Seeing red over black and white: popular and media representations of inter-racial relationships as precursors to racial violence

The recent murder in the UK of Anthony Walker attests to the lingering antipathy, indeed hostility, toward intimate inter-racial relationships, especially those involving black men and white women. Seventeen year-old Walker was brutally beaten then fatally assaulted with an axe to his head - the 'provocation' for the attack was this young black man’s relationship with his white girl friend. This paper assesses the historical and contemporary images and mythologies that continue to stigmatize inter-racial relationships. Specifically, we look at the representations disseminated through varied popular media forms. The paper suggests that these mediated constructs condition an environment that facilitates, if not encourages, violence against those in inter-racial relationships

"No ears allowed?" An Anthropological Exploration of the International Symbol of Deafness

Symbols shape how social actors experience, feel and make meaning of their everyday life and social interactions. When we see a symbol, our brain processes it and denotes its meaning. Some symbols have obvious and clear meaning; others are vague, unclear and ambiguous. In this paper, I interrogate the international symbol of deafness / hard of hearing.  On one level, the international symbol of deafness/hard of hearing acts as a key summarising symbol.  Here it intends to represent the deaf community.  However, through interviews with the Deaf community, their friends, parents, interpreters and CODA (Children of Deaf Adults) I show that the symbol operates more as an elaborating symbol, by fitting complex and possibly indistinguishable beliefs, practices, concepts and emotions into a workable framework.

Bicultural Immersion as a Strategy to Promote A Healthy Professional Role Transition for New Graduate Registered Nurses

The transition to professional practice for newly graduated nurses (NGN) finds them struggling to balance the ‘ideals’ taught in their undergraduate education with the ‘realities’ of the contemporary workplace. Failure to successfully navigate this struggle is playing out in alarming statistics related to NGN attrition, with 33-61% NGNs changing their place of employment or leaving the nursing profession within the first two years, 45.5% expressing uncertainty about their decision to remain in practice, and 25% claiming they would actively discourage someone from going into nursing. The intent of this study was to explore how NGNs experience the cultures of education and the workplace and how the relationship between NGNs and senior nursing staff influences the experience of transition. Duchscher’s Professional Role Transition Risk Assessment Instrument was used to determine correlations between mentoring support and the NGNs experience of transition shock. Preliminary findings indicate that a mentor’s knowledge of the transition experience is imperative to the provision of adequate support. Further to this, the process of guiding the NGN through the transition experience is significantly facilitated when meetings are structured and framed by the Stages of Transition theory variables. Further findings indicate a potential shift in the approaches of NGNs to work, with casualization offering them control over the pace and intensity of their transition. It would appear that previous experience on the ward to which the NGN is hired positively influences their experience and night and day shifts need to be intentionally balanced to provide both stability and growth

Reduced-order model framework for thermochemical non-equilibrium hypersonic flows

The study of vehicles traveling at hypersonic speeds is extremely complex and involves many different non-equilibrium physical phenomena occurring on many different time-scales. As a result, work focused on modeling this type of flowfield has been hindered by inaccurate physical and chemical models. For example, the conventional approach to model chemical non-equilibrium, still widely used today, was developed nearly 40 years ago and relies heavily on calibration with heritage experimental data. However, advances in both computational chemistry and computational power have enabled the construction of extremely detailed models for the chemical non-equilibrium effects based on ab initio quantum chemistry data, called the state-to-state (StS) approach. Although the StS approach affords unprecedented accuracy for predictions of thermochemical non-equilibrium, it cannot be applied to study molecule-molecule interactions due to the massive computational cost. Unfortunately, due to the enormous cost of both computing data for and applying the StS approach, this method can only be used in highly simplified test cases. This motivates the development of reduced order models for chemical non-equilibrium which can capture the essential physics at a massively reduced cost. The objective of this work is twofold: first to present a model reduction framework for application to chemical non-equilibrium based on fundamental physics principles; and second, to use this framework to study thermochemical non-equilibrium in a variety of conditions for a gas composed of nitrogen atoms and molecules. In order to construct the reduced order model directly from ab initio quantum chemistry data, kinetic data is calculated directly for the model using the quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) method. This bypasses the need to compute StS kinetic data for 10^15 reactions resulting from the interaction between two nitrogen molecules, an impossible task. The model reduction framework, called the multi-group maximum-entropy quasi-classical trajectory (MGME-QCT) method, provides a crucial link between the ab initio quantum chemistry data and multi-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The MGME-QCT method is used to construct a reduced order model for a mixture of nitrogen atoms and molecules using an ab initio potential energy surface (PES) to describe the interaction between particles. In the MGME model, energy states are lumped together into groups containing states with similar properties, and the distribution of states within each of these groups is reconstructed by leveraging the maximum entropy principle. Two types of reduced order models are constructed: one based on conventional wisdom which relies on the assumption of strict separation of rotational and vibrational energy, and one which relies on the assumption of strong rovibrational coupling. In a study of the isothermal relaxation of nitrogen molecules, it is found using these two approaches that the underlying assumptions made in conventional chemical non-equilibrium models (i.e., that vibrational and rotational modes are decoupled) result in incorrect predictions about the dissociation process. In contrast, the groups constructed assuming rovibrational equilibrium better capture the dynamics of the dissociation process. This finding is confirmed through comparison with a detailed molecular dynamics approach. Finally, the applicability of the MGME-QCT method to CFD is demonstrated through application to a handful of simple test cases including a standing shock wave, and the flow through a nozzle. These test cases demonstrate the flexibility of this approach in modeling a variety of flow regimes (e.g., both compressing and expanding flows)

Defining Professional Self: Teacher Educator Perspectives of the Pre-ECR Journey.

This paper examines the situations of four teacher educators working within academic contexts, but who do not as yet qualify as early career researchers (ECRs) by definition. Within this paper, we define this group as ‘pre-ECRs’; those working and teaching within contexts of academia whilst undertaking a PhD or similar higher education qualification. Critical comparative analysis is used to examine the nexus between what is currently known about becoming an ECR and narrative accounts of the authors’ experiences of negotiating Faculty expectations for research output, teaching and postgraduate study. This approach provides rich insight into what happens prior to and during the initial stages of what we define as the pre-ECR journey. Through the examination of our storied experiences within the context of the existing body of knowledge, the implications of not being able to locate ourselves within a distinctive and appropriate professional identity become apparent. This paper offers a unique insight as it is researched from the perspectives of four pre-ECRs working within an Australian University Faculty of Education. This is valuable given that current research around ECRs provides minimal insight into experiences and challenges unique to those working toward ECR status

Medical nutrition therapy for gestational diabetes mellitus in Australia : what has changed in 10 years and how does current practice compare with best practice?

Background: The present study aimed to report Australian dietetic practice regarding management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and to make comparisons with the findings from a 2009 survey of dietitians and with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guidelines (NPG). Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2019 and 2009 of dietitians providing medical nutrition therapy (MNT) to women with GDM in Australia. The present study compares responses on demographics, dietetic assessment and interventions, and guideline use in 2019 vs. 2009. Results: In total, 149 dietitians (2019) and 220 (2009) met survey inclusion criteria. In both surveys >60% of respondents reported dietary interventions aiming for >45% energy from carbohydrate, 15%–25% energy from protein and 15%–30% energy from fat. Many variations in MNT found in 2009 continued to be evident in 2019, including the percentage of energy from carbohydrate aimed for (30%–65% in 2019 vs. 20%–75% in 2009) and the wide range in the recommended minimum daily carbohydrate intake (40–220 and 60–300 g). Few dietitians reported aiming for the NPG minimum of 175 g of carbohydrate daily in both surveys (32% in 2019 vs. 26% in 2009). There were, however, some significant increases in MNT consistent with NPG recommendations in 2019 vs. 2009, including the minimum frequency of visits provided (49%, n = 61 vs. 33%, n = 69; p < 0.001) and provision of gestational weight gain advice (59%, n = 95 vs. 40%, n = 195; p < 0.05). Conclusions: Although many dietitians continue to provide MNT consistent with existing NPG, there is a need to support greater uptake, especially for recommendations regarding carbohydrate intake

The coalition for conservation genetics: working across organizations to build capacity and achieve change in policy and practice

The Coalition for Conservation Genetics (CCG) brings together four eminentorganizations with the shared goal of improving the integration of geneticinformation into conservation policy and practice. We provide a historicalcontext of conservation genetics as a field and reflect on current barriers toconserving genetic diversity, highlighting the need for collaboration acrosstraditional divides, international partnerships, and coordinated advocacy. Wethen introduce the CCG and illustrate through examples how a coalitionapproach can leverage complementary expertise and improve the organiza-tional impact at multiple levels. The CCG has proven particularly successfulat implementing large synthesis-type projects, training early-career scientists,and advising policy makers. Achievements to date highlight the potential forthe CCG to make effective contributions to practical conservation policy andmanagement that no one“parent”organization could achieve on its own.Finally, we reflect on the lessons learned through forming the CCG, and ourvision for the futur

Bringing together approaches to reporting on within species genetic diversity

1. Genetic diversity is one of the three main levels of biodiversity recognised in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Fundamental for species adaptation to environmental change, genetic diversity is nonetheless under-reported within global and national indicators. When it is reported, the focus is often narrow and confined to domesticated or other commercial species. 2. Several approaches have recently been developed to address this shortfall in reporting on genetic diversity of wild species. While multiplicity of approaches is helpful in any development process, it can also lead to confusion among policy makers and heighten a perception that conservation genetics is too abstract to be of use to organisations and governments. 3. As the developers of five of the different approaches, we have come together to explain how various approaches relate to each other and propose a scorecard, as a unifying reporting mechanism for genetic diversity. 4. Policy implications. We believe the proposed combined approach captures the strengths of its components and is practical for all nations and subnational governments. It is scalable and can be used to evaluate species conservation projects as well as genetic conservation projects.ISSN:0021-8901ISSN:1365-266