Moral and social development: teachers’ knowledge of children’s learning and teaching strategies in the early years

The intention of the analysis in this paper was to determine, from interviews with 11 early years’ teachers, what informed their knowledge of children’s learning and teaching strategies regarding moral development. Overall, the analysis revealed four main categories: definitions of moral behaviour, understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy for moral learning, and the source of knowledge for moral pedagogy. Children’s learning was attributed by five of the teachers to incidental/contextual issues. Nine of the teachers reported using pedagogies that involved discussion of issues, in various contexts, as a way of teaching about social and moral issues. The majority of the teachers (n = 7) described the source of their knowledge of pedagogy as practical/observed as opposed to being theoretically informed. There was no clear relationship between teachers’ definitions, understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy or source of knowledge. These results suggests a strong need for the teaching of moral development to be given more prominence and addressed directly in in-service courses so that teachers are clear about their intentions and the most effective ways of achieving them.

Resource acquisition and utilisation strategies of intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs

This paper sets out to investigate differences between intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs with regards to their resource utilisation behaviours through social capital and bricolage. In particular we were interested in those entrepreneurs who start their business while still being employed, as it allows us to compare how intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs make use of social capital within their employer. Our findings challenge some existing wisdoms in that it seems intrapreneurs make more use of social capital external to their employer than entrepreneurs, while the use of social capital internal to the company is similar to the use by entrepreneurs. Yet, internal organizational social capital seems to have a positive effect on performance for intrapreneurial efforts only, while external social capital is not related to performance. This suggests both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs may benefit from reconsidering the focus they place on respectively external and internal organizational social capital. Bricolage behaviours were extremely prevalent amongst both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs as well as being the strongest predictor of performance. This strong effect on performance for intrapreneurial ventures may suggest that bricolage behaviours need to be rethought when it comes to intrapreneurs.

Development of novel vaccine strategies to prevent genital tract chlamydial infections

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the developed world and the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. As reported by the World Health Organization in 2001, there are approximately 92 million new infections detected annually, costing health systems billions of dollars to treat not only the acute infection, but also to treat infection-associated sequelae. The majority of genital infections are asymptomatic, with 50-70% going undetected. Genital tract infections can be easily treated with antibiotics when detected. Lack of treatment can lead to the development of pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancies and tubal factor infertility in women and epididymitis and prostatitis in men. With infection rates on the continual rise and the large number of infections going undetected, there is a need to develop an efficacious vaccine which prevents not only infection, but also the development of infection-associated pathology. Before a vaccine can be developed and administered, the pathogenesis of chlamydial infections needs to be fully understood. This includes the kinetics of ascending infection and the effects of inoculating dose on ascension and development of pathology. The first aim in this study was to examine these factors in a murine model. Female BALB/c mice were infected intravaginally with varying doses of C. muridarum, the mouse variant of human C. trachomatis, and the ascension of infection along the reproductive tract and the time-course of infection-associated pathology development, including inflammatory cell infiltration, pyosalpinx and hydrosalpinx, were determined. It was found that while the inoculating dose did affect the rate and degree of infection, it did not affect any of the pathological parameters examined. This highlighted that the sexual transmission dose may have minimal effect on the development of reproductive sequelae. The results of the first section enabled further studies presented here to use an optimal inoculating dose that would ascend the reproductive tract and cause pathology development, so that vaccine efficacy could be determined. There has been a large amount of research into the development of an efficacious vaccine against genital tract chlamydial infections, with little success. However, there have been no studies examining the effects of the timing of vaccination, including the effects of vaccination during an active genital infection, or after clearance of a previous infection. These are important factors that need to be examined, as it is not yet known whether immunization will enhance not only the individual's immune response, but also pathology development. It is also unknown whether any enhancement of the immune responses will cause the Chlamydia to enter a dormant, persistent state, and possibly further enhance any pathology development. The second section of this study aimed to determine if vaccination during an active genital tract infection, or after clearance of a primary infection, enhanced the murine immune responses and whether any enhanced or reduced pathology occurred. Naïve, actively infected, or previously infected animals were immunized intranasally or transcutaneously with the adjuvants cholera toxin and CpG-ODN in combination with either the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of C. muridarum, or MOMP and ribonucleotide reductase small chain protein (NrdB) of C. muridarum. It was found that the systemic immune responses in actively or previously infected mice were altered in comparison to animals immunized naïve with the same combinations, however mucosal antibodies were not enhanced. It was also found that there was no difference in pathology development between any of the groups. This suggests that immunization of individuals who may have an asymptomatic infection, or may have been previously exposed to a genital infection, may not benefit from vaccination in terms of enhanced immune responses against re-exposure. The final section of this study aimed to determine if the vaccination regimes mentioned above caused in vivo persistence of C. muridarum in the upper reproductive tracts of mice. As there has been no characterization of C. muridarum persistence in vitro, either ultrastructurally or via transcriptome analysis, this was the first aim of this section. Once it had been shown that C. muridarum could be induced into a persistent state, the gene transcriptional profiles of the selected persistent marker genes were used to determine if persistent infections were indeed present in the upper reproductive tracts of the mice. We found that intranasal immunization during an active infection induced persistent infections in the oviducts, but not the uterine horns, and that intranasal immunization after clearance of infection, caused persistent infections in both the uterine horns and the oviducts of the mice. This is a significant finding, not only because it is the first time that C. muridarum persistence has been characterized in vitro, but also due to the fact that there is minimal characterization of in vivo persistence of any chlamydial species. It is possible that the induction of persistent infections in the reproductive tract might enhance the development of pathology and thereby enhance the risk of infertility, factors that need to be prevented by vaccination, not enhanced. Overall, this study has shown that the inoculating dose does not affect pathology development in the female reproductive tract of infected mice, but does alter the degree and rate of ascending infection. It has also been shown that intranasal immunization during an active genital infection, or after clearance of one, induces persistent infections in the uterine horns and oviducts of mice. This suggests that potential vaccine candidates will need to have these factors closely examined before progressing to clinical trials. This is significant, because if the same situation occurs in humans, a vaccine administered to an asymptomatic, or previously exposed individual may not afford any extra protection and may in fact enhance the risk of development of infection-associated sequelae. This suggests that a vaccine may serve the community better if administered before the commencement of sexual activity.

A superdirective 3-element array for adaptive beamforming

A small array composed of three monopole elements with very small element spacing on the order of λ/6 to λ/20 is considered for application in adaptive beamforming. The properties of this 3-port array are governed by strong mutual coupling. It is shown that for signal-to-noise maximization, it is not sufficient to adjust the weights to compensate for the effects of mutual coupling. The necessity for a RF-decoupling network (RF-DN) and its simple realization are shown. The array with closely spaced elements together with the RF-DN represents a superdirective antenna with a directivity of more than 10 dBi. It is shown that the required fractional frequency bandwidth and the available unloaded Q of the antenna and RF-DN structure determine the lower limit for the element spacing.

Performance evaluation of eight contemporary passive solar homes in subtropical Australia

Subtropical south-east Queensland’s expanding population is expected to lead to a demand for an additional 754,000 dwellings by 2031. A legacy of poor housing design, minimal building regulations, an absence of building performance evaluation and various social and market factors has lead to a high and growing penetration of, and reliance on, air conditioners to provide comfort in this relatively benign climate. This reliance impacts on policy goals to adapt to and mitigate against global warming, electricity infrastructure investment and household resilience. Based on the concept of bioclimatic design, this field study scrutinizes eight non-air conditioned homes to develop a deeper understanding of the role of contemporary passive solar architecture in the delivery of thermally comfortable and resilient homes in the subtropics. These homes were found to provide inhabitants with an acceptable level of thermal comfort (18-28oC) for 77 – 97% of the year. Family expectations and experiences of comfort, and the various design strategies utilized were compared against the measured performance outcomes. This comparison revealed issues that limited quantification and implementation of design intent and highlighted factors that constrained system optimisation.

Organizational rhetoric in the prospectuses of elite private schools: unpacking strategies of persuasion

The way in which private schools use rhetoric in their communications offers important insights into how these organizational sites persuade audiences and leverage marketplace advantage in the context of contemporary educational platforms. Through systemic analysis of rhetorical strategies employed in 65 ‘elite’ school prospectuses in Australia, this paper contributes to understandings of the ways schools’ communications draw on broader cultural politics in order to shape meanings and interactions among organizational actors. We identify six strategies consistently used by schools to this end: identification, juxtapositioning, bolstering or self-promotion, partial reporting, self-expansion, and reframing or reversal. We argue that, in the context of marketization and privatization discourses in twenty-first-century western education, these strategies attempt to subvert potentially threatening discourses, in the process actively reproducing broader economic and social privilege and inequalities.

Infrastructure transitions toward sustainability : a complex adaptive systems perspective

To ensure infrastructure assets are procured and maintained by government on behalf of citizens, appropriate policy and institutional architecture is needed, particularly if a fundamental shift to more sustainable infrastructure is the goal. The shift in recent years from competitive and resource-intensive procurement to more collaborative and sustainable approaches to infrastructure governance is considered a major transition in infrastructure procurement systems. In order to better understand this transition in infrastructure procurement arrangements, the concept of emergence from Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory is offered as a key construct. Emergence holds that micro interactions can result in emergent macro order. Applying the concept of emergence to infrastructure procurement, this research examines how interaction of agents in individual projects can result in different industry structural characteristics. The paper concludes that CAS theory, and particularly the concept of ‘emergence’, provides a useful construct to understand infrastructure procurement dynamics and progress towards sustainability.

Regulating coal seam gas in Queensland : lessons in an adaptive environmental management approach?

The current regulatory approach to coal seam gas projects in Queensland is based on the philosophy of adaptive environmental management. This method of “learning by doing” is implemented in Queensland primarily through the imposition of layered monitoring and reporting duties on the coal seam gas operator alongside obligations to compensate and “make good” harm caused. The purpose of this article is to provide a critical review of the Queensland regulatory approach to the approval and minimisation of adverse impacts from coal seam gas activities. Following an overview of the hallmarks of an effective adaptive management approach, this article begins by addressing the mosaic of approval processes and impact assessment regimes that may apply to coal seam gas projects. This includes recent Strategic Cropping Land reforms. This article then turns to consider the preconditions for land access in Queensland and the emerging issues for landholders relating to the negotiation of access and compensation agreements. This article then undertakes a critical review of the environmental duties imposed on coal seam gas operators relating to hydraulic fracturing, well head leaks, groundwater management and the disposal and beneficial use of produced water. Finally, conclusions are drawn regarding the overall effectiveness of the Queensland framework and the lessons that may be drawn from Queensland’s adaptive environmental management approach.

Energy use, indoor temperature and possible adaptation strategies for air-conditioned office buildings in face of global warming

This paper discusses and summarises a recent systematic study on the implication of global warming on air conditioned office buildings in Australia. Four areas are covered, including analysis of historical weather data, generation of future weather data for the impact study of global warming, projection of building performance under various global warming scenarios, and evaluation of various adaptation strategies under 2070 high global warming conditions. Overall, it is found that depending on the assumed future climate scenarios and the location considered, the increase of total building energy use for the sample Australian office building may range from 0.4 to 15.1%. When the increase of annual average outdoor temperature exceeds 2 °C, the risk of overheating will increase significantly. However, the potential overheating problem could be completely eliminated if internal load density is significantly reduced.

Adaptive bilateral filtering using saliency map for deblocking low bit rate videos

This paper proposes a novel approach to video deblocking which performs perceptually adaptive bilateral filtering by considering color, intensity, and motion features in a holistic manner. The method is based on bilateral filter which is an effective smoothing filter that preserves edges. The bilateral filter parameters are adaptive and avoid over-blurring of texture regions and at the same time eliminate blocking artefacts in the smooth region and areas of slow motion content. This is achieved by using a saliency map to control the strength of the filter for each individual point in the image based on its perceptual importance. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is effective in deblocking highly compressed video sequences and to avoid over-blurring of edges and textures in salient regions of image.

Reducing Actuator Switchings for Motion Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

A priority when designing control strategies for autonomous underwater vehicles is to emphasize their cost of implementation on a real vehicle. Indeed, due to the vehicles' design and the actuation modes usually under consideration for underwater plateforms the number of actuator switchings must be kept to a small value to insure feasibility and precision. This is the main objective of the algorithm presented in this paper. The theory is illustrated on two examples, one is a fully actuated underwater vehicle capable of motion in six-degrees-of freedom and one is minimally actuated with control motions in the vertical plane only.

The NetWorkPlace(TM) Phenomenon: any time and any place - reality or a seductive myth?

A new spatial logic encompassing redefined concepts of time and place, space and distance, requires a comprehensive shift in the approach to designing workplace environments for today’s adaptive, collaborative organizations operating in a dynamic business world. Together with substantial economic and cultural shifts and an increased emphasis on lifestyle considerations, the advances in information technology have prompted a radical re-ordering of organizational relationships and the associated structures, processes, and places of doing business. Within the duality of space and an augmentation of the traditional notions of place, organizational and institutional structures pose new challenges for the design professions. The literature reveals that there has always been a mono-organizational focus in relation to workplace design strategies and the burgeoning trend towards inter-organizational collaboration, enabled the identification of a gap in the knowledge relative to workplace design. The NetWorkPlaceTM© constitutes a multi-dimensional concept having the capacity to deal with the fluidity and ambiguity characteristic of the network context, as both a topic of research and the way of going about it.

The impact of computers on physical and psychological health: Strategies for staying in the "zone".

At a time when distance learning and flexible delivery of university courses are increasing, spending long hours on computers, working from home or in the laboratory, raises some unique problems for students. The paper presents a theoretical framework for first year students which helps to explain the developmental process that many students find themselves going through during their transitional phase at university. It will introduce the concept taken from sports psychology of "staying in the zone of peak academic performance" in order to accomplish the task of obtaining a degree whilst at the same time ensuring physical and psychological health. Strategies used by therapists to assist students to continue successfully in their course of choice and to achieve desirable outcomes will be discussed.

New strategies of managing waste in office building retrofit projects

Retrofit projects are different from newly-built projects in many respects. A retrofit project involves an existing building, which imposes constraints on the owners, designers, operators and constructors throughout the project process. Retrofit projects are risky, complex, less predictable and difficult to be well planned, which need greater coordination. For office building retrofit project, further restrictions will apply as these buildings often locate in CBD areas and most have to remain operational during the progression of project work. Issues such as site space, material storage and handling, noise and dust, need to be considered and well addressed. In this context, waste management is even more challenging with small spaces for waste handling, uncertainties in waste control, and impact of waste management activities on project delivery and building occupants. Current literatures on waste management in office building retrofit projects focus on increasing waste recovery rate based on project planning, monitoring and stakeholders’ collaboration. However, previous research has not produced knowledge of understanding the particular retrofit processes and their impact on waste generation and management. This paper discusses the interim results of a continuing research on new strategies for waste management in office building retrofit projects. Firstly based on the literature review, it summarizes the unique characteristics of office building retrofit projects and their influence on waste management. An assumption on waste management strategies is formed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted towards industry practitioners and findings are then presented in the paper. The assumption of the research was validated in the interviews from the opinions and experiences of the respondents. Finally the research develops a process model for waste management in office building retrofit projects. It introduces two different waste management strategies. For the dismantling phase, waste is generated fast along with the work progress, so integrated planning for project delivery and waste generation is needed in order to organize prompt handling and treatment. For the fit-out phase, the work is similar as new construction. Factors which are particularly linked to generating waste on site need to be controlled and monitored. Continuing research in this space will help improve the practice of waste management in office building retrofit projects. The new strategies will help promote the practicality of project waste planning and management and stakeholders’ capability of coordinating waste management and project delivery.