High school girls' and violence: a mixed-method investigation

Violence is a problem of epidemic proportions among the youth both internationally and locally. Women and girls are not immune to the high levels of violence in society. The overall purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of health risk behaviours among black female high school learners in the Strand, Western Cape, South Africa. This article reports only on those behaviours related to violence. The method of enquiry used in the study was a mixed-method sequential explanatory strategy. In the 1st phase, learners completed a self-administered questionnaire adapted from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) developed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States (US). In the second phase, focus group discussions were conducted to explore and examine socially constructed views of learners on behaviours related to violence. The cross-sectional data of this study illustrated that many high school learners are exposed to a number of health-impacting risks derivative of exposure to multiple forms of violence. The qualitative data expanded on and contextualized the quantitative findings. The study highlighted that detailed attention must be paid to the role of the social environment as antecedent to the adoption of risky behaviours such as violence related activities

Quenching of Impurity Spins at Cu/CuO Interfaces: An Antiferromagnetic Proximity Effect

It is observed that the magnetoconductance of bilayer films of copper (Cu) and copper monoxide (CuO) has distinct features compared of that of Cu films on conventional band insulator substrates. We analyze the data above 2 K by the theory of weak antilocalization in two-dimensional metals and suggest that spin-flip scatterings by magnetic impurities inside Cu are suppressed in Cu/CuO samples. Plausibly the results imply a proximity effect of antiferromagnetism inside the Cu layer, which can be understood in the framework of Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) interactions. The data below 1 K, which exhibit slow relaxation reminiscent of spin glass, are consistent with this interpretation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Added a supplementary materia

Use of video shadow for small group interaction awareness on a large interactive display surface

This paper reports work done as part of the Large Interactive Display Surface (LIDS) project at the University of Waikato. One application of the LIDS equipment is distributed meeting support. In this context large display surfaces are used as shared workspaces by people at collaborating sites. A meeting with start with a shared presentation document, typically and agenda document with summary and detail on agenda items as required. During the meeting, annotations with be made on the shared document, and new pages will be added with notes and drawings. To prevent access collisions and generally mediate use of the shared space, mechanisms to provide awareness of actions of people at other sites are required. In our system a web camera is used to capture a low-resolution image of the person/people near the board on each side. Rather than transmit the image directly we computed a shadow/silhouette. The shadow is displayed behind other screen content. This provides awareness of position and impending write actions and allows intentional pointing to locations of the screen. It also has the advantage of being transmitted with low bandwidth, being relatively insensitive to low frame rates, and minimizing visual interference with substantive data being displayed on the screen

Experiment and representation : the domestic surreal in contemporary British and American poetry

In order to counter what I regard as premature and reductive formulations of a 'native' British postmodernism, I identify a specific tendency in contemporary writing which I name the domestic surreal, and which I trace through the poetry of John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Roy Fisher, Christopher Middleton, John Ash, Peter Didsbury and Ian McMillan. Through close reading and a comparative approach, I uncover key preoccupations with idiosyncratic perception, shared experience, urban space and poetic play. I also describe a network of allegiances and influence among these writers which reveals the domestic surreal to be one of the contemporary manifestations of an imaginative tradition which stretches back through the Surrealist and Cubist movements to Baudelaire and Rimbaud. For the poets of the domestic surreal, engagement with an aesthetic tradition is inextricably linked with their response to contemporary conditions. Drawing on dialectical and poststructuralist perspectives, I propose that the domestic surreal attempts to resist the constraints of social and aesthetic consensus in Britain and America in the period following the Second World War

Measurement properties of the Inventory of Cognitive Bias in Medicine (ICBM)

Background Understanding how doctors think may inform both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. Developing such an understanding requires valid and reliable measurement tools. We examined the measurement properties of the Inventory of Cognitive Bias in Medicine (ICBM), designed to tap this domain with specific reference to medicine, but with previously questionable measurement properties. Methods First year postgraduate entry medical students at Flinders University, and trainees (postgraduate doctors in any specialty) and consultants (N = 348) based at two teaching hospitals in Adelaide, Australia, completed the ICBM and a questionnaire measuring thinking styles (Rational Experiential Inventory). Results Questions with the lowest item-total correlation were deleted from the original 22 item ICBM, although the resultant 17 item scale only marginally improved internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.61 compared with 0.57). A factor analysis identified two scales, both achieving only α = 0.58. Construct validity was assessed by correlating Rational Experiential Inventory scores with the ICBM, with some positive correlations noted for students only, suggesting that those who are naïve to the knowledge base required to "successfully" respond to the ICBM may profit by a thinking style in tune with logical reasoning. Conclusion The ICBM failed to demonstrate adequate content validity, internal consistency and construct validity. It is unlikely that improvements can be achieved without considered attention to both the audience for which it is designed and its item content. The latter may need to involve both removal of some items deemed to measure multiple biases and the addition of new items in the attempt to survey the range of biases that may compromise medical decision making

Germ-Layer Surface Tensions and “Tissue Affinities” inRana pipiensGastrulae: Quantitative Measurements

AbstractThe morphogenetic properties causing germ-layer spreading and stratification in amphibian gastrulation were called “tissue affinities” by Holtfreter. The differential adhesion hypothesis (DAH) attributes such liquidlike tissue rearrangements to forces generated by intercellular adhesions within and between the migrating cell populations. This theory predicts that, among the primary germ layers, the cohesiveness of deep ectoderm should be the greatest, that of deep mesoderm should be intermediate, and that of deep endoderm should be the least. Also, the cohesiveness of differentiating neural ectoderm should increase after induction, causing it to internalize and segregate from epidermis. The DAH also explains why the cohesiveness of “liquid” tissues, whose cells are free to rearrange, should be measurable as tissue surface tensions. Using a specially designed tissue surface tensiometer, we demonstrate that (i) aggregates ofRana pipiensdeep germ layers do possess liquid-like surface tensions, (ii) their surface tension values lie in precisely the sequence necessary to account for germ-layer stratificationin vitroandin vivo,and (iii) the surface tension of deep ectoderm just underlain by the archenteron roof is twice that of not-yet-underlain deep ectoderm. These measurements provide direct, quantitative evidence that the “tissue affinities” governing germ-layer flow during early stages of vertebrate morphogenesis are reflected in tissue surface tensions

Inertial Sensor based Quantitative Assessment of Upper Limb Range of Motion and Functionality before and after Botulinum Toxin: A Pilot Study

Botulinum toxin (BTX) treatment of upper limb is considered effective for upper limb spasticity following stroke and brain injury. Traditional method - Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) is widely used for assessment of spasticity, however, it suffers from limitations including the lack of objective outcome measures and ignorance of the active movements. This pilot study is to develop a quantitative assessment utilizing inertial sensors tool for upper limb movement measurement and to investigate an objective measure of upper limb function for neurological patients before and after BTX treatment of spasticity. The system we proposed provides kinematic measurements of upper limb segment and joint motion data. In this study, four stroke patients were assessed by our proposed inertial sensing system immediately before and one week after BTX injection. In addition, patients were assessed using clinical assessment scales e.g. MAS, Disability Assessment Scale (DAS) and Motor Assessment Scale. The results showed that elbow Active Range of Motion (AROM) increased by 19 degrees on average and MAS and Motor Assessment Scale scores did not show significant change. The changes of the kinematic measures for patients 1-3 e.g. AROM, Rate of change of elbow joint angle, NJS, MUN and S-ratio all show that the inertial system is able to identify improvement in performance. This inertial sensing system provides additional and novel dynamic motion data for a sensitive and quantitative assessment of response to treatment and the efficacy of post-injection physiotherapy

Low Cost Inertial Sensors for the Motion Track-ing and Orientation Estimation of Human Upper Limbs in Neurological Rehabilitation

This paper presents the feasibility of utilizing low cost inertial sensors such as those found in Sony Move, Nintendo Wii (Wii Remote with Wii MotionPlus) and smartphones for upper limb motion mon-itoring in neurorehabilitation. Kalman and complementary filters based on data fusion are used to estimate sensor 3D orientation. Furthermore, a two-segment kinematic model was developed to estimate limb segment position tracking. Performance has been compared with a high-accuracy measurement system using the Xsens MTx. The experimental results show that Sony Move, Wii and smartphones can be used for measuring upper limb orientation, while Sony Move and smartphones can also be used for specific applications of upper limb segment joint orientation and position tracking during neurorehabilitation. Sony Move’s accuracy is within 1.5° for Roll and Pitch and 2.5° for Yaw and position tracking to within 0.5 cm over a 10 cm movement. This accuracy in measurement is thought to be adequate for upper limb orientation and position tracking. Low cost inertial sensors can be used for the accurate assessment/measurement of upper limb movement of patients with neurological disorders and also makes it a low cost replacement for upper limb motion measurements. The low cost inertial sensing systems were shown to be able to accurately measure upper limb joint orienta-tion and position during neurorehabilitation

Quantitative Assessment of Upper Limb Motion in Neurorehabilitation Utilizing Inertial Sensors

Two inertial sensor systems were developed for 3-D tracking of upper limb movement. One utilizes four sensors and a kinematic model to track the positions of all four upper limb segments/joints and the other uses one sensor and a dead reckoning algorithm to track a single upper limb segment/joint. Initial evaluation indicates that the system using the kinematic model is able to track orientation to 1 degree and position to within 0.1 cm over a distance of 10 cm. The dead reckoning system combined with the “zero velocity update” correction can reduce errors introduced through double integration of errors in the estimate in offsets of the acceleration from several meters to 0.8% of the total movement distance. Preliminary evaluation of the systems has been carried out on ten healthy volunteers and the kinematic system has also been evaluated on one patient undergoing neurorehabilitation over a period of ten weeks. The initial evaluation of the two systems also shows that they can monitor dynamic information of joint rotation and position and assess rehabilitation process in an objective way, providing additional clinical insight into the rehabilitation process