"Who says yes? Collective and individual framing of Pacific children`s consent to, and participation in, research in New Zealand"

The complex debate surrounding child consent has been addressed from a predominantly western perspective that often fails to address the important issue of collective rights. Indigenous groups argue that legal and ethical considerations of child consent and research participation are framed within concepts of individual rights and ownership. Such individualistic frameworks are problematic for Pacific communities where the rights of children in extended families are collectively framed, knowledge is collectively owned, and ‘life stage’1 is privileged over age. We discuss the need to frame Pacific children’s rights to consent to, and participate in, research within a collective Pacific worldview.

Emotional intelligence and teacher self efficacy : the contribution of teacher status and length of experience

Practicing teachers and principals in selected Government schools in Victoria provided data on their levels of emotional intelligence and teacher efficacy beliefs. The data supported the theoretical expectation of a linkage between emotional intelligence and teacher self efficacy. Regression analyses showed that neither gender nor age moderated this relationship. However length of teaching experience and current status add significant direct effects on predicting teacher self efficacy but did not moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and teacher self efficacy. These findings are significant as this now demonstrates a relationship between levels of emotional intelligence in teachers, their self efficacy beliefs and teacher effectiveness.

Fresh kids: the efficacy of a health promoting schools approach to increasing consumption of fruit and water in Australia

The Fresh Kids programme utilized the Health Promoting Schools (HPSs) framework to design a whole-of-school, multifaceted intervention targeting specific behaviours to promote healthy eating and reduce the risk factors associated with childhood obesity. The aim of the programme was to evaluate the effectiveness of the HPS framework to increase fruit and water consumption among primary school-aged children over a 2-year period. The study design was an interrupted time series. Four primary schools in the inner west of Melbourne, Australia, participated in the programme intervention. Baseline data were collected using a lunch box audit to assess the frequency of children with fresh fruit, water and sweet drinks, either brought from home or selected from canteen lunch orders. The lunch box audit was repeated periodically for up to 2 years following programme implementation to assess the sustainability of dietary changes. Across all participating schools, significant increases between 25 and 50% were observed in the proportion of children bringing fresh fruit. Similarly, all schools recorded increases between 15 and 60% in the proportion of students bringing filled water bottles to school and reductions between 8 and 38% in the proportion of children bringing sweet drinks. These significant changes in dietary patterns were sustained for up to 2 years following programme implementation. Targeting key nutrition behaviours and using the HPS framework is an effective and simple approach which could be readily implemented in similar childhood settings. Effective strategies include facilitating organizational change within the school; integrating curriculum activities; formalizing school policy and establishing project partnerships with local community nutrition and dietetic services.

Reactions to increased workload: effects on professional efficacy of nurses

Research findings support the idea that workload is a significant stressor associated with a variety of deleterious psychological reactions, including burnout, in several different samples of workers. A theoretical model is put forth in the present study in which workload is seen as contributing to distress and depression. Increasingly, organisations are experiencing changes as a result of extensive downsizing, restructuring, and merging. As a result of fiscal restraint, hospitals have been forced to merge, close, downsize, and restructure. Workloads have increased among hospital staff, particularly nurses. This study applies a theoretical model to the understanding of the impact of workload on nurses employed in hospitals experiencing downsizing, particularly on their distress, burnout, and depression. Respondents were 488 nurses who were employed in hospitals that were undergoing restructuring and in which units had already been closed as a result of restructuring. Results of structural equation modeling showed that the data partially fit the model and that workload contributed substantially to levels of depression through distress reactions. Further results showed that cynicism, anger, and emotional exhaustion significantly operationalised distress reactions. This study is unique theoretically in linking anger, cynicism, and emotional exhaustion in a single model that predicts distress levels from workload. The findings that anger, cynicism, and emotional exhaustion operationalised distress indicate the importance of studying patterns of negative reactions and their consequences for depression. Implications of the results are discussed for interventions that can be taken by organisations in order to reduce workloads.

The role of alcohol expectancy and drinking refusal self-efficacy beliefs in university student drinking

Aims: University student alcohol misuse is a considerable problem. Alcohol expectancy research has contributed significantly to our understanding of problem drinking in young adults. Most of this research has investigated positive expectancy alone. The current study utilized two measures of alcohol expectancy, the alcohol expectancy questionnaire (AEQ) and the drinking expectancy profile [consisting of the drinking expectancy questionnaire (DEQ) and the drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire] to predict severity of alcohol dependence, frequency of drinking, and the quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion. Methods: Measures of drinking behaviour and alcohol expectancy were completed by 174 undergraduate university students. Results: Positive alcohol expectancy factors accounted for significant variance in all three drinking indices, with the DEQ adding additional variance to AEQ scores on frequency and severity of alcohol dependence indices. Negative expectancy did not add incremental variance to the prediction of drinking behaviour in this sample. Drinking refusal self-efficacy and dependence beliefs added additional variance over positive and negative expectancies in the prediction of all three drinking parameters. Conclusions: Positive expectancy and drinking refusal self-efficacy were strongly related to university student drinking. The incorporation of expectancy as a means of informing prevention approaches in tertiary education shows promise.

Safety and efficacy of routine postoperative ibuprofen for pain and disability related to ectopic bone formation after hip replacement surgery (HIPAID): a randomised control trial

Objectives To determine the benefits and risks of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) as prophylaxis for ectopic bone formation in patients undergoing total hip replacement (or revision) surgery.
Design Double blind randomised placebo controlled clinical trial, stratified by treatment site and surgery (primary or revision).
Setting 20 orthopaedic surgery centres in Australia and New Zealand.
Participants 902 patients undergoing elective primary or revision total hip replacement surgery.
Intervention 14 days' treatment with ibuprofen (1200 mg daily) or matching placebo started within 24 hours of surgery.
Main outcome measures Changes in self reported hip pain and physical function 6 to 12 months after surgery (Western Ontario and McMaster University Arthritis index).
Results There were no significant differences between the groups for improvements in hip pain (mean difference -0.1, 95% confidence interval -0.4 to 0.2, P = 0.6) or physical function (-0.1, -0.4 to 0.2, P = 0.5), despite a decreased risk of ectopic bone formation (relative risk 0.69, 0.56 to 0.83) associated with ibuprofen. There was a significantly increased risk of major bleeding complications in the ibuprofen group during the admission period (2.09, 1.00 to 4.39).
Conclusions These data do not support the use of routine prophylaxis with NSAIDs in patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery.
Trial registration NCT00145730.

Efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in improving ankle kinetics during walking in children with cerebral palsy

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) applied to the triceps surae muscle is claimed to be effective in improving gait in children with cerebral palsy. The main aim of this study was to determine the effect of NMES on the triceps surae muscle in improving the gait and function of children with cerebral palsy. Twelve children with spastic diplegia or hemiplegia were recruited and randomly assigned to the two experimental groups. The period of the study was 8 weeks (2-4-2 week design). The initial 2 weeks was the control period, in which usual treatment was given to both groups of patients with a pre- and post-treatment assessment. The middle 4 weeks was the experimental period, in which the Treadmill+NMES group received NMES plus treadmill walking training and the Treadmill group underwent treadmill walking training only. Assessment was performed at 2-week intervals. The final 2 weeks was the carryover period, in which treatment to be tested was stopped and reassessment performed again at the end of week 8. An additional treatment and post-treatment assessment were given at weeks 2, 4 and 6 to test for the immediate effect of treatment. Altogether, eight repeated measures with three-dimensional gait analysis and five clinical measurements using the gross motor function measure (GMFM) were performed. Kinetic changes in ankle moment quotient (AMQ) and ankle power quotient (APQ) were not significant either immediately or cumulatively in both groups. Improvement in trend was observed in both groups immediately but not cumulatively. Using the GMFM, functional changes were detected in standing (GMST, p < 0.001) and in walking (GMWK, p = 0.003) using a 'time' comparison. Significant interaction was also detected in GMWK using 'treatment by time' (p = 0.035). The difference between the two groups was not significant on 'treatment' comparison of both GMST and GMWK. Both groups showed improvement in GMST and GMWK cumulatively but there was no difference between the two groups. The effects in both groups could be carried over to 2 weeks after interventions stopped. Both the Treadmill+NMES and Treadmill groups showed improvement in functional outcomes. The trend in the changes of the GMFM score suggested that improvements were greater in the Treadmill+NMES group. There was also a trend showing some immediate improvement in AMQ and APQ.

Perceived characteristics and pedagogical efficacy of animated conversational agents

We investigated college students' perceptions of a diverse sample of animated conversational agents. We also examined the pedagogical efficacy of those agents. We found that people perceive differences among the agents on several dimensions, such as likeability, and that the agents differ in pedagogical efficacy. However, none of the characteristics that we measured accounted for differences in pedagogical efficacy across the agents. We discuss implications for the field of agent studies with pmiicular emphasis on the creation of pedagogically effective conversational agents and suggest directions for future research.

Technological efficacy: a new identity category

Debates continue about the relative benefits, costs and risks of the diffusion of computer-based technologies throughout society and schooling. One area that has received considerable attention is gender equity. Early work on gender and computers focused on differences between male and female access and use (e.g. Huff, Fleming & Cooper, 1992; Kirkman, 1993; Morritt, 1997; Nelson & Cooper, 1997; Sofia, 1993), with concerns focused on the potential for girls to be disadvantaged. In some respects, it is arguable that problems of gender equity in schools with respect to computers have been overcome. For example, in a small study I conducted in two New Zealand senior primary classrooms in 2003, I found that both boys and girls were motivated to use computers and appeared to have equal opportunities to access computers in the classroom. The students in my study expressed a belief in the importance of using computers, and this belief can also be discerned from educational policy and media coverage. In this paper I argue that, although gender by itself no longer appears to be a source of disadvantage in terms of access to and use of computers in schools, many questions about technology, schooling and power relations still remain unanswered. I present two alternative viewpoints on the new digital age. First, I explore Melanie Stewart Millar’s (1998) analysis of digital discourse as one which reproduces the power of white, middle-class, educated, well-paid males, and excludes anything else it considers ‘Other’. Second, I review arguments that the digital age has provided sites for the transcendence of traditional hierarchies and inequalities (e.g. Spender, 1995). I conclude that, despite the discrepancies between these two viewpoints, both concur that technological disadvantage will exacerbate any existing inequality that might result from intersections of identity categories, such as, gender, ethnicity, age, and socio-economic status, and that in this digital age, technological efficacy is arguably a new identity category.