19683 research outputs found
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A novel robust optimization approach for supply chain resilience: The role of flexibility and collaboration
No full textSupply chains are increasingly vulnerable to disruptive events that impair performance and stability. Despite research on supply chain resilience, a significant gap remains in risk management approaches on how to simultaneously minimize expected costs and control extreme cost variations. Existing methods neglect to narrow the gap between worst-case and best-case outcomes and to quantify the economic benefit of enhanced information in decision-making under uncertainty. This gap underscores the need for an integrated robust optimization framework that balances expected cost and risk while incorporating the assessment of novel digital technologies. In response, this study proposes a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model that introduces two new metrics: Evolutionary Modified Conditional Value at Risk (EMCVaR) and the Information Impact Metric (IIM). EMCVaR unifies tail risk, solution variance, and model infeasibility into a single measure, yielding a controllable and predictable cost range, while IIM quantifies the economic benefit derived from the data-driven decision support system. Moreover, our model incorporates digital technologies, such as advanced screening, predictive analytics, and real-time digital monitoring, to enhance supply chain flexibility and collaboration. Our computational analysis demonstrates that diversified resilience strategies reduce both expected and worst-case costs, decrease cost variability by up to 15 %, and narrow the gap between extreme outcomes by over 30 %. From a managerial perspective, the study recommends adopting EMCVaR as a risk-budget to bound cost volatility, employing IIM to prioritize digital-technology investments that accelerate recovery, and formalizing backup-capacity and spot-market clauses with key suppliers, an integrated strategy shown to reduce worst-case disruption costs by more than 30 % while limiting routine cost variability to roughly 7 %.</p
Navigating the transition from hospital to community: experiences of people with acquired disability and complex needs
No full textBackground: People with disability and complex needs frequently face long hospitalisations. They also risk being discharged without adequate housing and supports. Hospital discharge planning is crucial for a safe and effective transition to the community. The aim of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to understand the lived experience of hospital discharge and returning to the community for people with acquired disability and complex needs. Methods: Fifteen individuals (80% men) aged 31-66years, recently discharged from hospital and eligible for access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme were interviewed 1month post-hospital discharge. Results: Three primary themes were developed: being in hospital, preparing to return to the community and returning to the community. Participants shared their experiences navigating the hospital system, disability services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. They identified factors that facilitated their community integration and highlighted barriers that hindered their ability to effectively navigate hospital and community settings. Conclusion: The current study findings underscore the complex interplay between hospital discharge and the transition back to the community for people with acquired disability and complex needs. These findings also highlight opportunities to co-design solutions that improve the experience of leaving hospital and preparing for life after discharge.</p
A comprehensive literature review of cyber threats and vulnerabilities in IoT-driven satellite networks: Research challenges and future directions
No full textSatellite communications play an increasingly important role in a number of different industries with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT-driven satellite (‘IoT-Satellite’ in short) networks have a number of vulnerabilities that can make them targets of common cyber attacks such as jamming and spoofing. These attacks can potentially be highly disruptive to the services they support. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of cyber threats and vulnerabilities with a focus on application areas in IoT-Satellite networks. Cyber threats include spoofing, jamming, malware and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Vulnerabilities in IoT-Driven satellite include deficits in encryption, access control and vulnerabilities in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts. Subsequently, proposed in-depth solutions are also discussed in this paper. Proposed solutions include zero-trust security, software-defined networking, dynamic and context-based access control, blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches. While there are limited surveys specifically addressing IoT-driven satellite networks, we identify relevant studies and compare them with our work. Based on these findings we describe open research issues and potential future areas of research. The study suggests that further research is needed to develop a security framework for IoT-driven satellite networks, addressing prevalent cyber attacks and mitigating strategies.</p
Investigating autistic hyperfocus and monotropism: Limited convergence of event-related potentials, laboratory tasks, and questionnaire responses
No full textPurpose: The autistic-developed monotropism account suggests autism is characterised by hyperfocus towards interests, although hyperfocus research has not explored associations among self-/caregiver-report and lab-based measures. Other findings suggest autistic attention has an enhanced capacity and/or is unusually prone to involuntary capture. This study used questionnaires and lab-based tasks to investigate autistic attention and probe its relations to inattention/distractibility, sensory experiences, and anxiety.Methods: 18 autistic and 22 comparison adolescents completed self-report measures of hyperfocus, anxiety, and sensory experiences, and laboratory psychoacoustic tasks, visual working memory and cross-modal attention capture accuracy and reaction time tasks, and a hyperfocus paradigm relying on the N2pc and Pd event-related potentials. Participants’ caregivers completed proxy hyperfocus, anxiety, sensory experiences, and inattention questionnaires.Results: Autistic participants had elevated hyperfocus per self- and caregiver-report questionnaires, and exhibited less visual working memory capacity, potentially reflecting difficulty attending to multiple targets. However, groups did not differ in event-related potentials indexing hyperfocus, or behavioural cross-modal attention capture. Different types of attention measures were generally not related to one another. Participants and their caregivers overall viewed hyperfocus’ impact as modestly positive, with individual opinions differing. Self-reported hyperfocus was related to self-reported misophonia and sensory hyperreactivity.Conclusions: Questionnaires suggest hyperfocus is elevated in autism and has mixed, nuanced real-world impacts. However, some laboratory paradigms with explicit instructions in highly controlled, often non-naturalistic environments may struggle to capture real-world autistic attentional experiences; additional research is needed to align laboratory and questionnaire measures. This study also suggests autistic perceptual capacities are not globally enhanced.</p
Paws for a moment: Investigation of bi-directional transfer of human DNA during a short human–dog interaction and subsequent indirect transfers
No full textDNA transfer events have been well researched in the context of commonly found items at crime scenes. However, whilst animals are a common feature of most households, transfer events involving companion animals have been understudied. Recent research has shown that dogs and cats are a reservoir of human DNA that can transfer to a hand or sterile object after a short contact. It is now of interest to explore how and where this DNA on dogs can transfer during normal human-animal interactions. In order to assess this aspect of DNA transfer, 5 dogs were paired with 5 visitors that were unknown to one another. The dogs were contacted by the visitor for 5 min and the first 5 items contacted immediately were sampled. Additionally, the first 3 items the visitor touched on return home, a number of pre-determined items they were instructed to touch, and both hands, were also targeted. Finally, the dog and the items that the animal contacted in an hour post contact were also analysed. The results showed that DNA of the visitor or visitor's housemate persisted on the dog up to an hour later in 50 % of the samples but was not detected on any of the items an animal contacted. Dog owner's DNA transferred from the dog to the visitor and visitor related items and surfaces, including the car and the house, in 31 % of the samples. These results provide a valuable insight for forensic investigators on the potential origins of DNA found at a crime scene and also add to the body of research indicating that companion animals may be used as evidence to identify who had been in contact with a dog.</p
Ubuntu anti-racism strategies for African students from refugee backgrounds in Australia
No full texthttps://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781803928401/chapter15.xml </p
The importance of evidence in shaping national mental health policy
No full textBlog post: The National Roadmap marks a turning point in recognising and addressing the health inequities Autistic Australians face. OTARC is proud to have contributed evidence, expertise, and lived experience to shape its autism-affirming approach.© 2025 Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University</p
Corticosterone modulates dopamine and serotonin1A receptor mediated regulation of prepulse inhibition and startle in male rats
No full textThe aim of this project was to investigate the role of stress in neurotransmitter modulation of prepulse inhibition (PPI), a model of sensorimotor gating which is disrupted in schizophrenia and other illnesses. We studied the effect of adrenalectomy (ADX) and low and high levels of corticosterone (CORT) replacement on the effect of pharmacological modulators of PPI in rats. In ADX rats treated with a high dose of CORT (CORT200) the disruption of PPI caused by acute treatment with the dopamine receptor agonist, apomorphine, was significantly enhanced compared to ADX rats implanted with a control cholesterol pellet. On the other hand, CORT200 rats were less sensitive to the effect of the serotonin1A receptor agonist, 8-OH-DPAT, while ADX rats implanted with a lower dose of CORT (CORT50) showed enhanced responding to this treatment. There were no differential effects on baseline PPI, or changes in startle or habituation of startle that could explain the effects on PPI. These data suggest that prolonged CORT treatment induces a major shift in dopaminergic and serotonergic mechanisms involved in the regulation of PPI. ADX and CORT replacement were found to have no effect on dopamine D2 receptor densities in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), striatum or cingulate cortex, suggesting that our current observations are not due to changes in the levels of these receptors. These data may provide new insight into the role of stress in psychosis.</p
Encouraging the Local Relationships That Build Solidarity: Thinking Systemically About Family Therapy and Climate Change
No full textAs citizens and practitioners, climate change has important implications. This contribution attempts to ‘work the loop’ between the personal and the professional in a systemic account of the relationship between family therapy and climate change. The account begins with a practical question: How should practitioners formulate presentations where immediate environmental disaster, or the prospect of progressive degradation, is a key feature? Acknowledging the profound meaning of climate change, three fields are developed. First, data are presented on the two contrasting understandings of health and well-being that appear immediately relevant. Second, the mainstream understanding of the self is contrasted with a systemic view of the self. Third, the research undertaken by social epidemiology on the importance of personal relationships is summarised. It is argued that this research affirms the mission family therapy has traditionally served: to assist those we work for build ethical and reliable connections. In concluding, an affirming recommendation is put forward: in the context of climate change, the discipline's unique contribution to relationship-building makes this service especially important.</p