Butterfly catastrophe for fronts in a three-component reaction–diffusion system

We study the dynamics of front solutions in a three-component reaction–diffusion system via a combination of geometric singular perturbation theory, Evans function analysis, and center manifold reduction. The reduced system exhibits a surprisingly complicated bifurcation structure including a butterfly catastrophe. Our results shed light on numerically observed accelerations and oscillations and pave the way for the analysis of front interactions in a parameter regime where the essential spectrum of a single front approaches the imaginary axis asymptotically.

Molecular profiling of exudate from chronic ulcerated wounds

Non-healing wounds represent a significant burden to healthcare systems and societies worldwide. Current best practice treatments of chronic wounds can require patients to undergo extensive periods of therapy without any positive outcome. This consumes substantial healthcare resources and severely impacts patient quality of life. At present, there are no measures to predict a patient's response to best practice care. The hypothesis of this thesis was that biochemical markers could be found within the wound fluid of chronic ulcers and these markers could predict the healing outcome of an ulcer undergoing best practice care. Discovery phase proteomic and mass spectrometry techniques were utilised to determine novel proteins that correlated with the healing outcome of ulcers. These candidate biomarkers could be developed into simple dip-stick tools for use in clinical practice. This would aid clinicians in the choice of effective wound management strategies to address hard-to-heal wounds.

Work and life balance practices in Bhutan

This research examined formal and informal human resource policies and practices that support work life balance (WLB) in Bhutanese Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Developing countries like Bhutan where small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make up the majority of all enterprises are less likely to encompass formal comprehensive WLB policies that more privileged societies like the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK where the concept of WLB began. Interviews were conducted with 20 employees and 10 employers from 10 SMEs in Bhutan. Results showed that informal practices were the predominant mechanism for employees to manage the multiple roles in their lives. Strong norms of trust between employers and employees supported these informal practices.

Comparisons between youth of a parent with MS and a control group on adjustment, caregiving, attachment and family functioning

Few studies have examined the effects of parental MS on children, and those that have suffered from numerous methodological weaknesses, some of which are addressed in this study. This study investigated the effects of parental MS on children by comparing youth of a parent with MS to youth who have no family member with a serious health condition on adjustment outcomes, caregiving, attachment and family functioning. A questionnaire survey methodology was used. Measures included youth somatisation, health, pro-social behaviour, behavioural-social difficulties, caregiving, attachment and family functioning. A total of 126 youth of a parent with MS were recruited from MS Societies in Australia and, were matched one-to-one with youth who had no family member with a health condition drawn from a large community sample. Comparisons showed that youth of a parent with MS did not differ on any of the outcomes except for peer relationship problems: adolescent youth of a parent with MS reported lower peer relationship problems than control adolescents. Overall, results did not support prior research findings suggesting adverse impacts of parental MS on youth.

The political in the age of the digital: propositions for empirical investigation

This article establishes whether there is a case for revising traditional accounts of politics and the public sphere given the ways in which digital technology is now being used in Western and non-Western settings to engage people politically. The article presents a case for framing this inquiry in terms of imaginaries. It then argues for a new political imaginary which helps to specify what is required for deliberative democratic practice in a way that shifts us away from the dominant liberal-utilitarian political imaginary that currently informs the political value systems of most Western nations. Drawing on the work of key political theorists such as Habermas and Dahlgren, five propositions or conditions for deliberative practice are identified that can be used in empirical investigation to help determine the democratic capacity and potential of new political communication and civic spaces being opened by means of digital media.

Recording primate vocalizations

Ornithologists have been exploring the possibilities and the methodology of recording and archiving animal sounds for many decades. Primatologists, however, have only relatively recently become aware that recordings of primate sound may be just as valuable as traditional scientific specimens such as skins or skeletons, and should be preserved for posterity (Fig. 16.1). Audio recordings should be fully documented, archived and curated to ensure proper care and accessibility. As natural populations disappear, sound archives will become increasingly important (Bradbury et al., 1999). Studying animal vocal communication is also relevant from the perspective of behavioural ecology. Vocal communication plays a central role in animal societies. Calls are believed to provide various types and amounts of information. These may include, among other things: (1) information about the sender's identity (e.g. species, sex, age class, group membership or individual identity); (2) information about the sender's status andmood (e.g. dominance, fear or aggressive motivation, fitness); and (3) information about relevant events or discoveries in the sender's environment (e.g. predators, food location). When studying acoustic communication, sound recordings are usually required to analyse the spectral and temporal structure of vocalizations or to perform playback experiments (Chapter 11)...

Arts education and iPads in the early years

This chapter takes as a working premise that digital culture is embedded in the every-day life experiences of most children living in post-industrial societies, both in home and, increasingly, in educational contexts. We outline how our research project investigated strategies for developing learning in the arts for young children by using the iPad as a creative device, rather than one on which they consume content in the form of games, on demand television and streaming video. We ask critical questions around creative ecologies and creative production; these grow from our observations on how young children and their families engaged with iPads through activities such as combining painting with digital photography. Analysis of work samples produced by children during the project enables interrogation of the ways in which young children can participate in arts practices and learning when digital media production is available. The chapter is structured around three themes of practice for iPad-based arts and creative education in preschool settings.

Sport development programmes for Indigenous Australians : innovation, inclusion and development, or a product of ‘white guilt’?

Under the legacy of neoliberalism, it is important to consider how the indigenous people, in this case of Australia, are to advance, develop and achieve some approximation of parity with broader societies in terms of health, educational outcomes and economic participation. In this paper, we explore the relationships between welfare dependency, individualism, responsibility, rights, liberty and the role of the state in the provision of Government-funded programmes of sport to Indigenous communities. We consider whether such programmes are a product of ‘white guilt’ and therefore encourage dependency and weaken the capacity for independence within communities and individuals, or whether programmes to increase rates of participation in sport are better viewed as good investments to bring about changes in physical activity as (albeit a small) part of a broader social policy aimed at reducing the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in health, education and employment.

Tourism advertisement management and effective tools in tourism industry

The definition of tourism “is the travel for recreational, leisure, family or business purposes, usually of a limited duration. Tourism is commonly associated with trans-national travel, but may also refer to travel to another location within the same country”. Tourism as an industry, in today’s modern language is a means of global communication between nations and travelers of all countries, introducing them to the various cultures and societies abroad, as well there history, ancient, historical sites, and languages. Hence, advertising overall has become a tool of necessity in this ever-growing global industry. Given that, tourism is a part of the infrastructure of any country’s economy the growth and development of tourism is of great importance. Advertising plays a vital and is a crucial tool in developing the countries tourism by attractively presenting the nations points-of-interests, historical and cultural. Advertising has a central role in expanding this industry, generating economic growth in this area, as well as creating direct and indirect employment, but most importantly a creative innovating competition in the national and international travel industry. Importantly, to achieve a successful tourist industry, the Travel Agencies and governmental offices of the Ministry’s of Tourism and Business must work hand-in-hand to attain these goals. This article shows the impact of the various media and advertising methods used in tourism, which assisted in identifying the correct tool for expanding the country’s industry of tourism. The results of this study illustrated that the appropriate tools for promotional strategies to attract domestic and foreign traveler’s, found to be the most effective were, handbook, internet advertising, TV, brochures, newspapers

Collaboration in Web N.0: Stigmergy and virtual pheromones

The aim of this project was to develop a general theory of stigmergy and a software design pattern to build collaborative websites. Stigmergy is a biological term used when describing some insect swarm-behaviour where 'food gathering' and 'nest building' activities demonstrate the emergence of self-organised societies achieved without an apparent management structure. The results of the project are an abstract model of stigmergy and a software design pattern for building Web 2.0 components exploiting this self-organizing phenomenon. A proof-of-concept implementation was also created demonstrating potential commercial viability for future website projects.

Study burden, academic stress and mental health among high school students in Vietnam

Pressure on children to succeed in high schools is a serious problem in Asian societies. The focus of this study in three provinces of Vietnam was to identify the thresholds at which supplementary study has positive or negative effects on mental health and academic achievement. The findings contribute evidence for parents, teachers and young people about optimal levels of supplementary study (2–3 hours per day) and the most beneficial mode (self-study versus cram classes and private tutors). The work will be used to inform policy makers about strategies to minimize harmful effects of study burden for high school students.

Developing health literacy through school based health education : can reality match rhetoric

Recently in Australia, the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (2009) and National Preventative Health Taskforce (2009) recommended that one way to strengthen consumer engagement within a health system is to ensure health literacy comprise a core element of the National Curriculum for primary and secondary schooling. However, whilst nationally and internationally schools are mandated to teach health education, there is considerable disjuncture between societies' broad expectations and schools' capacities to deliver programs that promote healthy Jiving (Marks, 2010; Basch, 2010). Given the centrality of literacy education in contemporary schooling (Snyder, 2008), 'health literacy' has been identified as a construct that offers the potential to close this perceived gap (McCuaig, Coore & Hay, 2012; Kickbusch, 2001). To date, there has been limited research asto what a health literacy focused, school based health education curriculum could look like.

Using law to identify, manage and prevent child maltreatment

This chapter identifies ways in which laws are capable of responding to child maltreatment, both as an immediate regulator of conduct, and as an influence on a society’s cultural development and approach to children’s welfare. Informed by practices and experiences in selected common law systems, the chapter provides examples of legal mechanisms that can inform discussion of optimal strategies to identify and manage child maltreatment in many different societies. Both positive and negative aspects of these mechanisms are noted. While controversies arise as to what kinds of laws are best in preventing and responding to child maltreatment, and even, more fundamentally, whether there is a role for law in protecting children, this chapter offers evidence that a variety of legal tools can be employed to address child abuse and neglect, for any cultural setting in which there is willingness to act to prevent and treat its various forms.

Cultural safety, diversity and the servicer user and carer movement in mental health research

This study will be of interest to anyone concerned with a critical appraisal of mental health service users’ and carers’ participation in research collaboration and with the potential of the postcolonial paradigm of cultural safety to contribute to the service user research (SUR) movement. The history and nature of the mental health field and its relationship to colonial processes provokes a consideration of whether cultural safety could focus attention on diversity, power imbalance, cultural dominance and structural inequality, identified as barriers and tensions in SUR. We consider these issues in the context of state-driven approaches towards SUR in planning and evaluation and the concurrent rise of the SUR movement in the UK and Australia, societies with an intimate involvement in processes of colonisation. We consider the principles and motivations underlying cultural safety and SUR in the context of the policy agenda informing SUR. We conclude that while both cultural safety and SUR are underpinned by social constructionism constituting similarities in principles and intent, cultural safety has additional dimensions. Hence, we call on researchers to use the explicitly political and self-reflective process of cultural safety to think about and address issues of diversity, power and social justice in research collaboration.

Online survey of will drafters - Families and generational asset transfers: Making and challenging wills in contemporary Australia

A national online survey of private and public will drafters distributed through State/public trustee offices in seven states/territories and law societies and community legal centres across all states/territories yielded 257 responses. The survey, using questions, scales and case scenarios sought to canvas perceptions of difficulties facing will drafters and the strategies used to address them.