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The fishes of Gamay (Botany Bay): combining multiple data sources to characterise assemblage structure in an Australian urbanised estuary
No full textHuman activities are changing ecosystems around the world, and in marine systems urbanised estuaries are amongst the most heavily impacted. These systems are typically complex, yet our ability to effectively manage impacts is often limited by a lack of baseline data. This study investigates fish assemblages in the highly urbanised estuary, Gamay (Botany Bay), on the SE Australian coast, which has not been comprehensively surveyed since 1981. We used data from museum collections, citizen science and scientific research to compile a list of all known species. We investigated changes in fishes and their functional traits, as well as exploring the role of the different data sources in contributing to our understanding. In total, 418 fish species have been observed in Gamay, which represents a ~ 45% increase over previous estimates (189 species). We note this likely underestimates the true diversity of fishes as, compared to neighbouring Sydney Harbour, observation numbers were low across most datasets. The increase in Gamay’s fish species can largely be attributed to the rise of citizen science since the 2000s, as well as an increase in warm water and tropical affiliated species observations in recent years. Interestingly, 193 species (~ 46%) were unique to a single dataset, emphasising the innate intricacies of each dataset. With anthropogenic pressures in urban estuaries likely to keep increasing our study highlights the value of hybrid approaches, that combine citizen science and natural history collections with traditional scientific datasets, to comprehensively survey a region and track how communities are changing.No Full Tex
Social inclusion of urban villages: A systematic review of global urban planning practices
Get PDFUrban villages, erstwhile rural areas absorbed by expanding cities due to unprecedented urbanization, are a growing phenomenon in many developing nations. These villages are often ignored by the policymakers, despite their economic contributions. Today, integration of urban villages into formal city planning persists as a substantial challenge, especially in the Global South. The lack of specific village planning strategies has aggravated their marginalization from the broader urban environment. To better understand this challenge, this study uses a Systematic Quantitative Literature Review (SQLR) methodology to explore global urban planning practices contributing to the social inclusion and exclusion of urban villages. By using a thematic framework, the research reveals how dynamics like urbanization and migration drive emergence of high-density, mixed-use urban villages, enduring substandard built-environment and socio-spatial segregation. The review identifies demolition-led redevelopment, incremental upgradation, and self-help mechanisms, as exclusionary paradigms hindering villages' inclusion. Five inclusive approaches: urban design and placemaking; in-situ redevelopment; community-driven incrementalism; responsive governance; and socio-economic support emerge as effective mechanisms towards urban villages' integration. The review calls for a paradigm shift towards inclusive, context-specific participatory planning approaches, prioritizing residents' needs over economic benefits. There are also significant geographic gaps in the existing scholarly literature in relation to inclusive urban village planning and governance globally. Hence, the paper calls for a more geographically inclusive research agenda, exploring cross-context comparative case studies of urban villages particularly from underrepresented geographies, utilizing a multi-lingual approach to deepen understanding. The findings inform policymakers and practitioners in formulating just and socially inclusive urban village development.Full Tex
Structural Engineering via In Situ Etching of Metal Surface for a Stabilized Zinc Metal Anode
No full textAqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are regarded as promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems due to their high safety, low cost, and environmental benignity. However, the practical application of AZIBs is severely hindered by uncontrollable zinc dendrite growth and parasitic reactions on the zinc metal anode during cycling. Herein, we proposed a structural engineering strategy via in situ etching of zinc metal surface using hydroxyethylidene diphosphonic acid (HEDP) to address these issues. By tuning the etching time, the proportion of (002) crystal plane on the zinc surface is significantly increased, facilitating ordered Zn2+ deposition. The zinc anode etched in HEDP for 30 min (30HE-Zn) exhibits the optimal electrochemical performance. Specifically, the 30HE-Zn symmetric cell achieves a stable cycle life of 5400 h at 1 mA cm−2, and the Cu//30HE-Zn half-cell maintains stable cycling for 3600 cycles at 2 mA cm−2 with a high coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%. When assembled with an α-MnO2 cathode, the full-cell retains a high specific capacity of 110 mAh g−1 after 1500 cycles at 1.5 A g−1. In situ dendrite microscopy and ex situ characterizations confirmed that 30HE-Zn enables uniform and dense Zn2+ deposition/stripping, effectively suppressing dendrite formation and hydrogen evolution reaction. This work provides a facile and effective interface modification approach of zinc anodes, offering valuable insights for advancing high-performance ZIBs in the energy storage field.No Full Tex
Effect of polymer concentration in co-flowing viscoelastic separation of submicron particles
Get PDFManipulation and separation of submicron particles such as extracellular vesicles (EVs), viruses and bacteria have broad applications in biotechnology and diagnostics. Viscoelastic microfluidic technology has emerged as a powerful technique for high-resolution particle sorting in non-Newtonian fluids. Viscoelastic co-flowing system is the most popular design for particle separation in viscoelastic microfluidics, and has been successfully employed for the separation of EVs, bacteria and cancer cells. However, current studies mainly focus on particle differential migration in viscoelastic fluids of low polymer concentration, and the effects of high polymer concentration on particle migration and separation are still largely unexplored. In this work, we investigate the migration behaviour of 100 nm and 500 nm particles in a viscoelastic co-flowing microfluidic system of high polyethylene oxide (PEO) concentrations. The effects of PEO concentration of sample and sheath flows, the flow rate ratio (FRR) of the sheath to sample flows and the total flow rate on the particle migration and final equilibrium positions were studied. At low PEO concentrations, large (500-nm) particles migrate fast toward the channel centre and small (100-nm) particles exhibit slow migration. In contrast, at specific high PEO concentrations, an intriguing reversed phenomenon appears where small (100-nm) particles migrate fast and focus at the channel centre, while 500-nm particles remain near sidewalls. Finally, we successfully applied this phenomenon for the separation of binary submicron particle mixture and achieved separation purities of 88% and 87% for 100-nm and 500-nm particles, respectively. This work demonstrates the potential for optimising size-based submicron particle separation in the co-flowing system by tuning high polymer concentrations.Full Tex
Are celebrity CEOs worth the big bucks? Evidence from pay-performance sensitivity
No full textDrawing on psychological entitlement theory, this study examines how star chief executive officers (CEOs) use their enhanced social status and influence to shape compensation contracts that insulate them from poor performance. We argue that public recognition and prestige foster a heightened sense of entitlement among star CEOs, which, combined with their increased bargaining power, enables them to design pay arrangements that weaken the link between declining firm performance and reduced compensation. Using a large sample of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2006 to 2023, we find strong evidence that celebrity CEOs exhibit asymmetric pay–performance sensitivity (PPS). Specifically, their compensation increases significantly with improvements in firm performance but declines much less when performance deteriorates. Further analyses show that this asymmetry is primarily driven by the greater power and discretion held by these CEOs. Cross-sectional results indicate that the extent of asymmetric PPS varies with the nature of the awards received, the rarity of such recognition, and prevailing market conditions. In contrast, the association becomes weaker in firms with stronger governance mechanisms, higher institutional ownership, and more intensive external monitoring, suggesting that effective oversight can constrain self-serving behavior rooted in psychological entitlement. Overall, our findings offer new insights into how CEO celebrity status and psychological traits influence compensation design and highlight the critical role of governance in maintaining alignment between executive incentives and shareholder interests.No Full Tex
Global burden of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use in 204 countries, 1990–2023: a Global Burden of Disease Study
No full textDrug use disorders (DUDs) are emerging global public health challenges. Here we investigated the global and regional estimates of the prevalence and burden of DUDs, including amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use disorders, from 1990 to 2023 for 204 countries and territories by using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. Overall, trends in global age-standardized disability-adjusted life-years of DUDs increased from 169.3 (95% uncertainty interval (95% UI), 134.4–203.9) per 100,000 people in 1990 to 212.0 (95% UI, 179.2–245.6) in 2023. In 2023, both prevalence and burden of DUDs were higher in high-income countries, particularly in the USA. The most prevalent DUDs in 2023 were cannabis use disorder (age-standardized prevalence, 270.8 (95% UI, 201.7–350.0) per 100,000 people) and opioid use disorder (205.9 (95% UI, 178.7–235.0)). Particularly, opioid use disorder showed a nearly twofold increase in prevalence and burden between 1990 and 2023. In 2023, compared with countries where cannabis use was illegal, countries permitting both recreational and medical cannabis use had higher prevalence rates for all types of DUDs. Proactive and effective policies are essential to mitigate the increasing global burden of DUDs.No Full Tex
Remote Working in Public Libraries: Supporting an Emerging Post-COVID User Group
No full textThe use of public libraries by remote workers has been little researched, either in Australia or elsewhere. The normalisation of remote work since the COVID pandemic, however, has opened up opportunities for libraries to cultivate this new and growing user group, as many people seek workplace options beyond those of home and corporate office. This study surveyed public libraries in New South Wales and Queensland (n = 97) to investigate the support they currently provide remote workers and how they view this emerging user group. Findings indicate that the level of support varies considerably across libraries, with 61% offering meeting rooms, 44% semi-enclosed spaces and 33% quiet areas. Most respondents agreed that accommodating remote workers enhanced their library’s role as a community hub and aligned with its mission to support community development. Associated challenges reported included those of conflicts with other users’ interests, and resource constraints. Eighty per cent of libraries reported growth in remote work use since COVID, with over 40% located in the major cities estimated to be used by 20 or more remote workers per week. Despite this, only 6% of all responding libraries were regularly promoting their spaces for remote work purposes.No Full Tex
Addressing medication records management in Australian aged care: From doctoral research to validation through CSIRO ON Prime
Get PDFThis report presents comprehensive findings from doctoral research on the post-discharge medication (PDM) process in Australian aged care, validated and extended through the CSIRO ON Prime program. The research addresses a critical patient safety challenge: systematic failures in medication information transfer and coordination as elderly patients are discharged from hospitals to residential aged care facilities (RACFs), a challenge that requires collaboration between hospital discharge teams, RACF nursing staff, general practitioners, and community pharmacies to ensure accurate, timely medication provision.
Through a systematic literature review (2022-2024) examining 58 peer-reviewed studies from 2,042 initial articles, combined with qualitative fieldwork involving 12 registered nurses and 5 pharmacists, this research documented a 72.6 per cent medication discrepancy rate per 100 medications transferred between healthcare settings (Makeham et al., 2020). These failures contribute to about 27,569 potentially avoidable hospital admissions from RACFs annually, incurring costs of $312 million (Australian Medical Association, 2021).Full Tex
Engagement at a cost: rethinking gendered leadership and emotional labour in contemporary schooling
Get PDFThis study reframes parent engagement as a gendered governance practice through which emotional and relational labour is organised, normalised, and unevenly imposed in contemporary schooling. Using a feminist hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it explores how women school leaders experience and navigate parent engagement within policy and accountability-driven contexts. Interviews with six Australian primary school leaders reveal that parent engagement, often idealised as collaborative, is experienced as emotionally intensive, transactional, and professionally depleting. Emotional labour emerges as a condition of leadership legitimacy rather than an individual coping strategy, yet remains largely unrecognised within leadership frameworks and engagement policy. Participants described strategic boundary-setting as a necessary response to unsustainable expectations, highlighting how endurance is often mistaken for sustainability. The findings contribute to feminist leadership scholarship by reconceptualising parent engagement as a site where care, authority, and accountability are governed, and by foregrounding leadership sustainability rather than resilience.Full Tex
Vascular Access Specialist Teams Across Australia and New Zealand: A Survey of Workforce Models and Clinical Practice
No full textAim: The study's aim is to describe workforce models and practices related to vascular access device (VAD) insertion, maintenance and monitoring across Australia and New Zealand. Background: VAD failure is associated with device selection and insertion, factors typically determined by the inserting clinician. However, clinician training and skill in vascular assessment and insertion are often inconsistent and undervalued. Design: A prospective, cross-sectional, internet-based survey of workforce models and vascular access specialist teams (VASTs). Results: Among 237 participants (November 2023 to February 2024), most worked in metropolitan (n = 127; 54.0%) or regional hospitals (n = 54; 23%), caring for adult (n = 227; 95.8%) and/or paediatric (n = 170; 71.7%) patients. One-third (n = 78; 33.0%) had a VAST, primarily comprising clinical nurse specialist/consultants (n = 73; 93.6%), generalist nurses (n = 39; 50%) and anaesthetists (n = 15; 32%). VAD selection was most often performed by medical staff (n = 211; 89.0%), though 29.1% (n = 69) reported VAST-led selection. Escalation pathways for difficult vascular access (DIVA) were more common in facilities with a VAST (n = 65; 83.3%) than without (n = 55; 41.0%). Midline catheter use was higher where VAST were present (76.9% vs. 48.5%). Conclusion: VAST presence was associated with greater use of escalation pathways and varied device type/technique such as ultrasound guided-PIVCs and midlines. However, limited staffing restricts the broader implementation of these benefits.No Full Tex