Estimating the potential impact of entry fees for marine parks on dive tourism in South East Asia

Marine reserves are increasingly being established as a mechanism to protect marine biodiversity and sensitive habitats. As well as providing conservation benefits, marine reserves provide benefits to recreational scuba divers who dive within the reserve, as well as to recreational and commercial fishers outside the reserve through spill-over effects. To ensure benefits are being realised, management of marine reserves requires ongoing monitoring and surveillance. These are not costless, and many marine reserve managers impose an entry fee. In some countries, dive tourism is major income source to coastal industries, and a concern is that high entry fees may dissuade divers. In this paper, the price elasticity of demand for dive tourism in three countries in South East Asia – Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia – is estimated using a travel-cost model. From the model, the total non-market use value associated with diving in the area is estimated to be in the order of US$4.5 billion a year. The price elasticity of demand in the region is highly inelastic, such that increasing the cost of diving through a management levy would have little impact on total diver numbers.

Non-Newtonian mixed convection flow from a horizontal circular cylinder with uniform surface heat flux

Mixed convection laminar two-dimensional boundary-layer flow of non-Newtonian pseudo-plastic fluids is investigated from a horizontal circular cylinder with uniform surface heat flux using a modified power-law viscosity model, that contains no unrealistic limits of zero or infinite viscosity; consequently, no irremovable singularities are introduced into boundary-layer formulations for such fluids. The governing boundary layer equations are transformed into a non-dimensional form and the resulting nonlinear systems of partial differential equations are solved numerically applying marching order implicit finite difference method with double sweep technique. Numerical results are presented for the case of shear-thinning fluids in terms of the fluid temperature distributions, rate of heat transfer in terms of the local Nusselt number.

Automating marine mammal detection in aerial images captured during wildlife surveys: A deep learning approach

Aerial surveys conducted using manned or unmanned aircraft with customized camera payloads can generate a large number of images. Manual review of these images to extract data is prohibitive in terms of time and financial resources, thus providing strong incentive to automate this process using computer vision systems. There are potential applications for these automated systems in areas such as surveillance and monitoring, precision agriculture, law enforcement, asset inspection, and wildlife assessment. In this paper, we present an efficient machine learning system for automating the detection of marine species in aerial imagery. The effectiveness of our approach can be credited to the combination of a well-suited region proposal method and the use of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs). In comparison to previous algorithms designed for the same purpose, we have been able to dramatically improve recall to more than 80% and improve precision to 27% by using DCNNs as the core approach.

Examining the profile and experiences of older sub-acute patients who present to public hospital emergency departments in South East Queensland: A mixed methods approach

There is a scarcity of research that informs Interface Health Service (IHS) development. This research applied a mixed methods approach to profile older emergency department patients and patterns of health service use and to explore their ED experiences in public hospital EDs in South-East Queensland. IHS was under-utilised by older people with complex co-morbidities. Lack of communication and need identification were factors that undermined the effectiveness of IHS in reaching this cohort which highlighted a need for change.

Convergent evolution of marine mammals is associated with distinct substitutions in common genes

Phenotypic convergence is thought to be driven by parallel substitutions coupled with natural selection at the sequence level. Multiple independent evolutionary transitions of mammals to an aquatic environment offer an opportunity to test this thesis. Here, whole genome alignment of coding sequences identified widespread parallel amino acid substitutions in marine mammals; however, the majority of these changes were not unique to these animals. Conversely, we report that candidate aquatic adaptation genes, identified by signatures of likelihood convergence and/or elevated ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous nucleotide substitution rate, are characterized by very few parallel substitutions and exhibit distinct sequence changes in each group. Moreover, no significant positive correlation was found between likelihood convergence and positive selection in all three marine lineages. These results suggest that convergence in protein coding genes associated with aquatic lifestyle is mainly characterized by independent substitutions and relaxed negative selection.

Haemodialysis work environment contributors to job satisfaction and stress: A sequential mixed methods study

Background: Haemodialysis nurses form long term relationships with patients in a technologically complex work environment. Previous studies have highlighted that haemodialysis nurses face stressors related to the nature of their work and also their work environments leading to reported high levels of burnout. Using Kanters (1997) Structural Empowerment Theory as a guiding framework, the aim of this study was to explore the factors contributing to satisfaction with the work environment, job satisfaction, job stress and burnout in haemodialysis nurses. Methods: Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the first phase involved an on-line survey comprising demographic and work characteristics, Brisbane Practice Environment Measure (B-PEM), Index of Work Satisfaction(IWS), Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The second phase involved conducting eight semi-structured interviews with data thematically analyzed. Results: From the 417 nurses surveyed the majority were female (90.9 %), aged over 41 years of age (74.3 %), and 47.4 % had worked in haemodialysis for more than 10 years. Overall the work environment was perceived positively and there was a moderate level of job satisfaction. However levels of stress and emotional exhaustion (burnout) were high. Two themes, ability to care and feeling successful as a nurse, provided clarity to the level of job satisfaction found in phase 1. While two further themes, patients as quasi-family and intense working teams, explained why working as a haemodialysis nurse was both satisfying and stressful. Conclusions: Nurse managers can use these results to identify issues being experienced by haemodialysis nurses working in the unit they are supervising.

Passivity-based Trajectory-tracking for Marine Craft with Disturbance Rejection

This paper presents a Hamiltonian model of marine vehicle dynamics in six degrees of freedom in both body-fixed and inertial momentum coordinates. The model in body-fixed coordinates presents a particular structure of the mass matrix that allows the adaptation and application of passivity-based control interconnection and damping assignment design methodologies developed for robust stabilisation of mechanical systems in terms of generalised coordinates. As an example of application, we follow this methodology to design a passivity-based tracking controller with integral action for fully actuated vehicles in six degrees of freedom. We also describe a momentum transformation that allows an alternative model representation that resembles general port-Hamiltonian mechanical systems with a coordinate dependent mass matrix. This can be seen as an enabling step towards the adaptation of the theory of control of port-Hamiltonian systems developed in robotic manipulators and multi-body mechanical systems to the case of marine craft dynamics.

Study of Pinna nobilis growth from inner record: How biased are posterior adductor muscle scars estimates?

Previous studies have shown that the external growth records of the posterior adductor muscle scar (PAMS) of the bivalve Pinna nobilis are incomplete and do not produce accurate age estimations. We have developed a new methodology to study age and growth using the inner record of the PAMS, which avoids the necessity of costly in situ shell measurements or isotopic studies. Using the inner record we identified the positions of PAMS previously obscured by nacre and estimated the number of missing records in adult specimens with strong abrasion of the calcite layer in the anterior portion of the shell. The study of the PAMS and inner record of two shells that were 6 years old when collected showed that only 2 and 3 PAMS were observed, while 6 inner records could be counted, thus confirming our working methodology. Growth parameters of a P. nobilis population located in Moraira, Spain (western Mediterranean) were estimated with the new methodology and compared to those obtained using PAMS data and in situ measurements. For the comparisons, we applied different models considering the data alternatively as length-at-age (LA) and tag-recapture (TR). Among every method we tested to fit the Von Bertalanffy growth model, we observed that LA data from inner record fitted to the model using non-linear mixed effects and the estimation of missing records using the calcite width was the most appropriate. The equation obtained with this method, L = 573*(1 - e(-0.16(t-0.02))), is very similar to that calculated previously from in situ measurements for the same population.

Analysing commercial catch and effort data from a penaeid trawl fishery: A comparison of linear models, mixed models, and generalised estimating equations approaches

Statistical methods are often used to analyse commercial catch and effort data to provide standardised fishing effort and/or a relative index of fish abundance for input into stock assessment models. Achieving reliable results has proved difficult in Australia's Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF), due to a combination of such factors as the biological characteristics of the animals, some aspects of the fleet dynamics, and the changes in fishing technology. For this set of data, we compared four modelling approaches (linear models, mixed models, generalised estimating equations, and generalised linear models) with respect to the outcomes of the standardised fishing effort or the relative index of abundance. We also varied the number and form of vessel covariates in the models. Within a subset of data from this fishery, modelling correlation structures did not alter the conclusions from simpler statistical models. The random-effects models also yielded similar results. This is because the estimators are all consistent even if the correlation structure is mis-specified, and the data set is very large. However, the standard errors from different models differed, suggesting that different methods have different statistical efficiency. We suggest that there is value in modelling the variance function and the correlation structure, to make valid and efficient statistical inferences and gain insight into the data. We found that fishing power was separable from the indices of prawn abundance only when we offset the impact of vessel characteristics at assumed values from external sources. This may be due to the large degree of confounding within the data, and the extreme temporal changes in certain aspects of individual vessels, the fleet and the fleet dynamics.

Mitigating undesirable impacts in the marine environment: A review of market-based management measures

Internationally, marine biodiversity conservation objectives are having an increasing influence on the management of commercial fisheries. While this is largely being implemented through Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) other management measures, such as market based instruments (MBIs), have proved to be effective at managing target species catch in fisheries and reducing environmental impacts in industries such as mining and tourism. Market-based management measures aim to mitigate the impacts of activities by better aligning the incentives their participants face with the objectives of management, changing their behavior as a consequence. In this paper, we review the potential of MBIs as management tools to mitigate undesirable environmental impacts associated with commercial fishing. Where they exist, examples of previous applications are described and the factors that influence their applicability and effectiveness are discussed. Several fishing methods and impacts are considered and suggest that whilst no single approach is most appropriate in all circumstances either replacing or complementing existing management arrangements with MBIs has the potential to improve environmental performance. This has a number of implications. From the environmental perspective they should enable levels of undesirable impacts such as damage to sensitive habitat or the bycatch of protected species of turtles, marine mammals, and seabirds to be reduced. The increased flexibility MBIs allow industry when developing solutions also has the potential to reduce costs to both the industry and managers, improving the cost-effectiveness of regulation as a result. Further, in the increasingly relevant case of MPAs the need for publicly funded compensation, often paid to industry when vessels are excluded from grounds, may also be significantly reduced if improved environmental performance makes it possible for some industry members to continue operating.

Clarification of the low-frequency modelling concept for marine craft

This article presents some remarks on models currently used in low speed manoeuvring and dynamic positioning problems. It discusses the relationship between the classical hydrodynamic equations for manoeuvring and seakeeping, and offers insight into the models used for simulation and control system design.

Motivation or demotivation of health workers providing maternal health services in rural areas in Vietnam: findings from a mixed-methods study

Background Motivation is an important driver for health professionals to maintain professional competencies, continue in a workforce and contribute to work tasks. While there is some research about motivation in health workers in low to middle income countries, maternal morbidity and mortality remains high in many low and middle income countries and this can be improved by improving the quality of maternal services and the training and skills maintenance of maternal health workers. This study examines the impact of motivation on maintenance of professional competence among maternal health workers in Vietnam using mixed methods. Methods The study consisted of a survey using a self-administered questionnaire of 240 health workers in 5 districts across two Vietnamese provinces and in-depth interviews with 43 health workers and health managers at the commune, district and provincial level to explore external factors that influenced motivation. The questionnaire includes a 23 item motivation instrument based on Kenyan health context, modified for Vietnamese language and culture. Results The 240 responses represented an estimated 95% of the target sample. Multivariate analysis showed that three factors contributed to the motivation of health workers: access to training (β = -0.14, p=0.03), ability to perform key tasks (β = 0.22, p=0.001), and shift schedule (β = -0.13, p=0.05). Motivation was higher in health workers self-identifying as competent or enabled to provide more care activities. Motivation was lower in those who worked more frequent night shifts and those who had received training in the last 12 months. The interviews identified that the latter was because they felt the training was irrelevant to them, and in some cases, they do not have opportunity to practice their learnt skills. The qualitative data also showed other factors relating to service context and organisational management practices contributed to motivation. Conclusions The study demonstrates the importance of understanding the motivations of health workers and the factors that contribute to this and may contribute to more effective management of the health workforce in low and middle income countries.

Evaluation of an intervention for patients with alcohol-related injuries: results of a mixed methods study

Objective: To explore the effect of education and training on the delivery of alcohol screening and brief intervention and referral to high-risk patients in a hospital setting. Main outcome measures included; delivery of training; practice change in relation to staff performing alcohol screening, brief intervention and referrals. Methods: Observational study design using mixed methods set in a tertiary referral hospital. Pre-post assessment of medical records and semi-structured interviews with key informants. Results: Routine screening for substance misuse (9% pre / 71.4% post) and wellbeing concerns (6.6% pre / 15 % post) was more frequent following the introduction of resources and staff participation in educational workshops. There was no evidence of a concomitant increase in delivery of brief intervention or referrals to services. Implementation challenges, including time constraints and staff attitudes, and enablers such as collaboration and visible pathways, were identified. Conclusion: Rates of patient screening increased, however barriers to delivery of brief intervention and referrals remained. Implementation strategies targeting specific barriers and enablers to introducing interventions are both required to improve the application of secondary prevention for patients in acute settings. Implications: Educational training, formalised liaison between services, systematised early intervention protocols, and continuous quality improvement processes will progress service delivery in this area.

Implementing music therapy on an adolescent inpatient unit: A mixed-methods evaluation of acceptability, experience of participation and perceived impact

Objective: We aimed to assess the feasibility of delivering a music therapy program on adolescent psychiatric wards. Method: We undertook a mixed-methods evaluation of a pilot program. Various active and receptive techniques were employed in group music therapy sessions delivered as part of a structured clinical program. Data collected in interviews with participants and staff and feedback questionnaires were thematically and descriptively analysed and triangulated. Results: Data from 62 questionnaires returned by 43 patients who took part in 16 music therapy sessions, and seven staff, evidenced strong support for music therapy. Patients typically reported experiencing sessions as relaxing, comforting, uplifting, and empowering; >90% would participate by choice and use music therapeutically in the future. Staff endorsed music therapy as valuable therapeutically, reporting that patients engaged enthusiastically and identified sessions as improving their own moods and ward milieu. Conclusions: Integration of music therapy in inpatient treatment of adolescents is feasible and acceptable, and is valued by staff and patients as a complement to ‘talking therapies’. Participation is enjoyed and associated with outcomes including improvement in mood, expression of feelings and social engagement consistent with recovery.

A mixed-methods research approach to the review of competency standards for orthotist/prosthetists in Australia

Aim: The requirement for an allied health workforce is expanding as the global burden of disease increases internationally. To safely meet the demand for an expanded workforce of orthotist/prosthetists in Australia, competency based standards, which are up-to-date and evidence-based, are required. The aims of this study were to determine the minimum level for entry into the orthotic/prosthetic profession; to develop entry level competency standards for the profession; and to validate the developed entry-level competency standards within the profession nationally, using an evidence-based approach. Methods: A mixed-methods research design was applied, using a three-step sequential exploratory design, where step 1 involved collecting and analyzing qualitative data from two focus groups; step 2 involved exploratory instrument development and testing, developing the draft competency standards; and step 3 involved quantitative data collection and analysis – a Delphi survey. In stage 1 (steps 1 and 2), the two focus groups – an expert and a recent graduate group of Australian orthotist/prosthetists – were led by an experienced facilitator, to identify gaps in the current competency standards and then to outline a key purpose, and work roles and tasks for the profession. The resulting domains and activities of the first draft of the competency standards were synthesized using thematic analysis. In stage 2 (step 3), the draft-competency standards were circulated to a purposive sample of the membership of the Australian Orthotic Prosthetic Association, using three rounds of Delphi survey. A project reference group of orthotist/prosthetists reviewed the results of both stages. Results: In stage 1, the expert (n = 10) and the new graduate (n = 8) groups separately identified work roles and tasks, which formed the initial draft of the competency standards. Further drafts were refined and performance criteria added by the project reference group, resulting in the final draft-competency standards. In stage 2, the final draft-competency standards were circulated to 56 members (n = 44 final round) of the Association, who agreed on the key purpose, 6 domains, 18 activities, and 68 performance criteria of the final competency standards. Conclusion: This study outlines a rigorous and evidence-based mixed-methods approach for developing and endorsing professional competency standards, which is representative of the views of the profession of orthotist/prosthetists.