19683 research outputs found
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Building Strong Foundations: Listening to and Learning from People with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Families
No full textThis chapter explores the importance of amplifying the voices and perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities in disability policy, research and service provision. It highlights what support workers and organisations might learn from actively listening to individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. The chapter emphasises the critical role that family members play in the lives of some service users, particularly those with severe or profound intellectual disabilities. Drawing on both published literature and unpublished data from a longitudinal study of group homes, the chapter identifies key themes and recommendations for enhancing the quality of support provided in group homes and other forms of supported accommodation services. These include prioritising effective communication, promoting a culture of accountability and teamwork, maintaining strong family relationships and fostering community engagement and social connections. By implementing these strategies, service providers can better meet the diverse support needs of people with intellectual disabilities while honouring their voices and individuality.</p
Han-Centrism and Multiethnic Nation-Building in China and Taiwan: A Comparative Study since 1911
No full textAbstract: Although the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, also known as Taiwan) and their ruling parties have altered over time, there are quite a few similarities between their models of nation-building, more than is commonly acknowledged. The guofu (father) of the modern Chinese state, Sun Yat-sen, one of the few political leaders who is still honored on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, claimed all the peoples and territories of the former Qing empire comprised a single national community, the so-called Zhonghua minzu. Yet a Han super-majority has long sat at the center of this national imaginary. In this article, we ask what has happened to Sun’s imagined community across the last century, and how it has evolved in the two competing Chinese states the PRC and the ROC. We seek to demonstrate the enduring challenge of Han-centrism for multiethnic nation-building in both countries, while illustrating how shifts in domestic and international politics are altering this national imaginary and the place of ethnocultural diversity within it.</p
Reliable technique for acromion density assessment on CT
No full textIntroduction: Acromial stress fracture (ASF) is an uncommon but acknowledged complication of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). There is no standardised method to directly measure the bone mineral density of the acromion to allow a detailed analysis of the potential mechanism of ASF. The aim is to establish a reliable and reproducible technique for measurement of acromial density on computer tomography (CT). Methods: A retrospective review on CT scans obtained for three groups of patients: those planned for RTSA (n = 26); age and gender-matched non-operative (n = 26); and young non-operative patients (n = 28) were performed. Standardised axial images of 1 mm thickness at 1 mm increments were created following horizontal straightening on the coronal and sagittal views. To assess inter-rater reliability, two senior CT radiographers performed density measurements using standard region of interest (ROI) tool on the CTs with the ROI placed on the mid (ROI 1) and posterior (ROI 2) acromion. ROIs were selected as the most common locations for acromion fracture post RTSA. Measurements were repeated at least 6 weeks apart. Intra-class coefficients (ICC) were used to determine intra- and inter-rater reliability. Results: ICCs demonstrated good to high intra-rater and inter-rater reliability for both ROI 1 and ROI 2 across all three groups. The lower margin of 95% confidence intervals was more than 0 for all intra-class coefficients. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a reliable method of measuring acromion density on CT. This method can be used to assess bone mineral density in the clinical setting and in future studies investigating ASF following RTSA.</p
Knowledge-holders from Indonesia and the Northern Territory Come Together on Yolŋu and Larrakia Country
No full textA recent workshop brought together Yolŋu, Makassan and other experts from Indonesia and Australia in a cultural exchange of information and data between knowledge holders and institutions.</p
Shaping Norms: Australia, G.J.L. Coles, and the Evolution of the UN Refugee Agency's Repatriation Culture
No full textThe emergence in the 1990s of voluntary repatriation as a significant new norm in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) practice in refugee protection is often represented as something of an inevitability. Numerous scholars have suggested that the growth at UNHCR of a “repatriation culture” throughout the 1980s was principally the result of the increasing pressures of mass influx events alongside the challenges of dwindling resources and states' demands for durable solutions to successive refugee crises. In this article, we argue that these challenges offer only a partial explanation for UNHCR's turn from the cold war “exilic bias” of the international protection regime, towards the post‐cold war prioritisation of repatriation. We suggest that states such as Australia, deeply concerned with the long‐term outcomes of refugee flows in the late 1970s and 1980s, worked in tandem with key individuals who helped to shape the normative landscape of international protection. We identify GJL Coles as one such individual and offer a close analysis of his influence on key statements concerning voluntary repatriation throughout the 1980s. By making visible the entangled contributions of Australia and Coles, we add a hitherto missing strand to the story of how the “repatriation culture” at UNHCR, and the human rights discourse that accompanied it, emerged.</p
Artificial Intelligence in Mental Healthcare
No full texthttps://www.mentalhealtheurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Study-on-AI-in-mental-health-care-final-for-publication.pdf</p
Towards a sociolinguistics of deglobalization
No full textThis article advocates for a ‘sociolinguistics of deglobalization’ that focuses on the sociolinguistic impacts of major shifts in the world system that have taken place since 2008 and have become particularly salient amidst the covid pandemic. Drawing on case studies of China, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, we describe the period after 2008 as an emerging post-neoliberal epoch characterized by the intensifying of state power, constrained resistance, differential inclusion, and organized abandonment. Our article explores the theoretical, methodological, and ethical challenges of researching the sociolinguistic impacts of these developments. We also argue that our discipline’s dominant approach to global-scale analysis—the sociolinguistics of globalization—has impeded our ability to perceive the emerging dynamics of deglobalization. Our call for a sociolinguistics of deglobalization is offered as both a provocation and invitation to our discipline to engage with the rapidly changing nature of world politics.</p
Combinatorial discovery of micro-topographical landscapes that resist biofilm formation through quorum sensing-mediated auto-lubrication
No full textBio-instructive materials that intrinsically inhibit biofilm formation have significant anti-biofouling potential in industrial and healthcare settings. Since bacterial surface attachment is sensitive to surface topography, we experimentally surveyed 2176 combinatorially generated shapes embossed into polymers using an unbiased screen. This identified microtopographies that, in vitro, reduce colonization by pathogens associated with medical device-related infections by up to 15-fold compared to a flat polymer surface. Machine learning provided design rules, based on generalisable descriptors, for predicting biofilm-resistant microtopographies. On tracking single bacterial cells we observed that the motile behaviour of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is markedly different on anti-attachment microtopographies compared with pro-attachment or flat surfaces. Inactivation of Rhl-dependent quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa through deletion of rhlI or rhlR restored biofilm formation on the anti-attachment topographies due to the loss of rhamnolipid biosurfactant production. Exogenous provision of N-butanoyl-homoserine lactone to the rhlI mutant inhibited biofilm formation, as did genetic complementation of the rhlI, rhlR or rhlA mutants. These data are consistent with confinement-induced anti-adhesive rhamnolipid biosurfactant ‘autolubrication’. In a murine foreign body infection model, anti-attachment topographies are refractory to P. aeruginosa colonization. Our findings highlight the potential of simple topographical patterning of implanted medical devices for preventing biofilm associated infections.</p
Equity, fairness and justice in water policy: Literature review
No full textThis literature review examines peer-reviewed, academic research on equity, fairness and justice in water policy. It looks at how these three concepts are included in discussions around access, allocations and rights to water across a wide range of fields of research. This review does not examine work that aims to primarily value water as a resource; it focuses on discussions of what makes water policy equitable, fair or just. We find that the literature does not provide an agreed definition of these concepts. Water policy makers who seek to address questions of equity, fairness and justice in water policy should recognise that this is a highly contested space likely to require difficult trade-offs and considerable deliberation and debate among and with stakeholders.</p