19683 research outputs found
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Emblems: Meaning at the interface of language and gesture
No full textEmblems—the THUMBS UP, the HEAD SHAKE, the PEACE SIGN, the SHHH—are communicative gestures that have a conventional form and conventional meaning within a particular community. This makes them more “word-like” than other gestures and gives them a distinctive position at the interface between language and gesture. Here we provide an overview of emblems as a recurring feature of the human communicative toolkit. We first discuss the major defining features of these gestures, and their points of commonality and difference with neighbouring communicative phenomena. Next, we review efforts to document emblems around the world. Our survey highlights the patchiness of global coverage, as well as strengths and limitations of approaches used to date. Finally, we consider a handful of open questions about emblems, including how they mean, how they are learned, and why they exist in the first place. Addressing these questions will require collaboration among linguists, lexicographers, anthropologists, cognitive scientists, and others. It will also deepen our understanding of human semiotic systems and how they interface with each other.</p
New families of quaternionic Hadamard matrices
No full textAbstract: A quaternionic Hadamard matrix (QHM) of order n is an matrix H with non-zero entries in the quaternions such that , where and denote the identity matrix and the conjugate-transpose of H, respectively. A QHM is dephased if all the entries in its first row and first column are 1, and it is non-commutative if its entries generate a non-commutative group. The aim of our work is to provide new constructions of infinitely many (non-commutative dephased) QHMs; such matrices are used by Farkas et al. (IEEE Trans Inform Theory 69(6):3814–3824, 2023) to produce mutually unbiased measurements. </p
RAIL: Responsible Artificial Intelligence Lifecycle Approach with Applications in Sustainable Development
No full textSubmitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Qualitative Representations for Combinatorially Defined Relation Algebras
No full textA thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
Geo-linguistic Identity: An Alternative Way of Imagining a Nation in Multiethnic Contexts
No full textSubmitted in total fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Education, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.</p
A taxonomy of blockchain technology application and adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises
No full textObjective: The objective of the article is to comprehensively examine the application and adoption of blockchain technology in SMEs. Recently, blockchain technology has garnered substantial attention owing to its transformative potential across diverse industries. Blockchain represents a decentralized and distributed ledger system that ensures data transparency, security, and immutability. This unique set of at-tributes has garnered attention from various sectors, ranging from finance and healthcare to supply chain and beyond. While predominant attention has been directed towards its impact on large corporations and financial institutions, the application and adoption of blockchain technology in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains a relatively unexplored area.
Research Design & Methods: This research utilized a narrative and critical literature review of the existing literature on blockchain technology and SMEs.
Findings: We identified the key areas of application and drivers and barriers to SMEs’ adoption of blockchain technology. Supply chain and finance have emerged as primary domains witnessing heightened blockchain im-plementation. The intricate nature of supply chain operations involving a multitude of stakeholders and the cen-tralized nature of financing with inherent information asymmetry have propelled blockchain adoption within these sectors. However, the complex nature of technology, regulatory uncertainty, and lack of technological capabilities of SMEs have been the barriers inhibiting the widespread adoption of blockchain technology in SMEs.
Implications & Recommendations: The insights derived from this study can facilitate the successful design and implementation of blockchain-based solutions for SMEs. Blockchain solution providers must under-stand and tailor the solutions to SMEs. Blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) can accelerate flexible application development, expediting blockchain integration in SMEs. Government, regulatory bodies, and SME groups are urged to collaborate in enhancing technological literacy among SMEs, facilitating their capacity to har-ness the advantages offered by blockchain technology.
Contribution & Value Added: This research contributes to the field by shedding light on the underexplored realm of blockchain technology in SMEs. The created taxonomy, examination of adoption drivers and barriers, and the formulated opportunities-challenges framework provide valuable tools for understanding and navi-gating blockchain technology’s application and adoption-related challenges in SMEs. The identified gaps and proposed areas for future research further contribute to the ongoing discourse in this evolving field.</p
A cross-sectional study assessing concordance with advance care directives in a rural health district
No full textObjective: To measure compliance with Advance Care Directives (ACDs) for decedents in a rural setting. Design: Observational, cross-sectional medical records audit comparing requests in ACDs with actual outcomes. Setting: Rural Australian coastal district. Participants: People who had an ACD, died during the study period (30 May 2020 to 15 December 2021) and participated in a local research project. Main Outcome Measure(s): Compliance was measured by comparing stated requests in the ACD with outcomes recorded in medical records. This included the place of death and a list of ‘unacceptable interventions’. Results: Sixty-eight people met the inclusion criteria (age range of 46–92 [mean 67 years; median 74 years]; 42 [62%] male). The main cause of death was cancer (n = 48; 71%). Preferred place of death was not stated in 16 ACDs. Compliance with documented preferred place of death was 63% (33/52): 48% (16/33) when the preferred place of death was home; 78% (7/9) when sub-acute was preferred; and 100% (10/10) when hospital was preferred. Compliance was 100% with ‘unacceptable interventions’. Conclusion: These results demonstrate strong compliance with rural patients' requests in ACDs, particularly ‘unacceptable interventions’. Home was the most common preferred place of death, but the compliance measure (48%) was the lowest in this study. This requires further exploration.</p
Efficacy, Safety and Acceptability of a Very-Low-Energy Diet in Adolescents with Obesity: A Fast Track to Health Sub-Study
No full textThe aim of this study was to determine the efficacy, safety and acceptability of a 4-week very-low-energy diet (VLED) program for adolescents with obesity. Adolescents (13-17 years) with obesity and ≥1 obesity-related complication were Fast Track to Health 52-week randomized controlled trial participants. Adolescents undertook a 4-week micronutrient-complete VLED (800 kcal/day), with weekly dietitian support. Anthropometric data were recorded at baseline and week-4 and side-effects at day 3-4, week-1, -2, -3 and -4. Adolescents completed an acceptability survey at week-4. A total of 134 adolescents (14.9 ± 1.2 years, 50% male) had a 5.5 ± 2.9 kg (p < 0.001) mean weight loss at week-4: 95% experienced ≥1 and 70% experienced ≥3 side-effects during the VLED program, especially during the first week. Hunger, fatigue, headache, irritability, loose stools, constipation and nausea were most common. Reporting more side-effects at day 3-4 correlated with greater weight loss at week-4 (r = -0.188, p = 0.03). Adolescents reported 'losing weight' (34%) and 'prescriptive structure' (28%) as the most positive aspects of VLED, while 'restrictive nature' (45%) and 'meal replacement taste' (20%) were least liked. A dietitian-monitored short-term VLED can be implemented safely and is acceptable for many adolescents seeking weight loss, despite frequent side-effects. Investigating predictors of acceptability and effectiveness could determine adolescents most suited to VLED programs
Mitochondrial sequence variants: testing imputation accuracy and their association with dairy cattle milk traits
No full textBackground: Mitochondrial genomes differ from the nuclear genome and in humans it is known that mitochondrial variants contribute to genetic disorders. Prior to genomics, some livestock studies assessed the role of the mitochondrial genome but these were limited and inconclusive. Modern genome sequencing provides an opportunity to re-evaluate the potential impact of mitochondrial variation on livestock traits. This study first evaluated the empirical accuracy of mitochondrial sequence imputation and then used real and imputed mitochondrial sequence genotypes to study the role of mitochondrial variants on milk production traits of dairy cattle. Results: The empirical accuracy of imputation from Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) panels to mitochondrial sequence genotypes was assessed in 516 test animals of Holstein, Jersey and Red breeds using Beagle software and a sequence reference of 1883 animals. The overall accuracy estimated as the Pearson’s correlation squared (R2) between all imputed and real genotypes across all animals was 0.454. The low accuracy was attributed partly to the majority of variants having low minor allele frequency (MAF 0.9 (of 954 variants segregating in the test animals) and 138 of these overlapped the sites with DR2 > 0.9. This suggests that the DR2 statistic is a reasonable proxy to select sites that are imputed with higher accuracy for downstream analyses. Accordingly, in the second part of the study mitochondrial sequence variants were imputed from real mitochondrial SNP panel genotypes of 9515 Australian Holstein, Jersey and Red dairy cattle. Then, using only sites with DR2 > 0.900 and real genotypes, we undertook a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for milk, fat and protein yields. The GWAS mitochondrial SNP effects were not significant. Conclusion: The accuracy of imputation of mitochondrial genotypes from the SNP panel to sequence was generally low. The Beagle DR2 statistic enabled selection of sites imputed with higher empirical accuracy. We recommend building larger reference populations with mitochondrial sequence to improve the accuracy of imputing less common variants and ensuring that SNP panels include common variants in the D-loop region.</p
Effect of time restricted eating versus current practice in dietetics on glycaemic control and cardio-metabolic outcomes in individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes: Protocol for a multi-centre, parallel group, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial
No full textBackground: Time restricted eating (TRE) is a dietary strategy that may improve metabolic health. However, no studies have compared TRE with current practice (CP) in dietetics. Hypothesis: TRE will not be inferior to CP to improve glycaemic control in individuals at risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: This parallel group, randomised, non-inferiority, controlled trial randomised 247 participants by site and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) into TRE or CP (1:1) for 12 months. Participants were aged 35–70 years, with a body mass index (BMI) >25 but <45 kg/m2, and score ≥15 on the Australian type 2 diabetes risk (AUSDRISK) assessment, without a diagnosis of T2D. Study visits were balanced between groups and all participants received five consultations at 0, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 months. TRE followed a self-selected 9 h eating window (≥0600 and ≤1900), whereas CP followed Australian dietary guidelines. Outcomes: The primary endpoint is the estimate of group mean difference (TRE vs CP) of HbA1c at 4 months in a covariate linear regression adjusting for stratification factors and sex. Secondary efficacy outcomes at 4 and 12 months are changes in fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR and nocturnal glucose by continuous glucose monitor incremental area under the curve and change in HbA1c at 12 months. Other endpoints are exploratory and will not be adjusted for multiplicity. Conclusions: We will determine whether TRE is an alternate strategy to current practice in dietetics to improve glucose control. Trial registration: NCT04762251; 21 Feb 2021