The Miner and the Activist: a parable for our carbon constrained world

This paper reviews the meaning of carbon by applying five broad questions to this controversial substance: what is land; what is property; what is ownership; what is value; and what are property rights? By exploring each of these questions, we aim to show that a multidimensional and complex understanding is required for effective policy discussions to confront the challenge of global warming. We engage the perspective of a miner and an environmental activist to illustrate the tensions relating to carbon pollution in an era of climate change, and in so doing we offer a parable for our carbon constrained world. We conclude by considering the implications of property rights for carbon for polluters, governments, people as individuals with a right to breathe clean air, as well as the global commons and other species

A Creative Approach to Knowledge Translation: The Use of Short Animated Film to Share Stories of Refugees and Mental Health

This study used animated film to translate narratives of refugees and mental health into accessible material aimed at enhancing empathy and understanding. It focuses on the use of short animated films in series one and two of the Woven Threads catalogue. Series one shared moments of hope in a refugee’s journey, whilst series two focused on people living with mental health challenges. This research was designed to understand the responses to viewing for people who watch these animations. A mixed-method design was used via an online Qualtrics platform that asked respondents to view two short animated films, one from the refugee series and one from the mental health series. 364 members of the general public viewed and responded to the refugee film and 275 responded to the mental health film. The platform collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Survey responses indicated that the majority of viewers found the films challenged public misconceptions about refugees and individuals with mental health challenges and left them with a feeling of hopefulness. Qualitative narratives were organised into one superordinate theme: the power of film as a knowledge translation strategy, with four subthemes: (i) changing perceptions and inspiring empathy, (ii) enhancing literacy, (iii) highlighting the power of storytelling, and (iv) encouraging hope and a sense of belonging. The use of short animated film as a knowledge translation strategy can enhance our understanding, promote deep reflection, increase empathy and has the potential to lead to social change

Industrial ecology and carbon property rights

This paper examines the potential for property rights in carbon to affect industrial ecology opportunities. Given that emissions trading schemes for greenhouse gases are becoming more widely implemented, the definition of the carbon property right can affect barriers and opportunities for industrial ecology, alongside other factors. The paper uses legislation for emissions trading in Australia and two possible scenarios for the future of energy generation in the Latrobe Valley, Australia in 2050 as an illustrative case study to identify issues for industrial ecology arising from ill-defined carbon property rights. Currently, electricity generation in the region is reliant on coal-based generators. Scenario one focuses on bio-industries and renewables with no coal usage; and scenario two focuses on electricity from coal with carbon capture and storage resulting in moderate to high coal use. If a carbon property right for soil carbon emerges before a property right for subterranean carbon, then bio-based industrial ecology opportunities could be enabled ahead of a regional symbiosis involving carbon capture and storage. A generalised framework for considering the intersection of industrial ecology and carbon property rights is presented with a focus on tensions in: contributing to sustainable development, system boundaries and finally exchange mechanisms. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

From liability to opportunity: An institutional approach towards value-based land remediation

© The Author(s) 2016. The remediation of contaminated sites impacts on stakeholders in potentially beneficial ways, yet stakeholder dialogue has historically been focussed on costs, risk, liability, stigma, and other negatives. Shedding light on stakeholders’ remediation values can help reform remediation policy towards more positive outcomes of site clean-up. We adopt institutional theory to elicit plural motivations and cognitive assumptions as embedded in stakeholders’ expressions of remediation values, objectives, and outcomes. We explore in four case studies with varying size, complexity, cultural diversity, and geographical location (three in Australia, one in Fiji) how remediation values operate within remediation decisions. Our findings suggest that more than economic costs, liability, and risks are at play in decision-making on contaminated land. Our research confirmed that different socio-ethical, environmental and sustainability values are evaluated differently by different types of actors (site owners, regulators, auditors, residents, local government, consultants). We found that remediation values often shift in the course of a remediation decision-making process, suggesting learning and improved understanding. Remediation policy that better facilitates and aligns stakeholders’ articulations of initial and emergent outcomes sought from site clean-up is likely to enhance both economic and social value outcomes of remediation. Further research is needed on how remediation policy could better incorporate remediation value dynamics in stakeholder consultation and engagement

Paleoseismological data from a new trench across the El Camp Fault(Catalan Coastal Ranges, NE Iberian Peninsula)

The El Camp Fault (Catalan Coastal Ranges, NE Iberian Peninsula) is a slow slipping normal fault whose seismic potential has only recently been recognised. New geomorphic and trench investigations were carried out during a training course across the El Camp Fault at the La Porquerola alluvial fan site. A new trench (trench 8) was dug close to a trench made previously at this site (trench 4). With the aid of two long topographic profiles across the fault scarp we obtained a vertical slip rate ranging between 0.05 and 0.08 mm/yr. At the trench site, two main faults, which can be correlated between trenches 8 and 4, make up the fault zone. Using trench analysis three paleoseismic events were identified, two between 34.000 and 125.000 years BP (events 3 and 2) and another event younger than 13 500 years BP (event 1), which can be correlated, respectively, with events X (50.000- 125.000 years BP), Y (35.000-50.000 years BP) and Z (3000-25.000 years BP). The last seismic event at the La Porquerola alluvial fan site is described for the first time, but with some uncertainties

Paleoseismological data from a new trench across the El Camp Fault (Catalan Coastal Ranges, NE Iberian Peninsula)

The El Camp Fault (Catalan Coastal Ranges, NE Iberian Peninsula) is a slow slipping normal fault whose seismic potential has only recently been recognised. New geomorphic and trench investigations were carried out during a training course across the El Camp Fault at the La Porquerola alluvial fan site. A new trench (trench 8) was dug close to a trench made previously at this site (trench 4). With the aid of two long topographic profiles across the fault scarp we obtained a vertical slip rate ranging between 0.05 and 0.08 mm/yr. At the trench site, two main faults, which can be correlated between trenches 8 and 4, make up the fault zone. Using trench analysis three paleoseismic events were identified, two between 34.000 and 125.000 years BP (events 3 and 2) and another event younger than 13 500 years BP (event 1), which can be correlated, respectively, with events X (50.000-125.000 years BP), Y (35.000-50.000 years BP) and Z (3000-25.000 years BP). The last seismic event at the La Porquerola alluvial fan site is described for the first time, but with some uncertainties

Young children’s understanding of line of sight

Previous research into children’s understanding of line of sight has led to differing conclusions as to when and how children become able to appreciate that their view of an object will be different from another persons’ view of the same object. This is probably due to the diversity of response methods required from the children as well as different types of tasks and settings being used between the experiments. The aim of the present thesis is to investigate systematically how children will fare across various settings and whether their comprehension of line of sight can be biased by the task’s setting. The first experiment assessed children’s understanding of line of sight through a tube that was bent to varying degrees of curvature and whether their response pattern would change when feedback was provided. Results showed that children have great difficulty performing correctly on this task, especially when the degree of curvature is small. The older children corrected their response pattern when feedback was provided but the younger children tended to persevere in their response pattern regardless of contradictory feedback. The second experiment looked at children’s performance when walls were used - half the walls were smooth gradual curves while the other half was walls made up of two segments that met to form an angle. Again the children were asked to predict if two dolls placed at opposite ends of each wall would be able to see each other. Results showed that though even young children have no trouble in performing correctly on the “angled” walls, performance on the curved walls was significantly poorer with the older children performing better than the younger children. The third experiment sought to quantify the point at which children deemed line of sight became possible. To do this we used a single “U” shaped trench with the children being asked if one doll could see another in various configurations. The results showed a strong bias towards over estimating visibility. The fourth experiment repeated the second experiment but used wooden trenches instead of walls but also sought to quantify the “switchover” point at which the children deem vision becomes possible between the two dolls. The difference between angles and curves was once again replicated as was the age difference. The fifth experiment compared children’s appreciation of line of sight through/along tubes, trenches and walls. This performance level varied strongly depending on the type of task the child was asked to perform upon with the tube proving to be the most difficult and the angled trench the easiest. The overall findings of the experiment pointed to a context-dependent performance, implying a piece-meal development of childrens’ comprehension of line of sight.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Computer-Based and Online Therapy for Depression and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of computer-based and online therapies (e-therapy) to treat children and adolescents with depression and/or anxiety, and to outline programs that are evidence based or currently being researched. Methods: We began by defining the topic and highlighting the issues at the forefront of the field. We identified computer and Internet-based interventions designed to prevent or treat depression or anxiety that were tested with children and young people <18 years of age (or inclusive of this age range together with emerging adults). We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We summarized available relevant systematic reviews. Results: There is an increasing body of evidence that supports the use of computers and the Internet in the provision of interventions for depression and anxiety in children and adolescents. A number of programs have been shown to be effective in well-designed RCTs. Replication and long-term follow-up studies are needed to confirm results. Conclusions: There are now a range of effective computerized interventions for young people with depression and anxiety. This is likely to impact positively on attempts to make psychological therapies widely available to children and young people. We expect to see increased program sophistication and a proliferation of programs in the coming years. Research efforts, when developing programs, need to align with technological advances to maximize appeal. Implementation research is needed to determine the optimal modes of delivery and effectiveness of e-therapies in clinical practice. Given the large number of unproven program on the Internet, ensuring that there is clear information for patients about evidence for individual programs is likely to present a challenge

SISTAQUIT: training health care providers to help pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women quit smoking. A cluster randomised controlled trial

Background: About 44% of Indigenous Australian women smoke during pregnancy, compared with 12% of pregnant non-Indigenous women. Health care providers can assist smoking cessation, but they are not typically trained in culturally appropriate methods. Objectives: To determine whether a health care worker training intervention increases smoking cessation rates among Indigenous pregnant smokers compared with usual care. Methods and analysis: Supporting Indigenous Smokers to Assist Quitting (SISTAQUIT) study is a multicentre, hybrid type 1, pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial that compares the effects of an intervention for improving smoking cessation by pregnant Indigenous women (16 years or older, 32 weeks’ gestation or less) with usual care. Twenty-one health services caring for Indigenous people in five Australian jurisdictions were randomised to the intervention (ten sites) or control groups (eleven sites). Health care providers at intervention sites received smoking cessation care training based on the ABCD (ask/assess; brief advice; cessation; discuss psychosocial context) approach to smoking cessation for Indigenous women, an educational resource package, free oral nicotine replacement therapy for participating women, implementation support, and trial implementation training. Health care providers in control group services provided usual care. Primary outcome: abstinence from smoking (self-reported abstinence via survey, validated by carbon monoxide breath testing when possible) four weeks after enrolment in the study. Secondary outcomes: health service process evaluations; knowledge, attitudes, and practices of health care providers; and longer term abstinence, perinatal outcomes, and respiratory outcomes for babies (to six months). Ethics approval: The human research ethics committees of the University of Newcastle (H-2015-0438) and the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW (1140/15) provided the primary ethics approval. Dissemination of results: Findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications, at local and overseas conferences, and via public and social media, and to participating health services in art-based formats and reports. Policy briefs will be communicated to relevant government organisations. Trial registration: Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12618000972224 (prospective)