26 research outputs found
Riding a tram, visiting a library and serving at a fish market : an environment - focused view on participation of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in Zurich
Case studies for Social Transformation through Occupation
Sarah Kantartzis - ORCID 0000-0001-5191-015X
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5191-015XWith the financial support of the European Network of Occupational Therapy in
Higher Education (ENOTHE) as part of the work of the project group Social
Transformation through Occupation
Molecular and morphological characterization of Dothiorella species associated with dieback of Ostrya carpinifolia in Slovenia and Italy
Isolates that resemble Dothiorella (Botryosphaeriaceae, Ascomycota) species were isolated from dead
twigs, asymptomatic and necrotized bark of European hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.), Eurasian smoke
tree (Cotinus coggygria Scop.) and common juniper (Juniperus communis L.) growing in western Slovenia and northern
Italy. They were identified based on anamorph morphology and phylogenetic analyses of the ITS rDNA and
EF-1α sequences, and previously designated as Dothiorella sp. A, B and C. This study has clarified the identity of
these species by comparing them with other Dothiorella species known from culture based on gene sequence data,
as well as morphological characters of the anamorphs. The phylogenetic results revealed three species, Dothiorella
iberica, Dothiorella parva, and a Dothiorella sp. Isolates identified in the phylogenetic analyses as D. parva differed
from the original description of this species and are thus described here based on the anamorph morphology.
Isolates of D. parva were identified from O. carpinifolia in western Slovenia and northern Italy, and C. coggygria in
western Slovenia, and coexist with Dothiorella sp. on O. carpinifolia in northern Italy. Dothiorella iberica was identified
on J. communis in western Slovenia, thus expanding the geographic range of this species. This is the first record
of D. parva from these hosts and countries. Our results indicate that these Dothiorella species occur widely across
the Mediterranean region, and on a variety of hosts.This study was financed by the Slovenian Research Agency (research program P4-0107) and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment of Republic of Slovenia (Public Forestry Service). Molecular and morphological studies were carried out in laboratories of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), the University of Pretoria, South Africa and funded by the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology.http://www.fupress.com/pmam2016Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog
Parents' perceptions: environments and the contextual strategies of parents to support the participation of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder : a descriptive population-based study from Switzerland
Environments have a modifying effect on the participation of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in all areas of life. This cross-sectional study investigated parental perspectives on supportive or hindering environments and the daily contextual strategies parents used to enhance their children's participation. Qualitative and quantitative data gathered from 115 parents from German-speaking Switzerland using the participation and environment measure-child and youth (PEM-CY) were analyzed. Results revealed 45 environmental supports and barriers at home, at school, and in the community. Contextual strategies were identified in combination with people, activities, time, objects, and places. Parental perspectives on participation and their contextual strategies should be considered in environmental-based interventions to support the participation of children and adolescents with ASD
Diversity, migration routes, and worldwide population genetic structure of Lecanosticta acicola, the causal agent of brown spot needle blight
Lecanosticta acicola is a pine needle pathogen causing brown spot needle blight that results in premature needle shedding with considerable damage described in North America, Europe, and Asia. Microsatellite and mating type markers were used to study the population genetics, migration history, and reproduction mode of the pathogen, based on a collection of 650 isolates from 27 countries and 26 hosts across the range of L. acicola. The presence of L. acicola in Georgia was confirmed in this study. Migration analyses indicate there have been several introduction events from North America into Europe. However, some of the source populations still appear to remain unknown. The populations in Croatia and western Asia appear to originate from genetically similar populations in North America. Intercontinental movement of the pathogen was reflected in an identical haplotype occurring on two continents, in North America (Canada) and Europe (Germany). Several shared haplotypes between European populations further suggests more local pathogen movement between countries. Moreover, migration analyses indicate that the populations in northern Europe originate from more established populations in central Europe. Overall, the highest genetic diversity was observed in south-eastern USA. In Europe, the highest diversity was observed in France, where the presence of both known pathogen lineages was recorded. Less than half of the observed populations contained mating types in equal proportions. Although there is evidence of some sexual reproduction taking place, the pathogen spreads predominantly asexually and through anthropogenic activity
Worldwide diversity of endophytic fungi and insects associated with dormant tree twigs
International trade in plants and climate change are two of the main factors causing damaging tree pests (i.e. fungi and insects) to spread into new areas. To mitigate these risks, a large-scale assessment of tree-associated fungi and insects is needed. We present records of endophytic fungi and insects in twigs of 17 angiosperm and gymnosperm genera, from 51 locations in 32 countries worldwide. Endophytic fungi were characterized by high-throughput sequencing of 352 samples from 145 tree species in 28 countries. Insects were reared from 227 samples of 109 tree species in 18 countries and sorted into taxonomic orders and feeding guilds. Herbivorous insects were grouped into morphospecies and were identified using molecular and morphological approaches. This dataset reveals the diversity of tree-associated taxa, as it contains 12,721 fungal Amplicon Sequence Variants and 208 herbivorous insect morphospecies, sampled across broad geographic and climatic gradients and for many tree species. This dataset will facilitate applied and fundamental studies on the distribution of fungal endophytes and insects in trees
Social participation: Redesign of education, research, and practice in occupational therapy
parents' role in enabling the participation of their child with a physical disability: actions, challenges, needs
Parental involvement is a crucial force in childrenâs development, learning and success
at school and in life [1]. Participation, defined by the World Health Organization as âa
personâs involvement in life situationsâ [2] for children means involvement in everyday
activities, such as recreational, leisure, school and household activities [3]. Several authors
use the term social participation emphasising the importance of engagement in
social situations [4, 5].
Childrenâs participation in daily life is vital for healthy development, social and
physical competencies, social-emotional well-being, sense of meaning and purpose in
life [6]. Through participation in different social contexts, children gather the knowledge
and skills needed to interact, play, work, and live with other people [4, 7, 8]. Unfortunately,
research shows that children with a physical disability are at risk of lower participation
in everyday activities [9]; they participate less frequently in almost all activities
compared with children without physical disabilities [10, 11], have fewer friends and
often feel socially isolated [12-14].
Parents, in particular, positively influence the participation of their children with a
physical disability at school, at home and in the community [15]. They undertake many
actions to improve their childâs participation in daily life [15, 16]. However, little information
is available about what parents of children with a physical disability do to enable
their childâs participation, what they come across and what kind of needs they have.
The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate parentsâ actions, challenges, and
needs while enhancing the participation of their school-aged child with a physical disability.
In order to achieve this aim, two steps have been made. In the first step, the literature
has been examined to explore the topic of this thesis (actions, challenges and
needs) and to clarify definitions for the concepts of participation and social participation.
Second, for the purposes of giving breadth and depth of understanding of the
topic of this thesis a mixed methods approach using three different empirical research
methods [17-19], was applied to gather information from parents regarding their actions,
challenges and needs
Student perspectives on the development and evaluation of a joint international education to promote employability in Europe
This article presents a student evaluation of a joint international education focusing on employabilit
Environmental pre-requisites and social interchange: the participation experience of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in Zurich
Aim: Participation of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder hardly occurs in settings outside of home and school. Little is known about how their participation is influenced by environmental factors. This study explored how and why adolescents with autism spectrum disorder perceive aspects of their environment as facilitators or barriers to their participation outside of home and school.
Method: This explanatory case study explored the participation experiences of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (15â21 years) from Zurich and surroundings with in-depth interviews and photo-elicitation, using photos made by the participants during activities outside of home and school. Data was analysed with a 7-step procedure.
Result: The presence of two main themes seemed necessary to facilitate participation outside of home and school: âenvironmental prerequisites to attend activitiesâ, which consists of five subthemes, such as âthe company of trusted personsâ and âthe provision of knowledge and informationâ, and âsocial interchange and engagementâ, which consists of three subthemes and describes how actual involvement can be supported.
Conclusion: Our findings highlight the influence of trusted persons on adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, and the need to extend the support network for these adolescents to other individuals, services and society so that their participation in activities can be encouraged