The role of cultural values and religion on views of body size and eating practices among adolescents from Fiji, Tonga and Australia

Objectives This study investigated cultural values related to body image and eating practices in Western and non-Western societies.

Design and Methods In total, 628 Fijian, 463 Indo-Fijian, 598 Tongan, and 534 Australian adolescents completed measures of cultural values and religious influences in relation to the ideal body and eating practices.

Results Fijian and Tongan adolescents were more likely to value a large body. Religious influences were most strongly associated with eating practices for Fijians, Indo-Fijians, and Tongans.

Conclusions The findings support the role of religion in transmitting cultural values regarding eating practices in Pacific Island communities.

Statement of contribution
What is already known on this subject? Previous research has demonstrated that sociocultural factors shape body image and eating behaviours. Most of this research has been conducted in Western countries.

What does this study add? The current study identifies the role of cultural values and religious influences on body image and eating behaviours in a number of different cultural groups. This is the first study to use the same methodology to explore these relationships across Western and Pacific Island communities.

Towards a diversity justice management model : integrating organizational justice and diversity management

Purpose – Contemporary organizations are increasingly paying attention to incorporate diversity management practices into their systems in order to promote socially responsible actions and equitable employment outcomes for minority groups. The aim of this paper is to seek to address a major oversight in diversity management literature, the integration of organizational justice principles.

Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the existing literature on workforce diversity and organizational justice, the authors develop a model based on normative principles of organizational justice for justice-based diversity management processes and outcomes.

Findings – The paper proposes that effective diversity management results from a decision-making process that meets the normative principles of organizational justice (i.e. interactional, procedural and distributive justice). The diversity justice management model introduced in this article provides important theoretical and practical implications for establishing more moral and just workplaces.

Research limitations/implications – The authors have not tested the conceptual framework of the diversity justice management model, and recommend future research to take up the challenge. The payoff for doing so is to enable the establishment of socially responsible workplaces where individuals, regardless of their background, are given an equal opportunity to flourish in their assigned jobs.

Practical implications – The diversity justice management model introduced in this paper provides organizational justice (OJ)-based guidelines for managers to ensure that OJ can be objectively benchmarked and discussed amongst diversity stakeholders to continuously improve actual and perceived OJ outcomes.

Social implications – The social implication of this conceptual paper is reduction of workforce marginalization and establishment of socially responsible organizations whereby those marginalized (e.g. people with disabilities) can effectively work in their organizations.

Originality/value – This is the first attempt to establish a diveristy justice management model, which incorporates normative principles of organizational justice into diversity management processes and outcomes.

Prevalence and community variation in harmful levels of family conflict witnessed by children: implications for prevention

 Abstract
Children’s reports of high family conflict consistently predict poor outcomes. The study identified criteria for high family conflict based on prospective prediction of increased risk for childhood depression. These criteria were subsequently used to establish the prevalence of high family conflict in Australian communities and to identify community correlates suitable for targeting prevention programs. Study 1 utilised a longitudinal design. Grade 6 and 8 students completed a family conflict scale (from the widely used Communities That Care survey) in 2003 and depression symptomotology were evaluated at a 1-year follow-up (International Youth Development Study, N = 1,798). Receiver-operating characteristic analysis yielded a cut-off point on a family conflict score with depression symptomatology as a criterion variable. A cut-off score of 2.5 or more (on a scale of 1 to 4) correctly identified 69 % with depression symptomology, with a specificity of 77.2 % and sensitivity at 44.3 %. Study 2 used data from an Australian national survey of Grade 6 and 8 children (Healthy Neighbourhoods Study, N = 8,256). Prevalence estimates were calculated, and multivariate logistic regression with multi-level modelling was used to establish factors associated with community variation in family conflict levels. Thirty-three percent of Australian children in 2006 were exposed to levels of family conflict that are likely to increase their future risk for depression. Significant community correlates for elevated family conflict included Indigenous Australian identification, socioeconomic disadvantage, urban and state location, maternal absence and paternal unemployment. The analysis provides indicators for targeting family-level mental health promotion programs.

Tribes and conflict management in Iraq

Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, this country has witnessed an unprecedented sectarian atmosphere. The newly installed political system by the US has institutionalised the ethno-sectarian nature of the political “democratic” scene and the influx of al-Qaida and other militia were exacerbating the violent context. The post- invasion formed State apparatus has been crippled and not been capable of taking control, enforcing law, restoring order and establishing sustainable reconciliation. Within this context, tribes have emerged as a powerful disciplinary social structure that is capable of conflict management and national reconciliation. Based on empirical data collected from Iraq, this paper discusses the roles of Iraqi tribes in peaceful reconciliation processes. It further engages with the tribal discourses and communication methods used in this process to contribute to bringing stability to the country. Tribes have applied different modes of communications and methods of conflict management at different individual, communal and national levels.

Hurdling the barriers : enabling student pathways from VET to higher education in building and construction management

Building effective pathways for students to transfer from and between education sectors and qualifications has been the subject of extensive research, policy development and practice over the last 20 years, both in Australia and internationally. Different researchers and policy-makers have examined this topic from various angles, but all from the perspective that improved pathways constitute an essential feature in a more flexible and integrated tertiary education system.

Thai emergency nurses’ management of patients with severe traumatic brain injury: comparison of knowledge and clinical management with best available evidence

Background:
In Thailand, the rate of TBI-related hospitalisation is increasing, however, little is known about the evidence-based management of severe TBI in the developing world. The aim of this study was to explore Thai emergency nurses’ management of patients with severe TBI.

Methods:
An exploratory descriptive mixed method design was used to conduct this two stage study: survey methods were used to examine emergency nurses’ knowledge regarding management of patients with severe TBI (Stage 1) and observational methods were used to examine emergency nurses’ clinical management of patients with severe TBI (Stage 2). The study setting was the emergency department (ED) at a regional hospital in Southern Thailand.

Results:
34 nurses participated in Stage 1 (response rate 91.9%) and the number of correct responses ranged from 33.3% to 95.2%. In Stage 2, a total of 160 points of measurement were observed in 20 patients with severe TBI over 40 h. In this study there were five major areas identified for the improvement of care of patients with severe TBI: (i) end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) monitoring and targets; (ii) use of analgesia and sedation; (iii) patient positioning; (iv) frequency of nursing assessment; and (v) dose of Mannitol diuretic.

Conclusions:
There is variation in Thai nurses’ knowledge and care practices for patients with severe TBI. To increase consistency of evidence-based TBI care in the Thai context, a knowledge translation intervention that is ecologically valid, appropriate to the Thai healthcare context and acceptable to the multidisciplinary care team is needed.

Zooplankton abundance and community structure over a 4000 km transect in the North-east Atlantic

Zooplankton samples were collected by a high speed sampler, the U-Tow, in the north-east Atlantic between 61.6 and 36.7°N during June and July 1996, and were used to examine the causality of spatial distributions along a 4000 km transect. Peak zooplankton abundance and biovolume estimations were associated with a frontal system at 48–52°N, which separated hydrographically distinct water masses. The zooplankton assemblage was dominated by herbivorous/omnivorous taxa in the northern regions, and by carnivorous taxa in the southern regions. Arguments are developed to suggest that the switch in both the zooplankton size structure and trophic status, centred within the frontal region, are consistent with ‘bottom-up’ control of zooplankton size structure in this region of the Atlantic.

Educational administration and the management of knowledge: 1980 revisited

This paper revisits the thesis of a 1980 paper that suggested a new approach to educational administration based upon the New Sociology of Education. In particular it updates answers to the six key questions asked by that paper: what counts as knowledge; how is what counts as knowledge organised; how is what counts as knowledge transmitted; how is access to what counts as knowledge determined; what are the processes of control; what ideological appeals justify the system. These questions were foundational in the development of a socially critical perspective and a cultural approach to educational leadership and administration.

Stakeholder perceptions of threatened species and their management on urban beaches

We surveyed 579 recreationists regarding management of the threatened, beach-dwelling Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis. We postulated that: (1) lower awareness of the species and higher ‘inconvenience’ of management would engender less favourable perceptions of conservation and management; and (2) that frequency of beach use and dog ownership may mediate perceptions and levels of awareness and inconvenience. Overall, inconvenience was low while awareness and support for plover conservation were high. Education and awareness strategies were considered less effective than regulations; exclusion and regulations were considered less desirable than on-ground protective measures. Awareness, frequency of beach use and dog walking did not influence the perceived effectiveness of different managements. More frequent beach users had greater awareness of the species and their plight but reported greater inconvenience associated with management. Respondents with high awareness rated the severity of human-related threats higher; low awareness was associated with more inconvenience associated with on-ground protection, and exclusion and regulations. Dog walkers reported more inconvenience associated with exclusions and regulations than non-dog walkers. Dog walkers who used the beach infrequently rated threats significantly higher than frequent beach users. Conservation and education strategies could usefully be tailored to beach users’ level of use and pet ownership.

Integrated thermal and energy management of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

In this research, the significant influence of engine and cabin thermal management on the fuel efficiency and emissions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is investigated. A practical solution to implement an optimal energy management strategy of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles which considers the temperature noise factor is introduced.