The University of Melbourne

Mega water projects and their chain reactions: central-provincial dynamics in Chinese hydropolitics

Scholarship on China’s South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) project has examined its motivations, implementation and socio-political and hydrological consequences, yet limited attention has been paid to how mega-projects may generate ‘chain reactions’. This article examines addi...

The effect of augmented protein intake on nitrogen balance: A nested cohort study of the TARGET protein trial

Purpose The impact of augmenting enteral protein delivery on nitrogen balance, urea generation, and kidney function in critically ill patients remains poorly defined. This study aimed to investigate these effects in a nested cohort within the TARGET Protein trial. Methods We cond...

Cognitive Behavior vs Bright Light Therapy for Insomnia in Women Undergoing Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer

Importance Women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer experience insomnia and fatigue, which impair quality of life. To date, no randomized clinical trial (RCT) has evaluated the use of cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and bright light therapy (BLT) both alone...

Pre-existing systemic and nasal antibodies against avian H5 influenza A viruses vary according to childhood imprinting

Avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) pose a constant pandemic threat, with the recent 2.3.4.4b clade of the H5 subtype causing high pathogenicity and spreading across animal species and geographic locations. Understanding human pre-existing immunity to avian H5 IAV can inform on popu...

From Ambiguity to Execution: An Agentic Neuro-Symbolic Framework for Transforming Building Regulations into Deterministic Constraints

Integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into Automated Compliance Checking (ACC) introduces "Spatial Hallucinations" and "Serialization Bottlenecks" when processing massive Building Information Models (BIM). This research proposes an Agentic Neuro-Symbolic Framework that decoupl...

Fast and noise-aware machine learning variational quantum eigensolver optimiser

Abstract The Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) is a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for preparing ground states in the current era of noisy devices. The classical component of the algorithm requires a large number of measurements on intermediate parameter values that are t...

Deep molecular profiling of lung neuroendocrine tumours and supra-carcinoids

BACKGROUND: Lung neuroendocrine tumours (NETs, also known as carcinoids) are rapidly rising in incidence worldwide but have unknown aetiology and limited therapeutic options beyond surgery. The current WHO classification, based on mitotic count and presence or absence of necrosis...

Eucalypt bark thickness and density are explained more by landscape aridity and species than by fire frequency

Context Bark thickness and density are key traits protecting tree cambium from lethal fire temperatures, and may become increasingly important for tree survival as fire frequency and landscape aridity shift under climate change. However, it is unknown how these traits vary with f...

Do weather-related extreme events influence climate-related opinions? The case of the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer bushfires

Abstract We report three studies examining the impact of the 2019–2020 Australian bushfires, known as the Black Summer, on Australians’ climate-related opinions. Study 1 was conducted before the peak of the bushfires, whereas studies 2 and 3 were conducted afterwards. In all stud...

How “Micro” Is Microperimetry? Characterizing the Effect of Fundus Tracking on the Psychometric Function

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify whether fundus tracking in microperimetry improves psychometric parameter estimation (as an in vivo demonstration of improved stimulus-delivery precision), and to derive a psychometrically grounded criterion intensity for suprath...

The ageing immune system and its battle with viruses

Graphical Abstract Virus-specific immunity and correlates of protection change across human life: children encounter first infections/vaccinations when they are immunologically naïve, whereas cumulative exposure histories in older adults shape their immunity.

Characteristics of Vaping Prevention Advertisements: Are Evidence-Based Approaches Being Adopted?

PurposeHealth communication campaigns are an effective and widely used approach to changing health-related behaviours and thus represent a potential means by which vaping among young people can be addressed. To inform the development of future campaigns, this study aimed to docum...

An analysis of the cytokine profile of platelet-rich plasma when combined in vitro with low versus high molecular weight hyaluronic acid

Aims: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and hyaluronic acid (HA) are nonoperative treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) of large joints. Clinically, some endorse the use of both methods together for a theoretical synergistic effect therapeutically, with limited evidence. This study aimed t...

Integration of lipidomic and polygenic risk scores within contemporary clinical cardiovascular risk assessment pathways: a multi-cohort development and validation study

Background Guideline-recommended clinical risk scores such as AusCVDRisk underestimate cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in a substantial proportion of individuals who later experience events, with up to 65% initially classified as low or intermediate risk. This limitation is mos...

Quantifying evaporation depth from on-farm storages using water-level observations

Evaporation from on-farm storages represents a potentially significant yet poorly quantified component of water loss in agricultural systems. The performance of commonly used open-water evaporation models, many of which were developed for large lakes and reservoirs, on small (man...

Selective photoacoustic handling of microparticles via annular laser beams

Precise manipulation of bioparticles in micro- and nano-fluidic environments is crucial for applications in cancer diagnostics, drug delivery, and single‑cell analysis. Despite the optical and acoustic tweezers provide high accuracy and stability, their flexibility and selectivit...

Daratumumab, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone in transplant-ineligible newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: MAIA final survival analysis

Abstract In previous analyses of MAIA, daratumumab plus lenalidomide/dexamethasone (D-Rd) significantly improved progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) versus lenalidomide/dexamethasone (Rd) in transplant-ineligible newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM). We report...

Rethinking Top Public Management Through Relational Dynamics: A Systems‐Informed Study of Senior Executives

ABSTRACT The complex nature of top public managerial work is widely acknowledged in theory but rarely examined empirically. Existing research has mostly analyzed bivariate relationships among core components of top managerial work in government, including managers' attributes, pr...

Nicotine Pouch Advertising and Sales in Australia: A Qualitative Study of Younger People's Experiences

ABSTRACT Issue Addressed Their position as a target demographic of the tobacco industry means younger people are best placed to provide information on the activities of industry actors in relation to nicotine pouches. Accordingly, we aimed to qualitatively examine younger people'...

Correlation of polygenic risk score and clinical phenotype in patients with genetic generalized epilepsy

Abstract Objective The polygenic risk score (PRS) for individuals with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) quantifies the common risk variants in genes identified in genome‐wide association studies. We hypothesized that the phenotype of GGE patients differs based on their GGE PRS....