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Publication Open AccessJournal ArticleAn Exploratory Analysis of Minority Stress Experiences and Mental Ill-Health in Bisexual Adults(Routledge)Despite an increase in research examining sexual minority groups, there remains comparatively less targeted research with bisexual people, as they are often absorbed into lesbian and gay samples in research or disregarded entirely. Given the existing data suggesting that bisexual people have higher rates of mental health issues than lesbian women and gay men, it is critical that this group's mental health, and risk factors of mental ill-health, be explored independently. The current study aimed to investigate the risk factors of bisexual-identified individuals' mental health and suicidality using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study recruited bisexual people, with a final international sample of 817 participants aged between 16 and 58 years (M = 23.11, SD = 8.54). Results indicated high mental ill-health in this sample based on responses to mental health screening questionnaires, self-reported diagnoses, and reported engagement with mental health professionals. Participants also had a high degree of suicidality, with close to half reporting having made at least one suicide attempt and/or really wanting to die. Results of the SEM indicated that these poor mental health outcomes were associated with the unique experiences of prejudicial events (stigma, discrimination, interpersonal hostility), minority stress (internalized biphobia, lack of social support), and isolation from a welcoming community experienced by this population. We provide recommendations for clinical practice and educational programs in light of these findings.
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Publication Open AccessConference PublicationThe Role of Brand Innovativeness and Hope in the Sharing Economy(University of New England, 2020-01)Are brands truly innovative? This research focuses on customer perceived brand innovativeness (CPBI) for the sharing economy firm, Airbnb, and investigates the role of hope in explaining the effects of CPBI on guests’ perceived emotional and behavioural responses. An online survey was completed using Amazon Mechanical Turk in January 2019, with responses currently being analysed using SPSS. Preliminary findings suggest possible outcomes of CPBI can impact customers’ goal attainment, perceived value of relationship with a brand, satisfaction, trust and commitment. Firms operating in the sharing economy space often invest substantial resources into marketing programs to enhance innovativeness in order to create an image of market leadership and create barriers to entry for competitors. Outcomes of the research could inform managerial strategies on the role of hope in shaping customer perceptions of brand innovativeness, and provide a platform to examine the societal impacts of collaborative consumption.
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Publication Open AccessJournal ArticleAfternoon Calcium and Vitamin D Supplementation in water: A Targeted Approach to Improve Laying Hen Nutrition(MDPI AG, 2025-03-03)A modified AM/PM strategy was evaluated in this study by supplementing calcium (Ca) in afternoon/evening (PM) drinking water instead of feed, offering an alternative to supplying two diets. A 10-week trial was conducted with 288 Hy-Line Brown hens (56 weeks old) housed on the floor in 18 pens (16 hens per pen; 9 replicate pens per treatment). The control diet contained 4.5% Ca, while the AM/PM treatment had 4.1% in feed with additional Ca and vitamin D supplemented through PM drinking water, with other nutrients kept constant in both diets. Daily egg production and weekly feed and water consumption were recorded. Hen weight, welfare scores, and egg quality were assessed at weeks 5 and 10. Blood, ileal digesta, and tibia samples were collected (from 4 hens/pen) at week 10 for serum Ca and vitamin D, digestibility, and bone analyses. Liver and kidney weights, as well as keel bone scores, were also recorded at week 10. Hens on the AM/PM diet consumed significantly less water (171.23 vs. 196.85 mL/bird/day; p < 0.001) and had a significantly higher serum vitamin D (27.59 vs. 22.64 ng/mL; p = 0.014), with a tendency towards elevated serum calcium levels (31.99 vs. 29.74 mg/dL; p = 0.089) compared to the control group. No differences in laying performance, co-efficient of variance (CV%) in individual hen and egg weight, liver and kidney weight, or keel and tibia characteristics were observed between treatments (p > 0.05). Similarly, there was no treatment effect on egg quality, and welfare parameters at week 5 and 10, except for smaller eggs (57.13 vs. 57.96; p = 0.015), and reduced chest (0.96 vs. 1.16; p = 0.028) and belly feather damage ( 1.34 vs. 1.55 ; p = 0.021), respectively, in hens of the AM/PM treatment compared to the control at week 10. The AM/PM treatment improved ileal digestible energy as is (9.00 vs. 8.22; p = 0.022) and as dry matter (10.00 vs. 9.06; p = 0.014) compared to the control one. Overall, it demonstrated comparable performance to the control, with added benefits of reduced water intake, better feather condition and vitamin D level and energy digestibility.
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Publication Modulating WS2 surface reactivity via Nb decoration: A DFT study of gas interaction, sensing, and storage potential(Elsevier BV, 2026-01-15)In this study, we employ first-principles density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the electronic, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties of niobium-decorated tungsten disulfide (Nb@WS2), a potential material for gas capture and sensing. The adsorption behavior of CO, HCHO, NO, and NO2 was systematically investigated. Adsorption energies (Eads) range from 1.481 eV (CO) to 3.290 eV (NO2), with NO2 exhibiting the strongest interaction due to the high difference in electronegativity between interacting N and Nb atoms. Partial density of states (PDOS), Bader charge analysis, electron density difference (EDD), and electron localization function (ELF) collectively reveal significant charge transfer from Nb@WS2 to gas molecules, confirming the chemisorption nature of the interactions and the emergence of distinct electronic and magnetic signatures. Work function analysis showed notable increases upon gas adsorption, correlating with sensitivity enhancements of up to 18.24 % for NO. However, the elevated Eads values observed in these systems, leading to their enormous recovery times, pose specific challenges for their practical use as reusable gas sensors. Moreover, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations at 500 K confirm the thermal stability of gas-adsorbed configurations, reinforcing the viability of Nb@WS2 for high-temperature sensing or capturing applications.
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Publication Lo stendardo opistografo di Gentile da Fabriano: immagini, parole e melodie per i francescani(Carocci Editore, 2025-07-25)Questo saggio è dedicato allo stendardo processionale opistografo che Gentile da Fabriano dipinse attorno al 1420. Come molte opere medievali, il dipinto di Gentile è oggi decontestualizzato dal suo ambiente originario, inteso tanto come luogo fisico quanto come "ecosistema" devozionale in cui esso agiva e veniva fruito. Se il primo aspetto è stato ben indagato dalla critica, che ha ricostruito le vicende storiche dell'opera, il secondo è stato invece meno sondato. In questo studio ci concentreremo proprio su questo punto, con alcuni affondi preliminari sulle funzioni che il dipinto assumeva nelle pratiche devozionali di ambito francescano, in virtù della sua probabile pertinenza alla confraternita di San Francesco annessa all'omonima chiesa di Fabriano. Ci soffermeremo nello specifico sulle possibili modalità di ricezione da parte del suo pubblico (o dei pubblici), con particolare riguardo al sistema immersivo e multisensoriale del suo utilizzo, in cui predicazione, immagini, canto e movimento agivano in sinergia.
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Publication Patient-Centred Care: Improving Quality and Safety by Focusing Care on Patients and Consumers(Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC), 2010)Patient-centred care is health care that is respectful of, and responsive to, the preferences, needs and values of patients and consumers. The widely accepted dimensions of patient-centred care are respect, emotional support, physical comfort, information and communication, continuity and transition, care coordination, involvement of family and carers, and access to care. Surveys measuring patients' experience of health care are typically based on these domains. Research demonstrates that patient-centred care improves patient care experience and creates public value for services. When healthcare administrators, providers, patients and families work in partnership, the quality and safety of health care rise, costs decrease, and provider satisfaction increases and patient care experience improves. Patient-centred care can also positively affect business metrics such as finances, quality, safety, satisfaction and market share. Patient-centred care is recognised as a dimension of high-quality health care in its own right and is identified in the seminal Institute of Medicine report, 'Crossing the Quality Chasm', as one of the six quality aims for improving care. In recent years, strategies used in the US and UK to improve overall healthcare quality, such as public reporting and financial incentives, have emerged as policy-level drivers for improving patient-centred care. In Australia, a patient-centred approach is supported by the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights, the National Safety and Quality Framework, other national service standards, reports of state-based inquiries, and a range of jurisdictional and private sector initiatives. Recent national health reform arrangements (such as the Performance and Accountability Framework of the 2010 National Health and Hospitals Network Agreement) provide further incentives to improve patient-centred care by linking it to performance and funding. Another driver for improving patient-centred care is the establishment of a National Performance Authority to report transparently on a range of performance indicators, including 'patient satisfaction' for every Local Hospital Network, public hospital, private hospital and primary healthcare organisation. Against this background, Australian healthcare organisations are becoming increasingly interested in patient-centred care.7836 1 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Publication Open AccessThesis Masters ResearchUtilisation of remnant Brigalow communities and adjacent pastures by the Black-striped Wallaby ('Macropus dorsalis')(2004)This study arose out of the perceived problem that densities of the Black-striped Wallaby ('Macropus dorsalis') in fragmented patches of Brigalow ('Acacia harpophylla') vegetation were too high, causing detrimental impacts to their shelter habitat and competing with adjacent agricultural enterprises. The need for management of the Black-striped Wallaby has increased, with many primary producers within the Central Queensland (CQ) Brigalow Belt concerned that the species is a pest. Effective management of a species relies upon knowledge of its requirements and functioning. The objectives of this study were to determine the sheltering and dietary preferences of a Black-striped Wallaby population at supposed pest density. The various components of the study were undertaken in the remnant scrub and adjacent pasture paddocks on Brigalow Research Station, near Theodore, Central Queensland.5703 3749 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Publication Organizing Visual Meaning: FRAMING and BALANCE in Picture-Book Images(Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011)The social semiotic analysis of visual texts has made considerable progress in the past decade since the publication of Kress and van Leeuwen's (2006) 'Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design', which makes use of M.A.K. Halliday's (1978) theory of 'metafunctions' to identify three distinct but coexisting kinds of meanings that interplay within any text. This chapter aims to develop further the social semiotic analysis of visual images within one of these metafunctions and in relation to one particular source of data - a corpus of children's narrative picture books. ... It is proposed here that the textual, or compositional, metafunction as it applies to children's picture-book images principally involves three systems, or sets of options: those of FRAMING, BALANCE and INTERMODAL INTEGRATION, the first two of which will be described and discussed in this chapter. These systems have been inferred from an examination of a corpus of over 50 narrative picture books including many prize-winning texts. In such texts, the visual choices made are highly systematic and contribute to creating the thematic significance of the story for the young reader.5673 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Publication Open AccessThesis DoctoralThe dynamics of Chinese learning journeys: a longitudinal study of adult learners of Mandarin in Australia(2012)This thesis concerns the nature and development of adult learners' involvement with learning and using Mandarin Chinese in the long term. It examines the interweaving and layering of different settings and different kinds of learning activity in the course of individual learning journeys. The enquiry looks beyond the relatively homogeneous student groups in the Chinese classrooms and lecture halls of large metropolitan universities, and instead gives a voice to the experience of people learning Chinese who are based in country areas, who choose distance learning, who are older, and who study part-time or independently for many years. In conceptualising the dynamics of the language learning journey, the study draws upon aspects of complexity theory, which seeks to understand processes of change in complex adaptive systems by emphasising non-linearity, heterochrony, dynamic relationships and patterning. A 5-year multi-layered longitudinal qualitative case study was conducted with participants who had previous experience of Chinese learning, and of distance learning. Surveys provided extensive reflective data from the larger groups of 41 and 26 participants. To complement this, more frequent in-depth interviews and other activities were conducted with a group of 7 participants, yielding richly contextualised learner stories. In presenting, comparing and analysing the findings, extensive use is made of graphic and narrative techniques. Novel methods of multiple timeline analysis are presented, and the concept of dynamic activity patterns, which link past activity and future plans in respect to particular practices is introduced. The role of individual agency and of desire in identifying opportunities for learning and using Chinese is noted, and the significance of fallow periods within individual learning trajectories is explored from an identity perspective. The influence and effects of long-term Chinese learning in current times, both on individual learners, and through them upon the various contexts and communities which they inhabit, is considered. This research contributes to current scholarly discussion of the language learning which occurs beyond the classroom and in increasingly hybrid settings. Furthermore, within the rapidly expanding disciplinary field of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL), it contributes a better understanding of the efforts, feelings, practices and contexts of individual long-term learners.5664 2266 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Publication Sustainability and the Early Years Learning Framework(Pademelon Press, 2014)The early childhood sector in Australia is experiencing unprecedented federal government focus and many initiatives to improve quality in early childhood education are underway. A key initiative has been publication of the first national 'Early Years Learning Framework for Australia: Belonging Being Becoming' (DEEWR, 2009). Many early childhood educators have welcomed the framework and are now actively interpreting and implementing the principles, practices and outcomes. At many levels the framework also invites educators to reflect on sustainability and what it means in early childhood settings. This opportunity to reflect is timely given the increasing media attention and government reporting directed to the urgency of global environmental challenges. The Australian Climate Commission Report entitled 'The Critical Decade' (DCCEE, 2011) clearly conveyed the importance of acting now for change towards sustainability to address global warming. Humans are living beyond the Earth's biocapacity and we are poised at a point of no return in terms of the ecosystems that support all life on Earth (Flannery, 2008). As early childhood educators we readily understand that young children are 'most at risk from the impact of environmental challenges' (Siraj-Blatchford and Pramling Samuellson, 2009, p 10), yet the impacts for children appear to be largely overlooked (Strazdinis and Skeat, 2011).5146