Diporphyrins linked by two-atom bridges synthestic, structural and theoretical studies

The syntheses, properties and electronic structures of a series of porphyrin dimers connected by two-atom bridges were compared. The study found that an azo linker results in the most efficient electronic communication between the two porphyrin rings, and is the superior connector for dimers, trimers and oligomers in the design of nonlinear optical materials. This has implications for the design of molecular probes and sensors, photodynamic therapy, microfabrication, and three-dimensional optical data storage. The research led to the synthesis of a number of new porphyrin monomers and dimers, which were characterised using structural, spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques.

The mirror manoeuvre : telling the same story twice

The emerging field of ecopsychology is marked by two theoretical concerns which can be seen as mirror images of each other. One is the concern with what humans need, psychologically, from the non-human natural world (e.g. Wolsko & Lindberg 2013). The other is what nature needs from us (e.g. Swim 2013). Ecocriticism has been exploring these questions for at least two decades, but ecocritical theory examines ways of reading texts rather than ways of writing them (Bate 2000; Buell 2001; Garrard 2012). Undertaking theoretically-informed “creative manoeuvres”, and reflecting and reporting on the results, is one way for practice-led researchers in the field of creative writing to progress the knowledge claims of our discipline. This paper describes an ecowriting practice experiment based on the premise that specific techniques of narrative fiction writing can deepen reader engagement with ecopsychology’s twin concerns, and help motivate ecological action. Exploring this premise is time-critical given the current environmental crisis (Rust & Totton 2012), and emerging evidence that contemporary modes of representing the non-human natural world fail to elicit activist responses (Crompton & Kasser 2009; Joffe 2008). In the practice experiment reported here, a unique reading experience has been constructed such that the reader encounters from two different perspectives, through two different novels, a single story of humans benefiting from non-destructive interactions with non-human nature. This paper argues that the two novels create a complex and intense relationship between reader and story which generates specific psychological effects, and ultimately demands an activist response.

Theoretical and practical issues in team teaching a large undergraduate class

Attempts by universities to provide an improved learning environment to students have led to an increase in team-teaching approaches in higher education. While the definitions of team-teaching differ slightly, the benefits of team-teaching have been cited widely in the higher education literature. By tapping the specialist knowledge of a variety of staff members, students are exposed to current and emerging knowledge in different fields and topic areas; students are also able to understand concepts from a variety of viewpoints. However, while there is some evidence of the usefulness of team-teaching, there is patchy empirical support to underpin how well students appreciate and adapt to team-teaching approaches. This paper reports on the team-teaching approaches adopted in the delivery of an introductory journalism and communication course at the University of Queensland. The success of the approaches is examined against the background of quantitative and qualitative data. The study found that team-teaching is generally very well received by undergraduate students because they value the diverse expertise and teaching styles they are exposed to. Despite the positive feedback, students also complained about problems of continuity and cohesiveness.

Advancing nursing practice : redefining the theoretical and practical integration of knowledge

Aim The aim of this paper is to offer an alternative knowing-how knowing-that framework of nursing knowledge, which in the past has been accepted as the provenance of advanced practice. Background The concept of advancing practice is central to the development of nursing practice and has been seen to take on many different forms depending on its use in context. To many it has become synonymous with the work of the advanced or expert practitioner; others have viewed it as a process of continuing professional development and skills acquisition. Moreover, it is becoming closely linked with practice development. However, there is much discussion as to what constitutes the knowledge necessary for advancing and advanced practice, and it has been suggested that theoretical and practical knowledge form the cornerstone of advanced knowledge. Design The design of this article takes a discursive approach as to the meaning and integration of knowledge within the context of advancing nursing practice. Method A thematic analysis of the current discourse relating to knowledge integration models in an advancing and advanced practice arena was used to identify concurrent themes relating to the knowing-how knowing-that framework which commonly used to classify the knowledge necessary for advanced nursing practice. Conclusion There is a dichotomy as to what constitutes knowledge for advanced and advancing practice. Several authors have offered a variety of differing models, yet it is the application and integration of theoretical and practical knowledge that defines and develops the advancement of nursing practice. An alternative framework offered here may allow differences in the way that nursing knowledge important for advancing practice is perceived, developed and coordinated. Relevance to clinical practice What has inevitably been neglected is that there are various other variables which when transposed into the existing knowing-how knowing-that framework allows for advanced knowledge to be better defined. One of the more notable variables is pattern recognition, which became the focus of Benner’s work on expert practice. Therefore, if this is included into the knowing-how knowing-that framework, the knowing-how becomes the knowledge that contributes to advancing and advanced practice and the knowing-that becomes the governing action based on a deeper understanding of the problem or issue.

The professional identity of child care practitioners : self-authorship as a theoretical framework

This research contributes new understandings about the development of the professional identity of child care practitioners and how professional identity changes during the transition from student to practitioner. Self-authorship theory was used as the framework to investigate the development of professional identity through exploration of beliefs about practice, sense of self, and capabilities for collaborative engagement. Students recruited for this research were completing their qualifications to work with young children in child care settings. Data from initial and follow-up interviews were analysed to understand change over time in professional identity. Findings indicated a need for training institutions and workplaces to move beyond competency-based training approaches to include more critically reflective learning opportunities. Such a focus on critical reflection has implications for improving the skills, status, and recognition of child care practitioners as educators.

Knowledge transfer through dual degree programs : perspectives from Indonesian universities

The thesis provides an Indonesian perspective into the rationales and outcomes of cooperation between Indonesian and Australian universities. It demonstrates that Indonesian universities participating in this study have actively pursued their institutional agenda to bring benefits from the cooperation with the international partners and engaged in knowledge transfer with these partners to develop their capacity. It particularly investigates the knowledge transfer processes between Indonesian and Australian universities through dual degree program partnerships.

Social media and tacit knowledge sharing : physicians' perspectives and experiences

Tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians is known to have a significant impact on the quality of medical decisions. This thesis posits that social media can provide new opportunities for tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians, and demonstrates this by presenting findings from a review of relevant literature and a qualitative survey conducted with physicians. Using thematic analysis, the study revealed five major themes and over twenty sub-themes as potential contributions of social media to tacit knowledge flow amongst physicians.

Ethnography considered useful : situating criticality

Increasingly the fields of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and art are intersecting. Interactive artworks are being evaluated by HCI methods and artworks are being created that employ and repurpose technology for interactive environments. In this paper we steer a path between empirical and critical–theoretical traditions, and discuss HCI research and art works that also span this divide. We address concerns about ‘new’ ethnography raised by Crabtree et al. (2009) in “Ethnography Considered Harmful”, a critical essay that positions ethnographic and critical-theoretical views at odds with each other. We propose a mediated view for understanding interactions within open-ended interactive artworks that values both perspectives as we navigate boundaries between art practice and HCI.

Assessment Understood as Enabling

This chapter outlines a perspective of educational assessment as enabling, whereby the learner is central and assessment is focused on supporting the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for lifelong learning. It argues that better education for young people is achievable when educational policy and practice give priority to learning improvement, thereby making assessment for accountability a related, though secondary, concern. The chapter describes how this work of internationally recognized scholars brings together diverse perspectives and theoretical frameworks and, in so doing, provides readers with a range of ways to consider their pathway through the book. A ‘map’ and summaries of chapters suggest a reading according to a thematic approach, geographical setting, author/s profile or content purposes depending on the reader’s own priorities. A section on assessment past, present, and futures calls for a rebalancing of improvement and accountability goals, and for countries to be careful to avoid privileging large-scale testing over other forms of data about learning and achievement.

Evolutionary Perspectives

The standard approach to industrial economics starts with the industry’s basic conditions, then runs through the structure–conduct–performance paradigm of industrial organization, and finally considers government regulation and policy. Most creative industries segments have been studied in this way, for example in Albarran (2002) and Caves (2000). These approaches use standard economic analysis to explain the particular properties and characteristics of a specific industrial sector. The overview presented here is different again. It focuses on the creative industries and examines their economic effect, specifically their contribution to economic evolu -tion. This is an evolutionary systems approach to industrial analysis, where we seek to understand how a sector fits into a broader system of production, consumption, technology, trade and institutions. The evolutionary approach focuses on innovation, economic growth and endogenous transformation. So, rather than using economics to explain static or industrial-organization features of the creative industries, we are using an open systems view of the creative industries to explain dynamic ‘Schumpeterian’ features of the broader economy. The creative industries are drivers of economic transformation through their role in the origination of new ideas, in consumer adoption, and in facilitating the institutional embedding of new ideas into the economic order. This is not a novel idea, as economists have long understood that particular activities are drivers of economic growth and development, for example research and development, and also that particular sectors are instrumental to this process, for example high-technology sectors. What is new is the argument that cultural and creative sectors are also a key part of this process of economic evolution. We will review the case for that claim, and outline purported mechanisms. We will also consider why policy settings in the creative industries should be more in line with innovation and growth policy than with industry policy.

Expressive cryptography : lattice perspectives

The invention of asymmetric encryption back in the seventies was a conceptual leap that vastly increased the expressive power of encryption of the times. For the first time, it allowed the sender of a message to designate the intended recipient in an cryptographic way, expressed as a “public key” that was related to but distinct from the “private key” that, alone, embodied the ability to decrypt. This made large-scale encryption a practical and scalable endeavour, and more than anything else—save the internet itself—led to the advent of electronic commerce as we know and practice it today.

Perceptions of online learning in an Australian university : Malaysian students’ perspectives-usability of the online learning tools

This study set out to investigate the kinds of learning difficulties encountered by the Malaysian students and how they actually coped with online learning. The modified Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) instrument was used to collect data from the sample of 40 Malaysian students at a university in Brisbane, Australia. A controlled group of 35 Australian students was also included for comparison purposes. Contrary to assumptions from previous researches, the findings revealed that there were only a few differences between the international Asian and Australian students with regards to their perceptions of online learning. Recommendations based on the findings of this research study were applicable for Australian universities which have Asian international students enrolled to study online.

Gas-phase reactions of aryl radicals with 2-butyne : an experimental and theoretical investigation employing the N-methyl-pyridinium-4-yl radical cation

Aromatic radicals form in a variety of reacting gas-phase systems, where their molecular weight growth reactions with unsaturated hydrocarbons are of considerable importance. We have investigated the ion-molecule reaction of the aromatic distonic N-methyl-pyridinium-4-yl (NMP) radical cation with 2-butyne (CH3C CCH3) using ion trap mass spectrometry. Comparison is made to high-level ab initio energy surfaces for the reaction of NMP and for the neutral phenyl radical system. The NMP radical cation reacts rapidly with 2-butyne at ambient temperature, due to the apparent absence of any barrier. The activated vinyl radical adduct predominantly dissociates via loss of a H atom, with lesser amounts of CH3 loss. High-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry allows us to identify small quantities of the collisionally deactivated reaction adduct. Statistical reaction rate theory calculations (master equation/RRKM theory) on the NMP + 2-butyne system support our experimental findings, and indicate a mechanism that predominantly involves an allylic resonance-stabilized radical formed via H atom shuttling between the aromatic ring and the C-4 side-chain, followed by cyclization and/or low-energy H atom beta-scission reactions. A similar mechanism is demonstrated for the neutral phenyl radical (Ph center dot)+2-butyne reaction, forming products that include 3-methylindene. The collisionally deactivated reaction adduct is predicted to be quenched in the form of a resonance-stabilized methylphenylallyl radical. Experiments using a 2,5-dichloro substituted methyl-pyridiniumyl radical cation revealed that in this case CH3 loss from the 2-butyne adduct is favoured over H atom loss, verifying the key role of ortho H atoms, and the shuttling mechanism, in the reactions of aromatic radicals with alkynes. As well as being useful phenyl radical analogues, pyridiniumyl radical cations may form in the ionosphere of Titan, where they could undergo rapid molecular weight growth reactions to yield polycyclic aromatic nitrogen hydrocarbons (PANHs).

Lessons from a face-to-face meeting on embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives : ‘A contract of intimacy’

This paper presents the findings from a conversation between an Aboriginal educator and a non-Indigenous pre-service educator about the importance and complexities of building productive partnerships. Although the participants focused on the challenges and benefits of building relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators and non-Indigenous educators in Australian early years settings, the more significant outcome of the meeting was the personal connection two young women were able to make when a friendship began to develop. The project was intended to enable an opportunity for the participants ‘to engage in reflexivity on their pedagogic work’, something Mills (2012) understands as crucial to the support of social justice and transformation in the classroom.

Part 1 MOO methods for multidisciplinary design using parallel evolutionary algorithms, game theory and hierarchical topology. (Part 1.) Theoretical aspects

Two lecture notes describe recent developments of evolutionary multi objective optimization (MO) techniques in detail and their advantages and drawbacks compared to traditional deterministic optimisers. The role of Game Strategies (GS), such as Pareto, Nash or Stackelberg games as companions or pre-conditioners of Multi objective Optimizers is presented and discussed on simple mathematical functions in Part I , as well as their implementations on simple aeronautical model optimisation problems on the computer using a friendly design framework in Part II. Real life (robust) design applications dealing with UAVs systems or Civil Aircraft and using the EAs and Game Strategies combined material of Part I & Part II are solved and discussed in Part III providing the designer new compromised solutions useful to digital aircraft design and manufacturing. Many details related to Lectures notes Part I, Part II and Part III can be found by the reader in [68].