Southern Institute of Technology

BackgroundInternational migration and globalization have dramatically transformed healthcare delivery over recent decades, intensifying the need for cultural competency among healthcare providers. While numerous studies explore cultural competency in nursing, a comprehensive framework synthesizing its core domains and attributes from existing literature remains absent. This study analyzes nursing literature to develop an integrated model capturing the essential domains and attributes of cultural competency.MethodsAn integrative review of empirical and theoretical literature was conducted using five major databases: Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PubMed. From an initial pool of 493 papers identified through cultural competency and nursing-related search terms, 58 articles were selected for final analysis following screening by three independent reviewers using Covidence. Data analysis involved descriptive assessment, quality evaluation, and thematic coding using MaxQDA Analytics Pro 2020 software.ResultsAnalysis yielded a novel Cultural Competency Wheel Model comprising five interconnected domains: Culture, Team, Patient, Action, and Self. Each domain integrates specific attributes across three dimensions: cultural knowledge (Core, Cadre, Client, Change, Character), competence/skills (Comprehension, Connection, Conversation, Cultivation, Contemplation), and caring values (Critical, Collegial, Congenial, Centrifugal, Committal).ConclusionStudy findings reveal cultural competency as a complex, multidimensional construct requiring healthcare providers to master three essential components: (1) comprehensive knowledge of self, team dynamics, and patient backgrounds; (2) practical skills spanning healthcare delivery, team collaboration, and patient support; and (3) professional values encompassing personal, interpersonal, and broader institutional contexts. This model provides a structured framework for developing cultural competency initiatives in healthcare education, research, and practice.Clinical trial numberNot applicable.

SummaryParental cooperation in species with extended biparental care is essential for offspring survival, yet real-time negotiation and coordination in the wild remain poorly understood. We simultaneously Global Positioning System (GPS)- and accelerometer-tracked 68 breeding pairs of barn owls (Tyto alba) during chick rearing, quantifying parents’ hunting effort, prey deliveries, self-feeding, nest attendance, and partner encounters. Within pairs, parental investment was highly plastic, with low repeatability of nightly provisioning shares. Females increased provisioning when males underperformed or when foraging habitat was likely poor. Parents synchronized foraging schedules and nest visits, exhibiting turn-taking-like coordination; pairs that shared provisioning more equally foraged in parallel overnight and met frequently at the nest. We detected sequential, between-night adjustments, whereby effort on one night influenced provisioning the next. Pairs maintaining more equitable care achieved higher survival and growth in their later-hatching nestlings. Our findings demonstrate how high-resolution biologging reveals dynamic behavioral mechanisms underpinning flexible biparental care under ecological variability.

We compared the effects of high-intensity interval eccentric (EC) versus concentric cycling (CC) training on aerobic capacity, muscle function and morphology. Healthy men (19-56y) performed EC (n = 9) or CC (n = 8) training twice a week for 8weeks. The training progressed from 5 × 2-min intervals with 1-min rest to 7 × 2-min intervals with 30-s rest. EC and CC were matched for perceived effort, and progressed from 30 to 36% of concentric peak power output (PPO10s) for CC and from 45 to 70% PPO10s for EC. Changes in peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), incremental concentric PPO (PPOinc), 6-min walking distance (6MW), 10s concentric PPO (PPO10s), maximal voluntary isometric contraction knee extensor strength (MVC), countermovement (CMJ) and squat jump height (SJ), quadriceps cross-sectional area (CSA), and fascicle length (FL) and pennation angle (PA) of vastus lateralis were compared between EC and CC. Greater (P < 0.05) changes in PPO10s (EC: 26.9 ± 10.5% vs. CC: 8.9 ± 8.0%, Hedges'g = 2.03), CMJ (3.9 ± 1.8 vs. -3.3 ± 7.4%, g = 1.46), SJ (7.4 ± 4.7% vs. -2.3 ± 4.4%, g = 2.26), and CSA (6.1 ± 4.7 vs. 0.1 ± 3.8%, g = 1.48) were observed after EC than CC. No significant differences between EC and CC were found for changes in VO2peak (3.7 ± 3.9 vs. 6.6 ± 6.9%, g = -0.55), PPOinc (6.0 ± 4.2 vs. 6.4 ± 4.6%, g = -0.11), 6MW (6.0 ± 4.2 vs. 6.4 ± 4.6%, g = -1.03) and MVC (12.5 ± 13.3 vs. 6.2 ± 8.3%, g = 0.59). FL and PA did not show significant changes after EC and CC. EC was more effective than CC for improving several markers of muscle function. High-intensity interval eccentric cycling appears to be suitable for simultaneously improving strength and endurance.

Covid-19 has put immense pressure on small businesses within Aotearoa New Zealand.This study explores the use of cause-related marketing (CRM), as a partial solution to the financial struggles resulting from Covid-19 restrictions and inflationary pressures.After consistent messaging throughout the pandemic from Government agencies to 'be kind' it was unknown how New Zealanders would react to CRM initiatives, which traditionally have been viewed with scepticism.An explanatory mixed-method approach was used, with data collected from 98 responses to an online questionnaire, and six semi-structured interviews.Findings suggest that even though most consumers view CRM positively this does not necessarily lead to increased purchasing, patronage, or brand loyalty.While some consumers felt CRM provided a convenient way for them to help charities, and did not mind if organisations also benefited, other consumers were sceptical about the intent of organisations involved in CRM.Based on findings from this study, it is recommended that small business owners capitalise on their ability to connect with local communities and align with a charity which has personal meaning to them.If this relationship is communicated through actions and a long-term commitment, then consumers are more likely to perceive this as authentic, rather than opportunistic.

As massage therapy educators, we started with a desire to cement a place for massage therapy as a legitimate and viable health service. A bachelor degree, underpinned by research-informed education, was the selected mode. In December 2023, our 20th cohort of bachelor degree students will graduate. This commentary describes and reflects on progress towards developing research capability, and engagement in and promotion of massage therapy research to learners and practitioners of massage therapy in New Zealand.

Female fertility is a complex trait with age-specific changes in spontaneous dizygotic (DZ) twinning and fertility. To elucidate factors regulating female fertility and infertility, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on mothers of spontaneous DZ twins (MoDZT) versus controls (3273 cases, 24,009 controls). This is a follow-up study to the Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) component of that previously reported (Mbarek et al., 2016), with a sample size almost twice that of the entire discovery sample meta-analysed in the previous article (and five times the ANZ contribution to that), resulting from newly available additional genotyping and representing a significant increase in power. We compare analyses with and without male controls and show unequivocally that it is better to include male controls who have been screened for recent family history, than to use only female controls. Results from the SNP based GWAS identified four genomewide significant signals, including one novel region, ZFPM1 (Zinc Finger Protein, FOG Family Member 1), on chromosome 16. Previous signals near FSHB (Follicle Stimulating Hormone beta subunit) and SMAD3 (SMAD Family Member 3) were also replicated (Mbarek et al., 2016). We also ran the GWAS with a dominance model that identified a further locus ADRB2 on chr 5. These results have been contributed to the International Twinning Genetics Consortium for inclusion in the next GWAS meta-analysis (Mbarek et al., in press).

ABSTRACT The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum collections encompass vehicles, memorabilia, art, and archives documenting the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During a preservation needs assessment conducted by the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), Museum staff pointed out tarnish and corrosion on the trophies in the memorabilia collection. This raised a number of questions, foremost being, “What should the museum do to slow down the deterioration of these metal objects?” The two institutions embarked on a collaborative research project aimed at answering this question. Existing literature supplied best practices, but the Museum wanted solutions specific to its needs and priorities. The Museum’s collections manager and CCAHA’s preventive conservation fellow worked together to investigate air quality on a modest budget and timeline. This case study explores the cost-effective and low-maintenance methods that were used to monitor environmental conditions, dust, acid off-gassing, and metal corrosion: dataloggers, sticky dust collectors, A-D Strips, and metal coupons. Evidence-based testing informed, educated, and initiated progress in collections care. The techniques can be adapted by a diverse range of collecting institutions that similarly do not have access to high-tech analytical equipment.