Critical discourse analysis and political economy of communication : understanding the new corporate order

This article uses critical discourse analysis to analyse material shifts in the political economy of communications. It examines texts of major corporations to describe four key changes in political economy: (1) the separation of ownership from control; (2) the separation of business from industry; (3) the separation of accountability from responsibility; and (4) the subjugation of ‘going concerns’ by overriding concerns. The authors argue that this amounts to a political economic shift from traditional concepts of ‘capitalism’ to a new ‘corporatism’ in which the relationships between public and private, state and individual interests have become redefined and obscured through new discourse strategies. They conclude that the present financial and regulatory ‘crisis’ cannot be adequately resolved without a new analytic framework for examining the relationships between corporation, discourse and political economy.

Predicting vitamin D deficiency in older Australian adults

OBJECTIVE There has been a dramatic increase in vitamin D testing in Australia in recent years, prompting calls for targeted testing. We sought to develop a model to identify people most at risk of vitamin D deficiency. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS This is a cross-sectional study of 644 60- to 84-year-old participants, 95% of whom were Caucasian, who took part in a pilot randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation. MEASUREMENTS Baseline 25(OH)D was measured using the Diasorin Liaison platform. Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency were defined using 50 and 25 nmol/l as cut-points, respectively. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors. We used multivariate logistic regression to predict low vitamin D and calculated the net benefit of using the model compared with 'test-all' and 'test-none' strategies. RESULTS The mean serum 25(OH)D was 42 (SD 14) nmol/1. Seventy-five per cent of participants were vitamin D insufficient and 10% deficient. Serum 25(OH)D was positively correlated with time outdoors, physical activity, vitamin D intake and ambient UVR, and inversely correlated with age, BMI and poor self-reported health status. These predictors explained approximately 21% of the variance in serum 25(OH)D. The area under the ROC curve predicting vitamin D deficiency was 0·82. Net benefit for the prediction model was higher than that for the 'test-all' strategy at all probability thresholds and higher than the 'test-none' strategy for probabilities up to 60%. CONCLUSION Our model could predict vitamin D deficiency with reasonable accuracy, but it needs to be validated in other populations before being implemented.

A comparative study of different porous amorphous silica minerals supported TiO2 catalysts

Three porous amorphous silica minerals, including diatomite, opal and porous precipitated SiO2wereadopted to prepare supported TiO2catalysts by hydrolysis–deposition method. The prepared compoundmaterials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS). Through morphology and physical chemistry properties of the resultingTiO2/amorphous SiO2catalysts, it was proposed that the nature of silica supports could affect the particlesize and the crystal form of TiO2and then further influence the photocatalytic property of TiO2/amorphousSiO2catalysts. The catalytic properties of these porous amorphous silica supported photocatalysts(TiO2/SiO2) were investigated by UV-assisted degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). Compared with pureTiO2(P25) and the other two TiO2/amorphous SiO2catalysts, TiO2/diatomite photocatalyst exhibits bet-ter catalytic performance at different calcined temperatures, the decoloration rate of which can be upto over 85% even at a relatively low calcined temperature. The TiO2/diatomite photocatalyst possessesmixed-phase TiO2with relatively smaller particles size, which might be responsible for higher photo-catalytic activity. Moreover, the stable and much inerter porous microstructure of diatomite could beanother key factor in improving its activity.

Project management under uncertainty

Morris' (1986) analysis of the factors affecting project success and failure is considered in relation to the psychology of judgement under uncertainty. A model is proposed whereby project managers may identify the specific circumstances in which human decision-making is prone to systematic error, and hence may apply a number of de-biasing techniques.

Study of new particle formation in subtropical urban environment in Brisbane, Australia

Atmospheric ultrafine particles play an important role in affecting human health, altering climate and degrading visibility. Numerous studies have been conducted to better understand the formation process of these particles, including field measurements, laboratory chamber studies and mathematical modeling approaches. Field studies on new particle formation found that formation processes were significantly affected by atmospheric conditions, such as the availability of particle precursors and meteorological conditions. However, those studies were mainly carried out in rural areas of the northern hemisphere and information on new particle formation in urban areas, especially those in subtropical regions, is limited. In general, subtropical regions display a higher level of solar radiation, along with stronger photochemical reactivity, than those regions investigated in previous studies. However, based on the results of these studies, the mechanisms involved in the new particle formation process remain unclear, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, in order to fill this gap in knowledge, a new particle formation study was conducted in a subtropical urban area in the Southern Hemisphere during 2009, which measured particle size distribution in different locations in Brisbane, Australia. Characterisation of nucleation events was conducted at the campus building of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), located in an urban area of Brisbane. Overall, the annual average number concentrations of ultrafine, Aitken and nucleation mode particles were found to be 9.3 x 103, 3.7 x 103 and 5.6 x 103 cm-3, respectively. This was comparable to levels measured in urban areas of northern Europe, but lower than those from polluted urban areas such as the Yangtze River Delta, China and Huelva and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. Average particle number concentration (PNC) in the Brisbane region did not show significant seasonal variation, however a relatively large variation was observed during the warmer season. Diurnal variation of Aitken and nucleation mode particles displayed different patterns, which suggested that direct vehicle exhaust emissions were a major contributor of Aitken mode particles, while nucleation mode particles originated from vehicle exhaust emissions in the morning and photochemical production at around noon. A total of 65 nucleation events were observed during 2009, in which 40 events were classified as nucleation growth events and the remainder were nucleation burst events. An interesting observation in this study was that all nucleation growth events were associated with vehicle exhaust emission plumes, while the nucleation burst events were associated with industrial emission plumes from an industrial area. The average particle growth rate for nucleation events was found to be 4.6 nm hr-1 (ranging from 1.79-7.78 nm hr-1), which is comparable to other urban studies conducted in the United States, while monthly particle growth rates were found to be positively related to monthly solar radiation (r = 0.76, p <0.05). The particle growth rate values reported in this work are the first of their kind to be reported for the subtropical urban area of Australia. Furthermore, the influence of nucleation events on PNC within the urban airshed was also investigated. PNC was simultaneously measured at urban (QUT), roadside (Woolloongabba) and semi-urban (Rocklea) sites in Brisbane during 2009. Total PNC at these sites was found to be significantly affected by regional nucleation events. The relative fractions of PNC to total daily PNC observed at QUT, Woolloongabba and Rocklea were found to be 12%, 9% and 14%, respectively, during regional nucleation events. These values were higher than those observed as a result of vehicle exhaust emissions during weekday mornings, which ranged from 5.1-5.5% at QUT and Woolloongabba. In addition, PNC in the semi-urban area of Rocklea increased by a factor of 15.4 when it was upwind from urban pollution sources under the influence of nucleation burst events. Finally, we investigated the influence of sulfuric acid on new particle formation in the study region. A H2SO4 proxy was calculated by using [SO2], solar radiation and particle condensation sink data to represent the new particle production strength for the urban, roadside and semi-urban areas of Brisbane during the period June-July of 2009. The temporal variations of the H2SO4 proxies and the nucleation mode particle concentration were found to be in phase during nucleation events in the urban and roadside areas. In contrast, the peak of proxy concentration occurred 1-2 hr prior to the observed peak in nucleation mode particle concentration at the downwind semi-urban area of Brisbane. A moderate to strong linear relationship was found between the proxy and the freshly formed particles, with r2 values of 0.26-0.77 during the nucleation events. In addition, the log[H2SO4 proxy] required to produce new particles was found to be ~1.0 ppb Wm-2 s and below 0.5 ppb Wm-2 s for the urban and semi-urban areas, respectively. The particle growth rates were similar during nucleation events at the three study locations, with an average value of 2.7 ± 0.5 nm hr-1. This result suggested that a similar nucleation mechanism dominated in the study region, which was strongly related to sulphuric acid concentration, however the relationship between the proxy and PNC was poor in the semi-urban area of Rocklea. This can be explained by the fact that the nucleation process was initiated upwind of the site and the resultant particles were transported via the wind to Rocklea. This explanation is also supported by the higher geometric mean diameter value observed for particles during the nucleation event and the time lag relationship between the H2SO4 proxy and PNC observed at Rocklea. In summary, particle size distribution was continuously measured in a subtropical urban area of southern hemisphere during 2009, the findings from which formed the first particle size distribution dataset in the study region. The characteristics of nucleation events in the Brisbane region were quantified and the properties of the nucleation growth and burst events are discussed in detail using a case studies approach. To further investigate the influence of nucleation events on PNC in the study region, PNC was simultaneously measured at three locations to examine the spatial variation of PNC during the regional nucleation events. In addition, the impact of upwind urban pollution on the downwind semi-urban area was quantified during these nucleation events. Sulphuric acid was found to be an important factor influencing new particle formation in the urban and roadside areas of the study region, however, a direct relationship with nucleation events at the semi-urban site was not observed. This study provided an overview of new particle formation in the Brisbane region, and its influence on PNC in the surrounding area. The findings of this work are the first of their kind for an urban area in the southern hemisphere.

Communication ethics in public health

As new diseases and medical conditions emerge, new community groups appear in the public health arena as consumer advocates or lobby groups seeking to affect policy or to represent ‘communities’ formed around these new diseases and conditions. The role of these groups in public health, their political status, and the extent to which they are actually representative are highly problematic for public health. These new constellations of social groups and activities challenge traditional ideas about public health decision-making and demand a rethinking of the constituency and limits of public health. Using discourse theory, symbolic interactionism, and ethological theory, the authors examine one case, exploring the perspectives of various communities on hepatitis C, and explore some issues that this raises for public health.

Improving the Walkability of Subtropical Urban Areas: a case study analysis for the development of a design process

This research develops a new framework to be used as a tool for analysing and designing walkable communities. The literature review recognises the work of other researchers combining their findings with the theory of activity nodes and considers how a framework may be used on a more global basis. The methodology develops a set of criteria through the analysis of noted successful case studies and this is then tested against an area with very low walking rates in Brisbane, Australia. Results of the study suggest that as well as the accepted criteria of connectivity, accessibility, safety, security, and path quality further criteria in the form or planning hierarchy, activity nodes and climate mitigation could be added to allow the framework to cover a broader context. Of particular note is the development of the nodal approach, which allows simple and effective analysis of existing conditions, and may also prove effective as a tool for planning and design of walkable communities.

Computer experiment – a case study for modelling and simulation of manufacturing systems

Deterministic computer simulation of physical experiments is now a common technique in science and engineering. Often, physical experiments are too time consuming, expensive or impossible to conduct. Complex computer models or codes, rather than physical experiments lead to the study of computer experiments, which are used to investigate many scientific phenomena. A computer experiment consists of a number of runs of the computer code with different input choices. The Design and Analysis of Computer Experiments is a rapidly growing technique in statistical experimental design. This paper aims to discuss some practical issues when designing a computer simulation and/or experiments for manufacturing systems. A case study approach is reviewed and presented.

Synchronised integrated online e-health profiles

Web-based social networking applications have become increasingly important in recent years. The current applications in the healthcare sphere can support the health management, but to date there is no patient-controlled integrator. This paper proposes a platform called Multiple Profile Manager (MPM) that enables a user to create and manage an integrated profile that can be shared across numerous social network sites. Moreover, it is able to facilitate the collection of personal healthcare data, which makes a contribution to the development of public health informatics. Here we want to illustrate how patients and physicians can be benefited from enabling the platform for online social network sites. The MPM simplifies the management of patients' profiles and allows health professionals to obtain a more complete picture of the patients' background so that they can provide better health care. To do so, we demonstrate a prototype of the platform and describe its protocol specification, which is an XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) [1] extension, for sharing and synchronising profile data (vCard²) between different social networks.

Fecal indicators and bacterial pathogens in bottled water from Dhaka, Bangladesh

Forty-six bottled water samples representing 16 brands from Dhaka, Bangladesh were tested for the numbers of total coliforms, fecal indicator bacteria (i.e., thermotolerant Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp.) and potential bacterial pathogens (i.e., Aeromonas hydrophil, Pseudomonas aeruginos, Salmonella spp., and Shigella spp.). Among the 16 brands tested, 14 (86%), ten (63%) and seven (44%) were positive for total coliforms, E. coil and Enterococcus spp., respectively. Additionally, a further nine (56%), eight (50%), six (37%), and four (25%) brands were PCR positive for A. hydrophila lip, P. aeruginosa ETA, Salmonella spp. invA, and Shigella spp. ipaH genes, respectively. The numbers of bacterial pathogens in bottled water samples ranged from 28 ± 12 to 600 ± 45 (A. hydrophila lip gene), 180 ± 40 to 900 ± 200 (Salmonella spp. invA gene), 180 ± 40 to 1,300 ± 400 (P. aeruginosa ETA gene) genomic units per L of water. Shigella spp. ipaH gene was not quantifiable. Discrepancies were observed in terms of the occurrence of fecal indicators and bacterial pathogens. No correlations were observed between fecal indicators numbers and presence/absence of A. hydrophila lip (p = 0.245), Salmonella spp. invA (p = 0.433), Shigella spp. ipaH gene (p = 0.078), and P. aeruginosa ETA (p = 0.059) genes. Our results suggest that microbiological quality of bottled waters sold in Dhaka, Bangladesh is highly variable. To protect public health, stringent quality control is recommended for the bottled water industry in Bangladesh. Key words: bottled water, fecal indicator bacteria, quantitative PCR, bacterial pathogens, public health risk.

First-principle study of adsorption of hydrogen on ti-doped Mg(0001) surface

Ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to study the adsorption of H2 molecules on a Ti-doped Mg(0001) surface. We find that two hydrogen molecules are able to dissociate on top of the Ti atom with very small activation barriers (0.103 and 0.145 eV for the first and second H2 molecules, respectively). Additionally, a molecular adsorption state of H2 above the Ti atom is observed for the first time and is attributed to the polarization of the H2 molecule by the Ti cation. Our results parallel recent findings for H2 adsorption on Ti-doped carbon nanotubes or fullerenes. They provide new insight into the preliminary stages of hydrogen adsorption onto Ti-incorporated Mg surfaces.

The role of Ti as a catalyst for the dissociation of hydrogen on a Mg(0001) surface

In this paper, the dissociative chemisorption of hydrogen on both pure and Ti-incorporated Mg(0001) surfaces are studied by ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The calculated dissociation barrier of hydrogen molecule on a pure Mg(0001) surface (1.05 eV) is in good agreement with comparable theoretical studies. For the Ti-incorporated Mg(0001) surface, the activated barrier decreases to 0.103 eV due to the strong interaction between the molecular orbital of hydrogen and the d metal state of Ti. This could explain the experimentally observed improvement in absorption kinetics of hydrogen when transition metals have been introduced into the magnesium materials.

Children exposure assessment to ultrafine particles and black carbon: The role of transport and cooking activities

An accurate evaluation of the airborne particle dose-response relationship requires detailed measurements of the actual particle concentration levels that people are exposed to, in every microenvironment in which they reside. The aim of this work was to perform an exposure assessment of children in relation to two different aerosol species: ultrafine particles (UFPs) and black carbon (BC). To this purpose, personal exposure measurements, in terms of UFP and BC concentrations, were performed on 103 children aged 8-11 years (10.1 ± 1.1 years) using hand-held particle counters and aethalometers. Simultaneously, a time-activity diary and a portable GPS were used to determine the children’s daily time-activity pattern and estimate their inhaled dose of UFPs and BC. The median concentration to which the study population was exposed was found to be comparable to the high levels typically detected in urban traffic microenvironments, in terms of both particle number (2.2×104 part. cm-3) and BC (3.8 μg m-3) concentrations. Daily inhaled doses were also found to be relatively high and were equal to 3.35×1011 part. day-1 and 3.92×101 μg day-1 for UFPs and BC, respectively. Cooking and using transportation were recognized as the main activities contributing to overall daily exposure, when normalized according to their corresponding time contribution for UFPs and BC, respectively. Therefore, UFPs and BC could represent tracers of children exposure to particulate pollution from indoor cooking activities and transportation microenvironments, respectively.

Health effects of daily airborne particle dose in children : direct association between personal dose and respiratory health effects

Air pollution is a widespread health problem associated with respiratory symptoms. Continuous exposure monitoring was performed to estimate alveolar and tracheobronchial dose, measured as deposited surface area, for 103 children and to evaluate the long-term effects of exposure to airborne particles through spirometry, skin prick tests and measurement of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO). The mean daily alveolar deposited surface area dose received by children was 1.35×103 mm2. The lowest and highest particle number concentrations were found during sleeping and eating time. A significant negative association was found between changes in pulmonary function tests and individual dose estimates. Significant differences were found for asthmatics, children with allergic rhinitis and sensitive to allergens compared to healthy subjects for eNO. Variation is a child’s activity over time appeared to have a strong impact on respiratory outcomes, which indicates that personal monitoring is vital for assessing the expected health effects of exposure to particles.

Electrical property and characterization of nano-SnO2/wollastonite composite materials

Nano-tin oxide was deposited on the surface of wollastonite using the mixed solution including stannic chloride pentahydrate precursor and wollastonite by a hydrolysis precipitation process. The antistatic properties of the wollastonite materials under different calcined conditions and composite materials (nano-SnO2/wollastonite, SW) were measured by rubber sheeter and four-point probe (FPP) sheet resistance measurement. Effects of hydrolysis temperature and time, calcination temperature and time, pH value and nano-SnO2 coating amount on the resistivity of SW powders were studied, and the optimum experimental conditions were obtained. The microstructure and surface properties of wollastonite, precipitate and SW were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), specific surface area analyzer (BET), thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier translation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) respectively. The results showed that the nano-SnO2/wollastonite composite materials under optimum preparation conditions showed better antistatic properties, the resistivity of which was reduced from 1.068 × 104 Ω cm to 2.533 × 103 Ω cm. From TG and XRD analysis, the possible mechanism for coating of SnO2 nanoparticles on the surface of wollastonite was proposed. The infrared spectrum indicated that there were a large number of the hydroxyl groups on the surface of wollastonite. This is beneficial to the heterogeneous nucleation reaction. Through morphology, EDS and XPS analysis, the surface of wollastonite fiber was coated with a layer of 10–15 nm thickness of tin oxide grains the distribution of which was uniform.