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A longitudinal study on a place-based school-university partnership : listening to the voices of in-service teachers

- Ma, Hongming, Green, Monica

  • Authors: Ma, Hongming , Green, Monica
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Teaching and Teacher Education Vol. 129, no. (2023), p.
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  • Description: This paper reports on a longitudinal place-based study by two Australian teacher educators investigating their three-year science-based school-university partnership. The study examined key benefits, challenges, and tensions within the partnership. Data collection was drawn from focus group interviews with in-service teachers across each partnership year. While findings portray the partnership as a catalyst for increased science learning opportunities for school students, teaching opportunities for pre-service teachers, and new in-service teacher roles and responsibilities, the study highlights the evolving nature of partnership development, including the need for continuous negotiation of labor division and stakeholder expectations. © 2023 The Authors

A mesoscale modelling approach coupling SBFEM, continuous damage phase-field model and discrete cohesive crack model for concrete fracture

- Yu, Kelai, Yang, Zhenjun, Li, Hui, Ooi, Ean Tat, Li, Shangming, Liu, GuoHua

  • Authors: Yu, Kelai , Yang, Zhenjun , Li, Hui , Ooi, Ean Tat , Li, Shangming , Liu, GuoHua
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Engineering Fracture Mechanics Vol. 278, no. (2023), p.
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  • Description: This study develops an innovative numerical approach for simulating complex mesoscale fracture in concrete. In this approach, the concrete meso-structures are generated using a random aggregate generation and packing algorithm. Each aggregate is modelled by a single scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) based polygon with the boundary discretized only. The damage and fracture in the mortar is simulated by the continuous damage phase-field regularized cohesive zone model (PF-CZM), and the aggregate-mortar interfaces are modelled by zero-thickness cohesive interface elements (CIEs) with nonlinear softening separation-traction laws. This new approach thus takes full advantages of different methods, including the semi-analytical accuracy and high flexibility in mesh generation and transition of SBFEM, the mesh and length-scale independence of PF-CZM, and the ease-of-use of CIEs in modelling discrete interfacial fracture. These advantages are demonstrated by successful simulations of a few 2D and 3D benchmark examples in mode-I and mixed-mode fracture. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

A moment of fuzziness : connections between shifting notions of ‘home’ and welfare arrangements ‘back home’ for Black Zimbabwean migrants living under COVID-19 travel restrictions in Australia

- Chihota, Clement

  • Authors: Chihota, Clement
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Post-Pandemic Welfare and Social Work: Re-imagining the New Normal Chapter 17 p. 197-209
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  • Description: This chapter makes connections between shifting notions of ‘home’ and welfare arrangements to support relatives ‘back home’, among first-generation Black Zimbabwean migrants living in Australia under COVID-19 travel restrictions. Using anecdotal evidence and harnessing elements of constructivist and structuralist theory, the chapter reflects on how a binary opposition between ‘kumusha/ekhaya’ (meaning the place of origin and belonging) and ‘kumasango/ingangeni’ (literally, ‘the jungle’ - and in this context - any other location that is not kumusha/ekhaya) was largely operative for this community, prior to the pandemic. As a sense-making structure, this opposition promoted resiliency as challenges associated with resettling in Australia were assigned to the kumasango/ingangeni category, meaning they could be expected, while kumusha/ekhaya served as the idyllic ‘counterweight’ (i.e. the place of restoration and regeneration, always within reach, when required. The imposition of COVID-19 travel restrictions between early 2020 and late 2021 disrupted and fuzzified this ʼneat’ conceptual structure and instigated recalibrations of the meaning and location of ‘home’ for this community. As further argued, this shift in the relationship with kumusha/ekhaya, which could be occurring in other places hosting the Zimbabwean diaspora, may have long-term impacts on the informal welfare system, which has helped to sustain livelihoods in Zimbabwe for the past two decades. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Goetz Ottmann and Carolyn Noble; individual chapters, the contributors.

A multi-layered approach to developing academic written communication skills for nursing students

- Garvey, Loretta, Willetts, Georgina, Herrmann, Antje, Verezub, Elena, Sinchenko, Elena

  • Authors: Garvey, Loretta , Willetts, Georgina , Herrmann, Antje , Verezub, Elena , Sinchenko, Elena
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship Vol. 20, no. 1 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Objectives: Academic literacy in nursing students has historically been poor this research therefore aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an embedded multidisciplinary approach to academic written communication skills for first year Bachelor of Nursing students in Australia. Methods: This initiative consisted of (1) collaboratively embedding academic skills with nursing staff and Learning and Academic Skills Advisors using scaffolded tasks, curriculum/material development, workshops/tutorials on writing skills; and (2) individual support sessions. Data was obtained via questionnaire. Results: Responses were received from 92 (74% local and 26% international) students. Key findings showed the collaborative approach to embedding skills with added follow up, was beneficial for students' skills development, including improved academic writing, increased confidence, and recognition of the importance of academic writing. Conclusions: It is important to equip student to develop academic literacy and an embedded academic literacy program has been determined to assist and may contribute to future professionalisation in nursing. © 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

A nethack learning environment language wrapper for autonomous agents

- Goodger, Nikolaj, Vamplew, Peter, Foale, Cameron, Dazeley, Richard

  • Authors: Goodger, Nikolaj , Vamplew, Peter , Foale, Cameron , Dazeley, Richard
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Open Research Software Vol. 11, no. (2023), p.
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  • Description: This paper describes a language wrapper for the NetHack Learning Environment (NLE) [1]. The wrapper replaces the non-language observations and actions with comparable language versions. The NLE offers a grand challenge for AI research while MiniHack [2] extends this potential to more specific and configurable tasks. By providing a language interface, we can enable further research on language agents and directly connect language models to a versatile environment. © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

A new era of integration between multiomics and spatio-temporal analysis for the translation of EMT towards clinical applications in cancer

- Fonseca Teixeira, Adilson, Wu, Siqi, Luwor, Rodney, Zhu, Hong-Jian

  • Authors: Fonseca Teixeira, Adilson , Wu, Siqi , Luwor, Rodney , Zhu, Hong-Jian
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Cells Vol. 12, no. 23 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial to metastasis by increasing cancer cell migration and invasion. At the cellular level, EMT-related morphological and functional changes are well established. At the molecular level, critical signaling pathways able to drive EMT have been described. Yet, the translation of EMT into efficient diagnostic methods and anti-metastatic therapies is still missing. This highlights a gap in our understanding of the precise mechanisms governing EMT. Here, we discuss evidence suggesting that overcoming this limitation requires the integration of multiple omics, a hitherto neglected strategy in the EMT field. More specifically, this work summarizes results that were independently obtained through epigenomics/transcriptomics while comprehensively reviewing the achievements of proteomics in cancer research. Additionally, we prospect gains to be obtained by applying spatio-temporal multiomics in the investigation of EMT-driven metastasis. Along with the development of more sensitive technologies, the integration of currently available omics, and a look at dynamic alterations that regulate EMT at the subcellular level will lead to a deeper understanding of this process. Further, considering the significance of EMT to cancer progression, this integrative strategy may enable the development of new and improved biomarkers and therapeutics capable of increasing the survival and quality of life of cancer patients. © 2023 by the authors.

A new multi-resolution closed-loop wind power forecasting method

- Nejati, Maryam, Amjady, Nima, Zareipour, Hamidreza

  • Authors: Nejati, Maryam , Amjady, Nima , Zareipour, Hamidreza
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy Vol. 14, no. 4 (2023), p. 2079-2091
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  • Description: By the increasing number and size of wind farms, wind generation forecasting has become a basic requirement for their connection to the power grid; otherwise, power system operators and electricity market participants cannot make the right decisions and may incur significant costs and penalties. In this paper, a new multi-resolution closed-loop wind power forecasting method with a difference signal feedback loop is proposed. Within the proposed method, wind power is initially predicted in two different resolutions (such as with hourly and sub-hourly time steps) by two low/high-resolution pre-predictors and then the inconsistency between their predictions is measured through the difference signal. The generated difference signal is used as a guide for the two low/high-resolution wind power post-predictors. If their wind power forecasts are inconsistent, the difference signal is updated and used as the feedback for the low/high-resolution post-predictors. This closed-loop forecasting-updating process is iterated until the post-predictors reach consistent results. To evaluate the performance of the proposed multi-resolution closed-loop method, it is tested on two different real-world wind farms and the results are compared with the results of several other widely used/recently published wind power forecast methods using various error metrics and different forecast horizons. © 2010-2012 IEEE.

A new species of Troglopedetes Joseph, 1872 with eyes (Collembola, Paronellidae) from a Christmas Island Cave, Australia

- Cipola, Nikolas, Greenslade, Penelope

  • Authors: Cipola, Nikolas , Greenslade, Penelope
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Zootaxa Vol. 5239, no. 4 (2023), p. 563-577
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  • Description: A new species of Troglopedetes Joseph from a Christmas Island Cave, Australia is described and illustrated here. Troglopedetes eberhardi sp. nov. resembles other species by presence of eyes and dorsal chaetotaxy of the second thoracic segment to third abdominal segment, but differs in head chaetotaxy, fourth abdominal segment and elongated unguis median tooth, which character is documented here in the genus for the first time. A comparison and identification key for all eyed species is provided. This is the first record of Troglopedetes for Australia and the genus now has 37 nominal species, of which nine have eyes. Copyright © 2023 Magnolia Press.

A new tour on the subdifferential of the Supremum function

- Hantoute, Abderrahim, López-Cerdá, Marco

A Novel Common Grounded Type 1-\varphi Five-Level Boost PV Inverter with Reduced Device Count

- Ardashir, Jaber, Ghadim, Hadi, Heydari, Dorsa, Hu, Jiefeng

  • Authors: Ardashir, Jaber , Ghadim, Hadi , Heydari, Dorsa , Hu, Jiefeng
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: 8th International Conference on Technology and Energy Management, ICTEM 2023, Babol, Iran, 8-9 February 2023, 8th International Conference on Technology and Energy Management, ICTEM 2023
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  • Description: Common-grounded multi-level inverters with the input voltage boost ability are more common for grid-tied PV system applications. In this paper, a new five-level inverter topology is introduced that can generate a five-level voltage at the output stage, statically increase the input voltage, fully transfer the reactive power, eliminate the leakage current due to common-grounded capability, reduce the number of the power electronic components, self-balancing capability of switched capacitors voltage based on operation modes, and equality of switched capacitors voltage. The operation of the proposed inverter along with its comparison with other similar inverter topologies and the simulation results of the proposed inverter under different loads are demonstrates in this paper. The results indicate that the performance of the proposed inverter in the grid-connected PV system is best than other compared topologies. Also, experimental results with a prototype have been presented, which validates the simulation results and proves the applicability of the proposed inverter in grid-tied PV systems. © 2023 IEEE.

A novel continuous control set model predictive control for lc-filtered three-phase four-wire three-level voltage-source inverter

- Yang, Yong, Xiao, Yang, Fan, Mingdi, Wang, Kaixin, Zhang, Xinan, Hu, Jiefeng, Fang, Gang, Zeng, Weibo, Vazquez, Sergio, Rodriguez, Jose

  • Authors: Yang, Yong , Xiao, Yang , Fan, Mingdi , Wang, Kaixin , Zhang, Xinan , Hu, Jiefeng , Fang, Gang , Zeng, Weibo , Vazquez, Sergio , Rodriguez, Jose
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Vol. 38, no. 4 (2023), p. 4572-4584
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  • Description: In this article, a novel continuous control set model predictive control (CCS-MPC) is proposed for an LC-filtered three-phase three-level four-wire voltage-source inverter (3P-4W-3L-VSI). The proposed MPC algorithm provides independent control of each phase of the 3P-4W-3L-VSI under various unbalanced load conditions, which shows superior performance under unbalanced loads. Furthermore, different from conventional MPC methods, the CCS-MPC achieves fixed switching frequency, hence simplifying the design of LC filters. In addition, dc offsets are introduced to the proposed modulation to effectively balance the neutral-point voltage of the 3P-4W-3L-VSI. Experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed MPC algorithm. © 1986-2012 IEEE.

A novel dynamic software-defined networking approach to neutralize traffic burst

- Sharma, Aakanksha, Balasubramanian, Venki, Kamruzzaman, Joarder

  • Authors: Sharma, Aakanksha , Balasubramanian, Venki , Kamruzzaman, Joarder
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Computers Vol. 12, no. 7 (2023), p.
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  • Description: Software-defined networks (SDN) has a holistic view of the network. It is highly suitable for handling dynamic loads in the traditional network with a minimal update in the network infrastructure. However, the standard SDN architecture control plane has been designed for single or multiple distributed SDN controllers facing severe bottleneck issues. Our initial research created a reference model for the traditional network, using the standard SDN (referred to as SDN hereafter) in a network simulator called NetSim. Based on the network traffic, the reference models consisted of light, modest and heavy networks depending on the number of connected IoT devices. Furthermore, a priority scheduling and congestion control algorithm is proposed in the standard SDN, named extended SDN (eSDN), which minimises congestion and performs better than the standard SDN. However, the enhancement was suitable only for the small-scale network because, in a large-scale network, the eSDN does not support dynamic SDN controller mapping. Often, the same SDN controller gets overloaded, leading to a single point of failure. Our literature review shows that most proposed solutions are based on static SDN controller deployment without considering flow fluctuations and traffic bursts that lead to a lack of load balancing among the SDN controllers in real-time, eventually increasing the network latency. Therefore, to maintain the Quality of Service (QoS) in the network, it becomes imperative for the static SDN controller to neutralise the on-the-fly traffic burst. Thus, our novel dynamic controller mapping algorithm with multiple-controller placement in the SDN is critical to solving the identified issues. In dSDN, the SDN controllers are mapped dynamically with the load fluctuation. If any SDN controller reaches its maximum threshold, the rest of the traffic will be diverted to another controller, significantly reducing delay and enhancing the overall performance. Our technique considers the latency and load fluctuation in the network and manages the situations where static mapping is ineffective in dealing with the dynamic flow variation. © 2023 by the authors.

A novel optimization approach towards improving separability of clusters

- Bagirov, Adil, Hoseini-Monjezi, Najmeh, Taheri, Sona

  • Authors: Bagirov, Adil , Hoseini-Monjezi, Najmeh , Taheri, Sona
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Computers and Operations Research Vol. 152, no. (2023), p.
  • Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP190100580
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  • Description: The objective functions in optimization models of the sum-of-squares clustering problem reflect intra-cluster similarity and inter-cluster dissimilarities and in general, optimal values of these functions can be considered as appropriate measures for compactness of clusters. However, the use of the objective function alone may not lead to the finding of separable clusters. To address this shortcoming in existing models for clustering, we develop a new optimization model where the objective function is represented as a sum of two terms reflecting the compactness and separability of clusters. Based on this model we develop a two-phase incremental clustering algorithm. In the first phase, the clustering function is minimized to find compact clusters and in the second phase, a new model is applied to improve the separability of clusters. The Davies–Bouldin cluster validity index is applied as an additional measure to compare the compactness of clusters and silhouette coefficients are used to estimate the separability of clusters. The performance of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated and compared with that of four other algorithms using synthetic and real-world data sets. Numerical results clearly show that in comparison with other algorithms the new algorithm is able to find clusters with better separability and similar compactness. © 2022

A pilot comparison of fixatives for hookworm real-time polymerase chain reaction

- Bradbury, Richard, Inagaki, Kengo, Singh, Gurbaksh, Agana, Urita, Patterson, Kayla, Malloch, Lacy, Rodriguez, Eduardo, Qvarnstrom, Yvonne, Hobbs, Charlotte

  • Authors: Bradbury, Richard , Inagaki, Kengo , Singh, Gurbaksh , Agana, Urita , Patterson, Kayla , Malloch, Lacy , Rodriguez, Eduardo , Qvarnstrom, Yvonne , Hobbs, Charlotte
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 108, no. 2 (2023), p. 335-339
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  • Description: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is increasingly used in the diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminth infections. Despite this, few studies have evaluated the impact of different fecal fixatives on the outcome of fecal helminth qPCR analysis, and none have evaluated the effect of commercial parasitology fixatives commonly used in diagnostic laboratories. We fixed dog feces containing Ancylostoma spp. hookworm eggs in zinc polyvinyl alcohol (Zn-PVA) and Total-Fix, and with 70% ethanol (EtOH) as a control. DNA was extracted at timepoints 11, 33, 64, and 94 days and subjected to Ancylostoma spp. quantitative PCR (qPCR). A linear regression model was created to assess the effect of preservative types on the temporal change of qPCR quantification cycle number (Cq) values, accounting for variances among individual animals. Fixation in 70% EtOH least affected Cq values over 94 days. Total-Fix preservation yielded a higher Cq overall, but there was no significant difference compared with 70% EtOH fixation. Fixation in Zn-PVA resulted in significantly (P < 0.001) higher Cq values than 70% EtOH after only 33 days and loss of amplification at 64 days. Consistent with other helminth fixation studies, 70% EtOH performed well in preserving hookworm DNA over 94 days. Total-Fix provided a comparable alternative for qPCR analysis for hookworm. Fixation in Zn-PVA resulted in loss of detectable hookworm DNA at 64 days, as determined by qPCR. Copyright © 2023 The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

A qualitative study on undergraduate student nurses’ experience of mental health simulation preclinical placement

- Olasoji, Michael, Garvey, Loretta, Sadoughi, Navideh, Willetts, Georgina

  • Authors: Olasoji, Michael , Garvey, Loretta , Sadoughi, Navideh , Willetts, Georgina
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Clinical Simulation in Nursing Vol. 84, no. (2023), p.
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  • Description: Background: Simulations allow students to be challenged and supported while gaining both technical and non-technical skills within a clinical learning environment. Working in a mental health setting can be quite challenging and confronting at times for undergraduate nursing students in clinical placement. The study aims to explore nursing students’ perceptions of a mental health simulation workshop's impact before clinical placement, which provides a supportive environment to gain technical and non-technical skills while being challenged and supported. Sample: Participants were a second-year cohort (n = 89) of undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a mental health unit. Methods: Descriptive survey design. The researchers thematically analysed narrative responses of a pre- and post-simulation survey from an immersive simulation using a descriptive survey design. Results: The researchers identified six key themes: two from the pre-simulation survey – communication with and assessment of mental health patients, and the opportunity for placement preparation; and four from the post-simulation survey – the opportunity for debriefing, the realism of the simulation, increased confidence levels, and the perception of a safe learning environment. Conclusion: Effective skill acquisition is essential to advance recruitment and retention into mental health environments. The use of mental health simulation that comprises of realism and immersion working with simulated patients provided opportunity to advance this. © 2023

A realist evaluation of post-implementation modifications : a context-initiative-mechanism-outcome perspective

- Oseni, Taiwo, Rahim, Mahbubur, Foster, Susan

  • Authors: Oseni, Taiwo , Rahim, Mahbubur , Foster, Susan
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Critical Realism Vol. 22, no. 4 (2023), p. 645-669
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  • Description: This paper exemplifies a theoretical and methodological evaluation of IT Initiatives. It discusses post-implementation modifications (ERP-PIM) to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for the purpose of business process optimization (BPO) from a Context-Initiative-Mechanism-Outcome (CIMO) perspective. CIMO suggests that context and mechanisms are factors triggering causal effects responsible for outcomes derived from technology initiatives. Through conceptualization, data collection/analysis, and retroduction, the paper proposes a middle-range theory to facilitate the explanation of outcomes from diverse post-implementation initiatives. Data from multiple case study identifies situational and action-formation mechanisms, and actions as essential to realizing the desired outcomes. The proposed ERP-PIM-CIMO theory encapsulates: (i) Business Process Optimization (BPO) as context, (ii) ERP-PIM as structure, (iii) Business Process Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Flexibility as observable events, (iv) ERP capability as causal mechanism, (v) actions as necessary for the actualization of mechanism, and finally (vi) effort and cost, knowledge, and training as factors influencing actualization. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

A reconfigurable rectifier-based power improving method of free-standing two-coil magnetic field energy harvesters over a wide load range

- Li, Yong, Yan, Yihua, Yang, Huanyu, Hu, Jiefeng, He, Zhengyou

  • Authors: Li, Yong , Yan, Yihua , Yang, Huanyu , Hu, Jiefeng , He, Zhengyou
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Vol. 38, no. 5 (2023), p. 5638-5643
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  • Description: Free-standing magnetic field energy harvesters (FSMFEHs) have promising potential in charging sensors used in electrical power grids. The output power of the FSMFEH is highly dependent on the load resistance. However, the load resistance of the sensors varies over a wide range during the operation process. Therefore, a crucial challenge for an FSMFEH system is to maintain high output power over a wide load range. In this letter, an innovative reconfigurable rectifier-based FSMFEH system with two coils connected in parallel is proposed. First, a new structure of two identical coils in parallel is proposed in magnetic energy harvesting applications. Then, a reconfigurable rectifier with two operation modes is developed to incorporate the new coil structure. By switching between the full-bridge mode and the half-bridge mode according to the actual load demand, the proposed FSMFEH can maintain high output power over a wide load range. In addition, the mode transition can be easily achieved by shorting one of the diodes, leading to a simple and low-loss control. The effectiveness of the proposed FSMFEH system is verified based on a laboratory prototype. It is provided that the experimental result is consistent with the theoretical analysis. The output power can be maintained above 8.19 mW within the 50-1500

A reevaluation of the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the spiritual well-being questionnaire (SWBQ)

- Gomez, Rapson, Watson, Shaun

  • Authors: Gomez, Rapson , Watson, Shaun
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Religion and Health Vol. 62, no. 3 (2023), p. 2112-2130
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  • Description: The 20-item Gomez and Fisher (Personal Individ Differ 35:1975–1991, 2003) Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ) is a widely used measure of spiritual well-being. Its theoretical model is a higher-order model with primary factors for personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental well-being, and a secondary global spiritual well-being factor. The current study, conducted in Australia, reevaluated the factor structure of the SWBQ. Unlike previous studies, the current study also used exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to examine the factor structure of the SWBQ and selected the preferred model using not only global model fit values, but also the clarity, reliabilities, and validities of the factors in the models. A total of 227 adults (males = 63; females = 164; M age = 26.1 years; SD = 5.2 years) completed the SWBQ. Based on the model selection criteria applied in the study, the ESEM model with four group factors was selected as the preferred model. However, there was also adequate support for the proposed theoretical higher-order model and the first-order oblique model with the four well-being factors. Concerning our preferred model, its factors showed reasonable clarity for factor loadings and (omega) reliabilities. However, only the communal domain scale was supported empirically for external validity. The implications of the findings for the theoretical model, the use of the SWBQ, and future studies are discussed. In this respect, there are three potential models (theorized higher-order model, 4-factor first-order oblique model, and the ESEM model proposed in this study) that warrant further detailed investigation with a larger, more representative population and additional validation measures. © 2022, The Author(s).

A roadmap for change : charting the course of gifted educational provision in Lebanon

- Antoun, Maya, Plunkett, Margaret

  • Authors: Antoun, Maya , Plunkett, Margaret
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Educational Reform Vol. 32, no. 3 (2023), p. 279-293
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  • Description: This article reviews and further develops understandings gleaned from an investigation of public and private school teachers’ perceptions of talent development and their ability to implement specialized approaches for gifted students in a country without specific educational policies for this population. Through a discussion of findings from a previous study investigating the perceptions and practices of more than 280 Lebanese teachers, new insights to inform future policy are provided into how talent development is perceived and responded to within the Lebanese educational context. These understandings helped inform the development of a culturally appropriate conceptual framework, derived from Gagné's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (2008). The resultant framework addresses how the broader socio-economic cultural context within Lebanon appears to have influenced teachers’ perceptions and practices and the choices made in terms of gifted provision in classrooms. This framework could assist educational leaders in Lebanon to implement changes that would not only benefit gifted learners but also have potential flow on benefits for the country as a whole. © The Author(s) 2023.

A robust ensemble regression model for reconstructing genetic networks

- Gamage, Hasini, Chetty, Madhu, Lim, Suryani, Hallinan, Jennifer, Nguyen, H.

  • Authors: Gamage, Hasini , Chetty, Madhu , Lim, Suryani , Hallinan, Jennifer , Nguyen, H.
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: 2023 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, IJCNN 2023 Vol. 2023-June
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  • Description: Genetic networks contain important information about biological processes, including regulatory relationships and gene-gene interactions. Numerous methods, using high-dimensional gene expression data have been developed to capture these interactions. These gene expression data, generated using high-throughput technologies, are prone to noise. However, most existing network inference methods are unable to cope with noisy data, making genetic network reconstruction challenging. In this paper, we propose a novel ensemble regression model combining quantile regression and cross-validated Ridge regression, RidgeCV, to infer interactions from noisy gene expression data. The application of quantile regression to GRN inference is novel, and its design makes it appropriate for noisy data. RidgeCV also addresses other important issues, such as data overfitting and multicollinearity. First, each regression method is independently applied to gene expression data and the output of these methods, in the form of ranked gene lists, is aggregated using a novel gene score-based method by considering the gene rank and model importance. The model importance score is evaluated based on an adjusted coefficient of determination. This method implicitly includes majority voting by averaging each gene score value across all models. The proposed model was tested on the DREAM4 datasets and publicly available small-scale real-world network datasets. Experiments with noisy datasets showed that the proposed ensemble model is more accurate and efficient than other state-of-the-art methods. © 2023 IEEE.