Alternative education and transition pathways for early school-leavers

This study examined the tangible and intangible 12 month outcomes achieved by disadvantaged young people participating in an alternative learning program in regional Australia. It combined desk research, qualitative interviews and psychosocial measures to assess the program’s effectiveness. The report shares these findings along-with nine key enabling factors contributing to the program’s evidenced success. Learnings warrant consideration from policy-makers and others involved in the design and/or delivery of re-engagement programs for early school leavers.&nbsp

Contradictions and Paradoxes: Apoliticism and the Myth of Joseph Brodsky

This thesis explores the notion of the political in the poetry and biographical myth of Joseph Brodsky. It questions the received perception of Brodsky as an apolitical poet, arguing that Brodsky’s apolitical identity is a self-constructed biographical myth. To this end, the thesis analyses the approaches applied to Brodsky’s poetry in Anglophone criticism, showing that Brodsky’s self-constructed myth has tended to influence critical attitudes. It studies the way in which scholars’ acceptance of Brodsky’s statements about his poetry have broadly perpetuated the poet’s projected self-myth. As such, the thesis counters these approaches with close readings of Brodsky’s self-projection within his poetry and of the themes of alienation and freedom, as well as an examination of certain poems in relation to their explicit engagement with political themes, such as ‘Glagoly’ (1960), ‘Ryby zimoi’ (1960), and ‘Konets prekrasnoi epokhi’ (1968). Ultimately, the thesis advances an argument for a reassessment of Brodsky’s poetry in light of a more nuanced understanding of how his myth operates in the post-Romantic tradition of poetic biography

The CHA's Plan for Transformation: How Have Residents Fared?

Summarizes findings from studies on how relocation from distressed public housing changed former residents' quality of life, including living conditions, safety, poverty, employment, health, well-being of children, and satisfaction. Outlines implications

Sphingosine-1-phosphate in mast cell-mediated allergic responses

Mast cells play a critical role in both acute and chronic inflammation and mature in peripheral tissues from bone marrow-derived progenitors that circulate in the blood as immature precursors. Mast cell progenitors are likely to encounter the serum-borne bioactive sphingolipid metabolite, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), during migration to target tissues. Mast cells developed from human cord blood-derived progenitors cultured with stem cell factor (SCF) alone express intragranular tryptase (MCT), the phenotype predominant in the lung. S1P accelerated the development of cord blood-derived mast cells (CB-MCs) and strikingly increased the numbers of mast cells expressing chymase. These mast cells have functional FcepsilonRI, and similar to skin mast cells that express both tryptase and chymase (MCTC), also express CD88, the receptor for C5a, and are activated by anaphylatoxin C5a and the secretagogue compound 48/80. S1P induced release of IL-6, a cytokine known to promote development of functionally mature MCTC, from cord blood cultures containing adherent macrophages, and from highly purified macrophages, but not from macrophage-depleted CB-MCs. In contrast, S1P stimulated secretion of the chemokine, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1/CCL2), from these macrophage-depleted and purified CB-MCs

Study of Sexual Exploitation in Boston

This project helps policymakers target resources and implement policies to facilitate the exit of prostituted individuals from sexual exploitation, and to deter those who facilitate the sale of sex and those who buy sex (“Johns”) from engaging in this exploitive behavior. This study interviews members of the Boston Police Department, survivors of sexual exploitation, Johns, and facilitators of the sale of sex. Boston is aiming to decrease demand for prostituted individuals by 20% over the next two years, and this research is the first step in that initiative