Pasture production and composition response after killing Eucalypt trees with herbicides in central Queensland

Clearing woodlands is practised world-wide to increase crop and livestock production, but can result in unintended consequences including woody regrowth and land degradation. The pasture response of 2 eucalypt woodlands in the central Queensland rangelands to killing trees with herbicides, in the presence or absence of grazing and regular spring burning, was recorded over 7 or 8 years to determine the long-term sustainability of these common practices. Herbage mass and species composition plus tree dynamics were monitored in 2 replicated experiments at each site. For 8 years following herbicide application, killing Eucalyptus populnea F. Muell. (poplar box) trees resulted in a doubling of native pasture herbage mass from that of the pre-existing woodland, with a tree basal area of 8.7 m2 ha-1. Conversely, over 7 years with a similar range of seasons, killing E. melanophloia F. Muell. (silver-leaved ironbark) trees of a similar tree basal area had little impact on herbage mass grown or on pasture composition for the first 4 years before production then increased. Few consistent changes in pasture composition were recorded after killing the trees, although there was an increase in the desirable grasses Dichanthium sericeum (R. Br.) A. Camus (Queensland bluegrass) and Themeda triandra Forssk. (kangaroo grass) when grazed conservatively. Excluding grazing allowed more palatable species of the major grasses to enhance their prominence, but seasonal conditions still had a major influence on their production in particular years. Pasture crown basal area was significantly higher where trees had been killed, especially in the poplar box woodland. Removing tree competition did not have a major effect on pasture composition that was independent of other management impositions or seasons, and it did not result in a rapid increase in herbage mass in both eucalypt communities. The slow pasture response to tree removal at one site indicates that regional models and economic projections relating to tree clearing require community-specific inputs.

Attitudes of Future Tourism Sector Employees Towards Organise Accessible Tourism

The aim of this paper is to show a theoretical approach to the evolution of concepts perceiving disability, taking into account the medical, social, and geographical models, as the basis for the development of principles concerning the organisation of accessible tourism for people with disabilities (PwD). The main research objective was to identify the current attitudes of future, potential employees in the tourism (tourism and recreation students at the time of the study) towards accessible tourism. The study was based on surveys performed in May 2013 at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (UAM, Poland) and the State University in Irkutsk (ИГУ, Russia), a total sample of 216 people. The main section of the survey contained four questions regarding issues such as: optimal ways to organise tourism products for people with a disability; attitudes towards spending leisure time together with people with a disability; and specific requirements concerning the introduction of various types of improvements in tourism products aimed at people with a disability. In both cases, the results revealed that future tourism employees hold attitudes which are prevailingly open and positive towards the needs of tourists with disabilities. However, the hypothesis that the main factor influencing a reluctance to enter into contact with PwD is a lack of experience in this area, resulting in insufficient knowledge of what conditions the behaviour of PwD was also confirmed. This is a highly significant conclusion which should consider if mandatory educational programmes in the field of tourism and recreation studies are to be improved.

Investigating assistive technology to support memory for people with cognitive impairments

Technologies such as automobiles or mobile phones allow us to perform beyond our physical capabilities and travel faster or communicate over long distances. Technologies such as computers and calculators can also help us perform beyond our mental capabilities by storing and manipulating information that we would be unable to process or remember. In recent years there has been a growing interest in assistive technology for cognition (ATC) which can help people compensate for cognitive impairments. The aim of this thesis was to investigate ATC for memory to help people with memory difficulties which impacts independent functioning during everyday life. Chapter one argues that using both neuropsychological and human computing interaction theory and approaches is crucial when developing and researching ATC. Chapter two describes a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies which tested technology to aid memory for groups with ABI, stroke or degenerative disease. Good evidence was found supporting the efficacy of prompting devices which remind the user about a future intention at a set time. Chapter three looks at the prevalence of technologies and memory aids in current use by people with ABI and dementia and the factors that predicted this use. Pre-morbid use of technology, current use of non-tech aids and strategies and age (ABI group only) were the best predictors of this use. Based on the results, chapter four focuses on mobile phone based reminders for people with ABI. Focus groups were held with people with memory impairments after ABI and ABI caregivers (N=12) which discussed the barriers to uptake of mobile phone based reminding. Thematic analysis revealed six key themes that impact uptake of reminder apps; Perceived Need, Social Acceptability, Experience/Expectation, Desired Content and Functions, Cognitive Accessibility and Sensory/Motor Accessibility. The Perceived need theme described the difficulties with insight, motivation and memory which can prevent people from initially setting reminders on a smartphone. Chapter five investigates the efficacy and acceptability of unsolicited prompts (UPs) from a smartphone app (ForgetMeNot) to encourage people with ABI to set reminders. A single-case experimental design study evaluated use of the app over four weeks by three people with severe ABI living in a post-acute rehabilitation hospital. When six UPs were presented through the day from ForgetMeNot, daily reminder-setting and daily memory task completion increased compared to when using the app without the UPs. Chapter six investigates another barrier from chapter 4 – cognitive and sensory accessibility. A study is reported which shows that an app with ‘decision tree’ interface design (ApplTree) leads to more accurate reminder setting performance with no compromise of speed or independence (amount of guidance required) for people with ABI (n=14) compared to a calendar based interface. Chapter seven investigates the efficacy of a wearable reminding device (smartwatch) as a tool for delivering reminders set on a smartphone. Four community dwelling participants with memory difficulties following ABI were included in an ABA single case experimental design study. Three of the participants successfully used the smartwatch throughout the intervention weeks and these participants gave positive usability ratings. Two participants showed improved memory performance when using the smartwatch and all participants had marked decline in memory performance when the technology was removed. Chapter eight is a discussion which highlights the implications of these results for clinicians, researchers and designers.

Awareness and practices on eye effects among people with diabetes in rural Tamil Nadu, India.

Background: Recently eye effects of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) are an important concern due to increase in its trend especially in developing countries. Objectives: To assess the awareness related to eye effects of DM and its prevention practices among people with diabetes. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted from January 2013 to April 2013 in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, India. All 105 people with diabetes from the service area of two sub-centres were included. Data on socio demographic details, history of DM, awareness on systemic complications of DM, effects of DM on eyes, practice on regular blood check-up, eye examination and source of information were collected by interview technique using a structured questionnaire. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were done to assess the association of awareness of eye examination with socio-demographic variables. Results: Mean age of the study population was 56.7 years. About 93 people with diabetes (88.6%) tested their blood sugar at least once in every 3 months. About 80 people with diabetes (76.2%) were aware of at least one systemic complication of DM. Although 78 (74.3%) people with diabetes were aware that DM could affect the eyes, majority of this group (68, 87.2%) did not know the specific effects of DM on eyes. In this group, about 28(35.9%) people with diabetes were not aware of the reasons for eye effects, while others mentioned that persistent high blood sugar level (n=26, 33.3%), longer duration of DM (n=14, 17.9%) and lifestyle (n=10, 12.8%) were the reasons for the eye effects of DM. Only 31 (29.5%) of them knew that their eyes must be regularly examined. People with diabetes who had post-secondary and above (>10th standard) level of education had significantly higher awareness on examination of eye (Adjusted OR=19.63). Conclusion: Although awareness of people with diabetes on systemic effects of DM was more, their awareness on specific eye effects and need for regular screening was low. Systematic efforts are required to increase awareness on eye effects and importance of regular screening in this population.

The reliability and utility of spirometry performed on people with asthma in community pharmacies

Does therapeutic writing help people with long-term conditions? Systematic review, realist synthesis and economic considerations

Background Writing therapy to improve physical or mental health can take many forms. The most researched model of therapeutic writing (TW) is unfacilitated, individual expressive writing (written emotional disclosure). Facilitated writing activities are less widely researched. Data sources Databases including: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, AMED, and CINHAL were searched from inception to March 2013. Review methods Four TW practitioners provided expert advice. Study procedures were conducted by one reviewer and checked by a second. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomised comparative studies were included. Quality was appraised using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Unfacilitated and facilitated TW studies were analysed separately under ICD-10 chapter headings. Meta-analyses were performed where possible using Revman 5.2. Costs were estimated from an NHS perspective and three cost-consequence case studies were prepared. Realist synthesis followed RAMESES guidelines. Objectives To review the clinical and cost-effectiveness of TW for people with long-term health conditions (LTCs) compared to no writing, or other controls, reporting any relevant clinical outcomes. To conduct a realist synthesis to understand how TW might work, and for whom. Results From 14,658 unique citations, 284 full text papers were reviewed and 64 studies (58 RCTs) were included in the final effectiveness reviews. Five studies examined facilitated TW, these were extremely heterogeneous with unclear or high risk of bias, but suggested that facilitated TW interventions may be beneficial in individual LTCs. Unfacilitated expressive writing was examined in 59 studies of variable, or unreported, quality. Overall there was very little or no evidence of any benefit reported in the following conditions (number of studies): HIV (six); breast cancer (eight); gynaecological and genitourinary cancers (five); mental health (five); asthma (four); psoriasis (three); chronic pain (four). In inflammatory arthropathies (six) there was a reduction in disease severity (n= 191, standardised mean difference (SMD) - 0.61 [95% confidence intervals (95% CI) -0.96, -0.26]) in the short term on meta-analysis of four studies. For all other LTCs there was either no, or sparse, data with no, or inconsistent, evidence of benefit. Meta-analyses conducted across all the LTCs provided no evidence that unfacilitated EW had any effect on depression at short term (n= 1,563, SMD -0.06, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.17, substantial heterogeneity), or long term (n= 778, SMD-0.04 95% CI -0.18 to 0.10, little heterogeneity) follow up, or on anxiety, physiological or biomarker-based outcomes. One study reported costs, none reported cost-effectiveness, twelve reported resource use; meta-analysis suggested reduced medication use but no impact on health centre visits. Estimated costs of intervention were low, but there was insufficient evidence to judge cost-effectiveness. Realist review findings suggested that facilitated TW is a complex intervention and group interaction contributes to the perception of benefit. It was unclear from the available data who might benefit most from facilitated TW. Limitations Difficulties with developing realist review programme theory meant that mechanisms operating during TW remain obscure. Conclusions Overall there is little evidence to support the effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of unfacilitated expressive writing interventions in people with LTCs. Further research focussed on facilitated TW in people with LTCs could be informative.

Edoxaban for preventing stroke and systemic embolism in people with non-valvular atrial fibrillation: A Single Technology Appraisal. Evidence Review Group Report to NICE

1.1 Edoxaban is recommended, within its marketing authorisation, as an option for preventing stroke and systemic embolism in adults with non-valvular atrial fibrillation with one or more risk factors, including: congestive heart failure hypertension diabetes prior stroke or transient ischaemic attack age 75 years or older

Tthe right to effective judicial protection and disability: the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities

On 13 December 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century. The Convention is intended as a human rights instrument with an explicit, social development dimension. It adopts a broad categorization of persons with disabilities and reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Precisely, the Convention marks a 'paradigm shift' in attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities The Convention contains two articles directly connected with judicial effective protection, one more than the other, but on the other hand, one cannot be understood without the other. Both articles are Article 12 –Equal recognition before the law- and Article 13 –access to justice- As a scholar in Procedural Law, my contribution to the International Scientific Congress on Private Law of the Philippines and Spain aims to enshrine the relevant importance of the both provisions that guarantee effective judicial protection for persons with disabilities in order to analyze, subsequently, the implementation of them in Spanish legislation

Acessibilidade no ambiente escolar: reflexões com base no estudo de duas escolas municipais de Natal-RN

This work was originated through the results of the analysis of the services for the needs of people with disabilities that were permitted by the physical space of two schools of the municipality of Natal/RN. The general objective/goal was to subsidize the elaboration of alternatives for the planning of environments that could be used by any person. The study used the empirical research through the adoption of a multimethod approach including: (i) technical visits oriented by the NBR 9050, (ii) contact with users that have reduced mobility (visually impaired and wheelchair or crutch users) through escorted travels and interviews, and (iii) interview with school managers. The evidence from the research, even though with significant development of laws that guarantee people with disabilities their right to citizenship, the physical environment of our schools still present with many obstacles that prevent the mobility of people with disabilities which proves their lack of readiness to accommodate them. Therefore, the actions taken to address the accessibility has been the adoption of temporary solutions that makes the adaptation more difficult, adds obstacles and reinforces the undesirable segregation, however still very present in our society. Finally, there is the indication that in order to achieve the spatial configuration that promotes social contact and integration in between the persons with different physical status, it is necessary to completely comprehend the activities developed in each space, from the conception of the equipment to the individual learning needs, having in mind creating environments that stimulates the execution of the tasks in an independent manner without the assistance of others. The inclusion regarding attention to accessibility in the decision making process, directed to the arquitectural and urban project, would decrease the constant need to redevelop and adapt spaces, and should be definitely incorporated as an important component in the production of space