The deep trauma of secondary victimisation : parents of sex offenders

The publication of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) introduced the notion that a life-threatening illness can be a stressor and catalyst for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then a solid body of research has been established investigating the post-diagnosis experience of cancer. These studies have identified a number of short and long-term life changes resulting from a diagnosis of cancer and associated treatments. In this chapter, we discuss the psychosocial response to the cancer experience and the potential for cancer-related distress. Cancer can represent a life-threatening diagnosis that may be associated with aggressive treatments and result in physical and psychological changes. The potential for future trauma through the lasting effects of the disease and treatment, and the possibility of recurrence, can be a source of continued psychological distress. In addition to the documented adverse repercussions of cancer, we also outline the recent shift that has occurred in the psycho-oncology literature regarding positive life change or posttraumatic growth that is commonly reported after a diagnosis of cancer. Adopting a salutogenic framework acknowledges that the cancer experience is a dynamic psychosocial process with both negative and positive repercussions. Next, we describe the situational and individual factors that are associated with posttraumatic growth and the types of positive life change that are prevalent in this context. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research in a therapeutic context and the directions of future posttraumatic growth research with cancer survivors. This chapter will present both quantitative and qualitative research that indicates the potential for personal growth from adversity rather than just mere survival and return to pre-diagnosis functioning. It is important to emphasise however, that the presence of growth and prevalence of resilience does not negate the extremely distressing nature of a cancer diagnosis for the patient and their families and the suffering that can accompany treatment regimes. Indeed, it will be explained that for growth to occur, the experience must be one that quite literally shatters previously held schemas in order to act as a catalyst for change.

Sensitivity of peak positions to flight-path parameters in a deep-inelastic scattering neutron TOF spectrometer

The effects of small changes in flight-path parameters (primary and secondary flight paths, detector angles), and of displacement of the sample along the beam axis away from its ideal position, are examined for an inelastic time-of-flight (TOF) neutron spectrometer, emphasising the deep-inelastic regime. The aim was to develop a rational basis for deciding what measured shifts in the positions of spectral peaks could be regarded as reliable in the light of the uncertainties in the calibrated flight-path parameters. Uncertainty in the length of the primary or secondary flight path has the least effect on the positions of the peaks of H, D and He, which are dominated by the accuracy of the calibration of the detector angles. This aspect of the calibration of a TOF spectrometer therefore demands close attention to achieve reliable outcomes where the position of the peaks is of significant scientific interest and is discussed in detail. The corresponding sensitivities of the position of peak of the Compton profile, J(y), to flight-path parameters and sample position are also examined, focusing on the comparability across experiments of results for H, D and He. We show that positioning the sample to within a few mm of the ideal position is required to ensure good comparability between experiments if data from detectors at high forward angles are to be reliably interpreted.

Position, privacy and personnel : concerns for the (digital) future

Firms are moving away from decentralized regional offices. Last year the author spoke with a valuer working on the Sunshine Coast for a Brisbane firm. In years past this valuer would have left home in the morning to go to the office, as well as travelling during the day to client sites. Now they get up, have breakfast, change out of their pyjamas (if they have meetings!) and walk into their employer set-up home office to ‘punch-in’. Apart from travel for essential meetings at head office, or for the purpose of on-site inspections, they can attend work, engage with colleagues and clients and never leave home. While this practice may be a cost saving to the firm and a commuter-friendly way of working, it raises a range of issues to be managed.

Social media and Web 2.0 : teacher-librarians, risk and inequity

This paper reports research into teacher-­‐librarians’ perceptions of using social media and Web 2.0 in teaching and learning. A pilot study was conducted with teacher-­‐librarians in five government schools and five private schools in southeast Queensland. The findings revealed that there was a strong digital divide between government schools and private schools, with government schools suffering severe restrictions on the use of social media and Web 2.0, leading to an unsophisticated use of these technologies. It is argued that internet ‘over-­‐ blocking’ may lead to government school students not being empowered to manage risks in an open internet environment. Furthermore, their use of information for academic and recreational learning may be compromised. This has implications particularly for low socioeconomic students, leading to further inequity in the process and outcomes of Australian education.

Shear strengths of lipped channel beams with stiffened web openings using numerical studies

This paper presents the details of numerical studies on the shear behaviour and strength of lipped channel beams (LCBs) with stiffened web openings. Over the last couple of decades, cold-formed steel beams have been used extensively in residential, industrial and commercial buildings as primary load bearing structural components. Their shear strengths are considerably reduced when web openings are included for the purpose of locating building services. Our research has shown that shear strengths of LCBs were reduced by up to 70% due to the inclusion of web openings. Hence there is a need to improve the shear strengths of LCBs with web openings. A cost effective way to improve the detrimental effects of a large web opening is to attach appropriate stiffeners around the web openings in order to restore the original shear strength and stiffness of LCBs. Hence numerical studies were undertaken to investigate the shear strengths of LCBs with stiffened web openings. In this research, finite element models of LCBs with stiffened web openings in shear were developed to simulate the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs. Various stiffening methods using plate and LCB stud stiffeners attached to LCBs using screw-fastening were attempted. The developed models were then validated by comparing their results with experimental results and used in parametric studies. Both finite element analysis and experimental results showed that the stiffening arrangements recommended by past re-search for cold-formed steel channel beams are not adequate to restore the shear strengths of LCBs with web openings. Therefore new stiffener arrangements were proposed for LCBs with web openings based on experimental and finite element analysis results. This paper presents the details of finite element models and analyses used in this research and the results including the recommended stiffener arrangements.

Towards tacit knowledge sharing over social web tools

Purpose - Researchers debate whether tacit knowledge sharing through Information Technology (IT) is actually possible. However, with the advent of social web tools, it has been argued that most shortcomings of tacit knowledge sharing are likely to disappear. This paper has two purposes: firstly, to demonstrate the existing debates in the literature regarding tacit knowledge sharing using IT, and secondly, to identify key research gaps that lay the foundations for future research into tacit knowledge sharing using social web. Design/methodology/approach - This paper reviews current literature on IT-mediated tacit knowledge sharing and opens a discussion on tacit knowledge sharing through the use of social web. Findings - First, the existing schools of thoughts in regards to IT ability for tacit knowledge sharing are introduced. Next, difficulties of sharing tacit knowledge through the use of IT are discussed. Then, potentials and pitfalls of social web tools are presented. Finally, the paper concludes that whilst there are significant theoretical arguments supporting that the social web facilitates tacit knowledge sharing there is a lack of empirical evidence to support these arguments and further work is required. Research limitations/implications - The limitations of the review includes: covering only papers that were published in English, issues of access to full texts of some resources, possibility of missing some resources due to search strings used or limited coverage of databases searched. Originality/value - The paper contributes to the fast growing literature on the intersection of KM and IT particularly by focusing on tacit knowledge sharing in social media space. The paper highlights the need for further studies in this area by discussing the current situation in the literature and disclosing the emerging questions and gaps for future studies.

Assessing the potential of mathematics textbooks to promote deep learning

Curriculum documents for mathematics emphasise the importance of promoting depth of knowledge rather than shallow coverage of the curriculum. In this paper, we report on a study that explored the analysis of junior secondary mathematics textbooks to assess their potential to assist in teaching and learning aimed at building and applying deep mathematical knowledge. The method of analysis involved the establishment of a set of specific curriculum goals and associated indicators, based on research into the teaching and learning of a particular field within the mathematics curriculum, namely proportion and proportional reasoning. Topic selection was due to its pervasive nature throughout the school mathematics curriculum at this level. As a result of this study, it was found that the five textbook series examined provided limited support for the development of multiplicative structures required for proportional reasoning, and hence would not serve well the development of deep learning of mathematics. The study demonstrated a method that could be applied to the analysis of junior secondary mathematics in many parts of the world.

Using Wikipedia to improve web service discovery

Building and maintaining software are not easy tasks. However, thanks to advances in web technologies, a new paradigm is emerging in software development. The Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a relatively new approach that helps bridge the gap between business and IT and also helps systems remain exible. However, there are still several challenges with SOA. As the number of available services grows, developers are faced with the problem of discovering the services they need. Public service repositories such as Programmable Web provide only limited search capabilities. Several mechanisms have been proposed to improve web service discovery by using semantics. However, most of these require manually tagging the services with concepts in an ontology. Adding semantic annotations is a non-trivial process that requires a certain skill-set from the annotator and also the availability of domain ontologies that include the concepts related to the topics of the service. These issues have prevented these mechanisms becoming widespread. This thesis focuses on two main problems. First, to avoid the overhead of manually adding semantics to web services, several automatic methods to include semantics in the discovery process are explored. Although experimentation with some of these strategies has been conducted in the past, the results reported in the literature are mixed. Second, Wikipedia is explored as a general-purpose ontology. The benefit of using it as an ontology is assessed by comparing these semantics-based methods to classic term-based information retrieval approaches. The contribution of this research is significant because, to the best of our knowledge, a comprehensive analysis of the impact of using Wikipedia as a source of semantics in web service discovery does not exist. The main output of this research is a web service discovery engine that implements these methods and a comprehensive analysis of the benefits and trade-offs of these semantics-based discovery approaches.

Connecting across continents : collaborative learning in a Web 2.0 world

Purpose – The article aims to review a university course, offered to students in both Australia and Germany, to encourage them to learn about designing, implementing, marketing and evaluating information programs and services in order to build active and engaged communities. The concepts and processes of Web 2.0 technologies come together in the learning activities, with students establishing their own personal learning networks (PLNs). Design/methodology/approach – The case study examines the principles of learning and teaching that underpin the course and presents the students' own experiences of the challenges they faced as they explored the interactive, participative and collaborative dimensions of the web. Findings – The online format of the course and the philosophy of learning through play provided students with a safe and supportive environment for them to move outside of their comfort zones, to be creative, to experiment and to develop their professional personas. Reflection on learning was a key component that stressed the value of reflective practice in assisting library and information science (LIS) professionals to adapt confidently to the rapidly changing work environment. Originality/value – This study provides insights into the opportunities for LIS courses to work across geographical boundaries, to allow students to critically appraise library practice in different contexts and to become active participants in wider professional networks.

Contemporaneous correlations within individuals in an automated web-based walking program (Walk@Work) over a six week period (three phases) of time

Introduction: Participants may respond to phases of a workplace walking program at different rates. This study evaluated the factors that contribute to the number of steps through phases of the program. The intervention was automated through a web-based program designed to increase workday walking. Methods: The study reviewed independent variable influences throughout phases I–III. A convenience sample of university workers (n=56; 43.6±1.7 years; BMI 27.44±.2.15 kg/m2; 48 female) were recruited at worksites in Australia. These workers were given a pedometer (Yamax SW 200) and access to the website program. For analyses, step counts entered by workers into the website were downloaded and mean workday steps were compared using a seemingly unrelated regression. This model was employed to capture the contemporaneous correlation within individuals in the study across observed time periods. Results: The model predicts that the 36 subjects with complete information took an average 7460 steps in the baseline two week period. After phase I, statistically significance increases in steps (from baseline) were explained by age, working status (full or part time), occupation (academic or professional), and self reported public transport (PT) use (marginally significant). Full time workers walked more than part time workers by about 440 steps, professionals walked about 300 steps more than academics, and PT users walked about 400 steps more than non-PT users. The ability to differentiate steps after two weeks among participants suggests a differential affect of the program after only two weeks. On average participants increased steps from week two to four by about 525 steps, but regular auto users had nearly 750 steps less than non-auto users at week four. The effect of age was diminished in the 4th week of observation and accounted for 34 steps per year of age. In phase III, discriminating between participants became more difficult, with only age effects differentiating their increase over baseline. The marginal effect of age by phase III compared to phase I, increased from 36 to 50, suggesting a 14 step per year increase from the 2nd to 6th week. Discussion: The findings suggest that participants responded to the program at different rates, with uniformity of effect achieved by the 6th week. Participants increased steps, however a tapering off occurred over time. Age played the most consistent role in predicting steps over the program. PT use was associated with increased step counts, while Auto use was associated with decreased step counts.

Stigmergy within web modelling languages : positive feedback mechanisms

Stigmergy is a biological term originally used when discussing insect or swarm behaviour, and describes a model supporting environment-based communication separating artefacts from agents. This phenomenon is demonstrated in the behavior of ants and their food foraging supported by pheromone trails, or similarly termites and their termite nest building process. What is interesting with this mechanism is that highly organized societies are formed without an apparent central management function. We see design features in Web sites that mimic stigmergic mechanisms as part of the User Interface and we have created generalizations of these patterns. Software development and Web site development techniques have evolved significantly over the past 20 years. Recent progress in this area proposes languages to model web applications to facilitate the nuances specific to these developments. These modeling languages provide a suitable framework for building reusable components encapsulating our design patterns of stigmergy. We hypothesize that incorporating stigmergy as a separate feature of a site’s primary function will ultimately lead to enhanced user coordination.

Privacy by Design : Does it matter for social networks?

Privacy is an important component of freedom and plays a key role in protecting fundamental human rights. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that without appropriate levels of privacy, a person’s rights are diminished. Users want to protect their privacy - particularly in “privacy invasive” areas such as social networks. However, Social Network users seldom know how protect their own privacy through online mechanisms. What is required is an emerging concept that provides users legitimate control over their own personal information, whilst preserving and maintaining the advantages of engaging with online services such as Social Networks. This paper reviews “Privacy by Design (PbD)” and shows how it applies to diverse privacy areas. Such an approach will move towards mitigating many of the privacy issues in online information systems and can be a potential pathway for protecting user’s personal information. The research has posed many questions in need of further investigation for different open source distributed Social Networks. Findings from this research will lead to a novel distributed architecture that provides more transparent and accountable privacy for the users of online information systems.

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

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

Improved shear design rules for lipped channel beams with web openings

Cold-formed steel Lipped Channel Beams (LCB) with web openings are commonly used as floor joists and bearers in building structures. The shear behaviour of these beams is more complicated and their shear capacities are considerably reduced by the presence of web openings. However, limited research has been undertaken on the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs with web openings. Hence a detailed numerical study was undertaken to investigate the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs with web openings. Finite element models of simply supported LCBs under a mid-span load with aspect ratios of 1.0 and 1.5 were developed and validated by comparing their results with test results. They were then used in a detailed parametric study to investigate the effects of various influential parameters. Experimental and numerical results showed that the current design rules in cold-formed steel structures design codes are very conservative. Improved design equations were therefore proposed for the shear strength of LCBs with web openings based on both experimental and numerical results. This paper presents the details of finite element modelling of LCBs with web openings, validation of finite element models, and the development of improved shear design rules. The proposed shear design rules in this paper can be considered for inclusion in the future versions of cold-formed steel design codes.

Privacy of RFID - models and protocols

Radio Frequency Identification is a wireless identification method that utilizes the reception of electromagnetic radio waves. This research has proposed a novel model to allow for an in-depth security analysis of current protocols and developed new flexible protocols that can be adapted to offer either stronger security or better efficiency.