Working with policy and regulatory factors to implement universal design in the built environment: the Australian experience

Built environments that are usable by all provide opportunities for engagement in meaningful occupations. However, enabling them in day to day design processes and practice is problematic for relevant professions. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain greater understanding of the policy and regulatory influences that promote or hinder the uptake of universal design in built environments, to inform better future design. Focus groups or telephone interviews were undertaken with 28 key building industry and disability stakeholders in Australia. Four themes were identified: the difficulties of definition; the push or pull of regulations and policy; the role of formal standards; and, shifting the focus of design thinking. The findings highlight the complexity of working within policy and regulatory contexts when implementing universal design. Occupational therapists working with colleagues from other professions must be aware of these influences, and develop the skills to work with them for successful practice.

The ontogeny of naïve and regulatory CD4(+) T-cell subsets during the first postnatal year: a cohort study

As there is limited knowledge regarding the longitudinal development and early ontogeny of naïve and regulatory CD4(+) T-cell subsets during the first postnatal year, we sought to evaluate the changes in proportion of naïve (thymic and central) and regulatory (resting and activated) CD4(+) T-cell populations during the first postnatal year. Blood samples were collected and analyzed at birth, 6 and 12 months of age from a population-derived sample of 130 infants. The proportion of naïve and regulatory CD4(+) T-cell populations was determined by flow cytometry, and the thymic and central naïve populations were sorted and their phenotype confirmed by relative expression of T cell-receptor excision circle DNA (TREC). At birth, the majority (94%) of CD4(+) T cells were naïve (CD45RA(+)), and of these, ~80% had a thymic naïve phenotype (CD31(+) and high TREC), with the remainder already central naïve cells (CD31(-) and low TREC). During the first year of life, the naïve CD4(+) T cells retained an overall thymic phenotype but decreased steadily. From birth to 6 months of age, the proportion of both resting naïve T regulatory cells (rTreg; CD4(+)CD45RA(+)FoxP3(+)) and activated Treg (aTreg, CD4(+)CD45RA(-)FoxP3(high)) increased markedly. The ratio of thymic to central naïve CD4(+) T cells was lower in males throughout the first postnatal year indicating early sexual dimorphism in immune development. This longitudinal study defines proportions of CD4(+) T-cell populations during the first year of postnatal life that provide a better understanding of normal immune development.

Cytokine expression and secretion by skeletal muscle cells: regulatory mechanisms and exercise effects

Cytokines are important mediators of various aspects of health and disease, including appetite, glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, skeletal muscle hypertrophy and atrophy. Over the past decade or so, considerable attention has focused on the potential for regular exercise to counteract a range of disease states by modulating cytokine production. Exercise stimulates moderate to large increases in the circulating concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL- 10, IL-1 receptor antagonist, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, and smaller increases in tumor necrosis factor-α, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, IL-1β, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, IL-12p35/p40 and IL-15. Although many of these cytokines are also expressed in skeletal muscle, not all are released from skeletal muscle into the circulation during exercise. Conversely, some cytokines that are present in the circulation are not expressed in skeletal muscle after exercise. The reasons for these discrepant cytokine responses to exercise are unclear. In this review, we address these uncertainties by summarizing the capacity of skeletal muscle cells to produce cytokines, analyzing other potential cellular sources of circulating cytokines during exercise, and discussing the soluble factors and intracellular signaling pathways that regulate cytokine synthesis (e.g., RNA-binding proteins, microRNAs, suppressor of cytokine signaling proteins, soluble receptors).

Sarcopenia and the common mental disorders: a potential regulatory role of skeletal muscle on brain function?

While it is understood that body composition impacts on physical conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it is only now apparent that body composition might play a role in the genesis of common mental disorders, depression and anxiety. Sarcopenia occurs in ageing and comprises a progressive decline in muscle mass, strength and function, leading to frailty, decreased independence and poorer quality of life. This review presents an emerging body of evidence to support the hypothesis that shared pathophysiological pathways for sarcopenia and the common mental disorders constitute links between skeletal muscle and brain function. Contracting skeletal muscle secretes neurotrophic factors that are known to play a role in mood and anxiety, and have the dual role of nourishing neuronal growth and differentiation, while protecting the size and number of motor units in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, skeletal muscle activity has important immune and redox effects that impact behaviour and reduce muscle catabolism.

Indonesian approach to ASEAN Plus Three financial cooperation: power relations, domestic politics, and regulatory regionalism

 This study examines Indonesia’s responses to financial regionalism within ASEAN Plus Three cooperation. It derives largely from the discussions, debates and empirical findings on how the Indonesian financial agencies exercise their authority and mandates, formulate policy coordination with international counterparts, and internalize and execute policy options into domestic financial regimes.

An assessment of existing bicycle advisory pavement marking on urban roads

Bicycle advisory treatments are used to advise road users of the potential presence of cyclists and of the location where cyclists may be expected to ride on a road. They include pavement markings, warning signs, guide signs, and as such have no regulatory function. The most common type of bicycle advisory pavement markings is the shared lane marking. Other forms of bicycle advisory pavement marking have also been trialled and used in several local jurisdictions. The bicycle awareness zone is an example of such facility which has been trialled and used in southeast Queensland, Australia since the late 1990s. A bicycle awareness zone is similar to shared lane marking in principle but differs in the type of logo and, in some cases, location of its placement on the road. This study assesses the operational and safety issues at three bicycle awareness zone sites by analysing video-assisted observation data collected in 2011 by Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Australia. Of the several applications of bicycle awareness zones, this study only covers a particular application where the centre of the bicycle symbol is placed exactly over the parking edge line. Unlike previous studies, which mostly covered before-and-after evaluations of bicycle advisory pavement markings, the focus of this study is to assess whether the placement of bicycle awareness zone symbols has been successful. The aggregated results from video-assisted observational data show that the cyclists did not always track themselves over the centre of the symbols. Rather, both the cyclists' lateral tracking positions and road user interactions varied with the widths of kerbside parallel parking space. Since the bicycle awareness zone symbols are not positioned on the cyclists' desired line of ride on some roads, their operational effectiveness and safety value are questioned.

Stakeholders’ perspectives on the role of regulatory reform in integrated reporting

This paper reports on an exploratory study of the preferences of users of non-financial reporting for regulatory or voluntary approaches to integrated reporting (IR). While it is well known that companies prefer voluntary approaches to non-financial reporting, considerably less is known about the preferences of the users of non-financial information. IR is the latest development in attempts over 30 or more years to broaden organisational non-financial reporting and accountability to include the wider social and environmental impacts of business. It promises to provide a more cohesive and efficient approach to corporate reporting by bringing together financial information, operational data and sustainability information to focus only on material issues that impact an organisation’s ability to create value in the short, medium and long term. The study found more support for voluntary approaches to IR as the majority of participants thought that it was too early for regulatory reform. They suggested that IR will become the reporting norm over time if left to market forces as more and more companies adopt the IR practice. Over time IR will be perceived as a legitimate practice, where the actions of integrated reporters are seen as desirable, proper, or appropriate. While there is little appetite for regulatory reform, half of the investors support mandatory IR because, in their experience, voluntary sustainability reporting has not led to more substantive disclosures or increased the quality of reporting. There is also evidence that IR privileges financial value creation over stewardship, inhibiting IR from moving beyond a weak sustainability paradigm.

Signs and codes in early childhood: An investigation of young children’s creative approaches to communication

PEOPLE COMMUNICATE AND MAKE meaning through the use of the signs, codes and rules of their community and its language/s. On the way to learning these signs, codes and rules, children often create or invent their own unique and sometimes temporary systems of meaning making. In this paper we use Vygotsky’s concept of semiotic mediation and Bernstein’s code theory to reflect on some examples of children’s creative approaches to communication that involved the creation and use of signs. We will argue that young language learners’ invention of their own languages and creative use of drawing as a form of sign creation are symbolic expressions of their intent to generate and reinforce desired social and cultural situations of learning. We conclude that individuals mediate social and individual functioning in order to make meaning of their world, and argue for a move away from viewing second language learning and emergent writing as static sets of abilities to a more dynamic interpretation.