Linking food literacy to nutrition

“Food literacy” is an emerging term used to describe the relative ability to understand the nature of food and how it is important. It also describes the ability to gather, process, analyse and act upon information about food and to apply it in individual settings. A Delphi study of 43 Australian food experts from diverse sectors and settings in all states and territories explored the meaning of food literacy, its constitutive components and how they relate to nutrition. The three-round Delphi began with a semi-structured telephone interview and was followed by two online surveys. Grounded theory was used to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between food literacy and nutrition. It is proposed that food literacy influences nutrition through three related mechanisms of security, choice and pleasure. These mechanisms will be mediated by the local food supply and individual values. The relative importance of components of food literacy will depend upon these mediators. The level of nutrition outcome being sought (for example, dietary guidelines versus food group serves) will also influence the relative importance of these components. This model will be useful in informing program planning and evaluation and will be tested and refined following a phenomenological study of consumers.

Linking research and practice

Understanding the key factors that influence the evidentiary basis for practice and using skills in retrieving evidence that informs practice change are essential to the development of a health professional's career, regardless of the discipline. This chapter focuses on the key links between research and practice, particularly how health professionals use various sources of evidence and new knowledge to inform and improve the effectiveness of their practice in order to benefit the health of clients. Evidence-based practice and research utilisation are two major global research/practice initiatives that form the basis for this chapter. Examples that illustrate the real-world application of these initiatives are included in the Research Alive and Case Study sections. How practice change can be facilitated within health organisations is also briefly introduced.

Linking ecological condition and the soundscape in fragmented Australian forests

Natural landscapes are increasingly subjected to anthropogenic pressure and fragmentation resulting in reduced ecological condition. In this study we examined the relationship between ecological condition and the soundscape in fragmented forest remnants of south-east Queensland, Australia. The region is noted for its high biodiversity value and increased pressure associated with habitat fragmentation and urbanisation. Ten sites defined by a distinct open eucalypt forest community dominated by spotted gum (Corymbia citriodora ssp. variegata) were stratified based on patch size and patch connectivity. Each site underwent a series of detailed vegetation condition and landscape assessments, together with bird surveys and acoustic analysis using relative soundscape power. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that the measurement of relative soundscape power reflects ecological condition and bird species richness, and is dependent on the extent of landscape fragmentation. We conclude that acoustic monitoring technologies provide a cost effective tool for measuring ecological condition, especially in conjunction with established field observations and recordings.

Correlations and volatility spillovers across commodity and stock markets: Linking energies, food, and gold

This paper employs a VAR-GARCH model to investigate the return links and volatility transmission between the S&P 500 and commodity price indices for energy, food, gold and beverages over the turbulent period from 2000 to 2011. Understanding the price behavior of commodity prices and the volatility transmission mechanism between these markets and the stock exchanges are crucial for each participant, including governments, traders, portfolio managers, consumers, and producers. For return and volatility spillover, the results show significant transmission among the S&P 500 and commodity markets. The past shocks and volatility of the S&P 500 strongly influenced the oil and gold markets. This study finds that the highest conditional correlations are between the S&P 500 and gold index and the S&P 500 and WTI index. We also analyze the optimal weights and hedge ratios for commodities/S&P 500 portfolio holdings using the estimates for each index. Overall, our findings illustrate several important implications for portfolio hedgers for making optimal portfolio allocations, engaging in risk management and forecasting future volatility in equity and commodity markets. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Visual rehabilitation in low-moderate keratoconus : intracorneal ring segment implantation followed by same-day topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy and collagen cross linking

AIM: To present the results of same-day topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (TG-PRK) and corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) after previous intrastromal corneal ring segment (ISCR) implantation for keratoconus. METHODS: An experimental clinical study on twenty-one eyes of 19 patients aged, 27.1±6.6 years (range: 19 – 43 years), with low to moderate keratoconus who were selected to undergo customized TG-PRK immediately followed by same-day CXL, 9 months after ISCR implantation in a university ophthalmology clinic. Refraction, uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected distance visual acuities (CDVA), keratometry (K) values, central corneal thickness (CCT) and coma were assessed 3 months after TG/PRK and CXL. RESULTS: After TG-PRK/CXL: the mean UDVA (logMAR) improved significantly from 0.66±0.41 to 0.20±0.25 (P<0.05); K flat value decreased from: 48.44±3.66 D to 43.71±1.95 D; K steep value decreased from 45.61±2.40 D to 41.56±2.05D; K average also decreased from 42.42±2.07 D to 47.00±2.66 D (P<0.05 for all). The mean sphere and cylinder decreased significantly post-surgery from, -3.10±2.99 D to -0.11±0.93 D and from, -3.68±1.53 to -1.11±0.75D respectively, while the CDVA, CCT and coma showed no significant changes. Compared to post-ISCR, significant reductions (P ˂ 0.05 or all) in all K-values, sphere and cylinder were observed after TG-PRK/CXL. CONCLUSION: Same-day combined topography-guided PRK and corneal crosslinking following placement of ICRS is a safe and potentially effective option in treating low-moderate keratoconus. It significantly improved all visual acuity, reduced keratometry, sphere and astigmatism, but caused no change in central corneal thickness and coma.

Linking pedagogical knowledge practices and student outcomes in STEM education for primary schools

STEM education is a new frontier in Australia, particularly for primary schools. However, the E in STEM needs to have a stronger focus with science and mathematics concepts aligned to the presiding curricula. In addition, pedagogical knowledge practices such as planning, preparation, teaching strategies, assessment and so forth need to be connected to key concepts for developing a STEM education. One of the aims of this study was to understand how a pedagogical knowledge practice framework could be linked to student outcomes in STEM education. Specifically, this qualitative research investigated Year 4 students’ involvement in an integrated STEM education program that focused on science concepts (e.g., states of matter, testing properties of materials) and mathematics concepts (such as 3D shapes and metric measurements: millilitres, temperature, grams, centimetres) for designing, making and testing a strong and safe medical kit to insulate medicines at desirable temperatures. Eleven pedagogical knowledge practices (e.g., planning, preparation, teaching strategies, classroom management, and assessment) were used as a framework for understanding how teaching may be linked to student outcomes in STEM education. For instance, “planning” involved devising a student booklet as a resource for students to understand the tasks required of them, which also provided space for them to record ideas, results and information. Planning involved linking national and state curriculum documents to the STEM education activities. More studies are required around pedagogical knowledge frameworks to understand what students learn when involved in STEM education, particularly with the inclusion of engineering education.

One-year clinical outcomes of a two-step surgical management for keratoconus-topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy/cross-linking after intrastromal corneal ring implantation

PURPOSE - To present the results of same-day topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (TG-PRK) and corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) after intrastromal corneal ring (ISCR) implantation in patients with keratoconus. METHODS - Thirty-three patients (41 eyes) aged between 19 and 45 years were included in this prospective study. All patients underwent a femtosecond laser-enabled (Intralase FS; Abbott Medical Optics, Inc.) placement of intracorneal ring segments (Kerarings; Mediphacos, Brazil). Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), and keratometry readings remained stable for 6 months. Same-day PRK and CXL was subsequently performed in all patients. RESULTS - After 12 months of completion of the procedure, mean UDVA in log of minimal angle of resolution was significantly improved (0.74±0.54-0.10±0.16); CDVA did not improve significantly but 85% of eyes maintained or gained multiple lines of CDVA; mean refraction spherical equivalent improved (from -3.03±1.98 to -0.04±0.99 D), all keratometry readings were significantly reduced, from preoperative values, but coma did not vary significantly from preoperative values. Central corneal thickness and corneal thickness at the thinnest point were significantly (P<0.0001) reduced from 519.76±29.33 and 501.87±31.50 preoperatively to 464.71±36.79 and 436.55±47.42 postoperatively, respectively. Safety and efficacy indices were 0.97 and 0.88, respectively. From 6 months up until more than 1 year of follow-up, further significant improvement was observed only for UDVA (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS - Same-day combined TG-PRK and CXL after ISCR implantation is a safe and effective option for improving visual acuity and visual function, and it halts the progression of the keratoconus. The improvements recorded after 6 months of follow-up were maintained or improved upon 1 year after the procedure.

A cluster-voting approach for speaker diarization and linking of Australian broadcast news recordings

We present a clustering-only approach to the problem of speaker diarization to eliminate the need for the commonly employed and computationally expensive Viterbi segmentation and realignment stage. We use multiple linear segmentations of a recording and carry out complete-linkage clustering within each segmentation scenario to obtain a set of clustering decisions for each case. We then collect all clustering decisions, across all cases, to compute a pairwise vote between the segments and conduct complete-linkage clustering to cluster them at a resolution equal to the minimum segment length used in the linear segmentations. We use our proposed cluster-voting approach to carry out speaker diarization and linking across the SAIVT-BNEWS corpus of Australian broadcast news data. We compare our technique to an equivalent baseline system with Viterbi realignment and show that our approach can outperform the baseline technique with respect to the diarization error rate (DER) and attribution error rate (AER).

Linking client and employee perceptions of the organization: A study of client satisfaction with health care services

Client satisfaction with health care services has usually been researched in terms of socio-demographic and predispositional characteristics associated with the client. The present study included organizational characteristics as predictors of client satisfaction with health care services. Participants in the research were clients and employees of an Australian public-sector health care organization who responded to separate client and employee questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for a number of client characteristics, organizational characteristics, as perceived by employees, accounted for a significant proportion of additional variance in client satisfaction with health care services. Results of the present study provided some support for the proposition that employee perceptions of the working environment should be considered in a more comprehensive understanding of client satisfaction with health care services. Limitations of the study highlight practical difficulties in the assessment of client outcomes and methodological complexities in linking individual and organizational processes.

Linking business goals to process models in semantic business process modeling

Broad knowledge is required when a business process is modeled by a business analyst. We argue that existing Business Process Management methodologies do not consider business goals at the appropriate level. In this paper we present an approach to integrate business goals and business process models. We design a Business Goal Ontology for modeling business goals. Furthermore, we devise a modeling pattern for linking the goals to process models and show how the ontology can be used in query answering. In this way, we integrate the intentional perspective into our business process ontology framework, enriching the process description and enabling new types of business process analysis. © 2008 IEEE.