Understanding the Role of Relationship Maintenance in Enduring Couple Partnerships in Later Adulthood

Intimate relationships in later adulthood are understudied despite their positive association with health and well-being. This cross-sectional mixed methods study sought to redress this gap by investigating relationship maintenance in later adulthood. Our international sub-sample comprised 1,565 participants aged 55 + and in an ongoing relationship. Results from hierarchical multiple regression indicated that overall happiness with the relationship had the largest effect size on relationship maintenance, with 53% of the variance explained. Content analyses of open-ended questions identified companionship and laughter as some of the “best liked” aspects of the relationship. Housework/cooking and saying “I love you” were among the behaviors that made participants feel appreciated. Results illustrated the types of maintenance behaviors adults in later adulthood who are in enduring partnerships employ

Continuum microhaemodynamics modelling using inverse rheology

Modelling blood flow in microvascular networks is challenging due to the complex nature of haemorheology. Zero- and one-dimensional approaches cannot reproduce local haemodynamics, and models that consider individual red blood cells (RBCs) are prohibitively computationally expensive. Continuum approaches could provide an efficient solution, but dependence on a large parameter space and scarcity of experimental data for validation has limited their application. We describe a method to assimilate experimental RBC velocity and concentration data into a continuum numerical modelling framework. Imaging data of RBCs were acquired in a sequentially bifurcating microchannel for various flow conditions. RBC concentration distributions were evaluated and mapped into computational fluid dynamics simulations with rheology prescribed by the Quemada model. Predicted velocities were compared to particle image velocimetry data. A subset of cases was used for parameter optimisation, and the resulting model was applied to a wider data set to evaluate model efficacy. The pre-optimised model reduced errors in predicted velocity by 60% compared to assuming a Newtonian fluid, and optimisation further reduced errors by 40%. Asymmetry of RBC velocity and concentration profiles was demonstrated to play a critical role. Excluding asymmetry in the RBC concentration doubled the error, but excluding spatial distributions of shear rate had little effect. This study demonstrates that a continuum model with optimised rheological parameters can reproduce measured velocity if RBC concentration distributions are known a priori. Developing this approach for RBC transport with more network configurations has the potential to provide an efficient approach for modelling network-scale haemodynamics

Flow field characterisation of aggregating human blood in bifurcating microchannels

This paper was presented at the 3rd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2011), which was held at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki in Greece. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute.Erythrocyte aggregation is a shear dependent physiological phenomenon that modifies local properties of blood flow. Blood flow characteristics in microvascular bifurcations are dependent on many parameters; however the influence of erythrocyte aggregation has not been investigated previously in vitro. In the present study, micro-PIV is used to provide high spatial resolution velocity data for both erythrocytes and suspending medium for aggregating and non-aggregating human blood samples in a microchannel with a T-bifurcation geometry on the scale of the microcirculation. Simultaneous hematocrit distributions are inferred from brightfield images. Full field shear distributions are described for an evenly split flow and single flow rate. Velocity profiles of cells upstream of the bifurcation are found to be less blunt than those of the suspended particles. Daughter branch velocity profiles downstream of the bifurcation are skewed towards the wall closest to the parent branch, and non-aggregating cell velocities are significantly less blunted than those of the aggregating case. The local hematocrit is increased at the channel wall opposite the parent branch and a cell-depleted layer is observed near the channel wall closest to the parent branch. Thus, it is shown that aggregation influences both hematocrit and velocity distributions around and downstream of a bifurcation

What First-Year Teachers Really Want From Principals During Their Induction Year: A Beginning Teacher Study Group\u27s Shared Inquiry

University teacher educators have a role to play in helping their graduates manage the transition from formal teacher preparation to independent teaching. This study focuses on a shared inquiry that five first-year elementary teachers conducted while participating in a monthly study group facilitated by two teacher educators from their teaching preparation program. The novices regularly perceived a lack of support from their campus administrator, including failing to give the beginning teachers permission to carry out teacher research projects they had designed. After analyzing the degree and kinds of support that they did or did not receive from their principals, the beginning teachers developed four recommendations for principals to help novices feel well-supported during their initial year of teaching, including (1) developing productive relationships with novices, (2) helping novices becoming insiders to the campus, (3) being a visible presence in beginning teachers’ classrooms, and (4) establishing and/or sustaining a professional learning community on the campus

Quantifying local characteristics of velocity, aggregation and hematocrit of human erythrocytes in a microchannel flow

The effect of erythrocyte aggregation on blood viscosity and microcirculatory flow is a poorly understood area of haemodynamics, especially with relevance to serious pathological conditions. Advances in microfluidics have made it possible to study the details of blood flow in the microscale, however, important issues such as the relationship between the local microstructure and local flow characteristics have not been investigated extensively. In the present study an experimental system involving simple brightfield microscopy has been successfully developed for simultaneous, time-resolved quantification of velocity fields and local aggregation of human red blood cells (RBC) in microchannels. RBCs were suspended in Dextran and phosphate buffer saline solutions for the control of aggregation. Local aggregation characteristics were investigated at bulk and local levels using statistical and edge-detection image processing techniques. A special case of aggregating flow in a microchannel, in which hematocrit gradients were present, was studied as a function of flowrate and time. The level of aggregation was found to strongly correlate with local variations in velocity in both the bulk flow and wall regions. The edge detection based analysis showed that near the side wall large aggregates are associated with regions corresponding to high local velocities and low local shear. On the contrary, in the bulk flow region large aggregates occurred in regions of low velocity and high erythrocyte concentration suggesting a combined effect of hematocrit and velocity distributions on local aggregation characteristics. The results of this study showed that using multiple methods for aggregation quantification, albeit empirical, could help towards a robust characterisation of the structural properties of the fluid

Quantifying local characteristics of velocity, aggregation and hematocrit of human erythrocytes in a microchannel flow

The effect of erythrocyte aggregation on blood viscosity and microcirculatory flow is a poorly understood area of haemodynamics, especially with relevance to serious pathological conditions. Advances in microfluidics have made it possible to study the details of blood flow in the microscale, however, important issues such as the relationship between the local microstructure and local flow characteristics have not been investigated extensively. In the present study an experimental system involving simple brightfield microscopy has been successfully developed for simultaneous, time-resolved quantification of velocity fields and local aggregation of human red blood cells (RBC) in microchannels. RBCs were suspended in Dextran and phosphate buffer saline solutions for the control of aggregation. Local aggregation characteristics were investigated at bulk and local levels using statistical and edge-detection image processing techniques. A special case of aggregating flow in a microchannel, in which hematocrit gradients were present, was studied as a function of flowrate and time. The level of aggregation was found to strongly correlate with local variations in velocity in both the bulk flow and wall regions. The edge detection based analysis showed that near the side wall large aggregates are associated with regions corresponding to high local velocities and low local shear. On the contrary, in the bulk flow region large aggregates occurred in regions of low velocity and high erythrocyte concentration suggesting a combined effect of haematocrit and velocity distributions on local aggregation characteristics. The results of this study showed that using multiple methods for aggregation quantification, albeit empirical, could help towards a robust characterisation of the structural properties of the fluid

Irreversible Deposition of Line Segment Mixtures on a Square Lattice: Monte Carlo Study

We have studied kinetics of random sequential adsorption of mixtures on a square lattice using Monte Carlo method. Mixtures of linear short segments and long segments were deposited with the probability $p$ and $1-p$, respectively. For fixed lengths of each segment in the mixture, the jamming limits decrease when $p$ increases. The jamming limits of mixtures always are greater than those of the pure short- or long-segment deposition. For fixed $p$ and fixed length of the short segments, the jamming limits have a maximum when the length of the long segment increases. We conjectured a kinetic equation for the jamming coverage based on the data fitting.Comment: 7 pages, latex, 5 postscript figure

Incarcerated aboriginal women's experiences of accessing healthcare and the limitations of the 'equal treatment' principle.

BACKGROUND:Colonization continues in Australia, sustained through institutional and systemic racism. Targeted discrimination and intergenerational trauma have undermined the health and wellbeing of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, leading to significantly poorer health status, social impoverishment and inequity resulting in the over-representation of Aboriginal people in Australian prisons. Despite adoption of the 'equal treatment' principle, on entering prison in Australia entitlements to the national universal healthcare system are revoked and Aboriginal people lose access to health services modelled on Aboriginal concepts of culturally safe healthcare available in the community. Incarcerated Aboriginal women experience poorer health outcomes than incarcerated non-Indigenous women and Aboriginal men, yet little is known about their experiences of accessing healthcare. We report the findings of the largest qualitative study with incarcerated Aboriginal women in New South Wales (NSW) Australia in over 15 years. METHODS:We employed a decolonizing research methodology, 'community collaborative participatory action research', involving consultation with Aboriginal communities prior to the study and establishment of a Project Advisory Group (PAG) of community expert Aboriginal women to guide the project. Forty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2013 with Aboriginal women in urban and regional prisons in NSW. We applied a grounded theory approach for the data analysis with guidance from the PAG. RESULTS:Whilst Aboriginal women reported positive and negative experiences of prison healthcare, the custodial system created numerous barriers to accessing healthcare. Aboriginal women experienced institutional racism and discrimination in the form of not being listened to, stereotyping, and inequitable healthcare compared with non-Indigenous women in prison and the community. CONCLUSIONS:'Equal treatment' is an inappropriate strategy for providing equitable healthcare, which is required because incarcerated Aboriginal women experience significantly poorer health. Taking a decolonizing approach, we unpack and demonstrate the systems level changes needed to make health and justice agencies culturally relevant and safe. This requires further acknowledgment of the oppressive transgenerational effects of ongoing colonial policy, a true embracing of diversity of worldviews, and critically the integration of Aboriginal concepts of health at all organizational levels to uphold Aboriginal women's rights to culturally safe healthcare in prison and the community