Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering Design Theme Conference 2008 Conference Proceedings

Proceedings of the Design Theme Postgraduate Student Conference, held 10th September 2008 at Queensland University of Technology.

Productivity, Technical and Efficiency Change in Singapore’s Services Sector, 2005 to 2008

The current study was motivated by statements made by the Economic Strategies Committee that Singapore’s recent productivity levels in services were well below countries such as the US, Japan and Hong Kong. Massive employment of foreign workers was cited as the reason for poor productivity levels. To shed more light on Singapore’s falling productivity, a nonparametric Malmquist productivity index was employed which provides measures of productivity change, technical change and efficiency change. The findings reveal that growth in total factor productivity was attributed to technical change with no improvement in efficiency change. Such results suggest that gains from TFP were input-driven rather than from a ‘best-practice’ approach such as improvements in operations or better resource allocation.

Distribution trade sector output and productivity performance : a case study of Singapore and Hong Kong 2001-2008

This paper employs the industry of origin approach to compare value added and productivity of Singapore and Hong Kong's Distribution Trade Sector for the period 2001-2008. The direct comparison between these two economies was motivated by the statements of the Singapore government: Its services sector, especially in Retail Trade, lags behind Hong Kong's productivity levels. The results show that since 2005, Singapore's Distribution performance in terms of labour productivity was below Hong Kong's level, which was largely due to poor performance in its Retail Trade sector arising from an influx of foreign workers. Results from total factor productivity (TFP) between these two economies also suggest that Hong Kong's better performance (since 2005) was largely due to its ability to employ more educated and trained workers with limited use of capital. The results suggest that polices that worked in Hong Kong may not work for Singapore because its population is more diverse which poses a challenge to policy-makers in raising its productivity level.

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.

Overview of INEX 2008 Link the Wiki Track

The Link the Wiki track at INEX 2008 offered two tasks, file-to-file link discovery and anchor-to-BEP link discovery. In the former 6600 topics were used and in the latter 50 were used. Manual assessment of the anchor-to-BEP runs was performed using a tool developed for the purpose. Runs were evaluated using standard precision & recall measures such as MAP and precision / recall graphs. 10 groups participated and the approaches they took are discussed. Final evaluation results for all runs are presented.

Book review: Ford, R.C., & Peeper, W.C. 2008. Managing Destination Marketing Organizations. Orlando: ForPer Publications

This volume represents the proceedings of the 13th ENTER conference, held at Lausanne, Switzerland during 2006. The conference brought together academics and practitioners across four tracks, which were eSolutions, refereed research papers, work-in-progress papers, and a Ph.D. workshop. This proceedings contains 40 refereed papers, which is less than the 51 papers presented in 2005. However, the editors advise that the scientific committee was stricter than in previous years, to the extent that the acceptance rate was 50%. A significant change in the current proceedings is the inclusion of extended abstracts of the 23 work-in-progress presentations. The papers cover a diverse range of topics across 16 research streams. This reviewer has adopted the approach of succinctly summarising the contribution of each of the 40-refereed papers, in the order in which they appear...

Productivity, technical and efficiency change in Singapore’s services sector, 2005 to 2008

The current study was motivated by statements made by the Economic Strategies Committee that Singapore’s recent productivity levels in services were well below countries such as the US, Japan and Hong Kong. Massive employment of foreign workers was cited as the reason for poor productivity levels. To shed more light on Singapore’s falling productivity, a nonparametric Malmquist productivity index was employed which provides measures of productivity change, technical change and efficiency change. The findings reveal that growth in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) was attributed to technical change with no improvement in efficiency change. Such results suggest that gains from TFP were input-driven rather than from a ‘best-practice’ approach such as improvements in operations or better resource allocation.

Reviewing the impact of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis (GFC) on international property markets and property professions

The global financial crisis that impacted on all world economies throughout 2008 and 2009. This impact has not been confined to the finance industries but has had a direct and indirect impact on the property industry worldwide from both an ownership and investment perspective. Property markets have experienced various levels of impact from this event, but universally the greatest impact has been on the traditional commercial and industrial property sectors from the investor perspective, with investment and superannuation funds reporting significant declines in the reported value of these investments. Despite the very direct impact of these declining property markets, the GFC has also had a very significant indirect impact on the various property professions and how these professions are now operating in this declining property market. Of particular interest is the comparison of the property market forecasts in late 2007 to the actual results in 2008/2009.

Principles of taxation law 2008

Covers the fundamental principles of the Australian tax system, providing students with guidance on reading and using tax resources such as legislation, case law and Australian Taxation Office rulings -- Back cover.

Seasonal variation in cardiovascular disease risk factors in a subarctic population : the Tromso Study 1979-2008

Background Seasonal changes in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors may be due to exposure to seasonal environmental variables like temperature and acute infections or seasonal behavioural patterns in physical activity and diet. Investigating the seasonal pattern of risk factors should help determine the causes of the seasonal pattern in CVD. Few studies have investigated the seasonal variation in risk factors using repeated measurements from the same individual, which is important as individual and population seasonal patterns may differ. Methods The authors investigated the seasonal pattern in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, C reactive protein and fibrinogen. Measurements came from 38 037 participants in the population-based cohort, the Tromsø Study, examined up to eight times from 1979 to 2008. Individual and population seasonal patterns were estimated using a cosinor in a mixed model. Results All risk factors had a highly statistically significant seasonal pattern with a peak time in winter, except for triglycerides (peak in autumn), C reactive protein and fibrinogen (peak in spring). The sizes of the seasonal variations were clinically modest. Conclusions Although the authors found highly statistically significant individual seasonal patterns for all risk factors, the sizes of the changes were modest, probably because this subarctic population is well adapted to a harsh climate. Better protection against seasonal risk factors like cold weather could help reduce the winter excess in CVD observed in milder climates.

Acuity and severity of patients attending 28 Queensland hospitals emergency departments in 2008-09

Overcrowding of hospital Emergency Departments (EDs) in Australia is a complex issue of high public and professional prominence, resulted from a combination of increasing demands, increased complexity of care and Access Block. The aim of this study is to describe the distribution of the acuity and severity of current Queensland ED patients to better understand ED users...

History behind the egg: Women's comprehensive histories and IVF outcomes, Australia, 2008-2009 [abstract]

The individual history of infertile women, as well as their age, may influence their response to in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles. This study examined the associations between women’s histories and two IVF outcomes: eggs aspirated (EA) and proportion with normal, two-pronuclei (2PN), fertilisation. This is a cross-sectional survey of infertile women (n=141, 27-46 years) from a multi-centre clinical sample. Participants completed a survey of socio-demographic, relationship, lifestyle, reproductive and fertility factors, medical conditions and recurrent symptoms. Among participants with heterosexual partners (n=122), associations between women’s histories and EA or 2PN fertilisation were analysed using linear and logistic modelling, respectively, adjusted for age at EA and accounting for multiple IVF cycles (n=313 cycles). Participants aged 35+ years had reproductive histories of miscarriage only (16.9%), termination only (9.9%) or birth+termination (5.6%) that were 2-, 3- and 4-fold higher, respectively, than those aged <35 years (7.1%, 2.9%, 1.4%). More years of oral contraceptive use were associated with a lower mean EA: never used, 14.6 EA; 0-2 years, 11.7 EA; 3-5 years, 8.6 EA; 6þ years, 8.2 EA (p=.04). Participants with polycystic ovary syndrome had a higher mean EA (11.5) than those without the condition (8.3 EA, p<.01). Participants in trade or service occupations had lower proportions of 2PN fertilisation (51.7%) than participants in other occupations (professional, 58.6%; manual/other, 63.6%, p<.02). Increasing women’s age and prolonged used of oral contraceptives were associated with lower EA from IVF cycles; PCOS was associated with higher EA. Occupational exposures may have a detrimental effect on normal fertilisation rates.

Report on the AIDS Vaccine 2008 Conference

The "AIDS Vaccine 2008" Conference was held in Cape Town, South Africa (October 13 to 16, 2008) and organized, under the aegis of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, by Dr. Lynn Morris (Chair of the Conference) National Institute of Communicable Diseases; Dr. Koleka Mlisana from CAPRISA, University KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, Dr. Glenda Gray from Perinatal HIV Research Unit, University Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and Dr. Carolyn Williamson from Institute of Infectious Diseses. and Molecular Medicine, UCT, Cape Town (Co-Chairs of the Conference). Since the first AIDS Vaccine conference, organized in Paris in 2000, this was the first time it was held outside of the U.S. and Europe, and involved nearly 1,000 participants. Besides three Plenary Sessions with ten state-of-the-art plenary lectures and one Keynote Lecture given by Dr. A.S. Fauci (Director of NIAID, NIH, USA), the Conference was organized in nine oral sessions, four poster discussion groups covering a wide spectrum of scientific information relating to HIV vaccine research and development. Moreover three Symposia, two Special Sessions, one Roundtable as well as two Debates were held, the latter focusing on current controversial topics. The conference opening was memorable for a number of reasons: among these was the presence of South Africa's new Minister of Health, Barbara Hogan who, in her first speech in a major forum as a senior member of the SA Government, affirmed that HIV causes AIDS, and that the search for a vaccine is of paramount importance to SA and the rest of the world. A scientific summary of the Conference is reported in the present article, divided into four major topics: (1) vaccine concepts and design; (2) T-cell immunology and innate immunity; (3) B-cell immunology, neutralizing antibodies and mucosal immunology; and (4) clinical trials. © 2009 Landes Bioscience.

Juveniles in detention in Australia, 1981-2008

The Australian Institute of Criminology’s (AIC’s) national Juveniles in Detention Monitoring Program was established to contribute to the evidence base on juvenile detention in Australia, with a particular focus on Indigenous juveniles. Findings date back to 1981 and have been reported annually. This report provides an overview of the numbers and rates of juveniles in detention in Australia since 1981 and juveniles in detention for the financial year 2007–08. As with the AIC’s previous report on juveniles in detention (Taylor 2009), it also provides contextual information on young people sentenced in the children’s courts. The collation of data for these reports is supported by statutory juvenile justice agencies in each of Australia’s jurisdictions, as well as the NSW Department of Corrective Services. As described in more detail in this report, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) administers the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set and also reports annually on juveniles in detention. Given this development, the AIC is conducting a review of the Juveniles in Detention Monitoring Report in 2010–11, to ensure that AIC’s research and monitoring does not duplicate the AIHW’s work and that it makes a useful contribution to the field and enables more in-depth analysis of key issues.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 : restrictions on the creation of “saviour siblings” and the relevance of the harm principle

This paper provides an overview of the regulatory developments in the UK which impact on the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo screening techniques for the creation of “saviour siblings.” Prior to the changes implemented under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, this specific use of IVF was not addressed by the legislative framework and regulated only by way of policy issued by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Following the implementation of the statutory reforms, a number of restrictive conditions are now imposed on the face of the legislation. This paper considers whether there is any justification for restricting access to IVF and pre-implantation tissue typing for the creation of “saviour siblings.” The analysis is undertaken by examining the normative factors that have guided the development of the UK regulatory approach prior to the 2008 legislative reforms. The approach adopted in relation to the “saviour sibling” issue is compared to more general HFEA policy, which has prioritized the notion of reproductive choice and determined that restrictions on access are only justified on the basis of harm considerations.