A Neo-Institutional Assessment of Cooperative Evolution: Comparing the Australian Wheat Board and the Fonterra Dairy Group

Agribusiness,

Ageing and cohort trajectories in mental ill-health: An exploration using multilevel models

Analyses of health over time must consider the potential impacts of ageing as well as any effects relating to cohort differences. The British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and Understanding Society longitudinal studies are employed to assess trends in mental ill-health over a 26-year period. This analysis uses cross-classified multilevel models in an exploratory, non-parametric approach to evaluate age and cohort effects net of each other. Mental ill-health evidences an initial worsening trend as people age which then reverses and exhibits improvement in late-middle-age, before declining again in the latter stages of life. There were less defined cohort trends. The modelling technique also reveals the relative importance of the temporal contexts in relation to inter- and intra-individual effects on mental ill-health, demonstrating that the ageing and cohort dimensions explain little variation compared to these more dominant within and between influences. Ultimately, we suggest that researchers would benefit from wider use of this exploratory modelling strategy when evaluating underlying health trends and more research is now needed to explore potential explanations of these baseline trajectories.</p

Synthesis, structures and cytotoxicity studies of p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene lanthanide complexes

A number of p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene complexes of the lanthanides (Tb, Gd, and Eu) have been prepared, some in the presence of tetraazamacrocycle 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7-triacetic acid (DO3A), and fully characterised. Crystal structure determinations reveal lanthanide coordination at the sulfonate group, bridging several calixarene units, giving coordination polymers. All complexes in this study have been determined to be relatively non-toxic using in vitro cell assays with CC₅₀ values in the range 30–170 μM

Theory of Change Projects Used in Marriage and Family Therapy Programs

Theory of change papers and projects are used by various marriage and family therapy (MFT) training programs throughout the United States and Canada. Little is known about how these projects differ and are similar from program to program. The purpose of this study was to obtain a better knowledge and understanding about these projects. Questionnaires regarding the use of theory of change projects were sent to all accredited and candidacy MFT programs throughout the United States and Canada. An exploratory, descriptive design was used to guide the research, and content analysis was used to analyze the data. The research was done in an attempt to answer the three research questions: (a) what percentage of MFT programs are using theory of change projects?, (b) what are the processes used in preparing and presenting the projects?, and (c) what is the content required in these projects? The research revealed that 27 (59%) programs that responded used theory of change projects. Among the data from these programs, nine themes emerged in the processes used to prepare and present the projects. Furthermore, there were four unique aspects to processes in preparing and presenting the projects. With regards to content required in the projects, there were six themes found which consisted of 23 categories. The six themes were theory/models, change, the therapy process, client issues, therapist issues, and contextual issues. After reviewing the literature it is believed that theory of change projects may be useful in the training of marriage and family therapists. It has been learned through this study that many program directors are using some components in their projects that may be useful to other directors as they form or refine their own theory of change projects. In forming a theory of change project, it appears important to have students conceptualize both the change process and the treatment process and to integrate theory with practice. It is hoped that findings from this study will be useful to both those MFT program directors and faculty that do not require a theory of change project, but desire to develop one, and those that already have a project, but are trying to improve it. The findings from this study will help programs gather ideas from each other in an attempt to make MFT training more useful throughout the U.S. and Canada

Reliability of clinically relevant 3D foot bone angles from quantitative computed tomography

BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment and clinical management of foot pathology requires accurate, reliable assessment of foot deformities. Foot and ankle deformities are multi-planar and therefore difficult to quantify by standard radiographs. Three-dimensional (3D) imaging modalities have been used to define bone orientations using inertial axes based on bone shape, but these inertial axes can fail to mimic established bone angles used in orthopaedics and clinical biomechanics. To provide improved clinical relevance of 3D bone angles, we developed techniques to define bone axes using landmarks on quantitative computed tomography (QCT) bone surface meshes. We aimed to assess measurement precision of landmark-based, 3D bone-to-bone orientations of hind foot and lesser tarsal bones for expert raters and a template-based automated method. METHODS: Two raters completed two repetitions each for twenty feet (10 right, 10 left), placing anatomic landmarks on the surfaces of calcaneus, talus, cuboid, and navicular. Landmarks were also recorded using the automated, template-based method. For each method, 3D bone axes were computed from landmark positions, and Cardan sequences produced sagittal, frontal, and transverse plane angles of bone-to-bone orientations. Angular reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the root mean square standard deviation (RMS-SD) for intra-rater and inter-rater precision, and rater versus automated agreement. RESULTS: Intra- and inter-rater ICCs were generally high (≥ 0.80), and the ICCs for each rater compared to the automated method were similarly high. RMS-SD intra-rater precision ranged from 1.4 to 3.6° and 2.4 to 6.1°, respectively, for the two raters, which compares favorably to uni-planar radiographic precision. Greatest variability was in Navicular: Talus sagittal plane angle and Cuboid: Calcaneus frontal plane angle. Precision of the automated, atlas-based template method versus the raters was comparable to each rater’s internal precision. CONCLUSIONS: Intra- and inter-rater precision suggest that the landmark-based methods have adequate test-retest reliability for 3D assessment of foot deformities. Agreement of the automated, atlas-based method with the expert raters suggests that the automated method is a valid, time-saving technique for foot deformity assessment. These methods have the potential to improve diagnosis of foot and ankle pathologies by allowing multi-planar quantification of deformities

Co-crystallisation of cytosine with 1,10-phenanthroline: computational screening and experimental realisation

Attempts to co-crystallise the nucleobases adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine with 1,10-phenanthroline by ball milling and solvent evaporation methods are described. A 1:1 co-crystal of cytosine and 1,10-phenanthroline can be obtained by grinding or by solvent evaporation. The structure contains two crystallographically independent cytosine and two independent 1,10-phenanthroline molecules (Z′ = 2). The cytosine molecules form two similar but crystallographically independent hydrogen-bonded chains, while the 1,10-phenanthroline molecules are arranged in π-stacks. Between the chains of cytosine and the π-stacks exist N-H⋯N and C-H⋯N interactions. Crystal structure prediction (CSP) calculations were applied to all four systems to assess their potential for co-crystallisation as well as the likely structures and intermolecular interactions that could result from co-crystallisation. Calculations on the cytosine system demonstrate that co-crystallisation results in a lower energy than the crystalline forms of the two starting materials, in line with the co-crystal formation observed. For the systems which did not form a co-crystal, CSP was used to explore potential packing arrangements, but found none which were lower in energy than that of the pure crystalline forms. In these cases there is significant disruption to the nucleobase hydrogen bonding between the pure compound and the hypothetical co-crystal. For pure adenine and guanine, the hydrogen-bonded ribbons form sheets which must be broken, whereas for thymine, the lack of hydrogen bond donors does not allow the hydrogen bonding present for pure thymine to be maintained while forming thymine-1,10-phenanthroline hydrogen bonds

Utilising co-design to improve outpatient neurological care in a rural setting

It has been identified that the physiotherapy needs of patients with central neurological conditions are specific and that this cohort are generally under-serviced in rural and remote areas in Australia. A quality improvement project was undertaken to improve patient experience in outpatient physiotherapy services in Tasmania, facilitating increased self-efficacy and quality of life, in patients with central chronic neurological conditions.. An experience-based co-design approach was utilised, involving past and current patients as well as physiotherapy staff in the project design, data collection, analysis and evaluation phases. The results suggest that timely access to care and goal achievement are common areas of need across both patient and staff cohorts. Patients also identified that shared-decision making is important for improving patient experience and staff were generally unclear on what services were available. The findings from this study demonstrate the importance of including patients and staff in the health service improvement process. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Innovation & Technology lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this len