Paying attention to texts : literacy, culture and curriculum

In his paper in English in Australia in 2002, Bill Green called for a literacy project of our own, and for the need to think again, and think newly about the place of literary literacy within contemporary curriculum. But what does literary literacy mean in curriculum that recognises a wide diversity of texts and literacies? If literature and close attention to the aesthetic and imaginative dimensions remain important, what kinds of texts should we value, and how should we attend to them? This article considers how such matters might be taken up with multimodal texts of different kinds.<br /

Plate versus bulk trolley food service in a hospital: comparison of patients’ satisfaction

Objective The aim of this research was to compare plate with bulk trolley food service in hospitals in terms of patient satisfaction. Key factors distinguishing satisfaction with each system would also be identified. Methods A consumer opinion card (n = 180), concentrating on the quality indicators of core foods, was used to measure patient satisfaction and compare two systems of delivery, plate and trolley. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to build a model that would predict food service style on the basis of the food attributes measured. Further investigation used multinomial logistic regression to predict opinion for the assessment of each food attribute within food service style. Results Results showed that the bulk trolley method of food distribution enables all foods to have a more acceptable texture, and for some foods (potato, P = 0.007; poached fish, P = 0.001; and minced beef, P ≤ 0.0005) temperature, and for other foods (broccoli, P ≤ 0.0005; carrots, P ≤ 0.0005; and poached fish, P = 0.001) flavor, than the plate system of delivery, where flavor is associated with bad opinion or dissatisfaction. A model was built indicating patient satisfaction with the two service systems. Conclusion This research confirms that patient satisfaction is enhanced by choice at the point of consumption (trolley system); however, portion size was not the controlling dimension. Temperature and texture were the most important attributes that measure patient satisfaction with food, thus defining the focus for hospital food service managers. To date, a model predicting patient satisfaction with the quality of food as served has not been proposed, and as such this work adds to the body of knowledge in this field. This report brings new information about the service style of dishes for improving the quality of food and thus enhancing patient satisfaction

Research methodologies in creative practice: literacy in the digital age of the twenty first century - learning from computer games

Literacy remains one of the central goals of schooling, but the ways in which it is understood are changing. The growth of the networked society, and the spread of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), has brought about significant changes to traditional forms of literacy. Older, print based forms now take their place alongside a mix of newer multi-modal forms, where a wide range of elements such as image, sound, movement, light, colour and interactivity often supplant the printed word and contribute to the ways in which meaning is made. For young people to be fully literate in the twenty-first century, they need to have clear understandings about the ways in which these forms of literacy combine to persuade, present a point of view, argue a case or win the viewers’ sympathies. They need to know how to use them themselves, and to be aware of the ways in which others use them. They need to understand how digital texts organise and prioritise knowledge and information, and to recognise and be critically informed about the global context in which this occurs. That is, to be effective members of society, students need to become critical and capable users of both print and multimodal literacy, and be able to bring informed and analytic perspectives to bear on all texts, both print and digital, that they encounter in everyday life. This is part of schools’ larger challenge to build robust connections between school and the world beyond, to meet the needs of all students, and to counter problems of alienation and marginalisation, particularly amongst students in the middle years. This means finding ways to be relevant and useful for all students, and to provide them with the skills and knowledge they will need in the ICT-based world of the Twentyfirst century. With respect to literacy education, engagement and technology, we urgently need more information as to how this might be best achieved

Investigation looking at the repeatability of 20 Society of Master Saddlers (SMS) qualified saddle fitters’ observations during static saddle fit

Saddle fit is widely considered to be a crucial factor for the health and performance of riding horses; however, there have been no studies looking at the agreement between professionals who fit and assess saddles. The aim of the study was to determine the agreement between Society of Master Saddlers (SMSs) qualified saddle fitters when statically fitting a saddle following the SMS guidelines. Twenty SMS qualified saddle fitter volunteers were recruited via social media and asked to statically assess the fit of the saddle following the “7 points of saddle fit” guidelines of the SMS in 10 horses. Descriptive statistics and Fleiss Kappa (as a measure of agreement beyond chance) were used to determine agreement between fitters. Agreement varied from slight to substantial between the different saddle assessment criteria with the assessment of overall saddle fit resulting in a fair agreement of k = 0.32. Substantial agreement was found for saddle clearance front (k = 0.66), top (k = 0.78), and rear (k = 0.81). Fair agreement was found for clearance of the saddle—side (k = 0.28) and how the girth straps line up with girth groove (k = 0.31) and panel contact (k = 0.38). Slight agreement was found for tree width and length (k = 0.12) and tree length (k = 0.12). Horse height in some criteria affected agreement. Agreement varied between the standard criteria. In cases where it was difficult to visually evaluate saddle fit, agreement was lower. Further work should aim to standardize the criteria which had suboptimal agreement

Housing and ethnicity : literature review and select, annotated bibliography

Book: vi, 59 p., digital fileThe study of housing and ethnicity is part of the urban literature on residential segregation and racial discrimination in Canada. It also belongs to the larger body of research on the Canadian ethnic mosaic. The results of such research can have important implications for policy-makers in their efforts to pursue effective mortgage and housing markets, to help households in need, and to deal with some of the challenges posed by significant contribution to housing demand anticipated in the next decade.3 Housing for minority groups within Canadian society is also a human rights issue, in that newcomers to Canada, as well as visible minorities, may experience impaired access to housing due to discrimination and lack of appropriate services (see, e.g., Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties, 1988; Commission des droits de Ia personne du Québec, 1988)

Dropping off the edge 2015: persistent communal disadvantage in Australia

This report shows that complex and entrenched disadvantage is experienced by a small but persistent number of locations in each state and territory across Australia. Foreword In 2007, Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia commissioned ground-breaking research into place-based disadvantage across the nation. The resulting report, Dropping off the edge, built on previous work that Jesuit Social Services had engaged Professor Tony Vinson to undertake on its behalf and quickly became a critical resource for governments, service providers and communities attempting to address the challenge of entrenched and often complex geographical disadvantage. That report received over 284 scholarly citations and supported the establishment of the Australian Social Inclusion Board – a body charged with identifying long-term strategies to end poverty in Australia. Since the publication of Dropping off the edge, our organisations have received many requests to update the findings and produce a new report tracking the wellbeing of communities in Australia over the intervening time. Sadly, the current report drives home the enormous challenge that lies in front of our policy makers and service providers, as many communities identified as disadvantaged in 2007 once again head the list in each state and territory. As a society we cannot, and should not, turn away from the challenge of persistent and entrenched locational disadvantage, no matter how difficult it may be to solve the problem. We call on government, community and business to come together to work alongside these communities to ensure long term sustainable change. We hold hope that the young people and future generations in these communities will have a better outlook and life opportunities than is currently available to them. It is our belief that every Australian should have access to the opportunities in life that will enable them to flourish – to complete their education, to get a job, to access safe and affordable housing, to raise their children in safe communities and to see the next generation thrive. Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia are indebted to the dedication and perseverance of Professor Tony Vinson in leading this important research and analysis over the past 15 years. Julie Edwards Chief Executive Officer Jesuit Social Services Marcelle Mogg Chief Executive Officer Catholic Social Services Australi

The Rebel Yells : Dress and Political Re-dress in Contemporary Indigenous Art = Le cri rebelle : Tenue vestimentaire et redressement politique dans l'art autochtone actuel

" The Rebel Yells: Dress and Political Re-dress in Contemporary Indigenous Art traces the influence of Shelley Niro's The Rebel (1987) through successive generations of artists. In homage, works by eleven artists from across Canada are assembled, opening discussion around dress, representation, self-definition, and their accompanying politics in new and revitalized ways. " -- Publisher's website

Measuring the response of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma to irradiation in a microfluidic model allowing customized therapy

Radiotherapy is the standard treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), however, radioresistance remains a major clinical problem despite significant improvements in treatment protocols. Therapeutic outcome could potentially be improved if a patient's tumour response to irradiation could be predicted ex vivo before clinical application. The present study employed a bespoke microfluidic device to maintain HNSCC tissue whilst subjecting it to external beam irradiation and measured the responses using a panel of cell death and proliferation markers. HNSCC biopsies from five newly-presenting patients [2 lymph node (LN); 3 primary tumour (PT)] were divided into parallel microfluidic devices and replicates of each tumour were subjected to single-dose irradiation (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 Gy). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release was measured and tissue sections were stained for cytokeratin (CK), cleaved-CK18 (cCK18), phosphorylated-H2AX (λH2AX) and Ki.67 by immunohistochemistry. In addition, fragmented DNA was detected using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL). Compared with non.irradiated controls, higher irradiation doses resulted in elevated CK18-labelling index in two lymph nodes [15 Gy; 34.8% on LN1 and 31.7% on LN2 (p=0.006)] and a single laryngeal primary tumour (20 Gy; 31.5%; p=0.014). Significantly higher levels of DNA fragmentation were also detected in both lymph node samples and one primary tumour but at varying doses of irradiation, i.e., LN1 (20 Gy; 27.6%; p=0.047), LN2 (15 Gy; 15.3%; p=0.038) and PT3 (10 Gy; 35.2%; p=0.01). The λH2AX expression was raised but not significantly in the majority of samples. The percentage of Ki.67 positive nuclei reduced dose-dependently following irradiation. In contrast no significant difference in LDH release was observed between irradiated groups and controls. There is clear interand intra-patient variability in response to irradiation when measuring a variety of parameters, which offers the potential for the approach to provide clinically valuable information

Towards stewardship of Winnipeg's river corridors : conference proceedings

iii, 86 p. : maps