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This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations into the post-fire cross-section compressive behaviour and resistances of circular recycled aggregate concrete-filled stainless steel tube (RACFSST) stub columns. Twelve stub column specimens, fabricated from concretes with three recycled coarse aggregate replacement ratios (0%, 35% and 70%), were tested after exposure to the ISO-834 standard fire for 0 min (i.e. at ambient temperature), 15 min, 30 min and 45 min. The experimental investigation included heating and cooling of specimens, cylinder tests and post-fire tensile coupon tests and stub column tests. The test results, including load–end shortening curves, failure loads and failure modes, were fully reported and the initial compressive stiffnesses and confinement effect were discussed. The numerical investigation was subsequently conducted, where thermal and mechanical finite element models were developed and validated against the test results and then used to perform parametric studies to generate further numerical data. Given the absence of design codes for stainless steel–recycled aggregate concrete composite structures after exposure to fire, the relevant design rules for circular natural aggregate concrete-filled carbon steel tube stub columns at ambient temperature, as set out in the European code, Australia/New Zealand standard and American specification, were assessed, using post-fire material properties, for their applicability to circular RACFSST stub columns after exposure to fire, based on the test and numerical data. The assessment results generally revealed that the European code and the Australian/New Zealand standard led to an acceptable level of design accuracy and consistency, while the American specification resulted in rather conservative and scattered post-fire cross-section compression resistance predictions. • The compressive behaviour of circular RACFSST stub columns after exposure to fire is investigated. • Post-fire compression tests on twelve circular RACFSST stub column specimens are conducted. • The influences of heating durations and RCA replacement ratios are analysed. • Thermal and mechanical FE models are validated against test results and then used to conduct parametric studies. • The relevant design codes are assessed against the test and FE data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycled concrete waste in the form of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is presently used mostly as a road base filler in Australia. However, instead of producing natural aggregate (NA) to manufacture natural aggregate concrete (NAC) to use in structural concrete, there is potential to use RCA to manufacture recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). While the material performance of RAC compared to NAC is analysed in the existing literature, it is not evident whether the use of RCA in structural concrete results in financial and environmental benefits. Previous literature analysing these aspects mostly focuses on a single area of investigation. This paper presents an integrated methodology for the assessment of the use of RCA replacing NA in structural concrete, considering technical, financial, environmental and social perspectives. Cost-benefit assessment (CBA) has been used to evaluate the internalised impacts as well as external costs concerning the use of both RAC and NAC. The scope of each discipline-focused assessment is presented demarcating the relevant scope for further study, and the specific tools and methodologies to be adopted are specified. Finally, amalgamating the different discipline-focused assessments, a unique approach for comparing a sustainable, alternative raw material for concrete, is presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent enhancements of the National Construction Code have reduced the amount of energy required to heat and cool Australian homes. To date, the result of these changes, within Australia's temperate and cool-temperate climates, is generally warmer internal temperatures. However, many of these warmer homes are presenting condensation and mould. This is demonstrating a general non-awareness of vapour pressure management within the Australian design and construction professions. This paper discusses research from the architectural and medical science disciplines. The paper identifies a significant gap in appropriate building regulation and building science knowledge within this field in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In Australia, co-benefits have rarely entered policy discourse and have so far failed to gain traction in climate change-related policy debates. This is partly due to the dominant perception about the difficulties associated with identifying, quantifying and incorporating co-benefits into decision-making frameworks. There is also limited understanding on the part of policy-makers about the profound policy implications of a ‘co-benefits approach’ as a paradigm that can address multiple policy goals, including addressing climate change impacts, achieving sustainable development, and enhancing health, wellbeing and liveability. Objectives Our paper addresses this gap by contributing to current understandings of the ‘co-benefits approach’ as a means of integrating climate concerns into local planning and development control in general. At a more specific level, the paper provides an insight into the Australian local government policy context to illustrate how to plan, generate and purposively promote co-benefits in planning urban built environments. Methods A desktop review of NSW councils’ web sites and their climate change-related policies was undertaken. A comprehensive online survey was subsequently conducted to investigate the extent to which councils have adopted a ‘co-benefits approach’ in their low carbon policies. Results Major barriers to integrating co-benefits in the policy process were identified in this research. They include: (i) local government's current practice of single-sectoral policy development; (ii) absence of an integrated and co-ordinated ‘whole-of-government approach’ to address climate change impact; (iii) over-reliance on quantitative decision-support frameworks; and (iv) over-emphasis on short term and readily quantifiable monetary consideration of benefits. Conclusion Local government's over-emphasis on readily quantifiable ‘monetary considerations’ in targeting benefits from climate change policies excludes a wide range of environmental, social and health benefits from incorporation in policy. This limits the achievement of optimal policy outcomes across multiple sectors using a co-benefits approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary findings of a recent research project on the barriers that lower-income households in four Australian cities – Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, and Darwin – face in reducing their carbon consumption, and the impact of programs implemented by federal and state governments and support organisations to assist such reductions. Following a brief explanation of the methodology (policy reviews, focus group discussions with lower-income households, and interviews with support service providers and advocacy groups), it outlines issues that underlie the complexity of carbon reduction among lower income households. These include housing quality and tenure; health conditions; and user understanding and perspectives on low carbon living and environmental decision-making. This is followed by a review of the types of carbon reduction programs currently available to households living in different Australian jurisdictions. The paper will then reflect on focus group participants’ views of their access to these programs, their perceived effectiveness in achieving genuine carbon reduction, and how these programs fit in (or not) to the less formal carbon reduction techniques already employed by lower income households. It also highlights the challenges and limitations support service providers and advocacy groups face in connecting lower-income households to carbon reduction programs. It concludes with a discussion of potential policy avenues to address the barriers to low carbon living and ensure the intended outcomes of these carbon reduction programs are met in the longer term for those on lower incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a project currently underway to investigate how an open exchange standard for modelling information at the scale of an urban precinct can be used to support integrated solutions to achieve low carbon targets in the built environment. The project is part of a major research initiative to deliver on low carbon targets in Australia. The project builds on the concept of BIM to develop an object-oriented approach to modelling the built environment at a broader urban scale, focusing in the first instance on a precinct, being any region within an urban context that can be regarded as an integrated whole for the purposes of planning, design or management. This approach is referred to as precinct information modelling (PIM) and provides a key mechanism to bridge the information modelling gap between building scale (BIM) and the spatial scale. The paper argues the case for such an approach, proposing that the current IFC data model, and recent work that is investigating how that data model can be extended to handle transport infrastructure elements such as roads and bridges, can be adapted with modest extensions to serve this purpose. The paper describes this approach, proposing an initial data model and addressing several key strategies and principles that influence the work (e.g. commonality of concepts to maintain semantic integrity and the use of data dictionaries to define concept hierarchies). The paper offers a review of current approaches, reflects on a couple of trial implementations and provides a discussion of how this work can be carried forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the approach in regenerating an aging city block into a new high performing skyscraper in the Sydney. The project incorporated some of the latest technical innovations in reducing carbon emissions, reducing water consumption and ultimately achieving a 6 Star Green Star commercial office development. The 50 Storey development accommodates 55,963m 2 of commercial office space. The building achieved a World Leadership 6 Star Green Star environmental rating through a number of technical innovations including a high performance curtain wall façade, a hybrid air conditioning system comprising of a combination of low temperature VAV with active perimeter chilled beams, tri-generation, low energy lighting system, and rainwater harvesting. The paper describes the technical innovations and resilient infrastructure that was installed that allowed the building to achieve the low carbon environmental performance. Performance monitoring undertaken demonstrates the building's actual performance. This presentation demonstrates that with a commitment from the developer, design team, and the builder, all future skyscrapers can achieve very high environmentally sustainable performance whilst still providing strong business cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the project conducted within the Research embedded in teaching initiative in collaboration with NostraData. The main objective of the research was to analyse if the peak values of such weather conditions, like rainfall and wind speed, can impact the drug purchase transactions within shorts time periods (one, three, and five days) of time, after the peak values of the weather parameters have appeared. The basis for the automated analysis were the data collected over more than six years, restricted to the Melbourne region in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Management agreements for private property rights can be effective for using Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) in downstream flood-prone urban areas. • Inverse leaseholds are revealed as an innovative instrument for non-urban upstream areas rather than TDRs or compulsory acquisition. • TDRs or compulsory acquisition are arguably more suitable for down-stream urban flood-prone areas. Flood-prone areas are more often than not held under private property rights. Hence, the purpose of this research is to highlight how crucial private stakeholders are to the effectiveness of any instrument for flood risk and hence directly impact on the effectiveness of flood management and yet, private property rights are rarely highlighted in such schema. Additionally, the location of flood-prone areas upstream or downstream provides an important impulse for the selection of the appropriate instrument to achieve flood risk management. Land in upstream non-urban areas in Australia and in Europe, is on the whole used for purposes such as agriculture or forestry. The value of these upstream non-urban lands is drawn from their economic utility as agricultural or forestry enterprises, and hence capital worth is associated with the actual use of the land holding. This situation is different from downstream urban lands where generally the land value is closely linked to the capital growth potential of the land in situ. For example, land used for commercial or residential purposes in downstream urban locations albeit flood prone invariably has a potential for uplifting value through intensification in some manner or other of the built form. The principal results of Australian field research by the authors (jointly with others) suggests such management instruments for private property rights can be effective using Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) in downstream flood-prone urban areas and inverse leaseholds in upstream non-urban areas. This paper concludes through a focus primarily on the use of inverse leaseholds which are revealed as an innovative instrument for non-urban upstream flood-prone areas, rather than TDRs or compulsory acquisition which are arguably more suitable in down-stream urban flood-prone areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is a long-term key partner of China in coal trading, which is famous for high-quality coal and its price advantage. However, affected by the evolution of international political and economic situation, China has issued a coal ban on Australian coal since the end of 2020. The potential environmental consequences of this coal ban remain unclear. So, this paper quantifies the ban's impact on air pollution, human health and climate change by simulating the emission difference between the port scenario (simulating the emissions due to Australian coal import under business as usual) and the mine scenario (simulating the emissions due to domestic coal mining that converted from import share of Australian coal), and monetizes the losses into economic costs for direct comparison. The results illustrate the emission of SO 2 , VOCs and GHG in mine scenario grows up to 102, 12 and 6 times the amount of that in port scenario, mainly deriving from coal mining process in the North China Plain and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It shows that the potential alternative of replacing import with mining leads to PM 2.5 pollution exacerbation and O 3 pollution abatement, which causes 148 (95 % CI: 101–183) non-communicable diseases and respiratory disease-related deaths in total. As for GHG, the emission of BC in transportation process and fugitive methane in coal mining process contribute to an impressive effect on warming potential with few quantities, which is worth noting in control process. In total, the environmental deterioration resulted in an economic loss of approximately 934 million yuan. The undiminished demand for high-quality industrial coal as well as growing carbon tax could make the economic value of the coal ban's environmental consequences more considerable in the near future. This research emphasizes the contradiction between economic development and environmental improvement caused by excessive dependence on coal and addresses a critical knowledge gap in assessing the ban's environmental impact by economic value. The result directly demonstrates the environmental consequences of the potential mining-replacing-import alternative and helps better understand environmental influences on the Chinese government's decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial predictions of wildfire spread are used operationally and in risk estimation. It is important that their outputs are validated to quantify predictive performance and uncertainty. There are numerous loss functions for this simulation validation. Our paper synthesises ten common and five novel loss functions for evaluating the performance of wildfire predictions against observed or simulated wildfires. We describe each loss function; test their sensitivity to scale, rotation and translation; and demonstrate their application with three case study wildfires in south-eastern Australia. Based on their purpose, there are three categories of loss functions: general overlap, partial overlap and distance. Within these categories, there is functional redundancy as many loss functions are appropriate and perform similarly. Using loss functions from across the three different categories is the most comprehensive for evaluating wildfire models, but the choice depends on the simulation purpose and interpretation. • Spatial predictions of wildfire spread are frequently used but not always evaluated. • We synthesised fifteen loss functions for evaluating predicted vs observed wildfire spread. • There is not a 'best' loss function, it depends on simulation use and interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately predicting estuaries water quality is essential to support immediate intervention to water quality problem management. Deep learning is used to improve forecasting of water quality parameters in many aquatic systems. However, it is frequently constrained by low data frequency and quality. High-frequency, continuous monitoring using integrated in-situ water quality and environmental sensors can be an input to deep learning models resulting in highly accurate water quality and environmental predictions. This paper proposes a novel approach to improve forecasting of water quality and environmental variables. The results of the real-world data from the Swan Canning Estuary sites show how well the suggested model works. With different sizes of training and testing sets, the model can still predict the increased number of hours in high scores. Eliminating highly correlated variables impact the model's performance, emphasising the usefulness of strongly correlated variables in scarce data scenarios. • This article proposes a framework to enhance water quality variable forecasting. • The framework reframes the time series problem as a supervised learning problem. • The results on the set of data from the estuary show how well the framework works. • The approach is envisaged to support management in detecting water quality issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although noteworthy efforts towards energy storage participation in electricity markets have been witnessed worldwide during the last decades, market mechanisms for optimal storage integration are yet to be comprehensively studied. This paper presents a novel approach wherein a multi-period look-ahead market is proposed to progressively solve the optimisation problem over a receding horizon, incorporating intertemporal constraints to enable forward planning. The focus is specifically on modelling the bidding behaviour of energy storage, and to address this, we develop two distinct models for the participation of energy storage in the market. The integrated model aims to schedule the future dispatch of the storage to minimise total operational cost, taking into account the fixed costs of the storage, while the strategic model pursues the dual ambition to maximise storage profit by formulating a bilevel optimisation problem. We validate the viability of our proposed market mechanisms through case studies on the Australian National Electricity Market. We conduct case studies which provide evidence that both the strategic and integrated bidding models effectively address the requirement for forward planning, resulting in reduced market costs and volatility. Notably, the strategic model outperforms in terms of generating higher storage revenue, while the integrated model exhibits a slight advantage in terms of lower market costs compared to the strategic model. • Development of a multi-period look-ahead market for storage integration in electricity markets. • Model of strategic bidding using a bilevel optimisation model, vs an integrated bidding model. • Both bidding models can fulfil need for forward planning, reducing market costs and volatility. • The strategic model increases storage revenue, while the integrated model reduces market costs. • Testing is carried out using a high-fidelity model of Australia's NEM and historical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional glass bottles are the wine industry's major source of carbon emissions. Those wishing to reduce the carbon footprint embedded in wine have been looking to alternative packaging, such as PET, aluminium cans, and bag-in-box (BIB) to mitigate the impact. However, these alternative formats pose challenges with consumer acceptance and knowledge of the eco-benefits of each format. This paper uses a discrete choice experiment and latent class analysis to investigate the possible effects of message content and style (abstract vs concrete) on wine purchase in the context of brand size, brand prestige, and pricing. The analysis reveals the presence of two customer segments, which highly emphasise the pack format. Of the four non-glass packs tested, BIB and flat glass lookalike PET bottles score the highest preference after glass bottles. Message content and appeal type score low in their ability to alter preferences, whilst mid-to-low prices increase the chances of alternative packaging to be chosen. • Packaging format is a key choice driver for wine. • Glass is still the most preferred packaging format. • Bag in Box and low-carbon alternatives that look most like glass have the most potential for uptake. • Message content and appeal have little impact on choice. • Alternative packaging is more likely to be chosen for mid-to-low-priced wines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel CElif system is proposed in this paper. • Decomposition and denoising strategy is designed in the CElif system. • The MSsa mechanism is superior both in search ability and operation efficiency. • The construction of the five ANNs covers the inherent modes of sequence. • Differences in people's behavior on weekdays and weekends are considered. Under the trend of the global green and low-carbon transformation, accurate prediction of electric load is an urgent problem for all countries to maintain the normal operation of production and living activities. Currently, a large number of models based on single-point forecasting of electric load have emerged. However, these models are limited by the high randomness of electric load data, which restricts the further improvement of prediction accuracy. To fill this gap, a CElif (Combined Electric Load Interval Forecasting) system is proposed in this paper, which contains decomposition and denoising module, individual forecasting module, optimization module and evaluation module, aiming to tolerate uncertainty to provide policymakers with more information. Decomposition and denoising strategy is adopted to extract and reconstruct the inherent modes of the original sequence. In order to verify the superiority of the CElif system, the electric load data of 30-minute interval in Australia are used to test. The numerical results conclude the CElif system not only has excellent coverage performance in electric load interval prediction, controls the uncertainty to a great extent, but also provides a basis for power system dispatching management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design practices often involve grassroots communities and institutional actors with designers working as or with intermediaries. This paper defines intermediation as a significant design practice, especially when designers engage in commoning and institutioning—concepts that have gained traction in recent discourses in design scholarship. To discuss intermediation, the paper introduces two case studies: a community radio project in Europe and a food supply chain project between Australia and China. The two cases show implicit and explicit ways that intermediation can form an integral part of the practices and competences of designers. The paper discusses the merits of intermediation skills and techniques as well as how intermediation can be better embedded and integrated in design practices. • Expands discourse on institutioning and commoning in participatory design research. • Makes explicit the so far largely implicit design skillset of intermediation practice. • Illustrates the argument with two design cases from Europe and Australia/China. • Argues for the merit of adding intermediaries to interdisciplinary design teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkali-activated concretes have been shown to be an environmentally advantageous construction material as they utilize waste or by-products as precursors, such as fly ash and ground blast furnace slag. These concretes also have the ability to achieve strengths suitable for structural applications. However, each mix design of an alkali-activated concretes is unique and requires a detailed life cycle analysis to determine the environmental impact and cost viability. This study evaluates the feasibility of alkali-activated fly ash or fly ash geopolymer and alkali-activated slag concrete developed for application in Australia currently subject to long term site performance studies. This paper reports a detailed life cycle assessment analysis of these concretes to assess their environmental footprint. The paper considers three distinct allocation methods: baseline, mass, and economic allocation, with two system boundaries: manufacture and construction. The study shows AAS concrete has a lower environmental impact than an equivalent strength PC concrete in two impact categories, global warming potential and eutrophication, while acidification and human toxicity depend on the allocation method applied in the manufacturing stage. The global warming potential (100-years) of AAS is 5.25–35% less than PC concrete. The FAGP concrete has more negative impacts on the environment than PC-based concrete, regardless of which allocation method is applied. The report highlights alkaline activators and transportation of raw materials as the main environmental impact contributors to concrete manufacture. The global warming potential of FAGP is 22–34% higher than the equivalent PC concrete in the baseline method. For the construction stage boundary, machinery appliances for handling concrete and transportation only contributes a small environmental impact (<4%) compared with concrete manufacturing. Cost estimation for concrete production suggests that the cost of the alkali-activated concrete is competitive with the conventional concrete market, dependant on the proximity of the feedstocks and the cost of sodium silicate. Neglecting the transportation cost of feedstocks, the cost of AAS concrete can be 4.8% cheaper, whereas the cost of FAGP concrete is 2.7% more expensive than PC concrete. • AAS concrete has a lower environmental impact than PC concrete. • FAGP concrete production has a greater environmental impact compared to PC concrete. • The most significant contributors to the environmental impact are transportation and the alkaline activators. • The cost of FAGP and AAS concrete are comparable with the conventional concrete. • The primary cost factors are transportation and price of Na 2 SiO 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proponents of low-carbon transformation face an uphill battle to reconfigure incumbent energy systems against powerful interests protecting the status quo. Australia's electricity sector is an example of such a system, wedded to fossil fuels and backed by much of the country's political establishment. This paper addresses the potential for low-carbon transformation in Australia's electricity sector. It explores the complex and uncertain dynamics shaping the sector and outlines how these can be understood through the lens of strategic agency – with an eye for opportunities to drive a shift to renewables. It reviews the dynamics of change and re-stability shaping Australia's electricity sector between 2006 and 2015 and applies a resource-based view of transformative agency to analyse these dynamics. Results show the sector suffers multiple stressors and emphasise disruptive changes ‘in the pipeline’. Critically, many of these transformative dynamics stem from factors outside the influence of the electricity sector and its supporters. While results do not point to a clear trajectory or outcome of transformation, they indicate the uptake of small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems by households and small business will play a defining role in the sector's future configuration. Furthermore, the exploration of transformative dynamics affecting the electricity sector through a resource-based lens shows that many opportunities exist for strategic agents to intervene in support of a disruptive shift to renewables. The paper suggests a range of mechanisms that agents could use to undermine the strength of fossil energy in the electricity sector and encourage a shift to renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides insight into how aviation and non-aviation factors affect the decision to suspend air routes. Using examples from Australian domestic routes, the paper analyses the business relationships and negotiation processes followed by airports, airlines, and destination management organizations (DMOs) to avoid air route suspensions. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key aviation and tourism stakeholders directly impacted by suspended routes. The outcomes of this paper demonstrate that while most of the major reasons for air route suspension in Australia are mentioned in existing literature and are linked to demand, other factors have not previously been deeply investigated, including how stakeholders can be involved to avoid air route suspension. The paper also explores and identifies strengths and weaknesses in the relationship among airlines, DMOs and airports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: This study aimed to compare between electronic medication administration records and paper-based records in the nursing time spent on various activities in a medication round and the medication administration processes followed by nurses in an Australian residential aged care home. It also aimed to identify the benefits and unintended adverse consequences of using the electronic medication administration records.Methods: Time-motion observation, taking of field notes, informal conversation and document review were used to collect data in two units of a residential aged care home. Each unit had one nurse administer medication. Seven nurses were observed over 12 morning shifts. Unit 1 used electronic medication administration records and Unit 2 used paper-based records.Results: No significant difference between the two units was found in the nursing time spent on various activities in a medication round, including documentation, verbal communication, medication administration, infection control and transit. Comparison of the medication administration processes between the electronic and paper-based medication administration records identified a procedural problem which violated the organization's documentation requirement. This problem was documenting before providing medication to a resident when using the paper-based records. It was not observed with the electronic medication administration records. Benefits of introducing the electronic medication administration records included improving nurses' compliance with documentation requirements, freedom from the error of signing twice, reducing the possibility of forgetting to medicate a resident, facilitating nurses to record the time of medication administration to a resident and increasing documentation space. Unintended adverse consequences of introducing the electronic medication administration records included inadequate information about residents, late addition of a new resident's medication profile in the records and nurses' forgetting to medicate a resident due to power outage of the portable device.Conclusions: The electronic medication administration records may not change nursing time spent on various activities in a medication round or substantially alter the medication administration processes, but can generate both benefits and unintended adverse consequences. Future research may investigate whether and how the adverse consequences can be prevented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In women with gestational diabetes mellitus, does the addition of a consumer co-created infographic to usual education about gestational diabetes mellitus improve knowledge about physical activity and self-efficacy to exercise? A randomised trial with concealed allocation, a blinded assessor and intention-to-treat analysis. Sixty-nine women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus. In addition to gestational diabetes education, the experimental group received a paper copy of a consumer co-created infographic about physical activity during a gestational diabetes pregnancy. The control group received gestational diabetes education alone. Participants completed outcome measures at baseline and again 1 week later. Knowledge of physical activity in a gestational diabetes mellitus pregnancy was assessed using a 19-item questionnaire modified to reflect current physical activity guidelines, with a total score from 0% (worst) to 100% (best). Self-efficacy was measured using the nine-item Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale, with a total score from 0 (not confident) to 10 (very confident). Provision of the infographic led to a clinically important between-group difference in knowledge (MD 12%, 95% CI 10 to 15) and self-efficacy (MD 2.5 units, 95% CI 1.9 to 3.0). In women with gestational diabetes mellitus, short-term knowledge about physical activity and self-efficacy to exercise were improved when usual education was supplemented with a consumer co-created infographic that provided specific and relevant information about physical activity during a gestational diabetes mellitus pregnancy. ACTRN12619001207101. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon reduction has become one of the most significant challenges for economic growth. This paper presents the preliminary analysis of undesirable output reduction targets and emission schedules in temporal–spatial comparisons based on Data Envelopment Analysis. The reduction targets of undesirable outputs are investigated, including the maximum, input, technical and ideal reduction targets. Four Data Envelopment Analysis models that are based on a sequential benchmark technology and variable returns to scale are introduced to measure these reduction percentages. In order to formulate the optimal emission schedule of undesirable outputs, an optimal model is provided without inflation. Data from the Australian construction industry from 2000 to 2010 are employed to develop the models. The results of the analysis indicate that the Australian Government could achieve its promised carbon reduction targets in the construction industry. Most Australian regions' construction industries possess carbon mitigation potential and some of them could increase their desirable outputs if carbon were decreased. This paper suggests that policymakers can benefit from formulating various suitable undesirable output reduction objectives and schedules through the models developed. The research method can be replicated for other sectors and regions focussing on undesirable output reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assist with rapid screening for rice blast resistance as a precursor in a breeding program, the susceptibility to rice blast of 13 rice genotypes from Australia was evaluated in May to June 2013 using three distinct inoculation methods (spot, filter paper and standard methods) at seedling, vegetative and reproductive stages. The results revealed that the spot and filter paper inoculation methods were successful in discerning susceptibility to the rice blast disease ( P ≤ 0.05). Disease susceptibility declined significantly from the vegetative to reproductive stages. The standard method was conducted at three different stages for pot plants grown inside the mist house. However, low temperatures did not produce disease symptoms except in a few genotypes. Among the 13 rice genotypes screened, AAT9 expressed a highly resistant response, and AAT4, AAT6, AAT10, AAT11, AAT13, AAT17 and AAT18 expressed resistance at various stages. The results will be useful for selecting elite genotypes for disease tolerance where rice blast is prevalent. In addition, the resistant genotypes can serve as a gene pool used in breeding programmes to develop new resistant genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the olive oil industry in Australia has been growing at an annual rate of 9%. Nevertheless, the highly polluting solid waste and wastewater generated by the industry poses significant challenges for the environmental sustainability of the industry. This paper analysed five alternatives for managing this waste stream using life cycle assessment methodology. The options included manufacturing briquettes as solid fuel for home heating; pellets for domestic or industrial water heating; pyrolysis and composting. The functional unit used in this study is the processing of 1 Mg of olive solid waste at the mill. Emissions were categorised into eight impact categories: ozone layer depletion potential (ODP), global warming potential (GWP100), eutrophication potential (EP), acidification potential (AP), human toxicity (HTP), fossil fuel depletion potential (FDP), ionising radiation potential (IRP), and photochemical oxidant formation potential (POFP). The study showed that although composting (current best practices – CBP) can achieve significant environmental benefits, using the olive waste to produce energy products may achieve better results, especially when displacing electricity from the main grid. The production of pellets for use in domestic hot water boilers (PHWH) is the option that is likely to deliver the highest environmental benefits. For example, GWP100 and ODP of the PHWH were estimated to be −1057 kg CO 2 -Eq, −1.5 × 10 −5 kg CFC-11-Eq compared to −12.4 kg-CO 2 -Eq and 5.3 × 10 −8 kg CFC-11-Eq achieved by the CBP, respectively. Future energy scenario and transportation distances were identified as significant parameters affecting the performance of the options. Sensitivity analysis showed that the expected change in the future Australian energy mix to cleaner energy sources is unlikely to have a significant effect on the performance of the alternatives. The results also showed little sensitivity to transportation distances of the energy product to the end user. This paper is the first to evaluate options for energy utilisation of olive solid waste using life cycle assessment and compare it to industry current best practices (composting). Although the paper focuses on the Australian olive oil industry, the results are also relevant to other countries and regions were olive solid waste is generated in relatively moderate quantities but distributed over large geographic area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climatic change is driving research and development in low emissions technologies. One such technology is the use of charcoal from biomass in steelmaking. This paper adapts social life cycle assessment methodologies to analyse the social dimensions of energy supply alternatives in steelmaking using regionalised production scenarios in Australia. Three energy supply alternatives are investigated: charcoal produced from Radiata pine plantation forestry; charcoal produced from Mallee eucalypt revegetation on agricultural land; and metallurgical coal. Impact indicators analysed include land-use, employment, workplace health & safety and a qualitative analysis of identified stakeholder issues. The research finds that biomass alternatives are significant generators of direct employment at the regional level; have concomitantly higher rates of workplace injuries and represent a significant change in land-use. Charcoal produced from Mallee biomass planted as a conservation measure on farmland, however, has the benefit of representing a shared land-use that provides an additional farm revenue stream and assists dryland salinity management. The paper finds that full substitution of coal by pine or Mallee charcoal does not provide a unique solution for optimising the social performance of the energy supply alternatives across all indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance flow analysis (SFA) provides a helpful tool for the study of the industrial metabolism of a certain substance within a regional level. This paper presents SFA of steel in four countries, namely Australia, Brazil, China and India. These countries are traditionally economically mineral dependent and are major contributors in global iron ore production. For example, in 2010 together these countries produced 81% of world iron ore. Based on the analysis it was found that Australian and Brazilian iron ore stocks will deplete rapidly while China and India are accumulating. This paper then presents a discussion on sustainability issues related to substance flows of steel stocks. The study is aimed at providing better understanding of stocks and flows and to inform the policy making for achieving the industrial metabolism and consequently leading to better management of resources and recycling of steel in the countries under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural and regional hinterlands provide the ecosystem service needs for increasingly urbanised communities across the globe. These inter-related ecosystem services provide key opportunities in securing climate change mitigation and adaptation. Their integrated management in the face of climate change, however, can be confounded by fragmentation within the complex institutional arrangements concerned with natural resource management. This suggests the need for a more systemic approach to continuous improvement in the integrated and adaptive governance of natural resources. This paper explores the theoretical foundations for integrated natural resource management and reviews positive systemic improvements that have been emerging in the Australian context. In setting clear theoretical foundations, the paper explores both functional and structural aspects of natural resource governance systems. Functional considerations include issues of connectivity, knowledge use and capacity within the natural resource decision making environment. Structural considerations refer to the institutions and processes that undertake planning through to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. From this foundation, we review the last decade of emerging initiatives in governance regarding the integration of agriculture and forests across the entire Australian landscape. This includes the shift towards more devolved regional approaches to integrated natural resource management and recent progress towards the use of terrestrial carbon at landscape scale to assist in climate change mitigation and adaptation. These developments, however, have also been tempered by a significant raft of new landscape-scale regulations that have tended to be based on a more centralist philosophy that landowners should be providing ecosystem services for the wider public good without substantive reward. Given this background, we explore a case study of efforts taken to integrate the management of landscape-scale agro-ecological services in the Wet Tropics of tropical Queensland. This is being achieved primarily through the integration of regional natural resource management planning and the development of aggregated terrestrial carbon offset products at a whole of landscape scale via the Degree Celsius initiative. Finally, the paper teases out the barriers and opportunities being experienced, leading to discussion about the global implications for managing climate change, income generation and poverty reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We will monitor compliance with the intervention and adverse events. • Data will be analyzed following intention-to-treat principles. • A cost-effectiveness analysis will be performed. This a priori statistical analysis plan describes the methods of analysis for the Trial Of Prevention Strategies for low back pain (TOPS). TOPS aimed to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of exercise and education classes compared with a minimal intervention control in preventing recurrence of low back pain (LBP) in people who have recently recovered from an episode of LBP. TOPS is a superiority, pragmatic, parallel-group randomized controlled trial with allocation concealment, blinded outcome assessors, and intention-to-treat analysis. Participants were randomized to a physical therapist-led exercise and education program for 12 weeks or minimal intervention. The primary outcome was days to recurrence of an episode of LBP. The three key secondary outcomes were days to recurrence of an episode of LBP resulting in (1) activity limitation, (2) care seeking for LBP; and (3) work absence of at least 1 day. Differences in survival curves for the primary (days to recurrence) and secondary outcome (days to LBP with activity limitation, days to care seeking due to LBP, and days to work absence due to LBP) will be compared using Cox regression. Hazard ratios (HRs) and median survival times with 95% confidence intervals (CI) will be calculated. The number of adverse events, including serious adverse events will be reported and the proportion of adverse events between groups will be compared using a Chi-squared test. This paper will provide a detailed description of the planned analyses for the TOPS trial. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12615000939594). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is a distinction between usable and useful knowledge for climate change adaptation. • There are challenges to ensure boundary organisations have long-lasting impacts. • Two systemic changes are proposed to advance knowledge usefulness. Increased social and environmental vulnerability to extreme climatic events and inherent aggravation of environmental and social problems has placed climate change adaptation as an urgent challenge for decision-makers. Understanding and using climate change information to advance the implementation of climate-friendly policies further compounds this challenge. A rich scholarly literature focusing on climate change adaptation endorses that investing in mechanisms that narrow the gap between climate change information production and its use is crucial to increase adaptive capacity. Based on this assumption, this paper investigates the extent to which two collaborative projects that functioned as boundary organisations in Brazil (CiAdapta project) and Australia (Climate Change Adaptation for Natural Resource Management in East Coast Australia) increased access to information, and enabled the continual and continuous usefulness of produced knowledge for climate change adaptation. Considering the distinction between usable and useful information, we applied six criteria to guide the data analysis and extract key lessons from each project. Our findings confirm that face-to-face interactions are more likely to result in research having the societal impact that is being increasingly required by research and funding bodies. Our findings also indicate that two key systemic changes are critical for the long-term influence of boundary organisations for advancing climate change adaptation. These include changes to the science, knowledge production process; and shift in the political culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We present a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach for developing a regional scale climate adaptation plan with the health and wellbeing sector. • This includes an innovative engagement and policy mapping strategy. • We demonstrate the application of this approach for developing climate change adaptation plan for health and wellbeing sector in Queensland, Australia. • We find that direct engagement between various key stakeholders is a critical element of translating scientific evidence of climate change impacts on human health into a regional adaptation policy for the health and wellbeing sector. The science of climate change and its impacts on health makes it clear that human health and wellbeing will be increasingly negatively impacted as a result of climate change. The health and wellbeing sector must respond to these growing pressures in order to continue to provide safe, quality care. Adaptation and mitigation policies need to be developed at different scales, including at a regional government level. Numerous challenges exist; for example, the necessity for collaboration between multiple agencies across scales, the tailoring of policies to the health issues specific to regions, and constraints on existing regional and local resources and adaptive capacities, to name a few. This paper presents a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach used to develop a regional scale climate adaptation plan with the health sector. Starting from a scientific understanding of climate change impact on the health sector in Queensland, Australia, the approach used an innovative engagement strategy to a) better understand awareness of relevant stakeholders about current and future climate change impact on the health of the population and on service provision, b) identify on-ground barriers to effective adaptation faced by the sector stakeholders, c) identify opportunities and benefits which would arise from adaptation, and d) identify what conditions or support stakeholders required to overcome those barriers, take advantage of opportunities, and achieve benefits from adaptation. Analysis of these findings guided the development of specific policy directions for the sector. We found direct engagement between various key stakeholders such as health service providers (e.g. hospitals), critical infrastructure providers, academics, local government authorities, and sub-sectors such as aged care and early childhood care facilities, was a critical element of translating scientific evidence of climate change impacts on human health into a regional adaptation policy for the health and wellbeing sector. The resulting policy, grounded in the reality and experience of health and wellbeing sector stakeholders, reflects their insights and concerns, and served to develop a level of sectoral 'ownership' (not 'top-down' imposition) which will be important for its successful ongoing development and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Absentee landholders engage with a diverse range of information sources. • Local NRM agency information was widely used and valued. • Relationships with neighbours represented the strongest connection to community. • Interest in collaborations was mostly related to conservation and amenity. • Diverse motivations should be considered by NRM agencies' future outreach efforts. The population of absentee landholders, in rural areas of Australia and worldwide, has risen over recent decades, underpinning the need to better understand how to effectively engage this stakeholder group, especially from natural resource management (NRM) agencies. Prior research argues that these often difficult-to-reach rural actors play an important role in environmental management, biodiversity conservation and cross property collaborations. Therefore, this paper investigates the ways in which absentee landholders access information on land management practices, the extent of their engagement with government NRM agencies, and the potential for absentee landholders to engage in cross-property collaboration. Focusing on a case study in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, the results indicate that absentee landholders in the case study region access a range of government and personal sources for information, with Local Land Services (a regional NRM agency) and neighbours being the two most commonly used sources amongst survey respondents. Reasons behind the frequent use of Local Land Services include the awareness and trustworthiness that absentee landholders have of this source of information. As for collaborations, most absentee landholders expressed a preference for non-commercial collaborations related to conservation and amenity, as opposed to production-related or other commercial activities. Motivations to collaborate included knowledge-sharing and a collective effort to manage cross-property conservation issues. Hence, it is recommended that NRM agencies recognize the role they can play in adaptive co-management by providing information to absentee landholders, facilitating collaborations around knowledge-sharing and conservation, and continuously adapting their outreach to accommodate for the growing heterogeneity in values and interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study sets out a new method to determine the pesticides likely to be used locally. • Bromoxynil, diquat and paraquat are the three most toxic pesticides in local use. • There is evidence of harmful effects at realistic field concentrations for all three pesticides. • The strongest evidence was for paraquat causing negative impacts on aquatic organisms. • Paraquat has been banned from use in many countries around the world but not Australia. Pesticides used in agriculture are widely considered to be the most cost-effective way to reduce undesirable plants and animal pests and increase crop yields. However, these economic benefits should be evaluated against any deleterious impacts on the natural environment and human health. While a great deal of attention is paid to the impact of agricultural runoff, more studies are needed on the impacts of pesticides on local waterways. The aim of this study was to: (i) develop a methodology to determine which pesticides were being used in local agriculture in the Byron Shire, Australia, and (ii) search the literature for evidence of the impact of these chemicals on local waterways. After a comprehensive search involving multiple government databases, three herbicides with potentially high toxicity on the aquatic ecosystems and humans, which are used for the treatment of crops cultivated on the agricultural land in the Byron Shire, Australia, were selected for this review: bromoxynil, diquat and paraquat. In the systematic scoping review, two databases were searched (Scopus and Web of Science) for publications between January 2008 and April 2019. From 160 articles identified, 36 papers were selected for inclusion. The evidence of harmful effects at realistic field concentrations (concentrations that are within the recommended safety range for use in the environment) was found for all selected herbicides, but not on all organisms. In aquatic environments, diquat was found to be toxic to snails and bromoxynil to microalgae. The clearest and most consistent evidence was found for paraquat. At realistic field concentrations, paraquat: (i) severely inhibited healthy bacterial growth (E. coli), (ii) distorted tropical freshwater plankton communities, and (iii) increased fish kills (common carp) three times more than the weed (water hyacinth) that it was employed to control. Of particular concern is that paraquat has been banned from sale in the European Union and many countries around the world but remains available in Australia and is likely in use in the Byron Shire. While there are existing Australian government regulations restricting the use of paraquat in agriculture, further work is required to scope the extent of its use, the effectiveness of these regulations and the amount of paraquat entering the environment. This study provides a methodology that can be used to identify pesticides that are likely to be in local use and to identify evidence of any negative impacts on the health of local waterways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The ELM model is applied to predict the ionospheric propagation factor M(3000)F2. • The ELM achieves slightly higher accuracy at a faster training speed than BPNN. • Better average accuracy of ELM over the IRI in high and low solar activity years. This paper presents an novel extreme learning machine (ELM)-based prediction model for the ionospheric propagation factor M(3000)F2 at Darwin station (12.4°S, 131.5°E; −44.5°dip) in Australia. The proposed ELM model is trained with hourly daily values of M(3000)F2 from the period 1998–2014 except 2001 and 2009. The hourly daily values of 2001 (high solar activity) and 2009 (low solar activity) are used for validating the prediction accuracy. The proposed ELM for modeling M(3000)F2 can achieve faster training process and similar testing accuracy compared with backward propagation neural network (BPNN). In addition, the performance of the ELM is verified by comparing the predicted values of M(3000)F2 with observed values and the international reference ionosphere (IRI −2016) model predicted values. Based on the error differences (the root mean square error (RMSE) and the M(3000)F2 percentage improvement values M(3000)F2 IMP (%)), the result demonstrates the effectiveness of the ELM model compared with the IRI-2016 model at hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly in high (2001) and low (2009) solar activity years. The ELM also shows good agreement with observations compared with the IRI during disturbed magnetic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 2000 abstracts from 6 climate adaptation conferences over 10 years were studied. • Adaptation to climate change in Australia is evolving with more emphasis on action. • Some changes indicate progress, but others suggesting lack of research funding. • There is more conference participation by practitioners, less by researchers. • There is a shift from the natural environment to urban and infrastructure adaptation. The last decade has seen strong global growth in the number of climate change adaptation projects. To understand whether adaptation is progressing and is successful, some form of longitudinal tracking is required. The six adaptation conferences organised by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility between 2010 and 2018 provide a unique and novel opportunity to track adaptation progress in Australia. Each conference was accompanied by a call for abstracts for oral or poster presentation. The submitted abstracts form the basis of the analysis in this paper. We show that, over time, the balance of attendees shifted away from researchers and towards government employees, and the proportion of attendees submitting abstracts declined. The proportion of abstracts submitted by government employees and consultants has increased at more recent conferences. When abstract content is analysed, the results show that, over time, there has been a change in the focus of abstracts with respect to the sector, type and stage of adaptation. These trends indicate maturation of adaptation in Australia, but also suggest that lack of finance for research and action is having an impact. There is evidence that adaptation in Australia is moving from being largely planning based and towards implementation. This is encouraging, given that studies throughout the world have remarked on the barriers that exist in moving from planning to action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Bayesian network used to structure available knowledge and facilitate simulation of management alternatives. • Demand for urbanization and recreation were identified as dominant human drivers, exerting pressure on the beach ecosystem. • Demographic trends were integrated into a decision-making framework that supports beach managers. • Beach user surveys proposed as periodic network inputs, indicating beach recreational quality and management issues. • Urban WALROS classes were widespread across land-based sites, and more natural classes prevailed over water-based sites. Managing coastal areas under an Ecosystem Based Approach–Marine Spatial Planning framework acknowledges the complexity associated with the need to address multiple environmental and socioeconomic issues. The development of efficient management plans is critical to the implementation success of the framework; in this regard, unresolved challenges remain for measuring the effectiveness of planning plans and monitoring implementation progress. This paper describes the development of a Bayesian Belief Network as a prototype Decision Support Tool to assist coastal planning in the catchment areas of the Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The model was co-designed with local managers, underpinned by the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses analytical framework to identify key coastal cause-effect relationships, and by the Recreational Opportunity Spectrum framework to account for significant recreational areas. The Bayesian Belief Network was structured on a conceptualisation of the relationships between key pressures affecting coastal management targets (biological areas and human activities) and their impacts on the state of the variables, with emphasis on the beach ecosystem. The socio-economic component of the model consists of predictive socio-economic modelling on preferred beach activities, the assessment of beach recreational settings, and a beach quality survey. Conditional probability tables were derived from local and regional databases. The model structure allows decision makers enhanced understanding of key interactions between management variables, assessment of management scenarios, and increased accountability of planning decisions. Future work on the prototype could expand the model to become a Bayesian Decision Network, through the integration of proposed management actions and their utilities, thereby helping managers identify optimal decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mutual information is effective to analyze dependence of foF2 on R 12 and F10.7 12. • Dependence of foF2 on R 12 and F10.7 12 differ in different solar activity years. • Mutual information provides an effective selection of inputs for foF2 prediction. This paper analyzes the dependence of the ionospheric F2 layer critical frequency, f oF2, on two widely used solar activity indices (12-month running mean of the sunspot number (R 12) and the solar radio flux of 10.7 cm wavelength (F10.7 12)) by using mutual information method at the ionospheric station of Darwin (geographic 12.4°S, 131.5°E) in Australia. The results show that the f oF2 have different responses to R 12 and F10.7 12 in different solar activity years. In the high and low solar activity years, the f oF2 is more dependent on R 12 rather than F10.7 12. In the moderate solar activity years, the f oF2 is more dependent on F10.7 12 rather than R 12. We further verify the effectiveness of the mutual information on the selection of the solar activity index by developing the prediction models of the f oF2. Additionally, the results are compared against the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. The data of training period used in the model is from 1998 to 2015, except 2000, 2009 and 2013. Data for 2000, 2009 and 2013 are used to validate the prediction accuracy, for high, low and moderate solar activity years, respectively. The results demonstrate that the favorable prediction results can be obtained when the solar activity index with large mutual information is used as the input variable of the fo F2 prediction model. The proposed method not only can quantitatively analyze the nonlinear relationship between the fo F2 and solar activity indices but also provides an effective way of selecting the solar activity indices for the fo F2 prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Presenting a set of mathematical models for green flowshop scheduling problems. • Considering common carbon reduction policies and their corresponding scenarios. • Providing analysis of models and insights to design a framework for green flowshops. • Industries can use our cost-effective strategies to meet limits mandated by government. • Government can explore our integrated framework to gauge impacts of carbon policies. In this paper we consider, from an environmental policy-maker perspective, how carbon reduction policies impact the economic competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. Specifically, we focus on flowshop scheduling – which typically aims to minimize makespan for purely economic objectives – and consider how three common carbon reduction policies – namely, taxes on emissions, baselines on emissions, and emissions trading schemes – can create competitive green flowshops that balance minimization of makespan and carbon emissions. The goal is to enable policy-makers to understand how to set policies and control parameters to achieve environmental objectives while ensuring global economic competitiveness of industry. We initially present a set of mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) models for flowshop scheduling problems operating in a regulated environment in which each carbon reduction policy is adopted. We then introduce a bi-objective scheduling framework for the corresponding problem to obtain alternative solutions under each policy. These models and their computational results however, are not the main focus of the study, but are presented as a means to demonstrate how green policies co-exist with economic objectives, with policy-makers in control of the balance. To this end, based on financial data from Australia's carbon emissions profile, we provide a policy-oriented analysis of the models, and some managerial insights into the effect of scheduling strategies on carbon emissions under different reduction policies. These insights offer support to both environmental policy-makers and corporate production and sustainability managers to determine whether it is technically feasible and profitable to replace traditional scheduling strategies with environmentally friendly scheduling strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A PV variability tolerant multifunctional control strategy for BESS is proposed. • Four control functions of BESS with possible user-defined extensions were formulated. • A use-case to control PV plant's power ramp rate is demonstrated using real data. • Validation is performed in real-time software-in-loop platform using real-field data. • Evaluation of proposed strategy shows the potential for real-world deployment. This paper proposes a multifunctional control strategy for battery energy storage systems (BESSs) in solar photovoltaic (PV) plants to avoid the unacceptable PV-power ramp-rate caused by PV variability. In addition to the PV variability tolerant ramp-rate control, the proposed multifunctional BESS control strategy is capable of maintaining a user-specified charging profile to store excess PV power while providing backup power support and charge maintenance, by accommodating diverse control functions time to time. Four control functions, namely, Rest (RST), Surplus Energy Storage (STR), Back-up Power Support (SPT) and Charge Maintenance (CMT) functions, are proposed in this article. Besides, extendibility of the proposed multifunctional strategy is presented by adding two action strategies – one with the STR function and another with the SPT function. Validation of the proposed control strategy is conducted by using real historical data from a utility-scale solar PV plant located in Queensland, Australia. Numerical analyses show that the strategy can successfully keep the PV ramp-rate within specified limit along with the user specified charge profile. Further, exploiting the real-field data, the proposed strategy is demonstrated through a real-time co-simulation study conducted in a MATLAB interfaced RSCAD-RTDS platform that can be used as Digital Twin (DT) for the PV plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating disparate and distributed vegetation data is critical for consistent and informed national policy development and management. Australia's National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) under the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is the only nationally consistent vegetation database and hierarchical typology of vegetation types in different locations. Currently, this database employs manual approaches for integrating disparate state and territory datasets which is labour intensive and can be prone to human errors. To cope with the ever-increasing need for up to date vegetation data derived from heterogeneous data sources, a Semi-Automated Hybrid Matcher (SAHM) is proposed in this paper. SAHM utilises both schema level and instance level matching following a two-tier matching framework. A key novel technique in SAHM called Multivariate Statistical Matching is proposed for automated schema scoring which takes advantage of domain knowledge and correlations between attributes to enhance the matching. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed framework, the performance of the individual as well as combined components of SAHM have been evaluated. The empirical evaluation shows the effectiveness of the proposed framework which outperforms existing state of the art methods like Cupid, Coma, Similarity Flooding, Jaccard Leven Matcher, Distribution Based Matcher, and EmbDI. In particular, SAHM achieves between 88% and 100% accuracy with significantly better F1 scores in comparison with state-of-the-art techniques. SAHM is also shown to be several orders of magnitude more efficient than existing techniques. • The Integration of the National vegetation database is key for policy development. • A novel semi-automated hybrid schema matching framework, SAHM is proposed. • SAHM is a two-tiered matching solution that uses schema and instance information. • SAHM yields better schema matching results in comparison with the State-of-the-art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the considerable success of deep learning methods in modelling physical processes, they suffer from a variety of issues such as overfitting and lack of interpretability. In hydrology, conceptual rainfall-runoff models are simple yet fast and effective tools to represent the underlying physical processes through lumped storage components. Although conceptual rainfall-runoff models play a vital role in supporting decision-making in water resources management and urban planning, they have limited flexibility to take data into account for the development of robust region-wide models. The combination of deep learning and conceptual models has the potential to address some of the aforementioned limitations. This paper presents a sub-model hybridization of the GR4J rainfall-runoff model with deep learning architectures such as convolutional neural networks (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) networks. The results show that the hybrid models outperform both the base conceptual model as well as the canonical deep neural network architectures in terms of the Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) score across 223 catchments in Australia. We show that our hybrid model provides a significant improvement in predictive performance, particularly in arid catchments, and generalizing better across catchments. • Hybrid modelling features parsimony of data-driven and conceptual hydrologic models. • We present a deep learning-based hybridization for the GR4J rainfall-runoff model. • We present a hierarchical training approach consisting of gradient-based and evolutionary optimization of the respective models. • The results show that hybrid models outperform the canonical (base) hydrologic and deep learning model. • The addition of surface temperature and antecedent streamflow further improves the predictive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative assessment of floodplain ecological response to flow regimes is challenging but essential for setting targets and estimating impacts for environmental water management. This paper proposes a model that takes long-term (90 years) and large-scale (9 million grid cells) flood maps as input to estimate the response of floodplain vegetation using infinitely differentiable functions. The model, named Floodplain Ecological Response Model (FERM), is calibrated against 1-D temporal Leaf Area Index (LAI) data from the WAVES energy and water balance model at a daily timestep, and validated on the entire floodplain using condition data of the Icon Sites of the Murray River aggregated to a yearly timestep. Results show that FERM can adequately simulate the response of different types of vegetation on the floodplain, while reducing the data requirements and runtime drastically compared to other approaches. The FERM modeling approach is a first step towards a quantitative modeling of floodplain forest ecosystems at large scale with realistic data and computation requirements. It is intended to indicate the potential of such an approach in semi-arid systems where data availability is limited, and to encourage the further research needed to improve our understanding of floodplain forests and our capacity to model the impact of floods on their ecological response. [Display omitted] • FERM uses infinitely differentiable functions to estimate floodplain vegetation condition. • Model parameters can be calibrated to data or inferred from knowledge. • Drastically reduces data requirements and runtime compared to existing methods. • Tested on a semi-arid floodplain in Australia. • FERM adequately simulates the response of different types of vegetation on the floodplain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spotty Liver Disease (SLD) is a serious problem in laying hens farmed in cage-free systems. The causative organism, Campylobacter hepaticus , is regarded as having a fecal-oral method of transmission and hence may build up and spread readily in housing systems which allow ease of direct contact of hens with the flock's fecal material. The epidemiology of SLD has not been thoroughly investigated. An initial cross-sectional analytical epidemiological survey of SLD in free range and barn layer systems was conducted in Australia over 2019 to 2021.The survey involved rearing flocks (n = 32) which were then followed through into laying flocks (n = 24) up to 40 wk of age. Cloacal swabs were collected during rearing and lay for C. hepaticus detection by PCR. Flocks were classified as "Cases" (n = 18) where clinical SLD according to the case definition was observed or "Controls" (n = 6) which were clinically unaffected. No C. hepaticus was detected in cloacal swabs from rearing houses whereas the organism was detected in 18 Case flocks in lay and from 2 Control flocks in lay. All layer houses that incorporated a scratch area (n = 13) were categorized as Cases. Thus, having a scratch area is a key determinant for SLD and no analyses of further contributory factors from these flocks were able to be made. Of the remaining 11 flocks which had floors fully covered by slats, 5 were Cases (45%). Further risk factor analysis was compromised by this small sample size and identification of other significant associations was not possible. A larger survey investigating flocks laying in houses with fully slatted floors was undertaken to further the understanding of SLD epidemiology and is reported in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pretension is the pre-added axial tensile force on fully grouted bolt systems, which include rock bolts and cable bolts. Although a series of studies via lab testing and analytical modelling proved the importance of pretension in cable bolts, there is no systematic analysis to guide the optimal pretension values to be applied on cable bolts in different engineering geological conditions. Complicated geological conditions, such as anisotropic in-situ stress, bedding plane detachment and country rock deformation, cannot be fully represented in the lab or analytical work. In addition, field scale numerical models to investigate cable bolt performance and its interaction with various geological conditions are rare. This paper analyses the effect of pretension on the performance of cable bolts in underground coal mines via field scale numerical models, with considering different geological conditions (in-situ stress, bedding plane stiffness and rock mass properties). Numerical models were developed based on a case study mine in Australia with challenging ground conditions. The in-situ stress, properties of claystone and bedding planes are considered critical variables to be analysed. The results show higher pretension contributes to higher force along the cable bolt. Neutral points, where shear force in grout materials is zero, are used to describe the pretension-induced stress redistribution on cable bolts. Pretension also has a positive effect on roof and bedding plane management, resulting in a more stable roof condition. In addition, high pretension and high in-situ stress are more likely to result in cable-grout (CG) interface failure since the relative vertical displacement difference between cable bolts and the surrounding rock mass is higher. Once CG interface failure is generated, the pretension effect turns out to be negative, leading to severe roof sagging and bedding plane aperture. This paper provides a guide to the application of pretension in coal mining. • Developed a numerical model to illustrate the effect of pretension on cable bolts. • Analysed effects of pretension and cable-grout (CG) interface failure on cable bolts. • Investigated the relationship between pretension applied and CG interface failure generated along cable bolts. • CG interface failure induced by excessive pretension is more sensitive to bedding plane properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Activism has a substantial role within the specialization of Indigenous Australian public relations. • Indigenous women working in public relations utilize their activist skill set in their personal lives. • There are unique cultural connections between the concepts of Indigeneity, professional activism and personal activism. • Indigenous Australian public relations strategies can involve activism through fashion. The role of activism is important in the field of Indigenous Australian public relations as a strategy for creating change and giving back to Indigenous people and communities. However, there is a dearth of information on how, when, and why Indigenous women employed in public relations engage in activist practices. This paper aims to help fill this gap by exploring the activist practices used by Indigenous women working in public relations in their personal lives. By considering personal activism from the perspectives of Indigenous women in public relations, we can further conceptualize activism within the profession. Through the critical lens of Indigenous women's standpoint theory, and utilizing an Indigenous yarning method, five Indigenous women discuss their definitions of activism and the various ways in which they engage in activism within their personal lives. This paper builds upon the ideas of activism within public relations and demonstrates the power of public relations in terms of influencing social change for Indigenous people and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we respond to the articles “Decoupling global environmental pressure and economic growth: scenarios for energy use, materials use and carbon emissions” by Heinz Schandl et al. (Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, 45–56) and “Australia is ‘free to choose’ economic growth and falling environmental pressures” by Hatfield-Dodds et al. (Nature, 527, 49–53). The authors of these papers suggest that policy settings are crucial for Australia to allow growing standard of living to coincide with lower environmental pressure and impact. Both papers make it clear that decoupling has not occurred in past, but stress that this does not mean it cannot occur in the future. Here, we undertake a comprehensive trend analysis by putting their decoupling scenarios into a historical context to assess the feasibility of decoupling economic growth from environmental impacts. To this end, we undertake a structural decomposition analysis to examine the drivers of a change in Australia's greenhouse gas emissions from 1976 to 2050. Using the well-known I = PAT equation, we appraise the contribution of population growth, affluence and technology in accelerating or decelerating the growth of emissions over the 75 year period. Our results suggest that population growth and affluence are key accelerators of greenhouse gas emissions. We argue that in order to decrease emissions from fuel consumption, unprecedented improvements in emissions intensity will be required both in Australia and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The difficulties experienced with traditional forms of economic regulation of airports involving direct control of prices have led to an interest in light-handed regulatory frameworks. Experience with light-handed regulation of airports is primarily confined to Australia and New Zealand. The paper examines the design features of light-handed regulation in Australia and New Zealand in relation to the stated objectives associated with the introduction of light-handed regulation. The paper identifies important aspects associated with the design of light-handed regulation including the incorporation of a credible threat of stronger regulation and the characteristics of this, and an apparent trade-off in objectives achieved with different approaches to light-handed regulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: While it is widely acknowledged that airport re-organisation from destination to dedicated airline group terminals makes passenger travel more seamless, more efficient and also more profitable for both airlines and airports, there is little known about the impacts of such change on freight and in particular belly-hold cargo chains. Our analysis includes data from all airports in Australia but focuses primarily on the proposed re-organisation of Sydney Kingsford Smith airport. This paper reveals a significant relationship between international freight volumes, terminal organisation and freighter operations. However, our interview results only confirm the volume/aircraft type relationship. The paper aims to contribute to the general discussion on the impact of passenger terminal organisation on belly-hold freight operations and more specifically to the consultation process around airport master planning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reports on the experimental design process and considerations of a choice experiment conducted in collaboration with farmers in northern Australia. The purpose of the research is to inform the design of effective and efficient payments-for-ecosystem services schemes to safeguard north Australia’s biodiversity values. It promotes the contractual provision of biodiversity conservation services by farmers, in particular pastoralists operating in Australia’s tropical savannas. The paper focuses on the discrete choice experimental (DCE) aspects. The DCE is employed to estimate farmers’ preference heterogeneity for supplying ecosystem services, specifically their willingness to accept remuneration for the on-farm conservation of biodiversity, based on potential programme attributes. The design of the choice experiment draws on best practice standards (Hoyos, 2010), a recognition of the benefits of embedding design in a consultative process (Klojgaard et al., 2012) and recent advances in accounting for response certainty (Brouwer et al., 2010; Hensher et al., 2012). DCE design decisions relating to attribute selection, attribute levels, alternatives and choice tasks are explained based on literature, focus group discussions, expert input and an iterative process of Bayesian D-efficient DCE design. Additional design aspects include measuring choice certainty and stated attribute attendance, embedding the DCE within a discrete-continuous approach, capturing relevant respondent-related attributes with socio-economic-psychological questions and scales, and devising appropriate data collection logistics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Green buildings are synonymous with environmental sustainability; however, it is unclear what role its occupants, specifically employees, play in promoting sustainability in green office buildings. This paper proposes that Green Human Resource Management (HRM), underpinned by Social Identity Theory (SIT), can maximize the potential of green behaviors to improve employees' outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction and work-related flow) in green office buildings by creating positive workplace behaviors (i.e., green behaviors). We collected multisource data from 549 employees and 91 managers working in 17 organizations in green office buildings across Australia. We confirm the double mediation effects of Green HRM, green behaviors and organizational identification on the relationships between organizational readiness, job satisfaction and work-related flow. The paper makes theoretical contributions by advancing the concept of Green HRM and green behaviors within the realm of SIT, thus taking a multidisciplinary stance in the built environment and sustainability literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global concerns around climate change and the volatility of conventional fuel prices have prompted researchers and technologists to make significant efforts to identify and exploit alternative energy sources that are cleaner and more sustainable. Wind energy has seen considerable development among these alternative energy sources, mainly due to its abundance and global availability for extraction and the existing knowledge within the aviation and aerospace fields. Many nations, including European countries, already operate offshore wind farms (OWFs) and are progressively carrying out new projects and expanding on other projects. The Australian offshore environment provides unique opportunities for wind energy extraction, particularly along the southern coast of mainland Australia and the regions around Tasmania, where substantially strong winds blow most of the year. A significant challenge to establishing wind farms is the selection of site locations with optimal outputs. This can become a complex decision-making problem if there are numerous options and no information from previous projects. This paper aims to develop a decision-making framework to select the optimal location for installing OWFs while addressing financial, performance-related, and availability-related objectives. This paper adopts a game-theoretical approach to develop a decision-support tool to account for the interdependencies of influencing factors and possible conflicts amongst the parties. The game model is applied to an OWF development case study in the Bass Strait, known for its dominant and strong winds. • A framework to find the optimal location for installing Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs). • Game theory decision-making methodology for offshore renewable energy applications. • Define the influencing factors and conflicts amongst the interested parties. • Apply to OWFs development in Bass Strait, known for its dominant and strong winds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]