Remembering Ruby

‘Remembering Ruby’ is a tribute to Doctor Ruby Langford Ginibi, a remarkable woman and an important Australian writer. Winner of numerous awards for her contribution to literature, as well as to Australian culture, Ruby was an Aboriginal Elder of the Bundjalung nation and a tireless campaigner for the rights of her people. Ruby’s writing is passionate, sincere and heart-felt, as well as extraordinarily funny and articulate. She knew that getting people to listen to her story would be fundamental to naming the hidden history of Indigenous Australia and to changing cultural perceptions in a broader context. As an elder she took on the complex and demanding role of ‘edumacation’, as she called it, and her representations of life and culture continue to provide important reflections, from an Indigenous perspective, on the effects of ignorance, racism and colonisation in an Australian context. As Aboriginal mother, aunty, teacher and scholar her writing represents a particular Australian experience for a readership of people interested in human rights and equality the world over. This monograph, in honouring Ruby Langford Ginibi, is the written expression of an ongoing dialogue between the two authors about their experiences living in Australia and the way that Ruby has interconnected with us and influenced our experiences of growing up in an Australian cultural context. It also brings into focus the many ways that Ruby Langford Ginibi’s writing has been central to challenging and changing prevailing perspectives on the lives of Indigenous people over the last twenty-five years. An excellent communicator with a wicked sense of humour, Ruby’s tireless telling of the truth about the impacts of invasion on Indigenous people makes her an important cultural ambassador for all Australians. Ruby’s totem, the Willy Wagtail, is connected to being a messenger for her people and in writing ‘Remembering Ruby’ we aim to contribute to keeping her message of hope and resilience alive and, on the anniversary of her passing, to continue to honour her inimitable and eternal spirit

Remembering Ruby

‘Remembering Ruby’ is a tribute to Doctor Ruby Langford Ginibi, a remarkable woman and an important Australian writer. Winner of numerous awards for her contribution to literature, as well as to Australian culture, Ruby was an Aboriginal Elder of the Bundjalung nation and a tireless campaigner for the rights of her people. Ruby’s writing is passionate, sincere and heart-felt, as well as extraordinarily funny and articulate. She knew that getting people to listen to her story would be fundamental to naming the hidden history of Indigenous Australia and to changing cultural perceptions in a broader context. As an elder she took on the complex and demanding role of ‘edumacation’, as she called it, and her representations of life and culture continue to provide important reflections, from an Indigenous perspective, on the effects of ignorance, racism and colonisation in an Australian context. As Aboriginal mother, aunty, teacher and scholar her writing represents a particular Australian experience for a readership of people interested in human rights and equality the world over. This monograph, in honouring Ruby Langford Ginibi, is the written expression of an ongoing dialogue between the two authors about their experiences living in Australia and the way that Ruby has interconnected with us and influenced our experiences of growing up in an Australian cultural context. It also brings into focus the many ways that Ruby Langford Ginibi’s writing has been central to challenging and changing prevailing perspectives on the lives of Indigenous people over the last twenty-five years. An excellent communicator with a wicked sense of humour, Ruby’s tireless telling of the truth about the impacts of invasion on Indigenous people makes her an important cultural ambassador for all Australians. Ruby’s totem, the Willy Wagtail, is connected to being a messenger for her people and in writing ‘Remembering Ruby’ we aim to contribute to keeping her message of hope and resilience alive and, on the anniversary of her passing, to continue to honour her inimitable and eternal spirit

Virtual Learning: Is It Conducive to Student Achievement?

The use of technology to compel student learning has become an increasingly central component of teaching, learning, and school improvement efforts. What exactly does virtual learning entail? How does it integrate with curriculum and instruction? Does it present organizational challenges to educational institutions? This study examined unit test scores, end-of-course grades, instructors\u27 opinions of teaching online, students\u27 satisfaction with online course, and instructor interaction, as measures of the effectiveness of online and face-to-face curriculum delivery on student achievement. A series of t tests conducted to compare the mean scores of the face-to-face and the online formats provided data to determine no significant difference in five unit tests and the final course grades of the two formats. An interview of instructors provided an insight to teachers of online courses and their advice to students about the self-motivation and commitment needed to fulfill online course requirements. The students\u27 survey conveyed that 89% of the respondents took the online course from home, registered with no trouble, think that they will take another online course in the future, agreed or strongly agreed that the course was intellectually challenging, and agreed or strongly agreed to being well advised about the self-motivation and commitment needed to fulfill course requirements. This study of virtual learning opened up dialogue among educators to discuss issues such as alternatives to traditional teaching and learning to reach the diversity of learners. It provided foundational evidence for decisions of expenditures for technology, professional development, and facilities

Costs of alternative treatments for incomplete abortion

Unsafely performed abortion is one of the five leading causes of maternal deaths worldwide. Many women who have undergone unsafe abortions enter the healthcare system to seek help for the resulting complications, including incomplete abortion. This human and financial cost of this health problem is tremendous, especially in the developing world. This study examined the potential for reducing costs to healthcare systems by changing the standard method of treatment for incomplete abortion. Vacuum aspiration (VA) has been shown to be safer than dilation and curettage (D&C) for uterine evacuation; the World Health Organization includes VA as an essential service at the first referral level. The technique most commonly used for treating first-trimester incomplete abortion in developing countries, however, is D&C. This study examined the hypothesis that use of manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) - a variation of VA - would be less costly than D&C and thus advantageous to healthcare systems with limited resources. The purpose of the study was to identify and, where possible, to explain the factors that contributed to cost differences between MVA and D&C for treatment of first-trimester incomplete abortion. To achieve this objective, researchers observed patient management and documented resource use at hospital sites in Ecuador, Kenya, and Mexico. In most cases, treatment with MVA required a shorter patient stay and fewer hospital resources than D&C, as the two techniques were practiced at the various study sites. The policy decision to adopt MVA, supported by procurement of instruments and incorporation of training in its use, is the chief prerequisite for achieving these improvements. But the full advantages of MVA are realized only if it is introduced in conjunction with certain changes in patient-management practices, such as offering outpatient treatment of incomplete abortion. Further, decentralizing MVA services can maximize the benefits of the technique, facilitating (hospitals'and) healthcare systems'efforts to decrease the cost of delivery service and improve the quality of care.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Gender and Health,Health Systems Development&Reform,Information Technology,Business Environment

Multiple NEO Rendezvous Using Solar Sail Propulsion

The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Advanced Concepts Office performed an assessment of the feasibility of using a near-term solar sail propulsion system to enable a single spacecraft to perform serial rendezvous operations at multiple Near Earth Objects (NEOs) within six years of launch on a small-to-moderate launch vehicle. The study baselined the use of the sail technology demonstrated in the mid-2000 s by the NASA In-Space Propulsion Technology Project and is scheduled to be demonstrated in space by 2014 as part of the NASA Technology Demonstration Mission Program. The study ground rules required that the solar sail be the only new technology on the flight; all other spacecraft systems and instruments must have had previous space test and qualification. The resulting mission concept uses an 80-m X 80-m 3-axis stabilized solar sail launched by an Athena-II rocket in 2017 to rendezvous with 1999 AO10, Apophis and 2001 QJ142. In each rendezvous, the spacecraft will perform proximity operations for approximately 30 days. The spacecraft science payload is simple and lightweight; it will consist of only the multispectral imager flown on the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission to 433 Eros and 253 Mathilde. Most non-sail spacecraft systems are based on the Messenger mission spacecraft. This paper will describe the objectives of the proposed mission, the solar sail technology to be employed, the spacecraft system and subsystems, as well as the overall mission profile

Can we spot deleterious ageing in two waves of data? The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 from ages 70 to 73

‘Younger ’ old age (the late 60s through early 70s) is, for many, a period of stability of lifestyle and considerable freedom to pursue leisure activities. Despite the stability that many enjoy, the mortality rate is about 2 % per year in western nations. This increases to about 5 % by age 80. It would be useful to know if those most vulnerable can be identified through patterns of deleterious ageing, and especially if this could be accomplished with just two waves of data. The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 was surveyed on a host of individual difference variables including cognition, personality, biomarkers of physical health, and activities at ages 70 and 73 years. Overall, the group showed the expected basic stability in mean levels for these variables, but some individuals had died and others did show substantial changes that could be considered statistically reliable. These presumably reliable changes were at least as likely to be positive (reflecting improved condition/ability) as negative (reflecting decline/ageing). Moreover, limitations in the estimated reliabilities of the measures meant that most of the observed changes could not be considered reliable. The changes clustered only weakly around general health to predict death over the next approximately two years. We concluded that two waves of longitudinal data were not sufficient to assess meaningful patterns of ageing, despite often being used to do so

AXTAR: Mission Design Concept

The Advanced X-ray Timing Array (AXTAR) is a mission concept for X-ray timing of compact objects that combines very large collecting area, broadband spectral coverage, high time resolution, highly flexible scheduling, and an ability to respond promptly to time-critical targets of opportunity. It is optimized for submillisecond timing of bright Galactic X-ray sources in order to study phenomena at the natural time scales of neutron star surfaces and black hole event horizons, thus probing the physics of ultradense matter, strongly curved spacetimes, and intense magnetic fields. AXTAR's main instrument, the Large Area Timing Array (LATA) is a collimated instrument with 2-50 keV coverage and over 3 square meters effective area. The LATA is made up of an array of supermodules that house 2-mm thick silicon pixel detectors. AXTAR will provide a significant improvement in effective area (a factor of 7 at 4 keV and a factor of 36 at 30 keV) over the RXTE PCA. AXTAR will also carry a sensitive Sky Monitor (SM) that acts as a trigger for pointed observations of X-ray transients in addition to providing high duty cycle monitoring of the X-ray sky. We review the science goals and technical concept for AXTAR and present results from a preliminary mission design study.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, Proceedings of SPIE Volume 773

Multiple NEO Rendezvous Using Solar Sails

Mission concept is to assess the feasibility of using solar sail propulsion to enable a robotic precursor that would survey multiple Near Earth Objects (NEOs) for potential future human visits. Single spacecraft will rendezvous with and image 3 NEOs within 6 years of launc

In vivo photopharmacology with light-activated opioid drugs

Traditional methods for site-specific drug delivery in the brain are slow, invasive, and difficult to interface with recordings of neural activity. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility and experimental advantages of in vivo photopharmacology using "caged" opioid drugs that are activated in the brain with light after systemic administration in an inactive form. To enable bidirectional manipulations of endogenous opioid receptors in vivo, we developed photoactivatable oxymorphone (PhOX) and photoactivatable naloxone (PhNX), photoactivatable variants of the mu opioid receptor agonist oxymorphone and the antagonist naloxone. Photoactivation of PhOX in multiple brain areas produced local changes in receptor occupancy, brain metabolic activity, neuronal calcium activity, neurochemical signaling, and multiple pain- and reward-related behaviors. Combining PhOX photoactivation with optical recording of extracellular dopamine revealed adaptations in the opioid sensitivity of mesolimbic dopamine circuitry in response to chronic morphine administration. This work establishes a general experimental framework for using in vivo photopharmacology to study the neural basis of drug action

Skunk River Review Fall 1996, Vol 8

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