A Study of Indigenous Boys and Men

The authors highlight community programs that promote the education and well-being of Native men and boys. The findings and recommendations capture the breadth and depth of educational experiences among Indigenous men and boys. In addition, the authors identify guiding principles that might not otherwise be included in archival data or as educational tactics, such as cultural practices (i.e., spirituality) in intervention(s), personal, and emotional influences, and other individualized details regarding educational access, persistence, and attainment

Anticipatory governance and moral imagination : methodological insights from a scenario-based public deliberation study

The fields of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and participatory foresight seek to establish, and toinclude publics within, anticipatory governance mechanisms. While scenario-based methods can bring to thepublics’ attention the ethical challenges associated to existing technologies, there has been little empirical re-search examining how, in practice, prospective public deliberative processes should be organized to informanticipatory governance. The goal of this article is to generate methodological insights into the way suchmethods can stimulate the public's moral imagination regarding what may (or may not) happen in the future andwhat should (or should not) happen in the future. Our qualitative analyses draw on a public deliberation studythat included videos and online scenarios to support participants’ (n= 57) deliberations about fictional inter-ventions for genetically at-risk individuals. Our findings clarify how participants: (1) challenged key elements ofour scenarios; (2) extended several of their technical and moral prospects; (3) engaged personally with others,including our scenarios’ characters; and (4) mobilized the past creatively to reason about the future. Ourmethodology enabled participants to creatively and empathetically envision complex sociotechnical futures. Yet,important methodological limits should be acknowledged by those who design, implement and use public en-gagement methods to inform anticipatory governance

Localised polymerisation of acrylamide using single-barrel scanning electrochemical cell microscopy

Single-barrel scanning electrochemical cell microscopy has been adapted for polymerisation of acrylamide in droplet cells formed at gold electrode surfaces. Localised electrochemical atom transfer radical polymerisation enables controlled synthesis and deposition of polyacrylamide or synthesis of polyacrylamide brushes from initiator-functionalised electrode surfaces

Assimilative real-time models of HF absorption at high latitudes

Improved real-time HF communications frequency management is required for aircraft on trans-polar routes. Polar cap absorption (PCA) models have therefore been adapted to assimilate real-time measurements of zenithal cosmic radio noise absorption (~ 30 MHz) from a large network of online riometers in Canada and Finland. Two types of PCA model have been developed and improvements to model accuracy following optimisation are quantified. Real-time optimisation is performed by age-weighting riometer measurements in a non-linear regression. This reduces root-mean-square errors (RMSE) from 2-3 dB to less than 1 dB and mean errors to within ±0.2 dB over a wide latitude range. This paper extends previous work by further optimising the models’ dependences on solar-zenith angle to account for differences in the ionospheric response at sunrise and sunset (the Twilight Anomaly). Two models of the rigidity cutoff latitudes are compared and one is optimised in real time by regression to riometer measurements. Whilst measurements from the NASA POES satellites may provide a direct measurement of the rigidity cut-off, it is observed that proton flux measurements from POES often need correcting for relativistic electron contamination for several hours at the start of a PCA event. An optimised real-time absorption model will be integrated into HF ray-tracing propagation predictions relating to measurements of HF signal strengths on a network of HF transmitters and receivers in the high northern latitudes

Examining the ethical and social issues of health technology design through the public appraisal of prospective scenarios : a study protocol describing a multimedia-based deliberative method

Background: The design of health technologies relies on assumptions that affect how they will be implemented, such as intended use, complexity, impact on user autonomy, and appropriateness. Those who design and implement technologies make several ethical and social assumptions on behalf of users and society more broadly, but there are very few tools to examine prospectively whether such assumptions are warranted and how the public define and appraise the desirability of health innovations. This study protocol describes a three-year study that relies on a multimedia-based prospective method to support public deliberations that will enable a critical examination of the social and ethical issues of health technology design. Methods: The first two steps of our mixed-method study were completed: relying on a literature review and the support of our multidisciplinary expert committee, we developed scenarios depicting social and technical changes that could unfold in three thematic areas within a 25-year timeframe; and for each thematic area, we created video clips to illustrate prospective technologies and short stories to describe their associated dilemmas. Using this multimedia material, we will: conduct four face-to-face deliberative workshops with members of the public (n = 40) who will later join additional participants (n = 25) through an asynchronous online forum; and analyze and integrate three data sources: observation, group deliberations, and a self-administered participant survey. Discussion: This study protocol will be of interest to those who design and assess public involvement initiatives and to those who examine the implementation of health innovations. Our premise is that using user-friendly tools in a deliberative context that foster participants’ creativity and reflexivity in pondering potential technoscientific futures will enable our team to analyze a range of normative claims, including some that may prove problematic and others that may shed light over potentially more valuable design options. This research will help fill an important knowledge gap; intervening earlier in technological development could help reduce undesirable effects and inform the design and implementation of more appropriate innovations

"You cannot know if it's a baby or not a baby": uptake, provision and perceptions of antenatal care and routine antenatal ultrasound scanning in rural Kenya.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal care early in pregnancy enables service providers to identify and manage risks to mother and fetus. In the global north, ultrasound scans are routinely offered in pregnancy to provide an accurate estimate of gestational age and identify potential problems. In sub-Saharan Africa, such services are rarely available and women often delay initiating antenatal care. This study describes the uptake and provision of antenatal care in a rural Kenyan hospital and explores how pregnant women and healthcare providers perceived the provision of ultrasound scanning, following its introduction in an international foetal growth study. METHODS: A descriptive study, using qualitative and quantitative methods, was conducted in Kilifi District Hospital, Kenya, between June 2011 and April 2012. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 nurses working in the antenatal clinic (ANC) and 59 pregnant women attending ANC. Structured observations of 357 ANC consultations and 30 ultrasound scans were made. RESULTS: Women sought antenatal care for information about the health of their baby and the protection provided by the ANC services. Uncertainty about pregnancy status contributed to delay in ANC attendance; more than 78 % of women were over 20 weeks' gestation at their first visit. Healthcare workers found it difficult to detect pregnancies below 16 weeks gestation and, accurate assessment of gestational age below 20 weeks' gestation could be problematic. Provision of services depended on the pregnancy being detected and gestational age assessed. The "seeing", made possible through ultrasound scanning was perceived by pregnant women and healthcare workers to be beneficial: confirming the pregnancy, and providing reassurance about the fetus' condition. Few participants raised concerns about ultrasound scanning. CONCLUSIONS: Uncertainty about pregnancy status and gestational age for women and healthcare providers is a key factor influencing timing of ANC attendance, contributing to delays and restricting early provision of ANC services. Ultrasound scanning was perceived to enhance antenatal care through confirmation of pregnancy status and enabling more accurate estimation of gestational age and the health status of the fetus. There is a need to make available more affordable means of pregnancy testing as a strategy towards encouraging early attendance, and delivery of antenatal care

Cryoegg: development and field trials of a wireless subglacial probe for deep, fast-moving ice

nnovative technological solutions are required to access and observe subglacial hydrological systems beneath glaciers and ice sheets. Wireless sensing systems can be used to collect and return data without the risk of losing data from cable breakage, which is a major obstacle when studying fast flowing glaciers and other high-strain environments. However, the performance of wireless sensors in deep and fast-moving ice has yet to be evaluated formally. We report experimental results from Cryoegg: a spherical probe that can be deployed along an ice borehole and either remain fixed in place or potentially travel through the subglacial hydrological system. The probe makes measurements in-situ and sends them back to the surface via a wireless link. Cryoegg uses very high frequency (VHF) radio to transmit data through up to 1.3 km of cold ice to a surface receiving array. It measures temperature, pressure and electrical conductivity, returning all data in real time. This transmission uses Wireless M-Bus on 169 MHz; we present a simple “radio link budget” model for its performance in cold ice and confirm its validity experimentally. Power is supplied by an internal battery with sufficient capacity for two measurements per day for up to a year, although higher reporting rates are available at the expense of battery life. Field trials were conducted in 2019 at two locations in Greenland (the EastGRIP borehole and the RESPONDER project site on Sermeq Kujalleq/Store Glacier) and on the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland. Our results from the field demonstrate Cryoegg’s utility in studying englacial channels and moulins, including estimating moulin discharge through salt dilution gauging with the instrument deployed deep within the moulin. Future iterations of the radio system will allow Cryoegg to transmit through up to 2.5 km of ice

Modelling for Robust Feedback Control of Fluid Flows

This paper addresses the problem of obtaining low-order models of fluid flows for the purpose of designing robust feedback controllers. This is challenging since whilst many flows are governed by a set of nonlinear, partial differential-algebraic equations (the Navier-Stokes equations), the majority of established control theory assumes models of much greater simplicity, in that they are firstly: linear, secondly: described by ordinary differential equations, and thirdly: finite-dimensional. Linearisation, where appropriate, overcomes the first disparity, but attempts to reconcile the remaining two have proved difficult. This paper addresses these two problems as follows. Firstly, a numerical approach is used to project the governing equations onto a divergence-free basis, thus converting a system of differential-algebraic equations into one of ordinary differential equations. This dispenses with the need for analytical velocity-vorticity transformations, and thus simplifies the modelling of boundary sensing and actuation. Secondly, this paper presents a novel and straightforward approach for obtaining suitable low-order models of fluid flows, from which robust feedback controllers can be synthesised that provide~\emph{a~priori} guarantees of robust performance when connected to the (infinite-dimensional) linearised flow system. This approach overcomes many of the problems inherent in approaches that rely upon model-reduction. To illustrate these methods, a perturbation shear stress controller is designed and applied to plane channel flow, assuming arrays of wall mounted shear-stress sensors and transpiration actuators. DNS results demonstrate robust attenuation of the perturbation shear-stresses across a wide range of Reynolds numbers with a single, linear controller