Collaborating to develop research data management services and collections

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Library, like many other academic and research institution libraries in Australia, has been collaborating with a range of academic and service provider partners to develop a range of research data management services and collections. Three main strategies are being employed and an overview of process, infrastructure, usage and benefits is provided of each of these service aspects. The development of processes and infrastructure to facilitate the strategic identification and management of QUT developed datasets has been a major focus. A number of Australian National Data Service (ANDS) sponsored projects - including Seeding the Commons; Metadata Hub / Store; Data Capture and Gold Standard Record Exemplars have / will provide QUT with a data registry system, linkages to storage, processes for identifying and describing datasets, and a degree of academic awareness. QUT supports open access and has established a culture for making its research outputs available via the QUT ePrints institutional repository. Incorporating open access research datasets into the library collections is an equally important aspect of facilitating the adoption of data-centric eresearch methods. Some datasets are available commercially, and the library has collaborated with QUT researchers, in the QUT Business School especially strongly, to identify and procure a rapidly growing range of financial datasets to support research. The library undertakes licensing and uses the Library Resource Allocation to pay for the subscriptions. It is a new area of collection development for with much to be learned. The final strategy discussed is the library acting as “data broker”. QUT Library has been working with researchers to identify these datasets and undertake the licensing, payment and access as a centrally supported service on behalf of researchers.

Travelling waves for a velocity–jump model of cell migration and proliferation

Cell invasion, characterised by moving fronts of cells, is an essential aspect of development, repair and disease. Typically, mathematical models of cell invasion are based on the Fisher–Kolmogorov equation. These traditional parabolic models can not be used to represent experimental measurements of individual cell velocities within the invading population since they imply that information propagates with infinite speed. To overcome this limitation we study combined cell motility and proliferation based on a velocity–jump process where information propagates with finite speed. The model treats the total population of cells as two interacting subpopulations: a subpopulation of left–moving cells, $L(x,t)$, and a subpopulation of right–moving cells, $R(x,t)$. This leads to a system of hyperbolic partial differential equations that includes a turning rate, $\Lambda \ge 0$, describing the rate at which individuals in the population change direction of movement. We present exact travelling wave solutions of the system of partial differential equations for the special case where $\Lambda = 0$ and in the limit that $\Lambda \to \infty$. For intermediate turning rates, $0 < \Lambda < \infty$, we analyse the travelling waves using the phase plane and we demonstrate a transition from smooth monotone travelling waves to smooth nonmonotone travelling waves as $\Lambda$ decreases through a critical value $\Lambda_{crit}$. We conclude by providing a qualitative comparison between the travelling wave solutions of our model and experimental observations of cell invasion. This comparison indicates that the small $\Lambda$ limit produces results that are consistent with experimental observations.

Evaluation of primary epidermal lamellar density in the forefeet of near-term fetal Australian feral and domesticated horses

Objective: To investigate the density of the primary epidermal lamellae (PEL) around the solar circumference of the forefeet of near-term fetal feral and nonferal (ie, domesticated) horses. Sample: Left forefeet from near-term Australian feral (n = 14) and domesticated (4) horse fetuses. Procedures: Near-term feral horse fetuses were obtained from culled mares within 10 minutes of death; fetuses that had died in utero 2 weeks prior to anticipated birth date and were delivered from live Thoroughbred mares were also obtained. Following disarticulation at the carpus, the left forefoot of each fetus was frozen during dissection and data collection. In a standard section of each hoof, the stratum internum PEL density was calculated at the midline center (12 o'clock) and the medial and lateral break-over points (11 and 1 o'clock), toe quarters (10 and 2 o'clock), and quarters (4 and 6 o'clock). Values for matching lateral and medial zones were averaged and expressed as 1 density. Density differences at the 4 locations between the feral and domesticated horse feet were assessed by use of imaging software analysis. Results: In fetal domesticated horse feet, PEL density did not differ among the 4 locations. In fetal feral horse feet, PEL density differed significantly among locations, with a pattern of gradual reduction from the dorsal to the palmar aspect of the foot. The PEL density distribution differed significantly between fetal domesticated and feral horse feet. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Results indicated that PEL density distribution differs between fetal feral and domesticated horse feet, suggestive of an adaptation of feral horses to environment challenges.

Sole depth and weight-bearing characteristics of the palmar surface of the feet of feral horses and domestic Thoroughbreds

Objective: To determine solar load-bearing structures in the feet of feral horses and investigate morphological characteristics of the sole in feral horses and domestic Thoroughbreds. Sample: Forelimbs from cadavers of 70 feral horses and 20 domestic Thoroughbreds in Australia. Procedures: Left forefeet were obtained from 3 feral horse populations from habitats of soft substrate (SS [n = 10 horses]), hard substrate (HS [10]), and a combination of SS and HS (10) and loaded in vitro. Pressure distribution was measured with a pressure plate. Sole depth was measured at 12 points across the solar plane in feet obtained from feral horses from SS (n = 20 horses) and HS (20) habitats and domestic Thoroughbreds (20). Results: Feet of feral horses from HS habitats loaded the periphery of the sole and hoof wall on a flat surface. Feral horses from HS or SS habitats had greater mean sole depth than did domestic Thoroughbreds. Sole depth was greatest peripherally and was correlated with the loading pattern. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: The peripheral aspect of the sole in the feet of feral horses had a load-bearing function. Because of the robust nature of the tissue architecture, the hoof capsule of feral horses may be less flexible than that of typical domestic horses. The application of narrow-web horseshoes may not take full advantage of the load-bearing and force-dissipating properties of the peripheral aspect of the sole. Further studies are required to understand the effects of biomechanical stimulation on the adaptive responses of equine feet.

Australia's disabling income support system : tracing the history of the Australian disability income support system 1908 to 2007 : disablism, citizenship and the basic income proposal

The present study examined the historical basis of the Australian disability income support system from 1908 to 2007. Although designed as a safety net for people with a disability, the disability income support system within Australia has been highly targeted. The original eligibility criteria of "permanently incapacitated for work", medical criteria and later "partially capacitated for work" potentially contained ideological inferences that permeated across the time period. This represents an important area for study given the potential consequence for disability income support to marginalise people with a disability. Social policy and disability policy theorists, including Saunders (2007, Social Policy Research Centre [SPRC]) and Gibilisco (2003) have provided valuable insight into some of the effects of disability policy and poverty. Yet while these theorists argued for some form of income support they did not propose a specific form of income security for further exploration. Few studies have undertaken a comprehensive review of the history of disability income support within the Australian context. This thesis sought to redress these gaps by examining disability income support policy within Australia. The research design consisted of an in-depth critical historical-comparative policy analysis methodology. The use of critical historical-comparative policy analysis allowed the researcher to trace the construction of disability within the Australian disability income support policy across four major historical epochs. A framework was developed specifically to guide analysis of the data. The critical discourse analysis method helped to understand the underlying ideological dimensions that led to the predominance of one particular approach over another. Given this, the research purpose of the study centred on: i. Tracing the history of the Australian disability income support system. ii. Examining the historical patterns and ideological assumptions over time. iii. Exploring the historical patterns and ideological assumptions underpinning an alternative model (Basic Income) and the extent to which each model promotes the social citizenship of people with a disability. The research commitment to a social-relational ontology and the quest for social change centred on the idea that "there has to be a better way" in the provision of disability income support. This theme of searching for an alternative reality in disability income support policy resonated throughout the thesis. This thesis found that the Australian disability income support system is disabling in nature and generates categories of disability on the basis of ableness. From the study, ableness became a condition for citizenship. This study acknowledged that, in reality, income support provision reflects only one aspect of the disabling nature of society which requires redressing. Although there are inherent tensions in any redistributive strategy, the Basic Income model potentially provides an alternative to the Australian disability income support system, given its grounding in social citizenship. The thesis findings have implications for academics, policy-makers and practitioners in terms of developing better ways to understand disability constructs in disability income support policy. The thesis also makes a contribution in terms of promoting income support policies based on the rights of all people, not just a few.

Exact and approximate Bayesian inference for low count time series models with intractable likelihoods

In this paper we present a new simulation methodology in order to obtain exact or approximate Bayesian inference for models for low-valued count time series data that have computationally demanding likelihood functions. The algorithm fits within the framework of particle Markov chain Monte Carlo (PMCMC) methods. The particle filter requires only model simulations and, in this regard, our approach has connections with approximate Bayesian computation (ABC). However, an advantage of using the PMCMC approach in this setting is that simulated data can be matched with data observed one-at-a-time, rather than attempting to match on the full dataset simultaneously or on a low-dimensional non-sufficient summary statistic, which is common practice in ABC. For low-valued count time series data we find that it is often computationally feasible to match simulated data with observed data exactly. Our particle filter maintains $N$ particles by repeating the simulation until $N+1$ exact matches are obtained. Our algorithm creates an unbiased estimate of the likelihood, resulting in exact posterior inferences when included in an MCMC algorithm. In cases where exact matching is computationally prohibitive, a tolerance is introduced as per ABC. A novel aspect of our approach is that we introduce auxiliary variables into our particle filter so that partially observed and/or non-Markovian models can be accommodated. We demonstrate that Bayesian model choice problems can be easily handled in this framework.

The effects of cold air (-110°C) and water (8°C) cryotherapy on knee skin temperature

Exposure to cold air, whole body cryotherapy (WBC), is a novel treatment employed by athletes. In WBC individuals dressed in minimal clothing are exposed to a temperature below -100°C for 2-4 min. The use of WBC has been advocated as a treatment for various knee injuries. PURPOSE: To compare the effects of two modalities of cryotherapy, -110°C WBC and 8°C cold water immersion (CWI) on knee skin temperature (Tsk). METHODS: With ethical approval and written informed consent 10 healthy active male participants (26.5±4.9 yr, 183.5±6.0 cm, 90.7±19.9 kg, 26.8±5.0 kg/m2, 23.0±9.3% body fat (measured by DXA), 7.6 ± 2.0 mm patellar skin fold; mean±SD) were exposed to 4 min of CWI and WBC. The treatment order was randomised in a controlled crossover design, with a minimum of 7 days between treatments. During WBC participants stood in a chamber (-60±3°C) for 20 s before entering the main chamber (-110°C±3°C) where they remained for 3 min and 40 s. For CWI participants were seated in a tank filled with cold water (8±0.3°C) and immersed to the level of the sternum for 4 min. Right knee Tsk was assessed via non-contact, infrared thermal imaging. A quadrilateral region of interest was created using inert markers placed 5 cm above and below the most superior and inferior aspect of the patella. Tsk within this quadrilateral was recorded pre, immediately post and every 10 min thereafter for 60 min. Tsk changes were examined using a two-way (treatment x time) repeated measures analyses of variance. In addition, a paired sample t-test was used to compare baseline Tsk before both treatments. RESULTS: Knee Tsk was similar before treatment (WBC: 29.9±0.7°C, CWI: 29.6±0.9°C, p>0.05). There was a significant main effect for treatment (p<0.05) and time (p<0.001). Compared to baseline, Tsk was significantly reduced (p<0.05) immediately post and at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min after both cooling modalities. Knee Tsk was lower (p<0.05) immediately after WBC (19.0±0.9°C) compared to CWI (20.5±0.6°C). However, from 10 to 60 min post, knee Tsk was lower (p<0.05) following the CWI treatment. CONCLUSION: WBC elicited a greater decrease in knee Tsk compared to CWI immediately after treatment. However, both modalities display different recovery patterns and Tsk after CWI was significantly lower than WBC at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min after treatment.

The study of design elements and people’s behaviour in campus public space : how design shapes user’s behaviour

A growing body of researches provided evidence of the successful design in particular focus on design elements, ranging from colour, lighting, technology, landscape and spatial arrangement. However, no example or literature investigates the opportunities for linking these design elements in a practical base. Drawing upon existing architectural design theory, this paper investigates the relationship between design elements regards to public’s behavioural response to the public space. The aims of this paper are two-fold: first to examine whether there is a direct relationship between the two, and second to find out how the design elements could be coordinated together to influence not only the activities but also the environment, function and experience. To meet this objective, observation, behavioural mapping, interview and cognitive mapping methodologies are used. The present study involves two local case studies to find out the relationship between design elements in order to assist the design of a better public space for public activities. Correlation between the design elements shows that public activities is more likely to happen in relatively space with well balance of design. These finding provide a better understanding of public space design by gaining deeper perceptive between design and user’s behaviour, consequently improving social activities and interactions in public space. Moreover, it focuses on campus public areas which can be a vital aspect of university campus and play a valuable role in the overall success of public space design.

Proceedings of the Fourth Australasian Workshop on Health Informatics and Knowledge Management [Volume 120]

We are pleased to present the papers from the Australasian Health Informatics and Knowledge Management (HIKM) conference stream held on 20 January 2011 in Perth as a session of the Australasian Computer Science Week (ASCW) 2011. Formerly HIKM was named Health Data and Knowledge Management, however the inclusion of the health informatics term is timely given the current health reform. The submissions to HIKM 2011 demonstrated that Australasian researchers lead with many research and development innovations coming to fruition. Some of these innovations can be seen here, and we believe further recognition will accomplish by continuation to HIKM in the future. The HIKM conference is a review of health informatics related research, development and education opportunities. The conference papers were written to communicate with other researchers and share research findings, capturing each and every aspect of the health informatics field. They are namely: conceptual models and architectures, privacy and quality of health data, health workflow management patient journey analysis, health information retrieval, analysis and visualisation, data integration/linking, systems for integrated or coordinated care, electronic health records (EHRs) and personally controlled electronic health records (PCEHRs), health data ontologies, and standardisation in health data and clinical applications.

Experimental studies of the shear behaviour and strength of lipped channel beams with web openings

Cold-formed steel members are increasingly used as primary structural elements in the building industries around the world due to the availability of thin and high strength steels and advanced cold-forming technologies. Cold-formed lipped channel beams (LCB) are commonly used as flexural members such as floor joists and bearers. However, their shear capacities are determined based on conservative design rules. Current practice in flooring systems is to include openings in the web element of floor joists or bearers so that building services can be located within them. Shear behaviour of LCBs with web openings is more complicated while their shear strengths are considerably reduced by the presence of web openings. However, limited research has been undertaken on the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs with web openings. Hence a detailed experimental study involving 40 shear tests was undertaken to investigate the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs with web openings. Simply supported test specimens of LCBs with aspect ratios of 1.0 and 1.5 were loaded at midspan until failure. This paper presents the details of this experimental study and the results of their shear capacities and behavioural characteristics. Experimental results showed that the current design rules in cold-formed steel structures design codes are very conservative for the shear design of LCBs with web openings. Improved design equations have been proposed for the shear strength of LCBs with web openings based on the experimental results from this study.

Exploring intercultural and ethical understanding through ‘Ethical Intelligence’ and drama, in Asian texts for the Australian curriculum : English

This paper focuses on Australian texts with Asian representations, which will be discussed in terms of Ethical Intelligence (Weinstein, 2011) explored through drama. This approach aligns with the architecture of the Australian Curriculum: English (AC:E, v5, 2013); in particular the general capabilities of 'ethical understanding' and 'intercultural understandings.' It also addresses one aspect of the Cross Curriculum Priorities which is to include texts about peoples from Asia. The selected texts not only show the struggles undergone by the authors and protagonists, but also the positive contributions that diverse writers from Asian and Middle Eastern countries have made to Australia.

Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments : are the rules appropriate?

The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is an aspect of private international law, and concerns situations where a successful party to litigation seeks to rely on a judgment obtained in one court, in a court in another jurisdiction. The most common example where the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments may arise is where a party who has obtained a favourable judgment in one state or country may seek to recognise and enforce the judgment in another state or country. This occurs because there is no sufficient asset in the state or country where the judgment was rendered to satisfy that judgment. As technological advancements in communications over vast geographical distances have improved exponentially in recent years, there has been an increase in cross-border transactions, as well as litigation arising from these transactions. As a result, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is of increasing importance, since a party who has obtained a judgment in cross-border litigation may wish to recognise and enforce the judgment in another state or country, where the defendant’s assets may be located without having to re-litigate substantive issues that have already been resolved in another court. The purpose of the study is to examine whether the current state of laws for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Australia, the United States and the European Community are in line with modern-commercial needs. The study is conducted by weighing two competing objectives between the notion of finality of litigation, which encourages courts to recognise and enforce judgments foreign to them, on the one hand, and the adequacy of protection to safeguard the recognition and enforcement proceedings, so that there would be no injustice or unfairness if a foreign judgment is recognised and enforced, on the other. The findings of the study are as follows. In both Australia and the United States, there is a different approach concerning the recognition and enforcement of judgments rendered by courts interstate or in a foreign country. In order to maintain a single and integrated nation, there are constitutional and legislative requirements authorising courts to give conclusive effects to interstate judgments. In contrast, if the recognition and enforcement actions involve judgments rendered by a foreign country’s court, an Australian or a United States court will not recognise and enforce the foreign judgment unless the judgment has satisfied a number of requirements and does not fall under any of the exceptions to justify its non-recognition and non-enforcement. In the European Community, the Brussels I Regulation which governs the recognition and enforcement of judgments among European Union Member States has created a scheme, whereby there is only a minimal requirement that needs to be satisfied for the purposes of recognition and enforcement. Moreover, a judgment that is rendered by a Member State and based on any of the jurisdictional bases set forth in the Brussels I Regulation is entitled to be recognised and enforced in another Member State without further review of its underlying jurisdictional basis. However, there are concerns as to the adequacy of protection available under the Brussels I Regulation to safeguard the judgment-enforcing Member States, as well as those against whom recognition or enforcement is sought. This dissertation concludes by making two recommendations aimed at improving the means by which foreign judgments are recognised and enforced in the selected jurisdictions. The first is for the law in both Australia and the United States to undergo reform, including: adopting the real and substantial connection test as the new jurisdictional basis for the purposes of recognition and enforcement; liberalising the existing defences to safeguard the application of the real and substantial connection test; extending the application of the Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth) in Australia to include at least its important trading partners; and implementing a federal statutory scheme in the United States to govern the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The second recommendation is to introduce a convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The convention will be a convention double, which provides uniform standards for the rules of jurisdiction a court in a contracting state must exercise when rendering a judgment and a set of provisions for the recognition and enforcement of resulting judgments.

Development status and future prospects for a vaccine against Chlamydia trachomatis infection

Chlamydia trachomatis continues to be the most commonly reported sexually transmitted bacterial infection in many countries with more than 100 million new cases estimated annually. These acute infections translate into significant downstream health care costs, particularly for women, where complications can include pelvic inflammatory disease and other disease sequelae such as tubal factor infertility. Despite years of research, the immunological mechanisms responsible for protective immunity versus immunopathology are still not well understood, although it is widely accepted that T cell driven IFN-g and Th17 responses are critical for clearing infection. While antibodies are able to neutralize infections in vitro, alone they are not protective, indicating that any successful vaccine will need to elicit both arms of the immune response. In recent years, there has been an expansion in the number and types of antigens that have been evaluated as vaccines, and combined with the new array of mucosal adjuvants, this aspect of chlamydial vaccinology is showing promise. Most recently, the opportunities to develop successful vaccines have been given a significant boost with the development of a genetic transformation system for Chlamydia, as well as the identification of the key role of the chlamydial plasmid in virulence. While still remaining a major challenge, the development of a successful C.trachomatis vaccine is starting to look more likely.

Morphology of osteocyte cells in normal and hyper-gravity

Osteocyte cells are the most abundant cells in human bone tissue. Due to their unique morphology and location, osteocyte cells are thought to act as regulators in the bone remodelling process, and are believed to play an important role in astronauts’ bone mass loss after long-term space missions. There is increasing evidence showing that an osteocyte’s functions are highly affected by its morphology. However, changes in an osteocyte’s morphology under an altered gravity environment are still not well documented. Several in vitro studies have been recently conducted to investigate the morphological response of osteocyte cells to the microgravity environment, where osteocyte cells were cultured on a two-dimensional flat surface for at least 24 hours before microgravity experiments. Morphology changes of osteocyte cells in microgravity were then studied by comparing the cell area to 1g control cells. However, osteocyte cells found in vivo are with a more 3D morphology, and both cell body and dendritic processes are found sensitive to mechanical loadings. A round shape osteocyte’s cells support a less stiff cytoskeleton and are more sensitive to mechanical stimulations compared with flat cellular morphology. Thus, the relative flat and spread shape of isolated osteocytes in 2D culture may greatly hamper their sensitivity to a mechanical stimulus, and the lack of knowledge on the osteocyte’s morphological characteristics in culture may lead to subjective and noncomprehensive conclusions of how altered gravity impacts on an osteocyte’s morphology. Through this work empirical models were developed to quantitatively predicate the changes of morphology in osteocyte cell lines (MLO-Y4) in culture, and the response of osteocyte cells, which are relatively round in shape, to hyper-gravity stimulation has also been investigated. The morphology changes of MLO-Y4 cells in culture were quantified by measuring cell area and three dimensionless shape features including aspect ratio, circularity and solidity by using widely accepted image analysis software (ImageJTM). MLO-Y4 cells were cultured at low density (5×103 per well) and the changes in morphology were recorded over 10 hours. Based on the data obtained from the imaging analysis, empirical models were developed using the non-linear regression method. The developed empirical models accurately predict the morphology of MLO-Y4 cells for different culture times and can, therefore, be used as a reference model for analysing MLO-Y4 cell morphology changes within various biological/mechanical studies, as necessary. The morphological response of MLO-Y4 cells with a relatively round morphology to hyper-gravity environment has been investigated using a centrifuge. After 2 hours culture, MLO-Y4 cells were exposed to 20g for 30mins. Changes in the morphology of MLO-Y4 cells are quantitatively analysed by measuring the average value of cell area and dimensionless shape factors such as aspect ratio, solidity and circularity. In this study, no significant morphology changes were detected in MLO-Y4 cells under a hyper-gravity environment (20g for 30 mins) compared with 1g control cells.

Driver perceptions of the benefits of reducing their driving speed on safety, emissions, and stress and road rage

The existing literature shows driving speed significantly affects levels of safety, emissions, and stress in driving. In addition, drivers who feel tense when driving have been found to drive more slowly than others. These findings were mostly obtained from crash data analyses or field studies, and less is known regarding driver perceptions of the extent to which reducing their driving speed would improve road safety, reduce their car’s emissions, and reduce stress and road rage. This paper uses ordered probit regression models to analyse responses from 3538 Queensland drivers who completed an online RACQ survey. Drivers most strongly agreed that reducing their driving speed would improve road safety, less strongly agreed that reducing their driving speed would reduce their car’s emissions and least strongly agreed that reducing their driving speed would reduce stress and road rage. Younger drivers less strongly agreed that these benefits would occur than older drivers. Drivers of automatic cars and those who are bicycle commuters agreed more to these benefits than other drivers. Female drivers agreed more strongly than males on improving safety and reducing stress and road rage. Type of fuel used, engine size, driving experience, and distance driven per week were also found to be associated with driver perceptions, although these were not found to be significant in all of the regression models. The findings from this study may help in developing targeted training or educational measures to improve drivers’ willingness to reduce their driving speed.