EMG biofeedback in the treatment of tinnitus : an experimental evaluation

26 tinnitus patients received either electromyogram (EMG) biofeedback with counterdemand instructions, EMG biofeedback with neutral demand instructions, or no treatment. Assessment was conducted on self-report measures of the distress associated with tinnitus, the loudness, annoyance and awareness of tinnitus, sleep-onset difficulties, depression, and anxiety. Audiological assessment of tinnitus was also conducted and EMG levels were measured (the latter only in the 2 treatment groups). No significant treatment effects were found on any of the measures. There was a significant decrease in the ratings of tinnitus awareness over the assessment occasions, but the degree of change was equivalent for treated and untreated groups. Results do not support the assertion that EMG biofeedback is an effective treatment for tinnitus.

Mathematical models for describing the shape of the in vitro unstretched human crystalline lens

We developed orthogonal least-squares techniques for fitting crystalline lens shapes, and used the bootstrap method to determine uncertainties associated with the estimated vertex radii of curvature and asphericities of five different models. Three existing models were investigated including one that uses two separate conics for the anterior and posterior surfaces, and two whole lens models based on a modulated hyperbolic cosine function and on a generalized conic function. Two new models were proposed including one that uses two interdependent conics and a polynomial based whole lens model. The models were used to describe the in vitro shape for a data set of twenty human lenses with ages 7–82 years. The two-conic-surface model (7 mm zone diameter) and the interdependent surfaces model had significantly lower merit functions than the other three models for the data set, indicating that most likely they can describe human lens shape over a wide age range better than the other models (although with the two-conic-surfaces model being unable to describe the lens equatorial region). Considerable differences were found between some models regarding estimates of radii of curvature and surface asphericities. The hyperbolic cosine model and the new polynomial based whole lens model had the best precision in determining the radii of curvature and surface asphericities across the five considered models. Most models found significant increase in anterior, but not posterior, radius of curvature with age. Most models found a wide scatter of asphericities, but with the asphericities usually being positive and not significantly related to age. As the interdependent surfaces model had lower merit function than three whole lens models, there is further scope to develop an accurate model of the complete shape of human lenses of all ages. The results highlight the continued difficulty in selecting an appropriate model for the crystalline lens shape.

The development of an evidentiary on-board massmonitoring application for heavy vehicles

This paper reports on the development of specifications for an on-board mass monitoring (OBM) application for regulatory requirements in Australia. An earlier paper reported on feasibility study and pilot testing program prior to the specification development [1]. Learnings from the pilot were used to refine this testing process and a full scale testing program was conducted from July to October 2008. The results from the full scale test and evidentiary implications are presented in this report. The draft specification for an evidentiary on-board mass monitoring application is currently under development.

The effect of amphiphilic siloxane oligomers on fibroblast and keratinocyte proliferation and apoptosis

The formation of hypertrophic scars is a frequent medical outcome of wound repair and often requires further therapy with treatments such as Silicone Gel Sheets (SGS) or apoptosis-inducing agents, including bleomycin. Although widely used, knowledge regarding SGS and their mode of action is limited. Preliminary research has shown that small amounts of amphiphilic silicone present in SGS have the ability to move into skin during treatment. We demonstrate herein that a commercially available analogue of these amphiphilic siloxane species, the rake copolymer GP226, decreases collagen synthesis upon exposure to cultures of fibroblasts derived from hypertrophic scars (HSF). By size exclusion chromatography, GP226 was found to be a mixture of siloxane species, containing five fractions of different molecular weight. By studies of collagen production, cell viability and proliferation, it was revealed that a low molecular weight fraction (fraction IV) was the most active, reducing the number of viable cells present following treatment and thereby reducing collagen production as a result. Upon exposure of fraction IV to human keratinocytes, viability and proliferation was also significantly affected. HSF undergoing apoptosis after application of fraction IV were also detected via real-time microscopy and by using the TUNEL assay. Taken together, these data suggests that these amphiphilic siloxanes could be potential non-invasive substitutes to apoptotic-inducing chemical agents that are currently used as scar treatments.

The return of manhood suffrage to Queensland, 1863-1872

In 1859, Queensland was separated from New South Wales as an independent colony. At this time the new Governor conspired to ensure the citizens did not inherit the old colonies system of full male suffrage. This was not returned until the Elections Act of 1872. However, the extended franchise was not a result of either democratic values or other ideological intentions. This article will analyse parliamentary debates to show that the revision to full suffrage was a result of administrative expediency driven by an inability to prevent abuse of the limited franchise.

The politics of literacy in David Almond and Dave McKean’s "The Savage" (2008)

Competency in language and literacy are central to contemporary debates about education in Anglophone nations around the world. This paper suggests that such debates are informing not just educational policy but children’s literature itself as can be seen in Almond and McKean’s The Savage. This hybrid text combines prose and graphic narrative and narration in order to tell the story of Blue, a young British boy negotiating his identity in the aftermath of his father's death. While foregrounding a narrative of ideal masculinity, The Savage enacts and privileges a formal and thematic ideal of literacy as index of individual agency and development. Almond and McKean produce a politicised understanding of language and literacy that simultaneously positions The Savage in a textual tradition of socio-culturally disenfranchised youth, and intervenes in that tradition to (perhaps ironically) affirm the very conditions previously critiqued by that very tradition. Where earlier authors such as Barry Hines sought to challenge normative accounts of language and literacy in order to indict educational policy and praxes, Almond and McKean work to naturalise the very logics of education and agency by which their protagonist has been disenfranchised. In doing so, The Savage exemplifies current approaches to education which claim to value social and cultural diversity while imposing national standardised testing predicated on assumptions about the legitimacy of uniform standards and definitions of literacy.

Dynamic analysis of on-board mass data to determine tampering in heavy vehicle on-board mass systems

Transport Certification Australia Limited, jointly with the National Transport Commission, has undertaken a project to investigate the feasibility of on-board mass monitoring (OBM) devices for regulatory purposes. OBM increases jurisdictional confidence in operational heavy vehicle compliance. This paper covers technical issues regarding potential use of dynamic data from OBM systems to indicate that tampering has occurred. Tamper-evidence and accuracy of current OBM systems needed to be determined before any regulatory schemes were put in place for its use. Tests performed to determine potential for, and ease of, tampering. An algorithm was developed to detect tamper events. Its results are detailed.

Didiman: Australian agricultural extension officers in the territory of Papua and New Guinea, 1945-1975

Historically, the development philosophy for the two Territories of Papua and New Guinea (known as TPNG, formerly two territories, Papua and New Guinea) was equated with economic development, with a focus on agricultural development. To achieve the modification or complete change in indigenous farming systems the Australian Government’s Department of External Territories adopted and utilised a programme based on agricultural extension. Prior to World War II, under Australian administration, the economic development of these two territories, as in many colonies of the time, was based on the institution of the plantation. Little was initiated in agriculture development for indigenous people. This changed after World War II to a rationale based on the promotion and advancement of primary industry, but also came to include indigenous farmers. To develop agriculture within a colony it was thought that a modification to, or in some cases the complete transformation of, existing farming systems was necessary to improve the material welfare of the population. It was also seen to be a guarantee for the future national interest of the sovereign state after independence was granted. The Didiman and Didimisis became the frontline, field operatives of this theoretical model of development. This thesis examines the Didiman’s field operations, the structural organisation of agricultural administration and the application of policy in the two territories.

Money laundering and FATF compliance by the international community

This paper examines the anti-money laundering systems of Australia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA), the extent to which they have implemented the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, and how compliance with these recommendations is affected by local cultural and economic factors. The paper makes use of FATF evaluation reports to compare the countries’ compliance; it examines some of the underlying cultural considerations and culture-specific ethical issues that affect the extent of compliance, and how cultural and ethical considerations may affect good governance. The findings indicate that the UK and the USA are the most advanced with regards to their compliance with the FATF recommendations and Australia and the UAE less so. The UAE is in particular found to be least compliant. We relate this finding to previous work on how a country’s legal and financial systems develop in line with its religion, culture and socio-economic situation, and examine how such local factors have affected the UAE’s financial and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems. This research will be of interest to policy-makers and government agencies involved in addressing money laundering and its successful detection and prosecution.

A distributed denial of service testbed

The Denial of Service Testing Framework (dosTF) being developed as part of the joint India-Australia research project for ‘Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Denial of Service Attacks’ allows for the construction, monitoring and management of emulated Distributed Denial of Service attacks using modest hardware resources. The purpose of the testbed is to study the effectiveness of different DDoS mitigation strategies and to allow for the testing of defense appliances. Experiments are saved and edited in XML as abstract descriptions of an attack/defense strategy that is only mapped to real resources at run-time. It also provides a web-application portal interface that can start, stop and monitor an attack remotely. Rather than monitoring a service under attack indirectly, by observing traffic and general system parameters, monitoring of the target application is performed directly in real time via a customised SNMP agent.

Tamper evidence for heavy vehicle on board mass systems

On-board mass (OBM) monitoring devices on heavy vehicles (HVs) have been tested in a national programme jointly by Transport Certification Australia Limited and the National Transport Commission. The tests were for, amongst other parameters, accuracy and tamper-evidence. The latter by deliberately tampering with the signals from OBM primary transducers during the tests. The OBM feasibility team is analysing dynamic data recorded at the primary transducers of OBM systems to determine if it can be used to detect tamper events. Tamper-evidence of current OBM systems needs to be determined if jurisdictions are to have confidence in specifying OBM for HVs as part of regulatory schemes. An algorithm has been developed to detect tamper events. The results of its application are detailed here.

On-board mass monitoring of heavy vehicles : results of testing program

The Transport Certification Australia on-board mass feasibility project is testing various on-board mass devices in a range of heavy vehicles (HVs). Extensive field tests of on-board mass measurement systems for HVs have been conducted during 2008. These tests were of accuracy, robustness and tamper-evidence of heavy vehicle on-board mass telematics. All the systems tested showed accuracies within approximately +/- 500 kg of gross combination mass or approximately +/- 2% of the attendant weighbridge reading. Analysis of the dynamic data also showed encouraging results and has raised the possibility of use of such dynamic information in tamper evidence in two areas. This analysis was to determine if the use of averaged dynamic data could identify potential tampering or incorrect operating procedures as well as the possibility of dynamic measurements flagging a tamper event by the use of metrics including a tampering index (TIX). Technical and business options to detect tamper events will now be developed during implementation of regulatory OBM system application to Australian heavy vehicles (HVs).

A regulatory on-board mass monitoring application for heavy vehicles in Australia

This paper reports on the development of specifications for an on-board mass monitoring (OBM) application for regulatory requirements in Australia. An earlier paper reported on feasibility study and pilot testing program prior to the specification development [1]. Learnings from the pilot were used to refine this testing process and a full scale testing program was conducted from July to October 2008. The results from the full scale test and evidentiary implications are presented in this report. The draft specification for an evidentiary on-board mass monitoring application is currently under development.