448 research outputs found
Barriers and enablers to conducting health promotion in private dental practice
Theme: This study 'connects the dots' by using research to inform contemporary health promotion practice in the dentistry field. The findings acknowledge the importance of dentists re-orientating their practice to take more of a preventative approach to addressing oral health issues. The study explores barriers and enablers to conducting health promotion strategies and suggests recommendations to addressing these barriers. This study 'matters' due to the large oral health burden in Australia and the important role dentists play in helping to address this issue.
What is the aim of your project or research?
This research reports on findings from a qualitative research project exploring the perceptions of private practice dentists towards implementing health promotion strategies in their practice. This study was conducted in Cairns, Queensland.
Challenges of issue or topic of concern
Poor oral health is a significant public health concern in Australia. Dentists play an important role, however their role traditionally focuses on curative/restorative treatment rather than health promotion, particularly primary prevention.
What did you do?
Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with private practice dentists in Cairns, Australia. Questions were based on broad themes to explore dentists experience, perceived barriers and enablers to conducting health promotion.
What were the outcomes?
Dentists had diverse views and experiences of incorporating health promotion in their practice. Lack of funds and time were perceived to be key barriers whereas owning a practice, appropriate skills, capacity and proactive auxiliary staff were key enablers for health promotion to occur.
Why does it matter?
Poor oral health can have a significant impact on a person's quality of life. Oral diseases can be prevented through a range of health promotion strategies. This research makes a difference to the community as it engages dentists in identifying opportunities to overcome some of the barriers to conducting health promotion in their practice. These opportunities can be advocated for at a policy level, and can also considered at a university curriculum level to optimise the training and skills dentists require to conduct effective health promotion in their practice
Evidence of a Curved Synchrotron Spectrum in the Supernova Remnant SN 1006
A joint spectral analysis of some Chandra ACIS X-ray data and Molonglo
Observatory Synthesis Telescope radio data was performed for 13 small regions
along the bright northeastern rim of the supernova remnant SN 1006. These data
were fitted with a synchrotron radiation model. The nonthermal electron
spectrum used to compute the photon emission spectra is the traditional
exponentially cut off power law, with one notable difference: The power-law
index is not a constant. It is a linear function of the logarithm of the
momentum. This functional form enables us to show, for the first time, that the
synchrotron spectrum of SN 1006 seems to flatten with increasing energy. The
effective power-law index of the electron spectrum is 2.2 at 1 GeV (i.e., radio
synchrotron-emitting momenta) and 2.0 at about 10 TeV (i.e., X-ray
synchrotron-emitting momenta). This amount of change in the index is
qualitatively consistent with theoretical models of the amount of curvature in
the proton spectrum of the remnant. The evidence of spectral curvature implies
that cosmic rays are dynamically important instead of being "test" particles.
The spectral analysis also provides a means of determining the critical
frequency of the synchrotron spectrum associated with the highest-energy
electrons. The critical frequency seems to vary along the northeastern rim,
with a maximum value of 1.1e17 (0.6e17 - 2.1e17) Hz. This value implies that
the electron diffusion coefficient can be no larger than a factor of ~4.5-21
times the Bohm diffusion coefficient if the velocity of the forward shock is in
the range 2300-5000 km/s. Since the coefficient is close to the Bohm limit,
electrons are accelerated nearly as fast as possible in the regions where the
critical frequency is about 1.0e17 Hz.Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Ap
An efficient shooting algorithm for Evans function calculations in large systems
In Evans function computations of the spectra of asymptotically
constant-coefficient linear operators, a basic issue is the efficient and
numerically stable computation of subspaces evolving according to the
associated eigenvalue ODE. For small systems, a fast, shooting algorithm may be
obtained by representing subspaces as single exterior products
\cite{AS,Br.1,Br.2,BrZ,BDG}. For large systems, however, the dimension of the
exterior-product space quickly becomes prohibitive, growing as ,
where is the dimension of the system written as a first-order ODE and
(typically ) is the dimension of the subspace. We resolve this
difficulty by the introduction of a simple polar coordinate algorithm
representing ``pure'' (monomial) products as scalar multiples of orthonormal
bases, for which the angular equation is a numerically optimized version of the
continuous orthogonalization method of Drury--Davey \cite{Da,Dr} and the radial
equation is evaluable by quadrature. Notably, the polar-coordinate method
preserves the important property of analyticity with respect to parameters.Comment: 21 pp., two figure
Environmental Effects in Clusters: Modified Far-Infrared--Radio Relations within Virgo Cluster Galaxies
(abridged) We present a study on the effects of the intracluster medium (ICM)
on the interstellar medium (ISM) of 10 Virgo cluster spiral galaxies using {\it
Spitzer} far-infrared (FIR) and VLA radio continuum imaging. Relying on the
FIR-radio correlation within normal galaxies, we use our infrared data to
create model radio maps which we compare to the observed radio images. For 6 of
our sample galaxies we find regions along their outer edges that are highly
deficient in the radio compared with our models. We believe these observations
are the signatures of ICM ram pressure. For NGC 4522 we find the radio deficit
region to lie just exterior to a region of high radio polarization and flat
radio spectral index, although the total 20 cm radio continuum in this region
does not appear strongly enhanced. These characteristics seem consistent for
other galaxies with radio polarization data in the literature. The strength of
the radio deficit is inversely correlated with the time since peak pressure as
inferred from stellar population studies and gas stripping simulations,
suggesting the strength of the radio deficit is good indicator of the strength
of the current ram pressure. We also find that galaxies having {\it local}
radio {\it deficits} appear to have {\it enhanced global} radio fluxes. Our
preferred physical picture is that the observed radio deficit regions arise
from the ICM wind sweeping away cosmic-ray (CR) electrons and the associated
magnetic field, thereby creating synchrotron tails as observed for some of our
galaxies. We propose that CR particles are also re-accelerated by ICM-driven
shocklets behind the observed radio deficit regions which in turn enhances the
remaining radio disk brightness.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures; Astrophysical Journa
âI'm a Referee, Not a Female Refereeâ: The Experiences of Women Involved in Football as Coaches and Referees
The development of the Women's Super League (WSL) in English football, increased media coverage of the game, and an expansion of grassroots opportunities indicate a bright future for women and girls who want to play. Yet this vision must be tempered against compelling evidence of deep rooted and enduring gender inequalities within the game. This is the case for both players, and women who undertake non-playing roles, which is reflected in the relatively low numbers of women coaches and referees. Whilst The Football Association (The FA) has signalled addressing these inequalities as a key priority, critics argue that such efforts amount to superficial and limited efforts to support meaningful change. This paper departs from a concern with playing the game and responds to calls for more research to explore the experiences of women involved in football in non-playing roles. More specifically, it focuses on women coaches and referees, and addresses the following question: how do women in positions of power in football negotiate their place in what remains a distinctly male-dominated profession? In addressing this question, we take a theoretical position located at the nexus between radical and post-structural feminism, acknowledging the significance of structural power relations and individual agency in shaping daily lived social realities. Data were generated from interviews with 14 women coaches and 10 women referees. These interviews explored the structure and culture of the game and its impact on women's experiences of men's and women's competitive and grassroots football. Through a rigorous process of thematic analysis, three themes were identified: gendered entry into football careers; reinforcement of women's difference on the football field; and coping strategies for remaining in the game. Centralising the women's voices in this research highlights the insidious and persistent nature of gendered microaggressions, the sexism of football culture, and the ways in which these women negotiate this masculine terrain in their pursuit of being coaches and referees.
âAndy Gray and Richard Keys hauled off air for sexist commentsâ (The Guardian, 24 January, 2011)
âCrystal Palace Women goalkeeper accuses clubs of ignoring FA protocols after she was subjected to sexist abuseâ (The Telegraph, 16 January, 2020)
âFootball manager demands ban on women refereesâ (The Guardian, 12 November, 2006)
âRichard Scudamore sexism scandal intensifies as conspirator in sexist emails investigated by own law firmâ (The Telegraph, 16 May, 2014)
âSoccer chief's plan to boost women's game? Hotpantsâ (The Guardian, 16 January, 2004)
âWomen in Football survey a damning indictment of sexism in the workplaceâ (HRreview, 11 March, 2014)
âClattenburg criticised for claim female referees must pick career or childrenâ (The Telegraph, 1 October, 2021
Cosmic Ray Protons and Magnetic Fields in Clusters of Galaxies and their Cosmological Consequences
The masses of clusters of galaxies estimated by gravitational lensing exceed
in many cases the mass estimates based on hydrostatic equilibrium. This may
suggest the existence of nonthermal pressure. We ask if radio galaxies can heat
and support the cluster gas with injected cosmic ray protons and magnetic field
densities, which are permitted by Faraday rotation and gamma ray observations
of clusters of galaxies. We conclude that they are powerful enough to do this
within a cluster radius of roughly 1 Mpc. If present, nonthermal pressures
could lead to a revised estimate of the ratio of baryonic mass to total mass,
and the apparent baryonic overdensity in clusters would disappear. In
consequence, , the clumping part of the cosmological density
, would be larger than .Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 16 pages, LaTeX, 2 figures, epsfig.sty, aaspp4.st
Rayleigh-Taylor Instabilities in Type Ia Supernova Remnants undergoing Cosmic-Ray Particle Acceleration - Low Adiabatic Index Solutions
This study investigates the evolution of Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instabilities
in Type Ia supernova remnants that are associated with a low adiabatic index
gamma, where gamma < 5/3, which reflects the expected change in the supernova
shock structure as a result of cosmic-ray particle acceleration. Extreme cases,
such as the case with the maximum compression ratio that corresponds to
gamma=1.1, are examined. As gamma decreases, the shock compression ratio rises,
and an increasingly narrow inter shock region with a more pronounced initial
mixture of R-T unstable gas is produced. Consequently, the remnant outline may
be perturbed by small-amplitude, small-wavelength bumps. However, as the
instability decays over time, the extent of convective mixing in terms of the
ratio of the radius of the R-T fingers to the blast wave does not strongly
depend on the value of gamma for gamma >= 1.2. As a result of the age of the
remnant, the unstable gas cannot extend sufficiently far to form metal-enriched
filaments of ejecta material close to the periphery of Tycho's supernova
remnant. The consistency of the dynamic properties of Tycho's remnant with the
adiabatic model gamma=5/3 reveals that the injection of cosmic rays is too weak
to alter the shock structure. Even with very efficient acceleration of cosmic
rays at the shock, significantly enhanced mixing is not expected in Type Ia
supernova remnants.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS, accepte
In-the-loop or on-the-loop? Interactional arrangements to support team coordination with a planning agent
In this paper we present the study of interactional arrangements that support the collaboration of headquarters (HQ), field responders and a computational planning agent in a time-critical task setting created by a mixed-reality game. Interactional arrangements define the extent to which control is distributed between the collaborative parties.We provide two field trials, one to study an âon-the-loopâ arrangement in which HQ monitors and intervenes in agent instructions to field players on demand, and the other to study a version that places headquarters more tightly âin-the-loopâ. The studies provide and understanding of the sociotechnical collaboration between players and the agent in these interactional arrangements, by conducting interaction analysis of video recordings and game log data. The first field trial focuses on the collaboration of field responders with the planning agent. Findings highlight how players negotiate the agent guidance within the social interaction of the collocated teams. The second field trial focuses on the collaboration between the automated planning agent and the headquarters. We find that the human coordinator and the agent can successfully work together in most cases, with human coordinators inspecting and âcorrectingâ the agent-proposed plans. Through this field trial-driven development process, we generalise interaction design implications of automated planning agents around the themes of supporting common ground and mixed-initiative planning
Nonthermal Radiation from Type Ia Supernova Remnants
We present calculations of expected continuum emissions from Sedov-Taylor
phase Type Ia supernova remnants (SNRs), using the energy spectra of cosmic ray
(CR) electrons and protons from nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration (DSA)
simulations. A new, general-purpose radiative process code, Cosmicp, was
employed to calculate the radiation expected from CR electrons and protons and
their secondary products. These radio, X-ray and gamma-ray emissions are
generally consistent with current observations of Type Ia SNRs. The emissions
from electrons in these models dominate the radio through X-ray bands. Decays
of \pi^0 s from p-p collisions mostly dominate the gamma-ray range, although
for a hot, low density ISM case (n_{ISM}=0.003 cm^{-3}), the pion decay
contribution is reduced sufficiently to reveal the inverse Compton contribution
to TeV gamma-rays. In addition, we present simple scalings for the contributing
emission processes to allow a crude exploration of model parameter space,
enabling these results to be used more broadly. We also discuss the radial
surface brightness profiles expected for these model SNRs in the X-ray and
gamma-ray bands.Comment: 37 pages, 7 figures, accepted in MNRA
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