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Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mdm-10.1177_0272989X231182436 for Shared Decision Making for Elective Surgical Procedures in Older Adults with and without Cognitive Insufficiencies by K. D. Valentine, Ha Vo, Brittney Mancini, Richard D. Urman, Franchesca Arias, Michael J. Barry and Karen R. Sepucha in Medical Decision Making

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-mdm-10.1177_0272989X231182436 for Shared Decision Making for Elective Surgical Procedures in Older Adults with and without Cognitive Insufficiencies by K. D. Valentine, Ha Vo, Brittney Mancini, Richard D. Urman, Franchesca Arias, Michael J. Barry and Karen R. Sepucha in Medical Decision Making

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mdm-10.1177_0272989X231182436 for Shared Decision Making for Elective Surgical Procedures in Older Adults with and without Cognitive Insufficiencies by K. D. Valentine, Ha Vo, Brittney Mancini, Richard D. Urman, Franchesca Arias, Michael J. Barry and Karen R. Sepucha in Medical Decision Making

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-mdm-10.1177_0272989X231182436 for Shared Decision Making for Elective Surgical Procedures in Older Adults with and without Cognitive Insufficiencies by K. D. Valentine, Ha Vo, Brittney Mancini, Richard D. Urman, Franchesca Arias, Michael J. Barry and Karen R. Sepucha in Medical Decision Making

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mpp-10.1177_23814683221141377 for Cross-sectional Survey Examining Patient Attitudes and Preferences for Rescheduling Screening Colonoscopies Canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic by K. D. Valentine, Lauren Leavitt, Steven J. Atlas, Emily Chen, Jasmine Ha, Sanja Percac-Lima, Kathleen M. Fairfield, Neil Korsen, Paul K. J. Han, James M. Richter, Leigh Simmons and Karen R. Sepucha in MDM Policy & Practice

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mpp-10.1177_23814683221141377 for Cross-sectional Survey Examining Patient Attitudes and Preferences for Rescheduling Screening Colonoscopies Canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic by K. D. Valentine, Lauren Leavitt, Steven J. Atlas, Emily Chen, Jasmine Ha, Sanja Percac-Lima, Kathleen M. Fairfield, Neil Korsen, Paul K. J. Han, James M. Richter, Leigh Simmons and Karen R. Sepucha in MDM Policy & Practice

Air pollution represents one of the major concerns worldwide, fueled by the increasing urbanization and related PM production worsening air quality in open air as well as in confined environments. In the present work, exposure to atmospheric metal pollution was investigated in 20 paired indoor (I)-outdoor (O) sites located in two urban areas of Italy and Belgium, by chemical (ICP-MS) and magnetic (saturation isothermal remanent magnetization, SIRM) analyses of Hypnum cupressiforme moss exposed in bags. After 12 weeks, the elemental profiles of the moss material exposed in the two countries largely overlapped, except for some elements which specifically accumulated in Belgium (Ag, As, Cd, Mo, Pb and Sb) and in Italy (Ca, Mg, Co, Cr, Sr, Ti and U). Element concentrations were higher in moss exposed outdoors, with the Italian sites mostly showing a terrigenous footprint, and the Belgian sites mostly affected by elements of environmental concern (e.g., As, Pb, Sb). The Indoor/Outdoor ratios (mostly lower than 0.75) indicated indoor pollution as strongly affected by outdoor pollution, although specific elements could be of indoor origin or magnified in indoor environments (e.g., Al, Ag, Cd and Co). In line with the chemical analysis, the SIRM signal was significantly higher in outdoor than indoor moss material. A positive, significant correlation was observed between SIRM and several accumulated elements indicating SIRM analysis as a powerful tool to predict the level of metal pollution. Moss bags were confirmed as a useful and versatile tool to highlight metal contamination even in confined environments, an essential prerogative in the perspective of the evaluation of the total exposure risk for humans to these pollutants.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mdm-10.1177_0272989X211039743 for The Impact of 4 Risk Communication Interventions on Cancer Screening Preferences and Knowledge by K. D. Valentine, Pete Wegier, Victoria A. Shaffer and Laura D. Scherer in Medical Decision Making

Additional file 1. Knowledge items.

Additional file 1.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mdm-10.1177_0272989X211039743 for The Impact of 4 Risk Communication Interventions on Cancer Screening Preferences and Knowledge by K. D. Valentine, Pete Wegier, Victoria A. Shaffer and Laura D. Scherer in Medical Decision Making

Additional file 2. Univariate analyses predicting probability of taking medication.

Supplemental material, sj-doc-2-mdm-10.1177_0272989X211029267 for Using Standardized Videos to Examine the Validity of the Shared Decision Making Process Scale: Results of a Randomized Online Experiment by K. D. Valentine, Brittney Mancini, Ha Vo, Suzanne Brodney, Carol Cosenza, Michael J. Barry and Karen R. Sepucha in Medical Decision Making

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-mdm-10.1177_0272989X211029267 for Using Standardized Videos to Examine the Validity of the Shared Decision Making Process Scale: Results of a Randomized Online Experiment by K. D. Valentine, Brittney Mancini, Ha Vo, Suzanne Brodney, Carol Cosenza, Michael J. Barry and Karen R. Sepucha in Medical Decision Making

Additional file 3. Analyses for counseling/therapy.

Environmental pollution due to heavy metals is a world-wide problem in estuarine, coastal and marine waters. Metal pollution affects different organisms in different ways and the degree of the impact is site-specific. Aim of the present study was to determine the effects of heavy metals viz., Cu, Cd and Pb exposure on tissue accumulation, pigmentation and productivity of two marine macro algae, Fucus vesiculosus and Ulva lactuca under controlled laboratory conditions. Algae were collected from a reference location, Wemeldinge in the Eastern Scheldet Estuary in Netherlands. Metal concentrations were determined using ICP-MS. Productivity of algae was measured using Winkler method and the results were expressed as carbon equivalent. Pigment profiles of two species were analyzed by spectral absorbance over 250 -1100nm range. The results revealed that the metal accumulation in tissues significantly increased with increasing exposure to metal concentration whereas, pigmentation, and photosynthetic productivity decreased with increasing metal concentration. Hence, F. vesiculosus and U. lactuca could be used as bio-indicators to determine metal pollution in coastal waters.

Copper (Cu) complexation by humic acids (HA) is expected to decrease Cu bioavailability for aquatic organisms as predicted by metal bioavailability models, such as the biotic ligand model (BLM). This has been confirmed for non-feeding organisms such as marine invertebrate embryos or microalgae, but for filter-feeding organisms such as the mussel Mytilus edulis, Cu bioaccumulation was higher in the presence of HA, suggesting that part of the Cu-HA complexes were available for uptake. This study shows the dynamic modeling of Cu accumulation kinetics in the gills and rest of the soft-body of M. edulis in the absence and presence of HA. Assuming that truly dissolved Cu is taken in the body via the gills following BLM premises, and including uptake of Cu-HA aggregates via the gut into the rest compartment, this two-compartmental model could successfully explain the observed bioaccumulation data. This modeling approach gives strong evidence to the hypothesis that Cu-HA aggregates can be ingested by mussels leading to Cu absorption in the digestive system. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

В современном обществе преподавателям часто приходится сталкиваться с поликультурной студенческой аудиторией, как в традиционном формате, так и в процессе онлайн-обучения. Культура каждой страны, так или иначе, отражается на образовательном процессе и во многом обуславливает его. Это, в свою очередь, влечет специфичность учебного контента, целей, ценностей и задач образования, методов обучения, педагогического дискурса, специфики выстраивания образовательной траектории и т.д. В настоящей работе прослеживается взаимосвязь влияния культуры на образовательные практики, выраженное в целевом, ценностном и коммуникационном форматах. Многие педагоги в качестве основной проблемы в данном контексте, помимо когнитивной, коммуникативной и психолого-педагогической специфики, выделяют проблему конструктивного трансфера знаний в поликультурной учебной среде. При этом под поликультурной средой мы подразумеваем не только национальные различия, но и различный предшествующий профессиональный «бэкграунд» (это касается студентов магистерских программ и т.д.). В данной работе мы делимся опытом выделения критериев для возможности построения культурнокогнитивной модели общения со студентами (тактических и стратегических приемов развития различных типов дискурса), с целью оптимизации учебного процесса в поликультурной среде. Критерии, по которым должна строиться поликультурная образовательная среда новой формации, способная обеспечивать конструктивный трансфер знаний, представляются следующим образом: коммуникационный критерий (изменение традиционных форм коммуникации в системе «преподаватель – студент»), методический (появление культурно-адаптивных методов работы с учебной информацией), контентный (дифференциация и возможная неоднородность учебного контента в образовательном процессе) и информационный (разработка и использование образовательных ресурсов, учитывающих культурную специфику восприятия и работы с информацией). Перечисленные пункты, в свою очередь, не могут не отразиться на трансформации некоторых институтов существующей информационно-педагогической среды., In contemporary society, teachers often have to deal with a multicultural student audience, both in a traditional format, and in the process of online training. In general, the culture of each country has an impact on the educational process and largely determines is. This, in turn, implies a uniqueness of the educational content, objectives, value and tasks of education, teaching methods, pedagogical discourse, specifics of building an educational path, etc. This paper traces the relationship between the cultural influence and educational practices expressed in target, value and communication formats. Many teachers call attention to the problem of constructive knowledge transfer in a multicultural teaching environment as the main problem in this context, in addition to the specifics of cognitive, communication and psycho-pedagogical factors. However, the multicultural environment is taken to mean not only national differences, but also a different previous professional “background” (this refers to students of master’s programs, etc.). In this paper, we share the experience of selecting criteria for the possibility of building a cultural cognitive model of communication with students (tactical and strategic methods of developing various types of discourse) in order to optimize the teaching process in the multicultural environment. The criteria based on which a new-generation multicultural educational environment is to be built and which is able to provide constructive knowledge transfer are presented as follows: communication criterion (change of traditional communication forms in the “teacher – student” system), methodological criterion (emergence of the cultural and adaptive methods of work with educational information), content criterion (differentiation and possible inhomogeneity of the educational content in the educational process) and information criterion (development and use of educational resources taking into account cultural specifics of information perception and handling). The aforementioned points, in turn, cannot but affect the transformation of some institutes of the existing information and pedagogical environment.

In December 2016, the South Australian Department for Correctional Services (DCS) commissioned a team of researchers from the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) and the School of Social Sciences (SoSS) at UNSW Sydney (the University of New South Wales) to undertake an evaluation of Home Detention (HD) in South Australia (SA). The evaluation aims to examine the impact that recent legislative and program changes have had on: • Offender return to custody rates; • Forecast prisoner and offender growth; • Government expenditure on correctional services; • Victim and community safety and wellbeing; • Those involved in supervising and implementing HISSP/IHISSP; and • Offenders affected by the changes including those subject to HD and their families. This report outlines the progress made to date in the evaluation and presents the findings from a baseline analysis of DCS administrative data; as well as interviews conducted with key stakeholders.

This is the final report from the evaluation of the Integrated Domestic and Family Violence Service program, which was commissioned by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services. Researchers from the Gendered Violence Research Network and the Social Policy Research Centre, both at UNSW Sydney, conducted the evaluation.

Many young people who leave out-of-home care (OOHC) struggle to access the resources they require for independent living. Aftercare services are designed to provide support to young people when they leave care, the kinds of support most other young people receive by matter of course. Understanding how to better resource these young people is essential to improve their wellbeing. Drawing on biographical narrative interviews with 22 young people, this snapshot presents preliminary findings on young people’s experiences of accessing services after leaving OOHC. This is a report from the ARC Linkage Project, Stories of Resourcing and Resourcefulness (LP150100716).

Herein, we present different functionalized meta-stable photoacids in ion-sensors to tune the equilibrium response time. As a proof of concept, two new meta-stable photoacids were synthesized, one contains an ether group and the other has an ester functional group. These functionalized meta-stable photoacids were elucidated in solution of ethanol and in ion-sensing films via pH and kinetic studies. In comparison from our previous work, the response time was reduced from hours to minutes by utilizing an ether functional group in the meta-stable photoacid.

Objective To compare the effectiveness of insulin pumps with multiple daily injections for adults with type 1 diabetes, with both groups receiving equivalent training in flexible insulin treatment.Design Pragmatic, multicentre, open label, parallel group, cluster randomised controlled trial (Relative Effectiveness of Pumps Over MDI and Structured Education (REPOSE) trial).Setting Eight secondary care centres in England and Scotland.Participants Adults with type 1 diabetes who were willing to undertake intensive insulin treatment, with no preference for pumps or multiple daily injections. Participants were allocated a place on established group training courses that taught flexible intensive insulin treatment (“dose adjustment for normal eating,” DAFNE). The course groups (the clusters) were then randomly allocated in pairs to either pump or multiple daily injections.Interventions Participants attended training in flexible insulin treatment (using insulin analogues) structured around the use of pump or injections, followed for two years.Main outcome measures The primary outcomes were a change in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) values (%) at two years in participants with baseline HbA1c value of ≥7.5% (58 mmol/mol), and the proportion of participants achieving an HbA1c value of Results 317 participants (46 courses) were randomised (156 pump and 161 injections). 267 attended courses and 260 were included in the intention to treat analysis, of which 235 (119 pump and 116 injection) had baseline HbA1c values of ≥7.5%. Glycaemic control and rates of severe hypoglycaemia improved in both groups. The mean change in HbA1c at two years was −0.85% with pump treatment and −0.42% with multiple daily injections. Adjusting for course, centre, age, sex, and accounting for missing values, the difference was −0.24% (−2.7 mmol/mol) in favour of pump users (95% confidence interval −0.53 to 0.05, P=0.10). Most psychosocial measures showed no difference, but pump users showed greater improvement in treatment satisfaction and some quality of life domains (dietary freedom and daily hassle) at 12 and 24 months.Conclusions Both groups showed clinically relevant and long lasting decreases in HbA1c, rates of severe hypoglycaemia, and improved psychological measures, although few participants achieved glucose levels currently recommended by national and international guidelines. Adding pump treatment to structured training in flexible intensive insulin treatment did not substantially enhance educational benefits on glycaemic control, hypoglycaemia, or psychosocial outcomes in adults with type 1 diabetes. These results do not support a policy of providing insulin pumps to adults with poor glycaemic control until the effects of training on participants’ level of engagement in intensive self management have been determined.Trial Registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN61215213.

This is the final report of the Early Review of the reform to the NSW Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) Program. The reform, known as Going Home Staying Home (GHSH), was implemented from July 2014. The Early Review was conducted by researchers from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney (the University of New South Wales). The Early Review is the first assessment of the reform transition and focuses on the early implementation of these key strategies. It is intended to assess the new SHS system and data content obtained, identify gaps and data quality aspects, and inform preparations for the planned outcomes and economic evaluation.

This is the second of two evaluation reports on the Better Places, Stronger Communities (BPSC) Program, which is transferring the management of designated South Australian (SA) public housing dwellings to the community housing sector. The Social Policy Research Centre and City Futures Research Centre, both at UNSW Sydney, were commissioned by Housing SA to conduct a longitudinal evaluation of the BPSC Program, where the management of 1,100 public housing dwellings across two estates in Adelaide was transferred to the community housing sector. The two estates are Mitchell Park, managed by Junction Australia, and Elizabeth Grove, managed by AnglicareSA Housing.

This is the first of two evaluation reports on the Better Places, Stronger Communities (BPSC) Program, which is transferring the management of designated South Australian (SA) public housing dwellings to the community housing sector. The Social Policy Research Centre and City Futures Research Centre, both at UNSW Sydney, were commissioned by Housing SA to conduct a longitudinal evaluation of the BPSC Program, where the management of 1,100 public housing dwellings across two estates in Adelaide was transferred to the community housing sector. The two estates are Mitchell Park, managed by Junction Housing, and Elizabeth Grove, managed by AnglicareSA Housing.

Controlled release of odorous molecules is the key to digital scent technology which will add another dimension to electronics. Photorelease is a cold mechanism that promises better temporal and spatial control than thermal release. Herein we report a novel material composed of an acid-sensitive polymer carrying a fragrant aldehyde and a reversible metastable-state photoacid. It releases the fragrant molecule under visible light, and stops releasing it after the light is turned off. A metastable-state photoacid with a fast reverse-reaction rate was developed to quickly stop the release after irradiation. Both the carrier polymer and the photoacid can be reused after all the fragrant molecules have been released. The material combines the advantages of visible-light activity, fast on/off rate, easy preparation, and recyclability, and thus is promising for digital scent technology.

Presented here is a sensing membrane consisting of a modified merocyanine photoacid polymer and a calcium ionophore in plasticized poly(vinyl chloride). This membrane is shown to actively exchange protons with calcium ions when switched ON after illumination at 470 nm, and the exchange can be followed by UV-vis spectroscopy. The sensing membrane shows no response in the ON state when calcium ions are absent. The limit of detection of the sensor is 5.0 × 10(-4) M with an upper detection limit of 1.0 M. Thus, we demonstrate for the first time the use of a visible light activated, lipophilic photoacid polymer in an ion-sensing membrane for calcium ions, which highly discriminates potassium, sodium, and magnesium ions.

Composites of polyaniline in its emeraldine base form (PANI-EB) and photo-acid generators (PAG) show an increase in conductivity upon photo-irradiation due to the protonation of PANI-EB. Such materials may be utilized to fabricate conducting patterns by photo-irradiation. However, the conductivity obtained by direct irradiation of PANI-EB/PAG composites was normally quite low (

Herein we report the formation of the second-ring Diels–Alder adduct together with the central-ring adduct in a reaction of pentacene and tetracyanoethylene at room temperature. DFT calculations showed that the difference between the free energy of the two isomers is about 3.9 kcal/mol. Photo- and thermal-induced isomerization between the central-ring adduct and the second-ring adduct were studied in solution and in polymer films. In solution, the less-stable second-ring adduct can be converted into the more-stable central-ring adduct either thermally or photochemically, but the reverse transformation does not occur. In a polymer matrix, isomerization can be photochemically induced in both directions at different wavelengths, which results in a photoswitchable system. Formation of pentacene in the photochemical experiments was also observed, which supports an isomerization process involving a photo-retro-Diels–Alder reaction.

Composites of the emeraldine base form of polyaniline (PANI-EB) and photo-acid generators (PAGs) increase their conductivities upon photo-irradiation due to protonation of PANI-EB. Such materials may be utilized to fabricate conducting patterns by photo-irradiation. However, the conductivity obtained by direct irradiation of PANI-EB/PAG composites was normally quite low, and conductivity above 10−3 S cm−1 often required post-treatment with HCl. In this work, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), which can form a hydrogen bonding network, was added to PANI-EB/PAG. Results showed that PVA enhanced film quality, conductivity and reproducibility. Photo-induced conductivity of 10−2 S cm−1 was obtained when the ratio of PANI-EB/PVA/PAG was 1:1:0.6. A novel PAG, bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)phenylsulfoniumtriflate [(PhOH)2PhS+ OTf−], which can form hydrogen bonds with PANI was synthesized and mixed with PANI-EB. A composite of PANI-EB and the PAG with a ratio of 1:0.5 achieved a conductivity of 10−1 S cm−1 after irradiation. However, the initial conductivity before irradiation was as high as 10−5 S cm−1 due to relatively high acidity of the PAG.

Photo-retro-Diels-Alder (PrDA) reactions of a variety of Diels-Alder (DA) adducts were studied. Experimental results showed that the photoreactivity (quantum yield) depends on the electron-donating ability of the diene component and the electron-withdrawing ability of the dienophile component. The mechanism was studied by trapping the reaction intermediate, O(2) quenching, time-resolved absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopy. All the results support a mechanism that involves a charge-separated intermediate generated from a singlet excited state. The PrDA reaction may find applications in photoresponsive materials, photolithography, drug delivery, and mechanistic research.

Hair has been proven to be suitable for non-destructive and non-invasive exposure assessments in human and mammal populations. A previous study with European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) showed that, for some metals, hair and spine metal concentrations were positively correlated to levels in liver, kidney and muscle. Although blood has been studied in a wide variety of species, the relationship between hair and blood metal concentrations has yet to be quantified in many mammalian species. Tissue concentrations from hedgehogs residing in a park with known metal pollution were compared with those from a reference park and correlations between contaminant levels in hair and blood, and spines and blood were studied. Moreover, the relative distribution of arsenic and metals in hair, spines and blood was determined. Elevated concentrations were found in hedgehogs residing in the polluted site for As (8.2 microg/g, 6.3 microg/g, 3.6 microg/ml), Cd (0.48 microg/g, 0.17 microg/g, 0.02 microg/ml) and Pb (7.6 microg/g, 7.3 microg/g, 54 microg/ml), in hair, spines and blood respectively. Positive correlations were identified for exposure levels between hair and blood as well as between spines and blood for three elements (As, Cd, and Pb), whereas a negative correlation was found between Cr concentrations in spines and blood. In conclusion, hair and spines can be used to monitor blood concentrations of some metals, although more data are needed on uptake from the food chain and on the incorporation dynamics of these contaminants.

The Western Scheldt river and estuary is known to be highly polluted as it receives industrial, agricultural and domestic effluents from one of the most populated and industrialised zones in Europe. Aquatic organisms are exposed to pollutants, specifically metals that are present in different environmental phases, e.g. dissolved, suspended material or sediment phases. The objective of this study was to study the relationship that exists between environmental metal levels, the degree of metal uptake by aquatic organisms with the concomitant biological responses. For this purpose the bivalve mollusk, Mytilus edulis, was selected as bioaccumulation indicator organism. Environmental (water and sediment) and mussel samples were collected during the late winter (March 2000) from sampling sites in the Scheldt estuary. Sites were selected to represent a salinity gradient from the mouth of the estuary to the furthest distribution area of mussels upstream in the system. Together with standard water quality parameters (e.g. salinity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, etc.) concentrations of twelve metals were analysed in the water (dissolved and suspended matter) and sediments. Levels of these metals were also measured in the soft tissue of M. edulis, together with concomitant biomarker responses in resident mussel populations at each site. The biomarkers that were included in this study were condition index, scope for growth, survival in air, cell membrane stability, DNA damage, and metallothioneins. Data were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis. The physico-chemical parameters and metals in the environmental samples clustered the sites to reflect the distribution based on the salinity gradient. Bioaccumulation results revealed increased metal uptake along a pollution gradient with the highest metal bioaccumulation occurring at the upstream most sites and therefore closest to the in the industrial activities. However, the biomarker responses clustered the sites in a manner that reflected the influence of combination of internal exposure (bioaccumulation) and external exposure (physico-chemical conditions). These differences in biomarker responses clearly demonstrated were attributed to abiotic factors other than metal pollution alone e.g. localized short-term increases in increased suspended sediment concentrations and decreased dissolved oxygen concentrations.

A photoacid that possesses a metastable acidic state induced by visible light is studied. Previous work showed that this photoacid can reversibly produce a large pH change capable of controlling chemical reactions, altering material properties, and killing bacteria. In this work, we studied the relaxation kinetics of the metastable acidic state in different solvents including water, ethanol, and DMSO. In all of these solvents, the kinetic data can be fitted well to a second-order rate equation, which indicates that protonation is involved in the rate-limiting step. The rate constants in water, ethanol, and DMSO are 73, 1.6, and 0.034 M(-1) s(-1), respectively. The slow relaxation in DMSO allowed us to fully characterize the structure of the metastable acidic state using proton NMR. We also measured the quantum yield of the photoreaction, which is as high as 0.37.

A new photoacid that reversibly changes from a weak to a strong acid under visible light was designed and synthesized. Irradiation generated a metastable state with high CH acidity due to high stability of a trifluoromethyl-phenyl-tricyano-furan (CF3 PhTCF) carbanion. This long-lived metastable state allows a large proton concentration to be reversibly produced with moderate light intensity. Reversible pH change of about one unit was demonstrated by using a 0.1 mM solution of the photoacid in 95 % ethanol. The quantum yield was calculated to be as high as 0.24. Kinetics of the reverse process can be fitted well to a second-order-rate equation with k=9.78×10(2) M(-1) s(-1) . Response to visible light, high quantum yield, good reversibility, large photoinduced proton concentration under moderate light intensity, and good compatibility with organic media make this photoacid a promising material for macroscopic control of proton-transfer processes in organic systems.

Conducting polymers are potentially useful materials in sensor applications. Polyaniline is one of the most promising of these materials due to high conductivity and plasma frequencies as high as the midinfrared. The application of this material is still limited because of low conductivity. In this paper, we chemically prepared a composite of co-doped polyaniline with hydrochloric and HMSA (methanesulfonic acid) in aqueous solution with both colloidal and nano-graphite. Solutions of the composite material were prepared in m-cresol and NMP (1-mthyle-2-pyrolidinone), which are common organic solvents. This approach resulted in material with conductivity higher than either intrinsic polyaniline or graphite alone. The solution of the composite was spin coated on suitable substrates. The thicknesses of the films were measured using atomic force microscope (AFM). Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and micro-Raman spectra were collected to confirm the composition and determine the infrared thickness. Surface plasmon resonances for grating patterns of this composite material were calculated using experimental determined infrared (IR) ellipsometry data. The goal is to identify a material which has potential application for surface plasmons resonance sensing with high sensitivity and selectivity in IR range.

Copper uptake and accumulation by the marine mussel Mytilus edulis were studied at different Cu concentrations in chemically defined artificial seawater in the presence and absence of fulvic acids. Both short-term uptake of Cu by excised mussel gills and Cu accumulation in whole mussels after 24 h of exposure decreased in the presence of fulvic acids compared with their absence at similar dissolved Cu concentrations. Calculations of Cu speciation based on previous measurements of labile Cu by anodic stripping voltammetry demonstrated that Cu uptake and accumulation depended on the concentration of labile Cu, in agreement with the free ion activity model. No evidence of a significant uptake of Cufulvic acid complexes was observed. Environ. Toxicol. Chem.

Ilan Katz and kylie valentine, with colleagues from the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC), University of New South Wales will conduct an evaluation of the project. Evaluation has been built into the project model from the outset, and there is a clear intention to examine the effectiveness of the model and the potential for wider implementation. The evaluation will be based on data collected from each of the primary groups involved in the project, and from contextual data on the three project communities. The primary groups involved include: • The parents of children starting school. • Schools. • Early education and care (EEC) services, that is, services whose primary business is delivering early education and care services to children in the prior to school years. For the purposes of the project the term ‘early childhood education and care’ services refers to: kindergarten or pre-school, long day care and family day care. • Local government. • Child and Family services, including organisations, groups and agencies whose primary business is delivering health, family support, advocacy and advice services to young children and their families. Example of Child and Family services are maternal and child health, playgroups, pre-school field officers, neighbourhood renewal, libraries etc. This document updates and replaces the original evaluation framework published as an appendix to the baseline or Time 1 (T1) evaluation report (valentine and Dinning, 2009). The most significant change is the expansion of process evaluation methodologies with the addition of primary data collection., Report 4/10

The UK initiative Sure Start is probably the most ambitious attempt of any government to improve the outcomes of children living in disadvantaged areas. Unlike programs in the United States, which have a longer history and are targeted at individual children, Sure Start has an ecological focus that comes from theoretical research and empirical evidence on the importance of family and neighbourhood to how children fare. Sure Start shares several characteristics with current Australian initiatives and is based in some cases on identical research. Moreover, the long history of intellectual exchange and networking between the UK and Australia, and the impact of new information technologies on research, policy and practice dissemination, means a great deal of traffic between Sure Start and Australian programs takes place. The Social Policy Research Centre was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) to focus on the policy developments that led to the establishment of Sure Start and the move from Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) to Sure Start Children’s Centres. A second strand of the research focused on the Australian experience of similar initiatives. This strand investigated the influence of Sure Start and other international programs on early-years intervention in Australia, and the extent to which the lessons from Sure Start are relevant and have been taken on board. Research in the UK was undertaken in April 2005 and in Australia between October 2005 and February 2006., SPRC Report Series 2/09