Political Representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth in Australia

Political representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and youth reflect the deep ambivalences Australian society continues to hold toward First Nations people. This chapter explores these ambivalences by considering two key representative fields concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in recent years, which serve to illustrate our thesis that children play a constitutive role as temporary outsiders who present both risk and renewal to the demos. The first focuses on the Northern Territory Don Dale Youth Detention Centre that became the site of political controversy in 2016 for its mistreatment of youth detainees. The second explores a 2020 campaign by the conservative Liberal National Party in a recent Queensland state election to implement a youth curfew in the cities of Townsville and Cairns, that have a high number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents. As evidenced by these debates about youth crime and incarceration, we argue that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are often represented as a source of risk which lies in tension with and forecloses the transformative potential of representing Indigenous children as sources of renewal. These cases reveal the representative terrain in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people must resist and speak back to a white national imaginary that works to limit the possible futures that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples imagine for themselves

Aspartame in conjunction with carbohydrate reduces insulin levels during endurance exercise

Gold OAAs most sport drinks contain some form of non-nutritive sweetener (e.g. aspartame), and with the variation in blood glucose regulation and insulin secretion reportedly associated with aspartame, a further understanding of the effects on insulin and blood glucose regulation during exercise is warranted. Therefore, the aim of this preliminary study was to profile the insulin and blood glucose responses in healthy individuals after aspartame and carbohydrate ingestion during rest and exercise. Each participant completed four trials under the same conditions (45 min rest + 60 min self-paced intense exercise) differing only in their fluid intake: 1) carbohydrate (2% maltodextrin and 5% sucrose (C)); 2) 0.04% aspartame with 2% maltodextrin and 5% sucrose (CA)); 3) water (W); and 4) aspartame (0.04% aspartame with 2% maltodextrin (A)). Insulin levels dropped significantly for CA versus C alone (43%) between pre-exercise and 30 min, while W and A insulin levels did not differ between these time points. Aspartame with carbohydrate significantly lowered insulin levels during exercise versus carbohydrate alone.Peer Reviewe

The Franks Casket: An Anglo-Saxon Synthesis of Religion, Literature and Art

The Franks Casket, named for Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, who donated the casket to the British Museum in 1867, is one of the most distinctive pieces of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship. A product of 8th century Northumbria, it draws upon many sources - artistic, literary and religious - from both the Germanic and the early Medieval European Christian traditions. By analysing these sources it is possible to learn more about the society, as well as the artisan, who produced it. The casket itself is quite small, about 20cm long and 10cm high, and has five carved panels made of whalebone. Each consists of a central picture and a surrounding border of runic inscriptions, except for the lid, which may once have had an inscription, but this is now lost

Hammer in the North: Mjollnir in Medieval Scandinavia

In the archaeological record of tenth century Scandinavia, there is evidence for the proliferation of small metal amulets representing Mjollnir, the magical hammer of the god Thor. Thor's hammer is recognised as one of the most distinctive religious symbols of the heathen Norse, and for a time was the chief rival of the Christian cross among the peoples of Medieval Scandinavia and Iceland. It was celebrated in Scandinavian mythology as the primary defence of gods and men against destruction at the hands of the fearsome frost-giants. Art, archaeology and folklore attest to the remarkable endurance of the hammer symbol, from the Bronze Age to the present day, not only as a significant religious motif, but also as a powerful ritual device, closely associated with the cult of Thor. The vast majority of the more than forty Thor's hammer amulets known date from the late tenth and early eleventh centuries and were found primarily in Denmark, south-eastern Sweden and southern Norway, in those areas particularly subject to strong Christian influence. It seems quite likely that the popularity of these amulets came about as a heathen response to the crucifixes worn by increasing numbers of Christians in Scandinavia. Indeed, some of the early crucifixes are quite similar in design to the hammer, and in one example from Foss in southern Iceland, features of both are incorporated into the overall design. Graves have been found with hammers and crosses side by side and from Jutland, Denmark, there is a stone mould from which both hammers and crosses could be cast, indicating a certain level of acceptance of both religious symbols, perhaps in the interest of spiritual pragmatism

Burning material behaviour in hypoxic environments: An experimental study examining a representative storage arrangement of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyethylene bubble wrap, and cardboard layers as a composite system

Cone calorimeter and controlled atmosphere cone calorimeter experiments were conducted on various samples. The intent of the tests was to examine the behavior of uniform and composite samples in a range of thicknesses, irradiances, and oxygen concentrations. Single, uniform layers of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) were compared to a composite mix, comprising of ABS with a surface layer of cardboard and a secondary layer of polyethylene bubble wrap (intended to represent a potential storage arrangement). The horizontal samples have been tested at irradiances of 25 and 50 kW/m2 and oxygen concentrations of 20.95%, 17%, and 15% to examine a range of significant variables. Results for the uniform arrangement indicated various correlations, previously observed in the works of others, such as the relationships typically described between applied heat flux, ignitability, heat release rate and the effect of the introduction of hypoxic conditions. However, results were shown to change significantly when samples were arranged to feature composite layers. A hypothesized cause of the behavioral change, namely the soot and char residual introduced from the incomplete combustion of the cardboard layer, highlights further important variables that require consideration in material testing under hypoxic conditions. Such variables, namely specific material behaviors and sample orientation, must be sufficiently captured in the design methodologies of systems reliant upon the introduction of hypoxic conditions. It is concluded that sufficiently capturing a wider range of variables in burning materials under hypoxic conditions will introduce further design resilience and help optimize fire protection/prevention methods