Search

Historically, non-Indigenous researchers have contributed to colonisation by research based on Western positivistic philosophical frameworks. This approach led to disembodying knowledge from Indigenous people's histories, worldviews, and cultural and social practices, thus perpetuating a deficit-based discourse which situates the responsibility of problems within Indigenous peoples and ignores the larger socio-economic and historical contexts in which problems are rooted. Rectifying this position requires decolonising Western positivistic research by shifting to basing research on social constructionist paradigms that lead to strength-based approaches. Based on our experiences gained exploring disaster risk reduction perspectives with two remote Indigenous communities in Australia and Pakistan, we suggest in this conceptual paper that a synergy of systems theory and symbolic interactionism offers an appropriate philosophical lens to non-Indigenous researchers for gaining a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of Indigenous holistic and relational perspectives, experiences, interpretations and actions/interaction. Research based on these philosophical worldviews promotes a strength-based approach that aligns with and empowers Indigenous ways of facilitating health and wellbeing. We offer our experiences of utilising these two frameworks and of how they could assist other non-Indigenous researchers to discover valuable insights into Indigenous perspectives and interpretations that might otherwise be ignored or neglected.

Historically, non-Indigenous researchers have contributed to colonisation by research based on Western positivistic philosophical frameworks. This approach led to disembodying knowledge from Indigenous people's histories, worldviews, and cultural and social practices, thus perpetuating a deficit-based discourse which situates the responsibility of problems within Indigenous peoples and ignores the larger socio-economic and historical contexts in which problems are rooted. Rectifying this position requires decolonising Western positivistic research by shifting to basing research on social constructionist paradigms that lead to strength-based approaches. Based on our experiences gained exploring disaster risk reduction perspectives with two remote Indigenous communities in Australia and Pakistan, we suggest in this conceptual paper that a synergy of systems theory and symbolic interactionism offers an appropriate philosophical lens to non-Indigenous researchers for gaining a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of Indigenous holistic and relational perspectives, experiences, interpretations and actions/interaction. Research based on these philosophical worldviews promotes a strength-based approach that aligns with and empowers Indigenous ways of facilitating health and wellbeing. We offer our experiences of utilising these two frameworks and of how they could assist other non-Indigenous researchers to discover valuable insights into Indigenous perspectives and interpretations that might otherwise be ignored or neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract\nKEY POINTSA time discrepancy of at least 200–300 million years exists between the generally accepted onset of metazoan evolution as currently evidenced from fossils compared with that from studies at the molecular level. That temporal disparity coincides with the existence and subsequent breakup of the Rodinia Supercontinent when the earliest evolutionary crucibles were isolated intracratonic basins rather than the globally connected shallow seaways of subsequent eras. However, the discovery of fossil evidence to complement the extrapolations from molecular data has been, and continues to be, hampered, by both the geographical limitations of these isolated intracratonic basins and the fact that any such discovery would conflict with the global geological mindset that macrofossils of such age do not exist. Yet recently identified within the intracratonic Amadeus Basin of central Australia is a suite of macroscopic metazoan fossils that dates to ca 850–840 Ma, exemplifying an early attempt at animal evolution within the restrictions of the Rodinia Supercontinent. Such early metazoan evolution within such isolated crucibles, however, was extremely vulnerable to variations in climatic conditions, which threatened total extinction because the isolation of these basins limited metazoan distribution by denying them the possibility of migrating to safer havens. The Amadeus Basin evidence suggests that early metazoan evolution perhaps comprised cycles of about 10 million years when evolution flourished followed by climate change induced extinction and a subsequent evolutionary void of between 50 and 100 million years. Such cycles possibly characterised metazoan evolution until the Rodinia Supercontinent broke-up, after which connections between smaller oceans, shallow seas and narrow waterways provided metazoan life passageway to sanctuary during times of environmental stress. As the Amadeus Basin was just one of a number of isolated Rodinian-aged intracratonic basins, it is likely that similar fossils of the earliest metazoans are preserved elsewhere awaiting discovery.Metazoan evolution is widely believed to have followed the Gaskiers Glaciation at ca 580 Ma, yet studies at the molecular level suggest evolution began 200–300 million years earlier.Fossils discovered in the Amadeus Basin of central Australia suggest that a diverse metazoan biota had evolved by 850 Ma.Before the Rodinia Supercontinent fragmented during this temporal disparity, intracratonic basins acted as crucibles for early metazoan evolution.Being isolated, intracratonic basins were vulnerable to periodic environmental change causing metazoans, with no means of escape, to periodically become extinct.Amadeus Basin fossils suggest that pre-Ediacaran metazoan evolution possibly comprised cycles of ca 10 million years when evolution flourished before extinction and a following evolutionary void of between 50 and 100 million years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medium to large evergreen Corymbia citriodora (Eucalyptus citriodora) trees have smooth, powdery bark that is light grey, cream, or pink in color. It is frequently grown as an ornamental tree and is widely cultivated in Australia for its timber and essential oil. Herbal remedies are made from its foliage. It produces an essential oil that can be used to treat a variety of ailments, including clogged nasal passageways, cuts wounds, sore throats, and skin infections. The aim of the study was to determine the antimicrobial activity of Corymbia citriodora essential oil (CCEO) against ten microorganisms Candida albicans CCM 8186, C. glabrata CCM 8270, C. krusei CCM 8271, C. tropicalis CCM 8223, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus CCM 4223, Micrococcus luteus CCM 732, Listeria monocytogenes CCM 4699, Escherichia coli CCM 3954, Pseudomonas putida CCM 1977, and Enterobacter aerogenes CCM 2531. The antimicrobial activity of CCEOs was evaluated using the disc diffusion method. The best antibacterial activity of CCEO against yeasts was found against C. tropicalis (17.33±0.58 mm). CCEO was most effective against Gram-positive bacteria M. luteus (9.33±0.58 mm) and Gram-negative bacteria E. coli (12.67±0.58 mm). In conclusion, Candida species were most sensitive against Corymbia citriodora essential oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore challenges and opportunities associated with young carers' employment in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: Using a multi-stakeholder approach, this study captures the reflections of stakeholders (n = 8) and young carers (n = 10) about opportunities for, and experiences of, paid employment for young carers. Findings: Despite many organisations internationally increasingly pushing diversity agendas and suggesting a commitment to equal opportunity experiences, this study found that young carers' work opportunities are often disrupted by their caring role. For young carers to be successful in their careers, organisations need to provide further workplace flexibility, and other support is required to attract and retain young carers into organisations and harness their transferrable skills for meaningful careers. Practical implications: The paper highlights important implications for human resource management practitioners given the need to maximise the participation of young carers as workers, with benefits for young carers themselves, employers and society. Originality/value: The research adds to the human resource management and work–family conflict literature in examining young carers through drawing on Conservation of Resources theory to highlight resources invested in caring leads to loss of educational and work experience resources. This leads to loss cycles and spirals, which can potentially continue across a lifetime, further contributing to disadvantage and lack of workplace and societal inclusion for this group of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the intensity of mining and the amount of opal produced have greatly diminished in comparison to the 1890s, White Cliffs remains the only known locality for "opal pineapples", an apparently unique occurrence of glendonite pseudomorphs (calcite after ikaite) that have subsequently been replaced by opaline silica. Broken precious opal pineapple showing banded opal structure, 9.4 cm. Red Earth Opals specimen, Malcolm Southwood photo. The final arrangement and size of these silica spheres determine whether the resultant opal displays a vivid range of colors (i.e., precious opal) or lacks a play of colors (i.e., common opal or "potch"). Opal pineapple composed of precious opal, 10.7 cm. Red Earth Opals specimen, Malcolm Southwood photo. [Extracted from the article]

In rich-economy countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand women are increasingly experiencing first-time homelessness in older age. Focusing on the specific case of Australia, this article develops a theoretical critical realist causal account of how a gendered role in care and social reproduction has increased contemporary homelessness risk by constraining women's capacity to build financial security. We show how gender, capitalism and age have intersected as social structures to explain gendered economic outcomes for women over the life course; and how life events, individual women's experiences, agency, and decision-making interact with these structures to explain homelessness. Women's gendered financial vulnerability, accumulated whilst living conventional lives, sits at the heart of older women's susceptibility to housing loss. Limited resources reduce their capacity to respond to crises challenging their housing security within the contemporary context of Australia's unaffordable housing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: West Indian drywood termite (WIDT) is an invasive insect pest of wood and wood products in Australia, where confirmed infestations have been eliminated using mandatory structural fumigation; however, fumigation is costly, is disruptive, and does not prevent re-infestation. Localized treatments with registered insecticides are the most prevalent and cost-effective ways to treat drywood termite infestations; however, the use of liquid or foam insecticides does not ensure that an infestation has been completely eradicated. The amount of termite frass packed inside a gallery may prevent the chemical from reaching the target spot, and the treatment might not reach all termite galleries, especially during vertical application, which could be a barrier to complete eradication. The current study assessed the potential of aerosol-containing synergized pyrethrins as a spot treatment option for this pest. The results showed that wood surfaces treated with pyrethrins containing aerosol caused a high mortality of WIDT pseudergates in continuous and short exposures. Moreover, in different tests, an aerosol was passed through the loose fecal pellets packed in wooden or silicon tubing, causing high WIDT mortality. The possibility of synergized pyrethrin-containing aerosol as a choice for spot-treating C. brevis in Australia was investigated in laboratory tests. Topical toxicity tests, where C. brevis pseudergates were subjected to multiple doses of pyrethrin mist insecticide, showed the concentration-dependent death of termites with a median lethal dose (LD50) of 193.16 µg. Residual toxicity tests, where the termites were exposed to wood surfaces treated with pyrethrin-containing aerosol, showed a rapid mortality in short and continuous exposures. Less than 20% of the termites survived even when the termites were exposed to a treated wood surface for a minute. All the termites died within 1–5 h in continuous exposure tests, depending on the age of the treated surface. In repellency tests, the termites tended to visit treated surfaces, causing an overall lower survival of the termites. The synergized pyrethrin-containing aerosol remained insufficiently volatile to produce the complete mortality of the termites even after 196 h when there was no contact with a treated surface. The number of termites that survived following the application of the synergized aerosol through a simulated wood gallery or silicon tubing with fecal pellets was also negligible, demonstrating the ability of the aerosol to penetrate through pellets and ultimately resulting in a distribution that is ideal for treatment in the termite galleries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing quality impacts on occupant well-being. Flammable cladding is a housing quality defect that has been identified on thousands of buildings in Australia. Little is known about the impact of flammable cladding upon homeowners and the implications for policy. The well-being of homeowners in residential apartment buildings with flammable cladding (from low to extreme risk) was explored through sixteen one-hour semi-structured interviews. Those residing in higher-risk apartments felt unsafe and all had financial concerns. Some homeowners displayed long-term negative emotions and others spent significant time dealing with the cladding issues without accomplishment. Their liveability suffered with changes including: making cost-saving decisions on entertainment and holidays, delaying retirement and emerging social tensions with other residents. These lived experience insights highlight the need for improved government support and housing quality policy which considers occupant health and well-being both in dealing with the current flammable cladding crisis but also in preparation for future housing quality issues which may emerge in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional labour (EL) is garnering increasing attention due to the potential negative consequences on employees and organisations. This is especially prevalent with front-line healthcare workers, resulting in high occupational turnover intention. Our study examines the use of high-involvement work practices (HIWPs), supervisor support and resilience as support resources for front-line nurses' emotional labour and work engagement to mitigate occupational turnover intention among nurses in Australia. Data was collected via a nationwide survey of 2,984 nurses and midwives. A significant positive relationship was identified between EL and occupational turnover intentions, mediated by work engagement. The provision of HIWPs resources, supervisor support and individual resilience play an important role in 'buffering' the negative impact of emotional labour on work engagement and the occupational turnover intention of nurses. The key message of our study demonstrates that multi-level resources, organisational (HIWPs), relational (supervisor support) and individual (employee resilience) are important for mitigating the effects of emotional labour on occupational turnover intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Most human disease emanates from animals, and there is a significant risk of zoonotic diseases being transmitted from livestock that travel long distances between countries as part of the live export trade. Both cattle and sheep are subject to many stressors when transported long distances by ship, including starvation, ship motion, ammonia, heat stress, high stocking density, an unhygienic environment and mixing of animals. These are believed to deplete immune system responses, fostering disease transmission between livestock. Several zoonotic diseases commonly occur in livestock exported from Australia, and this sometimes triggers rejection by importing countries. Trade restrictions have been imposed in the past by both importing and exporting countries as a means of controlling disease spread. It is concluded that the live export trade in cattle and sheep poses a significant risk of spreading zoonotic diseases. The growing human and livestock populations in the world today and increased international transport of livestock is increasing the risk of both emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases. This review focuses on the potential for the live export trade to transmit zoonotic diseases. Both cattle and sheep are exposed to major stresses during the transport process, which are described, together with the impact of these stresses on the immune function of transported animals. Heat stress, overcrowding, inanition, ship and vehicle motion and accumulation of noxious gases are analysed for their ability to potentiate infectious diseases. The major zoonoses are described: pustular dermatitis, pneumonia, salmonellosis, as well as some common conditions, such as conjunctivitis, with specific reference to stressors associated with each disorder. Historical precedents exist for restriction of the trade based on disease risks. Finally, the economic and regulatory frameworks are considered to evaluate ways in which the spread of zoonotic diseases can be controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depictions of mythical beings appear in many different forms of art world-wide, including rock art of various ages. In this paper we explore a particular type of imagery, back-to-back figures, consisting of two human-like figures or animals of the same species next to each other and facing in opposite directions. Some human-like doubles were joined at the back rather than side-by-side, but also face opposite directions. In this paper, we report on new research on rock art, bark paintings and recent paintings on paper and chart a 9000-year history of making aesthetically, symbolically and spiritually powerful back-to-back figures in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The average new Australian home has grown from a four-roomed Victorian timber cottage of around 100 m2at the start of the twentieth century to a 245 m2brick-veneer house in 2011. The homes have grown in both size and number of rooms. Where has this growth occurred? How has Australia's average new house transitioned to now become the largest in the world? This paper traces where the growth has occurred within the house over the last 50 years. Thirty-nine houses in a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, have been analysed over the five decades, and the median house of the sample in each era has been used for the analysis. The results confirm the overall trend in house growth size that can be seen in national statistics. Most of the growth in house size has been due to the increase in living areas and in the number of and area used for bedrooms. Other variables of interest in understanding changes in Australian housing such as gross floor area, plot ratio, site size and house shape and orientation are also discussed in the context of limiting the impact of oversize houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an appraisal of the Middle Eocene–Quaternary Dugong Supersequence of the Eucla Basin, offshore southern Australia. It combines details of the rock record with seismic-stratigraphical information, and the resulting stratigraphic framework provides constraints on the nature of the late post-breakup development of the southern Australian continental margin. It is well established that the onshore-to-mid-shelf succession comprises a predominantly aggrading-to-prograding unconformity-bounded succession of carbonate platform deposits; however, our analysis of the outer shelf–upper slope section challenges the widely held view that this shelf-margin wedge represents a distally steepened prograding carbonate ramp primarily modulated by global eustasy. Instead, our results show that the Middle Eocene–Quaternary succession is punctuated by a series of unconformities that reflect a persistent tectonic instability and differential vertical movements throughout the late post-breakup period, the genesis of which is most closely related to tectonic events. Moreover, the upper slope clinoform succession was constructed and shaped predominantly by alongslope processes, and four different contourite drift types are recognised based on their seismic-stratigraphic expression: elongate mounded drift (Quaternary); infill drift (Pliocene); plastered drift (Oligocene); and separated drift (Middle–Upper Eocene). The Quaternary drift – herein termed the 'Eyre Terrace Drift' – is a spectacular basin-scale deposit, over 500 m thick and traced for up to 200 km along the upper slope Eyre Terrace. Upslope-migrating sediment waves are associated with this drift. Key sedimentary attributes consistent with a contourite origin include fine-grained sediment, multi-scale gradational bed contacts and pervasive bioturbation. There is also evidence of episodic downslope mass-movement processes ranging from the large-scale Late Neogene Slide, which extends downslope for 15–20 km, to sporadic slumped beds and turbidites recovered in boreholes. The interaction of alongslope and downslope processes indicates a more dynamic sedimentary setting than previously assumed along the outer margin of the Eucla Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road networks continue to expand globally with predictable effects on ecological systems. Research into the effectiveness of road underpasses and overpasses for wildlife has been concentrated in North America and Europe. In Australia, most studies of underpasses have been of relatively short duration and without reference sites to give context to the measured rates of use. We studied 5–7 road underpasses at two locations in eastern Australia over 2–3 years, comparing camera trap detections of animals in underpasses with those at nearby forest sites. Three species of large macropod (wallabies and kangaroos) were frequently detected in the underpasses, with some underpasses traversed 1–4 times per week, and in many cases exceeded detections in the forest. The lace monitor (Varanus varius) was detected in all underpasses, often once per week during spring and summer, and infrequently in the forest. At each location, a different small macropod species, including one regionally threatened, showed a higher probability of detection in one underpass compared with several of the forest sites. The vulnerable koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) was detected infrequently in underpasses and in the adjoining forest. The short‐beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) had a high probability of detection in a single underpass. The "prey‐trap hypothesis" postulates that predators will exhibit increased activity at underpasses as a consequence of prey being funneled. We found the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) had high activity in some underpasses. However, its activity coincided less than expected with the activity of the mammals most at risk to it. Our results provide no consistent support for the "prey‐trap hypothesis." Instead, our study confirms the generic value of underpasses for a range of medium‐large mammals as well as one large reptile. Habitat adjoining underpasses exert a strong influence on their use and require greater consideration to maximize underpass use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By connecting corridors of river recovery, resilience can be built into river systems to mitigate against future floods and droughts driven by anthropogenic disturbance or climate extremes. However, identifying where these corridors can be built is still lacking in river management practice. The Open Access NSW River Styles database contains comprehensive information on geomorphic river condition and recovery potential. The database can be used to systematically analyse where corridors of river recovery could be created via conservation or rehabilitation. Analysis was undertaken in ArcGIS using the recovery potential layer along 84,342 km of freshwater stream length, across 20 catchments of coastal NSW. We identified 4,905 km of reach connections, defined as an upstream to downstream section of river that is connected end-to-end, and 17,429 km of loci connections defined as more isolated sections of river from which recovery can be seeded and extended into adjacent reaches. There was significant spatial variability in the types and lengths of connections made across the catchments. Some catchments have significant potential to build corridors of recovery along large sections of river, whereas other catchments are more fragmented. These results provide practitioners with a user-friendly distillation of where river conservation and rehabilitation activities could be focussed when working with river recovery in practice. Combined with local on-ground knowledge, this information forms an important input to evidence-based prioritisation and decision making in river management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families experiencing homelessness are an increasing phenomenon in Australia. However, the question of why some families living in poverty and disadvantage become homeless and others do not is not well explained in the literature. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), this paper investigates how recent "shock" or crisis events, poor health and financial stress interact with social capital and emotional well-being to affect housing security for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian families living in poverty. The analysis draws on 307 cases (individuals with dependent and resident children) from Journeys Home, a longitudinal survey of extremely disadvantaged Australian welfare recipients. The results are explained within a critical realist understanding of depth ontology, stratification, emergence and the interaction between structure and agency. Hobfoll's conservation of resources theory provides a framework for thinking about homelessness as a severe form of poverty and resource depletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian toll roads operator, Transurban, was created to build and operate Melbourne's first toll road in the mid‐1990s. It has grown since to become a monopoly operator of motorways across Australia's three east coast cities. The article interrogates this growth using a threefold framework involving an analysis of the company's organisational and financial structures and its regulatory environment. Analysis reveals a complex set of actor decisions and circumstances within each of these frames. In respect to policy, we argue that pathways to sustainable, accessible urban transport services need to build on extant arrangements rather than reach nostalgically for an unattainable past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy is a promising pre-clinical radiation treatment modality; however, it comes with many technical challenges. This study describes the image guidance protocol used for Australia's first long-term pre-clinical MRT treatment of rats bearing 9L gliosarcoma tumours. The protocol utilises existing infrastructure available at the Australian Synchrotron and the adjoining Monash Biomedical Imaging facility. The protocol is designed and optimised to treat small animals utilising high-resolution clinical CT for patient specific tumour identification, coupled with conventional radiography, using the recently developed SyncMRT program for image guidance. Dosimetry performed in small animal phantoms shows patient dose is comparable to standard clinical doses, with a CT associated dose of less than 1.39 c Gy and a planar radiograh dose of less than 0.03 c Gy. Experimental validation of alignment accuracy with radiographic film demonstrates end to end accuracy of less than ± 0.34 m m in anatomical phantoms. Histological analysis of tumour-bearing rats treated with microbeam radiation therapy verifies that tumours are targeted well within applied treatment margins. To date, this technique has been used to treat 35 tumour-bearing rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership was established in 2010 to support teaching quality and leadership in schools and initial teacher education programs. Early on it produced seven Australian Professional Standards for Teachers affecting professional knowledge, professional practice, and professional engagement. Standard 4 is part of professional practice and requires teachers to create and maintain supportive and safe school learning environments. We propose that Standard 4 has implications geographers have yet to fully consider, and here our aim is to surface and examine its latent spatialities. We conceive of supportive and safe learning environments as crucial infrastructures of care that can be made more legible using established spatial typologies. To support this proposition, we draw on empirical evidence from a study of literacy teaching practice in Tasmanian government schools and of initial teacher education programs. Here, we focus on how participants described the importance of school learning environments for students' educational attainment and social and emotional wellbeing. We conclude that spatial lenses are important in thinking about these environments and could effectively support teachers to demonstrate career-long and increasingly sophisticated capacities to perceive, use, create, and help others make the most of such spaces for diverse learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs about the efforts of owners of Villa Maria Catholic Homes (VMCH), a not for-profit organization providing aged care, retirement and disability services to many people in Victoria, for the process of transforming a former convent building into a purpose-built dementia-friendly care home supporting a Montessori approach to dementia care. It mentions about existing elements were suitable for minor internal modifications to easily convert to a dementia-specific unit. INSET: The Montessori approach: resource tips.

Exclusion fencing is a common tool used to mitigate a variety of unwanted economic losses caused by problematic wildlife. While the potential for agricultural, ecological and economic benefits of pest animal exclusion are often apparent, what is less clear are the costs and benefits to sympatric non‐target wildlife. This review examines the use of exclusion fencing in a variety of situations around the world to elucidate the potential outcomes of such fencing for wildlife and apply this knowledge to the recent uptake of exclusion fencing on livestock properties in the Australian rangelands. In Australia, exclusion fences are used to eliminate dingo (Canis familiaris dingo) predation on livestock, prevent crop‐raiding by emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae), and enable greater control over total grazing pressure through the reduction of macropods (Macropodidae) and feral goats (Capra hircus). A total of 208 journal articles were examined for location, a broad grouping of fence type, and the reported effects the fence was having on the study species. We found 51% of the literature solely discusses intended fencing effects, 42% discusses unintended effects, and only 7% considers both. Africa has the highest proportion of unintended effects literature (52.0%) and Australia has the largest proportion of literature on intended effects (34.2%). We highlight the potential for exclusion fencing to have positive effects on some species and negative effects on others (such as predator exclusion fencing posing a barrier to migration of other species), which remain largely unaddressed in current exclusion fencing systems. From this review we were able to identify where and how mitigation strategies have been successfully used in the past. Harnessing the potential benefits of exclusion fencing while avoiding the otherwise likely costs to both target and non‐target species will require more careful consideration than this issue has previously been afforded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The involvement of consumers in handover with nurses has been identified as reducing miscommunication between transitions in care and associated with reduction in adverse events in generalist nursing settings. The notion of having consumers present in nursing handover on acute mental health inpatient unit remains a relatively new concept. Central to recovery‐focused mental health care is the consumer's active participation in the delivery of their care. The aim of this study was to explore the views of consumers with a mental illness about their experiences of being involved in nursing handover on acute mental health inpatient unit post‐implementation of a new nursing handover involving consumers. Using an exploratory descriptive qualitative design, participants (N = 10) were recruited using purposive convenience sampling. Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken, and the data were thematically analysed. Participants' principal diagnoses were schizophrenia (n = 2), schizoaffective disorder (n = 3), bipolar affective disorder (n = 2), borderline personality disorder (n = 1), and depression (n = 2). Three themes were generated from the interviews: (i) Knowing who, (ii) Shared decision‐making, with subthemes: my voice was heard and not just a meet and greet, and (iii) Having time and space. The delivery of mental health care needs to put the consumer at the centre of such care regardless of the setting. In line with recovery‐focused principles, the consumer's active involvement in the crucial activity of nursing handover on acute mental health inpatient unit is very important. The study has implications for ensuring consumer voices are heard in all aspects of their care delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeologists usually see, and understand, rock shelters as taphonomically active, but pre-existing, physical structures onto which people undertake a variety of actions including rock art. Our aim in this paper is not only to document the changes undergone by rock shelters but also to identify traces of anthropic actions that have intentionally led to these changes. Recent research in northern Australia provides empirical evidence that for thousands of years, Aboriginal peoples altered the physical shape of rock shelters by removing masses of rock to create alcoves, restructure internal spaces and create stone-worked furniture. Through archaeomorphological research, this paper presents evidence from Borologa in Australia's Kimberley region, where hard quartzite monoliths were shaped and engaged as architectural designs by Aboriginal people prior to painting many surfaces, making us rethink what have traditionally been distinguished as natural versus cultural dimensions of archaeological landscapes and rock art sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the International Skeletal Society compiled a glossary of terms for musculoskeletal radiology. The authors also represent national radiology or pathology societies in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the USA. We provide brief descriptions of musculoskeletal structures, disease processes, and syndromes and address their imaging features. Given the abundance of musculoskeletal disorders and derangements, we chose to omit most terms relating to neoplasm, spine, intervention, and pediatrics. Consensus agreement was obtained from 19 musculoskeletal radiology societies worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a collection of objects deliberately concealed beneath the verandah of a ward for middle-class, female, paying patients at Australia's longest continuously operating mental health institution, the Royal Derwent Hospital in Tasmania. Cached in small discrete mounds across an area of some 50 square metres, the collection was probably concealed in the mid-20th century and contains over 1000 items of clothing, ephemera and other objects dating from 1880 to the mid-1940s. In achieving a possessional territory of such magnitude, this patient achieved a level of personal self-expression that is rarely encountered archaeologically, particularly within an institutional context. Analysis of this collection as an 'underlife' illuminates both functional aspects of the hospital and the hopes and desires of this particular, though still anonymous, patient and her vibrant world of things. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on the spiritual care experiences of patients and families at a hospital in Australia. Twenty-four patients and 10 family members were interviewed. Results indicate the importance of relatedness: being treated as a person, reminded of your capabilities and conversations about what matters. Maintaining contact with friends and family, sustaining religious and spiritual practices, music therapy and pet therapy were also significant and contact with the natural world and shared activities. The results indicate the importance of spirituality offered through pastoral care, and that all those involved in health care can contribute to the spiritually nurturing environment that reinforces healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within science and technology education, concepts of justice, in/equity, and ethics within science education are simultaneously ubiquitous, necessary, yet un(der)theorized. Consequently, the potential for reproducing and reifying systems of power remains ever present. In response, there is a recent but growing movement within science and technology education that follows the call by Kayumova and colleagues (2019) to move "from empowerment to response-ability." It is a call to collectively organize, reconfigure, and reimagine science and technology education by taking seriously critiques of Western modern science and technology from its co-constitutive exteriority (e.g., feminist critiques). Herein, we pursue the (re)opening of responsiveness with/in methodology by juxtaposing differential, partial, and situated accounts of response-ability: de/colonizing the Anthropocene in science teacher education in Canada (Higgins); speculative fiction at the science-ethics nexus in secondary schooling in Australia (Mahy); and a reciprocal model for teaching and learning computational competencies with Latinx youth in the US (Aghasaleh and Enderle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The conservation of plant species biodiversity has been identified as a crucial factor for the resilience of dryland ecosystems in the face of climate change and desertification. Duma florulenta (lignum) is a keystone species that facilitates biodiversity in the floodplains and wetlands of Australia's dryland river systems. This paper explores spatial genetic structure of lignum and investigates factors influencing dispersal and gene flow within and among river catchments of the northern Murray–Darling Basin. Location: Northern Murray–Darling Basin, eastern Australia. Methods: A total of 122 individual plants from subpopulations located on rivers in four adjacent catchments were genotyped using 10 microsatellite markers. Microsatellite data were then analyzed using population genetic techniques to evaluate levels of gene flow and genetic structure and identify factors influencing dispersal. Results: Results suggest high levels of gene flow between lignum subpopulations of the northern Murray–Darling Basin. AMOVA revealed small but significant differences between subpopulations, and STRUCTURE analysis did not detect meaningful structure when sampling information was not provided. However, when sampling information was supplied using the LOCPRIOR model, three genetic clusters were identified. All Lower Balonne subpopulations were assigned to cluster 1 while a number of the other subpopulations showed mixed ancestry. Weak relationships were identified between pairwise genetic distance and geographic as well as river distance, although the R2 value of the former was only half that of the latter. Main conclusions: Patterns of genetic variation suggest frequent long‐distance overland gene flow largely as a result of the movement of seeds via floodwater. Therefore, maintenance of natural variability in flow regime is key both to maintain conditions favorable to recruitment and to promote dispersal and gene flow across the landscape. However, given future climate change projections persistence may be more reliant on the species ability to endure long periods of drought between flood events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Large accounting firms lay claim today to a broad focus on staff diversity and inclusion. Related initiatives focus on gender, culture, age and sexuality. This paper aims to seek insight from publicly available discourse provided by the “Big 4” in Australia (Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG and PwC), along with two second-tier firms, into the nature and drivers of diversity initiatives for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) staff.Design/methodology/approach Web-based discourse provided as at May 2017 is examined and analysed.Findings All six firms provided a range of related disclosures, suggesting that a cultural shift for LGBTI staff was underway. Detail provided on actual policies and procedures was limited, and a struggle was suggested, between balancing the needs of diverse staff, with concerns for some, perhaps, more conservative clients. Some repositioning of arguments was suggested, focussed on shifting responsibility to staff and on shifting the object of celebration from staff to the firm.Research limitations/implications This study is limited to an interpretation of carefully constructed publicly disclosed statements. Further studies could explore the lived experience of these apparent changes with staff.Practical implications Recruitment and staff retention continue to be on-going challenges within the accounting profession. This study provides insight into initiatives targeted to support LGBTI staff.Social implications Availing space to bring ‘whole selves’ into the workplace is an important element of creating a pleasant, comfortable and engaging environment for staff. This study provides insight into the perspective of employers on the importance of such initiatives.Originality/value Little attention has been directed to exploring sexual diversity in the workplace or to sexuality within accounting studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native American Artemia franciscana has become an introduced species in the Old World due to the rapid development of the aquaculture industry in Eurasia. The recent colonisation of A. franciscana in Mediterranean regions and Asia has been well documented, but Australia is a continent where the dispersal of this species is not well understood. In the present study, we sequenced the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and examined the phylogenetic relationships, haplotype network and population genetic structure of Artemia from four geographical localities in Australia and two American native localities. Our results confirmed the colonisation of Australia in all four localities by A. franciscana. First, we document the occurrence of Artemia in Mulgundawa and St Kilda localities in Australia. The Dampier population is a monomorphic population, but there is high genetic variation and a degree of demographic expansion observed in other introduced A. franciscana populations in Australia. This observation suggests an interaction between environmental conditions and adaptive potentials of A. franciscana. Our findings imply that populations from St Kilda and Port Hedland might have originated from a San Francisco Bay source, while the two other locations resulted from admixture between Great Salt Lake and San Francisco Bay sources, perhaps resulting from secondary introduction events. Brine shrimp Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans inhabiting many hypersaline environments. The American Artemia franciscana especially has been broadly used as live food in the fishery and aquaculture industries so A. franciscana was introduced overseas for culture and use in fishery markets. Our results confirmed the colonisation of Australia with American A. franciscana. Photo by Hans Hillewaert (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on psychological autopsy data, the study compared awareness of suicide risk in the deceased among next-of-kin (NOK) and health care professionals (HCPs), and communication between these two groups in the month before death. The NOKs had significantly more knowledge about the decedent's suicide warning signs than the HCPs (90.5% vs. 44.6%). Contact between NOK and HCP was initiated more often by the family than the HCPs (29.4% vs. 5.9%). The study found communication gaps between HCPs and NOK and stresses the need for suicide prevention strategies strengthening communication between these two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social work perspective of the nature of seclusion and restraint in Australia’s public mental health systems is presented. The article suggests a theme of seclusion and restraint as a regulatory mechanism despite evidence of harm and even death. The case that the use of seclusion and restraint constitutes a social justice issue as it can be understood as an abuse of human rights and form of torture is established. An incident of a person dying in an Australian mental health facility after being secluded is presented to substantiate this claim. An over focus on individual expressions of violence or risk can be at the expense of understanding the systemic and cultural nature of violence in mental health systems. It is important to understand the nature of, and perhaps to question the presumed necessity of, seclusion and restraint practices to ensure that social workers are not breaching their professional obligations to people who are mental health clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the ethno-cultural identities of Chinese Australian professionals through a postcolonial lens. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 participants, it explores how they engaged in self-Orientalism; casting themselves as exotic commodities for the benefit of white people and institutions. In particular, they enacted Chinese stereotypes through ‘mythtapping’ and ‘mythkeeping’ in order to secure recognition under the white gaze. As mythtappers, professionals presented themselves as custodians of an ancient and mysterious culture that offered organizational wisdoms for ‘the West.’ As mythkeepers, the professionals allayed white anxieties by surrendering themselves to white Australians as pathways into their communities. However, the professionals’ Orientalized identities are not passively determined, but are in some cases tactically and strategically resisted through ‘mythbusting.’ The article contributes to postcolonial theorizing by demonstrating how imperialist ideologies constrain the lives of people beyond the colonizer/colonized dichotomy and by illuminating the potential for their resistance against Orientalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined the direct and indirect relationships between core self-evaluations (via mental health) and emotional exhaustion originating from both the work and caregiving domains. The extent to which these relationships were moderated by control over work and care also was examined. Data came from 142 employed mothers in Australia who completed surveys at three measurement points each separated by four weeks. Results showed that core self-evaluations related positively to mental health which, in turn, related negatively to emotional exhaustion originating from work, but only when work control was high. Moreover, core self-evaluations related negatively to emotional exhaustion originating from care through improvements in mental health, but care control did not moderate this relationship. Overall, these findings contribute to a better understanding of how working mothers’ personal and work resources mitigate emotional exhaustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of two schools in northern Australia demonstrated the impact on Education for Sustainability (EfS) initiatives of a disruptive policy environment set in motion by neoliberal reforms focused on standards, accountability, and international competitiveness. In one of the schools, a culture characterized by trust and an emphasis on cultivating teacher and student strengths and interests contributed to the resilience of these initiatives in the face of outside pressures. In the other, administrators preoccupied with the need to implement state mandates with fidelity failed to nurture and develop a collection of remarkable EfS projects and activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Going to drag king performances – a subcultural phenomenon where women consciously perform masculinity – has proved a popular pastime in Sydney, Australia. Established within a broader tradition of live performance culture, and part of wider urban night-time economies catering to lesbian patronage, these shows provided a highly visible spectacle that drew women to a series of events between 2002 and 2012. Sydney’s drag king scene offered women the potential for the shared pleasures of the performances, as well as the justification for mid-week nights out with friends, lovers and fellow fans. Exploring the connections between everyday forms of participation and the collective investments that establish these drag king events as intelligible social phenomenon inevitably leads to an engagement with space. By turning attention to the sensory economy circulating within scene participation, and the ethnographic research that followed it, this article explores how scene practices turn the sociality of the moment into an attachment to the venues that supported them. Contrary to the ephemerality that is thought to characterize minority cultures, I argue that forms of social engagement based on the tactility of their encounters inscribe spaces of the scene. In doing so, this article draws attention to the role the senses play – those sights, smells and sounds for participants and researchers alike – in the design and practice of cultural research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the role of human agency in the gene flow and geographical distribution of the Australian baobab, Adansonia gregorii. The genus Adansonia is a charismatic tree endemic to Africa, Madagascar, and northwest Australia that has long been valued by humans for its multiple uses. The distribution of genetic variation in baobabs in Africa has been partially attributed to human-mediated dispersal over millennia, but this relationship has never been investigated for the Australian species. We combined genetic and linguistic data to analyse geographic patterns of gene flow and movement of word-forms for A. gregorii in the Aboriginal languages of northwest Australia. Comprehensive assessment of genetic diversity showed weak geographic structure and high gene flow. Of potential dispersal vectors, humans were identified as most likely to have enabled gene flow across biogeographic barriers in northwest Australia. Genetic-linguistic analysis demonstrated congruence of gene flow patterns and directional movement of Aboriginal loanwords for A. gregorii. These findings, along with previous archaeobotanical evidence from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, suggest that ancient humans significantly influenced the geographic distribution of Adansonia in northwest Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterised a set of nine polymorphic microsatellite loci for Pleistodontes imperialis sp. 1, the pollinator wasp of Port Jackson fig (Ficus rubiginosa) in south-eastern Australia. Characterisation was performed on 30 female individuals collected from a population in Sydney, Australia. The average number of alleles per locus was 7.33, and eight loci were not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. This was expected as fig wasps are known to be highly inbred. A test of genetic differentiation between two natural populations of P. imperialis sp. 1 (Sydney and Newcastle, Australia - some 120 km apart) yielded a very low F[sub ST] value of 0.012, suggesting considerable gene flow. Bayesian clustering analysis using TESS 2.3.1, which does not assume Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, however, indicated potential spatial substructuring between the Sydney and Newcastle populations, as well as within the Sydney population. The described loci were also characterised for two other species in the P. imperialis complex: P. imperialis sp. 2 (Townsville, Australia) and P. imperialis sp. 4 (Brisbane, Australia). Seven and six of the nine loci were polymorphic for P. imperialis sp. 2 and P. imperialis sp. 4, respectively. We characterised nine microsatellite loci for Pleistodontes imperialis sp. 1, the pollinator wasp of Port Jackson fig (Ficus rubiginosa). We found potential spatial sub-structuring within and between two natural populations. We show that most of these loci could be utilised for studies in two closely-related fig wasp species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]