Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Assessing The Potential For Tropical Cyclone Induced Sea Surface Cooling To Reduce Thermal Stress On The World's Coral Reefs, Adam D. Carrigan, Marjetta L. Puotinen

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Coral reefs face an uncertain future as rising sea surface temperature (SST) continues to lead to increasingly frequent and intense mass bleaching. At broad spatial scales, tropical cyclone (TC) induced cooling of the upper ocean (SST drops up to 6° C persisting for weeks) reduces thermal stress and accelerates recovery of bleached corals - yet the global prevalence and spatial distribution of this effect remains undocumented and unquantified. A global dataset (1985–2009) of TC wind exposure was constructed and examined against existing thermal stress data to address this. Significant correlations were found between TC activity and the severity of thermal …

The Dirt On Assessing Post-Fire Erosion In The Mount Lofty Ranges: Comparing Methods, Rowena H. Morris, Solomon Buckman, Paul Connelly, Deirdre Dragovich, Bertram Ostendorf, Ross A. Bradstock

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Land managers are required to assess a range of environmental attributes prior to and after prescribed burning. Current environmental assessments vary depending on the organisation involved and the existing information about localised soil erosion. Auditing successful environmental assessments requires ongoing field monitoring to evaluate whether the magnitude and extent of predicted post-fire impacts are comparable. The impacts of post-fire erosion were assessed by the authors using the techniques of water sampling, sediment traps, erosion pins, laser scanning, photogrammetry and visual field assessment. Each data collecting method varies in its spatial and temporal reach in terms of monitoring landscape changes in …

Assessing The Vulnerability Of Asian Megadeltas To Climate Change Using Gis, Colin D. Woodroffe

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Susceptibility of Asian megadeltas to climate change, including sea-level rise, is investigated using GIS. The Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Irrawaddy, Chao Phraya, Mekong, Red, Pearl, Changjiang, and Huanghe deltas began to form around 6000 years ago and have prograded since. The surface topography of active and abandoned delta plains is examined using digital terrain models derived from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data and channel morphology is investigated using radar imagery. After delta plains are abandoned they become increasingly dominated by tidal processes. Population density is estimated using gridded world population data but highly variable local microtopography and uncertainty regarding future climate changes …

Assessing The Accuracy Of Approximate Treatments Of Ion Hydration Based On Primitive Quasichemical Theory, Benoit Roux, Haibo Yu

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Quasichemical theory (QCT) provides a framework that can be used to partition the influence of the solvent surrounding an ion into near and distant contributions. Within QCT, the solvation properties of the ion are expressed as a sum of configurational integrals comprising only the ion and a small number of solvent molecules. QCT adopts a particularly simple form if it is assumed that the clusters undergo only small thermal fluctuations around a well-defined energy minimum and are affected exclusively in a mean-field sense by the surrounding bulk solvent. The fluctuations can then be integrated out via a simple vibrational analysis, …

Assessing Underlying Realities Of Accounting's Duality Check By The Accounting Equation : A Search For An Augmented Framework, Sudhir C. Lodh, Michael J. Gaffikin

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper explores a general validity of the prevalent Accounting Equation in determining the real wealth and accountability discharge through contemporary financial reporting. In so doing, an augmented accounting framework is developed in order to indicate the gaps that may arise in the accounting equation; which is inherent in the system if compared among different layers – sign to alleged to referent (Buarillard 1983, 1994; MacIntosh 2000, Ijiri 1986, and Mattessich 2003). We argue that this augmented framework will help in enhancing our understanding, at least at the level of pedagogy and for corporate governance and discharging social responsibility, about …

Assessing The Cumulative Impact Of Alcohol Marketing On Young People's Drinking: Cross Sectional Data Findings, Ross Gordon, Fiona Harris

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article provides first wave data from a study designed to examine the impact of the full range of marketing communication techniques used by the UK alcohol industry, and their cumulative effect on alcohol initiation and youth drinking patterns. The study is of a longitudinal cohort design and was conducted amongst secondary school pupils in Scotland. A cohort of 920 2nd year school pupils participated and cross sectional data was collected and analysed. Regression models with multiple control variables examined the relationship between awareness of and involvement with a range of alcohol marketing activities, and drinking and associated risky behaviours. …

Assessing Alternative And Differential Response: Implications For Social Work Practice In Diverse Communities, Executive Summary, Jill Duerr Berrick, Christina Branom, Amy Conley Wright, Amy Price

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study examines outcomes, processes, and community context for "Another Road to Safety" (ARS), a Differential Response intervention providing voluntary home visiting to families reported for child maltreatment. Using mixed methods and drawing on diverse data sources (including interviews, focus groups, administrative records, and census tract data), this research will examine implementation of the program model; clients' perspectives on services; preliminary client outcome data; and the impact of neighborhood factors on client outcomes. Findings will inform the development of a research-based curriculum that will facilitate skill-development in implementation, community engagement, and client understanding for Differential Response interventions.

Critical Social Marketing: Assessing The Impact Of Alcohol Marketing On Youth Drinking, Ross Gordon, Fiona Harris, Anne Marie Mackintosh

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Assessing And Building Innovation And Learning Capacity In Local Organizations, Samuel Garrett-Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Conceptual models of regional innovation systems have prompted major government initiatives in Europe and North America to assess and to promote local innovation and learning capabilities. In Australia, by contrast, local governments and other local organizations concerned with economic and social development are faltering. Lacking is (1) a conceptual understanding of local knowledge and innovation networks; (2) data on local innovation actors and activities; and (3) clarity on the most effective ways for municipal and regional government to 'construct advantage' in a federal system. The paper reviews the 'macro' (e.g. innovation surveys) and 'micro' (e.g. case studies) approach to assessing …

Assessing Soil Remobilisation In Catchments Using A 137 Cs-Sediment Hillslope Model, Ava D. Simms, Colin D. Woodroffe, Brian G. Jones, Henk Heijnis, Jennifer Harrison, Rob Mann

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Soil redistribution studies are important, especially in water supply catchments, because the rate at which denudation is occurring has implications for offsite water quality. However, the extent to which soil is redistributed within the landscape can be difficult to determine. This challenge can be overcome using fallout caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs). This paper describes the rates of soil loss and remobilisation in two sub-catchments within the Sydney Basin region, namely Kembla and Kentish Creeks, which drain to the Cordeaux reservoir. The total inventories of ¹³⁷Cs in catchment soils were determined, a 137Cs-regression equation and a theoretical diffusion and migration …

Meeting The Challenge Of Assessing In A Standards Based Education System, Jim S. Tognolini

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this report is to address a number of issues about assessment that have emerged as a consequence of the changes that have taken place since the inception of new Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) courses in Years 11 and 12 and to provide advice on how these issues might be resolved in the light of the recommendations of the Andrich report.

Application Of Surrogate Methods For Assessing The Bioavailability Of Pahs In Sediments To A Sediment Ingesting Bivalve, Stuart L. Simpson, Victoria L. Burston, Dianne F. Jolley, Kim Chau

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The usefulness of two surrogate methods for rapidly determining the bioavailability of PAHs in hydrocarbon-contaminated marine sediments was assessed. Comparisons are made between the PAHs accumulated by the benthic bivalve, Tellina deltoidalis, and the extractable-PAHs determined using a 6-h XAD-2 resin desorption method and a 4-h gut fluid mimic (GFM) extraction method. There were significant positive relationships between PAH bioaccumulation by the bivalves and sediment PAH concentrations. These relationships were not improved by normalising the sediment PAH concentrations to the organic carbon concentration. The average percentage lipid content of the bivalves was 1.47 ± 0.22% and BSAFs for total-PAHs ranged …

A Practical Guide To Assessing Clinical Decision-Making Skills Using The Key Features Approach, Elizabeth Farmer, Gordon Page

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

Aim  This paper in the series on professional assessment provides a practical guide to writing key features problems (KFPs). Key features problems test clinical decision-making skills in written or computer-based formats. They are based on the concept of critical steps or ‘key features’ in decision making and represent an advance on the older, less reliable patient management problem (PMP) formats.

Method  The practical steps in writing these problems are discussed and illustrated by examples. Steps include assembling problem-writing groups, selecting a suitable clinical scenario or problem and defining its key features, writing the questions, selecting question response formats, preparing scoring …

Issues In Assessing The Validity Of Nutrient Data Obtained From A Food-Frequency Questionnaire: Folate And Vitamin B12 Examples, Victoria Flood, Wayne T. Smith, Karen L. Webb, Paul Mitchell

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To compare methods used to assess the validity of nutrient intake data obtained from a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ), using folate and vitamin B₁₂ as nutrient examples.

Design: Cross-sectional sample from a population cohort.

Setting: Two postcode areas west of Sydney, Australia.

Subjects: In total, 2895 people aged 49 years and older provided dietary data using a semi-quantitative FFQ (79% of 3654 subjects examined). The validity of the FFQ was assessed against three 4-day weighed food records (WFRs) completed by 78 people (mean age 70 years).

Results: Folate and vitamin B₁₂ validity data were assessed using different methods. …

Assessing Achievement On A First-Grade Economics Course Of Study, A. Guy Larkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Problem

Despite the surge of interest in economic education in the elementary school in the last two decades, there have been very few attempts to assess the ability of young children to learn economic concepts. In the primary grades, this problem is compounded by the difficulty of measuring knowledge in six and seven year old children.

Objectives

The primary objective of this dissertation was to determine whether first-grade children can learn the basic concepts in Our Working World: Families at Work. Since instruments suitable for assessing achievement on Families at Work were not available when this study was initiated, …