50716 research outputs found
Sort by
Physical Health and Health Behaviours of Australians with Psychosis
Get PDFPeople living with psychosis live up to 20 years less compared to the general population. Cardiometabolic ill-health and barriers to health-related behaviour are significant contributors. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study of cardiometabolic health and health behaviours of consumers attending a public community mental health service in an Australian city. One hundred and fourteen consumers currently living with psychosis participated. Standard measures of cardiometabolic health, quality of life and, health-related behaviours were utilised. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The cohort reported higher fruit intake and physical activity, and lower excess alcohol use compared to previous studies. Health-related behaviours including smoking and vegetable intake were poorer than previously reported. Participants had low levels of cardiometabolic health (e.g. abnormal lipids). Physical and mental quality of life was also lower than for general populations. Improved efforts to address physical health for people with mental health conditions are urgently needed.</p
Sleep characteristics and brain structure:A systematic review with meta-analysis
Get PDFBackground: As the global population ages, the prevalence of associated conditions, including neurodegeneration and dementia, will increase. Thus, reducing risk factors is crucial to prevention. Sleep contributes to brain homeostasis and repair, which, if impaired, could lead to neurodegeneration. However, the relationship between sleep characteristics, disorders, and brain morphology is poorly understood in healthy adults. Therefore, we aimed to systematically analyse the literature and clarify how sleep characteristics are associated with brain structures. Methods: We systematically searched PUBMED, MEDLINE, ProQuest, Web of Science, and Scopus for empirical studies of healthy adults examining the associations between sleep characteristics or disorders and brain structure, adjusting for age, gender, and head size. We conducted a meta-analysis with random effects models for volumetric studies and a seed-based spatial analysis for voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies. Results: One hundred and five articles (60 volumetric, 45 VBM) with 106 studies reporting 108,364 participants were included. Most studies (73.1%) found sleep characteristics and disorders to be associated with predominantly lower brain volumes (cross-sectional: 51.9% of all cross-sectional; longitudinal: 45.5% of longitudinal). In VBM studies, REM sleep behaviour disorder was linked to lower grey matter volume in the right frontal gyrus (z-score = −3.617, 68 voxels, p-value = <0 0.001). Conclusion: Sleep characteristics - poor quality, short or long sleep - and sleep disorders are predominantly associated with lower brain volumes, suggesting that inadequate sleep (short, long or poor quality) might contribute to neurodegeneration. This insight highlights the importance of monitoring, managing, and enforcing sleep health to prevent or mitigate potential neurodegenerative processes.</p
Applied Linguistics in Australasia and the Pacific
No full textThis article provides a synopsis of applied linguistics research in Australasia and the Pacific. The article's focus is on Australian and New Zealand applied linguistics research, as well as the growing body of work emerging from selected near islands in the Pacific. Living in Australasia and the Pacific means living in bi/multilingual and bi/multicultural communities, and applied linguistics research across the region reflects this reality in different contexts and ways
The relationship between radiological OA severity or body weight and outcomes following a structured education and exercise therapy program (GLA:D®) for people with knee osteoarthritis
Get PDFBackgroundClinicians may presume people with higher bodyweight or greater OA severity do not respond to exercise therapy for knee osteoarthritis (OA), but few studies have examined this.ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between radiographical OA severity or bodyweight and pain and functional outcomes following a structured education and exercise therapy program (Good Life with OsteoArthritis from Denmark: GLA:D®).Methods33 participants with knee OA were assessed at baseline and week 8 following GLA:D®. Outcomes were pain (Visual analogue scale (VAS) 0–100), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score-12 (KOOS-12 total), 40 m-fast-paced walk and 30-s chair stand. Multilevel models were used to define the severity of OA in medial, lateral and patellofemoral compartments using the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) system and to examine the relationship between compartment severity, bodyweight and outcomes.ResultsNo meaningful relationships between bodyweight and response to GLA:D® were found for any outcome measures. Greater medial OA compartment severity was related to less improvement in pain, KOOS-12 and chair stand repetitions. However, all levels of lateral compartment severity had similar improvements, and greater patellofemoral compartment severity was related to more improvement for KOOS-12 and pain.ConclusionBodyweight may have little influence on a person's response to a structured education and exercise therapy program. While people with greater medial compartment severity were less likely to improve following the program, OA severity in the PF and lateral compartments was not a barrier to improvement
Nigerian journalists are harassed by the public, the state and paid ‘data boys’ – what must change
No full textCOVID-19’s Impact on Disability Access to Medical Imaging
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic, a grave pandemic with emerging and ongoing pathological findings, has been coined as a new disability due to its long-term effects. Medical imaging was appraised for its technologically innovative intervention in the early detection and triaging of patients. An equitable, meaningful, and timely medical imaging outcome is interdependent on the justification, quality, and completeness of the referral request order during the clinical medical encounter. This is subject to the availability of various types of imaging examinations, associated imaging modalities, and a diverse team of medical and non-medical members.Central and core throughout the imaging encounter are the person, their situational context, and the timing of the episodic medical imaging encounter. A brief, person-centered, temporary episodic medical imaging encounter is complex in producing the desired imaging outcomes with precision. This involves optimal interpretation based on clinical justification and the question to be answered the ability and capabilities of technology and networks, and the functioning, availability, competency, decisions, experiences, and skills of healthcare practitioners, as well as the systemic processes and procedures of the healthcare system and beyond.In other words, ensuring a value-added, inclusive, quality-assured, equitable, and timely medical imaging outcome is not a walk in the park. It entails carefully aligned, coordinated, collaborative, and communicated interactional decision-making processes and procedures. To date, several COVID-19 medical imaging-related studies are emerging from a radiological perspective, focusing on pathological aspects with impairment and disability implications and interventions. On the other hand, there is a sudden surge of studies from radiography practitioners on inclusive care considerations for people with or without disabilities in managing quality medical imaging encounters. The collective approach remains a gap, hence the need for an inclusive, holistic, techno-bio-psycho-social imaging encounter
Global, Regional, and National Burden of Nontraumatic Subarachnoid Hemorrhage The Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
No full textImportance Nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) represents the third most common stroke type with unique etiologies, risk factors, diagnostics, and treatments. Nevertheless, epidemiological studies often cluster SAH with other stroke types leaving its distinct burden estimates obscure.Objective To estimate the worldwide burden of SAH.Design, Setting, and Participants Based on the repeated cross-sectional Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study, the global burden of SAH in 1990 to 2021 was estimated. Moreover, the SAH burden was compared with other diseases, and its associations with 14 individual risk factors were investigated with available data in the GBD 2021 study. The GBD study included the burden estimates of nontraumatic SAH among all ages in 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2021.Exposures SAH and 14 modifiable risk factors.Main Outcomes and Measures Absolute numbers and age-standardized rates with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) of SAH incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) as well as risk factor–specific population attributable fractions (PAFs).Results In 2021, the global age-standardized SAH incidence was 8.3 (95% UI, 7.3-9.5), prevalence was 92.2 (95% UI, 84.1-100.6), mortality was 4.2 (95% UI, 3.7-4.8), and DALY rate was 125.2 (95% UI, 110.5-142.6) per 100 000 people. The highest burden estimates were found in Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and high-income Asia Pacific. Although the absolute number of SAH cases increased, especially in regions with a low sociodemographic index, all age-standardized burden rates decreased between 1990 and 2021: the incidence by 28.8% (95% UI, 25.7%-31.6%), prevalence by 16.1% (95% UI, 14.8%-17.7%), mortality by 56.1% (95% UI, 40.7%-64.3%), and DALY rate by 54.6% (95% UI, 42.8%-61.9%). Of 300 diseases, SAH ranked as the 36th most common cause of death and 59th most common cause of DALY in the world. Of all worldwide SAH-related DALYs, 71.6% (95% UI, 63.8%-78.6%) were associated with the 14 modeled risk factors of which high systolic blood pressure (population attributable fraction [PAF] = 51.6%; 95% UI, 38.0%-62.6%) and smoking (PAF = 14.4%; 95% UI, 12.4%-16.5%) had the highest attribution.Conclusions and Relevance Although the global age-standardized burden rates of SAH more than halved over the last 3 decades, SAH remained one of the most common cardiovascular and neurological causes of death and disabilities in the world, with increasing absolute case numbers. These findings suggest evidence for the potential health benefits of proactive public health planning and resource allocation toward the prevention of SAH
Leading with Algorithms: Empathetic Leadership for Hybrid Work
Get PDFThis paper examines the impact of algorithmic management (AM) tools in the increasingly popular hybrid workplace and the emergence of novel leadership practices in hybrid work settings. Particularly, we explore the use of an Employee Experience Management (EXM) platform – Microsoft Viva – that has AM features in enabling emerging leadership practices influenced by algorithms. Using a qualitative approach with a case study design of a multinational organisation that adopted an EXM platform, the study findings reveal that AM tools contribute to emerging leadership practices that reflect inclusive, humanised, and multimodal modes of leadership – all of which are underpinned by analytics-enabled leadership. The combination of these modes of leadership and associated practices is believed to respond to the challenges in employees’ work environment and enhance the employee experience in a hybrid workplace
Secure Robotics:Navigating Challenges at the Nexus of Safety, Trust, and Cybersecurity in Cyber-Physical Systems
Get PDFThe growing pervasiveness of robotic and embodied artificial intelligence systems in daily life and within cyber-physical environments highlights a complex web of challenges at the intersection of robotic safety, human-to-robot trust, and cybersecurity. This article explores these challenges by emphasising the crucial role of security in establishing and maintaining trust between humans and robots, which is integral to successfully adopting and operating these systems in human environments. Safety considerations include mitigating the risks of physical harm and environmental damage due to robotic malfunctions or cyberattacks, particularly in autonomous robots requiring high built-in safety measures. From a cybersecurity perspective, these systems face unique challenges due to their complex, interconnected software and hardware components that necessitate robust protection against data breaches to ensure secure data communication. Additionally, the dynamic interaction of these systems with the physical environment adds a layer of complexity, which makes the safety, security, and reliability of these interactions a vital component of the overall security strategy. This article reviews these areas within the cyber-physical systems paradigm by focusing on engineering fail-safe mechanisms, the importance of trust and ethical responsibility in human-robot interactions, and the need for resilient cybersecurity measures. At this nexus, a table of crossover challenges illustrates the intricacy of integrating safety, trust, and security in robotic systems. This article introduces “secure robotics” as a new paradigm to address these collective challenges with a novel model to provide a structured methodology for evaluating and enhancing robotic system performance that symbolises the convergence of theoretical constructs with empirical analysis. By defining secure robotics, this article establishes a framework for advancing robotics in the cyber-physical era in alignment with current technological trends while anticipating future developments. This framework positions secure robotics as a key contributor to the evolution of cyber-physical systems.</p