Green Star points obtained by Australian building projects

The green building trend has increased rapidly worldwide in recent decades as a means of addressing growing concerns over climate change and global warming and to reduce the impact of the building industry on the environment. A significant contribution in Australia is the use of a series of rating tools by the Green Building Council Australia (GBCA) for the certification of various types of buildings. This paper reviews the use of the Green Star system in Australian building construction, and investigates the potential challenges involved in acquiring the certification of Australian buildings by critically analysing a database of most recently certified GBCA projects. The results show that management-related credits and innovation-related credits are the easiest and most difficult respectively to obtain. Additionally, 6-Star green buildings achieve significantly higher points than other certified buildings in the Energy category. In contrast, 4 Star green buildings achieve more points in the Material category than 5 and 6 Star buildings. The study offers a useful reference for both property developers and project teams to obtain a better understanding of the rating scheme and consequently the effective preparation of certification documentation.

A review of the educational needs of nurses administering cancer chemotherapy in rural and remote areas of Queensland

This paper describes current issues in chemotherapy nursing practice in rural and remote Australia. There is a trend to refer chemotherapy clients back to their rural and remote health facility for treatment from major oncology centres in Australia. However, it is increasingly apparent that the majority of nurses administering chemotherapy in smaller centres lack the theoretical and clinical knowledge to ensure optimum client outcomes and nurse/client safety. There are also issues unique to rural and remote life which will influence optimum chemotherapy service delivery. The research program described in the paper will ascertain the education requirements of rural and remote nurses administering chemotherapy and the design and delivery of a chemotherapy education package specific to the rural and remote context. Similar programs will ensure the best standards of chemotherapy practice in non-metropolitan areas by enhancing the practical and theoretical knowledge base of rural and remote nurses.

Nondiscretionary residential water use : the impact of habits and water-efficient technologies

Several studies published in the last few decades have demonstrated a low price-elasticity for residential water use. In particular, it has been shown that there is a quantity of water demanded that remains constant regardless of prices and other economic factors. In this research, we characterise residential water demand based on a Stone-Geary utility function. This specification is not only theory-compatible but can also explicitly model a minimum level of consumption not dependent on prices or income. This is described as minimum threshold or nondiscretionary water use. Additionally, the Stone-Geary framework is used to model the subsistence level of water consumption that is dependent on the temporal evolution of consumer habits and stock of physical capital. The main aim of this study is to analyse the impact of water-saving habits and water-efficient technologies on residential water demand, while additionally focusing attention on nondiscretionary uses. This is informed by an empirical application using data from a survey conducted among residents of Brisbane City Council, Australia. The results will be especially useful in the design of water tariffs and other water-saving policies.

Pancreatic cancer – a patient and his doctor balance hope and truth [Book Review]

This book comprises 11 chapters, alternating between two authors (a patient with metastatic pancreatic cancer and an oncologist)...

Freedom to choose? Embryo selection, reproductive decision-making and the role of the state

Involving the biopsy of an eight-cell embryo, PGD has been hailed as a means of making reproductive decisions without having to face the heart-wrenching decision to abort an affected foetus. However, controversy around the kinds of traits for which testing can be done, and who has access to the technology, has led to questions about the way in which the technology is developing. Women who are allowed to access in vitro fertilisation (IVF) services can currently also access PGD in limited circumstances.

Provisioning a 3.3 MW PhotoVoltaic generation system onto a distribution authority’s 11 kV rural feeder

This paper describes part of an engineering study that was undertaken to demonstrate that a multi-megawatt Photovoltaic (PV) generation system could be connected to a rural 11 kV feeder without creating power quality issues for other consumers. The paper concentrates solely on the voltage regulation aspect of the study as this was the most innovative part of the study. The study was carried out using the time-domain software package, PSCAD/EMTDC. The software model included real time data input of actual measured load and scaled PV generation data, along with real-time substation voltage regulator and PV inverter reactive power control. The outputs from the model plot real-time voltage, current and power variations throughout the daily load and PV generation variations. Other aspects of the study not described in the paper include the analysis of harmonics, voltage flicker, power factor, voltage unbalance and system losses.

Exercise and cancer survivorship

Exercise has been identified as an integral component of comprehensive survivorship care and a promising adjuvant therapy to aid in the management of cancer. Leading organisations worldwide now advocate exercise for cancer survivors. Here we briefly review the existing evidence for exercise and survivorship, as well as current research endeavours in Australia. Discussion extends to identify the gaps between research and practice, as well as future research directions needed to drive the field forward. With continued efforts by scientists, clinicians and consumers, there is real potential to strengthen the nexus between scientific evidence and clinical practice and integrate exercise into standard cancer care.

Will you move again?

This poem is in response to the Call for Submissions for a themed edition of the About Place Journal titled ‘Enlightened Visions in the Wake of Trauma’, which focused on Indigenous, marginalized, and small island peoples in addressing global warming.

Evaluation of the implementation of the prostate cancer specialist nurse role

A national prostate cancer specialist nursing pilot program, supported by Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, was launched in May 2012 with funding support from The Movember Foundation. The pilot program aimed to trial a best practice model for providing specialist nursing care to those affected by prostate cancer. Prostate cancer specialist nurses were allocated to 12 hospitals across all Australian states and territories to work in the context of multidisciplinary care. The Prostate Cancer Foundation provided professional development support for nurses through a structured program. This article presents key outcomes from the research commissioned by the Prostate Cancer Foundation to evaluate the prostate cancer specialist nurse role. Specifically, the paper reports evaluation data relating to the roles and functions of the prostate cancer specialist nurse to explore the influence of the role on outcomes for patients, carers and services.

Calf wastage - how big an issue is it?

What is calf wastage. Breeding female cattle in north Australia contribute best to business success by producing a heavy weaner each year at the first weaning round. This maximises increase in value by the cow unit over the year, generally from mid-year to mid-year. The ability to cycle in both maiden heifers and lactating cows is the primary limitation to achieving this. Wastage of a calf at any stage between conception and weaning also substantially limits fertility and value increase at a herd level. Embryo loss may result in later calves as cows re-conceive; the calves produced are smaller at weaning and have to be weaned later into the dry season. Late calf wastage usually results in breeders missing a calf for the year. Late calving often also results in failure to cycle, thus cows rear a calf in the subsequent year.

Improved understanding of the damage, ecology, and management of mirids and stinkbugs in Bollgard II

In recent years mirids and stinkbugs have emerged as important sucking pests in cotton. While stinkbugs are causing damage to bolls, mirids are causing damage to seedlings, squares and bolls. With the increasing adoption of Bollgard II and IPM approaches the use of broad-spectrum chemicals to kill Helicoverpa has been reduced and as a result mirids and stinkbugs are building to levels causing damage to bolls later in crop growth stages. Studies on stinkbugs by Dr Moazzem Khan revealed that green vegetable bug (GVB) caused significant boll damage and yield loss. A preliminary study by Dr Khan on mirids revealed that high mirid numbers at later growth stages also caused significant boll damage and that damage caused by mirids and GVB were similar. Mirids and stinkbugs therefore demand greater attention in order to minimise losses caused by these pests and to develop IPM strategies against these pests to enhance gains in IPM that have been made with Bt-transgenic cotton. Progress in this area of research will maintain sustainability and profitability of the Australian cotton industry. Mirid damage at early growth stages of cotton (up to squaring stage) has been studied in detail by Dr Khan. He found that all ages of mirids cause damage to young plants and damage by mirid nymphs is cumulative. Maximum damage occurs when the insect reaches the 4th and 5th nymphal stages. He also found that mirid feeding causes shedding of small and medium squares, and damaged large squares develop as ‘parrot beak’ bolls. Detailed studies at the boll stage, such as which stage of mirids is most damaging or which age boll is most vulnerable to feeding, is lacking. This information is a prerequisite to developing an IPM strategy for the pest in later crop growth stages. Understanding population change of the pest over time in relation to crop development is an important aspect for developing management strategies for the pest which is lacking for mirids in BollgardII. Predators and parasitoids are integral components of any IPM system and play an important part in regulating pest populations. Some generalist predators such as ants, spiders, damsel bugs and assassin bugs are known to predate on mirids. Nothing is known about parasitoids of mirids. Since green mirid (GM), Creontiades dilutus, is indigenous to Australia it is likely that we have one or more parasitoids of this mirid in Australia, but that possibility has not been investigated yet. The impact of the GVB adult parasitoid, Trichopoda giacomelli, has been studied by Dr Khan who found that the fly is established in the released areas and continues to spread. However, to get wider and greater impact, the fly should be released in new locations across the valleys. The insecticides registered for mirids and stinkbugs are mostly non-selective and are extremely disruptive to a wide range of beneficial insects. Use of these insecticides at stage I and II will minimise the impact of existing IPM programs. Therefore less disruptive control tactics including soft chemicals for mirids and stinkbugs are necessary. As with soft chemicals, salt mixtures, biopesticides based on fungal pathogens and attractants based on plant volatiles may be useful tools in managing mirids and stinkbugs with less or no disruption. Dr Khan has investigated salt mixture against mirids and GVB. While salt mixtures are quite effective and less disruptive, they are quite chemical specific. Not all chemicals mixed with salt will give the desired benefit. Therefore further investigation is needed to identify those chemicals that are effective with salt mixture against mirids and 3 of 37 GVB. Dr Caroline Hauxwell of DPI&F is working on fungal pathogen-based biopesticides against mirids and GVB and Drs Peter Gregg and Alice Del Socorro of Australian Cotton CRC are working on plant volatile-based attractants against mirids. Depending on their findings, inclusion of fungal-based biopestcides and plant volatile-based attractants in developing a management system against mirids and stinkbugs in cotton could be an important component of an IPM approach.