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Assessing the hydrological effects of land-use changes on a catchment using the Markov chain and WetSpa models
No full textGyasi-Agyei, Y ORCiD: 0000-0002-2671-1180Predicting the effects of land-use (LU) changes and hydrological processes on a rapidly urbanized catchment using the Markov chain and WetSpa models is the main objective of this research. Hourly hydrometeorological data for 2001–2016, land use maps, a digital elevation model (DEM) and soil texture were used as inputs into the models. The simulation results verified some negative impacts of LU changes, such as increases in peak discharge and flow velocity from 2001 to 2032 by 57.1% and 39.4%, respectively. Additionally, the time of concentration decreased from 6 h in 2001 to 5 h in 2016 and to 4 h in 2032. Surface runoff recorded the highest increases by 48.4% and 83.9%, respectively, in 2016 and 2032, compared to 2001. We concluded that the combination of both models is an appropriate tool for predicting the possible effects of LU changes on different hydrological features, which provide vital information for land managers. © 2020, © 2020 IAHS
Supporting nursing faculty with a digital repository of simulation resources
No full textO'Neill, B ORCiD: 0000-0002-4098-1910; Roy, SM ORCiD: 0000-0002-4952-5858; Ryan, CL ORCiD: 0000-0002-1126-3901; Simes, TL ORCiD: 0000-0003-3743-6716A multicampus nursing school supported faculty simulation usage by creating a digital repository of simulation resources targeted to faculty needs. This qualitative exploratory study on faculty first impressions and repository usage identified five themes: (a) a welcomed resource;(b) easy to access and use; (c) facilitates multi-campus consistency; (d) supports novice simulation educators; (e) grows simulation pedagogy usage. A digital repository of simulation resources is an innovative tool for supporting simulation usage amongst nursing faculty. © 2020 Organization for Associate Degree Nursin
Australian midwives’ recognition of and response to maternal deterioration: A literature review
No full textDwyer, TA ORCiD: 0000-0001-8408-7956; Flenady, TM ORCiD: 0000-0002-5286-4789BACKGROUND:Confidential enquiries into maternal deaths have reported that recognition and timely interventions can reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. Although research has been undertaken that examines factors impacting registered nurses recognition of and response to the deteriorating patient, there is less literature identifying the factors impacting midwives’ recognition of and response to the deteriorating maternal patient in the clinical context.
OBJECTIVE:To identify, summarize, and critically evaluate peer-reviewed studies that explored factors impacting clinical practice of Australian midwives in relation to maternal deterioration.
DESIGN: Reviewers searched Maternity and Infant Care, EBSCOhost, Medline, CINAHL, SCOPUS, EMCARE, and EMBASE for published literature reporting on factors impacting Australian registered midwives’ ability to recognize and respond to maternal deterioration.
FINDINGS: Of the articles identified and screened (n = 2,412), no studies met the inclusion criteria. This review revealed a lack of published research examining factors impacting Australian midwives’ capability to recognize and respond to the deteriorating maternal patient.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: While research shows, for registered nurses, that high workloads and poor skill mix can negatively impact capability to respond to the deteriorating patient, little is known of registered midwives’ capability during similar health events. This review highlights a major gap in current knowledge regarding Australian registered midwives’ experiences surrounding the recognition of and response to the deteriorating maternal patient. Increasing understanding in this area can inform and support the Australian midwifery education, practice, and National health policies to improve health outcomes for childbearing women. Further research in this area is therefore required
Customer‐centric regulation: The case of Victorian urban water sector
No full textAnanda, J ORCiD: 0000-0002-4072-6725The growing interest in customer engagement (CE) has triggered a new wave of reforms, particularly in utility regulation. Within the water sector, there has been a shift from a focus on cost-re!ective pricing toward customer-centric pricing pro- cesses designed to identify customer preferences and expectations. The Victorian water sector in Australia offers a unique opportunity to explore the outcomes of these CE trends given the recent "rst-time application of a novel Performance, Risk, Engagement, Management, and Outcomes (PREMO) framework. Based on in-depth interviews with senior industry represen- tatives from a diverse sample of Victorian water utilities, this paper critically analyses the scope, design, and incentive mecha- nisms that underpin the new regulatory process. Findings indicate that CE has potentially bene"cial aspects to both the regulator and the regulated utility, including more transparency in capital projects and a better understanding of customer preferences in service delivery
Effects of probiotics and paraprobiotics on subjective and objective sleep metrics: A systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textKhalesi, S ORCiD: 0000-0002-8208-2518Inadequate sleep (i.e., duration and/or quality) is becoming increasingly recognized as a global public health issue. Interaction via the gut-brain axis suggests that modification of the gut microbial environment via supplementation with live microorganisms (probiotics) or nonviable microorganisms/microbial cell fractions (paraprobiotics) may improve sleep health. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the effect of consuming probiotics/paraprobiotics on subjective and objective sleep metrics. Online databases were searched from 1980 to October 2019 for studies involving adults who consumed probiotics or paraprobiotics in controlled trials, during which, changes in subjective and/or objective sleep parameters were examined. A total of 14 studies (20 trials) were included in meta-analysis. Random effects meta-analyses indicated that probiotics/paraprobiotics supplementation significantly reduced Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score (i.e., improved sleep quality) relative to baseline (−0.78-points, 95% confidence interval: 0.395–1.166; p < 0.001). No significant effect was found for changes on other subjective sleep scales, nor objective parameters of sleep (efficiency/latency) measured using polysomnography or actigraphy. Subgroup analysis for PSQI data suggested that the magnitude of the effect was greater (although not statistically) in healthy participants than those with a medical condition, when treatment contained a single (rather than multiple) strain of probiotic bacteria, and when the duration of treatment was ≥8 weeks. Probiotics/paraprobiotics supplementation may have some efficacy in improving perceived sleep health, measured using the PSQI. While current evidence does not support a benefit of consuming probiotics/paraprobiotics when measured by other subjective sleep scales, nor objective measures of sleep; more studies using well-controlled, within-subject experimental designs are needed. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited
Effect of individual environmental heat-stress variables on training and recovery in professional team sport
No full textDoering, TM ORCiD: 0000-0002-6427-1067CONTEXT: Exercise in hot environments increases body temperature and thermoregulatory strain. However, little is known regarding the magnitude of effect that ambient temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), and solar radiation individually have on team-sport athletes. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of these individual heat-stress variables on team-sport training performance and recovery. METHODS: Professional Australian Rules Football players (N = 45) undertook 8-wk preseason training producing a total of 579 outdoor field-based observations with Ta, RH, and solar radiation recorded at every training session. External load (distance covered, in m/min; percentage high-speed running [%HSR] >14.4 km/h) was collected via a global positioning system. Internal load (ratings of perceived exertion and heart rate) and recovery (subjective ratings of well-being and heart-rate variability [root mean square of the successive differences]) were monitored throughout the training period. Mixed-effects linear models analyzed relationships between variables using standardized regression coefficients. RESULTS: Increased solar-radiation exposure was associated with reduced distance covered (-19.7 m/min, P 85% HRmax (3.9%, P < .001), ratings of perceived exertion (1.8 AU, P < .001), and self-reported stress 24 h posttraining (-0.11 AU, P = .002). In contrast, higher Ta was associated with increased distance covered (19.7 m/min, P < .001) and %HSR (3.5%, P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: The authors show the importance of considering the individual factors contributing to thermal load in isolation for team-sport athletes and that solar radiation and RH reduce work capacity during team-sport training and have the potential to slow recovery between sessions
A total communication package for the business executives: Importance of attitude, culture, leadership and other factors
No full textKhan, SI ORCiD: 0000-0001-8807-3121Recent studies suggest that a series of contextually appropriate and effective communication training package is demanded by the employers and HR practitioners in the job market. However, the ways to design an effective, comprehensive and sustainable communication development program for the business executives have rarely been explored in the extant literature. This paper introduces the concept of a total communication package (TCP) that can help design a better communication development program for the business executives. This qualitative research uses the interview findings from 20 top executives from the banking and telecommunication sectors in Bangladesh to unpack the concept of TCP for the HR practitioners
Application of Internet of Things (IoT) to develop a smart watering system for Cairns Parklands: A case study
No full textAshwath, N ORCiD: 0000-0002-4032-4507; Ray, BR ORCiD: 0000-0002-3016-1695Water gives life to our parks and helps them to be lush and green. However, over-irrigation in parks has the potential to waste substantial amounts of water and may also result in seepage and leakage of nutrients into nearby streams. Therefore, it is important to implement a smart water management system in parks to conserve water resources. This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach to use the latest irrigation technologies, Internet of Things (IoT) communication system, sensor technologies, and machine learning model for better water management of parklands by optimising the irrigation requirement and operating conditions. The project uses Dual Electromagnetic (DUAL-EM) sensor to scan the parkland to visualise the distribution of moisture content in a contour map which helps in identifying the location of interest to install moisture sensors to build the park's realtime watering profile. The IoT system uses a Low Power Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) to connect moisture sensors (MP640), and micro-weather station (ATMOS 41) to automate the data collection on the cloud for real-time data storage and monitoring. The live data of the IoT system is used with laboratory testing data to prepare a smarter decision system for irrigation via machine learning. The sprinklers that are controlled by the smarter decision system helps to dispense irrigation water as per the needs of the parkland thus, reducing wastage of water and minimising nutrients leaching into streams to protect natural habitats
Practical nutrition knowledge mediates the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and diet quality in adults: A cross-sectional analysis
No full textVandelanotte, CL ORCiD: 0000-0002-4445-8094Purpose: To investigate the direct and indirect effects of sociodemographic/health factors on diet quality through practical nutrition knowledge (PNK) about how to compose a balanced meal. Design: A cross-sectional study using data from an online survey of the 10 000 Steps cohort (data collected November-December 2016). Setting: Australia. Participants: Adults (n = 8161). Response rate was 16.7%. Measures: Self-reported lifestyle, health, and sociodemographic characteristics, including diet quality and PNK. Analysis: The PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to conduct the mediation analyses. Results: Better diet quality was associated with being female, older, more highly educated, and having a lower body mass index. Mediation analysis showed that PNK significantly mediated the associations between sex (a*b = 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.39-0.70) and education (vocational education: a*b = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.12-0.35, university: a*b = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.35-0.64), and diet quality. Practical nutrition knowledge suppressed the association between age and diet quality (a*b = −0.03, 95% CI = −0.04 to −0.03). Conclusion: Variations in diet quality between sociodemographic groups were partially explained by differences in PNK, suggesting that focusing public health efforts on increasing this specific knowledge type might be promising. © The Author(s) 2019
Effects of acute caffeine consumption following sleep loss on cognitive, physical, occupational and driving performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textKhalesi Taharoom, SS ORCiD: 0000-0002-8208-2518Caffeine is widely used to counteract the effects of sleep loss. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the impact of acute caffeine consumption on cognitive, physical, occupational and driving performance in sleep deprived/restricted individuals. 45 publications providing 327 effect estimates (EEs) were included in the review. Caffeine improved response time (44 EEs; g = 0.86; 95 % CI: 0.53–0.83) and accuracy (27 EEs; g = 0.68; 95 % CI: 0.48–0.88) on attention tests, improved executive function (38 EEs; g = 0.35; 95 % CI: 0.15–0.55), improved reaction time (12 EEs; g = 1.11; 95 % CI: 0.75–1.47), improved response time (20 EEs; g = 1.95; 95 % CI: 1.39–2.52) and accuracy (34 EEs; g = 0.43; 95 % CI: 0.30–0.55) on information processing tasks, and enhanced lateral (29 EEs; g = 1.67; 95 % CI: 1.32–2.02) and longitudinal (12 EEs; g = 1.60; 95 % CI: 1.16–2.03) measures of vehicular control on driving tests. Studies also typically indicated benefit of caffeine on memory (25 EEs), crystallized intelligence (11 EEs), physical (39 EEs) and occupational (36 EEs) performance. Ingestion of caffeine is an effective counter-measure to the cognitive and physical impairments associated with sleep loss. © 2019 Elsevier Lt