Review : ABA techshow

The American Bar Association Technology show the largest tech show for the legal profession was held over three days and divided into ten sections - general, solo and small firms - strategies - collaboration/nets - Security - in-house and government lawyers - my favourite tools - litigation - enterprise - ethical challenges.

Business associations and the food processing industry in Australia : how neoliberalism has reinforced employer collectivism

In this paper I argue that factors such as conflicting pressures for food regulation reform and continuing industry assistance programs have made conditions even more favourable for collective business interest representation in Australia's food processing sector. The push by firms for less onerous and more business-friendly regulation has run up against environmental and social pressures/or more rigorous regulatory controls, as awareness grows ofthe risks ofnew technologies. The case of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) illustrates the issues. The extent to which this association participates directly in the design and implementation of public policy is indicative of a decline in the autonomy of politicians and the state bureaucracy vis-a-vis the ideology and interests of business.

Associations of physical activity with body weight and fat in men and women

OBJECTIVE: Increasing physical activity is strongly advocated as a key public health strategy for weight gain prevention. We investigated associations of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and occupational/domestic physical activity with body mass index (BMI) and a skinfold-derived index of body fat (sum of six skinfolds), among normal-weight and overweight men and women.

DESIGN: Analyses of cross-sectional self-report and measured anthropometric data.

SUBJECTS: A total of 1302 men and women, aged 18-78 y, who were part of a randomly selected sample and who agreed to participate in a physical health assessment.

MEASUREMENTS: Self-report measures of physical activity, measured height and weight, and a skinfold-derived index of body fatness.

RESULTS: Higher levels of LTPA were positively associated with the likelihood of being in the normal BMI and lower body fat range for women, but few or no associations were found for men. No associations were found between measures of occupational/domestic activity and BMI or body fat for men or women.

CONCLUSION: By using a skinfold sum as a more direct measure of adiposity, this study extends and confirms the previous research that has shown an association between BMI and LTPA. Our results suggest gender differences in the relationship of leisure-time physical activity with body fatness. These findings, in conjunction with a better understanding of the causes of such differences, will have important public health implications for the development and targeting of weight gain prevention strategies.

Some unusual applications of the `Error-bar` feature in Excel spreadsheets

This paper demonstrates how the "error-bar" feature can be used to extend the utility of "worldware" spreadsheet packages in producing high-quality graphs for university teaching and learning, and for research. To further utilize the advantages of spreadsheets in university education, this paper seeks to overcome some of the earlier reservations about the lack of scientific plotting capabilities of spreadsheet applications. Specific examples of educational material in the areas of enzyme kinetics, vibrational spectroscopy, vibronic spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry are discussed. It is argued that, where practical, university educators should use "worldware" packages to prepare teaching aids, since these would better prepare their students for future employment. The use of software features for purposes that were not envisioned by the programmers has additional educational benefits in fostering flexibility and innovation. Other graphing packages can also use the "error-bar" feature in a manner similar to that described here for Excel.

The salt wedge position in a bar-blocked estuary subject to pulsed inflows

A series of laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the response of a bar-blocked, saltwedge estuary to the imposition of both steady freshwater inflows and transient inflows that simulate storm events in the catchment area or the regular water releases from upstream reservoirs. The trapped salt water forms a wedge within the estuary, which migrates downstream under the influence of the freshwater inflow. The experiments show that the wedge migration occurs in two stages, namely (i) an initial phase characterized by intense shear-induced mixing at the nose of the wedge, followed by (ii) a relatively quiescent phase with significantly reduced mixing in which the wedge migrates more slowly downstream.

Provided that the transition time t_T between these two regimes satisfies t_T>g′h⁴L/q³α, as was the case for all our experiments and is likely to be the case for most estuaries, then the transition occurs at time t_T=1.2(gα³L⁶/g′³q²)^1/6, where g′=gΔρ/ρ0 is the reduced gravity, g the acceleration due to gravity, Δρ the density excess of the saline water over the density ρ₀ of the freshwater, q the river inflow rate per unit width, and L and α are the length and bottom slope of the estuary, respectively.

A simple model, based on conversion of the kinetic energy of the freshwater inflow into potential energy to mix the salt layer, was developed to predict the displacement xw over time t of the saltwedge nose from its initial position. For continuous inflows subject to t<t_T, the model predicts the saltwedge displacement as x_w/h=1.1 (t/τ)^1/3, where the normalizing length and time scales are h=(q²/g)^1/3 and τ=g′α²h4L/q³, respectively. For continuous inflows subject to t>tT, the model predicts the displacement as xw/h=0.45N1/6(t/τ)1/6/α, where N=q²/g′h²L is a non-dimensional number for the problem. This model shows very good agreement with the experiments. For repeated, pulsed discharges subject to t<t_T, the saltwedge displacement is given by (xw/h)3−(x0/h)(xw/h)2=1.3t/τ, where x₀ is the initial displacement following one discharge event but prior to the next event. For pulsed discharges subject to t>t_T, the displacement is given by (xw/h)⁶−(x0/h)(xw/h)⁵=0.008N(t/τ)/α⁶. This model shows very good agreement with the experiments for the initial discharge event but does systematically underestimate the wedge position for the subsequent pulses. However, the positional error is less than 15%.

Children's television viewing and objectively measured physical activity: associations with family circumstances

Background: The contribution of family circumstance to physical activity and television viewing has not been widely investigated in pre-adolescents, and available information is inconsistent. This study examines whether television viewing and objectively measured physical activity vary by different indicators of family circumstance.
Methods: Data from the 2001 Children's Leisure Activity Study and the 2002/3 Health, Eating and Play Study, involving Australian children in Grades Prep (mean age 6y) and 5–6 (mean age 11y), were combined. Children wore accelerometers for six consecutive 24 hour periods. Average min/day in low-intensity activity (1.0–1.9 METs) and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity (≥3 METs) were calculated. Parents reported children's television viewing and family circumstance. Linear regression analyses were conducted separately for young girls, young boys, older girls and older boys. Results: Complete data were available for 2458 children. Parental education and, to a lesser extent, employment level were inversely associated with television viewing. Children in single-parent families, those whose fathers were not in paid employment, and those without siblings tended to spend more time in low-intensity activity than their peers. Children with siblings spent more time in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity; associations were stronger for girls. Maternal education was positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity for younger children. Maternal employment was positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity for older children. Multivariable models did not demonstrate a cumulative explanatory effect.
Conclusion:  Individual measures of family circumstance were differentially associated with television, low-intensity activity and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity and associations were often not consistent across age-by-gender groups. Interventions may need to be tailored accordingly.

Lay people's views of school food policy options: associations with confidence, personal values and demographics

A random population survey administered by mail to examine lay people's views of children's food policies and their associations with demographics, personal values and confidence in authorities was conducted among adults in Victoria, Australia. Three hundred and seventy-seven people responded (response rate 57.6%). The questionnaire contained 35 items about children's healthy eating policy options plus details like personal values, confidence and demographic items. There was widespread support for healthy school food policies. The strongest support was for life skills education and school-based nutrition and physical education programmes. Many age-related associations indicated that people >48 years were more in favour of healthy eating policies than younger people. There were fewer statistically significant associations with parent status and sex. In contrast, many associations showed that respondents with strong equity–harmony values and those with least confidence in the authorities were most in favour of healthy eating policies for schoolchildren. It is concluded that there is widespread support for school-based health and nutrition education and for active school food policies. However, differences between demographic and values groups suggest the need for caution in the promotion of public health nutrition initiatives among schoolchildren.

Discovering associations with numeric variables

This paper further develops Aumann and Lindell's [3] proposal for a variant of association rules for which the consequent is a numeric variable. It is argued that these rules can discover useful interactions with numeric data that cannot be discovered directly using traditional association rules with discretization. Alternative measures for identifying interesting rules are proposed. Efficient algorithms are presented that enable these rules to be discovered for dense data sets for which application of Auman and Lindell's algorithm is infeasible.

Associations between student pursuit of novel mathematical ideas and resilience

As part of a broader study of characteristics of situations that promote or inhibit spontaneous student exploration of novel mathematical ideas, student inclination to display these spontaneous behaviours was studied in conjunction with resilience. Resilience was operationalised using the dimensions of optimism (Seligman, 1995). Indicators of optimism were identified in post-lesson video-stimulated reconstructive interviews with year eight students. Students who demonstrated the pursuit of novel mathematical ideas were found to also display indicators of resilience.

Revisiting associations between student performance outcomes and formative assessment opportunities: is there any impact on student learning?

This project developed as a result of some inconclusive data from an investigation of whether a relationship existed between the use of formative assessment opportunities and performance, as measured by final grade. We were expecting to show our colleagues and students that use of formative assessment resources had the potential to improve performance. This first study, done in semester 1 2002, indicated that there was no apparent relationship even though the students reported how useful they found the resources. This led us to ask if there was a transition effect
such that students were not yet working in an independent way and making full use of the resources, and/or whether in order to see an effect we needed to persuade non-users of the resources to become users before investigating if use can be correlated with improvement in performance. With the 2002-3 NextEd ASCILITE Research Grant we set out to repeat our project and to look at use and usefulness of resources in both first and second semester, to encourage non-users to become users and to investigate use with performance. Now our story has a different ending.

Numerical investigation of austenite grain size distribution in square-diamond pass hot bar rolling

In this study, the austenite grain size (AGS) for hot bar rolling of AISI4135 steel was predicted based on two different AGS evolution models available in the literature. In order to predict the AGS more accurately, both models were integrated with a three-dimensional non-isothermal finite element program by implementing a modified additivity rule. The predicted results based on two models for the square-diamond (S-D) and round-oval (R-O) pass bar rolling processes were compared with the experimental data available in the literature. Then, numerical predictions depending on various process parameters such as interpass time, temperature, and roll speed were made to compare both models and investigate the effect of these parameters on the AGS distributions. Such numerical results were found to be beneficial to understand the effect of the microstructure evolution model on the rolling processes better and control the processes more accurately.

Associations between family circumstance and weight status of Australian children

To examine associations between weight status and multiple indicators of family circumstance in Australian elementary school children. Data were combined from the 2001 Children's Leisure Activities Study (CLAS Study) and 2002/3 Health, Eating and Play Study (HEAP Study), involving 2520 children in Grades Prep (mean age 6 years) and 5-6 (mean age 11 years) in Melbourne, Australia. Children's body mass index (BMI) was calculated from measured height and weight. Weight status (non-overweight or overweight) was determined according to International Obesity Taskforce cut-off points and BMI was transformed to z-scores based on the 2000 US growth chart data. Parents reported family circumstance (number of parents in the home, marital status, presence of siblings, parental education, parental employment status, parental work hours [HEAP Study only]) and parental BMI. Regression analyses were conducted for the sample overall and separately for young girls, young boys, older girls and older boys. Children in single-parent homes, those without siblings, and those with less educated mothers and fathers tended to have higher z-BMIs (p=0.002, p=0.003, p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) and were more likely to be overweight (p=0.003, p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.02, respectively). Associations were stronger for older children. Parental employment and work hours were not consistently associated with child weight status. The multivariable models did not demonstrate a cumulative explanatory effect (R2=0.02), except when maternal BMI was included (R2=0.07). Individual measures of family circumstance were differentially associated with child weight status and appeared to be largely independent of other measures of family circumstance. Childhood overweight interventions may need to be tailored based on the age, gender, maternal BMI and family circumstances of the target group.

Associations of children's perceived neighborhood environments with walking and physical activity

Purpose. To examine associations between children's perceptions of the neighborhood environment and walking and physical activity.
Design. Cross-sectional study of a school-based sample.
Setting. Elementary schools in Melbourne, Australia.
Subjects. 280 children aged 10 years (response rate 78%).
Measures. A self-report survey assessed children's perceptions of the neighborhood physical and social environments and their weekly walking frequency. Physical activity was also objectively measured using accelerometers.
Results. Multiple linear regression analyses showed a positive association between walking frequency and the number of accessible destinations in the neighborhood among boys; having a neighborhood that was easy to walk/cycle around and perceiving lots of graffiti were positively associated with walking frequency among girls. Perceiving lots of litter and rubbish was positively associated with boys' overall physical activity, but no environmental variables were associated with girls' overall physical activity.
Conclusion. Several different environmental factors were associated with walking and physical activity. Perceptions of the neighborhood environment were more strongly associated with girls' walking than with objectively-measured physical activity. Future studies should confirm these findings using objective measures and prospective study designs.

Associations among individual, social, and environmental barriers and children's walking or cycling to school

Purpose. To examine associations among individual, social, and environmental barriers and children's walking or cycling to school.

Design. Exploratory cross-sectional study.

Setting. All eight capital cities in Australia.

Subjects. Parents (N = 720) of school-aged children (4-13 years; 27% response rate 49% parents of boys,).

Measures. Multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for parental reporting of barriers to their children's walking or cycling to school, based on a computer-assisted telephone interview.

Results. Forty-one percent of children walked or cycled to school at least once per week. Multivariable analyses found inverse associations with individual ("child prefers to be driven" [OR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.3-0.6], "no time in the mornings" [OR 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.8]); social ("worry child will take risk" [OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.3-0.9], "no other children to walk with" [OR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.4-0.99], "no adults to walk with" [OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4-0.9]); and environmental barriers ("too far to walk" [OR = 0.1, 95% CI = 0.0- 0.1], "no direct route" [OR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2-0. 7]) and positive associations with "concern child may he injured in a road accident" (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.1-3.1) and active commuting.

Conclusion. Working with parents, schools, and local authorities to improve pedestrian, skills and environments may help to overcome barriers.

Associations between the home food environment and obesity-promoting eating behaviors in adolescence

Objective: This study examines relationships between multiple aspects of the home food environment and obesity-promoting characteristics of 12- to 13-year-old adolescents' diets, specifically frequency of consumption of high-energy fluids, sweet snacks, savory snacks, and take-out foods.

Research Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including 347 adolescents 12 to 13 years of age and their parents. Data were collected via self-completed surveys. The adolescents' diets were assessed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire derived from existing age-appropriate National Nutrition Survey data. An extensive range of domains within the home food environment were assessed. Bivariate linear regression analyses were run split by gender. Forced entry multiple linear regression analyses (adjusting for all variables significant in bivariate analyses as well as for maternal education) were also performed, stratified by the sex of the child.

Results: The influence of mothers, either as models for eating behaviors or as the providers of food, was pervasive. Mothers' intake of high-energy fluids (p = 0.003), sweet snacks (p = 0.010), savory snacks (p = 0.008), and take-out food (p = 0.007) was positively associated with boys' intake of all these foods. In addition, mothers' intake of high-energy fluids was positively associated with daughters' consumption of these drinks (p = 0.025). Furthermore, availability of unhealthy foods at home was positively associated with girls' sweet snack (p = 0.001), girls' savory snack (p < 0.001), boys' savory snack (p = 0.002), and, in the bivariate analyses, girls' high-energy fluid consumption (p = 0.002).

Discussion: This study of home food environment influences on adolescent diet highlights the pervasive influence of mothers in determining adolescents' obesity-promoting eating, providing direction for obesity prevention strategies and future research.