Practice and research in australian massage therapy: A national workforce survey

© 2015 Multimed Inc. All rights reserved. Background: Massage is the largest complementary medicine profession in Australia, in terms of public utilisation, practitioner distribution, and number of practitioners, and is being increasingly integrated into the Australian health care system. However, despite the increasing importance of massage therapists in Australian health care delivery, or the increased practice and education obligations this may entail, there has been little exploration of practice, research, and education characteristics of the Australian massage therapist workforce. Purpose: To identify practice, research, and education characteristics among the Australian massage therapist workforce. Settings: The Australian massage therapy profession. Participants: 301 randomly selected members of the Association of Massage Therapists (Australia). Research Design: A 15-item, cross-sectional telephone survey. Main Outcomes Measures: Massage therapists’ demographic information, practice characteristics, and education and research characteristics. Results: Most respondents (73.8%) worked 20 hours per week or less practising massage, nearly half of all respondents (46.8%) treated fewer than 10 massage clients per week, and over three-quarters (81.7%) of respondents were self-employed. Massage therapy was the sole source of income for just over half (55.0%) of the study respondents. Only 5.7% of respondents earned over the average wage ($50,000) through their massage activities. Nearly half of all respondents (43.3%) reported regularly exceeding their continuing professional education (CPE) quota mandated by their professional association. However, 21.1% reported struggling to achieve their CPE quota each year. Over one-third of respondents (35.6%) were not interested in acquiring further CPE points beyond minimum requirements. Respondents were significantly more likely to have an active approach to research if they had higher income (p =.015). Multivariate analysis showed factors associated with access to CPE to be the only significant predictors for increased CPE. Conclusions: The massage profession in Australia remains largely part-time and practitioners earn less than the average Australian wage. The factors that underlie research and education involvement appear to be highly individualised and, therefore, policies targeting specific groups may be arbitrary and ineffective

Lightfastness assessment of Levantine rock art by means of microfading spectrometry

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: del Hoyo-Meléndez JM, Carrión-Ruiz B, Riutort-Mayol G, Lerma JL. Lightfastness assessment of Levantine rock art by means of microfading spectrometry. Color Res Appl. 2019;44:547 555, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/col.22372. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.[EN] The documentation of archeological sites requires the adoption of non-destructive techniques to safeguard the unique legacy coming from prehistoric periods. This article tackles the assessment of lightfastness properties on a rock art site to deter- mine the behavior of motif's color deterioration over time in Remi¿gia Cave, Castello¿n (Spain), which is considered part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The measurements were performed using a microfade testing device to analyze the spectral characteristics and the aging properties of the colorant system and various substrates on site. Two scenarios have been identified depending on whether the lightness (L*) parameter of the rocky substrate changes or not in relation with the painted motifs. If the substrate remains stable without any change, red motifs con- taining iron oxide pigments will become more visible. If the substrate becomes lighter, the pigments will experience similar changes. Therefore, the contrast between paintings and support will be considerably enhanced.The authors also would like to thank the Generalitat Valenciana for providing access to the site during the measurement campaigns. Fruitful comments from the Spanish archeologists Prof. Valentín Villaverde and Dra. Esther López-Montalvo are also gratefully acknowledged. The authors acknowledge the research project HAR2014-59873-R from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for providing financial support.Del Hoyo-Meléndez, JM.; Carrión-Ruiz, B.; Riutort-Mayol, G.; Lerma, JL. (2019). Lightfastness assessment of Levantine rock art by means of microfading spectrometry. Color Research & Application. 44(4):547-555. https://doi.org/10.1002/col.22372S547555444Vileikis, O., Cesaro, G., Santana Quintero, M., van Balen, K., Paolini, A., & Vafadari, A. (2012). Documentation in World Heritage conservation. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, 2(2), 130-152. doi:10.1108/20441261211273635Management Planning for Archaelogical Sites 2002 The Getty Conservation Institute Los Angeles G Palumbo Threats and challenges to the archaeological heritage in the Mediterranean 3 12ICOMOS. ICOMOS World Report 2000 on Monuments and Sites in Danger; 2000.https://www.icomos.org/risk/world_report/2000/risk2000.htm. Accessed October 25 2017.Giesen, M. J., Ung, A., Warke, P. A., Christgen, B., Mazel, A. D., & Graham, D. W. (2014). Condition assessment and preservation of open-air rock art panels during environmental change. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 15(1), 49-56. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2013.01.013Díez-Herrero, A., Gutiérrez-Pérez, I., Lario, J., Cañaveras, J. C., Benavente, D., Sánchez-Moral, S., & Alonso-Azcárate, J. (2009). Analysis of potential direct insolation as a degradation factor of cave paintings in Villar del Humo, Cuenca, Central Spain. Geoarchaeology, 24(4), 450-465. doi:10.1002/gea.20274López-Montalvo, E., Villaverde, V., Roldán, C., Murcia, S., & Badal, E. (2014). An approximation to the study of black pigments in Cova Remigia (Castellón, Spain). Technical and cultural assessments of the use of carbon-based black pigments in Spanish Levantine Rock Art. Journal of Archaeological Science, 52, 535-545. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.09.017Hernanz, A., Ruiz-López, J. F., Gavira-Vallejo, J. M., Martin, S., & Gavrilenko, E. (2010). Raman microscopy of prehistoric rock paintings from the Hoz de Vicente, Minglanilla, Cuenca, Spain. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 41(11), 1394-1399. doi:10.1002/jrs.2582Domingo, I., Villaverde, V., López-Montalvo, E., Lerma, J. L., & Cabrelles, M. (2013). Latest developments in rock art recording: towards an integral documentation of Levantine rock art sites combining 2D and 3D recording techniques. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(4), 1879-1889. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.11.024Iturbe, A., Cachero, R., Cañal, D., & Martos, A. (2018). Digitalización de cuevas con arte paleolítico parietal de Bizkaia. Análisis científico y divulgación mediante nuevas técnicas de visualización. Virtual Archaeology Review, 9(18), 57. doi:10.4995/var.2018.7579Carrión-Ruiz, B., Blanco-Pons, S., & Lerma, J. L. (2016). DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS OF THE VISIBLE REGION THROUGH SIMULATION OF ROCK ART PAINTINGS. Proceedings of the ARQUEOLÓGICA 2.0 8th International Congress on Archaeology, Computer Graphics, Cultural Heritage and Innovation. doi:10.4995/arqueologica8.2016.3560Fredlund, G., & Sundstrom, L. (2007). Digital infra-red photography for recording painted rock art. Antiquity, 81(313), 733-742. doi:10.1017/s0003598x00095697Cerrillo-Cuenca, E., & Sepúlveda, M. (2015). An assessment of methods for the digital enhancement of rock paintings: the rock art from the precordillera of Arica (Chile) as a case study. Journal of Archaeological Science, 55, 197-208. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.01.006Robert, E., Petrognani, S., & Lesvignes, E. (2016). Applications of digital photography in the study of Paleolithic cave art. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 10, 847-858. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.07.026López-Menchero Bendicho, V. M., Marchante Ortega, Á., Vincent, M., Cárdenas Martín-Buitrago, Á. J., & Onrubia Pintado, J. (2017). Uso combinado de la fotografía digital nocturna y de la fotogrametría en los procesos de documentación de petroglifos: el caso de Alcázar de San Juan (Ciudad Real, España). Virtual Archaeology Review, 8(17), 64. doi:10.4995/var.2017.6820Molada-Tebar, A., Lerma, J. L., & Marqués-Mateu, Á. (2017). Camera characterization for improving color archaeological documentation. Color Research & Application, 43(1), 47-57. doi:10.1002/col.22152Del Hoyo-Meléndez, J. M., Lerma, J. L., López-Montalvo, E., & Villaverde, V. (2015). Documenting the light sensitivity of Spanish Levantine rock art paintings. ISPRS Annals of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, II-5/W3, 53-59. doi:10.5194/isprsannals-ii-5-w3-53-2015Whitmore, P. M., Bailie, C., & Connors, S. A. (2000). Micro-fading tests to predict the result of exhibition: progress and prospects. Studies in Conservation, 45(sup1), 200-205. doi:10.1179/sic.2000.45.supplement-1.200Whitmore, P. M., Pan, X., & Bailie, C. (1999). Predicting the Fading of Objects: Identification of Fugitive Colorants through Direct Nondestructive Lightfastness Measurements. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 38(3), 395. doi:10.2307/3179999Ford, B. (2011). Non-destructive microfade testing at the National Museum of Australia. AICCM Bulletin, 32(1), 54-64. doi:10.1179/bac.2011.32.1.008Del Hoyo-Meléndez, J. M., & Mecklenburg, M. F. (2010). A survey on the light-fastness properties of organic-based Alaska Native artifacts. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 11(4), 493-499. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2010.01.004Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road 2010 The Getty Conservation Institute The Getty. Los Angeles JR Druzik Evaluating the light sensitivity of paints in selected wall paintings at the Mogao Grottoes: caves 217 98 and 85 457 463López-Montalvo, E., Roldán, C., Badal, E., Murcia-Mascarós, S., & Villaverde, V. (2017). Identification of plant cells in black pigments of prehistoric Spanish Levantine rock art by means of a multi-analytical approach. A new method for social identity materialization using chaîne opératoire. PLOS ONE, 12(2), e0172225. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172225Roldán, C., Murcia-Mascarós, S., Ferrero, J., Villaverde, V., López, E., Domingo, I., … Guillem, P. M. (2010). Application of field portable EDXRF spectrometry to analysis of pigments of Levantine rock art. X-Ray Spectrometry, 39(3), 243-250. doi:10.1002/xrs.1254Roldán García, C., Villaverde Bonilla, V., Ródenas Marín, I., & Murcia Mascarós, S. (2016). A Unique Collection of Palaeolithic Painted Portable Art: Characterization of Red and Yellow Pigments from the Parpalló Cave (Spain). PLOS ONE, 11(10), e0163565. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163565Łojewski, T., Thomas, J., Gołąb, R., Kawałko, J., & Łojewska, J. (2011). Note: Light ageing with simultaneous colorimetry via fibre optics reflection spectrometry. Review of Scientific Instruments, 82(7), 076102. doi:10.1063/1.3606645Ruppert, D., Wand, M. P., & Carroll, R. J. (2009). Semiparametric regression during 2003–2007. Electronic Journal of Statistics, 3(0), 1193-1256. doi:10.1214/09-ejs525ISO11664‐2:2007(E)/CIE S 014‐2/E:2006 Colorimetry—Part 2: Standard Illuminants for Colorimetry.http://cie.co.at/index.php?i_ca_id=484. Accessed October 25 2017.ISO11664‐1:2007(E)/CIE S 014‐1/E:2006 CIE Colorimetry—Part 1: Standard Colorimetric Observers.http://cie.co.at/index.php?i_ca_id=483. Accessed October 25 2017.Arkivprodukter. The Blue Wool Standards.www.arkivprodukter.no. Accessed November 23 2017.Bacci, M., Cucci, C., Mencaglia, A. A., Mignani, A. G., & Porcinai, S. (2004). Calibration and Use of Photosensitive Materials for Light Monitoring in Museums. Studies in Conservation, 49(2), 85-98. doi:10.1179/sic.2004.49.2.85ISO 12647‐2. International Standard for the Production of Half‐Tone Colour.2004;2004

The environmental security debate and its significance for climate change

Policymakers, military strategists and academics all increasingly hail climate change as a security issue. This article revisits the (comparatively) long-standing “environmental security debate” and asks what lessons that earlier debate holds for the push towards making climate change a security issue. Two important claims are made. First, the emerging climate security debate is in many ways a re-run of the earlier dispute. It features many of the same proponents and many of the same disagreements. These disagreements concern, amongst other things, the nature of the threat, the referent object of security and the appropriate policy responses. Second, given its many different interpretations, from an environmentalist perspective, securitisation of the climate is not necessarily a positive development

Fungal microbiota from rain water and pathogenicity of Fusarium species isolated from atmospheric dust and rainfall dust

In order to determine the presence of Fusarium spp. in atmospheric dust and rainfall dust, samples were collected during September 2007, and July, August, and October 2008. The results reveal the prevalence of airborne Fusarium species coming from the atmosphere of the South East coast of Spain. Five different Fusarium species were isolated from the settling dust: Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, F. equiseti, F. dimerum, and F. proliferatum. Moreover, rainwater samples were obtained during significant rainfall events in January and February 2009. Using the dilution-plate method, 12 fungal genera were identified from these rainwater samples. Specific analyses of the rainwater revealed the presence of three species of Fusarium: F. oxysporum, F. proliferatum and F. equiseti. A total of 57 isolates of Fusarium spp. obtained from both rainwater and atmospheric rainfall dust sampling were inoculated onto melon (Cucumis melo L.) cv. Piñonet and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. San Pedro. These species were chosen because they are the main herbaceous crops in Almeria province. The results presented in this work indicate strongly that spores or propagules of Fusarium are able to cross the continental barrier carried by winds from the Sahara (Africa) to crop or coastal lands in Europe. Results show differences in the pathogenicity of the isolates tested. Both hosts showed root rot when inoculated with different species of Fusarium, although fresh weight measurements did not bring any information about the pathogenicity. The findings presented above are strong indications that long-distance transmission of Fusarium propagules may occur. Diseases caused by species of Fusarium are common in these areas. They were in the past, and are still today, a problem for greenhouses crops in Almería, and many species have been listed as pathogens on agricultural crops in this region. Saharan air masses dominate the Mediterranean regions. The evidence of long distance dispersal of Fusarium spp. by atmospheric dust and rainwater together with their proved pathogenicity must be taken into account in epidemiological studies

Understanding innovators' experiences of barriers and facilitators in implementation and diffusion of healthcare service innovations: A qualitative study

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund - Copyright @ 2011 Barnett et al.Background: Healthcare service innovations are considered to play a pivotal role in improving organisational efficiency and responding effectively to healthcare needs. Nevertheless, healthcare organisations encounter major difficulties in sustaining and diffusing innovations, especially those which concern the organisation and delivery of healthcare services. The purpose of the present study was to explore how healthcare innovators of process-based initiatives perceived and made sense of factors that either facilitated or obstructed the innovation implementation and diffusion. Methods: A qualitative study was designed. Fifteen primary and secondary healthcare organisations in the UK, which had received health service awards for successfully generating and implementing service innovations, were studied. In-depth, semi structured interviews were conducted with the organisational representatives who conceived and led the development process. The data were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Results: Four main themes were identified in the analysis of the data: the role of evidence, the function of inter-organisational partnerships, the influence of human-based resources, and the impact of contextual factors. "Hard" evidence operated as a proof of effectiveness, a means of dissemination and a pre-requisite for the initiation of innovation. Inter-organisational partnerships and people-based resources, such as champions, were considered an integral part of the process of developing, establishing and diffusing the innovations. Finally, contextual influences, both intra-organisational and extra-organisational were seen as critical in either impeding or facilitating innovators' efforts. Conclusions: A range of factors of different combinations and co-occurrence were pointed out by the innovators as they were reflecting on their experiences of implementing, stabilising and diffusing novel service initiatives. Even though the innovations studied were of various contents and originated from diverse organisational contexts, innovators' accounts converged to the significant role of the evidential base of success, the inter-personal and inter-organisational networks, and the inner and outer context. The innovators, operating themselves as important champions and being often willing to lead constructive efforts of implementation to different contexts, can contribute to the promulgation and spread of the novelties significantly.This research was supported financially by the Multidisciplinary Assessment of Technology Centre for Healthcare (MATCH)

Physics Opportunities of e+e- Linear Colliders

We describe the anticipated experimental program of an e+e- linear collider in the energy range 500 GeV -- 1.5 TeV. We begin with a description of current collider designs and the expected experimental environment. We then discuss precision studies of the W boson and top quark. Finally, we review the range of models proposed to explain the physics of electroweak symmetry breaking and show, for each case, the central role that the linear collider experiments will play in elucidating this physics. (to appear in Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science)Comment: 93 pages, latex + 23 figures; typos corrections + 1 reference adde

Foot pain and foot health in an educated population of adults: results from the Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni Foot Health Survey

Abstract Background Foot pain is common amongst the general population and impacts negatively on physical function and quality of life. Associations between personal health characteristics, lifestyle/behaviour factors and foot pain have been studied; however, the role of wider determinants of health on foot pain have received relatively little attention. Objectives of this study are i) to describe foot pain and foot health characteristics in an educated population of adults; ii) to explore associations between moderate-to-severe foot pain and a variety of factors including gender, age, medical conditions/co-morbidity/multi-morbidity, key indicators of general health, foot pathologies, and social determinants of health; and iii) to evaluate associations between moderate-to-severe foot pain and foot function, foot health and health-related quality-of-life. Methods Between February and March 2018, Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni with a working email address were invited to participate in the cross-sectional electronic survey (anonymously) by email via the Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni Office. The survey was constructed using the REDCap secure web online survey application and sought information on presence/absence of moderate-to-severe foot pain, patient characteristics (age, body mass index, socioeconomic status, occupation class, comorbidities, and foot pathologies). Prevalence data were expressed as absolute frequencies and percentages. Multivariate logistic and linear regressions were undertaken to identify associations 1) between independent variables and moderate-to-severe foot pain, and 2) between moderate-to-severe foot pain and foot function, foot health and health-related quality of life. Results Of 50,228 invitations distributed, there were 7707 unique views and 593 valid completions (median age [inter-quartile range] 42 [31–52], 67.3% female) of the survey (7.7% response rate). The sample was comprised predominantly of white Scottish/British (89.4%) working age adults (95%), the majority of whom were overweight or obese (57.9%), and in either full-time or part-time employment (82.5%) as professionals (72.5%). Over two-thirds (68.5%) of the sample were classified in the highest 6 deciles (most affluent) of social deprivation. Moderate-to-severe foot pain affected 236/593 respondents (39.8%). High body mass index, presence of bunions, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, hip pain and lower occupation class were included in the final multivariate model and all were significantly and independently associated with moderate-to-severe foot pain (p < 0.05), except for rheumatoid arthritis (p = 0.057). Moderate-to-severe foot pain was significantly and independently associated lower foot function, foot health and health-related quality of life scores following adjustment for age, gender and body mass index (p < 0.05). Conclusions Moderate-to-severe foot pain was highly prevalent in a university-educated population and was independently associated with female gender, high body mass index, bunions, back pain, hip pain and lower occupational class. Presence of moderate-to-severe foot pain was associated with worse scores for foot function, foot health and health-related quality-of-life. Education attainment does not appear to be protective against moderate-to-severe foot pain

Supersymmetric Monojets at the Large Hadron Collider

Supersymmetric monojets may be produced at the Large Hadron Collider by the process qg -> squark neutralino_1 -> q neutralino_1 neutralino_1, leading to a jet recoiling against missing transverse momentum. We discuss the feasibility and utility of the supersymmetric monojet signal. In particular, we examine the possible precision with which one can ascertain the neutralino_1-squark-quark coupling via the rate for monojet events. Such a coupling contains information on the composition of the neutralino_1 and helps bound dark matter direct detection cross-sections and the dark matter relic density of the neutralino_1. It also provides a check of the supersymmetric relation between gauge couplings and gaugino-quark-squark couplings.Comment: 46 pages, 10 figures. The appendix has been rewritten to correct an error that appears in all previous versions of the appendix. This error has no effect on the results in the main body of the pape