A realist evaluation of a multi-component program with disengaged students

Periods spent in the absence of education, employment, or training (NEET) are associated with adverse psychological wellbeing, social marginalisation, and premature mortality. Implementing effective programs to re-engage young people who are classified, or are at risk of becoming NEET, is of importance to these individuals, family, and society. We conducted a realist evaluation to understand how, and under which circumstances a multi-component program may impact the engagement, behavioural, and psychosocial outcomes of disengaged students at risk of becoming NEET. During the early project phase, a narrative review of the literature and key stakeholder discussions were conducted to develop our initial program theories regarding how the program was expected to achieve its outcomes. Participant observations, video footage, and forty-two interviews were then conducted with teachers and students to form context-mechanism-outcome configurations and to refine these theories. Overall, refined program theories relating to positions of authority, the power of collective experience, exploration of possible life directions, constructivist pedagogies and active learning, and the endorsement of an ethic of caring and strengths-based orientation were developed. Collectively, our findings provide a detailed understanding of the architecture of programs that may benefit disengaged students and help inform the design of future programs aimed at reducing disaffection

A global barley panel revealing genomic signatures of breeding in modern Australian cultivars.

The future of plant cultivar improvement lies in the evaluation of genetic resources from currently available germplasm. Today's gene pool of crop genetic diversity has been shaped during domestication and more recently by breeding. Recent efforts in plant breeding have been aimed at developing new and improved varieties from poorly adapted crops to suit local environments. However, the impact of these breeding efforts is poorly understood. Here, we assess the contributions of both historical and recent breeding efforts to local adaptation and crop improvement in a global barley panel by analysing the distribution of genetic variants with respect to geographic region or historical breeding category. By tracing the impact breeding had on the genetic diversity of barley released in Australia, where the history of barley production is relatively young, we identify 69 candidate regions within 922 genes that were under selection pressure. We also show that modern Australian barley varieties exhibit 12% higher genetic diversity than historical cultivars. Finally, field-trialling and phenotyping for agriculturally relevant traits across a diverse range of Australian environments suggests that genomic regions under strong breeding selection and their candidate genes are closely associated with key agronomic traits. In conclusion, our combined dataset and germplasm collection provide a rich source of genetic diversity that can be applied to understanding and improving environmental adaptation and enhanced yields

A quantitative profiling method of phytohormones and other metabolites applied to barley roots subjected to salinity stress

As integral parts of plant signaling networks, phytohormones are involved in the regulation of plant metabolism and growth under adverse environmental conditions, including salinity. Globally, salinity is one of the most severe abiotic stressors with an estimated 800 million hectares of arable land affected. Roots are the first plant organ to sense salinity in the soil, and are the initial site of sodium (Na + ) exposure. However, the quantification of phytohormones in roots is challenging, as they are often present at extremely low levels compared to other plant tissues. To overcome this challenge, we developed a high-throughput LC-MS method to quantify ten endogenous phytohormones and their metabolites of diverse chemical classes in roots of barley. This method was validated in a salinity stress experiment with six barley varieties grown hydroponically with and without salinity. In addition to phytohormones, we quantified 52 polar primary metabolites, including some phytohormone precursors, using established GC-MS and LC-MS methods. Phytohormone and metabolite data were correlated with physiological measurements including biomass, plant size and chlorophyll content. Root and leaf elemental analysis was performed to determine Na + exclusion and K + retention ability in the studied barley varieties. We identified distinct phytohormone and metabolite signatures as a response to salinity stress in different barley varieties. Abscisic acid increased in the roots of all varieties under salinity stress, and elevated root salicylic acid levels were associated with an increase in leaf chlorophyll content. Furthermore, the landrace Sahara maintained better growth, had lower Na + levels and maintained high levels of the salinity stress linked metabolite putrescine as well as the phytohormone metabolite cinnamic acid, which has been shown to increase putrescine concentrations in previous studies. This study highlights the importance of root phytohormones under salinity stress and the multi-variety analysis provides an important update to analytical methodology, and adds to the current knowledge of salinity stress responses in plants at the molecular level

The 2 × 2 model of perfectionism and youth sport participation: A mixed-methods approach

ObjectivesResearch demonstrates that four subtypes of perfectionism from the 2 × 2 model are associated with different youth sport experiences. This study provided the first exploration of the experiences of youth sport participants exhibiting different subtypes of perfectionism using mixed-methods.DesignA two-stage, mixed-methods, approach was adopted (quantitative identification then qualitative data collection).MethodIn stage one (quantitative identification), 192 females enrolled in school- or community-based sport groups (M age = 13.91; SD = .90; range 12–16 years) completed a domain-specific perfectionism instrument (Sport-MPS-2) to identify participants prototypical of the four subtypes of perfectionism. In stage two (qualitative data collection), 19 prototypical participants (M age = 13.74; SD = .65; range 13–15 years) described their experiences of their youth sport involvement. One focus group (n = 4 to 5 per group) and one follow-up individual, semi-structured, interview (n = 4 in total) per subtype were conducted.ResultsThematic analysis revealed that the meaning youth sport participants gave to their sport involvement (i.e., goals, values, and purposes) and the features of the social-environment they perceived to be important differed between the four subtypes of perfectionism. For the “pure PSP” and “mixed perfectionism” subtypes, sport was a time to shine and experience success. For the “non-perfectionism” and “pure ECP” subtypes, sport was a place to make friends and belong. Participants from all four subtypes described the importance of the coach and peers, with some groups identifying different preferred roles for the coach in terms of type and amount of involvement.ConclusionsYouth sport participants exhibiting different subtypes of perfectionism vary in their experiences of youth sport. Practitioners working with young people in sport should consider these differences so to better understand and improve youth sport experiences

Neural empathy mechanisms are shared for physical and social pain, and increase from adolescence to older adulthood

Empathy is a critical component of social interaction that enables individuals to understand and share the emotions of others. We report a pre-registered experiment in which 240 participants, including adolescents, young adults and older adults, viewed images depicting hands and feet in physically or socially painful situations (vs. non-painful). Empathy was measured using imagined pain ratings and EEG mu suppression. Imagined pain was greater for physical vs. social pain, with young adults showing particular sensitivity to social pain events compared to adolescents and older adults. Mu desynchronisation was greater to pain vs. no-pain situations, but the physical/social context did not modulate pain responses. Brain responses to painful situations increased linearly from adolescence to young and older adulthood. These findings highlight shared activity across the core empathy network for both physical and social pain contexts, and an empathic response that develops over the lifespan with accumulating social experience

Tracking developmental differences in real-world social attention across adolescence, young adulthood and older adulthood

Detecting and responding appropriately to social information in one’s environment is a vital part of everyday social interaction. We report two well-powered, pre-registered experiments that examined how social attention develops across the lifespan, comparing adolescents (10-19 years old), young (20-40 years old) and older (60-80 years old) adults. In two real-world tasks, participants were immersed in different social interaction situations – a face-to-face conversation and navigating an environment – and their attention to social and non-social content was recorded using eye-tracking glasses. Results revealed that, compared to young adults, adolescents and older adults attended less to social information (i.e. the face) during face-to-face conversation, and to people when navigating the real-world. Thus, we provide evidence that real-world social attention undergoes age-related change, and these developmental differences might be a key mechanism that influences Theory of Mind among adolescents and older adults, with potential implications for predicting successful social interactions in daily life

KPC enzymes in the UK: an analysis of the first 160 cases outside the North-West region

Objectives: Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemases (KPCs) have been increasingly reported in the UK since 2003. We analysed patient and isolate data for KPC-positive bacteria confirmed by the national reference laboratory from UK laboratories, with the exception of the North-West England region, where the epidemiology has previously been studied, from August 2003 to August 2014. Methods: MICs were determined by BSAC agar dilution methodology. Carbapenem-resistant isolates lacking imipenem/EDTA synergy were tested by PCR for blaKPC. Multi-locus sequence typing and blaKPC sequencing was performed on a subset of isolates. Plasmid analysis was performed by transformation, PCR-based replicon typing and, in some cases, whole-plasmid sequencing. Patient data provided by the sending laboratories were reviewed. Results: Two hundred and ten KPC-producing isolates were submitted from 71 UK laboratories outside North-West England, representing 160 patients. All were Enterobacteriaceae, predominantly K. pneumoniae (82%; 172/210), and most (91%; 191/210) were obtained from hospitalised patients. Analysis of 123 isolates identified blaKPC-2 (64%; 79/123), blaKPC-3 (27%; 33/123) and blaKPC-4 (9%; 11/123). Within K. pneumoniae, clonal group (CG) sequence type (ST) 258 was dominant (64%; 54/84), however 21 unrelated STs were also identified. Plasmid analysis identified a diverse range of plasmids of at least 11 different replicon types, found in multiple STs and species. Conclusions: KPC enzymes are increasingly detected in Enterobacteriaceae in the UK outside North-West England, despite a lack of reported outbreaks. K. pneumoniae CG258 are the dominant hosts although plasmid spread also plays a significant role in dissemination of KPCs between other K. pneumoniae STs and enterobacterial species