Towards a new frontier in understanding the contextual influences on paediatric inactivity

Has your research ever caused you to be confronted with adversity or to traverse risky and unsettling terrain? Perhaps this is not dissimilar to an adventurer or explorer on a journey fraught with dangers and inherent risks forging a path through unexplored territory. This chapter shares with you my journey as an early career researcher through a critical juncture of research that until recently predominantly favored a scientific model that viewed the problem of paediatric inactivity from the outside in (not dissimilar to that of spending millions discovering another star in a far away galaxy). I share my journey thus far through the troubling terrain of exploring the relatively uncharted territory of adopting a humanistic approach to exploring this phenomenon (sitting on top of another undiscovered world beneath our feet). Often a solo researcher, I see myself as an 'active agent' on this journey with many parallels to that of an explorer. My intentional use of 'active exploration metaphors' should both exhaust the reader and help to create a feeling of troubling, not unlike the road I have traversed thus far. In sharing this journey with the reader, I hope that they may also identify or see themselves in some of my adventures and may relate to similar experiences or feelings. The chapter concludes with the sharing of my current position on this journey - that of traversing the terrain with more conviction in my step and strength in my position. I present an alternative approach to exploring this phenomenon as well as a range of counternarratives. This journey has enabled me to move towards a stronger, more empowering position where the dominant discourse can be challenged and where there is the potential to transform and thereby create new and more enabling research terrain to help understand the problem of paediatric inactivity

The power of connection: sharing epistemological approaches to reach beyond knowledge and skill acquisition in an Australian higher education context

[Abstract]: The profiles of today‘s adult learners in higher education are complex and diverse. Supporting these students in their learning journey needs to go beyond the acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities requiring a paradigm shift in pedagogical approach. In this paper, two tertiary educators from a regional Australian university share how they support adult learners enrolled both locally and globally to connect effectively with course content and with each other. One author, working primarily in undergraduate education courses has proposed a ―Winning Formula‖ approach to her pedagogy with an emphasis on student engagement, contextualised learning and choice of learning resources. The second author who works online with postgraduate learners shares outcomes of her research in online design with a focus on the principle of the ―CHE factor‖ (qualities of Connectivity, Humanness and Empathy) which she has found is the central tenet of effective online learning and teaching. As a result of a categorical analysis of multiple data sources from their individual research activities, the two authors were able to identify a number of shared learning and teaching principles which they have found support learners in making connections between their learning and the real world environments in which they live and work. Principles, however, cannot exist in a vacuum and need to be considered according to the educational contexts within which they are applied. The authors critique these key principles and the application to their own teaching contexts and share some anecdotal comments from students. The paper concludes with an invitation to others to consider the application (and possible adaptation) of the principles to their own educational contexts

ACAS arbitration : continuity and change

This thesis examines the arbitration function of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service [ACAS] as one form of third party intervention in British industrial relations. It provides an explanation for the apparent contradiction between the stance taken by Conservative governments post- 1979 to trade union reform on the one hand; and the survival of an agency which maintains many of the attitudes and practices associated with the past on the other. In spite of government rhetoric and changes which have occurred in the period examined, it is argued that the key attitudes and practices in relation to arbitration have not altered significantly over time. Questionnaire surveys of arbitrators and the parties to arbitration were conducted in conjunction with a study of arbitration awards over the period 1942-1985. These revealed that many of the debates relating to arbitration, including support for voluntarism and resistance to compulsion in the process, the criteria for the appointment of arbitrators with appropriate skills and experience and the factors which arbitrators should consider in making their awards, have their foundation in the early part of this century: that the main focus of criticisms of arbitration surround issues of pay and terms and conditions of employment and that they were unfounded: and that the majority of parties to arbitration were satisfied with the service they received. The practice of arbitration was located within the corporatist theory debate and it was contended that elements of corporatist and pluralist relationships and networks within ACAS had survived the election of a government openly hostile to both corporatism and quangos. Explanations for the survival of ACAS and the arbitration service as one form of third party intervention can be found within the corporatist and dualist debate and understood within the context of the role which arbitration has played in the history of British industrial relations

New York Community Trust 2010 Annual Report

Contains message from the board chair and the president, grantee and donor profiles, grants list and guidelines, funds list and guidelines, governance information, financial statements, and lists of committee members, board members, and staff

Alien Registration- Romans, Alice (Baldwin, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/32879/thumbnail.jp

Generating hair follicle inductive dermal papillae cells from adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells

Current management options for cutaneous burn wounds, including split thickness skin grafts and cultured epithelial autografts, generate an epithelial barrier which lacks a dermal layer and skin adnexae including hair follicles and sebaceous glands. This results in a loss of pliability and contractures that cause functional and cosmetic impairment. Embryological hair follicle morphogenesis results from a complex series of mesenchymal-epithelial interactions and to date a method of generating de novo folliculogenesis from human cells has yet to be accomplished. Existing models rely on combining 'inductive’ dermal and 'receptive’ epithelial components and placing them within a suitable model. Epithelial cells are easily obtainable from skin biopsies therefore obtaining sufficient quantities of 'trichogenic’ dermal cells remains the most significant challenge of this approach. The main aim of this project is to contribute to the achievement of de novo folliculogenesis by generating dermal papillae (DP) like-spheroids using adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) that, when combined with responsive epithelial cells, would be capable of inducing hair follicle formation. ASCs were directed towards a hair follicle DP-like fate by culture using the hanging drop method and exposure to Wnt, mimicking signalling and mesenchymal condensation in embryological hair follicle induction. Gene expression analysis using RT-PCR showed that the DP-cell marker Versican is expressed at high levels in ASCs under routine culture conditions and the exposure of ASCs to Wnt results in a more than threefold increase in this expression. These results suggest that Wnt/β-catenin signalling may regulate DP cell aggregative growth through modifying versican expression possibly through binding of β-catenin to the TCF transcription factor complex. Culture of ASCs using the hanging drop method produces spheroids similar in size to human hair follicle DP. Histology of these spheroids demonstrates viable cells that flatten around the outside. The spheroids grow out when replated onto Matrigel in a 3D culture model and exhibit a morphology similar to that of primary hair follicle DP cells. Analysis of mRNA expression demonstrates that Versican expression is significantly upregulated in DP-like spheroids in the absence or presence of Wnt demonstrating that Versican may be responsible for both induction and maintenance of mesenchymal cell condensates. Alpha smooth muscle actin is expressed in low levels in ASC spheroids compared to ASCs in a monolayer and this may reflect a 'migratory’ myofibroblast like phenotype of ASCs in a monolayer similar to cells with the hair follicle dermal sheath. The addition of Wnt to ASC spheroids has no additional effect on Versican expression possibly reflecting a negative feedback loop resulting from high local concentrations of endogenous Wnt expression from ASCs. The results of this study show that spheroid cell culture and exposure to Wnt of ASCs results in cell clusters with similar morphology and gene expression to hair follicle DP cells. The novel method of DP-like cell generation described in this study makes use of cells that are readily obtainable from patients and require minimal time and manipulation in culture and therefore could potentially be rapidly translatable to clinical trials

The Neurodevelopment Of Basic Sensory Processing And Integration In Autism Spectrum Disorder

This thesis presents three studies that together explore the neurophysiological basis for the sensory processing and integration abnormalities that have been observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) since the disorder was first described over half a century ago. In designing these studies we seek to fill a hole that currently exists in the research community‟s knowledge of the neurodevelopment of basic multisensory integration -- both in children with autism and as well as in those with typical development. The first study applied event related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measures of multisensory integration to a large group of healthy participants ranging in age from 7 to 29 years, with the goal of detailing the developmental trajectory of basic audiovisual integration in the brain. Our behavioral results revealed a gradual fine-tuning of multisensory facilitation of reaction time which reached mature levels by about 14 years of age. A similarly protracted period of maturation was seen in the brain processes thought to underlie to multisensory integration. Using the results of this cross-sectional study as a guide, the second study employed a between groups design to assess differences in the neural activity and behavioral facilitation associated with integrating basic audiovisual stimuli in groups of children and adolescents with ASD and typical development (aged 7-16 years). Deficits in basic audiovisual integration were seen at the earliest stages of cortical sensory processing in the ASD groups. In the concluding study we assessed whether neurophysiological measures of sensory processing and integration predict autistic symptom severity and parent-reported visual/auditory sensitivities. The data revealed that a combination of neural indices of auditory and visual processing and integration were predictive of severity of autistic symptoms in a group of children and adolescents with ASD. A particularly robust relationship was observed between severity of autism and the integrity of basic auditory processing and audiovisual integration. In contrast, our physiological indices did not predict visual/auditory sensitivities as assessed by parent responses on a questionnaire

John Galsworthy's portrayal of feminine character in his novels

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1950.This thesis is a discussion of the important woman characters in Glasworthy's novels, with the view of seeing whether, in his development of them, he did show evidences of the "androgynous mind", and consequently interest female readers. A possibility that Mrs. Woolf's criticism may have influenced his later writing is also considered