Case studies of change : addressing family support needs of rural GPs

The National Rural Faculty of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners received commonwealth funding between 2000–2002 to develop a rural medical family support project. There were three elements to this project:

* a counselling and communication skills or ‘mentoring’ workshop for rural GP spouses in each state
* the development of a resource kit of existing rural medical family support strategies, and
* the piloting of a range of strategies designed to address family support needs in collaboration with rural GPs, registrars and their families.

This article focusses on the last of these three elements.

Multilabel classification by BCH code and random forests

This paper uses error correcting codes for multilabel classification. BCH code and random forests learner are used to form the proposed method. Thus, the advantage of the error-correcting properties of BCH is merged with the good performance of the random forests learner to enhance the multilabel classification results. Three experiments are conducted on three common benchmark datasets. The results are compared against those of several exiting approaches. The proposed method does well against its counterparts for the three datasets of varying characteristics.

Do GPs use electronic mental health resources? A qualitative study

BACKGROUND
The Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care (BOMHC) initiative encourages general practitioners to use electronic mental health resources (EMHRs) during consultation with patients requiring psychological assistance. However, there is little data on GPs’ acceptance and use of EMHRs.

METHOD
Semistructured interviews were conducted with 27 GPs to determine their attitude toward EMHRs, and their use during consultation with patients.

RESULTS
Few GPs reported frequently using EMHRs in consultation. Identified barriers to use included lack of familiarity with information technology, and insufficient knowledge of available resources. Identified advantages of electronic resources included high patient acceptance, time efficiency, and improved quality of information.

DISCUSSION
General practitioners recognise several advantages of utilising electronic resources for managing patients with mental illness. However, GPs are not sufficiently familiar with electronic resources to use them effectively. This could be overcome by education.

Accuracy of ARGOS locations of pinnipeds at-sea estimated using Fastloc GPS

Background: ARGOS satellite telemetry is one of the most widely used methods to track the movements of free-ranging marine and terrestrial animals and is fundamental to studies of foraging ecology, migratory behavior and habitat-use. ARGOS location estimates do not include complete error estimations, and for many marine organisms, the most commonly acquired locations (Location Class 0, A, B, or Z) are provided with no declared error estimate.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We compared the accuracy of ARGOS locations to those obtained using Fastloc GPS from the same electronic tags on five species of pinnipeds: 9 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), 4 Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki), 6 Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus), 3 Australian fur seals (A. p. doriferus) and 5 northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). These species encompass a range of marine habitats (highly pelagic vs coastal), diving behaviors (mean dive durations 2–21 min) and range of latitudes (equator to temperate). A total of 7,318 ARGOS positions and 27,046 GPS positions were collected. Of these, 1,105 ARGOS positions were obtained within five minutes of a GPS position and were used for comparison. The 68^th percentile ARGOS location errors as measured in this study were LC-3
0.49 km, LC-2 1.01 km, LC-1 1.20 km, LC-0 4.18 km, LC-A 6.19 km, LC-B 10.28 km.
Conclusions/Significance: The ARGOS errors measured here are greater than those provided by ARGOS, but within the range of other studies. The error was non-normally distributed with each LC highly right-skewed. Locations of species that make short duration dives and spend extended periods on the surface (sea lions and fur seals) had less error than species like elephant seals that spend more time underwater and have shorter surface intervals. Supplemental data (S1) are provided allowing the creation of density distributions that can be used in a variety of filtering algorithms to improve the quality of ARGOS tracking data.

‘Coded in a code of the world' : minor literature and the time-image hidden in Janet Frame’s late fiction?

This article seeks to demonstrate how Janet Frame’s late fiction can be read as a theoretical engagement with the conceptual investigations of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, especially the notions of minor literature and the in her late novels Living in the Maniototo (1981) and The Carpathians (1989). For this reason, my approach must be sharply distinguished from a more commonplace analogical framing of Frame or a simple one-to-one translation of her fiction into alternative terms. By weaving theory through her fiction, Frame makes a significant contribution to literature that responds to the still-emerging field of Deleuzean literary critical theory.

Combination antidepressants : use by GPs and psychiatrists

Background : Current treatment of depression fails to achieve remission in 50% of patients. Combinations of two antidepressants are used by some Australian psychiatrists.

Objective : This article investigates the pros and cons of combination antidepressant therapy and provides suggestions for when to consider their use, which combinations to choose, and how to introduce combination antidepressant therapies.

Discussion : Combining two antidepressants is a controversial strategy, with supporters and critics arguing its efficacy and safety from opposing perspectives. The use of combination antidepressant therapies may facilitate remission from depression. However, there is limited evidence supporting these treatments, and safety concerns are often cited. There is some support for combination therapies in selected cases from international bodies. After considering risks and benefits on a case-by-case basis, careful use of selected combination antidepressant therapy may be one of a range of effective treatments for some individuals suffering from depression.

The place of information and communication technology-mediated consultations in primary care : GPs' perspectives

Background: New information and communication technologies such as email and text messaging have been shown to be useful in some aspects of primary care service delivery. Little is known about Scottish GPs’ attitudes towards the adoption of these technologies as routine consultation tools.

Objectives: To explore GPs’ perceptions of the potential place of new non-face-to-face consultation technologies in the routine delivery of primary care; to explore GPs’ perceived barriers to the introduction of these technologies and to identify the processes by which GPs feel that new consultation technologies could be incorporated into routine primary care.

Methods: Qualitative interview study: 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews carried out with maximum variation sample of GPs across Scotland.

Results: Whilst the face-to-face consultation was seen as central to much of the clinical and diagnostic work of primary care, many GPs were conditionally willing to consider using new technologies in the future, particularly to carry out administrative or less complex tasks and therefore maximize practice efficiency and patient convenience. Key considerations were access to appropriate training, IT support and medico-legal guidance.

Conclusions: GPs are conditionally willing to use new consultation media if clinically appropriate and if medico-legal and technical support is available.

I would like to change the world, but they wouldn't let me have the source code

In this paper we present the findings of a group problem-solving task involving eight randomly selected students. The focus of this study was to identify and explore students' application of generic skills, cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills, innovative thinking and engineering disciplinary knowledge. While this was the main aim of this study, we also used the findings of this study to triangulate the findings of a broader study which aims to identify and explore students' perceptions of problem based learning (PBL) in first year electrical engineering. The broader qualitative study of learners in a problem based engineering context will identify, explore and report on the factors that influence student learning behaviours and their attitudes as future engineers. Studying the learning cultures from the students' view point in a diverse student group should provide evidence to further theorize about the models of self-regulation in autonomous learners. For this group problem solving activity, we designed a problem (advanced lift controller system) and allowed students one hour to work on a solution for this problem. The eight students from a number of actual PBL groups were divided into two groups depending upon their availability. Both groups were given the same problem. The researcher played the role of a facilitator and collected the data simultaneously. Students were given access to books relevant to the problem, computer access and access to the Internet. They were also provided with links to sample websites such as the University's electronic library and other technology related websites on the World Wide Web. The activity was designed such that students were not required to arrive at a definite outcome. However, they were asked to brainstorm ideas, and as a group, to decide on ways that they would obtain and share information and to formulate and suggest possible innovative solutions to the problem. Data for this activity was collected by means of observation. The activity was audio and video recorded in order to help revisit the data at any stage. At the time this study was conducted, students had completed two PBL units in their first year of an electronic and electrical engineering undergraduate degree course. This study also provided insight into students' attitudes and their behaviours towards learning in a group setting, learning approaches and outcomes, different responses to the heterogeneity of the students in the group, and their responsibility and accountability in an autonomous learning setting such as PBL.

Code of ethics quality : an international comparison of corporate staff support and regulation in Australia, Canada and the United States

The objective of this paper is to examine the ‘Code of Ethics Quality’ (CEQ) in the largest companies of Australia, Canada and the United States. For this purpose, a proposed CEQ construct has been applied. It appears from the empirical findings that while Australia, Canada and the United States are extremely similar in their economic and social development, there may well be distinct cultural mores and issues that are forming their business ethics practices. A research implication derived from the performed research is that the construct provides a selection of observable and measurable elements in the context of CEQ. The construct of CEQ consists of nine measures divided into two dimensions (i.e. staff support and regulation). They should not be seen as a complete list. On the contrary, it is encouraged that others propose and elaborate revisions and extensions. A practical implication of this paper is a structure of what and how to examine the CEQ in a managerial setting. It may assist companies in their efforts to establish, maintain and improve their ethical culture, norms and beliefs within the organization and supporting them in their ethical business practices with different stakeholders in the marketplace and society. The dimensions and measures of the construct may be used as a frame of reference for further research. They may be useful and applicable across contexts and over time using similar samples when it comes to large companies, as small- or medium-sized ones may not have considered all areas nor have the elements in place. This is a research limitation, but it provides an opportunity for further research.