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Australian schools are diverse, and support students from a wide range of racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, as well as students with disability. Ironically, efforts to ensure equally diverse teacher workforces have been ineffective. Attempts to improve broader representation in teachers have been hampered by a homogenous approach to teacher recruitment and education. In 2016, Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE) became a graduation requirement for teachers. The aim of this research is to explore the test-taking experiences of students (pre-service teachers) from diverse backgrounds, and the stakeholders who support them. A thematic analysis of data from a larger mixed methods study revealed additional tensions for students from diverse backgrounds including unintended consequences such as traumatic experiences and having to encounter additional hurdles to be successful. This study provides unique insights into additional pressures and hurdles students from diverse backgrounds experience when completing this high-stakes test.

Australian schooling is characterised by high levels of choice and competition, and education policymaking promotes the dissemination of information to assist families to choose a school. The aim of this study is to examine whether current information sharing is adequate for informing school choice for young people seeking vocational education and training (VET) opportunities. We examined secondary school websites in Western Australia, a state that is experiencing severe skills shortages, to ascertain the nature and extent to which information about VET in secondary schools is publicly available. Our findings showed that information about VET programs is largely invisible on school websites, as well as on the state jurisdiction's website (Department of Education WA, n.d.).

This article investigates pre-service teachers' experiences of undertaking LANTITE, a high-stakes literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education students. In this mixed methods study, 189 initial teacher education students from 28 Australian universities participated in an online questionnaire, with 27 students going on to take part in semi-structured telephone interviews. Indicative findings give voice to those most impacted by the implementation of LANTITE in 2017, revealing student concerns about the processing and return of results, and test anxiety. This study provides a unique insight into the experiences of completing this high-stakes test.

There is growing interest in the effectiveness of practitioner research for promoting teachers' professional learning. It is important to determine if and why practitioner research is effective for teachers, however, it is also necessary to determine what support they need to develop research skills to design and implement practitioner research. This article reports on a year-long pilot study that aimed to design a model of professional learning to enhance teachers' research skills and support them to conduct their own research. The study involved 11 participants from four schools. Eight full-day workshops were designed to develop research skills and scaffold the research projects. Participants were surveyed at the beginning of the study and interviewed mid-way and at the end. The findings indicated professional growth for all participants both in terms of research skills and other professional outcomes, such as enhanced classroom or school-wide practice.

A critical goal for science education is to design and implement learning activities that develop a deep conceptual understanding, are engaging for students, and are scalable for large classes or those with few resources. Approaches based on peer learning and online technologies show promise for scalability but often lack a grounding in cognitive learning principles relating to conceptual understanding. Here, we present a novel design for combining these elements in a principled way. The design centers on having students author multiple-choice questions for their peers using the online platform PeerWise, where beneficial forms of cognitive engagement are encouraged via a series of supporting activities. We evaluated an implementation of this design within a cohort of 632 students in an undergraduate biochemistry course. Our results show a robust relationship between the quality of question authoring and relevant learning outcomes, even after controlling for the confounding influence of prior grades. We conclude by discussing practical and theoretical implications.

Over a two-year period, approximately 70 teachers from 18 schools participated in an on-going professional development program as part of a study to promote the teaching and learning of numeracy. Principals and other school leaders were invited to participate in the professional development program alongside their teachers, which 20 leaders from 11 schools chose to do. Throughout the project, data were collected from teachers and participating school leaders using surveys, interviews, and workshop discussions to investigate teachers' and leaders' professional growth. The findings showed that school leaders' participation in teacher professional development programs has a positive influence on the capacity for teachers to enact and reflect on new knowledge and practices. They also revealed a positive influence on the professional growth of the leaders themselves. This study has implications for the design of professional development and for school leaders and teacher educators.

This article describes part of a study in which researchers designed lesson sequences based around using a string number line to help teachers support children's development of relative thinking and understanding of linear scale. In the first year of the study, eight teachers of Years 3-5 participated in four one-day professional development workshops (one per term), with implementation of the lesson sequences between each. The goal was to design and trial activities that could be easily implemented by teachers using simple resources and to determine their impact on students' ability to use proportional reasoning. The teachers gave their students a test prior to the first lesson and the same test was repeated in the week following the lesson sequence. In total, 204 students completed both pre- and post-tests. This approach proved effective for developing students' understanding of concepts related to scale and relative thinking as well as their mathematical language, which is essential in the development of conceptual understanding. It was also useful for teachers' own professional learning and as a means of assessing and monitoring their students' understanding and progress.

Proportional reasoning, the ability to use ratios in situations involving comparison of quantities, is essential for mathematical competence, especially in the middle school years, and is an important determinant of success beyond school. Research shows students find proportional reasoning and its foundational concepts difficult. Proportional reasoning does not always develop naturally, however some research suggests that with targeted teaching, its development can be promoted. This paper reports on a large Australian study involving over 130 teachers and their students. A major goal of the study was to investigate the efficacy of ongoing teacher professional development for promoting middle years students' proportional reasoning. A series of professional development workshops was designed to enhance the teachers' understanding of proportional reasoning and to extend their repertoire of teaching strategies to promote their students' proportional reasoning skills. The workshop design was informed by research literature on proportional reasoning teaching and learning as well as the results of a diagnostic instrument administered to over 2500 middle years students prior to the professional development. Between workshops, the teachers implemented a variety of targeted teaching activities. This paper reports on pre- and post- instrument student data collected at the beginning and end of the first year of the project (i.e., after completion of half of the workshops). The findings suggest that targeted professional development and explicit teaching can make a difference to students' proportional reasoning.

In many scientific contexts, students need to be able to use mathematical knowledge in order to engage in scientific reasoning and problem-solving, and their understanding of scientific concepts relies heavily on their ability to understand and use mathematics in often new or unfamiliar contexts. Not only do science students need high levels of numeracy, they may be at risk of limited success in many areas of science if they do not (Lenton & Stevens, 2001). Proportional Reasoning, which is an essential element of numeracy, is critical for scientific thinking. The mathematics education literature abounds with research about the difficulties with proportionality experienced by students of all ages and yet, despite their central importance to scientific understanding, research on the teaching and learning of proportional reasoning concepts in science contexts is somewhat limited (NRC, 2012; Taylor & Jones, 2013) and generally restricted to understanding concepts such as speed, power, movement, and pressure in physics (Akatugba & Wallace, 2009). This paper addresses the lack of an explicit focus on proportionality in the science curriculum. It describes a curriculum audit that was conducted to identify science concepts that rely on elements of proportional reasoning for understanding in order to devise a science scope and sequence document to support teachers. Included are illustrative examples from this document. While this audit focused on the science curriculum to Year 10, it also has implications for senior secondary subjects.

Find out how to use photographic images to support the conceptual development of proportional thinking. This paper provides insight into a sequenced activity that promotes student engagement and makes links to familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

Proportional reasoning involves the use of ratios in the comparison of quantities. While it is a key aspect of numeracy, particularly in the middle years of schooling, students do not always develop proportional reasoning naturally. Research suggests that many students do not apply proportional methods appropriately and that they often erroneously apply both multiplicative and additive thinking. Further, students cannot always distinguish non-proportional situations from those that are proportional. Understanding the situations in which students mistakenly use additive or multiplicative thinking and the nature of the proportional reasoning that students apply to different problem types is important for teachers seeking to support their students to develop proportional reasoning in the classroom. This paper describes the development and use of a two-tier diagnostic instrument to identify situations in which students could and could not apply proportional reasoning and the types of reasoning they used. It presents data from an Australian study involving over 2000 middle-years students (Years 5 to 9) as a means of illustrating the use of the instrument for diagnosing students' reasoning in different situations. The findings showed that the instrument was useful for identifying problem types in which students of different ages were able to apply correct reasoning. It also allowed identification of the types of incorrect reasoning used by students. The paper also describes useful applications of the instrument, including its use as a diagnostic instrument by classroom teachers and its use in the design of classroom activities included in teacher professional learning workshops.

It is great to see how the sharing of ideas sparks new ideas. In 2011 Lyon and Bragg wrote an "Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom" (APMC) article on the mathematics of kitchen gardens. In this article the authors show how the kitchen garden may be used as a starting point for proportional reasoning. The authors highlight different types of proportion problems and how the authentic context of a kitchen garden may be used to spark interest in reasoning.

Regional carbon budget assessments attribute and track changes in carbon sources and sinks and support the development and monitoring the efficacy of climate policies. We present a comprehensive assessment of the natural and anthropogenic carbon (C‐CO2) fluxes for Australasia as a whole, as well as for Australia and New Zealand individually, for the period from 2010 to 2019, using two approaches: bottom‐up methods that integrate flux estimates from land‐surface models, data‐driven models, and inventory estimates; and top‐down atmospheric inversions based on satellite and in situ measurements. Our bottom‐up decadal assessment suggests that Australasia's net carbon balance was close to carbon neutral (−0.4 ± 77.0 TgC yr−1). However, substantial uncertainties remain in this estimate, primarily driven by the large spread between our regional terrestrial biosphere simulations and predictions from global ecosystem models. Within Australasia, Australia was a net source of 38.2 ± 75.8 TgC yr−1, and New Zealand was a net CO2 sink of −38.6 ± 13.4 TgC yr−1. The top‐down approach using atmospheric CO2 inversions indicates that fluxes derived from the latest satellite retrievals are consistent within the range of uncertainties with Australia's bottom‐up budget. For New Zealand, the best agreement was found with a national scale flux inversion estimate based on in situ measurements, which provide better constrained of fluxes than satellite flux inversions. This study marks an important step toward a more comprehensive understanding of the net CO2 balance in both countries, facilitating the improvement of carbon accounting approaches and strategies to reduce emissions. Plain Language Summary: Human activities—including the extraction and use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), cement production, and land‐use change (e.g., land clearing), release carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, while biospheric processes such as the CO2 uptake by forests and revegetation remove CO2 from the atmosphere. In this study, we assess the balance of natural and human‐driven sources and sinks of CO2 for Australia and New Zealand (referred to as the Australasia carbon budget) for 2010–2019. Our findings indicate that Australasia was close to carbon neutral, with large uncertainties, suggesting that the CO2 sinks from vegetation in this region largely offset the CO2 emissions from human activities. An independent assessment using the latest satellite observations and modeling shows consistent results for Australia. For New Zealand, a national system of ground observations and modeling agreed better with the bottom‐up budget than satellite‐derived flux estimates. Key Points: We synthesize Australasia's carbon C‐CO2 budget (together with Australia and New Zealand) based on bottom‐up and top‐down approachesAustralasia's bottom‐up carbon budget suggests that this region was close to neutral (−0.4 ± 77.0 TgC yr−1) from 2010 to 2019Australasia's annual CO2 balance fluctuates significantly, particularly in Australia, shifting from a strong carbon sink to a strong carbon source [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation practitioners commonly work together in management teams, contributing expertise to the planning and decision‐making associated with threatened species management. These groups may include individuals with different perspectives around if, when and how to implement management. Yet, rarely do we consider the value of discussion in shaping these perspectives, and thus management.Decision triggers can be used to formalise decisions around management and encourage teams to explore these decisions proactively. Previous research has identified how individual experts set decision triggers but there are no accepted approaches for capturing the expertise that exists across management teams when setting decision triggers. To address this gap, we developed an approach to formalise team deliberations about when and how to intervene if a decline in the condition of a threatened species were to be observed.Using a modified Delphi process, individual experts within a threatened species management team were asked to independently set trigger points and assign actions for the species. Then, as a group, experts discussed anonymised responses, enabling us to understand how group dynamics influenced the decision‐making process. Experts had the opportunity to update their responses based on the group discussion, providing a rationale to support their decisions. We tested the approach with experts from teams managing threatened species across conservation organisations in Australia and New Zealand.We found that experts often updated their responses to incorporate issues raised by the group, demonstrating a willingness to integrate the perspectives of other team members. Experts tended to become more cautious after discussing their responses, setting additional trigger points and actions, and triggering actions sooner.Synthesis and applications: Our approach provides a structured process to formally integrate the range of perspectives and experience of groups of experts when setting trigger points and actions. This can help to address common biases that arise during unstructured decision‐making, and ensure decision‐making processes are transparent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Churchill Trust was established in 1965 to honour the memory of Sir Winston Churchill by awarding overseas research Fellowships known as "Churchill Fellowships". Since its inception, The Churchill Trust has awarded Churchill Fellowships to more than 3,700 Australians who, like Churchill, are innovative, filled with a spirit of determination and possess a strong desire to benefit their community. Churchill Fellowships allow you to design your own research project, travel the world and further your knowledge in your chosen field, before returning to make a real contribution to Australian society. In this report, Nicolette Hilton talks about her Churchill Fellowship which was awarded to enable her to study innovative practices that improve engagement of students in science and promote a positive learning culture. Applications for 2014 Churchill Fellowships will open on 1 November 2013 and applications forms can be found on http://churchilltrust.com.au.

Understanding bonding is fundamental to success in chemistry. A number of alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding have been reported in the literature. Research suggests that many alternative conceptions held by chemistry students result from previous teaching; if teachers are explicit in the use of representations and explain their content-specific forms and functions, this might be avoided. The development of an understanding of and ability to use multiple representations is crucial to students' understanding of chemical bonding. This paper draws on data from a larger study involving two Year 11 chemistry classes (n = 27, n = 22). It explores the contribution of explicit instruction about multiple representations to students' understanding and representation of chemical bonding. The instructional strategies were documented using audio-recordings and the teacher-researcher's reflection journal. Pre-test-post-test comparisons showed an improvement in conceptual understanding and representational competence. Analysis of the students' texts provided further evidence of the students' ability to use multiple representations to explain macroscopic phenomena on the molecular level. The findings suggest that explicit instruction about representational form and function contributes to the enhancement of representational competence and conceptual understanding of bonding in chemistry. However, the scaffolding strategies employed by the teacher play an important role in the learning process. This research has implications for professional development enhancing teachers' approaches to these aspects of instruction around chemical bonding. (Contains 7 figures and 5 tables.)

COVID-19 vaccine uptake among 5–11-year-olds is significantly lower than that of the 12+ age group. Some parents may have decided against vaccinating their children for COVID-19; others may be undecided and may be seeking more information to support their decision. We aimed to assess the effect of a decision support tool on parents' level of decisional conflict, vaccine hesitancy, and intention to vaccinate. We conducted a single-arm, cross-sectional online pre-post intervention survey of parents from Victoria, Australia, who had not yet vaccinated their 5–11-year-old child for COVID-19. We measured change in decisional conflict, intention, and hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines for children before and after viewing a decision support tool. We used logistic regression to identify characteristics associated with reduced decisional conflict. Between May and September 2022, 108 parents took part in the study. The tool reduced decision conflict in 25% (27/107) of parents, with reduced decisional conflict more likely among parents initially undecided about vaccinating, compared to parents who did not intend to vaccinate their child (OR, 12.58 95% CI 3.21 to 9.30). For most parents, hesitancy (83%, 90/108) and intention (89%, 96/108) remained the same. The decision support tool was modestly effective at reducing decisional conflict, particularly among undecided parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterisation of fuel distribution across heterogeneous landscapes is important for wildfire mitigation, validating fuel models, and evaluating fuel treatment outcomes. However, efficient fuel mapping at a landscape scale is challenging. Fuel hazard metrics were obtained using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and the current operational approach (visual fuel assessment) for seven sites across south-eastern Australia. These point-based metrics were then up-scaled to a continuous fuel map, an area relevant to fire management using random forest modelling, with predictor variables derived from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), Sentinel 2A images, and climate and soil data. The model trained and validated with TLS observations (R 2 = 0.51 for near-surface fuel cover and 0.31 for elevated fuel cover) was found to have higher predictive power than the model trained with visual fuel assessments (R 2 = −0.1 for the cover of both fuel layers). Models for height derived from TLS observations exhibited low-to-moderate performance for the near-surface (R 2 = 0.23) and canopy layers (R 2 = 0.25). The results from this study provide practical guidance for the selection of training data sources and can be utilised by fire managers to accurately generate fuel maps across an area relevant to operational fire management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective HIV treatments have transformed the medical needs of people living with HIV (PLHIV) to a chronic condition. However, stigma, poorer mental health outcomes and social isolation remain significant challenges for many PLHIV. HIV peer support programs have assisted PLHIV in navigating the clinical, emotional and social aspects of living with HIV. We draw on semi‐structured interviews with 26 recently diagnosed PLHIV in Australia to explore experiences of HIV peer support services. Our thematic analysis identified three overarching themes. First, participants commonly reported that peer support programs offered a sense of belonging and connection to a broader HIV community. This established a network, sometimes separate to their existing social networks, of other PLHIV with whom to share experiences of HIV. Second, peer‐based programs provided an opportunity for participants to hear firsthand, non‐clinical perspectives on living with HIV. While participants valued the clinical care they received, the perspectives of peers gave participants insights into how others had managed aspects of living with HIV such as disclosure, sex and relationships. Finally, participants highlighted important considerations around ensuring referrals were made to socially and culturally appropriate support programs. Peer support programs fill an important gap in HIV care, working alongside and extending the work of the clinical management of HIV. Incorporating formal referrals to peer support services as part of the HIV diagnosis process could assist recently diagnosed PLHIV in adjusting to a positive diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is Australia's most common life limiting genetic condition, characterised by declining health and quality of life (QoL) over time. Despite improvements in treatment, there remains no cure. Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with CF experience broad impacts to psychosocial functioning and QoL, as well as major transitions in care, all at a time of significant developmental change. The importance of developmentally tailored approaches to youth health care and self‐management for young people with CF are well understood. However, to date, models of youth specific self‐management have been lacking and motivation for young people with CF has not been well explored. This qualitative study, based on a social constructionist epistemological framework, addresses this gap. A total of 21 AYAs aged 15–30 years were recruited through one paediatric and one adult Australian CF centre. Demographic, clinical and distress data were captured to describe health complexity. Semi‐structured interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Participants were representative of Australian AYAs with CF by demography and clinical status. Alarmingly, over a third reported clinically significant distress. Two themes emerged. The first Identified impacts to motivation and self‐management resulting from the challenges of managing CF, life and care. These included time and competing priorities, changing health statis, mental health, social factors, unmet needs and health system complexity. The second identified factors that support motivation including: achievement, meaning and purpose; consequence avoidance; and accountability. These results illustrate the importance of AYA specific, theoretically founded, holistic self‐management models which extend beyond current theoretical approaches that aim to understand behaviour change or address barriers, in isolation from motivation. Improved approaches to care based on these findings are essential to foster positive behavioural change, support self‐management and foster the best health outcomes for young people living with CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological demands placed on Australian police officers carrying out common operational tasks. Methods Forty participants (n = 40) from an Australian police force (mean age = 33.58 ± 7.78 years, mean height = 177.70 ± 7.28 cm, mean weight = 85.68 ± 14.52 kg, mean years of service: 6.74 ± 6.29 years) were recruited through preidentified local area commands. Spanning nine police stations from the same Australian state, volunteers wore monitoring devices to collect physiological measures (heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin temperature) throughout the course of four consecutive shifts (two day shifts and two night shifts). Descriptive data were recorded and analyzed by task and changes in physiological measures. Results Of the 345 duty calls attended by participants, the four most commonly reported tasks were as follows: 'check bona fides' (n = 76; 22%), 'driving urgently' (n = 45; 13%), 'attending a domestic incident' (n = 37; 10%), and 'attending a concern for welfare' (n = 30; 8%). Mean percentages of maximum heart rates (%HRmax) were considered of very light exercise intensity and ranged from 47.11 (± 7.18) to 50.15 (± 9.35) % for checking bona fides through to driving urgently respectively. Fifteen percent of tasks attended had officers exceed 100 %HRmax (near maximal to maximal exercise intensity). Mean skin temperatures varied little (36.02–36.27°C) between tasks, while mean respiratory rates were lowest when attending a domestic incident and highest when driving urgently (22.56 ± 3.83 and 24.72 ± 6.12 breaths/min, respectively). Conclusion Police officers experienced numerous physiological challenges ranging from an intensity of very light exercise through to near maximal and maximal exercise throughout their working day with occasions where their heart rates exceeded 100 %HRmax. These findings highlight the physiological stress associated with common occupational policing tasks, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular health in police officers and the need for cardiovascular monitoring and conditioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testosterone has a dualistic effect in males by promoting sexual ornamentation at the cost of immune defence. This trade-off has been demonstrated in several taxa, such that males often host a greater parasite burden compared with female conspecifics. We suppressed testosterone in wild male eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) for 10 weeks using a novel gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) vaccine, Bopriva. We evaluated the impact of testosterone suppression on testes width, parameters of health, tick and worm burden in kangaroos using a before-after-control-impact (BACI) experimental design. Given the potential impact of animal movement on parasite burden, core area use of a subset of males was also determined. Bopriva significantly reduced testosterone in male kangaroos as well as reducing the combined size of testes by 9.6% (P = 0.01). There was no detectable effect of testosterone suppression on parasite burden and core area use in Treated kangaroos compared to Control (placebo) and Before treatment animals. Our results suggest that a duration of suppression longer than 10 weeks may be required to observe changes in parasite burden. Overall, this study provides a suitable framework for future studies to test whether reproductive hormones influence energy allocation, parasitism, and reproductive strategies in marsupials. Are male animals more vulnerable to parasites and disease? We found that male kangaroos with artificially lowered testosterone levels did not have lower parasite burden compared to the average male kangaroo. Our study aims to better understand what drives natural selection in one of Australia's most iconic marsupials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise information on fuel characteristics is essential for wildfire modelling and management. Satellite remote sensing can provide accurate and timely measurements of fuel characteristics. However, current estimates of fuel load changes from optical remote sensing are obstructed by seasonal cloud cover that limits their continuous assessments. This study utilises remotely sensed Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) (Sentinel-1 backscatter) data as an alternative to optical-based imaging (Sentinel-2 scaled surface reflectance). SAR can penetrate clouds and offers high-spatial and medium-temporal resolution datasets and can hence complement the optical dataset. Inspired by the optical-based Vegetation Structural Perpendicular Index (VSPI), an SAR-based index termed RADAR-VSPI (R-VSPI) is introduced in this study. R-VSPI characterises the spatio-temporal changes in fuel load due to wildfire and the subsequent vegetation recovery thereof. The R-VSPI utilises SAR backscatter (σ°) from the co-polarized (VV) and cross-polarized (VH) channels at a centre frequency of 5.4 GHz. The newly developed index is applied over major wildfire events that occurred during the "Black Summer" wildfire season (2019–2020) in southern Australia. The condition of the fuel load was mapped every 5 (any orbit) to 12 (same orbit) days at an aggregated spatial resolution of 110 m. The results show that R-VSPI was able to quantify fuel depletion by wildfire (relative to healthy vegetation) and monitor its subsequent post-fire recovery. The information on fuel condition and heterogeneity improved at high-resolution by adapting the VSPI on a dual-polarization SAR dataset (R-VSPI) compared to the historic forest fuel characterisation methods (that used visible and infrared bands only for fuel estimations). The R-VSPI thus provides a complementary source of information on fuel load changes in a forest landscape compared to the optical-based VSPI, in particular when optical observations are not available due to cloud cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the mechanisms governing transfer, persistence, and recovery of trace evidence, together with background prevalence in the population of interest, and other task relevant information, is key for the forensic interpretation and reconstruction of what happened at the activity level. Up to now, this informational "toolkit" has largely been developed through empirical forensic studies on specific trace materials such as glass, textile fibers, and soil. Combined with the identified systemic siloing between disciplines, while valuable, such research tends to be very material‐dependent, introducing specific parameters and interpretations that may have actually impeded the recognition of underlying foundational factors applicable to most material types. In Australia, there has been a renewed interest in developing a discipline‐independent framework for the interpretation and/or reconstruction of trace evidence to interpret specific circumstances in casework. In this paper, we present a discipline agnostic "way of thinking" that has been anchored in foundational science underpinning the trace evidence discipline. Physical and mechanical material properties such as material geometry and surface topography, strength, stiffness, and hardness collectively influence contact interactions through underlying friction, wear, and lubrication cause and effect mechanisms. We discuss how these fundamental factors and parameters stemming from materials science and tribology may be adopted and adapted by forensic practitioners and researchers to contribute to a better understanding of transfer, persistence, and recovery mechanisms irrespective of evidence discipline and material type. Examples are provided to demonstrate the practical significance to real‐life casework and academic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Public health policies and recommendations aim to be informed by the best available evidence. Evidence underpinning e-cigarettes policy recommendations has been necessarily limited due to the novelty of the technology and the lack of long-term epidemiological studies and trials. Some public health bodies have actively encouraged e-cigarette use whilst others have raised concerns over introducing new health risks and renormalising tobacco smoking. Using citation network analysis we investigated the author conflicts of interest and study funding statements within sources of evidence used by public health bodies when making recommendations about e-cigarette policy. Methods: We conducted citation network analysis of public health recommendation documents across four purposively selected diverse jurisdictions: WHO, UK, Australia, and USA. We extracted all citations from 15 public health recommendation documents, with more detailed data collected for influential citations (used in 3+ recommendation documents). We analysed the relationships between the sources of evidence used across jurisdictions using block modelling to determine if similar groups of documents were used across different jurisdictions. We assessed the frequency and nature of conflicts of interest. Results: 1700 unique citations were included across the 15 public health recommendation documents, with zero to 923 citations per document (median = 63, IQR = 7.5–132). The evidence base underpinning public health recommendations did not systematically differ across jurisdictions. Of the 1700 citations included, the majority were journal articles (n = 1179). Across 1081 journal articles published between 1998–2018, 200 declared a conflict of interest, 288 contained no mention of conflicts of interest, and 593 declared none. Conflicts of interest were reported with tobacco (3%; n = 37 journal articles of 1081), e-cigarette (7%; n = 72), and pharmaceutical companies (12%; n = 127), with such conflicts present even in the most recent years. There were 53 influential citations, the most common study type was basic science research without human subjects (e.g. examination of aerosols and e-liquids) (n = 18) followed by systematic review (n = 10); with randomised control trial being least common (n = 4). Network analysis identified clusters of highly-cited articles with a higher prevalence of conflicts of interest. Conclusion: Public health bodies across different jurisdictions drew upon similar sources of evidence, despite articulating different policy approaches to e-cigarettes. The evidence drawn upon, including the most influential evidence, contained substantial conflicts of interest (including relationships with e-cigarette and tobacco industries). Processes to explicitly manage conflicts of interest arising from the underlying evidence base may be required when developing public health recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine root endophytes (FRE) were traditionally considered a morphotype of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), but recent genetic studies demonstrate that FRE belong within the subphylum Mucoromycotina, rather than in the subphylum Glomeromycotina with the AMF. These findings prompt enquiry into the fundamental ecology of FRE and AMF. We sampled FRE and AMF in roots of Trifolium subterraneum from 58 sites across temperate southern Australia. We investigated the environmental drivers of composition, richness, and root colonization of FRE and AMF by using structural equation modelling and canonical correspondence analyses. Root colonization by FRE increased with increasing temperature and rainfall but decreased with increasing phosphorus (P). Root colonization by AMF increased with increasing soil organic carbon but decreased with increasing P. Richness of FRE decreased with increasing temperature and soil pH. Richness of AMF increased with increasing temperature and rainfall but decreased with increasing soil aluminium (Al) and pH. Aluminium, soil pH, and rainfall were, in decreasing order, the strongest drivers of community composition of FRE; they were also important drivers of community composition of AMF, along with temperature, in decreasing order: rainfall, Al, temperature, and soil pH. Thus, FRE and AMF showed the same responses to some (e.g. soil P, soil pH) and different responses to other (e.g. temperature) key environmental factors. Overall, our data are evidence for niche differentiation among these co-occurring mycorrhizal associates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renal supportive care (RSC) is an approach integrating nephrology and palliative care to improve quality of life for people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). RSC practice varies across services; therefore, understanding clinicians' perspectives is important to the evolution and definition of RSC. Aim: To understand renal clinicians' views and experiences of RSC, palliative care and end‐of‐life care. Method: A cross‐sectional online survey was undertaken across Australia and New Zealand between February and May 2018. Participants were asked about end‐of‐life care, RSC, palliative care and an ideal model of RSC. Results: Estimated response rate 13% included 382 clinicians; doctors (32%), nurses (68%); of whom 84% access specialist palliative care and 59% RSC. A lack of agreed treatment goals (86%) and late or rushed treatment decision making (85%) was associated with challenging end‐of‐life experiences. Variable concepts of RSC were described, with RSC being considered the same as: usual care for all CKD patients (40%), conservative (30%) or palliative care (22%). The term RSC was generally distinct from (77%) and more acceptable than palliative care (80%) with preferential RSC referral for symptoms (86% vs 69%, P <.01) and complex treatment decision making (82% vs 58%, P <.01). Aspirations for RSC included improving symptoms and quality of life (89%), with an ideal model comprising: symptom management (98%), improved nephrology and community service integration (96%) and clinician education (94%). Conclusion: This study revealed challenges for renal clinicians in providing end‐of‐life care and variation of views and experiences of RSC. It represents opportunities to develop RSC aligned with clinician priorities to improve patient care. SUMMARY AT A GLANCE: A cross‐sectional online survey across Australia and New Zealand that revealed challenges for renal care providers in providing end‐of‐life care and variation of views and experiences of renal supportive care (RSC). It represents opportunities to develop RSC aligned with clinician priorities to improve patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire management agencies use fire behaviour simulation tools to predict the potential spread of a fire in both risk planning and operationally during wildfires. These models are generally based on underlying empirical or quasi-empirical relations and rarely are uncertainties considered. Little attention has been given to the quality of the input data used during operational fire predictions. We examined the extent to which error in weather forecasts can affect fire simulation results. The study was conducted using data representing the State of Victoria in south-eastern Australia, including grassland and forest conditions. Two fire simulator software packages were used to compare fire growth under observed and forecast weather. We found that error in the weather forecast data significantly altered the predicted size and location of fires. Large errors in wind speed and temperature resulted in an overprediction of fire size, whereas large errors in wind direction resulted in an increased spatial error in the fire's location. As the fire weather intensified, fire predictions using forecast weather under predicted fire size, potentially resulting in greater risks to the community. These results highlight the importance of on-ground intelligence during wildfires and the use of ensembles to improve operational fire predictions. Fire simulators inform critical decisions for communities during wildfires. The sensitivity of these models to input data uncertainty is unknown. Fire area is most sensitive to error in temperature and wind speed, whereas location is most sensitive to error in wind direction. On-ground intelligence is vital for accurate fire predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heliozelidae are a cosmopolitan family of small, day‐flying moths, and include some pest species of commercial crops. Overall, the family is poorly known and lacks a well‐resolved phylogeny. Previous molecular and taxonomic work has revealed rich undescribed diversity within the family, particularly in Australia; however, the relationships amongst the major clades or genera were not resolved. We sequenced the transcriptomes of 39 taxa, representing all major genera of Heliozelidae, and seven outgroups representing most other Adeloidea families and the putative sister superfamily, Andesianoidea. The resulting phylogeny, based on the coding sequences of up to 1049 nuclear genes, provides a robust hypothesis for the generic relationships within Heliozelidae. On the basis of this analysis, the genus Plesiozela, previously proposed as sister group to all other Heliozelidae, is excluded from the family and formally transferred to Incurvariidae. By incorporating fossil and secondary time calibrations into our phylogeny, we estimated that Heliozelidae ancestors first appeared at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous, approximately 95 Ma. We propose an ancestral biogeographical range hypothesis of the family, based on a combination of our transcriptome data and a previous multigene study including over 100 species. Our ancestral range modelling results suggest that Heliozelidae are likely to have originated in the Australian region, with subsequent range expansions to the rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate river bathymetry is required for applications including hydrodynamic flow modelling and understanding morphological processes. Bathymetric measurements are typically a set of depths at discrete points that must be reconstructed into a continuous surface. A number of algorithms exist for this reconstruction, including spline-based techniques and kriging methods. A novel and efficient method is introduced to produce a co-ordinate system fitted to the river path suitable for bathymetric reconstructions. The method is based on numerical conformal mapping and can handle topological features such as islands and branches in the river. Bathymetric surfaces generated using interpolation over a conformal map are compared to spline-based and kriging methods on a section of the Balonne River, Australia. The results show that the conformal mapping algorithm produces reconstructions comparable in quality to existing methods, preserves flow-wise features and is relatively insensitive to the number of sample points, enabling faster data collection in the field. • Introduction of a new method for rapidly reconstructing river bathymetry from a set of point depth measurements. • Unlike some existing techniques, the method can handle complex river morphologies such as islands and branches. • The method only requires a set of depth points and a mask of the land and water areas, making it suitable for automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dimethyl sulfide (DMS) vertical concentration profile and DMS surface emission flux were quantified in undisturbed acid sulfate soils (ASS) at Cudgen Lake on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia. A deuterated internal standard was used to account for soil adsorption characteristics. The DMS vertical concentration profile increased exponentially from 0.6 m depth to the surface layer. This profile reflected the adsorption properties of the ASS horizons present and the experimentally determined octanol/water partition coefficient for DMS of 1.36, suggesting that DMS would be mobilised in the soil water medium for upward translocation in time due to surface evaporation. The organic material in the oxidised ASS crustal layer had a chemically strong adsorption affinity for DMS, which appeared to restrain its emission from surface soil particles to the atmosphere. The seasonally averaged DMS surface flux estimate from the Cudgen Lake ASS was 9 ng S m−2 min−1, which is relatively low by comparison to DMS fluxes reported from other wetland soils such as salt-marshes and acidic peat bogs. The worldwide annual average DMS emission from ASS was estimated to be 1.14 × 10−3 Tg S, which is globally insignificant by comparison to DMS emission from the world's oceans. Image 1 • Dimethyl sulfide is most abundant in the oxidised organic crustal soil layer. • Soil-air surface flux of dimethyl sulfide is restrained by crustal adsorption. • Acid sulfate soils appear to be a globally insignificant source of dimethyl sulfide. [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]