Working at the nexus between public health policy, practice and research : dynamics of knowledge sharing in the Netherlands

Background
Joining the domains of practice, research and policy is an important aspect of boosting the quality performance required to tackle complex public health problems. “Joining domains” implies a departure from the linear and technocratic knowledge-translation approach. Integrating the practice, research and policy triangle means knowing its elements, appreciating the barriers, identifying possible cooperation strategies and studying strategy effectiveness under specified conditions.
This article examines the dynamic process of developing an Academic Collaborative Centre for Public Health in the Netherlands, with the objective of achieving that the three domains of policy, practice and research become working partners on an equal footing.
Method
An interpretative hermeneutic approach was used to interpret the phenomenon of collaboration at the nexus between the three domains. The project was explicitly grounded in current organizational culture and routines, applied to nexus action. In the process of examination, we used both quantitative (e.g. records) and qualitative data (e.g., interviews and observations). The data were interpreted using the Actor-Network, Institutional Re-Design and Blurring the Boundaries theories.
Results
Results show commitment at strategic level. At the tactical level, however, managers were inclined to prioritize daily routine, while the policy domain remained absent. At the operational level, practitioners learned to do PhD research in real-life practice and researchers became acquainted with problems of practice and policy, resulting in new research initiatives.
Conclusion
We conclude that working at the nexus is an ongoing process of formation and reformation. Strategies based on Institutional Re-Design theories in particular might help to more actively stimulate managers’ involvement to establish mutually supportive networks.

Reliable knowledge discovery with a minimal causal model inducer

This paper presents a Minimal Causal Model Inducer that can be used for the reliable knowledge discovery. The minimal-model semantics of causal discovery is an essential concept for the identification of a best fitting model in the sense of satisfactory consistent with the given data and be the simpler, less expressive model. Consistency is one of major measures of reliability in knowledge discovery. Therefore to develop an algorithm being able to derive a minimal model is an interesting topic in the are of reliable knowledge discovery. various causal induction algorithms and tools developed so far can not guarantee that the derived model is minimal and consistent. It was proved the MML induction approach introduced by Wallace, Keven and Honghua Dai is a minimal causal model learner. In this paper, we further prove that the developed minimal causal model learner is reliable in the sense of satisfactory consistency. The experimental results obtained from the tests on a number of both artificial and real models provided in this paper confirm this theoretical result.

The nexus between feminism and postmodernism: still a central concern for critical social work

 In this paper, we provide a critical review of the literature that discusses the nexus between feminism and postmodernism. Further, we argue that the current debates about using postmodernism to enhance structural theories such as feminism are often polarised, and continue to limit the potential for developing critical social work practice and theory. In transcending these dualistic debates, we have explored what the possibilities are for postmodernism to contribute to critical objectives such as those espoused by feminism and why this is particularly important for social work at this point in time. We have contended that engaging with postmodernism critically has significant potential to enhance feminist practice. We begin the article with a justification for the importance of re(visiting) the nexus between postmodern and structural theory in the current context.

Catholic girls: the mother-daughter nexus

This paper examines Catholic girlhood, womanhood and the mother–daughter
relationship, and its socio-historical construction within a range of disparate
discourses. The aim of the paper is to deconstruct dominant patriarchal
constructions and images of femininity, particularly those embedded within the
doctrine of Catholicism. Moreover, the paper intends to reveal traces of maternal
connections and relations which are often hidden by more dominant discourses.
Rather than providing a historical account of Catholic girlhood, the object is to tell
a perspectived story of the local and contextual experiences of growing up and
being educated to be a ‘good Catholic woman’ in suburban Melbourne, Australia
in the 1920s and 1960s. In telling the story it is hoped that other women can
momentarily engage with this narrative of Catholic girlhood and the mother–
daughter relationship.

The visual/verbal nexus: conflating conventional notions of listening

This paper re-examines the terrain of traditional communication time-based studies in the context of a case study of the communication practices of higher education students in both formal and informal contexts through an online survey and semi-structured phenomenologically focussed interviews. While focussing on the nature of students’ listening behaviour for learning and for leisure, the study explores how ideas and information are mediated in contemporary communication environments which encompass mobile devices, social media, etc. In exploring the nexus between the visual and the verbal, the research probes the ways in which contemporary higher education students navigate the increasingly complex communication environment and questions the capacity of current multiliteracies theories, for example, to engage meaningfully with this less charted terrain. The data suggests that the rapid and pervasive changes due to digital affordances have now positioned listening in a pivotal position alongside the explosive visual communication media. The capacity of our current curricula to respond creatively to the increasingly complex mix of new communication paradigms is open to question.

A participatory action research project at the nexus of health promotion and sustainability in higher education

Like many educational institutions, Deakin University has embraced the challenge of developing curricula to ensure that graduates are environmentally literate and competent to address sustainability in professional practice. Despite an abundance of literature pertaining to the link between human health and environmental degradation, the development of health-related education for sustainability curriculum has been slow. Health promotion, an integral aspect of health professional training in Australia, is considered an area of practice well suited to the action of sustainability. This article highlights the findings of a pilot project that explored which graduate-level health promotion competencies and principles for practice can be transferred to action on sustainability. Methodologically, this study offers a participatory action research process enhanced with case study design principles. Findings from the four case studies highlight that health promotion competencies are compatible with action on sustainability. The article also illuminates the themes in the literature about the value of mutually reinforcing pedagogies associated with education for sustainability and work-integrated learning. The article contributes to discussion in an emerging area of health curriculum, namely, health-related education for sustainability. It posits that health promotion is an area of the health curriculum that can support the development of competencies at the nexus between health and sustainability.

Nexus requiem stony rises

A painting exhibited in the 2014 Acquisitive Awards in conjunction with the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallergy. It is composed with charcoal, chalk and enamel on paper

An analytical study on causal induction

Automatic causal discovery is a challenge research with extraordinary significance in sceintific research and in many real world problems where recovery of causes and effects and their causality relationship is an essential task. This paper firstly introduces the causality and perspectives of causal discovery. Then it provides an anlaysis on the three major approaches that are proposed in the last decades for the automatic discovery of casual models from given data. Afterwards it presents a analysis on the capability and applicability of the different proposed approaches followed by a conclusion on the potentials and the future research. © 2013 IEEE.

Nexus : Requiem Stony Rises

Artwork : Charcoal, chalk, enamel on paper, 76 x 112cm