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Recent global fire activity has highlighted the importance of understanding fire dynamics across time and space, with records of past fire (palaeofire) providing valuable insights to inform current and future management challenges. New records from the recent increase in palaeofire studies from Australia and surrounds have not been captured in any database for broader comparisons, and Australasia is poorly represented in current international databases used for global modelling of palaeofire trends. These problems are addressed by SahulCHAR, a new collection of sedimentary charcoal and black carbon records from Sahul (Australia, New Guinea, and offshore islands) and New Zealand. Data are stored in the OCTOPUS relational database platform, with a structure designed for compatibility with the existing Global Paleofire Database. Metadata are captured at site-level and observation-level, with observations including age determinations and charcoal or black carbon data. SahulCHAR Version 1 contains 687 records of charcoal or black carbon, including digitized data, unchanged and modified records from the Global Paleofire Database, and original author-submitted data. SahulCHAR is a much-needed update on past regional palaeofire compilations that will also provide greater representation of records from Sahul and New Zealand in future global syntheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As fire regimes continue to evolve in response to climate change, understanding how fire characteristics have responded to changes in the recent past is vital to inform predictions of future fire events. Aims and methods: Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, we assessed how fire intensity has changed in two fire-prone landscapes in south-eastern Australia: (1) the Blue Mountains; and (2) Namadgi National Park during the past 3000 years. Key results: Higher aromatic/aliphatic ratios suggest increased high-intensity fire frequency in sediments at the surface of both cores. Increases in the frequency of extreme drought periods, coupled with the change in vegetation and anthropogenic ignitions following colonisation, could have increased the frequency of high-intensity fires in the past ~200 years. Conclusions: FTIR spectroscopy can be used in sediment deposits to infer that the frequency of high-intensity fire events has increased in the past 200 years compared to the previous ~3000 years. Implications: These results are important for understanding how past fire regimes have responded to climate, people and vegetation shifts in the past ~3000 years and can be used to inform models for future predictions and management strategies. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was applied to sediment deposits in southeastern Australia. The aromatic/aliphatic ratio was used as a proxy for high-intensity fires. The increased frequency of high-intensity fire events could result from interactions between climate, people, and vegetation. The existing fire record was extended by centuries to millennia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian conservation targets commonly focus on preserving a vaguely defined ecological baseline, often conceptualised as a pre-European, 'natural' state. For instance, environmental legislation protects 'Endangered Ecological Communities' (EECs), which purportedly represent remnants of naturally occurring biota. However, EECs are often classified without long-term data, making it unclear as to whether the community being protected is indeed 'natural'. In this essay, we use history, ecology, and geography to map the long-term socio-environmental evolution of Sydney's freshwater wetland EECs, which were once key features of Australia's biggest city. Our data show that today's remnant wetlands are different from those of the early 1800s, highlighting how quickly landscapes can be misremembered. We encourage a reimagining of these wetlands not as snapshots of the past, but as human-impacted places with educational, ecological and historical importance. Our work emphasises the relevance of long-term, cross-disciplinary data for effective conservation, while highlighting limitations in post-colonial land management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drivers of fire regimes prior to the European occupation of Australia are still contentious, with some advocating regimes dominated by anthropogenic ignitions and others advocating a climate source or mixture of these elements. Here, we examine an 850-year history of fire regimes at Lake Werri Berri in south-east Australia, prior to and following European occupation. Macroscopic charcoal and FTIR spectroscopy were used to infer broad changes of the fire regime in proximity to the lake. We found little change through much of the 850-year period and most interesting, no apparent change following the initial displacement of Indigenous peoples and the introduction of farming and woodcutting to the region by Europeans. From the mid-20th Century onwards, there was an increase in both area burnt and fire severity or intensity, likely the result of increased fuel load and connectivity following an extended period of increased precipitation and heavier recreational land usage, which likely led to an increase in anthropogenic ignitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnographic observations suggest that Indigenous peoples employed a distinct regime of frequent, low-intensity fires in the Australian landscape in the past. However, the timing of this behaviour and its ecological impact remain uncertain. Here, we present detailed analysis of charcoal, including a novel measure of fire severity using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, at a site in eastern Australia that spans the last two glacial/interglacial transitions between 135–104 ka and 18–0.5 ka BP (broadly equivalent to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6-5 and 2-1, respectively). The accumulation of charcoal and vegetation composition was similar across both periods, correlating closely with Antarctic ice core records, and suggesting that climate is the main driver of fire regimes. Fire severity was lower over the past 18,000 years compared to the penultimate glacial/interglacial period and suggests increasing anthropogenic influence over the landscape during this time. Together with local archaeological records, our data therefore imply that Indigenous peoples have been undertaking cultural burning since the beginning of the Holocene, and potentially the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. We highlight the fact that this signal is not easily discernible in the other proxies examined, including widely used charcoal techniques, and propose that any anthropogenic signal will be subtle in the palaeo-environmental record. While early Indigenous people's reasons for landscape burning were different from those today, our findings nonetheless suggest that the current land management directions are based on a substantive history and could result in a reduction in extreme fire events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of commonly used oxidants in sedimentary macroscopic charcoal analysis on two sediment cores from Thirlmere Lakes National Park, Southeast Australia. The cores, from Lake Werri Berri (WB3) and Lake Couridjah (LC2), span ~900 years and 135,000 years, respectively. The Charcoal Accumulation Rate (CHAR) for both charcoal area and count was quantified using four different chemical treatments and compared to a control using only water. We also quantified the Charring Intensity (CI) of isolated charcoal fragments, a proxy for the severity/intensity of fire, determined using the FTIR spectral characteristics of the remaining charcoal after each treatment. We found significant differences in both the area and number of particles across all treatments in both cores. Significantly, we found substantial differences in CI between treatments, with few charcoal particles formed in low-severity fire (e.g., below ~400 °C or 3.0 °C.s.106) in groups treated with an oxidant. In contrast, the control group displayed a wider range of CI values and contained lightly pyrolyzed particles. This suggests that methods using an oxidant to concentrate sedimentary charcoal are potentially biasing records towards high-intensity or -severity fires. We suggest that consideration should be used when choosing laboratory methods based on the hypotheses being tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessed academic locus of control, self-esteem, and geographical distance from home (actual and perceived) as predictors of college adjustment in 88 female college freshmen. An internal academic locus of control, a high level of self-esteem, and a perception that the distance from home was "just right" were related to four dimensions of college adjustment. (Author/LLL)

This study investigated the effects a dilute solution of bleach (4% sodium hypochlorite), has on charcoal. We were particularly interested in considering if charcoal formed under different conditions of pyrolysis was differentially affected by this treatment, which is commonly used for the quantification of charcoal in sediments. We first produced a series of charcoal samples, under laboratory conditions (at temperatures between 250°C and 800°C and under oxygen limited conditions) and then measured total surface area of charcoal before and after treatment in a solution of 4% bleach. We found that charcoal formed ⩽400°C showed nearly complete bleaching after 24 h, while high temperature charcoal (>400°C) was much more resistant. These results indicate this treatment bleaches charcoal formed at lower temperatures: this means particles charred at low temperature may not be quantified in common optical counting or image analysis methods. This could have serious ramifications for sediment-based paleofire research as low intensity fire may be lost from a record, and the resulting fire history biased towards high intensity (high temperature) fires. Our findings suggest the need for a new, non-destructive method for extracting charcoal from sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual deficits in children that result from brain injury, including cerebral/cortical visual impairment (CVI), are difficult to assess through conventional methods due to their frequent co-occurrence with cognitive and communicative disabilities. Such impairments hence often go undiagnosed or are only determined through subjective evaluations of gaze-based reactions to different forms, colors, and movements, which limits any potential for remediation. Here, we describe a novel approach to grading visual health based on eye movements and evidence from gaze-based tracking behaviors. Our approach—the "Visual Ladder"—reduces reliance on the user's ability to attend and communicate. The Visual Ladder produces metrics that quantify spontaneous saccades and pursuits, assess visual field responsiveness, and grade spatial visual function from tracking responses to moving stimuli. We used the Ladder to assess fourteen hospitalized children aged 3 to 18 years with a diverse range of visual impairments and causes of brain injury. Four children were excluded from analysis due to incompatibility with the eye tracker (e.g., due to severe strabismus). The remaining ten children—including five non-verbal children—were tested multiple times over periods ranging from 2 weeks to 9 months, and all produced interpretable outcomes on at least three of the five visual tasks. The results suggest that our assessment tasks are viable in non-communicative children, provided their eyes can be tracked, and hence are promising tools for use in a larger clinical study. We highlight and discuss informative outcomes exhibited by each child, including directional biases in eye movements, pathological nystagmus, visual field asymmetries, and contrast sensitivity deficits. Our findings indicate that these methodologies will enable the rapid, objective classification and grading of visual impairments in children with CVI, including non-verbal children who are currently precluded from most vision assessments. This would provide a much-needed differential diagnostic and prognostic tool for CVI and other impairments of the visual system, both ocular and cerebral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a prevalent health issue in the US and even more prevalent amongst members of the armed forces. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the association between history of TBI and rates of dental treatment performed, endodontic therapy, and high caries risk. Methods: This was a retrospective medical and dental records study. The first 100 of a chosen dental hygienist's patients in 2016 who were seen for dental prophylaxis appointments were chosen as subjects. Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and Corporate Dental System (CDS) records were used to gather information on these subjects including rank, age, gender, duty status, tobacco use, history of TBI, total number of dental procedures, total Dental Weighted Value (DWV), number of endodontic procedures, endodontic DWV, high caries risk categorization, total days dental fitness class 1, and total days dental fitness class 3. From these subjects, a "TBI group" and a "Non-TBI group" were formed. T-Test analyses were performed to compare these groups to each other in categories of total number of dental procedures, total DWV, total days dental fitness class 1, and total days class 3. Relative risks ratio analysis was used to compare these groups in terms of high caries risk categorization. Results: Eight out of 100 subjects had a history of TBI. All TBI events were mild. Six subjects had 1 event, 1 had 2 events, and 1 had 4 events. The TBI group had a statistically higher mean number of dental procedures (P=0.00000025) and mean total DWV (P=0.0000062) compared to the non-TBI group. No subjects from the TBI group had an endodontic procedure. The TBI group had lower mean days in dental fitness class 1 and more mean days in dental fitness class 3, but the results were not statistically significant. The TBI group had lower high caries risk categorization rates than the non-TBI group, but the results were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Patients with a history of TBI had a significantly higher number of dental procedures performed and DWV generated compared to patients without a history of TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Plantar heel pain (PHP) is the most common cause of heel pain and can be debilitating; 20% of patients are refractory to standard of care. The Fascial Distortion Model (FDM), a novel manual diagnostic and treatment strategy, is purported to be effective for chronic pain; however, no rigorous studies document its effectiveness. We assessed the FDM for care of PHP. Design: Single arm prospective effectiveness study. Settings/Location: Outpatient primary care clinic; Fort Gordon, GA. Subjects: Outpatient adults. Interventions: Participants received an FDM-informed diagnostic and treatment strategy to identify fascial "distortions" at the foot based on patient-reported pain patterns and palpatory examination and then to provide distortion-specific manual therapy at baseline and 1 week. Outcome Measures: Primary outcome measure (0, 1, and 16 weeks): the Foot Pain subscale on the validated Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ; 0–100 points on each of eight separate subscales); secondary outcome measures (0, 1, and 16 weeks): the seven remaining subscales on the FHSQ, visual analog pain scale (VAS, 0–100 points), and plantar fascia thickness of the most effected foot assessed by ultrasound (0 and 16 weeks). Analysis was performed per protocol using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: One hundred and ninety-seven participants were screened; 33 were enrolled. Twenty-eight participants received two FDM procedures. Compared with baseline, improvement on the FHSQ Foot Pain (33.8–23.6 points) and Foot Function (23.9–19.8 points) subscales and VAS (44.7–27.7 points) at 16 weeks was statistically significant (all p's < 0.001) and clinically important representing large effect sizes. Relative to baseline, 16-week ultrasound demonstrated reduced average plantar fascia thickness (0.6–0.9 mm [p = 0.001]). Demographic characteristics were unrelated to response. Satisfaction was high. There were no serious adverse events; side effects included consistent mild-to-moderate self-limited pain. Conclusions: Participants with PHP who received FDM-informed care reported significant and sustained improvement on validated foot pain and foot function measures; additional findings included decreased plantar fascial thickness. These results require corroboration in a larger randomized controlled study. Clinical Trial Registration No: DDEAMC17005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]