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Unsettling conceptions of Indigenous youth, reimagining the future: Beyond a problem for education and criminal justice

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Brown, Lauren Lillian 2021 Unsettling conceptions of Indigenous youth, reimagining the future: Beyond a problem for education and criminal justice There is an absence of Australian scholarship regarding the emergence of Indigenous youth as a social category despite decades of intervention into the life worlds of young First Peoples. These interventions are often justified as attempts to solve the problem for young First Peoples while mutually constituting Indigenous young people—and their families, as the problem. In response to this absence and the rendering of Indigenous young people as a problem, this study addresses two questions: Why and in what ways have young First Peoples come to be known through a priori conceptions of Indigenous youth? And how have these conceptions of Indigenous youth been contested and imagined otherwise? Indigenous women’s standpoint theory guides the broad ethical and methodological approach undertaken in this study, while theories of time, normativity and fugitivity form the conceptual foundation from which I respond to the research questions. Time is theorised as a racialised imposition which works to determine a normative future. Normativity supports an examination of what constitutes the ‘human’ and its exclusions, and lastly, fugitivity provides a theoretical entry and identification point to engage with counter-stories told by Indigenous peoples which contest and escape normative conceptions of Indigenous youth. These counter-stories instead work to recuperate the present humanity of young First Peoples. In attending to the way Indigenous young people have come to be understood as a problem, I draw on Foucault’s approach to discourse analysis. This study traces allusions and references to Indigenous young people as they have circulated in government and institutional records and policies, State sanctioned commissions and reviews, and the media in response to the following sites: the inaugural inclusion of Indigenous people in an Australian national census in 1971; and the release of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Report (1991) prompted by the brutal death in custody of 16-year-old Yindjibarndi teen John Pat in 1983 at the hands of four off-duty policemen and a police aide. Through an engagement with these sites, it emerges that Indigenous young people have come to be understood as a problem for education and criminal justice through two key discursive formations: inescapable deficiency and inevitable criminality. These discursive formations work to problematise Indigenous children and young people, rendering the education and criminal justice systems as infallible while figuring the inequalities experienced by First Peoples, and the internment in detention and death of Indigenous young people, as inevitable. Inevitability functions in discourses of criminal justice in the same way Indigenous deficiency is normalised in discourses of education: by positioning an imagined Indigenous future both for Indigenous people and communities as contingent on postcolonizing systems which have often sought their erasure or compliance. The bodies of Indigenous children and young people, as the present manifestation of Indigenous pasts and futures, are the primary corporeal sites where these discursive strategies continue to attempt to unfold. A desire-based approach, informed by the work of Unangax scholar Eve Tuck guides the second question posed in this study: how have these conceptions of Indigenous youth been contested and imagined otherwise? Through an engagement with counter narratives authored by Indigenous people, this question orients toward the profundity of representations which transcend the limited and limiting conceptions of Indigenous youth as a problem. The texts engaged with include a documentary film In My Blood It Runs (2019), a futurist live action television series Thalu (2020) and the creative writing of Indigenous young people published in an Indigenous-student led university magazine. These texts create fugitive spaces which force an analytical engagement beyond taken-for-granted registers of criminality and deficiency. In doing so these texts undermine the inevitability of settler futures, instead imagining the future as contingent on non-normative figurations of young First Peoples in the present moment. This study makes a significant contribution to critical Indigenous studies and youth studies scholarship by urging movement beyond empirical analyses of the experiences of Indigenous young people to a parallel interrogation of the very concepts scholars use to make sense of these experiences. © 2021 Lauren Lillian Brown PhD thesis

Australia and New Guinea

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Baker, B; Donohue, M; Fletcher, J 2021 Australia and New Guinea Chapter

The AutosegmentalMetrical Theory of Intonational Phonology

2021-01-07T00:00:00Z

Arvaniti, A; Fletcher, J 2021-01-07 The AutosegmentalMetrical Theory of Intonational Phonology CHAPTER 6 THE AUTOSEGMENTALMETRICAL THEORY OF INTONATIONAL PHONOLOGY AMALIA ARVANITI AND JANET FLETCHER 6.1 INTRODUCTION THE autosegmental - metrical theory of intonational phonology ( henceforth AM ) ... Chapter

A Blue-Enriched, Increased Intensity Light Intervention to Improve Alertness and Performance in Rotating Night Shift Workers in an Operational Setting

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Sletten, TL; Raman, B; Magee, M; Ferguson, SA; Kennaway, DJ; Grunstein, RR; Lockley, SW; Rajaratnam, SMW 2021-01-01 A Blue-Enriched, Increased Intensity Light Intervention to Improve Alertness and Performance in Rotating Night Shift Workers in an Operational Setting Purpose: This study examined the efficacy of a lighting intervention that increased both light intensity and short-wavelength (blue) light content to improve alertness, performance and mood in night shift workers in a chemical plant. Patients and Methods: During rostered night shifts, 28 workers (46.0±10.8 years; 27 male) were exposed to two light conditions each for two consecutive nights (~19:00-07:00 h) in a counterbalanced repeated measures design: traditional-spectrum lighting set at pre-study levels (43 lux, 4000 K) versus higher intensity, blue-enriched lighting (106 lux, 17,000 K), equating to a 4.5-fold increase in melanopic illuminance (24 to 108 melanopic illuminance). Participants completed the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, subjective mood ratings, and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) every 2-4 hours during the night shift. Results: A significant main effect of time indicated KSS, PVT mean reaction time, number of PVT lapses (reaction times > 500 ms) and subjective tension, misery and depression worsened over the course of the night shift (p<0.05). Percentage changes in KSS (p<0.05, partial η2=0.14) and PVT mean reaction time (p<0.05, partial η2=0.19) and lapses (p<0.05, partial η2=0.17) in the middle and end of night shift, expressed relative to start of shift, were significantly improved during the lighting intervention compared to the traditional lighting condition. Self-reported mood did not significantly differ between conditions (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our findings, showing improvements in alertness and performance with exposure to blue-enriched, increased intensity light, provide support for light to be used as a countermeasure for impaired alertness in night shift work settings. Journal Article

Understanding the genetic basis and pathogenic mechanism of focal cortical dysplasia

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Lee, Wei Shern 2021 Understanding the genetic basis and pathogenic mechanism of focal cortical dysplasia Focal Cortical Dysplasia (FCD) is one of the most common brain malformations and a frequent cause of intractable epilepsy. Affected individuals often require surgical removal of the affected cortex for seizure control. The European Epilepsy Brain Bank estimates that different subtypes of FCD are the reason for up to 70.6% of epilepsy surgery related to brain malformations. Given the clinical importance of this disorder, there is an urgent need to further understand its biology and disease mechanism. Although FCD was first described 50 years ago, the genetic and pathogenic mechanisms of the disorder remain incompletely understood. We hypothesise that the delineation of disease mechanism underlying FCD will not only improve diagnosis and clinical management, but will also provide novel insights into the mechanisms underpinning human brain development and function. This project applied modern genomic technologies to comprehensively study a unique archive of surgical brain tissues derived from individuals affected by FCD. The first part of this study focussed on understanding the genetic basis of a subtype of FCD, known as bottom-of-sulcus dysplasia (BOSD). BOSD is a highly localised subtype of FCD with the dysplastic features being maximal at the bottom of sulcus. Using deep sequencing, we analysed blood and brain derived gDNA from 20 BOSD brain specimens. We found that brain-specific, pathogenic somatic MTOR variants accounted for 50% of the cases, with an additional two cases caused by heterozygous germline variant in DEPDC5 or NPRL3. These genes are all involved in the mTOR signalling pathway. Further characterisation of four somatic MTOR cases found that the somatic variants were more abundant in the bottom of sulcus compared to the nearby cortex, with a positive correlation with the severity of histopathology. Our study shows that BOSD belongs to an expanding group of “mTORopathies” and highlights that BOSD lesion is highly localised, with well-defined genetic and pathologic substrates. In the second part of this study, we tested the germline + somatic “two-hit” hypothesis in FCD. The “two-hit” hypothesis suggests that individuals with heterozygous germline variant acquired FCD lesion as a result of a somatic second “hit”. In a case study of an individual with FCD and a heterozygous germline DEPDC5 variant, we identified a somatic second “hit” in the same gene. By combining experimental and clinical findings, we showed in this individual that the brain region with the highest somatic variant allele frequency was also the region of seizure onset, suggesting a relationship between the somatic variant and epileptogenicity. We further characterised the brain specimens and found that somatic variant allele frequency positively correlated to the density of dysmorphic neurons. Furthermore, laser capture microdissection showed that the somatic variant was only detected in the dysmorphic neurons and not in the normal neurons. Collectively, we provided supporting evidence for the “two-hit” mechanism and demonstrated the molecular and cellular characteristics of FCD lesion. The third part of this study involved the application of single nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) to study 26 surgical brain specimens resected due to a range of brain malformations including FCD. These brain malformations are closely related and commonly characterised by the presence of abnormal cell types i.e. dysmorphic neurons and balloon cells. We generated 284,891 single nuclei transcriptomes, the largest snRNA-seq dataset for epilepsy brain specimens to date. Using a combination of bioinformatic analysis and molecular characterisation, we identified the probable transcriptional profiles of dysmorphic neurons and balloon cells. Furthermore, we identified commonly perturbed pathways in both cell types, namely calcium signalling pathway and glutamatergic synapse regulation, which may help explain the pathogenic mechanism underlying these different types of closely related brain malformations. In conclusion, this study has provided fundamental insights into the genetic and pathogenic mechanism underlying FCD and related brain malformations. In addition to improving genetic diagnosis and clinical management, these findings have the potential to pave the way for the identification of novel druggable targets by defining the genetic and transcriptomic profiles of FCD. © 2021 Wei Shern Lee PhD thesis

Characterizing the turbulent drag properties of rough surfaces with a Taylor-Couette set-up

2021-06-01T00:00:00Z

Berghout, P; Bullee, PA; Fuchs, T; Scharnowski, S; Kaehler, CJ; Chung, D; Lohse, D; Huisman, SG 2021-06-01 Characterizing the turbulent drag properties of rough surfaces with a Taylor-Couette set-up Abstract Journal Article

Young Australians’ Confidence in Political Institutions and Their Civic Engagement

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Fu, J; Wyn, J; Churchill, B 2021 Young Australians’ Confidence in Political Institutions and Their Civic Engagement Report

The influence of conferences of the parties on the content and implementation of their parent treaties

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Rioseco Sullivan, Sebastian Andres 2021 The influence of conferences of the parties on the content and implementation of their parent treaties Conferences of the Parties (‘COPs’) are intergovernmental meetings established by treaties. They are formed by representatives of all the states parties and they meet periodically to review and promote the execution of the convention that establishes them. COPs are empowered to perform several activities to achieve their objectives, such as adopting normative decisions, monitoring the implementation of measures by states parties, managing funds, and setting up subsidiary organs. The literature on COPs is not abundant and it has two main characteristics. First, it is based almost exclusively on multilateral environmental agreements adopted between the 1970s and the late 1990s. Second, it focuses on specific topics, such as the nature of COPs, the implications of COP normative activities for state consent in treaty law-making, and the legal status of COP decisions. These features reveal some gaps that deserve to be further studied. This thesis explores the ways in which COPs influence international law. It considers the following question: how do COP activities affect the content and the implementation of their parent-treaties? To provide an answer the thesis focuses on the normative activities of COPs to identify patterns in their relationship with the content and implementation of their parent treaties. The analysis is based on four case studies from different areas of international law: the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the Convention on Cluster Munitions; and UN Convention Against Corruption. Building on the literature on COPs and on wider international legal scholarship, including approaches that consider ‘law and literature’ and studies of fragmentation and regime interaction, the thesis demonstrates that COP decisions develop the content and support the implementation of their parent treaties. COPs use their ‘standard-setting’ function to specify the substance of their treaty provisions. In particular, COP resolutions use this role to (i) increase what states parties must do to comply with their obligations; (ii) establish procedures and timeframes; and (iii) give content to the meaning of words and expressions in the treaty. The thesis also contends that COP decisions promote the implementation of their treaties using diverse strategies to consolidate them, strengthening their social and political position. These mechanisms are (i) momentum-building; (ii) stigmatising the adversaries of their parent treaties, including non-parties; and (ii) connecting their conventions to powerful narratives and other international legal regimes. In addition, the thesis engages with the most relevant debates in the existing literature on COPs. It argues that while the case studies do not present situations where COP resolutions bind a state without its consent, other factors support the idea that the role of state consent in treaty law-making is attenuated in the context of COP activities. Concerning the legal status of COP decisions, the thesis claims that COP resolutions can produce legal effects through more paths than assisting in the interpretation of their parent treaties. The analysis of the case studies and their connection to certain ICJ decisions reveal the existence of these alternative avenues. © 2021 Sebastian Andres Rioseco Sullivan PhD thesis

Comment on Zhou et al. Cost-effectiveness of Diabetes Prevention Interventions Targeting High-risk Individuals and Whole Populations: A Systematic Review. Diabetes Care 2020;43:1593-1616

2020-12-01T00:00:00Z

Sathish, T; Shaw, JE; Oldenburg, B; Mahal, A 2020-12-01 Comment on Zhou et al. Cost-effectiveness of Diabetes Prevention Interventions Targeting High-risk Individuals and Whole Populations: A Systematic Review. Diabetes Care 2020;43:1593-1616 Journal Article

The Impact of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on 24-Hour Movement Behavior in People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: New Insights From a Compositional Perspective

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Burge, AT; Palarea-Albaladejo, J; Holland, AE; Abramson, MJ; McDonald, CF; Mahal, A; Hill, CJ; Lee, AL; Cox, NS; Lahham, A; Moore, R; Nicolson, C; O'Halloran, P; Gillies, R; Chastin, SFM 2021-01-01 The Impact of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on 24-Hour Movement Behavior in People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: New Insights From a Compositional Perspective BACKGROUND: Physical activity levels are low in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and there is limited knowledge about how pulmonary rehabilitation transforms movement behaviors. This study analyzed data from a pulmonary rehabilitation trial and identified determinants of movement behaviors. METHODS: Objectively assessed time in daily movement behaviors (sleep, sedentary, light-intensity physical activity, and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity) from a randomized controlled trial (n = 73 participants) comparing home- and center-based pulmonary rehabilitation was analyzed using conventional and compositional analytical approaches. Regression analysis was used to assess relationships between movement behaviors, participant features, and response to the interventions. RESULTS: Compositional analysis revealed no significant differences in movement profiles between the home- and center-based groups. At end rehabilitation, conventional analyses identified positive relationships between exercise capacity (6-min walk distance), light-intensity physical activity, and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity time. Compositional analyses identified positive relationships between a 6-minute walk distance and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity time, accompanied by negative relationships with sleep and sedentary time (relative to other time components) and novel relationships between body mass index and light-intensity physical activity/sedentary time. CONCLUSION: Compositional analyses following pulmonary rehabilitation identified unique associations between movement behaviors that were not evident in conventional analyses. Journal Article

'Willingness to Pay': The Value Attributed to Program Location by Pulmonary Rehabilitation Participants

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Burge, A; Holland, AE; McDonald, CF; Abramson, MJ; Hill, CJ; Lee, AL; Cox, NS; Moore, R; Nicolson, C; O'Halloran, P; Lahham, A; Gillies, R; Mahal, A 2020-01-01 'Willingness to Pay': The Value Attributed to Program Location by Pulmonary Rehabilitation Participants Conference Paper

The state of stroke services across the globe: Report of World Stroke Organization-World Health Organization surveys.

2021-05-27T00:00:00Z

Owolabi, MO; Thrift, AG; Martins, S; Johnson, W; Pandian, J; Abd-Allah, F; Varghese, C; Mahal, A; Yaria, J; Phan, HT; Roth, G; Gall, SL; Beare, R; Phan, TG; Mikulik, R; Norrving, B; Feigin, VL 2021-05-27 The state of stroke services across the globe: Report of World Stroke Organization-World Health Organization surveys. BACKGROUND: Improving stroke services is critical for reducing the global stroke burden. The World Stroke Organization-World Health Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission on Stroke conducted a survey of the status of stroke services in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to high-income countries. METHODS: Using a validated World Stroke Organization comprehensive questionnaire, we collected and compared data on stroke services along four pillars of the stroke quadrangle (surveillance, prevention, acute stroke, and rehabilitation) in 84 countries across World Health Organization regions and economic strata. The World Health Organization also conducted a survey of non-communicable diseases in 194 countries in 2019. RESULTS: Fewer surveillance activities (including presence of registries, presence of recent risk factors surveys, and participation in research) were reported in low-income countries than high-income countries. The overall global score for prevention was 40.2%. Stroke units were present in 91% of high-income countries in contrast to 18% of low-income countries (p < 0.001). Acute stroke treatments were offered in ∼ 60% of high-income countries compared to 26% of low-income countries (p = 0.009). Compared to high-income countries, LMICs provided less rehabilitation services including in-patient rehabilitation, home assessment, community rehabilitation, education, early hospital discharge program, and presence of rehabilitation protocol. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need to improve access to stroke units and services globally especially in LMICs. Countries with less stroke services can adapt strategies from those with better services. This could include establishment of a framework for regular monitoring of stroke burden and services, implementation of integrated prevention activities and essential acute stroke care services, and provision of interdisciplinary care for stroke rehabilitation. Journal Article

Imaging the ignition of dense, inhomogenous liquid fuel sprays at elevated temperatures and pressures

2020-12-11T00:00:00Z

Han, M; Gordon, R; Talei, M; Brear, M; Lacey, J 2020-12-11 Imaging the ignition of dense, inhomogenous liquid fuel sprays at elevated temperatures and pressures Conference Paper

International comparison of building energy performance standards

2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

Horne, R; Hayles, C; Ron, W; Hes, D; Jensen, C 2005 International comparison of building energy performance standards Report

Family psychoeducation after a suicide attempt

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Krysinska, K; Andriessen, K 2021-01 Family psychoeducation after a suicide attempt

Family can play an important role in supporting a person at-risk of suicide, as well as through treatment and recovery after a suicide attempt. This text provides an overview of the impact a suicide attempt can have on the family and the needs of family carers. Examples of psychosocial interventions for people, mostly adolescents, who have made a suicide attempt and their families are presented along with psychoeducational materials developed for family carers, whose emotional proximity may hinder and/or facilitate engagement with the suicidal person. Although several interventions are promising, further research into the effectiveness of psychoeducational interventions and family involvement after a suicide attempt is warranted.

Chapter

Suicide loss

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Andriessen, K; Krysinska, K 2021-01 Suicide loss

Experiencing the suicide of a significant other, such as a family member or a friend, constitutes a major disruptive life event, which may exacerbate the risk of social, physical, and mental health problems, and suicidal behaviour in the bereaved individuals. This chapter describes how many people are bereaved by suicide, the possible grief reactions, and novel insights related to continuing bonds and personal growth that people bereaved by suicide may experience. The chapter also presents what types of support, either face-to-face or online, are available to people bereaved by suicide. While further research is needed to elucidate the effectiveness of support for people bereaved by suicide, the chapter concludes that all support should be offered in an involved, empathic, and educational climate.

Chapter

Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions for Family Members and Other Informal Support Persons of Individuals Who Have Made a Suicide Attempt.

2021-05-04T00:00:00Z

Krysinska, K; Andriessen, K; Ozols, I; Reifels, L; Robinson, J; Pirkis, J 2021-05-04 Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions for Family Members and Other Informal Support Persons of Individuals Who Have Made a Suicide Attempt. Background: Individuals recovering from a suicide attempt may benefit from support provided by informal carers, that is, family members and other support persons, who may require support themselves. Aims: This systematic review aims to identify and synthesize available literature on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for this carer population. Method: A search of peer-reviewed literature in five databases was carried out. Studies using any design were eligible and results were synthesized using a narrative review. Results: Eight articles reporting on seven quantitative studies met the eligibility criteria. This included three studies on interventions designed specifically for informal carers and four studies on interventions designed for persons who have made a suicide attempt, and which involved their informal carers. Overall, informal carers were satisfied with support and psychosocial interventions they received. Interventions were related to some improvements in carers' mental health outcomes, lowered burden, and improved ability to provide care. There were mixed results regarding family functioning and quality of life. Limitations: No studies from lower- and middle-income countries were identified and the small number of heterogeneous studies precluded conducting a meta-analysis. Conclusion: Given the low number of studies and their overall poor quality, this review can only draw preliminary conclusions. More high-quality intervention studies are needed to formulate recommendations for effective psychosocial support for family members and other informal support persons after a suicide attempt. Journal Article

The role of volunteer organizations in suicide prevention

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Andriessen, K 2021-01 The role of volunteer organizations in suicide prevention

Contemporary suicide prevention emerged, to a large extent, as a result of groundwork conducted by volunteers. This chapter focuses on the involvement of volunteers in suicide prevention organizations throughout history and across the world, including the involvement of volunteers in suicide bereavement support. The characteristics of volunteers and volunteer organizations are presented. The question regarding the effectiveness of volunteer organizations is discussed (e.g. the available evidence regarding the positive effects of telephone crisis lines, online help, and community volunteer organizations). However, further research is needed given the shortage of studies. The chapter concludes with a plea for increased cooperation between volunteer and professional organizations, and integration of volunteer involvement in national suicide prevention policies, in order to provide optimal care to the people in need.

Chapter

Successful elements of an improved model of care for refugees and immigrants in regional Australia

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Schulz, Thomas Ray 2020 Successful elements of an improved model of care for refugees and immigrants in regional Australia Abstract/Overview Australia has benefited from a long history of migration, including accepting refugees and asylum seekers (referred to as refugees within this discussion) from a wide range of countries experiencing conflict and hardship. Multiple health care challenges exist for refugees, including language difficulties, low health literacy, poor mental health and exposure to infectious diseases that may be unfamiliar to Australian health care practitioners. This is exacerbated by the growing numbers of immigrants and refugees settling in regional areas, where there are poorer health outcomes and provision of quality health care is more difficult. The published papers included in this thesis outline a number of the challenges in the provision of high-quality health care to refugees who settle in regional Australia, and some solutions that have been successfully utilised to improve health care provision to this population. The demonstrated solutions used for refugee populations are also valid for other immigrants and locally born Australians living in regional areas. The literature review provides the context and rationale for each of these papers with more specific references included within each paper. The literature review provides an overview of the topic and outlines the importance of the papers in addressing issues previously poorly understood or not considered. Paper one investigates the challenges of identifying appropriate screening for newly arrived immigrants and focuses on the cost effectiveness of screening new arrivals for H pylori. Modelling outlines the situations where a screening program could be considered and highlights the uncertainties that exist within the assumptions used for this modelling. Expanding on specific infectious disease challenges in immigrant populations, paper two examines the genotypes of hepatitis B that are encountered in immigrants from Burma and paper three describes genotypes amongst African immigrants. Papers two and three address the clinical relevance of genotype and country of birth in the management of hepatitis B. The subsequent three papers examine the provision of health care to refugees and immigrants via telehealth. Paper four outlines the development of a tertiary hospital based Infectious Diseases telehealth program. Paper five measures and compares the effectiveness of healthcare delivered to regional areas via telehealth, with a focus on care for individuals with hepatitis C virus. Paper six then describes the extension of the use of telehealth to include the provision of interpreters. The discussion outlines the conclusions that have been drawn from these papers, and then suggests further improvements for the care of refugees and immigrants who settle in regional areas. Reducing the gap in health care outcomes between those who live in large urban centres and those who live in regional areas is relevant to the whole population. Drawing on these findings, recommendations are outlined to reduce this gap. © 2020 Thomas Ray Schulz Higher Doctorate

Statistical Approaches for Entity Resolution under Uncertainty

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Marchant, Neil Grant 2020 Statistical Approaches for Entity Resolution under Uncertainty When real-world entities are referenced in data, their identities are often obscured. This presents a problem for data cleaning and integration, as references to an entity may be scattered across multiple records or sources, without a means to identify and consolidate them. Entity resolution (ER; also known as record linkage and deduplication) seeks to address this problem by linking references to the same entity, based on imprecise information. It has diverse applications: from resolving references to individuals in administrative data for public health research, to resolving product listings on the web for a shopping aggregation service. While many methods have been developed to automate the ER process, it can be difficult to guarantee accurate results for a number of reasons, such as poor data quality, heterogeneity across data sources, and lack of ground truth. It is therefore essential to recognise and account for sources of uncertainty throughout the ER process. In this thesis, I explore statistical approaches for managing uncertainty—both in quantifying the uncertainty of ER predictions, and in evaluating the accuracy of ER to high precision. In doing so, I focus on methods that require minimal input from humans as a source of ground truth. This is important, as many ER methods require vast quantities of human-labelled data to achieve sufficient accuracy. In the first part of this thesis, I focus on Bayesian models for ER, owing to their ability to capture uncertainty, and their robustness in settings where labelled training data is limited. I identify scalability as a major obstacle to the use of Bayesian ER models in practice, and propose a suite of methods aimed at improving the scalability of an ER model proposed by Steorts (2015). These methods include an auxiliary variable scheme for probabilistic blocking, a distributed partially-collapsed Gibbs sampler, and fast algorithms for performing Gibbs updates. I also propose modelling refinements, aimed at improving ER accuracy and reducing sensitivity to hyperparameters. These refinements include the use of Ewens-Pitman random partitions as a prior on the linkage structure, corrections to logic in the record distortion model and an additional level of priors to improve flexibility. I then turn to the problem of ER evaluation, which is particularly challenging due to the fact that coreferent pairs of records (which refer to the same entity) are extremely rare. As a result, estimates of ER performance typically exhibit high levels of statistical uncertainty, as they are most sensitive to the rare coreferent (and predicted coreferent) pairs of records. In order to address this challenge, I propose a framework for online supervised evaluation based on adaptive importance sampling. Given a target performance measure and set of ER systems to evaluate, the framework adaptively selects pairs of records to label in order to approximately minimise statistical uncertainty. Under verifiable conditions on the performance measure and adaptive policy, I establish strong consistency and a central limit theorem for the resulting performance estimates. I conduct empirical studies, which demonstrate that the framework can yield dramatic reductions in labelling requirements when estimating ER performance to a fixed precision. © 2020 Neil Grant Marchant PhD thesis

English Language Proficiency Among Older Migrants in Australia, 2016–2046

Temple, J; Wilson, T; Brijnath, B; Utomo, A; McDonald, P English Language Proficiency Among Older Migrants in Australia, 2016–2046 Journal Article

Arbitrary-angle rotation of the polarization of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate

2021-03-23T00:00:00Z

Prasad, SB; Mulkerin, BC; Martin, AM 2021-03-23 Arbitrary-angle rotation of the polarization of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate We have employed the theory of harmonically trapped dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates to examine the influence of a uniform magnetic field that rotates at an arbitrary angle to its own orientation. This is achieved by semi-analytically solving the dipolar superfluid hydrodynamics of this system within the Thomas-Fermi approximation and by allowing the body frame of the condensate's density profile to be tilted with respect to the symmetry axes of the nonrotating harmonic trap. This additional degree of freedom manifests itself in the presence of previously unknown stationary solution branches for any given dipole tilt angle. We also find that the tilt angle of the stationary state's body frame with respect to the rotation axis is a nontrivial function of the trapping geometry, rotation frequency, and dipole tilt angle. For rotation frequencies of at least an order of magnitude higher than the in-plane trapping frequency, the stationary state density profile is almost perfectly equivalent to the profile expected in a time-averaged dipolar potential that effectively vanishes when the dipoles are tilted along the "magic angle"54.7 deg. However, by linearizing the fully time-dependent superfluid hydrodynamics about these stationary states, we find that they are dynamically unstable against the formation of collective modes, which we expect would result in turbulent decay. Journal Article

Leveling-up: explaining the depth of South-South trade agreements

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Gamso, J; Postnikov, E 2021 Leveling-up: explaining the depth of South-South trade agreements Journal Article

testing preprint citation and type

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Veal, A 2021 testing preprint citation and type testing preprint citation and type Preprint

Ethical concerns in suicide research: thematic analysis of the views of human research ethics committees in Australia

2021-04-07T00:00:00Z

Barnard, E; Dempster, G; Krysinska, K; Reifels, L; Robinson, J; Pirkis, J; Andriessen, K 2021-04-07 Ethical concerns in suicide research: thematic analysis of the views of human research ethics committees in Australia BACKGROUND: Suicide research aims to contribute to a better understanding of suicidal behaviour and its prevention. However, there are many ethical challenges in this research field, for example, regarding consent and potential risks to participants. While studies to-date have focused on the perspective of the researchers, this study aimed to investigate the views and experiences of members of Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) in dealing with suicide-related study applications. METHODS: This qualitative study entailed a thematic analysis using an inductive approach. We conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample (N = 15) of HREC Chairs or their delegates from Australian research-intensive universities. The interview guide included questions regarding the ethical concerns and challenges in suicide-related research raised by HREC members, how they dealt with those challenges and what advice they could give to researchers. RESULTS: The analysis identified four main themes: (1) HREC members' experiences of reviewing suicide-related study applications, (2) HREC members' perceptions of suicide, suicide research, and study participants, (3) Complexity in HREC members' decision-making processes, and (4) HREC members' relationships with researchers. CONCLUSIONS: Reliance on ethical guidelines and dialogue with researchers are crucial in the assessment of suicide-related study applications. Both researchers and HREC members may benefit from guidance and resources on how to conduct ethically sound suicide-related studies. Developing working relationships will be likely to help HRECs to facilitate high quality, ethical suicide-related research and researchers to conduct such research. Journal Article

Ethical concerns in suicide research: thematic analysis of the views of human research ethics committees in Australia

2021-04-07T00:00:00Z

Ethical concerns in suicide research: thematic analysis of the views of human research ethics committees in Australia

2021-04-07T00:00:00Z

Regulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β by ubiquitination and its role in modulating IL-1β activity

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Vijayaraj, Swarna Lekha 2021 Regulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β by ubiquitination and its role in modulating IL-1β activity Interleukin-1 beta is a potent proinflammatory cytokine that requires inflammasome-associated caspase-1, a cysteine protease, to cleave inactive precursor IL-1beta, to its active secreted p17 fragment. Excessive IL-1beta activation and release promotes autoinflammatory diseases, such as Cryopyrin associated periodic syndromes (CAPS), gout and cancers. Despite this role in inflammatory disease, the post-translational regulation of IL-1beta is poorly understood. This thesis studies the post-translational modifications (PTMs) of IL-1beta, with a particular focus on the ubiquitination of precursor IL-1beta and its role in modulating IL-1beta activity. © 2021 Swarna Lekha Vijayaraj PhD thesis

The effects of ultrasound on the molecular, structural and nutritional aspects of dairy proteins

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Pathak, Rachana 2021 The effects of ultrasound on the molecular, structural and nutritional aspects of dairy proteins Process improvement and product improvement in the dairy processing industry is an ongoing dynamic process. Ultrasound processing technology for food processing is in its developmental stages, and dairy sector is a key area for potential applications. The use of low frequency and high frequency ultrasound to modify functional properties of dairy streams is being widely studied by seeking to modify the protein and lipid components of milk. The effects of ultrasound on size of lipid globules and lipid oxidation volatiles have been studied. The effects on functional properties of milk proteins such as viscosity, gelation, heat stability etc. have been documented. However, the present literature lacks information on the effects that ultrasound processing may have on the fundamental properties of dairy proteins. Therefore, it is of importance to document the effects of ultrasound processing on the molecular, structural and nutritional aspects of dairy proteins. As such, the effects of ultrasound processing on dairy proteins have been studied in the context of the amino acid composition, amyloid modifications, and bioactive peptides released. This work aims to bridge the gap in existing literature attempting to illuminate upon these fundamental aspects. Chapter 1 in this thesis introduces the premise of this research by discussing the fundamental properties ultrasound technology and presents dairy proteins as the central theme of this research. A systematic review of literature in Chapter 2 attempts to build familiarity with the effects of processing on milk proteins; and discusses the potential applications of ultrasound in the dairy industry – noting the studies done on whey are caseins. This chapter also discusses the research areas which could be addressed to answer questions related to the objectives of current PhD work. To encourage the application of ultrasound for dairy processing, it would be of significance to understand the extent of operating parameters that ensure nutritional integrity and food safety. The amino acid integrity of skim milk proteins after sonication along with the potential of ultrasound to modify secondary structural conformations of milk proteins has been demonstrated in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 expands the objectives of Chapter 4 into whole milk systems, taking into account milk lipids and the potential for oxidation of lipids on sonication. In Chapter 5 an effort has been made to better understand the underlying cause of lipid oxidation observed due to ultrasound processing of milk lipids. The observations from this study suggest that the enhanced mass transfer of oxygen due to ultrasonic shear forces makes oxygen non-limiting in lipid phase and increases auto-oxidation reactions. An assessment of amino acid integrity of full cream milk after ultrasound treatment confirmed oxidative stability of milk proteins. These findings complement the data in Chapter 4. Along with amino acid integrity, Chapter 4 also demonstrates that the secondary structural conformations of milk proteins can be modified by ultrasound. The work in Chapter 6 builds up greater understanding on such changes by studying the effects of low frequency ultrasound on isolated beta-lactoglobulin (b-lg). b-lg is a b-sheet rich protein with amyloidogenic potential. The effects of high shear and high temperature microenvironments produced by ultrasonic waves were studied on b-lg aggregation. Ultrasound induced formation of amyloid crystals in dilute b-lg solutions at neutral pH and ambient bulk temperatures. The theoretical reasoning for the aggregation phenomenon substantially adds to the understanding of protein energy landscape. Chapter 7 focusses on nutritional properties of milk proteins. It examines the effect of ultrasound pre-treatment on the release of BCM-7 bioactive peptide from milk by simulated gastro-intestinal digestion (SGID), and the effect on overall protein digestibility. It demonstrates that ultrasound processing could be used to downregulate the release of undesirable BCM-7 bioactive peptide in milk, by affecting the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis of certain intermediate peptide fragments. The findings from this body of work add to the existing knowledge for improved use of ultrasound to ensure nutritional integrity of dairy proteins and lipids, minimising oxidative damage. It also builds on current understanding of ultrasound induced protein restructuring and its potential for modification of peptide release from dairy proteins. © 2021 Rachana Pathak PhD thesis

Interactions of core cross-linked poly(2-oxazoline) and poly(2-oxazine) micelles with immune cells in human blood.

2021-05-04T00:00:00Z

Leiske, MN; Lai, M; Amarasena, T; Davis, TP; Thurecht, KJ; Kent, SJ; Kempe, K 2021-05-04 Interactions of core cross-linked poly(2-oxazoline) and poly(2-oxazine) micelles with immune cells in human blood. Water-soluble poly(cyclic imino ether)s (PCIEs) have emerged as promising biocompatible polymers for nanomedicine applications in recent years. Despite their generally accepted stealth properties, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of their interactions with primary immune cells in human blood. Here we present a library of core cross-linked micelles (CCMs) containing various PCIE shells. Well-defined high molar mass CCMs (Mn > 175 kDa, Ð < 1.2) of similar diameter (~20 nm) were synthesised using a cationic ring-opening polymerisation (CROP) - surfactant-free reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) emulsion polymerisation strategy. The stealth properties of the different PCIE CCMs were assessed employing a whole human blood assay simulating the complex blood environment. Cell association studies revealed lower associations of poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMeOx) and poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) CCMs with blood immune cells compared to the respective poly(2-oxazine) (POz) CCMs. Noteworthy, PMeOx CCMs outperformed all other reported CCMs, showing overall low associations and only negligible differences in the presence and absence of serum proteins. This study highlights the importance of investigating individual nanomaterials under physiologically relevant conditions and further strengthens the position of PMeOx as a highly promising stealth material for biomedical applications. Journal Article