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Grouping students into separate classes according to their 'ability' is an inequitable practice that does not, overall, improve academic outcomes. Research has continued to show that class ability grouping widens the educational gap between students from disadvantaged and privileged backgrounds. PISA data analysis suggests that class ability grouping continues to be used in Australian schools, at least in Year 10. However, no research has characterized the existing class ability grouping practices being used in secondary schools from Years 7 to 9. The findings reported in this paper add quantitative evidence to the literature, showing that students are experiencing different class ability grouping practices according to their year group, subjects, and locations. An across-state survey about class ability grouping was conducted with respondents from 143 schools providing data about the schools' class ability grouping practices. The findings reveal variations in how class grouping practices are used by schools in Australia that have been not captured in other research: Class ability grouping was activated differently in different schools, increased as students' year levels increased, was most prevalent in Maths and English, and was used more extensively in Western Australia than in Queensland. The findings use descriptive statistics to show that students in Australia are experiencing different grouping practices, with discussion of how some practices are more inequitable than others. This raises questions about how the varied forms of class ability grouping that are being employed are contributing to educational inequalities in Australia and how future research can address this problem.

Background: Information literacy (IL) skills are essential for the translation of current knowledge into evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare, which in turn improves patient outcomes. However, students enter pre-registration nursing programs with variable IL skills, which can present challenges when preparing research-literate nursing graduates. Objectives: To develop an online module for nursing students to learn the IL skills they require to effectively implement EBP. Project design: A self-paced, interactive online module was developed for final year preregistration nursing students at an Australian university and launched in late January 2019. Four different digital tools, including screen-capture videos, split-screen tutorials, e-portfolio/learning journey platforms, and digital badges, were integrated to create an interactive module on database searching and systematic reviews. A student feedback survey was added to collect information on the students' learning experience. Results: Students reported the online module was challenging but engaging and that its self-paced interactive nature assisted their learning. Digital badges were reported as a motivating factor by students, and their attitudes toward EBP were positive. Students were able to complete the module on their own, but a handful required face-to-face assistance. Conclusion: This project successfully integrated screen-capture videos, split-screen tutorials, e-portfolios and micro-credentialing into one online learning module to assist nursing students with developing the IL skills required for effective EBP.

Background: Self-management of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) can be challenging for people with intellectual disability. Often, parents provide health support due to lack of appropriate services outside the home. The study aim was to identify barriers and facilitators to T1DM self-management for young adults with intellectual disability and the implications for health promotion. Methods: Five male participants with intellectual disability, aged 17-26 years, and seven parents were interviewed between October 2017 and February 2019. Interview data were descriptively analysed. Findings: Two categories for barriers and facilitators were identified: 1) Diabetes self-management is complex (carbohydrate counting, blood glucose level monitoring, insulin therapy); 2) support for diabetes care (reliance on parents and carers, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, mainstream diabetes service support). Conclusions: Parents are critical for the support of people with intellectual disability and T1DM in the absence of disability staff with appropriate health skills.

A remote laboratory that measures the enthalpy of vaporization ([delta]"H"[subscript vap]°) and the entropy of vaporization ([delta]"S"[subscript vap]°) of "n"-octane was designed, constructed, and offered to second-year physical chemistry undergraduates at the University of New England (UNE) and Curtin University. The experiment was delivered in real-time, using equipment controlled remotely via the internet. A survey instrument was developed to investigate the learning process from the students' viewpoint and was followed by focus group interviews. Guidance from the laboratory manual and from the visual hints available through the webcam was important for their learning and was used most frequently among all the interactions. The students were satisfied with the laboratory and would like to perform other remote experiments. Types of learning interactions, such as experiment construction and technical skill learning, could be partly achieved with support from technicians and the meticulous design of online guidance.

The monitoring of pH changes due to dissolved carbon dioxide from algal balls offers a way for students to acquire good understanding of the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. Here, 54 high school participants were enlisted to conduct the experiment physically and with an Augmented Reality (AR) tool developed. A survey conducted after the exercise revealed the AR tool achieved overall higher scores in four out of six experiential factors compared with physical experimentation overall. Nevertheless, the participants supported using both modes to enhance their learning.

This article is grounded in the premises that racism is a significant predictor of mental health outcomes and that racialized international students experience a great deal of race-based discriminatory treatment. In highlighting how this takes shape in the context of business schools and describing some pedagogical interventions, our purpose is to invite management educators to reflect upon the ways in which they engage with racialized international students and to encourage educators to cultivate approaches that are relevant to their own specific positionalities and institutions. This is especially important as international students comprise a substantial percentage of total enrollment in many business schools and student health and well-being are intimately tied to academic and achievement outcomes. Pedagogical interventions require an understanding of the precarity and exclusion experienced by students while acknowledging the economic and political power structures that are at play as students move around the world to study in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Objectives: To identify the effects of message‐framing interventions on improving health outcomes of individuals in diabetes health education communication. Methods: Four electronic databases including Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were the search engines used. The period of literature search was from their inception until December 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi‐experimental trials reporting the effects of message‐framing interventions for diabetes were included. Results: The review included 10 studies. Many studies have investigated multiple health outcomes. Of the seven studies that evaluated behavioral health‐related outcomes, all studies (7/7, 100%) found a positive effect, and four studies (4/7, 57.1%) found that there was no significant difference between gain and loss framing. Of the seven studies that assessed nonbehavioral health‐related outcomes, six studies (6/7, 85.7%) reported a positive postintervention effect, whereas four studies (4/7, 57.1%) found that loss‐framed messages were more effective. One study (1/7, 14.3%) reported that there was no effect of the message framing on mental health‐related outcomes. Conclusions: In diabetes health education communication, message framing of gain and loss framing has a positive effect on health outcomes for individuals. The advantage of the loss framing is more significant in improving nonbehavioral health‐related outcomes. Practice Implications: When constructing a message to promote health outcomes for patients with diabetes, the message framing is worth applying, and the advantages of loss framing can be considered more. Trial Registration: PROSPERO registration ID: CRD42023445074. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=445074 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective was to investigate the feasibility of prospectively validating multiple clinical prediction scores (CPSs) for pediatric appendicitis in an Australian pediatric emergency department (ED). Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify potential CPSs and a single‐center prospective observational feasibility study was performed between November 2022 and May 2023 to evaluate the performance of identified CPSs. Children 5–15 years presenting with acute right‐sided or generalized abdominal pain and clinician suspicion of appendicitis were included. CPSs were calculated by the study team from prospectively clinician‐collected data and/or review of medical records. Accuracy of CPSs were assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and proportions correctly identifiable as either low‐risk or high‐risk with the best performing CPS compared to clinician gestalt. Final diagnosis of appendicitis was confirmed on histopathology or by telephone/email follow‐up for those discharged directly from ED. Results: Thirty CPSs were identified in the literature search and 481 patients were enrolled in the study. A total of 150 (31.2%) patients underwent appendectomy with three (2.0%) having a normal appendix on histopathology. All identified CPSs were calculable for at least 50% of the patient cohort. The pediatric Appendicitis Risk Calculator for pediatric EDs (pARC‐ED; n = 317) was the best performing CPS with AUC 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.86–0.94) and specificity 99.0% (95% CI 96.4%–99.7%) in diagnosing high‐risk cases and a misclassification rate of 4.5% for low‐risk cases. Conclusions: The study identified 30 CPSs that could be validated in a majority of patients to compare their ability to assess risk of pediatric appendicitis. The pARC‐ED had the highest predictive accuracy and can potentially assist in risk stratification of children with suspected appendicitis in pediatric EDs. A multicenter study is now under way to evaluate the potential of these CPSs in a broader range of EDs to aid clinical decision making in more varied settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families' mealtime talk has significant implications for children's language development. This study investigated five middle-class Australian Chinese families that differ in their lifestyles and meal routines. It aims to explore: (1) the nature of the Chinese parents' language use in interactions with children at mealtime; and (2) the factors that may impact the quality of mealtime talk. Drawing on systemic functional linguistic theory, the parents' language was analysed in terms of interpersonal functions and cohesive patterns. The findings show distinctive differences among the families. The parents sitting with children for meals generated a higher quality of language that contained informational functions, expanded in various cohesive patterns, than the families where parents were positioned separately from children or where fathers were absent from dinner. This study indicates the diversity of Chinese children's language experiences at home. Lifestyles and meal routines could be a mediator affecting the nature of mealtime talk.

Academic work environments are becoming progressively more digitalised and focused on performativity and commodification, increasing the potential to force an unwanted merge of the boundary between work and non-work domains. This study aimed to explore academic wellbeing and the role played by factors related to work-life merge. Data were collected from a cross sectional survey of 605 Australian and 313 UK academics, who were found to have a short version Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Score of 21.47 ± 4.11 and 21.35 ± 4 respectively, which is significantly below population norms. Australian men's scores were significantly lower than Australian women (20.7 ± 0.31, p = 0.007). Job strain was evidenced by excessive work hours, high levels of intrusive work-related thoughts, reduced physical activity and a self-perception that work-life merge adversely affected psychological and physical health, and mostly only occurred to meet work demands. Action by government education and university leaders is urgently required to identify policy and management practices that are contributing to this ongoing health concern. The establishment of national and university based advisory groups and consideration of a data warehouse to curate a public dataset on the wellbeing of staff within universities could assist in ensuring the outcomes of any action are continually assessed.

In a context of the internationalisation of Higher Education (HE) driven by the high mobility of international Higher Degree Research candidates (HDRs), it is important to consider the value of HDRs' multilingual capabilities for their learning and making of original contributions to knowledge. This article reports on a literature study regarding conceptualisations of multilingualism and multilingual capabilities, together with multilingualism in university research education practices and policies. Key themes to emerge from the literature include divergent understandings of languages, multilingualism, and multilingual capabilities. For example, a "static" language construct provides a structuralist lens through which multilingual HDRs are viewed as an accumulation of monolinguals, whereas a "dynamic" language construct informs a socially and culturally constructed linguistic space where the multilingual resources of HDRs are valued. These divergences are manifested in the language-as-problem orientation and language-as-resource orientation in anglophone universities' HDR education policies. Informed by empirical evidence of leveraging multilingual capabilities in original contributions to knowledge, this article argues that it is urgent for pertinent stakeholders in HDR education to reconfigure language practices and policies in the HDR educational context. In doing so, the voices of HDRs would be able to leverage multilingual capabilities in their research instead of being treated as deficient English learners.

In Australia there is no centrally administered nationwide assessment system for students who complete their final year (Year 12) of high school. Each state and territory uses its own Year 12 assessment system. Apart from Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, all states and territories use externally set competitive examinations. The Queensland and Australian Capital Territory systems focus on continuous assessment that commences when students begin Year 11. Hence, policymakers at the state, territory and federal levels in Australia are debating over which of the Year 12 systems is superior, that is, an externally set competitive examination or a school/college-based continuous assessment system? If one of the assessment systems is superior to the other, then it is expected that the superiority should be reflected by the students' subsequent academic performances at their tertiary-level studies. In this article we specifically addressed this issue and compared the academic performances of these two groups of students at an Australian university in their first year of a business degree. We found no difference in their academic performances in the subjects studied. The empirical evidence provided in the article does not, therefore, support the claim that one system is superior to the other. Essentially, both systems have their inherent merits and demerits. The merits of one system are offset by the merits of the other system and vice versa.

Few studies have addressed the university-to-work transition experience of international postgraduate students. This paper contributed to the literature as it proposed a three-stage university-to-work transition framework including stages of finishing a degree, looking for a job, and working in a job. A qualitative research design with in-depth interviews was used to explore the university-to-work transition experience of eight international postgraduate students who were working full time in Australia. The international postgraduate students faced considerable stress during the first two stages. They used an array of job search strategies including networking, internships, and career workshops at university, and secured employment through networking and recommendation rather than by formal methods because they did not have permanent work visas. International postgraduate students were excited and relieved when they found a job, but faced stress when they transitioned into the workplace, and were inhibited by a lack of proper induction and their inadequate business communication skills, but were assisted through mentoring.

Although understandings of scientific inquiry (as opposed to conducting inquiry) are included in science education reform documents around the world, little is known about what students have learned about inquiry during their elementary school years. This is partially due to the lack of any assessment instrument to measure understandings about scientific inquiry. However, a valid and reliable assessment has recently been developed and published, Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI; Lederman et al. [2014], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65-83). The purpose of this large-scale international project was to collect the first baseline data on what beginning middle school students have learned about scientific inquiry during their elementary school years. Eighteen countries/regions spanning six continents including 2,634 students participated in the study. The participating countries/regions were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mainland China, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. In many countries, science is not formally taught until middle school, which is the rationale for choosing seventh grade students for this investigation. This baseline data will simultaneously provide information on what, if anything, students learn about inquiry in elementary school, as well as their beginning knowledge as they enter secondary school. It is important to note that collecting data from all of the approximately 200 countries globally was not humanly possible, and it was also not possible to collect data from every region of each country. The results overwhelmingly show that students around the world at the beginning of grade seven have very little understandings about scientific inquiry. Some countries do show reasonable understandings in certain aspects but the overall picture of understandings of scientific inquiry is not what is hoped for after completing 6 years of elementary education in any country.

Current trends in the internationalization of doctoral programs require new understandings of the formation of scholarly identity. This study explores the utility of a cosmopolitan perspective. It reports on identity projects sparked by Chinese students' participation in a doctoral workshop in Australia; it highlights the realization, retrieval, repositioning, and reshaping of the students' scholarly selves. This identity work mirrors the complexities induced by the internationalization of doctoral pedagogies. We present the students' identity work here to illuminate extant practice and further study of internationalized doctoral education.

The tomato potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli Šulc, originating from North and Central America, poses a serious threat to Solanaceae crops in Australia. This study investigates the potential of the Australian native and commercially available green lacewing, Mallada signatus Schneider, as a biological control agent for B. cockerelli. The effect of feeding on B. cockerelli on the development rate and survival, of M. signatus were evaluated. Further, a greenhouse cage study was conducted to determine the optimal density of M. signatus larvae needed to effectively control an established B. cockerelli population. In our study, the third instar larvae of M. signatus consumed over 75 B. cockerelli nymphs in 24 h. Following the introduction of M. signatus larvae to caged tomato plants, eight M. signatus larvae per caged tomato plant decreased B. cockerelli population by 64% at the end of the sampling. These results indicated M. signatus, particularly at the larval stage, is an effective biological control option for B. cockerelli, especially in greenhouse tomato cultivation. This research offers valuable insights for the Australian horticultural industry, presenting a viable, eco‐friendly alternative to traditional, chemical pesticide‐reliant pest management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flow of international students to study in Australia increases each year. It is a challenge for students to study abroad in a different sociocultural environment, especially for postgraduate research students, as they experience numerous difficulties in an unfamiliar and vastly different study environment. A study aimed to investigate the experiences of international research students and how this impacted upon their studies at the University of Tasmania (UTAS). This study also provides insight and guidance regarding the experiences of current and future international research students in Australia and universities globally. It also offers to educational services and relevant government agencies a greater understanding on how to support international research students more effectively. Qualitative research methods were used to gain deeper insights about the issue. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten participants who were selected randomly from different faculties within the university. All collected data were analysed by Nvivo version 10. Constructivist grounded theory was the basis of qualitative data analysis. The findings indicate that there are five main areas of difficulty when international research students are studying in the Australian tertiary education context. These are; language barrier, time management, research resources, educational background and cultural background. The findings of the study provide guidelines and references for current and prospective international research students in the Australian university context.

The introduction of the influential Orff Schulwerk approach to music education in Australia is generally reported as occurring in the late 1960s. However, this was not the earliest encounters with the pedagogy in Australia. Patricia L. Holmes included Orff materials in teacher inservices in the late 1950s, before she travelled overseas to work with Doreen Hall, Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman. Historical research is lacking in many aspects of music education in Australia and this article attempts to chronicle early efforts and add to our understanding of what has been done in the past and shapes our present practices. (Contains 7 figures.)

Learning occurs in many forms, and learning through mobile devices is becoming increasingly common in higher education. Potentially, there are many ways students may implement mobile learning to enhance learning, and this may be influenced by students' confidence and preferences. To identify mobile learning behaviours, biomedical students (n=189) were asked in meta-learning assessment tasks to report on self-initiated ways they used mobile devices for learning. Thematic analysis of responses showed students were confident using mobile devices for learning, but students of all confidence levels had similar usage levels. Students most commonly reported using laptops for note-taking, watching lecture recordings, and planning, and using phones for looking up concepts and using applications. This contributed to their self-regulation primarily by aiding students' keeping of records and information seeking behaviors. Students also implemented many new ways of using devices during semester, demonstrating adaptability. Surprisingly, they rarely reported seeking social assistance via mobile devices.

Because English is widely used as a lingua franca, language testers have started to consider the introduction of non-native accents into English listening tests. This study investigates how accents influence test-takers' performance, and also elicits test-takers' subjective perception of accents. Eighty adolescent L1-Mandarin test takers were divided into four groups of equal proficiency, with each group listening to one accented version of the same English listening test. The test input was delivered in Australian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin-accented English varieties with tasks measuring lexical and propositional comprehension and consisting of picture selection, true/false, and gap completion items. Test-takers' perceptions of accent familiarity, comprehensibility, and their attitudes were also measured. Results indicate that the test takers who received Mandarin-accented input performed best, lending support to a shared-L1 effect, with the strongest advantage for lexical comprehension. No significant difference was observed in test scores among the groups exposed to non-Mandarin accents. Findings also reveal that the type of accent was not significantly related to test-takers' attitude toward it. The central implication from this study is that there is potential for the inclusion of non-native accents into listening tests for adolescent learners if the shared-L1 effect can be addressed.

Laboratories play a crucial role in the undergraduate science curriculum and the effectiveness of learning in laboratories is influenced by learners' interactions with other students, the instructors, and the equipment used. In this study, a pre-lab survey was used to collect information about students' expectations of interactions in chemistry laboratories and how they can be ranked according to their importance. Post-lab surveys were used to capture students' perspectives about the frequency of interactions that existed in laboratory sessions they had completed. Direct observations of some laboratories were also conducted principally to validate students' self-reported interactions. The data were also sorted by three levels of student achievement in order to relate students' expectations of the importance of different interactions (pre-lab survey) and their self-reported frequency of interactions (post-lab survey) with their laboratory grades. Results from the pre-lab survey showed that student-instructor interactions were anticipated to be the most important ahead of conducting the laboratory activity, whereas results from the post-lab surveys showed that the most frequent interactions occurred between students. Students' self-reports (post-lab survey) and the direct observations agreed well suggesting that the post-lab survey is a robust tool for capturing the frequencies of student interactions in this and future studies. The results also showed that students gaining high grades both anticipated the importance of, and then engaged more frequently in, two-way communications with both students and instructors whereas students with lower grades placed a relatively higher reliance upon passive interactions such as the pre-lab briefing, the laboratory manual and internet sources. Finally, recommendations are offered to curriculum designers, instructors and students based on the overall findings of the study.

Purpose: To examine the longitudinal relationships between shoulder internal and external rotation (IR and ER) strength, maturity status, and swim performance (aim 1). To determine whether maturity status mediated (partially/fully) the relationship between shoulder IR/ER strength and performance in age-group swimmers (aim 2). Methods: Using a repeated-measures design, anthropometrics, maturity status, shoulder IR/ER strength, and 200-m front-crawl velocity were assessed over 3 competition seasons in N = 82 Australian male competitive swimmers (10–15 y). For aim 1, linear mixed models examined longitudinal relationships between assessed variables. For aim 2, causal mediation analyses examined proportional (in)direct contributions of maturity status between shoulder IR strength and swim performance. Results: For aim 1, linear mixed models identified a significant relationship between shoulder IR strength and swim performance over time (F1,341.25 = 16.66, P <.001, marginal R2 =.13, conditional R2 =.91). However, maturity status was influential (ΔAkaike information criterion = −75.8, χ2 = 19.98, P <.001), suggesting removal of the shoulder IR strength–swim velocity relationship (F1,214.1 = 0.02, P =.88). For aim 2, mediation analyses identified maturity status as fully mediating the shoulder IR strength–swim velocity relationship (92.30%, P <.001). Conclusions: Shoulder IR and ER strength did not account for variance in longitudinal age-group swim performance independent of maturity status. Interindividual differences in maturity status fully explained the relationship between shoulder IR/ER strength and swim performance. For practitioners, findings promote the need to account for maturation status and question the rationale for upper-limb strength assessment during maturational years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the crucial role of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerlies in modulating modern and past climate evolution, little is known about their behavior and possible forcing mechanisms during the early Cenozoic. We probe changes in the hydroclimate of southwest Australia during 62–51 Ma, based on sedimentary proxy records from the International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1514 in the Mentelle Basin. Our results reveal a transition from a less humid climate to wetter conditions at mid–high latitudes starting from the early Eocene, which suggests poleward migration of the SH westerlies. This long‐term trend is punctuated by short‐lived events of aridification during the Mid‐Paleocene Biotic Event and wetter intervals during the Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum, indicating additional short‐term meridional shifting of the westerlies. We propose that the evolution of SH westerlies was driven by the equator‐to‐pole temperature gradient regulated by global warming and ephemeral growth of the Antarctic ice sheet. Plain Language Summary: The Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerlies, which are the dominant atmospheric circulation patterns in the middle latitudes, play a key role in regulating global and regional climate. Currently, the knowledge of past changes in SH westerlies relies mainly on the late Quaternary. Its dynamics over longer timescales, especially under early Cenozoic greenhouse climate states, remain poorly understood. The Mentelle Basin off southwest Australia was located at a more southerly location than at the present day, and was potentially under the influence of SH westerlies. To examine the long‐term hydroclimate changes in southwest Australia during the mid‐late Paleocene to the early Eocene (62–51 Ma), we measured neodymium and hafnium isotopic compositions of fine‐grained detrital sediments from a borehole (IODP Site U1514) drilled in the Mentelle Basin, in addition to clay mineralogy, and elemental abundances. Our results suggest a gradual wetting of southwest Australia since the early Eocene, which we relate to the poleward migration of SH westerlies in response to a reduced latitudinal temperature gradient. An abrupt northward shift of SH westerlies was observed during the short‐lived Middle Paleocene Biotic Event (∼59 Ma), possibly driven by ephemeral growth of the Antarctica ice sheet. Key Points: We reconstruct the hydroclimate evolution of southwest Australia during 62–51 MaThe Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerlies remained relatively stable during the mid‐late Paleocene and shifted poleward since the early EoceneProcesses related to variations of pole‐equator temperature gradients drove meridional migration of the SH westerlies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrence of low back pain is common and a substantial contributor to the disease and economic burden of low back pain. Exercise is recommended to prevent recurrence, but the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an accessible and low-cost intervention, such as walking, is yet to be established. We aimed to investigate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention to prevent the recurrence of low back pain. WalkBack was a two-armed, randomised controlled trial, which recruited adults (aged 18 years or older) from across Australia who had recently recovered from an episode of non-specific low back pain that was not attributed to a specific diagnosis, and which lasted for at least 24 h. Participants were randomly assigned to an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention facilitated by six sessions with a physiotherapist across 6 months or to a no treatment control group (1:1). The randomisation schedule comprised randomly permuted blocks of 4, 6, and 8 and was stratified by history of more than two previous episodes of low back pain and referral method. Physiotherapists and participants were not masked to allocation. Participants were followed for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 36 months, depending on the date of enrolment. The primary outcome was days to the first recurrence of an activity-limiting episode of low back pain, collected in the intention-to-treat population via monthly self-report. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated from the societal perspective and expressed as incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. The trial was prospectively registered (ACTRN12619001134112). Between Sept 23, 2019, and June 10, 2022, 3206 potential participants were screened for eligibility, 2505 (78%) were excluded, and 701 were randomly assigned (351 to the intervention group and 350 to the no treatment control group). Most participants were female (565 [81%] of 701) and the mean age of participants was 54 years (SD 12). The intervention was effective in preventing an episode of activity-limiting low back pain (hazard ratio 0·72 [95% CI 0·60–0·85], p=0·0002). The median days to a recurrence was 208 days (95% CI 149–295) in the intervention group and 112 days (89–140) in the control group. The incremental cost per QALY gained was AU$7802, giving a 94% probability that the intervention was cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $28 000. Although the total number of participants experiencing at least one adverse event over 12 months was similar between the intervention and control groups (183 [52%] of 351 and 190 [54%] of 350, respectively, p=0·60), there was a greater number of adverse events related to the lower extremities in the intervention group than in the control group (100 in the intervention group and 54 in the control group). An individualised, progressive walking and education intervention significantly reduced low back pain recurrence. This accessible, scalable, and safe intervention could affect how low back pain is managed. National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: Rice wild relatives (RWR) provide valuable genetic resources for modern rice breeding, yet knowledge gaps constrain their conservation and further utilization. To address these gaps, the potential distributions of 22 RWR taxa were modeled, and their conservation statuses were assessed. Most taxa were identified as medium priority for further conservation. Further ex‐situ collecting hotspots are in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, West Africa, and tropical Americas, while habitat protection lies in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, and West Africa. Climate change may shift equatorial habitats to higher latitudes and mountain habitats to higher altitudes. Summary: Rice wild relatives (RWR) provide valuable genetic resources for modern rice breeding. However, knowledge gaps on their geographic distributions and conservation status constrain their conservation and further utilization.To fill these critical gaps, we modeled the potential distributions of 22 RWR taxa under current climate scenarios, assessed their conservation status, both ex situ (in genebanks or botanical gardens) and in situ (in protected areas), and examined changes in taxa richness of RWR in predicted areas under future climate scenarios.The RWR were primarily distributed in tropical Asia to tropical Australia, tropical Africa, and South and Central America. We identified 4 out of 22 taxa as high priority (HP) for further conservation action and 18 taxa as medium priority (MP).Hotspots requiring further collecting for ex situ conservation are concentrated in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, West Africa, and tropical Americas. Meanwhile, habitat protection should be enhanced in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, and West Africa. Under future climate change, suitable habitats near the equator are expected to shift toward higher latitudes and some in lower‐latitude basins may become unsuitable due to excessive heat, resulting in decreased taxa richness in these areas. Additionally, suitable habitats in high mountain areas may shift to higher altitudes, potentially augmenting taxa richness in the highlands. Our findings provide vital insights to guide future rescue conservation efforts for RWR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Icanbelimod (formerly CBP-307) is a next-generation S1PR modulator, targeting S1PR1. In this first-in-human study, icanbelimod was investigated in healthy men in Australia. Methods: Participants were randomized 3:1, double-blind, to icanbelimod or placebo in four single-dose cohorts (0.1 mg, 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg [n=8 per cohort], 2.5 mg [n=4]) or for 28-days once-daily treatment in two cohorts (0.15 mg, 0.25 mg [n=8 per cohort]). Participants in the 0.25-mg cohort received 0.1 mg on Day 1. Treatments were administered orally after fasting; following one-week washout, icanbelimod was administered after breakfast in the 0.5-mg cohort. Results: Icanbelimod exposure increased rapidly and dose-dependently with single and multiple dosing (Tmax 4–7 hours). Lymphocyte counts decreased rapidly after single (-11%, 0.1 mg; -40%, 0.25 mg; -71%, 0.5 mg; -77%, 2.5 mg) and multiple doses (-49%, 0.15 mg; -75%, 0.25 mg), and recovered quickly, 7 days after dosing. After single-dose 0.5 mg, although a high-fat breakfast versus fasting did not affect maximal decrease, lymphocyte counts tended to be lower after breakfast across most timepoints up to 72 hours. Twenty-eight participants (63.6%) experienced mainly mild treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). After single-dose icanbelimod, the most common TEAEs were headache (28.6%, n=6) and dizziness (19.0%, n=4). Three participants experienced transient bradycardia, with one serious, following single-dose 2.5 mg icanbelimod. After multiple-dose icanbelimod, the most common TEAEs were headache (50.0%, n=6) and lymphopenia (41.7%, n=5), and two participants withdrew due to nonserious TEAEs. Up-titration attenuated heart rate reductions. Conclusion: Icanbelimod was well-tolerated up to 0.5 mg and effectively reduced lymphocyte counts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Widespread transmission of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) genotype four (GIV) occurred across mainland Australia in 2022. This resulted in forty-five human cases, including seven deaths, and the identification of JEV infection in over 80 commercial piggeries. Materials and Methods: We collected mosquitoes which were trapped using CO2-baited light traps deployed near piggeries reporting disease or in regions linked to human cases in the Wide Bay region in the state of Queensland. Mosquitoes from four traps yielded JEV RNA by real-time RT-PCR. Pools containing RNA positive mosquitoes were inoculated onto mosquito cell monolayers. Discussion: A single isolate of JEV was obtained from a pool of mixed mosquito species. Near whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the JEV isolate demonstrated its high genomic relatedness with JEV GIV pig sequences sampled from Queensland and the state of New South Wales in 2022. Conclusion: We report the first isolation of JEV GIV from mosquitoes collected in Australia. With only a few JEV GIV isolates available globally, the isolate we report will be essential for future research of JEV host interactions, evolution and disease markers, and development of effective therapies, vaccines, diagnostic assays, and mosquito control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and patterns of comorbidity in community‐dwelling older people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) attending general practice settings in Australia. Methods: This study involved a cross‐sectional analysis using the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) sub‐study data. In a series of sub‐studies, a representative sample of general practitioners was asked to record all diagnosed chronic conditions for patients at 40 consecutive encounters using structured paper‐based recording forms. The dataset was analysed with descriptive analyses, and exploratory factor analyses were applied to examine comorbidity patterns. Results: Of the 14,042 patients aged 65 years or older, 2688 had a diagnosis of T2DM (19%). Of the 2688 patients with T2DM, hypertension was present in 67% (95% CI: 64.6–70.0), followed by arthritis 52% (95% CI: 48.8–54.8), hyperlipidaemia 45% (95% CI: 41.8–47.9), ischemic heart disease, 23% (95% CI: 20.7–24.9), depression 16% (95% CI: 48.8–54.8), atrial fibrillation 10% (95% CI: 8.9–11.6), congestive heart failure 7% (95% CI: 6.0–8.1), stroke/cerebrovascular accident 7% (95% CI: 5.4–8.2) and peripheral vascular disease 5% (95% CI: 4.4–6.2). We identified two comorbidity patterns among older people with T2DM. The first were psychological and musculoskeletal conditions and the second were cardiovascular conditions and chronic renal failure. Conclusions: The prevalence of cardiovascular and non‐cardiovascular comorbidities in community‐dwelling older people with T2DM was high. Adequate primary care strategies should be in place to support the long‐term care for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) is one of the most important water masses for the global ocean uptake and storage of heat and carbon. Based on Argo observations, this study focus on the Southeast Indian Subantarctic mode water (SEISAMW), and investigates the changes of SEISAMW spreading and associated mechanisms. SEISAMW is formed through air‐sea interaction as low potential vorticity water in late winter and subducts into permanent thermocline between outcrop lines of 26.6 σθ and 26.9 σθ in Southern Indian Ocean (SIO). After subduction, the SEISAMW spreads northwestward into subtropical gyre and southeastward into Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) separately. During Argo period, the percentage of SEISAMW volume spreading into SIO subtropics decreases at light layer (26.6–26.7 σθ) while increases at medium (26.7–26.8 σθ) and dense (26.8–26.9 σθ) layer. These changes are attributed to the meridional shifts of outcrop lines. The outcrop lines of 26.6 σθ and 26.7 σθ in the central of SIO (75°–90°E), where light SEISAMW forms, shift poleward. The poleward shifts of outcrop lines result in less light SEISAMW spreading into subtropical gyre. In contrast, outcrop lines of 26.7 σθ and 26.8 σθ south of Australia shift equatorward and favor more medium and dense SEISAMWs spreading into subtropical gyre. The shifts of outcrop lines are closely related to the enhancement of Southern Annular Mode. Plain Language Summary: Subantarctic mode water (SAMW), a water mass with vertically homogeneous properties, forms at the base of deep mixed layer during austral winter in the Subantarctic Zone, providing subsurface oceanic reservoirs of carbon and heat that can affect the global climate significantly. After subduction, SAMW that forms in Southern Indian Ocean (called SEISAMW) spreads into subtropical gyre and Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). We find that the spreading of SEISAMW changes in different isopycnal layers during Argo period. The percentage of light SEISAMW volume spreading into subtropical gyre decreases, while the percentage of medium and dense SEISAMW volume spreading into subtropical gyre increases. The meridional shift of mode water formation region controls the change in spreading of SEISAMW here. The mode water formation regions shift oppositely in the central of SIO (where light mode water forms) and south of Australia (where the medium and dense mode water forms), and the opposite shifts of the formation regions result in the opposite changes in spreading of SEISAMW in the two isopycnal layers. This study reveals that the change of SEISAMW spreading is layer‐dependent, which would possibly improve our understanding of the heat redistribution process in the Southern Ocean. Key Points: The spreading of Southeast Indian subantarctic mode water (SEISAMW) changes during Argo periodThe changes in the spreading of light, medium and dense SEISAMWs are differentThe change of SEISAMW spreading is associated with change of formation region due to meridional shift of outcrop line [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a hallmark of colorectal cancer (CRC) that is present in 10–15% of all patients with this condition. MSI results from the inactivation of the mismatch repair (MMR) pathway in tumors due to germline MMR mutations, known as Lynch syndrome or sporadic epigenetic gene silencing, leading to an increased mutation rate and genomic instability. In this study, we assessed the utility of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular method as an alternative to immunohistochemistry for determining MSI status in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and investigated the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of MSI in CRC. We found that patients with MSI-high (i.e., high MSI) had better overall and disease-free survival than those with microsatellite stability, and this result was significant in patients with right-sided CRC. Our results demonstrate that PCR-based MSI detection may serve as a useful prognostic predictor in patients with CRC and may have clinical value in the management of these patients. Given the crucial predictive implications of microsatellite instability (MSI) in colorectal cancer (CRC), MSI screening is commonly performed in those with and at risk for CRC. Here, we compared results from immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) MSI assay on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 48 patients who underwent surgery for colon and rectal cancer by calculating Cohen's kappa measurement (k), revealing high agreement between the methods (k = 0.915). We performed Kaplan–Meier survival analyses and univariate and multivariate Cox regression to assess the prognostic significance of ddPCR-based MSI and to identify clinicopathological features associated with CRC outcome. Patients with MSI-high had better overall survival (OS; p = 0.038) and disease-free survival (DFS; p = 0.049) than those with microsatellite stability (MSS). When stratified by primary tumor location, right-sided CRC patients with MSI-high showed improved DFS, relative to those with MSS (p < 0.001), but left-sided CRC patients did not. In multivariate analyses, MSI-high was associated with improved OS (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.221, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.026–0.870, p = 0.042), whereas the loss of DNA mismatch repair protein MutL homolog 1 (MLH1) expression was associated with worse OS (HR = 0.133, 95% CI: 0.001–1.152, p = 0.049). Our results suggest ddPCR is a promising tool for MSI detection. Given the opposing effects of MSI-high and MLH1 loss on OS, both ddPCR and IHC may be complementary for the prognostic assessment of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multimodal analgesia regimens are recommended for the postoperative period after hip and knee replacement surgeries. However, there are no data on practice patterns for analgesic use in the immediate postoperative period after hip and knee replacements in Australia. Objectives: To describe analgesic prescribing patterns in the inpatient postoperative phase for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement. Methods: Retrospective study of electronic medical record data from two major hospitals in Sydney, Australia. We identified analgesic medication prescriptions for all patients aged 18 years and older who underwent hip or knee replacement surgery in 2019. We extracted data on pain medications prescribed while in the ward up until discharge. These were grouped into distinct categories based on the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification. We described the frequency (%) of pain medications used by category and computed the average oral morphine equivalent daily dose (OMEDD) during hospitalisation. Results: We identified 1282 surgeries in 1225 patients. Patients had a mean (SD) age of 69 (11.8) years; most (57.1%) were female. Over 99% of patients were prescribed opioid analgesics and paracetamol during their hospital stay. Most patients (61.4%) were managed with paracetamol and opioids only. The most common prescribed opioid was oxycodone (87.3% of patients). Only 19% of patients were prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs). The median (IQR) average daily OMEDD was 50.2 mg (30.3–77.9). Conclusion: We identified high use of opioids analgesics as the main strategies for pain control after hip and knee replacement in hospital. Other analgesics were much less frequently used, such as NSAIDs, and always in combination with opioids and paracetamol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the economic consequences of the IFRS 3 (2008) requirement for fair valuing earnouts. Using a hand-collected sample of earnout fair value estimates in acquisitions completed by Australian firms, we find that a significant portion of acquirers overstate initial earnout liabilities and strategically reverse them as operating gains to boost post-M&A earnings. These overstatements are more pronounced when acquirers face investment- and performance-related pressure but attenuated in the presence of high-quality auditors and debt-financed deals. Acquirers also obfuscate earnout-related disclosures, inhibiting investors' assessment of earnout values. By doing so, managers extend their tenure. Further analysis reveals that IFRS 3 (2008) leads to a significant increase in both the frequency and magnitude of earnouts in public acquirers' transactions. Overall, we highlight the accounting benefit of earnouts for acquirers under IFRS 3 (2008), with implications for investors, analysts, auditors, and standard setters. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: G34; M41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the task-based language teaching (TBLT) framework, this study investigated learners' perceptions of a WeChat task being integrated into a Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) curriculum. The WeChat task linked up learners of Chinese from an Australian university with native speakers of Chinese as international students on the same campus. The learner-native speaker pair were required to complete weekly assigned communication sub-tasks through WeChat for ten weeks in semester 2 of 2017. Both a questionnaire survey and an interview were conducted for data collection. Findings show that participants were very positive with the WeChat task. They expressed their enjoyment and satisfaction in completing the question-asking and answering interactions with native speakers through WeChat. As an important component of the tertiary CFL curriculum, the WeChat task was a great learning task to supplement classroom learning. It is also an ideal learning task that makes use of the native speaker resources and mobile assisted language learning technology to achieve the best learning outcome in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

Individuals with an autism spectrum disorder commonly have limited social participation. This study aimed to examine the similarities and differences of everyday participation among males and females with autism spectrum disorder in Australia and Taiwan, using an experience sampling methodology. A total of 14 Australians (4 males, aged 16-43 years) and 16 Taiwanese (12 males, aged 19-45 years) with autism spectrum disorder who are cognitively able were asked to carry a device which prompted them seven times per day for 7 days, to record everyday participation: where they were, what they were doing, and who they were with. Multilevel analyses were used to identify the relationships between everyday participation and associated factors including gender, country of residence, clinical severity of autism spectrum disorder, and social anxiety. The results showed that Taiwanese participants were more likely to stay at home than Australian participants. However, female participants were more likely to engage in social situations than males. Furthermore, participants with fewer autism spectrum disorder symptoms and those with higher levels of social anxiety were less likely to engage in social interactions. This study sheds light on ways that culture and gender affect social participation and highlights the relationship of social anxiety to social participation. The findings have implications for interventions for social participation.