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Timor-Leste's Colonial Heritage from the Early Modern Era to the Second World War
No full textThe study of Timor-Leste's colonial heritage requires analysis over four centuries of history. The country has been historically underestimated despite its limited resources, resilience and agency. Traditional academic views influenced by a military-oriented framework fail to explain how Timor-Leste survived and maintained its culture under imperialism and colonialism. Timor-Leste has proven to be a pivot in Asia, an actor to be watched, whose circumstances have had consequences elsewhere. This study adopts a small states perspective and a multilingual methodology to understand the strategic value of Portuguese Timor and explore its unique challenges of state formation from the early modern era up to the Second World War
Nonlinear Nanophotonics
No full textWe introduce the feature issue of Optical Materials Express on Nonlinear Nanophotonics. This collection highlights recent advances in the design, fabrication, and application of nanophotonic systems that exploit nonlinear optical phenomena, spanning topics from high-harmonic generation and soliton microcombs to plasmon-enhanced emission and mid-infrared nonlinear optics.Peer-reviewe
Outcomes of surgically treated posterior pelvic fractures in an Australian population: A multicenter study
No full textBackground: Unstable posterior pelvic-ring fractures are rare and difficult to manage. There are many injury patterns, they are associated with high morbidity and mortality, and optimal surgical management remains contentions. This study aims to compare outcomes and complications for different surgical management of these injuries. Methods: This was a multi-centre observational study of patients with traumatic posterior pelvic-ring injuries that underwent operative management between 1st January 2010 and 1st January 2020 at three Australian MTS. Cases were identified using internal hospital databases and the Victorian State Trauma registry. Data was retrieved from medical records and included surgeries, fixation method, length of stay, and outcomes (revision surgery, infection, hardware breakage, screw misplacement and hardware removal), time to each outcome was also recorded. The extracted data was collated and then analysed using RStudio; generalised liner models and linear regression models were developed to calculate mean differences and odd ratios. Results: There were 439 cases (309 males and 130 females) in the cohort with a median age of 39 years. The overall prevalence of revision was 7.7 %; 4.8 % for infection, 1.8 % for hardware failure and 13.2 % for removal of hardware. Bulkier, more prominent fixation methods had higher rates of metalware removal. Numbers were too small in subgroups to detect a significant difference in complication rates between fixation method. However, bilateral injuries had a significant effect on revision with a calculated prevalence of 16.7 % vs 5.6 % for unilateral injuries. Cases managed with open-reduction had a calculated infection rate of 15.6 % vs 4.6 %. Length-of-stay was increased in patients managed with temporising external fixators, who had bilateral injuries, where infection occurred or were restricted to non-weight bearing postoperatively. Conclusions: This study highlight bilateral posterior-pelvic ring injuries as a greater management challenge than unilateral injuries. It supports the use of percutaneous fixation with closed-reduction, decreased infection risk and decreased length-of-stay. It challenges the use of external fixators and supports less restrictive post-operative restrictions. This study also serves as a descriptive analysis for the current management of pelvic fractures in an Australian setting, shedding light on complication rates and profiles.The authors of this paper would like to thank the following people, whose contribution to this research project made it possible:, A/Prof Andrew Bucknill, A/Prof Susan Liew, A/Prof Max EsserPeer-reviewe
Population structure, growth and reproduction in two species of <i>Tympanocryptis </i>(Agamidae)
No full textTwo threatened species of Tympanocryptis (T. lineata and T. osbornei) (the grassland earless dragon clade) are compared for population structure, growth and reproduction from sites around the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and near Cooma in New South Wales (NSW). Both species showed similar proportions of adults, intermediates and juveniles, as well as similar proportions of adult males and females. Growth patterns had a rapid increase in snout–vent length (SVL) in juveniles. Predicted adult SVL was the same in both species, and females in both species had greater SVL than males. In one year, the appearance of juveniles in the populations was later in T. osbornei than in T. lineata, but that may have been a result of cooler temperatures in the austral summer. Body condition was slightly better in adults of T. osbornei than T. lineata as the former were heavier and shorter. Longevity in the field was similar for both species, being slightly greater than two years, but reproduction may have occurred only once during their lifetime. Colouration associated with reproduction appeared to be the same for both species. Future work can use this information to determine how populations of Tympanocryptis sp. vary in response to environmental changes.Peer-reviewe
Reciprocating thermochemical mediator of pre-biotic polymer decomposition on mineral surfaces
No full textA continuing frustration for origin of life scientists is that abiotic and, by extension, pre-biotic attempts to develop self-sustaining, evolving molecular systems tend to produce more dead-end substances than macromolecular products with the necessary potential for biostructure and function - the so-called 'tar problem'. Nevertheless primordial life somehow emerged despite that presumed handicap. A resolution of this problem is important in emergence-of-life science because it would provide valuable guidance in choosing subsequent paths of investigation, such as identifying pre-biotic patterns on Mars. To study the problem we set up a simple non-equilibrium flow dynamical model for the coupled temperature and mass dynamics of the decomposition of a polymeric carbohydrate adsorbed on a mineral surface, with incident stochastic thermal fluctuations. Results show that the model system behaves as a reciprocating thermochemical oscillator. The output fluctuation distribution is bimodal, with a right-weighted component that guarantees a bias towards detachment and desorption of monomeric species such as ribose, even while tar is formed concomitantly. This fluctuating thermochemical reciprocator may ensure that non-performing polymers can be fractionated into a refractory carbon reservoir and active monomers which may be reincorporated into better-performing polymers with less vulnerability towards adsorptive tarring.This work was partially funded by Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT0991007. AcknowledgementsPeer-reviewe
Assessing the effectiveness of energy policies in accelerating renewable energy-based mini-grid deployment: A case study
No full textRecent global initiatives to increase renewable energy capacity have presented a pathway to simultaneously meet future electricity demands and achieve decarbonization. However, emerging economies have seen marginal growth partly because of ineffective energy policies enacted to propagate the adoption of these renewable energy technologies. Using Ghana as a case study, this research focused on assessing the impact of energy policies on deploying renewable energy technologies, specifically focusing on renewable energy-based hybrid mini-grids. The weighted sum multi-criteria decision and SWOT analysis methods were used to evaluate the policies' effectiveness. The results highlighted that numerous energy policies implemented across Ghana did not fully promote mini-grid development. The study showed that only the renewable energy master plan and the scaling-up renewable energy program had clearly defined strategies for mini-grid development. The study revealed that financial constraints, complex implementation strategies and limited monitoring mechanisms are the main reasons why the policies are ineffective in promoting the industry in Ghana.The first author acknowledges Murdoch University, Australia and Koforidua Technical University, Ghana, for sponsoring his PhD study.Peer-reviewe
This is a slap in the face. But it might just be the thing Albanese needed
No full textIt may seem strange, but Donald J. Trump has done Australia a "solid" and given the Albanese Labor government extra elbow room, too.Not peer-reviewe
Interseismic Coupling Along the Java-Timor Subduction-Collision Zone at East Indonesia
No full textThe Java-Timor subduction-collision zone is one of the most tectonically complicated structures along the strike of the Indonesia-Australia convergence. This complexity makes it difficult to interpret observations of interseismic deformation. In this study, we simultaneously inverted 108 Global Positioning System velocities and 176 earthquake slip vectors to investigate the variation in interseismic coupling along the Java-Timor megathrust and the Flores-Wetar back-arc thrust. Our estimated coupling indicates two relatively wide coupled zones in the Nusa Tenggara segment of the megathrust and back-arc thrust of widths ∼198 and 90 km, respectively. Elsewhere, the widths of estimated coupled zones are narrower, but still indicate significant earthquake and tsunami hazards. The gaps in seismicity and estimated coupled zones along the Java-Timor megathrust are not obviously correlated. The highly coupled Lombok segment illustrates consistency with the occurrence of the 2018 Lombok earthquake sequence.Siyuan Zhao was partly funded by Geoscience Australia. Open access publishing facilitated by Australian National University, as part of the Wiley - Australian National University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.Peer-reviewe
Association between risk propensity and substance use: A multilevel meta-analysis
No full textBackground: Substance use and its related disorders represent a significant global health concern. Risk propensity has been identified as a factor influencing substance use. Methods: Multilevel meta-analysis was applied to quantitatively synthesise studies examining the associations between risk propensity and substance use and to identify potential factors that influence these relationships. Results: A total of 323 effect sizes, 186 independent samples, and 148 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that risk propensity was statistically positively associated with substance use (r = 0.116), as well as with all three main types of substances, including tobacco (r = 0.092), alcohol (r = 0.114), and drugs (r = 0.115). Such a link was not significantly different across substance types. Moderator analyses showed that the type of risk propensity assessments and age of the study samples moderated the association between risk propensity and one or more types of substance use. Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of considering the role of risk propensity in the initiation of substance use and developing early interventions to prevent substance use. Future interventions could consider early detection and targeted intervention for young people with a heightened risk propensity.The work was supported by the National University of Singapore Start-Up Grant.Peer-reviewe
AI rule and a fundamental objection to epistocracy
No full textEpistocracy is rule by whoever is more likely to make correct decisions. AI epistocracy is rule by an artificial intelligence that is more likely to make correct decisions than any humans, individually or collectively. I argue that although various objections have been raised against epistocracy, the most popular do not apply to epistocracy organized around AI rule. I use this result to show that epistocracy is fundamentally flawed because none of its forms provide adequate opportunity for people (as opposed to individuals) to develop a record of meaningful moral achievement. This Collective Moral Achievement Objection provides a novel reason to value democracy. It also provides guidance on how we ought to incorporate digital technologies into politics, regardless of how proficient these technologies may become at identifying correct decisions.This research was funded by Seth Lazar's Australian Research Council Future Fellowship grant FT210100724.Peer-reviewe