Sustaining a healthy workforce

The changing demographics of the mining workforce and the increasing demand for skilled workers increases the importance of sustaining a healthy workforce now and for the future. Although health is strongly related to safety, the two areas are not well integrated and the relationship is poorly understood. As such there is an important need to raise the profile of health within the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) domain. The mining industry carries health and safety risks, often greater than other occupations. Whilst the mining industry is regulated by stringent OH&S controls, the very nature of the work and environmental influences expose employees to a greater number of injury risk factors than many other industries. In contrast to its excellent safety record, compared to most other industries, the mining workforce has a high proportion of chronic health problems. These problems can be exacerbated by the ageing of the workforce, regional location of sites and organisational issues influencing work demands. A major focus has been on the treatment of these conditions with relatively limited attention to prevention strategies. An important prevention strategy is the raising of awareness among the workforce of health issues and the significant increase in the volume of health related information has provided an excellent opportunity to access relevant information. Unfortunately, this information is of varying quality, may not be evidence based, and may provide the wrong guidance to the development of interventions designed to improve health. Limited time of most employees and potential lack of knowledge of ability to differentiate quality information presents additional problems or barriers to increasing awareness of health issues...

Informed for healthy ageing : exploring how ageing Australians experience health information use

Exploring information use within everyday or community contexts is a recent area of interest for information literacy research endeavours. Within this domain, health information literacy (HIL) has emerged as a focus of interest due to identified synergies between information use and health status. However, while HIL has been acknowledged as a core ingredient that can assist people to take responsibility for managing and improving their own health, limited research has explored how HIL is experienced in everyday community life. This article will present the findings of ongoing research undertaken using phenomenography to explore how HIL is experienced among older Australians within everyday contexts. It will also discuss how these findings may be used to inform policy formulation in health communication and as an evidence base for the design and delivery of consumer health information resources and services.

Effects of cold water immersion on knee joint position sense in healthy volunteers

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of cryotherapy, in the form of cold water immersion, on knee joint position sense. Fourteen healthy volunteers, with no previous knee injury or pre-existing clinical condition, participated in this randomized cross-over trial. The intervention consisted of a 30-min immersion, to the level of the umbilicus, in either cold (14 ± 1°C) or tepid water(28 ± 1°C). Approximately one week later, in a randomized fashion, the volunteers completed the remaining immersion. Active ipsilateral limb repositioning sense of the right knee was measured, using weight-bearing and non-weight bearing assessments, employing video-recorded 3D motion analysis. These assessments were conducted immediately before and after a cold and tepid water immersion. No significant differences were found between treatments for the absolute (P = 0.29), relative (P = 0.21) or variable error (P = 0.86). The average effect size of the outcome measures was modest (range –0.49 to 0.9) and all the associated 95% confidence intervals for these effect sizes crossed zero. These results indicate that there is no evidence of an enhanced risk of injury, following a return to sporting activity, after cold water.

Cryotherapy and joint position sense in healthy participants: a systematic review

Objective: To (1) search the English-language literature for original research addressing the effect of cryotherapy on joint position sense (JPS) and (2) make recommendations regarding how soon healthy athletes can safely return to participation after cryotherapy. Data Sources: We performed an exhaustive search for original research using the AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and SportDiscus databases from 1973 to 2009 to gather information on cryotherapy and JPS. Key words used were cryotherapy and proprioception, cryotherapy and joint position sense, cryotherapy, and proprioception. Study Selection: The inclusion criteria were (1) the literature was written in English, (2) participants were human, (3) an outcome measure included JPS, (4) participants were healthy, and (5) participants were tested immediately after a cryotherapy application to a joint. Data Extraction: The means and SDs of the JPS outcome measures were extracted and used to estimate the effect size (Cohen d) and associated 95% confidence intervals for comparisons of JPS before and after a cryotherapy treatment. The numbers, ages, and sexes of participants in all 7 selected studies were also extracted. Data Synthesis: The JPS was assessed in 3 joints: ankle (n 5 2), knee (n 5 3), and shoulder (n 5 2). The average effect size for the 7 included studies was modest, with effect sizes ranging from 20.08 to 1.17, with a positive number representing an increase in JPS error. The average methodologic score of the included studies was 5.4/10 (range, 5–6) on the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. Conclusions: Limited and equivocal evidence is available to address the effect of cryotherapy on proprioception in the form of JPS. Until further evidence is provided, clinicians should be cautious when returning individuals to tasks requiring components of proprioceptive input immediately after a cryotherapy treatment.

Cinematic and televisual cities

This article introduces the nine articles that comprise the 'Cities' issue of Studies in Australasian Cities. Established and emerging scholars explore cities in Australian and New Zealand film and television. Articles cover aspects of media production, reception and exhibition in particular cities, studies of various city characters and spaces, and analyses of the relationship between representations of a city on-screen and the 'real' city.

The concept of smart cities

Rapid urbanization has resulted in migration of people in urban areas and spatial expansion of urban infrastructures, consequently causing many undesirable malaises and challenges. Concerned with the uncontrolled growth of cities and the associated malaises, there have been numerous initiatives to promote a more rational development of cities. The idea of making cities smart is one of the most promising initiatives which have been a subject of research and development in modern cities. Despite the many activities and initiatives to promote smartness in cities, there is little agreement on what constitute smartness in a city. This inevitably leads to a diversified ways of defining smart cities. By reviewing the existing definitions of smart cities, this paper proposes a framework to define and measure a city’s smartness in a more correct manner.

Building prosperous knowledge cities : policies, plans and metrics

This unique book reveals the procedural aspects of knowledge-based urban planning, development and assessment. Concentrating on major knowledge city building processes, and providing state-of-the-art experiences and perspectives, this important compendium explores innovative models, approaches and lessons learnt from a number of key case studies across the world. Many cities worldwide, in order to brand themselves as knowledge cities, have undergone major transformations in the 21st century. This book provides a thorough understanding of these transformations and the key issues in building prosperous knowledge cities by focusing particularly on the policy-making, planning process and performance assessment aspects. The contributors reveal theoretical and conceptual foundations of knowledge cities and their development approach of knowledge-based urban development. They present best-practice examples from a number of key case studies across the globe. This important book provides readers with a thorough understanding of the key issues in planning and developing prosperous knowledge cities of the knowledge economy era, which will prove invaluable to national, state/regional and city governments’ planning and development departments. Academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students of regional and urban studies will also find this path-breaking book an intriguing read.

Prevalence and risk factors of childhood allergic diseases in eight metropolitan cities in China: A multicenter study

Background Several studies conducted during the past two decades suggested increasing trend of childhood allergic diseases in China. However, few studies have provided detailed description of geographic variation and explored risk factors of these diseases. This study investigated the pattern and risk factors of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in eight metropolitan cities in China. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey during November-December 2005 in eight metropolitan cities in China. A total of 23791 children aged 6-13 years participated in this survey. Questions from the standard questionnaire of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) were used to examine the pattern of current asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the risk factors for childhood allergies. Results The average prevalence of childhood asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema across the eight cities was 3∙3% (95% Confidence interval (CI): 3∙1%, 3∙6%), 9∙8% (95% CI: 9∙4%, 10∙2%) and 5∙5% (95% CI: 5∙2%, 5∙8%), respectively. Factors related to lifestyle, mental health and socio-economic status were found to be associated with the prevalence of childhood allergies. These risk factors were unevenly distributed across cities and disproportionately affected the local prevalence. Conclusions There was apparent geographic variation of childhood allergies in China. Socio-environmental factors had strong impacts on the prevalence of childhood allergies; but these impacts differed across regions. Thus public health policies should specifically target at the local risk factors for each individual area.

Vertical vegetation design decisions and their impact on energy consumption in subtropical cities

Vertical vegetation is vegetation growing on, or adjacent to, the unused sunlit exterior surfaces of buildings in cities. Vertical vegetation can improve the energy efficiency of the building on which it is installed mainly by insulating, shading and transpiring moisture from foliage and substrate. Several design parameters may affect the extent of the vertical vegetation's improvement of energy performance. Examples are choice of vegetation, growing medium geometry, north/south aspect and others. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively map out the contribution of several parameters to energy savings in a subtropical setting. The method is thermal simulation based on EnergyPlus configured to reflect the special characteristics of vertical vegetation. Thermal simulation results show that yearly cooling energy savings can reach 25% with realistic design choices in subtropical environments. Heating energy savings are negligible. The most important parameter is the aspect of walls covered by vegetation. Vertical vegetation covering walls facing north (south for the northern hemisphere) will result in the highest energy savings. In making plant selections, the most significant parameter is Leaf Area Index (LAI). Plants with larger LAI, preferably LAI>4, contribute to greater savings whereas vertical vegetation with LAI<2 can actually consume energy. The choice of growing media and its thickness influence both heating and cooling energy consumption. Change of growing medium thickness from 6cm to 8cm causes dramatic increase in energy savings from 2% to 18%. For cooling, it is best to use a growing material with high water retention, due to the importance of evapotranspiration for cooling. Similarly, for increased savings in cooling energy, sufficient irrigation is required. Insufficient irrigation results in the vertical vegetation requiring more energy to cool the building. To conclude, the choice of design parameters for vertical vegetation is crucial in making sure that it contributes to energy savings rather than energy consumption. Optimal design decisions can create a dramatic sustainability enhancement for the built environment in subtropical climates.