New Prospectors: The Formation and Early Years of the Scottish Australian Mining Company in Newcastle, NSW, 1850-70

Following the end of the Australian Agricultural Company’s monopoly in the coal-mining region of Newcastle, NSW, in the late 1840s, the Scottish Australian Investment Company (SAIC), headquartered in London, was amongst the first of several firms to seek mining opportunities in the Hunter region of NSW. As part of a broader project evaluating social and economic influences of the Northumberland/Durham coal mining regions on the early development of the Newcastle coalfields, this paper presents an overview of the role of individuals in the events and decisions surrounding formation and early successes of the Scottish Australian Mining Company which went on to become one of the leading coal producers in the region in the second half of the nineteenth century.The symposium is organised on behalf of AAHANZBS by the Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney, with the financial support of the University’s Faculty of Economics and Business

Explaining symptoms after negative tests : towards a rational explanation

Peer reviewedPostprin

Dementia Patients Are More Sedentary and Less Physically Active than Age- and Sex-Matched Cognitively Healthy Older Adults.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to examine physical activity and sedentary behaviour characteristics of ambulatory and community-dwelling patients with dementia compared to cognitively healthy age-, sex- and weight-matched controls. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we included community-dwelling dementia patients (n = 45, age 79.6 ± 5.9 years, Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] 22.8 ± 3.2) and matched controls (n = 49, age 80.0 ± 7.7 years, MMSE 29.0 ± 1.2). Participants wore a wrist accelerometer for 7 days to assess sedentary time, sedentary bout duration and time spent in very light, light-to-moderate and moderate-to-vigorous physical activities. RESULTS: Relative sedentary time and sedentary bout duration was significantly higher in dementia patients than in controls (median [interquartile range] 57% [49-68] vs. 55% [47-59] and 18.3 [16.4-21.1] min vs. 16.6 [15.3-18.4] min, p = 0.042 and p = 0.008, respectively). In addition, dementia patients spent a lower percentage of their waking time in light-to-moderate and moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activities (20% [15-23] vs. 22% [18-25] and 5% [2-10] vs. 10% [5-13], p = 0.017 and p = 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: We revealed that dementia patients are more sedentary and perform less physical activity than cognitively healthy controls. This may have clinically important consequences, given the observation that sedentary behaviour and little physical activity independently predict all-cause mortality and morbidity

Stigma perceived by patients with functional somatic syndromes and its effect on health outcomes - A systematic review

BACKGROUND: Patients with functional somatic syndromes (FSS) experience stigma which arguably affects their health. AIM: To determine the presence of perceived stigma and its effects on physical and mental health in patients with FSS compared to patients with comparable explained conditions. METHODS: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Cochrane Library was performed to select studies focusing on stigma perceived by patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia (FM) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), comparing these patients to patients with comparable but explained conditions. RESULTS: We identified 1931 studies after duplicate removal. After screening we included eight studies: one study about all three FSS, one about IBS, five about FM and one about CFS. We found that patients with IBS did not consistently experience higher levels of stigma than those with a comparable explained condition. Patients with CFS and FM experienced higher levels of stigma compared to patients with comparable explained conditions. All studies showed a correlation between stigma and negative health outcomes. DISCUSSION: Patients with FSS experience stigma and negative health outcomes. However, experiencing stigma is not restricted to patients with FSS, as many patients with explained health conditions also experience stigma. Whether stigma has more negative health consequences in patients with FSS compared to patients with explained health conditions remains unclear and should be assessed in future research

Female sex and femininity independently associate with common somatic symptom trajectories

BACKGROUND: Multiple predictors have been associated with persistent somatic symptoms. However, previous studies problematically defined the persistence of symptoms, conflated participants' sex and gender, and focused on patient populations. Therefore, we studied associations between predictors, especially sex and gender, and longitudinal patterns of somatic symptoms in the general adult population. We also assessed whether predictors for persisting symptoms differ between sexes. METHOD: To identify developmental trajectories of somatic symptoms, assessed by the SCL-90 SOM, we used latent class trajectory modeling in the Dutch Lifelines Cohort Study [N = 150 494; 58.6% female; median time to follow-up: 46.0 (min-max: 22.0-123.0) months]. To identify predictors of trajectories, we applied multiple logistic regression analyses. Predictors were measured by surveys at baseline and a composite gender index was previously developed. RESULTS: A five-class linear LCGA model fitted the data best: 93.7% of the population had a stable symptom trajectory, whereas 1.5% and 4.8% of the population had a consistently increasing or decreasing symptom trajectory, respectively. Female sex predicted severe, stable symptom severity (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.36-2.22), but not increasing symptom severity (OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.99-1.40). Femininity was protective hereof (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.44-0.82 and OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.51-0.85, respectively). Merely a few predictors of symptom severity, for instance hours of paid employment and physical functioning, differed in strength between sexes. Yet, effect sizes were small. CONCLUSION: Female sex and femininity predict symptom trajectories. No large sex differences in the strength of additional predictors were found, thus it may not be clinically useful to distinguish between predictors specific to male or female patients of persistent somatic symptoms

Characteristics of collaborative care networks in functional disorders:A systematic review

Objective: Functional disorders (FD) are complex conditions, for which multidisciplinary involvement is often recommended. Collaborative care networks (CCN) may unlock the potential of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) in FD care. To understand what characteristics should be part of CCNs in FD, we studied the composition and characteristics of existing CCNs in FD.Methods: We performed a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. A search of PubMed, WebofScience, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, AMED and CINAHL was undertaken to select studies describing CCNs in FD. Two reviewers extracted characteristics of the different CCNs. Characteristics were classified as relating to structure and processes of networks.Results: A total of 62 studies were identified representing 39 CCNs across 11 countries. Regarding structural characteristics, we found that most networks are outpatient, secondary-care based, with teams of between two and 19 members. Medical specialists were most commonly involved and the typical team leads as well as main patient contacts were general practitioners (GPs) or nurses. Regarding processes, collaboration was demonstrated mostly during assessment, management and patient education, less often during rehabilitation and follow-up, mostly using MDT meetings. CCNs provided a wide range of treatment modalities, reflecting a biopsychosocial approach, including psychological therapies, physiotherapy and social and occupational therapy.Conclusion: CCNs for FD are heterogeneous, showing a wide variety of structures as well as processes. The heterogeneity of results provides a broad framework, demonstrating considerable variation in how this framework is applied in different contexts. Better development of network evaluation, as well as professional collaboration and education processes is needed.</p

Transitions in Parkinson's disease in primary care: Protocol of a longitudinal mixed methods study

Introduction: Parkinson's disease affects many aspects of the lives of patients and their relatives. Patients must adapt continuously to disabilities that necessitate changes in (medical) support, such as domestic adjustments, involvement of (non) professional caregivers or admission to hospital. Such changes mark a transition: a transfer of a patient between levels or locations of care. Transitions are likely to be multifold and complex, given that Parkinson's disease care extends across all echelons of healthcare. Patients and relatives are vulnerable during a transition, which imposes risks for their safety and quality of life. Guidance by the general practitioner, who knows the preferences of the patient, can help to overcome challenges associated with a transition. However, patient-centred primary care requires insight into the transitions patients with Parkinson's disease encounter. We aim to examine these transitions and the way patients, relatives and general practitioners experience them and cope with them. Moreover, we will study the patients' expectations of their general practitioner during a transition and the general practitioners' views on their role. Methods and analysis: A longitudinal mixed methods study will be conducted, using qualitative research methods combined with quantitative data as a validated questionnaire on quality of life. Patients will be asked to make a video diary every 2 weeks for a period of 1 year. Once they encounter a transition, patients and their general practitioners will be interviewed to identify causes and consequences of the transition. The verbatim transcripts of the videos and interviews will be analysed according to the principles of constant comparative analysis. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was not needed according to Dutch legislation. Informed consent of patients, relatives and general practitioners will be obtained. We will disseminate the results in peer-reviewed journals, at research conferences and on the website of the Dutch Parkinson's Disease Association

Do women and men use language differently in spoken face-to-face interaction? A scoping review

Although the question of whether women and men speak differently is a topic of hot debate, an overview of the extent towhich empirical studies provide robust support for a relationship between sex/gender and language is lacking. Therefore, the aim of the current scoping review is to synthesize recent studies from various theoretical perspectives on the relationship between sex/gender and language use in spoken face-to-face dyadic interactions. Fifteen empirical studies were systematically selected for review, and were discussed according to four different theoretical perspectives and associated methodologies. More than thirty relevant linguistic variables were identified (e.g., interruptions and intensifiers). Overall, few robust differences between women and men in the use of linguistic variables were observed across contexts, although women seem to be more engaged in supportive turn-taking than men. Importantly, gender identity salience, institutionalized roles, and social and contextual factors such as interactional setting or conversational goal seem to play a key role in the relationship between speaker’s sex/gender and language used in spoken interaction