerance with a Neurometer CPT/C (Neurotron, Inc., Baltimore, MD). They evaluated the analogous warm and cold temperature thresholds with the TSA-II Neurosensory Analyzer (Medoc Ltd., Minneapolis, MN). Volunteers were tested with both devices at baseline and with the Neurometer after 1-h exposure to 4% liposomal lidocaine and after subcutaneous injection of 1% lidocaine. Data are presented as medians (interquartile ranges). Current perception, pain perception, and pain tolerance thresholds were similar in the red-haired and dark-haired women at 2,000, 250, and 5 Hz. In contrast, redheads were more sensitive to cold pain perception (22.6 [15.1-26.1] vs. 12.6 [0-20] degrees C; P = 0.004), cold pain tolerance (6.0 [0-9.7] vs. 0.0 [0.0-2.0] degrees C; P = 0.001), and heat pain (46.3 [45.7-47.5] vs. 47.7 [46.6-48.7] degrees C; P = 0.009). Subcutaneous lidocaine was significantly less effective in redheads (e.g., pain tolerance threshold at 2,000-Hz stimulation in redheads was 11.0 [8.5-16.5] vs. > 20.0 (14.5 to > 20) mA in others; P = 0.005). Red hair is the phenotype for mutations of the melanocortin-1 receptor. Results indicate that redheads are more sensitive to thermal pain and are resistant to the analgesic effects of subcutaneous lidocaine. Mutations of the melanocortin-1 receptor, or a consequence thereof, thus modulate pain sensitivity.