Once you get into the box you can't get out : Schools managing at risk students and their post-school options

This paper explores student and teacher understandings of what it means to be 'at risk' in a Northern metropolitan Melbourne school located in the area of high cultural diversity and unemployment. The research team undertook a range of interviews with 20 Year 10 students and their teachers as part of a research project investigating teacher and student attitudes to the role of the school in how at risk young people understand their futures. Drawing on Bourdieu's notion of habitus for a conceptual framework, we describe three 'anecdotal cases’ that exemplify the 'static' nature of the relations between the school, the teachers, the students and the community. The cases highlight the following paradoxes: (i) a teacher discourse of care that fails to address student motivation and attempts to change; (ii) a lack of agency for both teachers and students when dealing with at risk categories and attempts to best manage post school options; and (iii) the apparent alienation from the school of parents in an otherwise cohesive local community. These tensions were manifestations of staff composition and dynamics, cultural attitudes, and a limited sense of location that worked against resilience, mobility and capacity building for the students.

Reducing harmful traditional practices in Adjibar, Ethiopia : lessons learned from the Adjibar safe motherhood project

This paper assesses the impact of the Adjibar Safe Motherhood Project and derives lessons of value to future interventions. Amongst the participatory qualitative methods used were 15 group discussions, eight semi-structured interviews, a number of opportunistic informal discussions and observation. The information gathering was complemented by a detailed review of project documents. Field visits for data collection took place over a six day period in March 2005. The project was effective in raising awareness about maternal health, and the social, economic and health consequences of various harmful traditional practices (HTPs). It has also mobilised the community to monitor and report HTPs and has strengthened referral systems for counselling, support and treatment. A number of effective strategies were identified as having contributed to project success. These are presented using the framework offered by the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion which presents five areas of public health action: developing personal skills; strengthening community action; building healthy public policy; re-orienting health services; and, creating supportive environments. This evaluation contributes to and strengthens the expanding body of literature about effective development practices to reduce HTPs. It demonstrates that addressing HTPs takes time and long term investment; both are necessary to enable better understanding of the social and cultural reasons for HTPs before attempting to address them, and to build the community trust necessary to overcome the natural resistance to challenging such deeply entrenched practices. The project also highlighted the importance of developing a multi pronged strategy based on engagement with a broad range of stakeholders and supportive legislation.

Playing it safe : the influence of neighbourhood safety on children's physical activity − A review

Compared with previous generations, children spend less time playing outdoors and have lower participation rates in active transport. Many studies have identified lack of neighbourhood safety as a potential barrier to children's physical activity. This review describes concerns regarding ‘stranger danger’ and road safety, and discusses empirical studies that examine associations between neighbourhood safety and physical activity among youth. Variability of perceptions of safety between parents and youth are examined; ‘social traps’ are identified; and physical/social environmental interventions aimed at improving neighbourhood safety are discussed. A research agenda is suggested for further study of perceived and objective measures of neighbourhood safety and their associations with children's physical activity.

Producing animations to educate MSM and MSW to fashion safe sex practices and address low perceptions of personal risk

This project will produce animations in order to increase understandings of safe sex practices and address low perceptions of personal risk among two of the most vulnerable groups to HIV infection in Thailand. The animations will be incorporated into a prevention outreach program via Ipods, mobile phones and mobile-based portable devices to men who have sex with men (MSM) in their 'hide-outs', that is, parks, clubs and public toilets and male sex workers (MSW) in sex venues such as brothels, go-go bars and beats. To produce these animations, the project is first researching the sexual practices of MSM and MSW because of the lack of any substantive investigation of their social and sexual networks. This use of technology, informed by social research rather than behavioral studies, offers new possibilities to stem rapidly rising infection rates because it takes into account the diverse MSM and MSW identities. Overall, an estimated one- fifth (21%) of new HIV infections in Thailand occur in men who have unsafe sex with men. This disquieting increase highlights the fact that MSM are not adequately reached through HIV prevention programmes, most likely because little is known about their particular situations, contexts and practices.

The three delays as a framework for examining safe motherhood in Kafa zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia

The study examines delay as a crucial factor contributing to maternal mortality, using the conceptual framework of the Three Phases of Delay to explore factors that hinder the provision and utilisation of high quality, timely obstetric care in Kafa Zone, SNNPR, in Ethiopia. The Three Delays constitute the delay in deciding to seek medical care during an obstetric emergency, in reaching a medical facility, and in receiving suitable treatment in a health facility. Various aspects of the Three Delays are evaluated to examine problems of delay, transportation, and the referral system that is considered a vital element of the Ethiopian 'National Reproductive Health Strategy'.

Shut the decimal box - a mathematics dice game

The table-top game of Shut the Box is popular in Europe and England, but not well known in Australia. Sets can be purchased, but the game can be played with home-made equipment. A variant of the game which illustrates the standard rules, with a decimal twist to the scoring, is described. A list of the equipment required is also provided.

Integrating nursing research education and practice : safe administration of medications

The integration of the best available evidence into the delivery of safe patient care is a challenging but important task. Southern Health in partnership with Deakin University embarked on a joint initiative to develop a culture of inquiry and evidencebased nursing practice.

Flowering ecology of a Box-Ironbark Eucalyptus community

Box-Ironbark forests occur on the inland hills of the Great Dividing Range in Australia, from western Victoria to southern Queensland. These dry, open forests are characteristically dominated by Eucalyptus species such as Red Ironbark E. tricarpa, Mugga Ironbark E. sideroxylon and Grey Box E. microcarpa. Within these forests, several Eucalyptus species are a major source of nectar for the blossom-feeding birds and marsupials that form a distinctive component of the fauna. In Victoria, approximately 83% of the original pre - European forests of the Box-Ironbark region have been cleared, and the remaining fragmented forests have been heavily exploited for gold and timber. This exploitation has lead to a change in the structure of these forests, from one dominated by large 80-100 cm diameter, widely -spaced trees to mostly small (≥40 cm DBH), more densely - spaced trees. This thesis examines the flowering ecology of seven Eucalyptus species within a Box-Ironbark community. These species are characteristic of Victorian Box-Ironbark forests; River Red Gum E. camaldulensis, Yellow Gum E. leucoxylon, Red Stringybark E. macrorhyncha, Yellow Box E. melliodora, Grey Box E. microcarpa, Red Box E. polyanthemos and Red Ironbark E. tricarpa. Specifically, the topics examined in this thesis are: (1) the floral character traits of species, and the extent to which these traits can be associated with syndromes of bird or insect pollination; (2) the timing, frequency, duration, intensity, and synchrony of flowering of populations and individual trees; (3) the factors that may explain variation in flowering patterns of individual trees through examination of the relationships between flowering and tree-specific factors of individually marked trees; (4) the influence of tree size on the flowering patterns of individually marked trees, and (5) the spatial and temporal distribution of the floral resources of a dominant species, E. tricarpa. The results are discussed in relation to the evolutionary processes that may have lead to the flowering patterns, and the likely effects of these flowering patterns on blossom-feeding fauna of the Box-Ironbark region. Flowering observations were made for approximately 100 individually marked trees for each species (a total of 754 trees). The flower cover of each tree was assessed at a mean interval of 22 (+ 0.6) days for three years; 1997, 1998 and 1999. The seven species of eucalypt each had characteristic flowering seasons, the timing of which was similar each year. In particular, the timing of peak flowering intensity was consistent between years. Other spatial and temporal aspects of flowering patterns for each species, including the percentage of trees that flowered, frequency of flowering, intensity of flowering and duration of flowering, displayed significant variation between years, between forest stands (sites) and between individual trees within sites. All seven species displayed similar trends in flowering phenology over the study, such that 1997 was a relatively 'poor' flowering year, 1998 a 'good' year and 1999 an 'average' year in this study area. The floral character traits and flowering seasons of the seven Eucalyptus species suggest that each species has traits that can be broadly associated with particular pollinator types. Differences between species in floral traits were most apparent between 'summer' and 'winter' flowering species. Winter - flowering species displayed pollination syndromes associated with bird pollination and summer -flowering species displayed syndromes more associated with insect pollination. Winter - flowering E. tricarpa and E. leucoxylon flowers, for example, were significantly larger, and contained significantly greater volumes of nectar, than those of the summer flowering species, such as E. camaldulensis and E. melliodom. An examination of environmental and tree-specific factors was undertaken to investigate relationships between flowering patterns of individually marked trees of E. microcarpa and E. tricarpa and a range of measures that may influence the observed patterns. A positive association with tree-size was the most consistent explanatory variable for variation between trees in the frequency and intensity of flowering. Competition from near-neighbours, tree health and the number of shrubs within the canopy area were also explanatory variables. The relationship between tree size and flowering phenology was further examined by using the marked trees of all seven species, selected to represent five size-classes. Larger trees (≥40 cm DBH) flowered more frequently, more intensely, and for a greater duration than smaller trees. Larger trees provide more abundant floral resources than smaller trees because they have more flowers per unit area of canopy, they have larger canopies in which more flowers can be supported, and they provide a greater abundance of floral resources over the duration of the flowering season. Heterogeneity in the distribution of floral resources was further highlighted by the study of flowering patterns of E. tricarpa at several spatial and temporal scales. A total of approximately 5,500 trees of different size classes were sampled for flower cover along transects in major forest blocks at each of five sample dates. The abundance of flowers varied between forest blocks, between transects and among tree size - classes. Nectar volumes in flowers of E. tricarpa were sampled. The volume of nectar varied significantly among flowers, between trees, and between forest stands. Mean nectar volume per flower was similar on each sample date. The study of large numbers of individual trees for each of seven species was useful in obtaining quantitative data on flowering patterns of species' populations and individual trees. The timing of flowering for a species is likely to be a result of evolutionary selective forces tempered by environmental conditions. The seven species' populations showed a similar pattern in the frequency and intensity of flowering between years (e.g. 1998 was a 'good' year for most species) suggesting that there is some underlying environmental influence acting on these aspects of flowering. For individual trees, the timing of flowering may be influenced by tree-specific factors that affect the ability of each tree to access soil moisture and nutrients. In turn, local weather patterns, edaphic and biotic associations are likely to influence the available soil moisture. The relationships between the timing of flowering and environmental conditions are likely to be complex. There was no evidence that competition for pollinators has a strong selective influence on the timing of flowering. However, as there is year-round flowering in this community, particular types of pollinators may be differentiated along a temporal gradient (e.g. insects in summer, birds in winter). This type of differentiation may have resulted in the co-evolution of floral traits and pollinator types, with flowers displaying adaptations that match the morphologies and energy requirements of the most abundant pollinators in any particular season. Spatial variation in flowering patterns was evident at several levels. This is likely to occur because of variation in climate, weather patterns, soil types, degrees of disturbance and biotic associations, which vary across the Box-Ironbark region. There was no consistency among sites between years in flowering patterns suggesting that factors affecting flowering at this level are complex. Blossom-feeding animals are confronted with a highly spatially and temporally patchy resource. This patchiness has been increased with human exploitation of these forests leading to a much greater abundance of small trees and fewer large trees. Blossom-feeding birds are likely to respond to this variation in different ways, depending upon diet-breadth, mobility and morphological and behavioural characteristics. Future conservation of the blossom-feeding fauna of Box-Ironbark forests would benefit from the retention of a greater number of large trees, the protection and enhancement of existing remnants, and revegetation with key species, such as E. leucoxylon, E. microcarpa and E. tricarpa. The selective clearing of summer flowering species, which occur on the more fertile areas, may have negatively affected the year-round abundance and distribution of floral resources. The unpredictability of the spatial distribution of flowering patches within the region means that all remnants are likely to be important foraging areas in some years.

Other communities : Box mistletoe (Amyema miquelii) parasitism is not detrimental to the health of grey box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) trees at a regional scale

Mistletoes are hemiparasites that occur worldwide in many types of forest, woodland and shrubland ecosystems (Watson 2001). Some species are regarded as pests due to their detrimental effects on host species (Hawksworth 1983; Reid & Yan 2000). Heavy infestations can affect the growth, productivity and form of host trees, and may cause host death (Reid et al. 1994; Shaw et al.2004, 2008). In south-eastern Australia, mistletoes often are visibly obvious in trees along roadsides, in paddocks and on the margins of open forests; and concerns have been expressed about their potentially detrimental effects on host trees.Despite this, little quantitative information is available on the effects of mistletoes on tree health and mortality (Reid et al. 1994). Are detrimental effects widespread or localized? A first step is to assess whether trees parasitized by mistletoe are less healthy than those without such parasites. Here, we investigate the relationship between parasitism by Box Mistletoe (Amyema miquelii (Lehm. ex Miq.) Tiegh.), a common species in south-eastern Australia, and the health of trees of a widespread host species, Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa (Maiden) Maiden), across a large geographic region.