School-university partnerships have been developed to invigorate initial teacher education (ITE). Such partnerships potentially offer rich educational opportunities to pre-service teachers. This ...paper examines integrated and school-embedded approaches to ITE in the Australian context, drawing on a case study analysis of a three-year, ITE school-university-system partnership named inSITE. inSITE is explored from the perspective of the school educators directly involved in its design and delivery. Complexity science provided the theoretical framework for inSITE and signalled its principles of holism, integration and reflective practice. The factors that contributed to and inhibited school-based initial teacher education from a school's perspective are identified. The paper concludes that, given conducive conditions, an integrated, embedded and reflective approach can address the prevailing theory-practice dualism of ITE and may offer an important third way to prepare new teachers. The challenges and opportunities for school-embedded ITE in Australia are highlighted. Author abstract
Background Patients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and congestive cardiac failure (CCF) are believed to have an increased risk of melioidosis and are thought to be more likely to die from the ...infection. This study was performed to confirm these findings in a region with a high incidence of all three conditions. Principal findings Between January 1998 and December 2021 there were 392 cases of melioidosis in Far North Queensland, tropical Australia; 200/392 (51.0%) identified as an Indigenous Australian, and 337/392 (86.0%) had a confirmed predisposing comorbidity that increased risk for the infection. Overall, 46/392 (11.7%) died before hospital discharge; the case fatality rate declining during the study period (p for trend = 0.001). There were only 3/392 (0.8%) with confirmed RHD, all of whom had at least one other risk factor for melioidosis; all 3 survived to hospital discharge. Among the 200 Indigenous Australians in the cohort, 2 had confirmed RHD; not statistically greater than the prevalence of RHD in the local general Indigenous population (1.0% versus 1.2%, p = 1.0). RHD was present in only 1/193 (0.5%) cases of melioidosis diagnosed after October 2016, a period which coincided with prospective data collection. There were 26/392 (6.6%) with confirmed CCF, but all 26 had another traditional risk factor for melioidosis. Patients with CCF were more likely to also have chronic lung disease (OR (95% CI: 4.46 (1.93-10.31), p<0.001) and chronic kidney disease (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.98 (1.22-7.29), p = 0.01) than those who did not have CCF. Two patients with melioidosis and CCF died before hospital discharge; both were elderly (aged 81 and 91 years) and had significant comorbidity. Conclusions In this region of tropical Australia RHD and CCF do not appear to be independent risk factors for melioidosis and have limited prognostic utility.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Methyl sulfur compounds are a rich source of environmental sulfur for microorganisms, but their use requires redox systems. The bacterial sfn and msu operons contain two-component flavin-dependent ...monooxygenases for dimethylsulfone (DMSO2) assimilation: SfnG converts DMSO2 to methanesulfinate (MSI–), and MsuD converts methanesulfonate (MS–) to sulfite. However, the enzymatic oxidation of MSI– to MS– has not been demonstrated, and the function of the last enzyme of the msu operon (MsuC) is unresolved. We employed crystallographic and biochemical studies to identify the function of MsuC from Pseudomonas fluorescens. The crystal structure of MsuC adopts the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase fold with putative binding sites for flavin and MSI–, and functional assays of MsuC in the presence of its oxidoreductase MsuE, FMN, and NADH confirm the enzymatic generation of MS–. These studies reveal that MsuC converts MSI– to MS– in sulfite biosynthesis from DMSO2.
•The crystal structure of MsuC from P. fluorescens was solved at 1.69 Å resolution.•MsuC adopts the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase fold and forms a tetramer.•Functional assays confirm MsuC is a two-component flavin-dependent monooxygenase.•Molecular docking identifies a putative methanesulfinate binding site.•Methanesulfinate is enzymatically oxidized in sulfur assimilation from DMSO2.
This article explores the intersections between large extractive companies, security governance and human rights. It contributes to understandings of how extractive companies can influence human ...rights protection in their areas of operation. Drawing on a case study of West Papua, the article argues that extractive companies have important opportunities to promote human rights through their security practices. However the power of extractive companies to determine human rights outcomes is limited by a variety of factors. Examples include: state narratives of nation-building, the financial interests of security personnel and the history of the company's involvement in the area.
Linking social capital refers to the relationship between a community of insiders (e.g. family, relatives, neighbourhood), outside organizations (e.g. NGOs, aid agencies) and other individuals. Its ...value in climate change adaptation is widely accepted in developing countries because it can enable access to local knowledge and resources. Women in coastal Bangladesh are subject to exclusion from access to natural resources and are frequently unable to connect with outsiders because of socio-cultural and religious barriers leading to a lack of opportunity for interaction with linking actors. To explore changes in linking social capital for adaptation among women in the post-cyclone Aila-2009 context, a mixed method approach was employed in the villages of Gabura Union (Bangladesh). We argue that the social disruption caused by Aila allowed women to form links with non-government organizations (NGOs), contributing to local adaptive responses (e.g. in agricultural innovation and household handicrafts production). Our observations suggest that of the three commonly identified forms of social capital (i.e. bonding, bridging and linking), bonding relationships within the family appeared to become weaker after a major disaster, which may be attributed to the disruption of reciprocal kinship ties and greater mobility of male family members to search for new economic opportunities in cities. Over time, linking relationships with NGOs contributed to strengthening bonding and bridging among women through establishment of social networks for knowledge sharing and production. These altered relationships and enhancement of linking social capital have produced new adaptation strategies that persisted beyond the immediate post-cyclone recovery period.
•Gender relationships were explored through a social capital lens.•Through NGOs, women explored new and lasting livelihoods strategies in a post-cyclone recovery context.•Linking social capital (women-NGOs) strengthened bonding (family) and bridging (women-women) social capitals.•A conceptual framework summarises the operation of social capital in a post-cyclone recovery context.
BackgroundPatients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and congestive cardiac failure (CCF) are believed to have an increased risk of melioidosis and are thought to be more likely to die from the ...infection. This study was performed to confirm these findings in a region with a high incidence of all three conditions.Principal findingsBetween January 1998 and December 2021 there were 392 cases of melioidosis in Far North Queensland, tropical Australia; 200/392 (51.0%) identified as an Indigenous Australian, and 337/392 (86.0%) had a confirmed predisposing comorbidity that increased risk for the infection. Overall, 46/392 (11.7%) died before hospital discharge; the case fatality rate declining during the study period (p for trend = 0.001). There were only 3/392 (0.8%) with confirmed RHD, all of whom had at least one other risk factor for melioidosis; all 3 survived to hospital discharge. Among the 200 Indigenous Australians in the cohort, 2 had confirmed RHD; not statistically greater than the prevalence of RHD in the local general Indigenous population (1.0% versus 1.2%, p = 1.0). RHD was present in only 1/193 (0.5%) cases of melioidosis diagnosed after October 2016, a period which coincided with prospective data collection. There were 26/392 (6.6%) with confirmed CCF, but all 26 had another traditional risk factor for melioidosis. Patients with CCF were more likely to also have chronic lung disease (OR (95% CI: 4.46 (1.93-10.31), p<0.001) and chronic kidney disease (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.98 (1.22-7.29), p = 0.01) than those who did not have CCF. Two patients with melioidosis and CCF died before hospital discharge; both were elderly (aged 81 and 91 years) and had significant comorbidity.ConclusionsIn this region of tropical Australia RHD and CCF do not appear to be independent risk factors for melioidosis and have limited prognostic utility.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This paper reports a mixed-method study from 2016 in Gabura, Bangladesh examining female contribution to climate change adaptation in the period post-cyclone Aila in 2009. Out of 110 households ...studied, male household members were absent in 66 cases because they had migrated to nearby towns and regional centres for alternative livelihood options. Male members' absence created opportunities for Gabura women to develop a range of novel adaptation strategies through engagement with aid agencies, changed gender roles, leveraging social capital and utilizing local knowledge. For example, women are increasingly contributing to income through works within and outside of the house in agricultural innovations and handmade productions. These adaptations are built on social capital and trust between community women and the NGOs through mobilization and sharing of local knowledge. Based on the findings, a framework for informed autonomous adaptation is proposed. The generalization of coastal women in developing contexts as passive victims of climate change due to social norms and instead highlights women's active agencies in adaptation is challenged. There is a need for a critical understanding of gender-specific dynamics in post-cyclone aid interventions towards in-situ climate change adaptation.
Older Australians face housing challenges including supply, accessibility, affordability, security of tenure and isolation. This article examines the potential for cohousing to address these ...challenges. In interviews, professionals indicated that cohousing promises benefits for older people, but identified financial and planning barriers. In contrast, focus groups with older people found significant resistance to the concept of shared living; many participants did not see value in cohousing. Resistance stemmed from negative associations with cohousing and cultural lack of familiarity with shared living arrangements. Cohousing has an image problem in Australia that needs to be overcome if it is to thrive.
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