Variation in the walking time to bus stop by the degree of transit captivity

Measures of transit accessibility are important in evaluating transit services, planning for future services and investment on land use development. Existing tools measure transit accessibility using averaged walking distance or walking time to public transit. Although the mode captivity may have significant implications on one’s willingness to walk to use public transit, this has not been addressed in the literature to date. Failed to distinguish transit captive users may lead to overestimated ridership and spatial coverage of transit services. The aim of this research is to integrate the concept of transit captivity into the analysis of walking access to public transit. The conventional way of defining “captive” and “choice” transit users showed no significant difference in their walking times according to a preliminary analysis. A cluster analysis technique is used to further divide “choice” users by three main factors, namely age group, labour force status and personal income. After eliminating “true captive” users, defined as those without driver’s licence or without a car in respective household, “non-true captive” users were classified into a total of eight groups having similar socio-economic characteristics. The analysis revealed significant differences in the walking times and patterns by their level of captivity to public transit. This paper challenges the rule-of-thumb of 400m walking distance to bus stops. In average, people’s willingness to walk dropped drastically at 268m and continued to drop constantly until it reached the mark of 670m, where there was another drastic drop of 17%, which left with only 10% of the total bus riders willing to walk 670m or more. This research found that mothers working part time were the ones with lowest transit captivity and thus most sensitive to the walking time, followed by high-income earners and the elderly. The level of captivity increases when public transit users earned lesser income, such as students and students working part time.

Crime Justice and Social Democracy: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference, 9-10 July 2015

We are pleased to present these selected papers from the proceedings of the 3rd Crime, Justice and Social Democracy International Conference, held in July 2015 in Brisbane, Australia. Over 350 delegates attended the conference from 19 countries. The papers collected here reflect the diversity of topics and themes that were explored over three days. The Crime, Justice and Social Democracy International Conference aims to strengthen the intellectual and policy debates concerning links between justice, social democracy, and the reduction of harm and crime, through building more just and inclusive societies and proposing innovative justice responses. In 2015, attendees discussed these issues as they related to ideas of green criminology; indigenous justice; gender, sex and justice; punishment and society; and the emerging notion of ‘Southern criminology’. The need to build global connections to address these challenges is more evident than ever and the conference and these proceedings reflect a growing attention to interdisciplinary, novel, and interconnected responses to contemporary global challenges. Authors in these conference proceedings engaged with issues of online fraud, queer criminology and law, Indigenous incarceration, youth justice, incarceration in Brazil, and policing in Victoria, Australia, among others. The topics explored speak to the themes of the conference and demonstrate the range of challenges facing researchers of crime, harm, social democracy and social justice and the spaces of possibility that such research opens. Our thanks to the conference convenor, Dr Kelly Richards, for organising such a successful conference, and to all those presenters who subsequently submitted such excellent papers for review here. We would also particularly like to thank Jess Rodgers for their tireless editorial assistance, as well as the panel of international scholars who participated in the review process, often within tight timelines.

Scar outcome of children with partial thickness burns: A 3 and 6 month follow up

INTRODUCTION There is a paucity of research investigating the scar outcome of children with partial thickness burns. The aim of this study was to assess the scar outcome of children with partial thickness burns who received a silver dressing acutely. METHOD Children aged 0-15 years with an acute partial thickness burn, ≤10% TBSA were included. Children were originally recruited for an RCT investigating three dressings for partial thickness burns. Children were assessed at 3 and 6 months after re-epithelialization. 3D photographs were taken of the burn site, POSAS was completed and skin thickness was measured using ultrasound imaging. RESULTS Forty-three children returned for 3 and 6 month follow-ups or returned a photo. Days to re-epithelialization was a significant predictor of skin/scar quality at 3 and 6 months (p<0.01). Patient-rated color and observer-rated vascularity and pigmentation POSAS scores were comparable at 3 months (color vs. vascularity 0.88, p<0.001; color vs. pigmentation 0.64, p<0.001), but patients scored higher than the observer at 6 months (color vs. vascularity 0.57, p<0.05; color vs. pigmentation 0.15, p=0.60). Burn depth was significantly correlated with skin thickness (r=0.51, p<0.01). Hypopigmentation of the burn site was present in 25.8% of children who re-epithelialized in ≤2 weeks. CONCLUSION This study has provided information on outcomes for children with partial thickness burns and highlighted a need for further education of this population.

Randomised controlled trial of three burns dressings for partial thickness burns in children

BACKGROUND This study compared the effects of three silver dressing combinations on small to medium size acute partial thickness burns in children, focusing on re-epithelialization time, pain and distress during dressing changes. METHOD Children (0-15 years) with clean, ≤ 10% total body surface area (TBSA) partial thickness burns who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Children received either (1) Acticoat™; (2) Acticoat™ with Mepitel™; or (3) Mepilex Ag™ dressings. Measures of burn re-epithelialization, pain, and distress were recorded at dressing changes every 3-5 days until full re-epithelialization occurred. RESULTS One hundred and three children were recruited with 96 children included for analysis. No infections were detected for the course of the study. When adjusted for burn depth, Acticoat™ significantly increased the expected days to full re-epithelialization by 40% (IRR = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.14-1.73, p < 0.01) and Acticoat™ with Mepitel™ significantly increased the expected days to full re-epithelialization by 33% (IRR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.08-1.63, p ≤ 0.01) when compared to Mepilex Ag™. Expected FLACC scores in the Mepilex Ag™ group were 32% lower at dressing removal (p = 0.01) and 37% lower at new dressing application (p = 0.04); and scores in the Acticoat™ with Mepitel™ group were 23% lower at dressing removal (p = 0.04) and 40% lower at new dressing application (p < 0.01), in comparison to the Acticoat™ group. Expected Visual Analog Scale-Pain (VAS-P) scores were 25% lower in the Mepilex Ag™ group at dressing removal (p = 0.04) and 34% lower in the Acticoat™ with Mepitel™ group (p = 0.02) at new dressing application in comparison to the Acticoat™ group. There was no significant difference between the Mepilex Ag™ and the Acticoat™ with Mepitel™ groups at all timepoints and with any pain measure. CONCLUSION Mepilex Ag™ is an effective silver dressing, in terms of accelerated wound re-epithelialization time (compared to Acticoat™ and Acticoat™ with Mepitel™) and decreased pain during dressing changes (compared to Acticoat™), for clean, < 10% TBSA partial thickness burns in children.

A closed-form optimal tuning of mass dampers for one degree-of-freedom systems under rotating unbalance forcing

This paper is focused on the study of a vibrating system forced by a rotating unbalance and coupled to a tuned mass damper (TMD). The analysis of the dynamic response of the entire system is used to define the parameters of such device in order to achieve optimal damping properties. The inertial forcing due to the rotating unbalance depends quadratically on the forcing frequency and it leads to optimal tuning parameters that differ from classical values obtained for pure harmonic forcing. Analytical results demonstrate that frequency and damping ratios, as a function of the mass parameter, should be higher than classical optimal parameters. The analytical study is carried out for the undamped primary system, and numerically investigated for the damped primary system. We show that, for practical applications, proper TMD tuning allows to achieve a reduction in the steady-state response of about 20% with respect to the response achieved with a classically tuned damper. Copyright © 2015 by ASME.

Reproducibility of scratch assays is affected by the initial degree of confluence: Experiments, modelling and model selection

Scratch assays are difficult to reproduce. Here we identify a previously overlooked source of variability which could partially explain this difficulty. We analyse a suite of scratch assays in which we vary the initial degree of confluence (initial cell density). Our results indicate that the rate of re-colonisation is very sensitive to the initial density. To quantify the relative roles of cell migration and proliferation, we calibrate the solution of the Fisher–Kolmogorov model to cell density profiles to provide estimates of the cell diffusivity, D, and the cell proliferation rate, λ. This procedure indicates that the estimates of D and λ are very sensitive to the initial density. This dependence suggests that the Fisher–Kolmogorov model does not accurately represent the details of the collective cell spreading process, since this model assumes that D and λ are constants that ought to be independent of the initial density. Since higher initial cell density leads to enhanced spreading, we also calibrate the solution of the Porous–Fisher model to the data as this model assumes that the cell flux is an increasing function of the cell density. Estimates of D and λ associated with the Porous–Fisher model are less sensitive to the initial density, suggesting that the Porous–Fisher model provides a better description of the experiments.

Looking out of the void : Scaffolds to assist drama higher research degree students on the path to artist–scholar

In recent years, a number of Australian and international universities have offered the ability to complete postgraduate qualifications using the research frame known as creative practice as research. This has been particularly prevalent in the Drama discipline in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). There has been a noticeable shift away from students undertaking a traditional research Master of Arts (Research) or Doctor of Philosophy to a higher proportion of research higher degree students undertaking research through their creative work. The somewhat ephemeral nature of the theatre and performance practice can generate anxieties for students about how to best represent, analyse and discuss the creative practice within a theoretical frame. The argument in this paper is situated in the experience of two artist-scholars who undertook their studies at QUT while under principal supervision of the author and explores the research scaffolds that supervisors in Drama at QUT have developed to assist research higher degree students to navigate the tricky persona of artist–scholar.

Enhancing learning for research higher degree students

Universities’ push toward the production of high quality research is not limited to academic staff and experienced researchers. In this environment of research rich agendas, Higher Degree Research (HDR) students are increasingly expected to engage in the publishing of good quality papers in high impact journals. IFN001: Advanced Information Research Skills (AIRS) is a credit bearing mandatory coursework requirement for Queensland University of Technology (QUT) doctorates. Since its inception in 1989, this unique blended learning program has provided the foundations for new researchers to produce original and innovative research. AIRS was redeveloped in 2012, and has now been evaluated with reference to the university’s strategic research priorities. Our research is the first comprehensive evaluation of the program from the learner perspective. We measured whether the program develops essential transferrable skills and graduate capabilities to ensure best practice in the areas of publishing and data management. In particular, we explored whether AIRS prepares students to be agile researchers with the skills to adapt to different research contexts both within and outside academia. The target group for our study consisted of HDR students and supervisors at QUT. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used for data collection. Gathering data was by survey and focus groups with qualitative responses analyzed using NVivo. The results of the survey show that 82% of students surveyed believe that AIRS assisted their research process and helped them learn skills they need as a researcher. The 18% of respondents who expressed reservation about the benefits of AIRS were also examined to determine the key areas of concern. These included trends related to the timing of the program early in the candidature and a belief among some students that their previous research experience was sufficient for postgraduate study. New insights have been gained into how to better support HDR learners in partnership with supervisors and how to enhance learning experiences of specific cohorts, including international students and mature learners.

Introduction to Public Health [3rd Ed.]

Why is public health important? An Introduction to Public Health is about the discipline of public health, the nature and scope of public health activity, and the challenges that face public health in the twenty-first century. The book is designed as an introductory text to the principles and practice of public health. This is a complex and multifaceted area. What we have tried to do in this book is make public health easy to understand without making it simplistic. As many authors have stated, public health is essentially about the organised efforts of society to promote, protect and restore the public’s health (Brownson 2011, Last 2001, Schneider 2011, Turnock 2012, Winslow 1920). It is multidisciplinary in nature, and it is influenced by genetic, physical, social, cultural, economic and political determinants of health. How do we define public health, and what are the disciplines that contribute to public health? How has the area changed over time? Are there health issues in the twenty-first century that change the focus and activity of public health? Yes, there are! There are many challenges facing public health now and in the future, just as there have been over the course of the history of organised public health efforts, dating from around 1850 in the Western world. Of what relevance is public health to the many health disciplines that contribute to it? How might an understanding of public health contribute to a range of health professionals who use the principles and practices of public health in their professional activities? These are the questions that this book addresses. Introduction to Public Health leads the reader on a journey of discovery that concludes with an understanding of the nature and scope of public health and the challenges facing the field into the future. In this edition we have included one new chapter, ‘Public health and social policy’, in order to broaden our understanding of the policy influences on public health. The book is designed for a range of students undertaking health courses where there is a focus on advancing the health of the population. While it is imperative that people wanting to be public health professionals understand the theory and practice of public health, many other health workers contribute to effective public health practice. The book would also be relevant to a range of undergraduate students who want an introductory understanding of public health and its practice.

Making the Most of Field Placement [3rd Ed.]

Overview Learn how to get the most from your placements with the aid of this user-friendly text. Making the Most of Field Placement offers a practice-based approach to teaching and learning during placement experiences. Written for both students and their supervisors, it follows the various stages of a placement from planning through to evaluation. The core practice issues and ideas that it discusses can be used for a wide range of fields including social work, welfare work, disability work, youth work, community work and other human services. Readers can follow through the chapters as a guide as the placement progresses or select specific chapters and exercises to enhance specific stages of the placement. Numerous examples, checklists and exercises provide practical ideas that help students and supervisors to positively engage with each stage of the field placement process.