University of the Sunshine Coast
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The Impacts of Farmer Organisations for Women in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia
No full textA feminisation of agriculture in Cambodia means that women are taking more responsibility for smallholder farming. Women’s increased workload and their lack of access to key resources such as extension services, formal credit and new agricultural equipment impairs their ability to participate fully in the agricultural sector. One way to support women’s engagement is to cooperate as a group in order to access these resources. Collective approaches to agricultural production have benefited women in developing countries by improving their access to resources, increasing productivity and increasing their decision-making power. In Cambodia, farmer organisations (including co-operatives) have become popular ways through which smallholders, in particular women, are being supported to cooperate. Despite this enthusiasm within the development community, there is an overall lack of research on women’s agricultural livelihoods in Southeast Asia and limited academic critique that evaluates women’s experiences of farmer organisations in this region. This thesis aimed to explore the impacts of farmer organisations on women in Cambodia through a qualitative case study of Preah Vihear Province. Focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted with agricultural cooperatives, farmer groups and project officers across four case studies. Qualitative analysis using NVivo software was used to compare participant experiences and practices across different farmer organisations operating in Preah Vihear. This study found that women who benefit most from farmer organisations are likely to be those who occupy leadership positions, have less childcare responsibilities and sufficient financial capital to invest in commercial production. Factors that enable women to engage include husband support and leaders. Farmer organisations helped women access resources, markets and knowledge. Constraints to women’s involvement included women’s reproductive roles, unequal distribution of resources by development projects, earlier stages of group establishment, and ineffective leadership. These findings are important because they highlight (1) the influence of development projects in shaping collective action, (2) the need to respect different farmer organisation trajectories and stages of group development when encouraging collective action and (3) the importance of recognising women’s heterogeneity in shaping how women relate to farmer organisations. They also confirm others’ findings that show the potential for farmer organisations to improve women’s access to information, commercial markets and resources. In conclusion, farmer organisations showed potential to support women through alleviating women’s productive constraints, encouraging women’s economic independence and supporting their family’s well-being. The impacts of farmer organisations for women depended on (1) women’s different identities and positions and (2) the extent to which collective action and new roles encouraged by farmer organisations were being embraced.Submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (Research), University of the Sunshine Coast, 2019
A quarter of a century of monitoring herbicide resistance in Lolium rigidum in Australia
No full textCharles Sturt University has operated a commercial herbicide resistance testing service since 1991, following a random survey of the South West Slopes region of New South Wales that identified significant incidence of herbicide resistance in annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.). Other surveys of cropping regions of southern Australia conducted at that time also found a significant incidence of resistance. In the subsequent 25-year period, the testing service has received samples from the majority of the southern Australian cropping belt. Overall, 80% of samples tested were resistant to acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibiting aryloxyphenoxypropionate and phenylpyrazole herbicides, 56% to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibiting herbicides, and 24% to ACCase-inhibiting cyclohexanedione herbicides. The incidences of resistance to inhibitors of photosynthesis at PSII, tubulin-formation inhibitors, and 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase inhibiting herbicides have remained 5000 samples, the size and geographical spread of this dataset allows for valuable analyses of the relationships present in herbicide-resistant populations of annual ryegrass
Deployment of IoV for Smart Cities: Applications, Architecture, and Challenges
No full textThe Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is a convergence of the mobile Internet and the Internet of Things (IoT), where vehicles function as smart moving intelligent nodes or objects within the sensing network. This paper gives two contributions to the state-of-the-art for IoV technology research. First, we present a comprehensive review of the current and emerging IoV paradigms and communication models with an emphasis on deployment in smart cities. Currently, surveys from many authors have focused concentration on the IoV as only serving applications for intelligent transportation like driver safety, traffic efficiency, and infotainment. This paper presents a more inclusive review of the IoV for also serving the needs of smart cities for large-scale data sensing, collection, information processing, and storage. The second component of the paper presents a new universal architecture for the IoV which can be used for different communication models in smart cities to address the above challenges. It consists of seven layers: vehicle identification layer, object layer, inter-intra devices layer, communication layer, servers and cloud services layer, big data and multimedia computation layer, and application layer. The final part of this paper discusses various challenges and gives some experimental results and insights for future research direction such as the effects of a large and growing number of vehicles and the packet delivery success rate in the dynamic network structure in a smart city scenario
A low-complexity DWT module and CRS minimal instruction set computer architecture for wireless visual sensor networks
No full textTransmitting cost, processing complexity and data security are three important elements in wireless visual sensor networks (WVSNs). This paper presents a complete low-complexity processing system that performs data compression, data correction and data e
My-AHA: D7.4 Preparation of a consensus document for recruitment centres participating to the project
No full textThis informed consent form was generated to recruit and especially inform participants of the my-AHA waves 1 and 2 in a more or less standardized way. Especially in wave 2 testing sites will be in very different countries (not only in Europe but also in South Korea, Japan and Australia) with different cultures and legal regulations it is expected that the present documents must be adapted to the local needs. This form is developed by taking into consideration the specific national/ regional requirements but in parallel by bringing them in line as far as possible. The aim was to align the procedure and content of informing participants about the project, the trials, their requirements, data privacy etc. Therewith the consortium ensures to inform participants on a same/ very similar level and further to avoid a bias at the very beginning of the waves
Psychological factors associated with the use of weight management behaviours in young adults
No full textWe modified the Weight Control Behaviours scale to explore unhealthy/healthy behaviours to increase, decrease or maintain weight in young adults (N=1082) and associations with body mass index, depression and body image. Females reported more use of all strategies except those which increase body size or exercising to exhaustion. Although the sample reported more use of healthy weight management strategies, the use of dangerous ones warrants attention by healthcare professionals. Feelings of fatness was an important predictor of weight management behaviours. Public health campaigns should focus on the harmfulness of unhealthy weight management practices as well as the importance of healthy ones
Genetic variations in E6, E7 and the long control region of human papillomavirus type 16 among patients with cervical lesions in Xinjiang, China
No full textBackground:
Xinjiang is one of the areas with the highest incidence of cervical cancer in China. Genetic variation in Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) may increase the ability of the virus to mediate carcinogenesis and immune escape, which are risk factors for the progression of cervical cancer. We investigated polymorphism in HPV16 and the distribution of its sub-lineages in the region by analyzing the E6, E7 and long control region (LCR) gene sequences from women with HPV16-positive cervical samples in Xinjiang.
Methods:
A total of 138 cases of cervical lesions and squamous cell carcinoma with infection of HPV16 virus were collected. The E6 and E7 genes and LCR of HPV16 virus were sequenced and compared with the HPV16 European prototype reference and other HPV16 mutants for single nucleotide polymorphisms. Neighbor-joining phylogenetic trees were constructed using E6, E7 and LCR sequences.
Results:
Fourteen missense mutations were found in the E6 gene; the loci with the highest mutation frequency were T350G (36/75, 48%) and T178G (19/75, 25.3%). In the E7 gene, the locus with the highest mutation frequency was A647G (18/75, 24%). A total of 33 polymorphic sites were found in the LCR, of which T7447C (39/95, 40.1%) was the most frequent.
Conclusion:
HPV16 in Xinjiang is mainly of the European variant, followed by the Asian variant type; no Africa 1, 2 or Asia–America variant types were found
A Biopsychosocial Approach to Aquatic-Based Exercise Interventions for Chronic and Disabling Conditions
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this research was to explore aquatic-based exercise as an intervention for chronic and disabling conditions. This research explored the implications of aquatic-based exercise interventions and links to participation and adherence from the perspective of key stakeholders.
Method: A pragmatic approach was taken to this research, influenced by the researcher’s occupational therapy background and by the biopsychosocial model; the most practical method for answering each of the research questions was employed. The biopsychosocial model directed the exploration of aquatic-based exercise interventions and provided a structure to organise the aquatic research, to identify gaps that need to be addressed, and to provide a platform for the development of practice principles.
Guided by the biopsychosocial lens, this research involved reviewing the literature to identify and synthesise the current best evidence for the effectiveness of aquatic-based exercise interventions. This was followed by three qualitative studies that involved a series of focus groups with key stakeholders in order to address gaps identified by the literature reviews, identify factors associated with participation and adherence, and to provide input into the development of aquatic-based exercise principles.
In a practical sense, this research sought to address the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of aquatic-based exercise interventions. The ‘why’ was addressed in the first part of this research where the evidence for the effectiveness of aquatic-based exercise was explored. This part of the research involved reviewing the literature, in the form of an evidence map and scoping review, to identify and synthesise the current best evidence for the effectiveness of aquatic-based exercise interventions. This was followed by a series of focus groups to expand on current understanding of the effectiveness of such interventions and to gather input from aquatic users. The ‘how’ was addressed through a series of focus groups, the data from which supported the development of a set of principles to guide the implementation of aquatic-based exercise interventions that promote participation and adherence with these interventions.
Findings: Aquatic-based exercise appears to be an effective intervention for meeting the complex needs of people with chronic and disabling conditions. This research suggests that users of aquatic-based exercise can experience benefits across biological, psychological and social domains, and consideration of several program factors not only impacts these benefits, but also promotes participation and adherence with aquatic-based exercise, an important aspect to consider given the chronicity of these conditions.
The culmination of literature and research studies was the development of theory driven, evidence-based principles to guide the development and implementation of aquatic-based exercise interventions with a focus on clients with chronic and disabling conditions. These principles can be used to support the successful implementation of aquatic-based exercise interventions, help guide the referral of clients to the aquatic environment and assist with delivery of the aquatic interventions. Furthermore, these principles can serve as a template for future researchers for development of additional symptom-specific or disease-specific guidelines related to aquatic-based exercise interventions.Submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast, 2019
Understanding elite-student athlete experiences with university supporting services
No full textUniversities around the world have created programs which offer supporting services assisting elite student-athletes to manage study and sport commitments. Although these programs are well embraced among Australian universities, many of them are in their early phases of establishment and it is important to evaluate the experiences of the elite student-athletes engaged in such programs. To address this need, this study administered a questionnaire to student-athletes who participate in elite student-athletes programs offered at Australian universities. The purpose was to understand their perceptions regarding the range, importance and general satisfaction with the services and support offered. This report presents the results of the n=867 valid responses collected from a total of 27 universities across seven Australian states and territories
A model of amygdala function following plastic changes at specific synapses during extinction
No full textThe synaptic networks in the amygdala have been the subject of intense interest in recent times, primarily because of the role of this structure in emotion. Fear and itsextinction depend on the workings of these networks, with particular interest in extinction because of its potential to ameliorate adverse symptoms associated withpost-traumatic stress disorder. Here we place emphasis on the extinction networks revealed by recent techniques, and on the probable plasticity properties of theirsynaptic connections. We use modules of neurons representing each of the principal components identified as involved in extinction. Each of these modules consistsof neural networks, containing specific ratios of excitatory and specialized inhibitory neurons as well as synaptic plasticity mechanisms appropriate for the com-ponent of the amygdala they represent. While these models can produce dynamic output, here we concentrate on the equilibrium outputs and do not model thedetails of the plasticity mechanisms. Pavlovian fear conditioning generates a fear memory in the lateral amygdala module that leads to activation of neurons in thebasal nucleus fear module but not in the basal nucleus extinction module. Extinction protocols excite infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex neurons (IL) which in turnexcite so-called extinction neurons in the amygdala, leading to the release of endocannabinoids from them and an increase in efficacy of synapses formed by lateralamygdala neurons on them. The model simulations show how such a mechanism could explain experimental observations involving the role of IL as well asendocannabinoids in different temporal phases of extinction