In their own words: Why teenagers don't use social networking sites

We explored common reasons for non-use of the rapidly growing popularity of social networking sites among a sample of Australian adolescents (N = 69). Transcripts were coded by grouping responses along similar themes for non-use that had been commonly stated by participants. The primary reasons offered by adolescents were: lack of motivation, poor use of time, preference for other forms of communication, preference for engaging in other activities, cybersafety concerns, and a dislike of self-presentation online. The identification of these themes allows for a greater understanding of teenagers' decisions not to engage in the popular medium of communication and points to possible strategies that could be utilised by Web site developers in efforts to appeal to a wider teenage audience.

An investigation of unique challenges in National Historic relics and scenic sites (NHRSSs) in Chinese research literature 1982-2008 using co-word analysis

National Housing Relics and Scenic Sites (NHRSSs) in China are the equivalent of National Parks in the West but have contrasting features and broader roles when compared to their Western counterparts. By reviewing and analysing more than 370 academic sources, this paper identifies 6 major issue clusters and future challenges that will influence the management of NHRSSs over time. It also provides a number of cases to illustrate the particular features of NHRSSs. Identifying the hot issues and important challenges in Chinese NHRSSs will provide valuable insights into priorities now being discussed in highly populated areas of the World.

Radioactive residues associated with water treatment, use and disposal in Australia

Water resources are known to contain radioactive materials, either from natural or anthropogenic sources. Treatment, including wastewater treatment, of water for drinking, domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes has the potential to concentrate radioactive materials. Inevitably concentrated radioactive material is discharged to the environment as a waste product, reused for soil conditioning, or perhaps recycled as a new potable water supply. This thesis, presented as a collection of peer reviewed scientific papers, explores a number of water / wastewater treatment applications, and the subsequent nature and potential impact of radioactive residues associated with water exploitation processes. The thesis draws together research outcomes for sites predominantly throughout Queensland, Australia, where it is recognised that there is a paucity of published data on the subject. This thesis contributes to current knowledge on the monitoring, assessment and potential for radiation exposure from radioactive residues associated with the water industry.

Synthesis of one-dimensional nanocomposites based on alumina nanofibres and their catalytic applications

Materials with one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure are important for catalysis. They are the preferred building blocks for catalytic nanoarchitecture, and can be used to fabricate designer catalysts. In this thesis, one such material, alumina nanofibre, was used as a precursor to prepare a range of nanocomposite catalysts. Utilising the specific properties of alumina nanofibres, a novel approach was developed to prepare macro-mesoporous nanocomposites, which consist of a stacked, fibrous nanocomposite with a core-shell structure. Two kinds of fibrous ZrO2/Al2O3 and TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites were successfully synthesised using boehmite nanofibers as a hard temperate and followed by a simple calcination. The alumina nanofibres provide the resultant nanocomposites with good thermal stability and mechanical stability. A series of one-dimensional (1D) zirconia/alumina nanocomposites were prepared by the deposition of zirconium species onto the 3D framework of boehmite nanofibres formed by dispersing boehmite nanofibres into a butanol solution, followed by calcination at 773 K. The materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Infrared Emission Spectroscopy (IES), and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results demonstrated that when the molar percentage, X, X=100*Zr/(Al+Zr), was > 30%, extremely long ZrO2/Al2O3 composite nanorods with evenly distributed ZrO2 nanocrystals formed on their surface. The stacking of such nanorods gave rise to a new kind of macroporous material without the use of any organic space filler\template or other specific drying techniques. The mechanism for the formation of these long ZrO2/Al2O3 composite nanorods is proposed in this work. A series of solid-superacid catalysts were synthesised from fibrous ZrO2/Al2O3 core and shell nanocomposites. In this series, the zirconium molar percentage was varied from 2 % to 50 %. The ZrO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites and their solid superacid counterparts were characterised by a variety of techniques including 27Al MAS-NMR, SEM, TEM, XPS, Nitrogen adsorption and Infrared Emission Spectroscopy. NMR results show that the interaction between zirconia species and alumina strongly correlates with pentacoordinated aluminium sites. This can also be detected by the change in binding energy of the 3d electrons of the zirconium. The acidity of the obtained superacids was tested by using them as catalysts for the benzolyation of toluene. It was found that a sample with a 50 % zirconium molar percentage possessed the highest surface acidity equalling that of pristine sulfated zirconia despite the reduced mass of zirconia. Preparation of hierarchically macro-mesoporous catalyst by loading nanocrystallites on the framework of alumina bundles can provide an alternative system to design advanced nanocomposite catalyst with enhanced performance. A series of macro-mesoporous TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites with different morphologies were synthesised. The materials were calcined at 723 K and were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Infrared Emission Spectroscopy (IES), and UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-visible). A modified approach was proposed for the synthesis of 1D (fibrous) nanocomposite with higher Ti/Al molar ratio (2:1) at lower temperature (<100oC), which makes it possible to synthesize such materials on industrial scale. The performances of a series of resultant TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites with different morphologies were evaluated as a photocatalyst for the phenol degradation under UV irradiation. The photocatalyst (Ti/Al =2) with fibrous morphology exhibits higher activity than that of the photocatalyst with microspherical morphology which indeed has the highest Ti to Al molar ratio (Ti/Al =3) in the series of as-synthesised hierarchical TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performances, for the fibrous nanocomposites with Ti/Al=2, were optimized by calcination at elevated temperatures. The nanocomposite prepared by calcination at 750oC exhibits the highest catalytic activity, and its performance per TiO2 unit is very close to that of the gold standard, Degussa P 25. This work also emphasizes two advantages of the nanocomposites with fibrous morphology: (1) the resistance to sintering, and (2) good catalyst recovery.

Perceptions of visibility and conspicuity of biomotion clothing configurations for road workers at road work sites

Aims: This study determined whether the visibility benefits of positioning retroreflective strips in biological motion configurations were evident at real world road worker sites. Methods: 20 visually normal drivers (M=40.3 years) participated in this study that was conducted at two road work sites (one suburban and one freeway) on two separate nights. At each site, four road workers walked in place wearing one of four different clothing options: a) standard road worker night vest, b) standard night vest plus retroreflective strips on thighs, c) standard night vest plus retroreflective strips on ankles and knees, d) standard night vest plus retroreflective strips on eight moveable joints (full biomotion). Participants seated in stationary vehicles at three different distances (80m, 160m, 240m) rated the relative conspicuity of the four road workers using a series of a standardized visibility and ranking scales. Results: Adding retroreflective strips in the full biomotion configuration to the standard night vest significantly (p<0.001) enhanced perceptions of road worker visibility compared to the standard vest alone, or in combination with thigh retroreflective markings. These visibility benefits were evident at all distances and at both sites. Retroreflective markings at the ankles and knees also provided visibility benefits compared to the standard vest, however, the full biomotion configuration was significantly better than all of the other configurations. Conclusions: These data provide the first evidence that the benefits of biomotion retroreflective markings that have been previously demonstrated under laboratory and closed- and open-road conditions are also evident at real work sites.

Assessment of function and clinical utility of alcohol and other drug web sites : an observational, qualitative study

Background The increasing popularity and use of the internet makes it an attractive option for providing health information and treatment, including alcohol/other drug use. There is limited research examining how people identify and access information about alcohol or other drug (AOD) use online, or how they assess the usefulness of the information presented. This study examined the strategies that individuals used to identify and navigate a range of AOD websites, along with the attitudes concerning presentation and content. Methods Members of the general community in Brisbane and Roma (Queensland, Australia) were invited to participate in a 30-minute search of the internet for sites related to AOD use, followed by a focus group discussion. Fifty one subjects participated in the study across nine focus groups. Results Participants spent a maximum of 6.5 minutes on any one website, and less if the user was under 25 years of age. Time spent was as little as 2 minutes if the website was not the first accessed. Participants recommended that AOD-related websites should have an engaging home or index page, which quickly and accurately portrayed the site’s objectives, and provided clear site navigation options. Website content should clearly match the title and description of the site that is used by internet search engines. Participants supported the development of a portal for AOD websites, suggesting that it would greatly facilitate access and navigation. Treatment programs delivered online were initially viewed with caution. This appeared to be due to limited understanding of what constituted online treatment, including its potential efficacy. Conclusions A range of recommendations arise from this study regarding the design and development of websites, particularly those related to AOD use. These include prudent use of text and information on any one webpage, the use of graphics and colours, and clear, uncluttered navigation options. Implications for future website development are discussed.

Role of solids in heavy metals build-up on urban road surfaces

Solids are widely identified as a carrier of harmful pollutants in stormwater runoff exerting a significant risk to receiving waters. This paper outlines the findings of an in-depth investigation on heavy metal adsorption to solids surfaces. Pollutant build-up samples collected from sixteen road sites in residential, industrial and commercial land uses were separated into four particle size ranges and analysed for a range of physico-chemical parameters and nine heavy metals including Iron (Fe), Aluminum (Al), Lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni) and Copper (Cu). High specific surface area (SSA) and total organic carbon (TOC) content in finer particle size ranges was noted, thus confirming strong correlations with heavy metals. Based on their physico-chemical characteristics, two different types of solids originating from traffic and soil sources were identified. Solids generated by traffic were associated with high loads of heavy metals such as Cd and Cr with strong correlation with SSA. This suggested the existence of surface dependent bonds such as cation exchange between heavy metals and solids. In contrast, Fe, Al and Mn which can be attributed to soil inputs showed strong correlation with TOC suggesting strong bonds such as chemsorption. Zn was found to be primarily attached to solids by bonding with the oxides of Fe, Al and Mn. The data analysis also confirmed the predominance of the finer fraction, with 70% of the solids being finer than 150 µm and containing 60% of the heavy metal pollutant load.

Management strategies to harness cultural diversity on Australian constructions sites : a social identity perspective

Construction sites around the world employ large numbers of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The effective management of this cultural diversity has important implications for the productivity, safety, health and welfare of construction workers and for the performance and reputation of firms which employ them. The findings of a three year, multi-staged study of cultural diversity management practices on construction sites are critiqued using social identity theory. This reveals that so called "best-practice" diversity management strategies may have an opposite effect to that intended. It is concluded that the management of diversity on construction projects would benefit from being informed by social identity research.

Efficient safety information retrieval on construction sites: a preliminary methodology

IT-supported field data management benefits on-site construction management by improving accessibility to the information and promoting efficient communication between project team members. However, most of on-site safety inspections still heavily rely on subjective judgment and manual reporting processes and thus observers’ experiences often determine the quality of risk identification and control. This study aims to develop a methodology to efficiently retrieve safety-related information so that the safety inspectors can easily access to the relevant site safety information for safer decision making. The proposed methodology consists of three stages: (1) development of a comprehensive safety database which contains information of risk factors, accident types, impact of accidents and safety regulations; (2) identification of relationships among different risk factors based on statistical analysis methods; and (3) user-specified information retrieval using data mining techniques for safety management. This paper presents an overall methodology and preliminary results of the first stage research conducted with 101 accident investigation reports.

Developing a creative cluster in a post-industrial city : the Creative Industries Development Service (CIDS) and Manchester

This article takes the establishment and demise of Manchester’s Creative Industries Development Service (CIDS) as an exemplary case study for the ways in which creative industry policy has intersected with urban economic policy over the last decade. The authors argue that the creative industries required specific kinds of economic development agencies that would be able to act as “intermediaries” between the distinct languages of policymakers and “creatives.” They discuss the tensions inherent in such an approach and how CIDS attempted to manage them and suggest that the main reason for the demise of the CIDS was the domination of the “economic” over the “cultural” logic, both of which are present within the creative industries policy discourse.

School-aged workers : industrial citizens in waiting?

While the literature points to significant shifts in young peoples’ labour market participation and the social, economic and political context in which this has occurred, it tells us little about whether and in what sense young people can be considered as industrial citizens. We explored the notion of youth citizenship using data derived from 48 focus groups conducted with 216 young people (13-16 years of age) at 19 high schools in Australia. The findings reveal the ways in which several key dimensions of industrial citizenship come to be shaped and have implications for addressing the vulnerability of youth in employment and informing policy and action.

Teaching design and emotion in the foundation year : an industrial design approach

This paper showcases two design tools; the ‘storyboard’ and ‘a day in the life’ demonstrated to design students in their foundational year (first year) of study. By employing these tools during the design process the aim was to provoke students to consider and design for emotional experiences for potential users. The assessment asked students to design an MP3 player using these tools. This is demonstrated through a student project that successfully used the tools and method introduced. The teaching theory, project context, student outcome as well as challenges faced by students using this approach are discussed. The paper concludes with implications for teaching emotion theory at an undergraduate level and potential future directions.

Source apportionment of ultrafine and fine particle concentrations in Brisbane, Australia

Purpose: To investigate the significance of sources around measurement sites, assist the development of control strategies for the important sources and mitigate the adverse effects of air pollution due to particle size. Methods: In this study, sampling was conducted at two sites located in urban/industrial and residential areas situated at roadsides along the Brisbane Urban Corridor. Ultrafine and fine particle measurements obtained at the two sites in June-July 2002 were analysed by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF). Results: Six sources were present, including local traffic, two traffic sources, biomass burning, and two currently unidentified sources. Secondary particles had a significant impact at Site 1, while nitrates, peak traffic hours and main roads located close to the source also affected the results for both sites. Conclusions: This significant traffic corridor exemplifies the type of sources present in heavily trafficked locations and future attempts to control pollution in this type of environment could focus on the sources that were identified.

Employment and industrial law in paramedic practice

This chapter will provide you with the some of the information you may need to make information on decisions in cases such as the one given above. In particular it will help you answer questions such as: 1. As Molly and Vikram are approaching the end of their shift, to attend will force them into overtime; could they refuse to attend the job on the basis of the refusal to do overtime outside of contracted hours? 2. Would their refusal be viewed as a breach of contract and therefore a disciplinary issue? 3. Why? 4. Does the need to attend this possibly gravely ill patient outweigh the demands of the paramedics to finish on time?