Income support best way of fixing equity : Go8

The Go8 has broken ranks with other university groups in suggesting that base funding shouldn’t have an equity component.

A new way to nanostructure hydrogels : electrospun thermo-responsive islands-in-the-sea nanofibres

Islands-in-the-sea nanofibres are a very interesting system: one polymer (islands) is distributed in fibrillar domains within a second polymer (sea). This fibre geometry is often used in microfiber technologies to obtain very fine fibers, by removing the “sea” polymer. This geometry also allows to combine two polymers with very different properties. In this work this geometry is introduced applied to electrospun hydrogel nanofibers, in a novel fashion, and as a way to improve and stabilize the hydrogel nanofibers. Thermo-responsive islands-in-the-sea nanofibers are here produced by electrospinning solutions of a hydrogel-forming thermo-responsive polymer (crosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), PNIPAM) and a reinforcing polymer (polyetherketone cardo, PEK-c). The two polymers are thermodynamically incompatible in solution and phase separation takes place, which allows the instant formation of islands-in-the-sea nanofibers upon electrospinning. PNIPAM was then crosslinked post-spinning using an oligomeric silsesquioxane. The formed nanocomposite nanofibers showed intrinsic nanostructure, where the fibril-like PNIPAM domains are intimately adjacent to the strong PEK-c domains. Upon contacting with water, the hydrogel domains became instantly highly swollen, while the PEK-c domains did not. As a result, very wrinkly, swollen fibers were obtained, with increased capillary action, as demonstrated through confocal microscopy. The composite nanofibers in water showed excellent swelling ratios and very fast responses to temperature variations (of the order of 1 second) with morphological and optical effects: variations in fiber-diameter were accompanied by optical transitions: transparent-opaque. The produced hydrogel nanofibers also presented improved mechanical properties (even with small amounts of PEK-c), when compared to their crosslinked-PNIPAM-only nanofibers. It will be also shown how these materials can be used as optical actuators and smart hydrogel platforms with tuneable contact angle and morphology. In brief, this work aims to demonstrate a new platform technology which can be applied to several hydrogel systems, to achieve hydrogel-based composites with new and improved properties, while retaining (and improving) the main properties of the hydrogel. Here this was demonstrated by showing that the composite materials showed thermo-responsiveness, and enhanced transition kinetics.

A framework for considering cross-cultural exchanges as a way to develop reasoning about environmental socio-scientific issues

This study analyses the evolution of socioscientific reasoning on sustainability, of French and Australian tertiary students exchanging ideas on a digital platform, concerning local (Australian, French) environmental SSIs, and global environmental SSIs. We explore how the exchange of arguments from various disciplinary and cultural perspectives, can promote reasoning about complex problem-situations in the environment. We develop a framework of reasoning, and show how it enables a productive analysis of the nature of the exchanges, and the quality of reasoning. We argue that such a strategy may improve epistemological training on the nature of science, and citizenship.

Relationship-based procurement methods for public infrastructure – the way forward

Public infrastructure is crucial to promote and sustain a sustainable economic growth and a health community. A large amount of capital investment is generally required in infrastructure projects that motivate the involvement of the private sector in the delivery process. Various relationship-based procurement methods have been attempted to maximize value-for-money. In this paper, the problems and challenges that relationship-based procurement methods have been facing are explored. A particular focus is placed on the challenges for the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Possible strategies for adapting the PPP models in the post-Global Financial Crisis era are proposed and discussed. In addition, the challenges facing alliancing, which is one of the other important relationship-based procurement methods, are also examined. Views on infrastructure procurement in the future were sought from industry professionals via interviews and are reported in this paper as well.

Capacity building : just rhetoric, or a way forward in addressing health inequality?

Issue addressed: It is time to move beyond defining the problem of health inequality to taking action. The response required is complex and calls for system wide action. It is in this context that a discussion of increasing the capacity of the health system to respond to health inequality is both timely and essential. Methods: This paper looks at a capacity building framework that has been developed by the New South Wales Health Department and provides an example of a number of projects that have applied capacity building strategies. Conclusion: Addressing health inequality presents a significant challenge to health promotion practitioners. Emerging capacity building theory provides direction for strategies to build the capacity of a health system to address equity. It proposes a set of practical actions using the five focus areas of organisational development, workforce development, resource allocation, partnerships and leadership. So what?: A capacity building approach by itself will not provide the mandate and framework for the action that needs to be taken to address health inequality, but it helps to ensure that once potential solutions are identified the health system has the capacity to respond.

Constructing a t-way interaction test suite using the Particle Swarm Optimization approach

This paper presents the design and implementation of a new t-way test generation strategy, known as the Particle Swarm Test Generator (PSTG). Complementing the existing work on t-way testing strategies, PSTG serves as our research vehicle to investigate the applicability of Particle Swarm Optimization for t-way test data generation. The experimental results demonstrate that PSTG is capable of outperforming some of the existing strategies as far as the test size is concerned. Additionally, the evaluation also indicates the effectiveness of PSTG in generating an efficient test suite for testing consideration.

It is what you do, and the way that you do it : working smarter, not harder for best practice.

By integrating some of the required tasks, assessment, planning, appraisal and self review, teachers can use one set of documentation for a number of tasks. What this can do is highlight common threads and inform teachers about ways to improve practice and create improved outcomes for children, families - and teachers.