299 research outputs found
Sustainable Paths for Data-Intensive Research Communities at the University of Melbourne: A Report for the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories
This report presents the local project findings with a view to identifying how these findings may add to the knowledge base for informing an e-research strategy for the University of Melbourne. It also provides important considerations for how major Government initiatives in research policy and funding might impact on research data and records management requirements. Eleven research communities from diverse disciplines were consulted for an audit of their data management practices. Researchers from these communities represent a number of diverse disciplines: Applied Economics; Astrophysics; Computer Science and Software Engineering; Education; Ethnography; Experimental Particle Physics; Humanities informatics; Hydrology and Environmental Engineering; Linguistics; Medical informatics; Neuroscience and the Performing Arts. In addition to the specific findings for each group audited, the project findings also provide information about sustainability issues around research data management practices at the university
Le témoignage public des femmes vivant avec le VIH/sida au sein du projet VIHsibilité : analyse féministe et interactionniste d'une forme d'intervention sociale
La prĂ©sente recherche s'inscrit dans le cadre du projet de recherche-action VIHsibilitĂ©, dont le but est d'Ă©tudier l'environnement social et mĂ©diatique dans lequel les femmes et les hommes vivant avec le VIH tĂ©moignent publiquement de leur expĂ©rience de la sĂ©ropositivitĂ©, afin de comprendre les retombĂ©es que ces reprĂ©sentations ont dans la vie des personnes sĂ©ropositives et les façons dont ces rĂ©cits transforment le discours social sur le VIH/sida. Nous avons circonscrit une partie du problĂšme Ă l'Ă©tude afin d'explorer les enjeux individuels et collectifs qui sont spĂ©cifiques au tĂ©moignage public des femmes vivant avec le VIH (FVVIH). Au niveau individuel, le rejet social et la stigmatisation compliquent le dĂ©voilement de la sĂ©ropositivitĂ©. Le caractĂšre dĂ©viant attribuĂ© Ă l'identitĂ© sĂ©ropositive entraine souvent un sentiment de honte ainsi que la peur des prĂ©jugĂ©s et de la discrimination sociale chez les FVVIH. De plus, elles sont nombreuses Ă ĂȘtre prĂ©occupĂ©es par les consĂ©quences possibles de leur tĂ©moignage sur leurs proches et leurs enfants. Au plan collectif, on constate qu'une comprĂ©hension partielle et erronĂ©e du VIH/sida et de la rĂ©alitĂ© des FVVIH persiste encore aujourd'hui. La moins grande visibilitĂ© des femmes sĂ©ropositives et la place occupĂ©e par les hommes gais dans la rĂ©ponse communautaire au VIH/sida ont construit un portrait stĂ©rĂ©otypĂ© de l'Ă©pidĂ©mie. Ce mĂ©moire vise Ă connaitre les conditions dans lesquelles les FVVIH tĂ©moignent, leurs motivations Ă tĂ©moigner ainsi que leurs perceptions des retombĂ©es possibles de cette rĂ©vĂ©lation. Les dimensions thĂ©oriques qui sous-tendent notre analyse sont l'interactionnisme symbolique qui permet de comprendre le tĂ©moignage comme un processus dynamique et conjoint de construction de sens et d'action, et les analyses fĂ©ministes qui permettent de cibler les spĂ©cificitĂ©s genrĂ©es du tĂ©moignage. Pour procĂ©der Ă la collecte et Ă l'analyse des rĂ©sultats, nous avons privilĂ©giĂ© une mĂ©thode qualitative de type exploratoire fondĂ©e sur une approche comprĂ©hensive. Nous avons procĂ©dĂ© Ă la rĂ©alisation de sept (7) entretiens semi-dirigĂ©s auprĂšs de femmes qui ont tĂ©moignĂ© publiquement de leur sĂ©ropositivitĂ© au QuĂ©bec. Il ressort des rĂ©sultats que le tĂ©moignage public apporte plusieurs bĂ©nĂ©fices aux FVVIH, tels qu'un sentiment de libĂ©ration, l'acceptation de la maladie et l'ouverture. Au niveau de la communautĂ© des femmes sĂ©ropositives, il permet la re-signification de l'identitĂ© souillĂ©e, l'Ă©largissement de la participation citoyenne et l'empowerment des FVVIH. L'analyse dĂ©montre aussi que le tĂ©moignage rĂ©vĂšle une expĂ©rience genrĂ©e de la maladie qui permet de transformer l'image de la population sĂ©ropositive, de consolider la communautĂ© des FVVIH, d'Ă©duquer la population et de transformer le discours sur la maladie. Finalement, nous formulons des recommandations Ă l'intention des organismes communautaires et du travail social afin d'amĂ©liorer l'accompagnement des FVVIH qui tĂ©moignent publiquement.\ud
______________________________________________________________________________ \ud
MOTS-CLĂS DE LâAUTEUR : femmes, VIH/sida, tĂ©moignage, travail social, intervention sociale, VIHsibilitĂ©
Effectiveness of melarsoprol and eflornithine as first-line regimens for gambiense sleeping sickness in nine MĂ©decins Sans FrontiĂšres programmes
This paper describes the effectiveness of first-line regimens for stage 2 human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) due to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infection in nine MĂ©decins Sans FrontiĂšres HAT treatment programmes in Angola, Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda. Regimens included eflornithine and standard- and short-course melarsoprol. Outcomes for 10461 naĂŻve stage 2 patients fitting a standardised case definition and allocated to one of the above regimens were analysed by intention-to-treat analysis. Effectiveness was quantified by the case fatality rate (CFR) during treatment, the proportion probably and definitely cured and the Kaplan-Meier probability of relapse-free survival at 12 months and 24 months post admission. The CFR was similar for the standard- and short-course melarsoprol regimens (4.9% and 4.2%, respectively). The CFR for eflornithine was 1.2%. Kaplan-Meier survival probabilities varied from 71.4-91.8% at 1 year and 56.5-87.9% at 2 years for standard-course melarsoprol, to 73.0-91.1% at 1 year for short-course melarsoprol, and 79.9-97.4% at 1 year and 68.6-93.7% at 2 years for eflornithine. With the exception of one programme, survival at 12 months was >90% for eflornithine, whilst for melarsoprol it was <90% except in two sites. Eflornithine is recommended where feasible, especially in areas with low melarsoprol effectivenes
Pseudohypericin is necessary for the Light-Activated Inhibition of Prostaglandin E2 pathways by a 4 component system mimicking an Hypericum perforatum fraction
Hypericum perforatum (Hp) has been used medicinally to treat a variety of conditions including mild-to-moderate depression. Recently, several anti-inflammatory activities of Hp have been reported. An ethanol extract of Hp was fractionated with the guidance of an anti-inflammatory bioassay (lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced prostaglandin E2 production (PGE2)), and four constituents were identified. When combined together at concentrations detected in the Hp fraction to make a 4 component system, these constituents (0.1 ΌM chlorogenic acid, 0.08 ΌM amentoflavone, 0.07 ΌM quercetin, and 0.03 ΌM pseudohypericin) explained the majority of the activity of the fraction when activated by light, but only partially explained the activity of this Hp fraction in dark conditions. One of the constituents, light-activated pseudohypericin, was necessary, but not sufficient to explain the reduction in LPS-induced PGE2 of the 4 component system. The Hp fraction and the 4 component system inhibited lipoxygenase and cytosolic phospholipase A2, two enzymes in the PGE2-mediated inflammatory response. The 4 component system inhibited the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and the Hp fraction inhibited the antiinflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10). Thus, the Hp fraction and selected constituents from this fraction showed evidence of blocking pro-inflammatory mediators but not enhancing inflammation-suppressing mediators.
Reshaping Health Care Delivery for Adolescent Parents: Healthy Steps and Telemedicine
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/153056203772744725.Healthy Steps over Telemedicine uses telemedicine technology to bring child development services to adolescent parents in an urban school district. Videoconferencing units link teen parents at a Kansas City high school to developmental specialists and physicians at the Kansas University Medical Center (KUMC). Program participants receive developmental services and valuable health care information without leaving the school. The Healthy Steps goals are to educate parents about health care issues and to help them access medical care for their children and themselves. The telehealth goals are to implement the established Health Steps program effectively over the new medium. This article describes the process of delivering Healthy Steps services via telemedicine, specifically, selection and description of the site, selection of the technology, services provided, research evaluation, and lessons learned
The Spitzer c2d Survey of Large, Nearby, Interstellar Clouds. VII. Ophiuchus Observed with MIPS
We present maps of 14.4 deg^2 of the Ophiuchus dark clouds observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). These high-quality maps depict both numerous point sources and extended dust emission within the star-forming and nonâstar-forming portions of these clouds. Using PSF-fitting photometry, we detect 5779 sources at 24 ÎŒm and 81 sources at 70 ÎŒm at the 10 Ï level of significance. Three hundred twenty-three candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) were identified according to their positions on the MIPS/2MASS K versus color-magnitude diagrams, as compared to 24 ÎŒm detections in the SWIRE extragalactic survey. We find that more than half of the YSO candidates, and almost all those with protostellar Class I spectral energy distributions, are confined to the known cluster and aggregates
Modeling CO Emission: II. The Physical Characteristics that Determine the X factor in Galactic Molecular Clouds
We investigate how the X factor, the ratio of H_2 column density (NH2) to
velocity-integrated CO intensity (W), is determined by the physical properties
of gas in model molecular clouds (MCs). We perform radiative transfer
calculations on chemical-MHD models to compute X. Using integrated NH2 and W
reproduces the limited range in X found in observations, resulting in a mean
value X=2\times10^20 s/cm^2/K^1/km^1 from the Galactic MC model. However, in
limited velocity intervals, X can take on a much larger range due to CO line
saturation. Thus, X strongly depends on both the range in gas velocities and
volume densities. The temperature (T) variations within individual MCs do not
strongly affect X, as dense gas contributes most to setting X. For fixed
velocity and density structure, gas with higher T has higher W, yielding X ~
T^-1/2 for T~20-100 K. We demonstrate that the linewidth-size scaling relation
does not influence the X factor - only the range in velocities is important.
Clouds with larger linewidths, regardless of the linewidth-size relation, have
a higher W, corresponding to a lower value of X, scaling roughly as X ~
sigma^-1/2. The "mist" model, consisting of optically thick cloudlets with
well-separated velocities, does not accurately reflect the conditions in a
turbulent MC. We propose that the observed cloud-average values of X ~ XGal is
simply a result of the limited range in NH2, temperatures, and velocities found
in Galactic MCs - a ~constant value of X therefore does not require any
linewidth-size relation, or that MCs are virialized objects. Since gas
properties likely differ (slightly) between clouds, masses derived through a
standard X should only be considered as a rough first estimate. For
temperatures T~10-20 K, velocity dispersions ~1-6 km/s, and NH2~2-20\times10^21
cm^-2, we find cloud-averaged X ~ 2-4\times10^20 s/cm^2/K^1/km^1 for
Solar-metallicity models.Comment: 24 pages, including 21 Figures, Accepted to MNRA
Recommended from our members
Methodologies for Housing Justice Resource Guide
This Resource Guide is the outcome of a Summer Institute on Methodologies for Housing Justice convened by the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin as part of the Housing Justice in Unequal Cities Network, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS 1758774). Held in Los Angeles in August 2019, the Summer Institute brought together participants from cities around the world. As is the case with the overall scope and purpose of the Housing Justice in Unequal Cities Network, it created a shared terrain of scholarship for movement-based and university-based scholars. Dissatisfied with the canonical methods that are in use in housing studies and guided by housing justice movements that are active research communities, the Summer Institute was premised on the assertion that methodology is political. Methodology is rooted in arguments about the world and involves relations of power and knowledge. The method itself â be it countermapping or peopleâs diaries â does not ensure an ethics of solidarity and a purpose of justice. Such goals require methodologies for liberation. Thus, as is evident in this Resource Guide, our endeavor foregrounds innovative methods that are being used by researchers across academia and activism and explicitly situates such methods in an orientation towards housing justice
Quest Volume 19 Number 2
Contents: South Africaâs energy transition - An overall analysis of what a just transition would (and should) mean for the country: The national power crisis - Going off the grid works for the wealthy - but could deepen injustice for the poor: Global and local energy
crises?: - A look at what is meant by an energy crisis, and the shared responsibility of energy conservation: Green hydrogen - Sounds like a win for developing countries, but cost and transport are problems: Water-Energy-Food (WEF) - The challenges of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus in South Africa: From waste to watts -Leveraging agrowaste to address South Africaâs power crisis: Hello Iani! - South African sedimentologist part of team to discover new species of dinosaur in Utah: Using nanophotonic biosensors - Laser light used for advanced disease detection: The approaching storm... - ...of disinfectant resistance: ZA App Alert! - Looking at two new proudly South African apps: Winning essays - The first âWelcome to the Blue Planetâ competition shows SA youth has tons of promise: Yellow jacket wasps, zoomed in - Using microscopy to see fascinating details on the bodies and wings of wasps: Apple takes on VR - The Vision Pro is billed as the first âspatial computerâ: Deceptive daisy - Clever flowerâs ability to create fake flies finally explained: âGhostâ imaging - SA team makes giant leap towards a 3D quantum camera: Medicinal mushroom - Matie student identifies species of medicinal mushroom endemic to Knysna forest: Book review: Subscription:The Department of Science and Innovation: Academy of Science of South Afric
- âŠ