‘It’s got to be another approach’: an Aboriginal Health Worker perspective on cardiovascular risk screening and education

This study provides a new perspective from Aboriginal Health Workers (AHWs) working in the area of heart health in the Aboriginal community of western Sydney. Discussion AHWs are well placed and keen to be a part of the team that assesses cardiovascular risk. However, lack of recognition of the AHWs’ skills and lack of access to formal training are current barriers to enhancing their role in the heart health team. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major health concern in the Aboriginal population and contributes to the significant life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Conventional risk factors alone do not account for the excess CVD mortality, which has foundations in the economic, social, physiological, psychological and educational disadvantage of the Aboriginal population. There is a lack of progress in reducing the disparities in health outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. This may be because of a focus, to date, on acute care and patient responsibility rather than addressing underlying determinants of health such as living conditions and socioeconomic factors. In Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal Health Workers (AHWs) fulfil a variety of roles, depending on personal interests and the needs of the community. Unfortunately, a lack of understanding of the diverse expertise of AHWs persists. A universal role is that of a cultural broker through which communication between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal healthcare providers are enhanced, thereby increasing the effectiveness of their interaction. Recognition of AHWs as an important part of the healthcare team has been suggested as a means of delivering improved healthcare to the Aboriginal population. The aim of this study was to study the perspectives of Aboriginal health professionals (nurses and AHWs) regarding cardiovascular risk and heart health, including their understanding of cardiovascular risk assessment. Qualitative research methods can improve the understanding of perceptions of health across cultures and lead to improved health outcomes. This study was undertaken with AHWs and Aboriginal nurses from the Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney (AMSWS) and Western Sydney Local Health District, all of whom are working in the area of chronic disease management or heart health. AMSWS is a large Aboriginal community controlled health organisation that provides multidisciplinary primary healthcare, including cardiovascular screening, healthy lifestyle education and case management to clients with heart disease

Effective Strategies for Student Employee Retention and Development in Higher Education

Research has indicated that employment within student affairs divisions at higher education institutions offer environments in which students can apply the knowledge they have gained, as well as acquire new competencies, helping them to build solid foundations for their futures. This project explores the connection between student employment within higher education, academic retention, and student employee development. Supervisors of student employees in student affairs divisions are in a position to use effective tools such as assessment, critical feedback, strategic learning outcomes, and student development theories to build leadership capacities, create effective and essential mentor relationships, and prepare students with transferable and useful skills

Carbon Chemistry Of Giant Impacts

Impact diamonds were found in several impactites from the Ries crater, Germany including fallout and fallback (crater fill) suevites. a glass bomb, impact melt rock and shocked gneiss. These diamonds formed two distinct grain size populations: 50-300?m apographitic. platy aggregates with surface ornamentation and etching that were observed using optical and scanning electron microscopy and 5-20?m diamonds which displayed two different morphologies identified using transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction. These 5-20?m grains comprised apographitic. platy grains with stacking faults, etching and graphite intergrowths together with elongate skeletal grains with preferred orientations to the individual crystallites. Thermal annealing of stacking faults and surface features was also detected. Stepped combustion combined with static mass spectrometry to give carbon isotopic analysis of individual diamonds. graphite and acid-residues indicate that the primary carbon source is graphite. This graphite was found to be 13C depleted with respect to similar samples from the Popigai impact crater. The admixture of presumably carbonate derived carbonaceous material is suggested to account for the 13C-enriched ?13C compositions encountered in whole-rock suevites known to include carbonate melts. On the basis of morphology. mineralogical associations diamond/graphite ratios and carbon isotopic compositions three possible formation mechanisms for impact diamonds are suggested: fast. high temperature conversion of graphite following the passage of the shock wave, a vapour phase condensation or growth within substrate minerals or an orientated stress field and the incomplete transformation of a mixture of amorphous and crystalline graphite. Further more exotic mechanisms such as intermediary carbyne phases cannot be discounted. Impact diamonds, 1-5?m in size. were also identified in suevite residues and a black matrix lithic breccia from the Gardnos impact crater. Norway. The carbon isotopic compositions are in agreement with previous measurements of whole rock samples with a small 13C-enriched component probably representing diamond

Stage-Specific Timing of the microRNA Regulation of \u3cem\u3elin-28\u3c/em\u3e by the Heterochronic Gene \u3cem\u3elin-14\u3c/em\u3e in \u3cem\u3eCaenorhabditis elegans\u3c/em\u3e

In normal development, the order and synchrony of diverse developmental events must be explicitly controlled. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the timing of larval events is regulated by hierarchy of proteins and microRNAs (miRNAs) known as the heterochronic pathway. These regulators are organized in feedforward and feedback interactions to form a robust mechanism for specifying the timing and execution of cell fates at successive stages. One member of this pathway is the RNA binding protein LIN-28, which promotes pluripotency and cell fate decisions in successive stages. Two genetic circuits control LIN-28 abundance: it is negatively regulated by the miRNA lin-4, and positively regulated by the transcription factor LIN-14 through a mechanism that was previously unknown. In this report, we used animals that lack lin-4 to elucidate LIN-14’s activity in this circuit. We demonstrate that three let-7 family miRNAs—miR-48, miR-84, and miR-241—inhibit lin-28 expression. Furthermore, we show genetically that these miRNAs act between lin-14 and lin-28, and that they comprise the pathway by which lin-14 positively regulates lin-28. We also show that the lin-4 family member mir-237, also regulates early cell fates. Finally, we show that the expression of these miRNAs is directly inhibited by lin-14 activity, making them the first known targets of lin-14 that act in the heterochronic pathway

Development and Evaluation of a Measure for Social Support Provided by Friends during Lifestyle Management Programs

Obesity is a public health crisis that contributes to chronic disease prevalence, morbidity, and mortality. Nutrition and physical activity are risk factors for many chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease, the leading causes of death in the United States. Lifestyle management programs to address obesity and potential sequelae such as chronic conditions have shown efficacy, with social support an important factor in interventions. Instruments that assess social support specifically provided by friends are lacking but could be important predictors of program success. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the 10-item Social Support to Eat Better and Move More instrument that was developed and designed to measure support from friends that influence dietary and physical activity behaviors during lifestyle management programs. Data were collected during a cross-sectional study using purposive sampling strategies among adult residents of two southern states. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine latent factors, internal consistency, and convergent and predictive validity. These preliminary results indicated that the Social Support to Eat Better and Move More instrument had excellent internal consistency for the overall measure (α = 0.96) as well as for informational support (α = 0.97), emotional support (α = 0.96), and encouragement (α = 0.97). The tool related well to another general social support measure as well as to diet, physical activity, and health-related variables, and it can be a useful measure in lifestyle management studies

Associations between psychological stress, eating, physical activity, sedentary behaviours and body weight among women: a longitudinal study

Background:&nbsp;There is an increased risk of obesity amongst socioeconomically disadvantaged populations and emerging evidence suggests that psychological stress may be a key factor in this relationship. This paper reports the results of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of relationships between perceived stress, weight and weight-related behaviours in a cohort of socioeconomically disadvantaged women. Methods. This study used baseline and follow-up self-report survey data from the Resilience for Eating and Activity Despite Inequality study, comprising a cohort of 1382 women aged 18 to 46 years from 80 of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Victoria, Australia. Women reported their height (baseline only), weight, sociodemographic characteristics, perceived stress, leisure-time physical activity, sedentary and dietary behaviours at baseline and three-year follow-up. Linear and multinomial logistic regression were used to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between stress (predictor) and weight, and weight-related behaviours. Results: Higher perceived stress in women was associated with a higher BMI, and to increased odds of being obese in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were found between stress and both less leisure-time physical activity, and more frequent fast food consumption. Longitudinal associations were also found between stress and increased television viewing time. Conclusion: The present study contributes to the literature related to the effects of stress on weight and weight-related behaviours. The findings suggest that higher stress levels could contribute to obesity risk in women. Further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms underlying these associations. However, interventions that incorporate stress management techniques might help to prevent rising obesity rates among socioeconomically disadvantaged women.</div

Behind the Scenes but Not Behind the Times: Technical Services Support for New Service Model Initiatives

This poster looks at the merging of libraries, services and collections through New Service Model initiatives at a large university. It specifically examines the role Technical Services plays in the planning and execution of these initiatives, and best practices developed from prior examples.Ope

Makerspaces: The library as the the change agent in public schools

Makerspaces are the trend in public education. What is a Makerspace, is a makerspace right for our school, how do you set up a Makerspace, and how will it drive change in your school are all questions we will help answer

Fields and Bridges

The poems of Fields and Bridges focus on how one person's emotional landscape and those who are part of it can connect memory, loss, and a sense of identity. The main subjects--the speaker's dead friend and her twin brother-- are ones which the speaker both distances from and acknowledges exist in herself. The meter varies from mechanical and quick to mostly blank verse, allowing the speaker's meditative tone to speak through the poems to the subjects she addresses. Both the speaker's fear of disappearance and sense of isolation are interrogated through the range of her subject matter, from her childhood experiences to city homelessness, from her twin's struggles to a factory to a common office work environment

The Methodology for Farm-Scale Modelling for Spatio-Temporal Prediction of Soil Carbon Sequestration under Climate Change

A methodology for region-specific adaptation of existing soil carbon (C) models was developed by integrating location-specific automated data with local farm-based knowledge. The aim was to optimise the balance between scientific accuracy and farm-scale practicality of C modelling tools to identify the most influential location-specific variables