Is There a Need for Speed? : Risky Driving Behaviour and Young Male Drivers : A Review of the Literature

Young male drivers have been identified as a high risk for Motor Vehicle Accident. This paper reviews three components for accident risk: the driving environment, society and individual factors associated with accident histories. Possible predictors for identifying young men at risk for accident involvement are driving behaviour, driving attitude and sensation seeking. Protective factors to reduce the incidence of risky driving in youth might include legal restrictions, increased education and training. The paper recommends that future research tests the above predictors for a relationship with accident involvement in young men

From Observers to Participants: Joining the Scientific Community

In this essay, we have integrated the voices of our mentors and students to explore 45 years of undergraduate research experiences and their role in shaping our scientific community. In considering our collective experiences, we see undergraduate involvement in research as a rich source of community development, one that has both touched our lives and influenced our teaching

Psychologists\u27 understanding of resilience: Implications for the discipline of psychology and psychology practice

Current adoptions of strength-based approaches, as suggested by the positive psychology movement, asks professionals to develop different perspectives on familiar constructs. Given that we have little understanding how psychologists define and work with psychological phenomena, this current study sought to determine how Western Australian registered psychologists understand resilience. The 213 participants were asked to provide definitions and information about their understanding of resilience via an open-ended questionnaire. Demographic questions included the level and year ofqualification(s) and nature of psychological work undertaken. The definitions obtained from the participants were rated against definitions of resilience in the literature. The participants understandings of resilience were also assessed against the constructs believed to underpin resilience, as presented in the resilience literature. Although theconcept of resilience is widely researched and much information is published in psychological journals, participants in this study did not fully articulate the concept and its relevance to strength-based approaches

Does local implantation of gentamicin impair renal function in patients undergoing surgery for chronic bone infection?

Background: The treatment of chronic bone infection often involves excision of dead bone and implantation of biomaterials which elute antibiotics. Gentamicin is a preferred drug for local delivery, but its systemic use carries a well-established risk of nephrotoxicity.  We aim to establish the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) with local delivery in a ceramic carrier.Methods: 163 patients with Cierny-Mader type 3 or 4 chronic osteomyelitis had a single-stage operation including filling of the osseous defect with a calcium sulphate-hydroxyapatite carrier containing gentamicin. Mean gentamicin dosing was 191.3 mg (maximum 525 mg). Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated pre-operatively and during the first seven days post-operatively. Renal impairment was graded using the chronic kidney disease (CKD) staging system, and AKI was assessed using the RIFLE criteria.Results: 155 cases had adequate data to allow calculation of pre- and post-operative GFR. 7 had pre-existing renal disease. 70 patients (45.2%) had a temporary GFR drop post-operatively, with the greatest decrease occurring at a mean of 3.06 days following surgery. Twenty cases had a >10% decline in GFR, but 12 resolved within 7 days. 7 patients transiently fell into the “Risk” category according to RIFLE criteria, but no patient had a change consistent with “Injury”, “Failure” or “Loss” of renal function and none had clinical signs of new acute renal impairment post-operatively. Conclusions: Renal function is not significantly affected by local implantation of gentamicin up to 525 mg. The presence of pre-existing renal disease is not a contraindication to local gentamicin therapy.

Moving beyond the ‘language problem': developing an understanding of the intersections of health, language and immigration status in interpreter-mediated health encounters

Health systems internationally are dealing with greater diversity in patient populations. However the focus on ‘the language problem’ has meant little attention is paid to diversity within and between migrant populations; and how interpreted consultations are influenced by intersecting migratory, ethnicity and sociodemographic variables. Our analysis of the experiences of patients, health care providers and interpreters in Scotland evidences the need to move beyond language, addressing multiple hidden inequalities in health care access and provision that operate in both clinic and, especially, home-based settings. We call for a practice-evidenced research agenda promoting cultural communication across health care and home settings, acknowledging immigration status as a social determinant of health. Sur le plan international, des systèmes de santé font face à une diversité croissante dans ses populations de patients. Cependant, l’accent sur ‘le problème de langue’ se traduit dans une manque d’attention à la diversité a l’intérieur même et entre des populations des migrants; et la façon par laquelle des variables migratoire, ethnique et sociodémographique influencent elles-mêmes des consultations interprétées. Notre analyse des expériences des patients, des professionnels fournissant de soins de santé et des interprètes offre des preuves du besoin de dépasser le problème de langue. Et en faisant cela, nous adressons des multiples inégalités, souvent cachées dans des contextes de soins de santé, dans les milieux clinique et domicile. Nous proposons un programme de recherche basé sur la pratique, qui favorise la communication culturelle dans des milieux clinique et domicile, et qui reconnait le statut d’immigration comme un déterminant social de la santé

Towards more replicable content analysis for learning analytics

Content analysis (CA) is a method frequently used in the learning sciences and so increasingly applied in learning analytics (LA). Despite this ubiquity, CA is a subtle method, with many complexities and decision points affecting the outcomes it generates. Although appearing to be a neutral quantitative approach, coding CA constructs requires an attention to decision making and context that aligns it with a more subjective, qualitative interpretation of data. Despite these challenges, we increasingly see the labels in CA-derived datasets used as training sets for machine learning (ML) methods in LA. However, the scarcity of widely shareable datasets means research groups usually work independently to generate la- belled data, with few attempts made to compare practice and results across groups. A risk is emerging that different groups are coding constructs in different ways, leading to results that will not prove replicable. We report on two replication studies using a previously reported construct. A failure to achieve high inter-rater reliability suggests that coding of this scheme is not currently replicable across different research groups. We point to potential dangers in this result for those who would use ML to automate the detection of various educationally relevant constructs in LA

The mass evolution of the first galaxies: stellar mass functions and star formation rates at 4<z<74 < z < 7 in the CANDELS GOODS-South field

We measure new estimates for the galaxy stellar mass function and star formation rates for samples of galaxies at $z \sim 4,~5,~6~\&~7$ using data in the CANDELS GOODS South field. The deep near-infrared observations allow us to construct the stellar mass function at $z \geq 6$ directly for the first time. We estimate stellar masses for our sample by fitting the observed spectral energy distributions with synthetic stellar populations, including nebular line and continuum emission. The observed UV luminosity functions for the samples are consistent with previous observations, however we find that the observed $M_{UV}$ - M$_{*}$ relation has a shallow slope more consistent with a constant mass to light ratio and a normalisation which evolves with redshift. Our stellar mass functions have steep low-mass slopes ($\alpha \approx -1.9$), steeper than previously observed at these redshifts and closer to that of the UV luminosity function. Integrating our new mass functions, we find the observed stellar mass density evolves from $\log_{10} \rho_{*} = 6.64^{+0.58}_{-0.89}$ at $z \sim 7$ to $7.36\pm0.06$ $\text{M}_{\odot} \text{Mpc}^{-3}$ at $z \sim 4$. Finally, combining the measured UV continuum slopes ($\beta$) with their rest-frame UV luminosities, we calculate dust corrected star-formation rates (SFR) for our sample. We find the specific star-formation rate for a fixed stellar mass increases with redshift whilst the global SFR density falls rapidly over this period. Our new SFR density estimates are higher than previously observed at this redshift.Comment: 28 pages, 23 figures, 2 appendices. Accepted for publication in MNRAS, August 7 201

Associations between cytokines, endocrine stress response, and gastrointestinal symptoms in autism spectrum disorder

PosterAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social communication and abnormal repetitive behavior patterns. Recent studies have shown a strong association between ASD and gastrointestinal (GI) symptomatology. Some individuals with ASD show altered reactivity to stress, as well as altered immune markers, particularly stress responsive cytokines including TNF-alpha and IL-6. To assess potential relationships between GI symptoms and stress response, we examined whether GI symptoms are associated with increases in stress-associated endocrine markers and cytokines in ASD. We also conducted exploratory analyses the examine the relationship between IL-6, TNF-alpha, cortisol, and intelligence, as well as the effects of the presence or absence of co-occurring medical conditions on the relationship between IL-6, TNF-alpha, cortisol, and GI symptoms. Given the aforementioned findings, we expected to find positive relationships between GI symptoms and biomarkers of stress, including cortisol levels, IL-6, and TNF-alpha