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Scoping the suitability of water-tolerant species of trees for swamp restorations across Australia and its Great Barrier Reef catchment
No full textWetlands are vital for humanity and include some of the most productive, diverse, and service-rich ecosystems in the world. Service provided include food production (e.g., fish, birds, and vegetables), protection from flooding and storm surge inundation, provision of clean water and climate stability, and timber resources for construction. Despite these benefits, vast areas of wetlands have been drained across the globe, including in Australia. With growing awareness of the value of wetlands, there is increasing push to restore wetlands and the values they support, such as carbon sequestration. A major challenge for restoration practitioners is to identify what land parcels could be restored and what species they could support. This study scoped the environmental suitability of 125 water-tolerant species of trees across Australia, using random forest modeling to relate records observed within the Atlas of Living Australia database with spatial datasets of soil and climatic characteristics and water observations from space. Of the 125 species of trees examined, 105 species were modeled with excellent performance. Models were then used to predict tree suitability for existing wetlands nationally, as well as across potentially suitable restoration sites within the Great Barrier Reef catchment, given the strong push for wetland restoration to improve water quality. Within the Great Barrier Reef catchment, over 2200 land parcels covering over 20,000 ha were identified as being potentially suitable for restoration with diverse tree swamps. This study allows restoration practitioners to identify where swamp restoration could occur and potentially suitable trees for planting at those locations
Explicit Abnormality Extraction for Unsupervised Motion Artifact Reduction in Magnetic Resonance Imaging
No full textMotion artifacts compromise the quality of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pose challenges to achieving diagnostic outcomes and image-guided therapies. In recent years, supervised deep learning approaches have emerged as successful solutions for motion artifact reduction (MAR). One disadvantage of these methods is their dependency on acquiring paired sets of motion artifact-corrupted (MA-corrupted) and motion artifact-free (MA-free) MR images for training purposes. Obtaining such image pairs is difficult and therefore limits the application of supervised training. In this paper, we propose a novel UNsupervised Abnormality Extraction Network (UNAEN) to alleviate this problem. Our network is capable of working with unpaired MA-corrupted and MA-free images. It converts the MA-corrupted images to MA-reduced images by extracting abnormalities from the MA-corrupted images using a proposed artifact extractor, which intercepts the residual artifact maps from the MA-corrupted MR images explicitly, and a reconstructor to restore the original input from the MA-reduced images. The performance of UNAEN was assessed by experimenting with various publicly available MRI datasets and comparing them with state-of-the-art methods. The quantitative evaluation demonstrates the superiority of UNAEN over alternative MAR methods and visually exhibits fewer residual artifacts. Our results substantiate the potential of UNAEN as a promising solution applicable in real-world clinical environments, with the capability to enhance diagnostic accuracy and facilitate image-guided therapies. Our codes are publicly available at https://github.com/YuSheng-Zhou/UNAEN
Bridging the gap: Comparative Analysis of Academic Support and Teacher-student Relationships in Faith-based Schools Across Regional and Urban Contexts
No full textThis article investigates the association between teachers providing academic support to their students and student's perceptions of their relationships with their teachers, with a focus on the role of geographical location. Utilising the Revised School Climate Measure, this pilot study surveyed 522 students across four Australian faith-based schools—two urban, and two regional schools. The data were analysed using a combination of correlations, one-way MANOVA and binomial regression. The results indicate that academic support is a contributing factor to students in regional schools reporting stronger relationships with their teachers compared to their urban peers. This study provides a foundation for future research and could be replicated on a larger scale. The implications offer school leaders and policymakers additional information to help address areas of disadvantage within regional Australian schools, while also highlighting the need for further investigation in this area
Leaf warming in the canopy of mature tropical trees reduced photosynthesis due to downregulation of photosynthetic capacity and reduced stomatal conductance
No full textTropical forests play a large role in the global carbon cycle by annually absorbing 30% of our annual carbon emissions. However, these forests have evolved under relatively stable temperature conditions and may be sensitive to current climate warming. Few experiments have investigated the effects of warming on large, mature trees to better understand how higher temperatures affect these forests in situ. We targeted four tree species (Endiandra microneura, Castanospermum australe, Cleistanthus myrianthus and Myristica globosa) of the Australian tropical rainforest and warmed leaves in the canopy by 4°C for 8 months. We measured temperature response curves of photosynthesis and respiration, and determined the critical temperatures for chloroplast function based on Chl fluorescence. Both stomatal conductance and photosynthesis were strongly reduced by 48 and 35%, respectively, with warming. While reduced stomatal conductance was likely in response to higher vapour pressure deficit, the biochemistry of photosynthesis responded to higher temperatures via reduced Vcmax25 (−28%) and Jmax25 (−29%). There was no shift of the Topt of photosynthesis. Concurrently, respiration rates at a common temperature did not change in response to warming, suggesting limited respiratory thermal acclimation. This combination of physiological responses to leaf warming in mature tropical trees may suggest a reduced carbon sink with future warming in tropical forests
Radio: Supporting older adult well-being as a social surrogate
No full textSocial surrogacy can provide a sense of belonging, develop attachments overtime, and represent real social bonds (Schäfer & Eerola, 2020). Music and radio listening can function as a social surrogate, engendering feelings of connection and community in the absence of direct interaction (Krause, 2020). Radio itself draws high engagement from large audiences in Australia and is considered to be “perfectly placed to tackle the far-reaching social issue of loneliness” (Order, 2017, p. 244). This is important given social isolation and loneliness are ever-pressing societal concerns, especially as the impact on our health is comparable to that of sedentary lifestyles, obesity, and smoking (House, et al., 1988). This presentation will focus on how the radio might be used as a free and widely accessible tool for promoting social connection and, thus, quality of life for older adults.
It draws on recent research on radio engagement for older adult well-being as a case study. From interviews and focus-groups conducted with radio personnel and older adult listeners, results indicate that radio acts as a social surrogate in people’s lives, proving information, entertainment, and companionship. Radio presenters keep listeners company through perceived relationships, built and sustained over time, that facilitate a sense of friendship as well as connection with the greater community. This underpins the radio’s ability to support listener well-being. Findings have implications for discussions on creatively promoting the well-being of individuals and communities in cost effective and accessible ways
Evolution of WIfI: Expansion of WIfI Notation After Intervention
No full textNearly a decade ago, the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS)'s wound, ischemia, and foot Infection (WIfI) classification was first developed to help assess overall limb threat. However, managing conditions such as diabetic foot ulcer and chronic limb-threatening ischemia can be complex. For instance, certain investigative findings might initially be pending such as the level of ischemia or extent of infection before the final classification is established. In addition, wounds evolve rapidly, and the current classification does not allow for tracking their progression over time during treatment. Therefore, we propose a supplemental consistent notation for scoring WifI re-assessment during treatment of a threatened limb inspired by the cancer staging before and after neoadjuvant treatment classification system. Thus, we describe the re-scoring system and how to use it. Our suggestion supports a coherent method to longitudinally communicate characteristics of a threatened limb. This has potential to support high quality interdisciplinary, patient-centered care and enhance the use of this classification in research. Further work is required to validate this modification of a common language of risk
Does Reality Television-Style Singing Influence Singing Self-Concept?
No full textHypothesis: Due to upward social comparison, we hypothesized that exposure to reality television singing (a technically demanding style of contemporary commercial music singing) would negatively influence singing self-concept compared to hearing amateur singers or plain, unembellished singing by professionals.
Study Design and Methods: A between-subjects, online experiment was used. A sample of 212 individuals (Mage = 33.14; 69.30% female) participated in the study. After completing a background section, participants were randomly allocated into one of the experimental conditions (hearing one of four versions of a well-known song: a control version with piano and no singing, amateur singing, professional plain singing, and professional singing in the style of reality television singing). Participants were then asked to judge the performance they heard and to respond to items concerning their singing self-concept (including singing ability).
Results and Conclusions: A series of ANCOVAs was used to examine the impact of the experimental condition on the participants’ performance judgments and singing self-concept. The amateur singing was judged as the lowest quality. While there was no significant difference by experimental condition regarding possessing good singing ability, the experimental condition did affect people's singing aspirations and perceived ability to sing along with the performers. The pattern of results suggests that exposure to reality television-style singing may have negative impacts on people's singing self-concept via upward social comparison. Self-concept has been identified as an important predictor of musical engagement and participation and plays a role in motivating action. These results encourage music educators, singing voice pedagogues, and community musicians seeking to promote musical and singing participation to be aware of cultural influences on an individual's singing self-concept
Chief financial officer overconfidence and earnings management
No full textThis study explores the relationship between overconfident Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and earnings management. Through the lens of upper echelons and overconfidence theories, and using a large sample of 14,156 observations of US firms from 1999 to 2021 inclusive, our study finds that overconfident CFOs are positively associated with earnings management. We show that overconfident CFOs use earnings management to reduce earnings volatility, given that a smooth performance can release their financing pressure. In doing this, we rule out another possible explanation of overconfident CFOs engaging in earnings management to pursue high compensation. Our findings pass a series of robustness tests, including entropy balancing, the Difference-in-Differences test based on the propensity score matching sample (PSM-DID), and alternative measures of main variables. Our study provides a new determinant of earnings management that has more explanatory power than CFO demographic traits – i.e. CFO cognitive biases. Our findings nonetheless show the “bright” side of CFO overconfidence, helping investors, regulators, and policymakers understand overconfident CFOs’ financial reporting decisions
Inter-system and inter-unit reliability of Polar Team Pro and WIMU PRO devices during external load measurements indoors
No full textThe aim was to examine inter-system and inter-unit reliability of both WIMU PRO (UWB) and Polar Team Pro devices in measuring indoor sport-specific movements. Seventeen active and healthy adults (age: 21.4 ± 5.2 years; height 170.3 ± 8.2 cm; body mass: 71.2 ± 4.5 kg) completed one repetition of an indoor team sport circuit (i.e. accelerations, decelerations, change of direction, jumps and arc runs). Participants carried two 10-Hz Polar Team Pro GPS and wore two 20-Hz GPS (UWB) WIMU PRO chest- and back-mounted devices, respectively. Distance (absolute, relative and in different speed thresholds), mean and peak speed, accelerations and decelerations at different intensities and jumps were recorded. A repeated-measures two-way analysis of variance and ICC and CV were utilised. There was a significant (p ≤ 0.001) main effect of the system for all variables except the total distance, mean speed and distance covered during low- and high-intensity running. There were significant differences (p 0.05) between the two WIMU PRO units were detected. Poor inter-system reliability was ascertained, with inter-unit reliability being moderate-excellent for most variables of both systems
Does the travel career pattern model work for repeat tourists?
No full textTourism researchers and practitioners have an interest in understanding tourists’ travel patterns, and one of the most used models applied to reach this goal is the seminal Travel Career Pattern (TCP) model. However, repeat tourism is underexplored and in the present research, the authors provide an initial investigation of repeat tourists using the TCP model. Based on survey data from 500 international tourists in India the present research found that the TCP model is valuable for exploring repeat tourists’ travel patterns and motives. Within the TCP model results show that middle-level motives were found to be most important for tourists with more diverse travel experiences which include nature, self-development and self-actualization. Significant relationships were also found among the origin of tourists, their travel experiences and their motivational pattern