Impact of passenger group dynamics on an airport evacuation process using an agent-based model

The safety of passengers is a major concern to airports. In the event of crises, having an effective and efficient evacuation process in place can significantly aid in enhancing passenger safety. Hence, it is necessary for airport operators to have an in-depth understanding of the evacuation process of their airport terminal. Although evacuation models have been used in studying pedestrian behaviour for decades, little research has been done in considering the evacuees’ group dynamics and the complexity of the environment. In this paper, an agent-based model is presented to simulate passenger evacuation process. Different exits were allocated to passengers based on their location and security level. The simulation results show that the evacuation time can be influenced by passenger group dynamics. This model also provides a convenient way to design airport evacuation strategy and examine its efficiency. The model was created using AnyLogic software and its parameters were initialised using recent research data published in the literature.

The impact of OCR accuracy on automated cancer classification of pathology reports

Objective To evaluate the effects of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on the automatic cancer classification of pathology reports. Method Scanned images of pathology reports were converted to electronic free-text using a commercial OCR system. A state-of-the-art cancer classification system, the Medical Text Extraction (MEDTEX) system, was used to automatically classify the OCR reports. Classifications produced by MEDTEX on the OCR versions of the reports were compared with the classification from a human amended version of the OCR reports. Results The employed OCR system was found to recognise scanned pathology reports with up to 99.12% character accuracy and up to 98.95% word accuracy. Errors in the OCR processing were found to minimally impact on the automatic classification of scanned pathology reports into notifiable groups. However, the impact of OCR errors is not negligible when considering the extraction of cancer notification items, such as primary site, histological type, etc. Conclusions The automatic cancer classification system used in this work, MEDTEX, has proven to be robust to errors produced by the acquisition of freetext pathology reports from scanned images through OCR software. However, issues emerge when considering the extraction of cancer notification items.

Impact of ambient temperature on children's health : a systematic review

Children are vulnerable to temperature extremes. This paper aimed to review the literature regarding the relationship between ambient temperature and children’s health and to propose future research directions. A literature search was conducted in February 2012 using the databases including PubMed, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Web of Science. Empirical studies regarding the impact of ambient temperature on children’s mortality and morbidity were included. The existing literature indicates that very young children, especially children under one year of age, are particularly vulnerable to heat-related deaths. Hot and cold temperatures mainly affect cases of infectious diseases among children, including gastrointestinal diseases, malaria, hand, foot and mouse disease, and respiratory diseases. Paediatric allergic diseases, like eczema, are also sensitive to temperature extremes. During heat waves, the incidences of renal disease, fever and electrolyte imbalance among children increase significantly. Future research is needed to examine the balance between hot- and cold-temperature related mortality and morbidity among children; evaluate the impacts of cold spells on cause-specific mortality in children; identify the most sensitive temperature exposure and health outcomes to quantify the impact of temperature extremes on children; elucidate the possible modifiers of the temperature and children’s health relationship; and project children’s disease burden under different climate change scenarios.

The impact of funding deadlines on personal workloads, stress and family relationships : a qualitative study of Australian researchers

Objective To examine the impact of applying for funding on personal workloads, stress and family relationships. Design Qualitative study of researchers preparing grant proposals. Setting Web-based survey on applying for the annual National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant scheme. Participants Australian researchers (n=215). Results Almost all agreed that preparing their proposals always took top priority over other work (97%) and personal (87%) commitments. Almost all researchers agreed that they became stressed by the workload (93%) and restricted their holidays during the grant writing season (88%). Most researchers agreed that they submitted proposals because chance is involved in being successful (75%), due to performance requirements at their institution (60%) and pressure from their colleagues to submit proposals (53%). Almost all researchers supported changes to the current processes to submit proposals (95%) and peer review (90%). Most researchers (59%) provided extensive comments on the impact of writing proposals on their work life and home life. Six major work life themes were: (1) top priority; (2) career development; (3) stress at work; (4) benefits at work; (5) time spent at work and (6) pressure from colleagues. Six major home life themes were: (1) restricting family holidays; (2) time spent on work at home; (3) impact on children; (4) stress at home; (5) impact on family and friends and (6) impact on partner. Additional impacts on the mental health and well-being of researchers were identified. Conclusions The process of preparing grant proposals for a single annual deadline is stressful, time consuming and conflicts with family responsibilities. The timing of the funding cycle could be shifted to minimise applicant burden, give Australian researchers more time to work on actual research and to be with their families.

Assessing the immediate and short-term impact of flooding on residential property participant behaviour

The past decade has seen an increase in the number of significant natural disasters that have caused considerable loss of life as well as damage to all property markets in the affected areas. In many cases, these natural disasters have not only caused significant property damage, but in numerous cases, have resulted in the total destruction of the property in the location. With these disasters attracting considerable media attention, the public are more aware of where these affected property markets are, as well as the overall damage to properties that have been damaged or destroyed. This heightened level of awareness has to have an impact on the participants in the property market, whether a developer, vendor seller or investor. To assess this issue, a residential property market that has been affected by a significant natural disaster over the past 2 years has been analysed to determine the overall impact of the disaster on buyer, renter and vendor behaviour, as well as prices in these residential markets. This paper is based on data from the Brisbane flood in January 2011. This natural disaster resulted in loss of life and partial and total devastation of considerable residential property sectors. Data for the research have been based on the residential sales and rental listings for each week of the study period to determine the level of activity in the specific property sectors, and these are also compared to the median house prices for the various suburbs for the same period based on suburbs being either flood affected or flood free. As there are 48 suburbs included in the study, it has been possible to group these suburbs on a socio-economic basis to determine possible differences due to location and value. Data were accessed from realestate.com.au, a free real estate site that provides details of current rental and sales listings on a suburb basis, RP Data a commercial property sales database and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The paper found that sales listings fell immediately after the flood in the affected areas, but there was no corresponding fall or increase in sales listings in the flood-free suburbs. There was a significant decrease in the number of rental listings follow the flood as affected parties sought alternate accommodation. The greatest fall in rental listings was in areas close to the flood-affected suburbs indicating the desire to be close to the flooded property during the repair period.

The impact of corporate governance on private placements in Australia

In private placement transactions, issuing firms sell a block of securities to just a small group of investors at a discounted price. Non-participating shareholders suffer from ownership dilution and lose the opportunity to receive the discount. This thesis provides the first evidence on whether and how corporate governance can protect non-participating shareholders' interests. Results from an examination of 329 private placements issued by the top 250 Australian firms between 2002 and 2009 demonstrate that firms with higher governance quality are more likely to issue a share purchase plan (SPP) along with the private placement, thus providing greater protection to non-participating shareholders' interests.

Defence industry projects : investigating the impact of major project manager attributes on stakeholder relationships and project success

This thesis identifies attributes, skills and behaviours that major project managers require for stakeholder relationships competence and project success within a major project environment. It develops valid and reliable measures of internal and external stakeholder relationships competence, tests a complex conceptual model and explores the effectiveness of the QUT Executive Masters of Complex Project Management and Strategic Procurement in developing major project managers' stakeholder relationships competence. Implications of this thesis are for government and industry in identifying factors associated with major project success, as this will lead to better major project outcomes potentially resulting in time and monetary savings of years and billions of dollars.

The impact of heatwaves on emergency department visits in Brisbane, Australia : a time series study

Introduction The acute health effects of heatwaves in a subtropical climate and their impact on emergency departments (ED) are not well known. The purpose of this study is to examine overt heat-related presentations to EDs associated with heatwaves in Brisbane. Methods Data were obtained for the summer seasons (December to February) from 2000-2012. Heatwave events were defined as two or more successive days with daily maximum temperature >=34[degree sign]C (HWD1) or >=37[degree sign]C (HWD2). Poisson generalised additive model was used to assess the effect of heatwaves on heat-related visits (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 codes T67 and X30; ICD 9 codes 992 and E900.0). Results Overall, 628 cases presented for heat-related illnesses. The presentations significantly increased on heatwave days based on HWD1 (relative risk (RR) = 4.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.8, 6.3) and HWD2 (RR = 18.5, 95% CI: 12.0, 28.4). The RRs in different age groups ranged between 3-9.2 (HWD1) and 7.5-37.5 (HWD2). High acuity visits significantly increased based on HWD1 (RR = 4.7, 95% CI: 2.3, 9.6) and HWD2 (RR = 81.7, 95% CI: 21.5, 310.0). Average length of stay in ED significantly increased by >1 hour (HWD1) and >2 hours (HWD2). Conclusions Heatwaves significantly increase ED visits and workload even in a subtropical climate. The degree of impact is directly related to the extent of temperature increases and varies by socio-demographic characteristics of the patients. Heatwave action plans should be tailored according to the population needs and level of vulnerability. EDs should have plans to increase their surge capacity during heatwaves.

Challenges for implementation of a new model of collaborative design management: Analyzing the impact of human factor

The ineffectiveness of current design processes has been well studied and has resulted in widespread calls for the evolution and development of new management processes. Even following the advent of BIM, we continue to move from one stage to another without necessarily having resolved all the issues. CAD design technology, if well handled, could have significantly raised the level of quality and efficiency of current processes, but in practice this was not fully realized. Therefore, technology alone can´t solve all the problems and the advent of BIM could result in a similar bottleneck. For a precise definition of the problem to be solved we should start by understanding what are the main current bottlenecks that have yet to be overcome by either new technologies or management processes, and the impact of human behaviour-related issues which impact the adoption and utilization of new technologies. The fragmented and dispersed nature of the AEC sector, and the huge number of small organizations that comprise it, are a major limiting factor. Several authors have addressed this issue and more recently IDDS has been defined as the highest level of achievement. However, what is written on IDDS shows an extremely ideal situation on a state to be achieved; it shows a holistic utopian proposition with the intent to create the research agenda to move towards that state. Key to IDDS is the framing of a new management model which should address the problems associated with key aspects: technology, processes, policies and people. One of the primary areas to be further studied is the process of collaborative work and understanding, together with the development of proposals to overcome the many cultural barriers that currently exist and impede the advance of new management methods. The purpose of this paper is to define and delimit problems to be solved so that it is possible to implement a new management model for a collaborative design process.

The impact of viral respiratory infection on the severity and recovery from an asthma exacerbation

Background Viral respiratory illness triggers asthma exacerbations, but the influence of respiratory illness on the acute severity and recovery of childhood asthma is unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of a concurrent acute respiratory illness (based on a clinical definition and PCR detection of a panel of respiratory viruses, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae) on the severity and resolution of symptoms in children with a nonhospitalized exacerbation of asthma. Methods Subjects were children aged 2 to 15 years presenting to an emergency department for an acute asthma exacerbation and not hospitalized. Acute respiratory illness (ARI) was clinically defined. Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) were examined for respiratory viruses, Chlamydia and Mycoplasma using PCR. The primary outcome was quality of life (QOL) on presentation, day 7 and day 14. Secondary outcomes were acute asthma severity score, asthma diary, and cough diary scores on days 5, 7,10, and 14. Results On multivariate regression, presence of ARI was statistically but not clinically significantly associated with QOL score on presentation (B = 0.36, P = 0.025). By day 7 and 14, there was no difference between groups. Asthma diary score was significantly higher in children with ARI (B = 0.41, P = 0.039) on day 5 but not on presentation or subsequent days. Respiratory viruses were detected in 54% of the 78 NPAs obtained. There was no difference in the any of the asthma outcomes of children grouped by positive or negative NPA. Conclusions The presence of a viral respiratory illness has a modest influence on asthma severity, and does not influence recovery from a nonhospitalized asthma exacerbation.

The impact of organisational citizenship behaviour and non-material rewards on dimensions of employee burnout : evidence from the teaching profession

In this chapter, we examine the psychological impact that organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) have on individuals performing them. OCB is discretionary employee behaviour that is not systematically rewarded by employers, but that contributes to overall organisational effectiveness (Organ, 1988). In a sample of schoolteachers, we predicted that performing OCBs would differentially impact two dimensions of psychological burnout -personal accomplishment (PA} and emotional exhaustion (EE). Due to the volitional nature of OCB, there are theoretical reasons to suppose that OCB enhances PA. However, it is also possible that certain OCBs constitute increased workload, thereby contributing to a heightened sense of EE. In addition, given prior research showing that non-material rewards such as praise and recognition, lead to positive employee outcomes, we proposed that praise and recognition would strengthen the relationship between OCB and PA, and weaken the relationship between OCB and EE.

Australia lawyer well-being : workplace demands, resources and the impact of time-billing targets

The purpose of the present study was to examine the types of workplace demands and resources experienced by full-time Australian lawyers, and the prevalence of a range of psychological outcomes. The study further focussed on the impact of time-billing targets on lawyers’ experience of these variables. Participants were 384 full-time Australian lawyers who completed an online questionnaire distributed by their Australian State or Territory Law Society. Analysis revealed that emphasis on profits within the workplace was the highest perceived demand, and the perception of social value in their work was the highest available resource. The results indicated that 37% of participants displayed Moderate to Extremely Severe depressive symptoms, and 35% were a positive screen for hazardous or harmful drinking. A series of three multivariate analyses of variance revealed significant differences between non-billers, low-to-moderate billers and high billers, with high billers experiencing greater demands, fewer resources and poorer psychological outcomes. The practical applications of these results for the legal profession are discussed.

Assessing the property market impact of stigma removal : high voltage overhead transmission lines removal in Wellington, NZ

This thesis advances the understanding of the impact of stigma on property values. A case study in Wellington, New Zealand, enabled hedonic modelling and an empirical analysis to determine the impact of the stigma from the high voltage transmission line structure and how long the stigma remained after removal. The results reveal a substantial difference between the discount applied to individual properties while the structure is in place, as compared to the overall increase in neighbourhood value once the structure, which created the stigma, is removed.

Can the use of quality assurance tools reduce the impact of surgical complications on the well-being of obstetricians and gynaecologists in Australia and New Zealand?

Background While adverse events primarily affect the patient, surgeons involved can also experience considerable distress. Aims The aim of the survey was to assess the impact of complications on the day-to-day life, work and health of Australian and New Zealand obstetricians and gynaecologists and to evaluate existing support systems and coping strategies. Methods A 43-question survey on self-assessment, quality assurance (QA) tools, impact of complications on individuals’ health and relationships, and support available was emailed to fellows, trainees, subspecialists and subspecialty trainees of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RANZCOG). We collected 606 responses from a target population of 2296 (response rate 26.3%). Results When complications occur, sleep was affected of 80%, family and social relationships of 55% and physical health of 48% of respondents. The major sources of support were from colleagues (83%), family (82%) and medical defence organisations (73%), with professional bodies perceived as providing least support. Nearly 80% of respondents felt the need to talk to someone they trust during times of complications. Overall, 100% of respondents used at least one QA tool (62% used two, 26% three and 9% four QA strategies). There were significant differences between respondent groups in use of the QA tools. Conclusions Surgical complications have a significant impact on the well-being of Australian and New Zealand obstetricians and gynaecologists. Existing support comes from colleagues and family, but structured, unbiased support for surgeons from a professional source is urgently warranted.