Flinders University

About: Flinders University is a education organization based out in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 12033 authors who have published 32831 publications receiving 973172 citations. The organization is also known as: Flinders University of South Australia.

Facing up to the challenge: why is it so hard to develop graduate attributes?

Abstract: Debate continues regarding the nature and desirability of graduate attributes, driven partly by stakeholder expectations that universities will prepare employees for the knowledge economy and partly by higher education academics and learning specialists. While universities appear to have accepted their new vocational role, there is considerable confusion over how these things – graduate skills, attributes or capabilities – should be defined and implemented. Conceptual confusion combined with a range of external pressures and internal management issues have the potential to derail this important project. To date, stakeholders such as government and business, as well as universities have seriously underestimated the kind of cultural, institutional and policy changes required to implement the graduate skills agenda. This paper outlines the issues that will need to be addressed by the higher education sector if universities are to play a proactive rather than reactive role in shaping this agenda.

Social identity, personality, and the self-concept: A self-categorization perspective.

Abstract: This chapter suggests that social uncertainty can contribute to the development of irrational forms of distrust and suspicion that impede activities critical to the processes creating and sustaining the social self. The links between social uncertainty and the development of social paranoia bring us back, full circle, to a consideration of the inherently relational nature of the social self. The model of the vigilant social auditor that we advanced earlier helps explain this pattern. From a social information-processing perspective, those in low-status groups in a social hierarchy are likely to be more hypervigilant and ruminative information processors compared to their higher status counterparts, especially members of groups on whom they are evaluatively dependent. Tokens feel the social pressure of imagined audience scrutiny, and may do so even when the audience of majority group members treats them no differently from nontokens.

Endothelial cell loss after phacoemulsification: relation to preoperative and intraoperative parameters

Abstract: Purpose To evaluate the effect of the location of the corneoscleral tunnel incision as well as preoperative and intraoperative parameters on total and localized endothelial cell loss Setting Department of Ophthalmology, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany Methods Fifty consecutive patients scheduled for routine cataract surgery were selected prospectively for this clinical trial Preoperatively, the axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and astigmatism were measured Phacoemulsification time and relative energy as well as total surgical time were recorded With a specular microscope, endothelial cell counts were determined centrally, superiorly, and temporally preoperatively and 6 weeks and 6 and 12 months postoperatively Results After 12 months, the mean overall central endothelial cell loss in all eyes was 85% The mean endothelial cell loss was 119% in the lateral quadrant and 114% in the superior quadrant There were no significant differences between superior and temporal surgical approaches in intraoperative parameters of phacoemulsification time, relative intensity of phacoemulsification, and surgical time There were no significant differences in central endothelial cell loss or in the area localized in the quadrant of the positions of the corneal surgical site The only risk factors found significant for higher endothelial cell loss were shorter axial length and longer phacoemulsification time Conclusions The location of corneoscleral incisions for phacoemulsification can be chosen according to the preoperative astigmatism without inducing additional adverse effects on the corneal endothelium Shorter eyes have a significantly higher risk for greater endothelial cell loss

Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Disease: Lessons From Recent Trials and Need for Team Science.

Abstract: Emerging research highlights the complex interrelationships between sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease, presenting clinical and research opportunities as well as challenges. Patients presenting to cardiology clinics have a high prevalence of obstructive and central sleep apnea associated with Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Multiple mechanisms have been identified by which sleep disturbances adversely affect cardiovascular structure and function. Epidemiological research indicates that obstructive sleep apnea is associated with increases in the incidence and progression of coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and atrial fibrillation. Central sleep apnea associated with Cheyne-Stokes respiration predicts incident heart failure and atrial fibrillation; among patients with heart failure, it strongly predicts mortality. Thus, a strong literature provides the mechanistic and empirical bases for considering obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea associated with Cheyne-Stokes respiration as potentially modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Data from small trials provide evidence that treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure improves not only patient-reported outcomes such as sleepiness, quality of life, and mood but also intermediate cardiovascular end points such as blood pressure, cardiac ejection fraction, vascular parameters, and arrhythmias. However, data from large-scale randomized controlled trials do not currently support a role for positive pressure therapies for reducing cardiovascular mortality. The results of 2 recent large randomized controlled trials, published in 2015 and 2016, raise questions about the effectiveness of pressure therapies in reducing clinical end points, although 1 trial supported the beneficial effect of continuous positive airway pressure on quality of life, mood, and work absenteeism. This review provides a contextual framework for interpreting the results of recent studies, key clinical messages, and suggestions for future sleep and cardiovascular research, which include further consideration of individual risk factors, use of existing and new multimodality therapies that also address adherence, and implementation of trials that are sufficiently powered to target end points and to support subgroup analyses. These goals may best be addressed through strengthening collaboration among the cardiology, sleep medicine, and clinical trial communities.