Global story-telling in a socially-networked world

Journalists work in an intensively time-pressured environment, researching and writing to daily, often 24 hour, deadlines and always aware of the competition with other news outlets to be first with the news. This results, as Karen Sanders has observed, in journalists having very little time for reflection. “If they do reflect, it’s usually after a decision has been made” (Sanders 2003, 168). Yet time for reflection upon professional practice is important, especially in an era of extremely rapid and seismic technological change in the global media. This paper will reflect upon how freelance journalists can use advances in social media and web-based connectedness to tell global stories via mainstream media outlets. In exploring this question, I will examine the techniques and communications technologies used by three reporters working in the UK and Australia to find, investigate and break a series of articles, published simultaneously on the front pages of The Australian and The Times (London) newspapers, was a result of a six month investigation. The series exposed a 50-year cover-up of the serial abuse of children by one of the Church of England's most senior clergy, Robert Waddington, in Australia and the UK. It unearthed the existence of a culture of physical and sexual abuse at St Barnabas boarding school in Queensland, the sudden closure of the school and disappearance of student files - as well as Waddington's subsequent offences against children while Dean of Manchester Cathedral. We produced more than 20 articles. The coverage sparked church-ordered investigations in both countries, and also prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury to order a commission of inquiry – headed by a sitting UK judge - as well as a nationwide child safety audit of dioceses in Britain. In Australia, the church referred the case and handed its files to the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse. The coverage marked the first publishing collaboration between The Australian and The Times to break an exclusive story in Australia and Britain simultaneously, on May 10, 2013.

One tune, three dances : using a traumatic stress framework to understand trauma survivors as networked news sources

Newman and Nelson (2012) describe three ‘dances’ to explain the vacillating psychological states of trauma survivors: the dance of approach and avoidance; the dance of fragmentation and integration; and the dance of resilience and vulnerability. The first pair of seemingly opposite responses describes how survivors at times cope by ‘approaching’ the trauma, for example by gathering information about what happened; whilst at other times, the same person will cope by ‘avoiding’ the trauma by engaging in activities which distract them from the memory of the trauma or having to deal with the consequences of it. The ‘dance’ of fragmentation and integration describes the opposing individual or group experiences encountered after traumas or disasters. Individuals may experience fragmentation, or emotional disconnection, from the trauma as an adaptive means of survival. The ‘dance’ of resilience and vulnerability refers to an individual’s ability to ‘process’ trauma and return to a resilient state in which they re-learn to trust people and the world around them and ‘bounce back’ to a state of being resilient again. This paper will illustrate how an understanding of the three dances can be used to enable survivors of child sexual assault to engage with the media to tell their stories. I will give current examples from six months of journalism research, collaboration and writing of a series of news stories and features which broke an exclusive story simultaneously in The Australian and The Times in London during 2013.

Terrorism risk, resilience and volatility : a comparison of terrorism patterns in three Southeast Asian countries

Objective This article explores patterns of terrorist activity over the period from 2000 through 2010 across three target countries: Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Methods We use self-exciting point process models to create interpretable and replicable metrics for three key terrorism concepts: risk, resilience and volatility, as defined in the context of terrorist activity. Results Analysis of the data shows significant and important differences in the risk, volatility and resilience metrics over time across the three countries. For the three countries analysed, we show that risk varied on a scale from 0.005 to 1.61 “expected terrorist attacks per day”, volatility ranged from 0.820 to 0.994 “additional attacks caused by each attack”, and resilience, as measured by the number of days until risk subsides to a pre-attack level, ranged from 19 to 39 days. We find that of the three countries, Indonesia had the lowest average risk and volatility, and the highest level of resilience, indicative of the relatively sporadic nature of terrorist activity in Indonesia. The high terrorism risk and low resilience in the Philippines was a function of the more intense, less clustered pattern of terrorism than what was evident in Indonesia. Conclusions Mathematical models hold great promise for creating replicable, reliable and interpretable “metrics” to key terrorism concepts such as risk, resilience and volatility.

Good Starts for recently arrived youth with refugee backgrounds : promoting wellbeing in the first three years of settlement in Melbourne, Australia

This report describes the key findings of a longitudinal study (2004—2008) investigating the experiences of settlement among a group of 120 recently arrived young people with refugee backgrounds settling in Melbourne, Australia. Each year, less than one per cent of the world’s refugees are offered resettlement in one of 18 countries participating in The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resettlement programme. Australia offers places to around 13,500 people per year, of whom about 26 per cent are between the ages of 10 and 19. What are the experiences of these young people in their early settlement years? How do they negotiate the transition from childhood to adulthood given the traumas of their past and the challenges of their present and future in Australia? What are the key social determinants of wellbeing and good settlement and what can we learn from these young people about what social policies and services will most effectively support them to make successful lives in their new home? This study explores these questions, the overall aim being to identify the key social determinants of wellbeing and settlement and to describe the lived experiences of these young people as they shape their lives in Australia.

Poly(2-oxazoline) hydrogels as next generation three dimensional cell supports

Synthetic hydrogels selectively decorated with cell adhesion motifs are rapidly emerging as promising substrates for 3D cell culture. When cells are grown in 3D they experience potentially more physiologically relevant cell-cell interactions and physical cues compared with traditional 2D cell culture on stiff surfaces. A newly developed polymer based on poly(2-oxazoline)s has been used for the first time to control attachment of fibroblast cells and is discussed here for its potential use in 3D cell culture with particular focus on cancer cells towards the ultimate aim of high throughput screening of anti-cancer therapies. Advantages and limitations of using poly(2-oxazoline) hydrogels are discussed and compared with more established polymers, especially polyethylene glycol (PEG).

Gelatine methacrylamide-based hydrogels : an alternative three-dimensional cancer cell culture system

Modern cancer research requires physiological, three-dimensional (3-D) cell culture platforms, wherein the physical and chemical characteristics of the extracellular matrix (ECM) can be modified. In this study, gelatine methacrylamide (GelMA)-based hydrogels were characterized and established as in vitro and in vivo spheroid-based models for ovarian cancer, reflecting the advanced disease stage of patients, with accumulation of multicellular spheroids in the tumour fluid (ascites). Polymer concentration (2.5-7% w/v) strongly influenced hydrogel stiffness (0.5±0.2kPa to 9.0±1.8kPa) but had little effect on solute diffusion. The diffusion coefficient of 70kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled dextran in 7% GelMA-based hydrogels was only 2.3 times slower compared to water. Hydrogels of medium concentration (5% w/v GelMA) and stiffness (3.4kPa) allowed spheroid formation and high proliferation and metabolic rates. The inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases and consequently ECM degradability reduced spheroid formation and proliferation rates. The incorporation of the ECM components laminin-411 and hyaluronic acid further stimulated spheroid growth within GelMA-based hydrogels. The feasibility of pre-cultured GelMA-based hydrogels as spheroid carriers within an ovarian cancer animal model was proven and led to tumour development and metastasis. These tumours were sensitive to treatment with the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel, but not the integrin antagonist ATN-161. While paclitaxel and its combination with ATN-161 resulted in a treatment response of 33-37.8%, ATN-161 alone had no effect on tumour growth and peritoneal spread. The semi-synthetic biomaterial GelMA combines relevant natural cues with tunable properties, providing an alternative, bioengineered 3-D cancer cell culture in in vitro and in vivo model systems.

Ghost hunting with lollies, chess and Lego : appreciating the ‘messy’ complexity (and costs) of doing difficult research in education

This paper contributes to conversations about the funding and quality of education research. The paper proceeds in two parts. Part I sets the context by presenting an historical analysis of funding allocations made to Education research through the ARC’s Discovery projects scheme between the years 2002 and 2014, and compares these trends to allocations made to another field within the Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences assessment panel: Psychology and Cognitive Science. Part II highlights the consequences of underfunding education research by presenting evidence from an Australian Research Council Discovery project that is tracking the experiences of disaffected students who are referred to behaviour schools. The re-scoping decisions that became necessary and the incidental costs that accrue from complications that occur in the field are illustrated and discussed through vignettes of research with “ghosts” who don’t like school but who do like lollies, chess and Lego.

Numerical simulation of idealised three-dimensional downburst wind fields

Convective downburst wind storms generate the peak annual gust wind speed for many parts of the non-cyclonic world at return periods of importance for ultimate limit state design. Despite this there is little clear understanding of how to appropriately design for these wind events given their significant dissimilarities to boundary layer winds upon which most design is based. To enhance the understanding of wind fields associated with these storms a three-dimensional numerical model was developed to simulate a multitude of idealised downburst scenarios and to investigate their near-ground wind characteristics. Stationary and translating downdraft wind events in still and sheared environments were simulated with baseline results showing good agreement with previous numerical work and full-scale observational data. Significant differences are shown in the normalised peak wind speed velocity profiles depending on the environmental wind conditions in the vicinity of the simulated event. When integrated over the height of mid- to high rise structures, all simulated profiles are shown to produce wind loads smaller than an equivalent 10 m height matched open terrain boundary layer profile. This suggests that for these structures the current design approach is conservative from an ultimate loading standpoint. Investigating the influence of topography on the structure of the simulated near-ground downburst wind fields, it is shown that these features amplify wind speeds in a manner similar to that expected for boundary layer winds, but the extent of amplification is reduced. The level of reduction is shown to be dependent on the depth of the simulated downburst outflow.

Disclosures of social value creation : a case study of three global social enterprises

This study seeks to fill in gap in the existing literature by looking at how and whether disclosure of social value creation becomes a part of legitimation strategies of social enterprises. By using legitimacy reasoning, this study informs that three global social organizations, Grameen Bank, Charity Water, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provide evidence of the use of disclosures of social value creation in order to conform with the expectations of the broader community—the community that wants to see poverty and injustice free world.

Simultaneous expression of the bacterial Dictyoglomus thermophilum xynB gene under three different Trichoderma reesei promoters

Multiple copies of expression cassettes driven by the Trichoderma reesei xylanase 2 (xyn2) and cellobiohydrolase 2 (cbh2) promoters were introduced into the recombinant T. reesei EC-21 generated to express a thermostable Dictyoglomus thermophilum xylanase (XynB) under the egl2 promoter for further improvement of the enzyme yield. The transformants were screened based on increased XynB activity only. Multiple promoter transformant MPP-4 expressing the xynB gene under all the three promoters was found to be the highest producer of XynB, giving a 65% increase in yield compared to the parental single-promoter recombinant EC-21. The multiple-promoter transformant strains harboured six to nine copies of the xynB gene. Amongst the three promoters, egl2 seemed to have the strongest effect on XynB expression. The shotgun approach we used proved to be effective for rapid enhancement of protein expression using three promoters active at the near-neutral pH of the cultivation medium.

Three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded structures in the hydrated proton-transfer salts of isonipecotamide with the dicarboxylic oxalic and adipic acid analogues

The structures of the 1:1 hydrated proton-transfer compounds of isonipecotamide (piperidine-4-carboxamide) with oxalic acid, 4-carbamoylpiperidinium hydrogen oxalate dihydrate, C6H13N2O+·C2HO4-·2H2O, (I), and with adipic acid, bis­(4-car­bam­oylpiperidinium) adipate dihydrate, 2C6H13N2O+·C6H8O42-·2H2O, (II), are three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded constructs involving several different types of enlarged water-bridged cyclic associations. In the structure of (I), the oxalate monoanions give head-to-tail carb­oxy­lic acid O-HOcarboxyl hydrogen-bonding inter­actions, forming C(5) chain substructures which extend along a. The isonipecotamide cations also give parallel chain substructures through amide N-HO hydrogen bonds, the chains being linked across b and down c by alternating water bridges involving both carboxyl and amide O-atom acceptors and amide and piperidinium N-HOcarboxyl hydrogen bonds, generating cyclic R43(10) and R32(11) motifs. In the structure of (II), the asymmetric unit comprises a piperidinium cation, half an adipate dianion, which lies across a crystallographic inversion centre, and a solvent water mol­ecule. In the crystal structure, the two inversion-related cations are inter­linked through the two water mol­ecules, which act as acceptors in dual amide N-HOwater hydrogen bonds, to give a cyclic R42(8) association which is conjoined with an R44(12) motif. Further N-HOwater, water O-HOamide and piperidinium N-HOcarbox­yl hydrogen bonds give the overall three-dimensional structure. The structures reported here further demonstrate the utility of the isonipecotamide cation as a synthon for the generation of stable hydrogen-bonded structures. The presence of solvent water mol­ecules in these structures is largely responsible for the non-occurrence of the common hydrogen-bonded amide-amide dimer, promoting instead various expanded cyclic hydrogen-bonding motifs.

Three-dimensional dose verification for clinical treatments of small intracranial tumours

Cancers of the brain and central nervous system account for 1.6% of new cancers and 1.8% of cancer deaths globally. The highest rates of all developed nations are observed in Australia and New Zealand. There are known complexities associated with dose measurement of very small radiation fields. Here, 3D dosimetric verification of treatments for small intracranial tumours using gel dosimetry was investigated.

Hydrogen-bonded two- and three-dimensional polymeric structures in the ammonium salts of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid, 4-nitrobenzoic acid and 2,4-dichlorobenzoic acid

The structures of the ammonium salts of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid, NH4+ C7H3N2O6- (I), 4-nitrobenzoic acid, NH4+ C7H4N2O4- . 2H2O (II) and 2,4-dichlorobenzoic acid, NH4+ C7H3Cl2O2- . 0.5H2O (III), have been determined and their hydrogen-bonded structures are described. All salts form hydrogen-bonded polymeric structures, three-dimensional in (I) and two-dimensional in (II) and (III). With (I), a primary cation-anion cyclic association is formed [graph set R3/4(10)] through N-H...O hydrogen bonds, involving a carboxyl O,O' group on one side and a single carboxyl O-atom on the other. Structure extension involves both N-H...O hydrogen bonds to both carboxyl and nitro O-atom acceptors. With structure (II), the primary inter-species interactions and structure extension into layers lying parallel to (0 0 1) are through conjoined cyclic hydrogen-bonding motifs: R3/4(10) [one cation, a carboxyl (O,O') group and two water molecules] and centrosymmetric R2/4(8) [two cations and two water molecules]. The structure of (III) also has conjoined R3/4(10) and centrosymmetric R2/4(8) motifs in the layered structure but these differ in that he first involves one cation, a carboxyl (O,O') as well as a carboxyl (O) group and one water molecule, the second, two cations and two carboxyl O-groups. The layers lie parallel to (1 0 0). The structures of the salt hydrates (II) and (III) reported in this work, giving two-dimensional layered arrays through conjoined hydrogen-bonded nets provide further illustrations of a previously indicated trend among ammonium salts of carboxylic acids, but the anhydrous three-dimensional structure of (I) is inconsistent.

Gas-phase syntheses of three isomeric C5H2 radical anions and their elusive neutrals. A joint experimental and theoretical study

Three different radical anions of the empirical formula C5H2 have been generated by negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry in the gas phase. The isomers C4CH2 •-, and HC5H•- have been synthesized by unequivocal routes and their connectivities confirmed by deuterium labeling, charge reversal, and neutralization reionization experiments. The results also provided evidence for the existence of neutrals C4CH2, C2CHC2H, and HC5H as stable species; this is the first reported observation of C2CHC2H. Ab initio calculations confirm these structures to be minima on the anion and neutral potential energy surfaces.

Promoting physical activity to older adults : a preliminary evaluation of three general practice-based strategies

The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of an exercise scientist (ES) working in general practice to promote physical activity (PA) to 55 to 70 year old adults. Participants were randomised into one of three groups: either brief verbal and written advice from a general practitioner (GP) (G1, N=9); or individualised counselling and follow-up telephone calls from an ES, either with (G3, N=8) or without a pedometer (G2, N=11). PA levels were assessed at week 1, after the 12-wk intervention and again at 24 weeks. After the 12-wk intervention, the average increase in PA was 116 (SD=237) min/wk; N=28, p < 0.001. Although there were no statistically significant between-group differences, the average increases in PA among G2 and G3 participants were 195 (SD=207) and 138 (SD=315) min/wk respectively, compared with no change (0.36, SD=157) in G1. After 24 weeks, average PA levels remained 56 (SD=129) min/wk higher than in week 1. The small numbers of participants in this feasibility study limit the power to detect significant differences between groups, but it would appear that individualised counselling and follow-up contact from an ES, with or without a pedometer, can result in substantial changes in PA levels. A larger study is now planned to confirm these findings.