Self-commutated current source converter with multi-level current reinjection

The multi-level current reinjection concept described in literature is well-known to produce high quality AC current waveforms in high power and high voltage self-commutating current source converters. This paper proposes a novel reinjection circuitry which is capable of producing a 7-level reinjection current. It is shown that this reinjection current effectively increases the pulse number of the converter to 72. The use of PSCAD/EMTDC simulation validates the functionality of the proposed concept illustrating its effectiveness on both AC and DC sides of the converter.

Key performance indicators for innovation implementation : perception vs. actual usage

This paper aimed to explore the proportion associated with the perceived importance and the actual use of performance indicators from manufacturing and non manufacturing industries. The sample was 86 small and medium sized-organizations in Thailand. The perceived importance and the actual use of financial and non financial indicators were found to be significantly related among manufacturing and non manufacturing industries. KPI 3, 9, and 12 (i.e. sales and sales growth; quality of products and /or services; and process time) were perceived the most importance among manufacturing managers (85.3%, 79.4% and 76.5% respectively). While KPI 6, 9, and 12 (i.e. customer satisfaction, quality of products and /or services; and process time) were perceived the most importance among non manufacturing managers (84.8%, 93.5%, and 84.8% respectively). Interestingly, the most used KPIs for manufacturing were sales and sales growth (64.7%); profit margins (61.8%); and customer satisfaction (84.8) while non manufacturing used quality products/services (60.9%); sales and sales growth (54.3%) and employee development (54.3%) respectively. Limitation and implication were also discussed.

Is Doctor Who Australian?

As part of an ARC Discovery project to write a history of Australian television from the point of view of audiences, I looked for Australian television fan communities. It transpired that the most productive communities exist around imported programming like the BBC’s Doctor Who. This program is an Australian television institution – and I was thus interested in finding out whether it should be included in an audience-centred history of Australian television. Research in archives of fan materials showed that the program has been made distinctively Australian through censorship and scheduling practices. There are uniquely Australian social practices built around it. Also, its very Britishness has become part of its being – in a sense - Australian. Through all of this, there is a clear awareness that this Australian institution originates somewhere else – that for these fans Australia is always secondary, relying on other countries to produce its myths for it, no matter how much it might reshape them.

Exploring how parents and peers influence the behaviour of young drivers

Despite ongoing enhancements to graduated licensing systems, young drivers continue to have a high risk of being killed or injured in car crashes. This study investigated the influence of parents and peers on the risky behaviour of young drivers, utilising Akers’ social learning theory. The specific factors examined related to parent and peer norms perceived by the young driver, and the rewards and punishments anticipated by the young driver from their parents and peers. A questionnaire was completed by 165 young drivers. Regression analysis revealed that these factors explained 54% of the variance in risky driving. The strongest predictor was anticipated parent rewards, followed by peer norms, and anticipated peer rewards. Exploratory analyses however revealed the profile of predictors varied for male and female participants, and for self-reported offenders and non-offenders. The results highlight the role of psychosocial factors in the risky behaviour of young drivers and the need for road safety policies and programs to consider the influence of both parents and peers upon this behaviour.

Preliminary Results from Exercise for Health : A Breast Cancer Recovery Project [Abstract]

The Exercise for Health program is a telephone-delivered exercise intervention for women with breast cancer (BC) living in regional Queensland. The effect of the program is being evaluated in the context of a randomised controlled trial. Consenting, newly diagnosed BC patients, treated in one of 8 regional Queensland hospitals, were randomly allocated to telephone-based exercise counselling (EC) or usual care (UC) at 6-weeks post-surgery. EC participants received an exercise workbook and 16 calls from an exercise physiologist over 8 months. Physical activity levels (PA) (Active Australia & CHAMPS), quality-of-life (FACTB+4), upper-body function (DASH) and fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) were assessed at baseline (4-6 weeks post-surgery), 6- and 12-months post-surgery. Preliminary analyses of available 6-month data were conducted using t-tests and repeated measures ANCOVAs. Participating women (n=143; EC n=73, UC n=70) were aged 53±9 years and 30% met PA guidelines at baseline. Up to two thirds of the women received adjuvant therapy during the first 6 months following surgery. Greater improvements (mean change+SD) occurred for the EC vs UC group in weekly sessions of walking (1.83±4.3 vs -0.5±5.5, p=0.029) moderate-vigorous PA (5.0±6.5 vs -1.1±6.1, p=0.005) and strength training (1.9±2.9 vs -0.5±4.2 p<0.001), and in upper-body function, reflected by lower log-transformed disability scores (-0.34±0.44 vs -0.17±0.28, p=0.038). More EC than UC participants met PA guidelines at 6 months (46.3% vs 32.7%). Preliminary findings from this ongoing trial suggest that the telephone is a feasible and effective medium for delivering exercise counselling to newly diagnosed BC patients living in regional areas.

Youth, personhood and 'practices of the self'

In contrast to most previous research in the field, this paper argues that the concept of 'youth' is best understood as an example of the governmental formation of a specific type of person. It is constructed at the intersection of a variety of diverse problematisations, being produced by the processes of individuation/ normalisation and the regulation of relations of time. Within programs such as those pertinent to the management of sex, an array of technologies structure the practices by which individuals pattern their own conduct - thereby fashioning a kind of habitus. This forms part of a general strategy of enrolling the objects of these programs in their own self-reformation. Consequently, `youth' can be understood as `the doing of specific types of work on the self'. By utilising this framework, the paper not only seeks to identify and better understand some of the sexual subjectivities associated with the construction of youth, it also seeks to offer some new directions for research in the area.

Mapping personal trip OD from probe data

The paper analyses the expected value of OD volumes from probe with fixed error, error that is proportional to zone size and inversely proportional to zone size. To add realism to the analysis, real trip ODs in the Tokyo Metropolitan Region are synthesised. The results show that for small zone coding with average radius of 1.1km, and fixed measurement error of 100m, an accuracy of 70% can be expected. The equivalent accuracy for medium zone coding with average radius of 5km would translate into a fixed error of approximately 300m. As expected small zone coding is more sensitive than medium zone coding as the chances of the probe error envelope falling into adjacent zones are higher. For the same error radii, error proportional to zone size would deliver higher level of accuracy. As over half (54.8%) of the trip ends start or end at zone with equivalent radius of ≤ 1.2 km and only 13% of trips ends occurred at zones with equivalent radius ≥2.5km, measurement error that is proportional to zone size such as mobile phone would deliver higher level of accuracy. The synthesis of real OD with different probe error characteristics have shown that expected value of >85% is difficult to achieve for small zone coding with average radius of 1.1km. For most transport applications, OD matrix at medium zone coding is sufficient for transport management. From this study it can be drawn that GPS with error range between 2 and 5m, and at medium zone coding (average radius of 5km) would provide OD estimates greater than 90% of the expected value. However, for a typical mobile phone operating error range at medium zone coding the expected value would be lower than 85%. This paper assumes transmission of one origin and one destination positions from the probe. However, if multiple positions within the origin and destination zones are transmitted, map matching to transport network could be performed and it would greatly improve the accuracy of the probe data.

Optical absorption and EPR studies on tenorite mineral

Optical absorption and EPR studies of the mineral tenorite, a cupric oxide, which originated from Mexico and contains 54.40 wt% of CuO. EPR spectral results indicate two Cu(II) closely interacting ions to give a d2 type structure. The calculated spin Hamiltonian at Rt and LNT are g = 2.160 and D = 125 G . The intensity of resonance line is not the same in low and high field regions. The optical absorption spectrum is due to Cu(II) which three sets of energies indicating Cu(II) in two independent tetragonal C4v symmetry, in addition to d2 structure of octahedral coordination. The octahedral and tetragonal field parameters are compared with those reported for several other copper containing minerals.

Diffuse reflectance near infrared spectroscopy can distinguish normal from enzymatically digested cartilage

A non-destructive, diffuse reflectance near infrared spectroscopy (DR-NIRS)approach is considered as a potential tool for determining the component-level structural properties of articular cartilage. To this end, DR-NIRS was applied in vitro to detect structural changes, using principal component analysis as the statistical basis for characterization. The results show that this technique, particularly with first-derivative pretreatment, can distinguish normal, intact cartilage from enzymatically digested cartilage. Further, this paper establishes that the use of DR-NIRS enables the probing of the full depth of the uncalcified cartilage matrix, potentially allowing the assessment of degenerative changes in joint tissue, independent of the site of initiation of the osteoarthritic process.

Walking and sitting in the Australian Antarctic Territory : mobility and imperial space

In 1995 and 1997, two major Australian expeditions travelled to Antarctica. They were the most heavily-reported Antarctican events of their two years: they were charged with the public production of Australian Antarctic spatiality. Both published exploration narratives: Don and Margie McIntyre’s Expedition Icebound generated an illustrated coffee-table book, Two Below Zero: A Year Alone in Antarctica, and the Spirit of Australia South Pole Expedition published its narrative as a video titled Walking on Ice: The History-Making Expedition to the South Pole. Yet, despite the fact that the two polar trips took place during the same period, their spatialities are markedly different. Walking on Ice is a mobile narrative of imperial exploration, while Two Below Zero is a static spatial story of colonial settlement. How polar mobility and relative immobility figure in Australia’s perceptions of, and claim to, nearly half of Antarctica is the focus of this chapter.

Determining the psychosocial predictors of living, living-related, and posthumous organ donation

The worldwide organ shortage occurs despite people’s positive organ donation attitudes. The discrepancy between attitudes and behaviour is evident in Australia particularly, with widespread public support for organ donation but low donation and communication rates. This problem is compounded further by the paucity of theoretically based research to improve our understanding of people’s organ donation decisions. This program of research contributes to our knowledge of individual decision making processes for three aspects of organ donation: (1) posthumous (upon death) donation, (2) living donation (to a known and unknown recipient), and (3) providing consent for donation by communicating donation wishes on an organ donor consent register (registering) and discussing the donation decision with significant others (discussing). The research program used extended versions of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Prototype/Willingness Model (PWM), incorporating additional influences (moral norm, self-identity, organ recipient prototypes), to explicate the relationship between people’s positive attitudes and low rates of organ donation behaviours. Adopting the TPB and PWM (and their extensions) as a theoretical basis overcomes several key limitations of the extant organ donation literature including the often atheoretical nature of organ donation research, thefocus on individual difference factors to construct organ donor profiles and the omission of important psychosocial influences (e.g., control perceptions, moral values) that may impact on people’s decision-making in this context. In addition, the use of the TPB and PWM adds further to our understanding of the decision making process for communicating organ donation wishes. Specifically, the extent to which people’s registering and discussing decisions may be explained by a reasoned and/or a reactive decision making pathway is examined (Stage 3) with the novel application of the TPB augmented with the social reaction pathway in the PWM. This program of research was conducted in three discrete stages: a qualitative stage (Stage 1), a quantitative stage with extended models (Stage 2), and a quantitative stage with augmented models (Stage 3). The findings of the research program are reported in nine papers which are presented according to the three aspects of organ donation examined (posthumous donation, living donation, and providing consent for donation by registering or discussing the donation preference). Stage One of the research program comprised qualitative focus groups/interviews with university students and community members (N = 54) (Papers 1 and 2). Drawing broadly on the TPB framework (Paper 1), content analysed responses revealed people’s commonly held beliefs about the advantages and disadvantages (e.g., prolonging/saving life), important people or groups (e.g., family), and barriers and motivators (e.g., a family’s objection to donation), related to living and posthumous organ donation. Guided by a PWM perspective, Paper Two identified people’s commonly held perceptions of organ donors (e.g., altruistic and giving), non-donors (e.g., self-absorbed and unaware), and transplant recipients (e.g., unfortunate, and in some cases responsible/blameworthy for their predicament). Stage Two encompassed quantitative examinations of people’s decision makingfor living (Papers 3 and 4) and posthumous (Paper 5) organ donation, and for registering and discussing donation wishes (Papers 6 to 8) to test extensions to both the TPB and PWM. Comparisons of health students’ (N = 487) motivations and willingness for living related and anonymous donation (Paper 3) revealed that a person’s donor identity, attitude, past blood donation, and knowing a posthumous donor were four common determinants of willingness, with the results highlighting students’ identification as a living donor as an important motive. An extended PWM is presented in Papers Four and Five. University students’ (N = 284) willingness for living related and anonymous donation was tested in Paper Four with attitude, subjective norm, donor prototype similarity, and moral norm (but not donor prototype favourability) predicting students’ willingness to donate organs in both living situations. Students’ and community members’ (N = 471) posthumous organ donation willingness was assessed in Paper Five with attitude, subjective norm, past behaviour, moral norm, self-identity, and prior blood donation all significantly directly predicting posthumous donation willingness, with only an indirect role for organ donor prototype evaluations. The results of two studies examining people’s decisions to register and/or discuss their organ donation wishes are reported in Paper Six. People’s (N = 24) commonly held beliefs about communicating their organ donation wishes were explored initially in a TPB based qualitative elicitation study. The TPB belief determinants of intentions to register and discuss the donation preference were then assessed for people who had not previously communicated their donation wishes (N = 123). Behavioural and normative beliefs were important determinants of registering and discussing intentions; however, control beliefs influenced people’s registering intentions only. Paper Seven represented the first empirical test of the role of organ transplant recipient prototypes (i.e., perceptions of organ transplant recipients) in people’s (N = 465) decisions to register consent for organ donation. Two factors, Substance Use and Responsibility, were identified and Responsibility predicted people’s organ donor registration status. Results demonstrated that unregistered respondents were the most likely to evaluate transplant recipients negatively. Paper Eight established the role of organ donor prototype evaluations, within an extended TPB model, in predicting students’ and community members’ registering (n = 359) and discussing (n = 282) decisions. Results supported the utility of an extended TPB and suggested a role for donor prototype evaluations in predicting people’s discussing intentions only. Strong intentions to discuss donation wishes increased the likelihood that respondents reported discussing their decision 1-month later. Stage Three of the research program comprised an examination of augmented models (Paper 9). A test of the TPB augmented with elements from the social reaction pathway in the PWM, and extensions to these models was conducted to explore whether people’s registering (N = 339) and discussing (N = 315) decisions are explained via a reasoned (intention) and/or social reaction (willingness) pathway. Results suggested that people’s decisions to communicate their organ donation wishes may be better explained via the reasoned pathway, particularly for registering consent; however, discussing also involves reactive elements. Overall, the current research program represents an important step toward clarifying the relationship between people’s positive organ donation attitudes but low rates of organ donation and communication behaviours. Support has been demonstrated for the use of extensions to two complementary theories, the TPB and PWM, which can inform future research aiming to explicate further the organ donation attitude-behaviour relationship. The focus on a range of organ donation behaviours enables the identification of key targets for future interventions encouraging people’s posthumous and living donation decisions, and communication of their organ donation preference.

50 Years of Isolation

The traditional means for isolating applications from each other is via the use of operating system provided “process” abstraction facilities. However, as applications now consist of multiple fine-grained components, the traditional process abstraction model is proving to be insufficient in ensuring this isolation. Statistics indicate that a high percentage of software failure occurs due to propagation of component failures. These observations are further bolstered by the attempts by modern Internet browser application developers, for example, to adopt multi-process architectures in order to increase robustness. Therefore, a fresh look at the available options for isolating program components is necessary and this paper provides an overview of previous and current research on the area.

Effect of presbyopic vision corrections on perceptions of driving difficulty

Objectives: As the population ages, more people will be wearing presbyopic vision corrections when driving. However, little is known about the impact of these vision corrections on driving performance. This study aimed to determine the subjective driving difficulties experienced when wearing a range of common presbyopic contact lens and spectacle corrections.----- Methods: A questionnaire was developed and piloted that included a series of items regarding difficulties experienced while driving under daytime and night-time conditions (rated on five-point and seven-point Likert scales). Participants included 255 presbyopic patients recruited through local optometry practices. Participants were categorized into five age-matched groups; including those wearing no vision correction for driving (n = 50), bifocal spectacles (n = 54), progressive spectacles (n = 50), monovision contact lenses (n = 53), and multifocal contact lenses (n = 48).----- Results: Overall, ratings of satisfaction during daytime driving were relatively high for all correction types. However, multifocal contact lens wearers were significantly less satisfied with aspects of their vision during night-time than daytime driving, particularly regarding disturbances from glare and haloes. Progressive spectacle lens wearers noticed more distortion of peripheral vision, whereas bifocal spectacle wearers reported more difficulties with tasks requiring changes of focus and those who wore no optical correction for driving reported problems with intermediate and near tasks. Overall, satisfaction was significantly higher for progressive spectacles than bifocal spectacles for driving.----- Conclusions: Subjective visual experiences of different presbyopic vision corrections when driving vary depending on the vision tasks and lighting level. Eye-care practitioners should be aware of the driving-related difficulties experienced with each vision correction type and the need to select corrective types that match the driving needs of their patients.

Confidence to cook vegetables and the buying habits of Australian households

Cooking skills are emphasized in nutrition promotion but their distribution among population subgroups and relationship to dietary behavior is researched by few population-based studies. This study examined the relationships between confidence to cook, sociodemographic characteristics, and household vegetable purchasing. This cross-sectional study of 426 randomly selected households in Brisbane, Australia, used a validated questionnaire to assess household vegetable purchasing habits and the confidence to cook of the person who most often prepares food for these households. The mutually adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of lacking confidence to cook were assessed across a range of demographic subgroups using multiple logistic regression models. Similarly, mutually adjusted mean vegetable purchasing scores were calculated using multiple linear regression for different population groups and for respondents with varying confidence levels. Lacking confidence to cook using a variety of techniques was more common among respondents with less education (OR 3.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01 to 10.75) and was less common among respondents who lived with minors (OR 0.22; 95% CI 0.09 to 0.53) and other adults (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.24 to 0.78). Lack of confidence to prepare vegetables was associated with being male (OR 2.25; 95% CI 1.24 to 4.08), low education (OR 6.60; 95% CI 2.08 to 20.91), lower household income (OR 2.98; 95% CI 1.02 to 8.72) and living with other adults (OR 0.53; 95% CI 0.29 to 0.98). Households bought a greater variety of vegetables on a regular basis when the main chef was confident to prepare them (difference: 18.60; 95% CI 14.66 to 22.54), older (difference: 8.69; 95% CI 4.92 to 12.47), lived with at least one other adult (difference: 5.47; 95% CI 2.82 to 8.12) or at least one minor (difference: 2.86; 95% CI 0.17 to 5.55). Cooking skills may contribute to socioeconomic dietary differences, and may be a useful strategy for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.