Maternal pregravid body mass index and child hospital admissions in the first 5 years of life: results from an Australian birth cohort

Objectives: To examine the association of maternal pregravid body mass index (BMI) and child offspring, all-cause hospitalisations in the first 5 years of life. Methods: Prospective birth cohort study. From 2006 to 2011, 2779 pregnant women (2807 children) were enrolled in the Environments for Healthy Living: Griffith birth cohort study in South-East Queensland, Australia. Hospital delivery record and self-report baseline survey of maternal, household and demographic factors during pregnancy were linked to the Queensland Hospital Admitted Patients Data Collection from 1 November 2006 to 30 June 2012, for child admissions. Maternal pregravid BMI was classified as underweight (<18.5 kg m−2), normal weight (18.5–24.9 kg m−2), overweight (25.0–29.9 kg m−2) or obese (30 kg m−2). Main outcomes were the total number of child hospital admissions and ICD-10-AM diagnostic groupings in the first 5 years of life. Negative binomial regression models were calculated, adjusting for follow-up duration, demographic and health factors. The cohort comprised 8397.9 person years (PYs) follow-up. Results: Children of mothers who were classified as obese had an increased risk of all-cause hospital admissions in the first 5 years of life than the children of mothers with a normal BMI (adjusted rate ratio (RR) =1.48, 95% confidence interval 1.10–1.98). Conditions of the nervous system, infections, metabolic conditions, perinatal conditions, injuries and respiratory conditions were excessive, in both absolute and relative terms, for children of obese mothers, with RRs ranging from 1.3–4.0 (PYs adjusted). Children of mothers who were underweight were 1.8 times more likely to sustain an injury or poisoning than children of normal-weight mothers (PYs adjusted). Conclusion: Results suggest that if the intergenerational impact of maternal obesity (and similarly issues related to underweight) could be addressed, a significant reduction in child health care use, costs and public health burden would be likely.

Robust principal component analysis in water quality index development

Some statistical procedures already available in literature are employed in developing the water quality index, WQI. The nature of complexity and interdependency that occur in physical and chemical processes of water could be easier explained if statistical approaches were applied to water quality indexing. The most popular statistical method used in developing WQI is the principal component analysis (PCA). In literature, the WQI development based on the classical PCA mostly used water quality data that have been transformed and normalized. Outliers may be considered in or eliminated from the analysis. However, the classical mean and sample covariance matrix used in classical PCA methodology is not reliable if the outliers exist in the data. Since the presence of outliers may affect the computation of the principal component, robust principal component analysis, RPCA should be used. Focusing in Langat River, the RPCA-WQI was introduced for the first time in this study to re-calculate the DOE-WQI. Results show that the RPCA-WQI is capable to capture similar distribution in the existing DOE-WQI.

Psychological distress and pain reporting in Australian coal miners

BACKGROUND: Coal mining is of significant economic importance to the Australian economy. Despite this fact, the related workforce is subjected to a number of psychosocial risks and musculoskeletal injury, and various psychological disorders are common among this population group. Because only limited research has been conducted in this population group, we sought to examine the relationship between physical (pain) and psychological (distress) factors, as well as the effects of various demographic, lifestyle, and fatigue indicators on this relationship. METHODS: Coal miners (N = 231) participated in a survey of musculoskeletal pain and distress on-site during their work shifts. Participants also provided demographic information (job type, age, experience in the industry, and body mass index) and responded to questions about exercise and sleep quality (on- and off-shift) as well as physical and mental tiredness after work. RESULTS: A total of 177 workers (80.5%) reported experiencing pain in at least one region of their body. The majority of the sample population (61.9%) was classified as having low-level distress, 28.4% had scores indicating mild to moderate distress, and 9.6% had scores indicating high levels of distress. Both number of pain regions and job type (being an operator) significantly predicted distress. Higher distress score was also associated with greater absenteeism in workers who reported lower back pain. In addition, perceived sleep quality during work periods partially mediated the relationship between pain and distress. CONCLUSION: The study findings support the existence of widespread musculoskeletal pain among the coal-mining workforce, and this pain is associated with increased psychological distress. Operators (truck drivers) and workers reporting poor sleep quality during work periods are most likely to report increased distress, which highlights the importance of supporting the mining workforce for sustained productivity.

Positive development and assessment

Purpose – There has been a tendency in sustainability science to be passive. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an alternative positive framework for a more active and direct approach to sustainable design and assessment that de-couples environmental impacts and economic growth. Design/methodology/approach – This paper deconstructs some systemic gaps that are critical to sustainability in built environment management processes and tools, and reframes negative “sustainable” decision making and assessment frameworks into their positive counterparts. In particular, it addresses the omission of ecology, design and ethics in development assessment. Findings – Development can be designed to provide ecological gains and surplus “eco-services,” but assessment tools and processes favor business-as-usual. Despite the tenacity of the dominant paradigm (DP) in sustainable development institutionalized by the Brundtland Report over 25 years ago, these omissions are easily corrected. Research limitations/implications – The limitation is that the author was unable to find exceptions to the omissions cited here in the extensive literature on urban planning and building assessment tools. However, exceptions prove the rule. The implication is that it is not too late for eco-positive retrofitting of cities to increase natural and social capital. The solutions are just as applicable in places like China and India as the USA, as they pay for themselves. Originality/value – Positive development (PD) is a fundamental paradigm shift that reverses the negative models, methods and metrics of the DP of sustainable development. This paper provides an example of how existing “negative” concepts and practices can be converted into positive ones through a PD prism. Through a new form of bio-physical design, development can be a sustainability solution.

Adjustment of apnea-hypopnea index with severity of obstruction events enhances detection of sleep apnea patients with the highest risk of severe health consequences

Introduction Presently, the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is estimated based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Unfortunately, AHI does not provide information on the severity of individual obstruction events. Previously, the severity of individual obstruction events has been suggested to be related to the outcome of the disease. In this study, we incorporate this information into AHI and test whether this novel approach would aid in discriminating patients with the highest risk. We hypothesize that the introduced adjusted AHI parameter provides a valuable supplement to AHI in the diagnosis of the severity of OSA. Methods This hypothesis was tested by means of retrospective follow-up (mean ± sd follow-up time 198.2 ± 24.7 months) of 1,068 men originally referred to night polygraphy due to suspected OSA. After exclusion of the 264 patients using CPAP, the remaining 804 patients were divided into normal (AHI < 5) and OSA (AHI ≥ 5) categories based on conventional AHI and adjusted AHI. For a more detailed analysis, the patients were divided into normal, mild, moderate, and severe OSA categories based on conventional AHI and adjusted AHI. Subsequently, the mortality and cardiovascular morbidity in these groups were determined. Results Use of the severity of individual obstruction events for adjustment of AHI led to a significant rearrangement of patients between severity categories. Due to this rearrangement, the number of deceased patients diagnosed to have OSA was increased when adjusted AHI was used as the diagnostic index. Importantly, risk ratios of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular morbidity were higher in moderate and severe OSA groups formed based on the adjusted AHI parameter than in those formed based on conventional AHI. Conclusions The adjusted AHI parameter was found to give valuable supplementary information to AHI and to potentially improve the recognition of OSA patients with the highest risk of mortality or cardiovascular morbidity.

Plasmon nanofocusing with negative refraction in a high-index dielectric wedge

Here, we describe a metal-insulator-insulator nanofocusing structure formed by a high-permittivity dielectric wedge on a metal substrate. The structure is shown to produce nanofocusing of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in the direction opposite to the taper of the wedge, including a range of nanoplasmonic effects such as nanofocusing of SPPs with negative refraction, formation of plasmonic caustics within a nanoscale distance from the wedge tip, mutual transformation of SPP modes, and significant local field enhancements in the adiabatic and strongly nonadiabatic regimes. A combination of approximate analytical and rigorous numerical approaches is used to analyze the strength and position of caustics in the structure. In particular, it is demonstrated that strong SPP localization within spatial regions as small as a few tens of nanometers near the caustic is achievable in the considered structures. Contrary to other nanofocusing configurations, efficient nanofocusing is shown to occur in the strongly nonadiabatic regime with taper angles of the dielectric wedge as large as ∼40° and within uniquely short distances (as small as a few dozens of nanometers) from the tip of the wedge. Physical interpretations of the obtained results are also presented and discussed.

Validation of a Spanish version of the Spine Functional Index

Background The Spine Functional Index (SFI) is a recently published, robust and clinimetrically valid patient reported outcome measure. Objectives The purpose of this study was the adaptation and validation of a Spanish-version (SFI-Sp) with cultural and linguistic equivalence. Methods A two stage observational study was conducted. The SFI was cross-culturally adapted to Spanish through double forward and backward translation then validated for its psychometric characteristics. Participants (n = 226) with various spine conditions of >12 weeks duration completed the SFI-Sp and a region specific measure: for the back, the Roland Morris Questionnaire (RMQ) and Backache Index (BADIX); for the neck, the Neck Disability Index (NDI); for general health the EQ-5D and SF-12. The full sample was employed to determine internal consistency, concurrent criterion validity by region and health, construct validity and factor structure. A subgroup (n = 51) was used to determine reliability at seven days. Results The SFI-Sp demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.85) and reliability (r = 0.96). The factor structure was one-dimensional and supported construct validity. Criterion specific validity for function was high with the RMQ (r = 0.79), moderate with the BADIX (r = 0.59) and low with the NDI (r = 0.46). For general health it was low with the EQ-5D and inversely correlated (r = −0.42) and fair with the Physical and Mental Components of the SF-12 and inversely correlated (r = −0.56 and r = −0.48), respectively. The study limitations included the lack of longitudinal data regarding other psychometric properties, specifically responsiveness. Conclusions The SFI-Sp was demonstrated as a valid and reliable spine-regional outcome measure. The psychometric properties were comparable to and supported those of the English-version, however further longitudinal investigations are required.

Exploring the role of energy, trade and financial development in explaining economic growth in South Africa: A revisit

South Africa is an emerging and industrializing economy which is experiencing remarkable progress. We contend that amidst the developments in the economy, the role of energy, trade openness and financial development are critical. In this article, we revisit the pivotal role of these factors. We use the ARDL bounds [72], the Bayer and Hanck [11] cointegration techniques, and an extended Cobb–Douglas framework, to examine the long-run association with output per worker over the sample period 1971–2011. The results support long-run association between output per worker, capital per worker and the shift parameters. The short-run elasticity coefficients are as follows: energy (0.24), trade (0.07), financial development (−0.03). In the long-run, the elasticity coefficients are: trade openness (0.05), energy (0.29), and financial development (−0.04). In both the short-run and the long-run, we note the post-2000 period has a marginal positive effect on the economy. The Toda and Yamamoto [91] Granger causality results show that a unidirectional causality from capital stock and energy consumption to output; and from capital stock to trade openness; a bidirectional causality between trade openness and output; and absence (neutrality) of any causality between financial development and output thus indicating that these two variables evolve independent of each other.

How Australian construction contractors responded to the economic downturn

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008 had a significant impact on the world economy and the construction industry was no exception. This study investigates the major impacts of the 2008 GFC on the Australian construction industry and, in particular how the Australian construction contractors responded to the economic downturn. A total of 35 senior managers from the Top 100 Australian construction companies were interviewed. The findings indicate that construction companies, particularly the large ones were not affected in any significant way but are expecting some difficult financial times over the next few years and are taking actions to minimize the upcoming adverse impacts. The most common strategy adopted by Australian construction contractors is to concentrate on core business while avoiding aimless bidding. Similarly, great focus is placed on retaining human resources in order to maintain the skill set so that the company can respond quickly when market conditions improves. The research findings will provide construction contractors with insights on how to establish and sustain competitive advantages during economic slowdown and become more resilient in the future.

Validity of currently used cutoff values of body mass index as a measure of obesity in Sri Lankan children

The aim of the study was to determine the reliability of body mass index based (BMI) cutoff values in diagnosing obesity among Sri Lankan children. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) in 282 children were measured. Total body water was determined by deuterium dilution and fat mass (FM) derived using age and gender specific constants. A percentage FM of 30% for girls and 25% for boys were considered as cutoff levels for obesity. Two hundred and eighty two children (M/F: 158/124) were studied and 99 (80%) girls and 72 (45.5%) boys were obese based on % body fat. Eight (6.4%) girls and nine (5.7%) boys were obese based on International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cutoff values. Percentage FM and WC centile charts were able to diagnose a significant proportion of children as true obese children. The FM and BMI were closely associated in both girls (r = 0.82, p < 0.001) and boys (r = 0.87, p < 0.001). Percentage FM and BMI had a very low but significant association; girls (r = 0.32, p < 0.001) and boys (r = 0.68, p < 0.001). FM had a significant association with WC and HC. BMI based cutoff values had a specificity of 100% but a very low sensitivity, varying between 8% and 23.6%. BMI is a poor indicator of the percentage fat and the commonly used cutoff values were not sensitive to detect cases of childhood obesity in Sri Lankan children.

Estimating the parameters of stochastic volatility models using option price data

This article describes a maximum likelihood method for estimating the parameters of the standard square-root stochastic volatility model and a variant of the model that includes jumps in equity prices. The model is fitted to data on the S&P 500 Index and the prices of vanilla options written on the index, for the period 1990 to 2011. The method is able to estimate both the parameters of the physical measure (associated with the index) and the parameters of the risk-neutral measure (associated with the options), including the volatility and jump risk premia. The estimation is implemented using a particle filter whose efficacy is demonstrated under simulation. The computational load of this estimation method, which previously has been prohibitive, is managed by the effective use of parallel computing using graphics processing units (GPUs). The empirical results indicate that the parameters of the models are reliably estimated and consistent with values reported in previous work. In particular, both the volatility risk premium and the jump risk premium are found to be significant.

Detection of anuran calling activity in long field recordings for bio-acoustic monitoring

This paper presents a system to analyze long field recordings with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for bio-acoustic monitoring. A method based on spectral peak track, Shannon entropy, harmonic structure and oscillation structure is proposed to automatically detect anuran (frog) calling activity. Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is introduced for modelling those features. Four anuran species widespread in Queensland, Australia, are selected to evaluate the proposed system. A visualization method based on extracted indices is employed for detection of anuran calling activity which achieves high accuracy.

Cycling for transport and recreation: Associations with the socio-economic, natural and built environment

This study examined associations between objective environmental attributes and, separately, transport (TC) and recreational cycling (RC). Environmental attributes were more strongly associated with TC than RC. Distances to areas with the best bicycle infrastructure and urban amenities may be key environmental factors influencing TC but not RC. Government investments in bicycle infrastructure within inner Brisbane appear to have resulted in more TC than in outer areas and to appeal to residents of both the most and least disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Extending this infrastructure to residents living in disadvantaged and advantaged neighbourhoods outside the CBD could expand TC participation.

Crowdfunding and independent screen content production in Australia: A direct economic relationship between producer and audience

This thesis examines the significance of crowdfunding for Australian filmmakers and provides an empirical basis to current claims about the role of crowdfunding in the film production and policy sectors. It has found that crowdfunding is a small but growing source of supplementary finance which is opening up new possibilities for Australian independent screen content producers. This project also highlights the discussion within Australian film policy circles that is opening the way for crowdfunding to potentially become a larger and more formalised component of current and emerging policy initiatives.

Haemodialysis work environment contributors to job satisfaction and stress: A sequential mixed methods study

Background: Haemodialysis nurses form long term relationships with patients in a technologically complex work environment. Previous studies have highlighted that haemodialysis nurses face stressors related to the nature of their work and also their work environments leading to reported high levels of burnout. Using Kanters (1997) Structural Empowerment Theory as a guiding framework, the aim of this study was to explore the factors contributing to satisfaction with the work environment, job satisfaction, job stress and burnout in haemodialysis nurses. Methods: Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the first phase involved an on-line survey comprising demographic and work characteristics, Brisbane Practice Environment Measure (B-PEM), Index of Work Satisfaction(IWS), Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The second phase involved conducting eight semi-structured interviews with data thematically analyzed. Results: From the 417 nurses surveyed the majority were female (90.9 %), aged over 41 years of age (74.3 %), and 47.4 % had worked in haemodialysis for more than 10 years. Overall the work environment was perceived positively and there was a moderate level of job satisfaction. However levels of stress and emotional exhaustion (burnout) were high. Two themes, ability to care and feeling successful as a nurse, provided clarity to the level of job satisfaction found in phase 1. While two further themes, patients as quasi-family and intense working teams, explained why working as a haemodialysis nurse was both satisfying and stressful. Conclusions: Nurse managers can use these results to identify issues being experienced by haemodialysis nurses working in the unit they are supervising.