Examining the Relationship Between Antecedents of Sexuality and Women\u27s Reported Level of Sexual Satisfaction During the First Five Years of Marriage

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between antecedents of sexuality and the level of sexual satisfaction in females who had been married no more than five years. Past research has examined communication, presence of orgasm, sexual desire, and frequency of sexual activity and various other antecedents of sexual satisfaction. One relationship that was an addition to those already found in the literature was sexual knowledge as an antecedent to sexual satisfaction. Six questions were formulated for the study: 1. How do females perceive their global sexual functioning? 2. How do females perceive their level of sexual satisfaction? 3. How accurately do females answer questions regarding female and male anatomy and physiology, sexual arousal and response, and sexual technique? 4. What is the relationship between the participants mean scores on the subscales of the Global Sexual Functioning (GSF) and their reported level of sexual satisfaction? 5. What is the relationship between the participants mean scores on the subscales of the Sexual Knowledge Inventory (SKI) and their reported level of sexual satisfaction? 6. What is the relationship between the participants mean scores on the subscales of the Sexual Knowledge Inventory (SKI) and their reported level of Global Sexual Functioning (GSF)? The research questions were tested with data from 217 females who completed a survey with questions about sexual functioning, sexual satisfaction and sexual knowledge. Results found that five variables accounted for 43% of the variance to sexual satisfaction namely: variety of sexual activities, not experiencing negative emotions, frequency of sexual activity, sexual dysfunction, and the time intercourse lasts. Conclusions and suggestions for future research are presented

Lake sediment archives of late Holocene climate variability in Lutzow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica

Large fluctuations in year-to-year climate variability have been observed at southern high latitudes over the last 60 years, however short instrumental records make the identification and interpretation of long-term trends difficult. In the Antarctic region, the need for a longer term perspective on climate variability can be addressed using natural archives including ice cores and lake and marine sediments. Lakes in coastal ice-free regions sit at the boundary of the continent and the oceans, and provide an opportunity to fill a spatial gap between the ice core records constrained to the interior of the continent, and the more extensively studied lower latitudes. This thesis presents records of environmental change spanning 3000 years inferred from the sediments of two lakes, Lake Hamagiku and Lake Naga, in the Lützow-Holm Bay region of East Antarctica. These records of past environmental change are supported by an investigation into the modern relationship between diatom assemblages and their habitats and lake water chemistry. Specific conductivity was found to be the primary factor explaining variations in diatom assemblage, consistent with previous studies. Diatom assemblages were also observed to differ significantly between the lake littoral region and the lake floor deeper than two metres water depth. These modern observations are used in the interpretation of the fossil diatom records to reflect changes in ice cover as a result of regional temperature variations, where longer ice-free conditions result in a greater relative abundance of the taxa inhabiting the lake floor region. Fossil diatom assemblages revealed a coherent and sustained shift in the relative abundance of key taxa at ~1800 cal. yr BP in both lakes, which is interpreted to reflect regional warming, and an associated increase in the duration of ice-free conditions at these sites. Diatom valve concentration, organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios suggest that the climatic shift at this period was not associated with changes in lake productivity, which is attributed to the limitations imposed by the low nutrient conditions of these lakes. Periodicities in the variability archived in the sediments of both lakes are identified, in the fluctuations in key diatom taxa and to a lesser extent in the organic geochemistry records. This shared periodicity is observed with a wavelength of ~250 years from 2500 to 1000 cal. yr BP, after which a periodicity of closer to 128 years is observed across the records. These periodicities are consistent with those reported from a range of Southern Hemisphere palaeoclimate records and reconstructions, influenced by the Southern Hemisphere westerly airflow, and also solar activity in the Southern Hemisphere. The results presented in this thesis are a valuable addition to our knowledge of Southern Hemisphere climate throughout the late Holocene.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Physical Sciences, 201

Utilizing 4-H in Afterschool Settings: Two Approaches for Integration

As our communities grow and change, afterschool programs represent an avenue to bring resources to populations which would otherwise not be available to them. Combining 4-H with the afterschool environment can be beneficial in supporting and raising the quality of afterschool programs being offered. This article explores the benefits and challenges of two approaches of implementing 4-H programming in afterschool settings: the 4-H managed program that is created and run solely by 4-H faculty and staff and the 4-H afterschool partnerships which are facilitated in partnership with existing afterschool programs. Regardless of the approach, combining 4-H with afterschool programs can strengthen well established programs and can enhance the quality of all afterschool programs

Examining the Lived Experience of Mild Cognitive Impairment: An Evidence-Based Practice Project

This Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) project addressed the following question: What are the perspectives, experiences, and self-reports of adult individuals, groups, or populations who have MCI or report problems with Functional Cognition (and / or their caregivers)

Teaching for implementation: A framework for building implementation research and practice capacity within the translational science workforce

Implementation science offers a compelling value proposition to translational science. As such, many translational science stakeholders are seeking to recruit, teach, and train an implementation science workforce. The type of workforce that will make implementation happen consists of both implementation researchers and practitioners, yet little guidance exists on how to train such a workforce. We-members of the Advancing Dissemination and Implementation Sciences in CTSAs Working Group-present the Teaching For Implementation Framework to address this gap. We describe the differences between implementation researchers and practitioners and demonstrate what and how to teach them individually and in co-learning opportunities. We briefly comment on educational infrastructures and resources that will be helpful in furthering this type of approach

Bioavailable soil and rock strontium isotope data from Israel

Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr / 86Sr) of biogenic material such as bones and teeth reflect the local sources of strontium ingested as food and drink during their formation. This has led to the use of strontium isotope ratios as a geochemical tracer in a wide range of fields including archaeology, ecology, food studies and forensic sciences. In order to utilise strontium as a geochemical tracer, baseline data of bioavailable 87Sr / 86Sr in the region of interest are required, and a growing number of studies have developed reference maps for this purpose in various geographic regions, and over varying scales. This study presents a new data set of bioavailable strontium isotope ratios from rock and soil samples across Israel, as well as from sediment layers from seven key archaeological sites. This data set may be viewed and accessed both in an Open Science Framework repository (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/XKJ5Y, Moffat et al., 2020) or via the IRHUM (Isotopic Reconstruction of Human Migration) database.This research has been supported by the Australian Research Council (grant nos. DP0664144, DP110101417, and DE160100703) and the Flinders University (Research Investment Fund Grant)

Precision cluster mass determination from weak lensing

Weak gravitational lensing has been used extensively in the past decade to constrain the masses of galaxy clusters, and is the most promising observational technique for providing the mass calibration necessary for precision cosmology with clusters. There are several challenges in estimating cluster masses, particularly (a) the sensitivity to astrophysical effects and observational systematics that modify the signal relative to the theoretical expectations, and (b) biases that can arise due to assumptions in the mass estimation method, such as the assumed radial profile of the cluster. All of these challenges are more problematic in the inner regions of the cluster, suggesting that their influence would ideally be suppressed for the purpose of mass estimation. However, at any given radius the differential surface density measured by lensing is sensitive to all mass within that radius, and the corrupted signal from the inner parts is spread out to all scales. We develop a new statistic that is ideal for estimation of cluster masses because it completely eliminates mass contributions below a chosen scale (which we suggest should be about 20 per cent of the virial radius), and thus reduces sensitivity to systematic and astrophysical effects. We use simulated and analytical profiles to quantify systematic biases on the estimated masses for several standard methods of mass estimation, finding that these can lead to significant mass biases that range from ten to over fifty per cent. The mass uncertainties when using our new statistic are reduced by up to a factor of ten relative to the standard methods, while only moderately increasing the statistical errors. This new method of mass estimation will enable a higher level of precision in future science work with weak lensing mass estimates for galaxy clusters.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, submitted to MNRAS; v2 has expanded explanation for clarity, no change in results or conclusion

Galaxy density profiles and shapes -- I. simulation pipeline for lensing by realistic galaxy models

Studies of strong gravitational lensing in current and upcoming wide and deep photometric surveys, and of stellar kinematics from (integral-field) spectroscopy at increasing redshifts, promise to provide valuable constraints on galaxy density profiles and shapes. However, both methods are affected by various selection and modelling biases, whch we aim to investigate in a consistent way. In this first paper in a series we develop a flexible but efficient pipeline to simulate lensing by realistic galaxy models. These galaxy models have separate stellar and dark matter components, each with a range of density profiles and shapes representative of early-type, central galaxies without significant contributions from other nearby galaxies. We use Fourier methods to calculate the lensing properties of galaxies with arbitrary surface density distributions, and Monte Carlo methods to compute lensing statistics such as point-source lensing cross-sections. Incorporating a variety of magnification bias modes lets us examine different survey limitations in image resolution and flux. We rigorously test the numerical methods for systematic errors and sensitivity to basic assumptions. We also determine the minimum number of viewing angles that must be sampled in order to recover accurate orientation-averaged lensing quantities. We find that for a range of non-isothermal stellar and dark matter density profiles typical of elliptical galaxies, the combined density profile and corresponding lensing properties are surprisingly close to isothermal around the Einstein radius. The converse implication is that constraints from strong lensing and/or stellar kinematics, which are indeed consistent with isothermal models near the Einstein radius, cannot trivially be extrapolated to smaller and larger radii.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures; paper II at arXiv:0808.2497; accepted for publication in MNRAS; PDF file with full resolution figures at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~glenn/paper1.pd

Halo mass - concentration relation from weak lensing

We perform a statistical weak lensing analysis of dark matter profiles around tracers of halo mass from galactic- to cluster-size halos. In this analysis we use 170,640 isolated ~L* galaxies split into ellipticals and spirals, 38,236 groups traced by isolated spectroscopic Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) and 13,823 MaxBCG clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) covering a wide range of richness. Together these three samples allow a determination of the density profiles of dark matter halos over three orders of magnitude in mass, from 10^{12} M_{sun} to 10^{15} M_{sun}. The resulting lensing signal is consistent with an NFW or Einasto profile on scales outside the central region. We find that the NFW concentration parameter c_{200b} decreases with halo mass, from around 10 for galactic halos to 4 for cluster halos. Assuming its dependence on halo mass in the form of c_{200b} = c_0 [M/(10^{14}M_{sun}/h)]^{\beta}, we find c_0=4.6 +/- 0.7 (at z=0.22) and \beta=0.13 +/- 0.07, with very similar results for the Einasto profile. The slope (\beta) is in agreement with theoretical predictions, while the amplitude is about two standard deviations below the predictions for this mass and redshift, but we note that the published values in the literature differ at a level of 10-20% and that for a proper comparison our analysis should be repeated in simulations. We discuss the implications of our results for the baryonic effects on the shear power spectrum: since these are expected to increase the halo concentration, the fact that we see no evidence of high concentrations on scales above 20% of the virial radius suggests that baryonic effects are limited to small scales, and are not a significant source of uncertainty for the current weak lensing measurements of the dark matter power spectrum. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, accepted to JCAP pending minor revisions that are included in v2 here on arXi