Comparing Rusle LS Calculation Methods across Varying DEM Resolutions

Soil erosion is a global problem that reduces land productivity and causes environmental degradation. Soil erosion models, such as the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), are used to estimate the severity and distribution of erosion. The topographic factor (LS), which combines slope length and angle, is an important part of RUSLE. This work compared two methods of L calculation, the grid cumulation (GC) and the contributing area (CA) methods, and two methods of S calculation, the neighborhood (NBR) and maximum downhill slope (MDS) methods. These were compared across digital elevation models (DEMs) of 1, 5, 10, and 30m resolutions. This study rectifies the lack of direct and consistent testing OF these methods across multiple sites and DEM resolutions. The CA method produces higher mean, median, and max values of L than the GC method across all landscapes, especially along drainage channels where the greatest area accumulates to produce extremely high L values. The GC method, unlike the CA method, accounts for decreases in slope steepness that initiate deposition and reset accumulated values. Differences between these methods occur most from different treatments of convergence. The CA method combines flow paths but the GC method only continues the one longest flow path. The NBR and MDS method produced similar mean and median S values. However, maximum values using the NBR method are more sensitive to DEM resolution and decrease more with coarse resolutions. The NBR method produces lower S values along ridge lines and higher S values along drainage channels and concave depressions and slopes. This is due to the averaging of calculating slope angle in the NBR method. The neighborhood method smooths landscapes and reduces the ability to capture erosion variability related to S

From Readiness to Action: Social Justice Training in Practicum

Social justice is an imperative within counseling and is recognized through the American Counseling Association\u27s code of ethics, nationally endorsed competencies, and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. The authors completed a phenomenological study exploring the experience of five master’s-level counseling students in their practicum course relative to their development of a socially just counseling approach. The authors identified themes to provide a textural-structural description of how students experienced the transition towards social action. Moving from readiness to action encompassed previous experiences, the learning community, and change agents including awareness, responsibility, motivation, and comfort. Implications for educators and supervisors of professional counselors are provided

Online Safety in the Pacific: A Report on a Living Lab in Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands

With cable internet systems rolling out across the Pacific, access to affordable and fast digital connectivity in the region is set to rapidly expand, opening up unprecedented opportunities for children but also potentially exposing them to new risks of harm. Child online safety in the Pacific region thus stands at a critical juncture. However, there is very little rigorous and reliable evidence to guide policy and decision making in relation to children’s digital practices and online safety This report presents the key findings of research undertaken to map the challenges and opportunities that technology presents for children in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea. The project deployed a qualitative, participatory research methodology developed by the Young and Resilient Research Centre and previously deployed in over 70 countries. From December 2019 to March 2020, the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University, ChildFund Australia and Plan International Australia conducted half-day creative workshops conducted separately with 96 children aged 10-18; 58 parents and carers; and 50 representatives of government departments, local and international NGOs, schools, police, telecommunications companies, religious organisations and community leaders. Workshop activities explored key themes relating to each group’s perceptions and experiences of children’s digital media use and online safety, with the overall aim of generating an evidence base for ChildFund Australia’s and Plan International Australia’s future child protection programming in the Pacific region. Activities included writing, discussion, polls, and arts-based tools. Participants were engaged individually, in small groups, and as a whole group. Overall, despite different cultural practices and contexts at play in the three countries that participated in the study, across the sample, there were remarkable similarities in children’s, parents’/carers’ and other adult stakeholders’ experiences of navigating online safety issues for and with children

The Practice of Dorothy Heathcote as a Pedagogy of Resistance

Educational Drama pioneer, Dorothy Heathcote, worked in new and innovative ways which were, even in the progressive times in which she was working, considered against the grain. This chapter examines her practice as a pedagogy of resistance and goes onto explore how, with the use of technology, Drama Education students carry on this resistant practice in new and challenging contexts. Heathcote's 'Rolling Role' model is explored by the students as a way of discovering their own resistant practice and re-discovering the freedom to learn for themselves and their pupils

Online Safety Perceptions, Needs, and Expectations of Young People in Southeast Asia: Consultations with Young People in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam

Globally, children and young people's access to digital devices and online spaces are fundamental to what it means to be a young person in the contemporary context. Young people's access to digital technology earlier in life, and in greater numbers, has resulted in increased societal awareness and concern about ensuring their safety and wellbeing online. One manifestation of that concern is through calls for online platforms to take greater responsibility for safeguarding users' privacy and wellbeing. A growing body of work asserts the importance of technology industries adopting a human-centric approach when designing their online platforms and services to ensure those products are safer for the people who use them. In Southeast Asia in particular, penetration and use of online technologies among young people is rapidly advancing. It follows then that young people in this region should be included in discourses about and practices for online safety. This report describes outcomes of a project that explored online experiences of children and young people in four countries in Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam - showing how young people in these countries perceive and experience key elements of their lives online. The report also presents young participants' ideas and aspirations about how to ensure they and their peers remain safe online, reinforcing the value of such ideas for key stakeholders when planning, developing, and operationalising their online products and services

Reimagining Online Safety Education through the Eyes of Young People: Co-Design Workshops with Young People to Inform Digital Learning Experiences

Online safety education is typically designed by adults for young people. As a consequence, it often reflects adult perspectives and concerns. While existing education has been somewhat successful in raising young people’s awareness about online harms, young Australians report gaps in their online safety skills and knowledge. This is particularly true when it comes to managing difficult experiences online and supporting others through negative experiences.1 Young people also describe feeling misunderstood and disempowered by current online safety messaging.2 With funding from the eSafety Commissioner’s Online Safety Grants, and in partnership with the PROJECT ROCKIT Foundation, this project aimed to create online safety learning experiences with and for young people to better meet their needs and address their concerns. To inform the design of these learning experiences, the Young and Resilient Research Centre (Y&R) at Western Sydney University (WSU) led a survey and a creative and participatory process to co-design youth-centred online safety education with young people

Development and validation of self-reported line drawings for assessment of knee malalignment and foot rotation: a cross-sectional comparative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For large scale epidemiological studies clinical assessments and radiographs can be impractical and expensive to apply to more than just a sample of the population examined. The study objectives were to develop and validate two novel instruments for self-reported knee malalignment and foot rotation suitable for use in questionnaire studies of knee pain and osteoarthritis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two sets of line drawings were developed using similar methodology. Each instrument consisted of an explanatory question followed by a set of drawings showing straight alignment, then two each at 7.5° angulation and 15° angulation in the varus/valgus (knee) and inward/outward (foot) directions. Forty one participants undertaking a community study completed the instruments on two occasions. Participants were assessed once by a blinded expert clinical observer with demonstrated excellent reproducibility. Validity was assessed by sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratio (LR) using the observer as the reference standard. Reliability was assessed using weighted kappa (κ). Knee malalignment was measured on 400 knee radiographs. General linear model was used to assess for the presence of a linear increase in knee alignment angle (measured medially) from self-reported severe varus to mild varus, straight, mild valgus and severe valgus deformity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Observer reproducibility (κ) was 0.89 and 0.81 for the knee malalignment and foot rotation instruments respectively. Self-reported participant reproducibility was also good for the knee (κ 0.73) and foot (κ 0.87) instruments. Validity was excellent for the knee malalignment instrument, with a sensitivity of 0.74 (95%CI 0.54, 0.93) and specificity of 0.97 (95%CI 0.94, 1.00). Similarly the foot rotation instrument was also found to have high sensitivity (0.92, 95%CI 0.83, 1.01) and specificity (0.96, 95%CI 0.93, 1.00). The knee alignment angle increased progressively from self reported severe varus to mild varus, straight, mild valgus and severe valgus knee malalignment (p_trend<0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The two novel instruments appear to provide a valid and reliable assessment of self-reported knee malalignment and foot rotation, and may have a practical use in epidemiological studies.</p

Variable levels of drift in tunicate cardiopharyngeal gene regulatory elements.

Background: Mutations in gene regulatory networks often lead to genetic divergence without impacting gene expression or developmental patterning. The rules governing this process of developmental systems drift, including the variable impact of selective constraints on different nodes in a gene regulatory network, remain poorly delineated. Results: Here we examine developmental systems drift within the cardiopharyngeal gene regulatory networks of two tunicate species, Corella inflata and Ciona robusta. Cross-species analysis of regulatory elements suggests that trans-regulatory architecture is largely conserved between these highly divergent species. In contrast, cis-regulatory elements within this network exhibit distinct levels of conservation. In particular, while most of the regulatory elements we analyzed showed extensive rearrangements of functional binding sites, the enhancer for the cardiopharyngeal transcription factor FoxF is remarkably well-conserved. Even minor alterations in spacing between binding sites lead to loss of FoxF enhancer function, suggesting that bound trans-factors form position-dependent complexes. Conclusions: Our findings reveal heterogeneous levels of divergence across cardiopharyngeal cis-regulatory elements. These distinct levels of divergence presumably reflect constraints that are not clearly associated with gene function or position within the regulatory network. Thus, levels of cis-regulatory divergence or drift appear to be governed by distinct structural constraints that will be difficult to predict based on network architectur

Variable Levels Of Drift In Tunicate Cardiopharyngeal Gene Regulatory Elements

Background: Mutations in gene regulatory networks often lead to genetic divergence without impacting gene expression or developmental patterning. The rules governing this process of developmental systems drift, including the variable impact of selective constraints on different nodes in a gene regulatory network, remain poorly delineated. Results: Here we examine developmental systems drift within the cardiopharyngeal gene regulatory networks of two tunicate species, Corella inflata and Ciona robusta. Cross-species analysis of regulatory elements suggests that trans-regulatory architecture is largely conserved between these highly divergent species. In contrast, cis-regulatory elements within this network exhibit distinct levels of conservation. In particular, while most of the regulatory elements we analyzed showed extensive rearrangements of functional binding sites, the enhancer for the cardiopharyngeal transcription factor FoxF is remarkably well-conserved. Even minor alterations in spacing between binding sites lead to loss of FoxF enhancer function, suggesting that bound trans-factors form position-dependent complexes. Conclusions: Our findings reveal heterogeneous levels of divergence across cardiopharyngeal cis-regulatory elements. These distinct levels of divergence presumably reflect constraints that are not clearly associated with gene function or position within the regulatory network. Thus, levels of cis-regulatory divergence or drift appear to be governed by distinct structural constraints that will be difficult to predict based on network architecture