University of the Sunshine Coast
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Health Conscious and Confused: Why ‘Healthy’ Trade Marks Matter to Consumers
No full textIntellectual Property and Agriculture addresses the important but largely neglected question of intellectual property’s relationship to the production, processing, marketing, and circulation of agricultural inputs, products, and practices. Together with an original introduction this comprehensive two-volume set brings together scholars from law, history, anthropology, science and technology studies, economics, and plant science who write on plants and plant genetic resources, late twentieth century international intellectual property agreements, and geographical indications of origin. [Book Synopsis]First published: Jay Sanderson (2016), ‘Health Conscious and Confused: Why ‘Healthy’ Trade Marks Matter to Consumers’, UNSW Law Journal, 39 (2), July, 658–83</a
Development and application of ‘systems thinking’ principles for quality improvement
No full textIntroduction ‘Systems thinking’ is often recommended in healthcare to support quality and safety activities but a shared understanding of this concept and purposeful guidance on its application are limited. Healthcare systems have been described as complex where human adaptation to localised circumstances is often necessary to achieve success. Principles for managing and improving system safety developed by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL; a European intergovernmental air navigation organisation) incorporate a ‘Safety-II systems approach’ to promote understanding of how safety may be achieved in complex work systems. We aimed to adapt and contextualise the core principles of this systems approach and demonstrate the application in a healthcare setting.
Methods The original EUROCONTROL principles were adapted using consensus-building methods with front-line staff and national safety leaders.
Results Six interrelated principles for healthcare were agreed. The foundation concept acknowledges that ‘most healthcare problems and solutions belong to the system’. Principle 1 outlines the need to seek multiple perspectives to understand system safety. Principle 2 prompts us to consider the influence of prevailing work conditions—demand, capacity, resources and constraints. Principle 3 stresses the importance of analysing interactions and work flow within the system. Principle 4 encourages us to attempt to understand why professional decisions made sense at the time and principle 5 prompts us to explore everyday work including the adjustments made to achieve success in changing system conditions.
A case study is used to demonstrate the application in an analysis of a system and in the subsequent improvement intervention design.
Conclusions Application of the adapted principles underpins, and is characteristic of, a holistic systems approach and may aid care team and organisational system understanding and improvement
The Relationship Between Physical Fitness Qualities and Sport-Specific Technical Skills in Female, Team-Based Ball Players: A Systematic Review
No full textBackground:
Understanding the relationships between physical fitness attributes and sport-specific technical skills may assist with the establishment of beneficial training interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to determine if physical fitness qualities were associated with performance of sport-specific technical skills in female, team-based ball players.
Methods:
Five databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, ProQuest, and Scopus) were searched for relevant studies up to April 15, 2019. Full-text articles investigating relationships between physical fitness and sport-specific technical skills in female, team-based ball players were included. Methodological quality of included studies was appraised using a modified Downs and Black checklist. Data synthesis was conducted to determine the summary of evidence based on the number of significantly associated relationships divided by the total relationships assessed. An individual relationship was defined as a reported result examining the association between a single physical fitness variable and a single sport-specific technical skill.
Results:
Data synthesis of grouped female ball players from 41 included studies revealed three clear associations: (i) body composition and defensive technical skills (19/29; 66%), (ii) agility and movement with a ball (4/6; 67%), and (iii) coordination and movement with a ball (3/5; 60%). An uncertain association exists between cardiorespiratory fitness and defensive technical skills (2/5; 40%). No association or an unknown conclusion (< 5 relationships reported) exists between all remaining physical fitness attributes and sport-specific technical skills. Sub-analyses revealed clear associations between body composition and throwing/shooting (using hands) in junior ball players (15/15; 100%) and with movement with a ball in elite (6/9; 67%) and senior (6/6; 100%) ball players. Three uncertain associations were found between offensive technical skills and agility in elite ball players (3/8; 38%), and with speed in elite (6/14; 43%) and junior (7/18; 39%) female ball players.
Conclusion
There is limited evidence available to demonstrate relationships between physical fitness qualities and sport-specific technical skills in female, team-based ball players. This lack of association is possibly due to reductionist methods in available literature and a lack of research in female ball players globally
The use of post‐mortem lividity to determine sleep position in sudden unexpected deaths in infancy
No full textAim:
To compare parental reports of position found in sudden unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI) to autopsy reports of lividity, to more accurately classify infant sleep position.
Methods:
Cases of SUDI in Queensland between 2010 and 2014 were reviewed to determine the position in which infants were reported to have been placed and found. This was compared to the distribution of post‐mortem lividity at autopsy. Evidence of lividity present during early death scene investigation was also recorded.
Results:
There was a discordance between the position an infant was reported to have been found and the position of lividity at autopsy in 22/228 SUDI (9.6%). All infants had anterior lividity despite 13 reportedly found supine, three on their side, and six in an unknown position. Using anterior lividity at autopsy to change the position found increased the proportion of prone infants from 37.7% to 47.4%. In 47.8% cases, anterior or lateral lividity reported at the scene was no longer present at autopsy.
Conclusion:
Previously published odds ratios may have under estimated the risk of sudden infant death associated with prone sleep position. SUDI death scene investigation protocols should require photographic documentation of lividity prior to transporting an infant
Presenteeism among health care workers with laboratory-confirmed influenza infection: A retrospective cohort study in Queensland, Australia
No full textBackground: A high prevalence of working while ill (presenteeism) has been documented among health care workers (HCWs). However, previous evidence is primarily based on nonspecific causes of sickness and self-reported data. Our study examined presenteeism among HCWs with laboratory-confirmed influenza. Methods: The data pertaining to laboratory-confirmed influenza cases and history of sick leave among HCWs in Queensland, Australia, were collected from 2009-2015. The incidence and duration of sick leave around the time of disease confirmation were analyzed. The associations of factors, such as job category and employment status, on presenteeism were assessed with regression analyses. Results: The overall sick leave incidence was 85.9% in the laboratory-confirmed periods, which translates that 14.1% of HCWs were working while ill with influenza. Among medical doctors, approximately one-quarter of them were attending work in the period. A shorter duration of leave was also observed among medical doctors and full-time employees compared with other HCWs and part-time employees. Conclusions: Presenteeism among HCWs with influenza put both HCWs and patients at risk by increasing potential for transmission. Our findings emphasize the importance of an integrated approach including both HCW sick leave management and vaccination for strategic prevention and control of nosocomial influenza infection
Development and validation of the Australian Midwifery Standards Assessment Tool (AMSAT) to the Australian Midwife Standards for Practice 2018
No full textBackground: The Australian Midwifery Standards Assessment Tool (AMSAT) was developed against the Competency Standards for the Midwife in 2017 to enable consistent assessment of midwifery student performance in practice-based settings. The AMSAT requires revision and re-validation as the competency standards have now been superseded by the Midwife Standards for Practice 2018. Objective: This research revised and validated the AMSAT to assess performance of midwifery students against the Midwife Standards for Practice 2018 and assessed its sensitivity. Design: A mixed-methods approach was used in a two-phase process. Phase one involved the re-wording of the AMSAT and behavioural cue statements in an iterative participatory process with midwifery academics, assessors and students. The tool was field-tested in different assessment environments in phase two. Completed assessment forms were statistically analyzed, whilst assessor surveys were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Findings: Analysis of AMSAT (n = 255) indicates the tool as: internally reliable (Cronbach alpha > .9); valid (eigenvalue of 16.6 explaining 67% of variance); and sensitive (score analysis indicating increased levels of proficiency with progressive student experience). Analysis of surveys (n = 108) found acceptance of the tool for the purpose of summative and formative assessment, and in the provision of feedback to midwifery students on their performance. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the re-developed AMSAT is a valid, reliable and acceptable tool to assess midwifery students’ performance against the Australian Midwife Standards for Practice This user-friendly tool can be used to standardize midwifery student assessment in Australia and enable continued benchmarking across education programs
A review of attachment‐based parenting interventions: Recent advances and future considerations
No full textResearch evidence has shown that in childhood, a secure attachment to a reliable caregiver is important for future mental health and well‐being. The theoretical and research basis for attachment theory continues to grow. As attachment theory has become more widely adopted there are challenges and opportunities both theoretically and in terms of its clinical use. Disordered attachment has been linked to psychopathology including internalising and externalising disorders. However, there are ongoing implications for researchers and clinicians as only the most extreme forms of attachment disorders are included in the current diagnostic systems. A wide range of reliable and validated observational assessments to classify attachment are available. Owing to the growing popularity of attachment‐based interventions there is a need to develop assessments which are practical for use in clinical settings. The use of attachment‐based parenting interventions in clinical settings is increasing as they have been found to be effective and relevant. This growth presents opportunities to further refine these interventions, so they are easy to deliver in clinical practice and tailored to different populations. Attachment‐based interventions are being widely used in Australia, and this has led to a need to understand and adapt the theory, assessments, and interventions to this context. Attachment‐based interventions demonstrate the importance of relationships and provide an important tool to support children and families. For psychologists here in Australia there are many opportunities to develop measures and interventions based on attachment theory that fit into the Australia context
'Touch it, swipe it, shake it': Does the emergence of haptic touch in mobile retailing advertising improve its effectiveness?
No full textThis article illustrates that haptic touch, the sensation of gaining and sending information through the hand, can improve mobile retailing advertisements’ effectiveness. To date, (haptic) touch has been predominantly thought of as a sensation only possible for physical retail settings, with limited theoretical or empirical evidence of its existence in mobile retailing advertising in the current literature. This study presents a model which includes interactivity, value, involvement, brand attitude and purchase intentions in a singular model for the first time. The model is comparatively examined across haptic touch (n = 303) versus non-haptic touch (n = 359) conditions using structural equation modelling (SEM) multi-group test of invariance. The findings demonstrate haptic touch improves the experience of advertisements and this strengthens purchase intentions, whereas for the non-haptic touch condition, results demonstrate the actual brand being advertised should be leveraged to increase purchase intentions. These findings present a new theoretical perspective that haptic touch is now a sensation which can be engaged in mobile and digital retail settings and provides an important foundation for future research
Silvicultural treatment effects on commercial timber volume and functional composition of a selectively logged Australian tropical forest over 48 years
No full textPost-logging silvicultural treatments involving thinning are commonly recommended to increase the commercial timber production under polycyclic harvesting regimes in tropical forests. However, thinning practices intentionally designed to improve commercial timber production may alter species composition and functional composition. Low, medium, and high intensity thinning following logging plus a logged only control was applied in an Australian tropical forest in 1969 to assess the long-term liberation thinning impacts on the commercial timber volume and the functional composition of the regenerating forest. Over 46 years following thinning, only medium- and high-intensity thinning promoted recruitment of commercial trees into the >10 cm diameter class. All three thinning treatments enhanced the standing volume of most desirable commercial species, mainly driven by the growth of remaining non-harvested trees in the 10–20 cm diameter class. The merchantable timber volume of other less desirable species was also promoted in the four treatments. Over the first 28 years after treatment (1969–1997), the average annual timber volume accumulation rate was highest in the medium-intensity thinning (1.97 m3 ha−1 year−1). The positive impacts of medium- and high-intensity thinning on commercial timber volume growth lasted longer than the low-intensity thinning. From 1997 to 2015, average annual volume increments increased in the medium- and high-intensity thinning, changed little in the low-intensity thinning, and decreased in the untreated control. Moreover, the medium- and high-intensity thinning led the community functional composition to shift towards early-successional species, which reduced community-weighted mean wood densities. The changes induced by intensive thinning treatments may affect the recovery of forest biomass and biodiversity. Hence, the trade-off between enhancing timber stocks and maintaining functional composition should be considered during planning and implementation of tropical forest management
Paternity analysis and SNP development for Osmanthus fragrans ‘pucheng dangui’ using SLAF-SEQ
No full textOsmanthus fragrans ‘Pucheng Dangui’ is a new ornamental and urban-greening plant variety developed through long-term natural and artificial selection. Urban and rural horticultural industries in Pucheng County, Fujian Province, China, have developed rapidly and many nurseries now grow O. fragrans ‘Pucheng Dangui’ by cuttings. We developed a paternity test and SNP markers for O. fragrans ‘Pucheng Dangui’ using SLAF-seq to identify the fine variety O. fragrans ‘Pucheng Dangui’ based on molecular research. The genome sequence of Fraxinus excelsior was used as the reference to predict restriction enzyme digestion for O. fragrans ‘Pucheng Dangui’. Restriction enzyme digestion fragments between 400 and 480 bp length were defined as SLAF tags digested by the enzyme Hpy166II+EcoRV-HF®. A total of 413,743 SLAF tags was identified, of which 113,061 polymorphic SLAF tags and 353,073 population SNPs were derived. Analysis of the phylogenetic tree, the population admixture structure, the admixture K value cross validation error rate, and the PCA clustering figure showed that all 29 plant samples belonged to the same population, with no significant differences detected between samples. This comprehensive analysis of DNA polymorphisms provided valuable insights into the different individuals or populations of O. fragrans ‘Pucheng Dangui’ and it provided producers and vendors with confidence in the source of their plant material. This results provides a reliable method for researchers to identify O. fragrans ‘Pucheng Dangui’ from other O. fragransspecies or varieties by the molecular approach. The identification of intraspecific genetic variations also provides the basis for further development of individual plant analysis, identification and introgression breeding in other species