Lift aim on poor targets, universities told

Commonwealth government participation targets for students from poor backgrounds should be extended beyond undergraduates to include postgraduate and research students, according to a visiting participation expert from Britain.

Land of the rare go for the poor who dream of university

A wicked problem is what policymakers call a messy social issue with multiple causes and answers that have little hope of pleasing everyone.

Unis slow to open doors to the poor

The Group of Eight research universities are tough institutions for disadvantaged students to get into, but they are not, according to a surprising new study, the toughest of the lot: that dubious honour goes to the University of Canberra.

Towards an understanding of residents' pro-environmental behaviour

The aim of this research was to provide a clearer understanding of how personal domain factors relate to pro-environmental behaviour. This exploratory study used the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale (Dunlap et aI., 2000) and Stern's value orientation scale (Stern et aI., 1995) to gauge values and attitudes and how they relate to the adoption of a range of sustainable household products and practices of Australian householders. The research confirms that holding a pro-environmental attitude as measured by the NEP score does not relate to adoption of sustainable behaviours. However, egoistic values can be related to the uptake of some high cost pro-environmental products. Further research should seek to provide a deeper understanding of the contextual reasons for adoption or non-adoption of specific proenvironmental behaviours.

Efficient tensor based face recognition

This paper addresses the limitation of current multilinear PCA based techniques, in terms of pro- hibitive computational cost of testing and poor gen- eralisation in some scenarios, when applied to large training databases. We define person-specific eigen-modes to obtain a set of projection bases, wherein a particular basis captures variation across light- ings and viewpoints for a particular person. A new recognition approach is developed utilizing these bases. The proposed approach performs on a par with the existing multilinear approaches, whilst sig- nificantly reducing the complexity order of the testing algorithm.

Co-morbid depression is associated with poor work outcomes in persons with cardiovascular disease (CVD) : a large, nationally representative survey in the Australian population

Background: Co-morbid major depressive disorder (MDD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with poor clinical and psychological outcomes. However, the full extent of the burden of, and interaction between, this co-morbidity on important vocational outcomes remains less clear, particularly at the population level. We examine the association of co-morbid MDD with work outcomes in persons with and without CVD.

Methods. This study utilised cross-sectional, population-based data from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (n = 8841) to compare work outcomes of individuals with diagnostically-defined MDD and CVD, MDD but not CVD, CVD but not MDD, with a reference group of "healthy" Australians. Workforce participation was defined as being in full- or part-time employment. Work functioning was measured using a WHO Disability Assessment Schedule item. Absenteeism was assessed using the 'days out of role' item.

Results: Of the four groups, those with co-morbid MDD and CVD were least likely to report workforce participation (adj OR:0.4, 95% CI: 0.3-0.6). Those with MDD only (adj OR:0.8, 95% CI:0.7-0.9) and CVD only (adj OR:0.8, 95% CI: 0.6-0.9) also reported significantly reduced odds of participation. Employed individuals with co-morbid MDD and CVD were 8 times as likely to experience impairments in work functioning (adj OR:8.1, 95% CI: 3.8- 17.3) compared with the reference group. MDD was associated with a four-fold increase in impaired functioning. Further, individuals with co-morbid MDD and CVD reported greatest likelihood of workplace absenteeism (adj. OR:3.0, 95% CI: 1.4-6.6). Simultaneous exposure to MDD and CVD conferred an even greater likelihood of poorer work functioning.

Conclusions: Co-morbid MDD and CVD is associated with significantly poorer work outcomes. Specifically, the effects of these conditions on work functioning are synergistic. The development of specialised treatment programs for those with co-morbid MDD and CVD is required.

Children's consumption of energy dense nutrient poor foods, fruit and vegetables; are they related? An analysis of data from a cross sectional survey

Issue addressed: Many children consume excessive amounts of energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) or 'extra' foods and low intakes of fruit and vegetables. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between EDNP foods and ascertain whether certain EDNP foods and beverages are more likely to be eaten in association with other EDNP foods.

Methods: A cross-sectional representative population survey of children in preschool (n=764), and of school students in Years K, 2 and 4 (n=1,560) and in Years 6, 8 and 10 (n=1,685) residing in the Hunter New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Dietary data were collected using a short food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models examined the association between EDNP foods and fruit and vegetable intake. Data were stratified by sex and age cohort.

Results: More frequent consumption of some EDNP food types was significantly associated with more frequent consumption of other EDNP foods. Fast food and soft drinks consumption were associated with each other as well as with fried potato and salty snacks; and with lower intakes of fruit and vegetables in some but not all age groups.

Conclusion: The positive associations found between EDNP foods point towards the existence of a high-risk group of children who frequently consume a variety of EDNP foods and drinks.

Pharmaceutical companies putting health of world's poor at risk

India makes cheap medicines for poor people around the world. The EU, pharmaceutical firms and now the US are pressuring the 'pharmacy of the developing world' to change tack

Life quality and wealth : a qualitative and quantitative comparison of affluent and poor people

It is well-documented that auent people, on average, have higher subjective wellbeing (SWB) than do poor people. is phenomenon has been explained using SWB homeostasis theory. However, a more precise understanding of the dierences in personal experience that lead to homeostatic failure remains to be documented. We sought such understanding through qualitative interviews and a quantitative examination of SWB domains. Twenty auent people and 20 people dependent on social welfare completed an interview and the Personal Wellbeing Index. As expected, the two groups diered signicantly in SWB. Moreover, the poor group reported a preponderance of negative life experiences while the auent group concentrated on the positive events in their lives. Most telling was the nding that both the qualitative and quantitative methods identied the area of ‘relationships’ as representing the greatest degree of divergence between the two groups. is life domain is especially relevant in the maintenance of normative levels of SWB.

Is a perceived supportive physical environment important for self-reported leisure time physical activity among socioeconomically disadvantaged women with poor psychosocial characteristics? An observational study

Background Over the past decade, studies and public health interventions that target the physical environment as an avenue for promoting physical activity have increased in number. While it appears that a supportive physical environment has a role to play in promoting physical activity, social-ecological models emphasise the importance of considering other multiple levels of influence on behaviour, including individual (e.g. self-efficacy, intentions, enjoyment) and social (e.g. social support, access to childcare) factors (psychosocial factors). However, not everyone has these physical activity-promoting psychosocial characteristics; it remains unclear what contribution the environment makes to physical activity among these groups. This study aimed to examine the association between the perceived physical environment and self-reported leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among women living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas demonstrating different psychosocial characteristics.

Methods In 2007–8, 3765 women (18–45 years) randomly selected from low socioeconomic areas in Victoria, Australia, self-reported LTPA, and individual, social and physical environmental factors hypothesised within a social-ecological framework to influence LTPA. Psychosocial and environment scores were created. Associations between environment scores and categories of LTPA (overall and stratified by thirds of perceived environment scores) were examined using generalised ordered logistic regression.

Results Women with medium and high perceived environment scores had 20-38% and 44-70% greater odds respectively of achieving higher levels of LTPA than women with low environment scores. When stratified by thirds of psychosocial factor scores, these associations were largely attenuated and mostly became non-significant. However, women with the lowest psychosocial scores but medium or high environment scores had 76% and 58% higher odds respectively of achieving ≥120 minutes/week (vs. <120 minutes/week) LTPA.

Conclusions Acknowledging the cross-sectional study design, the findings suggest that a physical environment perceived to be supportive of physical activity might help women with less favourable psychosocial characteristics achieve moderate amounts of LTPA (i.e. ≥120 minutes/week). This study provides further support for research and public health interventions to target perceptions of the physical environment as a key component of strategies to promote physical activity.