The effective and ethical development of artificial intelligence: An opportunity to improve our wellbeing

This project has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council (project number CS170100008); the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science; and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. ACOLA collaborates with the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the New Zealand Royal Society Te Apārangi to deliver the interdisciplinary Horizon Scanning reports to government. The aims of the project which produced this report are: 1. Examine the transformative role that artificial intelligence may play in different sectors of the economy, including the opportunities, risks and challenges that advancement presents. 2. Examine the ethical, legal and social considerations and frameworks required to enable and support broad development and uptake of artificial intelligence. 3. Assess the future education, skills and infrastructure requirements to manage workforce transition and support thriving and internationally competitive artificial intelligence industries

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Problematising sustainability in nature play programs: Pedagogical transformations and ambitious alignments

The data set consists of 4 Parts. Part 1: 14 transcripts of individual interviews and focus group interviews. Part 2: Interview questions for 3 individual interviews x 2 participants and 2 focus groups. Part 3; 4 photos used for photo elicitation. Part 4: Researcher Reflective Journals

Problematising Sustainability in Nature Play Programs: Pedagogical Transformations and Ambitious Alignments

This doctoral study is situated in the growing international movement to connect children with nature in outdoor settings in early childhood education programs. The assumption that children’s/educators’ connections with nature equate with Education for Sustainability (EfS) was a key issue to be problematised, as were educators’ understandings of their own pedagogical roles in relation to a perceived nature-sustainability nexus. In this study, I explored educators’ understandings of a nature-sustainability nexus and its influence on their pedagogies in Australian Nature Immersive Programs (NIPs). The study evolved from my professional concerns about how slowly the early childhood sector has addressed sustainability issues and the lack of curriculum guidance around Early Childhood Education for Sustainability. Australian policy requirements for early childhood education promote stewardship, respect and care, but often the ‘romanticised’ sensory discourse is the route promoted and subsequently taken by educators. With the rapid growth of NIP programs in Australia, I argue it was timely to question whether EfS was being implemented, or were educators assuming that connections with nature were enough to develop strong approaches to EfS. Two early childhood education centre communities offering NIPs as an integral part of their curriculum were invited to participate in the study. Both communities provided nature play programs for children aged three to five years that involved regularly taking children beyond the centre boundaries. A social constructionist theoretical framework was employed, alongside Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Appreciative Inquiry (AI) methodologies. Data were collected over an eight-month period where insights into the perceptions of the educators about sustainability and nature were sought. The data collection methods included individual interviews, focus groups, reflective journals and field notes from NIP observations. PAR was the vehicle for transformative learning which presented the educator participants and me, as a researcher participant, the opportunity to problematise and engage in both innovative and transformative thinking and practice. AI was employed as a complimentary methodology to potentially empower participants to reflect on new ideas and create new knowledges. The participant transformative changes/movement were illuminated through iterative analysis of the study data. The study findings I have encapsulated as five ambitious alignments drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s notions of rhizomes and lines of flight: relationality and the influence of place; pedagogy in the bush creating a nature-sustainability nexus; influential alignments; transformative change; and, moving from romanticised notions and human-nature dualisms towards a commonworlds framework. The participants appeared challenged by the alignments and the movements in their thinking as they grappled with new ideas. The study offered time and space to reflect and re-construct, which resulted in transformative change for both the educators and me as researcher. This opportunity led to deeper understandings of a nature-sustainability nexus for all and the examination of emergent ambitious alignments

Hovering on the edge of extinction: efforts to save the Pine Hoverfly

The Pine Hoverfly in Britain is in a precarious state: adults have not been recorded in the wild for a number of years, and populations have dwindled owing to changes in the Caledonian pinewoods – their sole refuge. In recent decades, however, a community of organisations and individuals has been working tirelessly to reverse the decline of this species through captive breeding and bespoke habitat management. Here, members of the Pine Hoverfly Steering Group describe efforts to secure the future of this icon of the Caledonian forest