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"Resisting Social Identity Threat and Maintaining Resilience" : A Qualitative Study of Chinese Parents Following the Loss of an Only Child

- Wang, Anni, Guo, Yufang, Cross, Wendy, Lam, Louisa, Plummer, Virginia, Zhang, Wen, Zhang, Jingping

  • Authors: Wang, Anni , Guo, Yufang , Cross, Wendy , Lam, Louisa , Plummer, Virginia , Zhang, Wen , Zhang, Jingping
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Psychol Trauma Vol. 16, no. 2 (2024), p. 167-175
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  • Description: Objective: Parents who lose an only child in China are stressed and traumatized due to social identity threat (SIT). This qualitative study aimed to interpret their experience to inform culturally and socially sensitive intervention strategies. Methods: Using a phenomenological approach, 17 bereaved parents who lost an only child were interviewed. The transcripts were analyzed using Colaizzi's method. Results: Three themes were identified, namely, "assuming a new social identity," "triggering social identity threat," and "resisting social identity threat and maintaining resilience." The study showed that SIT initially began with identity reconstruction, where self-identity and social identity occurred 1 after another. Once labeled with such social identity, the bereaved parents suffered social identity threat triggered by inner inferiority and external stigmatization. The bereaved parents undertook a variety of coping strategies to resist the threat and to maintain resilience of these strategies, 4 patterns depicting resilience and threat were interpreted. Conclusion: The findings offer an understanding of the multifaceted bereavement dilemma and lay a foundation for developing intervention strategies. Promoting or maintaining resilience and alleviating SIT are 2 important ways that help parents move on. To help them with identity reconstruction, the development of culturally sensitive resilience-based programs and the linking of social resources to solve practical problems are recommended. Community health professionals should encourage parents to maintain good health management to prevent their predicament from worsening. Raising economic assistance, building an elderly care support system, and promoting social acceptance are strategies that could be considered by policymakers. Clinical Impact StatementThe bereaved parents who have lost an only child in China is facing a multifaceted dilemma, which involves psychological, economic and cultural issues. This study applies the construct of social identity threat to interpretive lived experience of parents in China who have lost their only child. The study contributes to better understanding of their multifaceted bereavement dilemma, and lay the foundation for developing psycho-behavioural intervention strategies, which potentially also benefit other marginalized or traumatized bereaved groups. Results in this study offered several recommendations for psychological counselors, community workers, community health professionals, and government policymakers.

An analysis of the nature of young students’ STEM learning in 3D technology-enhanced makerspaces

- Forbes, Anne, Falloon, Garry, Stevenson, Michael, Hatzigianni, Maria, Bower, Matt

  • Authors: Forbes, Anne , Falloon, Garry , Stevenson, Michael , Hatzigianni, Maria , Bower, Matt
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Developing culturally and developmentally appropriate early STEM learning experiences Chapter 11 p. 172-187
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  • Description: Research Findings: This study was undertaken to investigate learning processes and outcomes from using 3D design and printing technologies with children aged 5–8 years, in three schools in a metropolitan city in Australia. Data were collected from five sources (teacher interviews, surveys, journals; student interviews; and iPad screen recordings) and analyzed to identify themes responding to the question: What is the nature of students’ learning and learning processes in technology-enhanced Makerspaces? Findings report the perspectives of teachers and students, supplemented by screen recordings from the iPads. Students were found to have significant engagement in learning through involvement in these technology-enhanced Makerspaces, and to have developed skills and understanding in a number of areas including: digital technical proficiency, design thinking, problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. Findings are conceptualized using a research-informed Maker Literacies Framework, to better understand the nature of students’ learning and work processes while engaged in these environments. Practice or Policy: Findings imply that Makerspaces with 3D design and printing could be used to promote young children’s STEM literacies although teachers need to be mindful of the need to explicitly plan for and teach important STEM concepts, if learning in these disciplines is a goal. © 2020, © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Fuzzy multiplier, sum and intersection rules in non-Lipschitzian settings : decoupling approach revisited

- Fabian, Marian, Kruger, Alexander, Mehlitz, Patrick

  • Authors: Fabian, Marian , Kruger, Alexander , Mehlitz, Patrick
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications Vol. 532, no. 2 (2024), p.
  • Relation: https://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160100854
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  • Description: We revisit the decoupling approach widely used (often intuitively) in nonlinear analysis and optimization and initially formalized about a quarter of a century ago by Borwein & Zhu, Borwein & Ioffe and Lassonde. It allows one to streamline proofs of necessary optimality conditions and calculus relations, unify and simplify the respective statements, clarify and in many cases weaken the assumptions. In this paper we study weaker concepts of quasiuniform infimum, quasiuniform lower semicontinuity and quasiuniform minimum, putting them into the context of the general theory developed by the aforementioned authors. Along the way, we unify the terminology and notation and fill in some gaps in the general theory. We establish rather general primal and dual necessary conditions characterizing quasiuniform

How lived experience mediated my gold, ribbons, puzzles and morals research motivations : a reflective introspection

- Stranieri, Andrew

  • Authors: Stranieri, Andrew
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Research partners with lived experience : stories from patients and survivors Chapter 15 p. 183-191
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  • Description: Studies on factors that motivate researchers conclude that financial rewards, recognition, curiosity and a desire to contribute; the so-called, Gold, Ribbons, Puzzle and Morals motivating factors, combine to explain why individuals start and continue to be researchers. Lived experience with significant, often life-changing events as a patient, carer, victim, or bystander has motivated many, directly or indirectly, including me, to become researchers. In this chapter, I draw on introspection to examine my journey through 25 years of research experience in university settings. I use concepts from dual systems theories that identify intuition and cognition as two processes that come together to explain how key events and situations in life have influenced my decisions. This illustrates how critical events have mediated the Gold, Ribbon, Puzzle and Morals factors that were motivating my research efforts.

Intelligent feature selection algorithm using SA-SVM classification for skin cancer diagnosis

- Hoshyar, Azadeh, Al-Jumaily, Adel

  • Authors: Hoshyar, Azadeh , Al-Jumaily, Adel
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Non-Invasive Health Systems based on Advanced Biomedical Signal and Image Processing Chapter 15 p. 372-395
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  • Description: In recent decades, the incidence of malignant melanoma as a deadly skin cancer has increased worldwide. With its high medical costs and death rates, this cancer has prioritized the need for early diagnosis. Computer-based detection systems can improve the diagnosis rate of melanoma by 5%-30% compared to the naked eye and reduce human error. Although much effort has been made to advance the detection of skin cancers, there are still serious concerns about it. This chapter introduces automatic skin cancer diagnosis and an overview of methods in each step toward detection. A novel algorithm in feature selection and classification stages of automatic skin cancer diagnosis is designed and implemented to identify malignant and benign lesions. A smart algorithm is proposed based on inertia-based particle swarm optimization (IPSO) and the self-advising SVM (SA-SVM). This algorithm optimizes the feature selection stage. Additionally, SA-SVM, known as a new classifier in skin cancer detection systems, is employed along with the proposed algorithm. The statistical and performance measurement analyses of algorithms are presented to prove the superiority of the proposed algorithms. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Adel Al-Jumaily, Paolo Crippa, Ali Mansour, and Claudio Turchetti; individual chapters, the contributors.

Is doctor google our best choice for healthcare information recommendations? A duty of care to improve processes

- Burstein, Frada, Meredith, Grant

  • Authors: Burstein, Frada , Meredith, Grant
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Research partners with lived experience : stories from patients and survivors Chapter 7 p. 91-102
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  • Description: Living with a life-long medical condition or a serious disease requires a lot of research skills on how to access the best quality information to inform better decision-making of healthcare consumers. Relatives, friends, and carers are often sharing the stress and responsibility of looking after the healthcare of consumers. They feel personally responsible for meeting not only physical, but also information needs of people they care for. With the internet being almost a default source of a wide variety of information, and health information in particular, this interview-based chapter reflects on what are the opportunities and challenges for information and communication technology (ICT) researchers who aim to address the personalized needs for quality healthcare information provision. Professor Frada Burstein is a leading information technology researcher specializing in smart information portals in health care. Her research has contributed to the transformations in web-based information systems architecture to empower patients. She was named the ICT Educator of the Year for her pioneering work in knowledge management and ICT education. In this interview with Grant Meredith, she reveals how her intense experiences caring for her father led her to focus her intelligent systems research toward health care.

Lifestyle management of hypertension : International Society of Hypertension position paper endorsed by the World Hypertension League and European Society of Hypertension

- Charchar, Fadi, Prestes, Priscilla, Mills, Charlotte, Ching, Siew, Neupane, Dinesh, Marques, Francine, Sharman, James, Vogt, Liffert, Burrell, Louise, Korostovtseva, Lyudmila, Zec, Manja, Patil, Mansi, Schultz, Martin, Wallen, Matthew, Renna, Nicolás, Islam, Sheikh, Hiremath, Swapnil, Gyeltshen, Tshewang, Chia, Yook-Chin, Gupta, Abhinav, Schutte, Aletta, Klein, Britt, Borghi, Claudio, Browning, Colette, Czesnikiewicz-Guzik, Marta, Lee, Hae-Young, Itoh, Hiroshi, Miura, Katsuyuki, Akinnibosun, Olutope, Shane Thomas

  • Authors: Charchar, Fadi , Prestes, Priscilla , Mills, Charlotte , Ching, Siew , Neupane, Dinesh , Marques, Francine , Sharman, James , Vogt, Liffert , Burrell, Louise , Korostovtseva, Lyudmila , Zec, Manja , Patil, Mansi , Schultz, Martin , Wallen, Matthew , Renna, Nicolás , Islam, Sheikh , Hiremath, Swapnil , Gyeltshen, Tshewang , Chia, Yook-Chin , Gupta, Abhinav , Schutte, Aletta , Klein, Britt , Borghi, Claudio , Browning, Colette , Czesnikiewicz-Guzik, Marta , Lee, Hae-Young , Itoh, Hiroshi , Miura, Katsuyuki , Akinnibosun, Olutope , Shane Thomas
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of hypertension Vol. 42, no. 1 (2024), p. 23-49
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  • Description: Hypertension, defined as persistently elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) >140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at least 90 mmHg (International Society of Hypertension guidelines), affects over 1.5 billion people worldwide. Hypertension is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events (e.g. coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke) and death. An international panel of experts convened by the International Society of Hypertension College of Experts compiled lifestyle management recommendations as first-line strategy to prevent and control hypertension in adulthood. We also recommend that lifestyle changes be continued even when blood pressure-lowering medications are prescribed. Specific recommendations based on literature evidence are summarized with advice to start these measures early in life, including maintaining a healthy body weight, increased levels of different types of physical activity, healthy eating and drinking, avoidance and cessation of smoking and alcohol use, management of stress and sleep levels. We also discuss the relevance of specific approaches including consumption of sodium, potassium, sugar, fibre, coffee, tea, intermittent fasting as well as integrated strategies to implement these recommendations using, for example, behaviour change-related technologies and digital tools. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 30 including Federation University Australia affiliates “Fadi Charchar, Priscilla Prestes, Britt Klein, Colette Browning, Olutope Akinnibosun and Shane Thomas” are provided in this record**
  • Description: Hypertension, defined as persistently elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) >140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at least 90 mmHg (International Society of Hypertension guidelines), affects over 1.5 billion people worldwide. Hypertension is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events (e.g. coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke) and death. An international panel of experts convened by the International Society of Hypertension College of Experts compiled lifestyle management recommendations as first-line strategy to prevent and control hypertension in adulthood. We also recommend that lifestyle changes be continued even when blood pressure-lowering medications are prescribed. Specific recommendations based on literature evidence are summarized with advice to start these measures early in life, including maintaining a healthy body weight, increased levels of different types of physical activity, healthy eating and drinking, avoidance and cessation of smoking and alcohol use, management of stress and sleep levels. We also discuss the relevance of specific approaches including consumption of sodium, potassium, sugar, fibre, coffee, tea, intermittent fasting as well as integrated strategies to implement these recommendations using, for example, behaviour change-related technologies and digital tools. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 30 including Federation University Australia affiliates “Fadi Charchar, Priscilla Prestes, Britt Klein, Colette Browning, Olutope Akinnibossun and Shane Thomas” are provided in this record**

Living with family violence and the great escape

- Zentveld, Elisa

  • Authors: Zentveld, Elisa
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Research partners with lived experience : stories from patients and survivors Chapter 5 p. 57-71
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  • Description: Lived experience can add an important dimension to research. Whilst acceptance of lived experience in research has not exactly taken hold yet, there is a movement towards valuing the contribution lived experience can provide, especially in some research areas. This book chapter explains how lived experience drew me, as a researcher in one discipline, to move into another research area—family violence. It is not living with family violence per se that resulted in the discipline change, but more so the systems that keep victims bound to perpetrators of family violence. I realised through my experiences that living with family violence can feel like a one-way ticket where there is no return journey; no escape route. I use my lived experience with navigating systems (namely legal systems) to contribute to family violence research. This chapter explains my three court journeys and how those outcomes and experiences led me to turn my research attention to family violence. This chapter also explains how the research gaps I uncovered could best be found through lived experience. This chapter, therefore, provides an important perspective on both the value of lived experiences with research, as well as the field of family violence (focusing on legal systems).

Rach’s endometriosis story

- Vagg, Rachel, Firmin, Sally

Research partners with lived experience : stories from patients and survivors

- Stranieri, Andrew, Meredith, Grant, Firmin, Sally

  • Authors: Stranieri, Andrew , Meredith, Grant , Firmin, Sally
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book
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  • Description: This book aims to foster collaborations between patients who have intense lived experience with a medical condition or family violence and researchers investigating them. Inviting patients or survivors into the research team is found to have significant advantages, and chapters review the literature on the benefits they can bring to investigative research teams. The collaboration can take place at multiple stages of research from helping to research design, participating in co-investigators, contributing to the interpretation of results, etc. The conditions addressed in this book include medical conditions from anxiety, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, lupus, asthma, chronic kidney disease, etc. The authors are higher degree students, academics, and active research team members who share their experiences. This is be instrumental in helping patients and survivors decide whether to transition to research. It will also support research team leaders in determining how to benefit from the new perspectives researchers with lived experience bring. The personal narratives provide insight into the challenges and rewards of having lived experience while conducting research.

The linkedness of cubical polytopes : beyond the cube

- Bui, Hoa, Pineda-Villavicencio, Guillermo, Ugon, Julien

  • Authors: Bui, Hoa , Pineda-Villavicencio, Guillermo , Ugon, Julien
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Discrete Mathematics Vol. 347, no. 3 (2024), p.
  • Relation: https://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100602
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  • Description: A cubical polytope is a polytope with all its facets being combinatorially equivalent to cubes. The paper is concerned with the linkedness of the graphs of cubical polytopes. A graph with at least 2k vertices is k-linked if, for every set of k disjoint pairs of vertices, there are k vertex-disjoint paths joining the vertices in the pairs. We say that a polytope is k-linked if its graph is k-linked. In a previous paper [3] we proved that every cubical d-polytope is ⌊d/2⌋-linked. Here we strengthen this result by establishing the ⌊(d+1)/2⌋-linkedness of cubical d-polytopes, for every d≠3. A graph G is strongly k-linked if it has at least 2k+1 vertices and, for every vertex v of G, the subgraph G−v is k-linked. We say that a polytope is (strongly) k-linked if its graph is (strongly) k-linked. In this paper, we also prove that every cubical d-polytope is strongly ⌊d/2⌋-linked, for every d≠3. These results are best possible for this class of polytopes.
  • Description: A cubical polytope is a polytope with all its facets being combinatorially equivalent to cubes. The paper is concerned with the linkedness of the graphs of cubical polytopes. A graph with at least 2k vertices is k-linked if, for every set of k disjoint pairs of vertices, there are k vertex-disjoint paths joining the vertices in the pairs. We say that a polytope is k-linked if its graph is k-linked. In a previous paper [3] we proved that every cubical d-polytope is

To be, or not to be, that is the question : stuttering into academia

- Meredith, Grant

  • Authors: Meredith, Grant
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Research partners with lived experience : stories from patients and survivors Chapter 4 p. 43-56
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  • Description: In this chapter Grant Meredith, the discipline leader of Information Technology for the Global Professional School at Federation University (Australia) outlines his journey as a person who stutters from his rural Australian upbringing through to being an Information Technology academic. This passage to academia is a reflection on an unconventional odyssey that has meandered from blue collar careers to a university education and beyond. The author discusses what it means to him to have vocal difference and how it may have influenced his research path. Along the way he questions his identity as a person who stutters and find his own “community” to engage within.

Who punched me in the back? becoming a CKD researcher

- Firmin, Sally

  • Authors: Firmin, Sally
  • Date: 2024
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Research partners with lived experience : stories from patients and survivors Chapter 2 p. 17-26
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  • Description: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent, deadly killer. CKD causes your kidneys to become damaged and can no longer clean your blood. As a result, your body becomes overloaded with fluid, and you suffer from headaches, migraines, nausea, vomiting, and most days, it feels like someone punched you in the back, amongst other symptoms. Like many other Australians, it was too late when I was diagnosed with CKD. My kidney function had reduced to 18%. Despite following a strict diet and medication schedule, within 2 years of diagnosis, my kidney function reduced to less than 5%, and I became a haemodialysis patient. I have survived this time by using a positive mindset and regular meditation. This chapter is my story of CKD from a young child to the current day and how becoming a haemodialysis patient inspired me to become a CKD researcher with lived experience.

A blockchain-based deep-learning-driven architecture for quality routing in wireless sensor networks

- Khan, Zahoor, Amjad, Sana, Ahmed, Farwa, Almasoud, Abdullah, Imran, Muhammad, Javaid, Nadeem

  • Authors: Khan, Zahoor , Amjad, Sana , Ahmed, Farwa , Almasoud, Abdullah , Imran, Muhammad , Javaid, Nadeem
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: IEEE Access Vol. 11, no. (2023), p. 31036-31051
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  • Description: Over the past few years, great importance has been given to wireless sensor networks (WSNs) as they play a significant role in facilitating the world with daily life services like healthcare, military, social products, etc. However, heterogeneous nature of WSNs makes them prone to various attacks, which results in low throughput, and high network delay and high energy consumption. In the WSNs, routing is performed using different routing protocols like low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH), heterogeneous gateway-based energy-aware multi-hop routing (HMGEAR), etc. In such protocols, some nodes in the network may perform malicious activities. Therefore, four deep learning (DL) techniques and a real-time message content validation (RMCV) scheme based on blockchain are used in the proposed network for the detection of malicious nodes (MNs). Moreover, to analyse the routing data in the WSN, DL models are trained on a state-of-the-art dataset generated from LEACH, known as WSN-DS 2016. The WSN contains three types of nodes: sensor nodes, cluster heads (CHs) and the base station (BS). The CHs after aggregating the data received from the sensor nodes, send it towards the BS. Furthermore, to overcome the single point of failure issue, a decentralized blockchain is deployed on CHs and BS. Additionally, MNs are removed from the network using RMCV and DL techniques. Moreover, legitimate nodes (LNs) are registered in the blockchain network using proof-of-authority consensus protocol. The protocol outperforms proof-of-work in terms of computational cost. Later, routing is performed between the LNs using different routing protocols and the results are compared with original LEACH and HMGEAR protocols. The results show that the accuracy of GRU is 97%, LSTM is 96%, CNN is 92% and ANN is 90%. Throughput, delay and the death of the first node are computed for LEACH, LEACH with DL, LEACH with RMCV, HMGEAR, HMGEAR with DL and HMGEAR with RMCV. Moreover, Oyente is used to perform the formal security analysis of the designed smart contract. The analysis shows that blockchain network is resilient against vulnerabilities. © 2013 IEEE.

A brief guide to multi-objective reinforcement learning and planning JAAMAS track

- Hayes, Conor, Bargiacchi, Eugenio, Källström, Johan, Macfarlane, Matthew, Reymond, Mathieu, Verstraeten, Timothy, Zintgraf, Luisa, Dazeley, Richard, Heintz, Frederik, Howley, Enda, Irissappane, Aathirai, Mannion, Patrick, Nowé, Ann, Ramos, Gabriel, Restelli, Marcello, Vamplew, Peter, Roijers, Diederik

A case for causal loop diagrams to model electronic health records ecosystems

- Hashmi, Mustafa, McInnes, Angelique, Sahama, Tony, Stranieri, Andrew

  • Authors: Hashmi, Mustafa , McInnes, Angelique , Sahama, Tony , Stranieri, Andrew
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: 2023 Australasian Computer Science Week, ACSW 2023, Melbourne, Australia, 31 January-3 February 2023, ACSW '23: Proceedings of the 2023 Australasian Computer Science Week p. 238-239
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  • Description: Causal loop diagrams (CLD) that emerged from systems thinking disciplines have been used to simulate complex inter-dependencies between causal factors in diverse phenomena. This paper highlights a process for generating a casual loop diagrams to represent the quality of electronic health record (EHR) ecosystem in a medical context. The quality inherent in the use of electronic health records for specific clinical purposes is taken to depend on factors including data integrity, reliability, relevance, timeliness and completeness. By improving the electronic health record ecosystem quality, health care providers can enhance their data sharing practices, and personalised patient care, while reducing the probabilities of medical errors. Ultimately the CLD can be used to run multiple simulations for several clinical case scenarios to understand the impact of various case phenomena on the quality of the electronic health record ecosystem. © 2023 ACM.

A community-wide approach to reducing risky drinking cultures in young people in rural Australia

- Murphy, Angela, Ollerenshaw, Alison

  • Authors: Murphy, Angela , Ollerenshaw, Alison
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 31, no. 2 (2023), p. 204-217
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  • Description: Objective: This study evaluated the impact of a multi-faceted, harm minimisation program addressing youth alcohol change and risky drinking behaviours in rural Australia. The role and influence of a multi-tiered community approach to changing alcohol cultures is examined. Setting: An alcohol culture change project for young people (12–18 years) was implemented in rural Victoria. It was informed by the Alcohol Cultures Framework, comprising community-wide events and youth-focused activities, co-designed with young people. The approach aimed at maximising engagement and reducing alcohol-related harm by targeting the shared activities and drinking practices of young people, parents and the community. Participants: Participants (n = 446) provided feedback specific to three key program activities for promoting alcohol change. Design: Mixed methods: Feedback sheets were collected, and interviews and focus groups were conducted with program participants. Results: Participants indicated that the program had informed their understanding of the way people in their region drink, and the social norms and practices around alcohol that encourage risky drinking. It influenced their short- and medium-term reactions, learnings and activities relating to alcohol consumption. The impact of the program was greatest in adults than young people although reflective learning and some behaviour change were evident across all age groups and community clusters. Conclusion: Community-wide health promotion events offer participants a deeper understanding of the ways in which dominant alcohol cultures inform the practices and activities of young people within a broader community context. Ensuring health promotion programs within a whole-of-community approach are established longer term, is recommended. © 2022 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.

A comparative study of two embodiments of the limaçon rotary compressor based on theoretical modelling of apex seal dynamics and leakage

- Lu, Kui, Sultan, Ibrahim, Phung, Truong

  • Authors: Lu, Kui , Sultan, Ibrahim , Phung, Truong
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: International Journal of Refrigeration Vol. 145, no. (2023), p. 467-480
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  • Description: As an emerging technology, the limaçon rotary compressor possesses great potential for fluid-processing applications. However, the technology and associated cost required to fabricate the limaçon machine could sometimes be beyond the capability of some manufacturers. To reduce the production cost, circolimaçon embodiment whose rotor and housing are constructed of circular arcs has been proposed. This paper is intended to investigate the viability of the circolimaçon embodiment of limaçon technology based on sealing performance. A nonlinear three-degree of freedom model is presented to describe the dynamic behaviour of the apex seal during the machine operation. Additionally, the leakage through the seal-housing gap is formulated by considering the inertia and viscous effects on the flow. A numerical illustration is offered to compare the performance of the circolimaçon embodiment with that of the limaçon-to-limaçon (L2L) type machine at different pressure ratios and operating speeds. The effect of limaçon aspect ratio on the apex seal dynamics is also investigated. Based on the results, it is found that the circolimaçon embodiment exhibits comparable performance to the L2L-type machine, despite having more significant seal vibrations. The differences in the volumetric and isentropic efficiencies between the two machines are found within 8% and 3%, respectively. Additionally, it is also discovered that the circolimaçon compressor with a small capacity undergoes lower level of seal dynamics, suggesting a better machine reliability. © 2022

A comparison of health-related quality of life in rural and metropolitan areas of Australia: the contribution of sports and physical activity

- Eime, Rochelle, Charity, Melanie, Westerbeek, Hans, Harvey, Jack

  • Authors: Eime, Rochelle , Charity, Melanie , Westerbeek, Hans , Harvey, Jack
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Rural Quality of Life Chapter 17 p. 315-332
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  • Description: "People can be physically active in many different ways, including general physical activity and organised sports. In addition to the physical health benefits of participation, there is increasing evidence of broader health benefits –health-related quality of life of participation in organised community-level sports, specifically social and mental health benefits. The study utilised data from over 6,000 participants and investigated their sports and physical activity profiles and quality of life –social, physical and mental. In doing so, the propositions of the Health through Sport conceptual model regarding the different health benefits of different types of activity are investigated. Research questions: (1) What is the health-related quality of life of individuals in rural and regional areas (countryside) compared to metropolitan areas? (2) How does the health-related quality of life of individuals differ according to type of activity? (3) How do the activity profiles and health outcomes of individuals align to the Health through Sport conceptual model?The aim was to investigate the contribution of participation in sports and physical activity to the health-related quality of life of individuals before and during COVID-19. This study demonstrates that indicators of health-related quality of life differ among those living in rural and regional areas compared to metropolitan areas, in conjunction with differences attributable to gender, age and activity setting and mode." © Manchester University Press 2022.

A computational framework for the multiphysics simulation of microbubble-mediated sonothrombolysis using a forward-viewing intravascular transducer

- Tan, Zhi, Ooi, Ean Hin, Chiew, Yeong, Foo, Ji, Ng, Eddie, Ooi, Ean Tat

  • Authors: Tan, Zhi , Ooi, Ean Hin , Chiew, Yeong , Foo, Ji , Ng, Eddie , Ooi, Ean Tat
  • Date: 2023
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Ultrasonics Vol. 131, no. (2023), p.
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  • Description: Sonothrombolysis is a technique that utilises ultrasound waves to excite microbubbles surrounding a clot. Clot lysis is achieved through mechanical damage induced by acoustic cavitation and through local clot displacement induced by acoustic radiation force (ARF). Despite the potential of microbubble-mediated sonothrombolysis, the selection of the optimal ultrasound and microbubble parameters remains a challenge. Existing experimental studies are not able to provide a complete picture of how ultrasound and microbubble characteristics influence the outcome of sonothrombolysis. Likewise, computational studies have not been applied in detail in the context of sonothrombolysis. Hence, the effect of interaction between the bubble dynamics and acoustic propagation on the acoustic streaming and clot deformation remains unclear. In the present study, we report for the first time the computational framework that couples the bubble dynamic phenomena with the acoustic propagation in a bubbly medium to simulate microbubble-mediated sonothrombolysis using a forward-viewing transducer. The computational framework was used to investigate the effects of ultrasound properties (pressure and frequency) and microbubble characteristics (radius and concentration) on the outcome of sonothrombolysis. Four major findings were obtained from the simulation results: (i) ultrasound pressure plays the most dominant role over all the other parameters in affecting the bubble dynamics, acoustic attenuation, ARF, acoustic streaming, and clot displacement, (ii) smaller microbubbles could contribute to a more violent oscillation and improve the ARF simultaneously when they are stimulated at higher ultrasound pressure, (iii) higher microbubbles concentration increases the ARF, and (iv) the effect of ultrasound frequency on acoustic attenuation is dependent on the ultrasound pressure. These results may provide fundamental insight that is crucial in bringing sonothrombolysis closer to clinical implementation. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.