Digital Commons Network^™

Bouncing Back Or Forward? Two Approaches To Democratic Resilience After Extremist Attacks, Selen A. Ercan, Jordan Mcswiney, Emily Beausoleil, Claire Fitzpatrick, Andrea Felicetti

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Violent extremist attacks pose a serious threat to democracy, undermining its institutions, norms and practices. This article examines the disruptive impact of violent extremism on the public sphere and considers the role of political leaders in responding to these challenges. Leaders are widely recognised as the key actors shaping the public discourse after extremist attacks, by either reinforcing or resisting the division intended by these attacks. Yet, their role in building democratic resilience – that is, fostering the public sphere’s ability to respond to extremist attacks without compromising its democratic commitments – remains underexplored. Drawing on a range of case …

Community Service Organizations And Actions For Climate Justice: An Exploration Of The Western Australian Context, Naomi Joy Godden, Bronte Alston, Kylie Wrigley, Shajimon Peter, Julie Nyanjom, Graham Hansen, Raphaela Raaber, Janine Joyce, Elizabeth Jackson-Barrett, Mehran Nejati, Doreen Wijekoon, Katharine Marsh, Caroline Porteous, Susan Bailey

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study utilized Feminist Participatory Action Research in collaboration with community service organizations (CSOs) in Western Australia to assess knowledges, capacities and capabilities regarding climate justice. Through surveys, interviews, and workshops, CSO workers explored organizational responses to climate change and social justice. Participants self-reported a low-to-medium understanding of climate justice and a desire for capacity building, especially in decolonial practice. Half of participating organizations had policies regarding climate change and social justice and engaged in climate advocacy, but identified a lack of sectorial and organizational leadership. Participants recommended opportunities for CSOs to operationalize climate justice and disaster resilience via climate …

Concept-Based Curriculum: An Evidence-Based Approach To Developing A New Framework For Dietetics Education?, Andrea Begley, Janica Jamieson, Gemma Jenkins, Janeane Dart, Lauren T. Williams, Simone Gibson, Fiona E. Pelly, Hattie H. Wright, Claire Palermo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aims: Concept-based approaches to curricula have been proposed as a solution to this issue, and 56 concepts have been proposed for dietetics curricula. This study aimed to develop a framework for a dietetic concept-based curriculum. Methods: A pragmatic approach was employed by a team of nine experienced Australian dietetic educators. Iterative processes of idea generation, reflection, group discussion, and consensus formation were applied by seven of the academics in a two-day face-to-face workshop and four online meetings to further develop the 56 curriculum concepts previously identified for dietetics by Tweedie et al. The discussions were supported by document analysis and …

Do Students’ Attitudes Toward Required Readings And Service-Learning For A Medical Humanities Course Predict Their Perception Of Whether The Course Fosters Their Personal And Professional Development?, Shane L. Rogers, Lon J. Van Winkle

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: To determine whether prospective medical students’ attitudes toward readings and service-learning for a Medical Humanities course predict their perceived impact of the course on their critical reflection and empathy for their peers. Methods: Following a Medical Humanities course, students completed surveys concerning their attitudes toward team-based service-learning and readings required for the course. And they completed surveys designed to measure their empathy for one another and thoughts and feelings about the course (e.g., “owing to this course, I have changed the way I look at myself” = critical reflection). Results: Students’ positive attitudes toward service-learning and readings for the …

Global Patterns And Drivers Of Seagrass Biomass, Net Primary Production And Meadow Structure, Nicole R. Foster, Enric Gomis, Diana I. Montemayor, Simone Strydom, Miguel Angel Mateo, Eduard Serrano, Aurora M. Ricart, Martin Dahl, Ines Mazarrasa, Paulina Cisternas, Harry Whiteley, Elliott J. Bates, Viena Puigcorbé, Uxue Moreda, Mar Truc, Karina Inostroza, Rafael Huertas, Roisin Mccallum, Anna Lafratta, Chanelle L. Webster, Caitlyn M. O'Dea, Nicole E. Said, Carlos M. Duarte, Paul S. Lavery, Oscar Serrano

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: We decipher global patterns in seagrass growth and structure to advance seagrass science, facilitate multidisciplinary research, and promote effective management strategies and policy development for seagrass habitats. Location: Global. Time period: 1975 to 2024. Major taxa studied: Seagrasses—marine angiosperms. Methods: A global data set on seagrass total biomass, total net primary productivity (NPP), shoot density, and percent cover was compiled across 11 genera. We tested how these variables change across seagrass genera, life-history strategy, and geographic location; and then modelled the environmental drivers (temperature, nutrients, light availability) of the patterns observed. Results: The mean (±SE) total biomass of seagrasses …

Graduate Outcomes Of Australian Hospitality Educational Institutions And Skills Desired By Employers: A Matrix Model, Alireza Amrollahi, Hana Hadinejad, Brent D. Moyle, Nicholas Thomas

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Demand for a skilled hospitality workforce has accelerated post-pandemic. However, limited research has explored the core competencies desired by the hospitality sector and their alignment with graduate outcomes from bachelor’s programs. Consequently, this study uses the Australian accommodation sector as an exemplar case to examine the alignment of skill supply and demand in the sector. An analysis of 28,000 Australian job advertisements reveals that employers seek a combination of soft and hard skills. Soft skills prevalent in job advertisements include communication, customer-orientation, teamwork, and adaptability. Hard skills that emerged include quality assurance, property management, culinary expertise, hospitality proficiency, and safety. …

Indigenous Wisdom For Regeneration: Reducing The Knowledge Gap, Sandra Wooltorton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The author of this paper uses Indigenous-informed literature and explores the use of a Multispecies Collaboratory to hear place-based voices and practice ways of knowing often denied value by the mainstream. In the Indigenous nation of Australia, the author sets out to learn ways to practice environmental education that build upon aeons of experience at caring for and responding to Country. The starting point is a 2024 paper with three claims, which are: a culture of epistemic violence and denial support the mainstream paradigm which silences Indigenous voices; an Indigenous-informed way of being with living-places can inform the core of …

Investigating The Environmental Awareness And Attitudes Among Fisher Folks In Ghana: A Sustainability Threat, Nana Akua Okyerewa Djandoh, Enock Swanzy-Impraim

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Environmental concerns, such as human alteration, pollution, and the effects of climate change, have had a significant impact on the survival of beaches worldwide. In Ghana, beaches face numerous threats stemming from human activities, such as deforestation, construction, sand mining, open defecation, and disposal of waste into the sea. Moreover, other factors such as strong winds, high waves, and the effects of climate change contribute to beach vulnerability. This paper is part of a broader study that investigated the environmental attitude and behavior of the Fisher Folks along coastal beaches in the Winneba Municipality in Ghana. Although the broader study …

Lessons From Australasian Principals’ Experiences With Crises: Adapting, Learning And Transforming, Michelle Striepe, Christine Cunningham, Mohini Devi, David Gurr, Fiona Longmuir, Sylvia Robertson, Adam Taylor, Pauline Thompson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper offers a comparative analysis of how Australasian principals navigated a period of compounding crises. Building on our previous research, this study examines the longer-term impacts and lessons learned from crises experiences. Analysis of interviews with principals from Australia, Fiji and New Zealand revealed a balance of directive and collaborative approaches as they adapted to meet changing community needs. A common theme was a focus on wellbeing and relationship-building although context-specific differences emerged. These differences related to the type of crisis, school characteristics, and location. As the crises subsided, the principals’ experiences transformed their perspectives on their role and …

Shareholders’ Engagement And Corporate Performance, Ahmad Saiful Azlin Puteh Salin, Zubaidah Ismail, Malcolm Smith

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

An investor relations function fosters continuous and direct communication between executives and stakeholders (Chapman et al., 2022). However, this function does not attract sufficient attention from the researchers, and not much literature documenting and evidence of the importance of developing strong relationships between firms with both shareholders and other stakeholders, which can lead to long-term partnership, increased loyalty, and hence, better operations carried out by the business entities. In light of this, the objective of this study is to investigate the connection between the level of engagement of shareholders and the profitability of corporations. This study uses content analysis on …

Speculative Documentary As World-Building: Contaminated Knowledge And Future-Making, Cassandra Tytler

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In the context of climate emergency and growing mistrust in knowledge institutions, both science and documentary practice have often been positioned as neutral authorities. Yet the knowledge they produce is shaped by political, social, and material conditions. This paper presents a creative practice research project that uses speculative documentary to trouble dominant narratives of truth and objectivity. Rather than rejecting science, it critiques the authority of singular truth claims in both scientific and documentary domains, asking how knowledge is constructed and maintained. The analysis centres on It Will Not Be Pure, a multi-channel video installation created as a form of …

Support For Older People Living With Chronic Life-Limiting Illnesses In Rural Ghana, Barbara Adonteng-Kissi, Obed Adonteng-Kissi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Summary: This research aims to address formal support needs of informal caregivers (ICs) in the context of long-term care of older people (OP) living with chronic life-limiting illnesses and examine the relationships of ICs of OP with formal support in rural Ghana. We undertook ethnographic interviews with 15 OP; 15 ICs; and 10 healthcare professionals (HPs) after participatory observations during 6 months of fieldwork. This was supported with daily field notes used to collect the needed data and purposively sampled across Gomoa West District in Ghana. The average age of participants was 76 years. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, using …

Volumetric Comparison Of Overall Brain And Neuropil Size Between Social And Non-Social Spiders: Exploring The Social Brain Hypothesis, Vanessa Penna-Gonçalves, Donald James Mclean, Nikolas J. Willmott, Michael B.J. Kelly, Jay R. Black, Elizabeth C. Lowe, Marie E. Herberstein

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The social brain hypothesis predicts that the relative size of specific brain regions is driven by the cognitive capacity required to manage complex (social) situations. Spiders are intriguing models to test this hypothesis, as sociality is rare in this usually solitary and aggressive group. Here, we used microCT to compare the central nervous system and brain volumes between social and solitary females of the species in two taxonomic groups, huntsman and crab spiders. Overall, we found no difference in relative CNS and brain volume between social and solitary species. However, social huntsman spiders Delena cancerides had larger arcuate and mushroom …

Prevalence And Relationship Of Poor Sleep Quality And Suicidality Risk Among Patients With Schizophrenia, Inu Arya, Nanda Kumar Paniyadi, Debadatta Mahapatra, Jaison Jacob, Rakesh Vr

Manipal Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences

No abstract provided.

People Living ‘Well’ With Dementia ― Are They Truly Living Well?, Seelia Peter A, Elsa Sanatombi Devi, Rajeshkrishna Bhandary P

Manipal Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences

No abstract for this article type

Metaphors And Myths: Using The Board Game Dixit To Understand The Autistic Lived Experience, Gray Atherton, Emily Dawson, Liam Cross

School of Psychology

Autism is a condition that takes on many meanings, particularly to those with lived experience. Exploring these meanings is paramount to being able to improve the way that autistic people are treated in the wider world. To further examine autistic lived experience, a new form of qualitative analysis was developed in line with the growing trend of gamification, or creating a game-like condition for exploring different domains. In this paper, we present Dixit-elicitation, a form of qualitative inquiry that uses the popular board game Dixit to interview autistic people about their experiences living with the condition. Themes and subthemes relating …

A Preliminary Study On The Role Of Personal History Of Infectious And Parasitic Diseases On Self-Reported Health Across Countries, Gerit Pfuhl, Filipe Prazeres, Marta Kowal, Toivo Aavik, Beatriz Abad-Villaverde, Reza Afhami, Leonardo Aguilar, Grace Akello, Laith Al-Shawaf, Jan Antfolk, Chiemezie S. Atama, Derya Atamturk Duyar, Roberto Baiocco, Sercan Balım, Carlota Batres, Yakhlef Belkacem, Théo Besson, Adam Bode, Merve Boğa, Jordane Boudesseul, Mahmoud Boussena, Hamdaoui Brahim, Nana Burduli, Ali R. Can, Hakan Cetinkaya, Antonio Chirumbolo, Dimitri Chubinidze, Clément Cornec, Bojana M. Dinić, Seda Dural

School of Psychology

Objectives: Infectious diseases are often associated with decline in quality of life. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between personal history of communicable, i.e., infectious and parasitic diseases and self-rated health. Study design: Secondary analysis of a large dataset multi-country observational study. Methods: We used a four-pronged analysis approach to investigate whether personal history of infectious and parasitic diseases is related to self-reported health, measured with a single item. Results: Three of the four analyses found a small positive effect on self-reported health among those reporting a history of pathogen exposure. The meta-analysis found no support …

More Than Just A Magic Trick? Exploring An Audience's Supernatural Attributions For Magicians' Performances, Paul J. Silvia, Sara J. Crasson, Gil Greengross, Gustav Kuhn

School of Psychology

Performing magicians have long believed that some audience members attribute their magical effects to supernatural methods—to their use of “real magic”. In two samples of adults (n = 412 and 292), we explored personality traits and broader beliefs that might predict supernatural attributions for performance magic. Supernatural attributions were uncommon—many respondents wholly rejected the possibility that magicians' magic was sometimes real—but nevertheless highly variable. In Study 1, a greater belief that magic tricks at least sometimes involve supernatural powers was associated with relatively higher extraversion, higher neuroticism, and lower openness to experience. In Study 2, random forests suggested that supernatural …

How Decontextualised Risk Information Affects Clinicians’ Understanding Of Risk And Uncertainty In Primary Care Diagnosis: A Qualitative Study Of Clinical Vignettes, Alex Burns, Elizabeth Shephard, Raff Calitri, Adrian Mercer, Edmund Jack, Mark Tarrant, Sarah Dean

School of Psychology

Background: Decontextualised risk information (DRI) is any information pertaining to diagnosis, which is introduced into a clinical consultation, or a diagnostic thought process, without being requested by the clinician. It can be risk scores, computerised warnings, or laboratory tests or diagnostic imaging requests ordered by other clinicians. It is an increasing, and yet under-researched phenomena in UK primary care. Aim: To investigate how GPs integrate DRI into their clinical decision making and how might they communicate this to patients. Design & setting: Clinical vignettes of cases that involve DRI, designed to increase the diagnostic uncertainty of the case, were presented …

“Being Away From Everything”: Exploring The Importance Of Access To Nature For Individuals Living With Chronic Low Back Pain, Alexander Smith, Kayleigh Wyles, Patricia Schofield, Sam Hughes

School of Psychology

Chronic low back pain is a persistent and debilitating condition, and therapeutic outcomes in the long term are generally poor. There is growing evidence to support the ineffectiveness of ‘one-size-fits-all’ pharmacological approaches to pain management. To that end, alternative non-pharmacological therapies such as green social prescribing and time spent in nature are gaining popularity. But it is imperative to understand to what extent these potential interventions are viable by gaining a deeper insight into the lived experiences of the chronic low back pain community. The present qualitative cross-sectional study employed ten semi-structured interviews (9 women, M age = 50.1, M …

Bridging The Gap: Exploring The Potential Of Virtual Reality For Supporting Autistic Individuals In Interview And Recruitment Processes Through A Realist Review, Katie Edwards, Marius Varga, Michael Loizou

School of Nursing and Midwifery

The aim of this realist review was to systematically analyse the peer-reviewed academic literature, reports and blogs to determine: (1) the mechanisms and contexts by which recruitment and early employment experiences lead to poor outcomes for autistic adults, and (2) how a Virtual Reality (VR) intervention might lead to positive outcomes within the recruitment and early employment experiences for autistic adults. Throughout, we worked with a PPIE group of autistic people who were fully involved in the realist synthesis process. We identified challenges across the employment journey including limited vocational guidance and employment readiness support, exclusionary job descriptions, and traditional …

Beyond The Drill: Understanding Empathy Among Undergraduate Dental Students, Muhammad Qasim Javed, Zaina Ahmad, Muhammad Muhammad, Kamran Ali, Arham Riaz, Rebecca Glanville

Peninsula Dental School

Introduction: Compassionate care and empathy are fundamental components of health care which contribute to the social construction of physician–patient relationship to meet the expectations of the patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical empathy among undergraduate dental students at a University in the Middle East. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study which used purposive sampling to recruit undergraduate dental students from five academic years. The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Health Profession Students was used, a reliable 20-item tool with a total score ranging from 20 to 140. Data collection was done online using Google Forms. …

Tracking Palaeotemperatures In Coniacian–Maastrichtian Seas, Gregory D. Price, Bryan Low Kai Sheng

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

In this study the stable isotopes of belemnites, are presented from the Coniacian–Maastrichtian interval (∼76–66 Ma) derived from the chalks of Yorkshire and Norfolk, UK, deposited on the western North Atlantic shelf. Cathodoluminescence and elemental geochemistry of the belemnites reveals that most of the rostra were well preserved. If interpreted in terms of temperature, our oxygen isotope record reveals that during the Coniacian (at ∼43 °N) the climate was relatively warm, with maximum mean temperatures of ∼26 °C, followed by cooling to <∼21 °C during the Campanian and Maastrichtian. This overall stratigraphic trend is similar to other records, suggesting that the cooling pattern was not a regional trend and, therefore, driven predominantly by global mechanisms. Within our belemnite data, we also observe a decline in δ¹³C at the Campanian- Maastrichtian boundary, again consistent with other records. This trend has been interpreted as …

Changes In The Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Covid-19 In Japan From 2020 Through 2023, Atsuna Tokumoto, Kazuaki Jindai, Tomoki Nakaya, Mayuko Saito, Clive E Sabel, Hitoshi Oshitani

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

BACKGROUND: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varied among countries. The spatiotemporal trends of COVID-19 in Japan remain understudied. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a detailed investigation of the spatiotemporal evolution of infections/deaths across prefectures in Japan, to analyze the changing patterns of COVID-19 circulation in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

METHODS: We extracted data from nationally represented open-source data from January 15, 2020, to May 9, 2023, and we calculated the incidence rate of infection and the mortality. Further the ratios were obtained by dividing those rates in prefectural level by those in national level to make them …

Care‐Ful Encounters: A Case For Empathetic Youthful Encounters With Coastal Environments, Mark Holton

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper extends discourse of environmental stewardship and coastal management by examining the intersecting and overlapping relationships between notions of care and encounter in generating and maintaining forms of environmental empathy among young people at various socio-spatial scales. Exploring ‘care-ful encounters’ matters in terms of developing new ways of understanding how the choreographies of care and self-care shape, and are shaped by, encounters with human and non-human others, and prompts critical engagement and reflection with care as felt and experienced, that could otherwise be considered as distanced and ‘over there‘. Two key contributions emerge – first, that the combined role …

The State Of Temperate Rainforest In South West England, Thomas Murphy, Katerina Chernyuk, Marcin Roszkowski, Shaun Lewin, Paul Lunt, James Buckley

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Temperate Rainforest is a biome of global significance which is rare and declining, yet supports endemic biodiversity and offers a range of co-benefits including carbon sequestration, natural flood management, climate moderation, and human well-being. The UK hosts a very large proportion of European bioclimatic space suitable for the development of Temperate Rainforest, yet very little of this woodland remains. In SW England, Temperate Rainforest habitat is mostly dominated by oak woodland (NVC communities W11 and W17) and occupies a broad but fragmented distribution across the region. SW temperate rainforest is exposed to a range of current and future threats and …

Curated Bricolage: Questions Of Agency, Accuracy, And Complicity In Munich Holocaust Memorialization, Jamie Downing

Academic Affairs

As the birthplace of the Nazi movement, Munich has long struggled to reckon with its legacy from World War II and the Holocaust. While some museums in Munich document the rise of the Nazis, the war, and the Holocaust, unlike other European cities, Munich lacks a centralized Holocaust museum or memorial. Instead, across the city there are dozens of mini-monuments—plaques, sculptures, cobblestone markings—that reference different figures and events related to Munich's Nazi history. These sites comprise a decentralized, bricolage approach to memorialization, leaving individuals to happen upon these mini-memorials and make sense of them without much context.

While this approach …

Primary Prevention Of Incivility For Nursing Students, Krystal Canady, Joyce Norris Taylor

Academic Affairs

Background: Incivility in nursing education, including lateral violence and bullying, is increasing, negatively impacting student success and faculty retention. The Joint Commission (2021) reported that over 50% of registered nurses and nursing students experienced verbal abuse. Foreman (2023) used the epidemiological triangle to illustrate incivility in nursing students, identifying them as susceptible hosts. Primary prevention interventions are essential to reduce incivility.

Methods and Aim: IRB approval was obtained from the university review board. The sample included 41 first-semester baccalaureate nursing students. Data were collected in 2024 using the Clark Civility Index for Students and Classmates. The study aimed …

Design Thinking As A Theoretical Framework To Spark Innovation In Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctoral Projects, Jessica D. Asiello, Sunny R. Winstead

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Contemporary occupational therapy (OT) practice is situated within healthcare, education, and community-based systems faced with increasingly complex problems. There is therefore a need to develop OT practitioners’ capacity for innovation to influence change. Post-professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PPOTD) students are seasoned clinicians with an understanding of the challenges of everyday practice, combined with an intrinsic motivation for professional growth that led to their return to higher education. Thus, PPOTD students are a sub-population of OT practitioners who are uniquely primed for development as innovators. Despite the prevalence of PPOTD programs in the United States, there is limited literature on …

Assessing The Impact: Retrospective Analysis Of Department Initiatives On Students' Success In Standalone Occupational Therapy Anatomy Course, Rebecca Ozelie, Saba Elothman, Bridget Hahn

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Student success in anatomy courses is critical for entry-level occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) programs, yet many students struggle to master this foundational subject. Research on effective academic interventions to support anatomy learning in OTD programs is limited, leaving a gap in understanding the impact of supplemental resources. This study examined the effectiveness of targeted academic interventions, such as an anatomy bootcamp, peer-led tutoring, and the Anatomage Table for virtual dissection, in improving student performance in a standalone anatomy course. A retrospective cohort design compared two groups of students enrolled in the course during Fall 2022 (FA22; n=36) and Fall 2023 …