19325 research outputs found
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Improvements in multi-dimensional measures of dysfunctional breathing in asthma patients after a combined manual therapy and breathing retraining protocol: a case series report
No full textBackground: Dysfunctional breathing (DB), which is present in 30–65% of asthmatics, can contribute to increased levels of dyspnea and non-respiratory symptoms which respond poorly to usual pharmacological treatment and impact on asthma control and quality of life. Treatments that target DB in asthmatics have been shown to improve symptoms, asthma control, and quality of life and, in some cases, to improve lung function. Case presentation: This case series reports on outcomes of a standardised breathing retraining and manual therapy package in 1 male and 5 females with physiciandiagnosed asthma, who were also assessed using biochemical, biomechanical and symptomatic measures of DB. After 6 weeks of treatment most participants showed normalisation of all objective DB measures and reduction in respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms. This was associated with improved perceived control of asthma, despite improvements in lung function parameters occurring in only one participant. Participants without signs of DB at the initial evaluation did not show reduced symptoms or improved perceived control of asthma. Conclusions: These observations suggest that there may be an important role for manual therapy and breathing retraining packages as adjunctive treatments to improve management of patients with asthma and other chronic respiratory disease whose condition is aggravated by DB. The substantial number of individuals with chronic respiratory disease who have poor disease control, disproportionate dyspnea and unexplained symptoms due to DB may be more likely to benefit from nonpharmacological treatments like manual therapy and breathing retraining than those with normal or functional breathin
Primary + Early Childhood = chalk and cheese? Tensions in undertaking an early childhood/primary education degree
No full textThere is well-established evidence that the quality of early childhood education workforce impacts upon children’s learning. Attracting qualified teacher graduates to work in early childhood centres is an essential component towards the provision of quality care. Significant investment by the Australian Government has been made to prepare early childhood teachers, yet teaching at this level is characterised by poorer working conditions compared with primary school teachers. Various programme models qualify applicants as early childhood teachers, yet there is no evidence of the most appropriate model. Our study’s focus was to identify reasons for entering a teacher education programme, career intentions and satisfaction of pre-service teachers enrolled in early childhood/primary degree programmes at two Australian universities. Findings demonstrate that the degrees were not fulfilling the government investment goals for increasing early childhood teacher numbers, nor were the degrees meeting student expectation for an early childhood teaching career. We argue that renewed policy strategies are required to support new early childhood graduates and professionals, and attract teachers to work in early childhood education
Deep impact: re-conceptualising university research impact using human cultural accumulation theory
No full textMeasuring impact from university research is increasingly seen as important, not least because of its use in resource allocation processes by governments. These measurement approaches, however, often take ‘wide and shallow’ economic effect-based views that are ex-post, linear and uni-directional. Consequently, research collaborations between universities and external stakeholders are often ignored, particularly when stakeholders are local or community-based and the research focus is on social rather than purely economic ends, because impacts of these projects are less easily measured, and are more likely to have narrower (though deeper) effects spatially. Using an illustrative case study, this paper shows that there are mechanisms able to measure broader concepts of impact, specifically ones where impacts also occur through the PROCESS of undertaking the research itself (as opposed to just as a RESULT of it), highlighting ways in which this type of analysis could be utilised for future evaluation of research collaborations
Characteristics of people with pressure ulcers using one year\u27s routinely collected data in a defined diverse community
No full textOBJECTIVE: To determine if meaningful patient characteristics pertaining to pressure ulcers (PU) can be derived from routinely collected community health data.METHODS: A retrospective cohort analysis of records was carried out. To provide a detailed dataset on PU for the community of interest, demographic, general medical and PU data were extracted from mandatory incident reports and audit of electronic and paper medical records. This study is reported in accordance with the RECORD Guidelines from the Equator Network. Adult patients were enrolled from a district nursing service in the target region (n=1085) during 2015. The target region was based on a geographical region bounded by a single postcode district (target region) consisting of 62,000 people of whom approximately 50,000 were adults, 3000 of whom were aged \u3e75 years.RESULTS: The total number of recorded PUs was n=137 in 103 individuals. Data from mandatory incident reports was obtainable for nearly all variables. Electronic and paper medical records were less reliable due to missing data.CONCLUSION: Detailed characteristics of community-dwelling PU patients can be derived from routinely collected data, and provides various forms and levels of information which could feed into different projects. The use of mandatory reporting fields increases the level of reporting and reduces missing data. Data enriched with information from electronic and paper records could inform the addition of variables to mandatory forms to improve characterisation of community dwellers with PUs
Research in Vietnam: the experience of the humanities and social sciences
No full textVietnam’s low level of research productivity is especially pronounced in the humanities and social sciences. Though previous research has suggested various possible explanations, to date there has been no detailed investigation of the topic. This investigation explored the publishing experiences of a selected sample group of 20 high-achieving and well-regarded Vietnamese scholars from the humanities and social sciences. For these participants, a commitment to research and publishing derived mainly from a personal sense of academic identity, a desire to complement their teaching role by doing research, and a wish to contribute to Vietnam’s social and economic development through their research. Few of them reported feeling institutional pressure to publish, though some reported that their university was now providing financial incentives for publishing in high-impact journals. Disincentives to publishing included funding limitations, and especially limitations associated with approval mechanisms within universities. Interference with the freedom to publish was reported to occur, but none of the participants appeared to be too concerned about political censorship. It was widely considered to be easier to have research reported in national than in international peer-reviewed journals because of the difference in academic standards. A lack of confidence with writing in English was also reported by some participants to be a constraint on publishing in international journals
Assessing the readability and patient comprehension of rheumatology medicine infromation sheets: a cross-sectional Health Literacy Study
No full textObjectives Patients are often provided with medicine information sheets (MIS). However, up to 60% of patients have low health literacy. The recommended readability level for health-related information is ≤grade 8. We sought to assess the readability of MIS given to patients by rheumatologists in Australia, the UK and Canada and to examine Australian patient comprehension of these documents. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Community-based regional rheumatology practice. Participants Random sample of patients attending the rheumatology practice. Outcome measures Readability of MIS was assessed using readability formulae (Flesch Reading Ease formula, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook scale, FORCAST (named after the authors FORd, CAylor, STicht) and the Gunning Fog scale). Literal comprehension was assessed by asking patients to read various Australian MIS and immediately answer five simple multiple choice questions about the MIS. Results The mean (±SD) grade level for the MIS from Australia, the UK and Canada was 11.6±0.1, 11.8±0.1 and 9.7±0.1 respectively. The Flesch Reading Ease score for the Australian (50.8±0.6) and UK (48.5±1.5) MIS classified the documents as ‘fairly difficult’ to ‘difficult’. The Canadian MIS (66.1±1.0) were classified as ‘standard’. The five questions assessing comprehension were correctly answered by 9/21 patients for the adalimumab MIS, 7/11 for the methotrexate MIS, 6/28 for the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory MIS, 10/11 for the prednisone MIS and 13/24 for the abatacept MIS. Conclusions The readability of MIS used by rheumatologists in Australia, the UK and Canada exceeds grade 8 level. This may explain why patient literal comprehension of these documents may be poor. Simpler, shorter MIS with pictures and infographics may improve patient comprehension. This may lead to improved medication adherence and better health outcomes
Implications of range overlap in the commercially important pan-tropical sea urchin genus Tripneustes (Echinoidea: Toxopneustidae)
No full textSea urchins of the genus Tripneustes are among the most abundant and ecologically important pan-tropical marine invertebrates. Recognized as potent ecosystem engineers due to their intense grazing of macroalgae and sea grass and highly valued for their gonads, wild populations of Tripneustes are commercially exploited for fisheries and aquaculture. Recently, a new species, Tripneustes kermadecensis (Bronstein et al. 2017), was described from the southern Pacific Ocean, off the Kermadec Islands, near the tropical/sub-tropical transition zone. Here, we explore the range of Tripneustes and, in particular, T. kermadecensis by morphological and genetic tools to determine whether it also occurs in Australia. We report, for the first time, the presence of a second Tripneustes species, T. kermadecensis, from Australia. We show that T. kermadecensis is in fact highly abundant throughout most of sub-tropical eastern Australia, where it occurs in association with coral and temperate reefs and has been recognized for decades as the ‘lamington sea urchin’. As commercial exploitation and stock-release programs of Tripneustes are rapidly expanding, and as global warming causes tropicalization of eastern Australia, driving the southern expansion of its congener T. gratilla, we call for re-evaluation of the conservation vulnerability of T. kermadecensis along the Australian continent and action by the aquaculture industry to genetically confirm the species identity of stocks in their facilities
A multivariate analysis of health risk assessment, phytoremediation potential, and biochemical attributes of Spinacia oleracea exposed to cadmium in the presence of organic amendments under hydroponic conditions
No full textCadmium (Cd) phytoremediation potential and its accumulation in edible and nonedible plant tissues is the function of various biochemical processes taking place inside plants. This study assessed the impact of organic ligands on Cd phyto uptake and different biophysiochemical processes of Spinacia oleracea L., and associated health hazards. Plants were exposed to Cd alone and chelated with citric acid (CA) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Results revealed that the effect of Cd on lipid peroxidation, H2O2 production and pigment contents varied greatly with its applied level and the type of organic ligand. Moreover, the effect was more prominent in root tissues than leaf tissues and for high concentrations of Cd and organic ligands. Cadmium accumulation increased by 90 and 74% in roots and leaves, respectively, with increasing Cd levels (25–100 µM). Cadmium exposure at high levels caused lipid peroxidation in roots only. Application of both CA and EDTA slightly diminished Cd toxicity with respect to pigment contents, lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents. Hazard quotient (HQ) of Cd was \u3c1.00 for all the treatments. Under nonlinear effect of treatments, multivariate analysis can be an effective tool to trace overall effects/trends
Whale carcass leachate plumes in beach groundwater: A potential shark attractant to the surf?
No full textWith the recovery of whale populations, carcass strandings on beaches are growing. Beach burial is a common management option for stranded carcasses. However, communities fear shark attraction following leachate transport to the ocean via submarine groundwater discharge. Here, a sediment column mesocosm experiment indicated that carcasses can be a localised source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), phosphate and ammonium to groundwater. The spatial reach of the leachate plume was25 m onshore. Therefore, carcass leachate plumes would only potentially attract sharks to the surf under specific conditions not experienced during our experiments