Digital Commons Network^™

Mechanisms And Ecological Role Of Carbon Transfer Within Coastal Seascapes, Glenn A. Hyndes, Ivan Nagelkerken, Rebecca Mcleod, Rod Connolly, Paul S. Lavery, Mathew A. Vanderklift

Research outputs 2013

Worldwide, coastal systems provide some of the most productive habitats, which potentially influence a range of marine and terrestrial ecosystems through the transfer of nutrients and energy. Several reviews have examined aspects of connectivity within coastal seascapes, but the scope of those reviews has been limited to single systems or single vectors. We use the transfer of carbon to examine the processes of connectivity through multiple vectors in multiple ecosystems using four coastal seascapes as case studies. We discuss and compare the main vectors of carbon connecting different ecosystems, and then the natural and human-induced factors that influence the magnitude …

Undergraduate Perceptions Of The Development Of Team-Working Skills, Denise Jackson, Ruth Sibson, Linda Riebe

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose: The ability to working effectively with others (WEWO) is critical yet industry continues to lament deficiencies in new graduates. Progress in developing this highly valued skill in undergraduates is impeded by a lack of conceptual clarity and evidence of how best to measure it, and a tendency to adopt an outcomes-focused, rather than process-oriented, approach. This paper aims to investigate undergraduate perceptions of how well a stand-alone employability skill development programme, operating in an Australian Business Faculty, is fostering the WEWO skill set and which pedagogical practices are considered to add most value. Design/methodology/approach: The study examines undergraduate perceptions …

Hearing The Child's Voice: Their Lived Experience In The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Andrea Prentiss

All Publications

Background: More than 200,000 children are admitted annually to Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) in the US. Research has shown young children can provide insight into their hospitalization experiences; child reports rather than parental reports are critical to understanding the child’s experience. Information relating to children’s perceptions while still in the PICU is scarce.

Aims: The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate school age children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of PICU while in the PICU; changes in perceptions after transfer to the General Care Unit (GCU); differences in perceptions of school age children/adolescents and those with more invasive procedures. …

A Dynamic Evaluation Of How Kick Point Location Influences Swing Parameters And Related Launch Conditions, Christopher Joyce, Angus Burnett, Alvaro Reyes, Stephen Herbert

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In golf, many parameters of the driver can be modified to maximise hitting distance. The main objective of this study was to determine whether drivers fitted with shafts having high and low kick points would alter selected swing parameters and related launch conditions. In total, 12 elite male golfers (handicap score = 1.2 ± 1.8) had three shots analysed for two drivers fitted with 'stiff' shafts with differing kick point location. Stiffness profiles of these shafts were also measured. Five swing and related launch parameters were measured using a real-time launch monitor. The locations of the low and high kick …

Liminal Experience Of East Asian Backpackers, Huong T. Bui, Hugh Wilkins, Y S. Lee

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Acknowledging the increasing popularity of independent travel from East Asia, this article explores the backpacking experience of young travellers of the region, from a socio-anthropological angle. Using liminality theory as a guideline and adopting a qualitative investigative approach, 31 interviews with East Asian backpackers were conducted. The findings suggest there are dual facets of the liminal experiences of the backpackers. On one hand, young travellers were motivated to escape from temporal, spatial and social pressures at home. On the other, their narratives reflected a strong commitment to home through a sense of filial piety, an awareness of their identity and …

The Use Of Unregulated Staff: Time For Regulation?, Christine M. Duffield, Di E. Twigg, Judith D. Pugh, Gemma Evans, S Dimitrelis, Michael A. Roche

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Internationally, shortages in the nursing workforce, escalating patient demands, and financial constraints within the health system have led to the growth of unlicensed nursing support workers. Recently, in relation to the largest publicly funded health system (National Health Service), it was reported that extensive substitution of registered nurses with unskilled nursing support workers resulted in inadequate patient care, increased morbidity and mortality rates, and negative nurse outcomes. We argue that it is timely to consider regulation of nursing support workers with their role and scope of practice clearly defined. Further, the addition of these workers in a complementary model of …

Beyond Proximity: The Importance Of Green Space Useability To Self-Reported Health, May Carter, Pierre Horwitz

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Access to parks and green spaces within residential neighbourhoods has been shown to be an important pathway to generating better physical and mental health for individuals and communities. Early research in this area often failed to identify specific attributes that contributed to reported health outcomes, with more recent research focused on exploring relationships between health outcomes and aspects of access and design. A mixed methods research project conducted in Perth, Western Australia examined the role that neighbourhood green space played in influencing residents' self-reported health status, and this paper identifies significant relationships found between perceptions of green space quality and …

Metals In Commonly Eaten Groceries In Western Australia: A Market Basket Survey And Dietary Assessment, Anna Callan, Andrea Hinwood, Amanda Devine

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Children’s dietary exposure to metals has received limited attention in Australia. This study undertook a market basket survey and analysed 253 food and beverages for metals. These data were used in conjunction with recent average diet data for children in Western Australia to model dietary metals exposure, with mean metals intakes calculated for boys and girls aged 8, 12, 13 and 16 years. Results show that for some metals, including cadmium, nickel and manganese, dietary intake guidelines have been exceeded in younger children. The mean modelled cadmium intake in children aged 8 years was almost 60% of the World Health …

Identification Of Unknowns Within A Probabilistic System: The Diagnostic Value Of Attributes, D W. Goodall

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Using a data base underpinned by probability considerations in which a variety of attributes, some of which may be quantitative, are recorded for a number of “operational taxonomic units” (OTUs), a key system is described by which an unnamed specimen may quickly be identified. The concept of “diagnostic power” is introduced, by which each attribute is evaluated in terms of its potential contribution to identifying the unnamed specimen. Besides coverage of different types of attributes and the introduction of “diagnostic power”, the system has the advantages of incorporating multiple values of an attribute for each OTU and offering short-cuts to …

Constant-Stress Accelerated Life Test Of White Organic Light-Emitting Diode Based On Least Square Method Under Weibull Distribution, J Zhang, C Liu, G Cheng, X Chen, J Wu, Q Zhu, Laichang Zhang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

It is currently hard to estimate the reliability parameters of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) when conducting a life test at normal stress, due to the remarkably improved life of OLEDs to thousands hours. This work adopted three constant-stress accelerated life tests (CSALTs) to predict the life of white OLEDs in a short time. The Weibull function was applied to describe the life distribution, and the shape and scale parameters were estimated using the least square method. The experimental test data were statistically analyzed using a self-developed software. The life of white OLEDs predicted via this software is in good agreement …

Self-Assessment Of Employability Skill Outcomes Among Undergraduates And Alignment With Academic Ratings, Denise Jackson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Despite acknowledgement of the benefits of self-assessment in higher education, disparity between student and academic assessments, with associated trends in overrating and underrating, plagues its meaningful use, particularly as a tool for formal assessment. This study examines self-assessment of capabilities in certain employability skills in more than 1000 Australian business undergraduates. It evaluates the extent to which student self-assessments differ from academics, in what ways and the influence of certain individual and background characteristics - such as stage of degree, gender and academic ability - on rating accuracy. Explanations for documented disparities are presented, in addition to implications and strategies …

George Chapman's All Fools, Charles Edelman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

No abstract available.

A Method To Optimize A Typology-Based Classification System, Christopher Schnitzler, James Croft, Chris Button, Mats Ulmers, Keith Davids

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study sought to provide guidelines for implementing typology-based qualitative analysis of human movement patterns. Fifteen participant-analysts were instructed how to classify treading water behaviours into eight different categories using a training set of videos. They were later provided with two additional sets of videos called validation, and test sets. Results first identified reliable (n=9), and not reliable (n=6) analysts. A decision study outlined that one analyst was sufficient to reliably categorize the behaviours in the 'reliable' analyst group, whereas up to four were necessary in the 'unreliable' group. These data provided new insights into more objective qualitative analysis methods …

Recent Developments In Magneto-Optic Garnet-Type Thin-Film Materials Synthesis, Mohammad Nur-E-Alam, Mikhail Vasiliev, Viacheslav Kotov, Kamal Alameh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Magneto-optic (MO) garnets are used in a range of applications in nanophotonics, integrated optics, communications and imaging. Bi-substituted iron garnets of different compositions are the most useful class of materials in applied magnetooptics due to their excellent MO properties (large Faraday effect) and record-high MO figure of merit among all semitransparent dielectrics. It is highly desirable to synthesise garnets which possess simultaneously a high MO figure of merit and large uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. However, the simultaneous optimization of several material properties and parameters can be difficult in single-layer garnet thin films, and it is also challenging to prepare films with …

Magnetophotonic Intensity Effects In Hybrid Metal-Dielectric Structures, V I. Belotelov, L E. Kreilkamp, A N. Kalish, I A. Akimov, D A. Bykov, S Kasture, V J. Yallapragada, A V. Gopal, A M. Grishin, S I. Khartsev, Mohammad Nurealam, Mikhail Vasiliev, L L. Doskolovich, D R. Yakovlev, Kamal Alameh, A K. Zvezdin, M Bayer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The magneto-optical properties of a hybrid metal-dielectric structure consisting of a one-dimensional gold grating on top of a magnetic waveguide layer are studied experimentally and theoretically. It is demonstrated that a magnetic field applied in the longitudinal configuration (in the plane of the magnetic film and perpendicular to the slits in the gold grating) to the metal-dielectric structure modifies the field distribution of the optical modes and thus changes the mode excitation conditions. In the optical far field, this manifests in the alteration of the optical transmittance or reflectance when the structure becomes magnetized. This magneto-optical effect is shown to …

Hrecs And Journalism Research: The Uneven Playing Field, Kayt Davies

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article continues an ongoing investigation into the problems that contemporary researchers in Australia using journalism as a methodology face in meeting the bureaucratic requirements of Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs). This discussion in the peer-reviewed literature includes Richards (2009), Turner (2011), Lindgren and Phillips (2011), Romano (2012) and two articles by the author (Davies 2011a, 2011b). These two articles explored the flexibility built into the HREC's guiding document, the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, in 2007 in order to make it possible for research that does not fit the standard scientific model to gain timely approval. …

Mind The Gap: Health Reporting In The Pacific, Trevor Cullen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Previous research on developing health journalism in the Pacific region has encouraged journalists to think outside the box when it comes to reporting health, and to view it as more than just drugs and doctors. Factors such as politics, economics, religion, education, gender inequality and traditional cultural taboos influence health outcomes to varying degrees. This perspective on health provides an extensive list of news and feature stories for the media, and yet, this wider focus on the determinants of health is not what drives health journalism in many Pacific countries. This article uses a case study of press coverage of …

Positive Correlation Between The Expression Of Heag1 And Hif-1Α In Breast Cancers: An Observational Study, Qingxuan Lai, Ting Wang, Qingqing Guo, Yuxiang Zhang, Youxin Wang, Li Yuan, Rui Ling, Yan He, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives: To explore the expression patterns of Eag1 (ether á go-go 1) and HIF-1α (hypoxia-inducible factor 1α) in a cohort of patients with breast cancer. Setting: Department of general surgery in an upper first-class hospital in Xi'an, China. Participants: A total of 112 female Han Chinese patients with a diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma were included. Patients with main internal diseases, such as cardiovascular, endocrine, gastroenterological, haematological, infectious diseases, etc, were excluded. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Expression profiles of Eag1 and HIF-1α. Results: Eag1 and HIF-1α were overexpressed in the tumour tissues compared with the pair-matched control tissues, p=0.002 …

Leadership In Sustainability: Creating An Interface Between Creativity And Leadership Theory In Dealing With "Wicked Problems", Renee Newman-Storen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Fundamental to Leadership in Sustainability, a course in the Masters in Sustainability and Climate Policy (coursework) offered through Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute, is that the complexity, flexibility and vitality of sustainability are precisely why sustainability practitioners commit themselves to finding new and innovative solutions to complex problems. The course asks the student to "think differently" and to engage in debate that inspires and encourages creative thinking strategies for the planning and development of our cities and communities. This paper details what the course is about, how it is structured and what the connections are between creativity, sustainability and …

Development Of A Medical Academic Degree System In China, Lijuan Wu, Youxin Wang, Xiaoxia Peng, Manshu Song, Xiuhua Guo, Hugh Nelson, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Context: The Chinese government launched a comprehensive healthcare reform to tackle challenges to health equities. Medical education will become the key for successful healthcare reform. Purpose:We describe the current status of the Chinese medical degree system and its evolution over the last 80 years. Content: Progress has been uneven, historically punctuated most dramatically by the Cultural Revolution. There is a great regional disparity. Doctors with limited tertiary education may be licensed to practice, whereas medical graduates with advanced doctorates may have limited clinical skills. There are undefined relationships between competing tertiary training streams, the academic professional degree, and the clinical …

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Mass Media Coverage Of Genomics Medicine In China: A Call For Science Journalism In The Developing World, Feifei Zhao, Yan Chen, Siqi Ge, Xinwei Yu, Shuang Shao, Michael Black, Youxin Wang, Jie Zhang, Manshu Song, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Science journalism is a previously neglected but rapidly growing area of scholarship in postgenomics medicine and socio-technical studies of knowledge-based innovations. Science journalism can help evaluate the quantity and quality of information flux between traditional scientific expert communities and the broader public, for example, in personalized medicine education. Newspapers can play a crucial role in science and health communication, and more importantly, in framing public engagement. However, research on the role of newspaper coverage of genomics-related articles has not been readily available in resource-limited settings. As genomics is rapidly expanding worldwide, this gap in newspaper reportage in China is therefore …

General Practitioners' Experiences Of Bereavement Care And Their Educational Support Needs: A Qualitative Study, Moira O'Connor, Lauren J. Breen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: General Practitioners (GPs) are well-positioned to provide grief support to patients. Most GPs view the provision of bereavement care as an important aspect of their role and the GP is the health professional that many people turn to when they need support. We aimed to explore GPs' understandings of bereavement care and their education and professional development needs in relation to bereavement care. Methods. An in-depth qualitative design was adopted using a social constructionist approach as our aims were exploratory and applied. Nineteen GPs (12 women and 7 men) living in Western Australia were interviewed; 14 were based in …

Risk Factors For Cerebrovascular Disease Mortality Among The Elderly In Beijing: A Competing Risk Analysis, Zhe Tang, Tao Zhou, Yanxia Luo, Changchun Xie, Da Huo, Lixin Tao, Lei Pan, Fei Sun, Huiping Zhu, Xinghua Yang, Wei Wang, Aoshuang Yan, Xia Li, Xiuhua Guo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective: To examine the associations of combined lifestyle factors and physical conditions with cerebrovascular diseases (CBVD) mortality, after accounting for competing risk events, including death from cardiovascular diseases, cancers and other diseases. Methods: Data on 2010 subjects aged over 55 years were finally analyzed using competing risk models. All the subjects were interviewed by the Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), in China, between 1 January 1992 and 30 August 2009. Results: Elderly females were at a lower risk of death from CBVD than elderly males (HR = 0.639, 95% CI = 0.457-0.895). Increasing age (HR = 1.543, 95% CI …

Dynamic Modeling Of Gnss Troposphere Wet Delay For Estimation Of Precipitable Water Vapour, Ahmed El-Mowafy, Johnny Lo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Proper dynamic modelling of the troposphere wet delay using the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) measurements is important in precise point positioning and in estimation of the PrecipitableWater Vapour (PWV) for weather forecast. The random walk (RW) and the first-order Gauss-Markov (GM) autocorrelation models are commonly used for this purpose. However, it was found that these models consistently underestimate the temporal correlations that exist among the troposphere wet delay. Therefore, a new dynamic model is proposed. The performance of the proposed model in following the autocorrelation of actual data is demonstrated and its impact on the near-real time estimation of …

Protocol For The Rt Prepare Trial: A Multiple-Baseline Study Of Radiation Therapists Delivering Education And Support To Women With Breast Cancer Who Are Referred For Radiotherapy, Georgia Halkett, Moira O'Connor, Sanchia Aranda, Michael Jefford, Nigel Spry, Therese Shaw, Rachael Moorin, Penelope Schofield

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction: There is limited evidence to guide the preparation of patients for radiotherapy. This paper describes the protocol for an evaluation of a radiation therapist led education intervention delivered to patients with breast cancer in order to reduce psychological distress. Methods: A multiple-baseline study is being used. Usual care data is being collected prior to the start of the intervention at each of three sites. The intervention is delivered by radiation therapists consulting with patients prior to their treatment planning and on the first day of treatment. The intervention focuses on providing sensory and procedural information to patients and reducing …

Low Back Pain Beliefs Are Associated To Age, Location Of Work, Education And Pain-Related Disability In Chinese Healthcare Professionals Working In China: A Cross Sectional Survey, B K. Tan, Anne J. Smith, Peter B. O'Sullivan, Gang Chen, Angus F. Burnett, Andrew M. Briggs

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Evidence pointing towards a more efficacious model of care using a biopsychosocial approach for LBP management highlights the need to understand the pain-related beliefs of patients and those who treat them. The beliefs held by healthcare professionals (HCPs) are known to influence the treatment advice given to patients and consequently management outcomes. Back pain beliefs are known to be influenced by factors such as culture, education, health literacy, place of work, personal experience of LBP and the sequelae of LBP such as disability. There is currently a knowledge …

Acute Hospital-Based Services Utilisation During The Last Year Of Life In New South Wales, Australia: Methods For A Population-Based Study, Dianne L. O'Connell, David E. Goldsbury, Patricia Davidson, Afaf Girgis, Jane L. Phillips, Michael Piza, Anne Wilkinson, Jane M. Ingham

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe healthcare utilisation in the last year of life for people in Australia, to help inform health services planning. The methods and datasets that are being used are described in this paper. Design/Setting: Linked, routinely collected administrative health data are being analysed for all people who died in New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state, in 2007. The data comprised linked death records (2007), hospital admissions and emergency department presentations (2006-2007) and cancer registrations (1994-2007). Participants: There were 46 341 deaths in NSW in 2007. The initial analyses include 45 760 …

Contourlet Textual Features: Improving The Diagnosis Of Solitary Pulmonary Nodules In Two Dimensional Ct Images, Jingjing Wang, Tao Sun, Ni Gao, Desmond D. Menon, Yanxia Luo, Qi Gao, Xia Li, Wei Wang, Huiping Zhu, Pingxin Lv, Zhigang Liang, Lixin Tao, Xiangtong Liu, Xiuhua Guo

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Materials and Methods: A total of 6,299 CT images were acquired from 336 patients, with 1,454 benign pulmonary nodule images from 84 patients (50 male, 34 female) and 4,845 malignant from 252 patients (150 male, 102 female). Further to this, nineteen patient information categories, which included seven demographic parameters and twelve morphological features, were also collected. A contourlet was used to extract fourteen types of textural features. These were then used to establish three support vector machine models. One comprised a database constructed of nineteen collected patient information categories, another included contourlet textural features and the third one contained both …

Synergistic Toughening Of Hard, Nacre-Mimetic Mosi2 Coatings By Self-Assembled Hierarchical Structure, Jiang Xu, Xiaoli Zhao, Paul Munroe, Zonghan Xie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Like many other intermetallic materials, MoSi2 coatings are typically hard, but prone to catastrophic failure due to their low toughness at ambient temperature. In this paper, a self-assembled hierarchical structure that closely resembles that of nacre (i.e., mother of pearl) was developed in a MoSi2 -based coating through a simple, yet cost-effective, depostion technique. The newly formed coating is tough and can withstand multiple indentations at high loads. Key design features responsible for this remarkable outcome were identified. They include a functionally graded multilayer featuring elastic modulus oscillation, varying sublayer thickness and a columnar structure that are able to attenuate …

Reaching Perinatal Women Online: The Healthy You, Healthy Baby Website And App, Lydia Hearn, Margaret Miller, Leanne Lester

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Overwhelming evidence reveals the close link between unwarranted weight gain among childbearing women and childhood adiposity. Yet current barriers limit the capacity of perinatal health care providers (PHCPs) to offer healthy lifestyle counselling. In response, today's Internet savvy women are turning to online resources to access health information, with the potential of revolutionising health services by enabling PHCPs to guide women to appropriate online resources. This paper presents the findings of a project designed to develop an online resource to promote healthy lifestyles during the perinatal period. The methodology involved focus groups and interviews with perinatal women and PHCPs to …