Development of a condition-specific measure of quality of life for children with cerebral palsy: empirical thematic data reported by parents and children

Background: Although there is increasing recognition that quality of life (QOL) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are important outcome variables in clinical trials for children with cerebral palsy, there are substantial limitations in existing measures of QOL. This study identify themes of QOL for children with cerebral palsy and their parents to guide the development of a new condition-specific QOL scale. Methods: A qualitative study of parent and child views on QOL composition was conducted, using a grounded theory framework. Families participated in semistructured interviews on QOL until thematic saturation was reached (n = 28 families). Results: Overall, 13 themes emerged from the interviews: physical health, body pain and discomfort, daily living tasks, participation in regular physical and social activities, emotional well-being and self-esteem, interaction with the community, communication, family health, supportive physical environment, future QOL, provision of, and access to services, financial stability, and social well-being. Conclusions: Research with parents and children with cerebral palsy, representative of severity across the disease spectrum and socio-economic status, reinforced and expanded on the traditional themes that have underpinned QOL measurement development. This has implications not only for the development of a new QOL scale for children with cerebral palsy, but also for clinical interventions and community care management.

The positioning of mathematics in an environmental thematic curriculum

With a crowded curriculum, many primary schools attempt to integrate their key learning areas. One primary school in a large regional city has taken this a step further. Using the ’environment’ as the overarching theme, the key learning areas are interwoven into the teaching of the environment. This has presented some issues when attempting to teach English and Mathematics. These issues and the way the school and teachers solve them are documented in this case-study.

Electromagnetic interference shielding and radiation absorption in thin polypyrrole films

Results of permittivity measurements, electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness, and heat generation due to microwave absorption in conducting polymer coated textiles are reported and discussed. The intrinsically conducting polymer, polypyrrole, doped with anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid (AQSA) or para-toluene-2-sulfonic acid (pTSA) was applied on textile substrates and the resulting materials were investigated in the frequency range 1–18 GHz. The 0.54 mm thick conducting textile/polypyrrole composites absorbed up to 49.5% of the incident 30–35 W microwave radiation. A thermography station was used to monitor the temperature of these composites during the irradiation process, where absorption was confirmed via visible heat losses. Samples with lower conductivity showed larger temperature increases caused by microwave absorption compared to samples with higher conductivity. A sample with an average sheet resistivity of 150 Ω/sq. showed a maximum temperature increase of 5.27 °C, whilst a sample with a lower resistivity (105 Ω/sq.) rose by 3.85 °C.

Suppression of bovine viral diarrhea virus replication by small interfering RNA and short hairpin RNA-mediated RNA interference

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a ubiquitous viral pathogen that affects cattle herds’ worldwide causing significant economic loss. The current strategies to control BVDV infection include vaccination (modified-live or killed) and control of virus spread by enhanced biosecurity management, however, the disease remains prevalent. With the discovery of the sequence-specific method of gene silencing known as RNA interference (RNAi), a new era in antiviral therapies has begun. Here we report the efficient inhibition of BVDV replication by small interfering (siRNA) and short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated gene silencing. siRNAs were generated to target the 5′ non-translated (NTR) region and the regions encoding the C, NS4B and NS5A proteins of the BVDV genome. The siRNAs were first validated using an EGFP/BVDV reporter system and were then shown to suppress BVDV-induced cytopathic effects and viral titers in cell culture with surprisingly different activities compared to the reporter system. Efficient viral suppression was then achieved by bovine 7SK-expressed BVDV-specific shRNAs. Overall, our results demonstrated the use of siRNA and shRNA-mediated gene silencing to achieve efficient inhibition of the  replication of this virus in cell culture.

Maintaining optimal co-channel interference for power efficient wireless communication

Maintaining QoS (quality of service) guaranteed communication links, and improving the energy consumption; are two aspects that received a significant consideration in the modern wireless sensor network research. This paper formulates a transmission power control problem which satisfies both considerations mentioned above. Moreover, a class of functions for an iterative controller was introduced and analyzed for its convergence. The experimental evaluation of the controller justifies the theoretical assertions as well as the applicability of the control scheme in wireless nodes with minimum measurement capabilities.

Thematic analysis of research mediums' experiences of discarnate communication

Mediums claim to be able to report accurate and specific information about the deceased loved ones (termed discarnates) of living people (termed sitters) even without any prior knowledge about the sitters or the discarnates and in the  complete absence of any sensory feedback. Despite recent experimental  research investigating this phenomenon (e.g., Beischel & Schwartz, 2007a), no systematic qualitative studies have been conducted. Consequently, eight  research mediums were asked to describe in as much detail as possible how they personally experience receiving communication from a discarnate, as part of a comprehensive nine-step subject screening procedure. Thematic analysis revealed seven comprehensive constituent themes that were used to formulate a fundamental structural definition.

Do female and male employees in Iran experience similar work-family interference, job and life satisfaction?

This study aims at examining gender differences in the experience of work–family interference and perceived job–life satisfaction in a group of Iranian employees. The participants in the study consist of 387 Iranian male and female employees from a variety of organizations. The results of t tests and multiple regression analysis using EQS 6.1 support the hypothesis that Iranian male and female employees experience similar interference in their work–family domains although they spend different numbers of hours in the workplace. The findings also show that whereas work-to-family interference has significant and negative effects on job–life satisfaction among male employees, for female employees, working hours and family-to-work interference had even more significant and negative effects on their job–ife satisfaction. Implications are discussed and recommendations made regarding future research and interventions in this area.

Effects of contextual interference on children learning forehand tennis groundstrokes

Previous research on contextual interference theory in controlled laboratory situations consistently illustrated that random practice was superior to blocked practice when learning motor skills. However, when considered in relation to physical education class settings the findings of the contextual interference experiments were not as uniform. Furthermore, the results of the contextual interference research were ambiguous when an open skill was used as the experimental task, with no definite trend evident. Random practice was found more effective for learning (del Rey, 1989) whereas French, Rink and Werner (1990) demonstrated blocked practice to be superior. In the present study, the influence of high and low contextual interference as practice schedules was investigated within an applied sports setting using an open sports skill as the experimental task. Two groups of boys and girls, 8-9 and 10-12 years of age, were taught a forehand tennis groundstroke using both their preferred and non-preferred hands over a ten week coaching and practice period. The findings showed that male subjects were significantly better at the experimental task than female subjects at the pre-test stage only. The result also demonstrated that the 10-12 year old subjects were significantly better than the 8-9 year olds at the task with the exception of the preferred hand at the post and retention test stage. The contextual interference effect was demonstrated in the retention phase on the preferred hand of the 10-12 year old subjects where the random practice group was significantly better than the blocked practice group in an applied sports setting. These findings were discussed in relation to the role of cognition in the learning of these motor skills and the influence of the subjects related background experiences.

Characterisation and comparison of bovine RNA polymerase III promoters for RNA interference

The characterisation of novel bovine RNA polymerase III promoters for the expression of short hairpin RNAs for gene silencing resulted in the identification of a highly efficient promoter sequence. The replication of bovine viral diarrhea virus was them suppressed using short hairpin RNAs expressed form this promoter in vitro.

An investigation into the origins of the British romantic tradition in art, its subsequent thematic legacy and its influence upon my own work

This study is comprised of a written exegesis and a folio of paintings and drawings. It explores the view that Romanicism in Britain survived its historical period and continues to influence contemporary British artists. Concentrates upon the prominence given by the Romantics to symbols, most commonly located in nature, which express spiritual impulses and ideas related to human destiny and feelings.