A cross-country study on research students' perceptions of the role of supervision and cultural knowledge in thesis development

This paper presents preliminary findings from a research study in Australia, Malaysia and Iran on students’ perceptions of the roles of supervisor and student in the production of their thesis and the contribution of their cultural knowledge to thesis development. The 360 respondents answered an online survey and were studying for their Masters or Doctorate degrees in universities in Malaysia, Australia and Iran. The results of the study indicate that despite some variations, most students, whether their native language was English or not, have similar ideas about the process of thesis writing, the role expected of a supervisor and themselves, and the role of cultural knowledge in thesis development

Social Frailty Is Independently Associated with Mood, Nutrition, Physical Performance, and Physical Activity: Insights from a Theory-Guided Approach

Notwithstanding the increasing body of evidence that links social determinants to health outcomes, social frailty is arguably the least explored among the various dimensions of frailty. Using available items from previous studies to derive a social frailty scale as guided by the Bunt social frailty theoretical framework, we aimed to examine the association of social frailty, independently of physical frailty, with salient outcomes of mood, nutrition, physical performance, physical activity, and life–space mobility. We studied 229 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 67.22 years; 72.6% females) who were non-frail (defined by the FRAIL criteria). Using exploratory factor analysis, the resultant 8-item Social Frailty Scale (SFS-8) yielded a three-factor structure comprising social resources, social activities and financial resource, and social need fulfilment (score range: 0–8 points). Social non-frailty (SNF), social pre-frailty (SPF), and social frailty (SF) were defined based on optimal cutoffs, with corresponding prevalence of 63.8%, 28.8%, and 7.4%, respectively. In logistic regression adjusted for significant covariates and physical frailty (Modified Fried criteria), there is an association of SPF with poor physical performance and low physical activity (odds ratio, OR range: 3.10 to 6.22), and SF with depressive symptoms, malnutrition risk, poor physical performance, and low physical activity (OR range: 3.58 to 13.97) compared to SNF. There was no significant association of SPF or SF with life–space mobility. In summary, through a theory-guided approach, our study demonstrates the independent association of social frailty with a comprehensive range of intermediary health outcomes in more robust older adults. A holistic preventative approach to frailty should include upstream interventions that target social frailty to address social gradient and inequalities

Association of Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-1 and Dickkopf-1 with Body Composition and Physical Performance in Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Singapore.

10.22540/JFSF-06-025J Frailty Sarcopenia Falls6125-3

Women, childcare and the state in Singapore

10.1080/03147539408712950Asian Studies Review17350-6

A systematic scoping review of group reflection in medical education.

BackgroundReviewing experiences and recognizing the impact of personal and professional views and emotions upon conduct shapes a physician's professional and personal development, molding their professional identity formation (PIF). Poor appreciation on the role of reflection, shortages in trained tutors and inadequate 'protected time' for reflections in packed medical curricula has hindered its integration into medical education. Group reflection could be a viable alternative to individual reflections; however, this nascent practice requires further study.MethodsA Systematic Evidence Based Approach guided Systematic Scoping Review (SSR in SEBA) was adopted to guide and structure a review of group reflections in medical education. Independent searches of articles published between 1st January 2000 and 30th June 2022 in bibliographic and grey literature databases were carried out. Included articles were analysed separately using thematic and content analysis, and combined into categories and themes. The themes/categories created were compared with the tabulated summaries of included articles to create domains that framed the synthesis of the discussion.Results1141 abstracts were reviewed, 193 full-text articles were appraised and 66 articles were included and the domains identified were theories; indications; types; structure; and benefits and challenges of group reflections.ConclusionsScaffolded by current approaches to individual reflections and theories and inculcated with nuanced adaptations from other medical practices, this SSR in SEBA suggests that structured group reflections may fill current gaps in training. However, design and assessment of the evidence-based structuring of group reflections proposed here must be the focus of future study

“Parents and Children Talk: English Language Proficiency within Immigrant Families”

This paper extends the analysis of the acquisition of destination language proficiency among immigrants by explicitly incorporating interactions among family members—mother, father and children. Single equation, bivariate, and four-equation (multivariate) probit analyses are employed. Immigrant English language skills are greater the younger the age at migration, the longer the duration of residence, the higher the level of education, and for immigrants not from Asia. Large positive correlations in the unmeasured determinants of proficiency exist between spouses, between siblings, and between parents and children, although the latter relationship is stronger for the mother. The findings imply that learning takes place within the household. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2005immigrants, language, family, multivariate probit, F22, J15, J16, J24, J61,