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Indigenous biocultural knowledge offers valuable insights for species conservation; however, like biological diversity, associated cultural knowledge is also often threatened. This paper demonstrates how Indigenous biocultural knowledge of species can contribute to addressing gaps in species occurrence data and conservation knowledge using a case study from the South East Arnhem Land Indigenous Protected Area (SEAL IPA), northern Australia. Using a series of mapping workshops and interviews this collaborative project recorded Indigenous biocultural knowledge of the distribution, ecology, cultural significance and threats to freshwater turtles (freshwoda teduls in the local Indigenous language, Roper River Kriol). Based on past freshwoda tedul hunting experiences, 74 Indigenous knowledge holders identified 753 past freshwoda tedul occurrences, significantly adding to the 12 occurrences previously listed for the SEAL IPA in Australia's online species database, the Atlas of Living Australia. Importantly, these were the first 'memory' records of past species sightings by Indigenous people to be recognized and added to Australia's national species database. In addition, a blog summarizing this research was promoted through the Atlas of Living Australia, raising awareness of the Indigenous biocultural knowledge associated with these species. The Mepimbat tedul proujek revealed the cultural significance of freshwoda teduls and reported declines in abundance since the turn of the century, implicating invasive hard‐hooved ungulates (buffalo, pig) and reduced rainfall. The addition of non‐sacred Indigenous knowledge to free online species databases may offer innovative solutions for storage, interaction and sharing of indigenous knowledge, with opportunities for intergenerational and cross‐cultural learning and broader application in conservation management and decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early case detection is critical to preventing onward transmission of COVID-19 by enabling prompt isolation of index infections, and identification and quarantining of contacts. Timeliness and completeness of ascertainment depend on the surveillance strategy employed. This paper presents modelling used to inform workplace testing strategies for the Australian government in early 2021. We use rapid prototype modelling to quickly investigate the effectiveness of testing strategies to aid decision making. Models are developed with a focus on providing relevant results to policy makers, and these models are continually updated and improved as new questions are posed. Developed to support the implementation of testing strategies in high risk workplace settings in Australia, our modelling explores the effects of test frequency and sensitivity on outbreak detection. We start with an exponential growth model, which demonstrates how outbreak detection changes depending on growth rate, test frequency and sensitivity. From the exponential model, we learn that low sensitivity tests can produce high probabilities of detection when testing occurs frequently. We then develop a more complex Agent Based Model, which was used to test the robustness of the results from the exponential model, and extend it to include intermittent workplace scheduling. These models help our fundamental understanding of disease detectability through routine surveillance in workplaces and evaluate the impact of testing strategies and workplace characteristics on the effectiveness of surveillance. This analysis highlights the risks of particular work patterns while also identifying key testing strategies to best improve outbreak detection in high risk workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Deadly Liver Mob (DLM) program is a peer-led health promotion program that aims to improve access to screening and treatment for blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. In this paper, we used client and staff insights to explore the successes and challenges of implementing the DLM program according to the RE-AIM framework, which explores real-world implementation of interventions according to reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Methods: Clients and staff were recruited through the DLM program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and 11 non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander health workers, as well as 33 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients of the program. Results: Findings show the positive effects of the DLM program, in creating a culturally safe and sensitive environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients to access care. In particular, the employment of frontline Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers to deliver the education was touted as one of the primary successes of the program, in enabling workers to build trust between clients and mainstream health systems, which has the flow on effect of encouraging clients to go through to screening. The use of the RE-AIM framework illustrates the challenges of implementing real-world interventions across various locations, such as the difficulties in delivering DLM in regional and remote areas due to covering large geographic areas with minimal public transport available. Conclusions: The data emphasise the need for interventions to be adaptable and flexible, altering elements of the program to suit local and community needs, such as by offering mobile and outreach services to enable access across regional and rural areas. The findings of this evaluation have been used to develop tools so that the learnings from DLM can be shared with others who may be hoping to implement DLM or other similar programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a general power form of head-loss (pressure-drop) equation and the concept of shear velocity were used to study non-Darcy filtration through coarse granular materials. Using new laboratory data, the validity of four widely-used power form pressure-drop equations were evaluated. The results indicated that for the lower size of grain diameter (d ≤ 8.7 mm) the Wilkins (in: Proceedings of the 2nd Australia-New Zealand Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Christchurch, 1956) method has predicted satisfactorily the hydraulic gradient, while for the higher size of grain diameter (d ≥ 15.6 mm), the Stephenson (Rockfill in Hydraulic Engineering, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam, 1979) method predicted acceptably the pressure gradient. The results also indicated that the best estimation for the Izbash coefficient a is the Wilkins method. Finally, new correlations for friction factor, shear velocity and Reynolds number as well as new threshold limits for Darcy, partially-turbulent, and fully-turbulent flow regimes are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When researching with or about families in home-based research, there are numerous unexpected ethical issues that can emerge, particularly in qualitative research. This paper is based on reflective accounts of four homed-based research projects, two in the UK and two Australia, which examined ethical dilemmas identified when engaged in home-based research with young children. Using a synergy of ecocultural theory and Foucauldian ideas of Heterotopia as theoretical conceptualisations, the authors employed reflective lenses to guide their approach, and examine dilemmas and complexities when conducting research in the home. We argue that, to address ethical dilemmas, researchers need to problematise and reflect upon the nature of respectful approaches and the ethical implications of their behaviours. We conclude that, although ethical codes are valuable when researching families at home, researchers should plan for and forefront their methodological approaches in ways that are family-centred, whilst also framed by practices that are ethical, respectful and reflective to the situated contexts of family's ecologies and heterotopias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rural doctors typically work in low resource settings and with limited professional support. They are sometimes pushed to the limits of their usual scope of practice to provide the medical care needed by their community. In a previous phenomenological study, we described the concept of clinical courage as underpinning rural doctors' work in this context. In this paper, we draw on rural doctors' experiences during the unfolding COVID pandemic to re examine our understanding of the attributes of clinical courage. Methods: Semi structured interviews were conducted with rural doctors from 11 countries who had experience preparing for or managing patients with COVID 19. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using NVivo. A deductive thematic analysis was undertaken to identify common ideas and responses related to the features of clinical courage. Results: Thirteen interviews from rural doctors during the unfolding COVID 19 pandemic affirmed and enriched our understanding of the attributes of clinical courage, particularly the leadership role rural doctors can have within their communities. Conclusion: This study extended our understanding that rural doctors' experience of clinical courage is consistent amongst participants in many parts of the world, including developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Kids Guided Personalised Service (KidsGPS) is an integrated model of care coordination for children and young people (CYP) living with medical complexity. After successful implementation in an urban setting, the model of care will be rolled-out at scale to four rural regions in New South Wales, Australia to establish RuralKidsGPS. This paper describes the approach and methods for the outcome and implementation evaluation of RuralKidsGPS. Description: The evaluation aims to assess health, economic and implementation outcomes and processes whilst identifying barriers and enablers to inform future rollouts. Measures of health service utilisation (primary outcome), child health related quality of life and parent/carer experiences will be assessed. The implementation evaluation will occur alongside the outcomes evaluation and is underpinned by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and informed by validated quantitative measures and qualitative interviews with patients, families, healthcare providers and service managers. An economic analysis will determine incremental cost effectiveness ratios for the new model of care using health service utilisation data. Conclusion: RuralKidsGPS, if effective, has the potential to improve equity of access to integrated care for CYP and their families and this protocol may inform other evaluations of similar models of care delivered at scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective cleaner production programme requires the efficient collection and interpretation of data relating to a facility’s activities, including information of pollutant emissions, wastes generated and raw materials consumed. Many of these data are required to be collected and reported under national Pollutant Release and Transfers Registers (PRTRs) which are an increasingly common environmental policy tool in the OECD countries.This article considers the relationship between cleaner production and PRTR reporting, and discusses whether cleaner production programmes can be enhanced by the use of PRTR data. A case-study of a fertiliser manufacturing facility reporting under the Australian National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) is used to analyse and illustrate the practical issues around linking cleaner production with PRTR reporting.PRTR reporting can assist in identifying cleaner production opportunities and in generating the data sets required to design, implement and monitor cleaner production programmes. There are, however, some limitations in PRTR data that need to be recognised. Specifically, these are issues around data quality and comparability (e.g. PRTRs rely heavily on default emissions factors rather than the monitoring data that are generally required for cleaner production programmes) and the different data sets required for PRTR reporting (which generally require reporting at the site level rather than at the individual process unit level that is required for cleaner production). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Major progress in understanding biological invasions has recently been made by quantitatively comparing successful and unsuccessful invasions. We used such an approach to test hypotheses about the role of climatic suitability, life history, and historical factors in the establishment and subsequent spread of 40 species of mammal that have been introduced to mainland Australia. Relative to failed species, the 23 species that became established had a greater area of climatically suitable habitat available in Australia, had previously become established elsewhere, had a larger overseas range, and were introduced more times. These relationships held after phylogeny was controlled for, but successful species were also significantly more likely to be nonmigratory. A forward-selection model included only two of the nine variables for which we had data for all species: climatic suitability and introduction effort. When the model was adjusted for phylogeny, those same two variables were included, along with previous establishment success. Of the established species, those with a larger geographic range size in Australia had a greater area of climatically suitable habitat, had traits associated with a faster population growth rate (small body size, shorter life span, lower weaning age, more offspring per year), were nonherbivorous, and had a larger overseas range size. When the model was adjusted for phylogeny, the importance of climatic suitability and the life-history traits remained significant, but overseas range size was no longer important and species with greater introduction effort had a larger geographic range size. Two variables explained variation in geographic range size in a forward-selection model: species with smaller body mass and greater longevity tended to have larger range sizes in Australia. These results mirror those from a recent analysis of exotic-bird introductions into Australia, suggesting that, at least among vertebrate taxa, similar factors predict establishment and spread. Our approach and results are being used to assess the risks of exotic vertebrates becoming established and spreading in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Commonwealth Government should move to the funding of undergraduate courses for Australian students through the students rather than by way of direct grants to institutions. An independent coordinating body should be re-established to report on the higher education sector, advise the Commonwealth and administer Commonwealth higher education programs. Public funding of undergraduate education and research training should be decentralised through a system of scholarships. Undergraduate scholarship holders should pay charges determined by universities under HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme) arrangements. HECS arrangements also should apply to full fee paying undergraduates and PELS (Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme) arrangements to full fee paying research students. Institutional research funding should be on a disciplinary basis, taking account of the volume and quality of outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper involves an examination of skilled manual work in the modern paper industry. The data were collected at five mills in three countries -- the UK, Australia and the USA. The questions were formulated in order to probe four theories of skilled work. The results suggest that the distinction between skilled and nonskilled work is a fundamental feature of occupational differentiation in all five plants. They also reveal that there are intra-skilled conflicts over relative pay and demarcation lines and that these are affected by the wider socio-political environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outlines the results of a survey of the post-graduate experiences of library technicians enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Library Technology in Australia. Aim and structure of the course; Factors motivating students for enrolling in the course; Contribution of the course to the change of employment status.

Introduction: International and national guidelines highlight the need for general practitioner involvement during and after active cancer treatment and throughout long-term follow-up care. This paper aimed to evaluate patients' acceptance of radiation oncology shared follow-up care using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at two cancer care centres in the Illawarra Shoalhaven region of Australia. A sample of patients scheduled for a radiation oncology follow-up consultation in 2021 were sent a 32-point self-complete paper-based survey. Data were analysed using descriptive, parametric and non-parametric statistical analysis. This paper followed the Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies (CROSS). Results: Of the 414 surveys returned (45% response rate), the acceptance for radiation oncology shared cancer follow-up care was high (80%). Patients treated with only radiotherapy were 1.7 times more likely to accept shared follow-up care than those treated with multiple modalities. Patients who preferred follow-up care for fewer than three years were 7.5 times more likely to accept shared care than those who preferred follow-up care for five years. Patients who travelled more than 20 minutes to their radiation oncologist or to the rural cancer centre were slightly more likely to accept shared care than those who travelled less than twenty minutes to the regional cancer centre. A high understanding of shared care (Intervention Coherence) and a positive feeling towards shared care (Affective Attitude) were significant predictive factors in accepting shared radiation oncology follow-up care. Conclusion: Health services need to ensure patient preferences are considered to provide patient-centred cancer follow-up care. Shared cancer follow-up care implementation should start with patients who prefer a shorter follow-up period and understand the benefits of shared care. However, patients' involvement needs to be considered alongside other clinical risk profiles and organisational factors. Future qualitative research using the TFA constructs is warranted to inform clinical practice change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will identify existing models of professional regulatory reform that could ensure a single licensing process that results in multi-jurisdictional licensure. The paper will also distinguish models or ad hoc arrangements that fail to achieve such a result. This is a timely topic in Canada because its professional regulatory framework is being examined for modernization. The Canadian professional regulatory framework for health care providers is a legacy of the Constitution of 1867. It can be characterized as a Federation of 13 different jurisdictional systems with each province or territory having exclusive jurisdiction over regulation of its health professionals. This results in differing entry to practice requirements, standards of practice, classes or categories of registration and transfer criteria for eligibility from other provinces. The United States nursing state board regulators, the Australian Commonwealth, and their state governments have moved from their original regulatory frameworks to modern ones. Their models are more supportive of mobility, cross-border virtual care, education, and health provider professional development and well-being. Aside from recent discussions in the 4 Canadian Atlantic provinces, there has been little will, effort, or advancement to modernize the regulatory framework in Canada to support multi-jurisdictional licensure. This paper aims to briefly describe 6 existing models that support multijurisdictional licensure. In the fall of 2022, the 4 Atlantic Premiers (akin to state Governors in the US) asked each of their medical regulatory authority (akin to State Medical Boards) to develop a licensing system such that physicians could practice in all 4 Atlantic provinces without the need to acquire multiple licenses. Two models will be discussed that meet this recently stated objective of the Atlantic Premiers while the others do not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent events within the Australian National Electricity Market have demonstrated that the system of an energy-only market (a market that only compensates power that has been produced) is no longer fit for purpose. The rate of change in installed capacity and generation requires better planning to ensure reliability is maintained at the lowest total system cost during the transition to net zero. Australian National Electricity Market participants will need sufficient incentives and confidence to invest in new capacity. This paper assesses a "no constraints" scenario and recommends a range of policy and market mechanisms that could be utilized to achieve a net zero National Electricity Market in Australia by 2050. This paper adopts the perspective of total system cost, which allows multiple factors relating to decision-making to be incorporated. In the absence of a carbon price, this paper seeks to put forward technology-based policy and market mechanisms to incentivise the changes required. The "Modelling Energy and Grid Services" model used in this study has shown that this "no constraints" future grid will need to contain approximately 100 GW of variable renewable energy, almost 20 GW of firm, low-emissions generation, such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, hydroelectric power, or nuclear power. It will also require more than 10 GW of storage, including pumped hydro energy storage and other energy storage technologies, and over 30 GW of firm, dispatchable peaking plants, including thermal power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary healthcare services have principal responsibility for providing child and youth wellbeing and mental health services, but have lacked appropriate measurement instruments to assess the wellbeing of Indigenous children and youth or to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and services designed to meet their needs. This review assesses the availability and characteristics of measurement instruments that have been applied in primary healthcare services in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States (CANZUS countries) to assess the wellbeing of Indigenous children and youth. Methods: Fifteen databases and 12 websites were searched in December 2017 and again in October 2021. Pre-defined search terms pertained to Indigenous children and youth, CANZUS country names, and wellbeing or mental health measures. PRISMA guidelines were followed, with eligibility criteria guiding screening of titles and abstracts, and selected full-text papers. Results are presented based on the characteristics of documented measurement instruments assessed according to five desirability criteria: development for Indigenous youth populations, adherence to relational strength-based constructs, administration by child and or youth self-report, reliability and validity, and usefulness for identifying wellbeing or risk levels. Results: Twenty-one publications were found that described the development and or use by primary healthcare services of 14 measurement instruments, employed across 30 applications. Four of the 14 measurement instruments were developed specifically for Indigenous youth populations, four focused solely on strength-based wellbeing concepts but none included all Indigenous wellbeing domains. Conclusion: There is a diversity of measurement instruments available, but few fit our desirability criteria. Although it is possible that we missed relevant papers and reports, this review clearly supports the need for further research to develop, refine or adapt instruments cross-culturally to measure the wellbeing of Indigenous children and youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic water heating accounts for 15% to 27% of the total energy consumption in buildings in Australia. Over the past two decades, the latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system has been widely investigated as a way to reduce fossil fuel consumption and increase the share of renewable energy in solar water heating. However, the research has concentrated on the geometric optimisation of the LHTES heat exchanger for the past few years, and this might not be sufficient for commercialisation. Moreover, recent review papers mainly discussed the development of a particular heat-transfer improvement technique. This paper presents perspectives on various solar hot water systems using LHTES to shift focus to on-demand performance studies, as well as structure optimisation studies for faster commercialisation. Future challenges are also discussed. Since the topic is an active area of research, this paper focuses on references that showcase the overall performance of LHTES-assisted solar hot water systems and cannot include all published work in the discussion. This perspective paper provides directional insights to researchers for developing an energy-efficient solar hot water system using LHTES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of feature selection and error correction after mode decomposition and improve the ability of power load forecasting models to capture complex time series information, a two-stage short-term power load forecasting method based on recursive feature elimination with a cross validation (RFECV) algorithm and time convolution network–efficient channel attention mechanism–long short-term memory network (TCN–ECA–LSTM) is presented. First, the load sequence is decomposed into a relatively stable set of modal components using variational mode decomposition. Then, the RFECV-based method filters the feature set of each modal component to construct the best feature set. Finally, a two-stage prediction model based on TCN–ECA–LSTM is established. The first stage predicts each modal component and the second stage reconstructs the load forecast based on the predicted value of the previous stage. This paper takes actual data from New South Wales, Australia, as an example, and the results show that the method proposed in this paper can build the feature set reliably and efficiently and has a higher accuracy than the conventional prediction model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In radiotherapy treatment, organs at risk and target volumes are contoured by the clinicians to prepare a dosimetry plan. In retrospective data, these structures are not often standardised to universal names across the patients plans, which is required to enable data mining and analysis. In this paper, a new method was proposed and evaluated to automatically standardise radiotherapy structures names using machine learning algorithms. The proposed approach was deployed over a dataset with 1613 patients collected from Liverpool & Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centres, New South Wales, Australia. It was concluded that machine learning techniques can standardise the dosimetry plan structures, taking into consideration the integration of multiple modalities representing each structure during the training process. In progressing the use of big data in health systems, standardised nomenclature is required to enable data pooling and analyses. In many radiotherapy planning systems and their data archives, target volumes (TV) and organ-at-risk (OAR) structure nomenclature has not been standardised. Machine learning (ML) has been utilised to standardise volumes nomenclature in retrospective datasets. However, only subsets of the structures have been targeted. Within this paper, we proposed a new approach for standardising all the structures nomenclature by using multi-modal artificial neural networks. A cohort consisting of 1613 breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy was identified from Liverpool & Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centres, NSW, Australia. Four types of volume characteristics were generated to represent each target and OAR volume: textual features, geometric features, dosimetry features, and imaging data. Five datasets were created from the original cohort, the first four represented different subsets of volumes and the last one represented the whole list of volumes. For each dataset, 15 sets of combinations of features were generated to investigate the effect of using different characteristics on the standardisation performance. The best model reported 99.416% classification accuracy over the hold-out sample when used to standardise all the nomenclatures in a breast cancer radiotherapy plan into 21 classes. Our results showed that ML based automation methods can be used for standardising naming conventions in a radiotherapy plan taking into consideration the inclusion of multiple modalities to better represent each volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the health of and healthcare use by migrants has received significant scholarly and policy attention in Australia, current debates highlight that a critical examination of the theoretical underpinnings of these inquiries and responses is needed. We conducted a systematic review and critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) to critically examine how the policy and scholarly literature conceptualises migrants' interactions with and experiences of the Australian health system. Guided by PRISMA, we searched for literature without imposing any limits. We also searched key State and Federal Government websites for relevant policy documents. Our initially broad inclusion criteria became refined as the CIS progressed. We prioritised the likely relevance and theoretical contribution of the papers to our inquiry over methodological quality. The CIS of 104 papers revealed that the Australian scholarly literature and policy documents consistently homogenise and reduce migrants according to an assumed, (1) cultural identity, (2) linguistic affiliation, and/or (3) broad geographic origin. Based on these three critiques and drawing on the theoretical literature, we propose a synthesising argument on how the Australian literature could better conceptualise migrants' experiences of the Australian health system. We contend that both research and policy should explicitly recognise and engage with the multifaceted and shifting ways that migrants define themselves, generally, and during their encounters with destination country health systems. Engagement with this notion is necessary for also understanding how aspects of migrants' identities are dynamically co-constructed during their interactions with the health system. These understandings have implications for improving the design and implementation of policies and programs directed at improving the responsiveness of Australia's health system to the needs and expectations of migrant communities specifically, and destination countries broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the huge amount of research and diversity of project management topics, there is no well-established research on success of projects. Thus it is necessary to create models of project success and rate project performance for specific fields. Dam engineering projects have significant economic, social, and environmental impact. However, their performance over the life cycle, including strategic planning, design, construction, and operation, has not been systematically studied. Improving the performance of dam engineering projects is an area unknown to researchers and project managers. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to fill in this knowledge gap with an extensive literature review, looking at primary studies for extraction of project success criteria. Systematic review of the literature reveals that 13 items are candidates for success criteria of dam engineering projects in Australia. In this systematic literature review process, data extraction and analysis and reporting, have been tailored to answer the research question. Analysis of the selected articles using two dimensions of publication and content characteristics offers a more comprehensive perspective of the publication set in this area of research. A growing trend in the publications indicates a still emerging and growing research area, as more researchers and project practitioners are interested in the area of project success. Analysis of the content characteristics shows that despite the still-dominant Iron Triangle (time, budget, and quality) cited most often as project success criteria, new criteria are emerging, because the researchers see project success as achieving long-term objectives of the projects as well. This state-of-the-art review paper presents a comprehensive list of potential success criteria related to success of the dam engineering industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive plants are a growing ecological problem worldwide, but biases and patterns within invasive plant research may affect our understanding of invasive plant ecology. In this study, we analyzed 458 invasive plant papers sampled from the two journals dedicated entirely to the field of invasion biology, i.e., Biological Invasions and Neobiota. From these papers, we collected information on geographic coverage, climate, habitat, taxonomic coverage, plant functional type, and research topic to examine trends across a 21‐year time period from 1999 to 2020. Our analysis found that invasive plant research was consistently biased toward temperate grassland and forest ecosystems particularly within the Americas, Europe, and Australia, and toward smaller, herbaceous invasive plant species (i.e., forbs, grasses, and shrubs), with an increase in interest in invasive nitrogen‐fixing legumes over time. Our analysis also identified "hot" research topics in invasive plant research at specific time periods, such as a peak in the use of genetic analysis methods in 2014–2015 and a more recent focus on plant physiological and functional traits. While current models, concepts, and understanding of plant invasion ecology are still driven by such biases, this has been partially offset by recent increased research in understudied systems, as well as increasing awareness that plant invasion is heavily affected by their growth types, physiological traits, and soil interactions. As the field of invasion biology becomes ever increasingly important over time, focusing invasive plant research on understudied ecosystems and plant groups will allow us to develop a more holistic understanding of the ecology of invasive plants. In particular, given the outsized importance of the tropics to global biodiversity, the threats they face, and the dearth of studies, it is of critical importance that more invasive plant research is conducted within the tropics to develop a more globally representative understanding of invasive plant ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the application of Constructivist Grounded Theory (C-GT) methodology for social work research. First, it argues that C-GT methodology is well aligned with social work as the two value the individual in the context of their environmental influences. Both also prioritise the importance of respecting and valuing the participant or individual, seeing their perspective as unique and significant. Finally, this research methodology's systematic yet flexible guidelines align with social work ethics, which also focus on the importance of professional integrity. The paper then provides an example of a C-GT PhDstudy in relation to an area of social work practice, that is, stability in statutory kinship care in Queensland, Australia. The paper details the specific recruitment and sampling of participants, data collection and coding analysis examples from the PhD study. The examples evidence the relevance of C-GT methodology and its application for research in the area of social work practice, specifically statutory kinship care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Doctors with a history of mental health or substance use challenges face barriers accessing treatment and are difficult to recruit for research. This makes understanding their experiences challenging, yet essential. Overcoming barriers to research participation among unwell doctors is critical to advancing their overall health and wellbeing. Methods: A qualitative interview study of 21 allegedly impaired doctors in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand who were subject to regulatory processes relating to their health. Based in an interpretative phenomenological paradigm, this paper examines participants' motivations for participation in this study and their reactions to participating. It highlights wider implications for sensitive research involving doctors and marginalised groups. Results: Participants were strongly motivated to participate in our research for their own benefit (desire to be heard, catharsis, and empowerment) and to benefit others (to change the system, and to avoid other doctors experiencing what they experienced). Careful planning and communication of unique legal risks fostered a trusting researcher-participant relationship. To assist other researchers undertaking sensitive qualitative research with vulnerable participants, we describe our research protocol, challenges, and successes in detail. Conclusions: Despite ethical concerns about research risk, researchers can and should pursue qualitative research into the experiences of underrepresented groups, including allegedly impaired doctors. Without involving them in research that examines issues directly impacting on them, we may be inadvertently perpetuating the barriers and stigma that also hinder them from accessing treatment and support. This also deprives us of knowledge that can be used to improve doctors' health. This paper has broader relevance for anyone doing research with doctors, people in vulnerable positions, people disempowered by institutional or social systems, people who are stigmatised or shamed, and people who have experienced trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a conference paper about "Next Generation" libraries. It cites changes that impacted library design such as developments in active collaborative and discursive learning and the transformation brought about by information technology. It discusses the Workshop Process utilized by the Iahznummo architects in building consensus for innovation in library design that involves all stakeholders, citing processes involved in libraries in Australia.

Examines the wholesale destruction of priceless and irreplaceable historical records in Australia during World War II. Impact of Australia's involvement in the war on the policy on waste materials; Features of the plan for the salvage of waste materials; Results of salvage collection in the country; Four types of salvage activities; Historical records destroyed during the campaign.

Background: Well-organised and managed workplaces can be a source of wellbeing. The construction, healthcare and information and communication technology sectors are characterised by work-related stressors (e.g. high workloads, tight deadlines) which are associated with poorer mental health and wellbeing. The MENTUPP intervention is a flexibly delivered, multi-level approach to supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in creating mentally healthy workplaces. The online intervention is tailored to each sector and designed to support employees and leaders dealing with mental health difficulties (e.g. stress), clinical level anxiety and depression, and combatting mental health-related stigma. This paper presents the protocol for the cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) of the MENTUPP intervention in eight European countries and Australia. Methods: Each intervention country will aim to recruit at least two SMEs in each of the three sectors. The design of the cRCT is based on the experiences of a pilot study and guided by a Theory of Change process that describes how the intervention is assumed to work. SMEs will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control conditions. The aim of the cRCT is to assess whether the MENTUPP intervention is effective in improving mental health and wellbeing (primary outcome) and reducing stigma, depression and suicidal behaviour (secondary outcome) in employees. The study will also involve a process and economic evaluation. Conclusions: At present, there is no known multi-level, tailored, flexible and accessible workplace-based intervention for the prevention of non-clinical and clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety and burnout, and the promotion of mental wellbeing. The results of this study will provide a comprehensive overview of the implementation and effectiveness of such an intervention in a variety of contexts, languages and cultures leading to the overall goal of delivering an evidence-based intervention for mental health in the workplace. Trial registration: Please refer to Item 2a and registration ISRCTN14104664. Registered on 12th July 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate short-term power load forecasting is crucial to maintaining a balance between energy supply and demand, thus minimizing operational costs. However, the intrinsic uncertainty and non-linearity of load data substantially impact the accuracy of forecasting results. To mitigate the influence of these uncertainties and non-linearity in electric load data on the forecasting results, we propose a hybrid network that integrates variational mode decomposition with a temporal convolutional network (TCN) and a bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU). This integrated approach aims to enhance the accuracy of short-term power load forecasting. The method was validated on load datasets from Singapore and Australia. The MAPE of this paper's model on the two datasets reached 0.42% and 1.79%, far less than other models, and the R2 reached 98.27% and 97.98, higher than other models. The experimental results show that the proposed network exhibits a better performance compared to other methods, and could improve the accuracy of short-term electricity load forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) interventions are becoming more common in schools. However, limited input has been sought from end-users, which can help design interventions that are more engaging and context appropriate, therefore increasing their potential for successful implementation. One method of engaging end-users is co-design, which involves an active collaboration to design solutions to pre-specified problems. This paper aimed to: (1) describe the methodology and results of the co-design process in Making a HIIT to develop HIIT workouts for a school-based intervention; and (2) evaluate the feasibility and impact of co-designing HIIT workouts with students and teachers within the health and physical education (HPE) curriculum. Methods: The development of the HIIT workouts occurred during obligatory HPE lessons with year seven and eight students. The co-design process included: (1) identifying barriers and facilitators to exercise to create evaluation criteria for creating the HIIT workouts; (2) exploring HIIT; (3) defining HIIT parameters (intensity and interval length); (4) creating HIIT workouts using the parameters and evaluation criteria; (5) trialling and modifying the HIIT workouts based on class feedback and intensity data. To evaluate the feasibility and impact of the co-design process, a thematic analysis was completed using teacher interviews, student discussions, and student surveys. Results: Five classes comprised of 121 students (12–14 years; 49% female) and five teachers were involved in the co-design process across three schools in Queensland, Australia. A total of 33 HIIT workouts were created aimed at satisfying the HIIT parameters and variations of the following evaluation criteria: (1) fun; (2) social; (3) achievable skill level; (4) feeling accomplished; and (5) beneficial for health. From the thematic analysis, three themes (acceptability; implementation; integration) and 12 codes contributed to the overarching understanding of the feasibility of the lessons within the curriculum and a further three themes (perceived changes to lessons; educative outcomes; personal and social capabilities) and three codes contributed towards understanding their impact. Conclusion: Overall, co-designing HIIT workouts was feasible within the HPE curriculum and may have contributed to positive educative outcomes. Using this methodology could improve the implementation of HIIT interventions within HPE while supporting educative benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1 Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney;... I Implementation Science 2023, i B 18(2): b SP a sp Mitchell Sarkies and Hossai Gul contributed equally to this paper SP b sp Andrew Baillie, Lauren Christie, Caleb Ferguson, Julie Gawthorne, Helen Goldsmith, Nicolette Hodyl, Natasha Howard, Karen Hutchinson, Marlena Klaic, Joanna Moullin, Nicole Nathan, Sanne Peters, Nicole Rankin, Ben Smith, Serene Yoong. Only one study reported facilitators to the IMPLEMENTATION of CDS systems, none reported on barriers to the implementation of CDS systems and none reported any information on successful strategies to MAINTAIN implementation of CDS systems. B Methods b A sequence of three studies were conducted via a mixed method methodology and structured by the process model Implementation Mapping (IM) to guide the development of implementation strategies. B Conclusions b Process mapping successfully identifies site-specific variation in complex clinical processes and facilitates a shared understanding of the current systems and factors that affect implementation. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are disproportionately impacted by blood-borne viruses (BBVs) and sexually transmissible infections (STIs). Stigma remains one of the key barriers to testing and treatment for BBVs and STIs, particularly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Deadly Liver Mob (DLM) is a peer-delivered incentivised health promotion program by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The program aims to increase access to BBV and STI education, screening, treatment, and vaccination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in recognition of the systemic barriers for First Nations people to primary care, including BBV- and STI-related stigma, and institutional racism. This paper presents routinely collected data across nine sites on the 'cascade of care' progression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients through the DLM program: hepatitis C education, screening, returning for results, and recruitment of peers. Methods: Routinely collected data were collated from each of the DLM sites, including date of attendance, basic demographic characteristics, eligibility for the program, recruitment of others, and engagement in the cascade of care. Results: Between 2013 and 2020, a total of 1787 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients were educated as part of DLM, of which 74% went on to be screened and 42% (or 57% of those screened) returned to receive their results. The total monetary investment of the cascade of care progression was approximately $56,220. Data highlight the positive impacts of the DLM program for engagement in screening, highlighting the need for culturally sensitive, and safe programs led by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. However, the data also indicate the points at which clients 'fall off' the cascade, underscoring the need to address any remaining barriers to care. Conclusions: The DLM program shows promise in acting as a 'one stop shop' in addressing the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in relation to BBVs and STIs. Future implementation could focus on addressing any potential barriers to participation in the program, such as co-location of services and transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SABRE (Sodium iodide with Active Background REjection) is a direct detection dark matter experiment based on arrays of radio-pure NaI(Tl) crystals. The experiment aims at achieving an ultra-low background rate and its primary goal is to confirm or refute the results from the DAMA/LIBRA experiment. The SABRE Proof-of-Principle phase was carried out in 2020–2021 at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), in Italy. The next phase consists of two full-scale experiments: SABRE South at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory, in Australia, and SABRE North at LNGS. This paper focuses on SABRE South and presents a detailed simulation of the detector, which is used to characterise the background for dark matter searches including DAMA/LIBRA-like modulation. We estimate an overall background of 0.72 cpd/kg/ keV ee in the energy range 1–6 keV ee primarily due to radioactive contamination in the crystals. Given this level of background and considering that the SABRE South has a target mass of 50 kg, we expect to exclude (confirm) DAMA/LIBRA modulation at 4 (5) σ within 2.5 years of data taking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to use the two authors' life experience, as English teachers, and university academics in the U.K., China and Australia, to improve an understanding how life trajectories can assist exploration of cultural difference and changes. Our experiences can be utilized as a means of understanding how responses to change and cultural differences can be influenced. Using a collaborative auto-ethnography research method offers readers opportunities to engage with the text through encountering the cultural nuances in these transitional journeys. The analysis is undertaken through the theoretical lens of transformational learning, cultural identity, and space. This paper will be of benefit both to academics in multicultural settings and to pre-service teachers in postgraduate programs. First, it will assist in sensitizing readers to become more culturally aware and competent through understanding how change across cultures can be beneficially accomplished and, second, by showing how constructive change can influence all evolving cultural identities within vibrant, multicultural and multilingual contexts such as we experience in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The study investigated how senior residential aged care staff perceived the purpose, function, impact and challenges of implementing a new role in their organisation for an unregistered care worker with a Bachelor of Dementia Care: the Dementia Care Support Worker. The role was piloted over two years in an Australian organisation with three aged care facilities to examine its potential to address gaps in service provision for people with dementia. Background: The residential aged care workforce is under pressure to care for residents with increasingly complex health conditions and where most care is provided by care workers. Presently no formal leadership role exists for care workers with specialised dementia knowledge in the aged care setting. Study design and methods: A qualitative descriptive approach was taken to explore senior staff members' perceptions of the role at two time points. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews held in July-August 2017 (n = 12), soon after role commencement, and in February-March 2019 (n = 11) were thematically analysed. Results: Three themes reflected senior staff members' expectations of the role: enhancing staff and management knowledge about dementia and dementia care practices; facilitating changes to improve care for residents living with dementia; and educating and supporting residents' families. Eighteen months later, participants felt the role was helping meet the need for improved care of residents with dementia, and staff understanding of dementia. They suggested communication and support structures to improve role effectiveness. Discussion: Staff were receptive to the establishment of the Dementia Care Support Worker role and felt it resulted in improvement in dementia care. Success was contingent on strong organisational support and resourcing. Conclusion: Improving dementia knowledge of care staff is an essential first step in driving care quality improvements. The Dementia Care Support Worker role for care workers has the potential to address knowledge needs and support improved care practices. Implications for research, policy, and practice: This research models how a new role might be configured for unregistered care workers with specialist dementia knowledge. Further research is needed to explore the establishment of such a role more widely in other organisations, to investigate whether it could provide a new career development pathway for care workers and improve the skills and capacity of the aged care workforce. Substantial policy changes would also be required to support role viability, such as around increased salary. Research which examines the impact of such roles on care outcomes would complement the findings. What is already known about the topic? • While dementia is common in residential aged care, knowledge of dementia is typically low among the care staff. • Consequently, care staff are not equipped to meet the complex needs of residents with dementia and their families. • New roles for unregistered care workers with specialised dementia knowledge have been proposed, but not tested. What this paper adds • This research models how a new role might be configured for care workers with specialist dementia knowledge. • Aged care facility leaders support a role for care workers with formal specialist dementia knowledge and skills, and perceive the role helps improve the quality of resident care and develop stakeholders' dementia knowledge. • Appropriate communication and support structures are required for the effective establishment of the role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency and severity of extremes, including extreme precipitation events, extreme evapotranspiration and extreme water storage deficit events, are changing. Thus, the necessity for developing a framework that estimates non-stationary conditions is urgent. The aim of this paper is to develop a framework using the geeSEBAL platform, Generalised Extreme Value (GEV) models and spatiotemporal analysis techniques that incorporate the physical system in terms of cause and effect. Firstly, the geeSEBAL platform has enabled the estimation of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) with an unprecedented level of spatial-temporal resolution. Following this, the Non-stationary Extreme Value Analysis (NEVA) approach employs the Bayesian method using a Differential Evolution Markov Chain technique to calculate the frequency and magnitude of extreme values across the parameter space. Station and global climate datasets have been used to analyse the spatial and temporal variation of rainfall, reference evapotranspiration (ETo), ETa and water storage (WS) variables in the Lockyer Valley located in Southeast Queensland (SEQ), Australia. Frequency analysis of rainfall, ETa, and water storage deficit for 14 stations were performed using a GEV distribution under stationary and non-stationary assumptions. Comparing the ETa, ETo and ERA5 rainfall with station data showed reasonable agreement as follows: Pearson correlation of 0.59–0.75 for ETa, RMSE of 45.23–58.56 mm for ETa, Pearson correlation of 0.96–0.97 for ETo, RMSE of 73.13–87.73 mm for ETo and Pearson correlation of 0.87–0.92 for rainfall and RMSE of 37.53–57.10 mm for rainfall. The lower and upper uncertainty bounds between stationary and non-stationary conditions for rainfall station data of Gatton varied from 550.98 mm (stationary) to 624.97 mm (non-stationary), and for ERA5 rainfall datasets, 441.30 mm (stationary) to 450.77 mm (non-stationary). The results demonstrate that global climate datasets underestimate the difference between stationary and non-stationary conditions by 9.47 mm compared to results of 73.99 mm derived from station data. Similarly, the results demonstrate less variation between stationary and non-stationary conditions in water storage, followed by a sharp variation in rainfall and moderate variation in evapotranspiration. The findings of this study indicate that neglecting the non-stationary condition in some hydrometeorological variables can lead to underestimating their amounts. This framework can be applied to any geographical area for estimating extreme conditions, providing valuable insights for infrastructure planning and design, risk assessment and disaster management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia has clear aspirations to become a major global exporter of hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels and as part of the drive to reduce CO2 emissions, as set out in the National Hydrogen Strategy released in 2019 jointly by the federal and state governments. In 2021, the Australian Energy Market Operator specified a grid forecast scenario for the first time entitled "hydrogen superpower". Not only does Australia hope to capitalise on the emerging demand for zero-carbon hydrogen in places like Japan and South Korea by establishing a new export industry, but it also needs to mitigate the built-in carbon risk of its export revenue from coal and LNG as major customers, such as Japan and South Korea, move to decarbonise their energy systems. This places hydrogen at the nexus of energy, climate change mitigation and economic growth, with implications for energy security. Much of the published literature on this topic concentrates on the details of what being a major hydrogen exporter will look like and what steps will need to be taken to achieve it. However, there appears to be a gap in the study of the implications for Australia's domestic energy system in terms of energy security and export economic vulnerability. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for the implications of becoming a major hydrogen exporter on Australia's energy system. Various green hydrogen export scenarios for Australia were compared, and the most recent and comprehensive was selected as the basis for further examination for domestic energy system impacts. In this scenario, 248.5 GW of new renewable electricity generation capacity was estimated to be required by 2050 to produce the additional 867 TWh required for an electrolyser output of 2088 PJ of green hydrogen for export, which will comprise 55.9% of Australia's total electricity demand at that time. The characteristics of comparative export-oriented resources and their interactions with the domestic economy and energy system are then examined through the lens of the resource curse hypothesis, and the LNG and aluminium industries. These existing resource export frameworks are reviewed for applicability of specific factors to export-oriented green hydrogen production, with applicable factors then compiled into a novel conceptual framework for exporter domestic implications from large-scale exports of green hydrogen. The green hydrogen export superpower (2050) scenario is then quantitatively assessed using the established indicators for energy exporter vulnerability and domestic energy security, comparing it to Australia's 2019 energy exports profile. This assessment finds that in almost all factors, exporter vulnerability is reduced, and domestic energy security is enhanced by the transition from fossil fuel exports to green hydrogen, with the exception of an increase in exposure of the domestic energy system to international market forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over one-third of cancer cases are attributable to modifiable risk factors. Because health-related behaviors are often established at adolescence, it is important that adolescents understand the risks and lifestyle decisions that may reduce their chances of developing cancer. This study aims to identify the levels of cancer awareness of adolescents in Australia. Methods: Paper questionnaires were used to collect information about baseline levels of cancer awareness. These questionnaires included socio-demographic questions and the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) with slight modifications to ensure their suitability for the Australian adolescent population. Students aged 11 to 19 years were recruited from 13 Australian high schools between 2016 and 2019. Results: A total of 766 adolescents (58% female, mean age = 14.5 years) completed the questionnaires. Adolescents' cancer awareness was low. Adolescents who knew someone with cancer recognized significantly more cancer risk factors and cancer warning signs than those who did not know someone with cancer (t (756) = 2.35, p =.019; t (747) = 5.57, p =.001). Those from high Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) schools significantly recognized more cancer risk factors than those from low ICSEA schools (t (764) = 2.42, p =.016). Females recognized significantly more warning signs than males (t (583) = 3.11, p =.002) and students from senior high school grades recognized more warning signs than those from junior grades (t (754) = 2.24, p =.02). Most adolescents (78%) were aware of skin cancer as one of the most common cancers in Australia, however half or less were aware of other common cancers. Although most adolescents would seek medical help in the presence of possible cancer symptoms as soon as possible, approximately 20% of them would not see a doctor promptly. Emotional barriers were the most common reasons to delay seeing a doctor (56%), for example "being worried about hearing bad news" (27%). Conclusions: Australian adolescents show poor awareness of cancer risk factors and cancer warning signs. A number of demographic and experience factors were found to be related to lower cancer awareness. Education is essential to raise cancer awareness, promote healthy lifestyles from adolescence and avoid a preventable cancer diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar PV enables the conversion of solar energy into electricity and has become a clean energy technology for economic development. The advantages and disadvantages of solar photovoltaic vary among CPTPP member nations; nevertheless, since the CPTPP's implementation, fewer researchers have evaluated the member countries' solar photovoltaic goods' level of international competitiveness. In order to correct the flaw that the RCA index can only be studied from trade volume, this study adopts the IRCA index method and the revised CMS model, which integrates a number of variables to analyze the competitiveness of solar photovoltaic in each country. The study's findings indicate that: (1) the structural effect has a significant impact on export growth, particularly during the epidemic period, when Australia's contribution rate reached 106.58%; (2) the competitiveness effect has a lesser impact on export growth, and the epidemic led to a decline in competitiveness, with Japan's contribution rate reaching -262.85%; (3) the second-order effect has a declining trend in its contribution rate of export growth; (4) the export competitiveness of solar PV products differs between CPTPP countries, with power supply products having the most export competitiveness and solar cells having a steady comparative advantage in a weaker state. Apart than Japan, the remaining nations' comparative advantages for PV products are less than 1. Based on the above research findings, this paper puts forward the corresponding policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charities play an increasingly important role in helping people experiencing poverty. However, institutionalized charity shifts the burden of poverty reduction away from the state and exposes recipients to stress and stigma. In this paper, we examine whether the need for institutionalized charity can be offset through enhanced state support. As in other countries, the Australian government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by substantially increasing the level of income support to citizens through several temporary payments. We draw on this natural experiment and time-series data from the two largest charity organizations in Queensland, Australia to examine how these payments altered the demand for institutionalized charity. We model these data using difference-in-difference regression models to approximate causal effects. By exploiting the timing and varying amounts of the payments, our analyses yield evidence that more generous income support reduces reliance on charity. Halving the demand for charity requires raising pre-pandemic income-support by AUD$42/day, with supplements of approximately AUD$18/day yielding the greatest return on investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology is evolving, and construction companies now have various choices of these technologies to implement into daily business. This has, however, resulted in a growing argument on how digital technologies can be accepted in various contexts. However, most arguments are based on technology acceptance models with the core concept of individual behaviors, which ignores the influence of other stakeholders and organizational characteristics. This paper aims to present a novel model representing the successful practice of the assimilation process for digital construction technologies that should be considered before any technology acceptance analysis. The model was tested via empirical investigation with 372 practitioners from Australia involved in building and infrastructure construction projects. Structural equation modeling, measurement invariance of composite models, and some semistructured interviews were used to test and verify the relationships between key variables of the model. The results suggest that the capability of assimilation can be enhanced by improving innovativeness and the relevant operational processes, with a t -value of >6.27. The findings show that a project's likelihood of successful technology assimilation can also be increased if vendors are supportive and the company improves its operating performance assessment and absorption capacity. The findings clarify theoretical and practical contributions for a better understanding of critical factors of assimilation and provide a tool to potential company users for predicting the success of technology assimilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of the electric market, electric load forecasting has been increasingly pursued by many scholars. Because the electric load is affected by many factors, it is characterized by volatility and uncertainty, and it cannot be forecasted accurately only by a single model. In the research, a short‐term load forecasting integrated model is proposed to solve the problem of inaccurate forecasting of a single model. The key point of using the integrated model to forecast is to optimize the decomposed sequence to improve the accuracy of the forecast. empirical wavelet decomposition (EWT) is used to decompose the sequence into stationary sequences and avoid modal aliasing; the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) simulates the forecasting and anti‐forecasting behavior of the sparrow population, which is very similar to the electricity consumption behavior of various industries and has good optimization effect; generalized regression neural network (GRNN) is used for forecast and reconstruction; This is the EWT‐SSA‐GRNN model. This paper studies and analyzes the power load of a city in southern Australia. The results show that the integrated model reduces volatility through decomposition and optimization, and can improve forecast accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews previous research and current practice in timber connection design in Australia with reference to methods of deriving design information from test data for nails and screws. The two key documents for timber connection design in Australia are AS 1720.1 design of timber structures and AS 1649 test methods and evaluation of timber connections. These documents have a long history of development, with major changes in design methodologies – from deterministic working stress design to probabilistic limit state design. The supply chain for timber connections has changed with a reduction in the utilisation of timber species and an increase in new fasteners developed for specific purposes. A new approach to the design of timber connections has been proposed to cope with the changing situation. The review is of historic interest but also to ensure that the proposed new approach is consistent with past developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of daylight saving time (DST) on fatal road crashes in Australia. I exploit within year transitions to and from DST in a regression discontinuity in time framework. To examine the long run effect of the policy, I use trials of DST implemented in various states, and a DST extension due to the Sydney Olympics. Neither the transition to or out of DST, nor the long run effects of DST have an impact on fatalities on the road. However, there is evidence of reallocation of accidents over the day due to ambient light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Crofton weed toxicity, caused by Ageratina adenophora, has been recognized as a cause of fatal lung disease in horses for over a century. Despite its impact on horse health in many areas of the world, the toxic syndrome is poorly understood and understudied. This paper looks at the prior research on weed biology, the potential toxicology mechanisms, and the pathology in horses and other species, as well as the future directions to improve our understanding of this fatal toxic weed affecting horses. Crofton weed (Ageratina adenophora) is a global and highly invasive weed, with ingestion causing severe respiratory disease in horses, leading to irreversible and untreatable pulmonary fibrosis and oedema. While reports of equine pneumotoxicity remain common in Australia and New Zealand, equine pneumotoxicity may be underdiagnosed in other countries where Crofton weed is endemic but poorly differentiated. The pathogenesis of Crofton weed toxicity following ingestion has been well described in a number of different animal models, including rodents, rabbits, and goats. However, induced toxicity is organ-selective across different animal species, and these vastly differ from the pathogenesis described in horses, both clinically and after experimental exposure. Sources of variation may include species-specific susceptibility to different toxins present in the plant, different mechanistic processes of toxicity, and species differences in toxin biotransformation and bioactivation across different organs. Considering disease severity and Crofton weed's invasiveness globally, assessing published toxicological and exposure data is necessary to advance research, identify specific toxins for horses, and possible prophylactic and therapeutic strategies. This review presents an overview of the available literature on equine toxicity, parallels between toxicity in horses and other animal species, and important aspects to be included in the future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focal Ratio Degradation (FRD) in optical fibres can result in light loss. In astronomical instrumentation, FRD must be controlled because light levels are low. A new Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) instrument called Hector, was recently completed and was installed on the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) in Australia in 2021 December. The integral field units (IFUs) for Hector made with hexagonally packed multi-mode fibres are called hexabundles. In this paper, we introduce a cone-beam measurement method to measure FRD at optical wavelengths. We present the FRD and throughput performance of the hexabundles for Hector and show that the process for making hexabundles introduced no additional significant FRD beyond that of the bare fibre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of COVID-19 policies on the mobility of elderly individuals in Australia and China. It highlights the digital exclusion faced by older people as smartphone use became mandatory for accessing public spaces and services. The article discusses how this digital exclusion deepened social isolation and exacerbated feelings of loneliness among older individuals. It also examines the gender inequalities and the increased burden on women as unpaid caregivers during the pandemic. The paper emphasizes the need for age-inclusive policies that address intersecting factors and promote equitable access to technology and public spaces. [Extracted from the article]

Environmental damage has been of much concern, particularly in coastal areas and the oceans, given climate change and the drastic effects of pollution and extreme climate events. Our present-day analytical capabilities, along with advancements in information acquisition techniques such as remote sensing, can be utilised for the management and study of coral reef ecosystems. In this paper, we present Reef-Insight, an unsupervised machine learning framework that features advanced clustering methods and remote sensing for reef habitat mapping. Our framework compares different clustering methods for reef habitat mapping using remote sensing data. We evaluate four major clustering approaches based on qualitative and visual assessments which include k-means, hierarchical clustering, Gaussian mixture model, and density-based clustering. We utilise remote sensing data featuring the One Tree Island reef in Australia's Southern Great Barrier Reef. Our results indicate that clustering methods using remote sensing data can well identify benthic and geomorphic clusters in reefs when compared with other studies. Our results indicate that Reef-Insight can generate detailed reef habitat maps outlining distinct reef habitats and has the potential to enable further insights for reef restoration projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon building regulations are acknowledged as critical instruments to facilitate the building industry's decarbonization transition. However, recent studies have shown that non-compliance with low-carbon requirements is under-researched, leading to a significant divergence between policy intentions and actual performance. In light of this, the paper aims to provide a synthesis of existing research on non-compliance with low-carbon building regulations. It does this using a systematic literature review combined with bibliometric and text mining techniques. Through reviewing 26 scholarly works from the last decade, the paper demonstrates a peak production year around 2015, the year of the Paris Agreement, with the USA and Australia as key countries of concern. Subsequently, the study reveals three focused research areas: the development of building policy during the low-carbon transition; the role of building energy performance requirements in achieving low-carbon buildings; and building energy code compliance. Findings suggest widespread non-compliance with building energy codes and also indicate influencing factors and associated enhancement strategies. Finally, the paper identifies gaps in the investigation of new forms of building energy codes; an inconsistent conception of compliance; and a lack of understanding in building practitioners' compliance behavior. The study contributes to knowledge by providing future research areas in this under-researched topic and by successfully applying both bibliometric and text mining analysis in the construction management domain. This is found to have advantages in terms of time efficiency and objectivity. It also offers practical implications for industry by minimizing the gap between policy intentions and real compliance performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with a series of COVID-19 related lockdowns in Australia across 2020 and 2021, and anxious about the safety of our research participants, we developed a novel approach to body mapping, an arts-based research method typically undertaken in-person. We produced a facilitated body mapping workshop hosted via an online videoconferencing platform. Workshops brought together 29 participants with disability, mental distress and/or refugee background who used body mapping to represent their embodied experiences of stigma and discrimination. These workshops generated rich data, and participants reported a high level of satisfaction with the process. In this paper we describe our novel approach to body mapping, and share practical tips for others who wish to undertake body mapping remotely. We outline strengths associated with this method: increased accessibility, enhanced connection between participants, the formation of a space to explore challenging subject matter, the production of rich data, and the creation of diverse body maps. We also discuss shortcomings and challenges which those considering the method should be aware of: increased logistical burden, demands related to space, IT difficulties, the danger of over-sharing, and diminished cohort sizes. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to report on body mapping facilitated via web-based workshops. Here, we seek to provide practical advice and useful insights for others hoping to utilise body mapping online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the growing need to pay attention to general public opinions and sentiments toward AI, this paper examines the levels of understandings amongst the Australian public toward the increased societal use of AI technologies. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of 2019 adults across Australia, the paper examines how aware people consider themselves to be of recent developments in AI; variations in popular conceptions of what AI is; and the extent to which levels of support for AI are liable to alter with additional exposure to information about AI. While a majority of respondents consider themselves to have little knowledge and familiarity with the topic of AI, the survey nevertheless finds considerable range of relatively 'plausible' basic understandings of what AI is. Significantly, repeated questioning highlights a willingness among many people to reassess their opinions once having received further information about AI, and being asked to think through issues relating to AI and society. These patterns remain relatively consistent, regardless of respondents' political orientation, income, social class and other demographic characteristics. As such, the paper concludes by considering how these findings provide support for the development of public education efforts to further enhance what might be termed 'public understanding of AI'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]