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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Bryophyte Species Composition Over Moisture Gradients In The Windmill Islands, East Antarctica: Development Of A Baseline For Monitoring Climate Change Impacts, J Wasley, S A. Robinson, J D. Turnbull, D H. King, W Wanek, M Popp Oct 2012

Bryophyte Species Composition Over Moisture Gradients In The Windmill Islands, East Antarctica: Development Of A Baseline For Monitoring Climate Change Impacts, J Wasley, S A. Robinson, J D. Turnbull, D H. King, W Wanek, M Popp

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Extreme environmental conditions prevail on the Antarctic continent and limit plant diversity to cryptogamic communities, dominated by bryophytes and lichens. Even small abiotic shifts, associated with climate change, are likely to have pronounced impacts on these communities that currently exist at their physiological limit of survival. Changes to moisture availability, due to precipitation shifts or alterations to permanent snow reserves, will most likely cause greatest impact. In order to establish a baseline for determining the effect of climate change on continental Antarctic terrestrial communities and to better understand bryophyte species distributions in relation to moisture in a floristically important Antarctic …


Using Remotely-Sensed Fuel Connectivity Patterns As A Tool For Fire Danger Monitoring, Gabriele Caccamo, Laurie A. Chisholm, Ross A. Bradstock, Marjetta L. Puotinen Jan 2012

Using Remotely-Sensed Fuel Connectivity Patterns As A Tool For Fire Danger Monitoring, Gabriele Caccamo, Laurie A. Chisholm, Ross A. Bradstock, Marjetta L. Puotinen

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Spatial connectivity of areas of dry fuels is considered a significant influence on the incidence of large fires. Precipitation patterns can dynamically affect fuel connectivity through controls on the distribution of dry fuels. Spatio-temporal monitoring of precipitation-driven variations in dry fuel connectivity patterns could therefore offer the potential to monitor fire danger. In this paper we present an innovative graph theoretic-based approach to monitor fire danger using remotely sensed patterns of dry fuel connectivity. We analysed the temporal evolution of dry fuel connectivity in south-eastern Australia during recent fire seasons. The analysis showed that rapid changes in the connectivity of …


An Indoor Localisation And Motion Monitoring System To Determine Behavioural Activity In Dementia Afflicted Patients In Aged Care, Matthew D'Souza, Montserrat Ros, Mohanraj Karunanithi Jan 2012

An Indoor Localisation And Motion Monitoring System To Determine Behavioural Activity In Dementia Afflicted Patients In Aged Care, Matthew D'Souza, Montserrat Ros, Mohanraj Karunanithi

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Dementia is highly prevalent among the older population. Most patients with dementia are admitted to an aged care facility due to wandering behaviour which tends to result in dangerous scenarios such as straying away from the facility and being seriously injured. Due to the decreasing availability of carers in aged care, there is a need to prioritise monitoring of patients that have a severe case of wondering. The challenge is to allow carers to monitor the status of such patients in terms of position localisation and motion behavioural status, in real-time. The long term behavioural analysis of such patients would …


Remote Real-Time Monitoring Of Subsurface Landfill Gas Migration, Cormac Fay, Aiden R. Doherty, Stephen T. Beirne, F Collins, C Foley, John Healy, Breda M. Kiernan, Hyowon Lee, Damien Maher, D Orpen, Thomas Phelan, Zhengwei Qiu, Kirk Zhang, Cathal Gurrin, Brian Corcoran, Noel E. O'Connor, A F Smeaton, D Diamond Jan 2011

Remote Real-Time Monitoring Of Subsurface Landfill Gas Migration, Cormac Fay, Aiden R. Doherty, Stephen T. Beirne, F Collins, C Foley, John Healy, Breda M. Kiernan, Hyowon Lee, Damien Maher, D Orpen, Thomas Phelan, Zhengwei Qiu, Kirk Zhang, Cathal Gurrin, Brian Corcoran, Noel E. O'Connor, A F Smeaton, D Diamond

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The cost of monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites is of major concern for regulatory authorities. The current monitoring procedure is recognised as labour intensive, requiring agency inspectors to physically travel to perimeter borehole wells in rough terrain and manually measure gas concentration levels with expensive hand-held instrumentation. In this article we present a cost-effective and efficient system for remotely monitoring landfill subsurface migration of methane and carbon dioxide concentration levels. Based purely on an autonomous sensing architecture, the proposed sensing platform was capable of performing complex analytical measurements in situ and successfully communicating the data remotely to a …


Strategies To Address Iodine Deficiency In Australia Require Ongoing Monitoring And Surveillance, Heather Yeatman, Karen E. Charlton Jan 2010

Strategies To Address Iodine Deficiency In Australia Require Ongoing Monitoring And Surveillance, Heather Yeatman, Karen E. Charlton

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.


A Method For Monitoring Ink Homogeneity, Xinshi Luo, Siva Balakrishnan, Gerhard F. Swiegers Jan 2010

A Method For Monitoring Ink Homogeneity, Xinshi Luo, Siva Balakrishnan, Gerhard F. Swiegers

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

An important concern when developing new inks containing novel, bulk, solid-state additives is to ensure consistency during the printing process. In particular, the additives should not build up on the rollers, blankets or plates during printing. In this work we describe a method for detecting such events and quantitatively monitoring, in real time, the consistency of developmental inks during commercial printing processes. The technique employs a two-component mixture of emissive nanoparticles whose ratio becomes variable in a non-homogeneous environment. Even tiny variations in the ratio can be readily and dynamically detected in real time using a fibre-optic equipped fluorescence microspectrometer. …


Plasma Cholinesterase Characteristics In Native Australian Birds: Significance For Monitoring Avian Species For Pesticide Exposure, Karen J. Fildes, Judit K. Szabo, Lee Astheimer, Michael Hooper, William A. Buttemer Jan 2009

Plasma Cholinesterase Characteristics In Native Australian Birds: Significance For Monitoring Avian Species For Pesticide Exposure, Karen J. Fildes, Judit K. Szabo, Lee Astheimer, Michael Hooper, William A. Buttemer

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides are applied throughout Australia to control agricultural pests. Blood plasma cholinesterase (ChE) activity is a sensitive indicator of exposure to organophosphorus insecticides in vertebrates. To aid biomonitoring and provide reference data for wildlife pesticide-risk assessment, plasma acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activities were characterised in nine species of native bird: King Quails (Excalfactoria chinensis), Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus), White-plumed Honeyeaters (Lichenostomas penicillatus), Yellow-throated Miners (Manorina flavigula), Willie Wagtails (Rhipidura leucophrys), Australian Reed-Warblers (Acrocephalus australis), Brown Songlarks (Cincloramphus cruralis), Double-barred Finches (Taeniopygia bichenovii) and Australasian Pipits (Anthus novaeseelandiae). Plasma ChE activities in all species were within the range of most …


Evaluation Of A Low Cost Wireless Chemical Sensor Network For Environmental Monitoring, Jer Hayes, Stephen Beirne, King-Tong Lau, Dermot Diamond Jan 2008

Evaluation Of A Low Cost Wireless Chemical Sensor Network For Environmental Monitoring, Jer Hayes, Stephen Beirne, King-Tong Lau, Dermot Diamond

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

We present work on the development and testing of a low-cost wireless chemical sensor network (WCSN) for monitoring irritant/toxic gases in the environment. The WCSN used in this work takes advantage of recent advances in low power wireless communication platforms and uses colorimetric sensors to detect the presence of certain target gases. This sensor network adopts a star configuration and performs one way RF communications from individual sensor nodes to the base-station. Each node in the network is composed of a multiple sensor platform that measures light intensity, temperature and motion. The light sensor was used as the chemical sensing …


Environmental (Re)Education And Local Environmental Knowledge: Statutory Ground-Based Monitoring And Pastoral Culture In Central Australia, Nicholas J. Gill Jan 2003

Environmental (Re)Education And Local Environmental Knowledge: Statutory Ground-Based Monitoring And Pastoral Culture In Central Australia, Nicholas J. Gill

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Ground-based monitoring of rangeland condition is common in Australian pastoral administration systems. In the Northern Territory, such monitoring is officially seen as a key plank of sustainable pastoral land use. In the NT and elsewhere, these monitoring schemes have sought to increase participation by pastoralists. Involvement of pastoralists in monitoring is theoretically an educative process that will cause pastoralists to more critically examine their management practices. Critical perspectives on the relationship between rangelands science/extension and pastoralist knowledge systems and concerns, however, suggest that pastoralists’ reception of such monitoring schemes will be influenced by a range of social contexts, including the …