Using photovoice to generate solutions to improve food security among families living in remote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia.

The right to food security has been recognised internationally, and nationally in Australia by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. This study aims to explore food (in)security and solutions for improvement of food security in remote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia, from the perspective of caregivers of children within the context of the family using photovoice. Participants took part in workshops discussing participant photographs of food (in)security, including solutions. Themes and sub-themes with associated solutions included traditional food use, sharing as a part of culture, the cost of healthy food, energy and transport, and housing and income. Community leaders used these data in setting priorities for advocacy to improve food security in their communities.

"It's gotta be done right way": a qualitative study exploring the acceptability of a proposed longitudinal cohort study of young Aboriginal children in Alice Springs.

There is a need for quality longitudinal data on the health and well-being of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (hereafter Aboriginal) in Alice Springs that can be used for research, planning and evaluation. The primary aim of this descriptive qualitative study was to determine whether or not a proposed cohort study would be acceptable to the local community. The proposed cohort study will prospectively examine various factors, events and exposures in early life that give Aboriginal children the best chance to grow up strong and lead a healthy happy life. Decisions on specific priority issues to be addressed and study procedures will be determined by local Aboriginal researchers and community members during a future co-design phase. 27 semi-structured interviews and 3 focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with a range of community stakeholders and parents/caregivers of young Aboriginal children from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. Audio recorded data were transcribed and imported into NVivo12 qualitative software for reflexive thematic analysis. Three major themes concerning acceptability of the concept were constructed from the analysis: (1) Have to be mindful, (2) Duplication of data, and (3) "It's gotta be done right way". There was general support for the concept, however, many participants felt that a cautious and slow approach was necessary. Recommendations included focusing on building trust, taking it slow, and ensuring the study is conducted by local Aboriginal researchers. Barriers to feasibility noted included the high mobility of families, competing demands, and privacy concerns. Findings from this qualitative study support the feasibility and acceptability of a future cohort study of young Aboriginal children in Alice Springs. Leadership from respected local Aboriginal researchers and key stakeholders will be critical to its success.

Gas-phase and solution studies of three resorcin[4]arene derivatives using electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has been used to study the relative gas-phase proton and alkali metal (Li, Na, K and Cs) binding affinities of three different resorcin[4]arenes using the kinetic method. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) was used to study the fragmentation of resorcin[4]arene heterodimer sandwich complexes, allowing the relative binding affinity order to be established. All the alkali metal cations have the same gas-phase binding affinity order with the resorcin[4]arene host molecules. At collision energies of > or = 13eV, one of the [resorcin[4]arene+Metal]+, (Metal = Li, Na, K) ions fragmented through break-up of the resorcin[4]arene, whilst the other host resorcin[4]arene remained intact, causing an apparent change in binding affinity at high collision energy. This effect was not observed with caesium, since all complex ions dissociated readily under CID by displacement of the caesium cation. The binding affinity for the protonated resorcin[4]arenes was found to be different from the alkali metal cation binding affinity because of the higher proton affinity of the nitrogen-containing resorcin[4]arenes. It is shown that resorcin[4]arenes containing an oxazine ring can be converted into a ring-opened derivative via an Eschweiler-CLarke reaction in the presence of formic acid. A second ring-opening process also occurs, including a hydrolysis reaction that results in apparent Losses of 12 mass units from the intact resorcin[4]arene. Both these reactions occur in solution before mass spectrometric investigation and cannot be achieved by CID. This observation was confirmed by inducing the Eschweiter-CLarke reaction in a model benzoxazine compound.

Submillimeter Lateral Displacement Enables Friction Sensing and Awareness of Surface Slipperiness.

Human tactile perception and motor control rely on the frictional estimates that stem from the deformation of the skin and slip events. However, it is not clear how exactly these mechanical events relate to the perception of friction. This study aims to quantify how minor lateral displacement and speed enables subjects to feel frictional differences. In a 2-alternative forced-choice protocol, an ultrasonic friction-reduction device was brought in contact perpendicular to the skin surface of an immobilized index finger; after reaching 1N normal force, the plate was moved laterally. A combination of four displacement magnitudes (0.2, 0.5, 1.2 and 2 mm), two levels of friction (high, low) and three displacement speeds (1, 5 and 10 mm/s) were tested. We found that the perception of frictional difference was enabled by submillimeter range lateral displacement. Friction discrimination thresholds were reached with lateral displacements ranging from 0.2 to 0.5 mm and surprisingly speed had only a marginal effect. These results demonstrate that partial slips are sufficient to cause awareness of surface slipperiness. These quantitative data are crucial for designing haptic devices that render slipperiness. The results also show the importance of subtle lateral finger movements present during dexterous manipulation tasks.

Alkynylcopper(I) polymers and their use in a mechanistic study of alkyne-azide click reactions.

Polymeric dinuclear alkynylcopper(I) complexes, for example phenylethynylcopper(I), can be prepared by a robust method involving the interaction of terminal alkynes with copper(II) salts in acetonitrile. The use of the ladder polymers provides heterogeneous catalysts for copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions and provides important mechanistic information.