30913 research outputs found
Sort by
Seagrass soil archives reveal centennial-scale metal smelter contamination while acting as natural filters
Get PDFThis manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (August 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThe upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia hosts the world's largest single stream Pb-Zn smelter, which has caused environmental and health issues related to elevated metal concentrations in the surrounding environment. The area also has extensive seagrass meadows, occupying >4000 km2. We reconstructed the fluxes of heavy metals over the last ~3000 years through a multi-parameter study of the soil archives formed by the seagrass Posidonia australis. Pb, Zn and Cd concentrations increased up to 9-fold following the onset of smelter operations in the 1880s, and the stable Pb isotopic signatures confirmed the smelter has been the main source of lead pollution in the seagrass soils until present. Preliminary estimates suggest that over the past 15 years seagrass meadows within 70 km2 of the smelter accumulated ~7–15% of the smelter emissions in their soils. Here we demonstrate that seagrass meadows act as pollution filters and sinks while their soils provide a record of environmental conditions, allowing baseline conditions to be identified and revealing the time-course of environmental change.This research was funded by Edith Cowan University (ECU), the Environmental Protection Authority of South Australia and South Australia Water Corporation, through an ECU-Industry grant (G1001729). For part of the project, OS was supported by an ARC DECRA (DE170101524), AL by Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment – Equity Trustees Charitable Foundation and PM by the Australian Research Council (LE170100219)
Lobbying, campaign contributions, and electoral competition
Get PDFThis manuscript version is made
available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (May 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThis paper studies the effect of lobby groups on electoral competition and equilibrium policy outcomes employing a ‘money for policy favours’ model of lobbying. Our results show that when a lobby group seeks to influence an electoral outcome, it will make a financial contribution to only one political party whose policy is closely aligned to its own ideal policy. When misappropriation of campaign funds occurs, political parties that divert more funds for personal gain stand on more independent platforms and require larger contributions from lobby groups. Greater electoral competition could reduce policy distortions but this, in turn, sparks more intense lobbying thereby increasing the scope of misappropriation of funds. In the case of multiple lobbying, political parties either demand different levels of campaign contributions or leave them with different levels of satisfaction.This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors
Are there missed opportunities for occupational therapy for people with dementia? An audit of practice in Australia
Get PDFThis article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving. © 2018 Occupational Therapy Australia. All rights reserved.
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (Sept 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyBackground/aim
Randomised trials have demonstrated that occupational therapy can delay functional decline, improve quality of life and increase leisure participation in people with dementia. However, surveys conducted with occupational therapists suggest that clinical practice does not reflect the type of intervention shown to be effective in research studies. Case note audits can be used to quantify practice and demonstrate how and where provision of care could improve without the potential bias associated with self‐report.
Method
A total of 87 occupational therapy case notes were audited from different service contexts in two states in Australia. The case notes were reviewed against criteria including duration of service, assessments conducted and interventions used. Descriptive statistics were used to present the data and examine associations between intervention, age of the person with dementia and whether or not the person lived alone.
Results
Services tended to be short‐term with an average of 2.1 consultations per referral. The most common assessments related to home safety, falls risk and function. Intervention most commonly focussed on referrals to other services, environmental modification advice and assistive device prescription.
Conclusion
This audit reveals that current occupational therapy practice for people with dementia focusses on assessment and management of risk and is usually limited to a couple of consultations. Future work should seek to evaluate if such approaches to care are effective for people with dementia
Peri-urban agricultural land vulnerability due to urban sprawl – a multi-criteria spatially-explicit scenario analysis
Get PDF“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Land Use Science on 9 October 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1747423X.2018.1530312
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (October 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThe loss of agricultural land at urban fringes is often monitored but rarely analysed under different scenarios of urban sprawl. This study adopts a multi-criteria spatially-explicit approach to investigate agricultural land vulnerability to urban sprawl under opposing policy directions in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Six land-use change parameters representing the socio-economic and land-use planning effects were analysed under the scenarios of; Business-As-Usual (BAU), Accelerated Economic Development (EDS) and a high Environmental Protection Scenario (EPS). The study shows higher agricultural land vulnerabilities in EDS and BAU scenarios that extends into rural areas displaying a leap-frog effect, which confirms the need to sacrifice farm land uses to maintain land supply for urban development. The LGA-based results enable transfer of farmland vulnerability knowledge into practice by identifying high priority areas for land management interventions and by specifying the types of agricultural land to be strategically managed in these urban fringe landscapes
Location monitoring of physical activity and participation in community dwelling older people: a scoping review.
No full textThis abstract was prepared for the inaugural 'HDR Student Conference', Flinders University, November 2018. Copyright © the authorBackground Community participation and physical activity are important for the health of older adults. This review aimed to identify studies which have measured physical activity and community participation in older adults with Global positioning systems. Methods This scoping review searched key databases using predetermined subject headings and keywords. Two independent reviewers selected studies based on a systematic procedure. The screening process included strict eligibility criteria following current guidelines. Inclusion criteria for studies were: participants aged over 50 years, living independently in the community that reported on physical activity and/or participation inclusive of physical and social activity, and including a quantitative measure of location. All searches were limited to English. The primary review question was: What studies have monitored the location of physical activity in an older population? with secondary enquiries investigating the types of global positioning system devices, barriers and facilitators for activity and community participation. Results The search returned 3536 articles (following duplicate removal) and 42 met the inclusion criteria. Studies from 11 countries published over an 11-year period were included. Participants were mainly healthy (n = 22) followed by having a cognitive impairment (n = 9). There were 13 different global positioning system devices used, assessing a variety of outcomes (n = 17). Fourteen studies identified facilitators and barriers to participation and physical activity in an older population. The most common facilitators were safety, weather and access to multi-purpose facilities. The most common barriers were weather, safety, low income/high deprivation areas and use of motor vehicles. Conclusion This scoping review identified a variety of locational monitoring of older people using global positioning devices
Contextualising and defining child abuse - How nurses' experiences, values and beliefs influence their assessment of children
No full textThis abstract was prepared for the inaugural 'HDR Student Conference', Flinders University, November 2018. Copyright © the authorAims and Objectives To report on how nurses' experiences, values and beliefs impact upon their assessment of child abuse and neglect. Background To reduce harm to children, nurses must be able to identify and address child abuse and neglect. It is not known how nurses' experiences, cultural values and beliefs influence their assessment of abuse and neglect. Design Qualitative research design using social constructionism. Methods Twenty-one in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses who work with children. EQUATOR guidelines for qualitative research (COREQ) were used to report this research. Results Nurses who work with children had difficulty defining abuse and needed to contextualise abuse within the child's unique situation. To understand the complexity of their role, nurses compared and contrasted the level of abuse experienced by the child with their own values and beliefs which stemmed from their personal and professional experiences of parenting. Assessments were particularly challenging when nurses were faced with cultural values and practices different from their own. Conclusions Assessments of abuse and neglect are inextricably linked to nurses' personal values and beliefs which they developed from their personal background and context. As such, nurses are working from their own values base rather than always taking an evidence-informed approach to assessing for abuse and neglect. Relevance to clinical practice Nurses who work with children can make a difference for children experiencing abuse and neglect. There was inconsistent evidence that nurses explicitly reflect on how their personal values and beliefs influence their practice. We propose that this is a missing aspect of child safe practice. Including reflection on the impacts of personal and professional values and beliefs on the ability to implement evidence-informed approaches will increase nurses' capacity to maintain a child-focus
Quality and cultural safety in burns care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
No full textThis abstract was prepared for the inaugural 'HDR Student Conference', Flinders University, November 2018. Copyright © the authorBurn injury is a significant burden across Australia; especially for Aboriginal children. Gaps concerning quality and cultural safety of existing models of care that prescribe best practice are evident. It is not clear if or how these models of care inform practice, nor what other constructs contribute, and whether these are best for care of Aboriginal children. This study investigates factors informing burn care and explores how clinicians in burn teams use guidance documents and if so whether they are appropriate for care of Aboriginal children. Interface research methodology in a qualitative study design, incorporating both Indigenous and Western biomedical knowledges was used to guide this research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals in burn teams in six sites across Australia. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Aboriginal and non-Indigenous researchers analysed data. We found burn care in Australia is informed by complex factors including evidence, resources and resourcing, clinician decision making processes and beliefs, and models of care. A Western biomedical health paradigm governs policy for burn care, that participants report is not always aligned with Aboriginal families' concepts of health. Within this paradigm, allocation of resources informs the provision (or not) of care; as does expert information and direction from senior clinicians. Participants reported jurisdictional specific models of burn care developed using service and team experience, population data and other scientific evidence inform care. There is a need for changes in the way evidence informs policy and practice in burn care for Aboriginal children so it incorporates Indigenous constructs of health and wellbeing. Attributing importance to cultural competence with explicit guidance in documents that guide burn care may support service and clinician cultural competence. System resources targeting good burn care for Aboriginal children are required
Maternal uniparental isodisomy of chromosome 6 unmasks a novel variant in TULP1 in a patient with early onset retinal dystrophy
Get PDFPer the publisher's policy, "This 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 work is properly cited, used for non-commercial purposes, and is not altered or transformed."Purpose
Inherited retinal dystrophies are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of disorders. Molecular diagnosis has proven utility for affected individuals. In this study, we report an individual enrolled in the Australian Inherited Retinal Disease Registry and DNA Bank diagnosed with clinical features overlapping between Leber congenital amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa.
Methods
DNA from the proband was sequenced using a gene panel for inherited retinal disorders, and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array was conducted to detect the presence of deletions and uniparental disomy.
Results
We identified a novel homozygous variant (c.524dupC, p.(Pro176ThrfsTer7)) in TULP1 resulting from maternal uniparental isodisomy of chromosome 6. The patient had clinical features consistent with biallelic pathogenic variants in TULP1, including congenital nystagmus, night blindness, non-recordable electroretinogram, mild myopia, and mild peripheral pigmentary changes in the fundus.
Conclusions
This is the first report of uniparental disomy 6 and a homozygous variant in TULP1 associated with a rod-cone dystrophy. Molecular diagnosis of inherited retinal dystrophies is essential to inform the mode of transmission and clinical management, and to identify potential candidates for future gene-specific therapies
Fertility preservation decision making amongst Australian transgender and non-binary adults
Get PDFOpen Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: Historically, transitioning gender was seen as precluding transgender people from having children in the future. However, there are now increased reproductive options available to transgender people, with such options also available to non-binary people (i.e., people whose gender is not exclusively male or female). These options include undertaking fertility preservation if genetic children may be desired in the future. Despite these increased options, there is still only a limited amount of international research exploring the views of transgender and non-binary people on fertility preservation. Methods: This mixed-methods study draws on a convenience sample of Australian transgender and non-binary adults, focused on their decision making about fertility preservation. The questionnaire was constructed by the authors, drawing on previous research. Participants were recruited via Australian organisations and groups made up of and/or working with people who are transgender or non-binary. The questionnaire was open from January-February 2018. The final sample included 409 participants. Statistical analyses were conducted on the closed-ended responses. Open-ended responses were analysed via a conventional content analysis. Results: Decisions about fertility preservation were influenced by views on the importance of genetic relatedness, willingness to delay transition, economic resources, already having children or desiring children in the future, and the views of significant others. Advice or counselling prior to decision making was received only by a minority of participants. Very few participants (7%) had undertaken fertility preservation, although 95% said that fertility preservation should be offered to all transgender and non-binary people. Participants who viewed genetic relatedness as important were more likely to have undertaken fertility preservation. Conclusions: The findings indicate that fertility preservation should be made available as an option to all transgender or non-binary people prior to undertaking treatment which may impact on fertility. However, it should also be recognised that not all people who are transgender or non-binary will want to undertake fertility preservation, and that not all people may be able to afford to.This work was in part supported by the Australian Research Council under a Future Fellowship (FT130100087) awarded to the first author
The effect of long-term atmospheric changes on the macroevolution of birds
Get PDF© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is made
available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (October 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyAtmospheric conditions are critical for a range of biological functions—locomotion among others—and long-term changes in these conditions have been identified as causal for different macroevolutionary patterns. Here we examine the influence of variations in atmospheric O2 concentration (AOC), temperature (Tair), and air density (ρair) on the power efficiency, as it relates to locomotion, during the evolutionary history of birds. Specifically, our study centers on four key evolutionary events: (1) the body mass reduction of non-avian theropods prior to the rise of birds; (2) the emergence of flapping flight in the earliest birds; (3) the divergence of basal pygostylians; and (4) the diversification of modern birds. Our results suggest that a marked increase in AOC and ρair during the Middle Jurassic—coeval with a trend in miniaturization—improved the power efficiency of the dinosaurian predecessors of birds. Likewise, an increase in these conditions is hypothesized as having played a major role in the diversification of early pygostylians during the Early Cretaceous. However, our analyses do not identify any significant paleoatmospheric effects on either the emergence of flapping flight or the early cladogenesis of modern birds. Extinct birds flew within the range of atmospheric conditions in which modern birds fly but varying past conditions influenced their flight performance. Our study thus highlights the importance of considering paleoatmospheric conditions when reconstructing the flight efficiency of the forerunners of modern birds.Funding was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Research Project CGL2015-68300-P and CGL2016-78577-P). F.J. Serrano was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship Agreement between the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (California, USA) and the Sierra Elvira Foundation (Granada, Spain). Mrs. Gretchen Augustyn and family provided support to the Dinosaur Institute (NHM)