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Profiling the varietal antioxidative contents and macrochemical composition in Australian faba beans (Vicia faba L.)
No full textJohnson, JB ORCiD: 0000-0002-9172-8587; Naiker, M ORCiD: 0000-0002-6844-8325There is growing interest in pulses such as faba bean for the development of foodswith enhanced nutrition, functionality, and health benefits. In this study, seed mate-rial from 10 faba bean varieties, grown in replicated field trials in South Australia overconsecutive seasons (2016 and 2017), were analysed for ferric reducing antioxidantpotential, total phenolics, and total monomeric anthocyanins. Differences in the mac-rochemical composition of varieties was investigated using attenuated total reflec-tance mid-infrared spectroscopy. The mean ferric reducing antioxidant potential ofthe varieties ranged from 237 to 531 mg trolox equivalents 100 g−1; the total pheno-lics from 258 to 571 mg gallic acid equivalents 100 g−1; and the total monomericanthocyanins from 12.7 to 21.0 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalents 100 g−1. Statis-tically significant variances in all three measures were found between varieties.Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed mid-infrared spectroscopy wasfound to provide a rapid assessment of the phytochemical composition of the sam-ples. Partial least squares discriminant analysis was able to classify samples by grow-ing year with reasonable accuracy (>87%). There is significant variation in theantioxidant, phenolic, and anthocyanin contents between Australian faba bean varie-ties. Mid-infrared spectroscopy may prove to be a valuable screening tool forbreeders and researchers in the future
Family carers’ needs related to management of functional disability in dementia care and use of mHealth applications in health information seeking: An online survey
No full textCalleja, P ORCiD: 0000-0001-5674-1404Background: Family carers of people with dementia face different challenges in providing care for daily living activities of their care recipients. Today, mHealth applications are widely used in healthcare. Aim: To examine the needs of family carers of people with dementia concerning the management of functional disability of their care recipients, carer burden and use of mHealth applications when seeking health information. Methods: A total of 166 family carers, who were recruited through leading dementia support organisations in Australia, research institutes, and social media, completed an online survey. In data analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson's Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used. Findings: People with dementia were dependent on family carers for complex activities (e.g. taking medication) (99.4%), domestic activities (e.g. washing clothes) (97%), and self-care (e.g. bathing) (79.5%). Family carers reported a moderate-to-high need for education in functional disability care (62.6%). Bathing was reported as the most difficult activity to perform (30.1%). Three-quarters of carers reported carer burden (74.1%). Most carers (98.8%) owned a smart-device, and 51.2% of family carers reported having an mHealth application. Educational needs for functional disability care were associated with age (highest among those between 36–65 years) and eHealth literacy of carers (greater among carers with adequate eHealth literacy). Carer burden was associated with stage of dementia (highest in advanced dementia) and experiencing chronic medical problems of care recipients. Possession of an mHealth application was associated with employment status (currently employed), adequate eHealth literacy and higher educational needs. Conclusion: Providing functional disability care is one of the priority needs for education. These educational needs can potentially be provided via mHealth applications. Health professionals can use these findings to plan educational interventions to address family carers’ needs. © 2019 Australian College of Nursing Lt
Qualitative exploration of barriers to alcohol management in patients with chronic disease in a regional setting
No full textPreston, RG ORCiD: 0000-0003-4700-1521Chronic diseases are a major contributor to the burden of disease in Australia. Alcohol consumption is similar in people with chronic disease and the general public, and may contribute to management challenges. In regional Australia, there are limited options for the management of excess alcohol consumption, so most of this burden falls to general practitioners. This study explored how staff in general practices are managing alcohol in patients with chronic disease with a view to determining what additional services may be appropriate. Brief interviews were conducted with doctors, nurses and allied health practitioners across three general practices in a regional centre. Interviews were analysed using abductive thematic techniques to elicit broad themes. In all, 18 interviews were conducted. All interviewees found the management of patients with chronic disease who were drinking in excess of guidelines to be challenging. The complexity of patients, in terms of health needs and social circumstances, affected management and self-care. Australian drinking cultural norms also affected patients’ and practitioners’ behaviour. Multidisciplinary care was highlighted by all health professionals; however, there were challenges maintaining staff motivation, a lack of training in alcohol management and a lack of referral or assistance services. Experienced practitioners identified that the patient was the key stakeholder who needed to take ownership of their health. The combined burden of excess alcohol consumption and chronic disease is a common management challenge faced by staff in general practice. Although there was evidence of awareness of the issue and a concerted effort to address the problem, most staff felt they had inadequate training, skills and resources. More undergraduate or postgraduate training in alcohol management and more resources are required to support general practitioners in this area
Precision agriculture: Exploration of machine learning approaches for assessing mango crop quantity
No full textKoirala, A ORCiD: 0000-0001-7376-2143A machine vision based system is proposed to replace the current in-orchard manual estimates of mango fruit yield, to inform harvest resourcing and marketing. The state-of-the-art in fruit detection was reviewed, highlighting the recent move from traditional image segmentation methods to convolution neural network (CNN) based deep learning methods. An experimental comparison of several deep learning based object detection frameworks (single shot detectors versus two-staged detectors) and several standard CNN architectures was undertaken for detection of mango panicles and fruit in tree images. The machine vision system used images of individual trees captured during night time from a moving platform mounted with a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver and a LED panel floodlight. YOLO, a single shot object detection framework, was re-designed and named as MangoYOLO. MangoYOLO outperformed existing state-of-the-art deep learning object detection frameworks in terms of fruit detection time and accuracy and was robust in use across different cultivars and cameras. MangoYOLO achieved F1 score of 0.968 and average precision of 0.983 and required just 70 ms per image (2048 × 2048 pixel) and 4417 MB memory. The annotated image dataset was made publicly available. Approaches were trialled to relate the fruit counts from tree images to the actual harvest count at an individual tree level. Machine vision based estimates of fruit load ranged between -11% to +14% of packhouse fruit counts. However, estimation of fruit yield (t/ha) requires estimation of fruit size as well as fruit number. A fruit sizing app for smart phones was developed as an affordable in-field solution. The solution was based on segmentation of the fruit in image using colour features and estimation of the camera to fruit perimeter distance based on use of fruit allometrics. For mango fruit, RMSEs of 5.3 and 3.7 mm were achieved on length and width measurements under controlled lighting, and RMSEs of 5.5 and 4.6 mm were obtained in-field under ambient lighting. Further, estimation of harvest timing can be informed by assessment of the spread of flowering. Deep learning object detection methods were deployed for assessment of the number and development stage of mango panicles, on tree. Methods to deal with different orientations of flower panicles in tree images were implemented. An R2 >0.8 was achieved between machine vision count of panicles on images and in-field human count per tree. Similarly, mean average precision of 69.1% was achieved for classification of panicle stages. These machine vision systems form a foundation for estimation of crop load and harvest timing, and for automated harvesting
LeMone and Burke's medical-surgical nursing: Critical thinking for person-centred care
No full textDwyer, TA ORCiD: 0000-0001-8408-7956; Reid-Searl, KA ORCiD: 0000-0001-5808-9296This book has been designed to emphasise a person-centred philosophy to nursing, foster critical thinking and clinical reasoning, and recognise the nurse's role as an essential member of the interprofessional health care team
An evaluation of groundwater institutions in India: A property rights perspective
No full textAnanda, J ORCiD: 0000-0002-4072-6725Groundwater governance has become an intractable policy issue, which has many implications for the living standards and well-being of millions of rural poor in South Asia. Groundwater governance is complex as it is influenced by various hydrogeological, sociopolitical and socioeconomic factors. Unregulated groundwater extraction rates in South Asia have depleted the aquifers causing a raft of socioeconomic, environmental and human health problems. This paper analyzes de facto rights in groundwater markets and other emerging ‘groundwater-sharing institutional arrangements’ in India. Using a multi-dimensional property rights model, the paper decomposes de facto groundwater rights while drawing insights and broad policy lessons. The findings indicate that there is much scope for enhancing the ‘small group groundwater sharing’ governed by social regulatory measures. Moreover, distortionary subsidies for agriculture in general and groundwater development, in particular, have had an adverse impact of the resource use and merit further attention. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V
Early vigour in wheat: Could it lead to more severe terminal drought stress under elevated atmospheric [CO2 ] and semi-arid conditions?
No full textTausz, M ORCiD: 0000-0001-8205-8561Early vigour in wheat is a trait that has received attention for its benefits reducing evaporation from the soil surface early in the season. However, with the growth enhancement common to crops grown under elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations (e[CO2 ]), there is a risk that too much early growth might deplete soil water and lead to more severe terminal drought stress in environments where production relies on stored soil water content. If this is the case, the incorporation of such a trait in wheat breeding programs might have unintended negative consequences in the future, especially in dry years. We used selected data from cultivars with proven expression of high and low early vigour from the Australian Grains Free Air CO2 Enrichment (AGFACE) facility, and complemented this analysis with simulation results from two crop growth models which differ in the modelling of leaf area development and crop water use. Grain yield responses to e[CO2 ] were lower in the high early vigour group compared to the low early vigour group, and although these differences were not significant, they were corroborated by simulation model results. However, the simulated lower response with high early vigour lines was not caused by an earlier or greater depletion of soil water under e[CO2 ] and the mechanisms responsible appear to be related to an earlier saturation of the radiation intercepted. Whether this is the case in the field needs to be further investigated. In addition, there was some evidence that the timing of the drought stress during crop growth influenced the effect of e[CO2 ] regardless of the early vigour trait. There is a need for FACE investigations of the value of traits for drought adaptation to be conducted under more severe drought conditions and variable timing of drought stress, a risky but necessary endeavour
Exploring the role of nurses in after-hours telephone services in regional areas: A scoping review
No full textBaldwin, AE ORCiD: 0000-0002-6325-4142; Harvey, CL ORCiD: 0000-0001-9016-8840; Hegney, DG ORCiD: 0000-0003-1267-1760; Willis, EM ORCiD: 0000-0001-7576-971XThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction The management of patients who need chronic and complex care is a focus of attention internationally, brought about by an increase in chronic conditions, requiring significantly more care over longer periods of time. The increase in chronic conditions has placed pressure on health services, financially and physically, bringing about changes in the way care is delivered, with hospital avoidance and home-based care encouraged. In this environment, nurses play an important role in co-ordinating care across services. This review formed one part of a funded project that explored the nurse navigator role within a proposed 24-hour telephone-call service in one regional area that has a diverse population in terms of cultural identity and geographical location in relation to service access. Aim The review reports on the extant literature on the nurse’s role in the provision of afterhours telephone services for patients with chronic and complex conditions. The specific aim was to explore the effectiveness of services for patients in geographically isolated locations. Methods The methodological approach to the review followed the Preferred Reporting System for Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A thematic analysis was used to identify themes with chronic care models underpinning analysis. Results Three themes were identified; nurse-led decision making; consumer profile; and program outcomes. Each theme was divided into two sub-themes. The two sub-themes for decision making were: the experience of the staff who provided the service and the tool or protocol used. The two sub-themes for consumers profile were; the geographic/demographic identity of the consumers, and consumer satisfaction. The final theme of outcomes describes how the effectiveness of the service is measured, broken into two sub-themes: the economic/ workforce outcomes and the consumer outcomes. Discussion The provision of an after-hours telephone service, in whatever model used should align with a Chronic Care Model. In this way, after-hours telephone services provided by experienced nurses, supported by ongoing professional development and relevant protocols, form part of the ongoing improvement for chronic and complex care management as a health priority. © 2020 Baldwin et al
Is protein "in the bag"? Estimating protein content in faba bean flour through a Ziploc bag using interactance NIRS
No full textJohnson, JB ORCiD: 0000-0002-9172-8587; Naiker, M ORCiD: 0000-0002-6844-8325; Walsh, KB ORCiD: 0000-0002-3033-8622Protein content is considered one of the key indicators of faba bean quality. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is commonly used for the rapid prediction of protein in this crop, with a typical standard error of prediction (SEP) of 0.3% w/w or better in faba bean flour. However, common sampling methods for NIRS, such as the spinning cup, still require a number of sample preparation steps, including sub-sampling of the flour, filling and packing the cup, obtaining the spectra, and cleaning the cup afterward. In this study, FT-NIR spectra (1000-2500 nm) were collected from 90 faba bean flour samples using an integrating sphere with a spinning cup, as well as through a polyethylene sample bag (Ziploc® bag) using an interactance sample gun. After subtracting the NIR spectra of an empty sample bag, partial least squares regression analysis was used to predict the protein contents of the faba bean flour from their NIR spectra. Sampling through the Ziploc® bag took approximately one-third of the analysis time compared to the spinning cup method, with the trade-off being a higher error in the predicted protein content (approximately 0.5% RMSE for cross-validation, compared to approximately 0.3% RMSECV for the spinning cup). In comparison, the laboratory error (SEL) of the reference method was 0.17%. A refined version of this in-bag analysis technique could potentially find use for screening purposes
Conceptualising psychopathy: Empirical, clinical and case interpretations
No full textBrooks, NS ORCiD: 0000-0003-1784-099XThe diagnosis of psychopathy in individuals poses a number of challenges for psychologists, psychiatrists, the legal system and society at large. In addition to classifying an individual’s personality disorder, the implications for treatment, legal recourse and remedy may hinge upon effective, reliable and valid diagnosis. This chapter discusses the current state of psychopathy assessment and classification, both existing and emerging, particularly considering how assessment regimes are closely linked to an underlying conceptualisation of psychopathy. Currently, there is much contention regarding various presentations of psychopathic personality, including what constitutes criminal, noncriminal or even successful psychopathy. The chapter proposes the Clinical Classification Criteria of Psychopathy (CCCP) as a clinical framework within which to assess and classify individuals with psychopathy, illustrated by the use of five case histories