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As a trending mobility choice, e-scooters have become popular in many cities. A number of authorities have initiated shared e-scooter trial schemes to assess the feasibility of the vehicles prior to enacting official legalisation. This paper aims to provide an evidence review of shared e-scooters and investigate how existing evidence may inform long-term policies. This carries significant relevance for jurisdictions that are in a conflicting position with e-scooters, such as New South Wales (NSW), Australia whose context motivates this study. The evidence review focuses on three themes derived from experience with shared e-scooters within the broader micromobility landscape, namely: safety; where shared e-scooters fit into the modal landscape; and the environmental impacts. Findings confirm that ensuring the safety of shared e-scooters requires complex solutions, which may include a clear regulatory framework for e-scooters, safety education and skill training, innovative data collection and analysis methods, and an approach to safety management that is user-based, location-based, and time-based. In terms of modal fit policymakers should encourage first and last-mile combinations with public transport, with consideration of user characteristics; while climate impact is strongly correlated to the mode replaced by e-scooter trips. The paper provides insights for policymakers on the regulation and positioning of shared e-scooters. • Many jurisdictions are struggling to determine policies for e-scooters. • Existing e-scooter evidence sheds light on possible long-term policies. • Safety management should consider different users, locations, and times. • First and last-mile combinations with public transport should be encouraged. • Climate impact is strongly correlated to the mode replaced by e-scooter trips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dedicated grid-tied offshore hybrid energy system for hydrogen production is a promising solution to unlock the full benefit of offshore wind and solar energy and realize decarbonization and sustainable energy security targets in electricity and other sectors. Current knowledge of these offshore hybrid systems is limited, particularly in the integration, component control, and allocation aspects. Therefore, a grid-integrated analytical model with a power dispatch allocation strategy between the grid and electrolyzer for the co-production of hydrogen from the offshore hybrid energy system is developed in this paper. While producing hydrogen, the proposed offshore hybrid energy system supplies a percentage of its capacity to the onshore grid facility, and the amount of the electricity is quantified based on the electricity market price and available total offshore generation. The detailed controls of each component are discussed. A case study considers a hypothetical hybrid offshore energy system of 10 MW situated in a potential offshore off the NSW of Australia based on realistic metrological data. A grid-scale proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer stack is used and a model predictive power controller is implemented on the distributed hydrogen generation scheme. The model is helpful for the assessment or optimization of both the economics and feasibility of the dedicated offshore hybrid energy farm for hydrogen production systems. • Modeling of a grid-integrated analytical model of an OHES for hydrogen co-production. • Development of a power dispatch allocation strategy for the proposed OHES. • Development of detailed controls of each component used in the proposed OHES. • Demonstrations of a case study considering 10 MW OHES situated in offshore off the NSW of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In young drivers of both sexes traffic offences are rare while under supervision. • Offence rates increase greatly after the first provisional phase (P1) is attained. • Excluding GDLS offences there are small increases after reaching the next phases. • Novices aged 17 at first licensure had the highest rates in the provisional phases. • Speeding was most common but unsafe driving was common shortly after reaching P1. This paper aims to add to the sparse research on patterns of traffic offending in young novice drivers by examining the trajectories of young Australian novices throughout the graduated driving licensing system (GDLS). Data on licensing, crashes and traffic offences for all persons aged under 25 years first licensed from July 2007 to June 2008 in New South Wales were supplied by transport authorities, with follow-up to January 2014. Eight hierarchical categories of offence were defined by seriousness. Total numbers of offences per month were plotted for one year after initial licensure while under supervision (L), after transitions to the first (P1) and second (P2) provisional licence phases and to unrestricted licensure (U). After excluding novices not transiting to P1, 75,470 novices (51.5 % male, 77.7 % 16 years old at L) remained. Of these 63,070 had a year of follow-up after P2 (52.5 % male, 82.3 % 16 years old at L) and 28,861 had a year of follow-up after U (55.5 % males, 91.7 % 16 years old at L), Offences were uncommon under at L but spiked after P1 and again after P2. Omitting GDLS offences there was a small increase after U. Patterns were broadly similar by age at L and time in L. Novices aged at least 18 years at L had the highest offence rates in the learner phase; those aged 17 years at L had the highest rates in P1 and P2. The longer novices spent in the supervised driving phase the lower their subsequent offence rates even allowing for age at P1. Urban or regional residence had little influence on offence rates but lower aggregate socio-economic status as measured by a census-derived index was associated with appreciably higher offence rates. Speeding was the most common offence type; dangerous/negligent driving was common immediately after P1, declining thereafter. These results are in broad agreement with previous research in noting the increase in offending as GDLS restrictions eased. They highlight the need for better understanding of the function of a GDLS in improving the safety of young drivers. They may also inform future enforcement and education policies for novice drivers. For example, rehabilitative interventions should occur coupled with enforcement soon after citation. Visible display of GDLS status would assist their identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of a secular decline in internal migration across more developed nations, this paper examines the degree of counterurbanisation in New South Wales – Australia's most populous state – for 2016-21, a period that included the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a nuanced demarcation of 'metropolitan' and 'non-metropolitan', the paper investigates how genuinely counter-urban and pro-rural these movements are. The paper also explores the role of rural amenity as a 'pull' factor on city populations, using the most influential elements of the rural environment that best predict in-, out-migration and net-migration flows as separate measures rather than combine them into an index of composite variables. The results suggest that counterurbanisation exists as a particular migration current in NSW, though the spatial patterning of in- and net migration rates suggests that exurbanisation and displaced urbanisation more accurately describe and explain the vast majority of moves. Relatively high in- and net migration rates recorded in the most remote local government areas also suggest an element of anti-urbanisation, perhaps in response to the COVID-19 public health measures. Spatial regression modelling of selected amenity indicators against in-, out- and net migration produced high coefficients (Spearman's rho) for the in- and out-migration models, while the net migration model registered coefficients about half the size of the other two models. Two indicators – median slope and tourism employment – were strong and statistically significant influences over the in- and net migration models, and in the direction hypothesised. These results suggest that counterurbanisation is substantially influenced by the presence of landscapes of varied relief and with some tourism attraction potential. • The spatial patterning of in- and net migration rates between the New South Wales metro region and non-metro regions suggest that exurbanisation and displaced urbanisation more accurately explain the vast majority of moves. • Relatively high in- and net migration rates recorded in the most remote local government areas of NSW also suggest an element of anti-urbanisation, perhaps in response to the COVID-19 public health measures. • Two indicators – median slope and tourism employment – had statistically significant influences over the in- and net migration models in spatial regression modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the clearance of native forests and native vegetation for plantation establishment, otherwise known as forest conversion, in the state-owned plantations of New South Wales, Australia. It begins by describing Australia's forests, plantations, and forest conversion, continues with an outline of the history of public hardwood plantations in New South Wales, and explores the regulatory frameworks that allow this practice to happen, and the responses adopted by non-state environmental governance systems, notably forest certification, to address this problem. The paper presents a case study analysis of conversion in the hardwood plantations of northern NSW, and concludes that the current regulatory environment facilitates deforestation, with cumulative impacts at the landscape level, and that without government intervention, efforts to prevent this by non-state action will only be partially successful, leading to ongoing habitat and species loss. The failure of existing legislative and regulatory frameworks to adequately acknowledge, define, and prohibit conversion will remain an impediment to sustainable forest management, as the entry of such timber into the market contaminates supply chains, resulting in considerable reputation risk. Reform is needed in both public and private governance systems to ensure strong governance, effective planning, and ecosystem integrity at the landscape level. Recommendations are provided for policymakers. • A new methodology to identify original forest inside plantation areas via historical aerial imagery. • A detailed evaluation of a range of spatial datasets demonstrating the increase of plantation cover, potentially at the expense of native forest. • A case study identifying that forest conversion has occurred in public hardwood plantations managed by the Forestry Corporation of New South Wales. • There is an urgent need to undertake reform to ensure New South Wales does not fall foul of the EUDR, or the Glasgow Declaration. • More research is needed to determine how significant these conversion events are , and the impacts on flora and fauna, notably the koala. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their 2010 book, Lorna Weir and Eric Mykhalovskiy conceptualised the role of vigilance in unknown and emerging infectious disease threats. Theirs is a macro-level account which draws on empirical data to describe vigilance as a set of technical and political arrangements that govern collection, analysis, interpretation and communication of data as it pertains to unknown threats. In this paper we expand their work to detail a conceptual analysis of the role of vigilance at the micro-level during periods of high infectious disease threat. Our data are daily press conferences and associated non-discursive tools in New South Wales (NSW), Australia during times of heightened COVID-19 risk. This paper is a conceptual analysis that draws on theories of vigilance and related concepts to show how a key aspect of vigilance is making previously unseen threats visible or present. Communications formulated and encouraged three types of vigilance as a set of governing relations: institutional or authority-based; individual outward-facing; and individual inward-facing. We also describe the relationship between vigilance and related concepts that are used in response to anticipated public threats. Authority based vigilance involved contact tracing and policing of movement and behaviours. In individual outward facing vigilance people were asked to be alert to, analyse, and react to risk in their immediate environment. Inward facing vigilance required people to gather and react to information about their own behaviours and within their own bodies. There was a relationship between different types of vigilance; as risk increased and authority-based vigilance was less successful in containing the spread of infection, individual vigilance had a stronger role to play. This extension of vigilance at the micro-level sees some of the same unintended consequences as Weir and Mykhalovskiy describe at the global level, particularly in how burdens are inequitably distributed and experienced. • Citizens became an arm of vigilance apparatus during COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. • Vigilance was authority-based; individual outward facing; individual inward facing. • Disadvantaged populations carried higher vigilance burden. • Earlier conceptions of vigilance in infectious disease emergencies are extended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exploration information system (EIS) is a way of creating, and managing exploration targets and should include the entire process from conceptual mineral system models to, modelling the mineral system using available data, to generation of targets or prospect areas. The main goal for any EIS is to help find new mineral deposits that are economic to mine and process at the financial conditions of the time. Prioritisation and management of exploration targets is a key to success in mineral exploration, particularly with the increasing use of mineral potential modelling techniques, including AI, which can generate a large number of targets in a study area for testing. In this paper, we present ideas for the components for an EIS designed to optimise the mineral exploration process and provide critical decision-making support. The Macquarie Arc porphyry copper-gold mineral system in New South Wales is used as an example to illustrate how such a system can be developed and implemented. Accepted mineral potential mapping workflows are used coupled with a targeting process that generates, attributes, and ranks prospect areas to produce exploration targets. The proposed front-end of the EIS is an Exploration Management Dashboard, which can be used by executives and managers to facilitate informed decision-making and optimal allocation of capital. We advocate for a standardised system capable of accommodating various commodities, input datasets, and diverse analytical techniques, including AI-driven methods and validation tools. Flexibility for user customisation, especially for non-technical users, and real-time data integration are seen as an essential part of any EIS. Furthermore, the system is designed to be dynamic, with continuous updates and improvements as new data are collected, ensuring that exploration is always focussed on the areas with the greatest potential prospectivity. • Advances in computer technology now make the creation of an EIS to help manage mineral exploration possible. • Spatial analysis within the EIS provides insights into the data that need to be collected that will lead to new discoveries. • Techniques for resource assessment can be used to provide estimates of the potential endowment of an exploration target. • The results of MPM can be considered with other economic factors to help understand the relative value of commodities. • A future goal is to have automated feedback loops in the EIS that assess of the effects of new data on target prospectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although traditional physical models have been used to analyse groundwater systems, the emergence of novel machine learning models can improve the accuracy of the predictions. Deep learning has been prominent in environmental and climate change problems. In this paper, we present a framework for utilising deep learning models to predict groundwater levels based on nearby streamflow and rainfall data. We address the missing data problem using a Bayesian linear regression model within the deep learning framework. Our deep learning framework utilises models such as long-short term memory (LSTM) networks and convolutional neural networks (CNN) for multi-step ahead time series prediction. We examine the fluctuations in groundwater levels at various boreholes located near Middle Creek in New South Wales, Australia. We use the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) groundwater database and utilise Bayesian linear regression to impute missing data. We investigate the accuracy of the selected models for individual and regional basins and univariate and multivariate strategies. Our results show that the LSTM-based regional model with multivariate strategy using rainfall data provided the best accuracy. • We predict groundwater levels based on stream flow and rainfall data. • Our framework uses Bayesian data imputation and deep learning for multi-step prediction. • We examine the groundwater fluctuations at various boreholes located in Australia. • Results show a fine-tuned regional model with rainfall data yielded the best accuracy. • We find that LSTM models outperformed CNNs using the multivariate approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Severely injured patients have significant morbidity and mortality. Patients with blunt chest injury are a risk of further complications, particularly the elderly population who traditionally have comorbidities. This paper is one of a series of studies investigating the impact of comorbidities in severely injured patients. • Severely injured patients with blunt chest injury and comorbidities are at risk of prolonged length of stay. Blunt chest injuries result in up to 10 % of major trauma admissions. Comorbidities can complicate recovery and increase the mortality rate in this patient cohort. A better understanding of the association between comorbidities and patient outcomes will facilitate enhanced models of care for particularly vulnerable groups of patients, such as older adults. i) compare the characteristics of severely injured patients with blunt chest injury with and without comorbidities and ii) examine the relationship between comorbidities and key patient outcomes: prolonged length of stay, re-admission within 28 days, and mortality within 30 days in a cohort of patients with blunt chest injury admitted after severe trauma. A retrospective cohort study using linked data from the NSW Trauma Registry and NSW mortality and hospitalisation records between 1st of January 2012 and 31st of December 2019. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, patients with severe injuries, chest injuries, and comorbidities were found to have a 34 % increased likelihood of having a prolonged length of stay (OR = 1.34, 95 % I = 1.17–1.53) compared to patients with no comorbidities. There was no difference in 30-day mortality for patients with a severe chest injury who did or did not have comorbidities (OR = 1.05, 95 %CI = 0.80–1.39). No significant association was found between comorbidities and re-admission within 28 days. Severely injured patients with blunt chest injury and comorbidities are at risk of prolonged length of stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E -commerce's rapid expansion has transformed consumer shopping habits and business operations. While it offers the potential to reduce customer trips, it has also contributed to increased vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) by delivery vehicles, resulting in elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially in last-mile deliveries. This paper proposes a spatial approach to address the uncapacitated single allocation hub covering problem (USAHCP) to reduce the VKT by optimising the number and location of logistics hub. In this approach, the spatial features and strategic legislation of metropolitan areas are analysed. Integrating existing models, this location-based approach aims to design a collaborative last mile distribution network by locating micro-consolidation centres (MCCs) in metropolitan areas to service parcel lockers where end customers pick up their parcels. The method is applied to Sydney, Australia, using data provided by the largest courier companies in Australia. The results show that incorporating MCCs in the network reduces VKT due to their proximity to final destinations. Sensitivity analyses are conducted by differentiating maximum driving time constraints and specific times of day reflecting traffic patterns. The results provide significant advantages for logistics stakeholders, notably Transport for NSW, by reducing VKT and GHG emissions. Moreover, the developed method can be utilised by carriers and shippers in their strategic and operational decisions to enhance overall delivery speed and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews some of the work performed by the authors over the past decade regarding the identification and forecasting of severe space weather. Severe space weather (SvSW) is defined as those causing damage of ground installations such as transformers resulting in power outage and/or tele-communication networks resulting in communication failure; normal space weather (NSW) does not cause such severe effects. Severe space weather (ScSW) events are caused by very energetic coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun, in particular by the sharp changes at their leading edge or front. It is shown that (1) it is the ICME (interplanetary CME) front of large velocity jump ΔV by over 275 km s−1 and sufficiently large southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF Bz) at and beyond the velocity jump that causes SvSW. (2) A derived parameter of the geomagnetic storms called impulsive strength (IpsDst) giving the average value of Dst during the storm main phase (MP) can distinguish between SvSW and NSW. (3) The product of the observed velocity jump and associated IMF Bz southward (ΔVBz) ≤ −15000 km s−1 nT or −15 mV/m) can be used for forecasting SvSW. (4) If one can estimate ΔVBz at the Sun-Earth L1 point based on observations such as from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite, it is possible to forecast an SvSW event with an advance warning time of about half an hour. [Display omitted] • It is the ICME (interplanetary CME) front of large velocity jump ΔV by over 275 km s−1 and sufficiently large southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF Bz) at and beyond the velocity jump that causes SvSW. • A derived parameter of the geomagnetic storms called impulsive strength (IpsDst) giving the average value of Dst during the storm main phase (MP) can distinguish between SvSW and NSW. • The product of the observed velocity jump and associated IMF Bz southward (ΔVBz) ≤ −15000 km s−1 nT or −15 mV/m) can be used for forecasting SvSW. • If one can estimate ΔVBz at the Sun-Earth L1 point based on observations such as from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite, it is possible to forecast a SvSW event with an advance warning time of about half an hour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative paper explores rural women entrepreneurs' motives for joining a female-founded, female-only business network. Using a theoretical framework based on the collective identity, territorial capital and gendered networks, we found that rural women's underlying motives to join the network is to harmonise the perceived dichotomy between their roles as women and as entrepreneurs and pave the way for a successful entrepreneurial journey. Their narratives suggest they prefer to connect and learn in business networks that they feel are extensions of who they are; that is where their identities are maintained and produce a sense of belonging. Network members perceive each other as 'like-minded', which suggests interpersonal congruence and behavioural integration, where they expect social interactions to be conflict-free. Therefore, the women perceived the network as supportive and non-competitive, with the main benefits of building their self-confidence while mitigating the social isolation and feelings of loneliness that characterise rural contexts in Australia. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of female-founded FOBNs as neo-endogenous agents catalysts for shifting social paradigms and fostering a more diverse, equitable and inclusive rural landscape. • Women entrepreneurs in rural Australia see their roles as women and entrepreneurs as conflicting. • Their narratives suggest a lack of self-confidence, low self-worth, and a desire to relate to like-minded people in a safe environment. • They join female-founded FOBNs to harmonise their conflicting roles and succeed in their entrepreneurial journey. • To achieve this, they need to be empowered, feel that they belong, and feel safe and supported. • FOBNs can support personal growth, legitimise women in entrepreneurship and mitigate social isolation in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]