Description:
Opalescence is an unattractive browning of the interior of the pecan kernel compared to the white interior of normal kernels. The discoloration is due to the presence of free oil, resulting from decompartmentalization in the endosperm of opalescent pecans. Using a subjective scoring system, approximately 70% of Australian-grown pecan kernels tested were found to exhibit opalescence to some degree. Evaluation of kernels for opalescence during the harvesting-processing chain showed that opalescence first becomes evident in kernels after mechanical cracking. Opalescent kernels were found to have lower levels of calcium and higher amounts of oil compared to nonopalescent kernels. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that kernels do not freeze at -18°C.
Description:
Harder kernels in barley are thought to be a factor affecting the modification of the endosperm during malting by restricting water and enzyme movement within the endosperm. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between kernel hardness, water uptake and the endosperm composition in barley. A range of barley samples from 2003 and 2004 crops were analyzed for kernel hardness by the Single Kernel Characterization System, water uptake during steeping and chemical composition of the endosperm including (1→3; 1→4)-
Description:
In this study, we investigated the effects and mechanisms involved in high pressure argon and xenon (HP Ar + Xe) mixed treatment on wound healing in fresh-cut apples and pineapples. Fresh-cut apples and pineapples treated by HP (1.8 MPa absolute) Ar and Xe (Ar:Xe = 2:9 partial pressure) were stored at 4 degrees C for 96 h. H2O2 production, the activities of related enzyme, the accumulation of phenolics and lignin were compared amongst those untreated and treated by HP air, normal atmosphere pressure (NAP Ar + Xe). The apple and pineapple samples subjected to the above treatments were inoculated with Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively, and incubated at 10 degrees C for one week. The growth of E. coli or S. cerevisiae was monitored to evaluate the wound-induced response to defense or the resistance against infection. Results showed that the HP (Ar + Xe) mixed treatment promoted the wound-healing response and enhanced resistance against the infection of E. coli or S. cerevisiae in fresh-cut apples and pineapples. The enhanced wound healing ability in fruit pieces subjected to HP (Ar + Xe) mixed treatment is found to be associated with the increase in H2O2 production and the accumulation of phenolics and lignin during storage after treatment. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Description:
Previous investigations with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on avocado (Persea americana Mill.) fruit have focussed mainly on improving storage life by reducing the severity of disorders causing discolouration of the flesh. Development of 1-MCP and ethylene treatments, which also help control the time to reach the eating ripe stage, may confer additional practical benefits. In this context, the current study investigated the potential of 1-MCP to accurately manipulate ripening of non-stored 'Hass' avocado fruit by treatment before or after ethylene and at different times during ripening. To investigate this, 500 nL L-1 1-MCP was applied within 1 day after harvest, followed by ethylene 0-14 days after 1-MCP. In addition, fruit were treated with ethylene, then 1-MCP 0-8 days after ethylene. Treatment of fruit with 500 nL L-1 1-MCP for 18 h at 20°C provided the maximum effect by increasing the days from harvest to ripe (DTR) from 8 (with no 1-MCP) to 20. Fruit treated with 500 nL L-1 1-MCP for 18 h at 20°C remained insensitive to 100
Description:
Pressure ulcers are a common but preventable problem in hospitals. Implementation of best practice guideline recommendations can prevent ulcers from occurring. This 9-year cohort study reports prevalence data from point prevalence surveys during the observation period, and three practice metrics to assess implementation of best practice guideline recommendations: (i) nurse compliance with use of a validated pressure ulcer risk assessment and intervention checklist; (ii) accuracy of risk assessment scoring in usual-care nurses and experienced injury prevention nurses; and (iii) use of pressure ulcer prevention strategies. The prevalence of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers decreased following implementation of an evidence-based prevention programme from 12 center dot 6% (2 years preprogramme implementation) to 2 center dot 6% (6 years postprogramme implementation) (P < 0 center dot 001). Audits between 2003 and 2011 of 4368 patient medical records identified compliance with pressure ulcer prevention documentation according to best practice guidelines was high (>84%). A sample of 270 patients formed the sample for the study of risk assessment scoring accuracy and use of prevention strategies. It was found usual-care nurses under-estimated patients' risk of pressure ulcer development and under-utilised prevention strategies compared with experienced injury prevention nurses. Despite a significant reduction in prevalence of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and high documentation compliance, use of prevention strategies could further be improved to achieve better patient outcomes. Barriers to the use of prevention strategies by nurses in the acute hospital setting require further examination. This study provides important insights into the knowledge translation of pressure ulcer prevention best practice guideline recommendations at The Northern Hospital.
Description:
This paper investigates the application of the Six Sigma approach to improve quality in electronic services (e-services) as more countries are adopting e-services as a means of providing services to their people through the Web. This paper presents a case study about the use of Six Sigma model to measure customer satisfaction and quality levels achieved in e-services that were recently launched by public sector organisations in a developing country, such as Jordan. An empirical study consisting of 280 customers of Jordan's e-services is conducted and problems are identified through the DMAIC phases of Six Sigma. The service quality levels are measured and analysed using six main criteria: Website Design, Reliability, Responsiveness, Personalization, Information Quality, and System Quality. The study indicates a 74% customer satisfaction with a Six Sigma level of 2.12 has enabled the Greater Amman Municipality to identify the usability issues associated with their e-services offered by public sector organisations. The aim of the paper is not only to implement Six Sigma as a measurement-based strategy for improving e-customer service in a newly launched e-service programme, but also widen its scope in investigating other service dimensions and perform comparative studies in other developing countries.
Description:
This paper reports on the perceptions of key Australian stakeholders who were interviewed about the controversial issue of quality in traineeships. Interviews were carried out with thirteen people holding senior positions in State and national government departments, major employer and employee organisations, and peak bodies of intermediary organisations. The process was the initial phase of a national NCVER-funded project on identifying the features of high-quality traineeships. The interview transcripts were then analysed to draw out key themes. Themes included issues to do with pedagogy both on and off the job, workplace arrangements and work organisation, relationships between employers and training providers, progression to higher level qualifications and within careers, the intended strategic use of trainees by organisations, and the use of traineeships for equity purposes. On the whole, strong support was expressed for the traineeship system although there were some dissenting views. The research provided a useful backdrop for the fieldwork in the remainder of the project.
Description:
This paper reports on the perceptions of key Australian stakeholders who were interviewed about the controversial issue of quality in traineeships. Interviews were carried out with thirteen people holding senior positions in State and national government departments, major employer and employee organisations, and peak bodies of intermediary organisations. The process was the initial phase of a national NCVER-funded project on identifying the features of high-quality traineeships. The interview transcripts were then analysed to draw out key themes. Themes included issues to do with pedagogy both on and off the job, workplace arrangements and work organisation, relationships between employers and training providers, progression to higher level qualifications and within careers, the intended strategic use of trainees by organisations, and the use of traineeships for equity purposes. On the whole, strong support was expressed for the traineeship system although there were some dissenting views. The research provided a useful backdrop for the fieldwork in the remainder of the project.
Assessing the completeness of coded and narrative data from the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset using injuries sustained during fitness activities as a case study
Description:
Education policies and practices developed for urban populations are not always effective when implemented in regional and remote locations. Despite government policy initiatives that may provide for collaboration across communities, a singular issue is that a diversity of solutions may be required rather than a 'one size fits all' approach. This article presents a potential solution to this problem through engaging collaboration and co-creation to optimise educational opportunities in initial teacher education in Australia. Qualitative analysis of a collaborative and co-created process of enhancement, lesson development and reflection brings together the every-day problem-solving processes used by pre-service teachers and classroom students with those used by research scientists and community experts. A consequence of such a process that benefits regional and remote communities is the development of collaborative networks founded in co-creation of educational opportunities and based on daily life in local communities.
Description:
Objective: To describe the barriers to women's access to maternity services in three districts of Timor-Leste. Research design/setting: Focused ethnography with data collection methods commensurate with a qualitative research design. Setting and participants: Data was collected in three districts in Timor-Leste. Participants included seventeen stakeholders, health professionals and managers providing skilled birth attendance (SBA) in Timor-Leste and thirty women who have given birth and are competent to give consent. Findings: Access to SBA services is seriously impeded by poor roads and lack of transportation, the poor condition and amenity of services, restricted hours of opening, the lack of availability of skilled SBA professionals and medical resources. Participants also commented upon the lack of privacy and multiple caregivers. Timorese patriarchal family structures, intergenerational decision-making and cultural attitudes towards reproductive health information and services potentially reduce women's access to reproductive health services. Conclusion: This data provides a comprehensive record of the multiple structural barriers to women's access to SBA services. The modified AAAQA framework provides categories and an organisational structure to these barriers to SBA services. Implications for practice: Maternity care in Timor-Leste is extremely poorly resourced. Midwives and other SBA will need to provide innovative low cost solutions if they are to consistently provide respectful culturally safe midwifery care. This includes the provision of privacy and a one to one midwifery relationship 'with woman'. In addition, many women are unable to access SBA, where possible the MoH can consider strategies to improve the provision of SBA services to women birthing in community. Crown Copyright (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Description:
Objective: To describe the barriers to women's access to maternity services in three districts of Timor-Leste. Research design/setting: Focused ethnography with data collection methods commensurate with a qualitative research design. Setting and participants: Data was collected in three districts in Timor-Leste. Participants included seventeen stakeholders, health professionals and managers providing skilled birth attendance (SBA) in Timor-Leste and thirty women who have given birth and are competent to give consent. Findings: Access to SBA services is seriously impeded by poor roads and lack of transportation, the poor condition and amenity of services, restricted hours of opening, the lack of availability of skilled SBA professionals and medical resources. Participants also commented upon the lack of privacy and multiple caregivers. Timorese patriarchal family structures, intergenerational decision-making and cultural attitudes towards reproductive health information and services potentially reduce women's access to reproductive health services. Conclusion: This data provides a comprehensive record of the multiple structural barriers to women's access to SBA services. The modified AAAQA framework provides categories and an organisational structure to these barriers to SBA services. Implications for practice: Maternity care in Timor-Leste is extremely poorly resourced. Midwives and other SBA will need to provide innovative low cost solutions if they are to consistently provide respectful culturally safe midwifery care. This includes the provision of privacy and a one to one midwifery relationship 'with woman'. In addition, many women are unable to access SBA, where possible the MoH can consider strategies to improve the provision of SBA services to women birthing in community. Crown Copyright (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Description:
Background Universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities is an essential human right, recognised in the Sustainable Development Goals as crucial for preventing disease and improving human wellbeing. Comprehensive, high-resolution estimates are important to inform progress towards achieving this goal. We aimed to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of access to drinking water and sanitation facilities. Methods We used a Bayesian geostatistical model and data from 600 sources across more than 88 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) to estimate access to drinking water and sanitation facilities on continuous continent-wide surfaces from 2000 to 2017, and aggregated results to policy-relevant administrative units. We estimated mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subcategories of facilities for drinking water (piped water on or off premises, other improved facilities, unimproved, and surface water) and sanitation facilities (septic or sewer sanitation, other improved, unimproved, and open defecation) with use of ordinal regression. We also estimated the number of diarrhoeal deaths in children younger than 5 years attributed to unsafe facilities and estimated deaths that were averted by increased access to safe facilities in 2017, and analysed geographical inequality in access within LMICs. Findings Across LMICs, access to both piped water and improved water overall increased between 2000 and 2017, with progress varying spatially. For piped water, the safest water facility type, access increased from 40.0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 39.4-40.7) to 50.3% (50.0-50.5), but was lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to piped water was mostly concentrated in urban centres. Access to both sewer or septic sanitation and improved sanitation overall also increased across all LMICs during the study period. For sewer or septic sanitation, access was 46.3% (95% UI 46.1-46.5) in 2017, compared with 28.7% (28.5-29.0) in 2000. Although some units improved access to the safest drinking water or sanitation facilities since 2000, a large absolute number of people continued to not have access in several units with high access to such facilities (>80%) in 2017. More than 253 000 people did not have access to sewer or septic sanitation facilities in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe, despite 88.6% (95% UI 87.2-89.7) access overall. Many units were able to transition from the least safe facilities in 2000 to safe facilities by 2017; for units in which populations primarily practised open defecation in 2000, 686 (95% UI 664-711) of the 1830 (1797-1863) units transitioned to the use of improved sanitation. Geographical disparities in access to improved water across units decreased in 76.1% (95% UI 71.6-80.7) of countries from 2000 to 2017, and in 53.9% (50.6-59.6) of countries for access to improved sanitation, but remained evident subnationally in most countries in 2017. Interpretation Our estimates, combined with geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden, identify where efforts to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are most needed. By highlighting areas with successful approaches or in need of targeted interventions, our estimates can enable precision public health to effectively progress towards universal access to safe water and sanitation. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the Federation University Australia affiliate is provided in this record**
Description:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CGIAR
Description:
Background Universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities is an essential human right, recognised in the Sustainable Development Goals as crucial for preventing disease and improving human wellbeing. Comprehensive, high-resolution estimates are important to inform progress towards achieving this goal. We aimed to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of access to drinking water and sanitation facilities. Methods We used a Bayesian geostatistical model and data from 600 sources across more than 88 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) to estimate access to drinking water and sanitation facilities on continuous continent-wide surfaces from 2000 to 2017, and aggregated results to policy-relevant administrative units. We estimated mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subcategories of facilities for drinking water (piped water on or off premises, other improved facilities, unimproved, and surface water) and sanitation facilities (septic or sewer sanitation, other improved, unimproved, and open defecation) with use of ordinal regression. We also estimated the number of diarrhoeal deaths in children younger than 5 years attributed to unsafe facilities and estimated deaths that were averted by increased access to safe facilities in 2017, and analysed geographical inequality in access within LMICs. Findings Across LMICs, access to both piped water and improved water overall increased between 2000 and 2017, with progress varying spatially. For piped water, the safest water facility type, access increased from 40.0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 39.4-40.7) to 50.3% (50.0-50.5), but was lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to piped water was mostly concentrated in urban centres. Access to both sewer or septic sanitation and improved sanitation overall also increased across all LMICs during the study period. For sewer or septic sanitation, access was 46.3% (95% UI 46.1-46.5) in 2017, compared with 28.7% (28.5-29.0) in 2000. Although some units improved access to the safest drinking water or sanitation facilities since 2000, a large absolute number of people continued to not have access in several units with high access to such facilities (>80%) in 2017. More than 253 000 people did not have access to sewer or septic sanitation facilities in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe, despite 88.6% (95% UI 87.2-89.7) access overall. Many units were able to transition from the least safe facilities in 2000 to safe facilities by 2017; for units in which populations primarily practised open defecation in 2000, 686 (95% UI 664-711) of the 1830 (1797-1863) units transitioned to the use of improved sanitation. Geographical disparities in access to improved water across units decreased in 76.1% (95% UI 71.6-80.7) of countries from 2000 to 2017, and in 53.9% (50.6-59.6) of countries for access to improved sanitation, but remained evident subnationally in most countries in 2017. Interpretation Our estimates, combined with geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden, identify where efforts to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are most needed. By highlighting areas with successful approaches or in need of targeted interventions, our estimates can enable precision public health to effectively progress towards universal access to safe water and sanitation. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the Federation University Australia affiliate is provided in this record**
Description:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CGIAR
Description:
Invasive sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) are having significant detrimental impacts on natural environments in south-eastern Australia. Little, however, is known about their ecology, limiting evidence-based management strategies directed at reducing deer impacts. Genetic data, generated from DNA isolated from deer scats, can be used to fill ecological knowledge gaps. This study outlines a non-invasive genetic sampling strategy by which good-quality DNA from a single deer scat can be used to determine (1) species of origin, (2) sex and (3) a unique DNA profile. DNA from deer tissue and sambar deer scat samples were used to develop and optimise molecular methods to collect reliable genetic information. A DNA toolbox is presented that describes how to find, collect and store scat samples, isolate DNA and use molecular markers to generate informative genetic data. Generating genetic data using this approach will support studies aimed at acquiring ecological knowledge about sambar deer. Such knowledge will be critical for developing evidence-based recommendations to improve on-ground management decisions for sambar deer.
Description:
Invasive sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) are having significant detrimental impacts on natural environments in south-eastern Australia. Little, however, is known about their ecology, limiting evidence-based management strategies directed at reducing deer impacts. Genetic data, generated from DNA isolated from deer scats, can be used to fill ecological knowledge gaps. This study outlines a non-invasive genetic sampling strategy by which good-quality DNA from a single deer scat can be used to determine (1) species of origin, (2) sex and (3) a unique DNA profile. DNA from deer tissue and sambar deer scat samples were used to develop and optimise molecular methods to collect reliable genetic information. A DNA toolbox is presented that describes how to find, collect and store scat samples, isolate DNA and use molecular markers to generate informative genetic data. Generating genetic data using this approach will support studies aimed at acquiring ecological knowledge about sambar deer. Such knowledge will be critical for developing evidence-based recommendations to improve on-ground management decisions for sambar deer.
Description:
With the emergence of Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs), the distribution of multimedia contents have now become a reality. Without proper management, the transmission of multimedia data over WMSNs affects the performance of networks due to excessive packet-drop. The existing studies on Quality of Service (QoS) mostly deal with simple Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and as such do not account for an increasing number of sensor nodes and an increasing volume of data. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to support QoS in WMSNs along with a light-weight Error Concealment (EC) scheme. The EC schemes play a vital role to enhance Quality of Experience (QoE) by maintaining an acceptable quality at the receiving ends. The main objectives of the proposed framework are to maximize the network throughput and to cover-up the effects produced by dropped video packets. To control the data-rate, Scalable High efficiency Video Coding (SHVC) is applied at multimedia sensor nodes with variable Quantization Parameters (QPs). Multi-path routing is exploited to support real-time video transmission. Experimental results show that the proposed framework can efficiently adjust large volumes of video data under certain network distortions and can effectively conceal lost video frames by producing better objective measurements.