Orthopaedics and Trauma Queensland Annual Report 2013

Orthopaedics and Trauma Queensland, the Centre for Research and Education in Musculoskeletal Disorders, is an internationally recognised research group that continues to develop its reputation as an international leader in research and education. It provides a stimulus for research, education and clinical application within the international orthopaedic and trauma communities. Orthopaedics and Trauma Queensland develops and promotes the innovative use of engineering and technology, in collaboration with surgeons, to provide new techniques, materials, procedures and medical devices. Its integration with clinical practice and strong links with hospitals ensure that the research will be translated into practical outcomes for patients.

Mechanics of Polyropylene-Seed-Coat-Fibres Composites AndPolyropylene –Wood Fibres Composites-A Comparative Study

Forestry by-products have potential applications as components of wood composites. Replacement of conventional pine radiata wood-fibres by the fibres from the seeds (SCF) of the by-products, require determining and optimizing the mechanical properties to producing highest quality products. Response to mechanical stress is an important aspect to consider towards partial or full replacement of the wood-fibres by SCFs. In the present study the critical strain energy release rate, and the fracture toughness are derived from the published data. The present work uses rules of mixture to derive the mechanical and the physical properties of the SCF and relates the performance of the composites of the wood-fibres and the SCF to chemical composition, dispersion, weight and Vf of the fibres. We have also derived the Gc, the critical strain energy release rate, KIC, the fracture toughness of the composites.

Is Australia positioned to take advantage of biosimilars?

Australia currently has a small generic and biosimilar industry despite having a good track record in biomedical research and a sound reputation in producing high quality but small volume biological pharmaceuticals. In recent times, Australia has made incremental changes to its regulation of biosimilars – in patent registration, in the use of commercial confidential information, and in remuneration. These improvements, together with Australia’s geographical proximity and strong trade relationship with the Asian biocluster have positioned Australia to take advantage of potential public cost savings from the increased use of biosimilars.

A recommendation system for predicting risks across multiple business process instances

This paper proposes a recommendation system that supports process participants in taking risk-informed decisions, with the goal of reducing risks that may arise during process execution. Risk reduction involves decreasing the likelihood and severity of a process fault from occurring. Given a business process exposed to risks, e.g. a financial process exposed to a risk of reputation loss, we enact this process and whenever a process participant needs to provide input to the process, e.g. by selecting the next task to execute or by filling out a form, we suggest to the participant the action to perform which minimizes the predicted process risk. Risks are predicted by traversing decision trees generated from the logs of past process executions, which consider process data, involved resources, task durations and other information elements like task frequencies. When applied in the context of multiple process instances running concurrently, a second technique is employed that uses integer linear programming to compute the optimal assignment of resources to tasks to be performed, in order to deal with the interplay between risks relative to different instances. The recommendation system has been implemented as a set of components on top of the YAWL BPM system and its effectiveness has been evaluated using a real-life scenario, in collaboration with risk analysts of a large insurance company. The results, based on a simulation of the real-life scenario and its comparison with the event data provided by the company, show that the process instances executed concurrently complete with significantly fewer faults and with lower fault severities, when the recommendations provided by our recommendation system are taken into account.

Social and cultural drivers of incentive effectiveness in infrastructure projects

Formal incentives systems aim to encourage improved performance by offering a reward for the achievement of project-specific goals. Despite argued benefits of incentive systems on project delivery outcomes, there remains debate over how incentive systems can be designed to encourage the formation of strong project relationships within a complex social system such as an infrastructure project. This challenge is compounded by the increasing emphasis in construction management research on the important mediating influence of technical and organisational context on project performance. In light of this challenge, the research presented in this paper focuses on the design of incentive systems in four infrastructure projects: two road reconstructions in the Netherlands and two building constructions in Australia. Based on a motivational theory frame, a cross case analysis is conducted to examine differences and similarities across social and cultural drivers impacting on the effectiveness of the incentive systems in light of infrastructure project context. Despite significant differences in case project characteristics, results indicate the projects’ experience similar social drivers impacting on incentive effectiveness. Significant value across the projects was placed on: varied performance goals and multiple opportunities to across the project team to pursue incentive rewards; fair risk allocation across contract parties; value-driven tender selection; improved design-build integration; and promotion of future work opportunities. However, differences across the contexts were identified. Results suggest future work opportunities were a more powerful social driver in upholding reputation and establishing strong project relationships in the Australian context. On the other hand, the relationship initiatives in the Dutch context seemed to be more broadly embraced resulting in a greater willingness to collaboratively manage project risk. Although there are limitations with this research in drawing generalizations across two sets of case projects, the results provide a strong base to explore the social and cultural influences on incentive effectiveness across different geographical and contextual boundaries in future research.

A simulation model of the within-host dynamics of Plasmodium vivax infection

Background The benign reputation of Plasmodium vivax is at odds with the burden and severity of the disease. This reputation, combined with restricted in vitro techniques, has slowed efforts to gain an understanding of the parasite biology and interaction with its human host. Methods A simulation model of the within-host dynamics of P. vivax infection is described, incorporating distinctive characteristics of the parasite such as the preferential invasion of reticulocytes and hypnozoite production. The developed model is fitted using digitized time-series’ from historic neurosyphilis studies, and subsequently validated against summary statistics from a larger study of the same population. The Chesson relapse pattern was used to demonstrate the impact of released hypnozoites. Results The typical pattern for dynamics of the parasite population is a rapid exponential increase in the first 10 days, followed by a gradual decline. Gametocyte counts follow a similar trend, but are approximately two orders of magnitude lower. The model predicts that, on average, an infected naïve host in the absence of treatment becomes infectious 7.9 days post patency and is infectious for a mean of 34.4 days. In the absence of treatment, the effect of hypnozoite release was not apparent as newly released parasites were obscured by the existing infection. Conclusions The results from the model provides useful insights into the dynamics of P. vivax infection in human hosts, in particular the timing of host infectiousness and the role of the hypnozoite in perpetuating infection.

Secrets and lies

Secrets & Lies is an Australian drama television series that first screened on Network Ten on 3 March 2014. The series has aired in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ TWO HD from 30 March, 2014 at 9.30pm. The series also debuted in Canada on the CBC in July 2014. It premiered in The Netherlands on RTL on 24 August 2014. Started in the UK on 23 September 2014 on Channel 5 and in France from January the 26 to February the 2 on France2. On 4 February 2014, the production company behind this version announced that a US version with the same title was in the works for ABC and would be co-produced with ABC Studios with a series penalty if the project is held back or not greenlighted by the network. The series premiered in the U.S. on 1 March 2015. Ryan Phillippe and Juliette Lewis stars in this adaptation. The series follows the story of a family man who finds the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime murder suspect. He has no choice but to try to find the real killer as his marriage, his kids, his reputation and his sanity are all at stake.

Knowing

Directed by Alex Proyas, the Knowing is an action-packed science-fiction disaster movie. A well-known Australian director working in Hollywood, Proyas has developed an international reputation for stylised fantasy and science-fiction movies, including the neo-gothic movie The Crow (1994), the complex science-fiction film Dark City (1998), and the adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi classic I, Robot (2004) which earned almost US$350 million theatrically worldwide. Knowing was produced for US$50 million and relies heavily upon special effects (including a visually impressive sequence of the world being destroyed) and high-octane action sequences (including a notable plane crash). Knowing’s cast included Australian actors, Rose Byrne and Ben Mendelsohn, and American actor Nicolas Cage. While Knowing received typically poor critical reviews, the movie performed well at the box-office earning over US$183 million worldwide.

Engagement [Reference entry]

Engagement is an important multi-dimensional concept with relevance for corporate reputation and brand management, particularly in focal areas such as corporate social responsibility, stakeholder relations, and issues or crisis management. This entry examines the levels of analysis where engagement occurs, three types of engagement, the different contextual and disciplinary perspectives of engagement, and the implications of engagement for corporate reputation.

Sustainability in infrastructure asset management

The expectation to integrate sustainability aspects (social, environmental, and economic success) into the design, delivery, and operation of infrastructure assets is growing rapidly and globally. There are now several tools and frameworks available to benchmark and measure sustainable performance of infrastructure projects and assets. This paper briefly describes the infrastructure sustainability (IS) rating tool developed by the Australian Green Infrastructure Council (AGIC) that was launched in February 2012. This tool evaluates sustainability initiatives and potential environmental, social, and economic impacts of infrastructure projects and assets. The rating tool provides the following benefits to industry: a common national language for sustainability; a vehicle for consistent application and evaluation of sustainability in tendering processes; assists in scoping whole-of-life sustainability risks, enabling smarter solutions that reduce risks and costs; fosters resource efficiency and waste reduction, reducing costs; fosters innovation and continuous improvement in sustainability outcomes; and builds an organization’s credentials and reputation in its approach to sustainability. The infrastructure types covered by this tool include transport, energy, water, and communication. The key themes of sustainability evaluation will be briefly presented in this paper, and they include management and governance; use of resources; emissions, pollution, and waste; ecology; people and place; and innovation.

Interlaminar mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced plastic laminates modified with graphene oxide interleaf

By taking the advantage of the excellent mechanical properties and high specific surface area of graphene oxide (GO) sheets, we develop a simple and effective strategy to improve the interlaminar mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates. With the incorporation of graphene oxide reinforced epoxy interleaf into the interface of CFRP laminates, the Mode-I fracture toughness and resistance were greatly increased. The experimental results of double cantilever beam (DCB) tests demonstrated that, with 2 g/m2 addition of GO, the Mode-I fracture toughness and resistance of the specimen increase by 170.8% and 108.0%, respectively, compared to those of the plain specimen. The improvement mechanisms were investigated by the observation of fracture surface with scanning electron microscopies. Moreover, finite element analyses were performed based on the cohesive zone model to verify the experimental fracture toughness and to predict the interfacial tensile strength of CFRP laminates.

Comparing the effect of inadequate documentation to the cost management and tendering processes in managing contractor and fixed lump sum contracts in Australia

Purpose of this paper This research aims to examine the effects of inadequate documentation to the cost management & tendering processes in Managing Contractor Contracts using Fixed Lump Sum as a benchmark. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted with industry practitioners to solicit their views on documentation quality issues associated with the construction industry. This is followed by a series of semi-structured interviews with a purpose of validating survey findings. Findings and value The results showed that documentation quality remains a significant issue, contributing to the industries inefficiency and poor reputation. The level of satisfaction for individual attributes of documentation quality varies. Attributes that do appear to be affected by the choice of procurement method include coordination, build ability, efficiency, completeness and delivery time. Similarly the use and effectiveness of risk mitigation techniques appears to vary between the methods, based on a number of factors such as documentation completeness, early involvement, fast tracking etc. Originality/value of paper This research fills the gap of existing body of knowledge in terms of limited studies on the choice of a project procurement system has an influence on the documentation quality and the level of impact. Conclusions Ultimately research concludes that the entire project team including the client and designers should carefully consider the individual projects requirements and compare those to the trade-offs associated with documentation quality and the procurement method. While documentation quality is definitely an issue to be improved upon, by identifying the projects performance requirements a procurement method can be chosen to maximise the likelihood that those requirements will be met. This allows the aspects of documentation quality considered most important to the individual project to be managed appropriately.

A normal-distribution based rating aggregation method for generating product reputations

With the extensive use of rating systems in the web, and their significance in decision making process by users, the need for more accurate aggregation methods has emerged. The Naïve aggregation method, using the simple mean, is not adequate anymore in providing accurate reputation scores for items [6 ], hence, several researches where conducted in order to provide more accurate alternative aggregation methods. Most of the current reputation models do not consider the distribution of ratings across the different possible ratings values. In this paper, we propose a novel reputation model, which generates more accurate reputation scores for items by deploying the normal distribution over ratings. Experiments show promising results for our proposed model over state-of-the-art ones on sparse and dense datasets.

Synthesis, characterization and applications of graphene oxide-polymer nanocomposites

Graphene has emerged as one of the most exciting materials of the 21st century due to its unique properties which have demonstrated great potential for applications in energy storage, flexible electronics and multifunctional composites. This thesis has established a new technique for investigating the structure-property relationship of graphene-polymer nanocomposites at micro and nanoscales. The outcomes can help gain a fundamental understanding of the toughening mechanism in these novel nanocomposites and benefit the development of broad graphene based materials and devices.

‘Not a criminal in the classic sense': @DrRimmer on the sentencing of Jono Moylan #leardblockade #standwithjono

On July 25, 2014, Justice David Davies sentenced Jonathan Moylan at the Supreme Court of New South Wales for a breach of section 1041E (1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The ruling is a careful and deliberate decision, showing equipoise. Justice Davies has a reputation for being a thoughtful and philosophical adjudicator. The judge convicted and sentenced Moylan to imprisonment for 1 year and 8 months. The judge ordered that Moylan be “immediately released upon giving security by way of recognisance in the sum of $1000 to be of good behaviour for a period of 2 years commencing today”.