Sex-specific compromised bone healing in female rats might be associated with a decrease in mesenchymal stem cell quantity

Introduction The clinically known importance of patient sex as a major risk factor for compromised bone healing is poorly reflected in animal models. Consequently, the underlying cellular mechanisms remain elusive. Because mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are postulated to regulate tissue regeneration and give rise to essential differentiated cell types, they may contribute to sex-specific differences in bone healing outcomes. Methods We investigated sex-specific variations in bone healing and associated differences in MSC populations. A 1.5 mm osteotomy gap in the femora of 8 male and 8 female 12-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats was stabilized by an external fixator. Healing was analyzed in terms of biomechanical testing, bridging and callus size over time (radiography at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after surgery), and callus volume and geometry by μCT at final follow-up. MSCs were obtained from bone marrow samples of an age-matched group of 12 animals (6 per gender) and analyzed for numbers of colony-forming units (CFUs) and their capacity to differentiate and proliferate. The proportion of senescent cells was determined by β-galactosidase staining. Results Sex-specific differences were indicated by a compromised mechanical competence of the callus in females compared with males (maximum torque at failure, p = 0.028). Throughout the follow-up, the cross-sectional area of callus relative to bone was reduced in females (p ≤ 0.01), and the bridging of callus was delayed (p 2weeks = 0.041). μCT revealed a reduced callus size (p = 0.003), mineralization (p = 0.003) and polar moment of inertia (p = 0.003) in female animals. The female bone marrow contained significantly fewer MSCs, represented by low CFU numbers in both femora and tibiae (p femur = 0.017, p tibia = 0.010). Functional characteristics of male and female MSCs were similar. Conclusion Biomechanically compromised and radiographically delayed bone formation were distinctive in female rats. These differences were concomitant with a reduced number of MSCs, which may be causative for the suboptimal bone healing.

Activity, motivation and games for young children

The research described in this paper examines the extent to which very young children were able to use the Stomp platform (a floor-based gaming system designed to provide new, active participatory experiences) to engage in game play. We are interested in how children's engagement in different activities within the game world influences their motivation to play games. We map activity to motivational needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness. A detailed examination of two Stomp experiences demonstrates how this type of analysis is useful in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the games for this audience.

Female game developers wanted low pay, long hours, inflexible work environments

Almost half of all game players are now women. However, women only represent a small proportion of game developers. There is a lack of previous research to suggest why women don't pursue careers in games and how we can attract more women to the industry. In this paper, we investigate the issues and barriers that prevent women from entering the games industry, as well as the solutions and steps that can be taken to attract more women to the industry. We draw on the lessons learned by the information technology industry and report on a program of events that was conducted at the Queensland University of Technology in 2011. These events provided some insight into the issues surrounding the lack of women in the games industry, as well as some initial steps that we can take as an industry to attract and support more female developers.

GIS and qualitative data on young mothers’ use of urban neighbourhoods for physical activity

Public health research consistently demonstrates the salience of neighbourhood as a determinant of both health-related behaviours and outcomes across the human life course. This paper will report on the findings from a mixed-methods Brisbane-based study that explores how mothers with primary school children from both high and low socioeconomic suburbs use the local urban environment for the purpose of physical activity. Firstly, we demonstrate findings from an innovative methodology using the geographic information systems (GIS) embedded in social media platforms on mobile phones to track locations, resource-use, distances travelled, and modes of transport of the families in real-time; and secondly, we report on qualitative data that provides insight into reasons for differential use of the environment by both groups. Spatial/mapping and statistical data showed that while the mothers from both groups demonstrated similar daily routines, the mothers from the high SEP suburb engaged in increased levels of physical activity, travelled less frequently and less distance by car, and walked more for transport. The qualitative data revealed differences in the psychosocial processes and characteristics of the households and neighbourhoods of the respective groups, with mothers in the lower SEP suburb reporting more stress, higher conflict, and lower quality relationships with neighbours.

Self in the City : Young Adult Fiction about New York City after 9/11

This chapter discusses fictional texts set in New York City soon after Septem- ber 11, 2001 (9/11), or whose characters are affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center. Whereas these texts may not have been directly marketed at young adults, they all address ‘youth issues’. Each of the books discussed here contain or are focalized through the eyes of adolescent protagonists. They are all coming-of-age narratives in that the crises within them are usually a result of a catastrophe, taking the characters on journeys of self-discovery, which, once fulfilled, lead them back home.1 As Jerry Griswold (1992) has suggested, coming-of-age stories are especially well suited to the American psyche, and are already familiar to readers of literature based in New York City (the most familiar work being J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye). As with other clas- sic American young adult (YA) literature, the journey and homecoming com- monly associated with coming-of-age are often employed in fiction about 9/11. With the key elements of loss and suffering, self-awareness, introspection, and growth, the coming-of-age novel also fulfils agendas common to both litera- ture and politics: the literary journey becomes the nation’s journey.

Going online : young children and teachers accessing knowledge through web interactions

Children accessing and using internet-connected technology is a relatively recent phenomenon, and rapidly having an impact on their experiences and activities in homes and early childhood classrooms. Technology refers to devices such as computers, smart phones and tablets - many capable of being connected to the internet - and the products, such as websites, games, and interactive stories (Plowman and McPake, 2013). These activities can be played, created, watched, listened to and read, and incorporated into traditional everyday activities. This article provides suggestions for strategies for teachers to consider when incorporating technology into early childhood education.

The nature and correlates of young women's peer-directed protective behavioral strategies

Objective Recently, a number of studies have identified self-employed Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) as effective in decreasing the level of alcohol-related harm among young people. However, much of the published research has ignored important gender differences, such as women's increased tendency to rely on PBS that are social in nature. To further the understanding of women's PBS, the current study sought to investigate the nature and correlates of the strategies young women employ to keep their friends safe when drinking (i.e., peer-directed PBS). Method A scale measuring peer-directed PBS was developed and administered in conjunction with existing measures of alcohol consumption, personal PBS, and peer attachment. Participants consisted of 422 women aged 18–30 years, recruited among psychology students and the general public. Results Exploratory factor analysis revealed two clusters of peer-directed PBS; those that were aimed at reducing intoxication among one's friends and those that were designed to minimize alcohol-related harms. Further analysis found a positive relationship between women's tendency to implement personal and peer-directed PBS and that risky drinkers were less likely to engage in personal or peer-directed PBS (either type). Conclusion Findings indicate that personal and peer-directed PBS are related behaviors that are less frequently adopted by risky drinkers.

Sustainable creative career development pathways for young people in Tanzania : a case study

Tanzania has a rich and diverse cultural history based in community cultural life. However, at present, young people have limited opportunity to exploit this richness of traditional knowledge and engage in creative jobs as their means of future sustainable employment. Hence, the significant challenge remains: how to integrate and enhance the traditional knowledge in a learning strategy, while there is no “inter-ministerial action and institutional mechanisms” (United Nations 2008, 33-35) to promote creative employment for young people. This article reports on a case study that examined how the two Ministries of Culture and Education might work together to support Tanzania’s young people to secure, and engage successfully in creative jobs. The case study employed mixed methods, incorporating questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. The study was undertaken in Dar-Es-Salaam, Mwanza, Bagamoyo, Dodoma, Lindi and Morogoro from July to October, 2012. This paper discusses some of the issues and argues that there is no practical utilization of traditional knowledge and skills in “putting education to work” (UNESCO 2012, 170) for the better prospects of young people and to reveal the story of their lives. Although this study is specific to Tanzania, the case may also apply to other developing countries.

Literary prosumers : young people’s reading and writing in a new media landscape

The production of culture is today a matter of ‘user generated content’ and young people are vital participants as ‘prosumers’, i.e. both producers and consumers, of cultural products. Among other things, they are busy creating fan works (stories, pictures, films) based on already published material. Using the genre fan fiction as a point of departure, this article explores the drivers behind net communities organised around fan culture and argues that fan fiction sites can in many aspects be regarded as informal learning settings. By turning to the rhetoric principle of imitatio, the article shows how in the collective interactive processes between readers and writers such fans develop literacies and construct gendered identities.

Narratives of healing: a case study of a young Liberian refugee settled in Australia

The Tree of Life group program is a narrative-based expressive arts intervention, designed to target the psychological difficulties faced by young people from refugee backgrounds. This study utilised a case study methodology to investigate the experience of a single adolescent from a Liberian background resettled in Australia, who participated in a manualised version of the Tree of Life program. The case study aimed to identify the underlying therapeutic processes that enabled the participant to adopt a preferred self-narrative. The participant was observed to demonstrate positive gains as a result of program participation. Five therapeutic factors were identified as particularly salient to the program’s success: the exploration of alternative stories of self; the fostering of group cohesion; the provision of corrective emotional experiences; the experience of outsider witnesses; and the instillation of hope. These factors were discussed in relation to working with young people from refugee backgrounds. Recommendations for future implementation of the Tree of Life program are provided.

Stability of corneal topography and wavefront aberrations in young Singaporeans

Purpose To investigate the differences between and variations across time in corneal topography and ocular wavefront aberrations in young Singaporean myopes and emmetropes. Methods We used a videokeratoscope and wavefront sensor to measure the ocular surface topography and wavefront aberrations of the total eye optics in the morning, mid-day and late afternoon on two separate days. Topography data were used to derive the corneal surface wavefront aberrations. Both the corneal and total wavefronts were analysed up to the 4th radial order of the Zernike polynomial expansion, and were centred on the entrance pupil (5 mm). The participants included 12 young progressing myopes, 13 young stable myopes and 15 young age-matched emmetropes. Results For all subjects considered together there were significant changes in some of the aberrations terms across the day, such as spherical aberration ( ) and vertical coma ( ) (repeated measures ANOVA, p<0.05). The magnitude of positive spherical aberration ( ) was significantly lower in the progressing myope group than that of the stable myopes (p=0.04) and emmetrope group (p=0.02). There were also significant interactions between refractive group and time of day for with/against-the-rule astigmatism ( ). Significantly lower 4th order RMS of ocular wavefront aberrations were found in the progressing myope group compared with the stable myopes and emmetropes (p<0.01). Conclusions These differences and variations in the corneal and total aberrations may have significance for our understanding of refractive error development and for clinical applications requiring accurate wavefront measurements.

A shared reading intervention with parents to enhance young children’s early literacy skills

Parental reading to children from an early age has been shown to enhance children’s emergent literacy skills. A pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) was used to investigate the effects of two forms of shared reading interventions on children’s language and literacy skills. Parents of 80 preparatory year children from outer suburban schools of an Australian metropolitan city were trained to use shared reading strategies in an eight-week home intervention. Families were assigned to one of three groups: Dialogic Reading (DR), Dialogic Reading with the addition of Print Referencing (DR + PR), or an attention-matched control group. The sample comprised 42 boys and 38 girls ranging in age from 4.9 years to 6.3 years (M = 5.5, SD = 0.3). Data were collected at pre, post, and at three months follow-up. Measures assessed children’s oral language (receptive and expressive vocabulary), phonological awareness (rhyme, word completion), alphabet knowledge, and concepts about print. Analyses of change from pre to post showed significant effects for the DR and DR + PR groups compared to the control group on three of the six measures: expressive language, rhyme, and concepts about print. At 3-month follow-up assessment, the two intervention groups maintained significantly better performance on the measure of concepts of print only. At both time points, there were no group differences between the DR and DR+PR conditions. These findings illustrate the potential of a brief home focused intervention on promoting children’s emergent literacy.

Comparing female victims of separation/divorce assault across geographical regions

Recent analyses of National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data show that male-to-female separation/divorce assault varies across geographic regions in the United States, with rural rates of such woman abuse being higher than those for suburban and urban areas. Using the same data set, the main objective of this paper is to present the results of an investigation into whether characteristics of female victims of separation/divorce assault also differ across urban, suburban, and rural communities.

Maternal report of young children's eating styles. Validation of the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire in three ethnically diverse Australian samples

The aim of this study was to validate the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) in three ethnically and culturally diverse samples of mothers in Australia. Confirmatory factor analysis utilising structural equation modelling examined whether the established 8-factor model of the CEBQ was supported in our three populations: (i) a community sample of first-time mothers allocated to the control group of the NOURISH trial (mean child age = 24 months [SD = 1]; N = 244); (ii) a sample of immigrant Indian mothers of children aged 1–5 years (mean age = 34 months [SD = 14]; N = 203), and (iii) a sample of immigrant Chinese mothers of children aged 1–4 years (mean age = 36 months [SD = 14]; N = 216). The original 8-factor model provided an acceptable fit to the data in the NOURISH sample with minor post hoc re-specifications (two error covariances on Satiety Responsiveness and an item-factor covariance to account for a cross-loading of an item (Fussiness) on Satiety Responsiveness). The re-specified model showed reasonable fit in both the Indian and Chinese samples. Cronbach’s α estimates ranged from .73 to .91 in the Australian sample and .61–.88 in the immigrant samples. This study supports the appropriateness of the CEBQ in the multicultural Australian context.