The role of motivation and motivational strategies in Saudi students' communicative competence in English

This study explored how motivation and motivational strategies influence the communicative competence of students from Saudi Arabia. Participants included Saudi students enrolled in English courses in Australian educational institutions, and Saudi students living in Saudi Arabia studying in English language institutes in Saudi Arabia. Phase One involved interviews with16 participants. In Phase Two, 279 participants completed a questionnaire. Findings included differences between participants’ measured and self-reported communicative competence, with the Australian group having higher levels of measured and self-reported communicative competence. In addition, motivation teaching strategies were found to affect students’ motivation, but not their communicative competence.

Alcohol-related driving offences, crashes, and traffic policing strategies in Zhejiang Province, China

Context Alcohol-related traffic offences and associated trauma have attracted attention in China in recent years, culminating in changes to national legislation in May 2011. Harsher penalties were introduced, particularly for offences where blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels above 80mg/100mL are recorded. Deemed to be drunk under the law, this is now a criminal offence attracting penalties including large monetary fines, licence suspension for 5 years and imprisonment. Objective This paper outlines key statistics about alcohol-related road trauma in Zhejiang Province and strategies used to combat drink- and drunk-driving. Key Outcomes Zhejiang Province, in China’s south east, has a population of approximately 54, 426,000; 22.36% hold a driving licence. Rapid motorisation is occurring there. In 2011, 1,383,318 new licences were issued, representing a 16.78% increase from the previous year. In 2012, there were a total of 65,000 police officers throughout the Province, 12,307 of whom (18.9%) were traffic police. Responsibility for conducting alcohol testing is the responsibility of all traffic police. The number of alcohol breath tests conducted per year was not available. However, traffic police are actively enforcing alcohol-related laws. In 2011, 89,228 drivers were charged with drink-driving (DUI;20-80mg/100 mL) and 10,014 with the more serious drunk-driving offence (DWI;>80mg/100mL) (Zhejiang Traffic Management Department, 2012). These numbers decreased from the previous year (221,262 and 26,390 respectively). For all crashes recorded in 2011 (n=20,176), 2% involved alcohol-impaired road users. Information on the role of alcohol in crashes from previous years was not available. Discussion Various strategies are employed to detect alcohol-impaired drivers including: targeting vehicles from hotels/restaurants; using sense of smell to screen drivers for further testing; passive alcohol sensors to test drivers; and blood tests for crash-involved drivers where a fatality occurred. Although resources to promote road safety are limited, various government initiatives promote awareness of the dangers of alcohol-related driving and more are needed in future.

The health effects of temperature : current estimates, future projections, and adaptation strategies

Climate change is expected to be one of the biggest global health threats in the 21st century. In response to changes in climate and associated extreme events, public health adaptation has become imperative. This thesis examined several key issues in this emerging research field. The thesis aimed to identify the climate-health (particularly temperature-health) relationships, then develop quantitative models that can be used to project future health impacts of climate change, and therefore help formulate adaptation strategies for dealing with climate-related health risks and reducing vulnerability. The research questions addressed by this thesis were: (1) What are the barriers to public health adaptation to climate change? What are the research priorities in this emerging field? (2) What models and frameworks can be used to project future temperature-related mortality under different climate change scenarios? (3) What is the actual burden of temperature-related mortality? What are the impacts of climate change on future burden of disease? and (4) Can we develop public health adaptation strategies to manage the health effects of temperature in response to climate change? Using a literature review, I discussed how public health organisations should implement and manage the process of planned adaptation. This review showed that public health adaptation can operate at two levels: building adaptive capacity and implementing adaptation actions. However, there are constraints and barriers to adaptation arising from uncertainty, cost, technologic limits, institutional arrangements, deficits of social capital, and individual perception of risks. The opportunities for planning and implementing public health adaptation are reliant on effective strategies to overcome likely barriers. I proposed that high priorities should be given to multidisciplinary research on the assessment of potential health effects of climate change, projections of future health impacts under different climate and socio-economic scenarios, identification of health cobenefits of climate change policies, and evaluation of cost-effective public health adaptation options. Heat-related mortality is the most direct and highly-significant potential climate change impact on human health. I thus conducted a systematic review of research and methods for projecting future heat-related mortality under different climate change scenarios. The review showed that climate change is likely to result in a substantial increase in heatrelated mortality. Projecting heat-related mortality requires understanding of historical temperature-mortality relationships, and consideration of future changes in climate, population and acclimatisation. Further research is needed to provide a stronger theoretical framework for mortality projections, including a better understanding of socioeconomic development, adaptation strategies, land-use patterns, air pollution and mortality displacement. Most previous studies were designed to examine temperature-related excess deaths or mortality risks. However, if most temperature-related deaths occur in the very elderly who had only a short life expectancy, then the burden of temperature on mortality would have less public health importance. To guide policy decisions and resource allocation, it is desirable to know the actual burden of temperature-related mortality. To achieve this, I used years of life lost to provide a new measure of health effects of temperature. I conducted a time-series analysis to estimate years of life lost associated with changes in season and temperature in Brisbane, Australia. I also projected the future temperaturerelated years of life lost attributable to climate change. This study showed that the association between temperature and years of life lost was U-shaped, with increased years of life lost on cold and hot days. The temperature-related years of life lost will worsen greatly if future climate change goes beyond a 2 °C increase and without any adaptation to higher temperatures. The excess mortality during prolonged extreme temperatures is often greater than the predicted using smoothed temperature-mortality association. This is because sustained period of extreme temperatures produce an extra effect beyond that predicted by daily temperatures. To better estimate the burden of extreme temperatures, I estimated their effects on years of life lost due to cardiovascular disease using data from Brisbane, Australia. The results showed that the association between daily mean temperature and years of life lost due to cardiovascular disease was U-shaped, with the lowest years of life lost at 24 °C (the 75th percentile of daily mean temperature in Brisbane), rising progressively as temperatures become hotter or colder. There were significant added effects of heat waves, but no added effects of cold spells. Finally, public health adaptation to hot weather is necessary and pressing. I discussed how to manage the health effects of temperature, especially with the context of climate change. Strategies to minimise the health effects of high temperatures and climate change can fall into two categories: reducing the heat exposure and managing the health effects of high temperatures. However, policy decisions need information on specific adaptations, together with their expected costs and benefits. Therefore, more research is needed to evaluate cost-effective adaptation options. In summary, this thesis adds to the large body of literature on the impacts of temperature and climate change on human health. It improves our understanding of the temperaturehealth relationship, and how this relationship will change as temperatures increase. Although the research is limited to one city, which restricts the generalisability of the findings, the methods and approaches developed in this thesis will be useful to other researchers studying temperature-health relationships and climate change impacts. The results may be helpful for decision-makers who develop public health adaptation strategies to minimise the health effects of extreme temperatures and climate change.

How realistic are older drivers’ ratings of their driving ability?

One strategy that can be used by older drivers to guard against age-related declines in driving capability is to regulate their driving. This strategy presumes that self-judgments of driving capability are realistic. We found no significant relationships between older drivers’ hazard perception skill ratings and performance on an objective and validated video-based hazard perception test, even when self-ratings of performance on specific scenarios in the test were used. Self-enhancement biases were found across all components of driving skill, including hazard perception. If older drivers’ judgments of their driving capability are unrealistic, then this may compromise the effectiveness of any self-restriction strategies to reduce crash risk.

Parametric modelling for the efficient design of daylight strategies with complex geometries

Daylight devices are important components of any climate responsive façade system. But, the evolution of parametric CAD systems and digital fabrication has had an impact on architectural form so that regular forms are shifting to complex geometries. Architectural and engineering integration of daylight devices in envelopes with complex geometries is a challenge in terms of design and performance evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to assess daylight performance of a building with a climatic responsive envelope with complex geometry that integrates shading devices in the façade. The case study is based on the Esplanade buildings in Singapore. Climate-based day-light metrics such as Daylight Availability and Useful Daylight Illuminance are used. DIVA (daylight simulation), and Grasshopper (parametric analysis) plug-ins for Rhinoceros have been employed to examine the range of performance possibilities. Parameters such as dimension, inclination of the device, projected shadows and shape have been changed in order to maximize daylight availability and Useful Daylight Illuminance while minimizing glare probability. While orientation did not have a great impact on the results, aperture of the shading devices did, showing that shading devices with a projection of 1.75 m to 2.00 m performed best, achieving target lighting levels without issues of glare.

What's in it for me? Virtual conspicuous donation strategies as a source of value in blood donation

Providing an incentive is becoming common practice among blood service organisations. Driven by self-orientated motives rather than pure philanthropic intentions, research is showing that people increasingly want something in return for their support. It is contended that individuals donate conspicuously with the hope it will improve their social standing. Yet there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of conspicuous recognition strategies, and no studies, to the researcher’s knowledge, that have examined conspicuous donation strategies in an online social media context. There is a need to understand what value drives individuals to donate blood, and whether conspicuous donation strategies are a source of such value post blood donation. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise how conspicuous donation strategies, in the form of virtual badges on social media sites, can be applied to the social behaviour of blood donation, as a value-adding tool, to encourage repeat behaviour.

Changes of mortality and causes of death from 1970 to 2005 and decomposition analysis in Shandong province [山东省1970-2005年人群死亡率极死因变化与差别分解分析]

Objective To describe the trend of overall mortality and major causes of death in Shandong population from 1970 to 2005,and to quantitatively estimate the influential factors. Methods Trends of overall mortality and major causes of death were described using indicators such as mortality rates and age-adjusted death rates by comparing three large-scale mortality surveys in Shandong province. Difference decomposing method was applied to estimate the contribution of demographic and non-demographic factors for the change of mortality. Results The total mortality had had a slight change since 1970s,but had increased since 1990s.However,both the mortality rates of age-adjusted and age-specific decreased significantly. The mortality of Group Ⅰ diseases including infectious diseases as well maternal and perinatal diseases decreased drastically. By contrast, the mortality of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs)including cardiovascular diseases(CVDs),cancer and injuries increased. The sustentation of recent overall mortality was caused by the interaction of demographic and non-demographic factors which worked oppositely. Non-demographic factors were responsible for the decrease of Group Ⅰ disease and the increase of injuries. With respect to the increase of NCDs as a whole. Demographic factors might take the full responsibility and the non-demographic factors were the opposite force to reduce the mortality. Nevertheless, for the increase of some leading NCD diseases as CVDs and cancer, the increase was mainly due to non-demographic rather than demographic factors. Conclusion Through the interaction of the aggravation of ageing population and the enhancement of non-demographic effect, the overall mortality in Shandong would maintain a balance or slightly rise in the coming years. Group Ⅰ diseases in Shandong had been effectively under control. Strategies focusing on disease control and prevention should be transferred to chronic diseases, especially leading NCDs, such as CVDs and cancer.

COX-derived prostanoid pathways in gastrointestinal cancer development and progression : novel targets for prevention and intervention

Arachidonic acid metabolism through cyclooxygenase (COX) pathways leads to the generation of biologically active eicosanoids. Eicosanoid expression levels vary during development and progression of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. COX-2 is the major COX-isoform responsible for G.I. cancer development/progression. COX-2 expression increases during progression from a normal to cancerous state. Evidence from observational studies has demonstrated that chronic NSAID use reduces the risk of cancer development, while both incidence and risk of death due to G.I. cancers were significantly reduced by daily aspirin intake. A number of randomized controlled trials (APC trial, Prevention of Sporadic Adenomatous Polyps trial, APPROVe trial) have also shown a significant protective effect in patients receiving selective COX-2 inhibitors. However, chronic use of selective COX-2 inhibitors at high doses was associated with increased cardiovascular risk, while NSAIDs have also been associated with increased risk. More recently, downstream effectors of COX-signaling have been investigated in cancer development/progression. PGE 2, which binds to both EP and PPAR receptors, is the major prostanoid implicated in the carcinogenesis of G.I. cancers. The role of TXA 2 in G.I. cancers has also been examined, although further studies are required to uncover its role in carcinogenesis. Other prostanoids investigated include PGD 2 and its metabolite 15d-PGJ2, PGF 1α and PGI 2. Targeting these prostanoids in G.I. cancers has the promise of avoiding cardiovascular toxicity associated with chronic selective COX-2 inhibition, while maintaining anti-tumor reactivity.A progressive sequence from normal to pre-malignant to a malignant state has been identified in G.I. cancers. In this review, we will discuss the role of the COX-derived prostanoids in G.I. cancer development and progression. Targeting these downstream prostanoids for chemoprevention and/or treatment of G.I. cancers will also be discussed. Finally, we will highlight the latest pre-clinical technologies as well as avenues for future investigation in this highly topical research field. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

The role of prostacyclin synthase and thromboxane synthase signaling in the development and progression of cancer

Prostacyclin synthase and thromboxane synthase signaling via arachidonic acid metabolism affects a number of tumor cell survival pathways such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, tumor cell invasion and metastasis, and angiogenesis. However, the effects of these respective synthases differ considerably with respect to the pathways described. While prostacyclin synthase is generally believed to be anti-tumor, a pro-carcinogenic role for thromboxane synthase has been demonstrated in a variety of cancers. The balance of oppositely-acting COX-derived prostanoids influences many processes throughout the body, such as blood pressure regulation, clotting, and inflammation. The PGI2/TXA2 ratio is of particular interest in-vivo, with the corresponding synthases shown to be differentially regulated in a variety of disease states. Pharmacological inhibition of thromboxane synthase has been shown to significantly inhibit tumor cell growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis in a range of experimental models. In direct contrast, prostacyclin synthase overexpression has been shown to be chemopreventive in a murine model of the disease, suggesting that the expression and activity of this enzyme may protect against tumor development. In this review, we discuss the aberrant expression and known functions of both prostacyclin synthase and thromboxane synthase in cancer. We discuss the effects of these enzymes on a range of tumor cell survival pathways, such as tumor cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, invasion and metastasis, and tumor cell angiogenesis. As downstream signaling pathways of these enzymes have also been implicated in cancer states, we examine the role of downstream effectors of PGIS and TXS activity in tumor growth and progression. Finally, we discuss current therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting these enzymes for the prevention/treatment of cancer. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self-Regulated Learning : key strategies and their sources in a sample of adolescent males

This study identified the key self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies and their sources for nine school-aged adolescent males aged 15 to 17 years. The Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS) was used along with semi-structured interviews with the participants and their parents to elicit information on SRL strategies and contexts for the formation of self-regulatory habits. Early habit-forming experiences of the family home in relation to homework and study routines were found to form an important base for effective SRL. Teachers were identified as the most common source of SRL strategies with important formative experiences occurring during the first two years of high school.

Concealing their communication : exploring psychosocial predictors of young drivers’ intentions and engagement in concealed texting

Making a conscious effort to hide the fact that you are texting while driving (i.e., concealed texting) is a deliberate and risky behaviour involving attention diverted away from the road. As the most frequent users of text messaging services and mobile phones while driving, young people appear at heightened risk of crashing from engaging in this behaviour. This study investigated the phenomenon of concealed texting while driving, and utilised an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) including the additional predictors of moral norm, mobile phone involvement, and anticipated regret to predict young drivers’ intentions and subsequent behaviour. Participants (n = 171) were aged 17 to 25 years, owned a mobile phone, and had a current driver’s licence. Participants completed a questionnaire measuring their intention to conceal texting while driving, and a follow-up questionnaire a week later to report their behavioural engagement. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed overall support for the predictive utility of the TPB with the standard constructs accounting for 69% of variance in drivers’ intentions, and the extended predictors contributing an additional 6% of variance in intentions over and above the standard constructs. Attitude, subjective norm, PBC, moral norm, and mobile phone involvement emerged as significant predictors of intentions; and intention was the only significant predictor of drivers’ self-reported behaviour. These constructs can provide insight into key focal points for countermeasures including advertising and other public education strategies aimed at influencing young drivers to reconsider their engagement in this risky behaviour.

The effects and interactions of GABAergic and dopaminergic agents in the prevention of form deprivation myopia by brief periods of normal vision

Intravitreal injections of GABA antagonists, dopamine agonists and brief periods of normal vision have been shown separately to inhibit form-deprivation myopia (FDM). Our study had three aims: (i) establish whether GABAergic agents modify the myopia protective effect of normal vision, (ii) investigate the receptor sub-type specificity of any observed effect, and (iii) consider an interaction with the dopamine (DA) system. Prior to the period of normal vision GABAergic agents were applied either (i) individually, (ii) in combination with other GABAergic agents (an agonist with an antagonist), or (iii) in combination with DA agonists and antagonists. Water injections were given to groups not receiving drug treatments so that all experimental eyes received intravitreal injections. As shown previously, constant form-deprivation resulted in high myopia and when diffusers were removed for 2 h per day the period of normal vision greatly reduced the FDM that developed. GABA agonists inhibited the protective effect of normal vision whereas antagonists had the opposite effect. GABAA/C agonists and D2 DA antagonists when used in combination were additive in suppressing the protective effect of normal vision. A D2 DA agonist restored some of the protective effect of normal vision that was inhibited by a GABA agonist (muscimol). The protective effect of normal vision against form-deprivation is modifiable by both the GABAergic and DAergic pathways.

Comparing outcomes of a school based injury prevention intervention for low-medium risk adolescents with high-risk adoelscents

High-risk adolescents are shown to jeopardise their future social and health functioning as well as placing themselves and others at immediate risk of harm. The challenge of “reaching” high-risk adolescents, who are often marginalised, is considerable. There is a positive relationship between age and risk taking behaviors during adolescence. This study examines outcomes (alcohol use, transport risk behaviors, violence) of a school based intervention (SPIY) by comparing low-medium risk adolescents with high-risk adolescents over a six month period.