Chemical variability of groundwater samples collected from a Coal Seam Gas exploration well, Maramarua, New Zealand

A pilot study has produced 31 groundwater samples from a coal seam gas (CSG) exploration well located in Maramarua, New Zealand. This paper describes sources of CSG water chemistry variations, and makes sampling and analytical recommendations to minimize these variations. The hydrochemical character of these samples is studied using factor analysis, geochemical modelling, and a sparging experiment. Factor analysis unveils carbon dioxide (CO2) degassing as the principal cause of sample variation (about 33%). Geochemical modelling corroborates these results and identifies minor precipitation of carbonate minerals with degassing. The sparging experiment confirms the effect of CO2 degassing by showing a steady rise in pH while maintaining constant alkalinity. Factor analysis correlates variations in the major ion composition (about 17%) to changes in the pumping regime and to aquifer chemistry variations due to cation exchange reactions with argillaceous minerals. An effective CSG water sampling program can be put into practice by measuring pH at the well head and alkalinity at the laboratory; these data can later be used to calculate the carbonate speciation at the time the sample was collected. In addition, TDS variations can be reduced considerably if a correct drying temperature of 180°C is consistently implemented.

Managing the production of a Cochrane systematic review

Undertaking a Cochrane systematic review can be an incredibly rewarding experience. It is however a challenging and time-consuming task. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions1 provides an essential resource to help reviewers navigate the often complex methodological issues of systematic review research. Additional guidelines have been developed for those undertaking reviews of public health topics,2 and Cochrane Centres throughout the world offer invaluable training opportunities. This emphasis on training and methodological rigour has helped Cochrane reviews become one of the most respected sources of synthesized research available. Even with the assistance available, however, many authors with good intentions register titles and prepare protocols but fail to publish the completed review. Data extracted from Cochrane’s Information Management System (Archie) in June 2010 showed that there were 1,301 titles registered more than two years ago that have not been published as a full review.3 Of these registered titles, 697 have had protocols published (25 are no longer active) while 604 have not even progressed to this stage (154 are no longer active). There are also 146 protocols that have been published for more than two years without being converted into completed reviews. These registered titles and protocols that have not yet progressed to a completed review represent a significant amount of time and energy invested by review authors, Cochrane editorial staff and, in some cases, external referees...

Application of the self-efficacy model in nursing practice [自我效能模式於護理臨床應用之剖析]

Self-efficacy has two cognitive components, efficacy expectations and outcome expectations, and their influence on behavior change is synergistic. Efficacy expectation is effected by four main sources of information provided by direct and indirect experiences. The four sources of information are performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and self-appraisal. How to measure and develop interventions is an important issue at present. This article clearly analyzes the relationship between variables of the self-efficacy model and explains the implementation of self-efficacy enhancing interventions and instruments in order to test the model. Through the process of the use of theory and feasibility in clinical practice, it is expected that professional medical care personnel should firstly familiarize themselves with the self-efficiency model and concept, and then flexibly promote it in professional fields clinical practice, chronic disease care and health promotion.

Thinking Critically in the Land of Princesses and Giants : The Affordances and Challenges of Critical Approaches in the Early Years

During the last four decades, educators have created a range of critical literacy approaches for different contexts, including compulsory schooling (Luke & Woods, 2009) and second language education (Luke & Dooley, 2011). Despite inspirational examples of critical work with young students (e.g., O’Brien, 1994; Vasquez, 1994), Comber (2012) laments the persistent myth that critical literacy is not viable in the early years. Assumptions about childhood innocence and the priorities of the back-to-basics movement seem to limit the possibilities for early years literacy teaching and learning. Yet, teachers of young students need not face an either/or choice between the basic and critical dimensions of literacy. Systematic ways of treating literacy in all its complexity exist. We argue that the integrative imperative is especially important in schools that are under pressure to improve technical literacy outcomes. In this chapter, we document how critical literacy was addressed in a fairytales unit taught to 4.5 - 5.5 year olds in a high diversity, high poverty Australian school. We analyze the affordances and challenges of different approaches to critical literacy, concluding they are complementary rather than competing sources of possibility. Furthermore, we make the case for turning familiar classroom activities to critical ends.

Perceptions of stressors and reported coping strategies in nurses caring for residents with Alzheimer's disease in a dementia unit

A study was undertaken on the perceptions of stressors and coping behaviours in a group of nurses caring for residents with Alzheimer's disease in a dementia unit. The purpose of this paper is to report on the preliminary findings of the study. Repertory grid data were used to explore how nurses perceive residents, the stressors nurses experience in their work, and the coping strategies nurses use when caring for residents. The nurses identified 92 sources of stress, 683 coping behaviours and 708 coping strategies. Analyses of selected repertory grid data are presented and the stressors reported by the nurses are summarized. The coping strategies the nurses report using are classified into categories of adaptive and maladaptive responses to stress. In addition, the nursing implications of the coping strategies used by the nurses are also considered.

Service condition of railroad corridors around the insulated rail joints

Railroad corridors contain large number of Insulated Rail Joints (IRJs) that act as safety critical elements in the circuitries of the signaling and broken rail identification systems. IRJs are regarded as sources of excitation for the passage of loaded wheels leading to high impact forces; these forces in turn cause dips, cross levels and twists to the railroad geometry in close proximity to the sections containing the IRJs in addition to the local damages to the railhead of the IRJs. Therefore, a systematic monitoring of the IRJs in railroad is prudent to mitigate potential risk of their sudden failure (e.g., broken tie plates) under the traffic. This paper presents a simple method of periodic recording of images using time-lapse photography and total station surveying measurements to understand the ongoing deterioration of the IRJs and their surroundings. Over a 500 day period, data were collected to examine the trends in narrowing of the joint gap due to plastic deformation the railhead edges and the dips, cross levels and twists caused to the railroad geometry due to the settlement of ties (sleepers) around the IRJs. The results reflect that the average progressive settlement beneath the IRJs is larger than that under the continuously welded rail, which leads to excessive deviation of railroad profile, cross levels and twists.

Thin-film elemental analyses for precise characterization of minerals

The Analytical Electron Microscope (AEM), with which secondary X-ray emission from a thin (<150nm), electron-transparent material is measured, has rapidly become a versatile instrument for qualitative and quantitative elemental analyses of many materials, including minerals. With due regard for sources of error in experimental procedures, it is possible to obtain high spatial resolution (~20nm diameter) and precise elemental analyses (~3% to 5% relative) from many silicate minerals. In addition, by utilizing the orientational dependence of X-ray emission for certain multi-substituted crystal structures, site occupancies for individual elements within a unit cell can be determined though with lower spatial resolution. The relative ease with which many of these compositional data may be obtained depends in part on the nature of the sample, but, in general, is comparable to other solid state analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analysis. However, the improvement in spatial resolution obtained with the AEM (up to two orders of magnitude in analysis diameter) significantly enhances interpretation of fine-grained assemblages in many terrestrial or extraterrestrial rocks.

Addressing a source of trouble outside of the repair space

A body of research in conversation analysis has identified a range of structurally-provided positions in which sources of trouble in talk-in-interaction can be addressed using repair. These practices are contained within what Schegloff (1992) calls the repair space. In this paper, I examine a rare instance in which a source of trouble is not resolved within the repair space and comes to be addressed outside of it. The practice by which this occurs is a post-completion account; that is, an account that is produced after the possible completion of the sequence containing a source of trouble. Unlike fourth position repair, the final repair position available within the repair space, this account is not made in preparation for a revised response to the trouble-source turn. Its more restrictive aim, rather, is to circumvent an ongoing difference between the parties involved. I argue that because the trouble is addressed in this manner, and in this particular position, the repair space can be considered as being limited to the sequence in which a source of trouble originates.

Well-being of refugees from Burma: a salutogenic perspective

A salutogenic approach explored themes of strength and well-being in life stories of Burmese refugees (N = 18) in Australia. Previous refugee studies have tended to focus on negative responses to traumatic events (e.g. posttraumatic stress disorder, depression). To widen the scope of refugee related research the focus of the current study was informed by a salutogenic perspective, exploring sources of strength that may facilitate well-being. Semi-structured narrative interviews explored: the participant's life before fleeing Burma, the journey of exile, and post-migration in Australia. Eight women and 10 men (Mage = 39 years) were interviewed and transcriptions analysis of narratives was conducted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), with major themes being explicated. Super-ordinate themes pertaining to strength during times of hardship were identified and explicated as: support from interpersonal relationships, the pivotal role of values, a sense of future and agency, and reliance on spiritual or religious beliefs. Results indicate the existence of sources of strength that may contribute to human responses in times of hardship. Recognition and reflection of strengths may be incorporated into therapeutic and resettlement approaches for people from refugee backgrounds.

The state-of-the-art in personalized recommender systems for social networking

With the explosion of Web 2.0 application such as blogs, social and professional networks, and various other types of social media, the rich online information and various new sources of knowledge flood users and hence pose a great challenge in terms of information overload. It is critical to use intelligent agent software systems to assist users in finding the right information from an abundance of Web data. Recommender systems can help users deal with information overload problem efficiently by suggesting items (e.g., information and products) that match users’ personal interests. The recommender technology has been successfully employed in many applications such as recommending films, music, books, etc. The purpose of this report is to give an overview of existing technologies for building personalized recommender systems in social networking environment, to propose a research direction for addressing user profiling and cold start problems by exploiting user-generated content newly available in Web 2.0.

The need for ‘representative task design’ in evaluating efficacy of skills tests in sport : a comment on Russell, Benton and Kingsley (2010)

Russell, Benton and Kingsley (2010) recently suggested a new association football test comprising three different tasks for the evaluation of players' passing, dribbling and shooting skills. Their stated intention was to enhance ‘ecological validity’ of current association football skills tests allowing generalisation of results from the new protocols to performance constraints that were ‘representative’ of experiences during competitive game situations. However, in this comment we raise some concerns with their use of the term ‘ecological validity’ to allude to aspects of ‘representative task design’. We propose that in their paper the authors confused understanding of environmental properties, performance achievement and generalisability of the test and its outcomes. Here, we argue that the tests designed by Russell and colleagues did not include critical sources of environmental information, such as the active role of opponents, which players typically use to organise their actions during performance. Static tasks which are not representative of the competitive performance environment may lead to different emerging patterns of movement organisation and performance outcomes, failing to effectively evaluate skills performance in sport.

Interpersonal coupling in rowing : the mediating role of the environment

Evidence currently supports the view that intentional interpersonal coordination (IIC) is a self-organizing phenomenon facilitated by visual perception of co-actors in a coordinative coupling (Schmidt, Richardson, Arsenault, & Galantucci, 2007). The present study examines how apparent IIC is achieved in situations where visual information is limited for co-actors in a rowing boat. In paired rowing boats only one of the actors, [bow seat] gets to see the actions of the other [stroke seat]. Thus IIC appears to be facilitated despite the lack of important visual information for the control of the dyad. Adopting a mimetic approach to expert coordination, the present study qualitatively examined the experiences of expert performers (N=9) and coaches (N=4) with respect to how IIC was achieved in paired rowing boats. Themes were explored using inductive content analysis, which led to layered model of control. Rowers and coaches reported the use of multiple perceptual sources in order to achieve IIC. As expected(Kelso, 1995; Schmidt & O’Brien, 1997; Turvey, 1990), rowers in the bow of a pair boat make use of visual information provided by the partner in front of them [stroke]. However, this perceptual information is subordinate to perception Motor Learning and Control S111 of the relationship between the boat hull and water passing beside it. Stroke seat, in the absence of visual information about his/her partner, achieves coordination by picking up information about the lifting or looming of the boat’s stern along with water passage past the hull. In this case it appears that apparent or desired IIC is supported by the perception of extra-personal variables, in this case boat behavior; as this perceptual information source is used by both actors. To conclude, co-actors in two person rowing boats use multiple sources of perceptual information for apparent IIC that changes according to task constraints. Where visual information is restricted IIC is facilitated via extra-personal perceptual information and apparent IIC switches to intentional extra-personal coordination.

Assessing the overuse of antibiotics in children in Saudi Arabia : validation of the parental perception on antibiotics scale (PAPA scale)

Background Antibiotics overuse is a global public health issue influenced by several factors, of which some are parent-related psychosocial factors that can only be measured using valid and reliable psychosocial measurement instruments. The PAPA scale was developed to measure these factors and the content validity of this instrument was assessed. Aim This study further validated the recently developed instrument in terms of (1) face validity and (2) construct validity including: deciding the number and nature of factors, and item selection. Methods Questionnaires were self-administered to parents of children between the ages of 0 and 12 years old. Parents were conveniently recruited from schools’ parental meetings in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Face validity was assessed with regards to questionnaire clarity and unambiguity. Construct validity and item selection processes were conducted using Exploratory factor analysis. Results Parallel analysis and Exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring produced six factors in the developed instrument: knowledge and beliefs, behaviours, sources of information, adherence, awareness about antibiotics resistance, and parents’ perception regarding doctors’ prescribing behaviours. Reliability was assessed (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.78) which demonstrates the instrument as being reliable. Conclusion The ‘factors’ produced in this study coincide with the constructs contextually identified in the development phase of other instruments used to study antibiotic use. However, no other study considering perceptions of antibiotic use had gone beyond content validation of such instruments. This study is the first to constructively validate the factors underlying perceptions regarding antibiotic use in any population and in parents in particular.

Gender and the capacity of women with NIDDM to implement medical advice

This qualitative study of women with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) examined constructions of their diabetes management and socio-familial relationships as potential sources of support. Semi-structured interview data was collected from 16 women. The transcripts were analysed with the aim of examining the ways in which Sender relations structured women's accounts of health-related behaviours. Women talked about themselves as wives, mothers, being pregnant and parenting, and friends of other women in ways that demonstrated how caring for others impeded their capacity to care for themselves. Meeting the food preferences of husbands and dietary requirements of diabetic husbands were dominant themes in women's accounts of marriage, and in various ways women justified their husbands' lack of support. Furthermore, the care of others during pregnancy and parenting was also an obstacle to women caring for themselves. An awareness of the gender politics inherent within social and family contexts is crucial to improving the effectiveness of medical advice for diabetes management.

Spatial variation of particle number concentration in school microscale environments and its impact on exposure assessment

It has not yet been established whether the spatial variation of particle number concentration (PNC) within a microscale environment can have an effect on exposure estimation results. In general, the degree of spatial variation within microscale environments remains unclear, since previous studies have only focused on spatial variation within macroscale environments. The aims of this study were to determine the spatial variation of PNC within microscale school environments, in order to assess the importance of the number of monitoring sites on exposure estimation. Furthermore, this paper aims to identify which parameters have the largest influence on spatial variation, as well as the relationship between those parameters and spatial variation. Air quality measurements were conducted for two consecutive weeks at each of the 25 schools across Brisbane, Australia. PNC was measured at three sites within the grounds of each school, along with the measurement of meteorological and several other air quality parameters. Traffic density was recorded for the busiest road adjacent to the school. Spatial variation at each school was quantified using coefficient of variation (CV). The portion of CV associated with instrument uncertainty was found to be 0.3 and therefore, CV was corrected so that only non-instrument uncertainty was analysed in the data. The median corrected CV (CVc) ranged from 0 to 0.35 across the schools, with 12 schools found to exhibit spatial variation. The study determined the number of required monitoring sites at schools with spatial variability and tested the deviation in exposure estimation arising from using only a single site. Nine schools required two measurement sites and three schools required three sites. Overall, the deviation in exposure estimation from using only one monitoring site was as much as one order of magnitude. The study also tested the association of spatial variation with wind speed/direction and traffic density, using partial correlation coefficients to identify sources of variation and non-parametric function estimation to quantify the level of variability. Traffic density and road to school wind direction were found to have a positive effect on CVc, and therefore, also on spatial variation. Wind speed was found to have a decreasing effect on spatial variation when it exceeded a threshold of 1.5 (m/s), while it had no effect below this threshold. Traffic density had a positive effect on spatial variation and its effect increased until it reached a density of 70 vehicles per five minutes, at which point its effect plateaued and did not increase further as a result of increasing traffic density.