Visions of a Colony: History on (dis)play at the Museum of Sydney

When it first opened in 1995, the Museum of Sydney (MoS) received praise from some quarters for its innovative representations of the city’s history, but it was increasingly criticised for its inaccessibility due to its postmodern approach. This highlights the tension between curatorial style and content that museums must negotiate in order to meet the needs of their audiences. Taking MoS as a case study, this article argues that public history museums are limited in their ability to break new ground when they must also remain accessible and relevant to the publics they serve

On the pricing of the GLWB option in a Variable Annuity contract

Mariangela Scorrano, "On the pricing of the GLWB option in a Variable Annuity contract", DEAMS Research Paper Series 2015, N° 1, Trieste, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2015, pp.30This paper proposes a valuation model for the GLWB option using tractable financial and stochastic mortality processes in a continuous time framework. The policy has been analyzed assuming a static approach, in which policy holders withdraw each year just the guaranteed amount. Specifically we have considered as basic model the one proposed by Fungetal. (2014) and then we have generalized it introducing more realistic assumptions. In particular, we have taken into account a CIR stochastic process for the term structure of interest rates and a Heston model for the volatility of the underlying account, analyzing their effect on the fair price of the contract. We have addressed these two hypotheses separately at first, and jointly afterwards. As part of our analysis, we have implemented the theoretical model using a Monte Carlo approach. To this end, we have created ad hoc codes based on the programming language MATLAB, exploiting its fast matrix-computation facilities", DEAMS Research Paper Series 2014, N° 1, Trieste, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2015, pp.2

Caspase-8 goes cardiolipin: a new platform to provide mitochondria with microdomains of apoptotic signals?

In certain cell types, apoptosis in response to extracellular stimuli like Fas depends on a mitochondrial amplificatory loop: the apical caspase-8 cleaves and activates the BH3-only member of the Bcl-2 family BID. In turn, BID induces the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytoplasm, where it is required to fully activate effector caspases. In this issue of The Journal of Cell Biology, Gonzalvez et al. (see p. 681) show that when caspase-8 activation and production of functional BID is required, it is performed on mitochondrial platforms provided by the mitochondrion-specific lipid cardiolipin. Cardiolipin anchors caspase-8 at contact sites between inner and outer mitochondrial membranes, facilitating its self activation. These findings suggests that like other second messengers such as Ca2+ and cAMP, production of apoptotic messengers can be compartmentalized in close proximity to their intracellular target

Non-destructive evaluation of 3D printed materials using air-coupled ultrasonic technique

open3D printing for prototyping and component production has grown increasingly popular in recent years due to the improvement of available printers and cost reductions. One of the most widely used technologies is FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling), which involves depositing filaments of polymeric material in overlapping layers by extruding it from a heated nozzle. This has increased the demand for characterisation of these objects to verify their proper quality. Due to the non-use of a coupling agent, this technique allows for faster analysis and is an excellent alternative to traditional immersion or contact methods. This work, therefore, aims to apply and evaluate the effectiveness of the innovative non-destructive analysis technique of air-coupled ultrasound by applying it to this type of component. Various samples differing in size, filling density, infill pattern and induced defects were 3D printed, and excited with ultrasound probes by evaluating their effect on ultrasonic propagation in the samples

Caregivers' perceived enablers of and barriers to adherence to home exercise programmes in stroke survivors

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Physiotherapy Johannesburg, 2017This was a qualitative study design using in-depth caregiver interviews. Ethical clearance was applied for at the University of the Witwatersrand and permission was also obtained from hospital management where the study took place before the commencement of the research project. Interviews were conducted with the caregivers of patients discharged from the hospital where the study took place, who met the inclusion criteria. The interviews took place at the hospital three months post discharge. Verbal and written consent was obtained from all the stroke survivors and caregivers for participation and audio recording of the interviews. The researcher collected all the demographic data from the stroke survivors including BI score. The in-depth interview was conducted by the researcher using an interview schedule. The interview was informal, with open- ended questions, carried out in a conversational style in the participants’ choice of language Afrikaans, English or Setswana. Initially the interview started with structured questions and probing questions followed as necessary for more information or clarification thereof. Audio records and field notes were made during the interview by the researcher. The audio records were transcribed and translated word for word afterwards by the researcher. The data was analysed by the researcher and a second analyser using the general inductive approach and consisted of five main steps. Results: Seven interviews were conducted. The average age of the stroke survivors was 55.8 (±15.03) years, four were female and three were male, five had right sided strokes and two left sided. The average BI score was 47.1%. The average age of the caregivers was 47.8 years (±13.96) years, five were female and two were male all of them were closely related family members. Three were unemployed, two self-employed, one employed and one a pensioner. The most common enablers of adherence to home exercise programmes are: self –motivation, external motivation from friends and family, daily routine, spirituality, carers’ ‘attitudes and desire’ and knowledge. The most common barriers of adherence to home exercise programmes are: general health issues, other responsibilities, lack of family and social support, caregiver burden and stress, low self-efficacy and mood, and fear of falling. Conclusion: It is evident from this study that adherence to home exercise programmes is multifactorial and does not only relate to the stroke survivor alone. Caregivers have a lot of responsibilities and experience emotional strain and burden and this has an influence on stroke survivors’ adherence to home exercise programmes as they rely upon caregivers for assistance. When addressing adherence both the stroke survivor and the caregivers needs to be considered. Being aware of the potential enablers and barriers of adherence to home exercise programmes can give health care professionals insight in how to optimise adherence and possibly improve functional ability and the quality of life of stroke survivors.MT201

American Life : Vita Americana

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/3192/thumbnail.jp