Factors influencing the provision of end-of-life care in critical care settings : development and testing of a survey instrument

Aim. To develop and psychometrically test a survey instrument to identify the factors influencing the provision of end-of-life care by critical care nurses. Background. Following a decision to withdraw life-sustaining treatment, critical care nurses remain with the patient and their family providing end-of-life care. Identification of factors influencing the provision of this care can give evidence to inform practice development and support nurses. Design. A cross-sectional survey of critical care nurses. Method. An online survey was developed, reviewed by an expert panel and pilot tested to obtain preliminary evidence of its reliability and validity. In May 2011, a convenience sample of critical care nurses (n = 392, response rate 25%) completed the survey. The analytical approach to data obtained from the 58 items measured on a Likert scale included exploratory factor analysis and descriptive statistics. Results. Exploratory factor analysis identified eight factors influencing the provision of end-of-life care: emotional support for nurses, palliative values, patient and family preferences, resources, organizational support, care planning, knowledge and preparedness. Internal consistency of each latent construct was deemed satisfactory. The results of descriptive statistics revealed a strong commitment to the inclusion of families in end-of-life care and the value of this care in the critical care setting. Conclusion. This paper reports preliminary evidence of the psychometric properties of a new survey instrument. The findings may inform practice development opportunities to support critical care nurses in the provision of endof- life care and improve the care that patients and their families receive.

Tensor reduction for user profiling in personalized recommender systems

User profiling is the process of constructing user models which represent personal characteristics and preferences of customers. User profiles play a central role in many recommender systems. Recommender systems recommend items to users based on user profiles, in which the items can be any objects which the users are interested in, such as documents, web pages, books, movies, etc. In recent years, multidimensional data are getting more and more attention for creating better recommender systems from both academia and industry. Additional metadata provides algorithms with more details for better understanding the interactions between users and items. However, most of the existing user/item profiling techniques for multidimensional data analyze data through splitting the multidimensional relations, which causes information loss of the multidimensionality. In this paper, we propose a user profiling approach using a tensor reduction algorithm, which we will show is based on a Tucker2 model. The proposed profiling approach incorporates latent interactions between all dimensions into user profiles, which significantly benefits the quality of neighborhood formation. We further propose to integrate the profiling approach into neighborhoodbased collaborative filtering recommender algorithms. Experimental results show significant improvements in terms of recommendation accuracy.

HFL PV micro-inverter with front-end current-fed converter and half-wave cycloconverter

A high-frequency-link micro inverter is proposed with a front-end dual inductor push-pull converter and a grid-connected half-wave cycloconverter. Pulse width modulation is used to control the front-end converter and phase shift modulation is used at the back-end converter to obtain grid synchronized output current. A series resonant circuit and high-frequency transformer are used to interface the front-end and the back-end converters. The operation of the proposed micro-inverter in grid-connected mode is validated using MATLAB/Simpower simulation. Experimental results are provided to further validate the operation.

Refining user and item profiles based on multidimensional data for top-n item recommendation

In recommender systems based on multidimensional data, additional metadata provides algorithms with more information for better understanding the interaction between users and items. However, most of the profiling approaches in neighbourhood-based recommendation approaches for multidimensional data merely split or project the dimensional data and lack the consideration of latent interaction between the dimensions of the data. In this paper, we propose a novel user/item profiling approach for Collaborative Filtering (CF) item recommendation on multidimensional data. We further present incremental profiling method for updating the profiles. For item recommendation, we seek to delve into different types of relations in data to understand the interaction between users and items more fully, and propose three multidimensional CF recommendation approaches for top-N item recommendations based on the proposed user/item profiles. The proposed multidimensional CF approaches are capable of incorporating not only localized relations of user-user and/or item-item neighbourhoods but also latent interaction between all dimensions of the data. Experimental results show significant improvements in terms of recommendation accuracy.

Using augmented video to test in-car user experiences of context analog HUDs

Automotive interactive technologies represent an exemplar challenge for user experience (UX) designers, as the concerns for aesthetics, functionality and usability add up to the compelling issues of safety and cognitive demand. This extended abstract presents a methodology for the user-centred creation and evaluation of novel in-car applications, involving real users in realistic use settings. As a case study, we present the methodologies of an ideation workshop in a simulated environment and the evaluation of six design idea prototypes for in-vehicle head up display (HUD) applications using a semi-naturalistic drive. Both methods rely on video recordings of real traffic situations that the users are familiar with and/or experienced themselves. The extended abstract presents experiences and results from the evaluation and reflection on our methods.

Cultural safety, diversity and the servicer user and carer movement in mental health research

This study will be of interest to anyone concerned with a critical appraisal of mental health service users’ and carers’ participation in research collaboration and with the potential of the postcolonial paradigm of cultural safety to contribute to the service user research (SUR) movement. The history and nature of the mental health field and its relationship to colonial processes provokes a consideration of whether cultural safety could focus attention on diversity, power imbalance, cultural dominance and structural inequality, identified as barriers and tensions in SUR. We consider these issues in the context of state-driven approaches towards SUR in planning and evaluation and the concurrent rise of the SUR movement in the UK and Australia, societies with an intimate involvement in processes of colonisation. We consider the principles and motivations underlying cultural safety and SUR in the context of the policy agenda informing SUR. We conclude that while both cultural safety and SUR are underpinned by social constructionism constituting similarities in principles and intent, cultural safety has additional dimensions. Hence, we call on researchers to use the explicitly political and self-reflective process of cultural safety to think about and address issues of diversity, power and social justice in research collaboration.

Complexity and high-end computing in biology and medicine

Biomedical systems involve a large number of entities and intricate interactions between these. Their direct analysis is, therefore, difficult, and it is often necessary to rely on computational models. These models require significant resources and parallel computing solutions. These approaches are particularly suited, given parallel aspects in the nature of biomedical systems. Model hybridisation also permits the integration and simultaneous study of multiple aspects and scales of these systems, thus providing an efficient platform for multidisciplinary research.

Driving toward user-centered engineering in automotive design

In an industry worth more than €500 billion annually, producing more than 80 million vehicles worldwide each year and consisting of over 50 major manufacturers worldwide, the automotive industry represents a lucrative but highly competitive manufacturing industry (Deloitte, 2009a; European Automobile Manufacturers Association, 2012). With sales falling in Europe in 2013 for the sixth consecutive year (Boston and Curtin, 2014), automotive manufacturers are increasingly turning to new strategies to retain their share of sales in a contracting market. Some strategies have focused on the industry approach to manufacturing, namely, a technically focused push for a build-toorder process rather than the current build-to-stock approach in order to reduce overall value-chain costs and to increase efficiency (Parry and Roehrich, 2013, p. 13). However, others stress a more customer-orientated approach, striving to develop products that meet customer requirements (Oliver Wyman Group, 2007).

Reframe Workshops 2014 End of Year Report

Reframe: QUT's Evaluation Framework has repositioned the evaluations model away from a single survey instrument to a richer, customisable model that enables and supports QUT's academics in implementing teaching strategies and also provides holistic strategic capability. The Framework has established an approach to evaluation wherein the central role is that of individual academics strategising evaluation to support students as learners, enabled and supported by faculty and learning and teaching specialists. QUT has sought to refocus academic centrality and planning while also ensuring anticipated external reporting obligations to agencies such as TEQSA are achieved. 2014 is the year for embedding the Framework as core business within the University, with the the following providing a detailed report of the staff workshops that have been designed and delivered to support academic and professional staff in engaging with and using the Framework.

Excitation of bound plasmons along nanoscale stripe waveguides: A comparison of end and grating coupling techniques

In this paper we excite bound long range stripe plasmon modes with a highly focused laser beam. We demonstrate highly confined plasmons propagating along a 50 μm long silver stripe 750 nm wide and 30 nm thick. Two excitation techniques were studied: focusing the laser spot onto the waveguide end and focusing the laser spot onto a silver grating. By comparing the intensity of the out-coupling photons at the end of the stripe for both grating and end excitation we are able to show that gratings provide an increase of a factor of two in the output intensity and thus out-coupling of plasmons excited by this technique are easier to detect. Authors expect that the outcome of this paper will prove beneficial for the development of passive nano-optical devices based on stripe waveguides, by providing insight into the different excitation techniques available and the advantages of each technique.

Social networking sites and participatory reluctance: A case study of Gaydar, user resistance and interface rejection

This article conceptualises ‘participatory reluctance’ as a particular orientation to social media that problematises binarised notions of connection and disconnection in social networking sites. It qualitatively examines how the concept has functioned within gay men’s social networking service, Gaydar, among 18- to 28-year-old users of the site in Brisbane, Australia. Participatory reluctance is shown to be a central aspect of the culture of this space, fostered among the studied demographic by the convergence of the growing global push for marriage equality and increasing normalisation of the kinds of gay male identities commonly adopted among this group, with three key factors rooted primarily in Gaydar’s design: (1) young users’ perceptions of the site as a space for procuring casual sex; (2) their perceptions of the imagined user as embodying existing stereotypes of gay masculinity, and; (3) a lack of genuine alternatives in terms of niche digital spaces for gay men’s social networking.

User centred engineering in automotive design: A shift from technology-driven product development

The research assessed how best to transition engineering-based automotive firms towards more customer-orientated design and development approaches, whilst identifying the main barriers and concerns facing such a shift. The research investigates the ability of a firm to empower individual engineers with user centred design tools traditionally used by designers, whilst understanding the company-wide needs to facilitate their implementation.

Putting an "end" to the motor cortex representations of action words

Language processing is an example of implicit learning of multiple statistical cues that provide probabilistic information regarding word structure and use. Much of the current debate about language embodiment is devoted to how action words are represented in the brain, with motor cortex activity evoked by these words assumed to selectively reflect conceptual content and/or its simulation. We investigated whether motor cortex activity evoked by manual action words (e.g., caress) might reflect sensitivity to probabilistic orthographic-phonological cues to grammatical category embedded within individual words. We first review neuroimaging data demonstrating that nonwords evoke activity much more reliably than action words along the entire motor strip, encompassing regions proposed to be action category specific. Using fMRI, we found that disyllabic words denoting manual actions evoked increased motor cortex activity compared with non-body-part-related words (e.g., canyon), activity which overlaps that evoked by observing and executing hand movements. This result is typically interpreted in support of language embodiment. Crucially, we also found that disyllabic nonwords containing endings with probabilistic cues predictive of verb status (e.g., -eve) evoked increased activity compared with nonwords with endings predictive of noun status (e.g., -age) in the identical motor area. Thus, motor cortex responses to action words cannot be assumed to selectively reflect conceptual content and/or its simulation. Our results clearly demonstrate motor cortex activity reflects implicit processing of ortho-phonological statistical regularities that help to distinguish a word's grammatical class.