Economic and social participation: The experiences of women who have migrated to Australia in the last 15 years

This item is only available electronically.In response to the increasing number of women immigrating to Australia, there has been more research into understanding their settlement experience around employment and its benefits to their well-being and self-identity. However, the social participation of migrant women which is another major element for successful settlement, is still under-researched. Much of the available research is based on survey-based studies and quantitative-based data, with few studies examining their experiences at a personal level. Therefore, this study aimed to fill the knowledge gap by examining the economic and social participation experiences of migrant women in Australia. It also aimed to identify the barriers that they face living and working in Australia. Employing a qualitative interview design accompanied by photo-elicitation methodology, a sample of 10 migrant women of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, aged 21-47 years, were interviewed. An analysis of the data resulted in identification of four main themes: work, friendships, personal as well as community and social participation. The results suggest that through economic participation, migrant women develop their confidence, expand their social network, and improve their English proficiency which enable them to be more involved in social participation. The findings also suggest that migrant women faced challenges such as busy work commitments, a demanding home-maker role, and a lack of social network that limit their opportunities to social participation. In conclusion, there is a need for policy makers to develop programs designed to assist their employment opportunities and provide directions for settlement strategies to enhance their social and economic participation.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 202

Who Goes, Who Stays, and Who Studies? Gender, Migration, and Educational Decisions among Rural Youth in China

Little is known about what affects the decision to migrate in China, despite the estimated 145 million rural migrants that reside in urban areas as of 2009. Drawing on a survey of youth from 100 villages in Gansu Province, we analyze migration and education decisions, with a focus on disparities associated with gender, sibship structure, and academic performance. Results show modest gender differences favoring boys in educational migration, but no gender differences in the overall likelihood of labor migration. Youth with older sisters are less likely to migrate, while youth with younger brothers are more likely to migrate. For girls, having older sisters is also negatively related to being a local or a migrant student, and better early academic performance is related to educational migration. For boys, labor migration may serve as a backup plan in the event of failing the high school entrance examination. Overall, results shed more light on the factors shaping educational migration than labor migration

It\u27s Not Just About the Money: Motivations for Youth Migration in Rural China

This study investigates the incentives for labor migration of youth in rural China using panel data from the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, a longitudinal study of youth in rural Gansu Province of China. We investigate the individual and altruistic economic motivations featured prominently in demographic and economic research on migration. However, we propose that the non-economic goal of personal development, a motivation suggested in numerous qualitative studies of women migrants in China and elsewhere, is also important, especially for young migrants. Analyzes indicate that, while young men and young women hold different motivations for migration, the desire for personal development is a common motivator for young migrants. Results suggest that non-economic incentives may play an important role in youth migration in rural China and that positioning in family structures shapes the susceptibility of individuals to migrate due to altruistic economic motivations

It’s Not Just about the Money: Gender and Youth Migration from Rural China

Statistics suggest that young men and women in China migrate at almost equal numbers, but we know less about gender differences in the decision to migrate. We examine the factors associated with migration decisions and the rationales given by young migrants. Our results are consistent with previous figures and show no overall gender differences in susceptibility to migration. However, we find that a sibship structure operates differently on the decisions of boys and girls. We also found that young men were more likely to report that they had moved for purposes of starting a business or personal development than young women, while young women were more likely to report that they had moved to support the tuition of a family member. We argue that, despite the gender parity of the migrant youth population, gender shapes migration decisions by affecting the family circumstances and migration motivations of men and women

The characteristics and structure properties of starches after graft Copolymerized modification

Native starches consist of potato, cassava and corn starch were treated with acrylic acid and potassium persulfate, K2S2O8, and chemically modified by graft copolymerization method. The grafted starch were modified by different percentages of K2S2O8 initiator that were 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8% and 1.0% in order to enhance the hydrophilicity of newly modified starch. Graft yield and moisture absorption test were conducted to observe the physical behaviour of the grafted starches. Graft yield with 0.8% K2S2O8 has higher grafting percentages which suggests that starch polymer attain certain limits of chemical exposure through modification. For moisture absorption test, the observed percentage of moisture absorption inclined with the concentration of K2S2O8 percentage. This suggests that since K2S2O8 itself is a water soluble initiator, the hydrophilic characteristic develops as the concentration of K2S2O8 got higher which made it easier to absorb surrounding moisture. FTIR analysis was used to determine the chemical compund of grafted starch and the results shows that all three types of modified starches have hydroxyl compound. The breakage of hydrogen bond between starch molecules that were caused by acids during graft copolymerization which stretches the O-H bond and the correspondence to water as well as OH absorption frequencies, thus enhancing the hydrophilic behavior. The surface morphological characteristics were determined using SEM by the changes in starch granules from spheroid shape into more crystalline shape with rough surface. The higher concentration of K2S2O8 presented in grafted starch indicates that the rougher surface of starch granules suggests the chemical has corrosive characteristics that erode the starch granules in contact

Molecular characterization of two hantavirus strains from different rattus species in Singapore

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hantaviruses cause human disease in endemic regions around the world. Outbreaks of hantaviral diseases have been associated with changes in rodent population density and adaptation to human settlements leading to their proliferation in close proximity to human dwellings. In a parallel study initiated to determine the prevalence of pathogens in Singapore's wild rodent population, 1206 rodents were trapped and screened. The findings established a hantavirus seroprevalence of 34%. This paper describes the molecular characterization of hantaviruses from <it>Rattus norvegicus </it>and <it>Rattus tanezumi</it>, the predominant rodents caught in urban Singapore.</p> <p>Methodology</p> <p>Pan-hanta RT-PCR performed on samples of <it>Rattus norvegicus </it>and <it>Rattus tanezumi </it>indicated that 27 (2.24%) of the animals were positive. sequence analysis of the S and M segments established that two different hantavirus strains circulate in the rodent population of Singapore. Notably, the hantavirus strains found in <it>Rattus norvegicus </it>clusters with other Asian Seoul virus sequences, while the virus strains found in <it>Rattus tanezumi </it>had the highest sequence similarity to the Serang virus from <it>Rattus tanezumi </it>in Indonesia, followed by Cambodian hantavirus isolates and the Thailand virus isolated from <it>Bandicota indica</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Sequence analysis of the S and M segments of hantavirus strains found in <it>Rattus norvegicus </it>(Seoul virus strain Singapore) and <it>Rattus tanezumi </it>(Serang virus strain Jurong TJK/06) revealed that two genetically different hantavirus strains were found in rodents of Singapore. Evidently, together with Serang, Cambodian and Thailand virus the Jurong virus forms a distinct phylogroup. Interestingly, these highly similar virus strains have been identified in different rodent hosts. Further studies are underway to analyze the public health significance of finding hantavirus strains in Singapore rodents.</p

Promoting Health By Strengthening Community Partnerships

Social inequities, such as employment, living conditions, and food insecurity, can adversely affect health. Our project explores the efficient integration of social determinants of health into patient care. Social determinants of health are the conditions in the environments in which people live, work, and play that impact overall wellbeing and quality of life. We propose leveraging the VCU Health system to support already existing community partnerships to improve housing access and social assistance for vulnerable populations, specifically targeting Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. We will connect patients to community resources to reduce health disparities, improve health outcomes, and lower costs

Meson exchange in the weak decay of Lambda hypernuclei and the Gamma_n/Gamma_p ratio

We take an approach to the Lambda non-mesonic weak decay in nuclei based on the exchange of mesons. The one pion and one kaon exchange are considered, together with the exchange of two pions, either correlated, leading to an important scalar-isoscalar exchange (sigma-like exchange), or uncorrelated (box diagrams). Extra effects of omega exchange in the scalar-isoscalar channel are also considered. Constraints of chiral dynamics are used to generate these exchanges. A drastic reduction of the OPE results for the Gamma_n/Gamma_p ratio is obtained and the new results are compatible with all present experiments within errors. The absolute rates obtained for different nuclei are also in good agreement with experiment.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures, 8 tables, to be published in Nucl. Phys.

Aluminate red phosphor in light-emitting diodes : theoretical calculations, charge varieties and high-pressure luminescence analysis

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (Contract Nos. MOST 104-2113-M- 002-012-MY3 and MOST 104-2923-M-002-007-MY3). This research was also supported by National Centre for Re- search and Development, Poland (Grant No. PL- TW2/8/2015).Searching for a non-rare earth-based oxide red-emitting phosphor is crucial for phosphor-converted light- emitting diodes (LEDs). In this study, we optimized a blue and UV-light excited Sr4Al14O25:Mn phosphor exhibiting red emission peaked at ~653 nm, which was successfully synthesized by solid-state reaction. The crystal structure, micromorphology, and luminescent properties of Sr4Al14O25:Mn phosphors were characterized by X-ray Rietveld refinement, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence spectra. The band gap and electronic structure of Sr4Al14O25 were analyzed by density functional theory calculation using the hybrid exchange- correlation functional. The crystal field environment effect of Al sites from introducing activator Mn ions was investigated with the aid of Raman 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and electron spin resonance. The pressure dependent on the luminescent properties and decay time of this compound were presented. The tricolor display spectrum by combining blue InGaN chips, commercial β-SiAlON:Eu2+ green phosphor, and Sr4Al14O25:Mn red phosphor were evaluated for commercial applications: using the present Sr4Al14O25:Mn red phosphor converted LED as backlighting source.PostprintPeer reviewe

Infant feeding practices in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort: the GUSTO study

10.3390/nu8050293Nutrients851-17GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes