Keeping connected: the design and overview of the research

The special issue Keeping Connected: Identity, Social Connection and Education for Young People opens with a paper that discusses the research design and overview of a three-year project by a Melbourne (Australia)-based multi-disciplinary team. Over 2007–2009, the Keeping Connected team of 10 researchers investigated the lives of adolescents with ongoing health conditions. The project centrally is developed by the young people's perspectives, their identity and wellbeing, relationships with others and engagement within changing contexts and their altered opportunities in the world. The research design includes image production underpinned by visual methods and a narrative-informed approach to interview and interpretation of images. The study, which crosses the health and education interface, set out to highlight differences of perspectives adopted by 31 young people, their families and the professional groups, such as teachers and health professionals. The special issue discusses key project findings and contributes a body of scholarship that expands our knowledge of evidence-based research across the education and health interface. The longitudinal study highlighted two themes of importance for education, and poorly catered for in current policies and guidelines: that the situation of these young people needs to be addressed by schools as a process over time (including prospectively); and that the young people's identity is strongly marked by a desire to be seen and treated as ‘normal’ combined with an awareness of being vulnerable.

Scientific foundations for an IUCN red list of ecosystems

 An understanding of risks to biodiversity is needed for planning action to slow current rates of decline and secure ecosystem services for future human use. Although the IUCN Red List criteria provide an effective assessment protocol for species, a standard global assessment of risks to higher levels of biodiversity is currently limited. In 2008, IUCN initiated development of risk assessment criteria to support a global Red List of ecosystems. We present a new conceptual model for ecosystem risk assessment founded on a synthesis of relevant ecological theories. To support the model, we review key elements of ecosystem definition and introduce the concept of ecosystem collapse, an analogue of species extinction. The model identifies four distributional and functional symptoms of ecosystem risk as a basis for assessment criteria: a) rates of decline in ecosystem distribution; b) restricted distributions with continuing declines or threats; c) rates of environmental (abiotic) degradation; and d) rates of disruption to biotic processes. A fifth criterion, e) quantitative estimates of the risk of ecosystem collapse, enables integrated assessment of multiple processes and provides a conceptual anchor for the other criteria. We present the theoretical rationale for the construction and interpretation of each criterion. The assessment protocol and threat categories mirror those of the IUCN Red List of species. A trial of the protocol on terrestrial, subterranean, freshwater and marine ecosystems from around the world shows that its concepts are workable and its outcomes are robust, that required data are available, and that results are consistent with assessments carried out by local experts and authorities. The new protocol provides a consistent, practical and theoretically grounded framework for establishing a systematic Red List of the world’s ecosystems. This will complement the Red List of species and strengthen global capacity to report on and monitor the status of biodiversity.

Examining the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum in China

China hosts some 55 ethnic minority groups, which together account for 8.41% of the Chinese population. These populations reside in predominantly Ethnic Minority Villages presenting great value and culture of their heritage, with living landscape, festivals, architecture and costumes, but the actual living conditions are very poor. Since the 1990s, China has adopted French concept 'ecomuseum', for the conservation of some ethnic villages to relieve the conflict between poverty and heritage conservation. ln short, this concept involves the creation of open-air museums keeping buildings and people in their original sites, with local communities serving as curators managing their own sites, which necessitates democracy in the conservation and interpretation processes. The concept seems ideal for the Chinese government, with its bilateral objectives of heritage conservation and poverty alleviation, without necessitating the relocation of any or buildings. However, does this concept really work? It remains unanswered and the subject of little academic research. In order to examine how successfully these ecomuseums are being managed, two projects has been selected for case studies - the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum. In-depth field studies have been conducted at the two ecomuseums, involving the methodologies of site observation, documentation and semi-structured interviews. This paper reviews the ecomuseum development in China, and then provides detailed critiques and overviews of the Suojia Ecomuseum and the Nandan Ecomuseum in terms of their backgrounds, management structures, programs and activities as well as pertinent issues. Based upon these descriptions, it is·identified that the two cases have different management structures and focuses: 1) the Suojia Ecomuseum has been under the management of government authorities whilst the Nandan Ecomuseum has been operated by local villagers, and 2) the focus of the Suojia Ecomuseum has been improving living conditions for the residents, while in Nandan Ecomuseum cultural inheritance has been operated as a core program. However, there is a lack of financial support in both cases. All these issues lead to a discussion that the Nandan Ecomuseum has made greater achievement in terms of being community-based. The conclusions are hence drawn as to the suggestions to Chinese ecomuseums--the sustainability and success requires local villagers as curators as well as external financial assistance. In addition, another and more urgent need is to pass the ethnic cultures and their values to the next generation.

A commentary on current practice in mediating variable analyses in behavioural nutrition and physical activity

Objective : To critique current practice in, and provide recommendations for, mediating variable analyses (MVA) of nutrition and physical activity behaviour change.

Strategy : Theory-based behavioural nutrition and physical activity interventions aim at changing mediating variables that are hypothesized to be responsible for changes in the outcome of interest. MVA are useful because they help to identify the most promising theoretical approaches, mediators and intervention components for behaviour change. However, the current literature suggests that MVA are often inappropriately conducted, poorly understood and inadequately presented. Main problems encountered in the published literature are explained and suggestions for overcoming weaknesses of current practice are proposed.

Conclusion : The use of the most appropriate, currently available methods of MVA, and a correct, comprehensive presentation and interpretation of their findings, is of paramount importance for understanding how obesity can be treated and prevented.

Normative gender coercion and its subversion: an autoethnography of a quest for recognition

In an attempt to shed light on non-normative gender performance, such as transgender, androgynous, sex-change or transcendent, I look at my own challenges, day-to-day tensions and the delicate balances between social subjugation, social construction and the intense searching for safe non-conformist practice. This chapter uses phenomenonological autoethnography to examine and critique the interplay between the coercive cultural forces that impacted on my life and my gender non-conformity. The commentary and interpretation on my many attempted gender performance schemes, both failed and successful, in delivering personal agency, evidence a path of living a nonconformist life in a gendered world.

Place branding and cross-cultural visual communication : how do the theories and practices of place branding inform our understanding of cross-cultural visual communication design?

In a globalised environment, visual communication designers are now required to understand their audience’s needs, values and unique methods of communication, creating a new focus on the recipient. In a cross-cultural design context, the visual communication also needs to appeal to a broad range of stakeholders and multiple recipients who hold a strong emotional investment in the message being sent. Our understanding of the complexities of designing in this environment can be informed by recent developments in the research of place branding where the focus is on the increased possibility for failure, the strong potential for criticism and the issues associated with a broad range of stakeholders.

The outcomes of this connection are explored further in a case study involving eight countries as diverse as Australia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Qatar, United States of America and Zimbabwe. More than 140 student and lecturer participants reviewed a student driven cross-cultural visual communication project that produced over 560 designs. The increased potential for failure and strong, emotional criticism raised questions about the role of images and symbols in cross-cultural visual communication. The impact these have on the reception of the design, challenge our views on the use of stereotypical imagery. This paper will discuss the movement towards designing visual images that are generic and lacking in cultural representation presenting the view that stereotypical imagery is important to the recipient who relies on these cultural references to effectively read the message.

A framework for exploring the sense of community and social life in residential environments

Sense of community and social life are two key concepts related to social cohesion, which have been the subject of extensive studies in several disciplines including sociology, psychology and built environment. Social life studies have been mostly conducted in the built environment discipline focusing on city centres; while sense of community studies were mostly the target of sociologists and psychologists focusing on neighbourhoods. As a result, the role of the built environment on the sense of community and social life of neighbourhoods is considered as a missing gap in the literature. This paper, through defining the concepts of social life and sense of community, aims to develop a conceptual framework for further implementation in future research. Accurate implication and interpretation of the concepts show that neighbourhoods can include the sense of community in the residential environment and the social life in the commercial environment. This is because residential environments are where residents' requirements can be met through their commitment to the community and commercial environments are the fulcrum of interaction and communication.

Power, effects, confidence, and significance: an investigation of statistical practices in nursing research

Objectives: To (a) assess the statistical power of nursing research to detect small, medium, and large effect sizes; (b) estimate the experiment-wise Type I error rate in these studies; and (c) assess the extent to which (i) a priori power analyses, (ii) effect sizes (and interpretations thereof), and (iii) confidence intervals were reported. Design: Statistical review. Data sources: Papers published in the 2011 volumes of the 10 highest ranked nursing journals, based on their 5-year impact factors. Review methods: Papers were assessed for statistical power, control of experiment-wise Type I error, reporting of a priori power analyses, reporting and interpretation of effect sizes, and reporting of confidence intervals. The analyses were based on 333 papers, from which 10,337 inferential statistics were identified. Results: The median power to detect small, medium, and large effect sizes was .40 (interquartile range [. IQR]. = .24-.71), .98 (IQR= .85-1.00), and 1.00 (IQR= 1.00-1.00), respectively. The median experiment-wise Type I error rate was .54 (IQR= .26-.80). A priori power analyses were reported in 28% of papers. Effect sizes were routinely reported for Spearman's rank correlations (100% of papers in which this test was used), Poisson regressions (100%), odds ratios (100%), Kendall's tau correlations (100%), Pearson's correlations (99%), logistic regressions (98%), structural equation modelling/confirmatory factor analyses/path analyses (97%), and linear regressions (83%), but were reported less often for two-proportion z tests (50%), analyses of variance/analyses of covariance/multivariate analyses of variance (18%), t tests (8%), Wilcoxon's tests (8%), Chi-squared tests (8%), and Fisher's exact tests (7%), and not reported for sign tests, Friedman's tests, McNemar's tests, multi-level models, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Effect sizes were infrequently interpreted. Confidence intervals were reported in 28% of papers. Conclusion: The use, reporting, and interpretation of inferential statistics in nursing research need substantial improvement. Most importantly, researchers should abandon the misleading practice of interpreting the results from inferential tests based solely on whether they are statistically significant (or not) and, instead, focus on reporting and interpreting effect sizes, confidence intervals, and significance levels. Nursing researchers also need to conduct and report a priori power analyses, and to address the issue of Type I experiment-wise error inflation in their studies. © 2013 .

Online mindfulness-based intervention for late-stage bipolar disorder: pilot evidence for feasibility and effectiveness

OBJECTIVES: People in the late stage of bipolar disorder (BD) experience elevated relapse rates and poorer quality of life (QoL) compared with those in the early stages. Existing psychological interventions also appear less effective in this group. To address this need, we developed a new online mindfulness-based intervention targeting quality of life (QoL) in late stage BD. Here, we report on an open pilot trial of ORBIT (online, recovery-focused, bipolar individual therapy). METHODS: Inclusion criteria were: self-reported primary diagnosis of BD, six or more episodes of BD, under the care of a medical practitioner, access to the internet, proficient in English, 18-65 years of age. Primary outcome was change (baseline - post-treatment) on the Brief QoL.BD (Michalak and Murray, 2010). Secondary outcomes were depression, anxiety, and stress measured on the DASS scales (Lovibond and Lovibond, 1993). RESULTS: Twenty-six people consented to participate (Age M=46.6 years, SD=12.9, and 75% female). Ten participants were lost to follow-up (38.5% attrition). Statistically significant improvement in QoL was found for the completers, t(15)=2.88, 95% CI:.89-5.98, p=.011, (Cohen׳s dz=.72, partial η(2)=.36), and the intent-to-treat sample t(25)=2.65, 95% CI:.47-3.76, (Cohen׳s dz=.52; partial η(2)=.22). A non-significant trend towards improvement was found on the DASS anxiety scale (p=.06) in both completer and intent-to-treat samples, but change on depression and stress did not approach significance. LIMITATIONS: This was an open trial with no comparison group, so measured improvements may not be due to specific elements of the intervention. Structured diagnostic assessments were not conducted, and interpretation of effectiveness was limited by substantial attrition. CONCLUSION: Online delivery of mindfulness-based psychological therapy for late stage BD appears feasible and effective, and ORBIT warrants full development. Modifications suggested by the pilot study include increasing the 3 weeks duration of the intervention, adding cautions about the impact of extended meditations, and addition of coaching support/monitoring to optimise engagement.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders

© 2015 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Objectives: To provide guidance for the management of mood disorders, based on scientific evidence supplemented by expert clinical consensus and formulate recommendations to maximise clinical salience and utility. Methods: Articles and information sourced from search engines including PubMed and EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Google Scholar were supplemented by literature known to the mood disorders committee (MDC) (e.g., books, book chapters and government reports) and from published depression and bipolar disorder guidelines. Information was reviewed and discussed by members of the MDC and findings were then formulated into consensus-based recommendations and clinical guidance. The guidelines were subjected to rigorous successive consultation and external review involving: expert and clinical advisors, the public, key stakeholders, professional bodies and specialist groups with interest in mood disorders. Results: The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders (Mood Disorders CPG) provide up-to-date guidance and advice regarding the management of mood disorders that is informed by evidence and clinical experience. The Mood Disorders CPG is intended for clinical use by psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians and others with an interest in mental health care. Conclusions: The Mood Disorder CPG is the first Clinical Practice Guideline to address both depressive and bipolar disorders. It provides up-to-date recommendations and guidance within an evidence-based framework, supplemented by expert clinical consensus. Mood Disorders Committee: Professor Gin Malhi (Chair), Professor Darryl Bassett, Professor Philip Boyce, Professor Richard Bryant, Professor Paul Fitzgerald, Dr Kristina Fritz, Professor Malcolm Hopwood, Dr Bill Lyndon, Professor Roger Mulder, Professor Greg Murray, Professor Richard Porter and Associate Professor Ajeet Singh. International expert advisors: Professor Carlo Altamura, Dr Francesco Colom, Professor Mark George, Professor Guy Goodwin, Professor Roger McIntyre, Dr Roger Ng, Professor John O'Brien, Professor Harold Sackeim, Professor Jan Scott, Dr Nobuhiro Sugiyama, Professor Eduard Vieta, Professor Lakshmi Yatham. Australian and New Zealand expert advisors: Professor Marie-Paule Austin, Professor Michael Berk, Dr Yulisha Byrow, Professor Helen Christensen, Dr Nick De Felice, A/Professor Seetal Dodd, A/Professor Megan Galbally, Dr Josh Geffen, Professor Philip Hazell, A/Professor David Horgan, A/Professor Felice Jacka, Professor Gordon Johnson, Professor Anthony Jorm, Dr Jon-Paul Khoo, Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, Dr Cameron Lacey, Dr Noeline Latt, Professor Florence Levy, A/Professor Andrew Lewis, Professor Colleen Loo, Dr Thomas Mayze, Dr Linton Meagher, Professor Philip Mitchell, Professor Daniel O'Connor, Dr Nick O'Connor, Dr Tim Outhred, Dr Mark Rowe, Dr Narelle Shadbolt, Dr Martien Snellen, Professor John Tiller, Dr Bill Watkins, Dr Raymond Wu.

Learning feature trajectories using Gabor Filter Bank for human activity segmentation and recognition

We describe a novel method for human activity segmentation and interpretation in surveillance applications based on Gabor filter-bank features. A complex human activity is modeled as a sequence of elementary human actions like walking, running, jogging, boxing, hand-waving etc. Since human silhouette can be modeled by a set of rectangles, the elementary human actions can be modeled as a sequence of a set of rectangles with different orientations and scales. The activity segmentation is based on Gabor filter-bank features and normalized spectral clustering. The feature trajectories of an action category are learnt from training example videos using Dynamic Time Warping. The combined segmentation and the recognition processes are very efficient as both the algorithms share the same framework and Gabor features computed for the former can be used for the later. We have also proposed a simple shadow detection technique to extract good silhouette which is necessary for good accuracy of an action recognition technique. © 2008 IEEE.

Estratégia empresarial e modos de busca de novos negócios - uma análise das estratégias de busca de novos negócios em empresas brasileiras

O objetivo deste trabalho é a investigação de como as empresas brasileiras, no contexto nacional, empreendem a busca de novas oportunidades de negócios, identificando quais os fatores que mais claramente influenciam este comportamento. Este trabalho se estruturou a partir da operacionalização do modelo de modelo de busca estratégica e interpretação ambiental proposto por Richard Daft e Karl Weick em 1984. Foram para tanto realizadas análises estatísticas e teóricas a partir de uma pesquisa empírica realizada entre 182 empresas brasileiras.

Specification and Runtime Verification of Java Card Programs

COSTA, Umberto Souza da; MOREIRA, Anamaria Martins; MUSICANTE, Martin A. Specification and Runtime Verification of Java Card Programs. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science. [S.l:s.n], 2009.

Theoretical Approximations Between Brazilian and Spanish Authors' Production in the Field of Knowledge Organization in the Production of Journals on Information Science in Brazil

This work identifies and analyzes literature about knowledge organization (KO), expressed in scientific journals communication of information science (IS). It performs an exploratory study on the Base de Dados Referencial de Artigos de Periodicos em Ciência da Informacio (BRAPCI, Reference Database of Journal Articles on Information Science) between the years 2000 and 2010. The descriptors relating to "knowledge organization" are used in order to recover and analyze the corresponding articles and to identify descriptors and concepts which integrate the semantic universe related to KO. Through the analysis of content, based on metrical studies, this article gathers and interprets data relating to documents and authors. Through this, it demonstrates the development of this field and its research fronts according to the observed characteristics, as well as noting the transformation indicative in the production of knowledge. The work describes the influences of the Spanish researchers on Brazilian literature in the fields of knowledge and information organization. As a result, it presents the most cited and productive authors, the theoretical currents which support them, and the most significant relationships of the Spanish-Brazilian authors network. Based on the constant key-words analysis in the cited articles, the co-existence of the French conception current and the incipient Spanish influence in Brazil is observed. Through this, it contributes to the comprehension of the thematic range relating to KO, stimulating both criticism and self-criticism, debate and knowledge creation, based on studies that have been developed and institutionalized in academic contexts in Spain and Brazil.

Thermal behaviour study of solid state compounds of manganese (II), zinc (II) and lead (II) with cinnamic acid

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)