Education programs for Indigenous Australians about sexually transmitted infections and bloodborne viruses

As a group, Indigenous Australians experience poorer health outcomes than other Australians, including in the area of sexual health. Indigenous Australians have substantially higher rates of STIs, BBVs and teen pregnancy than non-Indigenous Australians, particularly for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, infectious syphilis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Efforts to reduce these high rates are compounded by the historical and social context of Indigenous Australians. Although many Australians may experience elements of shame and embarrassment when they access health services for STIs and BBVs, for many Indigenous Australians there also exists a mistrust of ‘mainstream’ (non-Indigenous specific) health services as a result of past injustices and racially differentiated treatment (Arabena 2006). Historically, Indigenous Australians diagnosed with an STI were segregated and placed into privately run hospitals (‘lock hospitals’) that were in poor condition (Hunter 1998)

An investigation into the effect on skin surface temperature of three cryotherapy modalities

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the comparative cooling effect at the knee, of Crushed Ice and two commonly used commercial cryotherapy modalities, following a clinically relevant application of 20 minutes. DESIGN: Within subjects, randomised cross over design. SETTING: University Laboratory PARTICIPANTS: Eleven healthy male participants MAIN OUTCOME Measures: Skin temperature over the anterior knee measured by thermal imaging camera. RESULTS: Mean absolute baseline skin surface temperature (Tsk) was 28.4ºC (±1.2 ºC). The greatest reduction in Tsk was produced by Crushed Ice D14.6 ºC (±3.7 ºC) resulting in an absolute Tsk of 13.8 ºC; followed by Ice Man D12.3 ºC (±2.4 ºC) resulting in an absolute Tsk of 16.1ºC and then Arctic Flow D4.9 ºC (±1.3 ºC) resulting in an absolute Tsk of 23.5ºC. One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences (p<.05) between modalities for change in Tsk. CONCLUSIONS: Crushed Ice and Ice Man produced very similar results following a 20 minute application to healthy adult male knees, however only Crushed Ice resulted in a skin temperature in the desired 10-15°C therapeutic range, results for Ice Man were just above this range. The resultant skin temperature following a similar application of Arctic Flow was well above the therapeutic range

Teaching with YouTube: Online Media as Model Texts

Online multimedia texts such as YouTube videos, TED talks, and podcasts are not only free and engaging for students, they can also model “popular intellectualism,” curiosity, and information literacy. This presentation demonstrates how to effectively use online multimedia as model texts for the university or high-school writing classroom

Teaching Tumblr: Blogging towards Critical Discourse

What can social media sites teach our students about source integration and response? This presentation will demonstrate how the functionality of the social blogging platform Tumblr can give students tools for practicing critical discourse in a relevant and engaging online environment

Polarization Compensation of Fresnel Aberrations in Telescopes

Large aperture space telescopes are built with low F# s to accommodate the mechanical constraints of launch vehicles and to reduce resonance frequencies of the on-orbit system. Inherent with these low F# s is Fresnel polarization which affects image quality. We present the design and modeling of a nano-structure consisting of birefringent layers to control polarization and increase contrast. Analysis shows a device that functions across a 400nm bandwidth tunable from 300nm to 1200nm. This Fresnel compensator device has a cross leakage of less than 0.001 retardance

Software Helps Retrieve Information Relevant to the User

The Adaptive Indexing and Retrieval Agent (ARNIE) is a code library, designed to be used by an application program, that assists human users in retrieving desired information in a hypertext setting. Using ARNIE, the program implements a computational model for interactively learning what information each human user considers relevant in context. The model, called a "relevance network," incrementally adapts retrieved information to users individual profiles on the basis of feedback from the users regarding specific queries. The model also generalizes such knowledge for subsequent derivation of relevant references for similar queries and profiles, thereby, assisting users in filtering information by relevance. ARNIE thus enables users to categorize and share information of interest in various contexts. ARNIE encodes the relevance and structure of information in a neural network dynamically configured with a genetic algorithm. ARNIE maintains an internal database, wherein it saves associations, and from which it returns associated items in response to a query. A C++ compiler for a platform on which ARNIE will be utilized is necessary for creating the ARNIE library but is not necessary for the execution of the software

Carbon allocation and competition maintain variation in plant root mutualisms

Plants engage in multiple root symbioses that offer varying degrees of benefit. We asked how variation in partner quality persists using a resource-ratio model of population growth. We considered the plant’s ability to preferentially allocate carbon to mutualists and competition for plant carbon between mutualist and nonmutualist symbionts. We treated carbon as two nutritionally interchangeable, but temporally separated, resources—carbon allocated indiscriminately for the construction of the symbiosis, and carbon preferentially allocated to the mutualist after symbiosis establishment and assessment. This approach demonstrated that coexistence of mutualists and nonmutualists is possible when fidelity of the plant to the mutualist and the cost of mutualism mediate resource competition. Furthermore, it allowed us to trace symbiont population dynamics given varying degrees of carbon allocation. Specifically, coexistence occurs at intermediate levels of preferential allocation. Our findings are consistent with previous empirical studies as well the application of biological market theory to plantroot symbioses.This work was supported by DEB-1556664 (J.D.B). N.C. was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowshi

The Role of pH on the Inhibition of Aqueous Zinc Corrosion by L-tryptophan

A combination of in situ Scanning Vibrating Electrode Technique (SVET), and time lapse photography were used to investigate the influence of the amino acid, L-tryptophan, on the localized corrosion occurring on unpolarized zinc (Zn) samples immersed in a 0.17 mol.L−1 aqueous sodium chloride electrolyte. The addition of 1 × 10−2 mol.L−1 of L-tryptophan was found to have a significant effect on the corrosion rate for all pH values tested. At both pH 2 and pH 7, primary protection was suggested to occur as a result of adsorption due to electrostatic interactions. A secondary mechanism, whereby an insoluble complex is formed between Zn (II) ions and anionic L-tryptophan, was also proposed to occur at areas of localized high pH. At pH 2 the additions resulted in an 88% decrease in mass loss, as measured by gravimetric mass loss results and SVET, demonstrating the effectiveness of L-tryptophan inhibitors for this material

Investigating perceptions of race and ethnic diversity among prospective police officers

Many have suggested police diversity will improve police-community relations, but research testing this hypothesis is inconclusive. We investigated perceptions of police race, ethnicity, and diversity in a heterogeneous sample of prospective police officers. Data are drawn from interviews with 42 criminal justice college students in the Southwestern United States, of which 15 were Hispanic, and who each wanted to become a police officer. Participants supported diversity in policing, and collectively expressed a belief that race plays a central role in policing today. Furthermore, participants expressed support for the ideals of both passive and active representative bureaucracy. Hispanics in the sample in particular anticipated they would positively affect police relations in Hispanic neighborhoods and encourage immigrants to cooperate with police