A Comparison of Various Correction and Blending Techniques for Creating an Improved Satellite-Gauge Rainfall Dataset over Australia

Satellites offer a way of estimating rainfall away from rain gauges which can be utilised to overcome the limitations imposed by gauge density on traditional rain gauge analyses. In this study, Australian station data along with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP) and the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BOM) Australian Gridded Climate Dataset (AGCD) rainfall analysis are combined to develop an improved satellite-gauge rainfall analysis over Australia that uses the strengths of the respective data sources. We investigated a variety of correction and blending methods with the aim of identifying the optimal blended dataset. The correction methods investigated were linear corrections to totals and anomalies, in addition to quantile-to-quantile matching. The blending methods tested used weights based on the error variance to MSWEP (Multi-Source Weighted Ensemble Product), distance to the closest gauge, and the error from a triple collocation analysis to ERA5 and Soil Moisture to Rain. A trade-off between away-from- and at-station performances was found, meaning there was a complementary nature between specific correction and blending methods. The most high-performance dataset was one corrected linearly to totals and subsequently blended to AGCD using an inverse error variance technique. This dataset demonstrated improved accuracy over its previous version, largely rectifying erroneous patches of excessive rainfall. Its modular use of individual datasets leads to potential applicability in other regions of the world.

Strengthening health promotion practice: capacity development for a transdisciplinary field

The growing burden of non-communicable and newly emerging communicable diseases, multi-morbidity, increasing health inequalities, the health effects of climate change and natural disasters and the revolution in communication technology require a shift of focus towards more preventive, people-centred and community-based health services. This has implications for the health workforce, which needs to develop new capacities and skills, many of which are at the core of health promotion. Health promotion is thus being mainstreamed into modern public health. For health promotion, this offers both opportunities and challenges. A stronger focus on the enablers of health enhances the strategic importance of health promotion’s whole-of-society approach to health, showcases the achievements of health promotion with regard to core professional competencies, and helps build public health capacity with health promotion accents. On the other hand, mainstreaming health promotion can weaken its organizational capacity and visibility, and bears the risk of it being absorbed into a traditional public health discourse dominated by medical professions. To address these challenges and grasp the opportunities, it is essential for the health promotion workforce to position itself within the diversifying primary care and public health field. Taking the transdisciplinary status of health promotion and existing capacity development systems in primary and secondary prevention and health promotion as reference points, this paper considers the possibilities to integrate and implement health promotion capacities within and across disciplinary boundaries, arguing that the contribution of health promotion to public health development lies in the complementary nature of specialist and mainstreamed health promotion.

Explaining medical students' learning outcomes in blended course designs: Combining self-reported and observational learning experiences

Blended course designs have been increasingly adopted in medical education. However, research on the relations between the key aspects of students' learning experience and their learning outcomes often only measure students' self-reported experience, neglecting what they actually do in learning. This study combined both self-reported and observational measures of students' learning experiences and examined the relations between the two sets of measures and their contributions to learning outcomes. Australian medical students were asked to report their approaches to, and perceptions of, learning. Their frequency and duration of their interactions with both online formative and summative tasks were observed and recorded. Correlation analyses showed that the learning outcomes was positively related to deep approaches to using online technologies and duration of interactions with online summative tasks. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis found that the self-reported approaches and duration of interactions jointed explained the learning outcomes, accounting for 6% of the variance. The study demonstrated the complementary nature of using both self-reported and observational measures of students' learning experiences to explain the learning outcomes in blended course designs.

Extracurricular activities – the determinant segment in strengthening key-competences

Extracurricular activities do not represent a segment of the curriculum domain, but involve purposes aimed at skills development promoted through educational programs, thus confirming the complementary nature of teaching activities carried out during direct contact hours. Education exceeds the limits of curricular requirements, the role of extracurricular activities becoming paramount in the personality formation who tends to knowledge, performance, result and progress.

Modeling Hybrid Hydro-Electro-Mechanical Power-Split Propulsion Systems

Hydrostatic and hydro-mechanical transmissions (HSTs and HMTs, respectively) are commonly used in off-highway vehicles. While both transmission technologies can provide continuously variable torque or speed ratios, they suffer from poor efficiencies and limited operating ranges. Electric variable transmissions (EVTs), in contrast, offer complementary strengths via higher efficiencies at low forward and reverse speeds, full torque from zero to full power, and increased control capabilities. While HST, HMT, and EVT powertrain architectures are not novel, the authors are not aware of work integrating these technologies into hydro-electro-mechanical (HEMT) transmission architectures. Thus, this research aimed to develop a physical modeling methodology to explore different power-split transmission technologies using hydraulic, electrical, and mechanical pathways to understand how the complementary nature of the technologies could be used for overall power transmission performance. Steady-state modeling was performed using the Modelica® (Modelica Association) modeling language in the Dymola (Dassault Systems®) integrated development environment. Overall efficiency vs. output speed was presented for HMT, EMT, and HEMT input-coupled architectures, including circulating power considerations. This research extends the state-of-the-art of off-road powertrain technologies by providing the literature an exemplar modeling of HEMT coupling techniques, system integration, and power flow architectures in Modelica® modeling language.

Complementary Fourier Single-Pixel Imaging

Single-pixel imaging, with the advantages of a wide spectrum, beyond-visual-field imaging, and robustness to light scattering, has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Fourier single-pixel imaging (FSI) can reconstruct sharp images under sub-Nyquist sampling. However, the conventional FSI has difficulty balancing imaging quality and efficiency. To overcome this issue, we proposed a novel approach called complementary Fourier single-pixel imaging (CFSI) to reduce the number of measurements while retaining its robustness. The complementary nature of Fourier patterns based on a four-step phase-shift algorithm is combined with the complementary nature of a digital micromirror device. CFSI only requires two phase-shifted patterns to obtain one Fourier spectral value. Four light intensity values are obtained by loading the two patterns, and the spectral value is calculated through differential measurement, which has good robustness to noise. The proposed method is verified by simulations and experiments compared with FSI based on two-, three-, and four-step phase shift algorithms. CFSI performed better than the other methods under the condition that the best imaging quality of CFSI is not reached. The reported technique provides an alternative approach to realize real-time and high-quality imaging.

Complementary Teaching Approaches Facilitating Interdisciplinary Soil Science Education

The complementary nature of different teaching approaches in facilitating student learning are rarely discussed in the literature. This study compared diverse teaching approaches in soil science education to explore how a combination of instructional approaches can support student learning. Student perspectives on lectures, problem-based learning, and experiential learning in three upper-level university soil science courses were assessed through student enrolment data and survey responses. Results emphasize the benefits of integrating theory and practice, and support the integration of concepts from soil physics, chemistry and biology within individual courses. All respondents who took two or more courses, indicated that the distinct teaching approaches, and the integration of soil physics, chemistry and biology within individual courses were beneficial to their learning. Lectures and problem-based learning were seen as pedagogically reciprocal, with theory supporting the application of knowledge for 75% students, while others noted that having the management course first, provided context for learning additional theory. A subset of students (n=9) indicated the relevance of the interdisciplinary nature of the courses for their current employment. Our findings suggest that combining knowledge-based and competency-based approaches may support both student learning and workforce demands, and that diverse teaching approaches can work together to support student learning. The research outcomes call for fellow instructors to diverge from the dichotomy of passive and active learning, and to consider the complementary nature of distinct teaching strategies.

Narrative reporting as a journalistic genre in Spain between literature and journalism

The relationship between literature and journalism is regarded as ambiguous and conflicting. It would be necessary to underline the complementary nature of the two creative dimensions of human communication in order to assess the combination of creative resources available. By virtue of the exchange of stylistic and structural techniques and strategies produced at the crossroads of the two fields, it is essential to devote attention to the hybrid genres originated by such an encounter, as is the case with narrative reporting. Therefore, this study analyzes its connotative elements, reviewing the evolution of the leading classification theories of journalistic genres in the Spanish context from a comparative perspective.

How to put forest and conservation genomics into motion for and with Indigenous communities?

Sustainable management and conservation (SMC) projects for natural resources in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples using a genomics approach are increasing in number. Information and tools/applications derived from genomics can be useful to them, particularly in the context of climate change. However, the challenge of translating these applications into practice and harnessing them to serve Indigenous communities remains. We present an exploratory literature review that addresses: (1) the demonstrated utility of genomics in SMC projects involving Indigenous Peoples, (2) some issues that may limit the adoption of genomics tools, and (3) the collaborative work between researchers and Indigenous communities in the analyzed studies. The demonstrated uses identified were largely of a socioecological nature. The complementary nature of Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge in genomics was recognized as an opportunity that should be further developed to address current challenges such as climate change. Regarding the adoption into practice of this technology in SMC projects, in addition to similar issues with other end users, the integration of the needs, traditional values and knowledge of Indigenous communities in genomics projects also represents a challenge in the context of the decolonization of genomics research. Finally, community-researcher collaboration was identified as a key element in promoting the successful uptake of genomics in SMC.