Bushfire responsive architecture : strategies for reconciling bushfire and biodiversity with daily life

My perspective on the problems associated with building in bushfire prone landscapes comes from 12 years of study of the biophysical and cultural landscapes in the Great Southern Region of WA which resulted in the design and construction of the ‘Hhouse’ at Bremer Bay. The house was developed using a ‘ground up’ approach whereby I conducted a topographical survey and worked with a local botanist and a bushfire risk consultant to ascertain the level of threat that fire presented to this particular site. My intention from the outset however, was not to design a bushfire resistant house per se, but to develop a design which would place the owners in close proximity to the highly biodiverse heath vegetation of the site. I was also seeking a means—through architectural design—of linking the patterns of usage of the house with other site specific conditions related to the prevailing winds, solar orientation and seasonal change.

A navigating rat animat

This paper presents a new rat animat, a rat-sized bio-inspired robot platform currently being developed for embodied cognition and neuroscience research. The rodent animat is 150mm x 80mm x 70mm and has a different drive, visual, proximity, and odometry sensors, x86 PC, and LCD interface. The rat animat has a bio-inspired rodent navigation and mapping system called RatSLAM which demonstrates the capabilities of the platform and framework. A case study is presented of the robot's ability to learn the spatial layout of a figure of eight laboratory environment, including its ability to close physical loops based on visual input and odometry. A firing field plot similar to rodent 'non-conjunctive grid cells' is shown by plotting the activity of an internal network. Having a rodent animat the size of a real rat allows exploration of embodiment issues such as how the robot's sensori-motor systems and cognitive abilities interact. The initial observations concern the limitations of the deisgn as well as its strengths. For example, the visual sensor has a narrower field of view and is located much closer to the ground than for other robots in the lab, which alters the salience of visual cues and the effectiveness of different visual filtering techniques. The small size of the robot relative to corridors and open areas impacts on the possible trajectories of the robot. These perspective and size issues affect the formation and use of the cognitive map, and hence the navigation abilities of the rat animat.

Anticipated behaviours of emergency prehospital medical care providers during an influenza pandemic

Introduction: Emergency prehospital medical care providers are frontline health workers during emergencies. However, little is known about their attitudes, perceptions, and likely behaviors during emergency conditions. Understanding these attitudes and behaviors is crucial to mitigating the psychological and operational effects of biohazard events such as pandemic influenza, and will support the business continuity of essential prehospital services. ----- ----- Problem: This study was designed to investigate the association between knowledge and attitudes regarding avian influenza on likely behavioral responses of Australian emergency prehospital medical care providers in pandemic conditions. ----- ----- Methods: Using a reply-paid postal questionnaire, the knowledge and attitudes of a national, stratified, random sample of the Australian emergency prehospital medical care workforce in relation to pandemic influenza were investigated. In addition to knowledge and attitudes, there were five measures of anticipated behavior during pandemic conditions: (1) preparedness to wear personal protective equipment (PPE); (2) preparedness to change role; (3) willingness to work; and likely refusal to work with colleagues who were exposed to (4) known and (5) suspected influenza. Multiple logistic regression models were constructed to determine the independent predictors of each of the anticipated behaviors, while controlling for other relevant variables. ----- ----- Results: Almost half (43%) of the 725 emergency prehospital medical care personnel who responded to the survey indicated that they would be unwilling to work during pandemic conditions; one-quarter indicated that they would not be prepared to work in PPE; and one-third would refuse to work with a colleague exposed to a known case of pandemic human influenza. Willingness to work during a pandemic (OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.0–1.9), and willingness to change roles (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.04–2.0) significantly increased with adequate knowledge about infectious agents generally. Generally, refusal to work with exposed (OR = 0.48; 95% CI = 0.3–0.7) or potentially exposed (OR = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.3–0.6) colleagues significantly decreased with adequate knowledge about infectious agents. Confidence in the employer’s capacity to respond appropriately to a pandemic significantly increased employee willingness to work (OR = 2.83; 95% CI = 1.9–4.1); willingness to change roles during a pandemic (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.1–2.1); preparedness to wear PPE (OR = 1.68; 95% CI = 1.1–2.5); and significantly decreased the likelihood of refusing to work with colleagues exposed to (suspected) influenza (OR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.4–0.9). ----- ----- Conclusions:These findings indicate that education and training alone will not adequately prepare the emergency prehospital medical workforce for a pandemic. It is crucial to address the concerns of ambulance personnel and the perceived concerns of their relationship with partners in order to maintain an effective prehospital emergency medical care service during pandemic conditions.

Attitudes to living and working in pandemic conditions among emergency prehospital medical care personnel

Introduction: Little is known about the risk perceptions and attitudes of healthcare personnel, especially of emergency prehospital medical care personnel, regarding the possibility of an outbreak or epidemic event. Problem: This study was designed to investigate pre-event knowledge and attitudes of a national sample of the emergency prehospital medical care providers in relation to a potential human influenza pandemic, and to determine predictors of these attitudes. Methods: Surveys were distributed to a random, cross-sectional sample of 20% of the Australian emergency prehospital medical care workforce (n = 2,929), stratified by the nine services operating in Australia, as well as by gender and location. The surveys included: (1) demographic information; (2) knowledge of influenza; and (3) attitudes and perceptions related to working during influenza pandemic conditions. Multiple logistic regression models were constructed to identify predictors of pandemic-related risk perceptions. Results: Among the 725 Australian emergency prehospital medical care personnel who responded, 89% were very anxious about working during pandemic conditions, and 85% perceived a high personal risk associated with working in such conditions. In general, respondents demonstrated poor knowledge in relation to avian influenza, influenza generally, and infection transmission methods. Less than 5% of respondents perceived that they had adequate education/training about avian influenza. Logistic regression analyses indicate that, in managing the attitudes and risk perceptions of emergency prehospital medical care staff, particular attention should be directed toward the paid, male workforce (as opposed to volunteers), and on personnel whose relationship partners do not work in the health industry. Conclusions: These results highlight the potentially crucial role of education and training in pandemic preparedness. Organizations that provide emergency prehospital medical care must address this apparent lack of knowledge regarding infection transmission, and procedures for protection and decontamination. Careful management of the perceptions of emergency prehospital medical care personnel during a pandemic is likely to be critical in achieving an effective response to a widespread outbreak of infectious disease.

Machine prognostics based on health state probability estimation

The ability to accurately predict the remaining useful life of machine components is critical for machine continuous operation and can also improve productivity and enhance system’s safety. In condition-based maintenance (CBM), maintenance is performed based on information collected through condition monitoring and assessment of the machine health. Effective diagnostics and prognostics are important aspects of CBM for maintenance engineers to schedule a repair and to acquire replacement components before the components actually fail. Although a variety of prognostic methodologies have been reported recently, their application in industry is still relatively new and mostly focused on the prediction of specific component degradations. Furthermore, they required significant and sufficient number of fault indicators to accurately prognose the component faults. Hence, sufficient usage of health indicators in prognostics for the effective interpretation of machine degradation process is still required. Major challenges for accurate longterm prediction of remaining useful life (RUL) still remain to be addressed. Therefore, continuous development and improvement of a machine health management system and accurate long-term prediction of machine remnant life is required in real industry application. This thesis presents an integrated diagnostics and prognostics framework based on health state probability estimation for accurate and long-term prediction of machine remnant life. In the proposed model, prior empirical (historical) knowledge is embedded in the integrated diagnostics and prognostics system for classification of impending faults in machine system and accurate probability estimation of discrete degradation stages (health states). The methodology assumes that machine degradation consists of a series of degraded states (health states) which effectively represent the dynamic and stochastic process of machine failure. The estimation of discrete health state probability for the prediction of machine remnant life is performed using the ability of classification algorithms. To employ the appropriate classifier for health state probability estimation in the proposed model, comparative intelligent diagnostic tests were conducted using five different classifiers applied to the progressive fault data of three different faults in a high pressure liquefied natural gas (HP-LNG) pump. As a result of this comparison study, SVMs were employed in heath state probability estimation for the prediction of machine failure in this research. The proposed prognostic methodology has been successfully tested and validated using a number of case studies from simulation tests to real industry applications. The results from two actual failure case studies using simulations and experiments indicate that accurate estimation of health states is achievable and the proposed method provides accurate long-term prediction of machine remnant life. In addition, the results of experimental tests show that the proposed model has the capability of providing early warning of abnormal machine operating conditions by identifying the transitional states of machine fault conditions. Finally, the proposed prognostic model is validated through two industrial case studies. The optimal number of health states which can minimise the model training error without significant decrease of prediction accuracy was also examined through several health states of bearing failure. The results were very encouraging and show that the proposed prognostic model based on health state probability estimation has the potential to be used as a generic and scalable asset health estimation tool in industrial machinery.

“What’s going on here?” The pedagogy of a data analysis session

Data analysis sessions are a common feature of discourse analytic communities, often involving participants with varying levels of expertise to those with significant expertise. Learning how to do data analysis and working with transcripts, however, are often new experiences for doctoral candidates within the social sciences. While many guides to doctoral education focus on procedures associated with data analysis (Heath, Hindmarsh, & Luff, 2010; McHoul & Rapley, 2001; Silverman, 2011; Wetherall, Taylor, & Yates, 2001), the in situ practices of doing data analysis are relatively undocumented. This chapter has been collaboratively written by members of a special interest research group, the Transcript Analysis Group (TAG), who meet regularly to examine transcripts representing audio- and video-recorded interactional data. Here, we investigate our own actual interactional practices and participation in this group where each member is both analyst and participant. We particularly focus on the pedagogic practices enacted in the group through investigating how members engage in the scholarly practice of data analysis. A key feature of talk within the data sessions is that members work collaboratively to identify and discuss ‘noticings’ from the audio-recorded and transcribed talk being examined, produce candidate analytic observations based on these discussions, and evaluate these observations. Our investigation of how talk constructs social practices in these sessions shows that participants move fluidly between actions that demonstrate pedagogic practices and expertise. Within any one session, members can display their expertise as analysts and, at the same time, display that they have gained an understanding that they did not have before. We take an ethnomethodological position that asks, ‘what’s going on here?’ in the data analysis session. By observing the in situ practices in fine-grained detail, we show how members participate in the data analysis sessions and make sense of a transcript.

An examination of monotony and hypovigilance, independent of fatigue : relevance to road safety

Driving is a vigilance task, requiring sustained attention to maintain performance and avoid crashes. Hypovigilance (i.e., marked reduction in vigilance) while driving manifests as poor driving performance and is commonly attributed to fatigue (Dinges, 1995). However, poor driving performance has been found to be more frequent when driving in monotonous road environments, suggesting that monotony plays a role in generating hypovigilance (Thiffault & Bergeron, 2003b). Research to date has tended to conceptualise monotony as a uni-dimensional task characteristic, typically used over a prolonged period of time to facilitate other factors under investigation, most notably fatigue. However, more often than not, more than one exogenous factor relating to the task or operating environment is manipulated to vary or generate monotony (Mascord & Heath, 1992). Here we aimed to explore whether monotony is a multi-dimensional construct that is determined by characteristics of both the task proper and the task environment. The general assumption that monotony is a task characteristic used solely to elicit hypovigilance or poor performance related to fatigue appears to have led to there being little rigorous investigation into the exact nature of the relationship. While the two concepts are undoubtedly linked, the independent effect of monotony on hypovigilance remains largely ignored. Notwithstanding, there is evidence that monotony effects can emerge very early in vigilance tasks and are not necessarily accompanied by fatigue (see Meuter, Rakotonirainy, Johns, & Wagner, 2005). This phenomenon raises a largely untested, empirical question explored in two studies: Can hypovigilance emerge as a consequence of task and/or environmental monotony, independent of time on task and fatigue? In Study 1, using a short computerised vigilance task requiring responses to be withheld to infrequent targets, we explored the differential impacts of stimuli and task demand manipulations on the development of a monotonous context and the associated effects on vigilance performance (as indexed by respone errors and response times), independent of fatigue and time on task. The role of individual differences (sensation seeking, extroversion and cognitive failures) in moderating monotony effects was also considered. The results indicate that monotony affects sustained attention, with hypovigilance and associated performance worse in monotonous than in non-monotonous contexts. Critically, performance decrements emerged early in the task (within 4.3 minutes) and remained consistent over the course of the experiment (21.5 minutes), suggesting that monotony effects can operate independent of time on task and fatigue. A combination of low task demands and low stimulus variability form a monotonous context characterised by hypovigilance and poor task performance. Variations to task demand and stimulus variability were also found to independently affect performance, suggesting that monotony is a multi-dimensional construct relating to both task monotony (associated with the task itself) and environmental monotony (related to characteristics of the stimulus). Consequently, it can be concluded that monotony is multi-dimensional and is characterised by low variability in stimuli and/or task demands. The proposition that individual differences emerge under conditions of varying monotony with high sensation seekers and/or extroverts performing worse in monotonous contexts was only partially supported. Using a driving simulator, the findings of Study 1 were extended to a driving context to identify the behavioural and psychophysiological indices of monotony-related hypovigilance associated with variations to road design and road side scenery (Study 2). Supporting the proposition that monotony is a multi-dimensional construct, road design variability emerged as a key moderating characteristic of environmental monotony, resulting in poor driving performance indexed by decrements in steering wheel measures (mean lateral position). Sensation seeking also emerged as a moderating factor, where participants high in sensation seeking tendencies displayed worse driving behaviour in monotonous conditions. Importantly, impaired driving performance was observed within 8 minutes of commencing the driving task characterised by environmental monotony (low variability in road design) and was not accompanied by a decline in psychophysiological arousal. In addition, no subjective declines in alertness were reported. With fatigue effects associated with prolonged driving (van der Hulst, Meijman, & Rothengatter, 2001) and indexed by drowsiness, this pattern of results indicates that monotony can affect driver vigilance, independent of time on task and fatigue. Perceptual load theory (Lavie, 1995, 2005) and mindlessness theory (Robertson, Manly, Andrade, Baddley, & Yiend, 1997) provide useful theoretical frameworks for explaining and predicting monotony effects by positing that the low load (of task and/or stimuli) associated with a monotonous task results in spare attentional capacity which spills over involuntarily, resulting in the processing of task-irrelevant stimuli or task unrelated thoughts. That is, individuals – even when not fatigued - become easily distracted when performing a highly monotonous task, resulting in hypovigilance and impaired performance. The implications for road safety, including the likely effectiveness of fatigue countermeasures to mitigate monotony-related driver hypovigilance are discussed.

Living City 2010 Workshop

Living City 2010 was a three-day place-based urban design immersion workshop program held at Logan Road Conference Centre, Stones Corner, for 30 self-selected Year 11 Visual Art Students and 4 Teachers drawn from 11 state and private Brisbane Secondary Schools, that focused on the active Brisbane City Council redevelopment site of Stones Corner, specifically Logan Road, public spaces at Stones Corner Library and rehabilitation of the nearby creek corridor. The workshop, framed within notions of ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability, aimed to raise awareness of the layered complexity and perspectives involved in the design of shared city spaces and to encourage young people to voice their own concerns as future citizens about the shape and direction of their city. On Day 1, Brisbane City Council Public Art Officers Brendan Doherty and Genevieve Searle, local landscape architect Peter Boyle (Verge) and artists Malcolm Enright and Barbara Heath provided students with an overview of the historic and future context of the area including proposed design and public art interventions, followed by a site walk. The afternoon session, led by Natalie Wright and QUT design staff and students, focused on design tools to assist in the tackling of the redesign of the Stones Corner library precinct, where students worked on ideas. On Day 2, students were mentored by artist Liam Key to participate in a computer animation activity using the built environment as a canvas, and by artist Sebastian Moody to participate in an activity using red helium balloons as a playful catalyst for interaction to activate and create new public space. Later, students worked in teams on their ideas for redevelopment of the site in preparation for their Day 3 presentations. The workshop culminated in an exchange of planning ideas with Georgina Aitchison from Brisbane City Council's Urban Renewal Division. Students were introduced to design methodology, team thinking strategies, the scope of design practices and professions, presentation skills and post-secondary pathways, while participating teachers acquired content and design learning strategies transferable in many other contexts.

Voices of experience : opportunities to influence creatively the designing of school libraries

Using a critical ethnographic approach this study investigates the potential for multiple voices of experience, of educators, designers/architects, education facility planners and students/learners, to influence creatively the designing of school libraries. School libraries are considered as social and cultural entities within the contexts of school life and of wider society. It is proposed that school library designing is a social interaction of concern to those influenced by its practices and outcomes. School library designing is therefore of significance to educators and students as well as to those with professionally accredited involvement in school library designing, such as designers/architects and education facility planners. The study contends that current approaches to educational space designing, including school libraries, amplify the voices of accredited designers and diminish or silence the voices of the user participants. The study is conceptualised as creative processes of discovery, through which attention is paid to the voices of experience of user and designer participants, and is concerned with their understandings and experiences of school libraries and their understandings and experiences of designing. Grounded theory coding (Charmaz) is used for initial categorising of interview data. Critical discourse analysis (CDA, Fairclough) is used as analytical tool for reflection on the literature and for analysis of the small stories gathered through semi-structured interviews, field observations and documents. The critical interpretive stance taken through CDA, enables discussions of aspects of power associated with the understandings and experiences of participants, and for recognition of creative possibilities and creative influence within and beyond current conditions. Through an emphasis on prospects for educators and students as makers of the spaces and places of learning, in particular in school libraries, the study has the potential to inform education facility designing practices and design participant relationships, and to contribute more broadly to knowledge in the fields of education, design, architecture, and education facility planning.

Screening for alcohol and drug use in pregnancy

Objective - this study examined the clinical utility and precision of routine screening for alcohol and other drug use among women attending a public antenatal service. Study design - a survey of clients and audit of clinical charts. Participants and setting - clients attending an antenatal clinic of a large tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia, from October to December 2009. Measurements and findings - data were collected from two sources. First, 32 women who reported use of alcohol or other drugs during pregnancy at initial screening were then asked to complete a full substance use survey. Second, data were collected from charts of 349 new clients who attended the antenatal clinic during the study period. Both sensitivity (86%, 67%) and positive predictive value (100%, 92%) for alcohol and other drug use respectively, were high. Only 15% of surveyed women were uncomfortable about being screened for substance use in pregnancy, yet the chart audit revealed poor staff compliance. During the study period, 25% of clients were either not screened adequately or not at all. Key conclusions and implications for practise - despite recommended universal screening in pregnancy and the apparent acceptance by our participants, alcohol and other drug (A&OD) screening in the antenatal setting remains problematic. Investigation into the reasons behind, and ways to overcome, the low screening rate could improve health outcomes for mothers and children in this at-risk group. Targeted education and training for midwives may form part of the solution as these clinicians have a key role in implementing prevention and early intervention strategies.

The role of physical activity in the lives of people with lymphoedema following cancer treatment : a social constructionist study

Lymphoedema is a chronic condition predominantly affecting the limbs, although it can involve the trunk and other areas of the body. It is characterised by swelling due to excess accumulation of fluid in body tissues. Secondary lymphoedema, which arises following cancer treatment, is the more common form of lymphoedema in developed countries. At least 20% of those diagnosed with the most common cancers will develop lymphoedema. This is a concern in Australia as incidence of these cancers is increasing. Cancer survival rates are also increasing. Currently, this equates to 9 300 new cases of secondary lymphoedema diagnosed each year. Considerable physical and psychosocial impacts of lymphoedema have been reported and its subsequent impact on health-related quality of life can exacerbate other side effects of cancer treatment. Exercise following cancer treatment has been shown to significantly reduce the impact of treatment side effects, improve quality of life and physical status. While participating in exercise does not increase risk nor exacerbate existing lymphoedema, reductions in incidence of lymphoedema exacerbations and associated symptoms have been observed in women participating in regular weight lifting following breast cancer treatment. Despite these benefits, lymphoedema prevention and management advice cautions people with lymphoedema against „repetitive use. or „overuse. of their affected arm. It is possible that this advice creates a barrier to participation in physical activity; however, little is known about the relationship between physical activity and lymphoedema. In addition, the majority of studies examining the experiences of people living with lymphoedema and the impact of the condition have been predominantly conducted internationally and have focused on women following breast cancer. This study sought to explore firstly, how men and women construct their experience of living with lymphoedema following treatment for a range of cancers in the context of everyday life in Australia; and secondly, to analyse the role of physical activity in the lives of those living with lymphoedema following cancer treatment. A social constructivist grounded theory approach was taken to explore these objectives as it is acknowledged that human actions and the meanings associated with these actions are influenced by the interaction between the self and the social world. It is also acknowledged that the research process itself is a social construction between the researcher and participant. Purposive sampling techniques were used to recruit a total of 29 participants from a variety of sources. Telephone interviews and focus groups were conducted to collect data. Data were concurrently collected and analysed and analysis was conducted using the constant comparative method. The core category that developed in objective one was „sense of self‟. The self was defined by perceptions participants held of themselves and their identity prior to a lymphoedema diagnosis and changes to their perceptions and identity since diagnosis. Three conceptual categories which related to each other and to „sense of self‟ were developed through the process of coding that represented the process of how participants constructed their experiences living with secondary lymphoedema in the context of everyday life. Firstly, altered normalcy reflected the physical and psychosocial changes experienced and the effect it had on their lives. Secondly, „accidental journey‟ reflected participants‟ journey with the heath care system prior to diagnosis through to longer term management. Thirdly, renegotiating control revealed participants perceived control over lymphoedema and their ability to participate in daily activities previously enjoyed. These findings revealed the failure of the broader health system to recognise the significant and chronic nature of a lymphoedema diagnosis following cancer treatment with greater understanding, knowledge and support from health professionals being needed. The findings also reveal access to health professionals trained in lymphoedema management, a comprehensive approach encompassing both physical and psychosocial needs and provision of practical and meaningful guidelines supported by scientific evidence would contribute to improved treatment and management of the condition. The key findings for objective two were that people with lymphoedema define physical activity in different ways. Physical activity post-diagnosis was perceived as important by most for a variety of reasons ranging from everyday functioning, to physical and psychosocial health benefits. Issues relating to the impact of lymphoedema on physical activity related to the impact on peoples‟ ability to be physically active, confusion about acceptable forms of physical activity and barriers that lymphoedema presented to being physically active. A relationship between how people construct their experiences with lymphoedema and the role of physical activity was also established. The contribution of physical activity to the lives of people living with lymphoedema following cancer treatment appeared to be influenced by their sense of self as socially constructed through their experiences prior to diagnosis and following diagnosis with lymphoedema. The influence of pre-lymphoedema habits, norms and beliefs suggests the importance of effective health promotion messages to encourage physical activity among the general population and specific messages and guidelines particular to the needs of those diagnosed with lymphoedema following cancer treatment. The influence of participant.s social constructions on the lymphoedema experience highlights the importance of improving interactions between the overall health care system and patients, providing a clear treatment plan, providing evidence-based and clear advice about participation in appropriate physical activity, which in doing so will limit the physical and psychosocial effect of lymphoedema and providing comprehensive physical and psychosocial support to those living with the condition and their families. This study has contributed to a deep understanding of people.s experiences with lymphoedema following cancer treatment and the role of physical activity in the context of daily life in Australia. Findings from this study lead to recommendations for advocacy, a comprehensive approach to diagnosis, treatment and management, and specific areas for future research.

Ignorance not racism : the ethical implications of cultural schema theory within policing

Communication between cultures that do not share similar norms, values, beliefs, experiences, attitudes and practices has long proven to be a difficult exercise (Balsmeier & Heck, 1994). These difficulties can have serious consequences when the miscommunication happens in the justice system; the innocent can be convicted and witnesses undermined. Much work has been carried out on the need for better communication in the courtroom (Eades, 1993; Lauchs, 2010; Supreme Court of Queensland, 2010; Supreme Court of Western Australia, 2008) but far less on language and interactions between police and indigenous Australians (Powell, 2000). It is ethically necessary that officers of the law be made aware of linguistic issues to ensure they conduct their investigations in a fair and effective manner. Despite years of awareness raising issues still arise. Issues of clashes between police and indigenous peoples are still prevalent (Heath, 2012; Remeikis, 2012). This paper will attempt to explain the reason for this discrepancy and, in doing so, suggest some solutions to the problem. This paper draws on cultural schema theory in an attempt to determine if cultural difference in language could be negatively affecting communication between Aboriginal people and the police of South East Queensland. Findings from this research are significant in determining if miscommunication is adding to the already unequal standing of Aboriginal people within the Criminal Justice system, and encouraging the already volatile relationship between Aboriginal people and police.