19683 research outputs found
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Predictors of participant compliance with ecological momentary assessment among individuals with chronic pain who are using cannabis and opioids
No full textBackground: Cannabis may be an alternative or adjunct to opioid therapy for chronic pain. However, there are limited data on patterns of opioid medication and medical cannabis use. The current study investigated the feasibility of using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to assess patterns of prescription opioids and medical cannabis among individuals experiencing chronic pain. Method: The study included 133 participants recruited online. Participants were 42.6 (SD = 13.9) years old on average and the majority were men (57.9 %) and Non-Hispanic White (63.2 %). Participants completed a baseline assessment, followed by 30 days of EMA data collection with four randomly prompted past-hour surveys and one daily diary per day, and a follow-up survey that assessed perceived EMA burden. Simple and multivariable linear regression models were estimated to investigate participant predictors of the proportion of EMA surveys completed (past-hour surveys and daily diaries in separate models). Results: Compliance rates for EMA prompts were 89.7 % for daily diaries and 63.3 % for past-hour surveys. In multivariable regression, participants holding a graduate degree completed a lower proportion of daily diaries (b = −0.109, SE = 0.052, p Conclusions: Study results confirm the feasibility of using EMA methods to assess patterns of prescription opioids and medical cannabis among individuals experiencing chronic pain.</p
BYOD use and perception among hospital clinicians – A qualitative study
No full textBackground: The increasing trend of healthcare professionals using personal devices for work, termed Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD), is becoming prevalent in hospitals. Despite its growing importance, there is limited empirical research addressing the real-world experiences of clinicians in using BYOD.Objective: This study seeks to explore clinicians' perception and behavior with respect to BYOD use in Australian hospitals, focusing on socio-technical aspects and its impact on clinical and administrative work.Methods: Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with clinicians in Australian hospitals. The framework method was applied to perform a thematic analysis, identifying key socio-technical themes related to BYOD usage.Results: Clinicians reported using BYOD for various tasks, with smartphones being the most preferred device over tablets or laptops. While smartphones were favored for their convenience, laptops were used for complex tasks like viewing radiological images, and tablets were rarely utilized. The multifunctionality and convergence of BYOD devices were seen as facilitators for mobility and productivity, contributing to cost and time savings. However, significant barriers were identified, including increased risks of patient information leaks, challenges in maintaining work-life balance, and concerns about hospital-acquired infections. The study also found that doctors rated BYOD highly for its efficiency across various settings, while nurses experienced more issues with distractions and boundary management. Allied health professionals' use varied by specialty.Conclusion: Findings from the study provide crucial insights into the advantages and challenges of BYOD usage in hospitals. These insights can help shape policies and management strategies to support secure and effective BYOD practices in healthcare settings.</p
Exploring Healing Through Cultural Programs for Aboriginal People with Childhood Experiences of Trauma and Out-of-Home Care: Listening to and Learning from Aboriginal Expertise
No full textA thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Cultures of Violence: Untangling the Roots of “Compassionate” Murder-Suicides Against People with Intellectual Disability
No full textSubmitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Deep overbite reduction in adolescent patients treated with Invisalign: A retrospective analysis
No full textIntroduction: Data regarding the efficacy of deep overbite correction with clear aligner therapy in adolescent patients are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of deep overbite reduction in adolescent patients treated with Invisalign (Align Technology, San Jose, Calif) aligners. Methods: This retrospective study investigated a sample of 102 patients aged 10-17 years from a large database. All patients had completed wear of a prescribed series of Invisalign aligners with planned overbite reduction on a nonextraction basis. The predicted, pretreatment, and posttreatment overbite measurement values were obtained from Align Technology's ClinCheck digital facility. Linear modeling, with Bland-Altman plots, was used to compare the effect of age, the use of bite ramps, and the adoption of the eighth-generational (G8) protocol on the difference between predicted and achieved overbite measurements. Results: A total of 102 patients with a mean ± standard deviation age of 13.94 ± 1.53 years satisfied the selection criteria. A mean ± standard deviation of 41.38 ± 30.43% of the predicted overbite reduction was achieved. There were no differences in the predictability of overbite reduction between patients who were aged </p
Examining how the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic affected alcohol use in different socio-demographic groups in an Australian representative longitudinal sample
No full textBackground and aims: Research examining how alcohol consumption changed across different socio-demographic groups during the pandemic has largely relied upon convenience samples recruited after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to measure whether the pandemic shifted alcohol consumption in different gender, age and income groups in Australia. Design, setting and participants: This was a longitudinal study using four waves (2017–20) of the annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to compare pre-pandemic consumption (2017–19) with consumption in 2020. A total of 11 636 participants in Australia aged 15 years and older took part. Measurements: Participants were asked annually about their alcohol consumption, demographics and income. Findings: There was a statistically significant increase in alcohol consumption during the first year of the pandemic [incident rate ratio (IRR) = 1.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1, 1.1], largely driven by changes in drinking frequency. We found a significant difference in consumption change from pre-COVID-19 to during COVID-19 for participants aged under 55 years compared with those aged over 55 years. In addition, participants aged 15–34 reported less alcohol consumption during the pandemic than those aged 35 years and older. No significant differences were identified across gender and income groups. Conclusions: Alcohol consumption in Australia increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey participants aged 55 years and over seemed to be the least impacted by the public health measures introduced during the pandemic, such as the closure of licensed premises.</p
Plant growth regulators improve the yield of white lupin (Lupinus albus) by enhancing the plant morpho-physiological functions and photosynthesis under salt stress
No full textABSTRACT
Background: White lupin (Lupinus albus L.) is a multi-purpose, climate resilient, pulse crop with exceptionally high protein content that makes it a suitable alternative of soybean in livestock feed. Although white lupin grows well on marginal sandy soils, previous studies have reported its sensitivity towards salinity stress. This experiment aims to assess the influence of salinity stress and mitigating role of plant growth regulators (PGRs) on performance of white lupin.
Methodology: The white lupin plants were sown in pots maintained at three salinity levels (1, 3 and 4.5 dS m− 1) throughout the growing season and foliar sprayed with different PGRs, including ascorbic acid, potassium chloride, boric acid, ammonium molybdate and methionine at sowing, four weeks after emergence and at the initiation of flowering. Foliar spray of distilled water and salinity level of 1 dS m− 1 were maintained as control treatments. Data were recorded for seed germination indices, plant growth, antioxidant enzymes and photosynthetic efficiency variables.
Results: The severe salinity stress (4.5 dS m− 1) reduced the germination indices by 9–50%, plant growth traits by 26–54%, root nodulation by 12–26%, grain development by 44–53%, antioxidant enzymes activity by 13–153% and photosynthetic attributes by 1–8% compared to control (1 dS m− 1). Different PGRs improved several morpho-physiological attributes in a varied manner. The application of potassium chloride improved seed vigour index by 53%, while ascorbic acid improved root nodulation by 12% and number of pods per cluster by 75% at the severe salinity level. The foliar application of PGRs also displayed a recovery of 140% in the activity of superoxide dismutase and 70% in catalase. The application of multi zinc displayed an improvement of 37% in plant relative chlorophyll, while ascorbic acid brought an increase of 25% in non-photochemical quenching and 21% in photochemical quenching coefficient at the severe salinity level. On contrary, the application of PGRs brought a relatively modest improvement (8–13%) in quantum yield of photosystem II at slight to moderate (3 dS m− 1) salinity stress. The correlation analysis confirmed a partial contribution of leaf area and seed vigour index to overall photosynthetic efficiency of white lupin.
Conclusions: Clearly, salinity exerted a negative impact on white lupin through a decline in chlorophyll content, activity of antioxidant enzymes and efficiency of photosynthetic apparatus. However, PGRs, especially ascorbic acid and potassium chloride considerably improved white lupin growth and development by mitigating the negative effects of salinity stress.</p
Missing the mark? Identifying child sexual abuse material forum structure and key-players based on public replies and private messaging networks
No full textAbstract: Darknet forums dedicated to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) attract thousands of users interacting with each other through online communications. Given finite resources, law enforcement agencies seek ways to effectively prioritise their investigative efforts by identifying key-players that are central to the forum community. For the identification of such users, law enforcement agencies typically rely on the communication network that can be derived from messages posted on the public part of the forum. Many forums, however, also allow for private communications between members, raising the question to what extent relying on only a single mode of communication biases key-player identification. Using data on both public and private communications on two large-scale darknet CSAM forums, two communication networks are derived and their structures analysed. Measures of centrality robustness are applied to ascertain the level of bias introduced when determining key-players on only one of the available networks. Findings show only a minority of members to participate in forum communication, and limited overlap between participants active in public and private communications. Key-players emerging from combining the public and private communications resemble those from the public network only, suggesting that police prioritisation based on public postings only is still ‘on mark’. Members who are central to the private communications network may nevertheless be of special law enforcement interest.</p
Bicycle Set-Up Dimensions and Cycling Kinematics: A Consensus Statement Using Delphi Methodology
No full textBicycle set-up dimensions and cycling kinematic data are important components of bicycle fitting and cyclist testing protocols. However, there are no guidelines on how bicycles should be measured and how kinematic data should be collected to increase the reliability of outcomes. This article proposes a consensus regarding bicycle set-up dimensions and recommendations for collecting cycling-related kinematic data. Four core members recruited panellists, prepared the document to review in each round for panellists, analysed the scores and comments of the expert panellists, reported the decisions and communicated with panellists. Fourteen experts with experience in research involving cycling kinematics and/or bicycle fitting agreed to participate as panellists. An initial list of 17 statements was proposed, rated using a five-point Likert scale and commented on by panellists in three rounds of anonymous surveys following a Delphi procedure. The consensus was agreed upon when more than 80% of the panellists scored the statement with values of 4 and 5 (moderately and strongly agree) with an interquartile range of less than or equal to 1. A consensus was achieved for eight statements addressing bicycle set-up dimensions (e.g. saddle height, saddle setback, etc.) and nine statements for cycling kinematic assessment (e.g. kinematic method, two-dimensional methodology, etc.). This consensus statement provides a list of recommendations about how bicycle set-up dimensions should be measured and the best practices for collecting cycling kinematic data. These recommendations should improve the transparency, reproducibility, standardisation and interpretation of bicycle measurements and cycling kinematic data for researchers, bicycle fitters and cycling related practitioners.</p
Exploring Fantasy Football Involvement and Mental Health through Player Experience, Engagement Levels, Social Comparisons, and Financial Incentives
No full textBackground: Fantasy sports are a rapidly growing complement to the sports industry and recent research has explored the mental health experiences of those who play the game. Aim: This study aimed to test the findings from two such studies (Wilkins et al., 2021; Wilkins et al., 2023). Methods: Questionnaire data measuring depression, anxiety, stress, positive mood, negative mood, problematic behaviour, and functional impairment from 635 fantasy football players were analysed using one-way ANOVAs. Results: Amongst the significant results were the findings that: i) more experienced players reported less anxiety than less experienced players, and ii) players who engaged more with the game, made more social comparisons, and had greater financial involvement generally reported more mental health concerns and more positive mood than other players. Conclusion: Engagement levels play an important role in determining the wellbeing experience of fantasy football participants. These findings also lend support to the ‘Framework of Hypothesised Factors Leading to Predominantly Positive or Negative Experiences in FF’ and should be used by stakeholders within the fantasy sports industry to optimise the game-playing experience of participants.</p