Journal articles on the topic 'Jewelry making Australia Technique'
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1
Kusumo, Pandansari. "Teknik Casting Pada Perhiasan Guna Menunjang Daya Beli." PRODUCTUM Jurnal Desain Produk (Pengetahuan dan Perancangan Produk) 1, no. 1 (October 31, 2015): 31. http://dx.doi.org/10.24821/productum.v1i1.1516.
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Along with the development of jewelry in Indonesia, several techniques of making are used. in the design of industrial products, jewelry by casting tehcniques is one of the techniques of making jewelry of bulk; using several models of jewelry will obtain many products of casting at the same time. This casting technique is very supportive in the process of production, working efficiently and also cost efficient. But when the jewelry products are made manually, it will not achieve high productivity results as expected.Keyword: casting technique, efficently, high productivity
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Вяземский, А. В., and П. Д. Малыгин. "THE ISSUE OF TORZHOK JEWELRY MAKING IN THE 12 - EARLY 13 CENTURIES REVISITED." Краткие сообщения Института археологии (КСИА), no. 261 (December 4, 2020): 305–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.25681/iaras.0130-2620.261.305-312.
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Данная статья входит в цикл публикаций, посвященных исследованию ювелирного дела домонгольского Торжка. В научный оборот вводятся находки, служащие своего рода маркерами мастерских, в которых изготавливались статусные ювелирные изделия с использованием в том числе технологии тиснения. Публикуются данные, полученные в ходе применения естественно-научных методов исследования. This paper enters a series of publications related to the study of jewelry making in pre-Mongol Torzhok. The paper introduces into scientific discourse finds that may be used as markers of the shops where prestigious jewelry pieces were made including those produced with application of embossing technique. It publishes the data obtained by applying scientific methods of research.
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Qi, Xia, Chao Yi, and Jie Li. "The Improvement Measures of the Chinese PPP Project Decision-Making System Compared with Australia." Applied Mechanics and Materials 501-504 (January 2014): 2623–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.501-504.2623.
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PPP project success not only depends on governmental credit and private sectors capability, but also relies on the scientific and reasonable evaluation in early decision-making stage. By thoroughly research on Australia PPP project decision-making mechanism, deficiencies of current policy system, government supervision and evaluation mechanism in decision process of PPP project in china were summarized. Based on the findings, the proposal to improve legal framework, policy and regulation system, institutional settings, evaluation technique system as well as other aspects of PPP implementation were put forward.
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Silaiev, Oleksandr. "Decorative application with lion’s image from the excavations near village Mizhgirya (Volyn region)." Materials and studies on archaeology of Sub-Carpathian and Volhynian area 24 (December 23, 2020): 387–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.33402/mdapv.2020-24-387-395.
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The article is explaining a unique bronze application, which was discovered during the excavation season 2017 on Mizhgirya-3 site – two-layered settlement of Early Iron Age and Age of Principalities. This item was uncovered amid the upper earth sediments, largely destroyed by plowing, thus making it impossible to determine the exact chronological interpretation. Based on the analysis of creative stylistics and technological features of this piece of craftsmanship, an excessive pursuit was commenced for the parallels in the imageries and designs of decorative ornaments, particularly inherent to Ancient Rus culture. It includes various examples of zoomorphic motifs, lion’s pictures as well, in the church architectural décor and on similar samples of ornamented jewelry. The closest stylistic equivalence to the application’s image from Mizhgirya-3 site was found among decorative ceramic tiles collected during the excavations of ancient Halych hill-fort, some of them holding the image of a lion or a lioness. Particular attention was turned towards the searches of analogies among jewelry, applying specific techniques of openwork metal casting, like some items from the excavations of the Ancient Rus’ major cities of Halych and Novgorod, found inside cultural sediments from the 12th – to the 15th centuries. Comparative analysis of various objects, either depicting similar visual motifs or applying the distinctive metal casting technique, made it possible to verify the application’s origin at the later stages Age of Principalities cultural evolution, especially the one determined by the advance of Galicia and Volhynia state. Henceforth, the discovery of the items became more relevant with the upper chronological layer of Mizhgirya-3 site, which was dated by the 12th – 13th centuries after the evaluation of supplemented materials. Key words: bronze decorative application, openwork metal casting, Age of Principalities, zoomorphic motif, «lion passant».
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Budge, Kylie. "Beyond folding and gathering: museums attending to the new materiality." Museum and Society 15, no. 1 (June 9, 2017): 33–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.29311/mas.v15i1.660.
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Museums are attending to matters of technique in relation to objects and exhibitions suggesting a new or renewed interest in creative practice and how objects are made. This focus parallels practices and changes occurring in broader society. In this article I argue that a rise in attending to technique extends what various theorists have referred to as the ‘material turn’ in a dimension that underscores creative process and making. I do so by exploring two recent exhibitions, one in Israel and another in Australia, which have brought the notion of technique into focus through the context of textiles and other materials such as paper, porcelain, wood and metal. Through their emphasis on ‘gathering’ and ‘folding’, the construction of textiles and other forms are accentuated for public exploration, fostering new understandings of technique. Conclusions are drawn connecting museum contexts with that of broader society in reference to making, the role of the hand, and craft processes.
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Danesh, Darius, Michael J. Ryan, and Alireza Abbasi. "A Novel Integrated Strategic Portfolio Decision-Making Model." International Journal of Strategic Decision Sciences 8, no. 3 (July 2017): 1–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijsds.2017070101.
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This study proposes a novel method for portfolio selection/decision making that combines the Portfolio Theory (PT), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) cross-efficiency technique. It takes into account the profits, risks and proficiency of a portfolio and is shown to be useful for selecting one with positive and negative data and subsequently measuring its efficiency using AHP, with a consistency test conducted to verify the objectivity of the results. To test the applicability of the proposed model, it is used to determine the efficiency levels of ten of the largest companies in Australia for the years 2014 and 2015. Two criteria, namely, the expected return and variance, are used to identify the preference status of each company. The results indicate that the proposed model is feasible and adoptable for the contemporary industrial scenario as it simultaneously analyses profits, risks and proficiency.
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Manera, Karine E., David W. Johnson, Jonathan C. Craig, Jenny I. Shen, Lorena Ruiz, Angela Yee-Moon Wang, Terence Yip, et al. "Patient and Caregiver Priorities for Outcomes in Peritoneal Dialysis." Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 14, no. 1 (December 20, 2018): 74–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.2215/cjn.05380518.
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Background and objectivesThe absence of accepted patient-centered outcomes in research can limit shared decision-making in peritoneal dialysis (PD), particularly because PD-related treatments can be associated with mortality, technique failure, and complications that can impair quality of life. We aimed to identify patient and caregiver priorities for outcomes in PD, and to describe the reasons for their choices.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsPatients on PD and their caregivers were purposively sampled from nine dialysis units across Australia, the United States, and Hong Kong. Using nominal group technique, participants identified and ranked outcomes, and discussed the reasons for their choices. An importance score (scale 0–1) was calculated for each outcome. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically.ResultsAcross 14 groups, 126 participants (81 patients, 45 caregivers), aged 18–84 (mean 54, SD 15) years, identified 56 outcomes. The ten highest ranked outcomes were PD infection (importance score, 0.27), mortality (0.25), fatigue (0.25), flexibility with time (0.18), BP (0.17), PD failure (0.16), ability to travel (0.15), sleep (0.14), ability to work (0.14), and effect on family (0.12). Mortality was ranked first in Australia, second in Hong Kong, and 15th in the United States. The five themes were serious and cascading consequences on health, current and impending relevance, maintaining role and social functioning, requiring constant vigilance, and beyond control and responsibility.ConclusionsFor patients on PD and their caregivers, PD-related infection, mortality, and fatigue were of highest priority, and were focused on health, maintaining lifestyle, and self-management. Reporting these patient-centered outcomes may enhance the relevance of research to inform shared decision-making.
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Ahmed, Alaa, Chathuri Ranasinghe-Arachchilage, Abdullah Alrajhi, and Guna Hewa. "Comparison of Multicriteria Decision-Making Techniques for Groundwater Recharge Potential Zonation: Case Study of the Willochra Basin, South Australia." Water 13, no. 4 (February 18, 2021): 525. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13040525.
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In semi-arid regions, groundwater resources play a crucial role in all economic, environmental, and social processes. However, the occurrence, movement, and recharge of these hidden and valuable resources vary from place to place. Therefore, better management practices and mapping of groundwater recharge potential zones are needed for the sustainable groundwater resources. For an example, groundwater resources in Willochra Basin are vitally important for drinking, irrigation, and stock use. This study shows the significance of the application of three decision-making approaches, including multi-influencing factor, analytical hierarchy process, and frequency ratio techniques in the identification of groundwater potential zones. A total of seven criteria, including lithology, slope, soil texture, land-use, rainfall, drainage density, and lineament density, were extracted from conventional and remote sensing data sources. The parameters and their assigned weights were integrated using Geographic Information System (GIS) software to generate recharge potential maps. The resultant maps were evaluated using the area under the curve method. The results showed that the southern regions of the Willochra Basin are more promising for groundwater recharge potential. The map produced using the frequency ratio model was the most efficient (84%), followed by the multi-influencing factor model (70%) and then the analytical hierarchy process technique (62%). The area under the curve method agreed when evaluated using published weights and rating values.
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Fisher, Phil, and David Sless. "Information design methods and productivity in the insurance industry." Information Design Journal 6, no. 2 (January 1, 1990): 103–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/idj.6.2.01fis.
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This paper discusses the management and execution of an information design project, undertaken in Australia, for a large insurance company. The project provided the opportunity to use well developed principles of information design, project planning and management, and methods for dealing with organisational politics - a ubiquitous feature of all information design. The paper gives an account of a technique for measuring errors and their cost, practical iterative testing methods, and user consultation processes which can be applied to design decision making. The results of the project, particularlythe significant reduction in errors and processing costs, illustrates the importance of the human interface in improving productivity, and the dangers of thinking about information system design simply in terms of hardware and software.
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Finlayson, G. R., A. N. Diment, P. Mitrovski, G. G. Thompson, and S. A. Thompson. "Estimating western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) density using distance sampling." Australian Mammalogy 32, no. 2 (2010): 197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/am09037.
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A reliable estimate of population size is of paramount importance for making management decisions on species of conservation significance that may be impacted during development. The western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) is regularly encountered during urban development and is the subject of numerous surveys to estimate its abundance. A variety of techniques have been used for this species with mixed results. This paper reports on a case study using distance sampling to estimate density of P. occidentalis in a small habitat remnant near Busselton, Western Australia. Density estimates obtained were within the range of previous studies of this species and we suggest that this technique should be employed in future surveys to improve the accuracy of population estimates for this species before development.
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Best, Susan. "Repair in Australian Indigenous art." Journal of Visual Culture 21, no. 1 (April 2022): 190–205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14704129221088289.
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This article examines artworks by three emerging Australian Indigenous artists who are revitalizing Indigenous cultural traditions. The author argues that their work is reparative in the manner described by queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick; that is, their art addresses the damage of traumatic colonial histories while being open to pleasure, beauty and surprise. The artists are all based in Brisbane and completed a degree in Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art at Queensland College of Art – the only degree of this nature in Australia. The artists are Carol McGregor, Dale Harding and Robert Andrew. McGregor’s work draws on possum skin cloak making, Harding has incorporated the stencil technique of rock art into his practice and Andrew uses a traditional pigment ochre and Yawuru language.
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Ashton, Ann Suwaree, Noel Scott, and Therdchai Choibamroong. "Place development for international retirement migrants: a decision-making process model." Journal of Place Management and Development 12, no. 3 (August 5, 2019): 449–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jpmd-05-2018-0035.
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Purpose This study aims to investigate the decision-making processes of international retirement migrants. The development of a place in response to the high demand for international retirement migration has become an important strategy for stakeholders within host destinations; of particular interest is international retirement migrant behaviour and intention to stay and retire in a foreign country. Design/methodology/approach This research presents the results of a qualitative study using face-to-face interview techniques. Content analysis technique was used to analyse data from interviews with 33 international retirees in Thailand. Findings Destination stakeholders must consider creating awareness of the destination through WOM, trustworthy websites and government channels, which migrants evaluate a destination based on pre-retirement visits that create attachment and emotional feelings for the place, and finally, the decision-making processes of short stay, semi-permanent and permanent migrants. Research limitations/implications This qualitative study investigated migrants from Europe, Australia and the USA. An understanding of IR migrants from Asia needs further research. Practical implications The results can be used as guidelines for government, hospitality and tourism stakeholders. IR migrants want different destination attributes to mainstream tourists, especially a peaceful environment, mild weather (not too cold or hot), and to live among locals. Originality/value This study examines migrant decision-making processes. The results provide a theoretical foundation for how IR migrants decide to retire overseas. This comprises three components: destination awareness, secondly, evaluation of the destination’s resources, and finally, the decision and implementation of their plans.
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Shaughnessy, P. D., and A. McKeown. "Trends in abundance of New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, at the Neptune Islands, South Australia." Wildlife Research 29, no. 4 (2002): 363. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr01039.
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At the Neptune Islands in early February 2000 at the end of the 1999–2000 pupping season, the abundance of New Zealand fur seal pups was determined using a mark–recapture technique in large colonies and by direct counting in small ones. Pups (n = 2355) were marked by clipping hair on the head to reveal light-coloured underfur. At the North Neptune group, there were 4221 pups and at the South Neptune group 1767 pups, making a total of 5988 pups for the Neptune Island group as a whole. At the North Neptune Islands, pup numbers increased by 53% since February 1993, from 2756 to 4221. For the South Neptune group, pup numbers decreased by 6.7%, from 1893 to 1767. The decrease was spread over most colonies on the island. The large increase in pup numbers at the North Neptune group indicates that the population there is in the recolonisation phase of growth; at the South Neptune group, the fur seal population is likely to be in the maturity phase, with fluctuations in size expected in the future. The Neptune Island group supports the largest aggregation of pinnipeds in Australia.
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Correia, Jordan Mark, Monty Sutrisna, and Atiq U. Zaman. "Factors influencing the implementation of off-site manufacturing in commercial projects in Western Australia." Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology 18, no. 6 (February 3, 2020): 1449–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jedt-09-2019-0246.
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Purpose Off-site manufacturing (OSM) application in vertically higher and spatially larger projects within Western Australian (WA) commercial sector has demonstrated the potential of benefitting from such a construction technique, but introducing a new methodology to a traditional sector such as commercial sector is not always straightforward. The acceptance of the new methodology, level of awareness of the stakeholders involved and the readiness of the supply chain to deliver, for instance, may influence the success of its implementation. Given the infancy of such methodology in the WA construction industry, this research project aims to analyse factors influencing the implementation of OSM construction method in WA. Design/methodology/approach Following a thorough literature review, an existing research agenda in OSM was used to inform the direction of this research, i.e. focussing on external macro aspects of the decision making to implement OSM. Three projects in WA were studied, and the data collection was facilitated through archival study and semi-structured interviews with construction practitioners who were the stakeholders of the three projects. Data analysis was conducted through content analysis to draw the findings and conclusion of this research. Findings The analysis of the studied cases revealed relevant economic/financial, technological and regulatory factors, as well as social factors influencing the implementation of OSM, particularly in WA commercial projects. These findings were then used to develop an overall understanding of the external macro factors influencing decision making in implementing OSM that forms a formal research agenda aimed at enabling successful implementation of OSM in WA construction industry, particularly in its commercial sector. Originality/value The research findings presented in this paper identified factors that significantly influence the implementation of such alternative technology in a traditional sector. These factors were then structured to form the subsequent research agenda to continuously pursue the implementation of OSM in the sector. While the research agenda takes into account the unique characteristics of the WA construction industry, it contributes to the global and the Australian national research agenda, and the research methodology reported in this paper can be used to develop similar research agenda elsewhere.
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Xu, Fangyuan, and Feng Han. "Tourist Attraction Recommendation Method and Data Management Based on Big Data Analysis." Mobile Information Systems 2022 (September 19, 2022): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/7161522.
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The proliferation of social networking data has opened up numerous avenues for providing additional perspectives to decision-makers. While big data analytics has the potential to aid in rational decision, so far there is little evidence to support this claim. More importantly, in the tourism industry specifically, a standardized approach to assessing social video big data for strategic planning has not yet been created. This project will use a research-based design science method to develop and estimate a “big data analytics” strategy for enhancing strategic decision-making in the control of tourist destinations. Using geotagged pictures provided by visitors to the picture social-media site Flickr as a matter of reality, with Melbourne, Australia as a case study, this method’s applicability is demonstrated in helping destination management organizations analyze and predict tourist behavioral patterns at specific destinations. Extra source, recipient, and stakeholder groups were used to verify relevance. The produced artifact exemplifies a technique for assessing massive amounts of unstructured data to aid strategic decision-making in an actual problem area. The scope of the suggested method is examined, and it is possible that it could be applied to other types of extremely large data sets.
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Saud, Anshar. "TINJAUAN SISTEMATIS TENTANG TEKNIK DELPHI DAN KAITANNYA TERHADAP ISU KEFARMASIAN TERKINI." Majalah Farmasi dan Farmakologi 23, no. 1 (May 9, 2019): 38–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.20956/mff.v23i1.6471.
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Delphi technique has been knowned in variety research of studies and countries for almost eight decades as one of reliable decision making method. Its success and relation in pharmacy field has been examined but not yet catalogue recently in a comprehensive manner. The objective of this study was to review existing literature studies on the topic of Delphi technique and its relation on current pharmaceutical issues to provide an analysis of its success and impact in pharmacy and health sector. A search of 6 electronic databases i.e: Google Scholar, MEDLINE, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and Proquest was conducted during November 2018. A scientific review of literature (2008-2018) was performed to identify and collate information from relevant, peer reviewed original study articles investigating Delphi technique employed in pharmaceutical issues. A thematic analysis was undertaken to categorize categories of pharmacy, pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical care and pharmacist. Thirty two original study articles were included in this review. All articles were based in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia. After reviewing all the articles, 5 themes with 13 categories were generated. These themes included essential role of pharmacist in healthcare, pharmacy professionalism, medication management protocol, pharmacy education, and drug policy. It concluded that overall, through this review it is evident that there are a number of themes on pharmacy issues that employed by Delphi techniques. This review indicated that although Delphi technique are successful and to be satisfactory applied in pharmacy field, the usage of technique in pharmacy issues need to be further enhanced.
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Guo, Fang, Shangyun Deng, Weijia Zheng, An Wen, Jinfeng Du, Guangshan Huang, and Ruiyang Wang. "Short-Term Electricity Price Forecasting Based on the Two-Layer VMD Decomposition Technique and SSA-LSTM." Energies 15, no. 22 (November 11, 2022): 8445. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en15228445.
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Accurate electricity price forecasting (EPF) can provide a necessary basis for market decision making by power market participants to reduce the operating cost of the power system and ensure the system’s stable operation. To address the characteristics of high frequency, strong nonlinearity, and high volatility of electricity prices, this paper proposes a short-term electricity price forecasting model based on a two-layer variational modal decomposition (VMD) technique, using the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) to optimize the long and short-term memory network (LSTM). The original electricity price sequence is decomposed into multiple modal components using VMD. Then, each piece is predicted separately using an SSA-optimized LSTM. For the element with the worst prediction accuracy, IMF-worst is decomposed for a second time using VMD to explore the price characteristics further. Finally, the prediction results of each modal component are reconstructed to obtain the final prediction results. To verify the validity and accuracy of the proposed model, this paper uses data from three electricity markets, Australia, Spain, and France, for validation analysis. The experimental results show that the proposed model has MAPE of 0.39%, 1.58%, and 0.95%, RMSE of 0.25, 0.9, and 0.3, and MAE of 0.19, 0.68, and 0.31 in three different cases, indicating that the proposed model can well handle the nonlinear and non-stationarity characteristics of the electricity price series and has superior forecasting performance.
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Kalutara, Pushpitha, Guomin Zhang, Sujeeva Setunge, and Ron Wakefield. "Factors that influence Australian community buildings’ sustainable management." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 24, no. 1 (January 16, 2017): 94–117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-10-2015-0158.
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Purpose Australia has a huge stock of community buildings built up over decades. Their replacements consume a large sum of money from country’s economy which has called for a strategy for their sustainable management. For this, a comprehensive decision-making structure is an utmost requirement. The purpose of this paper is to capture their sustainable management from four aspects, i.e. environmental, economic, social and functional. Design/methodology/approach The design process follows an extensive review of environmental and life cycle assessments and company context documents. Extracted factors are tailored to community buildings management following expert consultation. However, the resulted list of factors is extremely large, and “factor analysis” technique is used to group the factors. For this, an industry-wide questionnaire across Australian local councils is employed to solicit opinions of the list of factors. Findings The analysis has pinpointed 18 key parameters (criteria) to represent all four aspects. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the factors and the analysis results based on the questionnaire responses. Practical implications The final decision-making structure incorporates all these aspects and criteria. This can be used to develop a decision-making model which produces a sustainability index for building components. Asset managers can mainly use the sustainability index to prioritise their maintenance activities and eventually, to find out cost-optimisation options for them. Originality/value Most notably, this is the first study to apply all four sustainability aspects (environmental, economic, social and functional) to develop a decision-making structure for Australian community buildings’ sustainable management.
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Navaratnam, Satheeskumar. "Selecting a Suitable Sustainable Construction Method for Australian High-Rise Building: A Multi-Criteria Analysis." Sustainability 14, no. 12 (June 17, 2022): 7435. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14127435.
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The evolution of innovative construction technology and automation has rapidly transformed the construction industry over the last few decades. However, selecting the most efficient and sustainable construction technology for high-rise building construction is a critical factor in completing the project successfully. This requires a multiple-judgment-decision process relevant to cost, time, environment, sustainability, quality, etc. Thus, this research aims to identify the most suitable sustainable construction method for high-rise building construction in Australia. Three construction methods (i.e., automated building construction, aluminium formwork construction, and off-site construction) and robotic construction technology are reviewed in terms of economic, equity and environmental performance. A detailed multi-criteria analysis is conducted concerning the weighting calculated for each construction method, which aids in recommending a sustainable and cost-effective method. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used as a multi-attribute decision-making tool to determine the weighting factors. The results show that the off-site construction method and robotic construction technique significantly improve the construction performance of high-rise construction in Australia. However, the finding is based on data obtained from a limited number of experts. Thus, a detailed case study with a greater number of expert opinions is needed to ensure the significance of the finding. However, the AHP-based approach method can be used to select sustainable construction alternatives for high-rise buildings.
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Sun, Na, Nan Zhang, Shuai Zhang, Tian Peng, Wei Jiang, Jie Ji, and Xiangmiao Hao. "An Integrated Framework Based on an Improved Gaussian Process Regression and Decomposition Technique for Hourly Solar Radiation Forecasting." Sustainability 14, no. 22 (November 17, 2022): 15298. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142215298.
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The precise forecast of solar radiation is exceptionally imperative for the steady operation and logical administration of a photovoltaic control plant. This study proposes a hybrid framework (CBP) based on complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN), an enhanced Gaussian process regression with a newly designed physical-based combined kernel function (PGPR), and the backtracking search optimization algorithm (BSA) for solar radiation forecasting. In the CEEMDAN-BSA-PGPR (CBP) model, (1) the CEEMDAN is executed to divide the raw solar radiation into a few sub-modes; (2) PACF (partial autocorrelation coefficient function) is carried out to pick the appropriate input variables; (3) PGPR is constructed to predict each subcomponent, respectively, with hyperparameters optimized by BSA; (4) the final forecasting result is produced by combining the forecasted sub-modes. Four hourly solar radiation datasets of Australia are introduced for comprehensive analysis and several models available in the literature are established for multi-step ahead prediction to demonstrate the superiority of the CBP model. Comprehensive comparisons with the other nine models reveal the efficacy of the CBP model and the superb impact of CEEMDAN blended with the BSA, respectively. The CBP model can produce more precise results compared with the involved models for all cases using different datasets and prediction horizons. Moreover, the CBP model is less complicated to set up and affords extra decision-making information regarding forecasting uncertainty.
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Vernier, J. P., T. D. Fairlie, J. J. Murray, A. Tupper, C. Trepte, D. Winker, J. Pelon, et al. "An Advanced System to Monitor the 3D Structure of Diffuse Volcanic Ash Clouds." Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 52, no. 9 (September 2013): 2125–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-12-0279.1.
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AbstractMajor disruptions of the aviation system from recent volcanic eruptions have intensified discussions about and increased the international consensus toward improving volcanic ash warnings. Central to making progress is to better discern low volcanic ash loadings and to describe the ash cloud structure more accurately in three-dimensional space and time. Here, dispersed volcanic ash observed by the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) space-based lidar near 20 000–40 000 ft [~(6–13) km] over Australia and New Zealand during June 2011 is studied. This ash event took place 3 weeks after the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle eruption, which disrupted air traffic in much of the Southern Hemisphere. The volcanic ash layers are shown to exhibit color ratios (1064/532 nm) near 0.5, significantly lower than unity, as is observed with ice. Those optical properties are used to develop an ash detection algorithm. A “trajectory mapping” technique is then demonstrated wherein ash cloud observations are ingested into a Lagrangian model and used to construct ash dispersion maps and cross sections. Comparisons of the model results with independent observations suggest that the model successfully reproduces the 3D structure of volcanic ash clouds. This technique has a potential operational application in providing important additional information to worldwide volcanic ash advisory centers.
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Lobert, Bertram, Lindy Lumsden, Hans Brunner, and Barbara Triggs. "An assessment of the accuracy and reliability of hair identification of south-east Australian mammals." Wildlife Research 28, no. 6 (2001): 637. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr00124.
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The aim of this experiment was to quantify the accuracy and reliability of identifying mammals from hair samples, using two highly skilled practitioners. Hair samples were collected from 37 mammal species occurring in south-eastern Australia. This material was divided into 252 samples, which were then used in a blind test to determine the accuracy of the technique. The taxa were then grouped into reliability categories based on the accuracy and consistency of the practitioner’s identifications. In all, 23 taxa, including 19 species, were regarded as being reliably identified from hair analysis. Identification of the remaining 18 species involved at least some level of error. Several factors influenced the accuracy of identifications in this study, principally (1) the need to identify samples to species level wherever possible, rather than not making an identification, and (2) the diverse range of species used (from across Victoria) and the lack of collection locality. Target species have been grouped into reliability categories, as a guide to aid evaluation of field-derived data. We emphasise the need for practitioners to gain considerable personal experience of the technique, the diagnostic characteristics used to identify hair of different species and intra-specific variation, in order to maximise the reliability of identification results.
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Hapuarachchi, Hapu Arachchige Prasantha, Mohammed Abdul Bari, Aynul Kabir, Mohammad Mahadi Hasan, Fitsum Markos Woldemeskel, Nilantha Gamage, Patrick Daniel Sunter, et al. "Development of a national 7-day ensemble streamflow forecasting service for Australia." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 26, no. 18 (September 29, 2022): 4801–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4801-2022.
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Abstract. Reliable streamflow forecasts with associated uncertainty estimates are essential to manage and make better use of Australia's scarce surface water resources. Here we present the development of an operational 7 d ensemble streamflow forecasting service for Australia to meet the growing needs of users, primarily water and river managers, for probabilistic forecasts to support their decision making. We test the modelling methodology for 100 catchments to learn the characteristics of different rainfall forecasts from Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models, the effect of statistical processing on streamflow forecasts, the optimal ensemble size, and parameters of a bootstrapping technique for calculating forecast skill. A conceptual rainfall–runoff model, GR4H (hourly), and lag and route channel routing model that are in-built in the Short-term Water Information Forecasting Tools (SWIFT) hydrologic modelling package are used to simulate streamflow from input rainfall and potential evaporation. The statistical catchment hydrologic pre-processor (CHyPP) is used for calibrating rainfall forecasts, and the error reduction and representation in stages (ERRIS) model is used to reduce hydrological errors and quantify hydrological uncertainty. Calibrating raw forecast rainfall with CHyPP is an efficient method to significantly reduce bias and improve reliability for up to 7 lead days. We demonstrate that ERRIS significantly improves forecast skill up to 7 lead days. Forecast skills are highest in temperate perennially flowing rivers, while it is lowest in intermittently flowing rivers. A sensitivity analysis for optimising the number of streamflow ensemble members for the operational service shows that more than 200 members are needed to represent the forecast uncertainty. We show that the bootstrapping block size is sensitive to the forecast skill calculation. A bootstrapping block size of 1 month is recommended to capture maximum possible uncertainty. We present benchmark criteria for accepting forecast locations for the public service. Based on the criteria, 209 forecast locations out of a possible 283 are selected in different hydro-climatic regions across Australia for the public service. The service, which has been operational since 2019, provides daily updates of graphical and tabular products of ensemble streamflow forecasts along with performance information, for up to 7 lead days.
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Oceaneawan, Goldy, Noer Samsoe, Telaga Kautsar, Aditya Suharsono, and Leksono Mucharam. "Pore-pressure prediction derived by common-reflection-surface (CRS) stacking seismic velocity to prevent drilling problems in geopressure zones: a case study of Snapper Field, Gippsland Basin, Australia." APPEA Journal 53, no. 2 (2013): 485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/aj12096.
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Snapper Field is located in the Gippsland Basin, Australia. The field was discovered in 1968, and then continued by development drilling from the Snapper A platform, which started in 1981. The geopressure zones were encountered below 3,200 m at the Snapper—1 well and below 2,800 m at the Snapper A—21 well. If these zones are not anticipated before drilling, they could create problems, such as sticking, kick, or blowout. This extended abstract presents a technique to predict pore pressure from seismic velocity, where the seismic velocity was derived by CRS. Many case studies have shown that CRS stack could produce smooth macro-velocity model, which is more reliable to be used for pore pressure prediction. Eaton's equation was used to transform the seismic velocity derived by CRS to pore pressure as a function of depth. All of these workflows have been conducted using field data from the Snapper Field provided by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries. The prediction was compared with actual well pressure data to test the accuracy of prediction. The comparison shows that the pressure, which has been generated using this technique, is accurate. This result could be applied when making drilling programs particularly to identify the geo-pressure zones for wildcat/exploration wells in another field when pressure data from neighbouring wells are unavailable. If these geo-pressure zones could be anticipated, it will reduce drilling risk operation.
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Guzys, Diana, Guinever Threlkeld, Virginia Dickson-Swift, and Amanda Kenny. "Rural and regional community health service boards: perceptions of community health – a Delphi study." Australian Journal of Primary Health 23, no. 6 (2017): 543. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/py16123.
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Much has been written about the composition of health service boards and the importance of recruiting people with skills appropriate for effective and accountable governance of health services. Governance training aims to educate directors on their governance responsibilities; however, the way in which these responsibilities are discharged is informed by board members’ understanding of health within their communities. The aim of this study was to identify how those engaged in determining the strategic direction of local regional or rural community health services in Victoria, Australia, perceived the health and health improvement needs of their community. The Delphi technique was employed to facilitate communication between participants from difference geographic locations. The findings of the study highlight the different ways that participants view the health of their community. Participants prioritised indicators of community health that do not align with standard measures used by government to plan for, fund or report on health. Devolved governance of healthcare services aims to improve local healthcare responsiveness. Yet, if not accompanied with the redistribution of resources and power, policy claimed to promote localised decision-making is simply tokenistic.
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Coolbaugh, Thomas, Andy Nicoll, Aaron Montgomery, Geeva Varghese, and Lucy Heathcote. "Effective Planning for Dispersant Operations – Making Decisions, Analyzing Options and Establishing Capability." International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings 2017, no. 1 (May 1, 2017): 2791–810. http://dx.doi.org/10.7901/2169-3358-2017.1.2791.
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ABSTRACT Within the oil spill response community, dispersant use is considered to be a key tool for the treatment and mitigation of oil spills. As a response technique, the benefits of dispersant application have been long proven, particularly in the case of large offshore spills such as those associated with the Sea Empress (UK, 1996), Montara (Australia, 2009) and Macondo (USA, 2010) incidents. Compared to other spill response techniques, dispersant application has less operational constraints associated with adverse weather conditions and can be rapidly applied from an aerial platform for larger spills far offshore. These reasons render dispersant application a critical tool in the toolbox for many offshore operators. Developing a successful dispersant application strategy requires comprehensive planning. For an offshore operator with a subsea well blowout risk, a number of elements should be carefully considered to ensure the successful execution of the dispersant application strategy. The decision making process should include a detailed evaluation of the oil type, release scenario and location, and the consideration of these parameters against the larger environmental and socio-economic needs of the stakeholder community. Once dispersant application is established to be a viable response option using a process such as Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA), the operator also needs to ensure that it is adequately resourced in terms of application platforms (vessel vs aircraft), monitoring techniques and supporting logistics. Well planned and detailed operational strategies are critical for successful subsea and surface dispersant operations, especially in the unlikely event of a large offshore spill. This paper summarizes the various operational considerations an offshore operator needs to assess during the preparedness stage for developing a viable dispersant application strategy. Drawing on the authors’ experiences in developing and implementing various preparedness projects globally, the different aspects of the dispersant planning process, including oil spill modelling to support decision making, ascertaining dispersant effectiveness for the oil type, selecting appropriate application techniques, establishing necessary logistical support and the setting up of an incident management team to support dispersant operations, will be discussed in detail. The goal of the paper is to build upon prior dispersant strategy discussions and provide an operationally focused blueprint for planning and implementing an effective dispersant application strategy in support of offshore operations.
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Jones, S. D., M. F. Garvey, and G. J. Hunter. "Where's the fire? Quantifying uncertainty in a wildfire threat model." International Journal of Wildland Fire 13, no. 1 (2004): 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf02050.
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Models of wildfire threat are often used in the management of fire-prone areas for purposes such as planning fire education campaigns and the deployment of fire prevention and suppression resources. While the use of spatial or geographic data is common to all wildfire threat models, the key question arises: Is the accuracy of the spatial data used in wildfire threat models sufficient for the intended decision-making purpose? To help answer this question, a quantitative uncertainty assessment technique was applied to a wildfire threat model used by the Country Fire Authority in Victoria, Australia. The technique simulates known or estimated spatial data error by modifying data values to represent the range of all probable errors present in the input dataset. The wildfire threat model is then run multiple times using these modified ‘error’ layers in order to simulate and observe the effect these errors have on the model outputs. For the model concerned, the results suggest that errors in digital elevation surfaces have only minimal impact upon the outputs, resulting in relatively stable wildfire management decisions. On the other hand inaccuracies in land cover maps (with implied differences in fuel load estimations) result in larger changes in the model outputs, whereas changes in fire weather data can result in highly unstable outputs. Knowledge of these effects can facilitate better wildfire management since any improvements that are to be made to the model’s accuracy can be focussed directly upon the problem datasets.
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Pan, Jiaji, Ruilin Fan, Hanlu Zhang, Yi Gao, Zhiquan Shu, and Zhongxiang Chen. "Investigating the Effectiveness of Government Public Health Systems against COVID-19 by Hybrid MCDM Approaches." Mathematics 10, no. 15 (July 29, 2022): 2678. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/math10152678.
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To elucidate the effectiveness of the containment strategies against the pandemic, a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model is established to evaluate the government’s performance against COVID-19. In this study, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Entropy, and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method are used in determining the performance of the public health system. We adopt both subjective and objective weighting methods for a more accurate evaluation. In addition, the evaluation of performance against COVID-19 is conducted in various aspects and divided into different periods. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied to evaluate the sustainability of the public health system. Composite scores of the public health system are determined based on the performance and sustainability assessment. The five countries, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Australia, and China are rated with higher composite scores. On the country, the US, Indonesia, Egypt, South Africa, and Brazil receive lower rating scores among the countries for evaluation. This modeling study can provide a practical quantitative justification for developing containment policies and suggestions for improving the public health system in more countries or areas.
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Klaus, Philipp, Bo Edvardsson, Timothy L. Keiningham, and Thorsten Gruber. "Getting in with the “In” crowd: how to put marketing back on the CEO's agenda." Journal of Service Management 25, no. 2 (April 14, 2014): 195–212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/josm-02-2014-0041.
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Purpose – Despite efforts by researchers and managers to better link marketing activities with business financial outcomes, there is general agreement that by and large chief marketing officers (CMOs) (and marketing in general) have lost strategic decision-making influence within organizations. The purpose of this paper is to understand the causes of this decline and offer recommended solutions to counteract this trend. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews lasting between 40 and 55 minutes were conducted with 25 chief executive officers (CEOs) of service companies located in Western Europe, North America, and Australia. In total, 13 difference countries were represented. Using Emerging Consensus Technique, we identified four main themes, which cause the goals of CEOs and those of CMOs/marketing to diverge. Findings – The primary cause of the decline of strategic influence of CMOs and marketing overall with CEOs is a function of four key issues: first, the role of the CMO (e.g. task overload, focus on tactical issues, “outdated” skill set); second, lack of financial accountability (e.g. the inability to connect marketing efforts to financial returns); third, digital and social media (e.g. a perceived obsession with new technology); and forth, lack of strategic vision and impact (e.g. lost sight of “core” job, use of irrelevant metrics). Practical implications – The findings indicate that CMOs must address the four key issues uncovered for marketing to attain/regain a role in strategic decision making. A proposed roadmap for putting marketing back on the CEOs agenda is presented to guide CMOs. Originality/value – This research provides marketers with a CEO eye view of their role within organizations.
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Sanchez Lozano, Jorge, Giovanni Romero Bustamante, Riley Chad Hales, E. James Nelson, Gustavious P. Williams, Daniel P. Ames, and Norman L. Jones. "A Streamflow Bias Correction and Performance Evaluation Web Application for GEOGloWS ECMWF Streamflow Services." Hydrology 8, no. 2 (April 25, 2021): 71. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/hydrology8020071.
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We present the development and testing of a web application called the historical validation tool (HVT) that processes and visualizes observed and simulated historical stream discharge data from the global GEOGloWS ECMWF streamflow services (GESS), performs seasonally adjusted bias correction, computes goodness-of-fit metrics, and performs forward bias correction on subsequent forecasts. The HVT corrects GESS output at a local scale using a technique that identifies and corrects model bias using observed hydrological data that are accessed using web services. HVT evaluates the performance of the GESS historic simulation data and provides more accurate historic simulation and bias-corrected forecast data. The HVT also allows users of the GEOGloWS historical streamflow data to use local observed data to both validate and improve the accuracy of local streamflow predictions. We developed the HVT using Tethys Platform, an open-source web application development framework. HVT presents data visualization using web mapping services and data plotting in the web map interface while functions related to bias correction, metrics reporting, and data generation for statistical analysis are computed by the back end. We present five case studies using the HVT in Australia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru. In these case studies, in addition to presenting the application, we evaluate the accuracy of the method we implemented in the HVT for bias correction. These case studies show that the HVT bias correction in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru results in significant improvement in historic simulation across the countries, while bias correction only resulted in marginal historic simulation improvements in Australia and the Dominican Republic. The HVT web application allows users to use local data to adjust global historical simulation and forecasts and validate the results, making the GESS modeling results more useful at a local scale.
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Greenwood-Smith, S. L. "The use of rapid environmental assessment techniques to monitor the health of Australian rivers." Water Science and Technology 45, no. 11 (June 1, 2002): 155–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wst.2002.0390.
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River managers require tools to assess the ecological condition of waterways and prioritise management strategies. As benchmarking the condition of an entire waterway with detailed surveys is often not practical, Rapid Environmental Assessment Techniques have been developed to provide an indication of the state of a river's health, both rapidly and at a low cost. In this investigation, three such techniques, developed recently in Australia, are applied to the same creek in order to compare the outcomes and the levels and types of resources required for their application. The output from the three indices ranges from descriptive to statistically analysed data, making them difficult to compare directly. Overall, the three indices all report that the sample creek had relatively poor health. The results from the Victorian Index of Stream Condition and New South Wales' Pressure, Biota, Habitat Stream Assessment appear to correlate well. An important finding of the investigation is the variation in the resources required to apply each assessment technique. Generally, the resource demands increase with the requirement for a higher level of scientific rigour. The methods are either relatively inexpensive and rapid to undertake or more resource intensive, yet thorough in the data collected. A two step process incorporating the techniques in a cost-effective manner is recommended.
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Carter, Simon A., Talia Gutman, Charlotte Logeman, Dan Cattran, Liz Lightstone, Arvind Bagga, Sean J. Barbour, et al. "Identifying Outcomes Important to Patients with Glomerular Disease and Their Caregivers." Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 15, no. 5 (April 30, 2020): 673–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.2215/cjn.13101019.
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Background and objectivesShared decision making in patients with glomerular disease remains challenging because outcomes important to patients remain largely unknown. We aimed to identify and prioritize outcomes important to patients and caregivers and to describe reasons for their choices.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsWe purposively sampled adult patients with glomerular disease and their caregivers from Australia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Participants identified, discussed, and ranked outcomes in focus groups using the nominal group technique; a relative importance score (between zero and one) was calculated. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically.ResultsAcross 16 focus groups, 134 participants (range, 19–85 years old; 51% women), including 101 patients and 33 caregivers, identified 58 outcomes. The ten highest-ranked outcomes were kidney function (importance score of 0.42), mortality (0.29), need for dialysis or transplant (0.22), life participation (0.18), fatigue (0.17), anxiety (0.13), family impact (0.12), infection and immunity (0.12), ability to work (0.11), and BP (0.11). Three themes explained the reasons for these rankings: constraining day-to-day experience, impaired agency and control over health, and threats to future health and family.ConclusionsPatients with glomerular disease and their caregivers highly prioritize kidney health and survival, but they also prioritize life participation, fatigue, anxiety, and family impact.
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Multsch, S., J. F. Exbrayat, M. Kirby, N. R. Viney, H. G. Frede, and L. Breuer. "Reduction of predictive uncertainty in estimating irrigation water requirement through multi-model ensembles and ensemble averaging." Geoscientific Model Development Discussions 7, no. 6 (November 10, 2014): 7525–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/gmdd-7-7525-2014.
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Abstract. Irrigation agriculture plays an increasingly important role in food supply. Many evapotranspiration models are used today to estimate the water demand for irrigation. They consider different stages of crop growth by empirical crop coefficients to adapt evapotranspiration throughout the vegetation period. We investigate the importance of the model structural vs. model parametric uncertainty for irrigation simulations by considering six evapotranspiration models and five crop coefficient sets to estimate irrigation water requirements for growing wheat in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. The study is carried out using the spatial decision support system SPARE:WATER. We find that structural model uncertainty is far more important than model parametric uncertainty to estimate irrigation water requirement. Using the Reliability Ensemble Averaging (REA) technique, we are able to reduce the overall predictive model uncertainty by more than 10%. The exceedance probability curve of irrigation water requirements shows that a certain threshold, e.g. an irrigation water limit due to water right of 400 mm, would be less frequently exceeded in case of the REA ensemble average (45%) in comparison to the equally weighted ensemble average (66%). We conclude that multi-model ensemble predictions and sophisticated model averaging techniques are helpful in predicting irrigation demand and provide relevant information for decision making.
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Ruegg, Leanne, Mark Faucett, Andrew Clawson, and Shradha Subedi. "Reducing the prevalence of antecubital fossa peripheral intravenous cannulation." Journal of the Association for Vascular Access 27, no. 2 (June 1, 2022): 47–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.2309/1557-1289-27.2.47.
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ABSTRACT Observational studies have found that placement of peripheral intravenous cannulas (PIVCs) in the antecubital fossa (ACF) is associated with increased risks of infection, including healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (HA-SAB). Avoiding placement of the PIVC in the ACF area along with other preventive measures such as aseptic technique, staff education on documentation, standardised insertion packs and alerts for timely removal, may reduce the overall risk of acquiring an HA-SAB. Aim: To implement a multimodal awareness programme on ACF cannulas and the risk of infection, and to reduce PIVC-associated HA-SAB in one hospital in Australia. Method: The authors performed a baseline digital survey to identify root causes for clinical decision making related to PIVCs and to raise awareness of the project. The authors performed weekly audits and provided feedback on four key wards over 12 weeks. Simple linear regression was used to look at the trend of ACF cannulation rates overtime. HA-SAB rates were calculated per 10000 occupied bed days. Findings: Improved insertion documentation was observed during the intervention period. The ACF cannulation rates decreased by 0.03% per day during the study, although this did not quite reach statistical significance (P=0.06). There were no PIVC-associated SAB events during the intervention period. The SAB rates decreased by 0.02% per day over the period of the study.
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Ruegg, Leanne, Mark Faucett, Andrew Clawson, and Shradha Subedi. "Reducing the prevalence of antecubital fossa peripheral intravenous cannulation." British Journal of Nursing 31, no. 2 (January 27, 2022): S8—S14. http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2022.31.2.s8.
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Observational studies have found that placement of peripheral intravenous cannulas (PIVCs) in the antecubital fossa (ACF) is associated with increased risks of infection, including healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (HA-SAB). Avoiding placement of the PIVC in the ACF area along with other preventive measures such as aseptic technique, staff education on documentation, standardised insertion packs and alerts for timely removal, may reduce the overall risk of acquiring an HA-SAB. Aim: To implement a multimodal awareness programme on ACF cannulas and the risk of infection, and to reduce PIVC-associated HA-SAB in one hospital in Australia. Method: The authors performed a baseline digital survey to identify root causes for clinical decision making related to PIVCs and to raise awareness of the project. The authors performed weekly audits and provided feedback on four key wards over 12 weeks. Simple linear regression was used to look at the trend of ACF cannulation rates over time. HA-SAB rates were calculated per 10 000 occupied bed days. Findings: Improved insertion documentation was observed during the intervention period. The ACF cannulation rates decreased by 0.03% per day during the study, although this did not quite reach statistical significance (P=0.06). There were no PIVC-associated SAB events during the intervention period. The SAB rates decreased by 0.02% per day over the period of the study.
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Tegos, Aristoteles, Nikolaos Malamos, and Demetris Koutsoyiannis. "RASPOTION—A New Global PET Dataset by Means of Remote Monthly Temperature Data and Parametric Modelling." Hydrology 9, no. 2 (February 10, 2022): 32. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/hydrology9020032.
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Regional estimations of Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) are of key interest for a number of geosciences, particularly those that are water-related (hydrology, agrometeorology). Therefore, several models have been developed for the consistent quantification of different time scales (hourly, daily, monthly, annual). During the last few decades, remote sensing techniques have continued to grow rapidly with the simultaneous development of new local and regional evapotranspiration datasets. Here, we develop a novel set T maps over the globe, namely RASPOTION, for the period 2003 to 2016, by integrating: (a) mean climatic data at 4088 stations, extracted by the FAO-CLIMWAT database; (b) mean monthly PET estimates by the Penman–Monteith method, at the aforementioned locations; (c) mean monthly PET estimates by a recently proposed parametric model, calibrated against local Penman–Monteith data; (d) spatially interpolated parameters of the Parametric PET model over the globe, using the Inverse Distance Weighting technique; and (e) remote sensing mean monthly air temperature data. The RASPOTION dataset was validated with in situ samples (USA, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Australia, China) and by using a spatial Penman–Monteith estimates in England. The results in both cases are satisfactory. The main objective is to demonstrate the practical usefulness of these PET map products across different research disciplines and spatiotemporal scales, towards assisting decision making for both short- and long-term hydro-climatic policy actions.
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Multsch, S., J. F. Exbrayat, M. Kirby, N. R. Viney, H. G. Frede, and L. Breuer. "Reduction of predictive uncertainty in estimating irrigation water requirement through multi-model ensembles and ensemble averaging." Geoscientific Model Development 8, no. 4 (April 29, 2015): 1233–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1233-2015.
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Abstract. Irrigation agriculture plays an increasingly important role in food supply. Many evapotranspiration models are used today to estimate the water demand for irrigation. They consider different stages of crop growth by empirical crop coefficients to adapt evapotranspiration throughout the vegetation period. We investigate the importance of the model structural versus model parametric uncertainty for irrigation simulations by considering six evapotranspiration models and five crop coefficient sets to estimate irrigation water requirements for growing wheat in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia. The study is carried out using the spatial decision support system SPARE:WATER. We find that structural model uncertainty among reference ET is far more important than model parametric uncertainty introduced by crop coefficients. These crop coefficients are used to estimate irrigation water requirement following the single crop coefficient approach. Using the reliability ensemble averaging (REA) technique, we are able to reduce the overall predictive model uncertainty by more than 10%. The exceedance probability curve of irrigation water requirements shows that a certain threshold, e.g. an irrigation water limit due to water right of 400 mm, would be less frequently exceeded in case of the REA ensemble average (45%) in comparison to the equally weighted ensemble average (66%). We conclude that multi-model ensemble predictions and sophisticated model averaging techniques are helpful in predicting irrigation demand and provide relevant information for decision making.
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Young, Marcus, Natasha Holmes, Raymond Robbins, Nada Marhoon, Sobia Amjad, Ary Serpa Neto, and Rinaldo Bellomo. "Natural language processing to assess the epidemiology of delirium-suggestive behavioural disturbances in critically ill patients." Critical Care and Resuscitation 23, no. 2 (June 7, 2021): 144–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.51893/2021.2.oa1.
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Background: There is no gold standard approach for delirium diagnosis, making the assessment of its epidemiology difficult. Delirium can only be inferred though observation of behavioural disturbance and described with relevant nouns or adjectives. Objective: We aimed to use natural language processing (NLP) and its identification of words descriptive of behavioural disturbance to study the epidemiology of delirium in critically ill patients. Study design: Retrospective study using data collected from the electronic health records of a university-affiliated intensive care unit (ICU) in Melbourne, Australia. Participants: 12 375 patients Intervention: Analysis of electronic progress notes. Identification using NLP of at least one of a list of words describing behavioural disturbance within such notes. Results: We analysed 199 648 progress notes in 12 375 patients. Of these, 5108 patients (41.3%) had NLP-diagnosed behavioural disturbance (NLP-Dx-BD). Compared with those who did not have NLP-Dx-DB, these patients were older, more severely ill, and likely to have medical or unplanned admissions, neurological diagnosis, chronic kidney or liver disease and to receive mechanical ventilation and renal replacement therapy (P < 0.001). The unadjusted hospital mortality for NLP-Dx-BD patients was 14.1% versus 9.6% for patients without NLP-Dx-BD. After adjustment for baseline characteristics and illness severity, NLP-Dx-BD was not associated with increased risk of death (odds ratio [OR], 0.94; 95% CI, 0.80–1.10); a finding robust to multiple sensitivity, subgroups and time of observation subcohort analyses. In mechanically ventilated patients, NLP-Dx-BD was associated with decreased hospital mortality (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.65–0.99) after adjustment for baseline severity of illness and year of admission. Conclusions: NLP enabled rapid assessment of large amounts of data identifying a population of ICU patients with typical high risk characteristics for delirium. Moreover, this technique enabled identification of previously poorly understood associations. Further investigations of this technique appear justified.
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Johnston, Michael, Dave Algar, Michael O'Donoghue, Jim Morris, Tony Buckmaster, and Julie Quinn. "Efficacy and welfare assessment of an encapsulated para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) formulation as a bait-delivered toxicant for feral cats (Felis catus)." Wildlife Research 47, no. 8 (2020): 686. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr19171.
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Abstract ContextFeral cats are invasive predators of small and medium-sized fauna throughout Australia. The only broad-scale population-management technique for feral cats currently available in Australia is poison baiting. As poison baits for feral cats must be surface-laid, this can lead to the unintended exposure of non-target species consuming the baits. Encapsulation of a toxin within a robust, controlled-release pellet implanted within the meat lure (the combination of which is termed the Curiosity® bait) substantially reduces the potential risk to non-target species. Para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) has been shown to be an effective toxin to which cats are highly susceptible. AimsThe present study aimed to measure the efficacy of encapsulating PAPP toxin in a controlled-release pellet on feral cats in a pen situation and to document the observed behaviours through the toxication process. MethodsPen trials with captive cats were undertaken to document efficacy of encapsulating PAPP toxin in a controlled-release pellet and to assess the behaviours during toxicosis. These behaviours inform an assessment of the humaneness associated with the Curiosity bait using a published relative humaneness model. Key resultsThe trials demonstrated a 95% consumption of the toxic pellet and observed the pattern of behaviours exhibited during the intoxication process. There was a definitive delay in the onset of clinical signs and death followed at ~185min after the first definitive sign. The humaneness using the relative humaneness model was scored at ‘mild suffering’. ConclusionsThe encapsulating PAPP toxin in a controlled-release pellet for feral cats is effective. The feral cats display a range of behaviours through the toxication process, and these have been interpreted as mild suffering under the relative humaneness model. ImplicationsThe documented efficacy and behaviours of encapsulating PAPP toxin in a controlled-release pellet provides knowledge of how the PAPP toxin works on feral cats, which may assist in decision-making processes for conservation land managers controlling feral cats and whether to incorporate the use of the Curiosity® bait into existing management techniques.
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Marshall, Shelley, and Richard Mitchell. "Enterprise Bargaining, Managerial Prerogative and the Protection of Workers? Rights: An Argument on the Role of Law and Regulatory Strategy in Australia under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth)." International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations 22, Issue 3 (September 1, 2006): 299–327. http://dx.doi.org/10.54648/ijcl2006016.
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Abstract: Since the beginning of the 1990s successive Australian national governments (from both right and left of the political spectrum) have overseen a shift in the regulation of employment relations from one based on centralised arbitrated awards to one of enterprise bargaining. The ostensible purpose of this policy was to facilitate the development of workplace-focused systems of regulation which were sensitive to the need for flexible production and employment systems in the context of the global economy. The evidence suggests that whilst many of the objectives of the enterprise bargaining project have been attained (particularly the goal of greater flexibility in employment systems), the law has been less effective in protecting the interests of workers, particularly their power to influence decision-making at the place of work. The major impact of enterprise bargaining upon the workplace, the paper proposes, has been the restoration of managerial prerogative which previously had been mediated through arbitration or the power of trade unions. Finally, the paper draws conclusions on the changing role of the institutions which regulate Australian industrial relations. Historically, Australian industrial tribunals have combined the features of judicial bodies and regulatory agencies. The paper concludes that a shift is occurring in Australian labour law from a mixture of self-regulation and centralised ?command and control?, to ?enforced self-regulation?, thus signalling a systemic and profound reorientation in regulatory policy and technique in Australian labour market regulation
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Mondaca, S. L., C. A. Leiva, C. A. Acuña, and E. A. Serey. "Flow Enhancement of Mineral Pastes to Increase Water Recovery in Tailings: A Matlab-Based Imaging Processing Tool." Scientific Programming 2020 (May 26, 2020): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/5607242.
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The rate of growth of mining copper industry in Chile requires higher consumption of water, which is a resource limited in quality and quantity and a major point of concern in present times. In addition, the efficient use of water is restricted due to high levels of evaporation (10 to 15 (l/m2) per day), in particular at the north highland mining sites (Chile). On the contrary, the final disposal of tailings is mainly on pond, which loses water by evaporation and in some cases by percolation. An alternative are the paste thickeners, which generate stable paste (70% solids), reducing evaporation and percolation and therefore reducing water make up. Water is a resource with more demand as the industries are expanding, making the water recovery processes more of a necessity than a simple upgrade in efficiency. This technology was developed in Canada (early 80s) and it has widely been used in Australia (arid zones with similar weather conditions to Chile), although few plants are using this technology. The tendency in the near future is to move from open ponds to paste thickeners. One of the examples of this is Minera El Tesoro. This scenario requires developing technical capacity in both paste flow characterization and rheology modifiers (fluidity enhancer) in order to make possible the final disposal of this paste. In this context, a new technique is introduced and experimental results of fluidity modifiers are discussed. This study describes how water content affects the flow behavior and depositional geometry of tailings and silica flour pastes. The depositional angle determined from the flume tests, and the yield stresses is determined from slump test and a rheological model. Both techniques incorporate digital video and image analysis. The results indicate that the new technique can be incorporated in order to determine the proper solid content and modifiers to a given fluidity requirement. In addition, the experimental results showed that the pH controls strongly the fluid paste behavior.
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Hanson, Camilla S., Jeremy R. Chapman, John S. Gill, John Kanellis, Germaine Wong, Jonathan C. Craig, Armando Teixeira-Pinto, et al. "Identifying Outcomes that Are Important to Living Kidney Donors." Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 13, no. 6 (May 31, 2018): 916–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.2215/cjn.13441217.
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Background and objectivesLiving kidney donor candidates accept a range of risks and benefits when they decide to proceed with nephrectomy. Informed consent around this decision assumes they receive reliable data about outcomes they regard as critical to their decision making. We identified the outcomes most important to living kidney donors and described the reasons for their choices.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsPrevious donors were purposively sampled from three transplant units in Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) and Canada (Vancouver). In focus groups using the nominal group technique, participants identified outcomes of donation, ranked them in order of importance, and discussed the reasons for their preferences. An importance score was calculated for each outcome. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically.ResultsAcross 14 groups, 123 donors aged 27–78 years identified 35 outcomes. Across all participants, the ten highest ranked outcomes were kidney function (importance=0.40, scale 0–1), time to recovery (0.27), surgical complications (0.24), effect on family (0.22), donor-recipient relationship (0.21), life satisfaction (0.18), lifestyle restrictions (0.18), kidney failure (0.14), mortality (0.13), and acute pain/discomfort (0.12). Kidney function and kidney failure were more important to Canadian participants, compared with Australian donors. The themes identified included worthwhile sacrifice, insignificance of risks and harms, confidence and empowerment, unfulfilled expectations, and heightened susceptibility.ConclusionsLiving kidney donors prioritized a range of outcomes, with the most important being kidney health and the surgical, lifestyle, functional, and psychosocial effects of donation. Donors also valued improvements to their family life and donor-recipient relationship. There were clear regional differences in the rankings.
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Castanelli, Damian J., Jennifer M. Weller, Anusha R. Chander, Elizabeth K. Molloy, and Margaret L. Bearman. "A balancing act: The Supervisor of Training role in anaesthesia education." Anaesthesia and Intensive Care 47, no. 4 (July 2019): 349–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0310057x19853593.
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In this qualitative study, we report how Supervisors of Training, educational supervisors overseeing the learning of anaesthesia trainees, experience their role in practice. Using purposive sampling, we interviewed Supervisors of Training from across Australia and New Zealand. The interviews began by asking ‘what do you see as your role as a Supervisor of Training?’ then explored the response in detail. Following the technique of thematic analysis, inductive analysis occurred as data were collected until we generated a thematic structure sufficient to address our research question after 19 interviews. In the first three of the four identified themes, Supervisors of Training perceived themselves as the fulcrum of the learning environment, ‘the something in between’. These three themes were: guiding and assessing trainees; identifying, supporting, and adjudicating trainee underperformance; and mediating trainees’ relationship with the hospital. Participants perceived themselves as a broker between trainees, their colleagues, their hospital, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and the community to varying degrees at different times. Negotiating these competing responsibilities required Supervisors of Training to manage multiple different relationships and entailed significant emotional work. Our fourth theme, scarcity, described the imbalance between these demands and the time and resources available. The complexity of the Supervisor of Training role and the tensions between these competing demands is underappreciated. Our findings would support strategies to mitigate the administrative load and share the decision-making burden of the role and to enhance the capability of Supervisors of Training by requiring formal training for the role.
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SRIVASTAVA, KULDEEP, SHARONS Y. LAU, H. Y. YEUNG, T. L. CHENG, RASHMI BHARDWAJ, A. M. KANNAN, S. K. ROY BHOWMIK, and HARI SINGH. "Use of SWIRLS nowcasting system for quantitative precipitation forecast using Indian DWR data." MAUSAM 63, no. 1 (December 31, 2021): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.54302/mausam.v63i1.1442.
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Local severe storms are extreme weather events that last only for a few hours and evolve rapidly. Very often the mesoscale features associated these local severe storms are not well-captured synoptically. Forecasters have to predict the changing weather situation in the next 0-6 hrs based on latest observations. The operational process to predict the weather in the next 0-6 hrs is known as “nowcast”. Observational data that are typically suited for nowcasting includes Doppler Weather Radar (DWR), wind profiler, microwave sounder and satellite radiance. To assist forecasters, in predicting the weather information and making warning decisions, various nowcasting systems have been developed by various countries in recent years. Notable examples are Auto-Nowcaster (U.S.), BJ-ANC (China-U.S.), CARDS (Canada), GRAPES-SWIFT (China), MAPLE (Canada), NIMROD (U.K.), NIWOT (U.S.), STEPS (Australia), SWIRLS (Hong Kong, China), TIFS (Australia), TITAN (U.S.) (Dixon and Wiener, 1993) and WDSS (U.S.). Some of these systems were used in the two forecast demonstration projects organized by WMO for the Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 Olympic. A common feature of these systems is that they all use rapidly updated radar data, typically once every 6 minutes.The nowcasting system SWIRLS (“Short-range Warning of Intense Rainstorms in Localized Systems”) has been developed by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and was put into operation in Hong Kong in 1999. Since then system has undergone several upgrades, the latest known as “SWIRLS-2” to support the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. SWIRLS-2 is being adapted by India Meteorological Department (IMD) for use and test for the Commonwealth Games 2010 at New Delhi with assistance from HKO. SWIRLS-2 ingests a range of observation data including SIGMET/IRIS DWR radar product, raingauge data, radiosonde data, lightning data to analyze and predict reflectivity, radar-echo motion, QPE, QPF, as well as track of thunderstorm and its associated severe weather, including cloud-to-ground lightning, severe squalls and hail, and probability of precipitation. SWIRLS-2 uses a number of algorithms to derive the storm motion vectors. These include TREC (“Tracking of Radar Echoes by Correlation”), GTrack (Group tracking of radar echoes, an object-oriented technique for tracking the movement of a storm as a whole entity) and lately MOVA (“Multi-scale Optical flow by Variational Analysis”). This latest algorithm uses optical flow, a technique commonly used in motion detection in image processing, and variational analysis to derive the motion vector field. By cascading through a range of scales, MOVA can better depict the actual storm motion vector field as compared with TREC and GTrack which does well in tracking small scales features and storm entity respectively. In this paper the application of TREC and MOVA to derive the storm motion vector, reflectivity and QPF using Indian DWR data has been demonstrated for the thunderstorm events over Kolkata and New Delhi. The system has been successfully operationalized for Delhi and neighborhood area for commonwealth games 2010. Real time products are available on IMD website
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Gajanan, Prabhune Akash, Mallavaram Aishwarya, Bhat Sachin, Pandey Samridhi, Reddy Ashitha, and Hari Vinay Sri. "Evaluation of COVID-19 Vaccination Websites Using DISCERN and Quality Evaluation Scoring (QUEST) Tools." Research in Health Science 7, no. 3 (August 17, 2022): p26. http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/rhs.v7n3p26.
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Background: The objective of this paper was to evaluate the COVID-19 vaccine registration website across UN-recognized member states for their portal quality, reliability, Ease Use and help to the general population in informed decision making.Methods: 12 UN member states (Countries) were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria mentioned in the methodology section of this paper. PPS technique was used for sampling and selection of 12 countries from 193 UN member states. Post selection of UN member states the study used 2 step evaluation techniques, Step 1 The DISCERN checklist consists of 16 questions in three sections and is aimed to assess the reliability of information and quality of information; Step 2 The QUEST tool consists of 6 items with a subitem, Authorship, Attribution, Conflict of Interest, Complementarity, Currency, Tone. The authors developed a standard set of instructions for evaluating Vaccination Portals to bring uniformity in understanding and context setting.Results: DISCERN tool overall reliability score on the Likert scale of 0 to 5 was 4 (SD ± 1.28). On Quality of information regarding treatment choices, the average score was 3.4 (SD ± 1.67). The QUEST tool on ease of use, concision, and comprehensiveness demonstrated an average score of 18.1 (SD ± 8.3) out of 28.The vaccine registration portal of the Czech Republic was found to be most informative and was able to provide a piece of scientifically valid information on safety, efficacy, long-term short effects, choice of vaccine with attributable authors details. India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, South Africa scored relatively low to missing critical information on the website. The United Arab Emirates, Republic of South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, and Argentina had minor elements missing.Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination portals vary in the quality of information, and many were found unable to provide critical information for decision making on getting vaccinated.
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Hwang, Jong-yong, and Seung-soo Jang. "A Study on the Direction of Improvement of Field Police Shooting Training." Korean Society of Private Security 21, no. 3 (September 30, 2022): 175–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.56603/jksps.2022.21.3.175.
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This study is aim to explore the improvement direction and derive a plan so that police education and training such as tasers and pistols can be used in the field. To this end, opinions on the direction of improvement of shooting training were collected and analyzed by qualitative research from seven field police officers.
As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the training situation should be created similar to reality based on realistic scenarios, and that conditions for many police officers to train should be prepared by distributing simulation training systems using virtual reality. In addition, the current training paradigm is basically assumed to shoot, and it is confirmed that the shooting technique of accurately shooting at the target is improved, which should be changed. In fact, the dispatched police officer is considering whether to fire or not to fire at the target or subdue it with other low-risk means, but the decision-making training for this part is still in its infancy.
Accordingly, it was suggested to develop a scenario based on the actual case of the physical force use report, and to distribute a simulation system using VR so that all police officers can actually participate in the training. Also, I tried to draw a training system that quickly and accurately recognizes various elements of the dispatch site and decides whether to shoot or not through the cases of developed countries such as the United States and Australia. In addition, the framework of complex scenarios to develop the ability to grasp the characteristics of victims, context such as relationships with the persons concerned, and physical specificity of the field was derived from the research participants' presentation and scenarios in developed countries.
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McIntosh, Peter C., Andrew J. Ash, and Mark Stafford Smith. "From Oceans to Farms: The Value of a Novel Statistical Climate Forecast for Agricultural Management." Journal of Climate 18, no. 20 (October 15, 2005): 4287–302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jcli3515.1.
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Abstract The economic value of seasonal climate forecasting is assessed using a whole-of-chain analysis. The entire system, from sea surface temperature (SST) through pasture growth and animal production to economic and resource outcomes, is examined. A novel statistical forecast method is developed using the partial least squares spatial correlation technique with near-global SST. This method permits forecasts to be tailored for particular regions and industries. The method is used to forecast plant growth days rather than rainfall. Forecast skill is measured by performing a series of retrospective forecasts (hindcasts) over the previous century. The hindcasts are cross-validated to guard against the possibility of artificial skill, so there is no skill at predicting random time series. The hindcast skill is shown to be a good estimator of the true forecast skill obtained when only data from previous years are used in developing the forecast. Forecasts of plant growth, reduced to three categories, are used in several agricultural examples in Australia. For the northeast Queensland grazing industry, the economic value of this forecast is shown to be greater than that of a Southern Oscillation index (SOI) based forecast and to match or exceed the value of a “perfect” category rainfall forecast. Reasons for the latter surprising result are given. Resource degradation, in this case measured by soil loss, is shown to remain insignificant despite increasing production from the land. Two further examples in Queensland, one for the cotton industry and one for wheat, are illustrated in less depth. The value of a forecast is again shown to match or exceed that obtained using the SOI, although further investigation of the decision-making responses to forecasts is needed to extract the maximum benefit for these industries.
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Lewis, Jennifer, Natasha Bear, Felicity Baker, Adam Fowler, Olivia Lee, Kim McLennan, Emma Richardson, et al. "Australian children undergoing selective dorsal rhizotomy: protocol for a national registry of multidimensional outcomes." BMJ Open 9, no. 4 (April 2019): e025093. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025093.
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IntroductionSelective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is a neurosurgical intervention intended to permanently reduce spasticity in the lower limbs and improve mobility in selected children with cerebral palsy (CP). Despite SDR having been performed worldwide for the past 30 years, there is moderate quality of evidence that SDR is effective in reducing spasticity with low to very low evidence of its effectiveness in improving gait, function and participation, using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) system. Published studies have described outcomes for groups that differ in selection, surgical technique and postoperative rehabilitation making it difficult for clinicians to use this information to advise families on best management. There is substantial community interest in SDR. A small number of children with CP undergo SDR in Australia each year and some families seek the intervention at international sites. Capturing clinical outcomes and adverse event (AE) data for Australian children undergoing SDR will provide clinicians with information to help guide families considering SDR.Methods and analysisThe Australian SDR Research Registry is a national registry of multidimensional outcomes for Australian children undergoing SDR in an Australian or overseas centre. Data will be collected for up to 10 years following the surgery, to include surgery and admission details, surgical and long-term AEs, and outcome measures across the body structure and functions, activity and participation domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Data will be collected at baseline, during inpatient admission and at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years post. The aim of collecting these data is to improve understanding of short-, medium- and long-term outcomes and adverse effects of the intervention.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the individual Human Research and Ethics committees at the five Australian tertiary hospitals involved. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.Trial registration numberACTRN12618000985280; Pre-results.
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Ali, Yousaf, Muhammad Waseem Khan, UbaidUllah Mumtaz, Aneel Salman, Noor Muhammad, and Muhammad Sabir. "Identification of factors influencing the rise of cesarean sections rates in Pakistan, using MCDM." International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance 31, no. 8 (October 8, 2018): 1058–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa-04-2018-0087.
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PurposeThe rate of cesarean sections has been rapidly increased in the last few decades in all the developing as well as developed countries. The rate of cesarean sections determined by the World Health Organization has been crossed by many countries, like Brazil, India, China, USA, Australia, etc. Similarly, this rate has also increased in Pakistan. The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the factors that are responsible for the rising rate of cesarean sections in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThese factors are categorized under medical and non-medical factors. The medical factors include the obesity of mother, age of mother, weight of the baby, umbilical cord prolapse, fetal distress, abnormal presentation, dystocia and failure to progress. The non-medical factors include financial incentives of doctors, time convenience for doctors, high tolerance to surgery, patient’s preference toward cesarean section, private hospitals, public hospitals, income status of patients, rural areas, urban areas and the education of patients. To identify the critical factors, data have been collected and a multi-criteria decision-making technique, called Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory, is used.FindingsThe result shows that the medical factors that are responsible for the rise in the rate of cesarean sections are umbilical cord prolapse, age of mother and obesity of mother. On the other hand, the non-medical factors that are the reasons for the increase in cesarean sections are the large number of private hospitals and the unethical acts of the doctors in these hospitals, preference of patients, and either the unavailability of doctors or poor conditions of hospitals in rural areas.Originality/valueCesarean section is an important surgical intervention and is considered to be very essential in the cases of existing as well as potential medical problems to the mother or the baby. Cesarean section is also performed for non-medical reasons. In Pakistan, the number of private hospitals has increased and these hospitals provide good health care. However, these hospitals do not work under the rules and regulations set by the government. The doctors in private hospitals perform unnecessary cesarean sections in order to fulfill the demands of private hospital’s owners. In addition to this, it is also found that, nowadays, most women prefer to give birth through cesarean section in order to eliminate the pain of normal vaginal delivery.
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Wilkinson, Sara. "Building approval data and the quantification of sustainability over time." Structural Survey 33, no. 2 (May 11, 2015): 92–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ss-02-2015-0009.
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Purpose – The fifth IPCC report on climate change concluded current progress to mitigate anthropocentric climate change is not making any impact. As the built environment emits 50 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating climate change through sustainable construction and adaptation is a priority. Although many new buildings have sustainability ratings, they comprise a minute amount of the total stock. Meanwhile policy makers are adopting strategies to become carbon neutral with targets that require measurement. The purpose of this paper is to propose a means of quantifying the uptake of sustainability across all stock over time using existing policy frameworks. Design/methodology/approach – Given that this is a scoping study to explore the potential to adapt existing frameworks to facilitate the quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time, the research adopted a focus group technique with experienced stakeholders in Australia and England. Qualitative research is inductive and hypothesis generating. That is; as the research assimilates knowledge and information contained in the literature ideas and questions are formed, which are put to research participants and from this process conclusions are drawn. Findings – It is technologically feasible to collect data on sustainability measures within the building approvals systems in Victoria and NSW Australia and England and Wales and a conceptual model is proposed. Economically, costs need to be covered, and it is unclear which group should pay. Socially, the benefits would be to determine how society is progressing towards goals. The benefits of achieving reduced carbon emissions would be mitigation of the predicted changes to climate and informing society of progress. Politically, it is unlikely there is a will to make provisions for this proposal in existing regulatory systems. Research limitations/implications – The key limitations of the research were that the views expressed are those of a select group of experienced practitioners and may not represent the consensus view of the professions and industry as a whole. The limitations and criticisms of focus group data collection are that the sessions may be dominated by individuals holding strong views. Practical implications – The findings show that adaptation of the existing data collected by building control authorities could allow some quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time. A simple initial system could be implemented with relative ease to ascertain the value of the data. Over time the system could be extended to collect more data that could facilitate more precise quantification of sustainability. Significantly policy makers would have a tool that would allow them to measure the success or otherwise of mandatory and voluntary measures introduced to increase the uptake of sustainability. Originality/value – To date, no one has considered the practicality or potential utility of adapting existing information gathered for building approval purposes for the quantification of the up-take of sustainability across the whole stock over time. The value of using building approval data are that all building types are required to have building approvals prior to work being undertaken.