Embodying virtue in employment: Exploring the employment experiences of people with disabilities

Research on the employment experiences of people with disabilities (PWD), on a global level, is limited. While South Africa has a well-defined legislative framework that has been determined in consultation with disabled people's organisations, compliance with legislation appears to have failed to ensure that employment targets are met, or rather, it has overlooked the underemployment of PWD. As a response to the challenges, this study explored the employment experiences of PWD. A qualitative, explorative, multiple case study approach was employed. Twelve participants were selected using a purposive technique. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and provided insight into how PWD viewed their world. The interviews were supplemented through document analyses, and various modes of observation provided additional insight into each of the cases. The process of analysing the interview data followed an inductive approach during which three broad themes were identified. Factors influencing Employment elaborated on the participants' pre-employment experiences of gaining access to employment, which were shown to be impacted by various environmental barriers. Early Experiences of Inclusion at the Workplace established that induction and orientation processes were opportunities for educating co-workers about disability. However, the disclosure of disability did not guarantee improved employment experiences for the research participants. Feeling part of a team promoted early experiences of acceptance. Accommodation in the Workplace determined that PWD's accommodation requests were often evaluated and considered in terms of the costs to employers, and primarily focused on technology to improve their productivity. The need for personal assistance for the PWD in the study was found to be unavoidable. A conceptual model is presented as an alternative framework. It offers insight into how to improve disabled individuals' employment experiences to organisations and their management, and people with disabilities themselves. The model suggests that organisations operating from within a virtue framework can facilitate equal opportunities for employees. Organisations are to be more competitive, innovative and creative, and improve their sustainability. The experiences of PWD could be improved through establishing working communities within organisations as these distribute decisionmaking. The climate for organisational inclusion could also be improved by the working community's ability to redefine work and equip PWD appropriately, thereby promoting organisational citizenship, with benefits to both the organisation and individual

Exploring the Impacts of Funding Models on Business as Mission Organizations in Asia: A Multiple-case Study

In a 2014 research study, Dr. Steve Rundle examined the impacts of business-funded versus donor-funded business as mission (BAM) organizations. The research study answers Dr. Rundle’s call for further research on funding models, and the findings from the study help to fill in gaps in the social-entrepreneurship (SE) and BAM literature. BAM organizations, like other SE-oriented organizations, seek to achieve success in multiple bottom lines. The qualitative, multiple-case study utilized a theoretical replication design to explore differences between donor-funded and business-funded BAM organizations in Asia. Specifically, the research study explored principles related to BAM funding methodology’s impact on economic outcomes for BAM organizations operating in Asia. The study included 25 participants from 16 different BAM organizations. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, available organizational documents, and visual materials. The following six themes emerged from the study: (1) value of aligning mission and vision, (2) authentic businesses operating in a dynamic environment, (3) necessity of an on-ramp, (4) expectations tied to money, (5) be prepared and trust God, and (6) intentionally structure the business and strategic relationships. The findings of the study and recommendations for further study added to the body of knowledge. Additionally, the findings expanded the topic of funding methodologies in the context of BAM organizations and certain economic outcomes

A framework for human microbiome research.

A variety of microbial communities and their genes (the microbiome) exist throughout the human body, with fundamental roles in human health and disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Human Microbiome Project Consortium has established a population-scale framework to develop metagenomic protocols, resulting in a broad range of quality-controlled resources and data including standardized methods for creating, processing and interpreting distinct types of high-throughput metagenomic data available to the scientific community. Here we present resources from a population of 242 healthy adults sampled at 15 or 18 body sites up to three times, which have generated 5,177 microbial taxonomic profiles from 16S ribosomal RNA genes and over 3.5 terabases of metagenomic sequence so far. In parallel, approximately 800 reference strains isolated from the human body have been sequenced. Collectively, these data represent the largest resource describing the abundance and variety of the human microbiome, while providing a framework for current and future studies

An Inductive Study on How Business as Mission Entrepreneurs Decide to Start Businesses

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Businesses as Mission (BAM) entrepreneurs seem to have characteristics of both for-profit and social entrepreneurs. For-profit entrepreneurship literature has transitioned from focusing on who the entrepreneur is, to what they do as a function of their cognitive processes. Social entrepreneurship research areas have trended toward the formation of personality and motives of the socially-minded entrepreneur. Regardless of type, each entrepreneur must recognize opportunity, evaluate it, and then decide to take action or not. There were few peer-reviewed articles in the literature with regard to the study of BAM organizations or the entrepreneurs that start them. Since the BAM entrepreneur is a new entrepreneurial construct with attributes of both for-profit and social entrepreneurs plus an objective for spiritual growth among stakeholders, one might conclude that study of the BAM entrepreneur decision process could yield valuable insight. This research aimed to identify theory on how BAM entrepreneurs decide to go into business. To accomplish this, grounded theory research protocols were used. Theory building proceeded from expert interviews and the literature through constant comparative analysis. The results are documented in this manuscript in the form of a BAM Entrepreneur Infrastructure Model and entrepreneurial decision making that positions practitioners, educators, and supporters to identify, train, and maximize the capabilities of BAM entrepreneurs

UNDERSTANDING HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES AND WATER FLUXES LINKING WETLAND PONDS AND GROUNDWATER IN THE PRAIRIE POTHOLE REGION

Understanding surface water-groundwater interaction processes and quantification of hydrological fluxes remains a scientific challenge in hydrology. However, comprehensive understanding of groundwater interactions with the surface and more accurate estimates of hydrologic fluxes are essential for water resources and environmental management and policy. Numerous hydrological studies conducted in the glaciated Prairie Pothole region focused mainly on the importance of wetland ponds and their relationship with shallow groundwater in the till using physical, geophysical and water chemistry measurements, and numerical models. In this thesis, I combined field observations, isotopes of water and geochemical tracers (δ2H, δ18O, lc-excess, 3H and Cl-, SO42-), to develop a physical isotope model to quantify water fluxes, examine interactions between surface water and the relatively deeper intertill aquifers (< 50 m), and assess the pathways of water and solutes from the ponds, uplands and lowlands areas hummocky landscape. My field campaign spanned between 2013 and 2016 at the St Denis National Research Area in Saskatchewan, Canada, where additional soil, hydrometric and water isotope data were collected to complement the existing previously collected stable isotope, hydraulic and hydrometric data. The data show that water isotope compositions of ponds are reflective of seasons and residence time, and this property is useful for quantifying spatial surface water fluxes. Pond water infiltration rates estimated from the new model show that ephemeral ponds have the highest outflow rates, and pond-subsurface interactions can be determined without groundwater heads. The water isotopes and hydrometric measurements indicate that interaction between ponds and the intertill aquifer is limited to ponds upland, and water from ephemeral ponds are the dominant source of depression-focused recharge to the intertill aquifer. The stable isotopes and dissolved ions data showed that rapid downward advective movement of water occurs in the shallow weathered zone throughout the till and at all landscape positions and this water could serve as recharge water to the aquifer. The work represents a distinct contribution to the literature regarding our understanding of the hydrological processes linking wetland ponds and groundwater in the prairie pothole region

Managing chronic widespread pain in primary care : a qualitative study of patient perspectives and implications for treatment delivery

Funding The MUSICIAN trial was supported by an award from Arthritis Research UK, Chesterfield, UK. Grant number: 17292. The funding body approved the design of the study. They played no role in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data or the writing of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptors inhibit pathological pain in mice

An important objective of pain research is to identify novel drug targets for the treatment of pathological persistent pain states, such as inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptors (Mrgprs) represent a large family of orphan receptors specifically expressed in small-diameter nociceptive primary sensory neurons. To determine the roles of Mrgprs in persistent pathological pain states, we exploited a mouse line in which a chromosomal locus spanning 12 Mrgpr genes was deleted (KO). Initial studies indicated that these KO mice show prolonged mechanical- and thermal-pain hypersensitivity after hind-paw inflammation compared with wild-type littermates. Here, we show that this mutation also enhances the windup response of dorsal-horn wide dynamic-range neurons, an electrophysiological model for the triggering of central pain sensitization. Deletion of the Mrgpr cluster also blocked the analgesic effect of intrathecally applied bovine adrenal medulla peptide 8–22 (BAM 8–22), an MrgprC11 agonist, on both inflammatory heat hyperalgesia and neuropathic mechanical allodynia. Spinal application of bovine adrenal medulla peptide 8–22 also significantly attenuated windup in wild-type mice, an effect eliminated in KO mice. These data suggest that members of the Mrgpr family, in particular MrgprC11, may constitute an endogenous inhibitory mechanism for regulating persistent pain in mice. Agonists for these receptors may, therefore, represent a class of antihyperalgesics for treating persistent pain with minimal side effects because of the highly specific expression of their targets

Searching for Seeds of Hope Out of the Darkness: The Study of Local Community Perceptions of Post-disaster Tourism in Bam, Iran.

Dark or disaster tourism is a phenomenon in tourism studies, which refers to an interest in travelling to places, which have suffered from natural or human-made disasters. Even though in recent years the study of dark tourism has increased, few efforts have been undertaken to research local communities’ perceptions of dark or disaster tourism. There is a sensitivity to conducting such research, as local inhabitants are already the object of disaster tourists’ gazes. That being said exploring local communities’ attitudes to dark/disaster tourism should be seriously considered. To deal with this gap in dark tourism studies this thesis focused on one local community’s perceptions of post-disaster tourism in Bam, Iran, which suffered a destructive earthquake in 2003. The data was gathered based on semi-structured, qualitative interviews with sixteen local inhabitants in Bam. The study attempted to illuminate perceptions of and demands on local residents based on the limited experiences that they had had. It also endeavored to shed light on their expectations and worries, which they explained in discussions with me. Keywords: Dark tourism, Post-disaster tourism, Local community perceptions, Bam