Australia's response to sexualised or sexually abusive behaviours in children and young people.

Responding to children and young people with sexualised or sexual offending behaviours presents significant challenges across the allied health, child protection, education and juvenile justice sectors. This report maps the specialised therapeutic services designed to effect positive behavioural change and thus divert young people with sexualised behaviours from the juvenile justice system. Accurate numbers on children with sexualised or sexual offending behaviours are difficult to determine. There are several factors contributing to this gap in understanding. These include entrenched ideals about children as inherently innocent, widespread ignorance about developmental sexuality, and the tendency of both young people and parents to deny or minimise incidents when they do occur.

In Australia, data on children with sexualised behaviours are not collected uniformly and nondisclosure contributes to what might be large numbers of offences going undetected. Mandatory reporting requirements apply where children display sexualised behaviours and are thought to be at risk of harm. Yet a general lack of knowledge as to what constitutes appropriate behaviour means that many may respond inappropriately to incidents of sexualised behaviours. This context of confusion, denial and non-disclosure creates a hidden population of children that continues to be at risk. Attention to redressing the contexts for non-disclosure is urgently required to ensure that children in need are provided with specialised therapeutic care.

This report presents qualitative data from interviews with specialised clinicians as well as submissions from service providers in both community and youth justice settings. In mapping the availability of therapeutic services, this report highlights a number of geographic and demographic gaps in service provision, including difficulties with eligibility criteria, referral pathways, funding arrangements and specialised workforce development. There are multiple challenges facing the tertiary services sector, yet the comprehensive provision of specialised services is just one part of the response required. This study emphasises the need for effective primary and secondary prevention to effect a reduction in the numbers of young people requiring counselling in the future. Consistent with the public health model, this report prioritises professional and community education strategies that would ultimately necessitate fewer tertiary services for young people and fewer places in juvenile detention centres.

Current and emerging therapeutic strategies for preventing inflammation and aggrecanase-mediated cartilage destruction in arthritis

Arthritis is a multifactorial disease for which current therapeutic intervention with high efficacy remains challenging. Arthritis predominately affects articular joints, and cartilage deterioration and inflammation are key characteristics. Current therapeutics targeting inflammatory responses often cause severe side effects in patients because of the systemic inhibition of cytokines or other global immunosuppressive activities. Furthermore, a lack of primary response or failure to sustain a response to treatment through acquired drug resistance is an ongoing concern. Nevertheless, treatments such as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, biological agents, and corticosteroids have revealed promising outcomes by decreasing pain and inflammation in patients and in some cases reducing radiographic progression of the disease. Emerging and anecdotal therapeutics with anti-inflammatory activity, alongside specific inhibitors of the A Disintegrin-like And Metalloproteinase domain with Thrombospondin-1 repeats (ADAMTS) cartilage-degrading aggrecanases, provide promising additions to current arthritis treatment strategies. Thus, it is paramount that treatment strategies be optimized to increase efficacy, reduce debilitating side effects, and improve the quality of life of patients with arthritis. Here, we review the current strategies that attempt to slow or halt the progression of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, providing an up-to-date summary of pharmaceutical treatment strategies and side effects. Importantly, we highlight their potential to indirectly regulate ADAMTS aggrecanase activity through their targeting of inflammatory mediators, thus providing insight into a mechanism by which they might inhibit cartilage destruction to slow or halt radiographic progression of the disease. We also contrast these with anecdotal or experimental administration of statins that could equally regulate ADAMTS aggrecanase activity and are available to arthritis sufferers worldwide. Finally, we review the current literature regarding the development of synthetic inhibitors directed toward the aggrecanases ADAMTS4 and ADAMTS5, a strategy that might directly inhibit cartilage destruction and restore joint function in both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Modelling emergency response communication systems

Subsequent to the Australian 'Black Saturday' bushfires there were a number of issues arising from investigations with regard to the functional stability and resilience of communications systems and the flow of information between emergency response organisations, and their ability to provide relevant information to the general public. In some cases, the transference of information failed or was late or ineffective with regard to decisions, advice and information broadcasting during the crisis. This was particularly evident in terms of managing emergency organisational information requests and field situational advice both to and from emergency response management teams and the delivery of informative advice to the public. This paper analyses one such case study with a view of applying a systems modelling technique to determine the viability of the communication systems and information exchange structures associated with an emergency response agency.

Findings of the first ANZICS conference on the role of intensive care in Rapid Response Teams.

Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are specialised teams introduced into hospitals to improve the outcomes of deteriorating ward patients. Although Rapid Response Systems (RRSs) were developed by the intensive care unit (ICU) community, there is variability in their delivery, and consultant involvement, supervision and leadership appears to be relatively infrequent. In July 2014, the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) convened the first conference on the role of intensive care medicine in RRTs in Australia and New Zealand. The conference explored RRSs in the broader role of patient safety, resourcing and staffing of RRTs, effect on ICU workload, different RRT models, the outcomes of RRT patients and original research projects in the area of RRSs. Issues around education and training of both ICU registrars and nurses were examined, and the role of team training explored. Measures to assess the effectiveness of the RRS and RRT at the level of health system and hospital, team performance and team effectiveness were discussed, and the need to develop a bi-national ANZICS RRT patient database was presented. Strategies to prevent patient deterioration in the 'pre-RRT' period were discussed, including education of ward nurses and doctors, as well as an overarching governance structure. The role of the ICU in deteriorating ward patients was debated and an integrated model of acute care presented. This article summarises the findings of the conference and presents recommendations on the role of intensive care medicine in RRTs in Australia and New Zealand.

The strategy of global branding and brand equity

This book offers a way to predict which brand a buyer will purchase. It looks at brandperformance within a product category and tests it in different countries with verydifferent cultures. Following the Predictive Brand Choice (PBC) model, this book seeks to predict a consumer’s loyalty and choice. Results have shown that PBC can achieve a high level of predictive accuracy, in excess of 70% in mature markets. This accuracy holds even in the face of price competition from a less preferred brand.PBC uses a prospective predicting method which does not have to rely on a brand’spast performance or a customer’s purchase history for prediction. Choice data isgathered in the retail setting – at the point of sale. The Strategy of Global Brandingand Brand Equity presents survey data and quantitative analyses that prove themethod described to be practical, useful and implementable for both researchers and practitioners of commercial brand strategies.

Response to Islamophobia in the Arabic Islamic discourse: a critical discourse analysis

In the aftermath of September 11, Muslim scholars made numerous attempts to explain Islamophobia from the Islamic perspective; they presented arguments that are not addressed in the Western narrative. Two texts in Arabic by the prominent Muslim preacher, Mohammad Hassan and by the Muslim orator Fadhel Sliman are analysed from a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) viewpoint. This analysis aims to demonstrate how language is inextricably linked with ideology. This paper demonstrates that textual strategies in the Arabic Islamic discourse and their ideological implications show distinct characteristics some of which add to the present literature on discourse. The aim of the chosen texts is to educate and create solidarity between the speakers and the audience in fighting Islamophobia. The reliance of the speakers on tactics such as quoting from the Holy Qur’ān and ḥadīth to defend Islam, and choice of words and sentence structures may instigate discussions about the persuasive power of the Arabic Islamic narrative.

Business strateBusiness strategies under conditions of uncertainty: The rise of mutual life insurers in colonial Australiagies under conditions of uncertainty

The early development of Australian life insurance was marked by the failure of stock companies to successfully establish a market presence. Mutual insurers emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in response to this gap in supply. The underlying rationale behind their establishment differed but the business model adopted proved remarkably successful. Mutual life insurers dominated the market for life insurance for nearly a century. This chapter investigates mutualism as a business strategy that addressed particular problems associated with doing business in a small and underdeveloped economy. Business and social networks were important facilitators of new business. In addition, most mutual life insurers had a social/philanthropic charter and they were able to utilize this to build business. An outcome of this mix was the emergence of a particular type of entrepreneurship that fostered innovative product development and cemented the role of mutual insurers as market leaders.. The Variety, Choice, Governance, and Regulation of Organizational Forms 2.

Effectiveness, costs, and cost-effectiveness of recruitment strategies for a mammographic screening program to detect breast cancer

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Since effective and affordable recruitment methods are essential for the widespread implementation of mammographic screening for detection of breast cancer, we studied the effectiveness, the costs, and the cost-effectiveness of various recruitment strategies in the population targeted by a pilot Australian program that offered free mammography screening between 1988 and 1990. METHODS: We evaluated three public recruitment strategies--local newspaper articles, community promotion, and promotion to physicians--and five personal strategies--invitation letters with or without specified appointment times, either alone or with a follow-up letter, or telephone call to nonattenders. The effectiveness of public recruitment strategies was estimated from monthly attendance rates by Poisson regression analysis, while the probability of attendance in response to personal strategies was calculated using logistic regression analysis. Costs were determined by resource usage studies. The cost-effectiveness ratios for personal strategies were determined using decision analysis. RESULTS: The costs in 1988-1989 Australian dollars per woman recruited were $22 for local newspaper articles and $106 for community promotion. No detectable increase in attendance resulted from promotion to physicians. When the cost of reserving an appointment was considered, the most cost-effective personal recruitment strategy was an invitation letter without a specified appointment time, followed by a second letter to nonattenders. This strategy recruited 35.6% of women in the sample targeted and cost $10.52 per attendee. In comparison, the most effective personal recruitment strategy was a letter with a specified appointment time followed by a second letter to nonattenders, which recruited 44.1% of women at an average cost of $19.99 and a marginal cost of $59.71 per additional attendee. CONCLUSIONS: Personal recruitment strategies were more cost-effective than public strategies. The most cost-effective personal strategy was an invitation letter without a specified appointment time, followed by a second letter to nonattenders.

Re-imagining the literary brand

This paper argues that the industrial contexts of re-imagining, or transforming, literary icons deploy the promotional strategies that are associated with what are usually seen as lesser, or purely commercial, genres. Promotional paratexts reveal transformations of content that position audiences to receive them as creative innovations, superior in many senses to their literary precursors due to the distinctive expertise of creative professionals. Analysing Spielberg's film, The Adventures of Tintin (2011), and Andrew Motion's fictional continuation of Stevenson's Treasure Island, it argues that literary fiction and cinematic texts associated with celebrated authors or auteurist producer-directors share branding discourses characteristic of contemporary consumer culture.

Habitat-specific foraging strategies in Australasian gannets

Knowledge of top predator foraging adaptability is imperative for predicting their biological response to environmental variability. While seabirds have developed highly specialised techniques to locate prey, little is known about intraspecific variation in foraging strategies with many studies deriving information from uniform oceanic environments. Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) typically forage in continental shelf regions on small schooling prey. The present study used GPS and video data loggers to compare habitat-specific foraging strategies at two sites of contrasting oceanographic regimes (deep water near the continental shelf edge, n=23; shallow inshore embayment, n=26), in south-eastern Australia. Individuals from the continental shelf site exhibited pelagic foraging behaviours typical of gannet species, using local enhancement to locate and feed on small schooling fish; in contrast only 50% of the individuals from the inshore site foraged offshore, displaying the typical pelagic foraging strategy. The remainder adopted a strategy of searching sand banks in shallow inshore waters in the absence of conspecifics and other predators for large, single prey items. Furthermore, of the individuals foraging inshore, 93% were male, indicating that the inshore strategy may be sex-specific. Large inter-colony differences in Australasian gannets suggest strong plasticity in foraging behaviours, essential for adapting to environmental change.

Analysing the complex relationship between logo and brand

Logos are identified as a useful tool within the complex strategy of brand communication. However, the focus on logos has concerned some researchers who attest that a logo is only a minor consideration in place branding where a policy-based approach is required. This paper will argue that logos are critical in place branding in so much as they serve as a tool to help form the foundation of the visual strategy for a place branding campaign. The power of the visual cannot be underestimated and maximising the capacity of a logo through a flexible identity creates a visual repertoire to unite communication strategies and enhance branding. This paper highlights the need to move away from the discussion of the single logo entity and instead focus debate on the integration of the entire suite of visual structures used to create meaning.

Ecosystem responses to fire : identifying cross-taxa contrasts and complementarities to inform management strategies

Changes in fire frequency, extent, and intensity mean that understanding the effects of fire on plants and animals is a primary concern for ecologists and land managers. Given the potentially conflicting fire responses of species both within and across taxonomic groups, prescribing fire regimes based on the response of one or only a few species may have negative consequences for other species. Here, we integrate data collected from a series of independent but complementary studies spanning a 75 + year chronosequence in a semi-arid shrubland ecosystem in south-western Australia to consider how fire management can best promote biodiversity both within and across taxonomic groups (plants, birds, small mammals, and reptiles). Younger fire ages (6–14 years) contained sparse shrubs, large areas of bare ground, and lacked a distinct litter layer and canopy. The oldest vegetation (60–85 years) had a distinct canopy, a well-developed litter layer and cryptogamic crust, higher variability in patch width, and more woody debris. Plant species richness and diversity decreased with time since fire, whereas bird species richness and diversity increased with time since fire, and mammal and reptile species richness and diversity showed no trend. The composition of all four taxonomic groups varied according to time since fire and the presence of 11 species was confined above or below certain fire-age thresholds. Our results support the need to maintain a mix of both younger and older fire ages across the landscape to maximise species diversity, and highlight the particular importance of older fire ages for many species. Future fire management for biodiversity conservation will benefit from identifying and reconciling cross-taxa contrasts and complementarities.