19683 research outputs found
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Acceptability of Psychosocial Interventions for Refugees and Asylum Seekers: A Systematic Literature Review
No full textABSTRACTAcceptability is a vital component of psychosocial interventions, separate from (but related to) efficacy, and includes the attitudes, feelings, and thoughts of clients and therapists about the appropriateness of (and anticipated response to) an intervention. This systematic review summarized the evidence regarding acceptability of psychosocial interventions for people adults seeking refuge (i.e., refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people who were at least 18 years old). We conducted a mixed‐methods systematic review of acceptability, measured quantitatively (e.g., dropout, attendance) and qualitatively (e.g., client and therapist attitudes, cultural appropriateness). Cochrane procedures were utilized for conducting the systematic review, meta‐analysis, and thematic analysis. The search strategy resulted in the identification of 102 studies (n > 8983 participants). Meta‐analyses of quantitative data revealed a mean dropout rate of 16.9% and a mean attendance rate of 84.1% from a variety of psychosocial interventions. Thematic analysis of qualitative data generated seven themes; (a) openness and closeness, (b) presence and care, (c) somatic focus, (d) flexibility, (e) sensitivity towards gender and culture, (f) limiting discussion of trauma, and (g) conflicting priorities (i.e., relocation, work demands, transport difficulties, health issues, etc.). This review synthesized available data and highlighted important findings related to acceptability. These findings may be utilized in the provision of interventions for refugees and will aid in therapists adjusting their practice to improve its acceptability for this part of our population.</p
Legal Theory and Climate Consciousness
No full text"In this chapter we consider aspects of legal theory and legal change. The term ‘legal theory’ is quite broad, and includes what is sometimes called ‘jurisprudence’, ‘legal philosophy’ and forms of critical legal theory."</p
Integrating Classic Morphology with Novel (Meta)Genomic Approaches to Detect and Identify Cyst Nematode Species in Australia
No full textSubmitted in whole fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Investigating the Distribution of Genetic Variation and Density-dependent Effects Within Individual Hosts Using Nuclear Genome Sequencing of Onchocerca volvulus Microfilariae
No full textSubmitted in total fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Similarities and Differences in Two Adult Learners’ Communicative Repertoires in Arabic as an Additional Language: A Study of Sociolinguistic and Contextual Alignment in the Saudi Hijazi Context
No full textA thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Education, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
High intensity interval training and its impact on brain-derived neurotrophic factor: a potential mechanism to reduce early onset dementia
No full textDementia is an age-related disease affecting the brain that results in memory loss and cognitive decline. It is the seventh most common cause of death globally. Early (younger) onset dementia is any form of dementia that occurs in people between the ages of 14 to 65 years. Lifestyle interventions such as exercise and physical activity can be effective in preventing and attenuating early onset of dementia progression. Exercise stimulates neurogenesis in the hippocampus and can increase hippocampus volume. This leads to improved memory retention and cognitive capability. Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a key protein that promotes the growth and survival of hippocampus neurons. Exercise elevates BDNF in the hippocampus, however, current evidence suggests the exercise intensity should be strenuous to maximise its stimulatory effect as it profoundly elevates the muscle metabolite lactate. Lactate is consequently transported into the blood and crosses the blood–brain barrier to move into the hippocampus to stimulate BDNF expression. Therefore, conservative low intensity constant rate exercise prescription may be insufficient to impact BDNF concentration as it is characterized by stable blood lactate concentration. An alternate and safe exercise method that stimulates lactate is high intensity interval training (HIIT). Subsequently we hypothesize long term HIIT will prevent and slow the progression of early onset dementia more so than constant rate, moderate intensity exercise as it more profoundly elevates blood lactate and BDNF.</p
Recycling shopping behaviour in Australian circular economy: An examination through central and peripheral routes
No full textUnder the operation of circular economy to tackle the waste crisis in Australia, there is an imperative call for boosting consumers’ recycling shopping behaviour. Part of the process lies in recyclable packaging and how consumers make purchase decisions based on these types of packaging’s information. Despite the urgency, how consumers process and respond to recyclable packaging cues – the very communication of packaging recyclability, including packaging materials, colour, and recycling signs remains equivocal in both literature and practice. The paper proposed an integrated framework by combining the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Theory of Planned Behaviour, in which the motivations and outcomes of both central and peripheral routes of processing these cues on recyclable packaging were explored, examining how each processing route would result in differentiated influences on purchasing intention. This is considered within the context of fast-moving consumer goods. Using Structural Equation Modelling and AMOS 29 software, the research confirmed the sole effect of the central route on attitudinal change through semiotic knowledge as a new construct and mediator, addressing the limitations of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the issue of the circular economy in consumers’ dimensions. Recommendations were proposed to manufacturers in retail environments and policymakers towards enhancing consumers’ knowledge of recycling signs for circular economy. Through the introduction of semiotic knowledge, the research makes crucial theoretical contributions to addressing packaging waste by extending the two models and provides scholars and practitioners with an understanding of the implications involved and how they can assist in achieving a circular economy.</p
Should public health policy exempt cases with low viral load from isolation during an epidemic?: a modelling study
No full textAs demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as case isolation, are an important element of pandemic response. The overall impact of case isolation on epidemic dynamics depends on a number of factors, including the timing of isolation relative to the onset of contagiousness for each individual instructed to isolate by public health authorities. While there is an extensive literature examining the importance of minimising the delay from exposure to direction to isolate in determining the impact of case isolation policy, less is known about how underlying epidemic dynamics may also contribute to that impact. Empirical observation and modelling studies have shown that, as an epidemic progresses, the distribution of viral loads among cases changes systematically. In principle, this may allow for more targeted and efficient isolation strategies to be implemented. Here, we describe a multi-scale agent-based model developed to investigate how isolation strategies that account for cases viral loads could be incorporated into policy. We compare the impact and efficiency of isolation strategies in which all cases, regardless of their viral load, are required to isolate to strategies in which some cases may be exempt from isolation. Our findings show that, following the epidemic peak, the vast majority of cases identified with a low viral load are in the declining phase of their infection and so contribute less to overall contagiousness. This observation prompts the question about the potential public health value of discontinuing isolation for such individuals. Our numerical investigation of this ‘adaptive’ strategy shows that exempting individuals with low viral loads from isolation following the epidemic peak leads to a modest increase in new infections. Surprisingly, it also leads to a drop in efficiency, as measured by the average number of infections averted per isolated case. Our findings therefore suggest caution in adopting such flexible or adaptive isolation policies. Our multi-scale modelling framework is sufficiently flexible to enable extensive numerical evaluation of more complex isolation strategies that incorporate more disease-specific biological and epidemiological features, supporting the development and evaluation of future public health pandemic response plans.</p
Encoding non-Western Music Notation and Tonal Correspondences: A Case Study for Ottoman Music Sources
No full textHistorically, numerous cultures and music traditions worldwide have developed their own notation systems, before Western staff notation became the de facto standard in notating music. There is evidence as ancient as Sumerian cuneiform to be used (Wulstan, 1971), and often, pitch signs were derived from a culture-specific writing system. The pitches themselves likewise depend on specific theories on harmony that led to the use of different scales. When working with historic, discontinued, or non-European notational systems, the emic concept of pitches and their corresponding signs must be correlated to Western staff notation in a critical edition. There is currently only native support of eurogenetic notations in MEI. The present paper showcases a solution of mapping emic pitch signs, pitch names, and Western staff notation, discussing Hampartsum notation used in the context of Ottoman music sources.</p