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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautic Scitech Forum 2026
No full textRemote re-entry observation missions are an important way to study the phenomena experienced during high-speed re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. This paper reports on the system design and preliminary analysis of the University of Queensland’s spectroscopy data taken during the re-entry observation mission of NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule which re-entered over Salt Lake City, Utah at 14:42 UTC on the 24th of September 2023. As this was 8:42 in the morning local time, this necessitated the design of unique spectroscopy systems designed to reject as much of the bright sky background as possible. This involved restricting the field of view and spectral range of the spectroscopy systems, which resulted in systems which were physically much larger than the spectroscopy systems normally used on re-entry observation missions. This paper discusses solutions to this challenge, documents the whole-of-system design, and presents preliminary spectroscopy data. Data analysis is still ongoing
Healthcare and service provider perspectives on pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV among young Australians
No full textBackground
The Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme was changed on 15 January 2021 to provide people aged 18 years compared with people aged <18 years.
Methods
An online cross-sectional survey, conducted February to November 2023, used purposive, convenience and snowball sampling to recruit healthcare providers eligible to prescribe PrEP (GPs, nurse practitioners) and non-prescribing healthcare/service providers (sexual health nurses, HIV community workers) in Australia. Young people were split into three age groups for comparison between young adults (aged 18–24 years) and adolescents, including those above (aged 16–17 years) and below (<16 years) the age of consent in Australia. Cross-tabulation with Pearson’s chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were performed to investigate sexual health and PrEP-related attitudes and practices.
Results
Of the 122 respondents, 40.2% (49/122) were nurses, 18.0% (22/122) GPs, 11.5% (14/122) HIV community workers, 11.5% (14/122) were another profession (including public health physician, LGBTIQA child and family practitioner, social worker, counsellor), 10.7% (13/122) were sexual health physicians, 6.6% (8/122) nurse practitioners and two were HIV specialists. Most (73.8%, 90/122) reported initiating PrEP conversations with 18–24-year-olds, compared with 13.1% (16/122) with those aged >16 years. Of the 48 (39.3%) eligible PrEP prescribers, 47.9% (23/48) reported feeling ‘extremely/somewhat’ comfortable assessing PrEP eligibility, 41.7% (20/48) reported awareness of 2021 Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme changes and 18.8% (9/48) reported changes to prescribing practices. Prescribers were significantly more likely than non-prescribers to consider PrEP suitable (54.2% vs 35.8%, P < 0.05) for clients aged <16 years.
Conclusion
Guidelines and prescribing criteria need to reflect current Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme eligibility for young people to support healthcare prescriber decision-making in recommending and prescribing PrEP for HIV for young people where appropriate. Greater education, training and support is required for healthcare providers to improve provider confidence in discussing sexual health needs, and recommending and prescribing PrEP to young people to optimise the possible benefits of access to sexual health services and PrEP in this priority sub-group
Lawyers in The Lawes: English Jurists and Richard Hooker's Theology
No full textThe chapter explores the theology and jurisprudence of Richard Hooker in his seminal work, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie. Hooker is the most significant theologian of the English Reformation and, in justifying the political initiative in religious reform, among the most magisterial of the Protestant theologians of the 16th century. The chapter gives an account of The Lawes’ well-known debt to Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica in providing a structure for, what was in substance, a Reformed theology of church and state. Particular emphasis is given to Hooker’s reliance on the work of the medieval and Tudor jurists Henri de Bracton, Sir William Stanford and, possibly, Sir John Fortescue. Together, this theology and jurisprudence justified a significant role for monarchy in the government of the church—albeit, as influenced by the English jurists, a monarchy limited by natural and positive law. It also led to Hooker’s exceptional classification of the common law (and English equity) as a form of natural law. In bringing the English jurists into The Lawes’ apology for the role of civil government in the English Church, Hooker not only proposed a conception of a unified visible church and the state but created a magisterial jurisprudence capable of supporting this vision
An intermediate Wheatgrass model for APSIM next generation
No full textPerennial cereals, for dual purpose grain and forage production, are being considered as an alternative to annual cereals in many grazing and cropping enterprises. Field experiments in NSW Australia and elsewhere have identified candidate species, such as intermediate wheatgrass and mountain rye, which produce both grain and biomass over a two-to-three year period. Existing experimental data pertaining to the phenology and yields of perennial cereals are mostly from higher latitude temperate regions of North America. There are sparse data to inform the likely growth and yields of perennial cereals in warmer latitudes. This study aimed to address this gap using the APSIM Next Generation crop simulation program. A model for one of the candidate perennial cereals, intermediate wheatgrass, was constructed within APSIM. The model was then used to predict the likely phenology, biomass, and grain yields of intermediate wheatgrass in diverse environments under varying management regimes. The model was parameterised using phenology and yield datasets from Australia and North America. Validation of the model, using a different selection of datasets, indicated a strong phenology prediction accuracy (r²=0.96, RMSE=7.94 (Zadoks scale)). Prediction accuracies for above ground biomass and grain yield were acceptable (r²=0.75, RMSE=2372 kg/ha and r²=0.80, RMSE=148 kg/ha respectively). The model responded appropriately to irrigation and fertiliser inputs. Further simulations, using a transect of locations from sub-tropical Queensland to temperate Tasmania, indicated that successful grain production, given the current vernalisation requirements of intermediate wheatgrass, is likely restricted to temperate zones of the current cereal cropping regions in Australia. The Intermediate Wheatgrass model is the only comprehensive perennial grains model available at present. It will be a valuable tool for both plant breeders and farm planners when developing new cultivars and/or defining suitable geographical regions for new perennial grains crops, such as intermediate wheatgrass
"Coming to terms" - the post-burn recovery journey of parent–child dyads: A constructivist grounded theory
No full textBackground
Paediatric burn injuries pose a critical global health challenge, affecting millions of children annually. Beyond the immediate physical harm, burns disrupt developmental trajectories, leaving enduring psychological, physical, and relational impacts as children transition into adulthood. While advancements in acute care have improved survival rates, understanding the dyadic recovery process between parent and children remains underexplored. The prolonged and complex nature of post-burn recovery necessitates sustained caregiver support, emphasising the need to examine how parent–child dyads experience and collectively navigate this journey.
Objective
To generate a theory explaining how parent–child dyads experience and navigate through the post-burn recovery process.
Design
Constructivist grounded theory.
Participants
Paediatric burn survivors with a discharge status of 1 month and beyond and their informal caregivers who were present throughout the period of hospitalisation.
Methods
Initial purposive and subsequent theoretical sampling approaches were employed. Data were collected through face-to-face dyadic interviews at mutually agreed time and locations, supplemented by field notes. Concurrent data analysis utilised constant comparative approach to iteratively refine emerging codes and categories. To ensure congruence with the dyadic interviewing approach, the constant comparative approach employed did not only focus on uncovering categories, but also the content (emerging narratives) and interaction (how parents and children communicated and areas of convergence and divergence in their narratives).
Results
Twenty-three (23) parent–child dyads participated in the study. The children and parents (19 mothers and 4 fathers) are aged 10–16 years and 33–49 years respectively. The core category, Coming to Terms, conceptualises the dyadic recovery journey from injury occurrence to acceptance and adaptation. Three interrelated categories characterised this process: (1) Being with Each Other in a Trauma Bubble (mutual emotional entrapment in acute distress), (2) Living with the Scars (physical and psychological marks shaping identity), and (3) Navigating the Recovery Maze (collaborative adaptation to post-burn realities). The Theory of Coming to Terms underscores post-burn recovery as an emotionally fraught negotiation marked by asymmetrical burdens for dyads, requiring reconciliation with lasting physical, psychological, and relational consequences. Although most aspects of the recovery journey showed commonalities across dyads, a notable divergence emerged in attitudes toward scars: while parents and older children tended to conceal these marks, younger children often chose to display them openly.
Conclusion
The findings highlight the dyadic interconnectedness in post-burn recovery, advocating for rehabilitative frameworks that prioritise both objective clinical outcomes and subjective experiences. A family-centered approach is critical to integrate ongoing support for children and caregivers
Being and Belonging – Identifying "Invisible" Children and Young People's Voices within Educational Contexts in Regional, Rural and Remote Australian Communities: A Systematic Literature Review of Empirical Studies
No full textThis systematic literature review (SLR) examines empirical research on marginalised children and young peoples’ sense of belonging in regional, rural and remote (RRR) Australian educational contexts. Following PRISMA Guidelines and utilising JBI quality appraisal tools, five databases were searched. Inclusion criteria encompassed Englishlanguage, online full-text peer-reviewed empirical studies from RRR Australia. Fourteen studies (four qualitative, ten cross-sectional) were included in the final corpus and synthesised employing Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological model and thematic analysis. The synthesis revealed six themes that influence sense of belonging: 1) Relational factors; 2) Fostering supportive relationships, sense of community and school connectedness factors; 3) Recognition of diversity and individuality factors; 4) Factors of adaptation and fitting in; 5) Role of school and community for engagement factors; and 6) Spatial design and architectural factors. The review highlights the need for inclusive practices and policies to foster belonging in RRR Australian educational settings. The limited studies identified and emphasis on student voice inclusion in the 2013 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child amendment, underscore the need for expanded belonging research in RRR settings. Gathering diverse perspectives is essential to develop inclusive policies and practices that support marginalised cohorts’ visibility, belonging, connectedness, and overall health and wellbein
Care and Contagion in Shakespeare's Changing World
No full textCircuits of disease correspond to previously unconsidered practices of caregiving in early modern English drama in this new volume by Darryl Chalk and Rebecca Totaro. They explore how the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries responded to and intersected with local and international ideas of communal care, health management, quarantine, embodiment, and theatricality.
The role of the spectators who found themselves represented in such themes of caregiving in times of crisis finds new meaning in Chalk and Totaro's framing. Foregrounded by pioneering archival research, chapters provide new insights into several Shakespeare plays performed on stages in London and at the court of King James I, as well as several plays by his contemporaries including Webster, Dekker, and Middleton. Contributors explore plague and privilege in Romeo and Juliet, servants and caregiving in King Lear, women and herbal medicine in The Winter's Tale, astrology in The Duchess of Malfi, and the humour that attaches itself to illness in The Roaring Girl. These case studies expand our understanding of the caregiving that connected people across place and time as powerfully as the lived experience of disease did
A national investigation on the impact of rurality on standardised clinical aptitude test performance
No full textPurpose: Rural applicants to medical school are known to be disadvantaged, given their observed poorer performance on most selection measures. This study aims to examine performance differences of rural and metropolitan applicants on all UCAT-ANZ (University Clinical Aptitude Test in Australia and New Zealand) subtests and overall, as well as explore whether increasing rurality is associated with poorer performance.
Methods: Retrospective repeated cross-sectional study of all UCAT-ANZ applicants between 2019 and 2023, stratified by rurality according to the Modified Monash Model. Six performance scores of the UCAT-ANZ were assessed: verbal reasoning, abstract reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, situational judgement and aggregate cognitive score.
Results: Rural origin applicants consistently achieved lower scores compared with the metropolitan origin applicants across all five years and most test components, with quantitative reasoning and abstract reasoning having the largest differences. Most test scores consistently decreased with each rurality level, even after accounting for key socio-economic and demographic differences. Additionally, the gap between metropolitan and rural applicants increased for decision making, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning and overall. The largest decrease in scores between rurality categories occurred for metropolitan and large regional centre applicants, with scores generally decreasing with each subsequent rurality category.
Conclusions: There remains a substantial disadvantage for rural applicants completing standardised tests for selection into medical school, and this worsens with increasing rurality. The performance gap between rural and metropolitan applicants has somewhat widened in the last five years, emphasising the need for immediate action to help address rural disadvantage within medical school selection. Failure to address this risks selection not aligning with social justice principles. Key actions include increased efforts from an earlier age to better support rural applicants, decreased reliance on these tests for selection decisions, or decreased direct competition between rural and metropolitan applicants through the use of quotas or separate tiers
Intrinsic flame retardancy and enhanced properties of vinyl ester resins grafted with diphenylphosphine oxide via various diisocyanates
No full textThe inherent flammability of vinyl ester resin (VER) limits its use in high-performance applications, and conventional flame-retardant approaches often compromise mechanical and thermal properties. In this work, a grafting strategy was adopted in which three diisocyanates were used as bridging agents to covalently introduce diphenylphosphine oxide (DPPO) units into the crosslinked VER network. After modification, the resins still exhibited low viscosity (<800 mPa·s) and high curing reactivity, with lower apparent activation energies than the control. The resulting thermosets (VEHD, VETD and VEMD) maintained crosslink densities similar to neat VER, while their mechanical and thermomechanical properties were significantly improved. The grafted samples showed maximum increases of 37.0% in tensile strength, 56.1% in flexural strength and 283.0% in unnotched impact strength. The room-temperature storage modulus and dynamic mechanical glass transition temperature (Tα) increased by 26.1% and 16.1 °C, respectively. Incorporation of phosphorus-containing urethanes altered the thermal decomposition behavior and imparted excellent flame retardancy. Among the grafted resins, VEMD exhibited the best performance, attaining a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 31.3%, a V-0 rating in the UL-94 vertical burning test, and reductions of 64.0% in peak heat release rate and 41.7% in total heat release relative to neat VER. Moreover, all grafted resins retained the transparency and chemical resistance of the matrix, while VEMD and VETD provided additional UV-shielding performance. Thus, the proposed grafting strategy offers a facile yet effective route for fabricating intrinsically flame-retardant, high-performance vinyl ester resins
Impact of installation variations on axial performance of rock bolts: an experimental and numerical study
No full textThis study investigates the influence of installation variations, including eccentricity and inclination, on the axial load transfer capacity of fully resin-encapsulated rock bolting systems (FRERBS). The effect of the annulus area and the stiffness of the confinement were also examined. For this, experimental pullout tests were conducted on specimens with varying eccentricities, from 0 to 9 mm, within 43 and 48 mm diameter steel confinements. The pullout results showed that eccentricity reduced peak load capacity depending on the level of eccentricity, with up to 69.6% reductions observed for increasing eccentricities by 9 mm. FEM numerical simulations were also developed using ABAQUS and validated using the experimental findings. The numerical investigations provided valuable insights into stress distribution and damage patterns, revealing that damage initiation primarily occurred along the bolt-resin interface. The study further examined the impact of installation variations, demonstrating a decrease in load-carrying capacity with increasing inclination. Combined effects of eccentricity and inclination were also investigated, highlighting their detrimental influence on FRERBS’s performance. A parametric study explored the impact of the annulus area and the surrounding materials’ stiffness, revealing that a balanced combination of grout thickness and radial stiffness consideration is crucial for studying FRERB performance. The findings emphasise the critical role of proper design and implementation of the drill holes and installation practices considerations to ensure the long-term stability and effectiveness of FRERBS in rock engineering applications