2,325 results
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2. 'Nothing About Us Without Us': exploring benefits and challenges of peer support for people with disability in peer support organisations - protocol paper for a qualitative coproduction project.
- Author
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Duong J, Pryer S, Walsh C, Fitzpatrick A, Magill J, Simmonds S, Yang D, Baird-Peddie O, Rahman F, Hayter C, and Tavener M
- Subjects
- Humans, Australia, New South Wales, Focus Groups, Language, Disabled Persons
- Abstract
Introduction: One in six people live with disability in Australia with higher levels of disability of people from diverse communities, such as those with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. In Australia, CALD refers to people from diverse ethnicity and cultures, nationalities, societal structures and religions that may or may not speak a language other than English. This study employs researchers with lived experience of disability and peer support to study the impact of peer support for people with disability, including people from CALD backgrounds, in two peer-led organisations in New South Wales (NSW) Australia., Methods and Analysis: This study uses participatory action research and inclusive research design with researchers with lived experience, having lived experience of disability and a peer in the disability community, leading the research.Over three years, three different groups will be recruited through Community Disability Alliance Hunter (CDAH) and Diversity and Disability Alliance (DDAlliance): (1) peers with disability, (2) peer leaders with disability and (3) researchers with lived experience of disability and peer support. Data collection and creation methods include semistructured interviews, surveys and focus groups. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis through the lens of the researchers with lived experience., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval was granted by the University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval No: H-2021-0088). Dissemination includes peer-reviewed publications, presentations at local, national and international conferences and written reports for user-led organisations, disability service providers, disability agencies and people with disability., Competing Interests: Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure at http://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/ and declare: financial support for the submitted work from the Australian Government Department of Social Services, Information Linkages and Capacity Building Program; MT has received an honorarium from DDAlliance and CDAH for academic input; CH was a consultant contracted by DDAlliance and CDAH to be a research adviser and project manager; JD, JM, DY, CW and FR were paid a casual salary as researchers with lived experience from DDAlliance; SP, AF, SS and OB-P were paid a casual salary as researchers with lived experience from CDAH., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)
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- 2023
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3. Investigating differences between traditional (paper bag) ordering and online ordering from primary school canteens: a cross-sectional study comparing menu, usage and lunch order characteristics.
- Author
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Leonard, Alecia, Delaney, Tessa, Seward, Kirsty, Zoetemeyer, Rachel, Lamont, Hannah, Sutherland, Rachel, Reilly, Kathryn, Lecathelinais, Christophe, and Wyse, Rebecca
- Subjects
PAPER bags ,PRIMARY schools ,SCHOOL children ,CROSS-sectional method ,LUNCHEONS ,PACKAGED foods ,RESEARCH ,FERRANS & Powers Quality of Life Index ,RESEARCH methodology ,MEDICAL cooperation ,EVALUATION research ,COMPARATIVE studies ,SCHOOLS ,FOOD service - Abstract
Objective: To assess differences between traditional paper bag ordering and online ordering from primary school canteens in terms of menu, usage and lunch order characteristics.Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: New South Wales (NSW) primary schools that offered both paper bag and online canteen ordering.Participants: Students (aged 5-12 years) with a lunch order on the day of the observation.Results: Across the six school canteens, 59-90 % of all available items were listed on both the online and paper menus, with no significant differences in the nutritional quality ('Everyday'/'Occasional') or nutritional content (kJ/saturated fat/sugar/sodium) of menu items. In total, 387 student lunch orders were placed, containing 776 menu items. Most orders (68 %) were placed online. There were no significant differences between order modality in the quantity of items ordered or the cost of orders, or the nutritional quality of orders based on the classification system of the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy ('Everyday'/'Occasional'). However, nutritional analysis revealed that paper bag orders contained 222 fewer kJ than online orders (P = 0·001), 0·65 g less saturated fat (P = 0·04) and 4·7 g less sugar (P < 0·001).Conclusions: Online canteens are commonly used to order canteen lunches for primary school children. This is the first study to investigate differences between traditional paper bag ordering and online ordering in this setting. Given the rapid increase in the use of online ordering systems in schools and other food settings and their potential to deliver public health nutrition interventions, additional research is warranted to further investigate differences in ordering modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2021
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4. Fifty shades of grey(hounds): The extent of the Nsw legislative council's power to order papers from organisations not in the control of a minister
- Author
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Mihaljek, Kate
- Published
- 2017
5. The paper war: morality, print culture, and power in Colonial New South Wales [Book Review]
- Published
- 2013
6. Unfinished Business: Papers from the Forum on Australian Library History
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Jones, David J
- Published
- 2007
7. Load forecasting method based on CEEMDAN and TCN-LSTM.
- Author
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Heng, Luo, Hao, Cheng, and Nan, Liu Chen
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CONVOLUTIONAL neural networks ,DECOMPOSITION method - Abstract
Aiming at the problems of high stochasticity and volatility of power loads as well as the difficulty of accurate load forecasting, this paper proposes a power load forecasting method based on CEEMDAN (Completely Integrated Empirical Modal Decomposition) and TCN-LSTM (Temporal Convolutional Networks and Long-Short-Term Memory Networks). The method combines the decomposition of raw load data by CEEMDAN and the spatio-temporal modeling capability of TCN-LSTM model, aiming to improve the accuracy and stability of forecasting. First, the raw load data are decomposed into multiple linearly stable subsequences by CEEMDAN, and then the sample entropy is introduced to reorganize each subsequence. Then the reorganized sequences are used as inputs to the TCN-LSTM model to extract sequence features and perform training and prediction. The modeling prediction is carried out by selecting the electricity compliance data of New South Wales, Australia, and compared with the traditional prediction methods. The experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper has higher accuracy and better prediction effect on load forecasting, which can provide a partial reference for electricity load forecasting methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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8. PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 1856-1900 As a Source of Labour History.
- Author
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FRY, E. C.
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LABOR movement ,HISTORICAL source material ,CENSUS ,LABOR laws ,AUSTRALIAN politics & government, to 1900 - Abstract
The article presents the second part of an exploration into the legal history of the Australian colonies before 1900 regarding evidence of political interest in labor organization and legal protection. In this segment focus is given to the laws of New South Wales. Multiple lists of citations and primary sources are given, including immigration data, formal censuses from 1856 to 1894, and publications of annual statistics concerning railway, public services, and working class conditions. Additional surveys of specific legislative acts are also given.
- Published
- 1964
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9. Improving quality of care and long-term health outcomes through continuity of care with the use of an electronic or paper patient-held portable health file (COMMUNICATE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
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Lassere MN, Baker S, Parle A, Sara A, and Johnson KR
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- Cause of Death, Female, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Health Literacy, Hospitalization, Humans, Intention to Treat Analysis, Male, Medical Informatics standards, Middle Aged, New South Wales, Quality of Life, Research Design, Time Factors, Computers, Handheld standards, Continuity of Patient Care standards, Electronic Health Records standards, Health Records, Personal, Long-Term Care standards, Mobile Applications standards, Quality Improvement standards, Quality Indicators, Health Care standards
- Abstract
Background: The advantages of patient-held portable health files (PHF) and personal health records (PHR), paper or electronic, are said to include improved health-care provider continuity-of-care and patient empowerment in maintaining health. Top-down approaches are favored by public sector government and health managers. Bottom-up approaches include systems developed directly by health-care providers, consumers and industry, implemented locally on devices carried by patient-consumers or shared via web-based portals. These allow individuals to access, manage and share their health information, and that of others for whom they are authorized, in a private, secure and confidential environment. Few medical record technologies have been evaluated in randomized trials to determine whether there are important clinical benefits of these interventions. The COMMUNICATE trial will assess the acceptability and long-term clinical outcomes of an electronic and paper patient-held PHF., Methods/design: This is a 48-month, open-label pragmatic, superiority, parallel-group design randomized controlled trial. Subjects (n = 792) will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to each of the trial arms: the electronic PHF added to usual care, the paper PHF added to usual care and usual care alone (no PHF). Inclusion criteria include those 60 years or older living independently in the community, but who have two or more chronic medical conditions that require prescription medication and regular care by at least three medical practitioners (general and specialist care). The primary objective is whether use of a PHF compared to usual care reduces a combined endpoint of deaths, overnight hospitalizations and blindly adjudicated serious out-of-hospital events. All primary analyses will be undertaken masked to randomized arm allocation using intention-to-treat principles. Secondary outcomes include quality of life and health literacy improvements., Discussion: Lack of blinding creates potential for bias in trial conduct and ascertainment of clinical outcomes. Mechanisms are provided to reduce bias, including balanced study contact with all participants, a blinded adjudication committee determining which out-of-hospital events are serious and endpoints that are objective (overnight hospitalizations and mortality). The PRECIS tool provides a summary of the trial's design on the Pragmatic-Explanatory Continuum., Trial Registration: Registered with Clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT01082978) on 8 March 2010.
- Published
- 2015
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10. Evaluating the transport, health and economic impacts of new urban cycling infrastructure in Sydney, Australia -- protocol paper.
- Author
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Rissel, Chris, Greaves, Stephen, Li Ming Wen, Capon, Anthony, Crane, Melanie, and Standen, Chris
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SOCIAL impact , *ECONOMIC impact , *HUMAN behavior - Abstract
Background There are repeated calls to build better cycling paths in Australian cities if the proportion of people cycling is to increase. Yet the full range of transport, health, environmental and economic impacts of new cycling infrastructure and the extent to which observed changes are sustained is not well understood. The City of Sydney is currently building a new bicycle network, which includes a new bicycle path separated from road traffic in the south Sydney area. This protocol paper describes a comprehensive method to evaluate this new cycling infrastructure. Method A cohort of residents within two kilometres of the new bicycle path will be surveyed at baseline before a new section of bicycle path is built, and again 12 and 24 months later to assess changes in travel behaviour, sense of community, quality of life and health behaviours. Residents in a comparable area of Sydney that will not get a new separated bike path will act as a comparison group. At baseline a sub-set of residents who volunteer will also take a small GPS device with them for one week to assess travel behaviour. Discussion This research should contribute to the advancement in evaluation and appraisal methods for cycling projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
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11. Research Paper. White matter tractography in early psychosis: clinical and neurocognitive associations.
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Hatton, Sean N., Lagopoulos, Jim, Hermens, Daniel F., Hickie, Ian B., Scott, Elizabeth, and Bennett, Maxwell R.
- Subjects
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BRAIN physiology , *COGNITION , *MAGNETIC resonance imaging , *PSYCHOLOGICAL tests , *PSYCHOSES , *RESEARCH funding , *STATISTICS , *DATA analysis , *CASE-control method , *DATA analysis software , *MANN Whitney U Test - Published
- 2014
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12. Competition paper. Prostitution and public health in New South Wales.
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Scott, John
- Subjects
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SEX work , *PUBLIC health - Abstract
Using historical and contemporary resources, this paper provides a critical account of the contemporary governance of prostitution in New South Wales. A Foucauldian approach is used to analyse the ways in which prostitution has been problematized as a health issue and managed as a public health problem. The analysis differs from other critical studies of prostitution in that it examines specific techniques of power, the operations of which have not been confined to the workings of a repressive criminal justice system. It is shown that there currently co-exists two broad understandings of prostitution in New South Wales, Australia, which have informed current initiatives to manage prostitution. Prostitutes working in public spaces have been presented as sexual agents wilfully engaged in criminal conduct and the spread of contagion. They have been subject to intense official scrutiny and regulated through criminal sanctions. In contrast, prostitutes working in private spaces have been presented as victims of adverse circumstance, deserving of protection and compassion. They have been made subject to strategic interventions that have attempted to normalize prostitution and render the prostitute a hygienic subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2003
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13. Program for Enhanced Population Health Infostructure (PEPHI)--a report of responses to the November 2000 discussion paper.
- Author
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Muscatello D
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- Data Collection, Humans, New South Wales epidemiology, Organizational Objectives, Population Surveillance, Health Status Indicators, Information Services organization & administration, Public Health Administration
- Published
- 2002
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14. Release of Program for Enhanced Population Health Infostructure (PEPHI): a report of responses to the November 2000 discussion paper.
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Muscatello D
- Subjects
- Data Collection, Humans, New South Wales epidemiology, Population Surveillance, Health Status Indicators, Information Services organization & administration, Public Health Administration
- Published
- 2002
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15. The development of a new oral health patient reported outcome measure: the New South Wales public dental services approach.
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Chen, Rebecca, Ajwani, Shilpi, Christian, Bradley, Phelan, Claire, Srinivas, Ravi, Kenny, Josephine, O'Connor, Mark, Clarke, Kara, Sohn, Woosung, and Yaacoub, Albert
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DENTAL care ,CONSENSUS (Social sciences) ,HUMAN services programs ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,DECISION making ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,PATIENT-centered care ,ELECTRONIC health records ,HEALTH outcome assessment ,ORAL health - Abstract
Background: Addressing Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) is essential for patient-centred care, shared decision making and improved health outcomes. Value-based health care systems in New South Wales (NSW) have a growing focus on collecting and using PROs that matter most to patients to improve their healthcare outcomes. Developing oral health patient reported outcomes measures (OH-PROM) is a first step towards value-based oral health care. This paper describes the development process of an adult and child OH-PROM tool that can be piloted for NSW public dental patients. Methods: An expert panel was assembled to undertake a systematic process of developing OH-PROMs for NSW Health. Key methodological considerations included: (1) forming an expert panel to specify the target population and context of implementation, (2) rapid literature review and environmental scan to identify existing validated OH-PROM tools for adults and children. (3) consensus gathering with the expert panel (4) consumer feedback, and (5) finalisation of the tool for electronic oral health record (eOHR) integration to establish a set of questions, that were relevant, context-appropriate, and important to oral healthcare outcomes for patients using public dental services. Results: The panel considered a total of 59 questions from two child (15), and four adult (44) Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) questionnaires used to collect OH-PROMs. These questions were mapped to the four key dimensions of OHRQoL for OH-PROMs: Oral Function, Orofacial Pain, Orofacial Appearance, and Psychosocial Impact. The consensus resulted in seven questions that aligned with these four dimensions to form two new NSW OH-PROM tools: one for adults and one for children. The tools were tested with consumers for understandability and usefulness before being incorporated into the electronic oral health record system, in readiness for future pilot testing. Conclusion: The process for developing new OH-PROMs for NSW public dental services took a pragmatic approach that combined literature appraisal, expert consensus, and consumer consultation. Future work will assess the implementation of the OH-PROM tool and test its validity for broader use as an outcome measure for value-based oral healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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16. Visualising Daily PM10 Pollution in an Open-Cut Mining Valley of New South Wales, Australia—Part II: Classification of Synoptic Circulation Types and Local Meteorological Patterns and Their Relation to Elevated Air Pollution in Spring and Summer.
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Jiang, Ningbo, Riley, Matthew L., Azzi, Merched, Di Virgilio, Giovanni, Duc, Hiep Nguyen, and Puppala, Praveen
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STRIP mining ,SPRING ,AIR pollution ,POLLUTION ,AIR quality ,COAL mining - Abstract
The Upper Hunter Valley is a major coal mining area in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Due to the ongoing increase in mining activities, PM10 (air-borne particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 micrometres) pollution has become a major air quality concern in local communities. The present study was initiated to quantitatively examine the spatial and temporal variability of PM10 pollution in the region. An earlier paper of this study identified two air quality subregions in the valley. This paper aims to provide a holistic summarisation of the relationships between elevated PM10 pollution in two subregions and the local- and synoptic-scale meteorological conditions for spring and summer, when PM10 pollution is relatively high. A catalogue of twelve synoptic types and a set of six local meteorological patterns were quantitatively derived and linked to each other using the self-organising map (SOM) technique. The complex meteorology–air pollution relationships were visualised and interpreted on the SOM planes for two representative locations. It was found that the influence of local meteorological patterns differed significantly for mean PM10 levels vs. the occurrence of elevated pollution events and between air quality subregions. In contrast, synoptic types showed generally similar relationships with mean vs. elevated PM10 pollution in the valley. Two local meteorological patterns, the hot–dry–northwesterly wind conditions and the hot–dry–calm conditions, were found to be the most PM10 pollution conducive in the valley when combined with a set of synoptic counterparts. These synoptic types are featured with the influence of an eastward migrating continental high-pressure system and westerly troughs, or a ridge extending northwest towards coastal northern NSW or southern Queensland from the Tasman Sea. The method and results can be used in air quality research for other locations of NSW, or similar regions elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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17. Potential mental health-related harms associated with the universal screening of anxiety and depressive symptoms in Australian secondary schools.
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Braund, Taylor A., Baker, Simon T. E., Subotic-Kerry, Mirjana, Tillman, Gabriel, Evans, Nathan J., Mackinnon, Andrew, Christensen, Helen, and O'Dea, Bridianne
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DIAGNOSIS of mental depression ,ANXIETY diagnosis ,HIGH schools ,MENTAL health ,RESEARCH funding ,STATISTICAL sampling ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RANDOMIZED controlled trials ,MEDICAL screening ,PSYCHOSOCIAL factors - Abstract
Background: Anxiety and depressive disorders typically emerge in adolescence and can be chronic and disabling if not identified and treated early. School-based universal mental health screening may identify young people in need of mental health support and facilitate access to treatment. However, few studies have assessed the potential harms of this approach. This paper examines some of the potential mental health-related harms associated with the universal screening of anxiety and depression administered in Australian secondary schools. Methods: A total of 1802 adolescent students from 22 secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia, were cluster randomised (at the school level) to receive either an intensive screening procedure (intervention) or a light touch screening procedure (control). Participants in the intensive screening condition received supervised self-report web-based screening questionnaires for anxiety, depression and suicidality with the follow-up care matched to their symptom severity. Participants in the light touch condition received unsupervised web-based screening for anxiety and depression only, followed by generalised advice on help-seeking. No other care was provided in this condition. Study outcomes included the increased risk of anxiety, depression, psychological distress, decreased risk of help-seeking, increased risk of mental health stigma, determined from measures assessed at baseline, 6 weeks post-baseline, and 12 weeks post-baseline. Differences between groups were analysed using mixed effect models. Results: Participants in the intensive screening group were not adversely affected when compared to the light touch screening condition across a range of potential harms. Rather, participants in the intensive screening group were found to have a decreased risk of inhibited help-seeking behaviour compared to the light touch screening condition. Conclusions: The intensive screening procedure did not appear to adversely impact adolescents' mental health relative to the light touch procedure. Future studies should examine other school-based approaches that may be more effective and efficient than universal screening for reducing mental health burden among students. Trial registration Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12618001539224) https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=375821. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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18. Critical Success Factors for Intersectoral Collaboration: Homelessness and COVID-19 – Case Studies and Learnings from an Australian City.
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Macfarlane, Stephanie, Haigh, Fiona, Woodland, Lisa, Goodger, Brendan, Larkin, Matthew, Miller, Erin, Parcsi, Lisa, Read, Phillip, and Wood, Lisa
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SOCIAL service associations ,WORLD Wide Web ,INTERPROFESSIONAL relations ,QUALITATIVE research ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,THEMATIC analysis ,ADULT education workshops ,TRUST ,HEALTH facilities ,HOMELESSNESS ,MEDICAL needs assessment ,CASE studies ,COMPARATIVE studies ,COVID-19 pandemic - Abstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionally impacted people experiencing homelessness, including people sleeping rough, people in temporary accommodation and those living in boarding houses. This paper reports on intersectoral responses across six health and social care agencies in Inner Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Prior to the pandemic the six agencies had established an Intersectoral Homelessness Health Strategy (IHHS), in recognition of the need for intersectoral collaboration to address the complex health needs of people experiencing homelessness. Description: The governance structure of the IHHS provided a platform for several innovative intersectoral responses to the pandemic. A realist informed framework was used to select, describe, and analyse case studies of intersectoral collaboration. Discussion: The resultant six critical success factors (trust, shared ways of working, agile collaboration, communication mechanisms, authorising environment, and sustained momentum), align with the existing literature that explores effective intersectoral collaboration in complex health or social care settings. This paper goes further by describing intersectoral collaboration 'in action', setting a strong foundation for future collaborative initiatives. Conclusion: While there is no single right approach to undertaking intersectoral collaboration, which is highly context specific, the six critical success factors identified could be applied to other health issues where dynamic collaboration and integration of healthcare is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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19. Two-Stage Short-Term Power Load Forecasting Based on RFECV Feature Selection Algorithm and a TCN–ECA–LSTM Neural Network.
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Liang, Hui, Wu, Jiahui, Zhang, Hua, and Yang, Jian
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LOAD forecasting (Electric power systems) ,FEATURE selection ,CONVOLUTIONAL neural networks ,FORECASTING ,ALGORITHMS ,PREDICTION models ,LINEAR network coding - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2023
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20. Increasing access to screening for blood-borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: evaluation of the Deadly Liver Mob program's 'cascade of care' across nine sites in New South Wales, Australia
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Cama, Elena, Beadman, Kim, Beadman, Mitch, Smith, Kerri-Anne, Christian, Jade, Jackson, Aunty Clair, Tyson, Beverley, Anderson, Clayton, Smyth, Larissa, Heslop, Jennifer, Gahan, Gary, Tawil, Victor, Sheaves, Felicity, Maher, Louise, Page, Julie, Tilley, Donna, Ryan, Ann, Grant, Kim, Donovan, Basil, and Stevens, Annabelle
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INDIGENOUS Australians ,SEXUALLY transmitted diseases ,MEDICAL screening ,HEALTH promotion ,INSTITUTIONAL racism - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2023
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21. Rationale and protocol paper for the Healthy Active Peaceful Playgrounds for Youth (HAPPY) study.
- Author
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Cotton, Wayne, Dudley, Dean, Jackson, Kirsten, Winslade, Matthew, and Atkin, Janice
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PSYCHOLOGICAL well-being ,PHYSICAL activity ,SCHOOL children ,STUDENT well-being ,PSYCHOLOGY of students ,PREVENTION of school bullying ,EXERCISE & psychology ,PLAY & psychology ,CLINICAL trials ,COMPARATIVE studies ,COST effectiveness ,ECOLOGY ,EMPLOYEE orientation ,EXPERIMENTAL design ,RESEARCH methodology ,MEDICAL cooperation ,RESEARCH ,SCHOOL health services ,STUDENTS ,AFFINITY groups ,EVALUATION research - Abstract
Background: A growing body of evidence suggest an association between physical activity levels and students psychological well-being. A number of research studies have evaluated playground interventions that aim to increase physical activity levels, decrease conflict and bullying, and improve students behaviour. The HAPPY Study will evaluate the success of an intervention combining environmental modifications, teacher development, and peer support that can culminate in an easy to implement, low cost and effective model for increasing physical activity, and improving psychological well-being for children.Methods/design: Data will be collected at six New South Wales (NSW) primary schools, on physical activity levels, on-task time during classes, and social support for physical activity during a 12 month Cluster Controlled Trial (CT). Three quantitative data collection tools will be used to capture student's physical activity levels during lunch and recess breaks (the SOPARC tool), student's on-task behaviour during classes following recess and lunch breaks (the BOSS tool) and where students receive the most encouragement to be physically active from (the Physical Activity Social Support Scale survey). Baseline data will be analysed against follow-up data, collected after an intervention that is rolled out in all schools as part of a stepped wedge CT design.Discussion: A review of relevant Australian and New Zealand literature suggests that playground interventions can be successful at increasing physical activity levels, increasing social and conflict resolution skills in students, and decreasing incidences of bullying. This study will investigate any correlation between physical activity levels, and student behaviour during classes following breaks.Trial Registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register ACTRN12616000575437 , registered May 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2017
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22. Community Perceptions of the Importance of Heritage Protection Relative to Other Local Government Council Operations.
- Author
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Spennemann, Dirk H. R.
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PROTECTION of cultural property ,LOCAL government ,CULTURAL property ,COMMUNITY involvement ,CULTURAL values - Abstract
Cultural heritage management at the local government level relies on community participation, mainly interested stakeholders, in the identification, nomination and, in some jurisdictions, the co-evaluation of heritage assets. These are then "listed," i.e., included in planning schemes and other development controls. Such inclusion in planning schemes is predicated on the assumption that the local community values its heritage, appreciates its protection and supports local council investment and actions in the matter. This assumption is treated as axiomatic but only very rarely formally tested. Drawing on a community heritage survey in Albury, a regional service center in southern New South Wales (Australia), this paper discusses the perceptions held by the community on the relative importance of heritage protection when compared with the other services offered by council. The findings show that the community ranked cultural and natural heritage places higher than cultural institutions (museums, libraries and theatres). The findings also showed that the community valued cultural and natural heritage more than traditional engineering services, such as roads/footpaths, rubbish removal and even sporting facilities. The survey highlighted intergenerational differences, with cultural heritage places and cultural institutions ranking high only among Generation X and the generations prior (Builders and Baby Boomers). This has clear implications for the present provisioning of heritage services and community education. The paper concludes with an exploration of the long-term implications of the observed intergenerational differences for local government authorities and community development in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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23. Bushfire Management Strategies: Current Practice, Technological Advancement and Challenges.
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Bandara, Sahan, Navaratnam, Satheeskumar, and Rajeev, Pathmanathan
- Subjects
TECHNOLOGICAL innovations ,WILDFIRES ,FIRE weather ,LITERATURE reviews ,WEATHER ,VEGETATION patterns ,FIREFIGHTING - Abstract
Bushfires are classified as catastrophic disasters capable of inflicting significant destruction. The key detrimental consequences of bushfires include the loss of human lives, trauma within communities, economic losses and environmental damage. For example, the estimated economic loss from the September 2019 to March 2020 bushfires in New South Wales (Australia) was about AUD 110 billion, including more than 3000 burned houses. There has been a notable increase in both the frequency and intensity of bushfires, as clearly demonstrated by recent bushfire events. Bushfires are an intricate phenomenon that transpires across various spatial and temporal scales. Further, the changing circumstances of landscapes, vegetation patterns, weather conditions and ecosystems account for the complexity. Therefore, continual attention is essential for the development of bushfire management strategies. In this context, this paper undertakes a comprehensive literature review of bushfire management strategies, encompassing aspects such as bushfire prediction, detection, suppression and prevention. Based on the review, a bushfire management framework is proposed that can eliminate or successfully mitigate the consequences of bushfires. Further, the paper delves into the domains of fire weather conditions, the initiation of bushfires and the adverse consequences stemming from these fires. Both terrestrial and aerial remote sensing methods have proven to be effective in predicting and detecting bushfires. Nevertheless, a simple unique solution cannot be proposed for bushfire management. Changing weather conditions, topography and the geographic mix of asset types need to be considered when deciding on bushfire management strategies and their breadth and depth of application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. Evaluating a complex health promotion program to reduce hepatitis C among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in New South Wales, Australia: the Deadly Liver Mob.
- Author
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Treloar, Carla, Beadman, Kim, Beadman, Mitch, Smith, Kerri-Anne, Christian, Jade, Jackson, Aunty Clair, Tyson, Beverley, Anderson, Clayton, Smyth, Larissa, Walker, Melinda, Heslop, Jennifer, Gahan, Gary, Tawil, Victor, Sheaves, Felicity, Maher, Louise, Page, Julie, Tilley, Donna, Ryan, Ann, Grant, Kim, and Donovan, Basil
- Subjects
INDIGENOUS Australians ,HEALTH promotion ,HEPATITIS C ,SEXUALLY transmitted diseases ,LIVER - Abstract
The Deadly Liver Mob (DLM) is a peer-delivered incentivised health promotion program by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and was introduced in response to the disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who are impacted by blood borne viruses (BBVs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The goal of the program is to increase access to BBV and STI education, screening, treatment, and vaccination in recognition and response to the systemic barriers that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face in accessing health care. This commentary introduces a series of papers that report on various aspects of the evaluation of the Deadly Liver Mob (DLM) program. In this paper, we explain what DLM is and how we constructed an evaluation framework for this complex health promotion intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. Conservation and Co-Management of Rock Art in National Parks: An Australian Case Study.
- Author
-
Dragovich, Deirdre and Amiraslani, Farshad
- Subjects
ROCK art (Archaeology) ,NATIONAL parks & reserves ,ART conservation & restoration ,HISTORIC sites ,NATURE reserves ,ENGRAVING - Abstract
Using rock art conservation as a focus, this paper outlines the levels of legislated protection afforded to designated natural and cultural areas/sites in Australia and describes the co-management approach adopted in 1998 in relation to Mutawintji National Park in western New South Wales. The park encompasses four different protection categories: a Historic Site, a Nature Reserve, a National Park, and a State Conservation Area. Known for more than a century, the Historic Site is a major area of rock art containing Aboriginal engravings, paintings and stencils. Management of the Historic Site is a key concern, given the tourist interest and associated potential for accelerated deterioration of cultural heritage. The Mutawintji Plan of Management pointed to the importance of Mutawintji for Aboriginal people to connect with the country, and the co-management model encouraged tourism development as a means of providing employment opportunities as Aboriginal guides. No special legislative requirements in relation to rock art conservation, beyond those already in existence, were applied to the co-management system. Using field knowledge involving rock art research and early guide training programs at Mutawintji and literature sources, this paper suggests possible future approaches to rock art conservation in the Mutawintji Lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
26. People with a mild intellectual disability: inclusive research lessons.
- Author
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Kyriazis, Elias, Pomering, Alan, and Marciano, Heather
- Subjects
PEOPLE with intellectual disabilities ,EDUCATION of people with intellectual disabilities ,GOVERNMENT aid ,COMMUNITIES ,CANCER prevention ,DISABILITIES - Abstract
In this paper, we present guidelines for researchers working with individuals with mild intellectual disability (MID) based on the challenges and learnings from our University of Wollongong (UOW) Community Engagement Grant (2010) project where we collaborated with representatives from the Disability Sector, Cancer Council NSW and the vulnerable community of people with MID to overcome the difficulties that they face in interpreting mainstream cancer prevention messaging and take ownership of their skin cancer checking behaviour by using co-created resources that could be easily understood and acted upon by the target audience. As a result of our project, nearly 20% of our vulnerable population sample (employees of Greenacres, a disability employment provider) checked themselves for skin cancer spots for the first time after having been given a "What's that Spot?" book and accompanying resources (bathroom mirror stickers, hand held mirrors). The successful uptake can be directly attributed to the researchers putting aside their assumptions and overcoming the biases (conscious and unconscious) from their academic training to partner with the target population in a respectful manner and genuinely embrace the concept of inclusive research, ensuring that this overlooked and vulnerable group are afforded cancer prevention resources that work for them. This inclusive approach is evidenced by the co-creation of our "thumbs up scale" to overcome the limitations of traditional Likert scale use for our target population. Further, the generation of "trust" between researchers, participants and necessary carers should be at the forefront of all research methodology designs for those wishing to conduct research with members of the MID community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. Experiences from youth advisors in chronic disease prevention research.
- Author
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Mautner, Dominik, Valanju, Radhika, Al Hadaya, Imeelya, Barani, Meera, Cross, Alexi, McMahon, Emily, Ren, Bowen, Rose, Dominique, Sharda, Aviral, Sinnett, Alexander, Yan, Fulin, and Wardak, Sara
- Subjects
CHRONIC diseases ,PREVENTIVE medicine ,RESEARCH teams ,ADVISORY boards ,CONSULTANTS - Abstract
Engaging young people in research is a promising approach to tackling issues like chronic disease prevention. Our involvement as youth advisors provided valuable experiences, including being at the forefront of change and learning to work within a research team. Furthermore, our experience provides greater insight and learnings for future youth engagement in research. Plain English Summary: We are a group of 16 diverse young people from New South Wales, Australia, who are passionate about youth health. In 2021 and 2022, we formed the Health Advisory Panel for Youth at the University of Sydney (HAPYUS, pronounced 'Happy Us') working with researchers on projects to prevent chronic diseases in young people. We brainstormed health issues from our own experiences and other research and summarised them into the top three youth health concerns. From these, we helped develop and test programs to support healthy behaviours in young people. We used scientific and public events to present our findings. Finally, we presented our results in a research paper and through traditional and social media. One of the most rewarding experiences was the opportunity to be part of all stages of the research process of improving youth health especially because COVID-19 and social media changed the way we need to think about youth mental and physical health. We also learned how to work together amongst ourselves as young people and within a research team. We hope that other young people can learn from our experiences and feel inspired to become active contributors in projects for meaningful change in the lives of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
28. Data Assimilation Informed Model Structure Improvement (DAISI) for Robust Prediction Under Climate Change: Application to 201 Catchments in Southeastern Australia.
- Author
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Lerat, Julien, Chiew, Francis, Robertson, David, Andréassian, Vazken, and Zheng, Hongxing
- Subjects
WATERSHEDS ,RUNOFF ,MATHEMATICAL forms ,ATMOSPHERIC models ,EQUATIONS of state ,WATER supply ,CLIMATE sensitivity ,CLIMATE change - Abstract
This paper presents a method to analyze and improve the set of equations constituting a rainfall‐runoff model structure based on a combination of a data assimilation algorithm and polynomial updates to the state equations. The method, which we have called "Data Assimilation Informed model Structure Improvement" (DAISI) is generic, modular, and demonstrated with an application to the GR2M model and 201 catchments in South‐East Australia. Our results show that the updated model generated with DAISI generally performed better for all metrics considered included Kling‐Gupta Efficiency, NSE on log transform flow and flow duration curve bias. In addition, the elasticity of modeled runoff to rainfall is higher in the updated model, which suggests that the structural changes could have a significant impact on climate change simulations. Finally, the DAISI diagnostic identified a reduced number of update configurations in the GR2M structure with distinct regional patterns in three sub‐regions of the modeling domain (Western Victoria, central region, and Northern New South Wales). These configurations correspond to specific polynomials of the state variables that could be used to improve equations in a revised model. Several potential improvements of DAISI are proposed including the use of additional observed variables such as actual evapotranspiration to better constrain internal model fluxes. Plain Language Summary: This paper presents a data‐driven method to improve rainfall‐runoff models used to generate future water resources scenario in climate change studies. The method, which we have called "Data Assimilation Informed model Structure Improvement" (DAISI) is generic, modular, and demonstrated with an application to monthly streamflow simulations over a large data set of catchments in South‐East Australia. Our results show that DAISI improves model performance for a wide range of metrics and increases the sensitivity of the model to climate inputs, which is critical in climate change scenarios. Finally, the improvements identified by DAISI take a simple mathematical form with distinct regional patterns in three sub‐regions of the study domain (Western Victoria, central region, and Northern New South Wales). Several improvements of DAISI are discussed including the inclusion of additional observed variables such as evapotranspiration to better constrain model simulations. Key Points: Data Assimilation Informed model Structure Improvement method diagnoses hydrological model structures by combining data assimilation with a polynomial update of state equationsThe method was applied to the GR2M rainfall‐runoff model with significantly improved streamflow simulations in 201 Australian catchmentsThe method identified updates to state equations with marked regional characteristics that could guide future improvement of GR2M [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. Visualising Daily PM10 Pollution in an Open-Cut Mining Valley of New South Wales, Australia—Part I: Identification of Spatial and Temporal Variation Patterns.
- Author
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Jiang, Ningbo, Riley, Matthew L., Azzi, Merched, Puppala, Praveen, Duc, Hiep Nguyen, and Di Virgilio, Giovanni
- Subjects
SPATIAL variation ,COAL reserves ,POLLUTION ,PRINCIPAL components analysis ,WAVELETS (Mathematics) ,STRIP mining - Abstract
The Upper Hunter Valley is a major coal mining area containing approximately 40% of the currently identified total coal reserves in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Due to the ongoing increase in mining activities, PM10 (airborne particles with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 micrometres) pollution has become a major air quality concern in local communities. This paper summarises the spatial and temporal variability modes of PM10 pollution in the region, based on long-term multi-site monitoring data and the application of the rotated principal component analysis (RPCA) and wavelet analysis techniques. RPCA identified two distinct air quality clusters/subregions in the valley: one in the west/northwest and the other in the southeast. Wavelet analysis revealed the annual cycle to be the most persistent temporal mode of PM10 variability in both subregions, with intermittent signals also observed at time scales of around 120, 30~90, and under 30 days. How these variation modes are related to the effects of local PM10 emissions and the influence of meteorology at different time scales deserves further attention in future work. The findings will be used in air quality reporting and forecasting in NSW. The methodology and results can also be useful for air quality research in similar regions elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. Logistical Barriers in Accessing Emergency Healthcare for Rural Asthma Patients: A Patient’s Perspective.
- Author
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Stoneley, Alannah, Anderson, Judith, and Sutton, Clare
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ASTHMATICS ,PATIENTS' attitudes ,RURAL health services ,MEDICAL personnel ,MEDICAL care costs - Abstract
Copyright of Journal of Rural & Community Development is the property of Brandon University, Rural Development Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2024
31. What Actually Is a Heritage Conservation Area? A Management Critique Based on a Systematic Review of New South Wales (Australia) Planning Documents.
- Author
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Spennemann, Dirk H. R.
- Subjects
PROTECTED areas ,NATURE reserves ,STATE power ,GOVERNMENT publications ,COMMUNITIES - Abstract
While the community of Australian planning professionals is familiar with the identification, interpretation and application of heritage conservation areas, this is not a concept that is familiar to the general public. Yet, none of the official publications issued by the New South Wales state heritage authorities provide a definition of the purpose of heritage conservation areas that goes beyond the declaring them to be a spatially bounded area containing heritage items. It is left to the local planning authorities to provide their own interpretations and definitions. This paper provides a systematic review of the definitions contained in NSW local heritage studies and planning documents. It presents the first ever comprehensive definition of the purpose of heritage conservation areas as well as of the nature and characteristics of an area's constituent, contributory or detracting components. Based on this, the paper then explores the role of heritage conservation areas as part of the public heritage domain focussing on the importance of isovists and commensurate curtilages when discussing permissible alterations and new developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
32. WORKING PAPER SERIES.
- Subjects
ACCOUNTING ,WORKING papers ,RESEARCH ,UNIVERSITIES & colleges - Abstract
This section presents a list of additions to the Working Paper Series of the Department of Accounting of the University of New South Wales.
- Published
- 1986
33. Under What Circumstances Do Wood Products from Native Forests Benefit Climate Change Mitigation?
- Author
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Keith H, Lindenmayer D, Macintosh A, and Mackey B
- Subjects
- Biomass, Carbon Cycle, Conservation of Energy Resources, Humans, New South Wales, Paper, Refuse Disposal, Victoria, Climate Change, Conservation of Natural Resources, Forestry organization & administration, Forests, Models, Theoretical, Wood
- Abstract
Climate change mitigation benefits from the land sector are not being fully realised because of uncertainty and controversy about the role of native forest management. The dominant policy view, as stated in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report, is that sustainable forest harvesting yielding wood products, generates the largest mitigation benefit. We demonstrate that changing native forest management from commercial harvesting to conservation can make an important contribution to mitigation. Conservation of native forests results in an immediate and substantial reduction in net emissions relative to a reference case of commercial harvesting. We calibrated models to simulate scenarios of native forest management for two Australian case studies: mixed-eucalypt in New South Wales and Mountain Ash in Victoria. Carbon stocks in the harvested forest included forest biomass, wood and paper products, waste in landfill, and bioenergy that substituted for fossil fuel energy. The conservation forest included forest biomass, and subtracted stocks for the foregone products that were substituted by non-wood products or plantation products. Total carbon stocks were lower in harvested forest than in conservation forest in both case studies over the 100-year simulation period. We tested a range of potential parameter values reported in the literature: none could increase the combined carbon stock in products, slash, landfill and substitution sufficiently to exceed the increase in carbon stock due to changing management of native forest to conservation. The key parameters determining carbon stock change under different forest management scenarios are those affecting accumulation of carbon in forest biomass, rather than parameters affecting transfers among wood products. This analysis helps prioritise mitigation activities to focus on maximising forest biomass. International forest-related policies, including negotiations under the UNFCCC, have failed to recognize fully the mitigation value of native forest conservation. Our analyses provide evidence for decision-making about the circumstances under which forest management provides mitigation benefits.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
34. Theorising Health System Resilience and the Role of Government Policy-Challenges and Future Directions: Comment on "Government Actions and Their Relation to Resilience in Healthcare During the COVID-19 Pandemic in New South Wales, Australia and Ontario, Canada"
- Author
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Anderson, Janet E.
- Subjects
COVID-19 pandemic ,COVID-19 ,PUBLIC relations - Abstract
Resilient healthcare (RHC) emphasises the importance of adaptive capacity to respond to unanticipated crises such as the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic but there are few examples of RHC research focusing on the decisions taken by macro level policy makers. The Smaggus et al paper analyses the actions of two governments in Canada and Australia as described in media releases from a resilience perspective. The paper clearly articulates the need for conceptual clarity when analysing system resilience, and integrates three theoretical perspectives to understand the types of government responses and how they were related to resilience. The paper makes a valuable contribution to the developing RHC evidence base, but challenges remain in identifying conceptual frameworks, researching macro level resilience, including identifying and accessing reliable macro level data sources, analysing interactions between macro, meso and micro system levels, and understanding how resilience manifests at different temporal and spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. A regional climate modelling projection ensemble experiment - NARClim.
- Author
-
Evans, J. P., Ji, F., Lee, C., Smith, P., Argüeso, D., and Fita, L.
- Subjects
ATMOSPHERIC models ,CLIMATE change ,DECISION making ,REGIONAL planning ,WEATHER forecasting - Abstract
Including the impacts of climate change in decision making and planning processes is a challenge facing many regional governments including the New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) governments in Australia. NARCliM (NSW/ACT Regional Climate Modelling project) is a regional climate modelling project that aims to provide a comprehensive and consistent set of climate projections that can be used by all relevant government departments when considering climate change. To maximise end user engagement and ensure outputs are relevant to the planning process, a series of stakeholder workshops were run to define key aspects of the model experiment including spatial resolution, time slices, and output variables. As with all such experiments, practical considerations limit the number of ensembles members that can be simulated such that choices must be made concerning which Global Climate Models (GCMs) to downscale from, and which Regional Climate Models (RCMs) to downscale with. Here a methodology for making these choices is proposed that aims to sample the uncertainty in both GCMs and RCMs, as well as spanning the range of future climate projections present in the full GCM ensemble. The created ensemble provides a more robust view of future regional climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Auburn Avenue Research Library unveils Andrew Young papers.
- Subjects
- *
RESEARCH libraries , *AFRICAN Americans ,AUBURN Library (Auburn, N.S.W.) - Abstract
The article reports on the scheduled official opening of the Andrew J. Young Papers to be hosted by the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History on March 6, 2011. The Auburn Library is part of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. The feature of the program is a conversation between Ambassador Andrew Young and Atlanta, Georgia Mayor Kasim Reed.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. DEVELOPMENT OF 3D CADASTRE IN NEW SOUTH WALES THROUGH E-PLAN LODGEMENT.
- Author
-
Masri, T. and Paudyal, D. R.
- Subjects
MIXED methods research ,GEOMETRIC modeling ,INDUSTRIAL surveys ,INTERNET surveys ,URBAN ecology (Sociology) - Abstract
With rapid growth of urban environments worldwide, there is an increasing need to develop more innovative and efficient land administration systems. In Australia, various jurisdictions are currently in the process of implementing 3D cadastre to support better land administration services to the wider community. The 'Cadastre 2034 Strategy' published by the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) for Australia in 2014 indicates that a digital cadastre will be implemented as part of that strategy. As part of development of 3D cadastre, State of New South Wales has used the ePlan model based on LandXML for digital lodgement and validation of cadastral plans. This initiative aims to replace PDF cadastral plans with the digital format of LandXML. However, with the introduction of LandXML as the chosen formats for digital cadastral plans in NSW, there has been a significantly low level of Strata Plan digital capture and submission in LandXML format by the surveying industry. The research aims to identify the main challenges and explore a suitable method to improve the adoption of the digital format for Strata Plan submission and development of 3D cadastre in NSW. In this research paper, a mixed method research approach has been used by integrating both qualitative and quantitative data. The primary data was collected using online questionnaires and surveys of different stakeholders from government and the private surveying industry. The data allowed for the assessment of the effectiveness and implications of the digital system currently maintained by the NSW LRS (Land Registry Services). A case study was used for the creation, validation and lodgement of an existing strata plan using LandXML format. This paper demonstrates that implementation of 3D digital cadastral plans needs to be more structured in order to satisfy all stakeholders involved. More investment into the representation of complex 3D geometric models and classification for validation will improve the uptake by surveyors. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the proposed strata plan implementation strategy and proposes future research within the topic of strata plan validation in NSW, Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Revolutionizing Wind Power Prediction—The Future of Energy Forecasting with Advanced Deep Learning and Strategic Feature Engineering.
- Author
-
Habib, Md. Ahasan and Hossain, M. J.
- Subjects
DEEP learning ,WIND power ,ENERGY futures ,STANDARD deviations ,WIND forecasting ,FORECASTING - Abstract
This paper introduces an innovative framework for wind power prediction that focuses on the future of energy forecasting utilizing intelligent deep learning and strategic feature engineering. This research investigates the application of a state-of-the-art deep learning model for wind energy prediction to make extremely short-term forecasts using real-time data on wind generation from New South Wales, Australia. In contrast with typical approaches to wind energy forecasting, this model relies entirely on historical data and strategic feature engineering to make predictions, rather than relying on meteorological parameters. A hybrid feature engineering strategy that integrates features from several feature generation techniques to obtain the optimal input parameters is a significant contribution to this work. The model's performance is assessed using key metrics, yielding optimal results with a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 8.76, Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 139.49, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 11.81, R-squared score of 0.997, and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 4.85%. Additionally, the proposed framework outperforms six other deep learning and hybrid deep learning models in terms of wind energy prediction accuracy. These findings highlight the importance of advanced data analysis for feature generation in data processing, pointing to its key role in boosting the precision of forecasting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. Text mining domestic violence police narratives to identify behaviours linked to coercive control.
- Author
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Karystianis, George, Chowdhury, Nabila, Sheridan, Lorraine, Reutens, Sharon, Wade, Sunny, Allnutt, Stephen, Kim, Min-Taec, Poynton, Suzanne, and Butler, Tony
- Subjects
CONTROL (Psychology) ,TEXT mining ,POLICE brutality ,POLICE training ,POLICE reports ,DOMESTIC violence ,ABUSE of older people - Abstract
Background and setting: Domestic and family violence (DFV) is a significant societal problem that predominantly affects women and children. One behaviour that has been linked to DFV perpetration is coercive control. While various definitions have been proposed, it involves "acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten a victim" ranging from emotional to social and financial abuse. One potentially rich source of information on coercive control are police reports. In this paper we determine whether it is possible to automatically identify behaviours linked to coercive control from DFV police reports and present the prevalence of such behaviours by age and sex. Methods: We modified an existing rule-based text mining method to identify 48 coercive control related behaviours from 406,196 DFV reports involving a single person of interest (POI) (i.e., an individual suspected or charged with a DFV offence) against a single victim from NSW Police Force records between 2009 and 2020. Results: 223,778 (54.6%) DFV events had at least one identifiable coercive control behaviour with the most common behaviour being verbal abuse (38.9%) followed by property damage (30.0%). Financial (3.2%) and social abuse (0.4%) were the least common behaviours linked to coercive control. No major differences were found in the proportion of DFV events between male and female POIs or victims. The oldest POI group (≥ 65 years) had the largest proportion for behaviours related to verbal abuse (38.0%) while the youngest POI group reported the highest proportion of DFV involving property damage (45.5%). The youngest victim group (< 18 years old) had the highest proportion of DFV events involving verbal abuse (37.3%) while victims between 18 and 24 years old reported the most harassment through phone calls and text messages (3.1% and 2.4% respectively); double that of those in the oldest (≥ 65 years) victim group (1.4% and 0.7% respectively). Conclusions: Police data capture a wide variety of behaviours linked to coercive control, offering insights across the age spectrum and sex. Text mining can be used to retrieve such information. However, social and financial abuse were not commonly recorded emphasising the need to improve police training to encourage inquiring about such behaviours when attending DFV events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. Health from the Grassroots, Listening to Mob: University-Based Aboriginal Researchers Collaborate with Aboriginal Communities to Identify Health Priorities.
- Author
-
Walke, Emma, Jessica, Conte, Kathleen, Pavlovic, Susan Parker, Edwards, David, and Matthews, Veronica
- Subjects
RESEARCH personnel ,RURAL health ,COMMUNITY health services ,PUBLIC health ,INDIGENOUS peoples - Abstract
There is opportunity for universities to actively engage with Aboriginal communities to participate, conduct and ideally lead responsible research that attends to community priorities and issues. The Health from the Grassroots (Grassroots) project sought to address an ongoing mismatch between university-defined and community-defined priorities in rural northern New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Grassroots, led by Aboriginal staff of the University Centre for Rural Health (UCRH), aimed at engaging Aboriginal communities in conversations to inform research priorities. The Grassroots project was a true representation of collaborative research led by and for Aboriginal people. The team designed a local survey conducted yarning sessions with community members and used this information to visualize report findings. Community members were highly engaged in the consultation process and the "rich picture" continues to be used to further conversations about evolving health and research priorities. The Aboriginal research team identified strengths and challenges faced by communities and health services in the region and centred community in decision-making for project design and direction. Challenges encountered include limited resources and time for team members to devote to the project outside of their substantive paid positions. This paper describes the project vision, implementation, and research team lessons in the first years. Meaningful consultation to inform research action arose from the team's deep-rooted relationships and identities as members of the community in which we live and work. Research priorities identified through the Grassroots project have been integrated into the ongoing work of the UCRH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. ASSESSING QUALITY OF CORSNET-NSW INFRASTRUCTURE FOR USE IN REGIONAL NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.
- Author
-
McMahon, S. and Paudyal, D. R.
- Subjects
GLOBAL Positioning System - Abstract
CORSnet-NSW is a network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) covering the state of NSW and providing centimetre-level real-time positioning. This research paper aims to determine the level of accuracy and precision of CORSnet-NSW in regional parts of the network and compare them to that of traditional RTK under identical conditions. It investigates what effects satellite geometry and proximity to a CORS station have on NRTK measurements. It also verifies the CORSnet-NSW claim of network wide 2cm accuracy. The claim was found to be true at the 68% Confidence Interval. Changes in satellite geometry were not found to affect the results for the most part. It was also found that CORSnet-NSW precision was affected by the proximity of the rover to the base/calibration points more than its proximity to a CORSnet-NSW station. However, even though the CORSnet-NSW results were better than expected, traditional RTK remains the most precise and consistent method. This research paper provides GNSS users in regional NSW with the evidence they need to make informed decisions regarding which type of RTK method is fit for their purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
42. Designing archival information systems through partnerships with Indigenous communities: developing the Mukurtu Hubs and Spokes Model in Australia.
- Author
-
Thorpe, Kirsten, Christen, Kimberly, Booker, Lauren, and Galassi, Monica
- Subjects
INFORMATION storage & retrieval systems ,METADATA ,INDIGENOUS Australians ,INDIGENOUS peoples ,COMMUNITIES ,INFORMATION design ,ACCESS to information ,VIRTUAL communities - Abstract
Indigenous peoples in Australia have been heavily documented in colonial archives and collections. The past two decades have seen significant materials from Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) institutions being returned to Indigenous communities in Australia through physical or digital repatriation of materials. The digital return of materials requires both appropriate systems for returning both the digital collections, metadata and contextual information that relates to them, and agreements, policies, and procedures for meaningfully engaging with Indigenous communities throughout the process. Importantly, the information returned needs to be accessible, readable, and usable in local community contexts based on understanding local community needs. This paper discusses priorities around engaging with Indigenous peoples to reshape and build archival information systems and access points that support community requirements for digital return and management of cultural heritage materials in local settings. The paper discusses future priorities for designing archival information systems to support Indigenous sovereignty, including data stewardship and preservation approaches. These concerns are discussed and raised as part of the research and development of the global Mukurtu Content Management System (CMS) project, including within the New South Wales (NSW) Australian Mukurtu Hub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. Implementation of an electronic care pathway for hip fracture patients: a pilot before and after study.
- Author
-
Talevski, Jason, Guerrero-Cedeño, Viviana, Demontiero, Oddom, Suriyaarachchi, Pushpa, Boersma, Derek, Vogrin, Sara, Brennan-Olsen, Sharon, and Duque, Gustavo
- Subjects
HIP fractures ,TREATMENT delay (Medicine) ,LENGTH of stay in hospitals ,PATIENT safety ,HOSPITAL mortality ,PATIENT care - Abstract
Background: Care pathways are generally paper-based and can cause communication failures between multidisciplinary teams, potentially compromising the safety of the patient. Computerized care pathways may facilitate better communication between clinical teams. This study aimed to investigate whether an electronic care pathway (e-pathway) reduces delays in surgery and hospital length of stay compared to a traditional paper-based care pathway (control) in hip fracture patients.Methods: A single-centre evaluation with a retrospective control group was conducted in the Orthogeriatric Ward, Nepean Hospital, New South Wales, Australia. We enrolled patients aged > 65 years that were hospitalized for a hip fracture in 2008 (control group) and 2012 (e-pathway group). The e-pathway provided the essential steps in the care of patients with hip fracture, including examinations and treatment to be carried out. Main outcome measures were delay in surgery and hospital length of stay; secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and discharge location.Results: A total of 181 patients were enrolled in the study (129 control; 54 e-pathway group). There was a significant reduction in delay to surgery in the e-pathway group compared to control group in unadjusted (OR = 0.19; CI 0.09-0.39; p < 0.001) and adjusted (OR = 0.22; CI 0.10-0.49; p < 0.001) models. There were no significant differences between groups for length of stay (median 11 vs 12 days; p = 0.567), in-hospital mortality (1 vs 7 participants; p = 0.206) or discharge location (p = 0.206).Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that, compared to a paper-based care pathway, implementation of an e-pathway for hip fracture patients results in a reduction in total number of delays to surgery, but not hospital length of stay. Further evaluation is warranted using a larger cohort investigating both clinical and patient-reported outcome measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
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44. The Cost Efficiency of the Electricity Retailers with the Integration of the Cloud Energy Storage.
- Author
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Xiong, Chu, Luo, Dan, and Han, Liang
- Subjects
CLOUD storage ,ENERGY storage ,ELECTRICITY ,ECONOMIC uncertainty ,ELECTRICITY markets ,RETAIL industry - Abstract
As a result of market liberalisation, a large number of electricity retailers have emerged in the electricity market. Acting as the intermediaries between the electricity producers and the customers, the electricity retailers aim to balance the supply and demand and shoulder substantial risks generated from both sides. Due to the randomness of the electricity load, it is difficult for electricity retailers to make an accurate electricity purchasing plan in advance to meet customer demand. This deviation leads to a proportion of spot electricity purchases that require a higher purchase cost. As a result, one of the most serious concerns facing electricity retailers is how to improve their balancing abilities and reduce power purchase deviation. In contrast to previous research, which has generally recommended that electricity retailers invest in energy storage systems or develop optimised purchasing strategies, this paper proposes a new strategy for the electricity retailers, which is renting external flexible resources to solve the market uncertainty of the electricity retailers, thereby lowering purchase costs and increasing profits. The proposed business model makes use of the cloud energy storage to solve the supply-demand imbalance issue of electricity retailers. The cost calculation model and decision optimisation model have been established in the process of renting cloud energy storage. Charging and discharging cloud energy storage have been separately rented to deal with different positive and negative load deviations, which can simplify the optimisation model. As an experimental paper, the proposed model has been tested in the PJM power market in the United States and the New South Wales power market in Australia. The findings confirm that renting the cloud energy storage capacities can significantly reduce costs and maximise profits for the electricity retailers when compared to the situation without the cloud energy storage. The biggest saving can reach 24.5% in the PJM market. With the rapid fall of battery prices, the advantage of the proposed strategy will be more obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Modelling the Whole Profile Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics Considering Soil Redistribution under Future Climate Change and Landscape Projections over the Lower Hunter Valley, Australia.
- Author
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Ma, Yuxin, Minasny, Budiman, Viaud, Valérie, Walter, Christian, Malone, Brendan, and McBratney, Alex
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SOIL profiles ,SOIL dynamics ,DIGITAL soil mapping ,CARBON in soils ,LANDSCAPE changes ,LANDSCAPE assessment - Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and redistribution across the landscape (through erosion and deposition) are linked to soil physicochemical properties and can affect soil quality. However, the spatial and temporal variability of soil erosion and SOC remains uncertain. Whether soil redistribution leads to SOC gains or losses continues to be hotly debated. These considerations cannot be modelled using conventional soil carbon models and digital soil mapping. This paper presents a coupled-model combining RothPC-1 which considers soil carbon (C) down to 1 m and a soil redistribution model. The soil redistribution component is based on a cellular automata technique using the multi-direction flow (FD8) algorithm. With the optimized input values based on land use, we simulated SOC changes upon soil profiles to 1 m across the Lower Hunter Valley area (11,300 ha) in New South Wales, Australia from the 1970s to 2016. Results were compared to field observations and showed that erosion was predicted mostly in upslope areas and deposition in low-lying areas. We further simulated SOC trends from 2017 until ~2045 in the area under three climate scenarios and five land use projections. The variation in the magnitude and direction of SOC change with different projections shows that the main factors influencing SOC changes considering soil redistribution are climate change which controlled the trend of SOC stocks, followed by land use change. Neglecting soil erosion in carbon models could lead to an overestimation of SOC stocks. This paper provides a framework for incorporating soil redistribution into the SOC dynamics modelling and also postulates the thinking that soil erosion is not just a removal process by surface runoff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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46. AMSRS 2011 "Curiouser & Curiouser" conference - A Snapshot review of the curiosity.
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CONFERENCES & conventions ,CURIOSITY ,ASSOCIATIONS, institutions, etc. - Abstract
The article reviews a selection of papers that examined curiosity presented during the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS) 2011 Conference held in September 8-9, 2011 in Sydney, New South Wales. A paper by Sheila Keegan addressed curiosity from the perspective that the community is evolving. Another paper by Jason Buchanan et al argues that people still seek the same information, but in the form in which they prefer to receive information is changing.
- Published
- 2011
47. Selected Papers from CODAS'99: Guest Editors' Introduction.
- Author
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Zhang, Yanchun and Kambayashi, Yahiko
- Subjects
DATABASES ,CONFERENCES & conventions - Abstract
Focuses on the papers presented at the Second International Symposium on Cooperative Database Systems for Advanced Applications held in Wollongong, New South Wales in March 1999. Workflow management; Design support for cooperative applications; Active information collection.
- Published
- 2000
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48. Responses to government-imposed restrictions: The sound of Australia's church bells one year after the onset of COVID-19a).
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Parker, Murray and Spennenmann, Dirk H. R.
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COVID-19 pandemic ,SOCIAL distancing ,CHURCH & state ,SOUNDS ,PUBLIC domain - Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how a stochastic disruptive event can dramatically alter community soundscapes. Whilst religious bells have symbolism in many worldwide faiths, the sound emanating from church bells can be considered public domain and therefore, is not exclusive to the church. Pandemic-related interruption of these sounds impacts not only the church involved, but both the surrounding soundscape and any members of the community who ascribe value to these sounds. This paper examines the soundscape of Christian churches in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, to give an Australian perspective one year after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. It provides an update of the situation in Australia, building on our previous work from August of that year. In doing so, it explores the activity of church tower bell ringing, and how this "non-essential" activity has been affected, both during and subsequent to the heavy community restrictions applied in Australia. The paper also explores what lengths bellringers have undertaken to be permitted to conduct such activities, such as the use of adaptive measures due to "social distancing", and considers what implications this enforced silence has in similar soundscapes elsewhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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- View/download PDF
49. Improving the pragmatic usefulness of the scoring matrix for the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). A proposal for a more frequency-based approach: The CFIR-f.
- Author
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Economidis, George, Eades, Anne-Marie, Shakeshaft, Anthony, and Farnbach, Sara
- Subjects
RESEARCH implementation ,PRAGMATICS ,FAMILY psychotherapy ,RESEARCH personnel ,SEMI-structured interviews ,ACQUISITION of data - Abstract
The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) is a well-established framework for systematically identifying key factors influencing the implementation of programs. To enhance the classification of existing CFIR definitions, as well as its +2/-2 scoring system, this study incorporated the views of relevant experts to: i) improve how themes are scored; and ii) utilise more information regarding the frequency with which themes are identified. This structured, frequency-based approach to the CFIR's scoring process has been trialled as the CFIR-frequency (CFIR-f). Researchers thematically analysed semi-structured interview data from four groups of policy and program experts (N = 24) delivering two family-based therapies in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Themes identified by less than 50% were excluded from further analysis. Themes identified by 50% or more of expert participants in the four groups were classified as enablers or barriers using clearly defined criteria. Each theme was allocated a score according to how many experts identified it as an enabler or barrier, and then mapped back onto the latest adaptation of the CFIR comprising 67 constructs. The CFIR-f successfully determined three enablers of, and six barriers to, implementation. Enablers included the family-based therapy programs, therapist training and participant monitoring systems. Barriers included referral, data collection and staffing difficulties, NSW adaptation issues and the suitability and safety of the programs for Aboriginal families. The same enablers and barriers were identified using both the CFIR-f and the original scoring approach, and the identified themes were successfully mapped to almost all CFIR constructs (65/67). This paper proposes a more frequency-based approach to CFIR's scoring process (the CFIR-f). By specifically utilising the frequency with which these barriers and enablers are identified, the CFIR-f engenders a list of ranked themes that service providers and policymakers can use to inform their decisions about program modification and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. The Destructive Sir Ivan Fire in New South Wales, Australia; Simulations Using a Coupled Fire—Atmosphere Model.
- Author
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Peace, Mika, Ye, Hua, Greenslade, Jesse, and Kepert, Jeffrey D.
- Subjects
CUMULONIMBUS ,ATMOSPHERIC models ,HOT weather conditions ,WILDFIRES ,FIRE weather ,BOUNDARY layer (Aerodynamics) ,HEAT flux - Abstract
The destructive Sir Ivan Dougherty fire burned 55,000 hectares around 250 km northwest of Sydney in New South Wales on 12 February 2017. Record hot temperatures were recorded in the area during the lead-in days and the fire conditions at the time were described as the 'worst ever seen in NSW'. The observed weather conditions were hot, dry and very windy ahead of a synoptic frontal wind change during the afternoon. 'Extreme' to 'catastrophic' fire weather was predicted, and the potential for extreme fire behaviour was identified several days in advance. The Australian coupled fire–atmosphere model ACCESS-Fire has been run to explore the characteristics of the Sir Ivan fire. Several features resulting from fire–atmosphere interaction are produced in the simulations. Simulated heat flux along the fire perimeter shows increased intensity on the northern fire flank in response to gradual backing winds ahead of the main frontal wind change. Temporal and spatial variability in fire activity, seen as pulses in fire intensity and fireline wind speed, develop in response to boundary layer rolls in the wind fields. Deep moist convection consistent with the observed pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud is simulated over the fire at around the time of the frontal wind change, and matches guidance from the 'PyroCb Firepower Threshold' tool, which showed transient favourable conditions. After the wind change, short-lived near-surface and elevated vortices suggest organised rotating features on the northern flank of the fire. The coupled model captures processes that cannot be produced in uncoupled fire predictions and that are not captured in current operational meteorological forecast products provided to Australian fire agencies. This paper links the features from coupled simulations to available observations and suggests pathways to embed the learnings in operational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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