Milpirri: Jennifer Biddle in Discussion with Tracks Dance Company

Jennifer Biddle interviews the artistic directors of Tracks Dance Company, Tim Newth and David McMicken, about the company's ongoing involvement in the Milpirri festival

Missing Letters: Seven stories and one novella

My MFA thesis, entitled MISSING LETTERS, consists of seven short stories and one novella. These pieces are arranged to reflect a variety of tone and style; The first story, Tale of the Ill Ook Ook, is strictly comedic and serves as a parody of adult book stores. The emphasis is on humor rather than eroticism; The second story is Trouble on the Farm, which is intense in its treatment of a troubled runaway teen with murder and vengeance on his mind; Story number three, The Romans, is a children\u27s story, featuring Scotty, the protagonist who headlines my first published novel, SCOTTY AND THE GYPSY BANDIT. A sense of morality motors through this and story number seven, The Lemonade Stand. . Both are constructed in a sparse, lean style that reflects the simplistic yet morally compromised world of childhood; Wanda Waits is a dark, tightly structured tale concerning a hit man who would prefer a different line of work, but the money is too good for him to quit; Joie de Vivre tells the story of a strained father/daughter relationship with a dead mother as its centerpiece; Are We There Yet? is a light-hearted satire of the Book of Exodus, with a considerable amount of wordplay and puns, featuring a Las Vegas setting; The operative theme of my novella, Odd Bodkins, is the dissipation of a marriage brought on by a third party. It strives for a more literary-like style

Material Type and Position Determines the Insulative Properties of Simulated Nest Walls

Incubation in birds takes place within a nest that is often assumed to confer a degree of thermal insulation. The range, amounts and organisation of materials used to construct nest walls hampers our understanding of the degree to which they provide insulation during incubation. This experimental study used temperature loggers in a model system to test the insulative properties of materials extracted from bird nests to determine: 1) whether differences existed in terms of insulation, and 2) if the position of a material mattered when two materials were tested in combination. Animal-derived materials offered better insulation than plant-derived materials, whether tested singly or in combination. Halving the mass of each material did not affect insulation conferred by the material proximal to the temperature logger. Differing thermal conductivities of the materials in contact with the temperature logger may explain these results. If a bird strategically places an animal-derived material only into a nest cup lining then it may be sufficient to provide good insulation for the whole nest. More research is needed to generate thermal conductivity data for commonly used nest materials to test this idea more rigorously in finite element heat transfer models.—Deeming, D.C., Griffiths, J.D. & Biddle, L.E. (2020). Material type and position determines the insulative properties of simulated nest walls

A Manifesto for exercise science–a vision for improving the health of the public and planet

In this manifesto, we make the case that Exercise Science can and must do more to improve the health of the public and the planet. Post pandemic, our vision for Exercise Science is one of a maturing scientific discipline reaching outwards from a base of strong empirical evidence to have a profound and sustained positive global impact on health. In each of the three main areas of the discipline–research, teaching, and professional practice–a new and distinctive approach is needed. We propose 12 points of action, in no particular order, for a). quality, rigour, and professional standing, and b). reach, relevance, and public engagement and make numerous suggestions for action and change. We encourage the teachers, researchers and practitioners of Exercise Science to consider and act on these recommendations. We hope that this manifesto can help create a shared sense of purpose amongst the global Exercise Science community and further the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion. To act on these principles, we need to cultivate a discipline that encourages more women, people who experience racism and other forms of discrimination, and people with a disability to become involved in the discipline

Warning reception, response, and risk behavior in the 3 May 1999 Oklahoma City long-track violent tornado.

On 03 May 1999, a long-track violent tornado killed 40 people and injured ∼ 800 in and near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Following the disaster, surveys were collected from persons residing or working within the damaged areas regarding their actions, and the actions of those in their care or company. Similar data were obtained for fatalities. The purpose of the field operations were to collect geographical, demographical, behavioral, and attitudinal information from a sample of survivors, and to the fullest extent possible, for all decedents. Respondent data were analyzed for patterns in warning access, source, compliance, and lead time, as well as for geographical and cultural variables such as shelter availability, tornado hazard perception, and opinions about warning systems. Goals were to catalog significant differences between survivor and decedent traits to identify successful warning operations and media practices; to delineate the warning environment as characterized by societal risk perception and response; and to compare these findings to previous research. Situational risk factors for death included: living in a mobile home or unincorporated area; living near the starting point of the tornado path; and being physically disabled, elderly, or of lower socioeconomic strata. Cognitive risk factors for death included misjudging the tornado path or severity in spite of receiving warnings; choosing inadequate shelter; and attempting to flee too late. Risk factors for survival included access to televised warnings and receiving warnings via telephone; sheltering below ground or fleeing the path; and general familiarity with weather information and local geography. Risk factors for survival did not substantially include warnings from siren systems or NOAA Weather Radio. The performance of tornado detection and surveillance systems, Integrated Emergency Management, and the timely dissemination of detailed warnings via electronic media were all important in holding the death toll down. Yet, none of these were able to completely mitigate the risk to certain highly vulnerable populations or individuals. Warning system efficacy for this extreme event, having occurred among a large population with relatively-high severe weather awareness is explored, along with some unusual findings regarding warning communication and evacuation behavior.Keywords: Tornado; Warning; Natural Hazard; Disaster; Oklahoma; US

Searching for suicide methods:Accessibility of information about helium as a method of suicide on the Internet

Abstract. Background: Helium gas suicides have increased in England and Wales; easy-to-access descriptions of this method on the Internet may have contributed to this rise. Aims: To investigate the availability of information on using helium as a method of suicide and trends in searching about this method on the Internet. Method: We analyzed trends in (a) Google searching (2004–2014) and (b) hits on a Wikipedia article describing helium as a method of suicide (2013–2014). We also investigated the extent to which helium was described as a method of suicide on web pages and discussion forums identified via Google. Results: We found no evidence of rises in Internet searching about suicide using helium. News stories about helium suicides were associated with increased search activity. The Wikipedia article may have been temporarily altered to increase awareness of suicide using helium around the time of a celebrity suicide. Approximately one third of the links retrieved using Google searches for suicide methods mentioned helium. Conclusion: Information about helium as a suicide method is readily available on the Internet; the Wikipedia article describing its use was highly accessed following celebrity suicides. Availability of online information about this method may contribute to rises in helium suicides. </jats:p

Using the behavior change wheel to design a novel home‐based exercise program for adults living with overweight and obesity:Comprehensive reporting of intervention development

Introduction: Physical activity and exercise are movement behaviors that support the lifestyle management of overweight and obesity. However, home‐based exercise programs are commonly generic, and inconsistently undertake a holistic approach to program design. Methods: This work applied the Behavior Change Wheel, supplemented with previously conducted interviews, to the development of a home‐based exercise program, specifically for people living with overweight and obesity. This provided an understanding of the target behavior and identified a behavioral diagnosis. These findings were mapped onto the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation‐Behavior model and Theoretical Domains Framework, identifying changes needed and corresponding intervention functions.Results: Suitable Behavior Change Techniques were identified, alongside Capability Opportunity Motivation‐Behavior components needed to facilitate an increase in exercise behaviors, and five key intervention functions. This housed the delivery of 24 Behavior Change Techniques, including goal setting, feedback, monitoring and repetition.Conclusion: Applying the Behavior Change Wheel has enabled detailed development of a home‐based exercise program for adults living with overweight and obesity

Family influences on children's physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption

Background : There is evidence of a clustering of healthy dietary patterns and physical activity among young people and also of unhealthy behaviours. The identification of influences on children\u27s health behaviors, particularly clustered health behaviors, at the time at which they develop is imperative for the design of interventions. This study examines associations between parental modelling and support and children\u27s physical activity (PA) and consumption of fruit and vegetables (FV), and combinations of these behaviours.Methods : In 2002/3 parents of 775 Australian children aged 10&ndash;12 years reported how frequently their child ate a variety of fruits and vegetables in the last week. Children wore accelerometers for eight days during waking hours. Parental modelling and parental support (financial and transport) were self-reported. Binary logistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses examined the likelihood of achieving &ge; 2 hours of PA per day (high PA) and of consuming &ge; 5 portions of FV per day (high FV) and combinations of these behaviors (e.g. high PA/low FV), according to parental modelling and support.Results : Items of parental modelling and support were differentially associated with child behaviours. For example, girls whose parents reported high PA modelling had higher odds of consuming &ge; 5 portions of FV/day (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.32&ndash;2.87, p &lt; 0.001). Boys whose parents reported high financial support for snacks/fast foods had higher odds of having \u27high PA/low FV\u27 (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.1&ndash;3.7).Conclusion : Parental modelling of and support for physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption were differentially associated with these behaviours in children across behavioural domains and with combinations of these behaviours. Promoting parents\u27 own healthy eating and physical activity behaviours as well encouraging parental modelling and support of these behaviours in their children may be important strategies to test in future research.<br /