Victoria's Child FIRST and IFS differential response system : progress and issues

Differential response has long been utilized by statutory child protection systems in Australia. This article describes the advent and history of Victoria's differential response system, with a particular focus on the Child FIRST and IFS programme. This program entails a partnership arrangement between the Department of Human Services child protection services and community-based, not-for-profit agencies to provide a diverse range of early intervention and prevention services. The findings of a recent external service system evaluation, a judicial inquiry, and the large-scale Child and Family Services Outcomes Survey of parents/carers perspectives of their service experiences are used to critically examine the effectiveness of this differential response approach. Service-user perspectives of the health and wellbeing of children and families are identified, as well as the recognized implementation issues posing significant challenges for the goal of an integrated partnership system. The need for ongoing reform agendas is highlighted along with the policy, program and structural tensions that exist in differential response systems, which are reliant upon partnerships and shared responsibilities for protecting children and assisting vulnerable families. Suggestions are made for utilizing robust research and evaluation that gives voice to service users and promotes their rights and interests.

The importance of the Deutsche Luxfer Prismen Syndikat, the Victoria regia lily and Gothic imitation in the design of Bruno Taut's Glashaus

Bruno Taut's Glashaus is considered a seminal example of early modernist architecture. Yet, some of the crucial factors behind the design of the Glashaus remain little understood. This PhD reveals that the Glashaus' patron, Frederick Keppler, exerted a significant influence over its design by insisting that it follow a prescriptive brief. Interpreting these rigid instructions, Taut as the architect, gained inspiration from the myths and symbols associated with the Victoria regia lily and the Gothic. This PhD therefore significantly expands the understanding of the Glashaus, and thus reinvigorates our comprehension of one of the most distinctive early examples of modern architecture.

Inside the ‘Hurt Locker’: The combined effects of explosive ordnance disposal and chemical protective clothing on physiological tolerance time in extreme environments

Background Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians are often required to wear specialised clothing combinations that not only protect against the risk of explosion but also potential chemical contamination. This heavy (>35kg) and encapsulating ensemble is likely to increase physiological strain by increasing metabolic heat production and impairing heat dissipation. This study investigated the physiological tolerance times of two different chemical protective undergarments, commonly worn with EOD personal protective clothing, in a range of simulated environmental extremes and work intensities Methods Seven males performed eighteen trials wearing two ensembles. The trials involved walking on a treadmill at 2.5, 4 and 5.5 km.h-1 at each of the following environmental conditions, 21, 30 and 37°C wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). The trials were ceased if the participants’ core temperature reached 39°C, if heart rate exceeded 90% of maximum, if walking time reached 60 minutes or due to volitional fatigue. Results Physiological tolerance times ranged from 8 to 60 min and the duration (mean difference: 2.78 min, P>0.05) were similar in both ensembles. A significant effect for environment (21>30>37°C WBGT, P<0.05) and work intensity (2.5>4>5.5 km.h-1, P< 0.05) was observed in tolerance time. The majority of trials across both ensembles (101/126; 80.1%) were terminated due to participants achieving a heart rate equivalent to greater than 90% of their maximum. Conclusions Physiological tolerance times wearing these two chemical protective undergarments, worn underneath EOD personal protective clothing, were similar and predominantly limited by cardiovascular strain.

Can perceptual indices estimate physiological strain across a range of environments and metabolic workloads when wearing explosive ordnance disposal and chemical protective clothing?

Objective Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) often requires technicians to wear multiple protective garments in challenging environmental conditions. The accumulative effect of increased metabolic cost coupled with decreased heat dissipation associated with these garments predisposes technicians to high levels of physiological strain. It has been proposed that a perceptual strain index (PeSI) using subjective ratings of thermal sensation and perceived exertion as surrogate measures of core body temperature and heart rate, may provide an accurate estimation of physiological strain. Therefore, this study aimed to determine if the PeSI could estimate the physiological strain index (PSI) across a range of metabolic workloads and environments while wearing heavy EOD and chemical protective clothing. Methods Eleven healthy males wore an EOD and chemical protective ensemble while walking on a treadmill at 2.5, 4 and 5.5 km·h− 1 at 1% grade in environmental conditions equivalent to wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) 21, 30 and 37 °C. WBGT conditions were randomly presented and a maximum of three randomised treadmill walking trials were completed in a single testing day. Trials were ceased at a maximum of 60-min or until the attainment of termination criteria. A Pearson's correlation coefficient, mixed linear model, absolute agreement and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the relationship between the PeSI and PSI. Results A significant moderate relationship between the PeSI and the PSI was observed [r = 0.77; p < 0.001; mean difference = 0.8 ± 1.1 a.u. (modified 95% limits of agreement − 1.3 to 3.0)]. The ROC curves indicated that the PeSI had a good predictive power when used with two, single-threshold cut-offs to differentiate between low and high levels of physiological strain (area under curve: PSI three cut-off = 0.936 and seven cut-off = 0.841). Conclusions These findings support the use of the PeSI for monitoring physiological strain while wearing EOD and chemical protective clothing. However, future research is needed to confirm the validity of the PeSI for active EOD technicians operating in the field.

Eruption centres of the Hamilton area of the Newer Volcanics Province, Victoria, Australia: Pinpointing volcanoes from a multifaceted approach to landform mapping

Volcanic eruption centres of the mostly 4.5 Ma-5000 BP Newer Volcanics Province in the Hamilton area of southeastern Australia were examined in detail using a multifaceted approach, including ground truthing and analysis of ArcGIS Total Magnetic Intensity and seamless geology data, NASA Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) digital elevation models and Google Earth satellite image interpretation. Sixteen eruption centres were recognised in the Hamilton area, including three previously unrecorded volcanoes-one of which, the Cas Maar, constitutes the northernmost maar-cone volcanic complex in the Western Plains subprovince. Seven previously allocated eruption centres were placed into question based on field and laboratory observations. Three phases of volcanic activity have been suggested by other authors and are interpreted to correlate with ages of >4 Ma, ca 2 Ma and <0.5 Ma, which may be further subdivided based on preservation of outcrop. Geochemical compositions of the dominantly basaltic products become increasingly alkaline and enriched in incompatible elements from Phases 1 to 2, with Phase 3 eruptions both covering the entire geochemical range and extending into increasingly enriched compositions. This research highlights the importance of a multifaceted approach to landform mapping and demonstrates that additional volcanic centres may yet be discovered in the Newer Volcanics Province

Victoria erupts: The Newer Volcanics Province of south-eastern Australia

The Newer Volcanics Province of south-eastern Australia is often overlooked, though it comprises a multitude of volcanic features worthy of exploration. The province contains > 416 eruption centres varying in nature from simple to complex, ranging from lava shields and scoria cones to some of the largest maar volcanoes in the world. Explorable caves and lava tubes showcase well-preserved lava flow features, while the province is a fossickers dream, containing abundant mantle xenolith and megacryst collecting localities. As the most recent eruption was ~5000 bp at Mt. Gambier, the Newer Volcanics is considered an active province, and may yet provide Australia with more eruptions, adding to the glorious volcanic features of the wonderful landscape.

Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's Early History. Volume 3: Covert 'Professionalism': The Power of the Wealthy Clubs 1886 to 1890

This volume continues the story of football in Marvellous Melbourne during the 1880s. At this time the VFA continued to expand as Melbourne’s boom continued apace. In 1886 Port Melbourne, Prahran, St Kilda, Footscray and South Williamstown joined the competition, and the Ballarat clubs Ballarat, Ballarat Imperial and South Ballarat were also contending for the VFA premiership. In 1886 matches were divided into four quarters, goal umpires waved two flags to announce a goal, and time clocks and bells were employed to mark the end of quarters. Victoria also played inter-colonial matches against New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia. VFA secretary T.S. Marshall was at the forefront of fighting the game’s turn towards professionalism, but although it was illegal to pay players, the practice continued. The period 1886 to 1890 also set the stage for the eventual formation of the Victorian Football League, for by the end of the 1880s the Victorian Football Association had become in effect a two-tier competition. The most popular clubs in the VFA, South Melbourne, Geelong, Carlton and Essendon collected the lion’s share of the gate money, which they used to build their wealth and entrench their position as the dominant Victorian teams. The lower tier clubs had to make do with paltry gate money and season fixtures that advantaged the strong clubs. In these fixtures the strong clubs elected to play each other first to increase their gate money, and only deemed to play the poorer clubs at the start of the season. This led to an increasing divide between the VFA’s rich and poor, and by 1890 South Williamstown and Prahran merged with Williamstown and St Kilda respectively, University dropped out of senior ranks, and the Ballarat clubs were excluded from competing for the VFA premiership, which left 12 senior clubs until Collingwood’s emergence in 1892. At this time, no team was as powerful as South Melbourne, which experienced the greatest success in the club’s VFA and VFL history when it collected triple premiership crowns in 1888, 1889, and 1890. South Melbourne was a most ambitious club and spearheaded the move towards professionalism, although this could not be made public. The fine teams it produced at this time contained some of the greatest players of the era, such as Peter Burns, “Sonny” Elms and “Dinny” McKay, and it looked after players with health insurance, jobs, inter-colonial trips, and other incentives. Geelong’s premiership in 1886 was perhaps its greatest triumph, but this success was followed by a premiership drought that would last for 39 years. Carlton remained one of Victorian football’s power clubs, and after securing the premiership in 1887 continued to compete for top honours. As always, the game became ever more popular and world record crowds of over 30,000 attended matches between South Melbourne, Carlton, Geelong and Essendon.

Degradability of creatinine under sewer conditions affects its potential to be used as biomarker in sewage epidemiology

Creatinine was proposed to be used as a population normalising factor in sewage epidemiology but its stability in the sewer system has not been assessed. This study thus aimed to evaluate the fate of creatinine under different sewer conditions using laboratory sewer reactors. The results showed that while creatinine was stable in wastewater only, it degraded quickly in reactors with the presence of sewer biofilms. The degradation followed first order kinetics with significantly higher rate in rising main condition than in gravity sewer condition. Additionally, daily loads of creatinine were determined in wastewater samples collected on Census day from 10 wastewater treatment plants around Australia. The measured loads of creatinine from those samples were much lower than expected and did not correlate with the populations across the sampled treatment plants. The results suggested that creatinine may not be a suitable biomarker for population normalisation purpose in sewage epidemiology, especially in sewer catchment with high percentage of rising mains.

The impact of safety measures on the re-offence and crash rates of drink-driving offenders in Victoria

Alcohol is a major factor in road deaths and serious injuries. In Victoria, between 2008 and 2013, 30% of drivers killed were involved in alcohol-related crashes. From the early 1980s Victoria progressively introduced a series of measures, such as driver licence cancellation and alcohol interlocks, to reduce the level of drink-driving on Victoria's roads. This project tracked drink-driving offenders to measure and understand their re-offence and road trauma involvement levels during and after periods of licensing and driving interventions. The methodology controlled for exposure by aggregating crashes and traffic violations within relevant categories (e.g. licence cancelled/relicensed/relicensing not sought) and calculated as rates 'per thousand person-years'. Inferential statistical techniques were used to compare crash and offence rates between control and treatment groups across three distinct time periods, which coincided with the introduction of new interventions. This paper focuses on the extent to which the Victorian drink-driving measures have been successful in reducing re-offending and road trauma involvement during and after periods of licence interventions. It was found that a licence cancellation/ban is an effective drink-driving countermeasure as it reduced drink-driving offending and drink-driving crashes. Interlocks also had a positive effect on drink-driving offences as they were reduced during the interlock period as well as for the entire intervention period. Possible drink-driving policy implications are briefly discussed.

Role of Protozoa in the Aerobic Purification of Sewage

DURING recent years, there has been increasing amount of evidence regarding the importance of protozoa in the aerobic purification of sewage1–4 and, more recently, some quantitative observations on protozoa in determining the condition of sludge and quality of effluent have been recorded5–10. The evidence so far obtained has, however, been only indirect, chiefly owing to the difficulty in separating the protozoa from the associated bacteria. This has now been achieved and the object of this note is to show that the isolated protozoa can bring about practically all the changes associated with the purification. The part played by the bacteria is almost negligible.

Ways and Means for Disposal of Surplus Water in Storage Reservoirs and other Irrigation and Flood Protective Works

In the paper new way of classifying spillways have been suggested. The various types, merits and demerits or existing spillway devices have been discussed. The considerations governing the choice of a design of a spillway have been mention. A criteria for working out the economics of spillway design has been suggested. An efficient surplus sing device has next been described and compared with other devices. In conclusion it has been suggested that the most efficient and at the same time economical arrangement will be a combination of devices. In conclusion it has been suggested will be a combination of crest gate, volute siphons and high head gates. The appendix gives a list of devices used in dams in various parts of the world.

Studio portrait of Isaac Finkel and his wife Victoria Isaacovna Finkel nee Nemirovska Portraits Couples

Parents of Sonia Barosin nee Finkel

Portrait of Victoria Isaacovna Finkel nee Nemirovska shortly after fleeing Russia and arriving in Romania Portraits Women

Mother of Sonia Barosin nee Finkel

Portrait of Victoria Isaacovna Finkel nee Nemirovska Portraits Women

Mother of Sonia Barosin nee Finkel