The Brisbane Northbank Urban Film Studio : screening of shortlisted films

Research Statement: In this research project film groups of 4-5 students under my direction produced a 3-5 minute urban film that explored the Brisbane Northbank, and which would become the basis for an urban proposal and design of a small film studio for independent filmmakers in the site. The theoretical premise was that a film studio does not simply produce movies, it creates urban effects all around it and acts as a vortex of cultural activity and social life. For this modest facility where the cinema goes out into the street, the city itself becomes the studio. Students were called to observe the historical problematics of technique, image and effect that arise in the cinema, and to apply these to their own urban-film practice. A panel of judges working in film and architecture shortlisted the 12 best films in 2010 and a major public film screening event took place at the Tribal Cinema. The Shortlisted films today form a permanent "exhibit" in YouTube. The research project was funded by the Queensland University of Technology, School of Design and received accolades from film faculty in the Creative Industries Faculty. The diverse body of work that emanated from the screening contributed a unique analysis of the Northbank to Brisbane.

Nutrition screening and assessment in Parkinson's disease : a comparison of methods

Background & Aims Nutrition screening and assessment enable early identification of malnourished people and those at risk of malnutrition. Appropriate assessment tools assist with informing and monitoring nutrition interventions. Tool choice needs to be appropriate to the population and setting. Methods Community-dwelling people with Parkinson’s disease (>18 years) were recruited. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from weight and height. Participants were classified as underweight according to World Health Organisation (WHO) (≤18.5kg/m2) and age specific (<65 years,≤18.5kg/m2; ≥65 years,≤23.5kg/m2) cut-offs. The Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) screening (MNA-SF) and total assessment scores were calculated. The Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), including the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), was performed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and weighted kappa statistic of each of the above compared to SGA were determined. Results Median age of the 125 participants was 70.0(35-92) years. Age-specific BMI (Sn 68.4%, Sp 84.0%) performed better than WHO (Sn 15.8%, Sp 99.1%) categories. MNA-SF performed better (Sn 94.7%, Sp 78.3%) than both BMI categorisations for screening purposes. MNA had higher specificity but lower sensitivity than PG-SGA (MNA Sn 84.2%, Sp 87.7%; PG-SGA Sn 100.0%, Sp 69.8%). Conclusions BMI lacks sensitivity to identify malnourished people with Parkinson’s disease and should be used with caution. The MNA-SF may be a better screening tool in people with Parkinson’s disease. The PG-SGA performed well and may assist with informing and monitoring nutrition interventions. Further research should be conducted to validate screening and assessment tools in Parkinson’s disease.  

Underlying beliefs influencing Vietnamese nurses and doctors in screening for victims of domestic violence: An exploratory study

Many health professionals in Vietnam have limited knowledge and experience in coordinating care for victims of Domestic Violence (DV). This qualitative study aimed to elicit the beliefs of nurses and doctors that are influencing the care of victims of DV. Data were collected by semistructured interviews with nineteen nurses and doctors. Data were analyzed by content analysis and organized by three main themes; behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs and control beliefs. The outcomes of this study will inform the development of intervention strategies that will enable health professionals to better respond to and manage care for women who experience domestic violence in Vietnam.

Challenges of recruiting hospice patients with advanced cancer to research : reflections on a delirium screening study

Introduction Delirium research in palliative care, particularly in the dying phase, is possible but is frequently met with ethical and methodological challenges. This paper describes the challenges faced in a previous delirium screening study. Methods Within 72 hours of admission to an acute inpatient specialist palliative care unit one hundred consecutive patients over 18 years of age with advanced cancer were invited to be screened for delirium using validated screening tools. Results Of the 100 consecutive admissions 49 patients were unable to participate including seven who did not meet the inclusion criteria and nine (six families and three patients) who withheld consent. The remaining 33 patients were more unwell and closer to death than those who were recruited. Reasons for non- participation included being too unwell (ten), unresponsive (nine), died (two) or discharged (three) before recruitment and exceeding the 72hour time limit (nine). Conclusion Gate keeping and physical condition of patients were the main obstacles to recruitment and is consistent with barriers faced in previous studies involving palliative care and dying patients. While it is possible and necessary to conduct studies in palliative care, including the terminal phase, as reflective practitioners we must maintain the balance between the demands for evidence-based practice and our compassion and respect for our most vulnerable of patients.

A novel, automated nutrition screening system as a predictor of nutritional risk in an oncology day treatment unit (ODTU)

Purpose Paper-based nutrition screening tools can be challenging to implement in the ambulatory oncology setting. The aim of this study was to determine the validity of the Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) and a novel, automated nutrition screening system compared to a ‘gold standard’ full nutrition assessment using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). Methods An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in an outpatient oncology day treatment unit (ODTU) within an Australian tertiary health service. Eligibility criteria were as follows: ≥18 years, receiving outpatient anticancer treatment and English literate. Patients self-administered the MST. A dietitian assessed nutritional status using the PGSGA, blinded to the MST score. Automated screening system data were extracted from an electronic oncology prescribing system. This system used weight loss over 3 to 6 weeks prior to the most recent weight record or age-categorised body mass index (BMI) to identify nutritional risk. Sensitivity and specificity against PG-SGA (malnutrition) were calculated using contingency tables and receiver operating curves. Results There were a total of 300 oncology outpatients (51.7 % male, 58.6±13.3 years). The area under the curve (AUC) for weight loss alone was 0.69 with a cut-off value of ≥1 % weight loss yielding 63 % sensitivity and 76.7 % specificity. MST (score ≥2) resulted in 70.6 % sensitivity and 69.5 % specificity, AUC 0.77. Conclusions Both the MST and the automated method fell short of the accepted professional standard for sensitivity (~≥80 %) derived from the PG-SGA. Further investigation into other automated nutrition screening options and the most appropriate parameters available electronically is warranted to support targeted service provision.

Knowledge transfer through dual degree programs : perspectives from Indonesian universities

The thesis provides an Indonesian perspective into the rationales and outcomes of cooperation between Indonesian and Australian universities. It demonstrates that Indonesian universities participating in this study have actively pursued their institutional agenda to bring benefits from the cooperation with the international partners and engaged in knowledge transfer with these partners to develop their capacity. It particularly investigates the knowledge transfer processes between Indonesian and Australian universities through dual degree program partnerships.

Security metrics for Java bytecode programs

Although there are many approaches for developing secure programs, they are not necessarily helpful for evaluating the security of a pre-existing program. Software metrics promise an easy way of comparing the relative security of two programs or assessing the security impact of modifications to an existing one. Most studies in this area focus on high level source code but this approach fails to take compiler-specific code generation into account. In this work we describe a set of object-oriented Java bytecode security metrics which are capable of assessing the security of a compiled program from the point of view of potential information flow. These metrics can be used to compare the security of programs or assess the effect of program modifications on security using a tool which we have developed to automatically measure the security of a given Java bytecode program in terms of the accessibility of distinguished ‘classified’ attributes.

Psychological screening and injury among elite athletes

The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of the psychological component of the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) Health Screening Questionnaire in screening for injury/illness characteristics among elite athletes. In total, 793 scholarship athletes (409 females and 384 males) ranging in age from 11 to 41 years (M = 19, SD = 4.4) across 20 sports at the QAS in Brisbane, Australia, completed the QAS Health Screening Questionnaire. Psychological risk factors examined were life stress and mood, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale - 10 (PSS-10) and the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) respectively, in addition to disordered eating behaviours and history of diagnosed psychological disorders. Medical risk factors examined included asthma and back pain. Single-factor MANOVAs showed multivaritate effects for injury, second injury, back pain, asthma, anxiety disorder diagnosis, and fasting. Discriminant function analyses demonstrated that life stress and mood scores had significant utility in correctly classifying injury and second injury status, asthma, back pain, anxiety, and eating disorder diagnosis, in addition to the use of fasting and vomiting as weight control methods. The present findings suggest that the psychology component of the QAS Health Screening Questionnaire demonstrates significant utility as a screening tool regarding injury/illness characteristics among elite athletes.

The importance of understanding student learning styles in accounting degree programs

Accounting education is critical and any improvements in tertiary education of accounting students should result in better prepared graduates entering the profession. This study evaluates accounting students’ learning styles and the interaction of learning styles and teaching methodologies during degree programmes. Nine classes of accounting students (648 students) spread across four years and two degree programmes were evaluated. Students self-evaluated their learning style, pre-instruction. They were then subject to two separate teaching techniques (one active and one passive) in each course. Learning styles were then re-assessed and teaching techniques evaluated. Accounting students displayed a preference for passive learning, even those far advanced in their degrees. Furthermore, when learning styles matched teaching methods used, usefulness was assessed as high but when learning styles and teaching methods differed, usefulness deteriorated. Overall, the teaching methods were deemed more effective by active rather than passive learners. The implications are significant. To maximise educational benefit for the accounting profession, student learning styles should be assessed before designing appropriate teaching methodologies. This has resource implications which would have to be considered.

Improving the performance of nutrition screening through a series of quality improvement initiatives

Background Nutrition screening identifies patients at risk of malnutrition to facilitate early nutritional intervention. Studies have reported incompletion and error rates of 30-90% for a range of commonly used screening tools. This study aims to investigate the incompletion and error rates of 3-Minute Nutrition Screening (3-MinNS) and the effect of quality improvement initiatives in improving the overall performance of the screening tool and the referral process for at risk patients. Methods Annual audits were carried out from 2008-2013 on 4467 patients. Value Stream Mapping, Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and Root Cause Analysis were used in this study to identify gaps and determine the best intervention. The intervention included 1) implementing a nutrition screening protocol, 2) nutrition screening training, 3) nurse empowerment for online dietetics referral of at-risk cases, 4) closed-loop feedback system and 5) removing a component of 3-MinNS that caused the most error without compromising its sensitivity and specificity. Results Nutrition screening error rates were 33% and 31%, with 5% and 8% blank or missing forms, in 2008 and 2009 respectively. For patients at risk of malnutrition, referral to dietetics took up to 7.5 days, with 10% not referred at all. After intervention, the latter decreased to 7% (2010), 4% (2011) and 3% (2012 and 2013), and the mean turnaround time from screening to referral was reduced significantly from 4.3 ± 1.8 days to 0.3 ± 0.4 days (p < 0.001). Error rates were reduced to 25% (2010), 15% (2011), 7% (2012) and 5% (2013) and percentage of blank or missing forms reduced to and remained at 1%. Conclusion Quality improvement initiatives are effective in reducing the incompletion and error rates of nutrition screening, and led to sustainable improvements in the referral process of patients at nutritional risk.

Psychological symptoms : a review of screening practices for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD)

Background/Aims: Coronary heart disease (CHD) and coronary events have been strongly linked to psychological symptoms in patients during hospitalisation and post-discharge. Within Australia CHD average length of stay is decreasing and symptoms often do not present until discharge. Early screening and treatment of psychological symptoms has been recommended to reduce mortality and identify anxiety and depression. This literature review was undertaken to evaluate and describe current screening practices to identify psychological symptoms in these patients.

Teacher understandings of orientation and transition programs from action research in five schools

Discontinuity between prior-to-school and school sectors in Australia reflects an historical, philosophical and pedagogical schism. This is most evident as children transition from one sector to the other. However, contemporary international research, alongside an intensive focus on policy and practice in early years education has challenged many of the taken-for-granted assumptions that perpetuate this rift. Drawing on data collected in a recent action research project, we present evidence of how a group of primary school kindergarten teachers define differences between orientation and transition programs, understand the importance of transition and how they position themselves in this process. The absence of Australian policy mandating and guiding the work of teachers across sectors is a significant factor perpetuating discontinuity in transition practices between prior–to-school and school sectors.

Research Data Management Update on National Programs: New infrastructure and opportunities

Presentation by Dr Joe Young, ITS-HPC and Research Support, Managing your research data seminar, 2012

Identification of broad specificity P450CAM variants by primary screening against indole as substrate

High-throughput screening of cytochrome P450CAM libraries, for their ability to oxidise indole to indigo and indirubin, has resulted in the identification of variants with activity towards the structurally unrelated substrate diphenylmethane.

Rapid identification of cytochrome P450cam variants by in vivo screening of active site libraries

The selection of cytochrome P450 enzymes from large variant libraries, and the subsequent use of these enzymes in preparative scale biotransformations, remains a formidable challenge due to the complexities of the associated electron transport systems. Here, a powerful approach for the generation and screening of P450cam libraries for new function is presented that is both flexible and robust. A targeted library was generated wherein only the P450cam active-site amino acids Y96 and F98 were fully randomized and biotransformations, using a novel P450cam whole-cell system, were screened by GC–MS for the hydroxylation of diphenylmethane. One in 50 of the reactions screened, including 16 different variants, produced 4-hydroxydiphenylmethane with up to 92% conversion observed in the case of the Y96A variant. These results demonstrate a primary example of the screening of P450cam libraries in a format that is compatible with extension to preparative scale reactions.