30913 research outputs found
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Storytelling during Clinical Facilitation - An Arts Informed Narrative Inquiry
This abstract was prepared for the inaugural 'HDR Student Conference', Flinders University, November 2018. Copyright © the authorIntroduction/Background Literature The theory of caring is central to nursing practice. Listening to the patient's story requires the student to care. Observations as a clinical educator indicate that students find learning to care a complex and challenging experience. Arts based pedagogy in nurse education is particularly useful for learning within the affective domain. A more creative approach to reflection would benefit the exploration of caring encounters. This research project aims to explore the use of narrative reflection during clinical facilitation. Methodology: Arts Informed Narrative Inquiry Methods/Design: Setting: To be conducted throughout acute care clinical placements during weekly group clinical facilitation sessions. Sampling: Flinders University undergraduate nurses of any year level. 6-10 participants required. Ethics: Approved, conditional to data collection and analysis not undertaken until completion of each student placement. Data Collection: Focus Group discussions, on the final day of their placement, de-identified reflections, an individual phone or face to face interview will also be conducted, recorded and transcribed and researcher Field Notes. Data analysis: Application of Clandinin and Connelly's method of Narrative Inquiry. Arts-informed includes the analysis of the creative reflections. Findings/ Results: Nil to date Conclusion/ Summary: Nil to date Implications/recommendations for: Nil to dat
In Australia, how do sonographers teach the scanning (psychomotor) skills required for clinical practice?
This abstract was prepared for the inaugural 'HDR Student Conference', Flinders University, November 2018. Copyright © the authorElucidating the psychomotor skills required to perform an ultrasound examination. Objective: To identify and describe the psychomotor skills that are required to perform an ultrasound examination. Introduction: The mental and manual skills that are needed to perform an ultrasound examination have been referred to, by operators and professional organisations, as scanning skills. The skill-set has not been reviewed, described or cohered in one document. Literature search strategy: CINHAL, SCOPUS, Medline Ovid, ERIC, Flinders University search engine, and Google Scholar databases were searched to identify the psychomotor skills that are required to perform an ultrasound. Grey literature was also searched. Critical literature appraisal strategy: All relevant literature based on review of titles and abstracts were retrieved. Papers were excluded if they focussed on performing a clinical aspect of a scan or provided outcome data from using an intervention. Findings: The psychomotor skills that are used to perform an ultrasound can be broadly grouped into: visuo-motor; visuo-spatial; probe manipulation; image optimisation, and image instrumentation skills. Conclusion: The cognitive and manual skills that are required to perform an ultrasound examination are termed psychomotor skills. Both upper limbs perform disparate skills. Implications: This inaugural review outlines, to key stakeholders, the scope of the mental and motor skills that are used by a diverse cohort of operators who perform ultrasound examinations
Goal setting with older adults: Client and staff experiences in Transition Care Program
This abstract was prepared for the inaugural 'HDR Student Conference', Flinders University, November 2018. Copyright © the authorGoals are a fundamental component of health care and promote person-centred practice by encouraging collaborative discussions and shared decision making. Transition Care Program (TCP) is a federally funded, goal-orientated, therapy-focussed program that provides additional time after an acute health event for older adults to improve functional ability and decide on final discharge destination.
This research investigated the client and staff experiences of goals in TCP through interviews and focus groups. Through thematic analysis, clear intrinsic and extrinsic facilitators were identified, including the visceral pull of 'home' and the effectiveness of explicit, consistent goal language. Client-related barriers emerged, such as the physical, cognitive and emotional effects of fatigue. These were compounded by service barriers. This research provides opportunity to improve person-centred care for older adults by integrating consistent language, addressing service barriers in clinical practice and incorporating client goals into the service KPIs
Contextualising acute coronary syndrome standards and guidelines for Aboriginal people residing in Central Australian and Top End Aboriginal communities.
This abstract was prepared for the inaugural 'HDR Student Conference', Flinders University, November 2018. Copyright © the authorIntroduction: The National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand: Australian Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Acute Coronary Syndrome 2016 (in consultation with the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons) provide guidelines for the management of myocardial revascularisation. In addition, the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (euroSCORE I and II) are models used to calculate risk of mortality 30 days post cardiac surgery. The euroSCORE I and II have been validated for European, Japanese and North American populations; however, they have not been validated for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations and there is still much debate on whether they can be attributed to this, and other Indigenous populations. This study aims to explore the contextual factors (barriers and enablers) informing the guidelines for cardiac surgery and revascularisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing in central Australian and Top End Northern Territory communities. Subsequently, recommendations will be put forward for culturally effective cardiac pathways of care.
Methodology: This study uses an Indigenous research methodology, through the lens of the Essential Service Standards for Equitable National Cardiovascular Care (ESSENCE) framework, to better understand Aboriginal world views and experiences of cardiac surgery. Data collection: Semi-structured and/or open-ended questions will be posed 30-90 days post-discharge from Flinders Medical Centre and used to elicit free flowing narratives and storytelling once the participant is back residing in their community. Analysis: Indigenous narrative analysis, by means of storytelling, will be used to develop themes and codes for the purpose of identifying "experience" commonalities and distinctions and mapped to relevant acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and revascularisation standards and guidelines. Conclusion: The practical outcomes of the proposed study will identify cultural service gaps to make recommendations aligned to revised recommendations for new ACS and revascularisation standards, guidelines and care pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations
Co-expression network analysis of peripheral blood transcriptome identifies dysregulated protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum and immune response in recurrent MDD in older adults
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (October 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThe molecular factors involved in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) remain poorly understood. One approach to examine the molecular basis of MDD is co-expression network analysis, which facilitates the examination of complex interactions between expression levels of individual genes and how they influence biological pathways affected in MDD. Here, we applied an unsupervised gene-network based approach to a prospective experimental design using microarray genome-wide gene expression from the peripheral whole blood of older adults. We utilised the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (sMAS, N = 521) and the Older Australian Twins Study (OATS, N = 186) as discovery and replication cohorts, respectively. We constructed networks using Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA), and correlated identified modules with four subtypes of depression: single episode, current, recurrent, and lifetime MDD. Four modules of highly co-expressed genes were associated with recurrent MDD (N = 27) in our discovery cohort (FDR<0.2), with no significant findings for a single episode, current or lifetime MDD. Functional characterisation of these modules revealed a complex interplay between dysregulated protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and innate and adaptive immune response signalling, with possible involvement of pathogen-related pathways. We were underpowered to replicate findings at the network level in an independent cohort (OATS), however; we found a significant overlap for 9 individual genes with similar co-expression and dysregulation patterns associated with recurrent MDD in both cohorts. Overall, our findings support other reports on dysregulated immune response and protein processing in the ER in MDD and provide novel insights into the pathophysiology of depression.This work was supported by funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; ID 1060524 to BTB, SCW, SR, JT) of Australia. The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (sMAS) was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Australian Research Council Strategic Award (ID 401162), NHMRC Program Grants (ID 350833 and 568969) and a Project Grant (ID 1045325). The Older Australian Twins Study (OATS) was funded by an NHMRC/ARC Strategic Award Grant of the Ageing Well, Ageing Productively Program (ID 401162) and NHMRC Project Grant (ID 1045325 and 1085606). SCW is supported by the Matthew Flinders Fellowship, Flinders University, Australia
Comparison of breast milk fatty acid composition from mothers of premature infants of three countries using novel dried milk spot technology
This manuscript version is made
available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (August 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyLong chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) intake during infancy has been associated with many health benefits, and the LCPUFA intake of breastfed infants is largely dependent on the composition of breast milk. The conventional method for breast milk fatty acid profiling is complicated by the need for cold-chain transportation and storage, and the newly developed dried milk spot (DMS) technology overcomes these difficulties. This study aimed to determine the accuracy, sensitivity and applicability of the DMS method developed based on the PUFAcoat™ technology. Two hundred breast milk samples were analyzed using the conventional method and compared with the DMS method. In order to evaluate the usefulness of DMS for large scale international studies, we analyzed another 786 breast milk samples collected from mothers of preterm infants who participated in a large clinical trial conducted in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Fatty acids were measured using capillary gas chromatography and results were reported as weight percentage of total fatty acids. Strong correlations and tight variation were observed in total saturated, monounsaturated, n-6 and n-3 PUFAs between the conventional and DMS methods. The DMS method proved to be sensitive in differentiating the breast milk fatty acid profiles of women consuming different habitual diets as evidenced by the differences between the breast milk fatty acid composition between Australian and Singaporean population. This study demonstrates that the DMS and the conventional method provide interchangeable results, and the DMS method is a particularly useful tool for large-scale studies.This work was funded by the NHMRC of Centre of Research Excellence Grant (1035530). CG received Adelaide Graduate Research Scholarship from the University of Adelaide. RAG was supported by NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (APP 1046207). MM was supported by NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship (APP1061704)
Do University Libraries in Australia Actively Plan to Protect Special Collections from Disaster?
“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association on 22 October 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/24750158.2018.1531678.”Despite the increasing digitalisation of special collections, Australian university libraries continue to house tangible original works contributing to collective state, national and global heritage. The protection of special collections relates to the international aspirations provided by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 Priority 3. Currently over five hundred separately grouped university library special collections are recorded in Australia. Globally, there is limited research into university librarian comprehension of how to plan for the protection of special collections. A survey targeted the 35 Australian university libraries identified for inclusion in the study, via the Council for Australian University Librarians (CAUL) database. Eleven (31%) responses qualified for analysis. Of the respondents, the findings include 92% hold tangible special collections as part of their university library collection; 90% do not have a specific plan for the protection of special collections and 90% have experienced a disaster event at some point in their library career. The research concludes that special collections held by Australian universities are at risk and that the role of the university librarian is undervalued in the global efforts to protect cultural and historical heritage in the event of a disaster
The effect of varying the number of contributors in the prosecution and alternate propositions
This manuscript version is made
available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (November 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyUsing a simplified model, we examine the effect of varying the number of contributors in the prosecution and alternate propositions for a number of simulated examples.
We compare the Slooten and Caliebe [1] solution, with several existing practices. Our own experience is that most laboratories, and ourselves, assign the number of contributors, N = n, by allele count and a manual examination of peak heights. The LRn for one or a very few values is calculated and typically one of these is presented, usually the most conservative. This gives an acceptable approximation.
Reassessing the number of contributors if LR = 0 and adding one to N under both Hp and Ha to “fit” the POI may lead to a substantial overstatement of the LR.
A more reasonable option is to allow optimisation of the assignment under Hp and Ha separately.
We show that an additional contributor explained the single locus profile better when
PHR≥0.51.
This is pleasingly in line with current interpretation approaches.
Collectively these trials, and the solid theoretical development, suggest that the Slooten and Caliebe approach preforms well.This work was supported in part by grant 2017-DN-BX-K541 from the US National Institute of Justice
Wetlands in flux: looking for the drivers in a central European case
© The Author(s) 2018
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made
The acceptability of participating in data linkage research: research with older Australians
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.Australians are increasingly concerned about the privacy of their data, but the biggest concerns relate to online services and identification fraud. Australians may be supportive of research that uses linked data; however, there have been conflicting findings as to whether formal consent from individuals should be sought, and the views of the older population have not been elicited specifically. A previous survey suggested half of Australians would expect consent to be sought for the use of de‐identified health information for research purposes, but the respondents were not specifically asked if they would expect an opt‐in or opt‐out approach to consent. The objectives of the current study were to determine if older Australians would find it acceptable to be part of the proposed registry and to explore different methods of consent