Fungicidal Activity of Soybean Oil against Powdery Mildew on Wheat

Products derived from soybean crops are not only global food staples, but are also used in pharmaceuticals, industry, and agriculture. Soybean oil (SBO) and other oils are often used as adjuvants in agricultural sprays to facilitate spread of the active ingredient (a.i.) across the plant surface. This chapter describes original research in which a natural fungicide (biofungicide) was formulated using SBO as the a.i. Antimicrobial activity of SBO against a powdery mildew (PM) pathogen, Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, was measured, as well as effects on plant health and yield of wheat plants. Results were compared with a conventional fungicide and another lipid biofungicide. The mode of action was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that SBO provided PM control equal to the conventional fungicide when plants were adequately spaced and caused collapse of fungal structures and extrusion of cell contents. Commercialisation potential of SBO biofungicide is discussed

How College Faculty Adapted Instruction to Online Learning During the COVID-19

The problem addressed in this study was the challenges of the transition of courses to online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to collect and examine the experiences of XYZ (pseudonym) faculty who transitioned their courses to online learning platforms in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Piaget’s constructivism was the conceptual framework of this project. The research questions examined the experiences of college faculty members about previous knowledge that contributed to the transition of courses using online platforms. Ten research participants were selected using purposeful sampling while conducting semistructured interviews. Content thematic analysis was employed for data analysis with findings to answer the research questions, revealing six major themes: (a) unprepared for online instruction; (b) lack of support and training; (c) faculty attitudes towards Moodle; (d) student issues; (e) internet connectivity, accessibility to technology, and technical support; and (f) accessible information. A 3-day professional development was created to train faculty on how to effectively transition to online instructions using Moodle and online pedagogy. The findings from this study can contribute to positive social change for educators and administrators to understand the barriers that impacts the performance of educators transitioning to online instructions in response to a future crisis

An Aboriginal Adult Literacy Campaign Pilot Study in Australia using Yes I Can

In 2012, the remote Aboriginal community of Wilcannia in western NSW hosted the first Australian pilot of a Cuban mass adult literacy campaign model known as Yes I Can. The aim was to investigate the appropriateness of this model in Aboriginal Australia. Building on an intensive community development process of ‘socialisation and mobilisation’, sixteen community members with very low literacy graduated from the basic literacy course, with the majority continuing on into post-literacy activities, further training and/or employment. The pilot was initiated by the National Aboriginal Adult Literacy Campaign Steering Committee (NAALCSC) consisting of Aboriginal leaders from the education and health sectors, and managed by the University of New England (UNE), working in partnership with the Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council as the local lead agency. The pilot was supported by a Cuban academic who came to Australia for this purpose, and included a Participatory Action Research (PAR) evaluation led by the UNE Project Manager. In this paper, members of the project team and the NAALCSC describe the pilot and reflect on its outcomes

Perceived parental involvement influences students’ academic buoyancy and adaptability: the mediating roles of goal orientations

Academic buoyancy and adaptability (i.e., student capacities to deal with difficulties and challenges in daily school lives and to make appropriate cognitive, behavioral as well as affective adjustments in interacting with new, uncertain, and/or changing situations, circumstances, and conditions) can help learners regulate and protect themselves in the failure-prone learning environment. This study examined how students’ perceptions of parental academic involvement and their goal orientations were related to their academic buoyancy and adaptability in mathematics learning. We recruited a sample of 1,164 Chinese junior high school students. Using structural equation modeling, the results indicated that after controlling for family socioeconomic status and gender, perceived parental involvement was positively related to the students’ academic buoyancy and adaptability. Furthermore, parental involvement was significantly associated with students’ mastery and performance-approach goal orientations, which further partially mediated the relationship between parental involvement and academic buoyancy and adaptability. However, the mediating role of a performance-avoidance goal orientation in this relationship was not significant. Findings highlight the important roles that parenting practices and individual achievement motivation play in the development of academic buoyancy and adaptability in the Chinese context. Future research directions and implications are discussed

Transcriptionally active HERV-H retrotransposons demarcate topologically associating domains in human pluripotent stem cells.

Chromatin architecture has been implicated in cell type-specific gene regulatory programs, yet how chromatin remodels during development remains to be fully elucidated. Here, by interrogating chromatin reorganization during human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) differentiation, we discover a role for the primate-specific endogenous retrotransposon human endogenous retrovirus subfamily H (HERV-H) in creating topologically associating domains (TADs) in hPSCs. Deleting these HERV-H elements eliminates their corresponding TAD boundaries and reduces the transcription of upstream genes, while de novo insertion of HERV-H elements can introduce new TAD boundaries. The ability of HERV-H to create TAD boundaries depends on high transcription, as transcriptional repression of HERV-H elements prevents the formation of boundaries. This ability is not limited to hPSCs, as these actively transcribed HERV-H elements and their corresponding TAD boundaries also appear in pluripotent stem cells from other hominids but not in more distantly related species lacking HERV-H elements. Overall, our results provide direct evidence for retrotransposons in actively shaping cell type- and species-specific chromatin architecture

"Anybody can make kids; it takes a real man to look after your kids": Aboriginal men's discourse on parenting

Published: November 22, 2019BACKGROUND: The realms of parenting have long belonged to females. In many cultures it has been a female who has predominantly cared for and raised children. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents this has resulted in them being largely overlooked from contributing to the parenting conversation. Predictably, such a dominant discourse has led to an inadequate distribution of opportunities available and a societal perception that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents are disinterested in and/or disengaged from their parental roles and responsibilities, however, this is far from the truth. METHODS: This study is entrenched in an Indigenist research approach which privileges Indigenous lives, Indigenous knowledges and Indigenous voices, and utilised the Research Topic Yarning method to capture participants stories. RESULTS: Four yarning groups were conducted across South Australia in Coober Pedy, Yalata, Port Lincoln and metropolitan Adelaide. In total, 46 Aboriginal men contributed their experiences and stories of their roles and responsibilities as parents to this study. Men described being a dad as a privilege, emotionally fulfilling and rewarding and although at times it can be challenging, neglecting their roles and responsibilities are not considered options. Lack of employment and therefore financial security were described as a challenge to fatherhood especially for fathers who live in remote communities. Aboriginal culture, connection to country and family were identified as critical elements and strengths for Aboriginal male parents. Furthermore, Aboriginal male parents are yearning for opportunities to participate in parenting programs including men's parenting groups. CONCLUSION: Consideration of and concern for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men's involvement and experiences prior to conception, prenatal and postpartum has slowly gained momentum in recent years, yet there has been little improvement in the overall provision of appropriate parenting support services and/or programs for these men.Kootsy Canuto, Kurt Towers, Joshua Riessen, Jimmy Perry, Shane Bond, Dudley Ah Chee, Alex Brow

Is it reliable to assess visual attention of drivers affected by Parkinson's disease from the backseat?—a simulator study

BACKGROUND: Current methods of determining licence retainment or cancellation is through on-road driving tests. Previous research has shown that occupational therapists frequently assess drivers' visual attention while sitting in the back seat on the opposite side of the driver. Since the eyes of the driver are not always visible, assessment by eye contact becomes problematic. Such procedural drawbacks may challenge validity and reliability of the visual attention assessments. In terms of correctly classified attention, the aim of the study was to establish the accuracy and the inter-rater reliability of driving assessments of visual attention from the back seat. Furthermore, by establishing eye contact between the assessor and the driver through an additional mirror on the wind screen, the present study aimed to establish how much such an intervention would enhance the accuracy of the visual attention assessment. METHODS: Two drivers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and six control drivers drove a fixed route in a driving simulator while wearing a head mounted eye tracker. The eye tracker data showed where the foveal visual attention actually was directed. These data were time stamped and compared with the simultaneous manual scoring of the visual attention of the drivers. In four of the drivers, one with Parkinson's disease, a mirror on the windscreen was set up to arrange for eye contact between the driver and the assessor. Inter-rater reliability was performed with one of the Parkinson drivers driving, but without the mirror. RESULTS: Without mirror, the overall accuracy was 56% when assessing the three control drivers and with mirror 83%. However, for the PD driver without mirror the accuracy was 94%, whereas for the PD driver with a mirror the accuracy was 90%. With respect to the inter-rater reliability, a 73% agreement was found. CONCLUSION: If the final outcome of a driving assessment is dependent on the subcategory of a protocol assessing visual attention, we suggest the use of an additional mirror to establish eye contact between the assessor and the driver. The clinicians' observations on-road should not be a standalone assessment in driving assessments. Instead, eye trackers should be employed for further analyses and correlation in cases where there is doubt about a driver's attention

Changes in pulmonary tuberculosis prevalence: Evidence from the 2010 population survey in a populous province of China

Background: This paper reports findings from the prevalence survey conducted in Shandong China in 2010, a province with a population of 94 million. This study aimed to estimate TB prevalence of the province in 2010 in comparison with the 2000 survey; and to compare yields of TB cases from different case finding approaches. Methods: A population based, cross-sectional survey was conducted using multi-stage random cluster sampling. 54,279 adults participated in the survey with a response rate of 96%. Doctors interviewed and classified participants as suspected TB cases if they presented with persistent cough, abnormal chest X-ray (CXRAY), or both. Three sputum specimens of all suspected cases were collected and sent for smear microscopy and culture. Results: Adjusted prevalence rate of bacteriologically confirmed cases was 34 per 100,000 for adults in Shandong in 2010. Compared to the 2000 survey, TB prevalence has declined by 80%. 53% of bacteriologically confirmed cases did not present persistent cough. The yield of bacteriologically confirmed cases was 47% by symptom screening and 95% by CXRAY. Over 50% of TB cases were among over 65's. Conclusions: The prevalence rate of bacteriologically confirmed cases was significantly reduced compared with 2000. The survey raised challenges to identify TB cases without clear symptoms

Seroepidemiology of coxsackievirus A6, coxsackievirus A16, and Enterovirus 71 infections among children and adolescents in Singapore, 2008-2010

10.1371/journal.pone.0127999PLoS ONE105e012799