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Despite the known affordances of Arts-Based Research Practice within the international education environment, its use remains relatively uncommon in Western Australia. The reasons for this are likely the contested nature of quality criteria by which Arts-Based Practice is evaluated as well as the challenges as well associated with the dissemination of research findings. Mixed-methods research is increasingly recognised as an appropriate and practical approach for education phenomena, and within this domain, inquiry that combines traditional qualitative and arts-based strategies offers the education researcher advantages that are not readily available through other approaches. As professional artists and researchers we share our experiences in employing our visual arts specialism within a qualitative approach. Our focus for inquiry was a “Digital Sabbath” intervention (a practice of regularly unplugging from all technology/devices with the aim of increasing social connectedness and mitigating stress) with seven early career visual arts teachers whose voices and experience of the digital disruption might otherwise have remained silenced. The importance of the study was both that we trialed a well-being intervention, but also that we innovated our methodological research repertoire by combining traditional and contemporary elements of the Qualitative paradigm.

Aims/Objectives: To assess the feasibility of a nurse-led heart failure (HF) education program using the Self-Care Heart Failure Index (SCHFI) instrument. Background: HF is a frequent and burdensome condition requiring support with self-care management strategies and education. Translating best practice to health services is important in improving health outcomes. Design: Longitudinal quasi-experimental design. Methods: A convenience sample of (N = 41) patients with HF. We implemented a nurse-led education program with 30-day post-discharge home-based telephone follow-up. The SCHFI was used to measure self-care behaviors. 30-day readmission rates were assessed. Results: A significant difference was found in scores for self-care maintenance (p ≤ .001) and self-care management (p ≤ .001) subscales, not self-care confidence. There was no statistically significant difference between 30-day HF readmission rates. Conclusions: Findings suggest that the nurse-led evidence-based HF education program improved self-care behaviors and decreased 30-day readmissions. There is a need for continued development of interventions focused on improving patient self-care confidence.

The strongest predictor of nurse job dissatisfaction and intent to leave is that of stress in the practice environment. Good communication, control over practice, decision making at the bedside, teamwork, and nurse empowerment have been found to increase nurse satisfaction and decrease turnover. In this article we share our experience of developing a rapid-design process to change the approach to performance improvement so as to increase engagement, empowerment, effectiveness, and the quality of the professional practice environment. Meal and non-meal breaks were identified as the target area for improvement. Qualitative and quantitative data support the success of this project. We begin this article with a review of literature related to work environment and retention and a presentation of the frameworks used to improve the work environment, specifically Maslow’s theory of the Hierarchy of Inborn Needs and the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators™ Survey. We then describe our performance improvement project and share our conclusion and recommendations.

Central to this phenomenological inquiry is the question of how students' fundamental needs of belonging, trust and connection are enacted in arts classrooms. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews, this research explores the teaching practices of 23 expert arts teachers in Western Australian schools, revealing strategies to sustain supportive and safe learning environments. The findings highlight the disconnection students face in their schools and the significance of trust in embracing diversity, cultivating quality relationships, and empowering student voice. Understanding these evolving practices can enable less experienced teachers to adapt arts-based approaches to foster inclusive spaces that prioritise student well-being and connection.

Where many secondary schools employ specialist art teachers to deliver their education programs in Western Australia, the same cannot be said for primary schools or early childhood centres. In both government and independent sectors across K–6, it is most often the case that visual arts (and the arts generally) are taught by generalist teachers whose preservice training encompassed only minor studies in the arts disciplines. Consequently, there is often a variable quality of art education provided to primary students. As a strategy to support quality arts education outcomes for children in the primary years, Artist-in-Residence (AiR) programs have been shown to have merit. This article presents an overview of an Artist-in-Residence program that has operated in Western Australia since 2007 and provides case studies through which the enrichment and inclusion benefits of artists working in schools are examined.

Incarceration costs are high; in Australia, for example, each prisoner costs an average of AUD 115,000 per year. Other countries are also feeling the fiscal pinch of high incarceration costs, and a number of jurisdictions are now closing some of their prisons. Most prison costs are non-discretionary (accommodation, meals, etc.). But some of the costs relate to discretionary activities, services and facilities (including schooling). In terms of correctional education, many prison managers try to invest any meagre correctional education resources available to them in those classes and courses which have proven to have the best results, such as improved labour market outcomes and reduced recidivism, minimising subsequent re-imprisonment. Course offers for prisoner-students include vocational training, adult basic education (ABE) and art studies. The two-tiered question this paper asks is: do art classes and courses produce these measurable outcomes and, if not, are there other reasons why they should continue to be funded? Addressing these issues, the authors argue that (1) these measurable outcomes are too narrow and do not reflect the complex but less quantifiable benefits to the individual and the community of studying art in prison, and (2) better measures of all impacts of art studies in prisons are needed, including qualitative and humanitarian aspects. Rôle de l'éducation artistique dans les prisons pour adultes: expérience de l'État d'Australie-Occidentale - Les coûts pénitentiaires sont élevés. En Australie par exemple, chaque détenu coûte en moyenne 115 000 dollars australiens par an. D'autres pays ressentent également les conséquences fiscales des frais élevés d'incarcération, et de nombreuses juridictions ferment aujourd'hui une partie de leurs prisons. La majorité des frais carcéraux sont non discrétionnaires (héberge ment, repas, etc.). Mais une partie finance des activités, prestations et infrastructures discrétionnaires (y compris l'enseignement). En termes d'enseignement en milieu carcéral, de nombreux directeurs de prison essayent d'investir toute ressource éducative, si maigre soit-elle, dont ils disposent dans les cours et stages qui pro duisent les résultats les plus probants, tels que meilleurs débouchés sur le marché du travail et réduction des récidives, qui diminuent les incarcérations renouvelées. Les cours proposés aux détenus englobent formation professionnelle, éducation de base des adultes et études artistiques. La question à deux niveaux que pose le présent article est la suivante: les cours et stages artistiques produisent-ils ces résultats mesurables, et dans la négative, d'autres raisons justifient-elles le maintien de leur financement ? En analysant ces questions, les auteures constatent que (1) ces résultats mesurables sont trop restrictifs et ne reflètent pas les bienfaits complexes mais moins quantifiables pour l'individu et la communauté d'étudier l'art en prison; et (2) des mesures améliorées de tous les impacts de l'apprentissage artistique en prison sont nécessaires, y compris les aspects qualitatifs et humanitaires.

Particulate matter in the showcase of the Bayeux embroidery was studied for 8 months in order to determine the conservation state of this precious and fragile work of art. Both the suspended and deposited particles were observed, analysed, and quantified. Microclimatic conditions were also monitored. This study presents different methods for the qualification (SEM–EDS and ion chromatography) and quantification (haze, surface coverage, deposition thickness, fibre concentration) of the deposition of particulate matter in such an environment. It allowed the evaluation of the hazard represented by particulate matter for the piece of art and the effectiveness of the measures taken to preserve it, namely air filtration in its over-pressured showcase. The results are very positive, since the PM concentration is very low (ISO 8 regarding the ISO 14644-1 norm) and dust deposition is still negligible after five and a half month.

Providing timely information on urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their trends to stakeholders relies on reliable measurements of atmospheric concentrations and the understanding of how local emissions and atmospheric transport influence these observations. Portable Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers were deployed at five stations in the Paris metropolitan area to provide column-averaged concentrations of CO 2 (XCO 2) during a field campaign in spring of 2015, as part of the Col-laborative Carbon Column Observing Network (COCCON). Here, we describe and analyze the variations of XCO 2 observed at different sites and how they changed over time. We find that observations upwind and downwind of the city centre differ significantly in their XCO 2 concentrations, while the overall variability of the daily cycle is similar, i.e. increasing during night-time with a strong decrease (typically 2-3 ppm) during the afternoon. An atmospheric transport model framework (CHIMERE-CAMS) was used to simulate XCO 2 and predict the same behaviour seen in the observations, which supports key findings , e.g. that even in a densely populated region like Paris (over 12 million people), biospheric uptake of CO 2 can be of major influence on daily XCO 2 variations. Despite a general offset between modelled and observed XCO 2 , the model correctly predicts the impact of the meteorological parameters (e.g. wind direction and speed) on the concentration gradients between different stations. When analyzing local gradients of XCO 2 for upwind and downwind station pairs, those local gradients are found to be less sensitive to changes in XCO 2 boundary conditions and biogenic fluxes within the domain and we find the model-data agreement further improves. Our modelling framework indicates that the local XCO 2 gradient between the stations is dominated by the fossil fuel CO 2 signal of the Paris metropolitan area. This further highlights the potential usefulness of XCO 2 observations to help optimize future urban GHG emission estimates.

The anticipated increase in solar energy production in West Africa requires high-quality solar radiation estimates, which is affected by meteorological conditions and in particular the presence of desert dust aerosols. This study examines the impact of incorporating desert dust into solar radiation and surface temperature estimations. The research focuses on a case study of a dust event in March 2021, which is characteristic of the dry season in West Africa. Significant desert aerosol emissions at the Bodélé depression are associated with a Harmattan flow that transports the plume westwards. Simulations of this dust event were conducted using the WRF meteorological model alone, as well as coupled with the CHIMERE chemistry-transport model, using three different datasets for the dust aerosol initial and boundary conditions (CAMS, GOCART, MERRA2). Results show that considering desert dust reduces estimation errors in global horizontal irradiance (GHI) by about 75%. The dust plume caused an average 18% reduction in surface solar radiation during the event. Additionally, the simulations indicated a positive bias in aerosol optical depth (AOD) and PM10 surface concentrations. The choice of dataset for initial and boundary conditions minimally influenced GHI, surface temperature, and AOD estimates, whereas PM10 concentrations and aerosol size distribution were significantly affected. This study underscores the importance of incorporating dust aerosols into solar forecasting for better accuracy. Short summary Solar energy production in West Africa is set to rise, needing accurate solar radiation estimates, which is affected by desert dust. This work analyses a March 2021 dust event using a modelling strategy incorporating desert dust. Results show that considering desert dust cut errors in solar radiation estimates by 75% and reduces surface solar radiation by 18%. This highlights the importance of incorporating dust aerosols into solar forecasting for better accuracy.

Military conflicts result in local environmental damage, but documenting regional and larger scale impacts such as heavy metal pollution has proven elusive. Anthropogenic emissions of bismuth (Bi) include coal burning and various commodity productions but no emission estimates over the past century exist. Here we used Bi measurements in ice cores from the French Alps to show evidence of regional-scale Bi pollution concurrent with the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Tracers of the main sources of Bi emissions measured in the same ice—coal-burning, steel- and aluminum-industry, alloy and other metal processing—indicate a major, previously undocumented additional emissions source that we attribute to military activities between 1935 and 1945 Common Era (CE) in western Europe. These include the use of bismuth for low-melting point alloys for shells, thin-walled aluminum alloy aircraft oil, and munitions.