Determinants of participation restriction among community dwelling stroke survivors : a path analysis

Background: Apart from promoting physical recovery and assisting in activities of daily living, a major challenge in stroke rehabilitation is to minimize psychosocial morbidity and to promote the reintegration of stroke survivors into their family and community. The identification of key factors influencing long-term outcome are essential in developing more effective rehabilitation measures for reducing stroke-related morbidity. The aim of this study was to test a theoretical model of predictors of participation restriction which included the direct and indirect effects between psychosocial outcomes, physical outcome, and socio-demographic variables at 12 months after stroke.--------- Methods: Data were collected from 188 stroke survivors at 12 months following their discharge from one of the two rehabilitation hospitals in Hong Kong. The settings included patients' homes and residential care facilities. Path analysis was used to test a hypothesized model of participation restriction at 12 months.---------- Results: The path coefficients show functional ability having the largest direct effect on participation restriction (β = 0.51). The results also show that more depressive symptoms (β = -0.27), low state self-esteem (β = 0.20), female gender (β = 0.13), older age (β = -0.11) and living in a residential care facility (β = -0.12) have a direct effect on participation restriction. The explanatory variables accounted for 71% of the variance in explaining participation restriction at 12 months.---------- Conclusion: Identification of stroke survivors at risk of high levels of participation restriction, depressive symptoms and low self-esteem will assist health professionals to devise appropriate rehabilitation interventions that target improving both physical and psychosocial functioning.

The transformation of banana with potential virus resistance genes

One approach to reducing the yield losses caused by banana viral diseases is the use of genetic engineering and pathogen-derived resistance strategies to generate resistant cultivars. The development of transgenic virus resistance requires an efficient banana transformation method, particularly for commercially important 'Cavendish' type cultivars such as 'Grand Nain'. Prior to this study, only two examples of the stable transformation of banana had been reported, both of which demonstrated the principle of transformation but did not characterise transgenic plants in terms of the efficiency at which individual transgenic lines were generated, relative activities of promoters in stably transformed plants, and the stability of transgene expression. The aim of this study was to develop more efficient transformation methods for banana, assess the activity of some commonly used and also novel promoters in stably transformed plants, and transform banana with genes that could potentially confer resistance to banana bunchy top nanovirus (BBTV) and banana bract mosaic potyvirus (BBrMV). A regeneration system using immature male flowers as the explant was established. The frequency of somatic embryogenesis in male flower explants was influenced by the season in which the inflorescences were harvested. Further, the media requirements of various banana cultivars in respect to the 2,4-D concentration in the initiation media also differed. Following the optimisation of these and other parameters, embryogenic cell suspensions of several banana (Musa spp.) cultivars including 'Grand Nain' (AAA), 'Williams' (AAA), 'SH-3362' (AA), 'Goldfinger' (AAAB) and 'Bluggoe' (ABB) were successfully generated. Highly efficient transformation methods were developed for both 'Bluggoe' and 'Grand Nain'; this is the first report of microprojectile bombardment transformation of the commercially important 'Grand Nain' cultivar. Following bombardment of embryogenic suspension cells, regeneration was monitored from single transfom1ed cells to whole plants using a reporter gene encoding the green fluorescent protein (gfp). Selection with kanamycin enabled the regeneration of a greater number of plants than with geneticin, while still preventing the regeneration of non-transformed plants. Southern hybridisation confirmed the neomycin phosphotransferase gene (npt II) was stably integrated into the banana genome and that multiple transgenic lines were derived from single bombardments. The activity, stability and tissue specificity of the cauliflower mosaic virus 358 (CaMV 35S) and maize polyubiquitin-1 (Ubi-1) promoters were examined. In stably transformed banana, the Ubi-1 promoter provided approximately six-fold higher p-glucuronidase (GUS) activity than the CaMV 35S promoter, and both promoters remained active in glasshouse grown plants for the six months they were observed. The intergenic regions ofBBTV DNA-I to -6 were isolated and fused to either the uidA (GUS) or gfjJ reporter genes to assess their promoter activities. BBTV promoter activity was detected in banana embryogenic cells using the gfp reporter gene. Promoters derived from BBTV DNA-4 and -5 generated the highest levels of transient activity, which were greater than that generated by the maize Ubi-1 promoter. In transgenic banana plants, the activity of the BBTV DNA-6 promoter (BT6.1) was restricted to the phloem of leaves and roots, stomata and root meristems. The activity of the BT6.1 promoter was enhanced by the inclusion of intron-containing fragments derived from the maize Ubi-1, rice Act-1, and sugarcane rbcS 5' untranslated regions in GUS reporter gene constructs. In transient assays in banana, the rice Act-1 and maize Ubi-1 introns provided the most significant enhancement, increasing expression levels 300-fold and 100-fold, respectively. The sugarcane rbcS intron increased expression about 10-fold. In stably transformed banana plants, the maize Ubi-1 intron enhanced BT6.1 promoter activity to levels similar to that of the CaMV 35S promoter, but did not appear to alter the tissue specificity of the promoter. Both 'Grand Nain' and 'Bluggoe' were transformed with constructs that could potentially confer resistance to BBTV and BBrMV, including constructs containing BBTV DNA-1 major and internal genes, BBTV DNA-5 gene, and the BBrMV coat protein-coding region all under the control of the Ubi-1 promoter, while the BT6 promoter was used to drive the npt II selectable marker gene. At least 30 transgenic lines containing each construct were identified and replicates of each line are currently being generated by micropropagation in preparation for virus challenge.

Civic engagement and associationalism : the impact of group membership scope versus intensity of participation

The relationship between participation in civic and political activities and membership of voluntary associations is now well established. What is less clear is the relative impacts of how much time people spend on group activities (associational intensity), and the number and type of groups that individuals are involved with (associational scope). Does it matter in terms of civic engagement, for example, whether one is a member of a quilting-circle or trade union? Does it matter whether association ‘membership’ is simply an annual payment or a major commitment of time and energy? In this article, we use a large survey to explore these questions empirically by focusing on the membership patterns and civic engagement practices of 4,001 citizens drawn from eight suburbs across Greater Melbourne, Australia. Our findings indicate that, while associational intensity is positively related to civic engagement, associational scope (the number of group memberships per person), is a more influential determinant of the level of civic and political participation. The results also suggest that while all forms of associationalism are important in terms of fostering greater levels of civic activity, not all forms have the same impact.

The role of organisational capacity in the knowledge-based transformation of Brisbane, Australia

Purpose - The cumulative impacts of the knowledge economy together with the emerging dominance of knowledge-intensive sectors, have led to an unprecedented period of socio-economic and spatial restructuring. As a result, the paradigm of knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has emerged as a development strategy to guide knowledge-based economic transformation (Knight, 1995; Yigitcanlar, 2007). Notwithstanding widespread government commitment and financial investment, in many cases providing the enabling circumstances for KUBUD has proven a complicated task as institutional barriers remain. Researchers and practitioners advocate that the way organisations work and their institutional relationships, policies and programs, will have a significant impact on a regions capacity to achieve KBUD (Savitch, 1998; Savitch and Kantor, 2002; Keast and Mandell, 2009). In this context, building organisational capacity is critical to achieving institutional change and bring together all of the key actors and sources, for the successful development, adoption, and implementation of knowledge-based development of a city (Yigitcanlar, 2009). Design/methodology/approach - There is a growing need to determine the complex inter-institutional arrangements and intra-organisational interactions required to advance urban development within the knowledge economy. In order to design organisational capacity-building strategies, the associated attributes of good capacity must first be identified. The paper, with its appraisal of knowledge-based urban development, scrutinises organisational capacity and institutional change in Brisbane. As part of the discussion of the case study findings, the paper describes the institutional relationships, policies, programs and funding streams, which are supporting KBUD in the region. Originality/value - In consideration that there has been limited investigation into the institutional lineaments required to provide the enabling circumstances for KBUD, the broad aim of this paper is to discover some good organisational capacity attributes, achieved through a case study of Brisbane. Practical implications - It is anticipated that the findings of the case study will contribute to moving the discussion on the complex inter-institutional arrangements and intra-organisaational interactions required for KBUD, beyond a position of rhetoric.

Practices for teaching moral values in the early years : a call for a pedagogy of participation

Schools have long been seen as institutions for preparing children for life, both academically and as moral agents in society. In order to become capable, moral citizens, children need to be provided with opportunities to learn moral values. However, little is known about how teachers enact social and moral values programs in the classroom. The aim of this paper is to investigate the practices that Australian early years teachers describe as important for teaching moral values. To investigate early years teachers’ understandings of moral pedagogy, 379 Australian teachers with experience teaching children in the early years were invited to participate in an on-line survey. This paper focuses on responses provided to an open-ended question relating to teaching practices for moral values. The responses were analysed using an interpretive methodology. The results indicate that the most prominent approaches to teaching moral values described by this group of Australian early years teachers were engaging children in moral activities. This was closely followed by teaching practices for transmitting moral values. Engaging children in building meaning and participatory learning for moral values were least often described.

Social Procurement: Promoting the sustainability of NPOs through the transformation of economic, social and cultural capital

Social procurement provides a key source of income for the Third Sector, and is vital for the sustainability of many nonprofit organisations. Social procurement involves the exchange of economic capital from one organisation, typically government (although for-profit and non-profit organisations can also purchase), with a nonprofit organisations in order to deliver other forms of. It is this transformation of economic capital into other forms of capital (cultural, human, social) in the social procurement process, which is the focus of this paper. Four case studies, which are representative of the four main types of social procurement, will be examined in order to trace how economic capital is transformed into other types of capital in each of these cases. In so doing, the paper will advance our understanding of social procurement theoretically, and lead to a wider discussion about the role of social procurement in ensuring the sustainability of nonprofit organisations, and the civil societies in which they operate.

Problematising the processes of participation in networks : working through the rhetoric

Participation in networks, both as a concept and process, is widely supported in environmental education as a democratic and equitable pathway to individual and social change for sustainability. However, the processes of participation in networks are rarely problematized. Rather, it is assumed that we inherently know how to participate in networks. This assumption means that participation is seldom questioned. Underlying support for participation in networks is a belief that it allows individuals to connect in new and meaningful ways, that individuals can engage in making decisions and in bringing about change in arenas that affect them, and that they will be engaging in new, non-hierarchical and equitable relationships. In this paper we problematize participation in networks. As an example we use research into a decentralized network – described as such in its own literature - the Queensland Environmentally Sustainable Schools Initiative Alliance in Australia – to argue that while network participants were engaged and committed to participation in this network, 'old' forms of top-down engagement and relationships needed to be unlearnt. This paper thus proposes that for participation in decentralized networks to be meaningful, new learning about how to participate needs to occur.

Leading the transformation of learning and praxis in science classrooms

Individual science teachers who have inspired colleagues to transform their classroom praxis have been labelled transformational leaders. As the notion of distributed leadership became more accepted in the educational literature, the focus on the individual teacher-leader shifted to the study of leadership praxis both by individuals (whoever they might be) and by collectives within schools and science classrooms. This review traces the trajectory of leadership research, in the context of learning and teaching science, from an individual focus to a dialectical relationship between individual and collective praxis. The implications of applying an individual-collective perspective to praxis for teachers, students and their designated leaders are discussed.

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of indica rice cultivars using binary and superbinary vectors

The Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system was extended to two indica cultivars: a widely cultivated breeding line IR-64 and an elite basmati cultivar Karnal Local. Root tips and shoot tips of seedlings, and scutellar-calli derived from mature seeds showed high-efficiency Agrobacterium tumefaciens infection and stable transformation. In addition to the superbinary vector pTOK233 in Agrobacterium strain LBA4404, almost equally high levels of transformation were achieved with a relatively much smaller (13.1 kb) binary vector (pCAMBIA1301) in a supervirulent host strain AGL1. In both cases, as well as in both cultivars, while 60–90% of the infected explants produced calli resistant to the selectable agent hygromycin, 59–75% of such calli tested positive for GUS. A high level (400 μM) of acetosyringone in the preinduction medium for Agrobacterium and a higher level (500 μM) in the cocultivation medium was necessary for an enhancement in transformation frequency of the binary vector to levels comparable to a superbinary. Hygromycin-resistant calli could be produced from all the explants used. Transformants could be regenerated for both cultivars using the superbinary and binary vector, but only for calli of scutellar origin. In addition to the molecular confirmation of hpt and gus gene transfer and transcription, absence of gene sequences outside the transferred DNA (T-DNA) region confirmed absence of any long T-DNA transfer.