No description available.

Community Based monitoring (CBM): How facilitators can help Dalit and Adivassi communities in rural villages to participate in government programs to improve their health, educate their children, receive social security benefits and pensions, access rural work programs, enroll in pre and post natal care programs, and buy from government sponsored discount shops for basic necessities. In many parts of rural India the Dalit (lower caste) and Adivassi (tribal) populations are unjustly discriminated against and denied access to many government sponsored programs that could greatly improve their lives. Unnati is a NGO based in Gujarat with a location in Rajasthan. From the Rajasthan office, Unnati and partner organizations worked through facilitators to help citizens in 50 different villages form citizen collectives. These collectives were trained in basic community based monitoring techniques. Through CBM (Community Based Monitoring), these citizens with help from their facilitators, Unnati, and partner NGOs begin taking a more active role in six government sponsored programs or schemes. The facilitator manual I helped create is being used to further train current facilitators in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The manual will also be shared with other NGOs so that this program can be replicated with ease. The manual consists of an introduction to CBMs, criteria for being an Unnati facilitator, the facilitator roles and responsibilities, facilitator and village collectives’ goals, and a case study of two villages. Unnati asked me to undertake this project so that documentation exists for best practices as the CBM project continues. The CBM project began in April 2011. Survey results were recorded beginning in May. In June, surveys were reformatted and the current format has remained in place till December of 2011. Additionally, a part of the manual includes survey results as a model of correct and incorrect ways to document information as well as to show the importance of each question and what it indicates in terms of overall community health.

Team Up for Healthy Living was a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate a cross-peer school-based obesity prevention program in Southern Appalachia. Undergraduate students from the disciplines of Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Public Health were trained as peer facilitators to deliver an 8-week curriculum in high school Lifetime Wellness classes. The focus of the curriculum was on improving diet and physical activity with an additional emphasis on enhancing leadership and communication skills. Control group participants received their regularly scheduled Lifetime Wellness curriculum. The current article is about the experiences of an undergraduate kinesiology student participating as a peer-facilitator in the Team-Up for Healthy Living trial. A brief overview of the program and peer facilitator training is followed by this students reflections on both personal development and student outcomes.

With the emergence of technology and the increased demand for online courses, traditional classroom facilitators, instructors and trainers are nervous, reluctant and sceptical to teach in the online environment because they do not know what is expected of them. The research goal was to establish what different roles the online facilitator played in the online environment as well as to identify which people competencies, thinking competencies and energy competencies the online facilitator needed to function in the online environment. The basis for this instrumental case study was the eLearn ORO 880 online module for the Master’s degree in Computer Assisted Education. The module simulated the popular reality television series, Survivor, implementing the same rules and events that took place in the television series – the location just shifted to cyberspace. The name was adapted to CyberSurfiver, emphasising ‘surf’, to indicate surfing the Internet to get to various locations. A specific online facilitator was selected because this facilitator had experience in teaching and facilitating online classes. She was also one of the students who obtained a distinction for this module in 1998 and had experience of the demands of this module. This online facilitator was particularly interested to facilitate this module for personal development reasons. Data were gathered by means of researcher field notes, being an observer participant; a focus group interview and a face-to-face interview with the online facilitator; a self-administered e-mailed questionnaire and various sets of text messages, after using pre-selected web-based communication tools. Content analyses were done by comparing the online facilitator’s text messages to the Blignaut and Trollip (2003) taxonomy of faculty participation in asynchronous learning environments to establish the online facilitator’s roles. The researcher conducted a second content analysis of the facilitator’s text messages to identify the ‘visible’ online facilitator roles. The researcher used the Blignaut&Trollip (2003) taxonomy as a framework. For visibility, the online facilitator fulfilled five roles: administrator, to conduct timeous course administration; social supporter, to maintain social and emotional support; instructor, to facilitate the learning process; guide, to encourage interactivity to foster the building of new knowledge; mediator, to ensure fair play. The identified five roles where then subjected to the Work Profiling System Job Analysis Questionnaires (JAQs) to rate ‘high’ and ‘extreme’ people competencies, thinking competencies and energy competencies for the role of an online facilitator. The results generated in the Work Profiling System report indicated that the online facilitator needed at least 13 competencies to be effective in the role of an online facilitator. The identified ‘high’ and ‘extreme’ people competencies were inter alia: motivating others; developing others; interpersonal sensitivity; teamwork; building and maintaining relationships. The identified ‘high’ and ‘extreme’ thinking competencies were inter alia: judgment; information gathering; problem analysis; written communication skills; technical skills and competence. The identified ‘high’ and ‘extreme’ energy competencies were inter alia: self-confidence; persuasiveness and oral communication skills. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / Unrestricted

Published Article / A significant amount of time and effort has to go into teaching students. It is no art when lecturers simply read from a text book. The objective of this study was to determine the teaching methods that students at the Hotel School, Central University of Technology, Free State, consider as most effective to support learning. All first-year students (N=73) enrolled for the National Diploma: Hospitality Management were targeted to participate in the survey. A mixedmethod study design was followed, and a questionnaire consisting of closedand open-ended questions was developed for data collection. Closed-ended questions were rated on a five-point Likert scale, while answers to open-ended questions were analysed to determine trends. Results showed that lecturers used a variety of teaching methods. The lecture teaching method was rated best by 49% of students followed by the group discussion method which was rated as second best (19%). Case studies and brainstorming were the least-preferred methods (4% and 0% respectively). Lecturers should ensure that maximum information is transferred through the teaching methods that most appeal to students. The focus should be on enabling students to practically apply the lessons taught in everyday life.

This research sought to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which a recently described family of ion transport proteins, the cation diffusion facilitators (CDFs), transfer ions across biomembranes. Using the Escherichia coli homologs ZitB, and FieF, as well as CzcD from Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 as models, the amino acids essential to CDF function were identified, and the transport behavior of ZitB and its homolog FieF, were described.Site-directed ZitB mutants were used to determine the necessity of individual amino acids. The mutation of several well-conserved acidic residues resulted in the loss of a ZitB-mediated zinc-resistant phenotype in the zinc-sensitive E. coli strain GG48. ZitB also complemented the potassium uptake deficient strain TK2420, suggesting that ZitB works as an antiporter, possibly allowing potassium into the cell while effluxing zinc.This result was further investigated in experiments using everted membrane vesicles(EMVs). Vesicles bearing ZitB accumulated 65Zn(II) in a NADH-dependent manner, with an apparent KM of 1 micromolar. This accumulation was inhibitable by the protonophore FCCP, suggesting CDF dependence upon the proton motive force. Similar results were obtained using both EMVs and proteoliposomes containing the CDF homologs CzcD, from C. metallidurans CH34, and FieF from E. coli. Despite facilitating 65Zn(II) uptakeinto EMVs, fieF transcription was zinc and iron-dependent, but independent of the ironuptake regulator Fur. FieF expression in trans complemented the iron-sensitive phenotypeof a strain lacking fur, causing it to accumulate less 55Fe than wild type. Reconstituted proteoliposomes containing FieF also accumulated less 55Fe than those without.This research confirms that CDF proteins likely depend on the cell's proton gradient, effluxing substrate in a metal:proton antiport arrangement. Substrate acquisition and throughput is facilitated by a set of acidic amino acids and histidines. The relatively lowapparent KM of ZitB suggests a homeostatic role for the protein; however, the iron-inducibilityof fieF hints at a role in iron detoxification, so the cellular functions of the CDF family may be quite diverse, even within the bacteria.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Les différentes études entreprises ont porté sur la détermination du potentiel accumulateur du peuplier à une fin d’utilisation en phytoremédiation. Chez les végétaux, les éléments traces comme le Zn, Fe, Cu, Co, Mn, Mo et Ni sont nécessaires aux processus biologiques mais leur accumulation excessive peut être toxique. D’autres éléments non essentiels comme le Cd et le Pb peuvent également être absorbés par les végétaux, et donc constituer un danger potentiel puisqu’ils entrent ainsi dans la chaîne alimentaire. La phytoremédiation est l’utilisation de plantes et de leurs microbes associés pour la dépollution de l’environnement. Dans le cadre de cette étude, il a été démontré que le peuplier (Populus spp.) pouvait accumuler de relativement fortes concentrations de certains métaux (Cd, Zn et Ni) par rapport à d’autres espèces ligneuses, par exemple 30-50 µg de Cd /g de matière sèche foliaire, soit 20 fois plus que les autres espèces. Après avoir mis en évidence le potentiel accumulateur du peuplier, nous avons testé différents cultivars en culture hydroponique et avons ainsi mis en évidence des potentiels accumulateurs variés entre cultivars. Nous avons montré que les hybrides de P. trichocarpa accumulaient davantage que les autres hybrides. Parallèlement à cette étude, nous avons implanté ces mêmes cultivars sur deux sites pollués dans le cadre du projet ANR PHYTOPOP. Combiné à la production d’une forte biomasse qui peut être utilisée pour produire de l’énergie, ce caractère accumulateur fait du peuplier un bon candidat pour la phytoremédiation. Les membres de la famille des CDF (Cation Diffusion Facilitator) sont impliqués dans le transport des métaux. Après une étude phylogénétique des membres de cette famille (démonstration d’un nombre supérieur de CDF chez le peuplier par rapport aux autres espèces), leur expression dans différents tissus et dans différentes conditions physiologiques (sur sol témoin et sur sol pollué) a été étudiée. De plus, la caractérisation fonctionnelle a permis de mettre en évidence un transporteur de Zn (PtMTP2) et un transporteur de Mn (PtMTP9). Une tentative de localisation de ces transporteurs a également été entreprise. Dans le but de localiser les métaux dans les tissus de la plante, nous avons effectué des analyses en spectrométrie de masse à ionisation secondaire (SIMS) sur des feuilles de peupliers soumis à un stress métallique. Cette dernière technique a permis de montrer que le Zn était essentiellement concentré au niveau du mésophylle. / The present study beared on the capacity of poplar to be used in phytoremediation programmes. In plants, trace elements such as Zn, Fe, Cu, Co, Mn, Mo and Ni are necessary to biological processes but they also can be toxic when present at high concentrations. Other non essential elements, such as Cd and Pb also can be taken up by plants and therefore constitute a potential risk for health via accumulation into the food chain. Phytoremediation is the use of plants and associated microorganisms to clean up the environment. First, we have shown that poplar (Populus) species could relatively accumulate high concentrations of metals (Cd, Zn and Ni) compared to other woody plants. For instance, poplar is able to accumulate 30 times more Cd than other woody species. Second we have measured in hydroponic cultures, the potential of metal accumulation by different poplar cultivars. We found that P. trichocarpa hybrids accumulated more metals than the other hybrids. As part of the PHYTOPOP programme, we have also grown the same cultivars on two different polluted sites. Finally, by secondary ion mass spectrometry, we were able to localize Zn in poplar leaf mesophyll. The high biomass, which can also be used for energetic processes, and the heavy metals accumulation properties of poplar lead to the conclusion that poplar can constitute a good candidate for phytoremediation. The CDF (Cation Diffusion Facilitator) members are proteins involved in the transport of heavy metals. Phylogenetic analyses of the CDF family have shown that poplar contains a higher number of CDF members compared with other species. Expression levels of CDF members were studied in different tissues and in different physiological conditions. Moreover, heterologous expression in yeast has shown that PtMTP2 and PtMTP9 transport Zn and Mn respectively. Localization experiments in planta were also realized.

Spirit of Learning in a general sense is an exploration of the inextricable link between learning, individual personal development and potential. This thesis emphasises the personal/spiritual development of the educator, including the author, within an enhanced, holistic learning context, which is called 'integrated accelerative learning'. The inquiry examines the way individual educators and 'life-long learners' develop their inner selves, by exploring some of their relevant attitudes, values and significant life experiences. The accelerative learning approach is based on a philosophy which includes an expanded view and maximisation of human potential. It incorporates the knowledge of individual learning styles, 'multiple intelligences' and emphasises the development of effective life-long learning strategies. Throughout the thesis the use of the term 'spiritual development' is intended to be interchangeable with 'personal development' and is based on the author's view that the essential self is a spiritual being.An 'educator of integrated acclerative learning'is described as one who is aware of, and to some degree, consciously utilises elements of the paraconscious (beyond the usual conscious level), in order to enhance the teaching/learning process and promote personal development within the learner. The author's thesis is that educators need to examine the essence of themselves behind innovative methods used. The belief is that there is a need to nourish, sustain and grow in accordance with the positive and transformative nature of the philosophy espoused and the methods used. Within the area of personal/spiritual development, many themes have emerged, including the changing role and attitudes of the educator from teacher to facilitator. The theme of integration is a particularly strong one and includes the concept of congruency, encouraging the development of all aspects of ourselves and integrating one's personal and professional lives. In general,the writer has discovered that most of the smaller themes can be identified under three major umbrella themes. These are integration, awareness and human potential, the development and expansion of which can be seen as promoting a sense of interconnectedness and the development of spirituality in general / Masters Thesis

Background: Celiac Disease (CD) is a chronic, autoimmune disease that prevents individuals from being able to process gluten. When individuals ingest gluten, their digestive system becomes severely damaged, leading to many adverse, health effects. It is, therefore, significantly crucial that individuals with CD adhere to a Gluten-Free diet (GFD). However, the adherence rate is well below optimal in the adult, CD population. Hence, it is crucial to identify and understand the factors that impact their ability to maintain a GFD. Objective: To develop a systematic review that critically appraises and synthesizes evidence on the facilitators and barriers that affect adherence to GFD among the adult population with CD. Data Sources: Ovid Medline, CINAHL, PsychInfo, and Embase were included, using a combination of keywords to retrieve relevant articles. The Inclusion Criteria consisted of empirical studies that focus on Adults with CD. Only English studies were considered. A coding scheme was developed to retrieve uniform information from each of the included studies, including: study design, population characteristics, facilitators and barriers presented, limitations, and a summary of each study. Results: Facilitators and Barriers were organized based on a Social ecological model, derived from the bioecological theory of development, which emphasizes that individuals make choices in their lives based on the impact of various ecological levels that exist. The ecological levels include: System, Community, Organizational, Interpersonal, and Individual. The studies included in this systematic review reported many facilitators and barriers that exist at the different ecological levels, which significantly affect adherence to GFD. Based on the frequency of articles that reported each facilitator and each of the studies’ level of evidence, the most significant facilitators were: increased patient education; celiac association membership; financial compensation/food subsidies; and increased intention/self-regulatory efficacy. When taking into consideration the frequency of articles that reported each barrier along with each of the studies’ level of evidence, the most significant barriers were: restaurant dining/supermarket shopping; poor patient education from practitioner; specific cultural factors; and low intention/motivation to adhere to a GFD. Although other factors have been reported, there was limited evidence to support them due to weak study designs, limited samples, and inconsistencies found across the different studies. It is important to understand that there are many additional facilitators and barriers retrieved in the systematic review that do not have as much evidence to support them. These are discussed in the thesis. Conclusion: Introducing policy changes at a health systems level will have the most influential impact on all the ecological layers in an individual’s life. Based on the magnitude of the results and the level of evidence of each of the studies, improvements to physician-patient communication, patient education interventions, and food subsidies, will create the most significant opportunity to positively impact the remaining ecological levels in one’s life, with the ultimate goal of improving adherence rates to a GFD among adults with CD in Canada. Registration: Prospero registration ID number is CRD42018091854.