Debts “incurred” by receivers, administrators and liquidators : the case for a harmonised construction of ss 419, 443A and 556(1)(a) of the Corporations Act

This article analyses the inconsistent approaches taken by courts when interpreting provisions of the Corporations Act which address debts or expenses “incurred” by receivers, administrators and liquidators. The article contends for a consistent construction of these provisions which will enable the legislation to operate (as was intended) for the benefit of persons who supply goods, services or labour to companies in external administration. The article explains how and why debts can be “incurred” by insolvency practitioners continuing on pre-existing contracts. Specifically, the article contends for a construction of ss 419 and 443A of the Corporations Act which renders receivers and administrators personally liable for certain entitlements of employees (eg, wages and superannuation contributions) which become due and payable by reason of the decision of a receiver or administrator to continue a pre-existing contract rather than terminate it.

Inferring kangaroo phylogeny from incongruent nuclear and mitochondrial genes

The marsupial genus Macropus includes three subgenera, the familiar large grazing kangaroos and wallaroos of M. (Macropus) and M. (Osphranter), as well as the smaller mixed grazing/browsing wallabies of M. (Notamacropus). A recent study of five concatenated nuclear genes recommended subsuming the predominantly browsing Wallabia bicolor (swamp wallaby) into Macropus. To further examine this proposal we sequenced partial mitochondrial genomes for kangaroos and wallabies. These sequences strongly favour the morphological placement of W. bicolor as sister to Macropus, although place M. irma (black-gloved wallaby) within M. (Osphranter) rather than as expected, with M. (Notamacropus). Species tree estimation from separately analysed mitochondrial and nuclear genes favours retaining Macropus and Wallabia as separate genera. A simulation study finds that incomplete lineage sorting among nuclear genes is a plausible explanation for incongruence with the mitochondrial placement of W. bicolor, while mitochondrial introgression from a wallaroo into M. irma is the deepest such event identified in marsupials. Similar such coalescent simulations for interpreting gene tree conflicts will increase in both relevance and statistical power as species-level phylogenetics enters the genomic age. Ecological considerations in turn, hint at a role for selection in accelerating the fixation of introgressed or incompletely sorted loci. More generally the inclusion of the mitochondrial sequences substantially enhanced phylogenetic resolution. However, we caution that the evolutionary dynamics that enhance mitochondria as speciation indicators in the presence of incomplete lineage sorting may also render them especially susceptible to introgression.

A distance too far away : a novel and exegesis

This practice-led research examines the generative function of loss in fiction that explores themes of grief and longing. This research considers how loss may be understood as a structuring mechanism through which characters evaluate time, resolve loss and affect future change. The creative work is a work of literary fiction titled A Distance Too Far Away. Aubrey, the story’s protagonist, is a woman in her twenties living in Brisbane in the early 1980s, carving out an independent life for herself away from her family. Through a flashback narrative sequence, told from the perspective of the twelve year narrator, Aubrey retraces a significant point of rupture in her life following a series of family tragedies. A Distance Too Far Away explores the tension between belonging and freedom, and considers how the past provides a malleable space for illuminating desire in order to traverse the gap between the world as it is and the world as we want it to be. The exegetical component of this research considers an alternative critical frame for interpreting the work of American author Anne Tyler, a writer who has had a significant influence on my own practice. Frequently criticised for creating sentimental and inert characters, many critics observe that nothing happens in Tyler’s circular plots. This research challenges these assertions, and through a contextual analysis of Tyler’s Ladder of Years (1995) investigates how Tyler engages with memory and nostalgia in order to move across time and resolve loss.

Verification of patient position and delivery of IMRT by electronic portal imaging

Background and purpose: The purpose of the work presented in this paper was to determine whether patient positioning and delivery errors could be detected using electronic portal images of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Patients and methods: We carried out a series of controlled experiments delivering an IMRT beam to a humanoid phantom using both the dynamic and multiple static field method of delivery. The beams were imaged, the images calibrated to remove the IMRT fluence variation and then compared with calibrated images of the reference beams without any delivery or position errors. The first set of experiments involved translating the position of the phantom both laterally and in a superior/inferior direction a distance of 1, 2, 5 and 10 mm. The phantom was also rotated 1 and 28. For the second set of measurements the phantom position was kept fixed and delivery errors were introduced to the beam. The delivery errors took the form of leaf position and segment intensity errors. Results: The method was able to detect shifts in the phantom position of 1 mm, leaf position errors of 2 mm, and dosimetry errors of 10% on a single segment of a 15 segment IMRT step and shoot delivery (significantly less than 1% of the total dose). Conclusions: The results of this work have shown that the method of imaging the IMRT beam and calibrating the images to remove the intensity modulations could be a useful tool in verifying both the patient position and the delivery of the beam.

China’s new creative strategy : the utilization of cultural soft power and new markets

This book examines different aspects of Asian popular culture, including films, TV, music, comedy, folklore, cultural icons, the Internet and theme parks. It raises important questions such as – What are the implications of popularity of Asian popular culture for globalization? Do regional forces impede the globalizing of cultures? Or does the Asian popular culture flow act as a catalyst or conveying channel for cultural globalization? Does the globalization of culture pose a threat to local culture? It addresses two seemingly contradictory and yet parallel processes in the circulation of Asian popular culture: the interconnectedness between Asian popular culture and western culture in an era of cultural globalization that turns subjects such as Pokémon, Hip Hop or Cosmopolitan into truly global phenomena, and the local derivatives and versions of global culture that are necessarily disconnected from their origins in order to cater for the local market. It thereby presents a collective argument that, whilst local social formations, and patterns of consumption and participation in Asia are still very much dependent on global cultural developments and the phenomena of modernity, yet such dependence is often concretized, reshaped and distorted by the local media to cater for the local market. Contents: Introduction: Asian Popular Culture: The Global (Dis)continuity Anthony Y.H. Fung Part 1: The Dominance of Global Continuity: Cultural Localization and Adaptation 1. One Region, Two Modernities: Disneyland in Tokyo and Hong Kong Micky Lee and Anthony Y.H. Fung 2. Comic Travels: Disney Publishing in the People’s Republic of China Jennifer Altehenger 3. When Chinese Youth Meet Harry Potter: Translating Consumption and Middle Class Identification John Nguyet Erni 4.New Forms of Transborder Visuality in Urban China: Saving Face for Magazine Covers Eric Kit-Wai Ma 5. Cultural Consumption and Masculinity: A Case Study of GQ Magazine Covers in Taiwan Hong-Chi Shiau Part 2: Global Discontinuity: The Local Absorption of Global Culture 6. An Unlocalized and Unglobalized Subculture: English Language Independent Music in Singapore Kai Khiun Liew and Shzr Ee Tan 7. The Localized Production of Jamaican Music in Thailand Viriya Sawangchot 8. Consuming Online Games in Taiwan: Global Games and Local Market Lai-Chi Chen 9. The Rise of the Korean Cinema in Inbound and Outbound Globalization Shin Dong Kim Part 3: Cultural Domestication: A New Form of Global Continuity 10. Pocket Capitalism and Virtual Intimacy: Pokémon as a Symptom of Post-Industrial Youth Culture Anne Allison 11. Playing the Global Game: Japan Brand and Globalization Kukhee Choo Part 4: China as a Rising Market: Cultural Antagonism and Globalization 12. China’s New Creative Strategy: The Utilization of Cultural Soft Power and New Markets Michael Keane and Bonnie Liu 13. Renationalizing Hong Kong Cinema: The Gathering Force of the Mainland Market Michael Curtin

Design and interpretation of cell trajectory assays

Cell trajectory data is often reported in the experimental cell biology literature to distinguish between different types of cell migration. Unfortunately, there is no accepted protocol for designing or interpreting such experiments and this makes it difficult to quantitatively compare different published data sets and to understand how changes in experimental design influence our ability to interpret different experiments. Here, we use an individual based mathematical model to simulate the key features of a cell trajectory experiment. This shows that our ability to correctly interpret trajectory data is extremely sensitive to the geometry and timing of the experiment, the degree of motility bias and the number of experimental replicates. We show that cell trajectory experiments produce data that is most reliable when the experiment is performed in a quasi 1D geometry with a large number of identically{prepared experiments conducted over a relatively short time interval rather than few trajectories recorded over particularly long time intervals.

Landscape meaning and design : a new case study methodology

Understanding the effects of design interventions on the meanings people associate with landscapes is important to critical and ethical practice in landscape architecture. Case study research has become a common way researchers evaluate design interventions and related issues, with a standardised method promoted by the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF). However, the method is somewhat undeveloped for interpreting landscape meanings – something most commonly undertaken as historic landscape studies, but not as studies of design effect. This research proposes a new method for such interpretation, using a case study of Richard Haag’s radical 1971 proposal for a new kind of park on the site of the former Seattle gas works.

Industry policy, finance and the AIDC : Australia from the 1950s to the 1970s

This thesis, conceived within a Marxist framework, addresses key conceptual issues in the writing and theorising on industry policy in post second world- war Australia. Broadly, the thesis challenges the way that industry policy on the left of politics (reflected in the social democratic and Keynesian positions) has been constructed as a practical, progressive policy agenda. Specifically, the thesis poses a direct challenge to the primacy of the ‘national’ in interpreting the history of industry policy. The challenge is to the proposition that conflicts between national industry and international finance arose only from the mid 1980s. On the contrary, as will be seen, this is a 1960s issue and any interpretation of the debates and the agendas surrounding industry policy in the 1980s must be predicated on an understanding of how the issue was played out two decades earlier. As was the case in the 1960s, industry policy in the 1980s has been isolated from two key areas of interrogation: the role of the nation state in regulating accumulation and the role of finance in industry policy. In the 1950s and more so in the 1960s and early 1970s there was a reconfiguration of financing internationally but it is one that did not enter into industry policy analysis. The central concern therefore is to simultaneously sketch the historical political economy on industry policy from the 1950s through to the early 1970s in Australia and to analytically and empirically insert the role of finance into that history. In so doing the thesis addresses the economic and social factors that shaped the approach to industry finance in Australia during this critical period. The analysis is supported by a detailed examination of political and industry debates surrounding the proposal for, and institution of, a key national intervention in the form of the Australian Industry Development Corporation (AIDC).

Frontier Techniques for Measuring and Estimating Airport Efficiency : An Empirical Review with Practical Guidelines for Analysis and Future Research

Airport efficiency is important because it has a direct impact on customer safety and satisfaction and therefore the financial performance and sustainability of airports, airlines, and affiliated service providers. This is especially so in a world characterized by an increasing volume of both domestic and international air travel, price and other forms of competition between rival airports, airport hubs and airlines, and rapid and sometimes unexpected changes in airline routes and carriers. It also reflects expansion in the number of airports handling regional, national, and international traffic and the growth of complementary airport facilities including industrial, commercial, and retail premises. This has fostered a steadily increasing volume of research aimed at modeling and providing best-practice measures and estimates of airport efficiency using mathematical and econometric frontiers. The purpose of this chapter is to review these various methods as they apply to airports throughout the world. Apart from discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches and their key findings, the paper also examines the steps faced by researchers as they move through the modeling process in defining airport inputs and outputs and the purported efficiency drivers. Accordingly, the chapter provides guidance to those conducting empirical research on airport efficiency and serves as an aid for aviation regulators and airport operators among others interpreting airport efficiency research outcomes.

Pitfalls in the use of kappa when interpreting agreement between multiple raters in reliability studies

OBJECTIVE To compare different reliability coefficients (exact agreement, and variations of the kappa (generalised, Cohen's and Prevalence Adjusted and Biased Adjusted (PABAK))) for four physiotherapists conducting visual assessments of scapulae. DESIGN Inter-therapist reliability study. SETTING Research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS 30 individuals with no history of neck or shoulder pain were recruited with no obvious significant postural abnormalities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Ratings of scapular posture were recorded in multiple biomechanical planes under four test conditions (at rest, and while under three isometric conditions) by four physiotherapists. RESULTS The magnitude of discrepancy between the two therapist pairs was 0.04 to 0.76 for Cohen's kappa, and 0.00 to 0.86 for PABAK. In comparison, the generalised kappa provided a score between the two paired kappa coefficients. The difference between mean generalised kappa coefficients and mean Cohen's kappa (0.02) and between mean generalised kappa and PABAK (0.02) were negligible, but the magnitude of difference between the generalised kappa and paired kappa within each plane and condition was substantial; 0.02 to 0.57 for Cohen's kappa and 0.02 to 0.63 for PABAK, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Calculating coefficients for therapist pairs alone may result in inconsistent findings. In contrast, the generalised kappa provided a coefficient close to the mean of the paired kappa coefficients. These findings support an assertion that generalised kappa may lead to a better representation of reliability between three or more raters and that reliability studies only calculating agreement between two raters should be interpreted with caution. However, generalised kappa may mask more extreme cases of agreement (or disagreement) that paired comparisons may reveal.

Error modeling and calibration of exteroceptive sensors for accurate mapping applications

Reliable robotic perception and planning are critical to performing autonomous actions in uncertain, unstructured environments. In field robotic systems, automation is achieved by interpreting exteroceptive sensor information to infer something about the world. This is then mapped to provide a consistent spatial context, so that actions can be planned around the predicted future interaction of the robot and the world. The whole system is as reliable as the weakest link in this chain. In this paper, the term mapping is used broadly to describe the transformation of range-based exteroceptive sensor data (such as LIDAR or stereo vision) to a fixed navigation frame, so that it can be used to form an internal representation of the environment. The coordinate transformation from the sensor frame to the navigation frame is analyzed to produce a spatial error model that captures the dominant geometric and temporal sources of mapping error. This allows the mapping accuracy to be calculated at run time. A generic extrinsic calibration method for exteroceptive range-based sensors is then presented to determine the sensor location and orientation. This allows systematic errors in individual sensors to be minimized, and when multiple sensors are used, it minimizes the systematic contradiction between them to enable reliable multisensor data fusion. The mathematical derivations at the core of this model are not particularly novel or complicated, but the rigorous analysis and application to field robotics seems to be largely absent from the literature to date. The techniques in this paper are simple to implement, and they offer a significant improvement to the accuracy, precision, and integrity of mapped information. Consequently, they should be employed whenever maps are formed from range-based exteroceptive sensor data. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Working together-apart : exploring the relationships between formal and informal care networks for people dying at home

Introduction Informal caring networks contribute significantly to end-of-life (EOL) care in the community. However, to ensure that these networks are sustainable, and unpaid carers are not exploited, primary carers need permission and practical assistance to gather networks together and negotiate the help they need. Our aim in this study was to develop an understanding of how formal and informal carers work together when care is being provided in a dying person's home. We were particularly interested in formal providers’ perceptions and knowledge of informal networks of care and in identifying barriers to the networks working together. Methods Qualitative methods, informed by an interpretive approach, were used. In February-July 2012, 10 focus groups were conducted in urban, regional, and rural Australia comprising 88 participants. Findings Our findings show that formal providers are aware, and supportive, of the vital role informal networks play in the care of the dying at home. A number of barriers to formal and informal networks working together more effectively were identified. In particular, we found that the Australian policy of health-promoting palliative is not substantially translating to practice. Conclusion Combinations of formal and informal caring networks are essential to support people and their primary carers. Formal service providers do little to establish, support, or maintain the informal networks although there is much goodwill and scope for them to do so. Further re-orientation towards a health-promoting palliative care and community capacity building approach is suggested.

Cungellela by William ‘Dura Danje’ Leisha and Shem ‘Curan Danje’ Leisha

Research background: Cungelela is an intercultural music project undertaken in collaboration with William ‘Dura Danje’ Leisha and Shem ‘Curan Danje’ Leisha. The project contributes to cultural maintenance for Australian First Nations peoples, and is informed by prior work in this area by scholars including Peter Dunbar-Hall, Chris Gibson and Karl Neuenfeldt. These existing studies have discussed the complexities of intercultural collaboration, and the types of cultural politics that are involved when Indigenous and non-Indigenous musicians and scholars work together on projects of cultural significance. Critical race theory has also informed the creative work, as a means of interpreting the implicit and explicit discourses of race that arise through intercultural creative practice. The project asked the research question, in what ways can collaborative music making contribute to intercultural understanding and support cultural maintenance for Australian First Nations people affected by the Stolen Generations? Research contribution: This project has identified that collaborative production of recorded popular music can produce shared affective, embodied and transformative forms of knowledge about the impact of the Stolen Generations on Australian First Nations peoples. Research significance: The compact disc was presented by Aunty Anne Leisha as part of an invited presentation at the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium in New Mexico, 2013. The work also formed part of a refereed conference presentation at the 2013 conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music held at the University of Oviedo, Gijon, Spain.

Sharpening our tools – translating research into practice

Providing culturally appropriate health communication tools at a community level, whilst meeting funding objectives set by Government led initiatives, can be challenging. Literature states that a translational research framework fostering community communication can encourage the development of appropriate communication tools to facilitate transfer of health information between community and researchers. Reflections from initial Need for Feed cooking and nutrition education program trials in remote Indigenous communities across Cape York indicated program resources were neither meeting community nor researchers needs. In response, a translational research framework was modelled with collaborative partnerships formed between researchers and community with the aim of modifying current resources. Local working groups were established to facilitate communication and guide continual remodelling and retrial of resources for successive programs. Feedback from working groups indicated community members wanted resources with more pictures and less words. Partnership with Chronic Disease Resources Online (CDRO) led to the development of pictorial resources including 3 evaluation tools, 27 recipe sets and 10 education support materials. Between June to December 2012 resources were trialled across 4 Cape York communities with 69 school aged children and 4 community elders. Qualitative data has indicated high satisfaction with modified pictorial resources, proving pictorial resources to be an effective and culturally appropriate method to both communicate health messages to community and facilitate flow of evaluation data to researchers. A translational research framework fostering communication between community and researchers can potentially enhance the quality of health communication tools.

Radiographer commenting of trauma radiographs : a survey of the benefits, barriers and enablers to participation in an Australian healthcare setting

Introduction Radiographer abnormality detection systems that highlight abnormalities on trauma radiographs (‘red dot’ system) have been operating for more than 30 years. Recently, a number of pitfalls have been identified. These limitations initiated the evolution of a radiographer commenting system, whereby a radiographer provides a brief description of abnormalities identified in emergency healthcare settings. This study investigated radiographers' participation in abnormality detection systems, their perceptions of benefits, barriers and enablers to radiographer commenting, and perceptions of potential radiographer image interpretation services for emergency settings. Methods A cross-sectional survey was implemented. Participants included radiographers from four metropolitan hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Conventional descriptive statistics, histograms and thematic analysis were undertaken. Results Seventy-three surveys were completed and included in the analysis (68% response rate); 30 (41%) of respondents reported participating in abnormality detection in 20% or less of examinations, and 26(36%) reported participating in 80% or more of examinations. Five overarching perceived benefits of radiographer commenting were identified: assisting multidisciplinary teams, patient care, radiographer ability, professional benefits and quality of imaging. Frequently reported perceived barriers included ‘difficulty accessing image interpretation education’, ‘lack of time’ and ‘low confidence in interpreting radiographs’. Perceived enablers included ‘access to image interpretation education’ and ‘support from radiologist colleagues’. Conclusions A range of factors are likely to contribute to the successful implementation of radiographer commenting in addition to abnormality detection in emergency settings. Effective image interpretation education amenable to completion by radiographers would likely prove valuable in preparing radiographers for participation in abnormality detection and commenting systems in emergency settings.