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On-site surveys involving face-to-face interviews are implemented globally across many scientific disciplines. Incorporating new technologies into such surveys by using electronic devices is becoming more common and is widely viewed to be more cost-effective and accurate. However, Electronic Data Capture methods (EDC) when compared to traditional Paper-based Data Capture (PDC) are often implemented without proper evaluation of any changes in efficiency, especially from surveys in coastal and marine environments. A roving creel survey of recreational shore-based fishers in Western Australia in 2019 enabled a direct comparison between the two methods. Randomisation strategies were employed to ensure biases in using each technique were minimised. A total of 1,068 interviews with recreational fishers were undertaken with a total error rate of 5.1% (CI95%: 4.8-5.3%) for PDC and 3.1% (CI95%: 2.9-3.3%) for EDC. These results confirmed that EDC can reduce errors whilst increasing efficiency and decreasing cost, although some aspects of this platform could be improved with some streamlining. This study demonstrates how EDC can be successfully implemented in coastal and marine environments without compromising the randomised, stratified nature of a survey and highlights the cost-effectiveness of this method. Such findings can be widely applied to any discipline which uses face-to-face interviews for data collection., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Overuse of empirical intravenous antibiotics in neonates in high-income countries (HICs) is well documented. The Kaiser Permanente neonatal early-onset sepsis (EOS) calculator is an evidence-based sepsis risk assessment tool that has demonstrated potential to reduce antibiotic usage in this population. The incidence of early-onset sepsis in most HICs is 0.4–0.8 per 1000 live births. The objective was to evaluate the calculator's impact on antibiotic rates and length of stay in a regional level II Special Care Nursery. A single-centre retrospective cohort study compared antibiotic administration rates in the first 72 h in neonates ≥35 weeks gestation born during two 6-month periods in 2019 (pre-EOS calculator) and 2021 (post-EOS calculator). Electronic and paper case records were accessed to capture data. Continuous data were summarised using mean and standard deviation, and categorical data were summarized using frequency distributions. There were 951 (2019) and 1129 (2021) infants born during the study periods. Following implementation of the calculator, antibiotic exposure decreased from 13.7% to 4.7% of all neonates without reported negative outcomes. Mean length of stay for neonates born across the two periods decreased from 2.38 to 2.13 days. Indications for antibiotic use shifted more towards clinical condition and away from obstetric risk factors. There were no culture-proven cases of sepsis or readmissions with EOS in either period. Implementation of the EOS calculator significantly reduced exposure to antibiotics, without adverse outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research protocol described aims to examine and establish the health outcomes of children and young people living in Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) in Perth, Western Australia (WA) from the perspective of the care recipients and service providers. A Study Advisory Panel (SAP) will be established comprised of Aboriginal Elders (because of the over-representation of Aboriginal children in OOHC), health professionals and other relevant stakeholders to help co-design all phases of the study. Mixed methods will be used in data collection and analysis. In the quantitative phase, it is proposed to collect retrospective data from three WA Department of Communities (DOC) districts. The data proposed to be collected includes: the number of children who received initial and annual health assessments, the health needs identified, and interventions put in place to address these needs. The qualitative phase will consist of interviews with service recipients (young people who have exited OOHC and Carers), health service providers (Community Health Nurses, School Nurses, General Practitioners and Paediatricians) and OOHC Case Workers. The research will provide an overview of the current health needs of children and young people in OOHC in WA and the perspectives of these young people, their Carers and service providers on current processes for accessing healthcare. It is anticipated that the study will provide valuable evidence for quality improvement in health service delivery to better meet the health needs of children and young people in OOHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Existing therapeutic interventions to treat diabetes are well known, yet the majority of people with diabetes do not consistently achieve blood glucose targets (even individual therapy targets) for optimal health, despite the large range of treatment options available. Such outcomes have remained stubbornly poor for decades with <25% adults with diabetes achieving glycaemic targets. Patient behaviour, individually supported in routine clinical care, is an important missing component to improved outcomes, in a medical healthcare model not ideally suited to supporting successful diabetes management.Methods: A multi-centre, parallel group, individually randomised trial comparing consultation duration in adults with type 1, type 2 or pre-diabetes using the Spotlight Consultations pre-clinic assessment compared to usual care in the Spotlight-AQ study. Two hundred adults with type 1, type 2 or pre-diabetes attending routine care outpatient appointments across up to ten participating sites will be invited to participate.Intervention: An outpatient pre-clinic intervention delivered within 1 week prior to scheduled routine outpatient appointment.Primary Outcome Measure: Duration of routine outpatient consultation.Secondary Outcome Measures: Functional health status Diabetes distress Depression Treatment satisfaction Impact on self-care behaviours HCP burnout HCP treatment satisfaction and burden Hypoglycaemia (time less than 70mg/dL) Hyperglycaemia (time above 180 mg/dL) Change in weight Change in HbA1c Cost effectiveness of intervention DISCUSSION: Results from the study will provide valuable insights into patient-professional communication practices within routine care and recommendations will be made, as necessary, for improvements to that. If the intervention is shown to be clinically and cost-effective, the feedback from participants and healthcare professionals will be used to make any improvements prior to its deployment to support improved communication and associated health outcomes.Ethics and Dissemination: The trial was approved by the Wales REC7 Research Ethics Committee (21/WA/0020). Results will be disseminated through national and international conferences, scientific journals, newsletters, magazines and social media. Target audiences include consultants and other clinicians in diabetes, and medical professionals or scientists overall.Trial Registration: ISRCTN15511689 . Registered on 10 November 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic presented the unique challenge of having to deliver novel vaccines during a public health crisis. For pediatric patients, it was further complicated by the delayed timeline for authorizing the vaccine and the differences in dosing/products depending on the patient's age. This paper investigates the relationship between the spatial accessibility and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in King County, WA, USA. Public data for COVID-19 vaccine sites were used to calculate spatial accessibility using an enhanced two-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA) technique. Spatial regression analyses were performed to look at the relationship between spatial accessibility and ZIP-code-level vaccination rates. The relationships of these data with other socioeconomic and demographic variables were calculated as well. Higher rates of vaccine accessibility and vaccine coverage were found in adolescent (12- to 17-year-old) individuals relative to school-age (5- to 11-year-old) individuals. Vaccine accessibility was positively associated with coverage in both age groups in the univariable analysis. This relationship was affected by neighborhood educational attainment. This paper demonstrates how measures such as E2SFCA can be used to calculate the accessibility of the COVID-19 vaccine in a region and provides insight into some of the ecological factors that affect COVID-19 vaccination rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing macroeconomic forecasting methods primarily focus on the characteristics of economic data, but they overlook the energy-related features concealed behind these economic characteristics, which may lead to inaccurate GDP predictions. Therefore, this paper meticulously analyzes the relationship between energy big data and economic data indicators, explores the coupling feature mining of energy big data and economic data, and constructs features coupling economic and energy data. Targeting the nonlinear variation coupling features in China's quarterly GDP data and using the long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model based on deep learning, we employ wavelet analysis technology (WA) to decompose selected macroeconomic variables and construct a prediction model combining LSTM and WA, which is further compared with multiple benchmark models. The research findings show that, in terms of quarterly GDP data prediction, the combined deep learning model and wavelet analysis significantly outperform other methods. When processing structurally complex, nonlinear, and multi-variable data, the LSTM and WA combined prediction model demonstrate better generalization capabilities, with its prediction accuracy generally surpassing other benchmark models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, web application frameworks have been widely practised by many developers to increase programming productivity as the frameworks are more flexible, rapidly built using CRUD operation, MVC-based, secure and most of them are published under an open-source license which will reduce the final cost of development. Although the CRUD automation in the web application framework boosts the development process, there are many important aspects of a web application absent from the CRUD output. Therefore, this multivocal literature review investigates the record management aspects that are required in modern WA and the perceived benefit of integrating the record management aspect into CRUD operation. The study extracted 284 publications from respectable scientific resources and the grey resources literature created by WA development practitioners outside academic mediums. After a detailed review process, only 14 scientific primary studies and 13 gray studies were considered for this review based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review shows that the most important aspects required in WA are search, role-based access control, retention, appraisal, search, audit trail, digital archiving, sharing, reporting, inactive files management and several other features. These important aspects have been analyzed and characterized according to its function and features. The method and procedure for integrating the specified aspect into CRUD operation are identified and discussed. Integrating and implementing the specified record management features into CRUD operation will boost the WA development productivity by producing more features as a standard output with integrated record management functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of regolith-hosted REE occurrences have recently been discovered in the Esperance region in southern Western Australia. This paper summarizes major characteristics of REE mineralization and discusses contributing factors and potential controls. The main aim is to explain why there is a lack of highly sought-after ion-adsorption-clay-type REE deposits across the region despite the presence of the regolith-hosted REE mineralization on a regional scale. Local mineralization mostly occurs as continuous flat-lying enrichment "blankets" within the residual regolith developed over Archaean–Proterozoic granite gneisses and granitoids with elevated REE content. The enriched horizon is commonly located in the lower saprolite and saprock and is accompanied by an overlying REE-depleted zone. This distribution pattern, together with the data on HREE fractionation and the presence of the supergene REE minerals, indicates chemogenic type enrichment formed by supergene REE mobilization into groundwater, downward transport, and accumulation in the lower part of the weathering profile. Residual REE accumulation processes due to bulk rock volume and mass reduction during weathering also contribute to mineralization. It is proposed that climate and groundwater chemistry are the critical regional controls on the distribution of REEs in the weathering profile and on their speciation in the enrichment zone. Cenozoic aridification of climate in southwest Australia heavily overprinted pre-existing REE distributions in the weathering profile. Acidic (pH < 4), highly saline groundwaters intensely leached away any relatively weakly bound, adsorbed or colloidal REE forms, moving them downward. Dissolved REEs precipitated as secondary phosphates in neutral to alkaline environment at lower Eh near the base of the weathering profile forming the supergene enrichment zone. Low denudation rates, characteristic of areas of low relief under the arid climate, are favourable for the preservation of the existing weathering profiles with REE mineralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a set of educational initiatives in Religious Education (RE). The paper addresses RE as an academic learning area and reserved for Kindergarten to Year 10 classrooms in Catholic schools. The initiatives described in the paper are evidence-based; they are guided by research and student achievement data addressing contemporary assessment reforms within the Australian educational context and considering the implications that the reforms have on the quality of student learning in RE. The reforms include quality assurance measures such as large-scale, standardised assessments (LSAs) and social moderation tools. The purpose of the measures is to establish standards that support the alignment of teaching and assessment practices. Such an alignment in the RE learning area has the potential to strengthen and improve student, as well as teacher, knowledge and understanding of the Catholic Faith Tradition. The paper draws from the Catholic RE school curriculum in Western Australia (WA), assessment principles outlined for schools in WA, an Australian Research Council Linkage project and local research about teacher perceptions of an LSA in RE. The paper supports local and national policy expectations recommending a review of the quality of RE as a learning area. Furthermore, given the prominence of the Catholic Church's mission of evangelisation and the nature and role of RE in Catholic schools as part of that mission, the paper endorses the Church's current stance on thoughtful dialogue and renewed efforts to bring a better understanding about Catholic culture and education to the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western Australia (WA), Religious Education (RE) is a mandated learning area within the compulsory years of the Catholic school sector. RE is advocated as a curriculum subject, timetabled for and assessed alongside other subjects and focussed on developing religious knowledge and understanding. In addition to the RE lesson, faith development, or catechesis occurs through the intersection of RE and other faith-based activities in the Catholic school. In the early learning centre that caters for children prior to compulsory schooling, there is no formalised RE curriculum and educators are tasked with raising the religious awareness of children as opportunities arise. This paper presents findings from research that explored educators' understandings of, and practices in, promoting children's spirituality specifically in connection to RE. As a result, the paper advocates for spirituality as the starting point for developing young children's religious beliefs. In addition, it become evident through this investigation that understandings of spirituality, religiosity and RE continue to be complex and educators require assistance to disentangle these if they are to intentionally promote children's spirituality, and subsequently, their religious beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a globally-significant agricultural crop used to feed millions of people. Lentils have been cultivated in the Australian states of Victoria and South Australia for several decades, but efforts are now being made to expand their cultivation into Western Australia and New South Wales. Plant architecture plays a pivotal role in adaptation, leading to improved and stable yields especially in new expansion regions. Image-based high-throughput phenomics technologies provide opportunities for an improved understanding of plant development, architecture, and trait genetics. This paper describes a novel method for mapping and quantifying individual branch structures on immature glasshouse-grown lentil plants grown using a LemnaTec Scanalyser 3D high-throughput phenomics platform, which collected side-view RGB images at regular intervals under controlled photographic conditions throughout the experiment. A queue and distance-based algorithm that analysed morphological skeletons generated from images of lentil plants was developed in Python. This code was incorporated into an image analysis pipeline using open-source software (PlantCV) to measure the number, angle, and length of individual branches on lentil plants. Results: Branching structures could be accurately identified and quantified in immature plants, which is sufficient for calculating early vigour traits, however the accuracy declined as the plants matured. Absolute accuracy for branch counts was 77.9% for plants at 22 days after sowing (DAS), 57.9% at 29 DAS and 51.9% at 36 DAS. Allowing for an error of ± 1 branch, the associated accuracies for the same time periods were 97.6%, 90.8% and 79.2% respectively. Occlusion in more mature plants made the mapping of branches less accurate, but the information collected could still be useful for trait estimation. For branch length calculations, the amount of variance explained by linear mixed-effects models was 82% for geodesic length and 87% for Euclidean branch lengths. Within these models, both the mean geodesic and Euclidean distance measurements of branches were found to be significantly affected by genotype, DAS and their interaction. Two informative metrices were derived from the calculations of branch angle; 'splay' is a measure of how far a branch angle deviates from being fully upright whilst 'angle-difference' is the difference between the smallest and largest recorded branch angle on each plant. The amount of variance explained by linear mixed-effects models was 38% for splay and 50% for angle difference. These lower R2 values are likely due to the inherent difficulties in measuring these parameters, nevertheless both splay and angle difference were found to be significantly affected by cultivar, DAS and their interaction. When 276 diverse lentil genotypes with varying degrees of salt tolerance were grown in a glasshouse-based experiment where a portion were subjected to a salt treatment, the branching algorithm was able to distinguish between salt-treated and untreated lentil lines based on differences in branch counts. Likewise, the mean geodesic and Euclidean distance measurements of branches were both found to be significantly affected by cultivar, DAS and salt treatment. The amount of variance explained by the linear mixed-effects models was 57.8% for geodesic branch length and 46.5% for Euclidean branch length. Conclusion: The methodology enabled the accurate quantification of the number, angle, and length of individual branches on glasshouse-grown lentil plants. This methodology could be applied to other dicotyledonous species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oral antineoplastic agents have caused a paradigm shift in cancer treatment, however, they produce many unique challenges. Although oral antineoplastics can have complex administration regimes, low adherence rates and high possibilities of drug-drug interactions, they are administered unsupervised at home. Cancer services pharmacists have the required skillsets to improve patient outcomes associated with oral antineoplastic treatment by increasing patient health literacy, improving concordance and optimising administration protocols. Aim: To evaluate patients' perceptions, experiences and overall satisfaction with dedicated clinical pharmacist consultations in patients treated with oral antineoplastic agents at a major public hospital. Method: In this retrospective cross-sectional study at a quaternary hospital in Western Australia, data were collected by a paper questionnaire (mailed in March 2022) to a random sample of 191 patients initiated on oral antineoplastic drugs between January 2021 and February 2022. Demographics, prescribed antineoplastic drug/s, cancer type data were collected including using 5-point Likert scale questions assess patients' overall satisfaction with the clinical pharmacist consultations. Results: The questionnaire response rate was 27.7% (52/188) (mean age 63.2 years; 57.5% female). Most patients (42/52; 80.8%) were satisfied with pharmacist consultations, trusted the pharmacist's advice (45/52; 86.5%), considered that the pharmacist improved their understanding of how to manage side effects (43/52; 82.7%) and they provided an important service in outpatient care (45/52; 86.5%). Conclusion: Overall, patients reported positive perceptions, experiences, and satisfaction with the cancer services pharmacist counselling services during their oral antineoplastic treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of preterm birth, neonatal morbidities and environmental influences on infant sleep development is an important yet under-researched topic, with little known about normative sleep for infants born sick or preterm. The aim of this prospective, observational longitudinal study was to evaluate maternal perceptions and degree of bother with infant sleep behaviours and feeding outcomes across the first 9 months after discharge for sick/preterm infants cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and for healthy term-born infants. This paper reports outcomes for the sick/preterm cohort (I = 94) that were recruited from two NICUs in Perth, Western Australia. Total bother scores were on average 20.2% higher at 9 months than at two weeks post-discharge (p < 0.001). Increased night waking frequency, evening settling duration and crying duration were all positively associated with total bother scores. Maternal confidence scores were negatively associated with maternal bother scores; with each unit increase in confidence, maternal bother decreased by 8.5% (p < 0.001). Covariates such as birth gestation, breastfeeding status and multiple births were not associated with maternal bother. Families may benefit from additional support when experiencing increased night waking frequency and crying and settling durations in the first 9 months after discharge from NICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypersaline Hamelin Pool, with mean salinity >65, is located in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The high salinity has reduced its biodiversity, but it is home to a diverse assemblage of modern marine stromatolites. The limited exchange of water between Hamelin Pool and the rest of Shark Bay, due to the presence of the shallow Faure Sill together with high evaporation and low rainfall-runoff have resulted in a hypersaline environment. With climate-change-induced mean sea level rise (MSLR), hydrodynamic processes that maintain the hypersaline environment may be affected and are the focus of this paper. Oceanographic observations, together with hydrodynamic model results, were used to examine the hydrodynamic processes under present and future MSLR scenarios. A large attenuation in the tidal range, changes in the tidal characteristics, and current speeds together with a strong salinity gradient were observed across the Faure Sill under present-day conditions. Under an MSLR scenario of 1 m, the tidal amplitude decreased by up to 10% to the north, whilst to the south, the tidal range increased by up to 15%. Regions of strong vertical stratification were present on both sides of the Faure Sill. The simulations indicated that, under MSLR scenarios, these regions expanded in area and exhibited higher levels of vertical stratification. The salt flux across the Faure Sill was maintained as a diffusive process under MSLR scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) is the main measure used in Australia for estimating fire risk. Recent work by the authors showed that the FFDI forms stable state regimes, nominated as fire climate regimes. These regimes shifted to greater intensity in southern and eastern Australia around the year 2000 and, a decade later, further north. Reductions in atmospheric moisture were the primary contributor. These changes have not been fully incorporated into future projections. This paper compares the recent regime shifts with the most recent national projections of FFDI, published in 2015. They show that for most states and regions, the 2030 upper limit is approached or exceeded by the recent shift, except for two states with large arid zones, South Australia and Western Australia. Methods for attributing past changes, constructing projections, and the inability of climate models to reproduce the recent decreases in atmospheric moisture, all contribute to these underestimates. To address these shortcomings, we make some suggestions to modify efforts aiming to develop seamless predictions and projections of future fire risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data that is collected at the individual-level from mobile phones is typically aggregated to the population-level for privacy reasons. If we are interested in answering questions regarding the mean, or working with groups appropriately modeled by a continuum, then this data is immediately informative. However, coupling such data regarding a population to a model that requires information at the individual-level raises a number of complexities. This is the case if we aim to characterize human mobility and simulate the spatial and geographical spread of a disease by dealing in discrete, absolute numbers. In this work, we highlight the hurdles faced and outline how they can be overcome to effectively leverage the specific dataset: Google COVID-19 Aggregated Mobility Research Dataset (GAMRD). Using a case study of Western Australia, which has many sparsely populated regions with incomplete data, we firstly demonstrate how to overcome these challenges to approximate absolute flow of people around a transport network from the aggregated data. Overlaying this evolving mobility network with a compartmental model for disease that incorporated vaccination status we run simulations and draw meaningful conclusions about the spread of COVID-19 throughout the state without de-anonymizing the data. We can see that towns in the Pilbara region are highly vulnerable to an outbreak originating in Perth. Further, we show that regional restrictions on travel are not enough to stop the spread of the virus from reaching regional Western Australia. The methods explained in this paper can be therefore used to analyze disease outbreaks in similarly sparse populations. We demonstrate that using this data appropriately can be used to inform public health policies and have an impact in pandemic responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To establish the burden of respiratory illness in cerebral palsy (CP) on the Western Australian health care system by quantifying the costs of respiratory hospitalizations in children with CP, compared with non‐respiratory hospitalizations. Method: A 2‐year (2014–2015) retrospective study using linked hospital data (excluding emergency department visits), in a population of children with CP in Western Australia aged 18 years and under (median age at hospitalization 7 years; interquartile range 5–12 years). Results: In 671 individuals (57% male) there were 726 emergency hospitalizations, and 1631 elective hospitalizations. Although there were more elective hospitalizations, emergency hospitalizations were associated with longer stays in hospital, and more days in an intensive care unit, resulting in a higher total cost of emergency hospitalizations than elective hospitalizations (total costs: emergency AU$7 748 718 vs elective AU$6 738 187). 'Respiratory' was the leading cause of emergency hospitalizations, contributing to 36% of all emergency admission costs. For a group of high‐cost inpatient users (top 5% of individuals with the highest total inpatient costs) the most common reason for hospitalization was 'respiratory'. Where non‐respiratory admissions were complicated by an additional respiratory diagnosis, length of stay was greater. Interpretation: Respiratory hospitalizations in CP are a significant driver of health care costs. In the paediatric group, they are a burden for a subgroup of children with CP. What this paper adds: Respiratory illness is the most costly area for unplanned, emergency hospitalizations for children and young people with cerebral palsy.The top 5% of individuals with the highest total inpatient costs account for a disproportionate amount of health care costs. What this paper adds: Respiratory illness is the most costly area for unplanned, emergency hospitalizations for children and young people with cerebral palsy.The top 5% of individuals with the highest total inpatient costs account for a disproportionate amount of health care costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the simulation of Cyclone Nicholas that occurred close to the coastal area of Western Australia and fell on the mainland of Southwestern Australia. The simulation was conducted via a dynamical downscaling model, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), to obtain a higher resolution with reference to the regional climate data. The model simulation is generated using a global reanalysis of climate data for the initial and lateral boundary conditions. We investigated the response of the tropical storm to the model regarding the track and intensity using a modified Kyklop method that appears more appropriate for a landfall cyclone. Our study suggests that the regional climate data computed by the model deviates from the storm track of the global climate data forcing field. In this study, the track of the simulated storm is parallel to the satellite data, but it is shifted slightly to the east, closer to the mainland. Nevertheless, the model simulation can implement the intensity of the storm as strongly as the observation, while the forcing data delivers substantial underestimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common vetch is one of the most profitable forage legumes due to its versatility in end-use which includes grain, hay, green manure, and silage. Furthermore, common vetch is one of the best crops to rotate with cereals as it can increase soil fertility which results in higher yield in cereal crops. The National Vetch Breeding Program located in South Australia is focused on developing new vetch varieties with higher grain and dry matter yields, better resistance to major diseases, and wider adaptability to Australian cropping environments. As part of this program, a study was conducted with 35 field trials from 2015 to 2021 in South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales with the objective of determining the best parents for future crosses and the vetch lines with highest commercial value in terms of grain yield production. A total of 392 varieties were evaluated. The individual field trials were combined in a multi-environment trial data, where each trial is identified as an environment. Multiplicative mixed models were used to analyze the data and a factor analytic approach to model the genetic by environment interaction effects. The pedigree of the lines was then assembled and incorporated into the analysis. This approach allowed to partition the total effects into additive and non-additive components. The total and additive genetic effects were inspected across and within environments for broad and specific selections of the lines with the best commercial value and the best parents. Summary measures of overall performance and stability were used to aid with selection of parents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which used the pedigree information to breed common vetch. In this paper, the application of this statistical methodology has been successfully implemented with the inclusion of the pedigree improving the fit of the models to the data with most of the total genetic variation explained by the additive heritable component. The results of this study have shown the importance of including the pedigree information for common vetch breeding programs and have improved the ability of breeders to select superior commercial lines and parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The objective of this paper is an experimental study of the most crucial parameters of the received acoustic signals (e.g. signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), side-lobes level (SLL), axial resolution) obtained as a result of simultaneous emission of mutually orthogonal Golay complementary sequences (MOGCS) to demonstrate their feasibility of being used in ultrasound diagnostics. Application of the MOGCS in ultrasound measurements allows the image reconstruction time to be shortened without decreasing the resulting quality of reconstructed images in comparison with regular complementary Golay coded sequences (CGCS). In this paper two sets of 16-bits long MOGCS were implemented in the Verasonics Vantage™ (Verasonics Inc., Kirkland, WA, USA) scanner. Ultrasound data were generated using a perfect reflector, a custom-made nylon wire phantom and tissue mimicking phantom. Parameters of the detected MOGCS echoes like SNR, SLL and axial resolution were determined and compared to that of the standard CGCS and the short two-sine cycles pulse. It was evidenced that applying MOGCS did not compromise the parameters of the separated and compressed echoes in comparison to the other types of transmitted signal - the CGCS and the short pulse. Concretely, both the MOGCS and CGCS yield similar SNR increase in comparison to the short pulse. Almost similar values of the axial resolution estimated at the full width at the half maximum level for all types of the transmitted signals were also obtained. At the same time, using the MOGCS the data acquisition speed can be increased twice in comparison with the CGCS signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive modulation received significant attention for underwater acoustic (UA) communication systems with the aim of increasing the system efficiency. It is challenging to attain a high data rate in UA communication, as UA channels vary fast, along with the environmental factors. For a time-varying UA channel, a self-adaptive system is an attractive option, which can choose the best method according to the channel condition to guarantee the continuous connectivity and high performance constantly. A real-time orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based adaptive UA communication system is presented in this paper, employing the National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW software and NI CompactDAQ device. In this paper, the received SNR is considered as a performance metric to select the transmission parameters, which are sent back to the transmitter for data transmission. In this research, a UA OFDM communication system is developed, employing adaptive modulation schemes for a nonstationary UA environment which allows to select subcarriers, modulation size, and allocate power adaptively to enhance the reliability of communication, guarantee continuous connectivity, and boost data rate. The recent UA communication experiments carried out in the Canning River, Western Australia, verify the performance of the proposed adaptive UA OFDM system, and the experimental results confirm the superiority of the proposed adaptive scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Longitudinal cohort studies have made significant contributions to medical discoveries and provide the impetus for health interventions which reduce the risk of disease. Establishing and maintaining these cohorts is challenging and costly. While some attrition is unavoidable, maintaining a sufficient number of participants ensures that results remain representative and free from bias. Numerous studies have investigated ways to reduce attrition but few studies have sought to understand the experience of participants, and none have examined this through a social marketing framework. This first paper in a two part-series describes participants' experiences according to: benefits, barriers, motivators and influencers. The second paper uses this understanding to address issues relating to the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion) of social marketing.Methods: Participants were recruited from the Raine Study, a pregnancy cohort study that has been running in Western Australia since 1989. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 29 active and inactive participants from the Generation 2 cohort, who were originally enrolled in the Raine Study at birth by their parents (Generation 1). 'Active' participants (n = 17) were defined as those who agreed to attend their 27 year follow-up, while 'inactive' (n = 12) participants were defined as those who had not attended either of the past two follow-ups (at 22 and 27 years).Results: There were considerable differences between active and inactive participants, with active participants perceiving far more personal and collective benefits from their participation. Inactive participants described being constrained by structural barriers around work and life, whereas active participants were able to overcome them to attend follow-ups. Inactive participants also described the value of extrinsic incentives which might motivate their attendance, and active participants described the role of their parents as significant influencers in their propensity to remain in the study.Conclusions: This paper provides rich descriptions of what participation in a long-running study means to participants. Use of a social marketing framework ensured that participants were constructed as 'human consumers' who are influenced by individual and broader social systems. Understanding participants in this way means that differentiated strategies can be tailored to enhance retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) appears to be essential for lowering emissions during the necessary energy transition. However, in Australia, it has not delivered this result, at any useful scale, and this needs explanation. To investigate the reasons for this failure, the paper undertakes a historical and social case study of the Gorgon gas project in Western Australia, which is often declared to be one of the biggest CCS projects in the world. The Gorgon project could be expected to succeed, as it has the backing of government, a practical and economic reason for removing CO2, a history of previous exploration, nearby storage sites, experienced operators and managers, and long-term taxpayer liability for problems. However, it has run late, failed to meet its targets, and not lowered net emissions. The paper explores the social factors which seem to be disrupting the process. These factors include the commercial imperatives of the operation, the lack of incentives, the complexity of the process, the presence of ignored routine problems, geological issues (even in a well-explored area), technical failures, regulatory threats even if minor, tax issues, and the project increasing emissions and consuming carbon budgets despite claims otherwise. The results of this case study suggest that CCS may work in theory, but not well enough under some contemporary forms of social organisation, and the possibilities of CCS cannot be separated from its social background. Social dynamics should be included in CCS projections to enhance the accuracy of expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a maintenance scheduling model for digester banks. Digester banks are network-connected assets that lie on the critical path of the Bayer process, a chemical refinement process that converts bauxite ore into alumina. The banks require different maintenance activities at different due times. Furthermore, the maintenance schedule is subject to production-related constraints and resource limitations. Given the complexity of scheduling maintenance for large fleets of digester banks, a continuous-time, mixed-integer linear program is formulated to find the cost-minimising maintenance schedule that satisfies all required constraints. A solution approach that employs lazy constraints and Benders decomposition is proposed to solve the model. Unlike generic implementations of Benders decomposition, we show that the subproblems can be solved explicitly using a specialist algorithm. We solve the scheduling model for realistic scenarios involving two Bayer refineries based in Western Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to investigate how human resource professionals (HRPs), in a variety of organizations, responded to the crisis brought about by the event of COVID-19. In particular, it aims to show how organizations, across all sectors, in Western Australia responded with urgency and flexibility to the crisis and showed "resilience in practice". Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on 136 questionnaire responses, 32 interviews and 25 managerial narratives. The mixed qualitative methodology was designed to enable an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 and the response of HRPs. Findings: HRPs have responded with agility and flexibility to the impact of COVID-19. They have done so through extensive trial and error, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. They have not simply activated a preconceived continuity plan. Research limitations/implications: The research indicates that resilience is an ongoing accomplishment of organizations and the people in them. The objective was description rather than prescription, and the research does not offer solutions to future pandemic-like situations. Practical implications: The research suggests that, given the impact of COVID-19 on organizations, HR practices, processes and policies will need to be thoroughly reconsidered for relevance in the post-COVID world. Possible future directions are highlighted. Originality/value: The research considers the actions of HRPs as they responded to a global crisis as the crisis unfolded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods quantify the impact of life cycle inventory data within each impact category by means of classification and characterization. This paper evaluated whether the selected LCIA method influenced the life cycle assessment (LCA) scenario analysis for decision support in process development and its possible reasons. For this study, a scenario analysis was used from a biorefinery LCA case study, as this is a key practice in process development. The analysis was investigated using various LCIA methods for the three midpoint impact categories of global warming potential (GWP, 12 LCIA methods totaling 48 subcategories), eutrophication potential (EP, 9 LCIA methods totaling 18 subcategories), and water assessment (WA, 10 LCIA methods totaling 26 subcategories). The GWP category showed consistent interpretations for the scenario analysis from different LCIA methods. The subcategory of marine EP from the two LCIA methods disagreed on the best-case scenario. Another discrepancy was identified within the three general EP indicators, where the trend of the scenario analysis was inverted in one method because of the sensitivity of a single substance (ethanol). Within the subcategories of WA, the inclusion or exclusion of hydropower water impacts changed the scenario analysis in the blue water use and total freshwater use subcategories, and the general WA indicators also disagreed on the best-case scenario. It is important to understand these influences and the reasons behind the variations for decision support in process development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to 2020, ongoing discourse in the higher education sector underscored the increasingly complex mental health and wellbeing challenges faced by students. The "post-COVID-19" period witnessed a resurgence of international students arriving in Western Australia. Emerging cost of living pressures, accommodation shortages, and changing visa work hours have amplified the distinct challenges international students encounter, prompting renewed discussions surrounding a need for effective support interventions. Drawing inspiration from successful initiatives at Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University introduced the Murdoch International Café--a program focused on providing distinct spaces of support for international students. This supportive environment enables social connection, effective information sharing, and normalised student challenges and support seeking behaviour. Additionally, Murdoch University's Virtual International Student Hub (VISH) extends this support online. In this paper, collaborative autoethnographic methods offer insights into the efficacy of these initiatives and further explore how these proactive, student-centric mental health interventions potentially cater to the evolving needs of international students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the progressive clinical trajectory of motor neurone disease (MND) is widely understood, multiple challenges remain preventing optimal end-of-life care for this population with unique needs from the patient, carer and service provider perspectives. This paper reports on the experiences, gaps in service and unmet needs of MND patients and family carers and explores public health palliative care approaches that would facilitate coordinated and integrated care to respond to their changing needs. This is a qualitative study of responses to questions in an online consumer survey (353 respondents) in Western Australia (2020), focusing on a subset of 29 current and bereaved carers of people with MND who have used health services in the last five years. The analysis identified themes, highlighting the insufficient integration of services across health and social care; poor and unequal access to coordinated palliative care; significant gaps in the knowledge base of the workforce and a failure to meet the consumer expectations of person-centred care. For palliative care to be accessible to those living with MND and other under-served conditions, there needs to be a shift to more comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable options, such as the public health approach to palliative/end-of-life care that engages the assets of local communities in partnership with health services, one example being the "Compassionate Communities Connectors" model of care. Further considerations include advocacy for policy changes, fostering partnerships and developing indicators for evaluating the impact of the proposed models of care. The end result is not only better care but substantial savings for the health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adaptations for scale-up are ubiquitous but are rarely described in detail. Adaptations may be a key reason for the "scale-up penalty" which is when there is a reduction in intervention effect size following scale-up. The Play Active intervention consists of a physical activity policy for early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, with accompanying implementation support strategies. It was first implemented with 81 ECEC services in Perth, Western Australia, in 2021 — with significant positive changes in physical activity practice uptake. The aim of this paper is to describe the extent, type, fidelity consistency, goals, size, scope, and proposed impact of proposed adaptations to the implementation support strategies for scaling-up Play Active. Methods: Proposed adaptations were defined as planned changes, made prior to making the intervention available. The authors created a list of adaptations from a comparison of the Play Active implementation support strategies, before and after adaptation for proposed statewide availability across Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia, Australia. We used the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications-Enhanced Implementation Strategies (FRAME-IS) to code adaptations to implementation support strategies. Three authors coded each adaptation and rated their size, scope and proposed impact. Results: Fifty-three adaptations to Play Active were identified. Most (68%) were proposed for the 'content' of implementation strategies, including aspects of their delivery. In practice, this involved changing the delivery mode of implementation support strategies from phone call and email support, to website-based delivery. More than half (56%) of adaptations involved 'adding elements' for scale-up. Most adaptations were 'fidelity consistent' (95%). The main goals for adaptations were related to 'increasing the acceptability, appropriateness, or feasibility' (45%), 'decreasing the costs' (19%) and 'increasing adoption of the evidence-based practice' (19%). Adaptations were small to medium in size, with most proposed to have a positive (87%) or neutral (8%) effect on the effectiveness of the intervention, rather than negative (4%). Conclusions: A large number of small, fidelity-consistent, adaptations were proposed for Play Active scale-up. Overall, the process of reporting adaptations was found to be feasible. To understand the impact of these adaptations, it will be important to re-evaluate implementation, effectiveness and process outcomes, at-scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the transactional patterns of Ebook Library (EBL), one of the aggregator platforms owned by ProQuest, e-book titles at the Edith Cowan University (ECU), Western Australia to know the way and extent of usage. This study is longitudinal, involving three years’ worth of EBL usage data, investigating information seeking behavior by scholarly users of e-books employing statistical log analysis of the metadata datasets (logs) that describe e-book use. This study compares three years’ transaction logs for EBL e-book titles used by the ECU community. The metrics used include aggregate trends, views, minutes spent, titles used, users, academic calendar, sessions, searches, and item type. This paper may be useful for librarians to make evidence-based informed decisions while selecting the e-book acquisition model of aggregator/supplier platforms. The e -book researchers may also find this paper useful to explore further metrics of e -book user behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effective and scalable prevention approaches are urgently needed to address the rapidly increasing rates of e-cigarette use among adolescents. School-based eHealth interventions can be an efficient, effective, and economical approach, yet there are none targeting e-cigarettes within Australia. This paper describes the protocol of the OurFutures Vaping Trial which aims to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the first school-based eHealth intervention targeting e-cigarettes in Australia. Methods: A two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial will be conducted among Year 7 and 8 students (aged 12–14 years) in 42 secondary schools across New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland, Australia. Using stratified block randomisation, schools will be assigned to either the OurFutures Vaping Program intervention group or an active control group (health education as usual). The intervention consists of four web-based cartoon lessons and accompanying activities delivered during health education over a four-week period. Whilst primarily focused on e-cigarette use, the program simultaneously addresses tobacco cigarette use. Students will complete online self-report surveys at baseline, post-intervention, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 36-months after baseline. The primary outcome is the uptake of e-cigarette use at 12-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes include the uptake of tobacco smoking, frequency/quantity of e-cigarettes use and tobacco smoking, intentions to use e-cigarettes/tobacco cigarettes, knowledge about e-cigarettes/tobacco cigarettes, motives and attitudes relating to e-cigarettes, self-efficacy to resist peer pressure and refuse e-cigarettes, mental health, quality of life, and resource utilisation. Generalized mixed effects regression will investigate whether receiving the intervention reduces the likelihood of primary and secondary outcomes. Cost-effectiveness and the effect on primary and secondary outcomes will also be examined over the longer-term. Discussion: If effective, the intervention will be readily accessible to schools via the OurFutures platform and has the potential to make substantial health and economic impact. Without such intervention, young Australians will be the first generation to use nicotine at higher rates than previous generations, thereby undoing decades of effective tobacco control. Trial registration: The trial has been prospectively registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12623000022662; date registered: 10/01/2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual power plants (VPPs) are an effective platform for attracting private investment and customer engagement to speed up the integration of green renewable resources. In this paper, a robust bidding strategy to participate in both energy and ancillary service markets in the wholesale electricity market is proposed for a realistic VPP in Western Australia. The strategy is accurate and fast, so the VPP can bid in a very short time period. To engage customers in the demand management schemes of the VPP, the gamified approach is utilized to make the exercise enjoyable while not compromising their comfort levels. The modelling of revenue, expenses, and profit for the load-following ancillary service (LFAS) is provided, and the effective bidding strategy is developed. The simulation results show a significant improvement in the financial indicators of the VPP when participating in both the LFAS and energy markets. The payback period can be improved by 3 years to the payback period of 6 years and the internal rate of return (IRR) by 7.5% to the IRR of 18% by participating in both markets. The accuracy and speed of the proposed bidding strategy method is evident when compared with a mathematical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools can have a significant role in affecting the mental health and wellbeing of both students and staff, with considerable implications for society as a whole. Hence, there is a need for school-based interventions to both assist those experiencing mental health problems and to implement activities and policies that facilitate the enhancement and maintenance of good mental health. Unlike most school mental health interventions that are focussed on, and specific to, the school setting, the Act–Belong–Commit Mentally Healthy Schools Framework is based on the principles of the Act–Belong–Commit community-wide general population mental health promotion campaign, which has been adapted to the school setting via the World Health Organisation's Health Promoting Schools Framework. The Mentally Healthy Schools Framework is a whole-school approach to enhancing both student and staff mental health. This paper reports the findings of a preliminary impact survey administered to students after the adoption of the Framework in a number of primary and secondary schools in Western Australia. Students from two schools that had only recently adopted the Framework completed a "Baseline" questionnaire, and students from three schools that had been implementing the Framework for at least 17 months completed a "Follow-up" questionnaire. The results suggest that the Mentally Healthy Schools Framework, adapted from a community-wide campaign, can have a positive impact on students in terms of increasing openness about mental health, increasing awareness of behaviours conducive to good mental health, and increasing engagement in behaviours to improve their mental health. Such positive impacts have clear implications not only for prevention of mental disorders, but for academic achievement, employment, and overall contribution to society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myopia is a significant cause of visual impairment which may lead to many complications. However, the understanding of the mechanisms of myopia is still limited. In this paper, in order to investigate the development and the treatment of myopia, we analyzed the biological structure parameters of mice eyes, obtained from optical coherence tomography (OCT), and the optical performance of mice eyes calculated using ZEMAX software (ZEMAX Development Corporation, Kirkland, WA, USA) in which the optical model was built on the segment-by-segment optically corrected OCT 3D-images. Time-serial evaluation of three groups of mice eyes (form-deprivation myopia mice eyes, normal mice eyes, and atropine-treated myopia mice eyes) was performed. In addition to the biological structure parameters, imaging performance with the development of root-mean-square wavefront aberration at six filed angles was compared and analyzed. Results show that the biological structure parameters of the eye are closely related to the development of myopia. The peripheral defocus of the retina has a significant impact on inducing myopia, which verifies the new theory of myopia development. The delaying effect of atropine solution on myopia development is shown to verify the therapeutic effect of the medicine. This study provides technical support for the investigation of the myopia mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence suggests that Aboriginal babies in Western Australia are not receiving adequate primary health care in their first 3 months of life, leading to questions about enablers and constraints to delivering such care. This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project investigating health providers' perceptions and experiences of best and current practice in discharge planning, postnatal care and health education for Aboriginal mothers and their newborn babies. Methods: Constructivist grounded theory guided this research involving 58 semi-structured interviews conducted with health providers who deliver care to Aboriginal mothers and infants. Participants were recruited from hospital-based and primary health sites in metropolitan Perth, and regional and remote locations in Western Australia. Results: Structural factors enabling best practice in discharge planning, postnatal care, and health education for mothers included health providers following best practice guidelines and adequate staffing levels. Organisational enablers included continuity of care throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatally. In particular, good communication between services around discharge planning, birth notifications, and training in culturally respectful care. Structural and organisational constraints to delivering best practice and compromising continuity of care were identified as beyond individual control. These included poor communication between different health and social services, insufficient hospital staffing levels leading to early discharge, inadequate cultural training, delayed receipt of birth notifications and discharge summaries received by Aboriginal primary health services. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of examining current policies and practices to promote best practice in postnatal care to improve health outcomes for mothers and their Aboriginal babies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian hummock genus Triodia R.Br. is currently undergoing taxonomic revision in light of new collections from surveys of remote Australia and increased resolution provided by molecular methods. This paper describes four new species of Triodia from the Pilbara and adjacent IBRA bioregions: T. avenoides M.D.Barrett, T. degreyensis M.D.Barrett, T. karijini M.D.Barrett & S.J.Dillon, and T. lutiteana M.D.Barrett & P.-L. de Kock. All four species are 'soft' spinifexes with elongate glumes and lemma lobes subulate to awned, and are only known from the Pilbara and adjacent Carnarvon and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia. Triodia degreyensis is known from a single range system in the north-eastern Pilbara. The taxon formerly known by the phrase name T. sp. Karijini (S. van Leeuwen 4111) is formally described here as T. karijini, and is restricted to mountains above 900 m altitude in the eastern Hamersley Range. Triodia lutiteana is only known from shale substrates north-west of Tom Price, and may be a polyploid species. The new species T. avenoides is segregated from T. schinzii (Henrard) Lazarides based on morphological and molecular differences and a disjunct distribution on sand sheets and dunes of the Carnarvon basin. The central Australian species T. helmsii (C.E.Hubb.) Lazarides is newly synonymised with T. schinzii, since no clear morphological or genetic differences between the two could be established. An amended description of T. schinzii is provided to accommodate these alterations to the species concept. Diagnostic character combinations for each species are given to allow discrimination from all other Triodia species. Triodia degreyensis, T. karijini and T. lutiteana are known from between one and four localities, and have priority conservation statuses, while T. avenoides and T. schinzii are not considered threatened. With the species described here, a total of 29 species and one hybrid are now known from the Pilbara bioregion and its immediate surrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To describe post‐neonatally acquired (PNN) cerebral palsy (CP) in terms of temporal trends in prevalence, clinical and sociodemographic profiles, known causes and associations between causes, and sociodemographic variables. Method: Numerator data, a count of children with PNN‐CP confirmed at 5 years of age (n = 523), was drawn from two Australian state CP registers (birth years 1973–2012). Poisson regression was used to investigate temporal trends in the prevalence of PNN‐CP by 5‐year intervals, calculated per 10 000 live births. Using data from all state and territory Australian CP registers (n = 469), distributions of clinical characteristics, PNN‐CP causes, and sociodemographic factors were tabulated (birth years 1995–2012). χ2 and logistic regression analyses were used to assess associations between sociodemographic profile, Australian reference data, and known causes. Results: A significant temporal decline in PNN‐CP in Victoria (p = 0.047) and Western Australia (p = 0.033) was observed. The most common proximal causes of PNN‐CP were cerebrovascular accidents (34%, n = 158), infection (25%, n = 117), and non‐accidental injuries (12%, n = 58). Children born to teenage mothers, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mothers, or children born in remote areas were over‐represented in this cohort compared with reference data (all p ≤ 0.001). Infectious causes were strongly associated with teenage motherhood (odds ratio 3.0 [95% confidence interval 1.1–8.2], p = 0.028) and remote living (odds ratio 4.5 [95% confidence interval 2.0–10.2], p < 0.001). Interpretation: Although prevalence of PNN‐CP has declined, the over‐representation of priority populations, and the relative severity of a condition that is largely preventable, suggest the need for more specific primary preventive measures and support. What this paper adds: Prevalence of post‐neonatally acquired (PNN) cerebral palsy (CP) in Australia significantly declined between 1973 and 2012.Cerebrovascular accidents are the most common proximal cause of PNN‐CP.Children born in remote areas are at greater risk of PNN‐CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western‐democratic countries, it is widely accepted that affected communities should be involved in natural resource planning and decisions. This is especially so when the well‐being of diverse communities is directly involved, and where alternative future options are being considered. Although there is an agreement that 'values' and 'well‐being', in some form, guide decisions, there is no consensus on the well‐being framework(s) that might be used in participatory planning.To assist a multicultural group in assessing alternative future development scenarios for the Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) in Western Australia, we developed a well‐being framework that culturally diverse communities could share and use to discuss and assess scenarios. In this paper, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of the well‐being framework used to assess the potential impacts of scenarios by (i) analysing how effectively participants used the well‐being framework; (ii) verifying whether the well‐being framework was sensitive to the cultural diversity of participants and (iii) direct evaluation by workshop participants.Our analysis shows that participants effectively applied most well‐being categories, and the framework was sensitive to the cross‐cultural context of the application by capturing Aboriginal cultural elements. However, the approach can be improved by including principles of behaviour; producing a more complete system model; and reviewing and amending the well‐being categories in more extensive community consultation.We conclude that the interaction among different worldviews generated valuable knowledge and that, with further adaptation, the framework shows promise for applications involving similar tasks in culturally diverse contexts. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to derive the time-varying relative export competitiveness (REC) of the Nigerian cocoa sector against Nigeria's share of world agricultural exports (REC_WA) and world merchandise exports (REC_WM) from 1995 to 2018. By concentrating on different factors such as demand and supply capacity, price factors and exchange rate, the authors examine the determinants of REC. Design/methodology/approach: The authors calculated three different REC indexes. The authors also developed the relative symmetric export competitiveness index for comparative advantage calculation and avoiding the possible bias. The determinants of REC for Nigerian cocoa were captured using the short-run regression (SRR) model. Findings: The study showed that Nigeria's cocoa exports are still competitive despite experiencing some declining stages. Based on the SRR model, higher per capita income had a positive effect on the REC, while higher domestic prices significantly reduced the REC of cocoa. Further, the African Growth Opportunity Act agreement adversely affected the REC of cocoa. Originality/value: This study provides a foundation for future research and enhances the literature on agricultural trade. This research makes a few contributions both from a scientific and a policy perspective. First, it is the first study on the REC analysis for the Nigerian cocoa industry. Second, a wide range of comparisons of REC among the world's largest cocoa exporters was provided following implications of the various economic policies and local policy strategies. Third, the latest 24-year data sets were covered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper uses a constructivist phenomenological study with 55 in-depth interviews. • Participants include representatives from diverse Western Australian businesses. • Uses a workplace vignette to elicit cultural norms from the participants. • Thematic analysis used to classify interview text into specific concepts and phrases. • New employees, pro-active approach, and 'No-blame' culture are the key themes. Introduction: This paper uses an extensive review of the safety culture literature to identify three key themes (a) role of new employees, (b) absence of a pro-active approach, and (c) need for a 'No-blame' culture, and explores their impact on the occupational health and safety culture (OHS). Method: We use a qualitative study with a constructivist phenomenological approach consisting of 55 in-depth interviews with a diverse range of participants, including business owners, line managers and supervisors, OHS advisors, workers, and union representatives in Western Australia. A workplace vignette was used to elicit cultural norms derived from the participants' attitudes and beliefs, which were analyzed using NVivo software to conduct a thematic analysis to classify the interview text into specific concepts and phrases. Results: Findings confirm the three themes identified from our literature review and provide useful insights into the challenges faced by the participants in the implementation of safety policies. Practical Applications: Besides extending the occupational health and safety literature, these findings have important managerial implications in view of the evolving nature of work and workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kimberley Mum's Mood Scale (KMMS) was co-designed with Aboriginal women and healthcare professionals to improve culturally appropriate screening practices for perinatal depression and anxiety. This paper describes the implementation of the KMMS across the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia from January 2018 to December 2021. We used the Dynamic Sustainability Framework to progress the implementation and assess at the intervention, practice setting and ecological system level using a mixed methods approach to analyse implementation. Rates of administration and results of screening were described using a retrospective audit of electronic medical records. Analyses of KMMS training registry, stakeholder engagement and sustainability initiatives were descriptive. KMMS acceptability was assessed using qualitative descriptive approaches to analyse patient feedback forms (n = 39), healthcare professional surveys (n = 15) and qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals (n = 6). We found a significant increase in overall recorded perinatal screening (pre-implementation: 30.4% v Year 3: 46.5%, P < 0.001) and use of the KMMS (pre-implementation: 16.4% v Year 3: 46.4%, P < 0.001). There was improved fidelity in completing the KMMS (from 2.3% to 61.8%, P < 0.001), with 23.6% of women screened recorded as being at increased risk of depression and anxiety. Most healthcare professionals noted the high levels of perinatal mental health concerns, stress, and trauma that their patients experienced, and identified the KMMS as the most appropriate perinatal screening tool. Aboriginal women reported that it was important for clinics to ask about mood and feelings during the perinatal period, and that the KMMS was appropriate. Aboriginal women consistently reported that it was good to have someone to talk to. This study demonstrates that innovation in perinatal depression and anxiety screening for Aboriginal women is possible and can be implemented into routine clinical care with the support of a sustained multi-year investment and strong partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) process that uses an auxiliary magnetic machining tool for the internal surface finishing of a thick-walled tube. The auxiliary magnetic machining tool and external poles form a closed magnetic field circuit. Thus, a stronger magnetic force can be generated during the process. In the current study, we focus on analyzing the distribution of the magnetic field and magnetic flux density and investigating the finishing characteristics of a mixed magnetic abrasive finishing process and speed of relative revolutions. Based on the finishing characteristics, we also conduct a stage-by-stage finishing process by changing the combinations of the mixed magnetic abrasive finishing process. The finishing quality of the internal surface was mainly evaluated by the measured roundness and surface roughness. The experimental results show that the roundness and surface roughness Ra are affected when the total amount of WA abrasive and iron powder is too much; a better surface roughness could be obtained when the difference in the speed of relative revolutions is considerable, but the roundness is the worst. Furthermore, the original roundness measurement of 270 µm can reach 10 µm, and the surface roughness Ra can increase from an original surface roughness of 4.1 µm to reach 10 nm after 105 min of the stage-by-stage finishing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The revolution in technology is so fast that even silicon devices are not able to meet the current demand of high speed, low power, and minimal area. The CMOS SRAM cells are the ones, affected the most by the revolutionary scaling of the devices. Due to various limitations of CMOS in deep sub-micron, new devices have emerged. One such device is the transition metal dichalcogenide field-effect transistor (TMDFET) to have prominent properties. This paper presents a novel read decoupled feedback-cutting 9T (RDFC9T) SRAM cell with high static noise margins (SNMs). The 16 nm CMOS and TMDFET devices are being used to design and compare the proposed design, showing the superiority of the TMDFET-based design. Furthermore, to evaluate the comparative performance of the proposed RDFC9T SRAM cell, it has been compared with the published SRAM cells introduced as 6T, 10T-P1, HFSE9T, and SB11T redesigned by 10 nm TMDFET device at VDD=0.7 V. The suggested cell exhibits 3.20X and 1.71X/1.15X/5.26X higher read SNM and write SNM as compared to the 6T and 6T/HFSE9T/10T-P1 SRAM cells, respectively. The cell exhibits 1.11X/2.10X and 1.06X/1.30X smaller read delay (TRA) and write delay (TWA) than that of the HFSE9T/SB11T SRAM design, correspondingly. In terms of power performance, the RDFC9T cell shows 0.86X/0.68X and 0.56X/0.37X/0.35X less read power and write power than the SB11T/6T and SB11T/10T-P1/6T cell, respectively. Moreover, the proposed design shows robustness against harsh process variations and mitigates the half-select issues to support bit-interleaving architecture. Here, we have also shown the layout of the projected RDFC9T cell and a comparison with the published designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence ofmental illness is a critical public health issue. In Australia, the prevalence of mental illness is similar across all settings, however, people living in rural and remote areas experience worse outcomes than their urban counterparts. Access to mental health services is critical, however, the notion of accessibility needs to be understood in the context of the uniqueness and variability of the rural experience. The Orange Declaration on Rural and Remote Mental Health recognized that rural areas face a series of interconnected challenges and called for place-specific responses and new funding models that reward collaboration and local partnerships. In this paper, we argue that recent mental health planning, policy and service development uses a narrow interpretation of the notion of accessibility that is out of step with current thinking on the heterogeneity of the rural experience. We use some examples of our own research and experience in rural Western Australia to argue that the current commissioning model is not aligned with the Orange Declaration, and remains largely metro-centric and reliant on a narrow conceptualization of service accessibility. We argue that what is needed is a dynamic, responsive, context-sensitive understanding of accessibility that is informed by the distinctiveness of rural adversity, and recognizes the heterogeneity and variability of the rural experience whilst acknowledging rural agency and social capital, and we suggest that applying a socio-ecological approach to the development of new commissioning models provides a way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of professional judgement underpins the way in which an occupational hygienist assesses an exposure problem. Despite the importance placed on professional judgement in the discipline, a method of assessment to characterise accuracy has not been available. In this paper, we assess the professional judgement of four occupational hygienists ('experts') when completing exposure assessments on a range of airborne contaminants across a number of job roles within a surface mining environment in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The job roles assessed were project driller, mobile equipment operator, fixed plant maintainer, and drill and blast operator. The contaminants of interest were respirable crystalline silica, respirable dust, and inhalable dust. The novel approach of eliciting exposure estimates focusing on contaminant concentration and attribution of an exposure standard estimate was used. The majority of the elicited values were highly skewed; therefore, a scaled Beta distribution were fitted. These elicited fitted distributions were then compared to measured data distributions, the results of which had been collected as part of an occupational hygiene program assessing full-shift exposures to the same contaminants and job roles assessed by the experts. Our findings suggest that the participating experts within this study tended to overestimate exposures. In addition, the participating experts were more accurate at estimating percentage of an exposure standard than contaminant concentration. We demonstrate that this elicitation approach and the encoding methodology contained within can be applied to assess accuracy of exposure judgements which will impact on worker protection and occupational health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic sedimentary processes are a key parameter for establishing the habitability of planetary surface environments on Earth and beyond and thus critical for reconstructing the early evolution of life on our planet. This paper presents a sedimentary section from the ca 3.48 Ga Dresser Formation (Pilbara Craton, Western Australia) that contains high‐energy reworked sediments, possibly representing the oldest reported tsunami deposit on Earth to date. Field and petrographic evidence (e.g. up to 20 cm large imbricated clasts, hummocky bedding, Bouma‐type graded sequences) indicate that the high‐energy deposit represents a bi‐directional succession of two debrite–turbidite couplets. This succession can best be explained by deposition related to passage and rebound of tsunami waves. Sedimentary processes were possibly influenced by highly dense silica‐rich seawater. The tsunami was probably triggered by local fault‐induced seismic activity since the Dresser Formation was deposited in a volcanic caldera basin that experienced syndepositional extensional growth faulting. However, alternative triggers (meteorite impact, volcanic eruption) or a combination thereof cannot be excluded. The results of this work indicate a subaquatic habitat that was subject to tsunami‐induced high‐energy disturbance. Potentially, this was a common situation on the early Archaean Earth, which experienced frequent impacts of extraterrestrial bodies. This study thus adds to the scarce record of early Archaean high‐energy deposits and stresses the relevance of high‐energy depositional events for the early evolution of life on Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large database of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging data from clastic rocks of offshore oil and gas fields of Western Australia was used to assess the performance of multi regression analysis (MRA) to calculate NMR log outputs from conventional well logs. This short paper introduces a set of MRA equations for the calculation of the NMR log outputs using conventional well logs as inputs. This study shows that unlike machine learning methods the MRA approach fails to predict most of the NMR log outputs with acceptable accuracy but can provide Coates and SDR permeabilities with R2 of more than 0.75. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Younger granite bodies form two arches, the western and the eastern (WA, EA), which extend from the south northwards from the Meatique, ophiolitic group-island arc rocks, to the large older granite outcrop to the north. This paper concerns the feasibility of exploration in the El-Erediya-Ria El-Garah-El-Gidami-El-Missikat Y Gr regions. Fieldwork and remote sensing, together with geochemical, petrochemical, and mineralogical studies, are used to show the controlling factors, routes, and the origins of the deposits. Remote sensing is used to delineate the different rock units. Normal and strike–slip NW, NNE faults, veins, fractured ENE shear zones, and alteration zones of magmatic-hydrothermal fluids are discussed. Granites are considered using petrochemical diagrams as resources. These rocks are categorized as syeno- and alkali feldspar granites. Geochemical binary relationships recognized the granites are highly fractionated calc-alkaline-altered Monzo-, syeno-, and alkali feldspar granites formed in the active continental margin. The observed positive Ga vs. Cu, Zn, and Ni correlations are used for epithermal-magmatic-hydrothermal polymetallic veins and mineralized greisen zones. Negative Cu vs. Mo correlation patterns show probable Mo-porphyry deposits in the deeper zones at the contact point between porphyritic perthite and perthite granitic El-Erediya mass. The Zr/Sr between 1.65 to 2.93 plus fluorites in El-Missikat and up to 5.48 plus fluorites in El-Erediya show both U-poor at El-Missikat and U-rich deposits at El-Erediya. The recorded U, Th, Cu, and Pb vertical zoning sequence of deposition differentiates U aureole and deposit zones. The estimated lateral zoning sequences of deposition of these elements define the centers of U deposits. Pathfinders for the deposit of the examined area include the positive Fe2O3 vs. Mg O and Fe2O3 vs. Ca O correlations, and also negative Rb/Sr vs. K/Na and Rb vs. Sr ones, can be applied to future prospecting for similar U-F-Au-W-Mo deposits in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]