Scoping review assessing the evidence used to support the adoption of mobile health (mHealth) technologies for the education and training of community health workers (CHWs) in low-income and middle-income countries

Abstract: Objectives Undertake a systematic scoping review to determine how a research evidence base, in the form of existing systematic reviews in the field of mobile health (mHealth), constitutes education and training for community health workers (CHWs) who use mobile technologies in everyday work. The review was informed by the following research questions: does educational theory inform the design of the education and training component of mHealth interventions? How is education and training with mobile technology by CHWs in lowincome and middle-income countries categorised by existing systematic reviews? What is the basis for this categorisation? Setting The review explored the literature from 2000 to 2017 to investigate how mHealth interventions have been positioned within the available evidence base in relation to their use of formal theories of learning. Results The scoping review found 24 primary studies that were categorised by 16 systematic reviews as supporting CHWs’ education and training using mobile technologies. However, when formal theories of learning from educational research were used to recategorise these 24 primary studies, only four could be coded as such. This identifies a problem with how CHWs’ education and training using mobile technologies is understood and categorised within the existing evidence base. This is because there is no agreed on, theoretically informed understanding of what counts as learning. Conclusion The claims made by mHealth researchers and practitioners regarding the learning benefits of mobile technology are not based on research results that are underpinned by formal theories of learning. mHealth suffers from a reductionist view of learning that underestimates the complexities of the relationship between pedagogy and technology. This has resulted in miscategorisations of what constitutes CHWs’ education and training within the existing evidence base. This can be overcome by informed collaboration between the health and education communities

Tropical range extension for the temperate, endemic South-Eastern Australian Nudibranch Goniobranchus splendidus (Angas, 1864)

In contrast to many tropical animals expanding southwards on the Australian coast concomitant with climate change, here we report a temperate endemic newly found in the tropics. Chromodorid nudibranchs are bright, colourful animals that rarely go unnoticed by divers and underwater photographers. The discovery of a new population, with divergent colouration is therefore significant. DNA sequencing confirms that despite departures from the known phenotypic variation, the specimen represents northern Goniobranchus splendidus and not an unknown close relative. Goniobranchus tinctorius represents the sister taxa to G. splendidus. With regard to secondary defences, the oxygenated terpenes found previously in this specimen are partially unique but also overlap with other G. splendidus from southern Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW). The tropical specimen from Mackay contains extracapsular yolk like other G. splendidus. This previously unknown tropical population may contribute selectively advantageous genes to cold-water species threatened by climate change. Competitive exclusion may explain why G. splendidus does not strongly overlap with its widespread sister taxon

The Relationship Between Exposure to Higher Levels of Morally Principled Thinking and the Development of Moral Decision Making Competencies of Student-Athletes

At intercollegiate athletics' most competitive level, NCAA Division I, student-athletes frequently experience national attention from media outlets, increased pressure to perform from coaches, celebrity status from society, and extreme demands of time that leave little room for student error or exploration. As media coverage of student-athlete crime expands, the question of how participation in intercollegiate athletics effects student-athlete development, specifically moral development, emerges. From student development theory, it is known that one way to influence the growth of moral development is to expose students to higher levels of morally principled thinking. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the exposure to higher levels of morally principled thinking and the development of moral decision making competencies. Through quantitative methodology, participants (n = 178) completed two study instruments: a self-made questionnaire measured the possible exposure to higher levels of morally principled thinking and Georg Lind's Moral Judgment Test, which measured the participants' abilities to make moral decisions. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the family's involvement in the pre-collegiate years is most influential on the development of moral decision making competencies. During collegiate years, coaches are most influential in the lives of student-athletes

Detection of potential chloroplastic substrates for polyphenol oxidase suggests a role in undamaged leaves

Polyphenol oxidases (PPOs) have a recognized role during pathogen and arthropod attack. As an immediate consequence of such wounding, cellular compartmentation is destroyed allowing the chloroplastic PPO enzyme to interact with vacuolar substrates catalyzing the oxidation of monophenols and/or o-diphenols to o-diquinones. This ultimately results in a reduction in the nutritional value of wounded tissue through the formation of non-digestible secondary melanin pigments. However, the chloroplastic location of PPO enzyme could indicate a role for PPO in undamaged tissues. In this study, a wild-type red clover population exhibiting high leaf PPO activity had significantly higher yield than a low leaf PPO mutant population while leaf isoflavonoids and hydroxycinnammates (PPO substrates) accumulated at similar levels in these plants. These data suggest that the presence of leaf PPO activity affects plant vigor. Understanding how this advantage is conferred requires knowledge of the cellular mechanism, including intra-organellar substrates. Here we present evidence of candidate PPO substrates within chloroplasts of wild-type red clover, including the monophenolic acid, coumaroyl malate, and low levels of the diphenolic acid, phaselic acid (caffeoyl malate). Interestingly, chloroplastic phaselic acid concentration increased significantly under certain growth conditions. We discuss the implications of this in regard to a potential role for chloroplastic PPO in undamaged leaves

Digital Education Policies in Europe and Beyond: Key Design Principles for More Effective Policies

This report offers policy-makers in digital education evidence on how, at the national or regional level, policies can be designed and implemented to foster digital-age learning. The presented findings are the result of a mixed methodological design comprising four parts: desk-research on digital education policy, the identification of national and regional policies worldwide, six in-depth case studies, and an expert workshop. The discussion of the cases identified and studied in depth leads to the formulation of eight core-guiding principles, which can serve as a reference point for policy-makers for the design and implementation of digital education policies: 1. Follow a holistic approach targeting systemic change; 2. Establish both a long-term vision and short-term achievable goals; 3. Deploy technology as a means not an end; 4. Embrace experimentation, risk-taking and failure; 5. Consider the importance and the limits of impact assessment; 6. Involve all stakeholders in a structured dialogue; 7. Let schools and teachers have a say; 8. Build up teaching competence.JRC.B.4-Human Capital and Employmen

Multimodal Aposematic Defenses Through the Predation Sequence

Aposematic organisms warn predators of their unprofitability using a combination of defenses, including visual warning signals, startling sounds, noxious odors, or aversive tastes. Using multiple lines of defense can help prey avoid predators by stimulating multiple senses and/or by acting at different stages of predation. We tested the efficacy of three lines of defense (color, smell, taste) during the predation sequence of aposematic wood tiger moths (Arctia plantaginis) using blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) predators. Moths with two hindwing phenotypes (genotypes: WW/Wy = white, yy = yellow) were manipulated to have defense fluid with aversive smell (methoxypyrazines), body tissues with aversive taste (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) or both. In early predation stages, moth color and smell had additive effects on bird approach latency and dropping the prey, with the strongest effect for moths of the white morph with defense fluids. Pyrrolizidine alkaloid sequestration was detrimental in early attack stages, suggesting a trade-off between pyrrolizidine alkaloid sequestration and investment in other defenses. In addition, pyrrolizidine alkaloid taste alone did not deter bird predators. Birds could only effectively discriminate toxic moths from non-toxic moths when neck fluids containing methoxypyrazines were present, at which point they abandoned attack at the consumption stage. As a result, moths of the white morph with an aversive methoxypyrazine smell and moths in the treatment with both chemical defenses had the greatest chance of survival. We suggest that methoxypyrazines act as context setting signals for warning colors and as attention alerting or "go-slow" signals for distasteful toxins, thereby mediating the relationship between warning signal and toxicity. Furthermore, we found that moths that were heterozygous for hindwing coloration had more effective defense fluids compared to other genotypes in terms of delaying approach and reducing the latency to drop the moth, suggesting a genetic link between coloration and defense that could help to explain the color polymorphism. Conclusively, these results indicate that color, smell, and taste constitute a multimodal warning signal that impedes predator attack and improves prey survival. This work highlights the importance of understanding the separate roles of color, smell and taste through the predation sequence and also within-species variation in chemical defenses.Peer reviewe

Process Optimisation of Steam Explosion Parameters on Multiple Lignocellulosic Biomass using Taguchi Method:A Critical Appraisal

Xylitol is a low calorie sweetener that can be produced through a bioconversion approach from lignocellulosic biomass that requires pretreatment prior to the bioconversion of xylose to xylitol. Steam explosion (SE) is an industrially scalable pretreatment (PT) process with the potential to liberate xylose monomers, however SE-PT has not been optimised for xylose release from multiple feedstock. The effect of pressure, substrate weight, phosphoric acid loading concentration and residence time on four feedstock (wheat straw (WS), corn stover (CS), Miscanthus (M), and willow (W)) for xylose release and minimal fermentation inhibitor productions (furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)) was investigated using the Taguchi methodology for design of experiment (DoE) with variation at four levels (44). An L16 orthogonal array design was utilised and all factors indicated influence on xylose release and inhibitor formation and the resulting xylose rich hydrolysate assessed for bioconversion to xylitol.. The L16 DoE gave hydrolysates containing 75-95% of xylose content in the original biomass, whilst retaining cellulose and lignin components in the fibre. The level of inhibitors were within boundary limits to enable microbial fermentation of the hydrolysates to xylitol. Fine tuning of the overall evaluation criteria (OEC) model imbibing 1.5 kg feedstock in 1.2% w/v orthophosphoric acid, 12 bar(g) and 6 minutes residence time resulted in 90% xylose recovery and production of >1000 L of wheat straw hydrolysate for bioconversion to xylitol. The advantages and limitations of the Taguchi OEC model and further improvements to this process are discussed in a biorefining contextpublishersversionPeer reviewe

Education & Awareness for the URI Community for LGBTIQQ Issues January 2011

This document contains the minutes of Education & Awareness for the URI Community for LGBTIQQ Issues meeting on January 20, 2011