Modifying behaviour to reduce over-speeding in work-related drivers : an objective approach

The goal of this study was to utilise an objective measurement tool, via an on-board Diagnostic tool (OBDII), to explore the effectiveness of a behaviour modification intervention designed to reduce over-speed violations in a group of work-related drivers. It was predicted that over-speed violations would be decreased following participation in a behaviour modification intervention where drivers received weekly feedback on their speeding performance and goal setting exercises. The final analysis included the on-road behaviour of 16 drivers, all of whom completed each stage of the intervention program. As predicted, over-speed violations significantly decreased from pre-test to post-test, after controlling for kilometres driven. These findings offer practical guidance for industry in developing interventions designed to improve work-related driving behaviour.

Expanded scope roles in primary health – what makes them work?

Introduction The demand for better integration between primary and secondary healthcare frequently leads to discussion about expanded scope of practice for nursing, paramedic and allied health professionals and the role these clinicians could play in facilitating improved access to timely and appropriate healthcare. From workforce perspective, expanded scope of practice has also been advocated as a mean of fostering workforce retention. Models of expanded scope roles in nursing and paramedicine have been trialled nationally and internationally in both acute and community care settings. Where they have been successful, trials have resulted in reduction in hospital presentation and admission; improved patient access and timeliness; and patient satisfaction. This paper will examine the characteristics of successful expanded scope programs. Method Exploratory case-study analysis of successful integration of expanded health care roles across primary healthcare settings in rural Australia. Results & Conclusions One size does not fill all. Successful models of integrated expanded health care roles in primary health care settings are built on stakeholder’s capacity and preference; community need; and political will. Collaborative, congruent, multi-disciplinary care teams that prioritise patient-centred care within a dynamic primary care setting have merit and are more likely to foster flexibility and sustainability.

Sectional analysis of the pollutant wash-off process based on runoff hydrograph

The validity of using rainfall characteristics as lumped parameters for investigating the pollutant wash-off process such as first flush occurrence is questionable. This research study introduces an innovative concept of using sector parameters to investigate the relationship between the pollutant wash-off process and different sectors of the runoff hydrograph and rainfall hyetograph. The research outcomes indicated that rainfall depth and rainfall intensity are two key rainfall characteristics which influence the wash-off process compared to the antecedent dry period. Additionally, the rainfall pattern also plays a critical role in the wash-off process and is independent of the catchment characteristics. The knowledge created through this research study provides the ability to select appropriate rainfall events for stormwater quality treatment design based on the required treatment outcomes such as the need to target different sectors of the runoff hydrograph or pollutant species. The study outcomes can also contribute to enhancing stormwater quality modelling and prediction in view of the fact that conventional approaches to stormwater quality estimation is primarily based on rainfall intensity rather than considering other rainfall parameters or solely based on stochastic approaches irrespective of the characteristics of the rainfall event.

Assessing the discipline : an analysis of Australian journalism review articles 2000-2010

In recent years, there has been much discussion about the quality of research published by Australian journalism academics, without much empirical evidence about what kind of work the field actually engages in. This paper attempts to map the relatively young field of Australian journalism research by presenting the results of a comprehensive meta-analysis of articles published in the Australian Journalism Review between 2000 and 2010. Our findings show that, contrary to evidence elsewhere, a gender balance exists in terms of absolute numbers of authors, although a "glass-ceiling effect" is still discernible. Queensland universities dominate the publications, and most studies employ qualitative rather than quantitative methods. Journalism education is the most popular topic, yet a large variety of topics are evident overall. Despite a heavy focus on Australia, and to a smaller extent New Zealand, the journal also displays a sizeable international touch.

The idea of women : representations of power in the work of Charles Bukowski

This thesis is a comparative textual analysis of Charles Bukowski's representations of power in relation to the idea of women. The exegesis explores Bukowski's idea of women and power as exemplified by the representational differences between his short stories for Hustler Magazine and his novel Women. The creative piece, a novel, "Many a Broken Hearted Woman" informed and was informed by this research.

An analysis for the causes of accidents of repair, maintenance, alteration and addition works in Hong Kong

This study unveils causes of accidents in repair, maintenance, alteration and addition (RMAA) work. RMAA work is playing an increasingly important role in developed societies, including Hong Kong. Safety problems associated with RMAA work in Hong Kong has reached an alarming level. In view of rapid expansion of the RMAA sector and rising proportion of accidents in the construction industry, there is a pressing need to investigate causes of RMAA accidents. Structured interviews were conducted with RMAA contractors to explore causes of accidents in the RMAA sector. A two-round Delphi method with 13 safety experts was subsequently employed to verify the interview findings and rank the relative degree of importance for various causes of accidents. Accidents happen in RMAA work due to intersection of reasons. One of the root causes of accidents in RMAA works is low safety awareness of RMAA workers; however, wider organizational and industrial factors are not negligible. This study sheds light on why accidents happen in the RMAA sector. Only when the factors leading to accidents are identified can effective measures be made.

Eigenstrain boundary integral equations with local Eshelby matrix for stress analysis of ellipsoidal particles

Aiming at the large scale numerical simulation of particle reinforced materials, the concept of local Eshelby matrix has been introduced into the computational model of the eigenstrain boundary integral equation (BIE) to solve the problem of interactions among particles. The local Eshelby matrix can be considered as an extension of the concepts of Eshelby tensor and the equivalent inclusion in numerical form. Taking the subdomain boundary element method as the control, three-dimensional stress analyses are carried out for some ellipsoidal particles in full space with the proposed computational model. Through the numerical examples, it is verified not only the correctness and feasibility but also the high efficiency of the present model with the corresponding solution procedure, showing the potential of solving the problem of large scale numerical simulation of particle reinforced materials.

A simple model for the establishment of tick-borne pathogens of Ixodes scapularis : a global sensitivity analysis of R0

The basic reproduction number of a pathogen, R 0, determines whether a pathogen will spread (R0>1R 0>1), when introduced into a fully susceptible population or fade out (R0<1R 0<1), because infected hosts do not, on average, replace themselves. In this paper we develop a simple mechanistic model for the basic reproduction number for a group of tick-borne pathogens that wholly, or almost wholly, depend on horizontal transmission to and from vertebrate hosts. This group includes the causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, and the causative agent of human babesiosis, Babesia microti, for which transmission between co-feeding ticks and vertical transmission from adult female ticks are both negligible. The model has only 19 parameters, all of which have a clear biological interpretation and can be estimated from laboratory or field data. The model takes into account the transmission efficiency from the vertebrate host as a function of the days since infection, in part because of the potential for this dynamic to interact with tick phenology, which is also included in the model. This sets the model apart from previous, similar models for R0 for tick-borne pathogens. We then define parameter ranges for the 19 parameters using estimates from the literature, as well as laboratory and field data, and perform a global sensitivity analysis of the model. This enables us to rank the importance of the parameters in terms of their contribution to the observed variation in R0. We conclude that the transmission efficiency from the vertebrate host to Ixodes scapularis ticks, the survival rate of Ixodes scapularis from fed larva to feeding nymph, and the fraction of nymphs finding a competent host, are the most influential factors for R0. This contrasts with other vector borne pathogens where it is usually the abundance of the vector or host, or the vector-to-host ratio, that determine conditions for emergence. These results are a step towards a better understanding of the geographical expansion of currently emerging horizontally transmitted tick-borne pathogens such as Babesia microti, as well as providing a firmer scientific basis for targeted use of acaricide or the application of wildlife vaccines that are currently in development.

Doing cultural work : local postcard production and place identity in a rural shire

Studies of place construction in the rural studies literature have largely privileged the role of professionals over that of local lay actors. This paper contributes to redressing this imbalance through a critical case-study of lay postcard production in a rural shire. Drawing on original, qualitative research conducted in the Shire of Ravensthorpe, Western Australia, including in-depth interviews with key participants, the analysis focuses on this lay production—undertaken in the main by women—as cultural work. By emphasising the work of making the postcards along with the cultural work these postcards achieve, this examination foregrounds intersections of material and imagined ruralities. In the process, this study highlights the complexity and importance of this lay contribution to place identity, particularly as positioned within what may be considered rural cultural work.

Gender, emotions and fly-in fly-out work

This paper explores the emotional life of fly‑in fly‑out (FIFO) workers and their families, through an analysis of more than 500 postings made on an online chat forum for mining families. Building on literature on fly‑in fly‑out workers and understandings of emotions as socially constructed, analysis shows how posters to the forum, typically women whose male partners are FIFO workers, construct gendered emotional identities for their partners (sometimes referred to as 'Mr Miner'), and for themselves, as 'mining women', 'mining widows' or the 'mining missus'. Inherent in the creation of gendered emotional subject positions is the process of women undertaking emotion work on and behalf of themselves, their male partners and their children. The findings demonstrate the overarching normative dimensions of women's emotional self‑transformations in the service of their mining partners' careers and the attendant reproduction of everyday patriarchal relations in the private lives of mining families.

Hybrid frequency–time domain models for dynamic response analysis of marine structures

Time-domain models of marine structures based on frequency domain data are usually built upon the Cummins equation. This type of model is a vector integro-differential equation which involves convolution terms. These convolution terms are not convenient for analysis and design of motion control systems. In addition, these models are not efficient with respect to simulation time, and ease of implementation in standard simulation packages. For these reasons, different methods have been proposed in the literature as approximate alternative representations of the convolutions. Because the convolution is a linear operation, different approaches can be followed to obtain an approximately equivalent linear system in the form of either transfer function or state-space models. This process involves the use of system identification, and several options are available depending on how the identification problem is posed. This raises the question whether one method is better than the others. This paper therefore has three objectives. The first objective is to revisit some of the methods for replacing the convolutions, which have been reported in different areas of analysis of marine systems: hydrodynamics, wave energy conversion, and motion control systems. The second objective is to compare the different methods in terms of complexity and performance. For this purpose, a model for the response in the vertical plane of a modern containership is considered. The third objective is to describe the implementation of the resulting model in the standard simulation environment Matlab/Simulink.

Dilemmatic spaces : high-stakes testing and the possibilities of collaborative knowledge work to generate learning innovations

This paper examines collaborative researcher-practitioner knowledge work around assessment data in culturally diverse, low- socioeconomic school communities in Queensland, Australia. Specifically, the paper draws on interview accounts about the work of a bridging knowledge flows between a local university and a cluster of schools. We draw on Bernstein’s (2000) concept of recontextualisation to explore the processes of knowledge mediation in dialogues around student assessment data to design instructional innovations. We argue that critical policy studies need to explore the complex ways in which neoliberal education policies are enacted in local sites. Moreover, we suggest that an analysis of collaborative knowledge work designed to improve student learning outcomes in low-socioeconomic school communities necessitates attention to the principles regulating knowledge flows across boundaries. In addition, it necessitates attention to the ways in which mediators navigate dilemmatic spaces, anxieties and affects/feelings in order to generate innovative learning designs in the current global context of high-stakes national testing and accountability regimes.

Experimental and numerical analysis of the relationship between indoor and outdoor airborne particles in an operating room

This work investigated the impact of the HVAC filtration system and indoor particle sources on the relationship between indoor and outdoor airborne particle size and concentrations in an operating room. Filters with efficiency between 65% and 99.97% were used in the investigation and indoor and outdoor particle size and concentrations were measured. A balance mass model was used for the simulation of the impact of the surgical team, deposition rate, HVAC exhaust and air change rates on indoor particle concentration. The experimental results showed that high efficiency filters would not be expected to decrease the risk associated with indoor particles larger than approximately 1 µm in size because normal filters are relatively efficient for these large particles. A good fraction of outdoor particles were removed by deposition on the HVAC system surfaces and this deposition increased with particle size. For particles of 0.3-0.5 µm in diameter, particle reduction was about 23%, while for particles >10 µm the loss was about 78%. The modelling results showed that depending on the type of filter used, the surgical team generated between 93-99% of total particles, while the outdoor air contributed only 1-6%.