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Role Of Area-Level Access To Primary Care On The Geographic Variation Of Cardiometabolic Risk Factor Distribution: A Multilevel Analysis Of The Adult Residents In The Illawarra—Shoalhaven Region Of Nsw, Australia, Renin Melkias Baby Selvi Toms, Xiaoqi Feng, Darren J. Mayne, Andrew D. Bonney

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Background: Access to primary care is important for the identification, control and management of cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs). This study investigated whether differences in geographic access to primary care explained area-level variation in CMRFs. Methods: Multilevel logistic regression models were used to derive the association between area-level access to primary care and seven discrete CMRFs after adjusting for individual and area-level co-variates. Two-step floating catchment area method was used to calculate the geographic access to primary care for the small areas within the study region. Results: Geographic access to primary care was inversely associated with low high density lipoprotein (OR …

Geographic Variation In Cardiometabolic Risk Distribution: A Cross-Sectional Study Of 256,525 Adult Residents In The Illawarra-Shoalhaven Region Of The Nsw, Australia, Renin Toms, Darren J. Mayne, Xiaoqi Feng, Andrew D. Bonney

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Introduction Metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) warrant significant public health concern globally. This study aims to utilise the regional database of a major laboratory network to describe the geographic distribution pattern of eight different cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs), which in turn can potentially generate hypotheses for future research into locality specific preventive approaches. Method A cross-sectional design utilising de-identified laboratory data on eight CMRFs including fasting blood sugar level (FBSL); glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c); total cholesterol (TC); high density lipoprotein (HDL); albumin creatinine ratio (ACR); estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR); body mass index (BMI); and diabetes mellitus (DM) status …

Study Of The Footprints Of Short-Term Variation In Xco2 Observed By Tccon Sites Using Nies And Flexpart Atmospheric Transport Models, Dmitry Belikov, Shamil Maksyutov, Alexander Ganshin, Ruslan Zhuravlev, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Debra Wunch, Dietrich G. Feist, Isamu Morino, Robert J. Parker, Kimberly Strong, Yukio Yoshida, Andrey Bril, Sergey Oshchepkov, Hartmut Boesch, Manvendra K. Dubey, David W. T Griffith, Will Hewson, Rigel Kivi, Joseph Mendonca, Justus Notholt, Matthias Schneider, Ralf Sussmann, Voltaire A. Velazco, Shuji Aoki

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) is a network of ground-based Fourier transform spectrometers (FTSs) that record near-infrared (NIR) spectra of the sun. From these spectra, accurate and precise observations of CO2 column-averaged dry-air mole fractions (denoted XCO2) are retrieved. TCCON FTS observations have previously been used to validate satellite estimations of XCO2; however, our knowledge of the short-term spatial and temporal variations in XCO2 surrounding the TCCON sites is limited. In this work, we use the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) Eulerian three-dimensional transport model and the FLEXPART (FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model) Lagrangian particle dispersion model (LPDM) …

Regional Variation In Rates Of Ivf Treatment Across Australia: A Population-Based Study, Louise Rawlings, Pauline Y. O'Shaughnessy, Stephen Robson

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Background: There is variation in uptake of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) between countries, and Australia has high incidence rates of IVF due to universal public funding. However, it remains unclear whether there is regional variation and, if present, what might cause this. Objectives: We sought to determine whether regional variations in treatment rates existed and what might influence these. Methods: The number of cycles of fresh IVF and intrauterine insemination (IUI) for women were obtained for the period 2011 until 2014 in two age groups (25 to 34 years and 35 to 44 years) to calculate incidence rates. Proxy indicators …

Geographic Variation In Health Service Use And Perceived Access Barriers For Australian Adults With Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Receiving Opioid Therapy, Amy Peacock, Suzanne Nielsen, Raimondo Bruno, Gabrielle Campbell, Briony K. Larance, Louisa Degenhardt

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective. Rates of chronic non-cancer pain are increasing worldwide, with concerns regarding poorer access to specialist treatment services in remote areas. The current study comprised the first in-depth examination of use and barriers to access of health services in Australia according to remoteness. Methods. A cohort of Australian adults prescribed pharmaceutical opioids for chronic non-cancer pain (n = 1,235) were interviewed between August 2012 and April 2014, and grouped into 'major city' (49%), 'inner regional' (37%), and 'outer regional/remote' (14%) according to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification based on postcode. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine geographical differences …

Geographical Variation And Correlates Of Tobacco Smoking, Second-Hand Smoke Exposure, Workplace Tobacco Prohibition, And Pro-Tobacco And Counter-Tobacco Advertising In Mainland China: A Cross-Sectional Study Of 98 058 Participants, Thomas E. Astell-Burt, Mei Zhang, Xiaoqi Feng, Limin Wang, Yichong Li, Andrew Page, Maigeng Zhou, Linhong Wang

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at The Lancet-CAMS Health Summit, 30-31 October 2015, Beijing, China

Vivambc: Estimating Viral Sequence Variation In Complex Populations From Illumina Deep-Sequencing Data Using Model-Based Clustering, Bie M. P Verbist, Lieven Clement, Joke Reumers, Kim Thys, Alexander Vapirev, Willem Talloen, Yves Wetzels, Joris Meys, Jeroen Aerssens, Luc Bijnens, Olivier Thas

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Background: Deep-sequencing allows for an in-depth characterization of sequence variation in complex populations. However, technology associated errors may impede a powerful assessment of low-frequency mutations. Fortunately, base calls are complemented with quality scores which are derived from a quadruplet of intensities, one channel for each nucleotide type for Illumina sequencing. The highest intensity of the four channels determines the base that is called. Mismatch bases can often be corrected by the second best base, i.e. the base with the second highest intensity in the quadruplet. A virus variant model-based clustering method, ViVaMBC, is presented that explores quality scores and second …

Spatiotemporal Variation In Diabetes Mortality In China: Multilevel Evidence From 2006 And 2012, Maigeng Zhou, Thomas Astell-Burt, Peng Yin, Xiaoqi Feng, Andrew Page, Yunning Liu, Jiangmei Liu, Yichong Li, Shiwei Liu, Limin Wang, Lijun Wang, Linhong Wang

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Despite previous studies reporting spatial in equality in diabetes prevalence across China, potential geographic variations in diabetes mortality have not been explored. Methods: Age and gender stratified annual diabetes mortality counts for 161 counties were extracted from the China Mortality Surveillance System and interrogated using multilevel negative binomial regression. Random slopes were used to investigate spatiotemporal variation and the proportion of variance explained was used to assess the relative importance of geographical region, urbanization, mean temperature, local diabetes prevalence, behavioral risk factors and relevant biomarkers. Results: Diabetes mortality tended to reduce between 2006 and 2012, though there appeared to …

Pathway Variation Analysis (Pva): Modelling And Simulations, Nagesh Shukla, Sudi Lahiri, Darek Ceglarek

SMART Infrastructure Facility - Papers

Maintaining a care pathway within a hospital to provide complex care to patients is associated with challenges related to variations from the pathway. This occurs due to ineffective decision-making processes, unclear process steps, the interactions, conflicting performance measures for speciality units, and the availability of resources. These variations from the care pathway or standard care delivery processes lead to longer patient waiting times and lower patient throughput. Traditional approaches to improve the pathway focus primarily on reducing variations within the care pathway such as bottlenecks or throughput within the pathway rather than examining variations from the care pathway. In this …

Variation Of Poincare Recurrence Times In Discrete Dynamical Systems, Mimoon Ismael, Rodney Nillsen, Graham H. Williams

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper is concerned with the variation and standard deviation of recurrence times in discrete dynamical systems.

Intraindividual Variation In Urinary Iodine Concentrations: Effect Of Adjustment On Population Distribution Using Two And Three Repeated Spot Urine Collections, Karen E. Charlton, Marijka Batterham, Li Min Buchanan, Dorothy Mackerras

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objectives: To determine the effect of adjustment for intraindividual variation on estimations of urinary iodine concentrations (UIC), prevalence of iodine deficiency and population distribution of iodine status.

Setting: Community-dwelling older adults from New South Wales, Australia.

Participants: 84 healthy men and women aged 60–95 years were recruited prior to introduction of the mandatory iodine fortification programme. Primary and secondary outcome: measures UIC data were collected from three spot urine samples, each 1 week apart. Repeated measures analysis of variance were determined between-person (sb) and total (sobs) SDs. Adjusted UIC values were calculated as ((person's UIC−group mean)×(sb/sobs))+group mean, and a corrected …

Genome-Wide Delineation Of Natural Variation For Pod Shatter Resistance In Brassica Napus, Harsh Raman, Rosy Raman, Andrzej Kilian, Frank Detering, Jason Carling, Neil Coombes, Simon M. Diffey, G Kadkol, David Edwards, Margaret Mccully, Pradeep Ruperao, Isobel Parkin, Jacqueline Batley, David Luckett, Neil Wratten

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Resistance to pod shattering (shatter resistance) is a target trait for global rapeseed (canola, Brassica napus L.), improvement programs to minimise grain loss in the mature standing crop, and during windrowing and mechanical harvest. We describe the genetic basis of natural variation for shatter resistance in B. napus and show that several quantitative trait loci (QTL) control this trait. To identify loci underlying shatter resistance, we used a novel genotyping-by-sequencing approach DArT-Seq. QTL analysis detected a total of 12 significant QTL on chromosomes A03, A07, A09, C03, C04, C06, and C08; which jointly account for approximately 57% of the genotypic …

Variation In Personality Traits Of Medical Students Between Schools Of Medicine, Ian Wilson, Barbara Griffin, Lisa Lampe, Diann Eley, Gerry Corrigan, Brian Kelly, Pamela Stagg

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Introduction: While there have been studies exploring the impact of personality on medical student selection and performance there has not been an investigation of the personality of students at different schools.

Method: Demographic data and responses to the NEO measure of personality traits were collected from medical students in the first two weeks of their enrolment (2011) in seven medical schools in Australia. Personality traits were analysed by school features, gender and age using logistic regression.

Results: Differences were detected between schools in the personality traits of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Higher Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were associated with attending an Undergraduate …

Institution Building And Variation In The Formation Of The Australian Wool Market, David Merrett, Simon Ville

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The relocation of the wool market from London to the major Australian port cities from the late nineteenth century required the formation of an institution to govern the auction business, namely the wool brokers' association. Regional variations, among Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, occurred in the structure and effectiveness of the institution despite each regional association having been formed around the same time, for the same purpose, and with an overlap of participating firms. We draw on institution theory to guide our account and find that the impact of legacy factors and differences in market conditions explain the regional variations.

Mouse Strain-Dependent Variation In Obesity And Glucose Homeostasis In Response To High-Fat Feeding, M K. Montgomery, N L. Hallahan, S H. Brown, M Liu, T W. Mitchell, G J. Cooney, N Turner

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Aims/hypothesis: Metabolic disorders are commonly investigated using knockout and transgenic mouse models. A variety of mouse strains have been used for this purpose. However, mouse strains can differ in their inherent propensities to develop metabolic disease, which may affect the experimental outcomes of metabolic studies. We have investigated strain-dependent differences in the susceptibility to diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in five commonly used inbred mouse strains (C57BL/6J, 129X1/SvJ, BALB/c, DBA/2 and FVB/N). Methods: Mice were fed either a low-fat or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks. Whole-body energy expenditure and body composition were then determined. Tissues were used to …

Variation Of Pinning Mechanism And Enhancement Of Critical Current Density In Mgb2 Bulk Containing Self-Generated Coherent Mgb4 Impurity, Qi Cai, Yongchang Liu, Zongqing Ma, Huijun Li, Liming Yu

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Bulk MgB2, with self-generated MgB4 pinning centers, have experienced two-step sintering process, initially at 750°C and then 900-1000°C. On the contrary to the widely accepted point that MgB 4 deteriorates superconductivity, it was found that MgB4 played a significant role in enhancing critical current density. The precipitation pattern of MgB4 was studied from the lattice scale images. It was observed that the initial coherent relation between the MgB 4 and the matrix was destroyed to become semi-coherent and even incoherent as the second-step sintering temperature increased. Owing to the lattice distortion caused by the elastic accommodation of the coherent interface, …

Reducing Unwarranted Variation In Healthcare Service Delivery Systems: Key Issues, Research Challenges And Potential Solutions, Nagesh Shukla, Senevi Kiridena, Nishikant Mishra

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

There is a growing need worldwide to increase the quality and productivity of healthcare services delivery. To this end, analysing and reducing unwarranted variations in healthcare has attracted much attention in recent times. However, current modelling and simulation approaches to reduce unwarranted variations suffer from numerous limitations. Consequently, service improvement efforts have often failed to deliver expected results. This paper discusses the key issues associated with reducing unwarranted variations in hospital service delivery systems, and proposes a research framework that aims at overcoming these issues. In doing so, it highlights the need for: accurately and efficiently modelling complex service delivery …

Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

The effects of controlled temperature variation in the range of 10–45 °C were assessed in a lab-scale MBR that treated synthetic municipal wastewater spiked with selected micropollutants. The effects were evaluated with respect to total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) removal, micropollutant removal, sludge growth, level of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in the mixed liquor and membrane fouling. Overall, the temperature shifts caused high variation in the TOC and TN levels in the reactor supernatant, however that in membrane-permeate was relatively more stable, substantiating the robustness of the MBR process. Results regarding the removal of micropollutants at ambient …

Source S Of Inter-Learner Variation In The Ba Construction, Xiaoping Gao

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Variability in interlanguage has received growing attention in SLA. However, the variation and its sources in the interlanguage of L2 Chinese remain under-researched. This study investigated sources of inter-learner variation in the use of the ba construction (BC) by English and Korean speaking learners of L2 Chinese. A total of 110 adult learners were examined both in New Zealand and in China, with 22 native speakers of Chinese as control. A battery of three tasks (i.e., an oral production task prompted by video clips, an oral imitation task, and an untimed grammaticality judgement task conducted orally) was used to elicit …

Sea Surface Temperature And Chlorophyll-A Spatial-Temporal Variation Using Modis-Aqua In The Todos Os Santos Bay, Bahia, Brazil, Rafael Cabral Carvalho, Carlos A. Lentini

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

In this study, the importance of MODIS sensor multispectral imagery on monitoring coastal and oceanic areas as well as marine ecosystems is demonstrated. As an example, the Todos os Santos Bay (TSB), BA, Brazil, was selected. Four 250m Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll-a satellite-derived images were processed to characterize the TSB in 2009, as well as monthly time-series from July 2002 to January 2010 and monthly maps of 2009 off the coast of Bahia. These results were compared to the Brazilian Water Agency (ANA) discharge data and tidal data. They showed the importance of the latter in physical forcing compared …

Direct Observation Of Local Potassium Variation And Its Correlation To Electronic Inhomogeneity In (Ba1-Xkx)Fe2as 2 Pnictide, Wai Kong Yeoh, Baptiste Gault, X.Y. Cui, C. Zhu, P Moody, L. Li, Rongkun Zheng, Wenxian Li, Xiaolin Wang, S. X. Dou, G.L Sun, C T Lin, S P. Ringer

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Local fluctuations in the distribution of dopant atoms are thought to cause the nanoscale electronic disorder or phase separation in pnictide superconductors. Atom probe tomography has enabled the first direct observations of dopant species clustering in a K-doped 122-phase pnictide. First-principles calculations suggest the coexistence of static magnetism and superconductivity on a lattice parameter length scale over a wide range of dopant concentrations. Our results provide evidence for a mixed scenario of phase coexistence and phase separation, depending on local dopant atom distributions.

Review Of Hasan, Ruqaiya [J. Webster, Ed.], Semantic Variation: Meaning In Society And Sociolinguistics (The Collected Works Of Ruqaiya Hasan, Vol. 2), Claire Scott

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

The prolific and influential writings of Emeritus Professor Ruqaiya Hasan over more than three decades have been very significant in the field of systemic functional linguistics and beyond, particularly in the areas of research concerned with child language development, cohesion and stylistics, semantics, and context. Her papers are now being collected together in a series of volumes commendably edited by Jonathan Webster (who also edited the recent ten volume series of the Collected Works of M. A. K. Halliday published by Continuum). Semantic Variation: Meaning in Society and in Sociolinguistics is the second volume in this seven volume series (volumes …

Variation In Seagrass Biomass Estimates In Low And High Density Settings: Implications For The Selection Of Sample Size, Mustafa K. Hossain, Kerrylee Rogers, Neil Saintilan

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Few seagrass biomass monitoring studies have considered the adequacy of monitoring intensity in their design. Power analysis is now widely used in ecological monitoring to determine sample size (replication) and the power (probability of not making a Type II error) of the monitoring design to detect change (effect size). We investigated seasonal variation of above-ground biomass of Zostera species at Woolooware Bay, Botany Bay, NSW and Ukerebagh Channel, Tweed River, NSW to show that seagrass biomass varies significantly between sites and seasonally. By conducting preliminary power analysis at each study site we found that our sampling design would only detect …

Influenza Virus Antigenic Variation, Host Antibody Production And New Approach To Control Epidemics, Jiezhong Chen, Yi-Mo Deng

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Influenza is an infectious disease and can lead to life-threatening complications like pneumonia. The disease is caused by three types of RNA viruses called influenza types A, B and C, each consisting of eight negative single-stranded RNA-segments encoding 11 proteins. Current annual vaccines contain two type A strains and one type B strain and are capable of inducing strong antibody responses to both the surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) and the neuraminidase (NA). While these vaccines are protective against vaccine viruses they are not effective against newly emerging viruses that contain antigenic variations known as antigenic drift and shift. In nature, …

Design Procedure For Vertical Drains Considering A Linear Variation Of Lateral Permeability Within The Smear Zone, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn, Buddhima Indraratna

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

A system of vertical drains with surcharge preloading is an effective method for promoting radial drainage and accelerated soil consolidation. This study presents a procedure for the design of vertical drains that significantly extends the previous technique proposed by the authors to include: (i) a linear reduction of lateral permeability in the smear zone, (ii) the effect of overlapping smear zones in a closely spaced drain network, and (iii) the gain in undrained shear strength due to consolidation. Design examples are provided for both single stage and multi-stage embankment construction demonstrating the convenient use of the proposed solutions in practical …

Feature-Based Optimal Sensor Distribution For Six-Sigma Variation Diagnosis In Multi-Station Assembly Processes, Nagesh Shukla, Darek Ceglarek, Manoj Tiwari

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents a novel feature-based sensor distribution approach for root cause analysis and diagnosis of product 6-sigma variation faults in multi-station assembly processes. Traditional approaches in sensor distribution are based on the assumption that measurement points can be selected at arbitrary locations on the part or subassembly. This causes challenges such as difficult calibration of measurement system, increased errors of measured features, and lack of explicit relations between measured features and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T). In the proposed approach, we develop methodology to maximize the number of measurement points that are placed at critical design features called Key …

Variation Of The Omega-3 Content Of Australian Food Products, Yasmine Probst, Rebecca L. Thorne, Jane E. O'Shea, Holley-Anne Jones, Riikka Karkkainen, Sophie Guenon, Linda C. Tapsell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract from the 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 30 November - 3 December 2008, Glenelg, Australia.

Spectral And Spatial Variation At Leaf And Patch Scale Of Invasive Wetland Weeds, Laurie A. Chisholm, John K. Marthick

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The establishment of invasive weeds in wetland environments is a prominent threat in Australia with adverse impacts on native flora. Current management is hindered by the lack of information available on which to base and justify management interventions, in particular, mapping of weed distributions. Remote sensing is a possible solution to difficulties of this type as illustrated by its successful application to wetland mapping in general. This paper explores the potential of multiscale spectral reflectance to discriminate between two particularly offensive, invasive woody weeds, bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp rotundata), and lantana (Lantana camara). Spectral reflectance at …

Influence Of Inductance Variation On Performance Of A Permanent Magnet Claw Pole Soft Magnetic Composite Motor, Youguang Guo, Jian Zhu, Zhi Lin, Haiyan Lu, Xiaolin Wang, Jiaxin Chen

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Winding inductance is an important parameter in determining the performance of electrical machines, particularly those with large inductance variation. This paper investigates the influence of winding inductance variation on the performance of a three-phase three-stack claw pole permanent magnet motor with soft magnetic composite (SMC) stator by using an improved phase variable model. The winding inductances of the machine are computed by using a modified incremental energy method, based on three-dimensional nonlinear time-stepping magnetic field finite element analyses. The inductance computation and performance simulation are verified by the experimental results of an SMC claw pole motor prototype.

Method Variation In Calculating Perceived Change, Antonis C. Simintiras, Nina Reynolds

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Motivated by findings in the literature suggesting that error attributed to measures used in generating retrospective reports are excessive, this study explores error attributed to methods that individuals use for calculating change retrospectively. Preliminary findings indicate that method variation is present which, in turn, affects the reported change scores (i.e., the scores varied as a function of the calculation method used). These findings suggest that the accuracy and comparability of retrospective reporting might be improved if one controls for inter-individual calculation method variation. A brief discussion of the implications of the results along with suggestions for future research is provided.