Showing items 21 - 40 of 12222

An efficient RANSAC hypothesis evaluation using sufficient statistics for RGB-D pose estimation

- Senthooran, Ilankalkone, Murshed, Manzur, Barca, Jan, Kamruzzaman, Joarder, Chung, Hoam

  • Authors: Senthooran, Ilankalkone , Murshed, Manzur , Barca, Jan , Kamruzzaman, Joarder , Chung, Hoam
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Autonomous Robots Vol. 43, no. 5 (2019), p. 1257-1270
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  • Description: Achieving autonomous flight in GPS-denied environments begins with pose estimation in three-dimensional space, and this is much more challenging in an MAV in a swarm robotic system due to limited computational resources. In vision-based pose estimation, outlier detection is the most time-consuming step. This usually involves a RANSAC procedure using the reprojection-error method for hypothesis evaluation. Realignment-based hypothesis evaluation method is observed to be more accurate, but the considerably slower speed makes it unsuitable for robots with limited resources. We use sufficient statistics of least-squares minimisation to speed up this process. The additive nature of these sufficient statistics makes it possible to compute pose estimates in each evaluation by reusing previously computed statistics. Thus estimates need not be calculated from scratch each time. The proposed method is tested on standard RANSAC, Preemptive RANSAC and R-RANSAC using benchmark datasets. The results show that the use of sufficient statistics speeds up the outlier detection process with realignment hypothesis evaluation for all RANSAC variants, achieving an execution speed of up to 6.72 times.

An investigation into handedness and choking under pressure in sport

- Mesagno, Christopher, Garvey, Jacob, Tibbert, Stephanie, Gröpel, Peter

  • Authors: Mesagno, Christopher , Garvey, Jacob , Tibbert, Stephanie , Gröpel, Peter
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Vol. 90, no. 2 (2019), p. 217-226
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  • Description: When athletes fail to perform at an expected level during an important moment, it is implied the athletes have experienced “choking“ (sudden decline in performance) under pressure.”. Researchers have reported that persistent left-hemispheric activation patterns occur when an athlete experiences considerable performance deteriorations under pressure. Researchers have also observed differences in brain activation patterns between left- and right-handed people on a variety of physical and cognitive tests, with the left-hemispheric activation more pronounced in right-handed participants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether athletes’ handedness may be linked to choking susceptibility (i.e., likelihood to experience performance decline under pressure). Method: Twenty right-handed and 13 left-handed experienced Australian football players completed 15 shot attempts, in both a low-pressure and a high-pressure condition. Both groups displayed equal state anxiety increases due to the pressure manipulation, indicating similar increases in anxiety in both handedness groups. Results: Differences were indicated in performance between the left- and right-handed groups during the high-pressure condition, with the left-handed group maintaining, and the right-handed participants declining, performance. Conclusion: Future electroencephalogram (EEG) research investigating this link may clarify the effect between handedness and choking.

An invited outsider or an enriched insider? Challenging contextual knowledge as a critical friend researcher

- Fletcher, Anna

  • Authors: Fletcher, Anna
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Educational Researchers and the Regional University Agents of Regional-Global Transformations Chapter 5 p. 75-92
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  • Description: Researchers conducting studies in communities have long taken an interest in exploring the different merits of positioning themselves as “insiders”, “outsiders”, or “in-betweeners” in relation to their participants. Yet research exploring the role of the researcher as a “critical friend”—a supportive yet challenging facilitator in self-evaluation processes—has not been fully examined. This chapter speaks to the FUGuE element of transformation—which in the present context, I define as a process where structures and forms undergo conversion. The chapter provides my account as a FUGuE researcher of exploring the methodological implications of my research with a small group of teachers at a primary school located in the Latrobe Valley in Central Gippsland. The emergent relationship now informs my teaching and research practices. The discussion draws on a recently commenced longitudinal study exploring teachers’ use of strategies and processes aimed at improving literacy practices—a phenomenon known as capacity building—through collaboration in a professional learning team, within a context of school improvement. Due to a prior connection with the school, I was invited to become a critical friend and active participant as the school initiated a new Professional Learning Team (PLT) in literacy. Informed by recorded conversations from the PLT meetings, my aim was to conceptualize the role and transformative implications of researching as an invited critical friend within a professional community. This chapter contributes to the methodological discourse of educational research by offering a contextualized analysis of the tensions among the notions of trust, credibility, and positionality as a critical friend researcher.

Animal movements in fire-prone landscapes

- Nimmo, Dale, Avitabile, Sarah, Banks, Sam, Bird, Rebecca, Callister, Kate, Clarke, Michael, Dickman, Chris, Doherty, Tim, Driscoll, Don, Greenville, Aaron, Haslem, Angie, Kelly, Luke, Kenny, Sally, Lahoz-Monfort, Jose, Lee, Connie, Leonard, Steven, Moore, Harry, Newsome, Thomas, Parr, Catherine, Ritchie, Euan, Schneider, Kathryn, Turner, James, Watson, Simon, Westbrooke, Martin, Wouters, Mike, White, Matthew, Bennett, Andrew

Application of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to detect joints in organic soft rock

- Tolooiyan, Ali, Dyson, Ashley, Karami, Mojtaba, Shaghaghi, Tahereh, Ghadrdan, Mohsen

  • Authors: Tolooiyan, Ali , Dyson, Ashley , Karami, Mojtaba , Shaghaghi, Tahereh , Ghadrdan, Mohsen
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Geotechnical Testing Journal Vol. 42, no. 2 (2019), p.
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  • Description: The detection of joints and discontinuities is of particular importance to the stability of a broad range of geostructures, including slopes and underground and open-pit mines. As a common example, the mechanical response of soft rocks observed within open-pit mines is significantly influenced by the existence of joint networks, resulting in a complex stress distribution that governs the stability factor of safety as well as the failure mechanism. In this article, surface geophysics scanning by ground penetrating radar (GPR) is presented for the detection of vertical joints at one of the largest open-pit coal mines in Australia. The optimum soil velocity, point interval, and antenna frequency for joint detection in Victorian Brown Coal (VBC) are presented in comparison with electromagnetic properties of known organic soils. Furthermore, the performance of an assorted set of post-processing signal filtering techniques to successfully identify the underground coal fractures are detailed, along with obstructions affecting the feasibility of GPR vertical joint discovery in this light organic soft rock.

ASMR, affect and digitally-mediated intimacy

- Smith, Naomi, Snider, Anne-Marie

  • Authors: Smith, Naomi , Snider, Anne-Marie
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Emotion, Space and Society Vol. 30, no. (2019), p. 41-48
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  • Description: ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is the pseudo-scientific term used to describe a ‘tingly’ physical response that viewers of ASMR videos may experience from watching a combination of auditory, visual and tactile triggers. To explore how this might happen, we examine the experience of ASMR as a technologically-mediated, affective experience, using examples from prominent ASMR artists. We seek to understand this community of ASMR viewers through the disjuncture that exists between the embodied experience of tingles and deep relaxation, and its technologically-mediated delivery. In this paper, we explore ASMR as a mediated affective experience – uniquely shaped by online spaces and their affordances. After providing a brief overview of ASMR videos and creators, we explore how ASMR artists engage in boundary work through the definitions of ASMR that they produce to support a quest for cultural and scientific legitimacy. The practice of naming and defining ASMR creates a site affective 'stickiness’, where affective experiences are intentionally constructed and strategically heightened. Finally, we examine the provocations that research into ASMR may bring an understanding of the senses, affect and technologically-mediated intimacy.

Association between preseason training and performance in elite Australian football

- McCaskie, Callum, Young, Warren, Fahrner, Brendan, Sim, Marc

  • Authors: McCaskie, Callum , Young, Warren , Fahrner, Brendan , Sim, Marc
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Vol. 14, no. 1 (2019), p. 68-75
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  • Description: Purpose: To examine the association between preseason training variables and subsequent in-season performance in an elite Australian football team. Methods: Data from 41 elite male Australian footballers (mean [SD] age = 23.4 [3.1] y, height =188.4 [7.1] cm, and mass = 86.7 [7.9] kg) were collected from 1 Australian Football League (AFL) club. Preseason training data (external load, internal load, fitness testing, and session participation) were collected across the 17-wk preseason phase (6 and 11 wk post-Christmas). Champion Data© Player Rank (CDPR), coaches’ ratings, and round 1 selection were used as in-season performance measures. CDPR and coaches’ ratings were examined over the entire season, first half of the season, and the first 4 games. Both Pearson and partial (controlling for AFL age) correlations were calculated to assess if any associations existed between preseason training variables and in-season performance measures. A median split was also employed to differentiate between higher- and lower-performing players for each performance measure. Results: Preseason training activities appeared to have almost no association with performance measured across the entire season and the first half of the season. However, many preseason training variables were significantly linked with performance measured across the first 4 games. Preseason training variables that were measured post-Christmas were the most strongly associated with in-season performance measures. Specifically, total on-field session rating of perceived exertion post-Christmas, a measurement of internal load, displayed the greatest association with performance. Conclusion: Late preseason training (especially on-field match-specific training) is associated with better performance in the early season.

Atmospheric CO₂ Concentration and Other Limiting Factors in the Growth of C₃ and C₄ Plants

- Boretti, Albert, Florentine, Singarayer

  • Authors: Boretti, Albert , Florentine, Singarayer
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Plants Vol. 8, no. 4 (2019), p. 1-11
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  • Description: It has been widely observed that recent increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations have had, so far, a positive effect on the growth of plants. This is not surprising since CO2 is an important nutrient for plant matter, being directly involved in photosynthesis. However, it is also known that the conditions which have accompanied this increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration have also had significant effects on other environmental factors. It is possible that these other effects may emerge as limiting factors which could act to prevent plant growth. This may involve complex interactions between prevailing sunlight and water conditions, variable temperatures, the availability of essential nutrients and the type of synthetic pathway for the plant species. The issue of concern to this investigation is if we should be worried about a possible shift in the C3-C4 paradigm driven by changes in the atmospheric CO2 concentration, or if some other factor, such as water scarcity, is much more relevant within a 30-year time frame. If an opinion is needed on what will have the worst effect on the survival of the planet between the scarcity of water or the reduced efficiency of C3 plants to sequester CO2, the issue of water is the more incisive.

Awakening and engaging in your learning

- Lyons, Judith

  • Authors: Lyons, Judith
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: The road to nursing Chapter 2 p. 16-28
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  • Description: This chapter discusses what it means to be an awake student and how you can be an engaged student to take the maximum advantage of the learning environment. It will explore the interrelationship of being an awake student and an awake nurse. Nursing requires constantly observing the situation, being aware of the context of practice, the situation or event in which you are taking part, and the patient in your care in order to make professional nursing decisions. To be successful in learning and practice, you will need to develop the graduate attributes of a nurse. These including being a professional and ethical decision-maker, politically astute situational leader and citizen, socially and culturally aware agent of change, critically reflective thinker adept in clinical reasoning, creative problem-solver, skilled therapeutic communicator, capable interdisciplinary healthcare team member and competent, caring, safe and professional nurse (Federation University Australia 2015). This chapter also provides ideas for how to overcome difficulties and engage in your learning together with ways that will help you to spend effective time in your learning endearvour. It discusses how you can transition to university learning in a way that makes you an equal partner in the learning process towards becoming an independent learner.

Bayes, time perception, and relativity : The central role of hopelessness

- Kent, Lachlan, Van Doorn, George, Hohwy, Jakob, Klein, Britt

  • Authors: Kent, Lachlan , Van Doorn, George , Hohwy, Jakob , Klein, Britt
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Consciousness and Cognition Vol. 69, no. (2019), p. 70-80
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  • Description: Time judgement and time experience are distinct elements of time perception. It is known that time experience tends to be slow, or dilated, when depressed, but there is less certainty or clarity concerning how depression affects time judgement. Here, we use a Bayesian Prediction Error Minimisation (PEM) framework called 'distrusting the present' as an explanatory and predictive model of both aspects of time perception. An interval production task was designed to probe and modulate the relationship between time perception and depression. Results showed that hopelessness, a symptom of severe depression, was associated with the ordering of interval lengths, reduced overall error, and dilated time experience. We propose that 'distrusting the future' is accompanied by 'trusting the present', leading to the experiences of time dilation when depressed or hopeless. Evidence was also found to support a relative difference model of how hopelessness dilates, and arousal accelerates, the rate of experienced time.

Beer, banquets and a Patiala Peg : Food and drink on tour

- Ponsford, Megan

  • Authors: Ponsford, Megan
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Sport in Society Vol. 22, no. 1 (2019), p. 143-159
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  • Description: This article critiques photographs and material culture pertaining to the consumption of food and alcohol during the first Australian cricket tour of India in 1935/36. The artefacts—menus, seating plans and food advertisements—enable the present-day researcher to interpret the rapidly transforming political, cultural and sporting landscape as well as the internal dynamics of the tour. The archival objects function as links to the cricketers and are pivotal in interpreting the 1935/36 tour in light of the absence of living participants. Food and beverages represent a significant ethnographic difference and the cricketers’ response to the customs of culinary consumption in late-colonial India exposes broader societal sentiments and reflects imperial politicking. The Australian cricketers encountered bicultural culinary influences comprising the vestiges of British hegemony in combination with a new nationalistic indigenous influence. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Bhupinder and Tarrant : Players of the game

- Ponsford, Megan

  • Authors: Ponsford, Megan
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Sport in Society Vol. 22, no. 1 (2019), p. 21-52
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  • Description: Financier Maharaja Bhupinder Singh and tour manager Frank Tarrant are the two key protagonists of the inaugural Australian cricket tour to India in 1935/36 and the historical figures in this article. Their culturally atypical relationship was anomalous to the conventional imperialist paradigm and openly defied racist notions of Western supremacy and cultural incompatibility that informed and underpinned the initial expectations of the touring party. Despite their relationship being primarily driven by mutually beneficial professional and financial objectives, a genuine rapport that challenged the archetypal servant/master paradigm is evident. Press reportage from Australia, India and Britain supports the argument. The minute books of the Middlesex Cricket Club (1908–16) and the Melbourne Cricket Club (1907 and 1908) have been integral in locating information on Tarrant’s movements. Discovering the Tarrant scrapbooks (c.1918–51) at the Melbourne Cricket Club has answered many questions that have plagued previous research into the man who has remained an enigmatic mystery in cricket history. The post-colonial theories of Homi Bhabha (2012), specifically his analysis of mimicry, are employed to argue that the political agendas of the Indian royalty were evolving. Cricket, an English institution, was embraced and reconstructed by the Indian community. Indian society was rejecting the British template and opted to operate according to an increasingly nationalistic and indigenous ideology and through this process appropriated cricket, the bastion of Englishness, as its own. The Australians’ contribution to this process is interrogated, and the liberal influence of Tarrant and the Maharaja in minimizing the racial and social divide throughout the tour is evident.

Binge eating in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome : Prevalence, causes, and management strategies

- Krug, Isabel, Giles, Sarah, Paganini, Chiara

  • Authors: Krug, Isabel , Giles, Sarah , Paganini, Chiara
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment Vol. 15, no. (2019), p. 1273-1285
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  • Description: Emerging evidence suggests that disordered eating, particularly binge-eating symptomatology, is overrepresented within Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) populations. This comorbidity presents a clinical dilemma as current treatment approaches for PCOS emphasize the importance of weight management, diet, exercise, and the potential for harm of such treatment approaches in PCOS patients with comorbid disordered eating. However, limited research has assessed the occurrence of binge eating and disordered eating in PCOS patients. Consequently, little is known about the prevalence of binge eating in PCOS, and the possible etiological processes to explain this comorbidity remain poorly understood. Given the paucity of research on this topic, the aims of this narrative review are fourfold: 1) to outline the main symptoms of PCOS and binge eating; 2) to provide an overview of the prevalence of binge eating in PCOS; 3) to outline possible etiological factors for the comorbidity between PCOS and binge eating; and 4) to provide an overview of management strategies of binge eating in PCOS.

Biochar versus bone char for a sustainable inorganic arsenic mitigation in water : What needs to be done in future research?

- Alkurdi, Susan, Herath, Indika, Bundschuh, Jochen, Al-Juboori, Raed, Vithanage, Meththika, Mohan, Dinesh

  • Authors: Alkurdi, Susan , Herath, Indika , Bundschuh, Jochen , Al-Juboori, Raed , Vithanage, Meththika , Mohan, Dinesh
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Environment International Vol. 127, no. (2019), p. 52-69
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  • Description: Arsenic (As) is an emerging contaminant on a global scale posing threat to environmental and human health. The relatively brief history of the applications of biochar and bone char has mapped the endeavors to remove As from water to a considerable extent. This critical review attempts to provide a comprehensive overview for the first time on the potential of bio- and bone-char in the immobilization of inorganic As in water. It seeks to offer a rational assessment of what is existing and what needs to be done in future research as an implication for As toxicity of human health risks through acute and chronic exposure to As contaminated water. Bio- and bone-char are recognized as promising alternatives to activated carbon due to their lower production and activation cost. The surface modification via chemical methods has been adopted to improve the adsorption capacity for anionic As species. Surface complexation, ion exchange, precipitation and electrostatic interactions are the main mechanisms involved in the adsorption of As onto the char surface. However, arsenic-bio-bone char interactions along with their chemical bonding for the removal of As in aqueous solution is still a subject of debate. Hence, the proposed mechanisms need to be scrutinized further using advanced analytical techniques such as synchrotron-based X-ray. Moving this technology from laboratory phase to field scale applications is an urgent necessity in order to establish a sustainable As mitigation in drinking water on a global scale.

Bone char as a green sorbent for removing health threatening fluoride from drinking water

- Alkurdi, Susan, Al-Juboori, Raed, Bundschuh, Jochen, Hamawand, Ihsan

  • Authors: Alkurdi, Susan , Al-Juboori, Raed , Bundschuh, Jochen , Hamawand, Ihsan
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Environment International Vol. 127, no. (2019), p. 704-719
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  • Description: Millions of people around the world suffer from or prone to health problems caused by high concentration of fluoride in drinking water sources. One of the environmentally friendly and cost-effective ways for removing fluoride is the use of bone char. In this review, the structural properties and binding affinity of fluoride ions from different water sources was critically discussed. The effect of experimental conditions on enhancing the adsorption capacity of fluoride ions using bone char samples was addressed. It appears that surface properties, and conditions of the bone char production such as temperature and residence time play an important role in designing the optimal fluoride removal process. The optimum temperature for fluoride removal seems to be in the range of 500–700 °C and a residence time of 2 h. Applying various equilibrium adsorption isotherms for understanding fluoride adsorption mechanism was presented. The effect of bone char modification with different elements were discussed and recommendations for a further increase in the removal efficiency was proposed. Cost of bone char production and large-scale treatment systems were also discussed based on information available from scientific and commercial sources. Challenges with existing domestic defluoridation designs were highlighted and suggestions for new conceptual designs were provided.

Butanol-acetone mixture blended with cottonseed biodiesel : Spray characteristics evolution, combustion characteristics, engine performance and emission

- Algayyim, Sattar, Wandel, Andrew, Yusaf, Talal, Al-Lwayzy, Saddam

  • Authors: Algayyim, Sattar , Wandel, Andrew , Yusaf, Talal , Al-Lwayzy, Saddam
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Proceedings of the Combustion Institute Vol. 37, no. 4 (2019), p. 4729-4739
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  • Description: Increasing energy demands and more stringent legislation relating to pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NO x ) and carbon monoxide (CO) from fossil fuels have accelerated the use of biofuels such as biodiesel. However, current limitations of using biodiesel as an alternative fuel for CI engines include a higher viscosity and higher NO x emissions. This is a major issue that could be improved by blending biodiesel with alcohols. This paper investigates the effect of a butanol-acetone mixture (BA) as an additive blended with biodiesel to improve the latter's properties. Macroscopic spray characteristics (spray penetration, spray cone angle and spray volume) were measured in constant volume vessel (CVV) at two injection pressures. A high-speed camera was used to record spray images. The spray's edge was determined using an automatic threshold calculation algorithm to locate the spray outline (edge) from the binary images. In addition, an engine test was carried out experimentally on a single-cylinder diesel engine. The engine's performance was measured using in-cylinder pressure, brake power (BP) and specific fuel consumption (SFC). Emission characteristics NO x CO and UHC were also measured. Neat biodiesel and three blends of biodiesel with up to 30% added BA were tested. The experimental data were analyzed via ANOVA to evaluate whether variations in parameters due to the different fuels were significant. The results showed that BA can enhance the spray characteristics of biodiesel by increasing both the spray penetration length and the contact surface area, thereby improving air-fuel mixing. The peak in-cylinder pressure for 30% BA was comparable to neat diesel and higher than that of neat biodiesel. Brake power (BP) was slightly improved for 10% BA at an engine speed of 2000 rpm while SFC was not significantly higher for any of the BA-biodiesel blends because of the smaller heating value of BA. Comparing the effect on emissions of adding BA to biodiesel, increasing the amount of BA reduced NO x and CO (7%) and (40%) respectively compared to neat biodiesel, but increased UHC.

Changes in lower body muscular performance following a season of NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse

- Talpey, Scott, Axtell, Robert, Gardner, Elizabeth, James, Lachlan

  • Authors: Talpey, Scott , Axtell, Robert , Gardner, Elizabeth , James, Lachlan
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Sports Vol. 7, no. 1 (2019), p. 1-12
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  • Description: The tactical and technical components of training become a primary emphasis, leaving less time for targeted development of physical qualities that underpin performance during the competition phase of a training program. A deemphasis on physical preparation during the in-season training phase may make athletes more susceptible to injury and decrease performance on the field. Two weeks prior to the start and one week following the conclusion of the 16-week collegiate lacrosse season, lower body force production was assessed in eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men's Lacrosse athletes. Lower body force production capabilities were determined via the performance of countermovement jumps (CMJ) and drop jumps (DJ) performed on a force plate and isokinetic strength testing of the quadriceps and hamstring muscle groups across three velocities. Isokinetic strength of the hamstrings and the hamstring to quadriceps strength ratio were maintained or increased over the course of the competition phase of training. Relative peak force obtained from the CMJ and the reactive strength index from the DJ decreased significantly over the season. The maintenance of isokinetic strength and the decrease in CMJ and DJ performance may indicate the presence of neuromuscular fatigue that accumulated over the course of the season.

Characterizations of nonsmooth robustly quasiconvex functions

- Bui, Hoa, Khanh, Pham, Tran, Thi

  • Authors: Bui, Hoa , Khanh, Pham , Tran, Thi
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications Vol. 180, no. 3 (2019), p. 775-786
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  • Description: Two criteria for the robust quasiconvexity of lower semicontinuous functions are established in terms of Fréchet subdifferentials in Asplund spaces. The first criterion extends to such spaces a result established by Barron et al. (Discrete Contin Dyn Syst Ser B 17:1693–1706, 2012). The second criterion is totally new even if it is applied to lower semicontinuous functions on finite-dimensional spaces. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Child protection and fathering where there is domestic violence : Contradictions and consequences

- Smith, Joanie, Humphreys, Cathy

  • Authors: Smith, Joanie , Humphreys, Cathy
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Child & Family Social Work Vol. 24, no. 1 (2019), p. 156-163
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  • Description: Children live in different contexts of protection and vulnerability when exposed to domestic violence. The negative impacts for many children are consistent and widely acknowledged. However, the implication that this requires men who use violence to address their fathering has been slower to emerge. This article draws from 69 in-depth qualitative interviews with men, women, and workers across four men's behaviour change programmes in rural Victoria, Australia. Particular attention is given to men's attitudes to their fathering and the formal and informal consequences they experienced as a result of their violence and its impact on their fathering. Although most men came to recognize that their violence impacted their children, they failed to make the connection that the involvement of statutory child protection services in their lives was a direct consequence of their abusive behaviour. This article explores this disconnection by fathers who use violence, their attitude to the involvement of statutory child protection services, and identifies the implications for social work practitioners in addressing this issue.

Communication training and its effects on carer and care-receiver outcomes in dementia settings : A systematic review

- Nguyen, Hoang, Terry, Daniel, Phan, Hoang, Vickers, James, McInerney, Fran

  • Authors: Nguyen, Hoang , Terry, Daniel , Phan, Hoang , Vickers, James , McInerney, Fran
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Journal of Clinical Nursing Vol. 28, no. 7-8 (2019), p. 1050-1069
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  • Description: Aims and objectives To review communication interventions that aim to improve regular care interactions between people with dementia and their carers in various settings; and to examine the impact of such interventions on both carer and care-receiver outcomes. Background Effective communication is imperative to ensure quality of care for people living with dementia. Due to neurodegenerative changes, people with dementia encounter ongoing and progressive difficulties in both understanding and expressing themselves. This in turn creates challenges for carers, which highlights the need for equipping them with necessary communication skills to respond to the specific communication needs of people with dementia. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Method Medline, Embase, CINAHL, ProQuest and PsycINFO databases were searched for eligible interventions with any date of the publication. Hand searching was also conducted through reviewing the reference lists of relevant articles. The screening and selection of studies were based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria for eligibility and the methodological quality assessment checklist. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted on comparable quantitative data. The review is reported following the PRISMA reporting guidelines. Results Seventeen studies were included in the final review, including 12 randomised controlled trials (RCTs), three nonrandomised controlled trials (NRCTs) and two controlled before-after interventions. The intervention designs, settings and outcome measures were varied. The findings suggest that the communication training had a positive impact on both carer and care-receiver outcomes, albeit to different degrees. The intervention effects were found to be strongest on carer communication skills and knowledge. Conclusion There is solid evidence for the positive impact of communication training on the skills and knowledge of carers. More research is needed regarding the effects of such educational interventions on carer physio-psychological outcomes and care-receiver neuropsychiatric symptoms. It is important to establish best practices in training design, develop validated outcome measures and adopt consistent reporting approaches. Relevance to clinical practice The increasing global prevalence of people with dementia manifests across clinical and community contexts. The profound impact of dementia on communication and associated care raises the imperative for enhanced health worker and carer communication skills to meet the needs of this particular client group. The findings of this review indicate that educational interventions incorporating face-to-face and diverse instructional delivery methods in dementia communication showed positive outcomes for communication skills in all carer groups and warrant inclusion as strategies in dementia training.