Pathways to stability: past and present

The rise in prison committals is leading to an increased number of people with complex needs returning to their communities in need of reintegration support. There is much debate in Ireland today over the increasing problematic drug and alcohol use amongst our younger generations. The link between substance misuse and crime rates has been well documented. However, there is a void in the research on the use of community initiatives to support people in substance misuse recovery and desistance. There are a number of community-based initiatives funded by the Department of Justice and Equality that endeavour to support ex-prisoners to reintegrate into society successfully and reduce their risk of re-offending, one such initiative is Churchfield Community Trust (CCT). This study aims to contribute to the research available to learn from the founding members and past participants of CCT on what interventions and supports are beneficial to supporting people in their transitional journey. CCT hope to use these findings to determine how they could better support the reintegration process and the desistance from crime

Musculoskeletal complaint epidemiology in Australian special operation forces trainees

Intorduction: Elite military trainees are burdened by high numbers of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries and are a priority military population for injury prevention. This research aims to describe the MSK complaint epidemiology of trainees undertaking special forces (SF) training in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). One barrier to accurate injury surveillance in military populations is that traditional surveillance methods rely on personnel engaging with the military healthcare system to collect injury data. This approach is likely to underestimate the injury burden as it is known that many military personnel, particularly trainees, avoid reporting their injuries because of various motives. Subsequently, the insights from surveillance systems may underestimate the injury burden and limit the ability to inform prevention requirements. This research aims to actively seek MSK complaint information directly from trainees in a sensitive manner to mediate injury-reporting behaviors. Materials and Methods: This descriptive epidemiology study included two consecutive cohorts of ADF SF trainees from 2019 to 2021. Musculoskeletal data items and their respective recording methods were based on international sports injury surveillance guidelines and adapted to a military context. Our case definition encompassed all injuries or physical discomforts as recordable cases. A unit-embedded physiotherapist retrospectively collected MSK complaint data from selection courses and collected prospective data over the training continuum. Data collection processes were external to the military health care system to mediate reporting avoidance and encourage injury reporting. Injury proportions, complaint incidence rates, and incidence rate ratios were calculated and compared between training courses and cohorts. Results: In total, 334 MSK complaints were reported by 103 trainees (90.4%), with a complaint incidence rate of 58.9 per 1,000 training weeks (95% CI, 53.0-65.5). Of these MSK complaints, 6.4% (n = 22) resulted in time loss from work. The lumbar spine (20.6%, n = 71) and the knee (18.9%, n = 65) were the most frequently affected body parts. Most of the MSK complaints were reported during selection courses (41.9%), followed by field survival and team tactics (23.0%) and urban operations courses (21.9%). Physical training accounted for 16.5% of complaints. Fast-roping training was associated with more severe MSK complaints. Conclusions: Musculoskeletal complaints are highly prevalent in ADF SF trainees. Complaints are more frequently reported in selection and qualification training courses than in physical training. These activities are priorities for focused research to understand injury circumstances in ADF elite training programs to inform injury prevention strategies. A strength of our study is the data collection methods which have provided greater MSK complaint information than past research; however, much work remains in conducting consistent and accurate surveillance. Another strength is the use of an embedded physiotherapist to overcome injury-reporting avoidance. Embedded health professionals are recommended as continued practice for ongoing surveillance and early intervention

Feasibility and pilot study of the effects of microfinance on mortality and nutrition in children under five amongst the very poor in India: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: The United Nations Millennium Development Goals include targets for the health of children under five years old. Poor health is linked to poverty and microfinance initiatives are economic interventions that may improve health by breaking the cycle of poverty. However, there is a lack of reliable evidence to support this. In addition, microfinance schemes may have adverse effects on health, for example due to increased indebtedness. Rojiroti UK and the Centre for Promoting Sustainable Livelihood run an innovative microfinance scheme that provides microcredit via women’s self-help groups (SHGs). This pilot study, conducted in rural Bihar (India), will establish whether it is feasible to collect anthropometric and mortality data on children under five years old and to conduct a limited cluster randomized trial of the Rojiroti intervention. Methods/Design: We have designed a cluster randomized trial in which participating tolas (small communities within villages) will be randomized to either receive early (SHGs and microfinance at baseline) or late intervention (SHGs and microfinance after 18 months). Using predesigned questionnaires, demographic, and mortality data for the last year and information about participating mothers and their children will be collected and the weight, height, and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) of children will be measured at baseline and at 18 months. The late intervention group will establish SHGs and microfinance support at this point and data collection will be repeated at 36 months. The primary outcome measure will be the mean weight for height z-score of children under five years old in the early and late intervention tolas at 18 months. Secondary outcome measures will be the mortality rate, mean weight for age, height for age, prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting among children under five years of age. Discussion: Despite economic progress, marked inequalities in child health persist in India and Bihar is one of the worst affected states. There is a need to evaluate programs that may alleviate poverty and improve health. This study will help to inform the design of a definitive trial to determine if the Rojiroti scheme can improve the nutrition and survival of children under five years of age in deprived rural communities

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Shocks and Outflows in a normal star-forming galaxy

We demonstrate the feasibility and potential of using large integral field spectroscopic surveys to investigate the prevalence of galactic-scale outflows in the local Universe. Using integral field data from SAMI and the Wide Field Spectrograph, we study the nature of an isolated disk galaxy, SDSS J090005.05+000446.7 (z = 0.05386). In the integral field datasets, the galaxy presents skewed line profiles changing with position in the galaxy. The skewed line profiles are caused by different kinematic components overlapping in the line-of-sight direction. We perform spectral decomposition to separate the line profiles in each spatial pixel as combinations of (1) a narrow kinematic component consistent with HII regions, (2) a broad kinematic component consistent with shock excitation, and (3) an intermediate component consistent with shock excitation and photoionisation mixing. The three kinematic components have distinctly different velocity fields, velocity dispersions, line ratios, and electron densities. We model the line ratios, velocity dispersions, and electron densities with our MAPPINGS IV shock and photoionisation models, and we reach remarkable agreement between the data and the models. The models demonstrate that the different emission line properties are caused by major galactic outflows that introduce shock excitation in addition to photoionisation by star-forming activities. Interstellar shocks embedded in the outflows shock-excite and compress the gas, causing the elevated line ratios, velocity dispersions, and electron densities observed in the broad kinematic component. We argue from energy considerations that, with the lack of a powerful active galactic nucleus, the outflows are likely to be driven by starburst activities. Our results set a benchmark of the type of analysis that can be achieved by the SAMI Galaxy Survey on large numbers of galaxies.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures. Accepted to MNRAS. References update

Tales of Yesteryear: an oral history project

FOURTEEN LIVES: A CELEBRATION In contemporary popular culture, with its focus on youth and immediate gratification, aged persons are typically overlooked, neglected and ignored. In current discourse they might indeed be described as an 'underused resource'. Yet they have much to offer in terms of the richness of their lives and wisdom and insight acquired over many decades. Tales of Yesteryear: An Oral History Project 'gives voice' to a group of fourteen residents from Hilltop Gardens, a residential aged care unit located in close proximity to the Kelvin Grove Campus of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). We sought to learn from and with them about the significant learning experiences in their lives. A major consideration was exploring some of the events and incidents that shaped their world views and fashioned the selves they have become. However, we decided not to focus primarily on formalised schooling because of our strong belief that learning is lifelong and extends from the cradle to the grave, and because we recognised that for many, schooling would have constituted only a small part of the overall picture of their lives. In exchange for these stories, the project team compiled this book to celebrate their lives and times. Professor Brian Hansford, Head of the School of Professional Studies, QUT, and a staunch advocate of community services and of integrating the university more fully into the local community, played a significant part in the conception of this project. From 1995 the School's Community Service Committee has worked closely with Hilltop Gardens (formerly known as Sunsetholme) to provide a range of social activities (morning teas, luncheons, musical concerts ... ) and learning experiences (visits to the One Teacher School Museum, small group discussions ... ). 1999 is the third year that the School has organised a Christmas party for residents and staff ofHilltop Gardens. Applying for a QUT Community Service Grant to work on this project with the residents of Hilltop Gardens was a natural consequence of this relationship. In 1998 the School's Community Service Committee was successful in securing two small grants from QUT. The first was to fund an oral history project, while the second was to organise a series of musical concerts for the residents. The latter project is ongoing, with funding until the end of 2000. The former was led by Dr Merv Fogarty, recently retired Senior Lecturer within the School, and all of the editors (Ehrich, Fogarty, Thomas, Sheehan, Carroll and Mendra) were actively involved in the interview process and compilation of stories. The methodology steering this project was drawn from a kit developed by the Paddington History Group (Anne-Maree Jaggs and Dawn Buckberry). Consent forms, biographical questionnaires, and other procedure lists were adapted from this kit to meet our particular needs in the study. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Queensland University of Technology. All members of the team liaised with Ruth Forrester, Manager of Hilltop Gardens, to identify interested residents and to set up the ensuing interviews. The project team worked in pairs to share the interviewing and sense-making of the data. On average, residents were interviewed twice for about one hour each time. Transcripts were typed up and stories were woven from the essence of their lives. Individual stories were taken back to each participant for comment, correction, and final approval (in the true spirit of 'democratic research'). All of us on the project team felt that the oral histories were too valuable to leave unpublished, so this book is the culmination of our research and our way of acknowledging the rich contribution that the elderly can give to a learning community such as a university. The project has been rewarding and interesting not only because we moved out of schools (the domain in which so much of our work is done) but also because it has touched on an important part of living history. We feel honoured to have played a small part in making these stories come alive. The stories stand for themselves: I commend them to you. Lisa Catherine Ehrich On behalf of the Oral History Project Tea

SAMI - A new multi-object IFS for the Anglo-Australian telescope

SAMI (Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph) has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of galaxies, with spatially-resolved spectroscopy of large numbers of targets. It is the first on-sky application of innovative photonic imaging bundles called hexabundles, which will remove the aperture effects that have biased previous single-fibre multi-object astronomical surveys. The hexabundles have lightly-fused circular multi-mode cores with a covering fraction of ∼ 73%. The thirteen hexabundles in SAMI, each have 61 fibre cores, and feed into the AAOmega spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). SAMI was installed at the AAT in July 2011 and the first commissioning results prove the effectiveness of hexabundles on sky. A galaxy survey of several thousand galaxies to z ∼ 0.1 will begin with SAMI in mid-2012

The Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI)

We demonstrate a novel technology that combines the power of the multi-object spectrograph with the spatial multiplex advantage of an integral field spectrograph (IFS). The Sydney-AAO Multi-object IFS (SAMI) is a prototype wide-field system at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) that allows 13 imaging fibre bundles ("hexabundles") to be deployed over a 1-degree diameter field of view. Each hexabundle comprises 61 lightly-fused multimode fibres with reduced cladding and yields a 75 percent filling factor. Each fibre core diameter subtends 1.6 arcseconds on the sky and each hexabundle has a field of view of 15 arcseconds diameter. The fibres are fed to the flexible AAOmega double-beam spectrograph, which can be used at a range of spectral resolutions (R=lambda/delta(lambda) ~ 1700-13000) over the optical spectrum (3700-9500A). We present the first spectroscopic results obtained with SAMI for a sample of galaxies at z~0.05. We discuss the prospects of implementing hexabundles at a much higher multiplex over wider fields of view in order to carry out spatially--resolved spectroscopic surveys of 10^4 to 10^5 galaxies.Comment: 24 pages, 16 figures. Accepted by MNRA