The role of traditional medicine practice in primary health care within Aboriginal Australia: a review of the literature

This literature review attempts to identify and examine, both qualitatively and quantitatively, traditional medicine practices within Aboriginal Australia today.AbstractThe practice of traditional Aboriginal medicine within Australia is at risk of being lost due to the impact of colonisation. Displacement of people from traditional lands as well as changes in family structures affecting passing on of cultural knowledge are two major examples of this impact. Prior to colonisation traditional forms of healing, such as the use of traditional healers, healing songs and bush medicines were the only source of primary health care. It is unclear to what extent traditional medical practice remains in Australia in 2013 within the primary health care setting, and how this practice sits alongside the current biomedical health care model. An extensive literature search was performed from a wide range of literature sources in attempt to identify and examine both qualitatively and quantitatively traditional medicine practices within Aboriginal Australia today. Whilst there is a lack of academic literature and research on this subject the literature found suggests that traditional medicine practice in Aboriginal Australia still remains and the extent to which it is practiced varies widely amongst communities across Australia. This variation was found to depend on association with culture and beliefs about disease causation, type of illness presenting, success of biomedical treatment, and accessibility to traditional healers and bush medicines. Traditional medicine practices were found to be used sequentially, compartmentally and concurrently with biomedical healthcare. Understanding more clearly the role of traditional medicine practice, as well as looking to improve and support integrative and governance models for traditional medicine practice, could have a positive impact on primary health care outcomes for Aboriginal Australia

General Computations Without Fixing the Gauge

Within the framework of a manifestly gauge invariant exact renormalization group for SU(N) Yang-Mills, we derive a simple expression for the expectation value of an arbitrary gauge invariant operator. We illustrate the use of this formula by computing the O(g^2) correction to the rectangular, Euclidean Wilson loop with sides T >> L. The standard result is trivially obtained, directly in the continuum, for the first time without fixing the gauge. We comment on possible future applications of the formalism.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. v2: published in prd, review of methodology shortened, refs added, reformatte

Constraints on an Asymptotic Safety Scenario for the Wess-Zumino Model

Using the nonrenormalization theorem and Pohlmeyer's theorem, it is proven that there cannot be an asymptotic safety scenario for the Wess-Zumino model unless there exists a non-trivial fixed point with (i) a negative anomalous dimension (ii) a relevant direction belonging to the Kaehler potential.Comment: 2 pages; v2: published version - minor change

Wilsonian Ward Identities

For conformal field theories, it is shown how the Ward identity corresponding to dilatation invariance arises in a Wilsonian setting. In so doing, several points which are opaque in textbook treatments are clarified. Exploiting the fact that the Exact Renormalization Group furnishes a representation of the conformal algebra allows dilatation invariance to be stated directly as a property of the action, despite the presence of a regulator. This obviates the need for formal statements that conformal invariance is recovered once the regulator is removed. Furthermore, the proper subset of conformal primary fields for which the Ward identity holds is identified for all dimensionalities.Comment: v2: 18 pages, published versio

The thinning of the liquid layer over a probe in two-phase flow

The draining of the thin water film that is formed between a two dimensional, infinite, initially flat oil-water interface and a smooth, symmetric probe, as the interface is advected by a steady and uniform flow parallel to the probe axis, is modelled using classical fluid dynamics. The governing equations are nondimensionalised using values appropriate to the oil extraction industry. The bulk flow is driven by inertia and, in some extremes, surface tension while the viscous effects are initially confined to thin boundary layers on the probe and the interface. The flow in the thin water film is dominated by surface tension, and passes through a series of asymptotic regimes in which inertial forces are gradually overtaken by viscous forces. For each of these regimes, and for those concerning the earlier stages of approach, possible solution strategies are discussed and relevant literature reviewed. Consideration is given to the drainage mechanism around a probe which protrudes a fixed specified distance into the oil. A lubrication analysis of the thin water film may be matched into a capillary-static solution for the outer geometry using a slender transition region if, and only if, the pressure gradient in the film is negative as it meets the static meniscus. The remarkable result is that, in practice, there is a race between rupture in the transition region and rupture at the tip. The analysis is applicable to the case of a very slow far field flow and offers significant insight into the non-static case. Finally, a similar approach is applied to study the motion of the thin water film in the fully inviscid approximation, with surface tension and a density contrast between the fluids