Arresting woodland bird decline in Australian agricultural landscapes: potential application of the European agri-environment model

This paper considered the applicability of the European model of land stewardship payments, in particular its support for biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes, to an Australian context. More broadly, the research approach described in the paper may also be applied to assessing the suitability of overseas stewardship schemes to the provision of any ecoservice in Australia, such as carbon sequestration and floodwater regulation

Nyungar tourism in the South West region of Western Australia : A quopardar or best practice approach for Nyungar tourism operators

Nyungar Tourism Operators involved in this research project acknowledge the need for a quopardar or best practice which is underpinned by the need to strive for excellence, to have a committed approach to improvement in every area of their organization, to establish and maintain a high quality service and for continually improving performance to achieve better outcomes for their visitors. There is a desire to protect and promote Nyungar culture, its practice and Nyungar knowledge as well as increase the economic value of the Nyungar community within the tourism industry. The challenge for Nyungar Tourism Operators is to be both innovative and competitive. Each of the tourism outlets involved in the research have put together the best possible resources available to them from their own Nyungar boodjar to give the tourist or visitor a “unique, authentic Nyungar experience” through stepping back in time. This also helps the visitor to experience and understand the impact of colonisation on Nyungar culture and to also share Nyungar knowledge, spirituality and customs of our Nyungar lifestyle. Nyungar Tourism Operators and other Case Study participants share a desire for commercial viability, to encourage a sustainable, quopardar or best practice approach that respects and protects both Nyungar culture and boodjar or country. This quopardar or Best Practice Guide is aimed to incorporate these objectives, philosophies and visions

Supportive Housing: Implications for its Efficacy as Intervention with Special Needs Low-income African Americans

In this pilot study, the authors examine the efficacy of supportive housing, which combines affordable housing with social services, in helping low-income single mothers in substance abuse recovery with relapse prevention and acquiring life skills to improve their economic conditions. Study subjects were residents of Delowe Village Apartments, a supportive housing development in East Point, Georgia, who participated in Project GROW, an on-site program intended to help residents maintain sobriety and reduce their dependence on welfare. The authors hypothesize that the length of residency in supportive housing correlates to prolonged sobriety, improved functioning, and increased employment. Findings indicate a substantial relationship between participants’ length of residency and length of sobriety but a weak relationship between length of residency and improved employment. Although the findings fully support only one hypothesis, they suggest that the maintenance of sobriety among African American female heads of households is significantly related to supportive housing

Social Service Barriers Experienced by Low-Income Extended-Stay Hotel Residents

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of 14 individuals residing in extended-stay hotels after housing displacement. Framed in ecosystems and structuration theory, the purpose of this study was to understand social service barriers experienced by help-seeking residents. Participants were engaged in in-depth interviews and asked about challenges faced when they reached out for assistance to prepare for stable housing. Reported barriers included negative interactions with social service personnel, cumbersome agency processes, and insufficient/inappropriate resources. Hotel residents identified guidance, compassion, and advocacy as interventions practitioners can use to support client transitions to stable housing

A feasibility study to evaluate a purposeful walk intervention with a distance goal using a commercially available activity monitor in elderly people post total hip replacement surgery

INTRODUCTION: Total hip replacement (THR) is performed in an increasing number of individuals around the world and while improvements in pain reduction and long-term enhancement of muscle strength are well documented, the improvement in daily activity does not follow the same trend. This study aimed to determine the feasibility of a 5-week intervention where a personalised outdoor walking distance is monitored using a commercial activity monitor (Fitbit Charge 4). METHOD: Data was collected on gait and activities of daily living using patient reported outcome measures. Following the completion of the intervention period, participants took part in a semi-structured interview to voice their opinion on the use of the activity monitor, their experiences, and any challenges in order to assess the feasibility of the intervention. All quantitative data were presented descriptively, using appropriate summary statistics. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Five participants who had undergone total hip replacement surgery within the postoperative period of 3 to 6 months were recruited from the local community. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the intervention was feasible and that it encouraged all participants to increase their daily activity. Therefore, it can be concluded that a follow-up effectiveness trial is warranted

Why Do People Undergo THR and What Do They Expect to Gain—A Comparison of the Views of Patients and Health Care Professionals

Little concerted effort has been made to understand why individuals undergo total hip replacement (THR) surgery and their rehabilitation goals. Similarly, insight of views and perspective of health care professionals’ (HCPs) regarding surgery and what objective measures help them with decision-making is lacking. This patient and public involvement report aimed to explore both patients’ and HCPs’ perspectives of THR surgery. Twenty patients, 10 pre-THR, 10 post-THR, 9 physiotherapists, and 6 surgeons took part. Results suggest a consensus among patients and HCPs on pain reduction being the main reason for undergoing THR. The inability to carry out simple daily activities such as dog walking and sleep deprivation had a significant effect on patients’ mental and physical well-being. This article is the first to explore the views of THR patients and HCPs on reasons behind THR surgery amalgamated into a single report. As walking is important, wearable activity monitors are suggested as a possible motivator to enhance patient compliance to self-care rehabilitation and increase quality of life. A future research project on the use of such wearable activity monitors in enhancing mobility post-THR is therefore planned

Teletraffic Performance of GSM900/DCS1800 in Street Microcells

Radio planners often refer to the buildings in cities as "urban clutter," a nuisance they must accomrnodate. A more appropriate attitude for personal communication systems is to utilize the electromagnetic shielding offered by buildings to form microcells

Fitness landscape of the cellular automata majority problem: View from the Olympus

In this paper we study cellular automata (CAs) that perform the computational Majority task. This task is a good example of what the phenomenon of emergence in complex systems is. We take an interest in the reasons that make this particular fitness landscape a difficult one. The first goal is to study the landscape as such, and thus it is ideally independent from the actual heuristics used to search the space. However, a second goal is to understand the features a good search technique for this particular problem space should possess. We statistically quantify in various ways the degree of difficulty of searching this landscape. Due to neutrality, investigations based on sampling techniques on the whole landscape are difficult to conduct. So, we go exploring the landscape from the top. Although it has been proved that no CA can perform the task perfectly, several efficient CAs for this task have been found. Exploiting similarities between these CAs and symmetries in the landscape, we define the Olympus landscape which is regarded as the ''heavenly home'' of the best local optima known (blok). Then we measure several properties of this subspace. Although it is easier to find relevant CAs in this subspace than in the overall landscape, there are structural reasons that prevent a searcher from finding overfitted CAs in the Olympus. Finally, we study dynamics and performance of genetic algorithms on the Olympus in order to confirm our analysis and to find efficient CAs for the Majority problem with low computational cost