University of the Sunshine Coast
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Longitudinal study of the attitudes of pre-service teachers at an Australian Catholic University to key aspects of faith-based education: Some conundrums to ponder
No full textThis chapter reports on a longitudinal study of the opinions, beliefs and attitudes of pre-service teachers at an Australian Catholic University. The purpose of the study was to track students’ thinking regarding the aims of education, approaches to teaching and learning and the purposes of schooling and the identifying characteristics of Catholic schools. Students completed a survey that contained closed and open questions at the beginning of their first year and towards the end of their fourth year. The longitudinal study cohort consists of the sixty students who completed the survey on both occasions. The findings suggest that first-year students had a strong commitment to holistic educational aims, purposes and practices and that this commitment increased during their time at university. From a given list of 15 characteristics of the Catholic school, the generic item, ‘caring community’, was rated and ranked ahead of all explicitly faith-based options. While students’ levels of religiosity increased over the duration of the programme, the perceived importance of the faith-based purpose of schools was very low in 2014 and almost non-existent in 2017. These responses are discussed in the light of Sockett's (2008) four models of teacher education and the implications for the identity of Catholic schools are considered
Acinetobacter baumannii detected on modified-charcoal-cefoperazone-deoxycholate agar in a waste stabilisation pond
No full textNo abstract available
Response to "Paradise Lost? New National Heart Foundation of Australia Guidelines on Heart Failure Fail to Recognise the Intensity of Exercise Evidence"
No full textNo abstract available
Climate change adaptation options for coastal communities and local governments
No full textExtreme weather events and failure to adapt to the likely impacts of climate change are two of the most significant threats to humanity. Therefore, many local communities are preparing adaptation plans. While so, much of what was done has not been published in the peer-reviewed literature. This means that consideration of adaptation options for local communities is limited. With the objective of assisting on the development of adaptation plans, here we present 80 adaptation options as suitable for coastal communities and can be applied by local governments. They are a catena of options from defend to co-exist and finally retreat that progresses as impacts become less manageable. Options are organized according to their capacity to protect local properties and infrastructure, natural systems, food production, availability of fresh and drinking water and well-being of the local population, as these are likely to be affected by climate change. To respond to multiple threats, ‘soft’ options of awareness raising, planning, political articulation and financial incentives, insurance and professional skills enhancement can be encouraged immediately at relatively low cost and are reversible. For specific threats, options emphasize change in management practices as pre-emptive measures. Key audiences for this work are communities and local governments starting to consider priority actions to respond to climate change impacts
Assessing the construct validity of nutrient profiling models for restricting the marketing of foods to children in South Africa
No full textBackground: In an effort to combat childhood obesity the WHO has called on governments to restrict the marketing of unhealthy foods to children. Regulators have turned to nutrient profiling (NP) to provide the evidence for their decisions. This has resulted in the development of NP models, of which the validity of only a few have been established. The aim of this study was to assess the construct validity of various NP models for the purpose of restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children in South Africa by comparing the classification of foods by the models to the ranking of the same foods by registered dietitians. Methods: Six current NP models were identified, then a representative food database of 120 foods was developed and each individual food was classified by each of the six models. Lastly dietitians were recruited to rank the healthfulness of the same 120 foods. Results: Dietitians allowed 24% of the included foods for marketing to children, whereas the percentage of foods allowed by the included models ranged from 7 to 47%. Majority of pairwise comparisons between the NP models and dietitians yielded ҡ statistics >0.6, indicating substantial agreement. An almost perfect pairwise agreement was found between dietitians and the WHO Regional Office for Europe model. Conclusion: The included NP models displayed good construct validity by agreeing with dietitians on what are ‘less healthy’ foods, thus the foods not allowed for marketing. The findings of this study contributes to the process of establishing validity of NP models
"It is frustrating to not have control even though I know it's not legal!": A mixed-methods investigation on applications to prevent mobile phone use while driving
No full textMobile phone distracted driving is a major risk factor for crashes. However, this behaviour has been increasing in recent years. Effective enforcement of mobile phone bans while driving faces several obstacles; as such, it is important to consider additional countermeasures. Applications designed to prevent distracted driving are a promising solution, yet more research is needed that examines their effectiveness in reducing dangerous phone use while driving behaviours. Additionally, these applications are voluntary in nature; therefore, an understanding of drivers' perceptions of the applications is necessary to determine how to improve uptake. A mixed methods design was utilised to examine these factors in a comprehensive manner. A total of 40 participants used the smartphone application "Do Not Disturb While Driving" for iOS phone operating systems or "Android Auto" for Android phone operating systems for approximately one week and completed three diary entries reporting on their experience. Two questionnaires that examined phone use while driving behaviours were also administered to participants; one before and one after completing the study. The quantitative results found that engagement in 1) visual-manual, 2) cognitive-auditory and 3) music mobile phone interactions significantly decreased while using the application. Distraction engagement and mental workload while driving also significantly decreased while using the application. The qualitative results identified a number of areas of improvement that need to be addressed, e.g. activation of the application and Bluetooth connection reliability. The features that required improvement presented an obstacle for effective use of the applications, and in some cases resulted in drivers deciding to stop using the application. Positive perceptions of the application were associated with the experiences of the application functioning appropriately and activating automatically. These results show that applications designed for voluntary use to prevent mobile phone distracted driving are a promising countermeasure, although current applications require several improvements
Sequential delivery of synergistic drugs by silica nanocarriers for enhanced tumour treatment
No full textHerein hybrid silica nanoparticles have been engineered to direct the sequential delivery of multiple chemotherapeutic drugs in response to external stimuli such as variations in pH. The nanocarriers consist of conventional MCM-41-type nanoparticles, which have been functionalised with an organic ligand (or stalk) grafted onto the external surface. The stalk is designed to “recognise” a complementary molecule, which serves as a “cap” to block the pores of the nanoparticles. First, camptothecin is introduced into the pores by diffusion prior to capping the pore apertures via molecular recognition. The cap, which is a derivative of 5-fluorouracil, serves as a second cytotoxic drug for synergistic chemotherapy. In vitro tests revealed that negligible release of the drugs occurred at pH 7.4, thus avoiding toxic side effects in the blood stream. In contrast, the stalk/cap complex is destabilised within the endolysosomal compartment (pH 5.5) of cancer cells, where release of the drugs was demonstrated. Furthermore, this environmentally responsive system exhibited a synergistic effect of the two drugs, where the pH-triggered release of the cytotoxic cap followed by diffusion-controlled release of the drug cargo within the pores led to essentially complete elimination of breast cancer cells
Modelling associations between neurocognition and functional course in young people with emerging mental disorders: a longitudinal cohort study
No full textNeurocognitive impairment is commonly associated with functional disability in established depressive, bipolar and psychotic disorders. However, little is known about the longer-term functional implications of these impairments in early phase transdiagnostic cohorts. We aimed to examine associations between neurocognition and functioning at baseline and over time. We used mixed effects models to investigate associations between neurocognitive test scores and longitudinal social and occupational functioning (“Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale”) at 1–7 timepoints over five-years in 767 individuals accessing youth mental health services. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, premorbid IQ, and symptom severity. Lower baseline functioning was associated with male sex (coefficient −3.78, 95% CI −5.22 to −2.34 p < 0.001), poorer verbal memory (coefficient 0.90, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.38, p < 0.001), more severe depressive (coefficient −0.28, 95% CI −0.41 to −0.15, p < 0.001), negative (coefficient −0.49, 95% CI −0.74 to −0.25, p < 0.001), and positive symptoms (coefficient −0.25, 95% CI −0.41 to −0.09, p = 0.002) and lower premorbid IQ (coefficient 0.13, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.19, p < 0.001). The rate of change in functioning over time varied among patients depending on their sex (male; coefficient 0.73, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.98, p < 0.001) and baseline level of cognitive flexibility (coefficient 0.14, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.22, p < 0.001), such that patients with the lowest scores had the least improvement in functioning. Impaired cognitive flexibility is common and may represent a meaningful and transdiagnostic target for cognitive remediation in youth mental health settings. Future studies should pilot cognitive remediation targeting cognitive flexibility while monitoring changes in functioning
Social Capital in Community Organizing for Land Protection and Food Security
No full textSince 2016, the Thai Government has pursued a twenty-year national economic growth policy, Thailand 4.0, promoting innovation and stimulating international investment through the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project. The EEC project involves significant land acquisition resulting in the need to relocate villagers with potential impact on food security in a major food production area. This research explored the concerns of a local farming community regarding the potential loss of their farmland and means of livelihood under the EEC project using a case study in Ban Pho District of Chachoengsao (CCS) province. It described their resulting action to protect their farmland using community organizing. Data was collected through documents, observation and semi-structured interviews of key stakeholders. The results demonstrate the role of social capital in community organizing. We contend that high social capital stock is a necessary precursor to create conditions for community members to take steps to defend and protect their interests. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of social capital in community organizing in cases involving natural resource management
Comparing canopy height estimates from satellite-based photogrammetry, airborne laser scanning and field measurements across Australian production and conservation eucalypt forests
No full textAirborne Laser Scanning (ALS) generates accurate data for calculating forest metrics, such as canopy height, yet can be cost-prohibitive. Satellite-based stereo pair photogrammetry has the potential to overcome this limitation of ALS to facilitate multi-temporal change analysis when ALS data capture is unfeasible; however, it remains largely untested across Australian conservation and production eucalypt forests. This study examined root-mean-square differences (RMSD) between canopy height measurements derived from ALS, field measurements and satellite-based photogrammetry for a spotted gum (Corymbia citriodora) plantation and scribbly gum (Eucalyptus racemosa) woodland in south-east Queensland, Australia. The comparison found satellite-based photogrammetry under predicted canopy height compared to field measurements and ALS, whilst the RMSD indicated low performance for satellite-based photogrammetry across the eucalypt plantation and woodland. The open and heterogenous forest structure typical in eucalypt forests combined with low point cloud density for photogrammetry to inadequately sample the canopy and increase stereo matching errors; which was exacerbated across the open and heterogenous scribbly gum woodland. Current satellitebased photogrammetry is therefore unlikely to provide a viable alternative to ALS when analysing canopy height across eucalypt forests at high-resolution. General surface analysis across large areas of eucalypt forest at moderate resolution, or airborne photogrammetric methods, could demonstrate increased viability as an alternative to ALS