Adult education as a stabilizing response to conflict

The aim of the study was to examine how adult education can be part of an international response in societies recovering from conflict, which can stabilize rather than de-stabilize, thus enhancing security. The guiding hypothesis was that there has been a failure to recognize the contribution adult education can make in building a secure society, resulting in policy vacuums and under-funding of the sector. The three countries studied were Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iraq.\ud The study relied primarily on documentary research, but also on opportunistic data collection during periods of work in each of the three countries. By identifying common themes and practices in each specific scenario, it has been possible to determine the links between adult education and security.\ud The findings supported the guiding hypothesis and affirmed that adult education can play a key role in stabilizing a post-conflict society. The resultant understanding of the links between adult education and societal development underpin a new framework for adult education in such societies, which balances short-term security issues with community values and the longer term requirements of society, reducing the potential for future conflict. An analytical tool and a checklist for adult education practitioners were developed as part of that framework. These could potentially inform decision making within the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom government and the British military

The Australian Army and the National System of Vocational Education and Training (VET) – An historical review of collaboration

This paper examines the historical links between the Australian Army and national civilian [vocational education and training] VET systems of training through documentary research. A framework drawn from cultural-historical activity theory is used to analyse the changing relationships between the two systems. This paper reports on the contribution of Australian Army training to the development of the national skills base. The research examined documentary sources to determine the state of military training and education at times of key national VET developments, such as: use of apprenticeships in the period following World War II; the establishment of national/industry training councils in the 1970s; expansion of VET and traineeships following the 1985 Kirby report; and development of the Army Registered Training Organisation. National Archives of Australia, National Library of Australia and military records were researched for relevant documents and references. Items were then analysed thematically to demonstrate why the connections between the two systems have changed over time. As well as informing the future direction for Army VET practices, these findings contribute to our understanding of how national policies are developed and how large employers can collaborate to improve the nation's vocational skills and qualifications

Seeking approval from universities to research the views of their staff : do gatekeepers provide a barrier to ethical research?

A “gatekeeper” controls access to an organization; “gatekeeper approval” is often needed before external research can take place within an organization. We explore the need for gatekeeper approval for research with university staff employing, as a case study, a project which collected data in Australia. This case study addresses known issues, seemingly rarely addressed in the literature. The Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)'s requirement for approval from individual universities to approach their staff brought significant consequences, exacerbated by the lack of university procedures for such approvals. Simultaneously, since invitations could legitimately be distributed via other avenues, such approval was superfluous. We recommend the HREC's blanket requirement for institutional approval instead be considered on a case-by-case basis depending on the risk of the research, and perhaps waived for low-risk research where participants are able to provide informed consent, and that universities establish processes to deal with requests from external researchers. © The Author(s) 2022

Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Tranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. Methods: We did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124. Findings: Between July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98). Interpretation: We found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial

A history of the origins, formation and development of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited at Port Pirie, South Australia

© 1982 Dr. Carolyn Beth JohnstoneThe establishment of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited at Port Pirie, South Australia, in 1915 marked the beginning of a new stage of the lead-silver-zinc industry of Broken Hill, Australia's major non-ferrous metal field. Whereas before the outbreak of World War I, plant in Australia had the capacity to smelt only approximately half the output of lead concentrates from the Broken Hill field, within a few years of the formation of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters, the entire output of the field could be smelted to completion within Australia. The Broken Hill Associated Smelters at Port Pirie had its origins in the smelters established by the British Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited and the refinery established by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited at Port Pirie in 1889. Putting the establishment of these works in perspective necessitates the examination of the early development of the mines and smelters on the Barrier in the 1880s, and of the development of Port Pirie in the 1870s and 1880s which led to the town being, in 1889, a suitable site for industrial development. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company took over the Port Pirie smelters in 1892, and transferred all its smelting operations there in 1897. However, since the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited was formed jointly in 1915 by Broken Hill South Silver Mining Company, North Broken Hill Limited and Zinc Corporation Limited as well as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, the smelting company therefore has its roots in the lead and zinc treatment history of the three first-mentioned mining companies also. Examining the smelting options open to these companies prior to 1915 has involved looking at the smelting activities of most of the Broken Hill companies, and also to several metal purchasing and treatment companies elsewhere in Australia and Europe. The cut-off point for this study, 1930, is a natural one for several reasons. By 1930 the company had effectively established its future patterns of operations with respect to technical policy, research, welfare schemes, unions, and wage negotiations; the first fifteen years of its history were marked by intense activity in the modernisation of plant and many of the company's major metallurgical developments were implemented, or undergoing trials, by 1930; also 1930 for the industry marked the onset of the Great Depression. Part One of the study concerns the origins of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited. Chapter 1 deals with agricultural and railway expansion in South Australia, Port Pirie's acquisition of the infrastructure necessary for industry and trade, the growth of the Silverton and Broken Hill mines, and the development of lead smelters on the Barrier mining field. The first moves of smelters to the coast, 1889-1891, and the changing nature of the ore being mined at Broken Hill are considered. Chapter 2 concerns the influence of the sulphide ores on the Broken Hill mining industry between 1891 and 1903. Smelting at Broken Hill ended, and some companies reestablished smelters at the coast, most importantly the Broken Hill Proprietary Company at Port Pirie. Other companies, including several future partners in the Broken Hill Associated Smelters, gave up independent smelting and sent their ores to customs works either in Europe or Australia. The discovery of flotation processes to treat sulphide ores, as well as the effects of price increases and the lead depression, 1900-3, on the mining and smelting activities of the Broken Hill companies are considered. Chapter 3 covers the period 1904-1914. It deals with the new financiers who appeared on the Broken Hill field, the changes in the smelting and marketing of Broken Hill lead and zinc concentrates showing the growth of the influence of German metal companies, and the several early Australian attempts to achieve independence from European works through amalgamation. Technical changes at the Port Pirie smelters, housing facilities in Port Pirie for smelter workers, and smelter union developments are treated. In Part Two the formation and development of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters are examined. Chapter 4 deals with the impact of World War I on the Broken Hill mining and smelting industry, Australian Federal Government moves towards the independence of the base metal industry in Australia and the Empire, and the renewal of amalgamation attempts by Broken Hill South Silver Mining Company and North Broken Hill Limited with the Broken Hill Proprietary Company leading to the formation of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited in 1915. Chapters 5 and 6 are concerned with the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary Limited's modernisation and expansion of the Port Pirie smelters, its development of metallurgical research, new lead marketing arrangements and industrial welfare programmes, and also with union matters at the smelters. Between 1919 and 1921 the smelters suffered difficulties as a result of a strike at Broken Hill, a serious fire, and an attempt by the British Broken Hill Proprietary Company to break its contract as one of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters' Shareholding Supplying Companies, and these matters are dealt with in Chapter 7. The final chapter discusses health matters, changes in labour and wages, metallurgical developments, and marketing and shareholding changes at the smelters between 1921 and 1930

Supporting pre-service teachers through intercultural experiences: a pathway to socially and culturally inclusive teaching

In the classrooms of tomorrow, beginning teachers encounter a wide array of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. The global community is reflected in the classroom and teachers are expected to prepare their students for global citizenship. Practising and pre-service teachers studying education programs at open access regional universities in Australia often have limited experience of travel and few opportunities to develop global mindedness. Drawing on Bourdieu’s work on social and cultural capital, this qualitative research explores how intercultural experiences contribute to the individual’s developing teacher identity and, in particular, whether unfamiliar professional experience settings promote socially and culturally inclusive teaching in a global context. The study examines whether pre-service teachers develop intercultural empathy, improve intercultural communication and assemble values that reflect membership of a global community. Critical pedagogy principles have been applied to the research and participants are encouraged to critically reflect on their professional experience and their personal journeys as they build their teacher identities. Participant stories, collected through interviews and reflective writing, are examined through narrative inquiry. Additionally, questionnaires are used to provide observer evaluation of the extent to which participants are being and becoming socially and culturally inclusive teachers in a global context. This paper reports on the experiences of the first cohort in the study who have travelled from Federation University Australia to complete professional experience placements in China, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea in 2015. Initial findings indicate that these experiences may increase the individual’s cross-cultural empathy, understandings and communication skills, thus enhancing their capacity for socially and culturally inclusive teaching. In addition university mentoring and guidance through the reflection process can increase the learning that occurs including understanding cultural diversity in the classroom, becoming responsible and globally informed teachers and deeply reflective practitioners

Male and female reproductive systems and associated conditions

Sexual reproduction is the process in which a male sperm unites with a female ovum to permit fertilisation. Each fertilised cell contains a set of chromosomes from each parent, therefore both the male and female gametes contribute equally to the process of reproduction. This article provides an overview of the normal anatomy and physiology of the male and female reproductive systems. Common disorders of these systems are also discussed