Hip and knee kinematics display complex and time-varying sagittal kinematics during repetitive stepping: Implications for design of a functional fatigue model of the knee extensors and flexors

The validity of fatigue protocols involving multi-joint movements, such as stepping, has yet to be clearly defined. Although surface electromyography can monitor the fatigue state of individual muscles, the effects of joint angle and velocity variation on signal parameters are well established. Therefore, the aims of this study were to i) describe sagittal hip and knee kinematics during repetitive stepping ii) identify periods of high inter-trial variability and iii) determine within-test reliability of hip and knee kinematic profiles. A group of healthy men (N = 15) ascended and descended from a knee-high platform wearing a weighted vest (10%BW) for 50 consecutive trials. The hip and knee underwent rapid flexion and extension during step ascent and descent. Variability of hip and knee velocity peaked between 20-40% of the ascent phase and 80-100% of the descent. Significant (p<0.05) reductions in joint range of motion and peak velocity during step ascent were observed, while peak flexion velocity increased during descent. Healthy individuals use complex hip and knee motion to negotiate a knee-high step with kinematic patterns varying across multiple repetitions. These findings have important implications for future studies intending to use repetitive stepping as a fatigue model for the knee extensors and flexors.

A design approach to the study of people's experiences with technologies in the context of public transport

Relevant to the study of people’s attitudes towards public transport use is the consideration to the role of technology as part of the travel experience. Technologies aim to enhance daily tasks but tend to change the way people interact with products and can be perceived as difficult to use. This is critical in the context of “public use” where products and services are to be used by the population at large: adults, children, elderly, people with disabilities, and tourists. From different perspectives, the topic of users and the use of technologies have been studied in the social sciences and human computer interaction fields; however, earlier approaches fail to address the ways in which experiential knowledge informs people’s interactions with products and technologies, and how such information could guide the design of future technologies. This paper describes a pilot study, part of a larger ongoing exploratory research that investigates people’s experiences with infrastructure, systems, and technologies in the context of public transport. The methodological approach included focus groups, field observations, and retrospective verbal reports. At this stage, the study found that four context led factors were the primary source of reference informing participants’ actions and interactions; they are: (i) context >> experience, (ii) context >> interface, (iii) context >> knowledge, (iv) context >> emotion.

Passenger experience and their implications for airports retail environment design

This project develops new knowledge on the full range of activities and interactions that make up airport passengers' retail experiences. The practical application of this new knowledge will improve the design of airport retail environments and will, in turn, improve passenger experiences, leading to further growth in the airport retail market. The novel methodological approach developed allowed for a new and deeper understanding of how passengers actually experience airport retail environments. Four significant outcomes were discovered: (i) the categorisation of the full range of retail activities and interactions passengers actually undertake, (ii) a new understanding of how passengers use and experience their free airport time, (iii) two new passenger market segments, and (iv) two passenger retail experience tools, with these identifying the broad range of airport-specific factors which influence passengers retail experiences.

Theorizing in design science research : an abstraction layers framework

For Design Science Research (DSR) to gain wide credence as a research paradigm in Information Systems (IS), it must contribute to theory. “Theory cannot be improved until we improve the theorizing process, and we cannot improve the theorizing process until we describe it more explicitly, operate it more self-consciously, and decouple it from validation more deliberately” (Weick 1989, p. 516). With the aim of improved design science theorizing, we propose a DSR abstraction-layers framework that integrates, interlates, and harmonizes key methodological notions, primary of which are: 1) the Design Science (DS), Design Research (DR), and Routine Design (RD) distinction (Winter 2008); 2) Multi Grounding in IS Design Theory (ISDT) (Goldkuhl & Lind 2010); 3) the Idealized Model for Theory Development (IM4TD) (Fischer & Gregor 2011); and 4) the DSR Theorizing Framework (Lee et al. 2011). Though theorizing, or the abstraction process, has been the subject of healthy discussion in DSR, important questions remain. With most attention to date having focused on theorizing for Design Research (DR), a key stimulus of the layered view was the realization that Design Science (DS) produces abstract knowledge at a higher level of generality. The resultant framework includes four abstraction layers: (i) Design Research (DR) 1st Abstract Layer, (ii) Design Science (DS) 2nd Abstract Layer, (iii) DSR Incubation 3rd Layer, and (iv) Routine Design 4th Layer. Differentiating and inter-relating these layers will aid DSR researchers to discover, position, and amplify their DSR contributions. Additionally, consideration of the four layers can trigger creative perspectives that suggest unplanned outputs. The first abstraction layer, including its alternative patterns of activity, is well recognized in the literature. The other layers, however, are less well recognized; and the integrated representation of layers is novel.

Experience has no shadow : Bell tower III

I created Experience Has No Shadow (2010) following a successful Ausdance Qld choreographic grant in 2010, which comprised of two solos and a video-dance at the Performance Space at the Judith Wright Centre. The aim of the Bell Tower III residency was to research and construct a Stage One Development that explored choreographic approaches to oral histories. Like many first generation Australians, oral histories are the way memories and experiences of distant homelands often offer the only connection to cultural origins. Consequently, I drew on auto-ethnographic references in the form of family stories – specifically those of my mother’s family - told and retold by my mother and her family as East German refugees during World War II. While working on the video, I explored a way to make a direct connection to the past stories by using a recording of my mother’s voice. She is re-telling a favourite story about Salamo the circus horse that was sold to my great grandfather as a work horse. Rather than representing the text literally, I attempted to capture the intensity of the storytelling which accompanied abstract footage of Avril Huddy filmed through perspex glass producing animal-like shapes that continually blur and morph in and out of focus. Strangely, by tying the story in with the filmed images a whole new story seems to emerge. Two distinct solos were created in collaboration with the performers, Expressions Dance Company’s Elise May and QUT’s Avril Huddy. These were performed at the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts, Performance Space, 1st April, 2010. The simplicity of its design became a key concept behind the work in terms of sets, spacing requirements, and costumes – almost minimalist. The choreographic process was conceived as highly collaborative, with commissioned music (and eventually lighting features) to act as equal partners in the performance.

Reterritorializing multimodal design in the classroom through a socially mediated Indigenous heritage

National or International Significance Flows of cultural heritage in textual practices are vital to sustaining Indigenous communities - a national and international priority (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). Indigenous heritage, whether passed on by oral tradition or ubiquitous social media, can be seen as a "conversation between the past and the future" (Fairclough, 2012, p. xv). Indigenous heritage involves appropriating memories within a cultural flow to pass on a spiritual legacy. This presentation reports ethnographic research of social media practices in a small independent Aboriginal school in Southeast Queensland, Australia that is resided over by the Yuggera elders and an Aboriginal principal. Quality of Research The purpose was to rupture existing notions of white literacies in schools, and to deterritorialize the uses of digital media by dominant cultures in the public sphere. Examples of learning experiences included the following: i. Integrating Indigenous language and knowledge into media text production; ii. Classroom visits from Indigenous elders; and iii. Publishing oral histories through digital scrapbooking. The program aligned with the Australian National Curriculum English (ACARA, 2014), which mandates the teaching of multimodal text creation. Data sources included a class set of digital scrapbooks collaboratively created in a preparatory-one primary classroom. The digital scrapbooks combined digitally encoded words, images of material artifacts, and digital music files. A key feature of the writing and digital design task was to retell and digitally display and archive a cultural narrative of significance to the Indigenous Australian community and its memories and material traces of the past for the future. Data analysis of the students' digital stories involved the application of key themes of negotiated, material, and digitally mediated forms of heritage practice. It drew on Australian Indigenous research by Keddie et al. (2013) to guard against the homogenizing of culture that can arise from a focus on a static view of culture. The interpretation of findings located Indigenous appropriation of social media within broader racialized politics that enables Indigenous literacy to be understood as a dynamic, negotiated, and transgenerational flows of practice. It demonstrates that Indigenous children's use of media production reflects "shifting and negotiated identities" in response to changing media environments that can function to sustain Indigenous cultural heritages (Appadurai, 1696, p. xv). Impact on practice, policy or theory The findings are important for teachers at a time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures is a cross-curricular policy priority in the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2014). The findings show how curriculum policies can be applied to classroom practice in ways that are epistemologically consistent with Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Theoretically, it demonstrates how the children's experiences of culture are layered over time, as successive generations inherit, interweave, and hear others' cultural stories or maps. Practically, recommendations are provided for an approach to appropriating social media in schools that explicitly attends to the dynamic nature of Indigenous practices, negotiated through intercultural constructions and flows, and opening space for a critical anti-racist approach to multimodal text production. Timeliness The research is timely in the context of the accessibility and role of digital and multimodal forms of communication, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Principles of experience design for airport terminals

In this thesis, the issue of airport terminal design is examined from a novel perspective: that of the passenger rather than the airport operator. A qualitative approach, based on interviews with 199 passengers at Brisbane International Terminal was adopted. The outcomes of this research make the following three key contributions to existing knowledge: (i) identification of a paradox in the Level of Service metrics, (ii) development of a conceptual model of passenger experience and six design principles and (iii) contribution towards advancing the theoretical knowledge about passengers and their experience in airport terminals.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of Value-at-Risk (VaR) models for Australian banks under Basel III

This study compares Value-at-Risk (VaR) measures for Australian banks over a period that includes the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to determine whether the methodology and parameter selection are important for capital adequacy holdings that will ultimately support a bank in a crisis period. VaR methodology promoted under Basel II was largely criticised during the GFC for its failure to capture downside risk. However, results from this study indicate that 1-year parametric and historical models produce better measures of VaR than models with longer time frames. VaR estimates produced using Monte Carlo simulations show a high percentage of violations but with lower average magnitude of a violation when they occur. VaR estimates produced by the ARMA GARCH model also show a relatively high percentage of violations, however, the average magnitude of a violation is quite low. Our findings support the design of the revised Basel II VaR methodology which has also been adopted under Basel III.

Editorial for Journal of Learning Design, 6(3) - "Special issue: Legal education and curriculum renewal"

Welcome to this special edition of the Journal of Learning Design which focuses on legal education and curriculum renewal in law. At the outset ,we would like to thank the editors of the Journal, Margaret Lloyd and Nan Bahr for agreeing to host this special edition. The special edition is timely as legal education in Australia is enjoying a lively period of renewal.

Design-driven digital futures: The role of design-led innovation in the creation of online connected communities for new mobility solutions

Online communities have fundamentally changed how humans connected and are now so common they are fundamental to the human experience. As the Internet developed for Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, the functionality of these communities has far exceeded initial expectations. These communities have shifted from simply places to share information to ways to access products and services that bridge the online and offline worlds. This shift has led to the disruption of many industries with the transportation industry being one such sector. Both private transport providers and public transport systems face competition from online communities who are able to link services providers and customers more effectively and innovatively. These types of communities fall under what has been popularised as collaborative consumption or the sharing economy. The aim of this study is to explore the role of Design-led Innovation in the creation of digital futures, specifically online connected communities for successful new mobility solutions. To explore this proposition multiple data collection methods are proposed;Content Analysis, ii) A Comparative Qualitative Study consisting of Qualitative Interviews and Focus Groups / Design Workshops and iii) An Action Research Cycle of Embedded Practice. The multidisciplinary nature of this study grounds this research in a novel position contributing to new knowledge in both the field of design, and also a deeper understanding of the larger fast-growing online community phenomena.

Working correlation structure misspecification, estimation and covariate design: Implications for generalised estimating equations performance

The method of generalised estimating equations for regression modelling of clustered outcomes allows for specification of a working matrix that is intended to approximate the true correlation matrix of the observations. We investigate the asymptotic relative efficiency of the generalised estimating equation for the mean parameters when the correlation parameters are estimated by various methods. The asymptotic relative efficiency depends on three-features of the analysis, namely (i) the discrepancy between the working correlation structure and the unobservable true correlation structure, (ii) the method by which the correlation parameters are estimated and (iii) the 'design', by which we refer to both the structures of the predictor matrices within clusters and distribution of cluster sizes. Analytical and numerical studies of realistic data-analysis scenarios show that choice of working covariance model has a substantial impact on regression estimator efficiency. Protection against avoidable loss of efficiency associated with covariance misspecification is obtained when a 'Gaussian estimation' pseudolikelihood procedure is used with an AR(1) structure.

New dimeric supramolecular structure of mixed (phthalocyaninato)(porphyrinato)-europium(III) sandwiches : preparation and spectroscopic characteristics

The mixed double-decker Eu\[Pc(15C5)4](TPP) (1) was obtained by base-catalysed tetramerisation of 4,5-dicyanobenzo-15-crown-5 using the half-sandwich complex Eu(TPP)(acac) (acac = acetylacetonate), generated in situ, as the template. For comparative studies, the mixed triple-decker complexes Eu2\[Pc(15C5)4](TPP)2 (2) and Eu2\[Pc(15C5)4]2(TPP) (3) were also synthesised by the raise-by-one-story method. These mixed ring sandwich complexes were characterised by various spectroscopic methods. Up to four one-electron oxidations and two one-electron reductions were revealed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). As shown by electronic absorption and infrared spectroscopy, supramolecular dimers (SM1 and SM3) were formed from the corresponding double-decker 1 and triple-decker 3 in the presence of potassium ions in MeOH/CHCl3.

Electrochemistry of Heteroleptic Tris(phthalocyaninato) Rare Earth(III) Complexes

The electrochemical characteristics of a series of heteroleptic tris(phthalocyaninato) complexes with identical rare earths or mixed rare earths (Pc)M(OOPc)M(OOPc) [M = Eu...Lu, Y; H2Pc = unsubstituted phthalocyanine, H2(OOPc) = 3,4,12,13,21,22,30,31-octakis(octyloxy)phthalocyanine] and (Pc)Eu(OOPc)Er(OOPc) have been recorded and studied comparatively by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in CH2Cl2 containing 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP). Up to five quasi-reversible one-electron oxidations and four one-electron reductions have been revealed. The half-wave potentials of the first, second and fifth oxidations depend on the size of the metal center, but the fifth changes in the opposite direction to that of the first two. Moreover, the difference in redox potentials of the first oxidation and first reduction for (Pc)M(OOPc)M(OOPc), 0.85−0.98 V, also decreases linearly along with decreasing rare earth ion radius, clearly showing the rare earth ion size effect and indicating enhanced π−π interactions in the triple-deckers connected by smaller lanthanides. This order follows the red-shift seen in the lowest energy band of triple-decker compounds. The electronic differences between the lanthanides and yttrium are more apparent for triple-decker sandwich complexes than for the analogous double-deckers. By comparing triple-decker, double-decker and mononuclear [ZnII] complexes containing the OOPc ligand, the HOMO−LUMO gap has been shown to contract approximately linearly with the number of stacked phthalocyanine ligands.

The ageing of alumina hydrolysates synthesized from sec-butoxyaluminium(III)

A combination of X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis and Raman spectroscopy was employed to characterise the ageing of alumina hydrolysates synthesised from the hydrolysis of anhydrous tri-sec-butoxyaluminium(III). X-Ray diffraction showed that the alumino-oxy(hydroxy) hydrolysates were pseudoboehmite. For boehmite the lamellar spacings are in the b direction and multiple d(020) peaks are observed for the un-aged hydrolysate. After 4 h of ageing, a single d(020) peak is observed at 6.53 Å. Thermal analysis showed five endotherms at 70, 140, 238, 351 and 445°C. These endotherms are attributed to the dehydration and dehydroxylation of the boehmite-like hydrolysate. Raman spectroscopy shows the presence of bands for the washed hydrolysates at 333, 355, 414, 455, 475, 495, 530 and 675 cm–1. These bands are attributed to pseudoboehmite. Ageing of the hydrolysates results in an increase in the crystallite size of the pseudoboehmite.