The Cannabis Expectancy Questionnaire for Men who have Sex with Men (CEQ-MSM): A measure of substance-related beliefs

Objective Substance-related expectancies are associated with substance use and post-substance use thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The expectancies held by specific cultural or sub-cultural groups have rarely been investigated. This research maps expectancies specific to gay and other men who have sex with men (MSM) and their relationship with substance patterns and behaviours following use, including sexual practices (e.g., unprotected anal intercourse). This study describes the development of a measure of such beliefs for cannabis, the Cannabis Expectancy Questionnaire for Men who have Sex with Men (CEQ-MSM). Method Items selected through a focus group and interviews were piloted on 180 self-identified gay or other MSM via an online questionnaire. Results Factor analysis revealed six distinct substance reinforcement domains (“Enhanced sexual experience”, “Sexual negotiation”, “Cognitive impairment”, “Social and emotional facilitation”, “Enhanced sexual desire”, and “Sexual inhibition”). The scale was associated with consumption patterns of cannabis, and in a crucial test of discriminant validity not with the consumption of alcohol or stimulants. Conclusions The CEQ-MSM represents a reliable and valid measure of outcome expectancies, related to cannabis among MSM. Future applications of the CEQ-MSM in health promotion, clinical settings and research may contribute to reducing harm associated with substance use among MSM, including HIV transmission.

The role of coronial autopsies in a context of decreasing hospital autopsies: An investigation of the issues

This article scrutinises the argument that decreasing hospital autopsy rates are outside the control of medical personnel, based as they are on families’ unwillingness to consent to autopsy procedures, and that, as a consequence, the coronial autopsy is the appropriate alternative to the important medical and educational role of the autopsy. It makes three points which are well supported by the research. First, that while hospital autopsy rates are decreasing, they have been doing so for more than 60 years, and issues beyond the simple notion of consent, like funding formulae in hospitals, increased technology and fear of litigation by doctors are all playing their part in this decline. Secondly, the issue of consent has as much to do with families not being approached as with families declining to give consent. This is well supported by recent changes in hospital policy and procedures which include senior medical personnel and detailed consent forms, both of which have been linked to rising consent rates in recent years. Finally, the perception that coronial autopsies are beyond familial consent has been challenged recently by legislative changes in both Australia and the United States of America which allow objections based on religion and culture to be heard by coroners. For these reasons, it is argued that medical personnel need to focus on increasing hospital autopsy rates, while also addressing the complex ethical issues associated with conducting medical research within the context of the coronial autopsy.

Human resource characteristics of international new ventures : the role of immigrant entrepreneurs

Immigrant Entrepreneurs (IE) are often portrayed as pushed into self-employment due to employment barriers in their adopted countries. But IE have human resources, like international experience, which can help them form international new ventures (INV). We question the role of IE in INV. We use randomly selected data from 561 young firms from the Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE) project. We find that IE are over-represented in INV and have many characteristics known to facilitate INV success including more founders, university degree, international connections and technical capability. These findings are relevant to policy makers, and nascent IE.

The role of vegetation in enhancing radon concentration and ion production in the atmosphere

The role of ions in the production of atmospheric particles has gained wide interest due to their profound impact on climate. Away from anthropogenic sources, molecules are ionized by alpha radiation from radon exhaled from the ground and cosmic gamma radiation from space. These molecular ions quickly form into ‘cluster ions’, typically smaller than about 1.5 nm. Using our measurements and the published literature, we present evidence to show that cluster ion concentrations in forest areas are consistently higher than outside. Since alpha radiation cannot penetrate more than a few centimetres of soil, radon present deep in the ground cannot directly contribute to the measured cluster ion concentrations. We propose an additional mechanism whereby radon, which is water soluble, is brought up by trees and plants through the uptake of groundwater and released into the atmosphere by transpiration. We estimate that, in a forest comprising eucalyptus trees spaced 4m apart, approximately 28% of the radon in the air may be released by transpiration. Considering that 24% of the earth’s land area is still covered in forests; these findings have potentially important implications for atmospheric aerosol formation and climate.

School system as axiological medium : the state's primary macro-proposing context and its expanding moral role in Australia

This paper analyses the Australian Values Education Program (VEP) within the framework of late-classical political economy. using analytical methods from systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis, we demonstrate that the VEP is an unwitting restatement of the principles of ideology as developed by the likes of Destutt de Tracy and the Young Hegelians. We conclude that the sudden shock of globalisation and the post-national cultures this has entailed is in many ways similar to the shock of formal nationalism that emerged in the late-Seventeenth and early- Eighteenth centuries. The overall result of the VEP for the Australian school system is a massive procedural burden that is unlikely to produce the results at which the program is aimed.

Space : Irrealis objects and their role in a new political economy

In this paper, I show how new spaces are being prefigured for colonisation in the language of contemporary technology policy. Drawing on a corpus of 1.3 million words collected from technology policy centres throughout the world, I show the role of policy language in creating the foundations of an emergent form of political economy. The analysis is informed by principles from critical discourse analysis (CDA) and classical political economy. It foregrounds a functional aspect of language called process metaphor to show how aspects of human activity are prefigured for mass commodification by the manipulation of irrealis spaces. I also show how the fundamental element of any new political economy, the property element, is being largely ignored. The potential creation of a global space as concrete as landed property – electromagnetic spectrum – has significant ramifications for the future of social relations in any global “knowledge economy”.

The role of academic community in higher learning : Alternatives to a drive-thru education

The purpose of our paper is to illustrate the fundamental importance of developing academic community among first year students. We argue that a sense of academic community is of fundamental importance in combating the effects of the neo-liberal economic discourse on higher education, and that the values of higher education are incongruent with those of economic rationalism. The discursive commodification of the student, and of education itself, works against the formation of community, both within the university environment and in the wider society. We argue that, at present, the dominant discourse shaping the social practice of higher education is that of neo-liberal economics. Community values stand in opposition to the dominant discourse, and are integral to the long-term survival of a socially critical and socially responsive society. We conclude that the importance of establishing a sense of academic community during the first year of university is justified by its ultimate value to society.

Understanding the role of knowledge in the practice of expert nephrology nurses in Australia

This paper, which is abstracted from a larger study into the acquisition and exercise of nephrology nursing expertise, aims to explore the role of knowledge in expert practice. Using grounded theory methodology, the study involved 17 registered nurses who were practicing in a metropolitan renal unit in New South Wales, Australia. Concurrent data collection and analysis was undertaken, incorporating participants' observations and interviews. Having extensive nephrology nursing knowledge was a striking characteristic of a nursing expert. Expert nurses clearly relied on and utilized extensive nephrology nursing knowledge to practice. Of importance for nursing, the results of this study indicate that domain-specific knowledge is a crucial feature of expert practice.

The role of cross-functional teams on the alignment between technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness

Organisations are increasingly investing in complex technological innovations, such as enterprise information systems, with the aim of improving the operation of the business, and in this way gaining competitive advantage. However, the implementation of technological innovations tends to have an excessive focus on either technology innovation effectiveness, or the resulting operational effectiveness. Focusing on either one of them is detrimental to long-term performance. Cross-functional teams have been used by many organisations as a way of involving expertise from different functional areas in the implementation of technologies. The role of boundary spanning actors is discussed as they bring a common language to the cross-functional teams. Multiple regression analysis has been used to identify the structural relationships and provide an explanation for the influence of cross-functional teams, technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness in the continuous improvement of operational performance. The findings indicate that cross functional teams have an indirect influence on continuous improvement of operational performance through the alignment between technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness.

Primary students' performance on map tasks : the role of context

This study investigated the longitudinal performance of 583 students on six map items that were represented in various graphic forms. Specifically, this study compared the performance of 7-9-year-olds (across Grades 2 and 3) from metropolitan and non-metropolitan locations. The results of the study revealed significant performance differences in favour of metropolitan students on two of six map tasks. Implications include the need for teachers in non-metropolitan locations to ensure that their students do not overly fixate on landmarks represented on maps but rather consider the arrangement of all elements encompassed within the graphic.