Media innovations, user innovations, societal innovations

As the Journal of Media Innovations comes into existence, this article reflects on the first and most obvious question: just what do we mean by “media innovations”? Drawing on the examples of a range of recent innovations in media technologies and practices, initiated by a variety of media audiences, users, professionals, and providers, it explores the interplay between the different drivers of innovation and the effects of such innovation on the complex frameworks of contemporary society and the media ecology which supports it. In doing so, this article makes a number of key observations: first, it notes that media innovation is an innovation in media practices at least as much as in media technologies, and that changes to the practices of media both reflect and promote societal changes as well – media innovations are never just media technology innovations. Second, it shows that the continuing mediatisation of society, and the shift towards a more widespread participation of ordinary users as active content creators and media innovators, make it all the more important to investigate in detail these interlinked, incremental, everyday processes of media and societal change – media innovations are almost always also user innovations. Finally, it suggests that a full understanding of these processes as they unfold across diverse interleaved media spaces and complex societal structures necessarily requires a holistic perspective on media innovations, which considers the contemporary media ecology as a crucial constitutive element of societal structures and seeks to trace the repercussions of innovations across both media and society – media innovations are inextricably interlinked with societal innovations (even if, at times, they may not be considered to be improvements to the status quo).

David Williamson's The Club : football politic, a dirty story

Watching David Williamson’s The Club (Bruce Beresford, 1980) now, as a scandal over performance‐enhancing drugs threatens to destroy at least one AFL club and permanently taint the League’s credibility, while in another form of football a player is bought and sold for a world record fee of almost $150 million, the indignant outrage of the film’s coach and players over the $120,000 fee paid for a pot‐smoking raw recruit appears quaint and comic in unintended ways. Were it ever true, it seems harder than ever now to agree with Nick Parson’s assertion that ‘in Australia the only sphere of endeavour that is considered morally pure is sport.

The impact of funding deadlines on personal workloads, stress and family relationships : a qualitative study of Australian researchers

Objective To examine the impact of applying for funding on personal workloads, stress and family relationships. Design Qualitative study of researchers preparing grant proposals. Setting Web-based survey on applying for the annual National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant scheme. Participants Australian researchers (n=215). Results Almost all agreed that preparing their proposals always took top priority over other work (97%) and personal (87%) commitments. Almost all researchers agreed that they became stressed by the workload (93%) and restricted their holidays during the grant writing season (88%). Most researchers agreed that they submitted proposals because chance is involved in being successful (75%), due to performance requirements at their institution (60%) and pressure from their colleagues to submit proposals (53%). Almost all researchers supported changes to the current processes to submit proposals (95%) and peer review (90%). Most researchers (59%) provided extensive comments on the impact of writing proposals on their work life and home life. Six major work life themes were: (1) top priority; (2) career development; (3) stress at work; (4) benefits at work; (5) time spent at work and (6) pressure from colleagues. Six major home life themes were: (1) restricting family holidays; (2) time spent on work at home; (3) impact on children; (4) stress at home; (5) impact on family and friends and (6) impact on partner. Additional impacts on the mental health and well-being of researchers were identified. Conclusions The process of preparing grant proposals for a single annual deadline is stressful, time consuming and conflicts with family responsibilities. The timing of the funding cycle could be shifted to minimise applicant burden, give Australian researchers more time to work on actual research and to be with their families.

The music industry in an age of digital distribution

In 1999 the global recorded music industry had experienced a period of growth that had lasted for almost a quarter of a century. Approximately one billion records were sold worldwide in 1974, and by the end of the century, the number of records sold was more than three times as high. At the end of the nineties, spirits among record label executives were high and few music industry executives at this time expected that a team of teenage Internet hackers, led by Shawn Fanning (at the time a student at Northeastern University in Boston) would ignite the turbulent process that eventually would undermine the foundations of the industry.

An overview of Australian intrans*igence : a systemic Pandora’s Box

Despite the fact that Australia is a socially progressive country and boasts one of the largest Gender Dysphoria Clinics in the Southern Hemisphere, delivering services for almost four decades, Australian Governments fail to arrive at any consensus on the legal and human rights approaches to Trans*people. The subsequent lack of recognition does little more than increase the levels of frustration of and the continued discrimination to Trans*people, including adverse mental health problems, in this country. The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of the Australian systems that govern Trans*people and to identify how Trans*identities are manipulated in our Federal system of government; a system which offers little to protect the human rights of Trans*people. In order to contextualise the Australian situation, I commence with a brief description on the layers of government which will include how Australian Trans*people are currently protected under the law in those jurisdictions. I then present some of the impracticalities endured by the transitioning individual (single or married) including change of documentation and legal gender status before, during and after surgical transition for both those born on and off shore. This presentation will also include discussion of legislation that has been described by Trans*advocates as “Gesture”, “Cart before the Horse” and “Harmful”. I will conclude with a way forward by suggesting the development of a coordinated all of government approach in consultation with key stakeholders for “Trans* Friendly Legislation” to improve the human and legal rights, and ultimately the health and wellbeing of Australian Trans*identities.

Identity, addressing, authenticity and audit requirements for trust in ERP, analytics and big/open data in a “Cloud” computing environment : a review and proposal

Enterprises, both public and private, have rapidly commenced using the benefits of enterprise resource planning (ERP) combined with business analytics and “open data sets” which are often outside the control of the enterprise to gain further efficiencies, build new service operations and increase business activity. In many cases, these business activities are based around relevant software systems hosted in a “cloud computing” environment. “Garbage in, garbage out”, or “GIGO”, is a term long used to describe problems in unqualified dependency on information systems, dating from the 1960s. However, a more pertinent variation arose sometime later, namely “garbage in, gospel out” signifying that with large scale information systems, such as ERP and usage of open datasets in a cloud environment, the ability to verify the authenticity of those data sets used may be almost impossible, resulting in dependence upon questionable results. Illicit data set “impersonation” becomes a reality. At the same time the ability to audit such results may be an important requirement, particularly in the public sector. This paper discusses the need for enhancement of identity, reliability, authenticity and audit services, including naming and addressing services, in this emerging environment and analyses some current technologies that are offered and which may be appropriate. However, severe limitations to addressing these requirements have been identified and the paper proposes further research work in the area.

Trust in merged ERP and open data schemes in the “Cloud”

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are rapidly being combined with “big data” analytics processes and publicly available “open data sets”, which are usually outside the arena of the enterprise, to expand activity through better service to current clients as well as identifying new opportunities. Moreover, these activities are now largely based around relevant software systems hosted in a “cloud computing” environment. However, the over 50- year old phrase related to mistrust in computer systems, namely “garbage in, garbage out” or “GIGO”, is used to describe problems of unqualified and unquestioning dependency on information systems. However, a more relevant GIGO interpretation arose sometime later, namely “garbage in, gospel out” signifying that with large scale information systems based around ERP and open datasets as well as “big data” analytics, particularly in a cloud environment, the ability to verify the authenticity and integrity of the data sets used may be almost impossible. In turn, this may easily result in decision making based upon questionable results which are unverifiable. Illicit “impersonation” of and modifications to legitimate data sets may become a reality while at the same time the ability to audit any derived results of analysis may be an important requirement, particularly in the public sector. The pressing need for enhancement of identity, reliability, authenticity and audit services, including naming and addressing services, in this emerging environment is discussed in this paper. Some current and appropriate technologies currently being offered are also examined. However, severe limitations in addressing the problems identified are found and the paper proposes further necessary research work for the area. (Note: This paper is based on an earlier unpublished paper/presentation “Identity, Addressing, Authenticity and Audit Requirements for Trust in ERP, Analytics and Big/Open Data in a ‘Cloud’ Computing Environment: A Review and Proposal” presented to the Department of Accounting and IT, College of Management, National Chung Chen University, 20 November 2013.)

Educational programmes for primary prevention of skin cancer (Protocol)

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of education programmes for skin cancer prevention in the general population. Description of the condition Skin cancer is a term that includes both melanoma and keratinocyte cancer. Keratinocyte cancer (also known as nonmelanoma skin cancer) generally refers to basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), although it also includes other rare cutaneous neoplasms (Madan 2010). Skin cancer is the most common cancer in populations of predominantly fair-skinned people (Donaldson 2011; Lomas 2012; Stern 2010), with incidence increasing (Garbe 2009; Leiter 2012). There are variations in annual incidence rates between these populations, with Australia reporting the highest rate of skin cancer in the world (Lomas 2012). In 2012, the estimated age-standardised incidence rate for melanoma was almost 63 per 100,000 people for Australian men, and 40 per 100,000 people for Australian women (AIHW 2012). In Europe, incidence rates range from 10 to 15 per 100,000 people (Garbe 2009; Lasithiotakis 2006), with rates highest amongst men (Stang 2006). In the United States, incidence rates are approximately 18 per 100,000 people (Garbe 2009),with the highest rates reported forwomen (Bradford 2010). Keratinocyte cancer is much more common than melanoma. In 2012, the estimated Australian age-standardised rates for BCCand SCC were 884 and 387 per 100,000 people, respectively (Staples 2006). The cumulative three-year risk of developing a subsequent keratinocyte cancer is 18% for SCC and 44% for BCC (Marcil 2000).

Gas sensing of ruthenium implanted tungsten oxide thin films

Different amounts of Ru were implanted into thermally evaporated WO3 thin films by ion implantation. The films were subsequently annealed at 600oC for 2 hours in air to remove defects generated during the ion implantation. The Ru concentrations of four samples have been quantified by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry as 0.8, 5.5, 9 and 11.5 at%. The un-implanted WO3 films were highly porous but the porosity decreased significantly after ion implantation as observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The thickness of the films also decreased with increasing Ru-ion dose, which is mainly due to densification of the porous films during ion implantation. From Raman spectroscopy two peaks at 408 and 451 cm-1 (in addition to the typical vibrational peaks of the monoclinic WO3 phase) associated with Ru were observed. Their intensity increased with increasing Ru concentration. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy showed a metallic state of Ru with binding energy of Ru 3d5/2 at 280.1 eV. This peak position remained almost unchanged with increasing Ru concentration. The resistances of the Ru-implanted films were found to increase in the presence of NO2 and NO with higher sensor response to NO2. The effect of Ru concentration on the sensing performance of the films was not explicitly observed due to reduced film thickness and porosity with increasing Ru concentration. However, the results indicate that the implantation of Ru into WO3 films with sufficient film porosity and film thickness can be beneficial for NO2 sensing at temperatures in the range of 250°C to 350°C.

Teachers in early childhood policy

This paper examines teacher accountability and authority in early childhood policy. It reports on data from a study that investigated the influences affecting early childhood teacher decision-making at the preschool level in Victoria, Australia. Using a question raised by Ball ‘Where are the teachers in all this [policy]?’ provided a starting point for the critical discourse analysis into how forms of control, teacher authority, obligation and constraint within policies potentially influenced teachers’ curriculum decisions. The study found that despite no government-mandated curriculum framework at the time, teachers were held accountable for their curricular practice. Yet as professionals, early childhood teachers were denied public acknowledgement of their expertise as they were almost invisible in policy. In the four policies analysed, proprietors of early childhood settings and preschool agencies held authority over curriculum. Subsequently, teachers’ authority as professionals with curricular knowledge was diminished.

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.

Secure coprocessor-based private information retrieval without periodical preprocessing

Early works on Private Information Retrieval (PIR) focused on minimizing the necessary communication overhead. They seemed to achieve this goal but at the expense of query response time. To mitigate this weakness, protocols with secure coprocessors were introduced. They achieve optimal communication complexity and better online processing complexity. Unfortunately, all secure coprocessor-based PIR protocols require heavy periodical preprocessing. In this paper, we propose a new protocol, which is free from the periodical preprocessing while offering the optimal communication complexity and almost optimal online processing complexity. The proposed protocol is proven to be secure.

Soil moisture monitoring at the field scale using neutron probe

Measurement of the moisture variation in soils is required for geotechnical design and research because soil properties and behavior can vary as moisture content changes. The neutron probe, which was developed more than 40 years ago, is commonly used to monitor soil moisture variation in the field. This study reports a full-scale field monitoring of soil moisture using a neutron moisture probe for a period of more than 2 years in the Melbourne (Australia) region. On the basis of soil types available in the Melbourne region, 23 sites were chosen for moisture monitoring down to a depth of 1500 mm. The field calibration method was used to develop correlations relating the volumetric moisture content and neutron counts. Observed results showed that the deepest “wetting front” during the wet season was limited to the top 800 to 1000 mm of soil whilst the top soil layer down to about 550mmresponded almost immediately to the rainfall events. At greater depths (550 to 800mmand below 800 mm), the moisture variations were relatively low and displayed predominantly periodic fluctuations. This periodic nature was captured with Fourier analysis to develop a cyclic moisture model on the basis of an analytical solution of a one-dimensional moisture flow equation for homogeneous soils. It is argued that the model developed can be used to predict the soil moisture variations as applicable to buried structures such as pipes.

Factors affecting the extraction of absorbed dose information in a 3D polymer gel dosimeter by X ray computed tomography (IAEA-CN-96/122P)

Two sources of uncertainty in the X ray computed tomography imaging of polymer gel dosimeters are investigated in the paper.The first cause is a change in postirradiation density, which is proportional to the computed tomography signal and is associated with a volume change. The second cause of uncertainty is reconstruction noise.A simple technique that increases the residual signal to noise ratio by almost two orders of magnitude is examined.

Accurate placement of a pelvic binder improves reduction of unstable fractures of the pelvic ring

The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of placement of pelvic binders and to determine whether circumferential compression at the level of the greater trochanters is the best method of reducing a symphyseal diastasis. Patients were identified by a retrospective review of all pelvic radiographs performed at a military hospital over a period of 30 months. We analysed any pelvic radiograph on which the buckle of the pelvic binder was clearly visible. The patients were divided into groups according to the position of the buckle in relation to the greater trochanters: high, trochanteric or low. Reduction of the symphyseal diastasis was measured in a subgroup of patients with an open-book fracture, which consisted of an injury to the symphysis and disruption of the posterior pelvic arch (AO/OTA 61-B/C). We identified 172 radiographs with a visible pelvic binder. Five cases were excluded due to inadequate radiographs. In 83 (50%) the binder was positioned at the level of the greater trochanters. A high position was the most common site of inaccurate placement, occurring in 65 (39%). Seventeen patients were identified as a subgroup to assess the effect of the position of the binder on reduction of the diastasis. The mean gap was 2.8 times greater (mean difference 22 mm) in the high group compared with the trochanteric group (p < 0.01). Application of a pelvic binder above the level of the greater trochanters is common and is an inadequate method of reducing pelvic fractures and is likely to delay cardiovascular recovery in these seriously injured patients.