Extracts of 16 South African Salvia species commonly used in traditional medicine to treat various microbial infections were investigated for in vitro antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities using the micro-dilution and respiratory BACTEC method, respectively. The microorganisms tested include two Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus); two Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacterial strains and the common pathogen responsible for tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Extracts of the majority of species exhibited moderate to good antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.03 to 8.00 mg/ml. Promising activity was observed against M. tuberculosis (MIC≤0.50 mg/ml) with S. radula, S. verbenaca and S. dolomitica displaying the most favourable activity (MIC: 0.10 mg/ml). The antibacterial bioassay-guided fractionation of S. chamelaeagnea resulted in the isolation of four compounds: carnosol, 7-O-methylepirosmanol, oleanolic acid and its isomer ursolic acid as the active principles against S. aureus. The in vitro antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities may support the use of Salvia species in traditional medicine to treat microbial infections.

This work deals with the subject of global solar oscillations. These oscillations are observed as fluctuations in the diameter of the sun. A diameter is determined by a mathematical solar edge definition at the Santa Catalina Laboratory for Experimental Relativity by Astrometry (SCLERA) instrument. The oscillations have periods ranging from a few minutes to several hours and have amplitudes measured in millionths of a solar radius. These small amplitudes are observable only due to the unique properties of the edge definition. The properties of the observed solar oscillations are determined from the data; their statistical significance and repeatability are then tested. The possibility of using the observed oscillations as a seismic tool for understanding the solar interior and its motions is explored.

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This empirical study investigates language use and collaborative learning in informal non-classroom settings by learners of German as a Foreign Language (GFL). I examine learner interactions resulting from a language course requirement for which small groups of students composed a role-play to be performed in front of the class. Bridging the two research traditions of activity theory and the socio-interactionist approach, my research starts with an analytical focus on speech events as they are embedded in an object-oriented educational activity. The activities are further analyzed using a conversation analytic (CA) approach within the socio-interactionist framework by focusing on the ways participants construct knowledge of the second language (L2) through word searches and the re-use of word search solutions. I also examine the role of voice when participants speak German, and the role of non-target languages in L2 learning. The video-recorded peer-to-peer interactions are the substantial part of the dataset for analysis. The data also include questionnaires, class observations and interviews, stimulated interviews, and in-class presentations that further inform the analysis. The data were gathered during the Fall 2007 semester with learners from two beginners courses of GFL. Two groups of three and two students, respectively, were chosen for closer analysis from among 31 students and 9 instructors participating in the study. This research found that students’ past individual and group histories serve as resources for the formation of the German role-play which becomes an analytical achievement based on shared understanding of the object at all phases of its construction, including the storyline and the formulation of the text in L2. Learners engage each other in learning, simultaneously displaying different kinds of expertise linked to task instructions, the circumstances of the context, speakers' biographies, and learning histories. The artifacts (e.g. textbook and dictionary) serve to support the authoritative knowledge when negotiating different types of expertises. Similarities in dealing with language problems could be observed in that participants learned lexical items by solving language problems, whereby the solution-word becomes a resource for further learning to produce the same item in different types of talk. Also, voices show up as the social facets of the construction of the knowledge in L2. Speaking voices gave learners the opportunity to practice varieties of vernacular German and to negotiate their discursive identities in the new language. Non-target languages provided cognitive support in solving problems with L2, serve social functions such as interpersonal work and expression of public self-image, and proved to be an essential tool enabling participants to work in the pursuit of the object of the activity as a collective achievement.

There is analyzed relevant area of the educational activity in the modern museum science in the master‘s work “Land museum’s educational activity as regional culture factor”, because museums implement main cultural functions: socialization’s, integration’s, creational, cognitive, communicational, informational, value’s and others. The objective of the survey is land museum’s educational activity. The goal is to detect features of the land museum’s educational activity and to define significance of this activity for the regional culture. The work consists of the introduction, three sections, references and annexes. Museum’s place in the regional cultural environment, conception of the museum, its description, content, historical aspects, regional museums abroad, contemporary status and legal basis is analyzed in the section one. Section two is dedicated for the land museum’s educational activity; there is analyzed mission of the museum meeting cultural needs of the inhabitants, museum’s possibilities as an educational institution, forms of the museum’s educational activity, themes, methods and means of its realization, purpose of the educational programs. Survey results are presented and summarized in the section three. Accomplished analysis shows that land museum’s educational activity became one of the main areas of the museum’s work; the popularity of the educational activity is constantly increasing in the society, variety of forms and themes of the educational work... [to full text]

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to better understand the relationship between physical activity and academic achievement of girls in grades three to seven participating in a community-based physical activity program. Seventeen of eighteen possible participants were involved in this study. Findings revealed that there was no relationship found between the intensity, duration, and frequency of physical activity and English grades. There was also no relationship between the intensity, duration, and frequency of physical activity and mathematics grades. Parents were found to be the largest influence on girls’ physical activity behaviours. This study contributed to health promotion research by building upon findings from past projects that have found no significant negative relationship to exist between physical activity and academic achievement. Future research may want to focus on providing interventions at the family level to support parents’ and girls’ participation in physical activity.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was threefold: 1) to explore the physical activity (PA) levels of gynaecologic cancer survivors; 2) to explore the associations between PA and quality of life (QOL); 3) to examine the level of agreement between self-reported and objectively measured PA; and 4) to identify PA preferences. Methods: In Phase I, 900 gynaecologic cancer survivors were mailed a questionnaire measuring PA, QOL, and various PA preferences. In Phase II, 20 survivors wore an accelerometer for nine consecutive days, completed a questionnaire, and participated in a 20 minute semi-structured interview. Results: Approximately 30% of participants met the public health PA guidelines, with survivors meeting the PA guidelines reporting higher scores on physical well-being. Over 66% of participants were/may be interested in a PA program. The level of agreement between self-reported and objectively measured PA was poor. Conclusions: This research demonstrates the importance of PA for cancer survivors. / N/A

Given that childhood obesity has become a public health concern, the development and implementation of effective interventions addressing this issue are needed. Research suggests that the use of a parent-only approach is an effective way to improve the home and family environment to promote healthy weight in children. Moreover, by improving parents’ physical activity and eating behaviours children’s behaviours may also be improved. Primary care interventions have been shown to be effective for enhancing physical activity in adults, especially when using physical activity prescriptions and referrals to community programs. No studies have combined these two interventions to explore the possibility of an added-value effect relative to the promotion of a healthy family environment conducive to healthy weight in children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a combined primary care-parent-only intervention with a primary care intervention alone for improving the home and family environment and mothers’ physical activity behaviours relevant to the promotion of healthy weight in children. Female patients (N = 35) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Prescription Plus (PP), Prescription Only (PO) and Usual Care (UC). The PP group received a physical activity prescription plus a referral to a parent-only intervention, the PO group received just the prescription, and the UC group, regular health care. Outcome variables were physical activity, the obesogenic home environment, mother’s confidence for making obesity related changes, exercise/physical activity self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and self-regulation and perceived competence for exercise. All the measures were self-reported and were assessed before and eight weeks after the intervention. A 2 x 3 mixed analysis of variance showed no significant group differences at post-intervention. Only a significant time * intervention interaction was observed (p = .03), where the PP group achieved the largest effect (partial ŋ² = .200) in the obesogenic home environment score after receiving the intervention. These findings suggest that the combined primary care-parent-only intervention was effective for improving the home environment and provide preliminary insight into the effectiveness of such an intervention for influencing healthy weight in children. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-23 16:58:17.208

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