Digital Commons Network^™

Prediction Of Mean Wave Overtopping At Simple Sloped Breakwaters Using Kernel-Based Methods, Shabnam Hosseinzadeh, Amir Etemad-Shahidi, Ali Koosheh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The accurate prediction of the mean wave overtopping rate at breakwaters is vital for a safe design. Hence, providing a robust tool as a preliminary estimator can be useful for practitioners. Recently, soft computing tools such as artificial neural networks (ANN) have been developed as alternatives to traditional overtopping formulae. The goal of this paper is to assess the capabilities of two kernel-based methods, namely Gaussian process regression (GPR) and support vector regression for the prediction of mean wave overtopping rate at sloped breakwaters. An extensive dataset taken from the EurOtop database, including rubble mound structures with permeable core, straight …

Uncovering Real Earnings Management: Pay Attention To Risk-Taking Behavior, Samar Alharbi, Md Al Mamun, Nader Atawnah

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

We examine the impact of corporate risk-taking on firm-level real earnings management. We find that firms with higher risk-taking engage in higher real earnings management. Our results are robust to a series of robustness tests, including simultaneous least squares approach, firm fixed effect, change analysis, and pseudo difference-in-difference analysis. Additional analyses reveal that the impact of risk-taking on real earnings management is more pronounced among firms that experience prior-year loss and are run by top-echelons who are risk lovers. Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) regulation does not attenuate the positive effect of risk-taking on real earnings management. However, external monitoring by institutional …

Associations Between Genetic Variants In The Vitamin D Metabolism Pathway And Severity Of Covid-19 Among Uae Residents, Fatme Al-Anouti, Mira Mousa, Spyridon N. Karras, William B. Grant, Zainab Alhalwachi, Laila Abdel-Wareth, Maimunah Uddin, Nawal Alkaabi, Guan K. Tay, Bassam Mahboub, Habiba Alsafar

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Vitamin D has many effects on cells in the immune system. Many studies have linked low vitamin D status with severity of COVID-19. Genetic variants involved in vitamin D metabolism have been implicated as potential risk factors for severe COVID-19 outcomes. This study investigated how genetic variations in humans affected the clinical presentation of COVID-19. In total, 646 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were divided into two groups: noncritical COVID-19 (n = 453; 70.12%) and a critical group (n = 193; 29.87%). Genotype data on the GC, NADSYN1, VDR, and CYP2R1 genes along with data on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were …

Professional Fishing Industry Fatality, Incident And Injury Data Project, Greg Penney, Bill Byrne, Marcus Cattani

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Analysis of occupational injuries and fatalities within the wild-catch Australian Commercial Fishing Industry (ACFI) is complicated by fishing crew (masters, deckhands etc) classification as workers being dependent upon the applicable occupational health and safety, and worker’s compensation legislation of the relevant State or Territory. While fishing vessels are considered a workplace consistently across all State’s and Territories Work Health and Safety (WHS) / Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) jurisdiction’s legislation, the people who work on them may not be deemed to be workers or employees as per state and territory workers compensation legislation. The exclusion of fishing crew as workers …

Quantification Of Carbon Cycling In A Large Aquifer Using Reactive Transport Modelling, Konrad Miotliński, Luk J. M. Peeters

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Continental scale aquifers can store significant amounts of carbon as a result of immense water volumes, substantial concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and its reactions with a matrix, thus contributing the global carbon storage and cycle. However, concentration of dissolved solutes may vary significantly over distances, which causes interpretative challenges and difficulties in process quantification. This occurs in the Guarani Aquifer System in South America, which is a subject of extensive research due to a significant strategic role in water supply. Dissolved CO2 is expected to dissociate and undergo reactions with aluminosilicate minerals, but it is unknown how much …

A Range Error Reduction Technique For Positioning Applications In Sports, Adnan Waqar, Iftekhar Ahmad, Daryoush Habibi, Quoc V. Phung

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In recent times, ultra-wideband (UWB)-based positioning systems have become popular in sport performance monitoring. UWB positioning system uses time of arrival to calculate the range data between devices (i.e. anchors, tags), and then use trilateration algorithms to estimate position coordinates. In practical applications, non-line-of-sight transmissions and multipath propagations lead to inaccurate range data and lower positioning accuracy. This paper introduces a range error minimisation algorithm to address this limitation of error in range data in UWB-based positioning system. The proposed solution analyses the range error for each anchor and sequentially reduces this error based on the distance between each anchor …

Physicochemical Characterisation Of Zirconia Nanoparticles Based Sodium Alginate Polymer Suspension For Enhanced Oil Recovery, Udit S. Mohanty, Faisal Ur Rahman Awan, Muhammad Ali, Adnan Aftab, Alireza Keshavarz, Sefan Iglauer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Biopolymers have been employed in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) due to their high viscosity and significant effects on waterflooding performance. Sodium alginate (NaAlg) is an excellent biopolymer that is extracted primarily from brown algae. It has been used in the biotechnology industry as a thickening agent, colloidal stabilizer, and oil recovery application. In the present study, a series of sodium alginate/zirconium oxide nanoparticle suspensions were prepared via solution mixing, and the effect of nanoparticle content, polymer concentration, temperature, salinity was investigated on the rheological behavior using a concentric cylinder dynamic rheometer. The rheology results revealed that the lower concentration of …

Meta-Analysis Of Genome-Wide Dna Methylation Identifies Shared Associations Across Neurodegenerative Disorders, Marta F. Nabais, Simon M. Laws, Tian Lin, Costanza L. Vallerga, Nicola J. Armstrong, Ian P. Blair, John B. Kwok, Karen A. Mather, George D. Mellick, Perminder S. Sachdev, Leanne Wallace, Anjali K. Henders, Ramona A. J. Zwamborn, Paul J. Hop, Katie Lunnon, Ehsan Pishva, Janou A. Y. Roubroeks, Hilkka Soininen, Magda Tsolaki, Patrizia Mecocci, Simon Lovestone, Iwona Kłoszewska, Bruno Vellas, Sarah Furlong, Fleur C. Garton, Robert D. Henderson, Susan Mathers, Pamela A. Mccombe, Merrilee Needham, Shyuan T. Ngo, Garth Nicholson, Roger Pamphlett, Dominic B. Rowe, Frederik J. Steyn, Kelly L. Williams, Tim J. Anderson, Steven R. Bentley, John Dalrymple-Alford, Javed Fowder, Jacob Gratten, Glenda Halliday, Ian B. Hickie, Martin Kennedy, Simon J. G. Lewis, Grant W. Montgomery, John Pearson, Toni L. Pitcher, Peter Silburn, Futao Zhang, Peter M. Visscher, Jian Yang, Anna J. Stevenson, Robert F. Hillary, Riccardo E. Marioni, Sarah E. Harris, Ian J. Deary, Ashley R. Jones, Aleksey Shatunov, Alfredo Iacoangeli, Wouter Van Rheenen, Leonard H. Van Den Berg, Pamela J. Shaw, Cristopher E. Shaw, Karen E. Morrison, Ammar Al-Chalabi, Jan H. Veldink, Eilis Hannon, Jonathan Mill, Naomi R. Wray, Allan F. Mcrae, The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, The Australian Imaging Biomarkers And Lifestyle Study

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: People with neurodegenerative disorders show diverse clinical syndromes, genetic heterogeneity, and distinct brain pathological changes, but studies report overlap between these features. DNA methylation (DNAm) provides a way to explore this overlap and heterogeneity as it is determined by the combined effects of genetic variation and the environment. In this study, we aim to identify shared blood DNAm differences between controls and people with Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. Results: We use a mixed-linear model method (MOMENT) that accounts for the effect of (un)known confounders, to test for the association of each DNAm site with each …

Association Of Genetic Variants With Prostate Cancer In Africa: A Concise Review, Emmanuel Acheampong, Evans A. Adu, Christian Obirikorang, George Amoah, Osei O. Afriyie, Joseph Yorke, Enoch O. Anto, Michael A. Gyamfi, Emmanuella N. Acheampong, Christian K. Gyasi-Sarpong, Francis A. Yeboah

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) has one of the highest heritability of all major cancers, where the genetic contribution has been documented, and knowledge about the molecular genetics of the disease is increasing. However, the extent and aspects to which genetic variants explain PCa heritability in Africa are limited. Main body: In this review, we summarize studies that highlight how identified genetic variants explain differences in PCa incidence and presentation across ethnic groups. We also present the knowledge gaps in PCa genetics in Africa and why Africa represents an untapped potential ground for genetic studies on PCa. A significant number of …

Hybrid Mamdani Fuzzy Rules And Convolutional Neural Networks For Analysis And Identification Of Animal Images, Hind R. Mohammed, Zahir M. Hussain

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Accurate, fast, and automatic detection and classification of animal images is challenging, but it is much needed for many real-life applications. This paper presents a hybrid model of Mamdani Type-2 fuzzy rules and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) applied to identify and distinguish various animals using different datasets consisting of about 27,307 images. The proposed system utilizes fuzzy rules to detect the image and then apply the CNN model for the object’s predicate category. The CNN model was trained and tested based on more than 21,846 pictures of animals. The experiments’ results of the proposed method offered high speed and efficiency, …

Deep Learning Versus Spectral Techniques For Frequency Estimation Of Single Tones: Reduced Complexity For Software-Defined Radio And Iot Sensor Communications, Hind R. Almayyali, Zahir M. Hussain

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Despite the increasing role of machine learning in various fields, very few works considered artificial intelligence for frequency estimation (FE). This work presents comprehensive analysis of a deep-learning (DL) approach for frequency estimation of single tones. A DL network with two layers having a few nodes can estimate frequency more accurately than well-known classical techniques can. While filling the gap in the existing literature, the study is comprehensive, analyzing errors under different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), numbers of nodes, and numbers of input samples under missing SNR information. DL-based FE is not significantly affected by SNR bias or number of nodes. …

Classification Of Skin Disease Using Deep Learning Neural Networks With Mobilenet V2 And Lstm, Parvathaneni N. Srinivasu, Jalluri G. Siva Sai, Muhammad F. Ijaz, Akash K. Bhoi, Wonjoon Kim, James J. Kang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Deep learning models are efficient in learning the features that assist in understanding complex patterns precisely. This study proposed a computerized process of classifying skin disease through deep learning-based MobileNet V2 and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM). The MobileNet V2 model proved to be efficient with a better accuracy that can work on lightweight computational devices. The proposed model is efficient in maintaining stateful information for precise predictions. A grey-level co-occurrence matrix is used for assessing the progress of diseased growth. The performance has been compared against other state-of-the-art models such as Fine-Tuned Neural Networks (FTNN), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), …

Infrequent Pattern Detection For Reliable Network Traffic Analysis Using Robust Evolutionary Computation, A. N. M. Bazlur Rashid, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Al-Sakib K. Pathan

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

While anomaly detection is very important in many domains, such as in cybersecurity, there are many rare anomalies or infrequent patterns in cybersecurity datasets. Detection of infrequent patterns is computationally expensive. Cybersecurity datasets consist of many features, mostly irrelevant, resulting in lower classification performance by machine learning algorithms. Hence, a feature selection (FS) approach, i.e., selecting relevant features only, is an essential preprocessing step in cybersecurity data analysis. Despite many FS approaches proposed in the literature, cooperative co-evolution (CC)-based FS approaches can be more suitable for cybersecurity data preprocessing considering the Big Data scenario. Accordingly, in this paper, we have …

Population-Specific Resilience Of Halophila Ovalis Seagrass Habitat To Unseasonal Rainfall, An Extreme Climate Event In Estuaries, Chanelle L. Webster, Kieryn L. Kilminster, Marta Sánchez Alarcón, Katherine Bennett, Simone Strydom, Sian Mcnamara, Paul S. Lavery, Kathryn M. Mcmahon

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

1. Extreme climate events are predicted to alter estuarine salinity gradients exposing habitat-forming species to more frequent salinity variations. The intensity and duration of these variations, rather than the mean salinity values ecosystems are exposed to, may be more important in influencing resilience but requires further investigation.
2. Precipitation, including the frequency, intensity and timing of occurrence, is shifting due to climate change. A global analysis on the timing of rainfall in estuarine catchments was conducted. In 80% of the case studies, the maximum daily rainfall occurred in the dry season at least once over the 40-year period and could be classified …

Validation Of Fatty Liver Disease Scoring Systems For Ultrasound Diagnosed Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease In Adolescents, Fuzhen Wan, Feng Pan, Oyekoya T. Ayonrinde, Leon A. Adams, Trevor A. Mori, Lawrence J. Beilin, Therese A. O'Sullivan, John K. Olynyk, Wendy H. Oddy

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background and Aims: The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing in young populations. However, there are inadequate data regarding diagnosis of NAFLD. We aimed to validate three scoring systems against a previous standard of suprailiac skinfold thickness for diagnosing NAFLD in population-based adolescents.

Methods: Seventeen-year-old adolescents (n = 899), participating in the Raine Study, attended a cross-sectional follow-up. NAFLD was diagnosed using liver ultrasound. Scores for Fatty liver index (FLI), Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI) and Zhejiang University index (ZJU index) were calculated. Diagnostic accuracy of these diagnostic tests was evaluated through discrimination and calibration.

Results: NAFLD …

Educative Power And The Respectful Curricular Inclusion Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Music, Michael Webb, Clint Bracknell

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This chapter argues for the full, respectful curricular inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music in order to promote a more balanced and equitable social and cultural vision of the nation-state in Australian schools. It challenges views that claim Indigenous cultures have been irretrievably lost or are doomed to extinction, as well as the fixation on musical authenticity. We propose that the gradual broadening of Indigenous musical expressions over time and the musical renaissance of the new millennium have created an unprecedented opportunity for current music educators to experience the educative power of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music. …

Association Of Β-Amyloid Level, Clinical Progression And Longitudinal Cognitive Change In Normal Older Individuals, Laura M. Van Der Krall, Thanh Truong, Samantha C. Burnham, Vincent Doré, Rachel S. Mulligan, Svetlana Bozinovski, Fiona Lamb, Pierrick Bourgeat, Jurgen Fripp, Stephanie Schultz, Yen Y. Lim, Simon M. Laws, David Ames, Christopher Fowler, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, Ralph N. Martins, Olivier Salvado, Joanne Robertson, Paul Maruff, Colin L. Masters, Victor L. Villemagne, Christopher C. Rowe

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective To determine the effect of β-amyloid (Aβ) level on progression risk to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia and longitudinal cognitive change in cognitively normal (CN) older individuals. Methods All CN from the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle study with Aβ PET and ≥ 3 years follow-up were included (n = 534; age 72 ± 6 years; 27% Aβ positive; follow-up 5.3 ± 1.7 years). Aβ level was divided using the standardized 0–100 Centiloid scale: < 15 CL negative, 15–25 CL uncertain, 26–50 CL moderate, 51–100 CL high, > 100 CL very high, noting > 25 CL approximates a positive scan. Cox proportional hazards analysis and linear mixed effect models were used to assess …

Longitudinal Trajectories In Cortical Thickness And Volume Atrophy: Superior Cognitive Performance Does Not Protect Against Brain Atrophy In Older Adults, Samantha Gardener, Michael Weinborn, Hamid R. Sohrabi, James Doecke, Pierrick Bourgeat, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, Kai-Kai Shen, Jurgen Fripp, Kevin Taddei, Paul Maruff, Olivier Salvado, Greg Savage, David Ames, Colin L. Masters, Christopher C. Rowe, Ralph Martins, Aibl Research Group

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Previous research has identified a small subgroup of older adults that maintain a high level of cognitive functioning well into advanced age. Investigation of those with superior cognitive performance (SCP) for their age is important, as age-related decline has previously been thought to be inevitable.

Objective:

Preservation of cortical thickness and volume was evaluated in 76 older adults with SCP and 100 typical older adults (TOAs) assessed up to five times over six years.

Methods:

Regions of interest (ROIs) found to have been associated with super-aging status (a construct similar to SCP status) in previous literature were investigated, followed …

Contact, Moral Foundations Or Knowledge? What Predicts Attitudes Towards Women Who Undergo Ivf, Alicja Malina, Marta Roczniewska, Julie Ann Pooley

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: The willingness to try in vitro fertilization (IVF) as an infertility treatment, as well as its psychosocial consequences for couples, may be influenced by how they perceive the attitudes of general public towards this procedure. The focus of the current study was to identify predictors of attitudes towards mothers who underwent IVF to conceive a child. Three predictors were derived from attitude components: contact with someone who had undergone IVF (behavior), moral foundations (emotions), and the level of knowledge (cognition) about IVF. Method: In total, 817 participants (118 male and 692 female, 7 unreported) from Poland took part in …

A Game-Based Online Tool To Measure Cognitive Functions In Students, Valeska Berg, Mark Mcmahon, Shane L. Rogers, Michael Garrett, Dominic Manley, Gabbie Miller

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Cognitive assessments can be expensive, lengthy and fatiguing for students and are often conducted in an artificial clinical context. In an effort to make the assessments more fun, researchers have started to introduce game elements to traditional cognitive tasks and training. This comes with a number of challenges. The main challenge is to develop an engaging tool that at the same time reliably assesses cognitive constructs in students. To address these challenges, this research aims to improve cognitive assessment with a new game-based assessment app that has been designed and developed in collaboration with researchers, teachers, students, and software engineers …

Spon1 Is Associated With Amyloid-Β And Apoe Ε4-Related Cognitive Decline In Cognitively Normal Adults, Shane Fernandez, Samantha C. Burnham, Lidija Milicic, Greg Savage, Paul Maruff, Madeline Peretti, Hamid R. Sohrabi, Yen Ying Lim, Michael Weinborn, David Ames, Colin L. Masters, Ralph N. Martins, Stephanie Rainey-Smith, Christopher C. Rowe, Olivier Salvado, David Groth, Giuseppe Verdile, Victor L. Villemagne, Tenielle Porter, Simon M. Laws

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Genetic variation in Spondin-1, specifically rs11023139, has been associated with reduced rates of cognitive decline in individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the association was present in cognitively normal older adults. Methods: Longitudinal cognitive decline was investigated using linear mixed modelling in a cohort of 590 cognitively normal older adults enrolled in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle Study. Results: No independent effect of Spondin-1 rs11023139 on cognitive decline was observed. However, significant associations were observed for the interaction between Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ϵ4 and rs11023139 in individuals with high amyloid-β …

Deep Learning Control For Digital Feedback Systems: Improved Performance With Robustness Against Parameter Change, Nuha A. S. Alwan, Zahir M. Hussain

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Training data for a deep learning (DL) neural network (NN) controller are obtained from the input and output signals of a conventional digital controller that is designed to provide the suitable control signal to a specified plant within a feedback digital control system. It is found that if the DL controller is sufficiently deep (four hidden layers), it can outperform the conventional controller in terms of settling time of the system output transient response to a unit-step reference signal. That is, the DL controller introduces a damping effect. Moreover, it does not need to be retrained to operate with a …

The Efficacy Of Aligning Lessons Learnt From Significant Bushfire Incidents To The Organisational Stratum, Jennifer Medbury, David J. Brooks, Michael Coole

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Australia's bushfire seasons are expected to become longer and more severe due to the effects of climate change and an increasing population living in rural-urban fringes. Social and economic vulnerability to extreme natural hazards means that Australia’s emergency services sector plays a significant role in community safety and wellbeing. Therefore, it is important that the sector continually improves. Australia has a long history of conducting external reviews into significant bushfires. While these reviews receive good support and seek to identify relevant lessons, barriers remain that prevent these lessons from being effectively learnt. It is possible that some of these barriers …

Dietary Fibre Intervention For Gut Microbiota, Sleep, And Mental Health In Adults With Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Scoping Review, Ran Yan, Lesley J. Andrew, Evania Marlow, Kanita Kunaratnam, Amanda Devine, Ian C. Dunican, Claus T. Christophersen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder affecting 4–5% of the global population. This disorder is associated with gut microbiota, diet, sleep, and mental health. This scoping review therefore aims to map existing research that has administrated fibre-related dietary intervention to IBS individuals and reported outcomes on at least two of the three following themes: gut microbiota, sleep, and mental health. Five digital databases were searched to identify and select papers as per the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Five articles were included in the assessment, where none reported on all three themes or the combination of gut …

Developing A Comprehensive Testing Battery For Mixed Martial Arts, Matthew Plush, Stuart N. Guppy, Kazunori Nosaka, Oliver Barley

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(4): 941-961, 2021. Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a combat sport that employs techniques from different combat disciplines. There are a multitude of technical and physiological characteristics that contribute to competitive success. Developing a single scientific assessment that can predict competitive outcomes poses great difficulty due to the complexity of MMA. While previous research has investigated some important physiological characteristics, there is no accepted best-practice for a comprehensive testing battery. As such, this study aimed to design and utilize a battery of physiological assessments to cover aerobic and anaerobic function, strength measures including explosive and …

Evaluation Of Work-Integrated Learning: A Realist Synthesis And Toolkit To Enhance University Evaluative Practices, Elizabeth J. Cook

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Situated in the context of work-integrated learning (WIL), this paper aims to build the evaluative capacity of universities in response to an increasing need for evaluation in higher education. It contributes a realist synthesis of international peer-reviewed literature on university evaluation of WIL, which revealed no use of evaluation theory or approaches by the authors. In response, to support the enhancement of university evaluative practices, this paper offers a toolkit of evaluation theory and approaches, with examples relating to WIL, featuring an evaluation planning tool (RUFDATAE). RUFDATAE is demonstrated using a study from the realist synthesis, to highlight its relevance, …

Beliefs About Illness And Treatment Decision Modelling During Ill-Health In Arabic Families, Diana Arabiat, Lisa Whitehead, Mohammad Al Jabery, Ayman Hamdan-Mansour, Abeer Shaheen, Eman Abu Sabbah

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: The use of self-prescribed antibiotics and other unproven herbal remedies is common in the Arab world. Understanding how family members decide to manage illness is an important priority for health care providers.

Purpose: This paper presents a new model that can be viewed as an extension to the Health Belief Model and help clarifies the cognitive processes families use to manage illness in an Arab family in Jordan. It aims to generate an understanding of family beliefs about the causes of illness and appraisal of how best to manage illness in an Arab family.

Methods: A qualitative approach using …

Digital Labour And Temporal Priorities Within A Secondary School, Nicola F. Johnson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Digital devices and ubiquitous online access contribute to the nature and amount of digital labour conducted by school staff. Drawing on more than 40 interviews with staff at one Australian secondary school, the general nature of this digital labour is presented, then Clancy’s notion of temporal autonomous spaces is introduced and applied to theorise why some teachers used digital technologies constantly in their teaching. The article highlights how some teachers invested their time in learning about and using digital technologies because it enhanced their sense of autonomy and increased their sense of freed time. It theorises how teachers who invest …

Learning Deficit In Cognitively Normal Apoe Ε4 Carriers With Low Β-Amyloid, Yen Ying Lim, Jenalle E. Baker, Andrea Mills, Loren Bruns, Christopher Fowler, Jurgen Fripp, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, David Ames, Colin L. Masters, Paul Maruff

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction: In cognitively normal (CN) adults, increased rates of amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulation can be detected in low Aβ (Aβ–) apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carriers. We aimed to determine the effect of ε4 on the ability to benefit from experience (ie, learn) in Aβ–CNs. Methods: Aβ– CNs(n= 333) underwent episodic memory assessments every 18 months for 108 months. A subset (n = 48) completed the Online Repeatable Cognitive Assessment-Language Learning Test (ORCA-LLT) over 6 days. Results: Aβ– ε4 carriers showed significantly lower rates of improvement on episodic memory over 108 months compared to non-carriers (d = 0.3). Rates of learning …

Influence Of Diagenetic Features On Petrophysical Properties Of Fine-Grained Rocks Of Oligocene Strata In The Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan, Abdul Majeed Shar, Aftab Ahmed Mahesar, Ghazanfer Raza Abbasi, Asad Ali Narejo, Asghar Ali Alias Daahar Hakro

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Nari Formation is considered as one of the most important oil and gas exploration targets. These fine-grained tight sandstone reservoirs face enormous challenges due to their extremely low matrix porosity and permeability. Hence, in this regard, the study was carried out to collect the high-quality data on petrophysical properties along with mineralogy and microstructural characteristics and diagenesis. The experiments performed includes the petrographic study and scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses. Besides, the measurement of petrophysical properties was carried out to assess the likely influence of the reservoir quality. The petrographic analysis shows predominantly fine- to medium-grained grey samples …