The development and validation of Australian indices of child development - Part II : validity support

The two outcome indices described in a companion paper (Sanson et al., Child Indicators Research, 2009) were developed using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). These indices, one for infants and the other for 4 year to 5 year old children, were designed to fill the need for parsimonious measures of children’s developmental status to be used in analyses by a broad range of data users and to guide government policy and interventions to support young children’s optimal development. This paper presents evidence from Wave 1data from LSAC to support the validity of these indices and their three domain scores of Physical, Social/Emotional, and Learning. Relationships between the indices and child, maternal, family, and neighborhood factors which are known to relate concurrently to child outcomes were examined. Meaningful associations were found with the selected variables, thereby demonstrating the usefulness of the outcome indices as tools for understanding children’s development in their family and socio-cultural contexts. It is concluded that the outcome indices are valuable tools for increasing understanding of influences on children’s development, and for guiding policy and practice to optimize children’s life chances.

The application of the Park & Ride and TOD concepts to develop a new framework that can maximise public transport patronage

With growing concern over the use of the car in our urbanized society, there have emerged a number of lobby groups and professional bodies promoting a return to public transport, walking and cycling, with the urban village as the key driving land use, as a means of making our cities’ transportation systems more sustainable. This research has aimed at developing a framework applicable to the Australian setting that can facilitate increased passenger patronage of rail based urban transport systems from adjacent or associated land uses. The framework specifically tested the application of the Park & Ride and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) concepts and their applicability within the cultural, institutional, political and transit operational characteristics of Australian society. The researcher found that, although the application of the TOD concept had been limited to small pockets of town houses and mixed use developments around stations, the development industry and emerging groups within the community are posed to embrace the concept and bring with it increased rail patronage. The lack of a clear commitment to infrastructure and supporting land uses is a major barrier to the implementation of TODs. The research findings demonstrated significant scope for the size of a TOD to expand to a much greater radius of activity from the public transport interchange, than the commonly quoted 400 to 600 meters, thus incorporating many more residents and potential patrons. The provision of Park & Rides, and associated support facilities like Kiss & Rides, have followed worldwide trends of high patronage demands from the middle and outer car dependent suburbs of our cities. The data collection and analysis gathered by the researcher demonstrated that in many cases Park & Rides should form part of a TOD to ensure ease of access to rail stations by all modes and patron types. The question, however, remains how best to plan the incorporation of a Park & Ride within a TOD and still maintain those features that attract and promote TODs as a living entity.

An ecology of centre-based child care

The studies in the thesis were derived from a program of research focused on centre-based child care in Australia. The studies constituted an ecological analysis as they examined proximal and distal factors which have the potential to affect children's developmental opportunities (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The project was conducted in thirty-two child care centres located in south-east Queensland. Participants in the research included staff members at the centres, families using the centres and their children. The first study described the personal and professional characteristics of one hundred and forty-four child care workers, as well as their job satisfaction and job commitment. Factors impinging on the stability of care afforded to children were examined, specifically child care workers' intentions to leave their current position and actual staff turnover at a twelve month follow-up. This is an ecosystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983), as it examined the world of work for carers; a setting not directly involving the developing child, but which has implications for children's experiences. Staff job satisfaction was focused on working with children and other adults, including parents and colleagues. Involvement with children was reported as being the most rewarding aspect of the work. This intrinsic satisfaction was enough to sustain caregivers' efforts to maintain their employment in child care programs. It was found that, while improving working conditions may help to reduce turnover, it is likely that moderate turnover rates will remain as child care staff work in relatively small centres and they leave in order to improve career prospects. Departure from a child care job appeared to be as much about improving career opportunities or changing personal circumstances, as it was about poor wages and working conditions. In the second study, factors that influence maternal satisfaction with child care arrangements were examined. The focus included examination of the nature and qualities of parental interaction with staff. This was a mesosystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983), as it considered the links between family and child care settings. Two hundred and twenty-two questionnaires were returned from mothers whose children were enrolled in the participating centres. It was found that maternal satisfaction with child care encompassed the domains of child-centred and parent-centred satisfaction. The nature and range of responses in the quantitative and qualitative data indicated that these parents were genuinely satisfied with their children's care. In the prediction of maternal satisfaction with child care, single parents, mothers with high role satisfaction, and mothers who were satisfied with the frequency of staff contact and degree of supportive communication had higher levels of satisfaction with their child care arrangements. The third study described the structural and process variations within child care programs and examined program differences for compliance with regulations and differences by profit status of the centre, as a microsystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Observations were made in eighty-three programs which served children from two to five years. The results of the study affirmed beliefs that nonprofit centres are superior in the quality of care provided, although this was not to a level which meant that the care in for-profit centres was inadequate. Regulation of structural features of child care programs, per se, did not guarantee higher quality child care as measured by global or process indicators. The final study represented an integration of a range of influences in child care and family settings which may impact on development. Features of child care programs which predict children's social and cognitive development, while taking into account child and family characteristics, were identified. Results were consistent with other research findings which show that child and family characteristics and child care quality predict children's development. Child care quality was more important to the prediction of social development, while family factors appeared to be more predictive of cognitive/language development. An influential variable predictive of development was the period of time which the child had been in the centre. This highlighted the importance of the stability of child care arrangements. Child care quality features which had most influence were global ratings of the qualities of the program environment. However, results need to be interpreted cautiously as the explained variance in the predictive models developed was low. The results of these studies are discussed in terms of the implications for practice and future research. Considerations for an expanded view of ecological approaches to child care research are outlined. Issues discussed include the need to generate child care research which is relevant to social policy development, the implications of market driven policies for child care services, professionalism and professionalisation of child care work, and the need to reconceptualise child care research when the goal is to develop greater theoretical understanding about child care environments and developmental processes.

MRI study of the changes in crystalline lens shape with accommodation and ageing in humans

Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to study changes in the crystalline lens and ciliary body with accommodation and aging. Monocular images were obtained in 15 young (19-29 years) and 15 older (60-70 years) emmetropes when viewing at far (6m) and at individual near points (14.5 to 20.9 cm) in the younger group. With accommodation, lens thickness increased (mean±95% CI: 0.33±0.06mm) by a similar magnitude to the decrease in anterior chamber depth (0.31±0.07mm) and equatorial diameter (0.32±0.04mm) with a decrease in the radius of curvature of the posterior lens surface (0.58±0.30mm). Anterior lens surface shape could not be determined due to the overlapping region with the iris. Ciliary ring diameter decreased (0.44±0.17mm) with no decrease in circumlental space or forward ciliary body movement. With aging, lens thickness increased (mean±95% CI: 0.97±0.24mm) similar in magnitude to the sum of the decrease in anterior chamber depth (0.45±0.21mm) and increase in anterior segment depth (0.52±0.23mm). Equatorial lens diameter increased (0.28±0.23mm) with no change in the posterior lens surface radius of curvature. Ciliary ring diameter decreased (0.57±0.41mm) with reduced circumlental space (0.43±0.15mm) and no forward ciliary body movement. Accommodative changes support the Helmholtz theory of accommodation including an increase in posterior lens surface curvature. Certain aspects of aging changes mimic accommodation.

Application of an appearance-based intervention to improve sun protection outcomes of outdoor workers in Queensland, Australia

Outdoor workers are exposed to high levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and may thus be at greater risk to experience UVR-related health effects such as skin cancer, sun burn, and cataracts. A number of intervention trials (n=14) have aimed to improve outdoor workers’ work-related sun protection cognitions and behaviours. Only one study however has reported the use of UV-photography as part of a multi-component intervention. This study was performed in the USA and showed long-term (12 months) improvements in work-related sun protection behaviours. Intervention effects of the other studies have varied greatly, depending on the population studied, intervention applied, and measurement of effect. Previous studies have not assessed whether: - Interventions are similarly effective for workers in stringent and less stringent policy organisations; - Policy effect is translated into workers’ leisure time protection; - Implemented interventions are effective in the long-term; - The facial UV-photograph technique is effective in Australian male outdoor workers without a large additional intervention package, and; - Such interventions will also affect workers’ leisure time sun-related cognitions and behaviours. Therefore, the present Protection of Outdoor Workers from Environmental Radiation [POWER]-study aimed to fill these gaps and had the objectives of: a) assessing outdoor workers’ sun-related cognitions and behaviours at work and during leisure time in stringent and less stringent sun protection policy environments; b) assessing the effect of an appearance-based intervention on workers’ risk perceptions, intentions and behaviours over time; c) assessing whether the intervention was equally effective within the two policy settings; and d) assessing the immediate post-intervention effect. Effectiveness was described in terms of changes in sun-related risk perceptions and intentions (as these factors were shown to be main precursors of behaviour change in many health promotion theories) and behaviour. The study purposefully selected and recruited two organisations with a large outdoor worker contingent in Queensland, Australia within a 40 kilometre radius of Brisbane. The two organisations differed in the stringency of implementation and reinforcement of their organisational sun protection policy. Data were collected from 154 male predominantly Australian born outdoor workers with an average age of 37 years and predominantly medium to fair skin (83%). Sun-related cognitions and behaviours of workers were assessed using self-report questionnaires at baseline and six to twelve months later. Variation in follow-up time was due to a time difference in the recruitment of the two organisations. Participants within each organisation were assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group participants received a one-off personalised Skin Cancer Risk Assessment Tool [SCRAT]-letter and a facial UV-photograph with detailed verbal information. This was followed by an immediate post-intervention questionnaire within three months of the start of the study. The control group only received the baseline and follow-up questionnaire. Data were analysed using a variety of techniques including: descriptive analyses, parametric and non-parametric tests, and generalised estimating equations. A 15% proportional difference observed was deemed of clinical significance, with the addition of reported statistical significance (p<0.05) where applicable. Objective 1: Assess and compare the current sun-related risk perceptions, intentions, behaviours, and policy awareness of outdoor workers in stringent and less stringent sun protection policy settings. Workers within the two organisations (stringent n=89 and less stringent n=65) were similar in their knowledge about skin cancer, self efficacy, attitudes, and social norms regarding sun protection at work and during leisure time. Participants were predominantly in favour of sun protection. Results highlighted that compared to workers in a less stringent policy organisation working for an organisation with stringent sun protection policies and practices resulted in more desirable sun protection intentions (less willing to tan p=0.03) ; actual behaviours at work (sufficient use of upper and lower body protection, headgear, and sunglasses (p<0.001 for all comparisons), and greater policy awareness (awareness of repercussions if Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was not used, p<0.001)). However the effect of the work-related sun protection policy was found not to extend to leisure time sun protection. Objective 2: Compare changes in sun-related risk perceptions, intentions, and behaviours between the intervention and control group. The effect of the intervention was minimal and mainly resulted in a clinically significant reduction in work-related self-perceived risk of developing skin cancer in the intervention compared to the control group (16% and 32% for intervention and control group, respectively estimated their risk higher compared to other outdoor workers: , p=0.11). No other clinical significant effects were observed at 12 months follow-up. Objective 3: Assess whether the intervention was equally effective in the stringent sun protection policy organisation and the less stringent sun protection policy organisation. The appearance-based intervention resulted in a clinically significant improvement in the stringent policy intervention group participants’ intention to protect from the sun at work (workplace*time interaction, p=0.01). In addition to a reduction in their willingness to tan both at work (will tan at baseline: 17% and 61%, p=0.06, at follow-up: 54% and 33%, p=0.07, stringent and less stringent policy intervention group respectively. The workplace*time interaction was significant p<0.001) and during leisure time (will tan at baseline: 42% and 78%, p=0.01, at follow-up: 50% and 63%, p=0.43, stringent and less stringent policy intervention group respectively. The workplace*time interaction was significant p=0.01) over the course of the study compared to the less stringent policy intervention group. However, no changes in actual sun protection behaviours were found. Objective 4: Examine the effect of the intervention on level of alarm and concern regarding the health of the skin as well as sun protection behaviours in both organisations. The immediate post-intervention results showed that the stringent policy organisation participants indicated to be less alarmed (p=0.04) and concerned (p<0.01) about the health of their skin and less likely to show the facial UV-photograph to others (family p=0.03) compared to the less stringent policy participants. A clinically significantly larger proportion of participants from the stringent policy organisation reported they worried more about skin cancer (65%) and skin freckling (43%) compared to those in the less stringent policy organisation (46%,and 23% respectively , after seeing the UV-photograph). In summary the results of this study suggest that the having a stringent work-related sun protection policy was significantly related to for work-time sun protection practices, but did not extend to leisure time sun protection. This could reflect the insufficient level of sun protection found in the general Australian population during leisure time. Alternatively, reactance caused by being restricted in personal decisions through work-time policy could have contributed to lower leisure time sun protection. Finally, other factors could have also contributed to the less than optimal leisure time sun protection behaviours reported, such as unmeasured personal or cultural barriers. All these factors combined may have lead to reduced willingness to take proper preventive action during leisure time exposure. The intervention did not result in any measurable difference between the intervention and control groups in sun protection behaviours in this population, potentially due to the long lag time between the implementation of the intervention and assessment at 12-months follow-up. In addition, high levels of sun protection behaviours were found at baseline (ceiling effect) which left little room for improvement. Further, this study did not assess sunscreen use, which was the predominant behaviour assessed in previous effective appearance-based interventions trials. Additionally, previous trials were mainly conducted in female populations, whilst the POWER-study’s population was all male. The observed immediate post-intervention result could be due to more emphasis being placed on sun protection and risks related to sun exposure in the stringent policy organisation. Therefore participants from the stringent policy organisation could have been more aware of harmful effects of UVR and hence, by knowing that they usually protect adequately, not be as alarmed or concerned as the participants from the less stringent policy organisation. In conclusion, a facial UV-photograph and SCRAT-letter information alone may not achieve large changes in sun-related cognitions and behaviour, especially of assessed 6-12 months after the intervention was implemented and in workers who are already quite well protected. Differences found between workers in the present study appear to be more attributable to organisational policy. However, against a background of organisational policy, this intervention may be a useful addition to sun-related workplace health and safety programs. The study findings have been interpreted while respecting a number of limitations. These have included non-random allocation of participants due to pre-organised allocation of participants to study group in one organisation and difficulty in separating participants from either study group. Due to the transient nature of the outdoor worker population, only 105 of 154 workers available at baseline could be reached for follow-up. (attrition rate=32%). In addition the discrepancy in the time to follow-up assessment between the two organisations was a limitation of the current study. Given the caveats of this research, the following recommendations were made for future research: - Consensus should be reached to define "outdoor worker" in terms of time spent outside at work as well as in the way sun protection behaviours are measured and reported. - Future studies should implement and assess the value of the facial UV-photographs in a wide range of outdoor worker organisations and countries. - More timely and frequent follow-up assessments should be implemented in intervention studies to determine the intervention effect and to identify the best timing of booster sessions to optimise results. - Future research should continue to aim to target outdoor workers’ leisure time cognitions and behaviours and improve these if possible. Overall, policy appears to be an important factor in workers’ compliance with work-time use of sun protection. Given the evidence generated by this research, organisations employing outdoor workers should consider stringent implementation and reinforcement of a sun protection policy. Finally, more research is needed to improve ways to generate desirable behaviour in this population during leisure time.

Malnutrition in a sample of community-dwelling people with Parkinson’s disease

Objective: Malnutrition results in poor health outcomes, and people with Parkinson’s disease may be more at risk of malnutrition. However, the prevalence of malnutrition in Parkinson’s disease is not yet well defined. The aim of this study is to provide an estimate of the extent of malnutrition in community-dwelling people with Parkinson’s disease. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of people with Parkinson’s disease residing within a 2 hour driving radius of Brisbane, Australia. The Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and scored Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) were used to assess nutritional status. Body weight, standing or knee height, mid-arm circumference and waist circumference were measured. Results: Nineteen (15%) of the participants were moderately malnourished (SGA-B). The median PG-SGA score of the SGA-B group was 8 (4 – 15), significantly higher than the SGA-A group, U=1860.5,p<.05. The symptoms most influencing intake were loss of appetite, constipation, early satiety and problems swallowing. Conclusions: As with other populations, malnutrition remains under-recognised and undiagnosed in people with Parkinson’s disease. Regular screening of nutritional status in people with Parkinson’s disease by health professionals with whom they have regular contact should occur to identify those who may benefit from further nutrition assessment and intervention.

Optimal planning of electric-vehicle charging stations in distribution systems

With the progressive exhaustion of fossil energy and the enhanced awareness of environmental protection, more attention is being paid to electric vehicles (EVs). Inappropriate siting and sizing of EV charging stations could have negative effects on the development of EVs, the layout of the city traffic network, and the convenience of EVs' drivers, and lead to an increase in network losses and a degradation in voltage profiles at some nodes. Given this background, the optimal sites of EV charging stations are first identified by a two-step screening method with environmental factors and service radius of EV charging stations considered. Then, a mathematical model for the optimal sizing of EV charging stations is developed with the minimization of total cost associated with EV charging stations to be planned as the objective function and solved by a modified primal-dual interior point algorithm (MPDIPA). Finally, simulation results of the IEEE 123-node test feeder have demonstrated that the developed model and method cannot only attain the reasonable planning scheme of EV charging stations, but also reduce the network loss and improve the voltage profile.

Methods to estimate the size and shape of the unaccommodated crystalline lens in vivo

Purpose. The purpose of this article was to present methods capable of estimating the size and shape of the human eye lens without resorting to phakometry or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods. Previously published biometry and phakometry data of 66 emmetropic eyes of 66 subjects (age range [18, 63] years, spherical equivalent range [−0.75, +0.75] D) were used to define multiple linear regressions for the radii of curvature and thickness of the lens, from which the lens refractive index could be derived. MRI biometry was also available for a subset of 30 subjects, from which regressions could be determined for the vertex radii of curvature, conic constants, equatorial diameter, volume, and surface area. All regressions were compared with the phakometry and MRI data; the radii of curvature regressions were also compared with a method proposed by Bennett and Royston et al. Results. The regressions were in good agreement with the original measurements. This was especially the case for the regressions of lens thickness, volume, and surface area, which each had an R2 > 0.6. The regression for the posterior radius of curvature had an R2 < 0.2, making this regression unreliable. For all other regressions we found 0.25 < R2 < 0.6. The Bennett-Royston method also produced a good estimation of the radii of curvature, provided its parameters were adjusted appropriately. Conclusions. The regressions presented in this article offer a valuable alternative in case no measured lens biometry values are available; however care must be taken for possible outliers.

Gravity-driven fingering simulations for a thin liquid film flowing down the outside of a vertical cylinder

A numerical study is presented to examine the fingering instability of a gravity-driven thin liquid film flowing down the outer wall of a vertical cylinder. The lubrication approximation is employed to derive an evolution equation for the height of the film, which is dependent on a single parameter, the dimensionless cylinder radius. This equation is identified as a special case of that which describes thin film flow down an inclined plane. Fully three-dimensional simulations of the film depict a fingering pattern at the advancing contact line. We find the number of fingers observed in our simulations to be in excellent agreement with experimental observations and a linear stability analysis reported recently by Smolka & SeGall (Phys Fluids 23, 092103 (2011)). As the radius of the cylinder decreases, the modes of perturbation have an increased growth rate, thus increasing cylinder curvature partially acts to encourage the contact line instability. In direct competition with this behaviour, a decrease in cylinder radius means that fewer fingers are able to form around the circumference of the cylinder. Indeed, for a sufficiently small radius, a transition is observed, at which point the contact line is stable to transverse perturbations of all wavenumbers. In this regime, free surface instabilities lead to the development of wave patterns in the axial direction, and the flow features become perfectly analogous to the two-dimensional flow of a thin film down an inverted plane as studied by Lin & Kondic (Phys Fluids 22, 052105 (2010)). Finally, we simulate the flow of a single drop down the outside of the cylinder. Our results show that for drops with low volume, the cylinder curvature has the effect of increasing drop speed and hence promoting the phenomenon of pearling. On the other hand, drops with much larger volume evolve to form single long rivulets with a similar shape to a finger formed in the aforementioned simulations.

Numerical Characterization of Nanowires

In this chapter, we will present a contemporary review of the hitherto numerical characterization of nanowires (NWs). The bulk of the research reported in the literatures concern metallic NWs including Al, Cu, Au, Ag, Ni, and their alloys NWs. Research has also been reported for the investigation of some nonmetallic NWs, such as ZnO, GaN, SiC, SiO2. A plenty of researches have been conducted regarding the numerical investigation of NWs. Issues analyzed include structural changes under different loading situations, the formation and propagation of dislocations, and the effect of the magnitude of applied loading on deformation mechanics. Efforts have also been made to correlate simulation results with experimental measurements. However, direct comparisons are difficult since most simulations are carried out under conditions of extremely high strain/loading rates and small simulation samples due to computational limitations. Despite of the immense numerical studies of NWs, a significant work still lies ahead in terms of problem formulation, interpretation of results, identification and delineation of deformation mechanisms, and constitutive characterization of behavior. In this chapter, we present an introduction of the commonly adopted experimental and numerical approaches in studies of the deformation of NWs in Section 1. An overview of findings concerning perfect NWs under different loading situations, such as tension, compression, torsion, and bending are presented in Section 2. In Section 3, we will detail some recent results from the authors’ own work with an emphasis on the study of influences from different pre-existing defect on NWs. Some thoughts on future directions of the computational mechanics of NWs together with Conclusions will be given in the last section.

The Select Committee Report on Obesity (2004): The significant omission of parental views of their children's eating

Many studies have reported increasing levels of obesity and overweight in children. Recent policy developments have examined a range of influences on children's eating habits but have left largely unexamined the role of parents in general and mothers in particular. In this study we examined mothers’ understandings of healthy eating and of their influence on their children's eating patterns. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine mothers of children aged between 4 and 12 years of age. Interviewees displayed knowledge of recommended eating practices for their children but distinguished this knowledge from actual eating practices. Avoidance of negative social perceptions, pleasure in eating and opportunities for fast food were regarded as more important than eating in accordance with recommended nutritional guidelines. Moreover, the food choices made were viewed as positive alternatives to eating based on nutritional balance. These views pose a challenge for policy initiatives to address obesity and excess weight in children. Future initiatives should have increased regard for the everyday contexts within which children's eating patterns are understood and justified.

Adatom CCV Auger rates via the local density of states

In this letter the core-core-valence Auger transitions of an atomic impurity, both in bulk or adsorbed on a jellium-like surface, are computed within a DFT framework. The Auger rates calculated by the Fermi golden rule are compared with those determined by an approximate and simpler expression. This is based on the local density of states (LDOS) with a core hole present, in a region around the impurity nucleus. Different atoms, Na and Mg, solids, Al and Ag, and several impurity locations are considered. We obtain an excellent agreement between KL1V and KL23V rates worked out with the two approaches. The radius of the sphere in which we calculate the LDOS is the relevant parameter of the simpler approach. Its value only depends on the atomic species regardless of the location of the impurity and the type of substrate. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Behavioral evaluation of eight rat lines selected for high and low anxiety-related responses

Anxiety traits can be stable and permanent characteristics of an individual across time that is less susceptible of influences by a particular situation. One way to study trait anxiety in an experimental context is through the use of rat lines, selected according to contrasting phenotypes of fear and anxiety. It is not clear whether the behavioral differences between two contrasting rat lines in one given anxiety test are also present in others paradigms of state anxiety. Here, we examine the extent to which multiple anxiety traits generalize across selected animal lines originally selected for a single anxiety trait. We review the behavioral results available in the literature of eight rat genetic models of trait anxiety - namely Maudsley Reactive and Non-reactive rats, Floripa H and L rats, Tsukuba High and Low Emotional rats, High and Low Anxiety-related rats, High and Low Ultrasonic Vocalization rats, Roman High and Low Avoidance rats, Syracuse High and Low Avoidance rats, and Carioca High and Low Conditioned Freezing rats - across 11 behavioral paradigms of innate anxiety or aversive learning frequently used in the experimental setting. We observed both convergence and divergence of behavioral responses in these selected lines across the 11 paradigms. We find that predisposition for specific anxiety traits will usually be generalized to other anxiety provoking stimuli. However this generalization is not observed across all genetic models indicating some unique trait and state interactions. Genetic models of enhanced-anxiety related responses are beginning to help define how anxiety can manifest differently depending on the underlying traits and the current environmentally induced state.

Effect of heat treatment and bend strain on the Jc of Ag-sheathed Bi-2212 tape

Bi-2212 tapes were fabricated using a powder-in-tube method and their superconducting properties were measured as a function of heat treatment. The tapes were heated to temperature, T1 (884-915 °C), and kept at that temperature for 20 min to induce partial (incongruent) melting. The samples were cooled to T2 with a ramp rate of 120 °C h-1 and then slowly cooled to T3 with a cooling rate, R2, and from T3 to T4 with a cooling rate, R3. The tapes were kept at the temperature T4 for P1 hours and then cooled to room temperature. Both R1 and R2 were chosen between 2 and 8 °C h-1. It was found that the structure and Jc of the tapes depend on the sintering conditions, i.e. T1-4, R1-3 and P1. The highest Jc of 5800 Å cm-2 was obtained at 77 K in a self-field with heat treatment where T1 = 894 and 899 °C, R1 = R2 = 5 °C h-1 and P1 = 6 h were employed. When 0.7% of bend strain, which is equivalent to a bend radius of 5 mm, was applied to the tape, 80% of the initial Jc was sustained.

Exploring cultural, social and psychosocial influences on women's drinking across the life span

Background Changing trends in women's alcohol consumption have demonstrated that women, in both younger and older cohorts, are drinking at increased levels than previously. However, little research investigates these changing trends or the influences behind them. Aims The current research aims to identify influences on women's drinking across a range of age groups, with a focus on multiple level influences (i.e. cultural, social and psychosocial). Methods One hour semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted, in 2011, with 35 women (aged 18-55) residing in Australia. Interview development was guided by an adaptation of Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model of Development (BBMD) to assess multiple areas of influences from cultural through to psychosocial. Results Interview findings highlighted the existence of multiple levels of influence on women’s drinking and thus provided support for the BBMD framework. Cultural influences identified related to gender roles and national identity. Exosystem influences (e.g. legislation, infrastructure, and media) and Microsystem influences (e.g. immediate social networks) were also identified. A range of psychosocial factors, such as identity, normative influence and attitude were also found as influencing drinking behaviours. Finally, changes across a woman’s life span, and intergenerational differences, were Chronosystem constructs that also emerged as key influences. Discussion and conclusions This study has provided an in-depth understanding into the key factors, occurring across multiple levels of influence, impacting upon women's drinking across younger and older cohorts. The findings also highlight changes in alcohol-related attitudes and behaviours across a life span and across generations. Future research should extend upon these findings based on larger, quantitative studies based on representative samples. The findings do provide key insights into the influences that need to be addressed within targeted interventions.