All horticulture factsheets (Part 2)

Teaching Resource materials prepared for DLB320 Landscape Horticulture (2015). CONTENTS 2 Old Brisbane Botanic Gardens Samples 3 Australian ICONS 4 Old Fashioned & Reliable 5 Palms & Bamboo 6 Cordylines & Dracaenas 7 Bromeliads & Succulents 8 Toxic & Poisonous Plants 9 Dangerous & Dirty Plants 10 Weeds, Pests & Diseases 11 Useful (Economic) Plants

Comparison of kinematic variables obtained by inertial sensors among stroke survivors and healthy older adults in the Functional Reach Test: cross-sectional study

Background Balance dysfunction is one of the most common problems in people who suffer stroke. To parameterize functional tests standardized by inertial sensors have been promoted in applied medicine. The aim of this study was to compare the kinematic variables of the Functional Reach Test (FRT) obtained by two inertial sensors placed on the trunk and lumbar region between stroke survivors (SS) and healthy older adults (HOA) and to analyze the reliability of the kinematic measurements obtained. Methods Cross-sectional study. Five SS and five HOA over 65. A descriptive analysis of the average range as well as all kinematic variables recorded was developed. The intrasubject and intersubject reliability of the measured variables was directly calculated. Results In the same intervals, the angular displacement was greater in the HOA group; however, they were completed at similar times for both groups, and HOA conducted the test at a higher speed and greater acceleration in each of the intervals. The SS values were higher than HOA values in the maximum and minimum acceleration in the trunk and in the lumbar region. Conclusions The SS show less functional reach, a narrower, slower and less accelerated movement during the FRT execution, but with higher peaks of acceleration and speed when they are compared with HOA.

A new approach to kimberlite facies terminology using a revised general approach to the nomenclature of all volcanic rocks and deposits: Descriptive to genetic

Although kimberlite pipes/bodies are usually the remains of volcanic vents, in-vent deposits, and subvolcanic intrusions, the terminology used for kimberlite rocks has largely developed independently of that used in mainstream volcanology. Existing kimberlite terminology is not descriptive and includes terms that are rarely used, used differently, and even not used at all in mainstream volcanology. In addition, kimberlite bodies are altered to varying degrees, making application of genetic terminology difficult because original components and depositional textures are commonly masked by alteration. This paper recommends an approach to the terminology for kimberlite rocks that is consistent with usage for other volcanic successions. In modern terrains the eruption and emplacement origins of deposits can often be readily deduced, but this is often not the case for old, variably altered and deformed rock successions. A staged approach is required whereby descriptive terminology is developed first, followed by application of genetic terminology once all features, including the effects of alteration on original texture and depositional features, together with contact relationships and setting, have been evaluated. Because many volcanic successions consist of both primary volcanic deposits as well as volcanic sediments, terminology must account for both possibilities.

The optimal frequency of aquatic physiotherapy for individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a randomised controlled trial

Purpose: To establish whether there was a difference in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with chronic musculoskeletal disorders (PwCMSKD) after participating in a multimodal physiotherapy program (MPP) either two or three sessions a week. Methods: Total of 114 PwCMSKD participated in this prospective randomised controlled trial. An individualised MPP, consisting of exercises for mobility, motor-control, muscle strengthening, cardiovascular training, and health education, was implemented either twice a week (G2: n = 58) or three times a week) (G3: n = 56) for 1 year. Outcomes: HRQoL physical and mental health state (PHS/MHS), Roland Morris disability Questionnaire (RMQ), Neck-Disability-Index (NDI) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities’ Arthritis Index (WOMAC) were used to measure outcomes of MPP for people with chronic low back pain, chronic neck pain and osteoarthritis, respectively. Measures were taken at baseline, 8 weeks (8 w), 6 months (6 m), and 1 year (1 y) after starting the programme. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups (G2 and G3), except in NDI at 8 w (−3.34, (CI 95%: −6.94/0.84, p = 0.025 (scale 0–50)). All variables showed improvement reaching the following values (from baseline to 1 y) G2: PHS: 57.72 (baseline: 41.17; (improvement: 16.55%), MHS: 74.51 (baseline: 47.46, 27.05%), HRQoL 0.90 (baseline: 0.72, 18%)), HRQoL-VAS 84.29 (baseline: 58.04, 26.25%), RMQ 4.15 (baseline: 7.85, 15.42%), NDI 3.96 (baseline: 21.87, 35.82%), WOMAC 7.17 (baseline: 25.51, 19.10%). G3: PHS: 58.64 (baseline: 39.75, 18.89%), MHS: 75.50 (baseline: 45.45, (30.05%), HRQoL 0.67 (baseline: 0.88, 21%), HRQoL-VAS 86.91 (baseline: 52.64, 34.27%), RMQ 4.83 (baseline: 8.93, 17.08%), NDI 4.91 (baseline: 23.82, 37.82%), WOMAC 6.35 (baseline: 15.30, 9.32%). Conclusions: No significant differences between the two groups were found in the outcomes of a MPP except in the NDI at 8 weeks, but both groups improved in all variables during the course of 1 year under study.

Changes in disability, physical/mental health states and quality of life during an 8-Week multimodal physiotherapy programme in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain: A prospective cohort study

Aim The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of an 8-week multimodal physiotherapy programme (MPP), integrating physical land-based therapeutic exercise (TE), adapted swimming and health education, as a treatment for patients with chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP), on disability, general health/mental states and quality of life. Methods 175 CNSNP patients from a community-based centre were recruited to participate in this prospective study. Intervention: 60-minute session (30 minutes of land-based exercise dedicated to improving mobility, motor control, resistance and strengthening of the neck muscles, and 30 minutes of adapted swimming with aerobic exercise keeping a neutral neck position using a snorkel). Health education was provided using a decalogue on CNSNP and constant repetition of brief advice by the physiotherapist during the supervision of the exercises in each session. Study outcomes: primary: disability (Neck Disability Index); secondary: physical and mental health states and quality of life of patients (SF-12 and EuroQoL-5D respectively). Differences between baseline data and that at the 8-week follow-up were calculated for all outcome variables. Results Disability showed a significant improvement of 24.6% from a mean (SD) of 28.2 (13.08) at baseline to 16.88 (11.62) at the end of the 8-week intervention. All secondary outcome variables were observed to show significant, clinically relevant improvements with increase ranges between 13.0% and 16.3% from a mean of 0.70 (0.2) at baseline to 0.83 (0.2), for EuroQoL-5D, and from a mean of 40.6 (12.7) at baseline to 56.9 (9.5), for mental health state, at the end of the 8-week intervention. Conclusion After 8 weeks of a MPP that integrated land-based physical TE, health education and adapted swimming, clinically-relevant and statistically-significant improvements were observed for disability, physical and mental health states and quality of life in patients who suffer CNSNP. The clinical efficacy requires verification using a randomised controlled study design.

Monitoring changes of the tibialis anterior during dorsiflexion with electromyography, sonomyography, dynamometry and kinematic signals

Dorsiflexion (DF) of the foot plays an essential role in both controlling balance and human gait. Electromyography and Sonomyography can provide information on several aspects of muscle function. The aim was to describe a new method for real-time monitoring of muscular activity, as measured using EMG, muscular architecture, as measured using SMG, force, as measured using dynamometry, and kinematic parameters, as measured using IS during isometric and isotonic contractions of the foot DF. The present methodology may be clinically relevant because it involves a reproducible procedure which allows the function and structure of the foot DF to be monitored.

Functional and structural of the erector spinae muscle during isometric lumbar extension

Study Design Cross-sectional study. Objectives To compare erector spinae (ES) muscle fatigue between chronic non-specific lower back pain (CNLBP) sufferers and healthy subjects from a biomechanical perspective during fatiguing isometric lumbar extensions. Background Paraspinal muscle maximal contraction and fatigue are used as a functional predictor for disabilities. The simplest method to determine muscle fatigue is by evaluating the evolution during specific contractions, such as isometric contractions. There are no studies that evaluate the evolution of the ES muscle during fatiguing isometric lumbar extensions and analyse functional and architectural variables. Methods In a pre-calibrated system, participants performed a maximal isometric extension of the lumbar spine for 5 and 30 seconds. Functional variables (torque and muscle activation) and architecture (pennation angle and muscle thickness) were measured using a load cell, surface electromyography and ultrasound, respectively. The results were normalised and a reliability study of the ultrasound measurement was made. Results: The ultrasound measurements were highly reliable, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.951 0.981. All measured variables shown significant differences before and after fatiguing isometric lumbar extension. Conclusion During a lumbar isometric extension test, architecture and functional variables of the ES muscle could be analised using ultrasound, surface EMG and load cell. In adition, during an endurance test, ES muscle suffers an acute effect on architectural and functional variables.

‘Beyond all the trends’: Torres Strait Island foods, past, present and future

While trends are cyclical, Indigenous perspectives offer continuity to life’s pathways. One of the current trends is the increasing culinary interest in Indigenous Australian foods, not just in restaurants, but also in home kitchens. This is a recent trend despite Indigenous foods being nutritious and wholesome, and sustaining Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Home Economics can support, foster and affirm Indigenous foods both within this current mainstream trend and in the future in life sustaining ways. In order to do so, Home Economics need’s to ensure it is prepared, and skilled, with the appropriate knowledge and regard for Indigenous ingredients, foods and foodways. This paper will focus on Torres Strait Islander foods from the Torres Strait and from mainland Australia. It will showcase Torres Strait foods is the past, present and the future. Some of what is presented here is part of a research case study, which involves a literature review, data collection, and photography. In documenting the history of Torres Strait Island food and foodways, the traditions and customs will be kept alive for future generations, and beyond any trends or fashions.

Trainee-therapists are not all equal: Examination of therapeutic efficiency, effectiveness and early client dropout after 12 months of clinical training

Objective Contemporary research demonstrates the feasibility of assessing therapeutic performance of trainee-therapists through the use of objective measures of client treatment outcome. Further, significant variation between individual therapists based on their client treatment outcomes has been demonstrated. This study sets out to determine whether a reliable composite measure of therapeutic efficiency, effectiveness and early dropout can be developed and used to objectively compare trainee-therapists against each other. Design and methods Treatment outcomes of 611 clients receiving treatment from 58 trainee-therapists enrolled in a professional training programme were tracked with the OQ-45.2 over a 6-year period to assess therapeutic efficiency, therapeutic effectiveness and early client dropout. Results Significant variation between trainee-therapists was observed for each index. Findings of a moderately strong correlation between therapeutic efficiency and effectiveness enabled the ranking of trainee-therapists based upon a composite measure of these indexes. A non-significant correlation was found between early client dropout and measures of therapeutic effectiveness and efficiency. Conclusions The findings stress the importance of utilizing objective measures to track the treatment outcomes. Despite all trainee-therapists being enrolled in the same training programme, significant variation between trainee-therapists' therapeutic efficiency and effectiveness was found to exist. Practitioner points Developing of potential benchmarking tools that enable trainee-therapists, supervisors and educational institutions to quickly assess therapeutic performance can become part of a holistic assessment of a trainee-therapist's clinical development. Despite an inherent optimistic belief that therapists do not cause harm, there appears to be a small and significant proportion of trainee-therapists who consistently evidence little therapeutic change. Considerable variability in trainee-therapists' therapeutic efficiency and effectiveness can exist in the one training programme. Early client dropout may not be associated with therapists' therapeutic effectiveness and efficiency.

P-n junction organic photovoltaics fabricated by all solution processing

We have prepared p-n junction organic photovoltaic cells using an all solution processing method with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as the donor and phenyl-C 61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the acceptor. Interdigitated donor/acceptor interface morphology was observed in the device processed with the lowest boiling point solvent for PCBM used in this study. The influences of different solvents on donor/acceptor morphology and respective device performance were investigated simultaneously. The best device obtained had characteristically rough interface morphology with a peak to valley value ∼15 nm. The device displayed a power conversion efficiency of 1.78%, an open circuit voltage (V oc) 0.44 V, a short circuit current density (J sc) 9.4 mA/cm 2 and a fill factor 43%.

Inefficient tax slugs all homebuyers

Housing affordability is more than just house prices. It also includes ready access to public transport, schools, good road networks, and of course access to all the basic utilities. However, local governments don’t have the money to build all the infrastructure new housing estates need. So developer charges were introduced as a “user pays” method of funding new urban infrastructure. These charges are levied on property developers by local authorities at the time of planning approval. Some think these costs are passed back to the original land owner by way of lower land prices. But property developers claim these charges are instead added on to new house prices, with a negative impact to housing affordability. When new house prices increase, existing house prices are also dragged up, extending the housing affordability issue throughout the community. However, new research by QUT has uncovered evidence that these costs are not merely passed on to homebuyers, but are passed on at significantly over-inflated rates. In an Australian first, the study empirically examines the impact of developer charges on housing affordability, providing evidence that developer charges are passed on to all homebuyers in the community. So while policy makers think they are charging developers for the provision of infrastructure in new communities, the cost is really being borne by all homebuyers.

Application of simulated annealing to data distribution for all-to-all comparison problems in homogeneous systems

Distributed systems are widely used for solving large-scale and data-intensive computing problems, including all-to-all comparison (ATAC) problems. However, when used for ATAC problems, existing computational frameworks such as Hadoop focus on load balancing for allocating comparison tasks, without careful consideration of data distribution and storage usage. While Hadoop-based solutions provide users with simplicity of implementation, their inherent MapReduce computing pattern does not match the ATAC pattern. This leads to load imbalances and poor data locality when Hadoop's data distribution strategy is used for ATAC problems. Here we present a data distribution strategy which considers data locality, load balancing and storage savings for ATAC computing problems in homogeneous distributed systems. A simulated annealing algorithm is developed for data distribution and task scheduling. Experimental results show a significant performance improvement for our approach over Hadoop-based solutions.

Distributed computing of all-to-all comparison problems in heterogeneous systems

The requirement of distributed computing of all-to-all comparison (ATAC) problems in heterogeneous systems is increasingly important in various domains. Though Hadoop-based solutions are widely used, they are inefficient for the ATAC pattern, which is fundamentally different from the MapReduce pattern for which Hadoop is designed. They exhibit poor data locality and unbalanced allocation of comparison tasks, particularly in heterogeneous systems. The results in massive data movement at runtime and ineffective utilization of computing resources, affecting the overall computing performance significantly. To address these problems, a scalable and efficient data and task distribution strategy is presented in this paper for processing large-scale ATAC problems in heterogeneous systems. It not only saves storage space but also achieves load balancing and good data locality for all comparison tasks. Experiments of bioinformatics examples show that about 89\% of the ideal performance capacity of the multiple machines have be achieved through using the approach presented in this paper.

Susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis in twins: The role of genes, HLA, and the environment

Objective To determine the relative effects of genetic and environmental factors in susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods Twins with AS were identified from the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases database. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed to establish diagnoses, and disease severity was assessed using a combination of validated scoring systems. HLA typing for HLA-B27, HLA-B60, and HLA-DR1 was performed by polymerase chain reaction with sequence- specific primers, and zygosity was assessed using microsatellite markers. Genetic and environmental variance components were assessed with the program Mx, using data from this and previous studies of twins with AS. Results Six of 8 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs were disease concordant, compared with 4 of 15 B27-positive dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs (27%) and 4 of 32 DZ twin pairs overall (12.5%). Nonsignificant increases in similarity with regard to age at disease onset and all of the disease severity scores assessed were noted in disease-concordant MZ twins compared with concordant DZ twins. HLA-B27 and B60 were associated with the disease in probands, and the rate of disease concordance was significantly increased among DZ twin pairs in which the co- twin was positive for both B27 and DR1. Additive genetic effects were estimated to contribute 97% of the population variance. Conclusion Susceptibility to AS is largely genetically determined, and the environmental trigger for the disease is probably ubiquitous. HLA-B27 accounts for a minority of the overall genetic susceptibility to AS.