The implementation of Music Life Skills in Schools for Specific Purposes

This mixed methods study explores the implementation of Music Life Skills in Schools for Specific Purposes (SSPs) in New South Wales, focusing on the perceptions of educators and their programming methods, in order to determine the suitability of this program for students with intellectual disabilities and/or developmental disorders. Case studies of two schools were conducted. Participants were students with special needs and their classroom teacher. In these settings, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and observations of music lessons. Additional questionnaire data were collected from educators at a selection of SSPs. Data were analysed through open and axial coding. Three common themes emerged from the data: experience and perceptions of educators; programming and teaching strategies; and student responsiveness. The findings of this study contribute to the limited body of research in regard to Music Life Skills and programs available for students with disabilities in Australia. Recommendations are made for further study, including implementation of Music Life Skills in other contexts, such as the inclusive setting

'Eftermaele': That Which Remains After the Event. a Panel Discussion concerning the use of video in the Documentation of Live Performance

An introduction to a panel discussion on the video documentation of live performance.The conference was sponsored by A.D.S.A., the Department of Performance Studies, the School of Letters, Arts and Media, and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Sydney

Genetic methods for Rapid Detection of Medically Important Nosocomial Bactera

The role of the microbiology laboratory is (1) to provide infection control information, so that highly transmissible isolates may be identified and appropriate control measures instigated as rapidly as possible and (2) to provide adequate information to the clinician enabling correct antibiotic choices to be made, particularly in the critically ill. Microbiological data is by definition slow as it is culture dependent: this study focused on the development of genetic, culture-independent methods for detection of resistance in nosocomial pathogens that could be introduced into the routine microbiology department and would fit into the routine workflow with a consequent reduction in time to result. Initially a duplex real-time polymerase chain reaction was developed for the rapid identification and detection of S. aureus and methicillin-resistance. This was optimised for immediate as-needs testing of positive blood cultures signalling with “Gram positive cocci, possibly staphylococcus” evident on Gram stain, on a random access real-time PCR platform. This technology, allowing early identification of S. aureus and its susceptibility to methicillin, by simple automated methodology, may soon become the standard for all microbiology laboratories servicing the critically ill. The second part of the study involved the development of a selective broth and multiplex PCR for detection of three important nosocomial isolates at this institution, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and multi-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MRAB). A multiplex PCR using four primer sets was designed to detect low colonisation levels of these isolates after overnight incubation in selective broth, significantly reducing the time to result and associated costs. This potentially useful epidemiological screening tool is practical, reproducible and sensitive with the potential of moving to an automated test (using real-time PCR, for example) in the future. The availability of early negative results judged by simple visual scanning (or by densitometry), means that the result is less operator-dependent, potentially reducing error rate. The last part of the study dealt with an important resistance phenotype, aminoglycoside resistance. There had been no recent comprehensive local surveys performed to determine the frequency of aminoglycoside resistance amongst the Enterobacteriaceae, or to identify the genetic determinants and their transmissibility. The isolates collected for the study were all resistant to at least one of gentamicin, tobramycin or amikacin. Identification of integron cassette arrays and use of specific internal primers identified at least one genetic determinant for gentamicin and tobramycin resistance in 22 of 23 isolates. Three isolates had two aminoglycoside resistance genes, and three isolates had three aminoglycoside resistance genes identified (Table 6.1). Transferable gentamicin-resistant plasmids were predominant amongst Klebsiella spp., but less so amongst Enterobacter spp. and E. coli. Gentamicin-resistant Klebsiella spp. were often ESBL positive, the genetic determinants of which were typically co-transferred on a conjugative plasmid. The importance of screening at a local level was demonstrated by the unexpected predominance of aac(6')-IIc amongst Enterobacter spp. and the detection of a new gene (aac(6')-LT). This part of the study has provided an understanding of the primary aminoglycoside resistance genes present in the local setting and their association with other resistances. This knowledge will allow development of assays for patient screening (clinical isolates and colonising flora), to better understand the epidemiology of aminoglycoside resistance and to allow better choice of antibiotic therapy related to presence or absence of these genes

Natural selection on the regulation of foraging in harvester ants

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Assessment of the risk for rabies introduction and establishment in Lombok, Indonesia

Rabies, a zoonotic disease, is maintained in the domestic dog population in Indonesia and has caused human fatalities since its introduction to this country in the 1880s. Although rabies control strategies have been implemented on rabies-infected islands, this disease is still spreading to other parts of Indonesia, with newly infected islands as recent as 2012. Live dog movement on fishing or cargo boats is believed to have facilitated the introduction of rabies virus into previously rabies-free islands in Indonesia, such as to Bali and Flores. Until today, of the total 33 provinces, only nine provinces remain rabies-free including Lombok Island in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province. This research was conducted from 2011 to 2013 to investigate pathways for rabies entry to Lombok Island via dog movement and to assess the probability of rabies entry and exposure to the susceptible dog population on Lombok. Further, this research aimed to provide knowledge of the pathways and probability of rabies entry to Lombok in order to inform development of quarantine and surveillance strategies to prevent rabies entry and establishment on Lombok. Pathways for rabies entry to Lombok were first defined based on the literature and then refined and prioritised based on expert opinion. After this process, two pathways of release of a rabiesinfected dog were identified: boat and ferry pathways. Scenario trees were developed for each pathway to describe the release of a rabies-infected dog to Lombok, as well as scenario trees to describe the exposure of a rabies-infected dog to the susceptible dog population on Lombok. Four surveys were conducted on Bali and Lombok islands to obtain data used to refine the pathways and to inform the release and exposure models. The first survey obtained data on dog numbers and dog management practices of dog owning households belonging to different ethnic groups at an urban site and a rural site on Lombok. A total of 400 households were interviewed, 300 at the urban site and 100 at the rural site. The majority of the interviewed households belonged to Balinese ethnic group. Sasakese households owning dogs were more frequent at the rural site compared to the urban site. Owning dogs born on Lombok was common (96% households), however, 4% of households reported owning dogs obtained from outside Lombok (Bali and Java). The latter was more common at the urban site and among Balinese ethnic group. All households that reported imported dogs mentionedtransporting the dog/s in a vehicle by ferry from Padang Bai harbour Bali to Lembar harbour Lombok. All these households also reported that the imported dogs did not have the documentation required by the quarantine agency and 11 reported that the imported dogs had been vaccinated but were not able to identify the type of vaccination. The dog owning households kept their dogs either fully restricted, semifree roaming or free-roaming but full restriction was reported only at the urban site. Dog bite cases were reported to be higher at the urban site. For the second survey, to investigate dog transportation on boats docking on Lombok, interviews were conducted with captains of boats that originated from other parts of Indonesia and of local Lombok boats at seven informal ports (no quarantine post). Over three consecutive days at each port, a total of 117 captains of outside boats and 52 captains of local boats were interviewed. This survey found that dogs are not common on boats. All of the captains interviewed, except one captain from Bali, reported never having a dog on board their boat. More than half (61.5%) of the captains of outside boats knew that rabies is transmitted to people through dog bites compared to only 7.7% of captains of local boats. Dog observation was also conducted during the survey visits to these ports to document the presence of dogs on boats, and the presence of dogs and interactions between people and dogs at the port area. No dogs were seen on boats, which confirmed the finding of the boat captain survey. To further investigate the role of illegal dog movement through ferry route, the thirdsurvey interviewed people travelling with a vehicle to Lombok by ferry from Padang Bai Bali. Interviews were conducted at Padang Bai harbour over ten days and 158 people were interviewed. The people interviewed consisted of Lombok residents (51.3%) and non-residents (48.7%); 10.8 % of which reported experience bringing dogs to Lombok. All of the 21 imported dogs were pedigree dogs; majority were male; and all had originated from Bali, Jakarta or West Java. Although these dogs were transported in several types of vehicles, the majority had been transported in a truck. Transportation for most of these dogs (14) was done at the request of dog owners living in Lombok and payment provided by the dog owners. Only two dogs werereported to have been vaccinated against rabies. None of the people who had transported these imported dogs reported the dogs undergoing quarantine inspection at either Padang Bai harbour or Lembar harbour Lombok. A fourth survey was undertaken to estimate the number of unowned dogs at the urban and rural sites on Lombok where the household survey was conducted. A photographic-recapture method was employed and the number of unowned dog was estimated using a Chapman estimate from Beck (1973). A higher number of unowned dogs was observed at the urban site than at the rural site. Information obtained from the surveys was incorporated into the risk assessment models to quantify the probability of that one rabies-infected dog is released at Lombok via boat and ferry pathway and the probability of a susceptible dog at the informal port, urban site and rural site becoming infected with rabies virus after the release of a rabies-infected dog via the boat and ferry pathway. Data from published literature and expert opinion were also utilised. Monte Carlo stochastic simulation modelling was performed with @Risk 6.0 (Palisade Corporation, USA). Each simulation consisted of 5,000 iterations sampled using the Latin hypercube method with a fixed random seed of one. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted to identify which input parameters were the most influential to the overall outputs of the release and exposure assessment models. This was performed using the @Risk 6.0 Advanced Sensitivity Analysis (Palisade Corporation, USA). Based on the results of this study, the probability of rabies being introduced into Lombok via both boat and ferry pathways was very low. However, these estimates were not negligible and to estimate the overall risk of virus introduction into Lombok for a specific period of time, the total number of boats, ferries and passengers in eachferry coming into Lombok should be considered. The sensitivity analyses for the release assessments indicate that the prevalence of rabies in Bali has a significant influence on the probability of rabies virus being introduced into Lombok. The presence of dogs on boats travelling to Lombok and the probability of ferry passengers bringing dogs to Lombok were also influential parameters. The exposure assessments suggest that the overall median probability of a rabid dog released in Lombok exposing and infecting a susceptible dog in Lombok was low. This probability was similar for a rabid dog being released at an informal Lombok port and for a rabid dog released by a person travelling in a ferry that resided in rural/urban Lombok. These results suggest that the probability of exposure is not negligible. The probability of the rabid dog confinement was an influential parameter on the probability of susceptible dogs in Lombok being exposed. These findings have provided information on pathways and probability forto Lombok and for rabies exposure to the susceptible dog population on Lombok. The practice of illegal dog movement via the ferry route can now be addressed to prevent rabies entry to Lombok, through rabies control at source (that is, on rabies-infected islands); improvement of performance of the quarantine agency ; and through education about rabies for the general public and dog owners as well as for animal health and public health officials. Preventing establishment in the event of rabies incursion through early disease detection and preparedness planning is also important. Early disease detection includes animal disease surveillance and monitoring the level of human dog bite cases. Preparedness can include responsible dog ownership that incorporates dog registration and identification, dog vaccination, neutering and confinement; dog population control through a better waste collection and disposal system by government agencies to reduce food sources for roaming dogs; and dog rabies vaccination for Lombok. In particular vaccination in advance of an incursion deserves serious consideration because it can create a barrier to prevent rabies transmission to people

Cultural Influences on Academic Performance in Fiji: A Case Study in the Nadroga/Navosa Province

At an upper level of education, especially Forms 5, 6 and 7 of secondary school and in tertiary institutions, Indo-Fijian students often perform better than their ethnic Fijian counterparts. This pattern of ethnic difference in academic performance is a long standing one, lasting over 70 years. However, both ethnic groups have been participants in the same educational system in Fiji. Educational policies have been implemented to reduce this difference. This present case study argues that there are cultural differences of values, beliefs and practices with respect to educational achievement among Indo-Fijians and ethnic Fijians. The achievement ethic of the two ethnic groups differs. Indo-Fijian culture respects and values education highly. Generally speaking, educating children has been always the top priority of Indo-Fijian culture. They believe that education changes people for the better, and the only way to “success” is through education. Thus, Indo- Fijian parents believe that helping children to strive for academic excellence is one of the most important tasks for them. The priority attached by such parents to educational success is one of the strongest forces behind academic success. By contrast, ethnic Fijian culture encourages children to have a strong sense of loyalty to their community and of becoming good members of their koro (i.e., village). Indeed, one’s total commitment to communal activities and cultural requirements is of vital importance. Although ethnic Fijian parents generally understand the importance of their children’s education and wish to support their education, ethnic Fijian communal demands are enormous in terms of time and labour. The pressure to maintain their moral and social obligations within the community tends to make ethnic Fijians spend a large amount of time, energy and money on functions such as ceremonial events and church activities, at the possible expense of providing for the formal education of their children. These demands mean that parents are often absent from home, and unable to supervise children’s homework. Ethnic Fijian children, upper secondary schoolers, feel strong pressure from their peers within their koro to conform to social activities, such as attending church, playing sports such as rugby and volleyball, and hanging around in the koro and town. Besides, the layout of the typical ethnic Fijian home is a more difficult environment than Indo-Fijian households for children’s study, largely due to the limited space to study independently. The socio-cultural background of ethnic Fijians, especially their home environment including family values and priorities, is one of the major barriers to their children’s educational progress. In addition, school leadership, teachers’ expectations, colonial policies and legacies, e.g., land tenure issues, play important roles in affecting differences in the academic performance of these two ethnic groups. Consequently, the educational achievement differences between ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians are revealed substantially during the secondary and tertiary educational institutions

The role and ultrastructure of the liver sinusoidal endothelial cell in fasting, hepatoxicity, and ageing

The majority of liver studies focus on the hepatocyte however the work of this thesis investigates the vital role of the liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC). LSECs line the liver sinusoids forming a protective barrier between the blood and hepatocytes. The LSEC cytoplasm resembles a sieve, perforated with thousands of transcellular pores of approximately 50-150 nm in diameter called fenestrations, and is underlined by a very sparse extracellular matrix. This facilitates the virtually unimpeded passage of fluid and substances smaller than fenestrations from the blood such as drugs and nutrients, and size-dependent filtration of lipoproteins, to and from hepatocytes. Fenestrations are dynamic structures, in that their size and number can be modulated by hormones, drugs, hepatotoxins, and diseases. Reduction of LSEC fenestration size and number (defenestration) is associated with ageing and pathological states, and is also a cause of hyperlipidemia and reduced drug clearance, thus changes in LSEC morphology can affect the entire organism. This thesis aims to broaden knowledge of the role and ultrastructure of the LSEC in physiological and toxicological states by investigating: whether there is fenestration modulation during fasting that could facilitate increased nutrient exchange between the blood and hepatocytes; whether changes to LSEC ultrastructure during acetaminophen hepatotoxicity are consistent with exacerbation of liver injury and/or with the facilitation of liver regeneration after severe necrosis; whether a substance that targets the LSEC could have a therapeutic benefit in acetaminophen hepatotoxicity by protecting the microvasculature from damage; whether isolation and culture of LSECs from ageing rats maintain the ageing (defenestrated) phenotype, and thus whether it is a valid method to study therapeutic substances in vitro that could reverse defenestration-related ailments associated with normal ageing