University of the Sunshine Coast
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Psychological distress is highly prevalent in inflammatory bowel disease: A survey of psychological needs and attitudes
No full textBackground and Aim:
Data on patient needs and access to psychological services in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are scarce. This study aimed to describe the levels of distress and the needs, attitudes, and access to psychological services for people within Australia against established Australian IBD Standards.
Methods:
An online cross‐sectional survey was conducted with Australians ≥16 years old recruited via Crohn's & Colitis Australia membership, public and private clinics, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. K10 was used to measure psychological distress. The Chi‐square test was used to compare those with and without distress on key variables.
Results:
Overall, 731 respondents provided complete data (71.5% female, mean age 46.5 years). Overall, 50% of respondents reported distress; only 15.2% were currently seeing a mental health practitioner; only 16.1% were asked about their mental health by their IBD specialist or IBD nurse; and only 12.2% reported access to a mental health practitioner as part of their IBD service. Those with psychological distress were significantly less satisfied with their IBD care; more commonly hospitalized; had an active disease, fistula or perianal disease, pain, or fatigue; and were receiving steroids, opioids, or antidepressants (all P < 0.05). As many as 68.2% of those with severe distress were not seeing a mental health practitioner.
Conclusions:
The integrated biopsychosocial model of health care, with regular mental health screening and good access to mental health professionals, is requested by people living with IBD to improve their outcomes
The fox and the beach: Coastal landscape topography and urbanisation predict the distribution of carnivores at the edge of the sea
No full textMitigating the impact of invasive species is a global conservation challenge, which requires an understanding of the factors that drive the distribution, abundance, and ecological interactions of invaders. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are a widespread and abundant invasive omnivore in Australia. They are common in dunes and coastal areas that abut marine shorelines, which provide abundant food resources in the form of carrion. They are considered a key threatening process to Australia’s biodiversity. The global literature posits that foxes use a broad mix of habitats, leading to an expectation of few consistent associations of foxes with landscape attributes and human uses of beaches and coastal dunes – this is the fundamental hypothesis tested here.
Fox distribution was comprehensively mapped in Eastern Australia (108 km of shoreline, 192 sites, 6900 h of wildlife camera footage) and related (general additive models) to a range of potential drivers (e.g. topographic features, habitat types, urbanisation, connectivity, dogs, fox removal) on ocean beaches.
Notwithstanding the catholic nature of red foxes elsewhere, here we show that habitat use by red foxes along ocean beaches is not indiscriminate: more foxes occur on beaches backed by high dunes and large expanses of natural vegetation. Conversely, significantly fewer foxes occur where natural dune habitats have been lost to urban areas. Fox removal did not affect fox distributions.
Foxes are functionally important carnivores in coastal landscapes, and their disjunct distribution demonstrated by us suggests a spatially heterogeneous functional signal in coastal food-webs. More broadly, sandy beach ecosystems, interspersed by urban development, dominate many coasts, offering a rich bio-geographic tapestry to test how models of fox habitat choice articulate into invasive species management and food-web interactions
(Re)Birthing the Academy: Unruly Daughters Striving for Feminist Futures
No full textIn this chapter, the authors argue for the (re)birthing of the academy in ways that would support academic women in their responsibilities for the care of others. They explore how the two institutions of the university and motherhood have been constructed without reference to women/mothers. They then fast forward to the present where women and mothers are present within academe. This sets the scene for four vignettes of the kinds of university the authors, as feminist academics, dream of giving birth to: a university that is more human, more interconnected in time and space, more organic, more family-friendly. By bringing their children and grandchildren into their workspaces, normalising motherhood within academic life, and challenging dominant discriminatory practices, they begin to live this future university
A Study of Educational Resilience Amongst African Refugees in South East Queensland
No full textThis thesis is a calling to the Egberi, where the researcher tells a ‘story’ of the educational resilience of ten African refugee students in Brisbane, Queensland. Such stories are intended to be educational. It is hoped that this thesis makes the case that richer futures for African refugee students, and also for Australian society at large, are to be gained through a wider understanding of educational resilience. The drive to take on this project comes from the researcher’s own experience as an African émigré to Australia. It also arises from her appreciation of resilience borne of social and relational processes, grounded in a unique African cultural process known to the world as Ubuntu, with its roots embedded in the concept of Ukama.
The thesis approaches this resilience through the lens of cultural and critical futures studies (Inayatullah, 2002; Richard A Slaughter, 2004). It takes note of the impact of the past, the challenges and opportunities of the present and call of the future in the decision-making and assumptions of ten African refugees. Yet, to look to the future requires that we first look to the past, to the cultural experiences that inform this research. Therefore, the thesis interrogates the legacy of African and Australian pasts along with the contemporary forces at work in the lives of the interviewees and their communities. This inquiry is built around the Futures Triangle which offers a meta-structure for the thesis as a whole. Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) is applied in the final chapters as the critical tool to synthesise the insights from the interviews in order to generate a set of heuristic metaphors, two of which are applied to explore alternatives to the deficit model of African refugee students and point to a set of recommendations for higher education institutions, educators and policy makers.
Ultimately, the thesis introduces a new and potent futures persona: the African Australian. This persona is strategically employed to link educational resilience to the rich resources of Ubuntu and Ukama drawn from African cultures and the strategic choices these students make in their new Australian context. Thus, educational resilience is understood as a hybrid capacity that challenges dominant deficit stereotypes of the African refugee and underscores the agency and resilience of the students interviewed for this research
Fitness benefits of male dominance behaviours depend on the degree of individual inbreeding in a polyandrous lizard
No full textIn polyandrous species, sexual selection extends beyond mating competition to selection for egg fertilization. As a result, the degree to which factors influencing mating success impact overall reproductive success becomes variable. Here, we used a longitudinal behavioural and genetic dataset for a population of eastern water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii) to investigate the degree to which male dominance, a pre-mating selection trait, influences overall reproductive success, measured as the number of surviving offspring. Moreover, we examine the interactive effects with a genetic trait, individual inbreeding, known to influence the reproductive success of males in this species. We found fitness benefits of male dominance, measured as body size and frequency of dominance behaviours displayed. However, individuals' propensity to display dominance behaviours had mixed effects, depending on the degree of inbreeding. While inbred males benefited from frequent displays, highly outbred males exhibited better reproductive outputs when displaying to a lesser extent. Given that outbred males have enhanced reproductive success in this species, the costs of displaying dominance behaviours may outweigh the benefits. Overall, our results demonstrate the fitness benefits of dominance in a polyandrous lizard, and suggest that these are modulated by an independent genetic trait. Our results may contribute to explaining the presence of alternative mating tactics in this species, owing to the variability in net fitness benefits of dominance. Our findings also reveal the challenges associated with investigating fitness traits in isolation, which may undermine the validity of results when important interactions are ignored
Comparing the impact of management support on police officers’ perceptions of discretionary power and engagement: Australia, USA and Malta
No full textThis paper uses Social Exchange Theory as a lens for comparing the impact of management support upon police perceptions of discretionary power and employee engagement, across three countries. A survey-based, self-report process collected data from 193 police officers in Australia, 588 from the USA, and 249 from Malta. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The findings suggest a significantly different management support context across the three countries, as well as significantly different perceptions of discretionary power. Across the three countries, police perceived relatively poor satisfaction with organizational management support and only some engagement levels. However, USA police perceived significantly more discretionary power than the other country samples. These findings provide greater clarity about the link between management support, discretionary power and engagement for the police officers. Since employee engagement likely affects policing outcomes, the findings suggest that poor management support of police officers could negatively affect the provided service. Potential strategies to enhance police engagement include (a) training police managers about how to manage so as to promote greater engagement, and (b) modifying police managers’ performance indicators in line with achieving better police engagement. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou
Manipulating Chain Type and Flail Drum Speed for Better Fibre Recovery in Chain-Flail Delimber-Debarker-Chipper Operations
No full textA chain-flail delimber-debarker-chipper (CFDDC) was adapted for treating smaller trees than normal by replacing the standard flails with lighter ones, and by reducing flail drum rotation speed. The machine produced 16 full containers (24 t each) for the standard configuration and 24 full containers for the innovative one. For each container the researchers measured: original tree mass, chip mass, time consumption and fuel use. Results indicated that the innovative setting accrued a 12% improvement on fiber recovery compared with the standard setting (control). At the same time, productivity increased by 20% and fuel consumption was reduced by 30%. Product quality was largely unaffected, with bark content remaining below the 1% threshold specification. If at all, product quality was improved through the reduction of fine particles, possibly derived from less diffused fraying. These results have triggered the real scale adoption of the new setting by contractors who participated in the study. The success of the innovative treatment is likely explained by its better alignment with the weaker structure of small trees from low-yielding stands
Venom Peptides with Dual Modulatory Activity on the Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel NaV1.1 Provide Novel Leads for Development of Antiepileptic Drugs
No full textVoltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels play a fundamental role in normal neurological function, especially via the initiation and propagation of action potentials. The NaV1.1 subtype is found in inhibitory interneurons of the brain and it is essential for maintaining a balance between excitation and inhibition in neuronal networks. Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations of SCN1A, the gene encoding NaV1.1, underlie Dravet syndrome (DS), a severe pediatric epilepsy. We recently demonstrated that selective inhibition of NaV1.1 inactivation prevents seizures and premature death in a mouse model of DS. Thus, selective modulators of NaV1.1 might be useful therapeutics for treatment of DS as they target the underlying molecular deficit. Numerous scorpion-venom peptides have been shown to modulate the activity of NaV channels, but little is known about their activity at NaV1.1. Here we report the isolation, sequence, three-dimensional structure, recombinant production, and functional characterization of two peptidic modulators of NaV1.1 from venom of the buthid scorpion Hottentotta jayakari. These peptides, Hj1a and Hj2a, are potent agonists of NaV1.1 (EC50 of 17 and 32 nM, respectively), and they present dual α/β activity by modifying both the activation and inactivation properties of the channel. NMR studies of rHj1a indicate that it adopts a cystine-stabilized αβ fold similar to known scorpion toxins. Although Hj1a and Hj2a have only limited selectivity for NaV1.1, their unusual dual mode of action provides an alternative approach to the development of selective NaV1.1 modulators for the treatment of DS
Very frequent burning encourages tree growth in sub-tropical Australian eucalypt forest
No full textFrequent fire often has a negative impact of tree recruitment and growth. Tree growth rates, density and recruitment were compared among treatments of annual burning since 1952, triennial burning since 1973 and no burning (1946 to 1996) or single wildfire (1996 to 2018), in a dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest, south-eastern Queensland, Australia. Tree diameter (at breast height, DBH) growth rates were greater in the annually burnt treatment than in the triennially burn and single wildfire treatments over the period from 1974 to 2018, and these differences were also apparent pre-wildfire (period from 1974 to 1996). In the period from 1996 to 2018, the annually burnt treatment had greater DBH growth relative to the single wildfire treatment, but the triennial treatment had intermediate growth rates. Competitive interactions between trees (assessed using plot basal area) also had a negative impact on individual tree growth rates. The impacts of different fire regimes at this site on tree crown health were not apparent (P > 0.05) and there was only limited evidence that differences in growth rates were due to differences in soil nutrients (marginally higher topsoil phosphorus in the frequently burnt treatments, P = 0.075). Greater tree growth rates in the annually burnt treatment may be related to the lower density of understorey woody plants in this treatment and potentially reduced competition for soil moisture. The density of trees (DBH ≥ 10 cm) in 2018 was surprisingly higher in the triennially burnt treatment (381 stems/ha) relative to both the annually burnt (192 stems/ha) and single wildfire (234 stems/ha) treatments. This was largely due a higher level of recruitment over time and a higher density of stems 10–20 cm DBH in triennially burnt plots. Concerns regarding the impacts of frequent prescribed fire on tree recruitment and growth may be unwarranted in these remarkably resilient dry eucalypt forests