The association between motivation in school physical education and self-reported physical activity during Finnish junior high school : a self-determination theory approach

The main purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the role of motivational climates, perceived competence and motivational regulations as antecedents of self-reported physical activity during junior high school years. The participants included 237 Finnish students (101 girls, 136 boys) that were 13 years old at the first stage of the study. Students completed the motivational climate and perceived competence questionnaires at Grade 7, motivation towards physical education questionnaire at Grade 8, and self-reported physical activity questionnaire at Grade 9. A path analysis revealed a path from task-involving motivational climate via perceived competence and intrinsic motivation to self-reported physical activity. Perceived competence and intrinsic motivation were statistically significant mediators between task-involving motivational climate and self-reported physical activity. This finding supports the four-stage causal sequence model of motivation.

Nanotechnology in the targeted drug delivery for bone diseases and bone regeneration

Nanotechnology is a vigorous research area and one of its important applications is in biomedical sciences. Among biomedical applications, targeted drug delivery is one of the most extensively studied subjects. Nanostructured particles and scaffolds have been widely studied for increasing treatment efficacy and specificity of present treatment approaches. Similarly, this technique has been used for treating bone diseases including bone regeneration. In this review, we have summarized and highlighted the recent advancement of nanostructured particles and scaffolds for the treatment of cancer bone metastasis, osteosarcoma, bone infections and inflammatory diseases, osteoarthritis, as well as for bone regeneration. Nanoparticles used to deliver deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid molecules to specific bone sites for gene therapies are also included. The investigation of the implications of nanoparticles in bone diseases have just begun, and has already shown some promising potential. Further studies have to be conducted, aimed specifically at assessing targeted delivery and bioactive scaffolds to further improve their efficacy before they can be used clinically

Arbitration proceeding – determination of “market price” – subpoena under Commercial Arbitration Act 1990 s 17

AGL Wholesale Gas Ltd v Origin Energy Ltd [2008] QCA 366 involved an appeal against the setting aside of paragraphs of a subpoena issued under s 17 of the Commercial Arbitration Act 1990 (Qld). The Court was satisfied that even if the documents were of “apparent relevance” to the subject matter of the proceedings, it would nevertheless be oppressive to require their production.

I know, but I don’t care : how awareness of Queensland’s drug driving testing methods impact upon perceptions of deterrence and offending behaviours

An increasing body of research is highlighting the involvement of illicit drugs in many road fatalities. Deterrence theory has been a core conceptual framework underpinning traffic enforcement as well as interventions designed to reduce road fatalities. Essentially the effectiveness of deterrence-based approaches is predicated on perceptions of certainty, severity, and swiftness of apprehension. However, much less is known about how the awareness of legal sanctions can impact upon the effectiveness of deterrence mechanisms and whether promoting such detection methods can increase the deterrent effect. Nevertheless, the implicit assumption is that individuals aware of the legal sanctions will be more deterred. This study seeks to explore how awareness of the testing method impacts upon the effectiveness of deterrence-based interventions and intentions to drug drive again in the future. In total, 161 participants who reported drug driving in the previous six months took part in the current study. The results show that awareness of testing had a small effect upon increasing perceptions of the certainty of apprehension and severity of punishment. However, awareness was not a significant predictor of intentions to drug drive again in the future. Importantly, higher levels of drug use were a significant predictor of intentions to drug drive in the future. Whilst awareness does have a small effect on deterrence variables, the influence of levels of drug use seems to reduce any deterrent effect.

Synthesis of an erodible biomimetic hydrogel for drug delivery using native chemical ligation

Hydrogels are hydrophilic, three dimensional polymers that imbibe large quantities of water while remaining insoluble in aqueous solutions due to chemical or physical cross-linking. The polymers swell in water or biological fluids, immobilizing the bioactive agent, leading to drug release in a well-defined specific manner. Thus the hydrogels’ elastic properties, swellability and biocompatibility make them excellent formulations for drug delivery. Currently, many drug potencies and therapeutic effects are limited or otherwise reduced because of the partial degradation that occurs before the administered drug reaches the desired site of action. On the other hand, sustained release medications release drugs continually, rather than providing relief of symptoms and protection solely when necessary. In fact, it would be much better if drugs could be administered in a manner that precisely matches physiological needs at desired times and at the desired site (site specific targeting). There is therefore an unmet need to develop controlled drug delivery systems especially for delivery of peptide and protein bound drugs. The purpose of this project is to produce hydrogels for structural drug delivery and time-dependent sustained release of drugs (bioactive agents). We use an innovative polymerisation strategy based on native chemical ligation (NCL) to covalently cross-link polymers to form hydrogels. When mixed in aqueous solution, four armed (polyethylene glycol) amine (PEG-4A) end functionalised with thioester and four branched Nterminal cysteine peptide dendrimers spontaneously conjugated to produce biomimetic hydrogels. These hydrogels showed superior resistance to shear stress compared to an equivalent PEG macromonomer system and were shown to be proteolytically degradable with concomitant release of a model payload molecule. This is the first report of a peptide dendrimers/PEG macromonomer approach to hydrogel production and opens up the prospect of facile hydrogel synthesis together with tailored payload release.

Advanced Bioactive Inorganic Materials for Bone Regeneration and Drug Delivery

Bioceramics play an important role in repairing and regenerating bone defects. Annually, more than 500,000 bone graft procedures are performed in the United states and approximately 2.2 million are conducted worldwide. The estimated cost of these procedures approaches $2.5billion per year. Around 60% of the bone graft substitutes available on the market involve bioceramics. It is reported that bioceramics in the world market increase by 9% per year. For this reason, the research of bioceramics has been one of the most active areas during, the past several years. Considering the significant importance of bioceramics, our goal was to compile this book to review the latest research advances in the field of bioceramics. The text also summarizes our work during the past 10 years in an effort to share innovative concepts, design of bioceramisc, and methods for material synthesis and drug delivery. We anticipate that this text will provide some useful information and guidance in the bioceramics field for biomedical engineering researchers and material scientists. Information on novel mesoporous bioactive glasses and silicate-based ceramics for bone regeneration and drug delivery are presented. Mesoporous bioactive glasses have shown multifunctional characteristics of bone regeneration and drug delivery due to their special mesopore structures,whereas silicated-based bioceramics, as typical third-generation biomaterials,possess significant osteostimulation properties. Silica nanospheres with a core-shell structure and specific properties for controllable drug delivery have been carefully reviewed-a variety of advanced synthetic strategies have been developed to construct functional mesoporous silica nanoparticles with a core-shell structure, including hollow, magnetic, or luminescent, and other multifunctional core-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles. In addition, multifunctional drug delivery systems based on these nanoparticles have been designed and optimized to deliver the drugs into the targeted organs or cells,with a controllable release fashioned by virtue of various internal and external triggers. The novel 3D-printing technique to prepare advanced bioceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications has been highlighted, including the preparation, mechanical strength, and biological properties of 3D-printed porous scaffolds of calcium phosphate cement and silicate bioceramics. Three-dimensional printing techniques offer improved large-pore structure and mechanical strength. In addition , biomimetic preparation and controllable crystal growth as well as biomineralization of bioceramics are summarized, showing the latest research progress in this area. Finally, inorganic and organic composite materials are reviewed for bone regeneration and gene delivery. Bioactive inorganic and organic composite materials offer unique biological, electrical, and mechanical properties for designing excellent bone regeneration or gene delivery systems. It is our sincere hope that this book will updated the reader as to the research progress of bioceramics and their applications in bone repair and regeneration. It will be the best reward to all the contributors of this book if their efforts herein in some way help reader in any part of their study, research, and career development.

Risk-taking, harm and help-seeking : reported by young people in treatment at a youth alcohol and drug counselling service

Regarded as a normative component of development, risk-taking by young people is a well-researched subject, and some risk-taking behaviours, such as substance use, are particularly well covered because of their potential to adversely affect health and wellbeing. What has remained unclear is the extent of young people's risk-taking while engaged in alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment, their awareness of the related harms of risk-taking behaviours, and their prior help-seeking for these harms - information which may have a significant impact on the quality and relevance of the care they receive. This paper reports the findings from a brief pilot study exploring those factors in a clinical sample of young people engaged in ongoing AOD counselling.

Labor market reform and the changing structure of wage determination in China's state sector during the 1980s

China's market-oriented labor market reform has been in place for about one and a half decades. This study uses individual data for 1981 and 1987 to examine the success of the first half of the reform program. Success is evaluated by examining changes in the wage setting structure in the state-owned sector over the reform period. Have the market reforms stimulated worker incentives by increasing the returns to human capital acquisition? Has the wage structure altered to more closely mimic that of a market economy? In 1987, there is evidence of a structural change in the system of wage determination, with slightly increased rates of return to human capital. However, changes in industrial wage differentials appear to play the dominant role. It is argued that this may be due to labor market reforms, in particular the introduction of the profit related bonus scheme.J. Comp. Econom.,December 1997,25(3), pp. 403–421. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT0200, Australia and University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, and University of Aberdeen, Old Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 3QY.

Mathematical modelling of controlled drug release from polymer micro-spheres : incorporating the effects of swelling, diffusion and dissolution via moving boundary problems

Controlled drug delivery is a key topic in modern pharmacotherapy, where controlled drug delivery devices are required to prolong the period of release, maintain a constant release rate, or release the drug with a predetermined release profile. In the pharmaceutical industry, the development process of a controlled drug delivery device may be facilitated enormously by the mathematical modelling of drug release mechanisms, directly decreasing the number of necessary experiments. Such mathematical modelling is difficult because several mechanisms are involved during the drug release process. The main drug release mechanisms of a controlled release device are based on the device’s physiochemical properties, and include diffusion, swelling and erosion. In this thesis, four controlled drug delivery models are investigated. These four models selectively involve the solvent penetration into the polymeric device, the swelling of the polymer, the polymer erosion and the drug diffusion out of the device but all share two common key features. The first is that the solvent penetration into the polymer causes the transition of the polymer from a glassy state into a rubbery state. The interface between the two states of the polymer is modelled as a moving boundary and the speed of this interface is governed by a kinetic law. The second feature is that drug diffusion only happens in the rubbery region of the polymer, with a nonlinear diffusion coefficient which is dependent on the concentration of solvent. These models are analysed by using both formal asymptotics and numerical computation, where front-fixing methods and the method of lines with finite difference approximations are used to solve these models numerically. This numerical scheme is conservative, accurate and easily implemented to the moving boundary problems and is thoroughly explained in Section 3.2. From the small time asymptotic analysis in Sections 5.3.1, 6.3.1 and 7.2.1, these models exhibit the non-Fickian behaviour referred to as Case II diffusion, and an initial constant rate of drug release which is appealing to the pharmaceutical industry because this indicates zeroorder release. The numerical results of the models qualitatively confirms the experimental behaviour identified in the literature. The knowledge obtained from investigating these models can help to develop more complex multi-layered drug delivery devices in order to achieve sophisticated drug release profiles. A multi-layer matrix tablet, which consists of a number of polymer layers designed to provide sustainable and constant drug release or bimodal drug release, is also discussed in this research. The moving boundary problem describing the solvent penetration into the polymer also arises in melting and freezing problems which have been modelled as the classical onephase Stefan problem. The classical one-phase Stefan problem has unrealistic singularities existed in the problem at the complete melting time. Hence we investigate the effect of including the kinetic undercooling to the melting problem and this problem is called the one-phase Stefan problem with kinetic undercooling. Interestingly we discover the unrealistic singularities existed in the classical one-phase Stefan problem at the complete melting time are regularised and also find out the small time behaviour of the one-phase Stefan problem with kinetic undercooling is different to the classical one-phase Stefan problem from the small time asymptotic analysis in Section 3.3. In the case of melting very small particles, it is known that surface tension effects are important. The effect of including the surface tension to the melting problem for nanoparticles (no kinetic undercooling) has been investigated in the past, however the one-phase Stefan problem with surface tension exhibits finite-time blow-up. Therefore we investigate the effect of including both the surface tension and kinetic undercooling to the melting problem for nanoparticles and find out the the solution continues to exist until complete melting. The investigation of including kinetic undercooling and surface tension to the melting problems reveals more insight into the regularisations of unphysical singularities in the classical one-phase Stefan problem. This investigation gives a better understanding of melting a particle, and contributes to the current body of knowledge related to melting and freezing due to heat conduction.

Understanding the operational structure of Southeast Asian drug trafficking groups in Australia

This thesis examined the operational structure of Southeast Asian drug trafficking groups operating on the eastern seaboard of Australia by testing the validity and application of organised crime and drug trafficking typologies using data obtained from 159 drug trafficking cases in three Australian states: New South Wales; Queensland; and Victoria. Key findings indicated that the usefulness of typologies is limited when classifying and analysing organised crime groups. In particular, Southeast Asian drug trafficking groups operated largely in small, informal, family-based hierarchies or groups that were better conceptualised using theoretical perspectives from network and cultural studies. The study recommended that replicating previous empirical research in the field is an effective approach that will contribute towards building a cumulative body of knowledge on organised crime structures.

A Bayesian approach to the determination of ignition delay

A novel in-cylinder pressure method for determining ignition delay has been proposed and demonstrated. This method proposes a new Bayesian statistical model to resolve the start of combustion, defined as being the point at which the band-pass in-cylinder pressure deviates from background noise and the combustion resonance begins. Further, it is demonstrated that this method is still accurate in situations where there is noise present. The start of combustion can be resolved for each cycle without the need for ad hoc methods such as cycle averaging. Therefore, this method allows for analysis of consecutive cycles and inter-cycle variability studies. Ignition delay obtained by this method and by the net rate of heat release have been shown to give good agreement. However, the use of combustion resonance to determine the start of combustion is preferable over the net rate of heat release method because it does not rely on knowledge of heat losses and will still function accurately in the presence of noise. Results for a six-cylinder turbo-charged common-rail diesel engine run with neat diesel fuel at full, three quarters and half load have been presented. Under these conditions the ignition delay was shown to increase as the load was decreased with a significant increase in ignition delay at half load, when compared with three quarter and full loads.

Implementing the self-management threshold learning outcome in Australian legal curricula : insights from self-determination theory

In 2010, six Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) for law were developed by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council's Discipline Scholars: Law. The final of these outcomes, TLO 6, concerns self-management. This thesis examines strategies for implementing self-management in Australian legal education by first contextualising the development of TLO 6 in light of other relevant national and international developments in higher education, and secondly, analysing this learning outcome through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), an influential branch of educational psychology. It is argued that the central concept of autonomous self-regulation in SDT provides insights into factors that are relevant to law students’ capacities for long-term self-management, which is reinforced by analysis of the literature on law students’ distress. Accordingly, curriculum design that supports students’ autonomy may simultaneously promote students’ self-management capacities. The discussion of theoretical and practical perspectives on autonomy supportive curriculum design in this thesis thus illuminates potential pedagogical approaches for the implementation of TLO 6 in Australian legal curricula.

Youth Alcohol and Drug Practice Guide 3 : Practice Strategies and Interventions

This guide canvasses a range of practice strategies and interventions utilised by workers and services who engage with young people experiencing problematic AOD use whilst also exploring the many and varied challenges associated with this type of work.

Determination of vertical hydraulic conductivity of aquitards in a multilayered leaky system using water-level signals in adjacent aquifers

This paper presents a methodology for determining the vertical hydraulic conductivity (Kv) of an aquitard, in a multilayered leaky system, based on the harmonic analysis of arbitrary water-level fluctuations in aquifers. As a result, Kv of the aquitard is expressed as a function of the phase-shift of water-level signals measured in the two adjacent aquifers. Based on this expression, we propose a robust method to calculate Kv by employing linear regression analysis of logarithm transformed frequencies and phases. The frequencies, where the Kv are calculated, are identified by coherence analysis. The proposed methods are validated by a synthetic case study and are then applied to the Westbourne and Birkhead aquitards, which form part of a five-layered leaky system in the Eromanga Basin, Australia.