Laboratory and field evaluations of propolis as a plant protective agent : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Horticultural Science at Massey University

Propolis is a plant derived resinous substance with known antibiotic properties. Laboratory and field trials were carried out in 1989/90 to evaluate propolis for control of insects and diseases in horticultural systems. Field trials were carried out in the organic block of Levin Horticultural Research Station. Ether extracts of propolis in agar (10, 100 1 000 and 10 000 ppm) were screened against 20 plant pathogenic fungi. Radial mycelial growth from fungal plugs were measured daily. Propolis inhibited the growth of all fungi tested although the sensitivity of fungi to propolis varied. The EC50 was between 100 and 10 000 ppm for all species with complete inhibition at 10 000 ppm in 16 species. Propolis collected from different geographic locations had different activity. There was less antifungal activity in water extracts than in ether extracts of propolis. Ethanol, surfactant and ethanol extracts of propolis were sprayed on cucumber plants weekly in a glasshouse. Weekly estimates of powdery mildew cover (Erysiphe cichoracearum) for 5 weeks were analysed. Foliar spray applications of 1% propolis extract reduced powdery mildew cover from 84.5% in the untreated plants to 33.4% in the treated ones. Eight treatments were tested on a 10 day spray calendar on zuccinis. Assessment for powdery mildew cover was made on four occassions. The number of harvested fruit from each plant were recorded. A 1% ethanol extract of propolis reduced powdery mildew only until the second assessment, 39% vs. 60% cover in the controls. The fruit number was not affected by treatments. Late blight of tomatoes (Phytophthora infestans) in the field was not affected by foliar sprays of 1% propolis extract. Radish seeds treated with a seed dressing of 36% propolis extract were not protected against (Pythium ultimum) in agar petri plate trials Laboratory screening of propolis against light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana) and green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) did not indicate sufficient activity to be used in crop protection. In conclusion propolis showed some antifungal activity in laboratory trials. Successful applications in the field using the methods evaluated here however would require concentrations of raw propolis that are both impractical and uneconomic. The potential for use of propolis in plant protection is likely to come from further chemical analysis, with identification of active components and their possible synthesis. Key words: propolis, fungicide, insecticide, Phytophthora infestans, late blight of tomatoes, Erysiphe cichoracearum, powdery mildew of cucurbits, Pythium ultimum, damping off, light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana), green peach aphid (Myzus persicae)

Mobile learning and its influence on how tutors tutor

Abstract : The autonomous nature of communication when referring to space and time influences mobile technology forces Higher Education institutions to rethink how tutoring should be conducted. It is my contention that advances in mobile technology has forced institutions learning to revaluate their tutoring systems. New communications devices and platform will have to be incorporated into education to strengthen teaching and learning especially in tutorials. It is a fact that today students are digital natives. It is a fact that many of them own or use a technological device. This combination is a recipe that will mediate mobile learning anywhere and anytime. This investigation aimed to explore tutors potential to introduce mobile learning in the tutorials conducted at the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Education. The study further considers the tutors potential to motivate students to use their mobile devices for learning beyond socialising on social media. This is by supporting mobile learning online. This exploratory qualitative study sought to understand the perception of tutors and students about mobile learning through in-depth reviews of the literature, focus group interviews, questionnaires and online log data responses to provide an understanding of tutors’ mobile interventions and students’ mobile use in tutorial activities to understand an aspect of the tutorial system at the University of Johannesburg. The data was thematically analysed. The results suggest that tutors can encourage students to use their devices for academic purposes. The conclusion is that the inclusion of mobile learning as part of the tutorial experience can support learning online beyond the traditional physical and formal tutorial.M.Ed. (Education

Corporate Social Responsibility and Different Stages of Economic Development: Singapore, Turkey, and Ethiopia

The U.S. and U.K. models of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are relatively well defined. As the phenomenon of CSR establishes itself more globally, the question arises as to the nature of CSR in other countries. Is a universal model of CSR applicable across countries or is CSR specific to country context? This article uses integrative social contracts theory (ISCT) and four institutional factors – firm ownership structure, corporate governance, openness of the economy to international investment, and the role of civil society – to examine CSR in Singapore, Turkey, and Ethiopia. Field research results illustrate variation across the institutional factors and suggest that CSR is responsive to country differences. Research findings have implications for consideration of the tradeoff between global and local CSR priorities and practices

The mobile learning conscious tutor: Incorporating Facebook in tutorials

The 21st-century student is said to be techno-savvy and constantly on their mobile devices. Students make excessive use of social media platforms of which the Facebook application is perceived as the most popular social media network amongst students at higher education institutions. With the rethinking and reinvention of new teaching and learning perspectives in mind, using Facebook as a discussion tool seemed to have the potential to be a very effective tool to create meaningful teaching and learning experiences in an innovative way. Through a case study research design, the researchers focused on both tutors’ and students’ perceptions and questionnaires were used to collect tutors’ and students’ perceptions. Theories of virtual professional communities of practice theory are incorporated, as a critique and a critical analysis of the progressive development of a tutoring system that incorporates mobile devices in the lecture venues are further considered. Findings imply that students respond to discussions quicker and are comfortable enough within the online space to share their information and opinions. The role of students shifted from only receiving knowledge to both searching and sharing their knowledge. The tutors were regarded as their peers and therefore shared the techno-savvy traits that could interpret content to the students on a digital platform in an easier way and in a language that the students understood. Tutors had to further strategies and plan every minute of the tutorial very well, in order to conduct disciplined, well-structured and meaningful tutorials

Using the Whole Brain to Improve Strategic Reasoning

Traditional views of strategic reasoning have emphasized the role of cognitive analytic processes, often to the neglect of affective and social behavioral functions. This bias has influenced both the theory and the practice of strategic planning. Neuroscientific research holds the promise of identifying a much broader range of human capacities that contribute to the ability to engage and excel in strategic reasoning. Our study of the strategic reasoning performance of a group of mid-career business leaders identified the engagement of social and emotional brain processes that play an important role in strategic thinking ability. In identifying the neural processing correlates of strategic and tactical thinking, we hope to expand and revise the theories of strategic thinking and help develop models for more effective application. We suggest that understanding and engaging the brain’s fuller range of information-processing capacity in accomplishing strategic expertise is itself an important strategy for enhancing the performance of individuals and organizations. We also explore the need to create brain-friendly organizational environments to enhance human performance

Hybrid PLCs: Building Collaboration Among Teachers in Different Schools

How do highly motivated teachers from different schools collaborate? We formed a hybrid PLC that included face-to-face meetings and online interactions to improve student learning

Computer-Based Cognitive Retraining for Individuals with Chronic Acquired Brain Injury: A Pilot Study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-based cognitive retraining program, the Parrot Software, on improving cognitive deficits in memory and attention in individuals with a chronic acquired brain injury (ABI). Research Design: This study utilized a quantitative quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design. Participants: Eleven adults over 18 years of age who sustained a chronic ABI two or more years prior to participation in the study and demonstrated deficits in memory and attention were included. Only individuals with ABI due to traumatic brain injury, hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident, or ischemic cerebrovascular accident were included. Method and Procedures: The study was conducted over a period of five months, during which participants completed a total of eight 60-minute sessions using the Parrot Software. The participants completed eight sub-programs in memory and attention. Pretest and posttest data were collected using the paper version of the Cognistat Assessment (2009). In order to control for bias and create inter-rater reliability, each researcher was trained in administering the standardized Cognistat Assessment (2009) and the Parrot software, and participated in the process of data collection and analysis. Results: A significant improvement was found in both memory and attention scores post-intervention. No significant correlations were found between memory or attention changes and age, years since injury, and education level. Conclusion: Computer-based cognitive retraining programs, such as the Parrot Software, may be effective in improving cognitive deficits in memory and attention in individuals with chronic acquired brain injury; however, further research is recommended to strengthen these findings and to investigate transfer to functional performance

Cost-utility analysis of infliximab and adalimumab for refractory ulcerative colitis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To evaluate cost-utility of infliximab and adalimumab for the treatment of moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC) refractory to conventional therapies in Canada.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A Markov model was constructed to evaluate incremental cost-utility ratios (ICUR) of 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg infliximab and adalimumab therapies compared to 'usual care' in treating a hypothetical cohort of patients (aged 40 years and weighing 80 kg) over a five-year time horizon from the perspective of a publicly-funded health care system. Clinical parameters were derived from the Active Ulcerative Colitis Trials 1 and 2. Costs were obtained through provincial drug benefit plans. ICUR was the main outcome measure and both deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to the strategy A ('usual care') in the base case analysis, the ICURs were CA$358,088/QALY for the strategy B ('5 mg/kg infliximab + adalimumab') and CA$575,540/QALY for the strategy C ('5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg infliximab + adalimumab'). The results were sensitive to: the remission rates maintained in responders to 'usual care' and to 5 mg/kg infliximab, the rate of remission induced by adalimumab in non-responders to 5 mg/kg infliximab, early surgery rate, and utility values. When the willingness to pay (WTP) was less than CA$150,000/QALY, the probability of 'usual care' being the optimal strategy was 1.0. The probability of strategy B being optimal was 0.5 when the WTP approximated CA$400,000/QALY.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The ICURs of anti-TNF-α drugs were not satisfactory in treating patients with moderate-to-severe refractory UC. Future research could be aimed at the long-term clinical benefits of these drugs, especially adalimumab for patients intolerant or unresponsive to infliximab treatment.</p

Neural Correlates of Post-Conventional Moral Reasoning: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

Going back to Kohlberg, moral development research affirms that people progress through different stages of moral reasoning as cognitive abilities mature. Individuals at a lower level of moral reasoning judge moral issues mainly based on self-interest (personal interests schema) or based on adherence to laws and rules (maintaining norms schema), whereas individuals at the post-conventional level judge moral issues based on deeper principles and shared ideals. However, the extent to which moral development is reflected in structural brain architecture remains unknown. To investigate this question, we used voxel-based morphometry and examined the brain structure in a sample of 67 Master of Business Administration (MBA) students. Subjects completed the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2) which measures moral development in terms of cognitive schema preference. Results demonstrate that subjects at the post-conventional level of moral reasoning were characterized by increased gray matter volume in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, compared with subjects at a lower level of moral reasoning. Our findings support an important role for both cognitive and emotional processes in moral reasoning and provide first evidence for individual differences in brain structure according to the stages of moral reasoning first proposed by Kohlberg decades ago

Associations Between Temperamental Negative Affectivity and Parental Anxiety Across Childhood

Extant research suggests a link between child temperamental negativity and parental anxiety and depression. However, most studies focus on temperamental negativity generally, and over fairly short longitudinal time spans. The present study extended the time span well beyond immediate postnatal infancy and explored associations between specific child temperament dimensions, both positive and negative, and parental psychopathology. We expected positive relationships between temperamental negative affectivity and parental mental health problems, but an inverse relation involving temperamental effortful control. Data were collected on child temperament, and parental anxiety and depression, using a cross-sectional design and anonymous survey methodology across five child age groups: infancy (INF; 3 - 13 months, N ≅ 83), toddler (TOD; 14 - 36 months, N ≅ 94), early childhood (EC; 3 - 7 years, N ≅ 81), middle/late childhood (MLC; 8 - 10 years, N ≅ 31), and early adolescence (EA; 10 - 15 years, N ≅ 38). REDCap survey links were published on several dozen social media outlets and relevant listservs. Across all datasets, parental respondents primarily identified as white and female. Child gender distribution was approximately equal between girls and boys. We used the Rothbart family of instruments to assess temperamental negative affectivity and effortful control in each sample (i.e., IBQ-R Short Form, ECBQ Short Form, CBQ Short Form, TMCQ Standard Form, and EATQ-R Short Form, respectively). Parental anxiety was measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), and parental depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Associations involving child negative affectivity were generally consistent with expectations. Results indicated positive correlations between parental anxiety and child negative affectivity in 4 out of 5 groups (INF: r(83) = .25, p = .02; TOD: r(94) = .27, p = .01; EC: r(81) = .37, p \u3c .001; EA: r(39) = .57, p \u3c .001), and between parental depression and child negative affectivity in all age groups (INF: r(81) = .26, p = .02; TOD: r(91) = .22, p = .03; EAC: r(80) = .26, p = .02; MLC: r(30) = .42, p = .02; EAA: r(37) = .42, p = .01). Effortful control was negatively, but less robustly, correlated with parental anxiety (TOD: r(94) = -.22, p = .03; EAA: r(39) = -.44, p = .02) and depression (TOD: r(91) = -.29, p = .01; MLC: r(30) = .45, p = .01). Although we make no assumptions regarding directions of effect between child temperament and parental mental health, bidirectional influences seem likely. For example, parental mental health problems probably exacerbate temperamental negative affectivity, and temperamental negative affectivity probably exacerbates parental mental health problems. This study provides an important expansion of the timeframes of associations between parental mental health and child temperament