No longer Singaporean

From communal politics and internet governance to language policies, the tiny speck that is Singapore is known for doing things its own way, with an innovative if patriarchal government kneading a hungry, migrant mass into one of the most well-disciplined, efficient, and diligent working populations in Southeast Asia. Much has also been made of its success at multiculturalism though some, like sociologist Chua Beng Huat, argue it to be multiracialism. Using Chua's argument as a platform for departure, and taking a cue from Stratton's notion of ‘everyday multiculturalism’ I argue through a reflexive exploration of Singapore as a lived experience, that rather than conflict, the two theories complement each other with the former paving the way for the latter.

Teaching motor racing engineering through real-life projects: benefits and challenges

Project-based learning (PBL) is widely used in engineering courses. The closer to real-life the project, the greater the relevance and depth of learning experienced by students. Formula Society of Automotive Engineering (FSAE) is a fine example of a team-based project modelled on real-life problems whereby each student team designs and builds a small race car for competitive evaluation. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has participated in FSAE-Australia since 2004. Based on the success of the project, QUT has gone the additional step of introducing a motor-racing specialization (second major) to complement its mechanical engineering degree. In this paper, the benefits of teaching motor-racing engineering through real-life projects are presented together with a discussion of the challenges faced and how they have been addressed. In order to validate the authors' observations on the teaching approaches used, student feedback was solicited through QUT's online learning experience survey (LEX), as well as a customized paper-based survey. The results of the surveys are analysed and discussed in this paper.

Corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in transitional countries – evidence from Chinese listed firms

The objective of this thesis is to investigate whether the corporate governance practices adopted by Chinese listed firms are associated with the quality of earnings information. Based on a review of agency and institutional theory, this study develops hypotheses that predict the monitoring effectiveness of the board and the audit committee. Using a combination of univariate and multivariate analyses, the association between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management are tested from 2004 to 2008. Through analysing the empirical results, a number of findings are summarised as below. First, board independence is weakened by the introduction of government officials as independent directors on the boards. Government officials acting as independent directors, claim that they meet the definition of independent director set by the regulation. However, they have some connection with the State, which is the controlling shareholder in listed SOEs affiliated companies. Consequently, the effect of the independent director’s expertise in constraining earnings management is mitigated as demonstrated by an insignificant association between board expertise and earnings management. An alternative explanation for the inefficiency of board independence may point to the pre-selection of independent directors by the powerful CEO. It is argued that a CEO can manipulate the board composition and choose the "desirable" independent directors to monitor themselves. Second, a number of internal mechanisms, such as board size, board activities, and the separation of the roles of the CEO and chair are found to be significantly associated with discretionary accruals. This result suggests that there are advantages in having a large and active board in the Chinese setting. This can offset the disadvantages associated with large boards, such as increased bureaucracy, and hence, increase the constraining effects of a large and resourceful board. Third, factor analysis identifies two factors: CEO power and board power. CEO power is the factor which consists of CEO duality and turnover, and board power is composed of board size and board activity. The results of CEO power show that if a Chinese listed company has CEO duality and turnover at the same time, it is more likely to have a high level of earnings management. The significant and negative relationship between board power and accruals indicate that large boards with frequent meetings can be associated with low level of earnings management. Overall, the factor analysis suggests that certain governance mechanisms complement each other to become more efficient monitors of opportunistic earnings management. A combination of board characteristics can increase the negative association with earnings management. Fourth, the insignificant results between audit committees and earnings management in Chinese listed firms suggests that the Chinese regulator should strengthen the audit committee functions. This thesis calls for listed firms to disclose more information on audit committee composition and activities, which can facilitate future research on the Chinese audit committee’s monitoring role. Fifth, the interactive results between State ownership and board characteristics show that dominant State ownership has a moderating effect on board monitoring power as the State totally controls 42% of the issued shares. The high percentage of State ownership makes it difficult for the non-controlling institutional shareholders to challenge the State’s dominant status. As a result, the association between non-controlling institutional ownership and earnings management is insignificant in most situations. Lastly, firms audited by the international Big4 have lower abnormal accruals than firms audited by domestic Chinese audit firms. In addition, the inverse U-shape relationship between audit tenure and earnings quality demonstrates the changing effects of audit quality after a certain period of appointment. Furthermore, this thesis finds that listing in Hong Kong Stock Exchanges can be an alternative governance mechanism to discipline Chinese firms to follow strict Hong Kong listing requirements. Management of Hong Kong listed companies are exposed to the scrutiny of international investors and Hong Kong regulators. This in turn reduces their chances of conducting self-interested earnings manipulation. This study is designed to fill the gap in governance literature in China that is related to earnings management. Previous research on corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in China is not conclusive. The current research builds on previous literature and provides some meaningful implications for practitioners, regulators, academic, and international investors who have investment interests in a transitional country. The findings of this study contribute to corporate governance and earnings management literature in the context of the transitional economy of China. The use of alternative measures for earnings management yields similar results compared with the accruals models and produces additional findings.

Social benchmarking to improve river ecosystems

To complement physical measures or indices of river health a social benchmarking instrument has been developed to measure community dispositions and behaviour regarding river health. This instrument seeks to achieve three outcomes. First, to provide a benchmark of the social condition of communities’ attitudes, values, understanding and behaviours in relation to river health; second, to provide information for developing management and educational priorities; and third, to provide an assessment of the long-term effectiveness of community education and engagement activities in achieving changes in attitudes, understanding and behaviours in relation to river health. In this paper the development of the social benchmarking instrument is described and results are presented from the first state-wide benchmark study in Victoria, Australia, in which the social dimensions of river health, community behaviours related to rivers, and community understanding of human impacts on rivers were assessed.

'Any body is better than nobody?' Ethical questions around recruiting and/or retaining health professionals in rural areas

The literature on recruiting and/or retaining health professionals in rural areas focuses primarily on the development of recruitment and retention strategies and assessing whether such strategies are effective. The objective of this article is to argue that it is important for all stakeholders involved in rural recruitment and/or retention processes to consider their decisions and actions from an ethics perspective. Recruitment and/or retention processes are not value neutral and it is important to understand their ethical dimensions. Methods: From the literature, elements of the recruitment and/or retention strategies that have been employed were identified and organised in respect of levels of governance (namely, the levels of health system/government, community, and individual health professionals). The elements identified in these levels were subjected to analysis to identify their ethical dimensions and to determine whether a clash or complement of values arose at each level of governance or between governance levels. Results: There is very little literature in this area that considers the ethical dimensions of rural recruitment and/or retention processes. However, all policies and practices have ethical dimensions that need to be identified and understood as they may have significant implications for recruitment and/or retention processes. Conclusion: This article recommends the application of an ethics perspective when reflecting on rural recruitment and/or retention strategies. The collective decisions of all involved in rural recruitment and/or retention processes may fundamentally influence the 'health' (broadly understood) of rural communities.

Linking perceived value of mobile marketing with the experiential consumption of mobile phones

Purpose – This study examines the nature of consumers’ perceptions of the value they derive from the everyday experiential consumption of mobile phones and how mobile marketing (m-marketing) can potentially enhance these value perceptions. Methodology – Q methodology is used to examine how consumers’ subjective perceptions and opinions are shared at a collective level. Forty participants undertook two Q sorts and the data was analysed using PQ-method. Findings – The first Q sort identified three profiles of perceived value: the Mobile Pragmatists, the Mobile Connectors and the Mobile Revellers. The second Q sort identified two profiles of perceived value of m-marketing: one emerging from the shared opinions of the Mobile Pragmatists and the Mobile Connectors, and the second from the Mobile Revellers. Implications/limitations – The findings show how consumers can be segmented based on their contextualised perceived value of consuming mobile phones and how the potential for m-marketing is perceived in ways that can enhance these value perceptions. Limitations relate to deriving statements for the Q sorts and the generalisability of the results. Practical implications – The findings highlight ways to tailor m-marketing strategies to complement consumers’ perceptions of the value offered through their mobile phones. Originality/value of paper – The study contributes to the literature through using Q methodology to examine two subjective areas of consumer behaviour, experiential consumption and consumer perceived value. Keywords mobile phones, mobile phone marketing, consumer perceived value, Q methodology, experiential consumption Classification Research paper

Strategic project evaluation for open pit mining ventures using real options and allied econometric techniques

Open pit mine operations are complex businesses that demand a constant assessment of risk. This is because the value of a mine project is typically influenced by many underlying economic and physical uncertainties, such as metal prices, metal grades, costs, schedules, quantities, and environmental issues, among others, which are not known with much certainty at the beginning of the project. Hence, mining projects present a considerable challenge to those involved in associated investment decisions, such as the owners of the mine and other stakeholders. In general terms, when an option exists to acquire a new or operating mining project, , the owners and stock holders of the mine project need to know the value of the mining project, which is the fundamental criterion for making final decisions about going ahead with the venture capital. However, obtaining the mine project’s value is not an easy task. The reason for this is that sophisticated valuation and mine optimisation techniques, which combine advanced theories in geostatistics, statistics, engineering, economics and finance, among others, need to be used by the mine analyst or mine planner in order to assess and quantify the existing uncertainty and, consequently, the risk involved in the project investment. Furthermore, current valuation and mine optimisation techniques do not complement each other. That is valuation techniques based on real options (RO) analysis assume an expected (constant) metal grade and ore tonnage during a specified period, while mine optimisation (MO) techniques assume expected (constant) metal prices and mining costs. These assumptions are not totally correct since both sources of uncertainty—that of the orebody (metal grade and reserves of mineral), and that about the future behaviour of metal prices and mining costs—are the ones that have great impact on the value of any mining project. Consequently, the key objective of this thesis is twofold. The first objective consists of analysing and understanding the main sources of uncertainty in an open pit mining project, such as the orebody (in situ metal grade), mining costs and metal price uncertainties, and their effect on the final project value. The second objective consists of breaking down the wall of isolation between economic valuation and mine optimisation techniques in order to generate a novel open pit mine evaluation framework called the ―Integrated Valuation / Optimisation Framework (IVOF)‖. One important characteristic of this new framework is that it incorporates the RO and MO valuation techniques into a single integrated process that quantifies and describes uncertainty and risk in a mine project evaluation process, giving a more realistic estimate of the project’s value. To achieve this, novel and advanced engineering and econometric methods are used to integrate financial and geological uncertainty into dynamic risk forecasting measures. The proposed mine valuation/optimisation technique is then applied to a real gold disseminated open pit mine deposit to estimate its value in the face of orebody, mining costs and metal price uncertainties.

The nature of juristic paradigms : exploring the theoretical and conceptual relationship between adversarialism and therapeutic jurisprudence

Problem solving courts appear to achieve outcomes which are not common in mainstream courts. There are increasing calls for the adoption of more “therapeutic” and “problem solving” practices by mainstream judges in civil and criminal courts in a number of jurisdictions, most notably in the United States and Australia. Currently, a judge who sets out to exercise a significant therapeutic function is quite likely to be doing so in a specialist court or jurisdiction, outside the mainstream court system, and, arguably, from outside the adversarial paradigm itself. To some extent, his work is tolerated but marginalized. But do therapeutic and problem solving functions have the potential to define, rather than complement, the role of judicial officers? The basic question addressed in this paper is, therefore, whether the judicial role could evolve to be not just less adversarial, but fundamentally non-adversarial. In other words, could we see--or are we seeing--a paradigm shift not just in the colloquial, casual sense of the word, but in the strong, worldview changing sense meant by Thomas Kuhn?

Screening to identify large truck potential blackspots : methodological issues and concerns

1. Overview of hotspot identification (HSID)methods 2. Challenges with HSID 3. Bringing crash severity into the ‘mix’ 4. Case Study: Truck Involved Crashes in Arizona 5. Conclusions • Heavy duty trucks have different performance envelopes than passenger cars and have more difficulty weaving, accelerating, and braking • Passenger vehicles have extremely limited sight distance around trucks • Lane and shoulder widths affect truck crash risk more than passenger cars • Using PDOEs to model truck crashes results in a different set of locations to examine for possible engineering and behavioral problems • PDOE models point to higher societal cost locations, whereas frequency models point to higher crash frequency locations • PDOE models are less sensitive to unreported crashes • PDOE models are a great complement to existing practice

How was school today?

What I want to do in this Column, is to paint a picture of the current BPM education portfolios that are offered globally by universities active in the BPM space. To do so, I will draw on work I was involved in that reviewed the BPM teaching capacities of five universities in the United States, Europe, Africa and Australia. My ambition is to complement the listings in the BPTrends Academic Program with a more comprehensive and in-depth discussion of a selected set of universities. Let us explore how BPM capability development is implemented and offered in different universities around the globe.

Research process management

Though the value of a process-centred view for the understanding and (re-)design of corporations has been widely accepted, our understanding of the research process in Information Systems (IS) remains superficial. A process-centred view on IS research considers the conduct of a research project as a sequence of activities involving resources, data and research artifacts. As such, it helps to reflect on more effective ways to conduct IS research, to consolidate and compare diverse practices and to complement the focus on research methodologies with research project practices. This paper takes a first step towards the discipline of ‘Research Process Management’ by exploring the features of research processes and by presenting a preliminary approach for research process design that can facilitate modelling IS research. The case study method and the design science research method are used as examples to demonstrate the potential of such reference research process models.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Reports Part 1 - Overview of Findings

This report provides an overview of findings of qualitative research comprising three case studies undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. These case studies (see Parts 2, 3 and 4 of this suite of reports) were undertaken to illustrate the nature of past R&D investments in Australia. This was done to complement: (i) the audit and analysis of past R&D investment undertaken by Thomas Barlow (2011); and (ii) the Construction 2030 roadmap being developed by Swinburne University of Technology and Professor Göran Roos from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. These documents will be the basis for the final phase of the present project - developing policy guidelines for future R&D investment in the Australian built environment. Refer also Parts 1, 2 and 3 for detail findings.

Development of a transformation system for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is the world’s fifth major cereal crop and holds importance as a construction material, food and fodder source. More recently, the potential of this plant as a biofuel source has been noted. Despite its agronomic importance, the use of sorghum production is being constrained by both biotic and abiotic factors. These challenges could be addressed by the use of genetic engineering strategies to complement conventional breeding techniques. However, sorghum is one of the most recalcitrant crops for genetic modification with the lack of an efficient tissue culture system being amongst the chief reasons. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop an efficient tissue culture system for establishing regenerable embryogenic cell lines, micropropagation and acclimatisation for Sorghum bicolor and use this to optimise parameters for genetic transformation via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and microprojectile bombardment. Using five different sorghum cultivars, SA281, 296B, SC49, Wray and Rio, numerous parameters were investigated in an attempt to establish an efficient and reproducible tissue culture and transformation system. Using immature embryos (IEs) as explants, regenerable embryogenic cell lines (ECLs) could only be established from cultivars SA281 and 296B. Large amounts of phenolics were produced from IEs of cultivars, SC49, Wary and Rio, and these compounds severely hindered callus formation and development. Cultivar SA281 also produced phenolics during regeneration. Attempts to suppress the production of these compounds in cultivars SA281 and SC49 using activated charcoal, PVP, ascorbic acid, citric acid and liquid filter paper bridge methods were either ineffective or had a detrimental effect on embryogenic callus formation, development and regeneration. Immature embryos sourced during summer were found to be far more responsive in vitro than those sourced during winter. In an attempt to overcome this problem, IEs were sourced from sorghum grown under summer conditions in either a temperature controlled glasshouse or a growth chamber. However, the performance of these explants was still inferior to that of natural summer-sourced explants. Leaf whorls, mature embryos, shoot tips and leaf primordia were found to be unsuitable as explants for establishing ECLs in sorghum cultivars SA281 and 296B. Using the florets of immature inflorescences (IFs) as explants, however, ECLs were established and regenerated for these cultivars, as well as for cultivar Tx430, using callus induction media, SCIM, and regeneration media, VWRM. The best in vitro responses, from the largest possible sized IFs, were obtained using plants at the FL-2 stage (where the last fully opened leaf was two leaves away from the flag leaf). Immature inflorescences could be stored at 25oC for up to three days without affecting their in vitro responses. Compared to IEs, the IFs were more robust in tissue culture and showed responses which were season and growth condition independent. A micropropagation protocol for sorghum was developed in this study. The optimum plant growth regulator (PGR) combination for the micropropagation of in vitro regenerated plantlets was found to be 1.0 mg/L BAP in combination with 0.5 mg/L NAA. With this protocol, cultivars 296B and SA281 produced an average of 57 and 13 off-shoots per plantlet, respectively. The plantlets were successfully acclimatised and developed into phenotypically normal plants that set seeds. A simplified acclimatisation protocol for in vitro regenerated plantlets was also developed. This protocol involved deflasking in vitro plantlets with at least 2 fully-opened healthy leaves and at least 3 roots longer than 1.5 cm, washing the media from the roots with running tap water, planting in 100 mm pots and placing in plastic trays covered with a clear plastic bag in a plant growth chamber. After seven days, the corners of the plastic cover were opened and the bags were completely removed after 10 days. All plantlets were successfully acclimatised regardless of whether 1:1 perlite:potting mix, potting mix, UC mix or vermiculite were used as potting substrates. Parameters were optimised for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (AMT) of cultivars SA281, 296B and Tx430. The optimal conditions were the use of Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 at an inoculum density of 0.5 OD600nm, heat shock at 43oC for 3 min, use of the surfactant Pluronic F-68 (0.02% w/v) in the inoculation media with a pH of 5.2 and a 3 day co-cultivation period in dark at 22oC. Using these parameters, high frequencies of transient GFP expression was observed in IEs precultured on callus initiation media for 1-7 days as well as in four weeks old IE- and IF-derived callus. Cultivar SA281 appeared very sensitive to Agrobacterium since all tissue turned necrotic within two weeks post-exposure. For cultivar 296B, GFP expression was observed up to 20 days post co-cultivation but no stably transformed plants were regenerated. Using cultivar Tx430, GFP was expressed for up to 50 days post co-cultivation. Although no stably transformed plants of this cultivar were regenerated, this was most likely due to the use of unsuitable regeneration media. Parameters were optimised for transformation by particle bombardment (PB) of cultivars SA281, 296B and Tx430. The optimal conditions were use of 3-7 days old IEs and 4 weeks old IF callus, 4 hour pre- and post-bombardment osmoticum treatment, use of 0.6 µm gold microparticles, helium pressure of 1500 kPa and target distance of 15 cm. Using these parameters for PB, transient GFP expression was observed for up to 14, 30 and 50 days for cultivars SA281, 296B and Tx430, respectively. Further, the use of PB resulted in less tissue necrosis compared to AMT for the respective cultivars. Despite the presence of transient GFP expression, no stably transformed plants were regenerated. The establishment of regenerable ECLs and the optimization of AMT and PB parameters in this study provides a platform for future efforts to develop an efficient transformation protocol for sorghum. The development of GM sorghum will be an important step towards improving its agronomic properties as well as its exploitation for biofuel production.

An innovative approach to the assessment of nutrient intake in adults with type 2 diabetes : the development, trial and evaluation of a mobile phone photo/voice dietary record

Nutrition interventions in the form of both self-management education and individualised diet therapy are considered essential for the long-term management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The measurement of diet is essential to inform, support and evaluate nutrition interventions in the management of T2DM. Barriers inherent within health care settings and systems limit ongoing access to personnel and resources, while traditional prospective methods of assessing diet are burdensome for the individual and often result in changes in typical intake to facilitate recording. This thesis investigated the inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) to overcome limitations to current approaches in the nutritional management of T2DM, in particular the development, trial and evaluation of the Nutricam dietary assessment method (NuDAM) consisting of a mobile phone photo/voice application to assess nutrient intake in a free-living environment with older adults with T2DM. Study 1: Effectiveness of an automated telephone system in promoting change in dietary intake among adults with T2DM The effectiveness of an automated telephone system, Telephone-Linked Care (TLC) Diabetes, designed to deliver self-management education was evaluated in terms of promoting dietary change in adults with T2DM and sub-optimal glycaemic control. In this secondary data analysis independent of the larger randomised controlled trial, complete data was available for 95 adults (59 male; mean age(±SD)=56.8±8.1 years; mean(±SD)BMI=34.2±7.0kg/m2). The treatment effect showed a reduction in total fat of 1.4% and saturated fat of 0.9% energy intake, body weight of 0.7 kg and waist circumference of 2.0 cm. In addition, a significant increase in the nutrition self-efficacy score of 1.3 (p<0.05) was observed in the TLC group compared to the control group. The modest trends observed in this study indicate that the TLC Diabetes system does support the adoption of positive nutrition behaviours as a result of diabetes self-management education, however caution must be applied in the interpretation of results due to the inherent limitations of the dietary assessment method used. The decision to use a close-list FFQ with known bias may have influenced the accuracy of reporting dietary intake in this instance. This study provided an example of the methodological challenges experienced with measuring changes in absolute diet using a FFQ, and reaffirmed the need for novel prospective assessment methods capable of capturing natural variance in usual intakes. Study 2: The development and trial of NuDAM recording protocol The feasibility of the Nutricam mobile phone photo/voice dietary record was evaluated in 10 adults with T2DM (6 Male; age=64.7±3.8 years; BMI=33.9±7.0 kg/m2). Intake was recorded over a 3-day period using both Nutricam and a written estimated food record (EFR). Compared to the EFR, the Nutricam device was found to be acceptable among subjects, however, energy intake was under-recorded using Nutricam (-0.6±0.8 MJ/day; p<0.05). Beverages and snacks were the items most frequently not recorded using Nutricam; however forgotten meals contributed to the greatest difference in energy intake between records. In addition, the quality of dietary data recorded using Nutricam was unacceptable for just under one-third of entries. It was concluded that an additional mechanism was necessary to complement dietary information collected via Nutricam. Modifications to the method were made to allow for clarification of Nutricam entries and probing forgotten foods during a brief phone call to the subject the following morning. The revised recording protocol was evaluated in Study 4. Study 3: The development and trial of the NuDAM analysis protocol Part A explored the effect of the type of portion size estimation aid (PSEA) on the error associated with quantifying four portions of 15 single foods items contained in photographs. Seventeen dietetic students (1 male; age=24.7±9.1 years; BMI=21.1±1.9 kg/m2) estimated all food portions on two occasions: without aids and with aids (food models or reference food photographs). Overall, the use of a PSEA significantly reduced mean (±SD) group error between estimates compared to no aid (-2.5±11.5% vs. 19.0±28.8%; p<0.05). The type of PSEA (i.e. food models vs. reference food photograph) did not have a notable effect on the group estimation error (-6.7±14.9% vs. 1.4±5.9%, respectively; p=0.321). This exploratory study provided evidence that the use of aids in general, rather than the type, was more effective in reducing estimation error. Findings guided the development of the Dietary Estimation and Assessment Tool (DEAT) for use in the analysis of the Nutricam dietary record. Part B evaluated the effect of the DEAT on the error associated with the quantification of two 3-day Nutricam dietary records in a sample of 29 dietetic students (2 males; age=23.3±5.1 years; BMI=20.6±1.9 kg/m2). Subjects were randomised into two groups: Group A and Group B. For Record 1, the use of the DEAT (Group A) resulted in a smaller error compared to estimations made without the tool (Group B) (17.7±15.8%/day vs. 34.0±22.6%/day, p=0.331; respectively). In comparison, all subjects used the DEAT to estimate Record 2, with resultant error similar between Group A and B (21.2±19.2%/day vs. 25.8±13.6%/day; p=0.377 respectively). In general, the moderate estimation error associated with quantifying food items did not translate into clinically significant differences in the nutrient profile of the Nutricam dietary records, only amorphous foods were notably over-estimated in energy content without the use of the DEAT (57kJ/day vs. 274kJ/day; p<0.001). A large proportion (89.6%) of the group found the DEAT helpful when quantifying food items contained in the Nutricam dietary records. The use of the DEAT reduced quantification error, minimising any potential effect on the estimation of energy and macronutrient intake. Study 4: Evaluation of the NuDAM The accuracy and inter-rater reliability of the NuDAM to assess energy and macronutrient intake was evaluated in a sample of 10 adults (6 males; age=61.2±6.9 years; BMI=31.0±4.5 kg/m2). Intake recorded using both the NuDAM and a weighed food record (WFR) was coded by three dietitians and compared with an objective measure of total energy expenditure (TEE) obtained using the doubly labelled water technique. At the group level, energy intake (EI) was under-reported to a similar extent using both methods, with the ratio of EI:TEE was 0.76±0.20 for the NuDAM and 0.76±0.17 for the WFR. At the individual level, four subjects reported implausible levels of energy intake using the WFR method, compared to three using the NuDAM. Overall, moderate to high correlation coefficients (r=0.57-0.85) were found across energy and macronutrients except fat (r=0.24) between the two dietary measures. High agreement was observed between dietitians for estimates of energy and macronutrient derived for both the NuDAM (ICC=0.77-0.99; p<0.001) and WFR (ICC=0.82-0.99; p<0.001). All subjects preferred using the NuDAM over the WFR to record intake and were willing to use the novel method again over longer recording periods. This research program explored two novel approaches which utilised distinct technologies to aid in the nutritional management of adults with T2DM. In particular, this thesis makes a significant contribution to the evidence base surrounding the use of PhRs through the development, trial and evaluation of a novel mobile phone photo/voice dietary record. The NuDAM is an extremely promising advancement in the nutritional management of individuals with diabetes and other chronic conditions. Future applications lie in integrating the NuDAM with other technologies to facilitate practice across the remaining stages of the nutrition care process.

The experiences of learner drivers, provisional drivers and supervisors with graduated driver licensing in two Australian jurisdictions

Newly licensed drivers on a provisional or intermediate licence have the highest crash risk when compared with any other group of drivers. In comparison, learner drivers have the lowest crash risk. Graduated driver licensing is one countermeasure that has been demonstrated to effectively reduce the crashes of novice drivers. This thesis examined the graduated driver licensing systems in two Australian states in order to better understand the behaviour of learner drivers, provisional drivers and the supervisors of learner drivers. By doing this, the thesis investigated the personal, social and environmental influences on novice driver behaviour as well as providing effective baseline data against which to measure subsequent changes to the licensing systems. In the first study, conducted prior to the changes to the graduated driver licensing system introduced in mid-2007, drivers who had recently obtained their provisional licence in Queensland and New South Wales were interviewed by telephone regarding their experiences while driving on their learner licence. Of the 687 eligible people approached to participate at driver licensing centres, 392 completed the study representing a response rate of 57.1 per cent. At the time the data was collected, New South Wales represented a more extensive graduated driver licensing system when compared with Queensland. The results suggested that requiring learners to complete a mandated number of hours of supervised practice impacts on the amount of hours that learners report completing. While most learners from New South Wales reported meeting the requirement to complete 50 hours of practice, it appears that many stopped practising soon after this goal was achieved. In contrast, learners from Queensland, who were not required to complete a specific number of hours at the time of the survey, tended to fall into three groups. The first group appeared to complete the minimum number of hours required to pass the test (less than 26 hours), the second group completed 26 to 50 hours of supervised practice while the third group completed significantly more practice than the first two groups (over 100 hours of supervised practice). Learner drivers in both states reported generally complying with the road laws and were unlikely to report that they had been caught breaking the road rules. They also indicated that they planned to obey the road laws once they obtained their provisional licence. However, they were less likely to intend to comply with recommended actions to reduce crash risk such as limiting their driving at night. This study also identified that there were relatively low levels of unaccompanied driving (approximately 15 per cent of the sample), very few driving offences committed (five per cent of the sample) and that learner drivers tended to use a mix of private and professional supervisors (although the majority of practice is undertaken with private supervisors). Consistent with the international literature, this study identified that very few learner drivers had experienced a crash (six per cent) while on their learner licence. The second study was also conducted prior to changes to the graduated driver licensing system and involved follow up interviews with the participants of the first study after they had approximately 21 months driving experience on their provisional licence. Of the 392 participants that completed the first study, 233 participants completed the second interview (representing a response rate of 59.4 per cent). As with the first study, at the time the data was collected, New South Wales had a more extensive graduated driver licensing system than Queensland. For instance, novice drivers from New South Wales were required to progress through two provisional licence phases (P1 and P2) while there was only one provisional licence phase in Queensland. Among the participants in this second study, almost all provisional drivers (97.9 per cent) owned or had access to a vehicle for regular driving. They reported that they were unlikely to break road rules, such as driving after a couple of drinks, but were also unlikely to comply with recommended actions, such as limiting their driving at night. When their provisional driving behaviour was compared to the stated intentions from the first study, the results suggested that their intentions were not a strong predictor of their subsequent behaviour. Their perception of risk associated with driving declined from when they first obtained their learner licence to when they had acquired provisional driving experience. Just over 25 per cent of participants in study two reported that they had been caught committing driving offences while on their provisional licence. Nearly one-third of participants had crashed while driving on a provisional licence, although few of these crashes resulted in injuries or hospitalisations. To complement the first two studies, the third study examined the experiences of supervisors of learner drivers, as well as their perceptions of their learner’s experiences. This study was undertaken after the introduction of the new graduated driver licensing systems in Queensland and New South Wales in mid- 2007, providing insights into the impacts of these changes from the perspective of supervisors. The third study involved an internet survey of 552 supervisors of learner drivers. Within the sample, approximately 50 per cent of participants supervised their own child. Other supervisors of the learner drivers included other parents or stepparents, professional driving instructors and siblings. For two-thirds of the sample, this was the first learner driver that they had supervised. Participants had provided an average of 54.82 hours (sd = 67.19) of supervision. Seventy-three per cent of participants indicated that their learners’ logbooks were accurate or very accurate in most cases, although parents were more likely than non-parents to report that their learners’ logbook was accurate (F (1,546) = 7.74, p = .006). There was no difference between parents and non-parents regarding whether they believed the log book system was effective (F (1,546) = .01, p = .913). The majority of the sample reported that their learner driver had had some professional driving lessons. Notwithstanding this, a significant proportion (72.5 per cent) believed that parents should be either very involved or involved in teaching their child to drive, with parents being more likely than non-parents to hold this belief. In the post mid-2007 graduated driver licensing system, Queensland learner drivers are able to record three hours of supervised practice in their log book for every hour that is completed with a professional driving instructor, up to a total of ten hours. Despite this, there was no difference identified between Queensland and New South Wales participants regarding the amount of time that they reported their learners spent with professional driving instructors (X2(1) = 2.56, p = .110). Supervisors from New South Wales were more likely to ensure that their learner driver complied with the road laws. Additionally, with the exception of drug driving laws, New South Wales supervisors believed it was more important to teach safety-related behaviours such as remaining within the speed limit, car control and hazard perception than those from Queensland. This may be indicative of more intensive road safety educational efforts in New South Wales or the longer time that graduated driver licensing has operated in that jurisdiction. However, other factors may have contributed to these findings and further research is required to explore the issue. In addition, supervisors reported that their learner driver was involved in very few crashes (3.4 per cent) and offences (2.7 per cent). This relatively low reported crash rate is similar to that identified in the first study. Most of the graduated driver licensing research to date has been applied in nature and lacked a strong theoretical foundation. These studies used Akers’ social learning theory to explore the self-reported behaviour of novice drivers and their supervisors. This theory was selected as it has previously been found to provide a relatively comprehensive framework for explaining a range of driver behaviours including novice driver behaviour. Sensation seeking was also used in the first two studies to complement the non-social rewards component of Akers’ social learning theory. This program of research identified that both Akers’ social learning theory and sensation seeking were useful in predicting the behaviour of learner and provisional drivers over and above socio-demographic factors. Within the first study, Akers’ social learning theory accounted for an additional 22 per cent of the variance in learner driver compliance with the law, over and above a range of socio-demographic factors such as age, gender and income. The two constructs within Akers’ theory which were significant predictors of learner driver compliance were the behavioural dimension of differential association relating to friends, and anticipated rewards. Sensation seeking predicted an additional six per cent of the variance in learner driver compliance with the law. When considering a learner driver’s intention to comply with the law while driving on a provisional licence, Akers’ social learning theory accounted for an additional 10 per cent of the variance above socio-demographic factors with anticipated rewards being a significant predictor. Sensation seeking predicted an additional four per cent of the variance. The results suggest that the more rewards individuals anticipate for complying with the law, the more likely they are to obey the road rules. Further research is needed to identify which specific rewards are most likely to encourage novice drivers’ compliance with the law. In the second study, Akers’ social learning theory predicted an additional 40 per cent of the variance in self-reported compliance with road rules over and above socio-demographic factors while sensation seeking accounted for an additional five per cent of the variance. A number of Aker’s social learning theory constructs significantly predicted provisional driver compliance with the law, including the behavioural dimension of differential association for friends, the normative dimension of differential association, personal attitudes and anticipated punishments. The consistent prediction of additional variance by sensation seeking over and above the variables within Akers’ social learning theory in both studies one and two suggests that sensation seeking is not fully captured within the non social rewards dimension of Akers’ social learning theory, at least for novice drivers. It appears that novice drivers are strongly influenced by the desire to engage in new and intense experiences. While socio-demographic factors and the perception of risk associated with driving had an important role in predicting the behaviour of the supervisors of learner drivers, Akers’ social learning theory provided further levels of prediction over and above these factors. The Akers’ social learning theory variables predicted an additional 14 per cent of the variance in the extent to which supervisors ensured that their learners complied with the law and an additional eight per cent of the variance in the supervisors’ provision of a range of practice experiences. The normative dimension of differential association, personal attitudes towards the use of professional driving instructors and anticipated rewards were significant predictors for supervisors ensuring that their learner complied with the road laws, while the normative dimension was important for range of practice. This suggests that supervisors who engage with other supervisors who ensure their learner complies with the road laws and provide a range of practice to their own learners are more likely to also engage in these behaviours. Within this program of research, there were several limitations including the method of recruitment of participants within the first study, the lower participation rate in the second study, an inability to calculate a response rate for study three and the use of self-report data for all three studies. Within the first study, participants were only recruited from larger driver licensing centres to ensure that there was a sufficient throughput of drivers to approach. This may have biased the results due to the possible differences in learners that obtain their licences in locations with smaller licensing centres. Only 59.4 per cent of the sample in the first study completed the second study. This may be a limitation if there was a common reason why those not participating were unable to complete the interview leading to a systematic impact on the results. The third study used a combination of a convenience and snowball sampling which meant that it was not possible to calculate a response rate. All three studies used self-report data which, in many cases, is considered a limitation. However, self-report data may be the only method that can be used to obtain some information. This program of research has a number of implications for countermeasures in both the learner licence phase and the provisional licence phase. During the learner phase, licensing authorities need to carefully consider the number of hours that they mandate learner drivers must complete before they obtain their provisional driving licence. If they mandate an insufficient number of hours, there may be inadvertent negative effects as a result of setting too low a limit. This research suggests that logbooks may be a useful tool for learners and their supervisors in recording and structuring their supervised practice. However, it would appear that the usage rates for logbooks will remain low if they remain voluntary. One strategy for achieving larger amounts of supervised practice is for learner drivers and their supervisors to make supervised practice part of their everyday activities. As well as assisting the learner driver to accumulate the required number of hours of supervised practice, it would ensure that they gain experience in the types of environments that they will probably encounter when driving unaccompanied in the future, such as to and from education or work commitments. There is also a need for policy processes to ensure that parents and professional driving instructors communicate effectively regarding the learner driver’s progress. This is required as most learners spend at least some time with a professional instructor despite receiving significant amounts of practice with a private supervisor. However, many supervisors did not discuss their learner’s progress with the driving instructor. During the provisional phase, there is a need to strengthen countermeasures to address the high crash risk of these drivers. Although many of these crashes are minor, most involve at least one other vehicle. Therefore, there are social and economic benefits to reducing these crashes. If the new, post-2007 graduated driver licensing systems do not significantly reduce crash risk, there may be a need to introduce further provisional licence restrictions such as separate night driving and peer passenger restrictions (as opposed to the hybrid version of these two restrictions operating in both Queensland and New South Wales). Provisional drivers appear to be more likely to obey some provisional licence laws, such as lower blood alcohol content limits, than others such as speed limits. Therefore, there may be a need to introduce countermeasures to encourage provisional drivers to comply with specific restrictions. When combined, these studies provided significant information regarding graduated driver licensing programs. This program of research has investigated graduated driver licensing utilising a cross-sectional and longitudinal design in order to develop our understanding of the experiences of novice drivers that progress through the system in order to help reduce crash risk once novice drivers commence driving by themselves.