Search Results (505)

Accurate in-season crop type mapping is critical for agricultural monitoring and yield assessment, yet most operational products remain proprietary, post-seasonal or insufficiently tested across contrasting seasons. This study presents an open and transferable framework that quantifies how in-season crop classification skills evolve through the growing season across the southwest agricultural region of Western Australia (WA) using a multi-temporal (2020–2024) Sentinel-2 derived vegetation indices (VIs) time-series. Six crop classes (i.e., wheat, barley, canola, lupins, pasture, and fallow) were evaluated using extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and long short-term memory (LSTM) models under a leave-one-year-out cross-validation (LOYOCV) design. Classification performance increased progressively through the season, with a marked improvement in late winter (late August to early September). In LOYOCV, overall agreement with the reference dataset exceeded 90% once vegetation-index observations through August were included, indicating that reliable in-season mapping was achievable before harvest. Canola was separated consistently from mid-season onwards, whereas reliable discrimination between wheat and barley required later phenological information. Independent field-based testing was used to assess true crop identification accuracy for the three externally observed classes: wheat, barley, and canola. In this test set, precision was highest for canola (0.93), followed by wheat (0.82) and barley (0.71). These field-based results supported the main temporal pattern observed in the LOYOCV analysis, particularly the strong mid-season separability of canola and the persistent confusion between wheat and barley. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) showed thatVIs centred on late winter contributed most strongly to model predictions, consistent with peak phenological divergence among crop types. These results identify a phenologically meaningful decision window for in-season crop mapping and provide a multi-year benchmark for evaluating temporal transferability in Mediterranean broadacre systems. Full article

Increased global mobility has intensified contact between regional English varieties, creating new opportunities for large-scale second dialect acquisition. Australia, with its rapidly growing population due to migration, offers a particularly dynamic context for exploring such contact. This study investigates how first-generation Indian migrants in the Australian city of Melbourne perceive Australian English vowels in the lexical items dress and trap, a contrast chosen because of sound changes that are well-documented for this location. Listeners completed a vowel categorization task involving target words in non-lateral and lateral contexts. To assess contact-induced adaptation, their responses were compared with those of Australian English speakers in Australia and those of Indian English speakers in India. The results reveal that perceptual adaptation among first-generation Indian migrants in Australia is context-dependent. In the non‑lateral coda context, migrant Indian English listeners (in Australia) showed intermediate responses, between those of Australian English listeners (in Australia) and Indian English listeners (in India), indicative of a relatively ‘linear’ adaptation towards Australian English. Responses to stimuli in the lateral coda context, however, revealed a more complex picture. Australian English listeners (in Australia) and Indian English listeners (in India) responded more closely to one another than migrant Indian English listeners (in Australia), with the latter instead exhibiting a substantial degree of perceptual confusion toward the endpoint of the continuum for hell–Hal and, to a lesser extent, for shell–shall and pell–pal. These findings suggest that in the perceptual adaptation to a second dialect, the acquisition of a wider pool of phonetic variants is mediated by the acquisition of structural knowledge. Full article

Household rainwater tanks (HRWTs) have re-emerged globally as a decentralised strategy to address water scarcity, climate variability, and increasing urban water demand. In several jurisdictions, including New South Wales, Australia, rainwater tanks have been chosen to meet the mandatory potable water reduction target in new residential developments for nearly two decades; however, growing evidence indicates persistent underutilisation and variable performance in practice. Despite their recognised benefits in reducing potable water demand, mitigating stormwater runoff, and enhancing urban resilience, the global HRWT research landscape remains fragmented across disciplinary and thematic boundaries. This paper presents a multifaceted review, defined here as an approach that synthesises multiple perspectives on the topic. It integrates systematic mapping of peer-reviewed literature with a critical thematic analysis across four dominant research domains: technological and design innovation, policy and governance frameworks, environmental performance, and social–behavioural dimensions. The findings reveal a strong research focus on technical optimisation, while policy effectiveness, environmental trade-offs, and household-level behavioural factors receive comparatively uneven attention. Regulatory and incentive-based instruments are shown to produce inconsistent outcomes, shaped by local institutional capacity to design, implement, enforce, and sustain programs, as well as by climatic context and household acceptance. Environmental assessments identify both benefits and burdens, including energy use, treatment requirements, and operational complexity. Social and behavioural studies indicate growing acceptance of household rainwater tank (HRWT) systems. However, financial constraints, local conditions, and ongoing maintenance demands continue to influence adoption and performance. A key insight from this review is the limited attention given to households’ lived experiences, particularly how users adopt, adapt, operate, and maintain HRWT systems over time. This gap constrains progress across technical, policy, environmental, and social dimensions and risks cycles of early policy uptake followed by stagnation. The review highlights the need to integrate household perspectives into future research, policy design, and industry practice to improve system performance, user experience, and the long-term contribution of HRWTs to sustainable urban water management. Full article

Background: Migration from low- and middle-income to high-income settings is often accompanied by dietary and lifestyle changes that may increase long-term risk of non-communicable diseases. African migrants represent a growing but under-studied population in Australia, with limited evidence on post-migration nutrition transitions and associated chronic disease risk. This study examined changes in diet and lifestyle among Nigerian-born adults before and after migration to Australia and explored any association with chronic diseases. Methods: A pilot cross-sectional study was conducted among adults who migrated from Nigeria to New South Wales, Australia, between 1992 and 2019. Data were collected via a culturally adapted, self-administered online questionnaire assessing socio-demographic characteristics, dietary intake, lifestyle behaviours, and self-reported chronic conditions in the 12 months immediately before and after migration. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and proportions) and inferential analyses (Chi-square tests, McNemar test, and the Bowker test) were used to compare pre- and post-migration behaviours and examine associations with chronic disease outcomes. Results: Ninety-three participants completed the survey (mean age 37.0 ± 7.2 years; 50.5% male). Post-migration, regular breakfast consumption declined (−24.3%), while irregular eating (low and moderate) patterns increased (+7.6% and +16.7%). Regular vegetable intake improved (+5.4%), whereas fruit intake remained low (13.0%). Regular consumption of Nigerian local foods decreased markedly (−53.7%), while regular intake of meat (+18.5%), dairy foods, fats (+14.3%), and non-alcoholic beverages increased (+22.8%). Salt use shifted away from the highest-risk category (−22.2%), and smoking and alcohol consumption remained low and stable. Self-reported chronic conditions were uncommon; hypertension (6.5%) and obesity (5.4%) were the most frequently reported. Conclusions: Nigerian migrants in Australia experience substantial post-migration dietary and lifestyle transitions that may elevate long-term chronic disease risk despite a currently low reported disease burden. Early, culturally responsive nutrition and lifestyle interventions are needed to support healthy adaptation and prevent the progression of cardiometabolic conditions in this growing migrant population. Full article

Species of the genus Thunbergia, native to Africa, Asia, and Australia, are widely cultivated as ornamental plants; however, their ability to escape cultivation and establish themselves in novel environments poses a growing threat to tropical forests. Here, we provide the first nationwide assessment of Thunbergia species occurring in Ecuador, integrating data from citizen science platforms, herbarium collections, and field surveys. We analyzed spatiotemporal patterns of occurrence, evaluated invasion status based on wild persistence and spread, and assessed environmental preferences using climatic niche analyses. Species distributions were further examined across land-cover types, conservation areas, and forest–non-forest interfaces. We confirmed the presence of five Thunbergia species in Ecuador, two of which also occur in the Galapagos Islands. All species were recorded both in cultivation and in the wild, indicating ornamental horticulture as the main introduction pathway for the genus, and occurrences were documented within 24 conservation areas. Thunbergia alata, T. fragrans, and T. grandiflora were categorized as invasive in Ecuador. Among them, T. fragrans exhibited broad environmental tolerance across bioregions. Wild occurrences were predominantly associated with human-modified landscapes but frequently occurred near forest edges, indicating ongoing encroachment into natural forests. These findings highlight the urgent need for preventive and targeted management strategies, particularly against T. alata, which represents an emerging threat to Andean forest ecosystems. Full article

Biophilic design has gained increasing importance in contemporary architecture due to its potential to enhance human well-being, environmental quality, and the integration of nature within built environments. While a growing body of literature exists, there remains a limited understanding of how biophilic architecture is visually expressed in diverse regional contexts. As the exterior of a building constitutes its most immediate expression, examining these characteristics is essential. This research gap raises the question of how exterior biophilic design characteristics are articulated in architectural practice within different geographic settings. To address this gap, this study examines the exterior architectural characteristics of biophilic design through selected case studies from Asia, Europe, and Australia, focusing on how these characteristics are manifested in each regional context. The research adopts a three-step methodological approach. First, on-site photographic documentation was conducted. Second, the collected photographs were systematically coded. Third, descriptive analysis was employed to examine the distribution of biophilic design characteristics in diverse regional contexts. Across all regions, biophilic attributes are most prominently manifested with natural colors, natural materials, and biomorphic or natural forms. In contrast, spatial attributes appear less consistently documented in photographs. This study is limited by its reliance on photographic analysis and a relatively small sample size. Future research should integrate multimethod approaches and expanded case studies to capture experiential and environmental dimensions of biophilic design beyond visual attributes. Full article

Amid growing consumer interest in the health benefits of anthocyanins, the market for anthocyanin-based dietary supplements has expanded substantially. However, data on product composition and health claims in the Australian online market remains limited. This study characterises anthocyanin-based dietary supplements available online in Australia (July–August 2024), examining product origin, botanical sources, formulation, extract concentration, delivery formats, anthocyanin content disclosure, health claims, serving sizes and pricing patterns. Among the 121 products analysed, bilberry, elderberry, and tart cherry were the most commonly used anthocyanin sources, collectively representing 47% of the market. Capsules were the dominant delivery format (86%), and reported extract concentrations varied widely, with lower ratios (1–10:1) being most prevalent. Only 18% of products disclosed anthocyanin content (0.1–36%), with bilberry supplements accounting for the majority of reported values. Health claims were present on 69% of products and varied by source, with bilberry products most frequently promoting vision health, elderberry emphasising immune support, tart cherry targeting joint and exercise recovery, and cranberry focusing on urinary tract health. Declared extract (mg per serving) ranged from 10 mg to >1500 mg. Pricing varied substantially across products (AUD 0.02–7.40 per gram; mean AUD 0.78/g), with bilberry supplements consistently among the most expensive. Overall, these findings highlight considerable variability in formulation, disclosure, and health claim practices, underscoring the need for improved transparency and evidence-aligned representation of anthocyanins as bioactive pigments in the Australian nutraceutical market. Full article

Frequent forest fires cause serious damage to ecosystems and socioeconomic systems, increasing the importance of fire prevention and risk assessment. Forest fuel is a fundamental determinant of forest fire behavior and a key component of fire risk management. However, a systematic synthesis of its global research evolution and emerging scientific challenges remains relatively insufficient. On the basis of 1257 publications retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (2010–2025) with the themes of “wildfire fuel” and “forest fuel,” this study employed CiteSpace for bibliometric analysis to systematically investigate research trends, collaboration patterns, and thematic evolution. The results show that forest fuel research has exhibited sustained growth overall, with notable peaks in 2016 and 2020, and reaching a historical high in 2023. The United States dominated both in publication output and institutional collaboration networks, forming a core research cluster together with Australia and Canada. Keyword co-occurrence and burst analyses revealed a shift in research hotspots—from early focus on forest fuel models and risk assessment at the wild–urban interface (WUI)—toward concerns about climate-change-driven fire seasonality, fuel moisture dynamics, and emergency response issues, reflecting the growing influence of climate change on wildfire patterns. Notably, this study identified several critical research gaps, including limitations in cross-regional integration of fuel moisture studies, insufficient attention to ignition prevention in WUI residential settings, and a lack of reproducible, open bibliometric workflows. By systematically mapping the knowledge structure and evolutionary trajectory of forest fuel research, this study provides a globally informed knowledge framework for the future advancement of forest fuel science and its deeper integration with forest fire management and policy making. Full article

Choline is an essential nutrient whose physiological importance has not yet been sufficiently recognized by many European nutrition authorities. Despite convincing evidence of its crucial role in liver lipid export, one-carbon metabolism, cell membrane integrity, and nervous system development, explicit dietary recommendations for choline are still lacking in most European countries. In contrast, its importance has long been recognized in the national guidelines of the United States, Australia, China, and other regions. The current and rapidly spreading dietary shifts toward plant-based and vegan diets—characterized by a lower proportion of animal foods, the main sources of choline—increase the risk of suboptimal intake in broad segments of the population. Given the considerable interindividual differences in endogenous choline biosynthesis, which are influenced by sex hormones, physical activity, nutrient interactions, and genetic polymorphisms, adequate dietary intake is essential to meet physiological needs, especially during periods of increased demand such as pregnancy, lactation, and high-performance sports. This narrative review summarizes the evidence for the essentiality of choline, outlines the rationale for deriving intake recommendations for different life stages, and identifies an urgent need for coordinated action by European nutrition societies to address the growing risk of population-wide undersupply. Full article

Cohabitation has become an increasingly common context for childrearing, yet children living with cohabiting parents often exhibit poorer academic outcomes than peers with married parents. This study examines whether these disparities stem from cohabitation itself, subsequent family transitions, or underlying mechanisms related to resources, stress, or selectivity. Using data from the Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), we follow 920 children born to cohabiting parents and track family structure changes alongside teacher-rated literacy and mathematics performance from ages 6 to 11 years. Generalized estimating equation models show that, although children whose parents transitioned to single-parent or other non-cohabiting arrangements initially appear to score lower academically, these differences are no longer significant once resource, stress, and selectivity variables are included. Instead, parental education, parental efficacy, homeownership, extracurricular participation, residential mobility, and parents’ region of origin more consistently predicts educational outcomes. Children with stably cohabiting parents and those whose parents later married do not differ significantly. Findings suggest that among children born to cohabiting parents in Australia, differences in later educational outcomes are largely explained by differences in parental education, efficacy, housing stability, and related factors, rather than by cohabitation or family instability alone. Full article

Productivity has a strong effect on the net returns of strawberry production. Returns are higher with high yields than with low yields, with productivity dependent on the cultivar, season and growing system. The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between productivity and the time of planting and the time of the last harvest in Queensland, Australia. Information was collated on the yields of strawberry plants growing in this area over 20 years. Cultivars from Australia, Florida and California were planted from 2004 to 2024 and data collected on marketable yield (n = 41 cases). The transplants were planted from 16 March to 5 May, with the last harvest ranging from 6 August to 28 October. The fruit were harvested each week until they became small or soft or otherwise non-marketable. Mean yield (±standard deviation or s.d.) was 652 ± 327 g/plant, the median was 675 g/plant, and the range was from 142 to 1123 g/plant. There was a moderate linear relationship between yield and the time of the last harvest (p < 0.001, R² = 0.43). In other words, yields increased as harvesting was prolonged. There was a positive linear relationship between yield and the length of the growing season, which included the time of planting (p < 0.001, R² = 0.58). Yields increased as the length of the growing season increased from 108 to 205 days. These results suggest that early plantings (about mid-March for most cultivars) and a long growing season are associated with high yields in Queensland. Warm weather and intermittent rain impact fruit quality and end the harvest in this area. Yields are expected to decrease in the future under global warming in the absence of mitigating strategies. Full article

This scoping review explores how critical pedagogy has been conceptualized and implemented in school-based health education between 2014 and 2025. Grounded in Freirean principles, the review addresses a growing call to move beyond biomedical, behaviorist models toward equity-oriented, dialogical, and empowering educational practices. A systematic search across five academic databases identified 21 peer-reviewed studies applying critical pedagogy frameworks in primary and secondary schools and teacher education. The analysis was guided by the PRISMA-ScR framework and involved inductive thematic synthesis using NVivo. Results were organized across three analytical axes: temporal clustering (pre- and post-pandemic), seven overarching pedagogical themes, and five phases of conceptual evolution. Findings show a trajectory from early embodied and feminist frameworks toward post-pandemic ecological, decolonial, and digital pedagogies. Despite regional innovations—particularly in New Zealand, Australia, and Europe—implementation remains constrained by institutional resistance, policy standardization, and curricular tensions. This review identifies key implications for educational policy, curriculum reform, teacher training, and future research. It argues that critical pedagogy offers a timely, transformative alternative for advancing health equity and social justice in global school health education. Full article

Sustainable packaging has become a major area of academic and practical interest, reflecting growing environmental awareness, regulatory pressure, and changing consumer expectations. This study aims to synthesize existing knowledge on consumers’ behavior toward sustainable packaging and their willingness to pay (WTP) for environmentally friendly solutions. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature review was conducted, encompassing 78 peer-reviewed publications from 2019 to 2025. Bibliometric mapping using VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) identified three main research streams: consumer attitudes and determinants of behavior, willingness to pay for sustainable packaging, and perception of packaging materials and systems. The reviewed studies, conducted across Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America, employed diverse methods, including surveys, discrete choice experiments, structural equation modeling, and mixed designs. Results indicate that consumer behavior is shaped by environmental awareness, self-identity, perceived usefulness, and trust in labeling, while packaging material and functionality remain decisive for acceptance. Most studies show that consumers are willing to pay a premium of about 10–20% for sustainable packaging, though price sensitivity and hygiene concerns limit actual adoption. The findings highlight the conditional nature of consumer acceptance and emphasize the need for transparent communication, credible certification, and functional design. This study provides guidance for policymakers and businesses seeking to promote sustainable packaging solutions. Full article

The renewable energy industry is rapidly growing and the need to retire the systems and their associated components at their end of life is fast approaching. The general field of research into recycling materials in construction aims to provide effective and efficient methods for breaking down components into their raw materials; however, there is limited literature on introducing these materials back into a circular economy. This paper follows previous work by quantifying the volumes of raw materials in solar and wind generation systems, as well as the corresponding network connections to the transmission systems. Using three different-sized systems for solar and wind generation systems in NSW, Australia, an analytical trend has been established for quantifying each material that exists within the system. The transmission systems, however, are isolated cases, dependent on variables that are listed within the paper. Ultimately, the amounts of each material on farms within the ranges presented can be extrapolated from the trends using simple polynomial models provided. The wind generation and solar generation assets produce differing types of materials due to their vastly different technologies; however, many useful materials are available for recycling in future renewable energy systems. Solar and wind farms have differing materials that have potential uses in a circular economy, and the masses that have been presented in the paper are considerably monumental that it would be detrimental to our environment if they were not reintroduced into more sustainable forms of generation. By summarising the mass of materials, further research can be developed to understand the opportunities that exist in recycling materials, rather than further damaging the environment through mining new and raw materials. Full article

Despite a growing number of Earth Observation satellites, a critical observational gap persists for timely, high-resolution flood mapping, primarily due to infrequent satellite revisits and persistent cloud cover. To address this issue, we propose a novel framework that synergistically fuses complementary data from three public sensor types. Our methodology harmonizes these disparate data sources by using surface water fraction as a common variable and downscaling them with flood susceptibility and topography information. This allows for the integration of sub-daily observations from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite and the Advanced Himawari Imager with the cloud-penetrating capabilities of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2. We evaluated this approach on the February 2022 flood in Brisbane, Australia using an independent ground truth dataset. The framework successfully compensates for the limitations of individual sensors, enabling the consistent generation of detailed, high-resolution flood maps. The proposed method outperformed the flood extent derived from commercial high-resolution optical imagery, scoring 77% higher than the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) map in the Critical Success Index. Furthermore, the True Positive Rate was twice as high as the CEMS map, confirming that the proposed method successfully overcame the cloud cover issue. This approach provides valuable, actionable insights into inundation dynamics, particularly when other public data sources are unavailable. Full article