Beyond participation, hierarchies, management and markets: 'New' governance and place policies

This paper argues that a 'new local governance' discourse offers some promise as a policy framework that can re-conceptualise the state-community (and market) relationship and deliver improved community outcomes, particularly in the context of place based or spatial policies and programs.

Strategic maintenance management

The approach to maintenance management has changed over the last one hundred years. Over the last few years, the Reliability Engineering and Risk Management Group (RERMG) at the University of Queensland has developed an approach called the strategic maintenance management (SMM) approach. The paper outlines the approach and contrasts it with the current approaches. It then discusses the industry-university partnership in the implementation of this approach and the current activities at the University of Queensland to assist industry in the implementation of the SMM approach.

An evaluative case study of a psychological skills training program for athletes with intellectual disabilities

The purpose was to develop an evaluative case study of six 3-hr sessions, spaced over 3 months, of psychological skills training (PST) provided to athletes with an intellectual disability who were training for the Basketball Australia State Championships. Participants were 7 males and 7 females, aged 15.8 to 27.1 years, with a receptive language level of 7 to 13.7 years, 2 female coaches, 2 psychologists, and I registered psychologist supervisor. Sessions focused specifically on stress management, with primary attention given to cue words, breathing techniques, and positive thinking. Findings, based on interviews and participant observations, revealed that all participants believed that the PST was appropriate and worthwhile.

Barriers to effective cancer pain management: A survey of hospitalized cancer patients in Australia

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudinal barriers to effective pain management in a consecutively recruited cohort of 114 cancer patients from four Australian hospitals. When surveyed, 48% of this sample reported experiencing pain within the previous 24 hours. Of these, 56% reported this pain to be distressing, horrible or excruciating, with large proportions indicating that this pain had affected their movement, sleep and emotional well-being. Three factors were identified as potentially impacting on patients responses to pain-poor levels of patient knowledge about pain, low perceived control over pain, and a deficit in communication about pain. A trend for older patients to experience more severe pain was also identified. These older patients reported being more willing to tolerate pain and perceive less control over their pain. Suggestions are made for developing patient education programs and farther research using concepts drawn from broader social and behavioral models. J Pain Symptom Manage 2002:23:393-405. (C) U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee, 2002.

Globalization and women in southeast Asian higher education management

This paper draws on data from a group case study of women in higher education management in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. I investigate culture-specific dimensions of what the Western literature has conceptualized as glass ceiling impediments to women's career advancement in higher education. I frame my argument within recent debates about globalization and glocalization to show how the push-pull and disjunctive dynamics of globalization are experienced in local sites by social actors who traverse global flows and yet remain tethered to local discourses, values, and practices. All of the women in this study were trained in Western universities and are fluent English speakers, world-class experts in their fields, well versed with equity discourses, and globally connected on international nongovernment organization (NGO) and academic circuits. They are indeed global cosmopolitans. And yet their testimonies indicate that so-called Asian values and religious-cultural ideologies demand the enactment of a specific construct of Asian femininity that militates against meritocratic equality and academic career aspirations to senior management levels. Despite the global nature of the University and increasing global flows of academics, students, and knowledge, the politics of academic glass ceilings are not universal but always locally inflected with cultural values and norms. As such, the politics of disadvantage for women in higher education require local and situated analyses in the context of global patterns of the educational status Of women and the changing nature of higher education.

A role for the dominant thalamus in language? A linguistic comparison of two cases subsequent to unilateral thalamotomy procedures in the dominant and non-dominant hemispheres

Background: Thalamotomy has been reported to be successful in ameliorating the motor symptoms of tremor and/or rigidity in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), emphasising the bona fide contribution of this subcortical nucleus to the neural circuitry subserving motor function. Despite evidence of parallel yet segregated associative and motor cortico-subcortical-cortical circuits, comparatively few studies have investigated the effects of this procedure on cognitive functions. In particular, research pertaining to the impact of thalamotomy on linguistic processes is fundamentally lacking. Aims: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of thalamotomy in the language dominant and non-dominant hemispheres on linguistic functioning, relative to operative theoretical models of subcortical participation in language. This paper compares the linguistic profiles of two males with PD, aged 75 years (10 years of formal education) and 62 years (22 years of formal education), subsequent to unilateral thalamotomy procedures within the language dominant and non-dominant hemispheres, respectively. Methods & Procedures: Comprehensive linguistic profiles comprising general and high-level linguistic abilities in addition to on-line semantic processing skills were compiled up to 1 month prior to surgery and 3 months post-operatively, within perceived on'' periods (i.e., when optimally medicated). Pre- and post-operative language performances were compared within-subjects to a group of 16 non-surgical Parkinson's controls (NSPD) and a group of 16 non-neurologically impaired adults (NC). Outcomes & Results: The findings of this research suggest a laterality effect with regard to the contribution of the thalamus to high-level linguistic abilities and, potentially, the temporal processing of semantic information. This outcome supports the application of high-level linguistic assessments and measures of semantic processing proficiency to the clinical management of individuals with dominant thalamic lesions. Conclusions: The results reported lend support to contemporary theories of dominant thalamic participation in language, serving to further elucidate our current understanding of the role of subcortical structures in mediating linguistic processes, relevant to cortical hemispheric dominance.

The effectiveness of parent management training to increase self-efficacy in parents of children with Asperger syndrome

This study was a trial of an intervention programme aimed to improve parental self-efficacy in the management of problem behaviours associated with Asperger syndrome. The intervention was compared across two formats, a I day workshop and six individual sessions, and also with a non-intervention control group. The results indicated that, compared with the control group, parents in both intervention groups reported fewer problem behaviours and increased self-efficacy following the interventions, at both 4 weeks and 3 months follow-up. The results also showed a difference in self-efficacy between mothers and fathers, with mothers reporting a significantly greater increase in self-efficacy following intervention than fathers. There was no significant difference between the workshop format and the individual sessions.

A randomized control trial of nursing-based case management for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

This study assessed the impact of a randomized trial of nursing-based case management for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, their caregivers, and nursing and medical staff. Sixty-six patients were matched by FEV1 on admission to hospital, and randomized into an intervention or control group. Intervention group patients reported significantly less anxiety at 1 month postdischarge; however, this effect was not sustained. There was little difference between groups in terms of unplanned readmissions, depression, symptoms, support, and subjective well being. Interviews with patients and caregivers found that the case management improved access to resources and staff-patient communication. Interviews with nursing and medical staff found that case management improved communication between staff and enhanced patient care.