A Comparison of Two Instructional Methods in Teaching an Introductory Course in Health

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of the independent study method of instruction in promoting health knowledge and health attitude change. The experimental method was compared to the traditional classroom model of instruction. A random sample of ten subjects was taken for the experimental group and matched control subjects were then selected. Control subjects were chosen based on the demographic variables of age, race, sex, academic classification and grade point average. A pretest-posttest design using two standardized instruments was employed to measure the health knowledge gain and health attitude change. Data was statistically analyzed by use of a two-tailed T-test. Findings revealed no significant difference between the independent study model of instruction and the traditional instructional model regarding health knowledge gain or attitude change. Conclusions were made regarding the findings and recommendations were offered for future research in this area

The utility of height for the Ediacaran organisms of Mistaken Point.

Ediacaran fossil communities consist of the oldest macroscopic eukaryotic organisms. Increased size (height) is hypothesized to be driven by competition for water column resources, leading to vertical/epifaunal tiering and morphological innovations such as stems. Using spatial analyses, we find no correlation between tiering and resource competition, and that stemmed organisms are not tiered. Instead, we find that height is correlated with greater offspring dispersal, demonstrating the importance of colonization potential over resource competition.Gibbs Travelling Fellowship from Newnham College, University of Cambridge Henslow Research Fellowship, Cambridge Philosophical Society

Lateral and Vertical Geochemical Dispersion into Deep Cover: 4D Landscape Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry of the Barrier Ranges

The aim of this thesis is to determine the relative contribution of lateral, as opposed to vertical, dispersion of the geochemical signals of basement-hosted mineralisation in prospective geological provinces that are mantled by transported cover. The study focuses on three areas within and on the margins of, the highly-mineralised Broken Hill Block and the Barrier Ranges in western New South Wales. Fowlers Creek overlies low-grade metasedimentary bedrock with no known mineralisation on the eastern margins of the Barrier Ranges. Stream sediments show a downstream decreasing trend in concentrations in both Pb and Zn with values decreasing by 50% over 7 km of creek. Lead and Ag values were less important along Fowlers Creek in terms of biogeochemical results, with concentrations at background levels Pb 0.27 ppm and Ag 3.04 ppb. Rather, elements of interest along Fowlers Creek included; Cs, Y, U, Co and Ni. These elements peaked at 2 distinct points along the creek, by an order of magnitude above background, at points where the local geology interrupts the flow of the stream base aquifer (SBA). Pine Creek cross-cuts the partially exposed Pinnacles Pb-Zn-Ag mine. Stream sediment samples contain elevated concentrations of Pb, Zn and Ag (Pb 4.5x and Ag 3.5x background values observed along Fowlers and Umberumberka Creeks) for at least 4.5 km downstream of mineralisation. River red gum (RRG) leaves from trees within the creek provided the clearest delineation of the underlying mineralisation. Lead and Ag concentrations steadily increase toward mineralisation and reach concentrations 2.5 orders of magnitude above background immediately above mineralisation. Leaf samples collected after a severe El Niño event where the previous year’s rainfall was 188 mm, had Pb and Ag concentrations 5 -10 times greater than samples from the same trees collected after a La Niña event where the previous year’s rainfall was 605 mm. These results demonstrate that changes in available water plays on the SBA and the significant role it plays in diluting the resulting metal concentration within the trees and the importance of temporal variation. Umberumberka Creek is underlain by high-grade metamorphic rocks with numerous small mineral occurrences. Umberumberka Creek discharges at the western margin of the Broken Hill Block as an alluvial fan system which extends at least 10 km onto the Mundi Mundi Plain. This area is underlain by prospective bedrock but is buried by up to 150 m of transported sediments. On the plains, stream sediment results reflected a catchment average that was carried 10 km onto the plains before values decreased. Silver results on the plains had a mean value of 30 ppb and are comparable to soil survey results obtained by an exploration company over an area of Pb-Ag-Zn mineralisation identified beneath 150+ m of cover, situated on the fan floodout boundaries of Umberumberka Creek. The biogeochemical results for Umberumberka Creek fall within the same range of values as Fowlers creek, suggesting that these values are the natural background range for RRG. Results from both the stream sediments and the RRG suggest that the soil survey results obtained on the plains most likely reflect lateral dispersion from the Broken Hill Block rather than a vertical signal from below. For the Broken Hill Block lateral dispersion is kilometric (at least 10 km) in creeks and distributive depositional systems. The signal is diluted due to catchment averaging but can still be elevated above background thus obscuring potential vertically transported signal from bedrock. The RRG provide a mechanism to see vertically down to the basement at depths of 10s of meters (Pine Creek and to an extent along Fowlers Creek) but don’t give a signal when the depth to the source is 100s of meters. For the exploration industry to be successful in areas of thick transported cover it becomes ever more important to step back from there anomalies and see where they sit within the bigger landscape picture and temporally within the exploration programThesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, 201

A Snapshot of Online Wildlife Trade : Australian e-commerce trade of native and non-native pets

Funding This project was funded by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (Project PO1-I-001). Adam Toomes was additionally supported by the FJ Sandoz PhD Scholarship. Pablo GarcíaDíaz was funded by NERC grants NE/S011641/1 (Newton LATAM programme) and 2022GCBCCONTAIN.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Full Gait Cycle Analysis of Lower Limb and Trunk Kinematics During Walking in Participants with and without Ankle Instability

Background: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) has previously been linked to altered lower limb kinematics and muscle activation characteristics during walking, though little research has been performed analysing the full time-series across the stance and swing phases of gait. Research Question: The aim of this study was to compare trunk and lower limb kinematics and muscle activity between those with chronic ankle instability and healthy controls. Methods: Kinematics and muscle activity were measured in 18 (14 males, 4 females) healthy controls (age 22.4 ± 3.6 years, height 177.8 ± 7.6 cm, mass 70.4 ± 11.9 kg, UK shoe size 8.4 ± 1.6), and 18 (13 males, 5 females) participants with chronic ankle instability (age 22.0 ± 2.7 years, height 176.8 ± 7.9 cm, mass 74.1 ± 9.6 kg, UK shoe size 8.1 ± 1.9) during barefoot walking trials, using a combined Helen Hayes and Oxford foot model. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was recorded for the tibialis anterior and gluteus medius. Full curve statistical parametric mapping was performed using independent and paired-samples T-tests. Results: No significant differences were observed in kinematic or sEMG variables between or within groups for the duration of the swing phase of gait. A significantly increased forefoot-tibia inversion was seen in the CAI affected limb when compared to the CAI unaffected limb at 4-16% stance (p = 0.039). No other significant differences were observed. Significance: There appears to be no differences in muscle activation and movement between CAI and healthy control groups. However, participants with CAI exhibited increased inversion patterns during the stance phase of gait in their affected limb compared to their unaffected limb. This may predispose those with CAI to episodes of giving way and further ankle sprains