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Women Caregivers’ Engagement With Healthcare Services for Their Personal Healthcare Needs: A Scoping Review
No full textThe objective of this scoping review is to map the extent, range and nature of literature pertaining to women caregivers and their engagement with healthcare for their personal healthcare needs. It is estimated that 3 out of 5 people will become caregivers at some stage throughout their life, with a large percentage of women (75%) being primary carers. Family or informal care has been the subject of extensive research in the past, demonstrating the physical and emotional health risks placed on caregivers. However, little is known about how women caregivers engage with healthcare services for their own health needs, a factor that could mediate or prevent these health outcomes. Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review methodology was applied to identify relevant empirical, peer-reviewed studies across six databases: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SocIndex, CINAHL, Web of Science and Sociological Abstracts. Searches were limited from January 2013 to May 2025. A total of 11,228 papers were screened, with 41 papers meeting the inclusion criteria for the review. Studies were primarily quantitative, with a focus on physical and mental health, and the comparison of caregiver to noncaregiver experiences. Three key categories/issues were identified in these studies: (1) a varying frequency of service use (higher, lower and no difference when compared with noncaregivers), (2) key engagement factors (with a focus on individual versus contextual factors), and (3) encounters with health professionals. Findings demonstrate that specific caregiving roles and healthcare system factors influence the way in which carers engage with healthcare services for themselves and have the potential to inform overall health outcomes through a lack of timely treatment or an increased likelihood of requiring healthcare. With women comprising the majority of caregivers, they face a heightened risk of exposure to these challenges, yet existing research overlooks their specific needs and experiences. Opportunities for new and innovative directions in research exist to address ongoing gaps and for the development of meaningful policy and intervention to support women caregivers more effectively
EEMtoolbox: A user-friendly R package for flexible ensemble ecosystem modelling
No full textAbstract
Forecasting ecosystem changes due to disturbances or conservation interventions is essential to improve ecosystem management and anticipate unintended consequences of conservation decisions. Mathematical models allow practitioners to understand the potential effects and unintended consequences via simulation. However, calibrating these models is often challenging due to a paucity of appropriate ecological data.
Ensemble ecosystem modelling (EEM) is a quantitative method used to parameterize models from theoretical ecosystem features rather than data. Two approaches have been considered to find parameter values satisfying those features: a standard accept–reject algorithm, appropriate for small ecosystem networks, and a sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithm that is more computationally efficient for larger ecosystem networks. In practice, using SMC for EEM generation requires advanced statistical and mathematical knowledge, as well as strong programming skills, which might limit its uptake. In addition, current EEM approaches have been developed for only one model structure (generalised Lotka–Volterra).
To facilitate the usage of EEM methods, we introduce EEMtoolbox, an R package for calibrating quantitative ecosystem models. Our package allows the generation of parameter sets satisfying ecosystem features by using either the standard accept–reject algorithm or the novel SMC procedure. Our package extends the existing EEM methodology, originally developed for the generalised Lotka–Volterra model, to two additional model structures (the multispecies Gompertz and the Bimler–Baker model) and additionally allows users to define their own model structures.
We demonstrate the usage of EEMtoolbox by simulating changes in species abundance immediately after the release of the sihek (
Todiramphus cinnamominus
, extinct‐in‐the‐wild species) on Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. With its simple interface, our package facilitates straightforward generation of EEM parameter sets, thus unlocking advanced statistical methods supporting conservation decisions using ecosystem network models
Rapid and simplified post-processing for simultaneous B0 and B1 mapping in the application of CEST
No full textPURPOSE: B 0 and B 1 inhomogeneity corrections are crucial for accurate CEST imaging, particularly at ultra-high-field MRI. WASABI provides high fidelity δ ω and B 1 maps but suffers from prolonged post-processing and sensitivity to local minima. Our objective was to design an alternative to WASABI's Levenberg-Marquardt-based optimization approach to improve both post-processing speed and accuracy. METHODS: A direct relationship was derived between δ ω and B 1 values and information contained in WASABI Z-spectra. Seven in vivo brain datasets were acquired at 7T. RESULTS: The proposed approach, called RAbi DIstance SearcH (RADISH), accelerated post-processing by two orders of magnitude, with improved estimation across all brain slices. Maps produced with RADISH were consistent with those produced by unartifacted areas in the original approach, with agreements within 1 Hz and 0.5% for δ ω and r B 1 maps, respectively. The percentage of whole-head artifacts was reduced from 3.90% to 1.05%. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in speed and robustness provided by RADISH allows for reliable generation of δ ω and B 1 maps, contributing to making quantitative CEST imaging at ultra-high-field more reliable and advancing its clinical feasibility
Essays on Institutional Investor Demand and Asset Prices
No full text© 2025 Chunxiao LuThis thesis examines how institutional investor demand affects asset prices. It comprises a literature review and two empirical essays that provide causal evidence on how demand responds to firm characteristics, such as political connections and environmental regulatory risk, and how those responses feed into stock returns. The results highlight institutional demand as a key driver of asset price dynamics.
In the first essay, I examine how firm-level political connections affect stock returns through institutional demand. Using the 2012 Chinese anti-corruption campaign as an exogenous shock, I show that shifts in mutual fund demand significantly depress concurrent returns; following the announcement, funds reduce holdings of more politically connected firms, especially those headquartered in provinces with higher corruption indices, highlighting the importance of the fund demand channel. Within a characteristic-based demand asset-pricing framework, I document a significant, monotonic decline in aggregate investor demand for politically connected firms, indicating that selling pressure outweighs buying interest and contributes to their underperformance. Consistent with this mechanism, stocks with stronger political connections exhibit larger price impacts, particularly among the least liquid stocks and around the 2012 anti-corruption campaign.
In the second essay, Linxiang Ma, Yuyang Zhang, and I examine whether institutional investors incorporate firm-level environmental regulatory risk into portfolio choices. We find marked heterogeneity by investment horizon: long-horizon investors, such as banks, insurance companies, and pension funds, overweight firms with higher environmental regulatory risk, whereas short-horizon investors, such as investment advisors and mutual funds, reduce exposure. These opposing trades largely offset, yielding muted aggregate effects on returns. Around federal elections, patterns are asymmetric: after Democratic victories, the resolution of regulatory uncertainty leads long-horizon investors to scale back exposure, while short-horizon investors add to positions, with far weaker adjustments after Republican victories. Controlling for other forms of regulatory risk confirms that this heterogeneity is specific to environmental regulation
Interpersonal Stigma and Positive Experiences in Relationships for People Living With Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Complex Disorders, With and Without Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders
No full textStigma in interpersonal relationships is a barrier to social engagement, recovery, and well-being for people living with complex mental health conditions. Among people living with these conditions, individuals who experience schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ) face particularly high levels of stigma. Many individuals living with complex mental health conditions experience co-occurring substance use disorders (SUD), which may compound the effects of interpersonal stigma. However, little research has examined stigma in interpersonal relationships for people living with co-occurring complex mental health conditions and SUD, including co-occurring SZ and SUD (SZSUD). This study analyzed qualitative data from 90 Australians living with SZ, SZSUD, and co-occurring SUD and complex mental health conditions other than SZ collected as part of the National Stigma Report Card’s Our Turn to Speak survey. A thematic analysis examined and compared perceived experiences of interpersonal stigma and positive treatment in relationships with friends, family members, and intimate partners between these groups. Four themes were identified: “social disconnection,” “negative and degrading judgements,” “loss of power and control,” and “the pillars of positive relationships.” While participants in all three groups described similar types of experiences in their relationships, certain experiences were only reported by people living with either SZ or SUD. In many cases, participants living with SZSUD described both types of experiences. These findings provide preliminary support for the theory that people who experience co-occurring complex and highly stigmatized conditions, such as SZSUD, face compounded stigma in interpersonal relationships due to the combined effects of stigma associated with each condition
Conservative Opposition to Climate Policy May be Partially Threat-Based: A Test and Critique of the Integrated Threat Model of Climate Attitudes
No full textABSTRACT
One explanation for the link between political conservatism and rejection of the science and solutions of climate change is based on perceived threats. Yet, until recently, this claim has not been studied by simultaneously considering the different levels at which individuals may experience a sense of threat (i.e., threat of climate change or climate policy, at personal or collective level, on economic or cultural domains). A recent theoretical advance integrated the existing threat‐based explanations for conservatives' lower acceptance of climate change and support for pro‐climate policy. We aimed to subject aspects of this integrated threat model of climate change attitudes to empirical testing through a series of three studies (Study 1 N = 5110, Study 2 N = 299, Study 3 N = 552). We found the hypothesized threat asymmetry in risk assessments of climate change and its solutions, whereby conservative ideologies predict greater perceived threat from climate policy, and lower perceived threat from climate change itself. Also consistent with the model, we found evidence that cross‐sectionally, threat partially mediated associations between ideology and policy support. However, we also report on an unsuccessful experimental test of the model. Prompting people to think about the economic or cultural consequences of climate policy did not heighten conservatives' perceptions of policy threat (i.e., a manipulation failure), and thus did not have the expected exacerbating effect on their climate policy concern. Findings suggest conservatives' threat‐based concerns about climate policy may be difficult to shift experimentally and provide only a partial explanation for their lower policy support
Situating Frédéric Chopin and his Music in Golden Age Cinema, 1934-1958
No full text© 2025 Lucy LiThis thesis examines the use of Frederic Chopin’s musical works in Golden Age
cinema, focusing on films produced by Hollywood and, to a lesser extent, the United
Kingdom, from 1934 to 1958. It argues that classic Anglo-American cinema during this
period provides a valuable cultural context for investigating the reception and
representation of Chopin and his music. The study first traces the dissemination of
Chopin’s music in the early twentieth-century American popular cultural industry,
before situating Chopin and his music in various film genres from the early 1930s to the
late 1950s. Using the films discussed as a lens, this thesis seeks to uncover how
Chopin’s music accumulated meaning and how its employment evolved during this
significant period of cinema history. Through reading and analysing Chopin’s music
against filmic and narrative parameters, including teleological drama, dialogue,
diegesis, and the interplay between literary text and film, the study contends that his
music played a role in shaping narrative discourse on screen. Issues of gender and piano performance in melodrama films are problematised in this study, which also evaluates representations of nationalism through the presence of Chopin and his music in propaganda films produced around the years of the Second World War. The multifaceted nature of Hollywood’s engagement with Chopin meant that his music underscored dramatic elements from tropes of romantic love to psychosexual dilemmas in melodramas; while in wartime propaganda pictures, Chopin and his music represented the freedom of humanity and served as Allied publicity. The use of Chopin’s music in musical films also redefined the scope of artistic expression and pianism in cinema, and consolidated the meanings that several Chopin melodies had accrued via their hugely successful settings as popular songs. The thesis concludes with an examination of the significant presence of Chopin’s music in the films of two distinctive directors: Albert Lewin and Compton Bennett. In the generation following the advent of sound film, Chopin’s music gained greater popularity and accrued a breadth of meaning via cinema, echoes of which persist beyond the screen
Towards an understanding of readiness for trauma-focussed therapy in post-traumatic stress disorder: A conceptual integration of empirical data and theoretical constructs
No full textFor people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the concept of being ‘ready’ for trauma-focused therapy (TFT) has emerged from research as an important factor in initiation and completion of therapy. Lack of readiness of individual service users has been proposed as a reason for poor uptake of TFT in large implementation programs. However, there has been almost no investigation of what constitutes readiness for TFT. In this review we build a conceptual case for readiness for TFT. We use qualitative research exploring PTSD treatment service users' and providers' experiences and perspectives of care together with two motivational theories (self-determination theory and motivation to engage in treatment) to propose a model of readiness for TFT. Readiness appears to encompass a) a motivational factor that includes willingness to undertake TFT and b) a set of determinants of motivation that may include the emotional burden of TFT, perceived suitability of TFT rationale; outcome expectancy; level of suffering; perceived competence; therapeutic relationship; autonomy; social supports; stigma; and problem recognition. This review is designed to encourage further research into this important clinical construct. It offers a new perspective on the need for a preparation phase before exposure in TFT, an issue of debate in the field
Effectiveness of physical activity promotion interventions in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
No full textOBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on physical activity promotion in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane CENTRAL. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published between January 2010 and September 2024. Primary outcomes included standardised mean difference (SMD) in physical activity outcomes reported mainly in metabolic equivalent to task (MET) minutes, physical activity minutes and sedentary behaviour. Data were synthesised using random-effects meta-analysis to calculate the SMD reported in a 95% CI, and the risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) and Risk of Bias in Non-Randomised Studies of Interventions tools (ROBINS-I). SMDs of 0.2, 0.5 and 0.8 were interpreted as small, medium and large effects as per Cohen's threshold. RESULTS: 23 studies involving 12 689 participants from LMICs were included in the meta-analysis. Results indicated a small but statistically significant overall effect on physical activity (SMD=0.29, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.46, I²=96%). Significant improvements were observed for MET minutes (SMD=0.42, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.64, I2=94%) and physical activity scores (SMD=0.86, 95% CI 0.38 to 1.35, I2=91%), but not in total physical activity minutes, sedentary time or energy expenditure, indicating interventions mainly enhanced activity intensity. Interventions via apps and interactive calls were most effective, though overall evidence certainty was low to very low because of heterogeneity and imprecision. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions, primarily delivered through mobile apps or interactive calls, led to small improvements in physical activity intensity and could have significant public health benefits in LMICs. Future interventions should be context-specific and backed by robust trials to increase their impact and inform sustainable policy. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42023412477
'Nature is of God': Land, Money, Empire and Extraction in James Harrington's Legal Thought, 1656-60
No full textIn 1659, the English radical republican theorist James Harrington published one of his last works: a 10-page pamphlet of 76 aphorisms. The 22nd and shortest stated plainly 'Nature is of God'. Unpacking this otherwise enigmatic line, this article examines Harrington's changing uses of 'nature' as part of his thinking on law and empire, and argues that an early form of extractivism can be found in Harrington's thought. In the early, secular account in his most well-known work, The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656), Harrington presented a utopian plan that rested on land tenure reorganisation where the justice of empire depended on the control over land and law. Harrington articulated this vision through botanical and natural metaphors that underlie Oceana's messianic mission to spread its laws and constitution through the world by assimilating territory and extracting resources. In Harrington's late 1650s works, a more religiously-inflected form of these arguments expanded on this duty and offered more systematic accounts of the connection of nature, empire and law that involved a deeper engagement with divine and natural law. Finally, in his last, unpublished work, The Mechanics of Nature (1660), Harrington briefly sketched an account of 'animal spirits' and the common order of nature and humanity. Beginning with the declaration 'Nature is the fiat', Mechanics brought together themes of sovereign declaratory power, circulation and redistribution, linked to the nascent extractivism in Harrington's earlier works