Maternal correlates of maternal child feeding practices : a systematic review

Establishing healthy eating habits early in life is one important strategy to combat childhood obesity. Given that early maternal child feeding practices have been linked to child food intake and weight, identifying the maternal correlates of maternal child feeding practices is important in order to understand the determinants of childhood obesity; this was the overall aim of the current review. Academic databases were searched for studies examining the relationship between maternal child feeding practices and parenting, personal characteristics and psychopathology of mothers with preschoolers. Papers were limited to those published in English, between January 2000 - June 2012. Only studies with mothers of normally developing children between the ages of 2 - 6 years were included. There were no restrictions regarding the inclusion of maternal nationality or SES. Seventeen eligible studies were sourced. Information on the aim, sample, measures and findings of these was summarised into tables. The findings of this review support a relationship between maternal controlling parenting, general and eating psychopathology, and socioeconomic status and maternal child feeding practices. The main methodological issues of the studies reviewed included inconsistency in measures of maternal variables across studies and cross-sectional designs. We conclude that the maternal correlates associated with maternal child feeding practices are complex, and the pathways by which maternal correlates impact these feeding practices require further investigation.

Fathers' rights groups : demographic correlates and impact on custody policy

This article combines information from fathers' rights Web sites with demographic, historical, and other information to provide an empirically based analysis of fathers' rights advocacy in the United States. Content analysis discerns three factors that are central to the groups' rhetoric: representing domestic violence allegations as false, promoting presumptive joint custody and decreasing child support, and portraying women as perpetrators of domestic abuse. Fathers' rights organizations and themes are examined in relation to state-level demographics and custody policy. The implications of fathers' rights activism for battered women and their children are explored.

A left realist approach to antifeminist fathers’ rights groups

Despite earlier critiques of left realists’ failure to adequately address feminist concerns, recent left realist theorizing and empirical research have made valuable contributions to the understanding of woman abuse and other forms of gendered violence. Left realism has further potential to contribute to the criminological understanding of woman abuse and its contributing socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This article describes left realists’ early efforts to include gender in analyses of crime. It then summarizes feminist critiques of left realism and reviews the work that has responded to them. Drawing upon two prominent strands of feminist left realist theorizing about violence and gender, the paper proposes a preliminary left realist theory of antifeminist fathers’ rights group activism. It then outlines a provisional research agenda on antifeminist fathers’ rights groups, and proposes short and long term policies and practices to enhance the safety of abused mothers and their children following divorce or separation.

Equality with a vengeance : men's rights groups, battered women, and antifeminist backlash

This book investigates efforts by fathers’ rights groups to undermine battered women’s shelters and services, in the context of the backlash against feminism. Dragiewicz examines the lawsuit Booth v. Hvass, in which fathers’ rights groups attempted to use an Equal Protection claim to argue that funding emergency services that target battered women is discriminatory against men. As Dragiewicz shows, this case (which was eventually dismissed) is relevant to widespread efforts to promote a degendered understanding of violence against women in order to eradicate policies and programs that were designed to ameliorate harm to battered women.

Associations between infant temperament and early feeding practices. A cross-sectional study of Australian mother-infant dyads from the NOURISH randomised controlled trial

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between temperament in Australian infants aged 2–7 months and feeding practices of their first-time mothers (n=698). Associations between feeding practices and beliefs (Infant Feeding Questionnaire) and infant temperament (easy-difficult continuous scale from the Short Temperament Scale for Infants) were tested using linear and binary logistic regression models adjusted for a comprehensive range of covariates. Mothers of infants with a more difficult temperament reported a lower awareness of infant cues, were more likely to use food to calm and reported high concern about overweight and underweight. The covariate maternal depression score largely mirrored these associations. Infant temperament may be an important variable to consider in future research on the prevention of childhood obesity. In practice, mothers of temperamentally difficult infants may need targeted feeding advice to minimise the adoption of undesirable feeding practices.

Are insect frugivores always plant pests? The impact of fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) larvae on host plant fitness

Herbivory is generally regarded as negatively impacting on host plant fitness. Frugivorous insects, which feed directly on plant reproductive tissues, are predicted to be particularly damaging to hosts. We tested this prediction with the fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, by recording the impact of larval feeding on two direct (seed number and germination) and two indirect (fruit decay rate and attraction/deterrence of vertebrate frugivores) measures of host plant fitness. Experiments were done in the laboratory, glasshouse and tropical rainforest. We found no negative impact of larval feeding on seed number or germination for three test plants: tomato, capsicum and eggplant. Further, larval feeding accelerated the initiation of decay and increased the final level of fruit decay in tomatoes, apples, pawpaw and pear, a result considered to be beneficial to the fruit. In rainforest studies, native rodents preferred infested apple and pears compared to uninfested control fruit; however, there were no differences observed between treatments for tomato and pawpaw. For our study fruits, these results demonstrate that fruit fly larval infestation has neutral or beneficial impacts on the host plant, an outcome which may be largely influenced by the physical properties of the host. These results may contribute to explaining why fruit flies have not evolved the same level of host specialization generally observed for other herbivore groups.

The unresolved struggles between project managers and functional managers in matrix organizations

Having personal that works in projects but belongs to a functional organization is the way that many companies organized their labor force today. Previous research shows that this implies management contradictions and ambiguities between functional manager and project manager; there are unresolved struggles between these two roles in terms of power, accountability, authority and legitimacy. With this paper we aim to analyze those struggles based on previous research and to generate working hypotheses. We first provide a review of the different matrix organizations focusing on the relation between the functional manager and the project manager. We then review the literature concerning temporary organizations and projects as temporary organizations. We conclude by integrating the findings of these perspectives and by identifying working hypotheses and areas for further research.

The impact of a model of nurse education to improve knowledge and recognition of delirium in older persons by registered nurses

Introduction: Delirium is a serious issue associated with high morbidity and mortality in older hospitalised people. Early recognition enables diagnosis and treatment of underlying cause/s, which can lead to improved patient outcomes. However, research shows knowledge and accurate nurse recognition of delirium and is poor and lack of education appears to be a key issue related to this problem. Thus, the purpose of this randomised controlled trial (RCT) was to evaluate, in a sample of registered nurses, the usability and effectiveness of a web-based learning site, designed using constructivist learning principles, to improve acute care nurse knowledge and recognition of delirium. Prior to undertaking the RCT preliminary phases involving; validation of vignettes, video-taping five of the validated vignettes, website development and pilot testing were completed. Methods: The cluster RCT involved consenting registered nurse participants (N = 175) from twelve clinical areas within three acute health care facilities in Queensland, Australia. Data were collected through a variety of measures and instruments. Primary outcomes were improved ability of nurses to recognise delirium using written validated vignettes and improved knowledge of delirium using a delirium knowledge questionnaire. The secondary outcomes were aimed at determining nurse satisfaction and usability of the website. Primary outcome measures were taken at baseline (T1), directly after the intervention (T2) and two months later (T3). The secondary outcomes were measured at T2 by participants in the intervention group. Following baseline data collection remaining participants were assigned to either the intervention (n=75) or control (n=72) group. Participants in the intervention group were given access to the learning intervention while the control group continued to work in their clinical area and at that time, did not receive access to the learning intervention. Data from the primary outcome measures were examined in mixed model analyses. Results: Overall, the effect of the online learning intervention over time comparing the intervention group and the control group were positive. The intervention groups‘ scores were higher and the change over time results were statistically significant [T3 and T1 (t=3.78 p=<0.001) and T2 and T1 baseline (t=5.83 p=<0.001)]. Statistically significant improvements were also seen for delirium recognition when comparing T2 and T1 results (t=2.58 p=0.012) between the control and intervention group but not for changes in delirium recognition scores between the two groups from T3 and T1 (t=1.80 p=0.074). The majority of the participants rated the website highly on the visual, functional and content elements. Additionally, nearly 80% of the participants liked the overall website features and there were self-reported improvements in delirium knowledge and recognition by the registered nurses in the intervention group. Discussion: Findings from this study support the concept that online learning is an effective and satisfying method of information delivery. Embedded within a constructivist learning environment the site produced a high level of satisfaction and usability for the registered nurse end-users. Additionally, the results showed that the website significantly improved delirium knowledge & recognition scores and the improvement in delirium knowledge was retained at a two month follow-up. Given the strong effect of the intervention the online delirium intervention should be utilised as a way of providing information to registered nurses. It is envisaged that this knowledge would lead to improved recognition of delirium as well as improvement in patient outcomes however; translation of this knowledge attainment into clinical practice was outside the scope of this study. A critical next step is demonstrating the effect of the intervention in changing clinical behaviour, and improving patient health outcomes.

Using social media to facilitate knowledge transfer in complex engineering environments : a primer for educators

While highly cohesive groups are potentially advantageous they are also often correlated with the emergence of knowledge and information silos based around those same functional or occupational clusters. Consequently, an essential challenge for engineering organisations wishing to overcome informational silos is to implement mechanisms that facilitate, encourage and sustain interactions between otherwise disconnected groups. This paper acts as a primer for those seeking to gain an understanding of the design, functionality and utility of a suite of software tools generically termed social media technologies in the context of optimising the management of tacit engineering knowledge. Underpinned by knowledge management theory and using detailed case examples, this paper explores how social media technologies achieve such goals, allowing for the transfer of knowledge by tapping into the tacit and explicit knowledge of disparate groups in complex engineering environments.

Cartilage regeneration using zonal chondrocyte subpopulations : a promising approach or an overcomplicated strategy?

Cartilage defects heal imperfectly and osteoarthritic changes develop frequently as a result. Although the existence of specific behaviours of chondrocytes derived from various depth-related zones in vitro has been known for over 20 years, only a relatively small body of in vitro studies has been performed with zonal chondrocytes and current clinical treatment strategies do not reflect these native depth-dependent (zonal) differences. This is surprising since mimicking the zonal organization of articular cartilage in neo-tissue by the use of zonal chondrocyte subpopulations could enhance the functionality of the graft. Although some research groups including our own have made considerable progress in tailoring culture conditions using specific growth factors and biomechanical loading protocols, we conclude that an optimal regime has not yet been determined. Other unmet challenges include the lack of specific zonal cell sorting protocols and limited amounts of cells harvested per zone. As a result, the engineering of functional tissue has not yet been realized and no long-term in vivo studies using zonal chondrocytes have been described. This paper critically reviews the research performed to date and outlines our view of the potential future significance of zonal chondrocyte populations in regenerative approaches for the treatment of cartilage defects. Secondly, we briefly discuss the capabilities of additive manufacturing technologies that can not only create patient-specific grafts directly from medical imaging data sets but could also more accurately reproduce the complex 3D zonal extracellular matrix architecture using techniques such as hydrogel-based cell printing.

Self-directed student work groups using blended learning

This paper provides a description of an innovative teaching approach designed to facilitate student work groups using a blended learning approach that incorporates both traditional face-to-face teaching methods and an online student work group facility. The teaching approach is designed to accommodate a large introductory human resource management subject positioned within an undergraduate business degree.

A known-groups evaluation of the Response Bias Scale in a neuropsychological setting

We evaluated the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Second Edition (MMPI-2) Response Bias Scale (RBS). Archival data from 83 individuals who were referred for neuropsychological assessment with no formal diagnosis (n = 10), following a known or suspected traumatic brain injury (n = 36), with a psychiatric diagnosis (n = 20), or with a history of both trauma and a psychiatric condition (n = 17) were retrieved. The criteria for malingered neurocognitive dysfunction (MNCD) were applied, and two groups of participants were formed: poor effort (n = 15) and genuine responders (n = 68). Consistent with previous studies, the difference in scores between groups was greatest for the RBS (d = 2.44), followed by two established MMPI-2 validity scales, F (d = 0.25) and K (d = 0.23), and strong significant correlations were found between RBS and F (rs = .48) and RBS and K (r = −.41). When MNCD group membership was predicted using logistic regression, the RBS failed to add incrementally to F. In a separate regression to predict group membership, K added significantly to the RBS. Receiver-operating curve analysis revealed a nonsignificant area under the curve statistic, and at the ideal cutoff in this sample of >12, specificity was moderate (.79), sensitivity was low (.47), and positive and negative predictive power values at a 13% base rate were .25 and .91, respectively. Although the results of this study require replication because of a number of limitations, this study has made an important first attempt to report RBS classification accuracy statistics for predicting poor effort at a range of base rates.

Bilingual asynchronous online discussion groups : design and delivery of an e-Learning distance study module for nurse academics in a developing country

The advent of eLearning has seen online discussion forums widely used in both undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education. This paper reports an Australian university experience of design, delivery and redevelopment of a distance education module developed for Vietnamese nurse academics. The teaching experience of Vietnamese nurse academics is mixed and frequently limited. It was decided that the distance module should attempt to utilise the experience of senior Vietnamese nurse academics - asynchronous online discussion groups were used to facilitate this. Online discussion occurred in both Vietnamese and English and was moderated by an Australian academic working alongside a Vietnamese translator. This paper will discuss the design of an online learning environment for foreign correspondents, the resources and translation required to maximise the success of asynchronous online discussion groups, as well as the rationale of delivering complex content in a foreign language. While specifically addressing the first iteration of the first distance module designed, this paper will also address subsequent changes made for the second iteration of the module and comment on their success. While a translator is clearly a key component of success, the elements of simplicity and clarity combined with supportive online moderation must not be overlooked.

Detecting conversing groups of chatters : a model, algorithms, and tests

Chatrooms, for example Internet Relay Chat, are generally multi-user, multi-channel and multiserver chat-systems which run over the Internet and provide a protocol for real-time text-based conferencing between users all over the world. While a well-trained human observer is able to understand who is chatting with whom, there are no efficient and accurate automated tools to determine the groups of users conversing with each other. A precursor to analysing evolving cyber-social phenomena is to first determine what the conversations are and which groups of chatters are involved in each conversation. We consider this problem in this paper. We propose an algorithm to discover all groups of users that are engaged in conversation. Our algorithms are based on a statistical model of a chatroom that is founded on our experience with real chatrooms. Our approach does not require any semantic analysis of the conversations, rather it is based purely on the statistical information contained in the sequence of posts. We improve the accuracy by applying some graph algorithms to clean the statistical information. We present some experimental results which indicate that one can automatically determine the conversing groups in a chatroom, purely on the basis of statistical analysis.