James Cook University Research Articles

HPB SO31 - A 3rd cycle quality improvement project on reducing unnecessary investigation, improves patient satisfaction and optimises cost-efficiency in a tertiary general surgical unit caring for patients with acute pancreatitis

Abstract Background Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a serious and potentially life-threatening systemic disease. Guidelines recommend that a diagnosis may be established if the patient has any two of1:a typical clinical history/examinationserum amylase >3 times the upper limit of normalRadiological (CT) evidence consistent with AP Once established, further repeat amylase testing is not indicated and does not guide management, nor provide prognostic value2. Previous QIP cycles carried out in James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) between 2021-2023 showed that 47% of patients with established AP had repeated amylase done unnecessarily. Interventions were implemented in JCUH and re-evaluated. Method The present QIP is a third cycle retrospective evaluation of the number of repeat serum amylase tests performed on patients with a diagnosis of AP, between 01/10/2023 to 21/01/2024. Of a total 1368 patients admitted, 63 patients (n=63) were identified for inclusion, by confirming their diagnosis of AP within their discharge letters. Data collection was completed by reviewing electronic notes and investigation results on our local investigations platform (WebICE). 1 year prior to data collection the intervention, a ‘pop-up', was implemented into WebICE to invite the clinician to consider if the repeat amylase test requested was clinically indicated before proceeding. Results Of the 63 patients identified, 100% had serum amylase tested on admission and were diagnostic in 62% of patients. 19 patients (30%) had amylase re-requested, a significant decrease from 47% in previous cycles. Among the patients with repeat amylases requested, 7 patients had amylase repeated twice. None of the documented indications to repeat amylase were clinically justified, with the most common indication being ‘for monitoring’. When comparing to cycles 1 and 2, we saw an improvement in the mean rates of amylase re-requesting from 2.4/patient, down to 1.37/patient in cycle 3 (Figure 1). Figure 1 – Mean rates of repeat amylase per patient across all QIP cycles to date Conclusion Our simple intervention, a ‘pop-up’ in our investigations requesting platform, resulted in a significant improvement over previous cycles, reducing the burden on our laboratories, costs of our general surgical service and improving patient satisfaction during their admission. However, there are still repeated amylases being performed without clear indication or patient benefit. Further interventions should be considered including, increasing awareness among healthcare personnel and re-evaluating and enhancing the effectiveness of the pop-up reminder in our local requesting platform. Re-evaluation will be completed in 6-12 months’ time.

Preface

The 7th International Conference on Computer Network, Electronic and Automation (ICCNEA 2024) was held in Xi’an Technological University from Sep. 20 to 22, 2024. The conference took place in the beautiful city of Xi’an, China, a city with a history of three thousand years. The conference aims to provide a high-level international forum for engineers and scholars to present their new advances and research results. The main topics of ICCNEA 2024 were: Networks and Computing, Computer Software and Theory, Control and Automation, Electronic Technology. In addition, the conference also invited six technical experts to give keynote speech. A total of 218 manuscripts were submitted to the conference. Three rounds of review were adopted, the first round was subject scope, scientific, technical and innovative review, and 132 articles were left after this round of review; the second round was double-expert blind review to strive for the originality, scientific and applied value of the articles, and 86 manuscripts were left in the second round. Finally, the third round was the process committee’s collective decision to accept the final articles. Finally, 79 excellent articles were selected. Beside the main venue, four sub-venues were set up to conduct technical exchanges in the four areas of manuscript solicitation. Each author presented their research hotspot. The conference was supported by State and Provincial Joint Engineering Lab. of Advanced Network, Monitoring and Control, China, Xi’an Technological University, China, Missouri Western State University, USA, Belarusian State University of Transport, Republic of Belarus, James Cook University, Australia, Chang’an University, Xi’an, China, Shaanxi Science and Technology Exchange Center, Xi’an, China, Base of Information of Vehicle-Infrastructure Sensing and ITS, China, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an China. The organizers would like to express their gratitude and thank all the participants for their valuable contribution to the conference. This year’s conference is successfully over and we are looking forward to the next conference! List of Scientific committee and Editors are available in this Pdf.

The perceived relevance, utility and retention of basic sciences in general practice

BackgroundBasic sciences are crucial for clinical medicine, yet studies focusing on their perceived utility among general practitioners (GPs) are sparse. Considering the broad scope of GPs’ practice, an in-depth understanding of basic sciences is fundamental for making informed clinical decisions. This study evaluated GP registrars’ retention and perceptions of the utility of basic sciences in clinical practice.MethodsUsing sequential explanatory mixed methods study design, knowledge retention was assessed by a multiple-choice question (MCQ) examination followed by interviews on the perception of the relevance and utility of basic sciences among GP registrars at James Cook University's (JCU) General Practice Training (GPT) program. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted on the MCQ exam data, while thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative interview data.ResultsSixty-one GP registrars participated in the MCQ exam, while 11 of them were involved in the interviews. The highest mean score was obtained in biochemistry (75.1 ± 2.23) while the lowest mean score was in anatomy (56.07 ± 3.16). Key performance predictors included the formative clinical examination scores (β = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.45 to 1.2, p < 0.001) and gender (β = -9.7, 95% CI: -17 to -2.3, p = 0.011). The qualitative data analysis revealed five themes, including the backbone of clinical medicine, varying utility over time and by specialty, clinical synthesis integrates encapsulated knowledge, professional pressures hinder revisitation of knowledge and knowledge renewal enhances updates.ConclusionBasic sciences were considered relevant in clinical practice. Development of continuing professional development (CPDs) sessions and clinically relevant online resources were measures proposed to enhance the retention of knowledge. Future research could focus on innovative educational strategies for GPs.

Clinical and oncological outcomes of pelvic exenteration for rectal and gynaecological malignancies

Background: Pelvic exenteration (PE) is radical surgery which offers prospect of cure for patients with locally advanced pelvic malignancy. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study evaluating patient outcomes over six-year period at James Cook University Hospital, a tertiary center in United Kingdom. Primary outcome measures included short-term (90 days) mortality and morbidity. Secondary outcome measures were survival and recurrence. Data was analysed by descriptive statistics and Kaplan-Meier curve used for survival estimation. Results: Out of 68 patients who underwent PE, 88% (n=61) was for primary locally advanced cancer and 10% (n=7) for recurrent cancer. The 31% (n=21) exenterations were for rectal cancer, 68% (n=46) for gynaecological cancer and 1% (n=1) for bladder cancer. Complete (R0) resection was achieved in 86% rectal exenteration versus 68% in gynaecological exenteration (p=0.1459). The overall 90-day mortality rate was 2.9% (n=2). The 19.1% developed major complications (Clavien-Dindo grades 3a-4). The estimated mean overall survival was 55 months (95% CI, 41-71) for rectal versus 44 months (95% CI, 35-53) for gynaecological (p=0.076). At a median follow-up of 19 months, the local and distal recurrence rate for rectal patients after PE was 4.7% and 14.3% respectively. The 41.3% of gynaecological patients developed recurrence and/ or progression of disease. Conclusions: PE for rectal and gynaecological cancers has low short-term mortality but is associated with high risks of overall complications, most of which were Clavien-Dindo grades &lt;3. The higher recurrence rate observed in the gynaecological cohort is in keeping with the varying intent of the surgery.

Coral restoration: a mapping review through a scientometric analysis

Reef restoration has gained attention as it has strategic actions and powerful means in sustaining and maintaining coastal ecosystem services. This scientometric study systematically analyzes the current trends and research hotspot in coral restoration across the last five decades (1971–2022). The metadata (12,667 articles with 652,860 cited references) were obtained from the Clarivate Web of Science platform through the Core Collection database, associated with the CiteSpace and R‐software for further analysis. The results indicated that the trend of coral restoration is increasing in paper/year, with the United States, Australia, and China as major contributors to the related research. Furthermore, James Cook University, Australia had the largest number of articles, and the Consortium of Research Libraries of the United Kingdom was the most influential institution on coral restoration. The highly cited keywords are “Great Barrier Reef,” “climate change,” and “coral reef,” while the most influential keywords are “coral,” “model,” and “Atlantic.” A total of 23 clusters in the field with “coral reef,” “phase shift,” “bacterial communities,” “coral restoration,” “symbiotic dinoflagellate,” “stony coral tissue loss disease,” “bleaching event,” “ocean acidification,” “oyster reef,” and “quantitative reconstruction” are among the top cluster size labeled. Early‐stage researcher may use both keywords and cluster analysis to find topics attractive to their future research projects. In addition, this study contributes toward evaluating recent scientific productivity about coral restoration as well as informing researchers and policymakers regarding funding, future strategic planning, and potential collaboration opportunities.

Psychological Distress at a Regional Australian Law School: Reporting on Law Students’ Experiences of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Legal education in Australia is constantly evolving to meet the needs of law students and to prepare many of them for roles in the legal profession. Examples include changes to law degree structures, optional elective units, and subjects aimed at preparing law students to be ‘workplace ready’. Law students face challenging academic requirements and law school culture that can result in greater levels of psychological distress compared to the general population. Promoting law student wellbeing and responding to high student levels of psychological distress is a key area of focus for Australian Law Schools. This article explores existing law student wellbeing studies in Australia and reports findings from an empirical exploratory study investigating the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS) using the DASS21 survey instrument in law students at a regional Australian university, James Cook University. The results from this study support earlier studies at Australian universities that show law students experience higher levels of psychological distress symptoms compared to the general population, and it is an area of concern that requires ongoing attention. Results include an exploration of the impact of factors including type of degree being studied, campus location, year of study, gender, and time spent at law school.

Validation of a national leadership framework to promote and protect quality residential aged care: protocol for a Delphi study

IntroductionAustralia’s ageing population is driving an increased demand for residential aged care services, yet concerns about the quality and safety of such care remain. The recent Royal Commission into Aged...

How far has diabetes-related foot disease research progressed in Australia? A bibliometric review (1970-2023).

Diabetes-related foot disease (DFD) is a leading cause of the Australian and global disease burdens and requires proportionate volumes of research to address. Bibliometric analyses are rigorous methods for exploring total research publications in a field to help identify volume trends, gaps and emerging areas of need. This bibliometric review aimed to explore the volume, authors, institutions, journals, collaborating countries, research types and funding sources of Australian publications investigating DFD over 50years. A systematic search of the Scopus® database was conducted by two independent authors to identify all Australian DFD literature published between 1970 and 2023. Bibliometric meta-data were extracted from Scopus®, analyzed in Biblioshiny, an R Statistical Software interface, and publication volumes, authors, institutions, journals and collaborative countries were described. Publications were also categorised for research type and funding source. Overall, 332 eligible publications were included. Publication volume increased steadily over time, with largest volumes (78%) and a 7-fold increase over the last decade. Mean co-authors per publication was 5.6, mean journal impact factor was 2.9 and median citation was 9 (IQR2-24). Most frequent authors were Peter Lazzarini (14%), Vivienne Chuter (8%) and Jonathon Golledge (7%). Most frequent institutions affiliated were Queensland University Technology (33%), University Sydney (30%) and James Cook University (25%). Most frequent journals published in were Journal Foot and Ankle Research (17%), Diabetic Medicine (7%), Journal Diabetes and its Complications (4%) and International Wound Journal (4%). Most frequent collaborating countries were the United Kingdom (9%), the Netherlands (6%) and the United States (5%). Leading research types were etiology (38%), treatment evaluation (25%) and health services research (13%). Leading funding sources were no funding (60%), internal institution (16%) and industry/philanthropic/international (10%). Australian DFD research increased steadily until more dramatic increases were seen over the past decade. Most research received no funding and mainly investigated etiology, existing treatments or health services. Australian DFD researchers appear to be very productive, particularly in recent times, despite minimal funding indicating their resilience. However, if the field is to continue to rapidly grow and address the very large national DFD burden, much more research funding is needed in Australia, especially targeting prevention and clinical trials of new treatments in DFD.

Regional employment matters: current and future challenges of labour procurement in North and far North Queensland, in conversation

ABSTRACT The 2023 conference of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ) provided a platform for speakers from across North and Far North Queensland to address the challenge of labour shortages in the region and present forward-looking pathways to securing a workforce with the skills needed now and into the future. Based on the presentations delivered by the expert panel, including Riccardo Welters, economist from James Cook University, Claudia Brumme-Smith and Tracey Holmes from Townsville Enterprise Limited, Hurriyet Babacan and Margaret Marty on behalf of the Rural Economies Centre of Excellence (RECoE), this article in conversation with Kaylee Boccalatte, from the Burdekin Shire, will address workforce matters as they exist in rural and regional North Queensland and propose solutions to address the ongoing issue of labour and skill shortages. Through the lens of lived North Queensland experience, various policy implications are addressed within this paper. These include developing a framework for localised open data initiatives, a framework for agricultural education and skilling pathways, improving regional and rural liveability and, finally, proactive consultation.

Review of Blood Cultures Taken From Arterial Lines in James Cook University Hospital: Contamination Analysis And Comparison With Venous Samples

BACKGROUND: Blood cultures are crucial diagnostic tools for identifying and treating bloodstream infections. Traditionally, venous blood is the preferred source for sample acquisition, but arterial lines offer an alternative. However, concerns regarding contamination and diagnostic accuracy have been raised, questioning the reliability of arterial line blood cultures. This study aimed to evaluate the contamination rates of arterial line blood cultures at James-Cook University Hospital (JCUH), UK and compare them with venous samples to understand their clinical utility better. METHODS: A comprehensive retrospective review analysed 17,643 blood culture samples collected between September 2022 and March 2023 at JCUH. Among these, 109 arterial line blood cultures and 785 venous peripheral adult samples were included for data analysis. Contamination rates were calculated as the number of positive blood cultures with contaminants per total positive samples (arterial or venous). The incidence of contamination was defined as the number of total blood cultures reported with contaminants per total samples (arterial or venous). No discrimination was made based on the number of contaminants found. Clinical information accompanying the blood cultures, such as the specification of arterial lines as 'new' samples, was also considered. RESULTS: The overall contamination rate at JCUH was found to be 4.99%. Specifically, the contamination rate for venous samples was 49.26%, while arterial samples had a higher contamination rate of 56.52%. The incidence of contamination from arterial samples was 11.92%, significantly higher than the incidence rate for venous samples at 3.18%. Most arterial samples were requested from intensive care units (ICUs) and highly dependent wards (HDUs), indicating potential areas for targeted interventions to improve blood culture collection practices. CONCLUSION: Arterial blood cultures demonstrated higher contamination rates compared to venous samples, raising concerns about their reliability. Contamination in arterial samples, particularly when collected from critically ill patients in ICUs and HDUs, can lead to inappropriate use of antibiotics, delayed, or missed diagnosis, and suboptimal patient outcomes. The study recommends targeted interventions to improve arterial blood culture collection practices and further training for healthcare workers involved in arterial line care. Encouraging the use of only 'new' arterial lines and implementing standardized protocols can help reduce contamination rates. Furthermore, the study identified certain limitations, such as potential human errors in data analysis and the need for a larger dataset of arterial line cultures. Extending the analysis to compare different sample sources like CVCs, Hickman lines, and central lines could provide a more comprehensive understanding of contamination rates across various culture collection methods. In conclusion, venous samples showed higher clinical favourability with a lower contamination rate, providing increased dependability for accurate diagnosis and management. Although some studies have not shown clear superiority of arterial samples over venous samples, this analysis highlights considerable differences in contamination rates, suggesting a potential inferiority of arterial blood culture samples. While efforts can be made to optimize the consistency of arterial samples and reduce contamination rates, their use should be approached with caution. Implementing the recommended measures is essential for accurate diagnosis, improved patient outcomes, and effective antibiotic management in clinical practice.

Interprofessional Collaboration to Develop and Deliver Domestic Violence Curriculum to Dental Students

ABSTRACT Domestic violence (DV) is a serious social problem that impacts significantly on communities globally. While dentists are uniquely positioned to identify patients who experience DV, there is limited content specifically addressing the issue in their undergraduate training. James Cook University (JCU) dental students revealed this gap, and, in response, an interprofessional collaboration between JCU Social Work, JCU Dentistry and the Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service was established to codesign and deliver the Dentists and Domestic Violence—Recognise, Respond and Refer program, evaluated through Participatory Action Research (PAR) cycles. The program is informed by critical and feminist social work theory with a gendered analysis of DV. The authors present the program’s evolution and examine the four elements identified as central to its success: interprofessional collaboration, critical and feminist theory and gendered analysis, scaffolded content, and skills-based activities. This article will provide a guide for others starting work in this space. IMPLICATIONS Designing and implementing an interprofessional domestic violence curriculum informed by critical theory and tailored for dental students’ can help meet their learning needs. Collaboratively educating dental students to recognise and respond to domestic violence cases will enable appropriate clinical interactions with patients who are victim-survivors of domestic violence and improve the quality of referrals and interactions with community support services. Undertaking evaluation research that guides effective domestic violence training for students across disciplines contributes to addressing domestic violence.

Shear strength of stockpiled coking coal – Existing data

Flowslides and stability issues have occurred periodically within stockpiles of coking (metallurgical) coal at coal processing plants and export terminals in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, and to a lesser degree in New South Wales, since the early 1970s. A description of the issue and summary of research at James Cook University (JCU) from 1973 to 2000 was published in ACARP Report C4057 (Eckersley, 2000). Eckersley (2022) partly updated that work with SEEP/W transient seepage modelling of a 12 m high coal stockpile constructed at Hay Point in late 1991 for which initial moisture content, pore water pressures at the stockpile base, outflows from subsoil drains and final density and moisture profiles were measured. This provided a good starting point for modelling of moisture movements within production coal stockpiles as required for meaningful slope stability analyses. The current paper provides an accessible summary of available data from laboratory shear strength testing of coking coal to assist in selection and critical assessment of parameters for slope stability analyses of coal stockpiles. This includes data for saturated coal likely to form the base of a stockpile and currently limited data for unsaturated coal forming the bulk of a stockpile. It then highlights some issues in the selection of parameters for stability analyses of coal stockpiles.

Shear strength of stockpiled coking coal – Insights from stability analysis of two instrumented stockpiles

ACARP Report C4057 (Eckersley, 2000) describes flowslides and other stability issues in stockpiles of coking (metallurgical) coal at Australian coal operations and export terminals, and summarizes 1973 to 2000 research at James Cook University (JCU). Eckersley (2022) partly updated that work with SEEP/W transient seepage modelling of a 12m high coal stockpile constructed at Hay Point in late 1991. Eckersley (2023) summarized available laboratory strength data for saturated and unsaturated coking coal to assist in selection and critical assessment of parameters for slope stability analyses of coal stockpiles. The current paper explores application of this data to stability analyses of two instrumented experimental stockpiles constructed at Hay Point, one of which collapsed suddenly and completely by flowsliding after extensive wetting. The stability analysis results tentatively confirm that the parameters and approach proposed are reasonable where stockpiles are subject to potential liquefaction-induced collapse. Significant questions raised by Eckersley (2023) regarding how the coking coal strength data should be applied are considered in the context of the stability analyses. The analyses tentatively confirm that effective strength parameters for saturated coal derived from peak deviator stress in isotropically consolidated, undrained (CIU), strain controlled triaxial tests are reasonable. For loose saturated coal these are at low strains and substantially less than critical state values. However, for unsaturated coal forming the bulk of a stockpile, unsaturated strength and apparent cohesion should be assessed from the effective friction angle at critical state and not the value mobilized at low strains. Use of total stress parameters derived from testing unsaturated coal may over-estimate factor of safety.

Why do we do what we do?

In the fifty years since I became a scientist, there have been many changes in the way we work, in the tools we use, in the software we have available to us and much more. But our motivation to “Do what we do” hasn’t really changed at all. A survey carried out many years ago in Brazil asked biologists why they became biologists. Answers included going to the beach with the family and making shell collections and then trying to identify them; being involved in backyard bird surveys; catching butterflies in the local meadows, etc. In my own case, it was working on the farm with my father who, at least to me at the time, knew every native plant in the area as well as the grasses and crop plants. I began collecting and pressing grasses at a young age, and those collections are now housed in the herbaria of the University of New England and James Cook University of North Queensland. I am sure that most of you here have similar stories. In this presentation, I talk about the changes that I have seen over those fifty years in the way we work, including working at the Australian Biodiversity Resources Study (ABRS) on the Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) and the Flora of Australia; the Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN) on digitisation projects; environmental, species and climate change modelling; data quality and decision support systems; with the Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental (CRIA) on data quality and niche modelling; and on projects for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), The Global Environment Facility of the World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bioversity International, and others on a range of topics including on the conservation of crop wild relatives, reserve selection, rapid biodiversity assessment, data quality, and georeferencing—and, of course, Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG). I’ll also touch on working with citizen science and tools such as iNaturalist. One key change in the way we work now compared to those early years is in the way we collaborate. A lot of that collaboration has been enhanced and made possible by the Internet: email, the World Wide Web, video conferencing, and chat tools like Zoom. Previously we published some research and then later another person would see that research and add to it, etc. This could take years for advancements to take place. Now, we collaborate: across institutions, countries and across the globe and that has sped up the rate our science can advance. TDWG has been a great example of that collaboration, along with agencies such as GBIF. So where will our science take us over the next fifty years? I have no idea, but the advances are likely to be at least as great as the last fifty, so I envy the young scientists in the audience just starting out and getting to grips with artificial intelligence (AI) and all that is likely to bring. We should be wary of AI—but not scared of it—just like computing fifty years ago. In conclusion, what then motivates us to continue to “Do what we do” well past retirement age? In my own case, my motivation throughout my life, has been to add to the biodiversity knowledge base so that those who come after me start at a far better knowledge level than would otherwise have been the case.

Mister Who?

The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom The authors report no conflicts of interest. [email protected]

Shedding skin renews gecko's grip

Grazed knees are a fact of life for most kids, but human skin heals gradually and scabs are soon gone. Geckos, on the other hand, shed their skin all at once, repairing scrapes and tears at the same time. So when Rishab Pillai from James Cook University, Australia, noticed damage on the toe pads of velvet geckos, he was curious to find out how breaks in the adhesive skin on gecko soles affects their ability to cling to surfaces and whether sloughing their skin and rejuvenating adhesive structures restores their sticking powers. Pillai housed 27 geckos – including northern velvet geckos (Oedura castelnaui), ocellated velvet geckos (Oedura monilis) and dowdier Kristin's spiny tailed geckos (Strophurus krisalys) – in plastic enclosures that would be gentle on their feet. Then, he photographed the reptiles’ right feet – front and back – with help from Jendrian Riedel (Bielefeld University, Germany) and Lin Schwarzkopf (James Cook University) to calculate each gecko's sticky surface area. Next, he periodically checked the adhesive strength of the reptiles’ feet over 30 days as the animals walked on horizontal glass by giving them a gentle tug backwards – resulting in wear and tear to the soles of their feet – until the geckos eventually discarded their aged skin. Sure enough, the geckos’ ability to cling on declined after each tug and Pillai could see damaged areas that were no longer sticky on the animals’ toes.Once the reptiles had renewed their skin, Pillai allowed them to scamper around their enclosures for several weeks to find out how normal wear and tear affected their adhesive strength and, sure enough, it took less of a toll than tugging repeatedly had. Finally, Pillai checked the geckos’ adhesion within a few days of them replacing their skin again and this time the reptiles’ stickiness recovered almost perfectly.So, shedding their skin replaces damaged sticking structures that allow geckos to get a grip on any surface, and Pillai and his colleagues are keen to find out how clambering on more rugged surfaces might impact the reptiles’ extraordinary stickability in the run up to getting a new skin.

Front Matter

Message from the General Chair Ladies and Gentlemen,Good morning!Welcome to Xi’an to participate in the 2023 International Conference on Non-Traditional Machining and Intelligent Manufacturing. On behalf of the 24,110 teachers and students of Xi’an Technological University, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the researchers and scholars from all over the world and congratulations on the successful conference.It is a great pleasure to see so many scholars attending this conference; I sincerely welcome all scholars to attend the annual academic conference. NTMIM is a high-level international forum for engineers and scientists to state their innovative ideas and research results. It is also a multi-track international forum for academics, practitioners and research students to exchange their ideas, techniques, methods, and applications for the latest technology.This is the fourth session and it has been a series conference every one or two years. For this conference, it solicits high-quality papers in the following disciplines: Non-Traditional Machining Technology, Intelligent Manufacturing, Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Special Processing Technology. The conference had received nearly 200 manuscripts; the quality of the papers received at this time was significantly higher than the last and accepted 48 papers after two rounds of double-blind reviews. The acceptance rate is about 24%.The conference is mainly organized by Xi’an Technological University and State and Provincial Joint Engineering Research Center of Precision and Ultra-Precision Machining and Measurement, Located in Xi’an, China, supported by the College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University London, UK, University of California, Merced (UCM), USA, Missouri Western State University, USA, James Cook University, Australia, University of Huddersfield UK, and many other world-class universities. Without the support of these universities, the conference would not have been held successfully. On behalf of the conference general Chair, I would like to say thank you.Xi’an is an ancient capital with a history of 3,000 years. It is a place where scholars exchange technologies and travel is full of beauty. I believe that our meeting will convey friendship, exchange academic views and communicate the future. Just like the theme of the conference, Cooperation! Exchange! Communication! Welcome to Xi’an.Ph.D. Zhao XiangmoProf. and President of Xi'an Technological University, ChinaDirector of 111 Project on Information of Vehicle-Infrastructure Sensing and ITS, China.List of Sponsors name list and individual logos, Message from the Program Chair, Organizing Committee, Optional Additional Front Matters are available in this pdf.

The conjunctival fungal microflora of horses in a North Queensland tropical environment and their in vitro susceptibilities to antifungal agents

Fungi are ubiquitous in the environment and part of the commensal microflora on the conjunctiva of equine eyes. North Queensland, being tropical, presents an ideal environment for fungi growth. When the cornea is injured, fungi can invade the corneal stroma, resulting in keratomycosis. The objectives of this study were to determine the fungal species specific to the eyes of horses in the Townsville region; to investigate the potential risk factors associated with the presence of fungi; and to test their susceptibility to antifungals to create an empirical guide for treatment. The eyes of forty ophthalmologically normal horses from James Cook University were sampled throughout the summer months of December 2017, January 2018, and January and February 2020. Cultured fungi were identified morphologically, and their identity confirmed by comparing partial 18sRNA DNA sequences with the NCBI nucleotide database. Minimum inhibitory concentration testing of common antifungal medications was performed. Sixty-one out of eighty conjunctival samples grew fungi, and 21 different fungi genera were isolated. The most common genera were Aspergillus (18%, 26/141), Curvularia (14%,20/141), Rhodotorula (12%,17/141) and Penicillium (12%,17/141). No significant association was found between age or environmental factors and fungal culture status. Most fungi were highly susceptible to voriconazole and ketoconazole but resistant to fluconazole and amphotericin B. This adds to the body of evidence on which species of fungi are present as normal ocular microflora of horses living in tropical regions of Australia, and an avenue for treating them.

Lung cancer screening: The pulmonologist, the thoracic surgeon and working together in a team.

Lung cancer screening: The pulmonologist, the thoracic surgeon and working together in a team.

The Echoes of Noise: Residential Exposure to Traffic and Risk of Tinnitus.

The Echoes of Noise: Residential Exposure to Traffic and Risk of Tinnitus.