38 research outputs found

    The Curious Country

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    By definition scientists are an inquisitive lot. But what are the scientific curiosities and concerns on the minds of Australians? What worries them, baffles them, and sets their curiosity meter to 10 out of 10? To find out, the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) took the nation’s intellectual temperature, surveying 1186 Australians: men and women aged 18 to 65, from all education levels and locations around Australia. The results frame this book: a collection of essays covering the diverse areas of science Australians are curious about. Edited by eminent science writer Leigh Dayton and including a foreword from Australia’s Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb. The collection covers a range of issues, including food and farming technology, environmental upheaval, health, fuel and energy technology and space exploration

    The Curious Country

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    By definition scientists are an inquisitive lot. But what are the scientific curiosities and concerns on the minds of Australians? What worries them, baffles them, and sets their curiosity meter to 10 out of 10? To find out, the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) took the nation’s intellectual temperature, surveying 1186 Australians: men and women aged 18 to 65, from all education levels and locations around Australia. The results frame this book: a collection of essays covering the diverse areas of science Australians are curious about. Edited by eminent science writer Leigh Dayton and including a foreword from Australia’s Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb. The collection covers a range of issues, including food and farming technology, environmental upheaval, health, fuel and energy technology and space exploration

    Effects of canopy-mediated abrasion and water flow on the early colonisation of turf-forming algae

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    Algal canopies form predictable associations with the benthic understorey, and canopy-mediated processes may maintain these associations. Three canopy-mediated processes that are inherently linked are water flow through a canopy, abrasion of the substrate by the canopy, and light penetration. These processes were experimentally reduced to test the hypotheses that turf-forming algae would be: (1) positively affected by reduced abrasion by kelp canopies; (2) positively affected by reduced water flow; and (3) negatively affected by shading (reduced light). Biomass of turf-forming algae was greater when abrasion was reduced, but less when light was reduced. In contrast to predictions, reduced water flow had a negative effect on the percentage cover and biomass of turf-forming algae, rejecting the second hypothesis. It seems, however, that this negative effect was caused by an increase in shading associated with reduced canopy movement, not a reduction of water flow per se. None of the factors accounted for all of the change seen in understorey algae, indicating that it is important to study the interactive effects of physical processes.Bayden D. Russel

    Publication rates and characteristics of PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy resident research projects

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    Introduction: To describe the publication rates and characteristics of PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency projects presented as a poster presentation at the annual meetings of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) from 2002 to 2018. (As of 2022 the organization is under the name, American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists.) Methods: CPNP abstracts from even years were strategically searched in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. If a publication was identified, additional data were collected for characterization, including study information, journal information, author information, institutional affiliation, publication year, and time to publication. Results: A total of 348 abstracts were evaluated. Publication in a journal was achieved for 60 projects (17.2%), with publication rates decreasing from 2012 to 2018. The mean time to publication was 17.3 months after completion of the residency, with most projects published at 8 months. More than half (51.7%) of these projects were published in a psychiatric pharmacy journal affiliated with CPNP. Study designs were predominantly retrospective, observational, cohort studies with a focus on evaluation of a drug therapy outcome. The PGY2 resident was the first author in 90% of the publications. Forty percent included other health care professionals outside of pharmacy as a coauthor. PGY2 residencies affiliated with academic institutions had overall higher publications rates. Discussion: Publication rates for PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency projects are low and are decreasing over time despite an increasing number of PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency programs. This publication rate is lower than that reported in the literature for PGY2 critical care residency programs. The downward trend of publication rates for PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency projects is concerning

    Effects of ecosystem protection on scallop populations within a community-led temperate marine reserve

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    This study investigated the effects of a newly established, fully protected marine reserve on benthic habitats and two commercially valuable species of scallop in Lamlash Bay, Isle of Arran, United Kingdom. Annual dive surveys from 2010 to 2013 showed the abundance of juvenile scallops to be significantly greater within the marine reserve than outside. Generalised linear models revealed this trend to be significantly related to the greater presence of macroalgae and hydroids growing within the boundaries of the reserve. These results suggest that structurally complex habitats growing within the reserve have substantially increased spat settlement and/or survival. The density of adult king scallops declined threefold with increasing distance from the boundaries of the reserve, indicating possible evidence of spillover or reduced fishing effort directly outside and around the marine reserve. However, there was no difference in the mean density of adult scallops between the reserve and outside. Finally, the mean age, size, and reproductive and exploitable biomass of king scallops were all significantly greater within the reserve. In contrast to king scallops, the population dynamics of queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) fluctuated randomly over the survey period and showed little difference between the reserve and outside. Overall, this study is consistent with the hypothesis that marine reserves can encourage the recovery of seafloor habitats, which, in turn, can benefit populations of commercially exploited species, emphasising the importance of marine reserves in the ecosystem-based management of fisheries

    Scientific Drilling in the Arctic Ocean : a summary document to encourage Academic and Industry collaboration : January 2011

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    Drilling in the Arctic has been prevented by many factors, but none more significant than the presence of perennial ice cover. The ice cover also impedes the acquisition of geophysical data that underpins any drilling proposal, and the hypotheses on which they are based; not to mention the geophysical site–survey investigations necessary to ensure safe drilling operations. Whereas Industry has demonstrated capability drilling in near– shore environments around the perimeter of the Arctic Ocean, due to environmental limitations very little drilling has been attempted in the central Arctic Ocean

    The Curious Country

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    By definition scientists are an inquisitive lot. But what are the scientific curiosities and concerns on the minds of Australians? What worries them, baffles them, and sets their curiosity meter to 10 out of 10? To find out, the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) took the nation’s intellectual temperature, surveying 1186 Australians: men and women aged 18 to 65, from all education levels and locations around Australia. The results frame this book: a collection of essays covering the diverse areas of science Australians are curious about. Edited by eminent science writer Leigh Dayton and including a foreword from Australia’s Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb. The collection covers a range of issues, including food and farming technology, environmental upheaval, health, fuel and energy technology and space exploration

    Humans warlike from the start. by Leigh Dayton

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    Ancient agricultural societies such as those of Egypt and Mesopotamia can no longer take the credit, or the blame, for inventing organised warfare. Images of humans spearing each other have been found among hundreds of old rock paintings in northern Australia, some dating back as far as 10 000 years

    Australia’s quest for the bionic eye: barriers to innovation

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    Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 247-274.Chapter 1: The concept of innovation -- Chapter 2: Innovation in Australia -- Chapter 3: The bionic eye -- Chapter 4: Methodology -- Chapter 5: The revised history -- Chapter 6: Findings: Academic culture -- Chapter 7: Culture clash: the influence of industry and political cultures -- Chapter 8: Structural barriers: politics and funding -- Chapter 9: Structural barriers: geography, people and the Valley of Death -- Chapter 10: Recommendations -- Chapter 11: Conclusion.It is a goal of successive Australian governments to develop an internationally competitive knowledge-based innovation system for the 21st century. Yet despite the fact that Australia produces its share of the world’s scientific articles, in proportion to its population, and the existence of high-profile biomedical success stories such as Resmed’s devices for sleep disorders, Cochlear’s bionic ear and the Gardasil vaccine against human papillomavirus and cervical cancer, the effectiveness of national innovation is low when compared to other developed countries. The principle aim of this research is to derive new insight into the complex, often messy process driving the development of Australian biomedical and scientific technologies. While it takes a system-wide theoretical approach, it focuses on the “middle-ground” between fundamental science and final-stage commercialisation, using the bionic eye initiative as an extended case study. In the first part of the thesis, I review texts and archival documents pertaining to Australia’s innovation system policy, keeping in mind the National Innovation Systems framework. But in order to understand the drivers and dynamics of the system, it is necessary to view innovation from the participants’ perspectives. Following ethics approval, I recruited and interviewed 29 participants in the Australian Research Council’s Research in Bionic Vision Science and Technology initiative, announced in 2009 and funded over 5 years. Using this mixed methodology, the study explores the interpersonal, political, cultural and organisational factors influencing innovation, as well as identifying possible points of intervention for governmental policy makers and leaders managing emerging fields of complex scientific and biomedical research. Key recommendations address identified barriers to innovation.1 online resource (298 pages

    Australian budget hits science jobs

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