Interprofessional Collaboration to Develop and Deliver Domestic Violence Curriculum to Dental Students

Domestic violence (DV) is a serious social problem that impacts significantly on communities globally. While dentists are uniquely positioned to identify patients who experience DV, there is limited content specifically addressing the issue in their undergraduate training. James Cook University (JCU) dental students revealed this gap, and, in response, an interprofessional collaboration between JCU Social Work, JCU Dentistry and the Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service was established to codesign and deliver the Dentists and Domestic Violence—Recognise, Respond and Refer program, evaluated through Participatory Action Research (PAR) cycles. The program is informed by critical and feminist social work theory with a gendered analysis of DV. The authors present the program’s evolution and examine the four elements identified as central to its success: interprofessional collaboration, critical and feminist theory and gendered analysis, scaffolded content, and skills-based activities. This article will provide a guide for others starting work in this space. IMPLICATIONS - Designing and implementing an interprofessional domestic violence curriculum informed by critical theory and tailored for dental students’ can help meet their learning needs. - Collaboratively educating dental students to recognise and respond to domestic violence cases will enable appropriate clinical interactions with patients who are victim-survivors of domestic violence and improve the quality of referrals and interactions with community support services. - Undertaking evaluation research that guides effective domestic violence training for students across disciplines contributes to addressing domestic violence

Sun safety in young Queensland adults: behaviours, knowledge, and responses to health-based and appearance-based text messages.

Objective: High melanoma rates in Queensland, Australia suggest that sun protection campaign message content may require revision. The aim of this experimental study was to explore young Queensland adults’ sun-related exposure and knowledge level, before investigating the effectiveness of five text health messages at improving sun protection intentions. Methods: Ninety-five young adults aged 17 to 24 years participated in the study. Most intervention content was modelled on Protection Motivation Theory. The texts allowed for the comparison of fear appeals with and without efficacy messages, health-versus appearance-based messages, and the exploration of understudied, appearance-based message content alluding to melanoma surgery scarring. Results: Proportionally, significantly more females (60.34%) sunbathed compared to males [26.47%, χ2 (1, n = 92) = 8.55, p = .003, phi = -.33], and females (M = 16.03) had significantly greater knowledge levels than males [M = 12.81, t(89), -.3.99, p < .001, η2 = .01]. There was no difference between health and appearance-based messages on participants’ sun protection intentions as assessed by the Protection Motivation Theory χ2 (5, n = 94) = 2.97, p = .704. Conclusions: Future research should contribute to the debates surrounding fear appeals and health-versus appearance-based messages with different communication modalities. Health promotion campaigns on sun protection should target message content to audiences

Energy diversification, financial development and economic development: an examination of convergence in OECD countries

Purpose: This study examines the convergence of energy diversification, financial development and per-capita income in OECD countries. Design/methodology/approach: The research employs the club convergence test to assess convergence among OECD countries and uses Granger causality tests and panel regressions to identify the determinants of convergence, using data from 1997 to 2021. Findings: The convergence tests showed no overall convergence but revealed convergence clubs for each factor. Granger causality tests indicated short-run bi-directional relationships between the variables. Long-run panel regression analysis confirmed that technological progress significantly improves per capita income and energy diversification. Additionally, it revealed bi-directional relationships between energy diversification and financial development, a uni-directional relationship from financial development to per capita income and a U-shaped effect of per capita income on energy diversification, with a turning point at $67,112.8 per year. Practical implications: The findings suggest that within each convergence club, implementing microeconomic incentives for technology development and diffusion in energy, production and financial services could help lagging countries catch up. Originality/value: This study pioneers the testing of convergence in energy diversification, financial development and per capita income in OECD countries and identifies the determinants of this convergence

The mental health impact of climate change on Pacific Islanders: A systematic review focused on sea level rise and extreme weather events

Objective: This systematic review investigates the impact of climate change on the mental health of Pacific Island Nations (PINs), with a focus on identifying culturally tailored interventions and appropriate research methodologies to address these impacts. Method: A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature up to May 18, 2024, was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol and the Population, Interest Area, and Context (PICo) framework. Empirical studies on the impact of climate change on mental health in PINs were evaluated by using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs (QATSDD). Results: Six studies from the Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, and Tuvalu were identified, indicating significant mental health impacts from sea level rise (SLR) and extreme weather events with compounding and mitigating effects across diverse groups. The Skills for Life Adjustment and Resilience (SOLAR) program was highlighted as a promising culturally adapted intervention. Conclusion: Climate change significantly impacts mental health, particularly in PIN communities facing SLR and Extreme Weather Events (EWE). Culturally sensitive interventions, local knowledge, and further research are vital to mitigate these effects and support well-being

Rotation-based outlier detection for geochemical anomaly identification in stream sediment multivariate data

This research explores the use of the rotation-based outlier detection (ROD) method for identifying geochemical anomalies in a multivariate stream sediment dataset from Iran, targeting porphyry and vein-type Cu mineralization. Geochemical datasets often present challenges for outlier detection methods like local outlier factor (LOF) and k-nearest neighbor (KNN), which rely on distance or density metrics and require parameter tuning (e.g., neighborhood size k). High-dimensional feature spaces further complicate their application. ROD, in contrast, offers a parameter-free, rotation-based approach that effectively analyzes geometric relationships between samples in subspaces, mitigating the curse of dimensionality. This makes ROD particularly suited to high-dimensional geochemical datasets, where complex relationships between elements (due to lithology or mineralization) are critical for identifying anomalies. This study compares ROD with LOF and KNN using two subsets of geochemical variables (Ag, As, Au, Bi, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Zn; and Ag, As, Au, Cu, Mo, Sb) and evaluates its performance based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and the number of known mineral occurrences detected in anomaly class. ROD outperforms LOF and KNN, capturing 78% (14 out of 18) of known Cu-bearing mineral occurrences. Moreover, ROD shows better conformity between 10% of highest outlier scores and Cu-mineralization sites. Rotation cost function in ROD, evaluated using the median absolute deviation (MAD), enhances its ability to detect outliers by focusing on orientation rather than distance, and by reducing noise misclassification. In addition, the parameter-free design of ROD and improved handling of high-dimensional data makes it a promising tool for geochemical exploration, as it captures unique mineralization-related signals that might be missed by traditional methods

Sexual satisfaction across cultures, genders, languages, and sexual orientations: Validation of the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction

Sexual satisfaction can be important for overall well-being and has been described as a sexual right. Individual and cultural factors, such as gender identity and sexual orientation, may influence the ways in which individuals describe, share, or experience their sexuality. The aims of the present study were to examine the factor structure of the five-item Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction (GMSEX) in a large sample of adults in relationships, to conduct measurement invariance tests to examine whether the GMSEX functions similarly across language-, country-, gender- and sexual orientation-based subgroups, and to evaluate its validity with sexuality and relationship-related outcomes. Results of a confirmatory analysis among 51,778 participants from 42 different countries across five continents (Mage = 32.39 years, SD = 12.52, 56.9% cisgender women) corroborated the proposed one-dimensional factor structure of the scale. Measurement invariance tests also indicated that the scale was fully invariant across gender- and sexual orientation-based subgroups, and partially invariant across language- and country-based subgroups. The GMSEX correlated negatively with masturbation frequency and relationship length and positively with the frequency of sexual activity. Our findings support the validity of the GMSEX as a short and reliable scale to measure sexual satisfaction across diverse samples

Development of a Peer-Teaching Mentoring program using SMART goals

This study reports on a project that adopted a social constructivist approach and SMART goals to develop a successful peer-teaching mentoring program to enhance year ten students' leadership growth and year six students' connectedness to their school and peers. Doran (1981, p. 16) developed the SMART goals approach as a guided process to develop a project's desired goal. The SMART goals, S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Achievable, R-Relevant, and T-Timely, were used to develop the pedagogical artifacts for the peer-teaching mentoring program and facilitate sharing knowledge, skills, and experience. The study used the SMART goals to map the developing stages. It was divided into three stages: 1. developing the characteristics and pedagogical artifacts, 2. preparing the program with the school, and 3. developing surveys and interview questions for data collection and future program analysis. The paper argues that using the SMART goals can help articulate and develop pedagogical tools on peer-teaching mentoring models that address the essential stages and characteristics for facilitating the sharing of knowledge, skills, and experience

Roger Tory Peterson Down Under: an American's influence on Australian birding field guides

The American, Roger Tory Peterson, has been the single most influential figure in the evolution of birding field guides around the world. He was also a major contributor to the awakening of an environmental consciousness among the wider public in the second half of the twentieth century. In Australia, he provided a powerful impetus to the renovation of the field guide genre from the 1960s onward; and his Australian followers, like Peterson himself, were driven by a conviction that field guides are potent contributors to the conservationist cause. This article explores the myriad ways in which Peterson helped shape Australian birding field guides, including an exposition of his personal friendship with one of Australia’s major field guide authors, Graham Pizzey

CRNet: Convolutive Recurrent Network for Suspect Face Identification

Identifying suspects in critical situations-particularly when they are wearing scarves, masks, or are in environments with light obstructions and concealed facial expressions-poses significant challenges. To address these issues, a method known as the Convolutive Recurrent Network (CRNet) for suspect face identification is proposed. CRNet utilises deep neural networks, specifically the Residual Network-50, leveraging a transfer learning approach for efficient feature extraction. In addition, Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) layers are employed to capture spatial and recurrent features, with BiLSTM layers serving as the core component of the model. CRNet is designed to overcome the limitations of current models in managing complex situations, such as scarves, spectacles, high illumination, and varied expressions. CRNet fills this gap by integrating mechanisms that provide flexibility for ambiguous features and variable lighting conditions. Experimental and comparative analysis demonstrates that CRNet significantly outperforms existing methods, providing notable improvements in both accuracy and reliability. This approach introduces a rapid feature-learning method for precise suspect identification by integrating spatial dependencies, enhancing versatility across various computer vision domains. The model’s potential impact on criminal investigations is substantial due to its fast bidirectional feature processing. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness and adaptability of CRNet, achieving accuracy rates of 97.46% on the Extended Cohn-Kanade dataset, 98.08% on the Augmented Reality dataset, and 99.58% on the Extended Yale B dataset-substantially surpassing the baseline accuracy of 46.00%

A high fall risk patient perspective - Reducing safety challenges in an acute care hospital

Aims: This study examined patient perspectives of the factors that contributed to their falls in a medical ward and how patient understanding of the implemented fall prevention strategies influenced their perceptions of their fall risk. Design: An exploratory sequential mixed methods design. Methods: Quantitative data were obtained from the RiskMan fall database and auditing of the Patient-Centred Care Plan to identify patients who experienced a fall on the ward. From this cohort, seven inpatients were interviewed using a structured interview questionnaire to explore their perceptions of why they fell. Other complexities of fall management in the ward were discussed, including the assessment and identification of high fall risk patients and the effectiveness of patient education. Results: Five contributing factors were seen to have led to inpatient falls in the medical ward: (1) there seems to be little, if any, patient engagement with the advice in the fall prevention brochure distributed on admission; (2) insufficient patient awareness of the various fall prevention strategies; (3) inadequate bathroom supervision provided by nurses; (4) patient call bells not answered promptly, which encouraged patients engaging in risk-taking behaviour and (5) a breakdown in communication between nursing staff and patients. The study identified several factors that should be included in fall administrative data, such as the duration of call-bell response, the quality of nurse–patient communication and the determinants influencing patient response to fall prevention strategies. The study findings offer valuable insights to enhance the efficacy and implementation of fall prevention strategies to improve patient outcomes. Patient Contribution: Patients who had experienced a fall during their current hospital admission were interviewed. For each patient, the interview was a communication medium to explore the factors surrounding the occurrence of their fall and their knowledge of their fall risk