An exploratory study of cohesion among co-located and virtual members of virtual, partially distributed groups

This study provides insight into the factors of cohesion and its development in virtual, partially distributed groups. This qualitative exploratory research design examined how co-located and virtual group participants experienced cohesion. Participants were part of a doctoral cohort. Data was gathered using a demographic survey and individual interviews. Data analysis was accomplished through open, focused, and axial coding using constant comparison and inductive reasoning to identify categories. Findings indicate virtual and co-located participants expressed a sense of cohesion in both task and social areas. Factors of task cohesion include having a shared goal, a commitment to goal achievement and overcoming challenges. Factors of social cohesion include identification with group members, open communication, sharing personal life information and informal socializing which were all components of relationship building. Virtual participants were more focused on factors affecting individual task cohesion (commitment to goal) and individual social cohesion (identification with other members) than those impacting group cohesion. Practitioners should consider using a strengths assessment when forming a new group. They should also provide group dynamics resources and clearly defined group objectives.Includes bibliographical reference

Where is the trust? For the good of the people

In an era where the public has greater access to information than ever before, why is it that social capital in many communities is so divided and diminished? Traditionally people have experienced and generated social capital through direct contact with families and social spaces, including neighbourhoods, communities, clubs and the workplace. Nowadays, many relationships and networks operate at a global level and in cyber-space – enabled through technology and screen-mediated interactions. While there are many benefits to contemporary technologies and innovations, including new forms of sociability, these same developments have also resulted in a loss of sociability; a loss of social capital, social cohesion and trust in institutions. Western democratic societies, including Australia, appear to have become open to the exploitation of change and uncertainty in communities, amplified by propagandists and the manipulation of both mainstream and social media; to sow social discord and create fear and uncertainty, including a loss of trust in scientific research originating from universities. It is the trust in knowledge and research that has guided many governments to look beyond political cycles and plan for inclusive, tolerant societies, receptive to population diversity creating unique social assets. It is in this context that the development of new forms of social spaces, including well-designed public buildings, prospectively hold the regeneration of social capital in pursuit of more economically successful and socially cohesive communities. Regional Australia, including the regional city of Townsville, is negotiating this shift

North by North

[Extract] Seven centuries of cartographic convention has placed north at the top of maps, and by logical extension at the top of the world. This convention has been closely aligned with another, known as the Mercator projection. Devised by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1659, this system of map-making has been uncritically handed down through the centuries to the present time and continues to be the cartographic standard in many parts of the world. Mercator’s projection not only points northward but exaggerates northern landmasses at the expense of the south. For example, it magnifies Greenland to be approximately the same size as Africa, which is actually fourteen times larger. The Greenland example is one of many northern amplifications and conceits that belittle the south. The specific contrast with Africa was presented with deadpan humour and devastating effect in a 2012 episode of Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. Cartographers for Social Equity lobby President Bartlet’s White House to withdraw all Mercator maps from US schools and replace them with Gall-Peters maps. The Gall-Peters projection represents with greater fidelity and accuracy the relative proportions of the world’s landmasses. The Cartographers for Social Equity fail in their representation but, coincidental or not, five years after the screening of The West Wing episode Gall-Peters maps began to be phased in at schools in two American states. North and south are cardinal directions and polar opposites that refer to exact locations at either end of the globe. Within ice-bound regions, the North Pole defines the Arctic, an old term derived from Latin and Greek to mean north. By contrast, its antithesis—the Antarctic—is a negative term that means opposite to north. It is defined by the South Pole. This linguistic preference suggests that north is the one while south is the other

External Characteristics of Houses Prone to Woodpecker Damage

Woodpecker (Picidae spp.) damage to houses and buildings is a widespread and locally severe problem, yet the probability and type of damage has never been quantified and related to home characteristics. Woodpeckers excavate holes in homes for a several reasons, mainly for building nest and roost cavities, drumming, and foraging for insects. We examined the external characteristics of houses that were contributing factors in attracting woodpeckers to bore holes in house siding and trim. From March 2001 through April 2002, we surveyed 1,185 houses in the town of Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York. Of the houses visited, 33% had woodpecker problems consisting of either property damage or noise disturbance. The probability of woodpecker-inflicted damage on a house was strongly dependent on siding type. Grooved plywood siding was more likely to be damaged than tongue-and-groove, board-and-batten, clapboard, and nonwood siding types. Probability of damage also increased as the tree density in the yard increased. Interactions occurred between sealant and yard type, and stained houses suffered greater probabilities of woodpecker damage in all wooded yards

Starting out right : early education and looked after children

Looked after children (LAC) are those for whom the state assumes parental responsibility because the adults caring for them – usually the birth parent/s – are no longer able to. In England, 60 per cent of LAC enter care following abuse or neglect. The majority of LAC are placed with a foster carer, either a registered foster parent or ‘kinship care’ with a relative or friend. The number of LAC in England has been rising steadily in recent years, reaching 70,440 in 2016. Just under one fifth of these children (12,860) were under the age of compulsory schooling. The research evidence is conclusive on the link between early adversity and poorer outcomes. Looked after children are at risk of poorer cognitive, socio-emotional and academic outcomes and are almost ten times more likely than their peers to have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan. In England, the starkest differences are seen towards the end of schooling, with only 18 per cent of LAC achieving five GSCEs at grade C or above, compared to 64 per cent of children not in care. However, research suggests that the gap between LAC and their non-looked-after peers emerges well before school-age. There is also strong evidence that attending early years provision can help disadvantaged children catch up with their peers, with the benefits both more significant and more sustained if provision is of good quality. Given that many LAC are from disadvantaged homes, there is a good reason to believe that the same applies for this vulnerable group. In England, all three and four-year-old children are entitled to a free part-time ‘early education’ place within an early years setting, with take-up rates of more than 90 per cent within the general population. Recent policy initiatives such as free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds (for which all LAC are eligible) and the early years ‘pupil premium’ for disadvantaged children offer huge potential to improve access to - and the quality of – early education for LAC. However at present not enough is known to ensure that these benefits translate into improved outcomes. This exploratory study aimed to address this gap, and explore the current situation in England

Living Waters Inquiry

What would it be like to live in a world of sentient beings rather than inert objects? How would we relate to such a world? And if we invoke such a world of sentient presence, calling to more than human beings as persons, might we elicit a response?’ These key questions inform the ‘Living Waters’ inquiry, in which co-inquirers participate in communicative ways with their rivers or wetlands. In this presentation, we provide ‘tasters’ of the ‘Living Waters Inquiry’. We sample panpsychism as a philosophical approach to living places; overview Cooperative Inquiry, meet Gaia thinking and practice; and offer examples of co-researchers hearing places. Please be ready with your questions after the presentation

Non-chemically modified waxy rice starch stabilised wow emulsions for salt reduction

Water-in-oil-in-water emulsions containing an internalised salt solution were stabilised with non-chemically modified waxy rice starch (WRS), and octinyl succinic anhydride (OSA) as reference, to release salt during oral processing due to amylase-induced destabilisation. Salt levels were 1.5 g salt and 0.47 g salt per 100 g external and internal aqueous phases, respectively. Variables were the starch content (2, 3, 4 g per 100 g emulsion; 20 g oil per 100 g emulsion), level of polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) as a lipophilic emulsifier (0.29, 0.57 g per 100 g emulsion) and ambient-pressure processing temperature for WRS gelatinisation, the non-chemical modification process, (75 ± 3, 88 ± 5 °C). OSA starch was used under previously applied conditions (2, 3, 4 g starch, 0.57 g PGPR per 100 g emulsion, 25 ± 5 °C). Emulsions were stable for three months, except OSA and lower level PGPR low temperature processed WRS emulsions lost salt into the external emulsion phase. One day after processing, encapsulation efficiency (EE) was as predicted from the composition for OSA emulsions, while at the same PGPR content an external aqueous phase was incorporated into the oil droplets of the WRS emulsion increasing EE. Salt release was assessed in vitro and through sensory evaluation using paired comparison testing. The results revealed that the efficacy of this salt reduction approach was enhanced for gelatinised WRS compared to OSA starch stabilised emulsions. Consumer tests on a tomato soup, to validate this salt reduction approach for a real food, revealed a possible 25% salt reduction, compared to current UK products

Modeling the cognitive effects of diet discontinuation in adults with phenylketonuria (PKU) using pegvaliase therapy in PAH-deficient mice

Existing phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH)-deficient mice strains are useful models of untreated or late-treated human phenylketonuria (PKU), as most contemporary therapies can only be initiated after weaning and the pups have already suffered irreversible consequences of chronic hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) during early brain development. Therefore, we sought to evaluate whether enzyme substitution therapy with pegvaliase initiated near birth and administered repetitively to C57Bl/6-Pahenu2/enu2 mice would prevent HPA-related behavioral and cognitive deficits and form a model for early-treated PKU. The main results of three reported experiments are: 1) lifelong weekly pegvaliase treatment prevented the cognitive deficits associated with HPA in contrast to persisting deficits in mice treated with pegvaliase only as adults. 2) Cognitive deficits reappear in mice treated with weekly pegvaliase from birth but in which pegvaliase is discontinued at 3 months age. 3) Twice weekly pegvaliase injection also prevented cognitive deficits but again cognitive deficits emerged in early-treated animals following discontinuation of pegvaliase treatment during adulthood, particularly in females. In all studies, pegvaliase treatment was associated with complete correction of brain monoamine neurotransmitter content and with improved overall growth of the mice as measured by body weight. Mean total brain weight however remained low in all PAH deficient mice regardless of treatment. Application of enzyme substitution therapy with pegvaliase, initiated near birth and continued into adulthood, to PAH-deficient Pahenu2/enu2 mice models contemporary early-treated human PKU. This model will be useful for exploring the differential pathophysiologic effects of HPA at different developmental stages of the murine brain. Keywords: Behavior; Cognition; Dopamine; Hyperphenylalaninemia; Pegvaliase; Phenylalanine hydroxylase; Phenylketonuria; Serotonin; Tryptophan; Tryptophan hydroxylase; Tyrosine; Tyrosine hydroxylase